Linus explains why open source works

Linus Torvalds is often described as an open source champion, interested in licensing only insofar as it affects his ability to share code and improve software more quickly. However, his real position is more complicated -- and to some, perhaps surprising.

Asked point-blank which is more important, sharing code or empowering users -- the declared goal of the free software champions whom Torvalds is routinely depicted as being in opposition with -- and his first response in what he calls "the usual Linus polite words" is "That's a really stupid question. Why do you put it as an 'either or' kind of concept?" He then goes on to explain that, because open source operates in the same manner as scientific query, and is a matter of enlightened self-interest, sharing code and empowering users "are not at odds at all" -- a view that, in the end, places him closer to the free software position than either free software or open source followers might care to admit.

Torvalds has been quoted many times about his emphasis on sharing code, especially during the debates about the recently released third version of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Most famously, in an interview with Forbes magazine in March 2006, Torvalds explained his preference for the second version of the license by saying, "The GPLv2 in no way limits your use of the software. If you're a mad scientist, you can use GPLv2'd software for your evil plans to take over the world ('Sharks with lasers on their heads!!'), and the GPLv2 just says that you have to give source code back. And that's OK by me. I like sharks with lasers. I just want the mad scientists of the world to pay me back in kind. I made source code available to them, they have to make their changes to it available to me. After that, they can fry me with their shark-mounted lasers all they want."

However, responding recently to the question of whether code sharing or user empowerment was more important, Torvalds makes clear that such quotes are only half the story.

Torvalds begins his explanation by talking about science, implying that free and open source software development falls into that category. The dichotomy in the question, he says, "makes no sense. Science clearly does empower humans, but, the fact is, it does so because it has hit on a working model of the universe, and the reason it has done that is because it has a process in place for getting there that works. Sharing information is a small part of that model.

"Human inquisitiveness is an even bigger part. The fact is, what's most important is people. How they are inquisitive, and want to figure out and control the world. How they all have that selfish interest in improving their own lot in life, and almost by mistake they then end up improving other people's lot in life, too, by uncovering some small detail that explains a bit more about the universe.

"The same is true of open source. It's not about 'sharing information' per se: that's just a small part of it -- it's a part of the tools to create better software."

Nor is open source about altruism in Torvalds' view. Instead, he sees it as a matter of enlightened self-interest. "That is worth celebrating: the constant individual struggle to improve your own standing. That little selfish person who tries to take advantage of everybody else by making the minimal possible outlay (preferably by using mostly the source code that somebody else has done) and incrementally improving it with relatively small effort."

The short-term result of this attitude, Torvalds says, is that "for a while, that person gains an advantage, because now the tool did what he wanted. And in the longer term, we all gain that knowledge. One small and meaningless advantage at a time, and it just builds up and up.

"That is where it's at. It's about 'empowering everybody' by letting some enterprising users empower themselves, and then taking advantage of it for everybody else."

The worldview that Torvalds expresses here helps to explain why he has been so vocal in his opposition to the latest version of the GPL, and plans to stay with the second version. No doubt past clashes with the Free Software Foundation color his outlook, but the conflict is more fundamental than one of different personalities.

For Torvalds, the problem with the provisions for patent-sharing and for restricting the use of lockdown technologies -- what the Free Software Foundation prefers to call TiVoization -- is that they keep some people out of the free exchange of ideas that characterizes open source. "That's the whole point of open source -- different people and entities have different goals, and the very differences are what makes it work well for everybody," he says. "Anybody who tries to hobble science by saying that they won't share information with people they dislike (the military, for example) is seen as an obvious crackpot and idiot. The same, to me, is true of open source."

However, amid the echoes of ongoing conflicts, what is even more important is the often overlooked fact that the distinction between free software and open source philosophies is not as great as it is frequently made out to be.

Torvalds is understandably cautious about journalists' uses of his words. He points out that they often use quotes to say what they don't have the courage to say for themselves, and that how people represent him tells a lot "about the opinions they hold." Yet, even so, Torvalds' denial of the dichotomy between the supposed aims of the two camps suggests that the differences between free software and open source are not so much a matter of philosophy, but a matter of tactics to realize that philosophy. While the Free Software Foundation tries to reach those goals by legal means, open source advocates like Torvalds suggest that all that is needed is for people to act as people normally do.

