Linux Is 20 Years Old Today! Thanks Linus!!

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/

It all started with this simple and humble message. Now imagine the same message from Steve Jobs or Bill gates :)

From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds)

Newsgroups: comp.os.minix

Subject: What would you like to see most in minix?

Summary: small poll for my new operating system

Message-ID: <1991Aug25.205708.9541@klaava.Helsinki.FI>

Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT

Organization: University of Helsinki

Hello everybody out there using minix -

I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and

professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing

since april, and is starting to get ready. I’d like any feedback on

things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat

(same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons)

among other things).

I’ve currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work.

This implies that I’ll get something practical within a few months, and

I’d like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions

are welcome, but I won’t promise I’ll implement them :-)

Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)

PS. Yes – it’s free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs.

It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never

will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that’s all I have :-(.

Linux.org @ Archive.org

Patents Nightmares, Sometimes There Are Good Dreams!

Today I was reading about M$, Apple and others attempt to thwart Android, not with innovation but by acquiring patents and suing the manufactures of Android phones, as much as $15 per device.

Then I read about the Novel Patent portfolio saga (old news actually), how the CPTN, (M$ + Oracle +Apple + EMC) which was a cover company for those big boys who was hell bent on getting to patents and sharing among the four of them, changed agreements to address the concerns of DOJ. If the patents were to be shared by these four companies, Linux had no where to go but underground. Thanks DOJ;

In order to address competition concerns of the department, CPTN and its owners have revised their agreements to provide that:

· Microsoft will sell back to Attachmate all of the Novell patents that Microsoft would have otherwise acquired, but will continue to receive a license for the use of those patents, the patents acquired by the other three participants and any patents retained by Novell;

· EMC will not acquire 33 Novell patents and patent applications that have been identified as related to virtualization software;

· All of the Novell patents will be acquired subject to the GNU General Public License, Version 2, a widely adopted open-source license, and the Open Invention Network (OIN) License, a significant license for the Linux System;

· CPTN does not have the right to limit which of the patents, if any, are available under the OIN license; and

· Neither CPTN nor its owners will make any statement or take any action with the purpose of influencing or encouraging either Novell or Attachmate to modify which of the patents are available under the OIN license.

Department of Justice :

Official Google Blog: When patents attack Android

Eclipse (Most Open), Android (Most Closed) Open Projects, Vision Mobile!

Eclipse (Most Open), Android (Most Closed) Open Projects, Vision Mobile! http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Looks like the project I am spending most time with these days (Android) and the tool I am using to work on the projects (Eclipse) have ended up in opposite ends of openness scale, according to a EU funded project. Finding this news just after learning about Mozilla org's B3G, Boot to Gecko project, confuses me greatly. Yet I think Android is much better than those 100% closed projects such as iOS and Windows phone 7.
The recently published Open Governance Index, by Vision Mobile, a study which was partly funded by webinos, an EU-funded project working on a platform for web applications across mobile, PC, home media (TV) and in-car devices.
The report is available for download free of charge and examines;

• Open source cultural roots and working upstream vs downstream
• Open source licenses vs governance models
• Analysis and classification of governance models
• In-depth reviews of Android, Qt, Symbian, MeeGo, Mozilla, WebKit, Linux and Eclipse
• Best practices in creating an open source project

LINUX Masih Sedikit Digunakan

Linux meski telah terus berkembang sebagai software sistem operasi
alternatif yang dapat kita peroleh secara gratis, namun sistem operasi Linux
ini masih mengalami diskriminasi. Masyarakat pengguna komputer tak kunjung
mengetahui potensinya karena media massa, misalnya, tidak meletakkan Linux sebagai
bahasan dibanding, misalnya, perangkat setiap saat ditayangkan. Padahal, Linux
sudah berkembang amat maju dan memecahkan banyak kendala atas kebutuhan sistem
operasi yang murah, bahkan gratis, mudah, dan produktif.

Hal itu ditegaskan praktisi Linux, aktivis Komunitas
Linux Arek Malang (Kolam) Jawa Timur, Dandy Prasetya Adi, Minggu (29/5/2011) di
Malang. Media massa tidak dapat dijadikan ukuran kemajuan pengembangan
perangkat lunak karena perangkat lunak itu sendiri, apalagi Linux sebagai
perangkat lunak sistem operasi, tidak mendapatkan porsi liputan memadai.

Sementara sebenarnya, dengan kemajuan yang dialami Linux,
termasuk Linux versi Indonesia yang sudah amat maju bernama Blank-on, atau
boleh disebut Linux Blangkon, konsumen komputer sudah dapat menikmati harga
komputer yang lebih murah, tanpa perlu khawatir dengan ancaman hukum penggunaan
perangkat lunak bajakan.

Ketua Komunitas Linux Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN)
Malang Fajar Rizqi Saputra mengatakan, Blank-On telah secara resmi digunakan
pada komputer di kantor-kantor Pemerintah Kabupaten Malang. Sebanyak 400
komputer di lingkungan dinas dan instansi Pemkab Malang telah diimigrasikan
dari Windows ke Linux distro Blank-on.  

"Alasannya sederhana, karena sistem operasi Windows
mahal. Biaya akan bertambah jika menggunakan perangkat lunak pengolah kegiatan
perkantoran seperti Word, Excell, dan lain-lain. Untuk sebuah komputer
diperlukan biaya hingga jutaan rupiah. Bakal memerlukan anggaran sangat besar
jika harus membiayai 400 komputer," katanya.

Saat ini nyaris sebagian besar perangkat lunak untuk
kegiatan produktif sudah tersedia padanannya dalam sistem operasi Linux.
Misalnya MS Office pada Windows dengan Open Office pada Linux, Photoshop pada
OS Windows dengan GIMP pada Linux. Ada banyak sekali perangkat lunak yang sudah
ada alternatifnya. Menurut Putera, kampanye Linux ini masih harus terus
didorong demi memandirikan pengguna komputer dan TI (teknologi informasi).

Di Indonesia, penindakan hukum terhadap kegiatan
pembajakan perangkat lunak berbayar masih amat rendah sehingga konsumen
komputer masih memutuskan menggunakan perangkat lunak bajakan. Ini menjadikan
secara nasional negara dirugikan karena Indonesia tak kunjung lepas dari
statusnya sebagai lokasi suburnya pembajakan. Padahal, dengan Linux
sesungguhnya sudah ada jawaban.

Sumber : http://tekno.kompas.com/read/2011/05/29/16181179/Linux.Masih.Dianaktirikan

Gambar : google.com