July 30, 2003
Running for it's life, Micro$oft installs Linux
From InformationWeek
Vendor plans to do side-by-side comparisons between Linux and Windows in lab environment.
In an effort to better understand its main source of competition, Microsoft has deployed Linux and other open-source software in a test center that's typically used by its business customers to experiment with Microsoft's own products.
At its Enterprise Engineering Center in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft has installed the Linux operating system, Apache Web server, MySQL database, and Open LDAP directory-access software on Intel-based computers, according to Martin Taylor, the executive who recently assumed responsibility for Microsoft's strategy for competing against Linux.
The project was started in May with an initial goal of determining the effort involved in building the kind of open-source platform that might be found in a typical business environment. "It's an opportunity for learning for us," Taylor says. The goal is to understand "what can you do and how can you do it" using open-source software, he says.
Next, Microsoft plans to create a comparable system using Windows and its own server products to see how Windows and Linux match up side-by-side in a variety of workload scenarios.
The move is the latest in Microsoft's attempt to demonstrate that Windows has both technical and cost advantages over Linux, which has been gaining share in the server market at Microsoft's expense. In a meeting with financial analysts last week, CEO Steve Ballmer argued that Windows' total cost of ownership is lower than Linux's, while chairman Bill Gates claimed Microsoft is better at fixing software problems quickly than the open-source community.
Expect Taylor, a 10-year Microsoft veteran who's been in his new job for just three weeks, to play up the advantages of Microsoft's integrated product line. "The end-to-end scenarios is where things don't work quite as well with Linux," he says.
July 29, 2003
Anger simmers in Baghdad over lack of electricity, crime
From USA Today
BAGHDAD — Bassem Younis felt no remorse when he heard reports that U.S. coalition forces had killed Uday and Qusay Hussein last week during a four-hour siege in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
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Well here's proof, since they are angry over the lack of crime too their now selling guns in the street to kick off a crime wave. Silly ain't it?
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But the Christian shop owner who lives in the Karada district of Baghdad says he doesn't think his life will get any better now that Saddam Hussein's two despotic sons are dead. His skepticism echoes complaints heard throughout the capital.
As he sits inside his sweltering two-story house with his wife, Ikhlas Sibu, and their four children, Younis says the top priority for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq should be restoring basic services — like the electricity needed to cool his house. Since the United States launched the war March 20, air conditioning has been an intermittent luxury. Daytime temperatures have been averaging around 110 F.
"It is not necessary for Uday and Qusay to be dead," Younis says. "We need water and electricity. At night, we have two hours of electricity on and four hours off. It was better before the war."
The U.S. coalition and its chief civil administrator, Paul Bremer, have made restoring electricity a priority. During Bremer's latest trip to Washington last week, he pledged to have power supplies at prewar levels within 60 days.
Iraqis warn that the failure to provide basic services has generated anger and may be helping fuel ongoing attacks against U.S. forces here. "Iraqis want electricity and work," says Mohammed Jassem, an unemployed Sunni electrical engineer. "If I do not have work or a better life, I will attack the Americans. So will many Iraqis."
But getting a constant supply of electricity to Baghdad means overcoming persistent looting and political sabotage and repairing damaged infrastructure. The de facto Iraqi electricity minister, Karim Hassan, admits that getting the power grid working the way it did before the war began is difficult. "We aimed to get to prewar levels by the end of this month," he says. "But the electricity system is fragile."
Hassan puts the current electricity generation figure at 3,200 megawatts, well short of prewar generation levels of 4,400 megawatts. He is cautious about predicting when power levels will increase and become more stable, saying it depends on whether sabotage and looting continue.
The senior U.S. coalition adviser to the electricity commission, Peter Gibson, argues that the average Iraqi gets more electricity today than before the war, except in the capital. "The only reason folks in Baghdad got more (electricity) was because of Saddam," he says. "We are attempting to promote fair treatment for all peoples of Iraq."
On Monday, the U.S. coalition announced a power-sharing program. An official said electricity will be on for three hours and then off for three hours in most cities. The official said efforts would be made to guarantee a 24-hour electricity supply at such strategic sites as hospitals, water plants and oil installations.
Before the war, Baghdad consumed 40% of electricity resources, even though its population represents 20% of the 24 million people. Gibson says Baghdad was receiving 20 to 24 hours of electricity a day while other cities got 8 to 15 hours a day.
Younis and his family members are not used to dealing with the intense summer heat. While they experienced deprivation during Saddam's reign, they had the basics.
"We are suffering," his wife, Ikhlas Sibu, says. "I am sweating all the time. Look at the children. They are suffering in this heat. Yesterday, my oldest son, Phillip, was crying because he has to stay home all the time."
