Google and Linux

June 29, 2005 1 Comment

Doc is right. Even though Google probably has the largest Linux backend in the world, they're a Windows company. Despite the benefits Linux gives them, not a single one of their apps (Desktop search, the Toolbar, Picasa and now Google Earth) run on a non-Windows platform. The ironic part, of course, is that Microsoft is one of their biggest competitors. Now, of course, Windows has the vast majority of desktop machines – but it's Google's Linux infrastructure that allows them to offer these apps in the first place. I'd really like to see them commit to running apps on Linux (and Mac, ideally). As Doc says, “Yes, I know that it only makes sense to make client software first for the platform with nine out of the ten slices in the market's pie. But it's that tenth slice that keeps the company making the other nine from enjoying a monopoly. At fighting Microsoft's client monopoly, Google isn't helping much. Quite the contrary, in fact.“. I wonder what Chris would say about this.
–jeremy
Update: I've met Chris a couple of times before (and ate dinner with him at the LWE .org Google party last year – thanks Google!), so I figured I'd ask him what he thought, instead of wondering. If he responds, I'll post an update.

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Web 2.0: Social Search

June 29, 2005 Leave a comment

Jeremy's My Web 2.0: Social Search post couldn't have come at a more appropriate time for LQ. We are almost ready to release something that allows you to “bookmark, annotate, tag, and share”. He puts why that is important better than I could have, though. While the Yahoo! release is a general purpose tool, the LQ one will of course be squarely targeted at Linux and Open Source. You'll be able to not only share, tag and annotate what you have, but see what everyone else is sharing, tagging and annotating. Sort of a random stream of consciousness or instant snapshot of what is important to the community right now. I'll post more as soon as we have something working available, but I thought I'd give everyone a sneak peak at what you can expect next from us.
–jeremy

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Gnomedex Linux Discussion

June 26, 2005 1 Comment

It's no secret that I like Firefox (and Mozilla, actually). Every time I talk to Asa, I like it a little more. He gets Open Source and you can tell he really cares about users. He also knows how to market Open Source to a “mainstream” audience. During our chat at the subject of Linux came up and it was with great interest that I listened to his complaints. He's clearly not someone that doesn't like or doesn't get OSS, so I listened closely to his criticisms and took them as constructive. I have to admit that most of the conferences I attend are Linux or Open Source related, so it was good for me to get a different perspective on a lot of things in Seattle. You can read some of Asa's issues here, but he had some other issues that I think are more important. I think sometimes as a community we can end up being a little defensive (mainly because we are often put on the defense by continual FUD) and IMHO it's extremely important to listen when we are getting valid criticisms by people who want to see us succeed. I'll likely be picking Asa's brain for a little while to get a clear understanding and then try to pass a summary on to some people that can actually make a difference. …and that's one of the great things about Linux – it's continually improving and anyone can make a difference. We've come a long long way, but it's important for us to realize that we still have a long way to go. I'm just glad to be able to be part of the fantastic ride.
–jeremy

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An interview with Linus Torvalds

June 21, 2005 Leave a comment

Good Morning Silicon Valley has an interesting interview with Linus. The interview is mostly about what Linus thinks of Microsoft and the future of proprietary software models. Linus brings up some good points. Unlike what some people think, Microsoft is not going anywhere any time soon. Nor will they be irrelevant any time soon. They have too much market share, are willing to do almost anything to keep that market share and just as importantly really understand their markets (and how to exploit their dominance in those markets). Linus also says that he doesn't see proprietary vendors going away, just moving up the stack as the lower part commoditizes. Here's a good quote from the article:
I do not believe that anything can “replace” Microsoft in the market that MS is right now. Instead, what I think happens is that markets mature, and as they mature and become commoditized, the kind of dominant player like MS just doesn't happen any more. You don't have another dominant player coming in and taking its place — to find a new dominant player you actually have to start looking at a totally different market altogether.
The interview is definitely worth a read.
–jeremy

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LinuxQuestions.org Turns Five

June 18, 2005 2 Comments

Two days ago, LinuxQuestions.org officially turned five. It still amazes me how far we have come in five years. For those of you how have spoken to me about LQ, you know that it's far exceeded my original expectations. We currently have almost 180,000 registered members and over 1,700,000 posts. We have participation from 8 of the top 10 most popular distributions. We're trying to build the largest general Linux knowledgebase on the web (all creative commons license for now, also looking into GFDL). LQ ISO has facilitated almost a million downloads. Our Linux Hardware Compatibility List has over 2,500 entries. We even have our own Linux Radio Show and Podcast. The list goes on and on. Additionally, we have a ton in store for the near future – including both adding enhanced features at existing sites and adding new sites. But most importantly despite our huge size we have managed to maintain a friendly open atmosphere that is conducive to both newbies and experts alike. I'd like to thank the terrific mod team and each and every member for that. They are what make LQ.
–jeremy

