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582 lines
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<title>Paradigm Shift LG #32</title>
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<H1><font color="maroon">Paradigm Shift</font></H1>
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<H4>By <a href="mailto:joe@pjprimer.com">Joe Barr</a></H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<P>
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<B>paradigm shift</B> <I>paradigm shift (pair uh dime
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shift) 1. a profound and
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irreversible change to a different model of
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behavior or perception. 2. an
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epiphany with staying power. 3. a sea change of
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such magnitude that it alters
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the course of all who pass through it. </I>
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<P>
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Paradigm shifts. Thinking back over my years in
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the industry, there haven't been
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that many. Especially when you consider the
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thousands of times the term has been
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used. The move of the center from the glass
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house to the desktop certainly
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qualifies. Likewise the rethinking of systems
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analysis and design, from the physical
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to the logical, was echoed by structured
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programming.
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<P>
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But programming was to be swept by a second,
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perhaps even more fundamental
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change in perspective as we moved from
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procedural languages to object oriented.
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And to put it in everyday terms, there is a
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whole new mindset today when you
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connect to the internet than there was when you
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reached out to touch a BBS.
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<P>
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There have been plenty of impostors: bubble
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memory, the death of mainframes,
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quality management, cold fusion, new Coke and
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"push content" on the web. It's
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<P>
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often impossible to tell the difference
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between la buzz de jour and the first stirrings
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of a new-born, honest to baud, as real as the
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day is long, paradigm shift.
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<P>
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The incubation period can last for years.
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Eventually, though, a thing either emerges
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and changes everything or it quietly fades
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away. Only then can you know for sure. I
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believe we are at the edge of the largest
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paradigm shift in the history of the industry.
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This one will smash the current model beyond
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recognition. Our children and our
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children's children will look back at the first
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age, the first 30 years of personal
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computing, and see it for the barbaric,
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archaic, self inhibiting, self impeding dinosaur
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that it is.
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<P>
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A paradigm shift does not mean one thing is
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simply replaced by another. A new
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force field appears, draws attention to itself,
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and may coexist with, perhaps even
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languish alongside for some period of time, the
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model that it will replace.
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<P>
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There may even be a longer period of time
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during which the original gradually fades
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away. The shift occurs, quite simply, when you
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wake up one day and find yourself
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seeing things in a new way, from a new
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perspective.
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<P>
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The glass house and the personal computer? That
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one has been underway for many
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years. Microsoft has eclipsed IBM as the
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largest seller of software in the quarter
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just ended.
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<P>
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The shift, by definition, never occurs in
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isolation. There must be related spheres,
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energizing pulses, co-dependent orbs circling
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the prime. It is when the catalyst
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works its magic that you are transported.
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Suddenly you are "there."
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<P>
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Object oriented programming has been around for
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quite awhile now. I remember in
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the early 80's my brother asking if I had taken
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a look at Smalltalk yet. He seemed
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quite taken with the language and what it was
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about. I toyed with the turtle and got
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some inkling of objects and inheritance, but I
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really couldn't see that much would
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ever happen in the real world with Alan Kay's
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brainchild.
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<P>
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Years later C++ would begin to move into the
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mainstream. Not replacing Cobol
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and C but just establishing its own place in
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the landscape. OO methodologies
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<P>
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began to abound as more and more people
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crossed the line. But the big push hadn't
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even happened yet, Oak hadn't even dropped the
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acorn that became Java.
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<P>
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Today, with the wildfire popularity of Java
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among developers, with its entry into the
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enterprise not only assured but an established
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fact, with its continued maturing and
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fleshing out, it is Java that is carrying the
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banner of object oriented programing to
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the dwindling herd of procedural programmers.
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<P>
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Of course, in the time between Kay's
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conceptualization of objects, GUIs and
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cut-and-paste, and where we are today, it has
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not always been clear that this was
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the kind of stuff that would have profound,
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far-reaching impact on the way we look
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at software and design, the way we look at the
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tasks to be done and how we plan
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to do them.
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<P>
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To many of the brightest and the best, at least
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to many outside of the Learning
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Research Group at Xerox Palo Alto Research
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Center during the 70's and 80's,
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bubble memory was much more likely to be the
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next big thing. And so it is with
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some trepidation that I hereby formally and
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officially predict that we are today
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awash in the first tides of a sea change that
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will once again change everything.
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<P>
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But keep in mind, my dweebs, that my track
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record as a Karmac for Computing is
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something less than perfect. It was in the fall
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of 1978 that I told Sam Skaggs, then
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president of Skaggs-Albertsons superstores, the
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first marriage of drug and grocery
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emporiums, that scanning technology would never
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work in a grocery store.
