Smackie The Frog: Warning: Geek Post Ahead

22.09.03

Warning: Geek Post Ahead

In a direct attempt to undermine my effort to get a girlfriend I am going to write a horribly geeky post. If it tempers anything at all, I AM writing this on a Mac, while sitting outside under some trees. (You've got to love wireless!)

Today, in Management Information Systems we had some group presentations, and one of the groups was assigned to topic of covering Linux. Mind you, this is a CS class. I don't think that it is unreasonable that in a 400 level CS class, that the students would have some pretty good knowledge about Linux. In a 400 Level Poli-Sci class, you would be expected to understand not only democracy, but perhaps communism as well. Too many students choose to only know Windows, using Linux only in the labs, when they absolutely have to, and staying completely away from the underpinnings, history, and community. Some of the stuff that the group talking about Linux and Open Source said was truly amazing.

Firstly, they made no point of talking about the differences between "free software" and "open source" which is an important ideological difference. They made no mention of the difference between free as in no cost, and free as in free speech. They did discuss Richard Stallman, but only in the sense that he tried to make a free operating system, and failed. No mention of the GNU tools, which are arguably as large a part of Linux as the kernel. No mention that he was the one who spearheaded the GPL. They did say that Linus Torvalds came along, and after seeing Minix decided to make his own OS. No mention that Minix was closed source. In fact, they implied that it was open source.

And about the GPL. They didn't say that it requires you to distribute the source with the software. Or that any derivative works must also be GPL'd, or any of the important aspects of that license. What they did say was the GPL means you can't charge for software.

The most telling phrase of the whole thing was when they said that Linux is better because you can get version 9 for $35, referring to Red Hat version 9. There is no Linux version 9. To get into that they would have had to talk about distibutions, and the Linux community.

Maybe what was most amazing, was that the rest of the class really didn't know any of the stuff about Linux. Lots of people were asking questions, accepting what these nimrods had said.

You know what? I don't even use Linux. I don't really like it that much. But I could have given a 100 times better description of all the aspects surrounding it, and I think that it is important that all CS majors be able to.

And now I'm going to resign myself to being single forever.

Posted by Nathan at 22.09.03 18:51

Comments

No, this isn’t a geeky posting at all. This is a social reflection with a high cultural-historical value!!! (I won’t take that back, even at the risk of being regarded as a geek myself :-)

There are only two things I would like to add: Since I became aware of what were computers, I’ve always refused to fight religious wars over such unimportant items in life as Operating Systems. I’ve seen them rise, I’ve seen them decline. Does anyone still remember Novell e.g. ?

Free software is a beautiful dream, but the reality is harsh and awakening. What happens if your lovely free software fails and you need to hire an expensive expert to drag you out of the shit. So much about “free”.

Greetings from
Manneken Pis

Posted by: Manneken Pis at 23.09.03 05:08

Interesting post. I've lived through the era of closed software, and companies (like IBM) trying to make money off selling things like compilers and operating systems. I was a summer student at IBM in 1979 when the VP of IBM told us that IBM's business is hardware and that software is just there to sell the hardware (a big change for IBM at the time).

Richard Stallman has been at Wash U and given talks on this stuff. He's arguably a very strange guy but I admire his passion for the stance that users of software have a right to see the source (this is what's mean by "open" -- Nathan knows this but maybe CS 467 does not).

It's interesting that nowadays that right should be even stronger, given the awful things one could hide in source (to scan your files, look for stuff, share it without your consent, etc).

While some companies have deep pockets, they cannot match the "eyes of the world" that can find and fix problems with software. The model for open software is that there are organizations that would support somebody who had a problem or needed something changed in open software. They're allowed to make money doing that, just as you are allowed to charge money for "open" software. IBM has embraced open software (oddly naming their project Eclipse) and someday others wilil probably follow.

Posted by: rkc at 23.09.03 06:40

Basically the idea behind Open Software is a good a noble one, only the implementation of these ideas would have taken a wrong turn. It has become too much something like “We the Good Guys of the Open Software Industry against the Evil Gates who dares to take money for his software”.

In this context I’ve encountered some very nasty situations with my customers. The sales peoples are the worst: they will openly suggest large financial savings when you opt for an “open solution”, but the truth is that 80% of IT budgets will go to managing and maintaining existing information systems. Open software will not save a dime on this.

I think the true problem might be something else. It’s like with sharing MP3 files on the Internet. People will do this because the original CDs are perceived to be too expensive. Lower the price of CDs and the entire problem will be over. A full license for Windows will cost over $200 these days, and compare that to the $35 you need to spend for Linux. Somehow that’s the price that people are willing to spend on an Operating System. I’m convinced that Microsoft could even substantially increase their turnover on software licenses if they could only decide to lower their basic prices. My god, the software market has become a commodity market. That’s something we never expected.

Greetings from
Manneken Pis

Posted by: Manneken Pis at 23.09.03 10:52

I think the more important point is what Prof. Cytron covered. In the future it is going to be more important to be able to see what is in our software to make sure that people aren't doing things with it that you wouldn't like.

Free software is something to protect us, not there because we are cheap.

Posted by: Nathan at 23.09.03 11:03

What's wrong with being a geek? Where I work, they're the primary driving force! (the website's my work's website).

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