Filed under Linux, Main Page, podcast

Former Linux Architect Moves to Microsoft

June 18, 2005 Leave a comment

A little late on this one, but as you have probably heard, Dan Robbins has been hired by Microsoft. One has to wonder if he is a bit bitter. He founded Gentoo and was forced to quite about a year ago for financial reasons. He graciously transfered absolutely everything to a non-profit that he created. The fact that he poured time, energy, blood/sweat/tears and a whole bunch of money into something that he couldn't make work had to hurt a bit. I pour much of the same into LQ and can testify to the fact that making a project financially viable while sticking to your original goals is extremely difficult. Luckily (or maybe nothing to do with luck, I dunno) we have been able to survive so far. Danny is clearly a smart guy that contributed a ton to the community. Surely he'll be missed. I wish him the best wherever he goes (including MSFT), but one does have to wonder how is could have been different. If I have time at some point I'd really like to look into why he wasn't able to make things work. I'd guess there are some valuable lessons there. On a side note, Scoble is having an interesting back and forth discussion about why one would or would not want to work at Microsoft.
–jeremy

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Is Linux For Losers?

June 18, 2005 Leave a comment

An article entitled “Is Linux For Losers?” recently ran in Forbes magazine. Theo really does have a way with people, doesn't he? While he can come off a bit harsh at time, he is often correct. One thing that struck me as odd about the article though was that Theo never said that Linux was for Losers. Looking into the author, Dan Lyons, it seems like he doesn't really care for Linux (or Open Source in general). Seems to me he probably sought out Theo (who he knew he could get some choice quotes from), put a controversial title on the article and bam – instant story. I really don't know how articles like this get published sometimes. One of the choice quotes from the article:
“It's terrible,” De Raadt says. “Everyone is using it, and they don't realize how bad it is. And the Linux people will just stick with it and add to it rather than stepping back and saying, 'This is garbage and we should fix it.'”
The response from Linus is once again all class and composure: “Torvalds, via e-mail, says De Raadt is “difficult” and declined to comment further. “
One final thing I noticed that struck me as funny. The article contains a testimonial from someone who switched from Linux to OpenBSD because of a comment in the code (side note: if you switch your OS because of a comment and not because of the code, that's insane). From the article: You know what I found? Right in the kernel, in the heart of the operating system, I found a developer's comment that said, 'Does this belong here?' “Lok says. “What kind of confidence does that inspire? Right then I knew it was time to switch.”
Guess what. The OpenBSD code contains an identical comment.
–jeremy

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Is Linux For Losers? II

June 17, 2005 1 Comment

One more comment about this article. Here is another quote from the article:
There's also a difference in motivation. “Linux people do what they do because they hate Microsoft. We do what we do because we love Unix,” De Raadt says.
I don't know where this perception came from. I know I don't hate Microsoft and talking to many Open Source people, they don't either. Of course some do, but I don't think it's a majority and you can find some people that hate any corporation that huge. Now, a lot of OSS people do think that Windows is insecure/unstable and that Microsoft has pulled some extremely shady and flat out illegal business practices, but that is not hate. The reality is that Linus didn't start Linux to get away from Microsoft. He started it to have a open and gratis Unix (In this case Minix) clone. Going head to head with Microsoft didn't come until years later and just wasn't part of the culture when the community started to form.
–jeremy

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Why Major Retailers are Taking Baby Penguin Steps with Linux

June 15, 2005 Leave a comment

It looks like Micro Center is not only stocking Linux machines, but are also staffing knowledgeable sales and tech people to go along with them. This is good news and something that is sorely needed. Even better, it looks like large retailers such as Fry's, Best Buy and Walmart are keeping an eye on this. There isn't a Micro Center near me, but I wish them the best of Luck. One thing I don't like about this though is that it seems that Linux is always preinstalled on the cheapest of machines. I think this is one place that being gratis can actually hurt Linux. To the untrained eye it becomes the cheap (and in some peoples eyes therefor crappy) alternative to Windows. You and I know that Linux is a stable and mature OS that is certainly worth as much as Windows from a cost perspective, but perception is reality and I don't think the perception that Linux is a “cheap” version of Windows is a good perception for Linux to have. Once again, education is the answer – but education is expensive and time consuming. Here's hoping that one day soon someone simply starts offering Linux as an additional option to any machine as opposed to just an preload on a couple of cheap machines. Have to crawl before you walk though…
–jeremy

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Free CDs Spread Open Source in India

May 29, 2005 1 Comment

Good to see that the Indian government is distributing free CDs that contain localized versions of popular open-source applications. From the article:

The government has started distributing CDs containing Tamil-language versions of various open-source applications, including the Firefox browser, the OpenOffice.org productivity suite and the Columba e-mail client. It plans to freely distribute 3.5 million copies of the CD to Tamil speakers worldwide
Eventually, the government plans to release CDs in all of the 22 official languages of India. The great thing here from my point of view is that “cost” does not seem to be the main driver for this decision. The ability to modify the code, in this case to do UI changes to suit a different culture and do localizations, was the deciding factor here. The fact that we are seeing more and more Open Source adoption for reasons besides “it's cheaper”, to me means that many Open Source apps are indeed ready for prime time adoption.
–jeremy

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