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<P>
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And in 1994 I predicted OS/2 would win the
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desktop from Windows. So don't bet
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the digital dirtfarm on this just yet. Your
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narrator is guessing, just as every other
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pundit who looks out past the breakers for
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first signs of the swell that will become
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the next big wave.
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<P>
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My hunch is this: free/open source software
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will emerge as the only sensible choice.
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Feel the tremors in the Northwest? This one
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could be killer. There has been much
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debate over which term ("free software" or
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"open source") is the best choice, the
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most descriptive, and the truest to its
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philosophical roots. I am not going to go
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there. I will compromise by using both terms
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interchangeably.
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<P>
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But please note that the word free in "free
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software" applies to a state of being, not
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to its price. It is about freedom. Also note
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that the hottest software product in the
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world today, Linux, qualifies as free software
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under this definition, whether you
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download it for free from the internet or pay
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anywhere from $1.99 to $99.99 for
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specific distributions.
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<P>
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Linux is the only non-Windows operating system
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in the world that is gaining market
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share. How hot is it? It's almost impossible
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these days to keep up with articles in
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the press about Linux. A mailing list dedicated
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to Linux News recently had to split
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into three separate lists in order to handle
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the load. Linus Torvalds, its creator, is on
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the cover of the August issue of Forbes.
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<P>
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Every major computer trade publication is
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showering it with attention. Oracle,
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Ingres, and Informix have just announced they
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will be porting their database
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products to Linux. Caldera has just announced
|
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(and has available for free
|
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download today) a Netware server for Linux. And
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that's just the news from the
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past two weeks. Linux has cache, bebe.
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<P>
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The roots of Linux-mania began in the early
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80's when Richard Stallman founded
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the GNU Project. Stallman had worked at MIT
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during the 70's and witnessed the
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destructive (in terms of group productivity and
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effort) nature of restrictive licensing
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of proprietary software. He wanted to create a
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free, modern operating system that
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could be used by everyone.
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<P>
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In the GNU Manifesto (1983), he explained why
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he must write GNU: "I consider
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that the golden rule requires that if I like a
|
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program I must share it with other people
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who like it. Software sellers want to divide
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the users and conquer them, making
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each user agree not to share with others.
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<P>
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I refuse to break solidarity with other users
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in this way. I cannot in good conscience
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sign a nondisclosure agreement or a software
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license agreement.
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<P>
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For years I worked within the Artificial
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Intelligence Lab to resist such tendencies
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and other inhospitalities, but eventually they
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had gone too far: I could not remain in
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an institution where such things are done for
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me against my will.
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<P>
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So that I can continue to use computers without
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dishonor, I have decided to put
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together a sufficient body of free software so
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that I will be able to get along without
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any software that is not free.
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<P>
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I have resigned from the AI lab to deny MIT any
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legal excuse to prevent me from
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giving GNU away."
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<P>
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By the time (almost ten years later) Linus
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Torvalds had a good working Linux
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kernel available, the GNU project had most of
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the non-kernel essentials ready. It
|
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was a marriage made in free/open source
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software heaven, and Linus converted the
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original Linux license to the GPL (GNU's
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General Public License).
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<P>
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After all, it seemed the obvious choice to the
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young college student who had
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wanted to create a free version of Unix that
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everyone could use. Not only is Linus a
|
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true code wizard, he is delightfully perfect
|
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for his role today as poster boy of the
|
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free/open source movement.
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<P>
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Every interview, every public appearance, each
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bit of history about him and Linux
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unearthed reveals a warm, wise, friendly,
|
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candid and particularly unpretentious
|
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personality. How else could someone whose views
|
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are so diametrically opposed to
|
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those of Bill Gates and the money mongers end
|
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up on the cover of Forbes? But
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Linux is not the only success story in the
|
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world of free/open source.
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<P>
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Netscape rocked the commercial world earlier
|
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this year when it announced it
|
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would free the source code for its browser and
|
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make it available for download to
|
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<P>
|
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anyone who wanted it. Netscape now claims that
|
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the browser has been improved
|
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as much over the past couple of months as it
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would have in 2.5 years in its closed
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source environment.
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<P>
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FreeBSD, a rival for Linux in the UNIX like,
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free/open source sector, has its own
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fanatical users and supporters. Just this past
|
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week it shattered an existing world
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record for total bytes transferred from an FTP
|
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site in a single day. CRL Network
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Services, host of the popular Walnut Creek
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CD-ROM ftp site, announced on July
|
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30th that they had moved over 400 gig of files
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on July 28, 1998. The previous
|
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mark of about 350 gig had been set by Microsoft
|
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during the Win95 launch period.
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<P>
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Oh, one other thing. The FreeBSD record was set
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on a single 200Mhz Pentium
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box. The Microsoft record was set using 40
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separate servers. Results like those are
|
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probably the driving force behind the emerging
|
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model. The performance just blows
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away what Windows is able to deliver in their
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closed, sealed, NDA protected,
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shoot you if you see it source code,
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proprietary model.