From this perspective, Torvalds' views highlight a fact that has often been overlooked in the recent GPL debates: free software and open source supporters are allies. They may be uneasy allies, blowing raspberries at each other and slinging mud at each other at every opportunity, but they are allies all the same. It's a fact worth mentioning, simply because it hasn't been repeated much recently.

Ubuntu popularity rising

Slow but steady, the popularity of Ubuntu (a Debian derived Linux-based operating system) is rising. Ubuntu is one of the best Linux distributions, a version for people that can be used on your desktop, laptop or workstation. For a quick preview you can download the Live Cd version and boot this OS in less then a few minutes.

In the popularity by region we can see Norway on the top probably because of the Norwegian version of the Dapper release and the Brown t-shirts you can buy from them.

A nice comment from Karianne Fog Heen , the Ubuntu Norway contact person told us that : “there are more European communities that sells the brown t-shirts, the French is one of them” and as a detail the Ubuntu shop link has white t-shirts for sale. The Norwegian version of Dapper is just a vision but we hope they will make it a reality.

Popularity By Country :

1. Norway
2. Finland
3. Czech Republic
4. South Africa
5. Spain
6. Slovenia
7. Italy
8. Portugal
9. Greece
10. France

We can see in the graph below the search volume for the term “ubuntu”. The increase was steady over the last two years.

Asus stuns Computex with � laptop

4:12AM, Wednesday 6th June 2007

Asus chairman Jonney Shih sprang a surprise during Intel's Computex keynote today with the announcement of a $189 laptop.

The notebook measures roughly 120 x 100 x 30mm (WDH) and weighs only 900g. We saw the notebook boot in 15 seconds from its solid-state hard disk. The huge auditorium then burst into applause as Shih revealed the astounding price tag. Dubbed the 3ePC, Shih claimed the notebook is the 'lowest cost and easiest PC to use'. As the crowds rushed the stage, we sneaked off to the Asus stand to take a closer look.

The notebook uses a custom-written Linux operating system, much like the OLPC, though unlike the OLPC, Asus has chosen a more conventional interface. Thedesktop looked fairly similar to Windows and we saw Firefox running on one 3ePC. A spokesperson from Asus told us that the notebook would come with "an office suite that's compatible with MS Office", though he refused to confirm or deny whether that meant OpenOffice.

He claimed the 3ePC would be available in all areas of the world, not only developing nations.

The low price comes from some interesting design choices, primarily the flash-based hard disk. A disk of today's standard capacity would cost more than notebook itself as we saw with the 32GB Samsung disk, but Asus uses a 2GB disk. We were not allowed to touch the 3ePC so couldn't tell how much of this is left after the bespoke OS is installed.

The CPU also remains a mystery, though Shih said the version on show did have 512MB of RAM. Another version will be available for $299, but nobody could tell us what the difference between the two models is.

Source: pcpro.co.uk

Ubuntu 7.04 Offering—Technical Details

Before we announce the availability of Ubuntu 7.04 on select Dell client systems, I'd like to give an overview of what customers can expect from our initial Ubuntu offering.

Availabile Software and Hardware

• The default software from the Ubuntu media will be installed on the system, including kernel and applications.
• The peripheral options offered with Ubuntu will be a subset of what is offered with other operating systems. We're offering the hardware options on each system that have the most mature and stable Linux driver support. These hardware options have been thoroughly tested by the Linux team here at Dell.
• We configure/install open source drivers for hardware, when possible.
• We use partial open-source or closed source ("restricted" in Ubuntu terms) drivers where there is no equivalent open-source driver. This includes Intel wireless cards and Conexant modems.
• We will have a wiki page on our linux.dell.com website that gives technical details of the supported systems, information on the device drivers used for system peripherals, details of our Ubuntu factory-installation, and information on the problems we found during our testing, with their fixes/workarounds.
• We recommend Linux users buy Dell printers that have PostScript engines in them. The previous hyperlink lists those printers. You can also check in the Tech Specs tab for each printer on Dell.com show if it has PostScript or not.