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<P>
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Eric S. Raymond, keeper of the tome on
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internetese called "The Jargon File" and
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author on the must read essay "The Cathedral
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|
and The Bazaar," talks about the
|
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success he had with FETCHMAIL using the Bazaar
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model of development. Lots
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of eyes on the code: bugs are found more
|
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quickly, enhancements made more
|
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quickly, design becomes more normalized.
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<P>
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But Linus is the candle for the moth. Leo
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LaPorte had him as a guest on his ZDTV
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show the night that Win98 was launched. I
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caught him in chat on the way out and
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asked him how SMP was looking for the next
|
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release. He said it looked very good.
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<P>
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It seems he is always this accessible, and that
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is part of his magic and part of the
|
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reason for the success of Linux and shift in
|
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thinking about software development.
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For open software to not only flourish but
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become the norm, at least for those
|
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essential bits, like operating systems, that
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everyone needs to run, there must be
|
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huge successes to attract the rest of the crowd.
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<P>
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Linux and FreeBSD are two of those attractions.
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Linus is the advantage that Linux
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holds over FreeBSD, not in a technical sense,
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but in a human sense. To get a sense
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of what Linus is like, it's interesting to
|
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follow his exchange of USENET messages
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with Andy Tanenbaum, the creator of Minix.
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<P>
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Linus began his 386 experience with Minix and
|
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began to extend it to create Linux.
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He and Andy exchanged a series of messages in
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comp.os.minix over the issues of
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microkernel architecture, truly free software,
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and the relative merits of Minix and
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Linux.
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<P>
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It began with a post by Tanenbaum which said in
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part:
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<P>
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"MINIX is a microkernel-based system. The file
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system and memory management
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are separate processes, running outside the
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kernel. The I/O drivers are also
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separate processes (in the kernel, but only
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because the brain-dead nature of the
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Intel CPUs makes that difficult to do otherwise).
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<P>
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LINUX is a monolithic style system. This is a
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giant step back into the 1970s. That
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is like taking an existing, working C program
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and rewriting it in BASIC. To me,
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writing a monolithic system in 1991 is a truly
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poor idea."
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<P>
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To which Linus replied:
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<P>
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"True, Linux is monolithic, and I agree that
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microkernels are nicer. With a less
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argumentative subject, I'd probably have agreed
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with most of what you said. From
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a theoretical (and aesthetical) standpoint
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Linux loses. If the GNU kernel had been
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ready last spring, I'd not have bothered to
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even start my project: the fact is that it
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wasn't and still isn't. Linux wins heavily on
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points of being available now.
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<P>
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>>MINIX is a microkernel-based system.
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>>LINUX
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is a monolithic style system.
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<P>
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If this was the only criterion for the
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"goodness" of a kernel, you'd be right. What
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you don't mention is that minix doesn't do the
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micro-kernel thing very well, and has
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problems with real multitasking (in the
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kernel). If I had made an OS that had
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problems with a multithreading filesystem, I
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wouldn't be so fast to condemn others:
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in fact, I'd do my damndest to make others
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forget about the fiasco."
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<P>
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Notice what is missing from the post? Even
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though his pet project, the fledgling
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Linux, has been slapped around pretty hard by
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the man who created its
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predecessor, Linus did not fall into the trap
|
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of name calling and hysterics that too
|
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often goes hand-in-glove with online debate.
|
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<P>
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Notice what is present in the post? Concession
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of valid points made by
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Tanenbaum. Factual assertions that represent
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Linux quite nicely, thank you very
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much. And even for this well behaved defense,
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Linus closed with this:
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<P>
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"PS. I apologize for sometimes sounding too
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harsh: minix is nice enough if you have
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nothing else. Amoeba might be nice if you have
|
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5-10 spare 386's lying around, but
|
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I certainly don't. I don't usually get into
|
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flames, but I'm touchy when it comes to
|
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Linux :)"
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<P>
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For all his dweebness, Linus is a people
|
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person. He is likable. He is brilliant. He is
|
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passionate about Linux but not to the point of
|
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resorting to bashing its detractors or
|
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alternatives to it. Earlier I mentioned an
|
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ongoing debate among proponents of the
|
|
terms "free software" and "open source
|
|
software." That is really symptomatic of a
|
|
deeper argument over what type of licensing
|
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free/open source software should
|
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have.
|
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<P>
|
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There is the GNU GPL that Linux uses, and there
|
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is the BSD model. Listen to
|
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Linus the diplomat walk that tightrope (while
|
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still making his preference known) in
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an interview with Linux Focus's Manuel Martinez:
|
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<P>
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"I'd like to point out that I don't think that
|
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there is anything fundamentally superior in
|
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the GPL as compared to the BSD license, for
|
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example.
|
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<P>
|
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But the GPL is what _I_ want to program with,
|
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because unlike the BSD license it
|
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guarantees that anybody who works on the
|
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project in the future will also contribute
|
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their changes back to the community. And when I
|
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do programming in my free time
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and for my own enjoyment, I really want to have
|
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that kind of protection: knowing
|
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that when I improve a program those
|
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improvements will continue to be available to
|
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me and others in future versions of the program.
|
|
<P>
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Other people have other goals, and sometimes
|
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the BSD style licenses are better for
|
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those goals. I personally tend to prefer the
|
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GPL, but that really doesn't mean that
|
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the GPL is any way inherently superior - it
|
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depends on what you want the license to
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do.."
|
|
<P>
|
|
His views on the Evil Empire? Strong, perhaps,
|
|
but certainly not inflammatory or
|
|
angry. In his words, from the same interview:
|
|
<P>
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"I can certainly understand the "David vs
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Goliath" setup, but no, I don't personally
|
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share it all that much. I can't say that I like
|
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MicroSoft: I think they make rather bad
|
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operating systems - Windows NT is just more of
|
|
the same - but while I dislike their
|
|
operating systems and abhor their tactics in
|
|
the marketplace I at the same time
|
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don't really care all that much about them.
|
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<P>
|
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I'm simply too content doing what I _want_ to
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|
do to really have a very negative
|
|
attitude towards MicroSoft. They make bad
|
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products - so what? I don't need to
|
|
care, because I happily don't have to use them,
|
|
and writing my own alternative has
|
|
been a very gratifying experience in many ways.
|
|
Not only have I learnt a lot doing
|
|
it, but I've met thousands of people that I
|
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really like while developing Linux - some
|
|
of them in person, most of them through the
|
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internet."
|
|
<P>
|
|
Three potentially disasterous discussions on
|
|
red button issues: Linux versus Minix,
|
|
the GNU GPL license versus that of BSD, and
|
|
Linux versus Windows. In each he
|
|
makes his points politely but with utter candor.
|
|
<P>
|
|
One last example. There is finally an official
|
|
Linux logo. It is the cute, fat and
|
|
friendly Penguin you often see on Linux sites.
|
|
There was heated debate among the
|
|
Linuxites on the choice of the logo. Many
|
|
wanted something other than a cute, fat
|
|
penguin. Something more aggressive or sleek,
|
|
perhaps.
|
|
<P>
|
|
Linus calmed these waters at the release of
|
|
Linux 2.0 by saying:
|
|
<P>
|
|
"Some people have told me they don't think a
|
|
fat penguin really embodies the grace
|
|
of Linux, which just tells me they have never
|
|
seen an angry penguin charging at
|
|
them in excess of 100mph. They'd be a lot more
|
|
careful about what they say if they
|
|
had."
|
|
<P>
|
|
He is completely believable, obviously
|
|
passionate about the project, and possessed
|
|
of a contagious good humor. Linux could have no
|
|
better leader from a technical
|
|
point of view, and it couldn't have a better
|
|
poster boy either. Its success more than
|
|
anything else is pulling the rest of the
|
|
world's mindset towards the notion of
|
|
free/open source software.
|
|
<P>
|
|
Nicholas Petreley raised the issue of open
|
|
source software recently in his forum at
|
|
InfoWorld Electric. It triggered a huge number
|
|
of responses about the
|
|
phenomenum. There may even be an Open Source
|
|
magazine in the works. I credit
|
|
my rethinking on this software dynamic to the
|
|
reading I did there. I believe it is what
|
|
finally made me realize that a paradigm shift
|
|
has already occurred. That we are no
|
|
longer discussing a possibility, but simply
|
|
what is.
|
|
<P>
|
|
The conclusion to the Forbes article behind the
|
|
Linus cover calls for the
|
|
Department of Justice to take note of the
|
|
success of Linux in growing market share
|
|
and to call of the investigation of Microsoft
|
|
as unregulated monopoly. While I
|
|
consider that a lame conclusion, the DOJ should
|
|
be interested in enforcing antitrust
|
|
law whether Linux is flourishing or not, I
|
|
can't help but wonder if there's not some
|
|
truth to the inspiration for that thinking.
|
|
That it won't be government intervention or
|
|
regulation that busts up Microsoft, but a
|
|
revolution in our thinking about software.
|
|
<P>
|
|
The Dweebspeak Primer, <A HREF="http://www.pjprimer.com/">
|
|
http://www.pjprimer.com/</A>
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
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<P> <hr> <P>
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|
<center><H5>Copyright © 1998, Joe Barr <BR>
|
|
Published in Issue 32 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, September 1998</H5></center>
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