Software and Hardware Not Offered

• For hardware options not offered with this release, we are working with the vendors of those devices to improve the maturity and stability of their associated Linux drivers. While this may not happen overnight, we do expect to have a broader range of hardware support with Linux over time.
• At this time, we are not including any support for proprietary audio or video codecs that are not already distributed with Ubuntu 7.04. These include MPEG 1/2/3/4, WMA, WMV, DVD, Quicktime, etc. We are evaluating options for providing this support in the future.

Before we announce the availability of Ubuntu 7.04 on select Dell client systems, I'd like to give an overview of what customers can expect from our initial Ubuntu offering.

Published Monday, May 21, 2007 10:45 AM
by John Hull, Manager of Linux OS Technologies

$139 PC comes with Linux preinstalled May 18, 2007

MadTux and Vector Linux today announced a Linux PC for the rock-bottom price of $139. The "Vector Linux Affordable Performance PC" comes with a 1.5GHz processor, 256MB RAM, 13.5GB hard drive, graphics and networking interfaces, and preinstalled Vector Linux, but requires a user-supplied monitor and keyboard.


Key features of the $139 model, according to MadTux, include:

• Via C7 1.5GHz processor
  
• 256MB DDR2 RAM included
  
• 13.5GB 7200RPM Hard Disk
  
• 100Mbps fast-ethernet port
  
• 128-bit 3D/2D Graphics engine
  
• Full-featured AGP v2.0 compliant 4x transfer mode AGP controller
  
• UltraDMA EIDE controller
  
• Memory expandable to 2GB
  
• Two 32-bit PCI slots
  
• Two IDE connectors onboard
  
• Via VT1612A 6-channel audio codec, Intel AC'97 compliant
  
• Two PS/2 ports for mouse and connector, one serial, one parallel ports, one VGP port, one LAN port, four USB 2.0 ports, and audio jacks
  
• "Optional technical support provided by the experts who created Vector Linux!"
  

In addition to lacking a monitor and keyboard, users must add their own CDROM or DVD drives to this system, as desired.

Further details on this and other low-cost preinstalled Linux PCs may be found on the MadTux website.

The Ultimate Linux Reference Guide for Newbies

In this article, we’ve put together an ultimate linux reference guide for newbies. The most used and basic commands has been listed in a nicely formatted table which you can print out or bookmark for quick reference. Unfortunately, I was not able to fit it into this blog template so I’ve created a separate html file.

Please read The Ultimate Linux Reference Guide for Newbies here.

Vista Makes Creative Labs Dupe Linux

If you were hoping to use a Creative X-Fi series sound card under Linux in the near future, think again. Last June we told you that Creative was planning on Q2'2007 for delivering a binary blob to support the X-Fi series along with delivering full support for ALSA and OpenAL v1.1 with EAX effects. Creative has now updated their open-source page saying that their closed-source X-Fi Linux driver will not even be in a public beta until the end of third quarter or fourth quarter this year. With the beta not even being available until the end of the year, we would be very surprised if Creative Labs will even deliver a stable X-Fi driver this year at all. What's the reason for this delay? It's due to Microsoft's Vista: "It has taken more resources than expect[ed] to redesign our software and drivers for Vista." Keep in mind that the driver they will be delivering to Linux X-Fi owners isn't even open-source.

It was bad enough when it took ATI about six months to deliver a Radeon X1000 "R500" Linux driver, but it will be over two years since Creative first introduced the X-Fi series and we still have no Linux support -- thanks to Microsoft Vista.

According to the ALSA's Sound Card Support Matrix, the Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi series still lacks any form of support from their open-source driver. The only path for Linux support at this time is purchasing the OSS driver from 4Front Technologies, but OSS is only rumored to support the X-Fi Xtreme Audio.

Source: phoronix.com

Linux Violates 235 Patents, Says Microsoft

Fortune Magazine has a lengthy article about the coming patent war between Microsoft and Linux users/distributors. As former Microsoft employee Robert Scoble points out, Microsoft has historically not used patents offensively (ie: sued for infringement), but this allegation and the recent deal between Novell & Microsoft suggests that Microsoft will use the courts to attack Linux.