The family's four children, Phillip, Mina, Peter and Mathew, have stayed home since the war began due to safety concerns. "We still have no security," Younis says. "I am a father of four. I think about my children whenever I leave my house. ... People kidnap children and demand money for ransom."
Mina and Peter, ages 10 and 7, sit playing with black toy machine guns as their father speaks. "When I go to my business everyday, I can't take $10 with me," Younis says. "They would kill me on the street for that money. The American soldiers must do more to protect us. They are not doing enough."
He says the lack of security has hurt his business. He sells bottled water, cigarettes, soda and other goods a few blocks from his house. "My work was much better before the war," Younis says.
The U.S. military says it is trying to improve security. The U.S. coalition press center announced Friday that U.S. coalition forces had conducted 19 raids, 1,111 day patrols and 813 night patrols in a 24-hour period in the capital. It said the raids and patrols resulted in 253 arrests including two for murder, 11 for kidnapping, 12 for carjacking, 12 for aggravated assault and 35 for looting.
The U.S. adviser to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, Bernard Kerrick, on Sunday told the Baghdad Interim City Advisory Council conference that the city has 5,000 police officers, down from 17,000 before the war. The former New York City police commissioner said the aim is to build the police force to 65,000-75,000 nationwide.
"We are still waiting for safety," Ikhlas Sibu says. "If the two sons (of Saddam) are really dead, I would feel safe. But I suspect that they are not dead. I want to see their bodies with my own eyes. Anyway, it will not be safe until Saddam is dead. He taught us to be paranoid."
July 28, 2003
Music-Sharing Subpoenas Targets Parents
From Yahoo News
WASHINGTON - Parents, roommates — even grandparents — are being targeted in the music industry's new campaign to track computer users who share songs over the Internet, bringing the threat of expensive lawsuits to more than college kids.
"Within five minutes, if I can get hold of her, this will come to an end," said Gordon Pate of Dana Point, Calif., when told by The Associated Press that a federal subpeona had been issued over his daughter's music downloads. The subpoena required the family's Internet provider to hand over Pate's name and address to lawyers for the recording industry.
Pate, 67, confirmed that his 23-year-old daughter, Leah Pate, had installed file-sharing software using an account cited on the subpoena. But he said his daughter would stop immediately and the family didn't know using such software could result in a stern warning, expensive lawsuit or even criminal prosecution.
"There's no way either us or our daughter would do anything we knew to be illegal," Pate said, promising to remove the software quickly. "I don't think anybody knew this was illegal, just a way to get some music."
The president of the Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites), the trade group for the largest music labels, warned that lawyers will pursue downloaders regardless of personal circumstances because it would deter other Internet users.
"The idea really is not to be selective, to let people know that if they're offering a substantial number of files for others to copy, they are at risk," Cary Sherman said. "It doesn't matter who they are."
Over the coming months this may be the Internet's equivalent of shock and awe, the stunning discovery by music fans across America that copyright lawyers can pierce the presumed anonymity of file-sharing, even for computer users hiding behind clever nicknames such as "hottdude0587" or "bluemonkey13."
In Charleston, W.Va., college student Amy Boggs said she quickly deleted more than 1,400 music files on her computer after the AP told her she was the target of another subpoena. Boggs said she sometimes downloaded dozens of songs on any given day, including ones by Fleetwood Mac, Blondie, Incubus and Busta Rhymes.
Since Boggs used her roommates' Internet account, the roommates' name and address was being turned over to music industry lawyers.
"This scares me so bad I never want to download anything again," said Boggs, who turned 22 on Thursday. "I never thought this would happen. There are millions of people out there doing this."
In homes where parents or grandparents may not closely monitor the family's Internet use, news could be especially surprising. A defendant's liability can depend on their age and whether anyone else knew about the music downloads.
Bob Barnes, a 50-year-old grandfather in Fresno, Calif., and the target of another subpeona, acknowledged sharing "several hundred" music files. He said he used the Internet to download hard-to-find recordings of European artists because he was unsatisfied with modern American artists and grew tired of buying CDs without the chance to listen to them first.
"If you don't like it, you can't take it back," said Barnes, who runs a small video production company with his wife from their three-bedroom home. "You have all your little blonde, blue-eyed clones. There's no originality."
Citing on its subpoenas the numeric Internet addresses of music downloaders, the RIAA has said it can only track users by comparing those addresses against subscriber records held by Internet providers. But the AP used those addresses and other details culled from subpoenas and was able to identify and locate some Internet users who are among the music industry's earliest targets.
Pate was wavering whether to call the RIAA to negotiate a settlement. "Should I call a lawyer?" he wondered.
The RIAA's president wasn't sure what advice to offer because he never imagined downloaders could be identified by name until Internet providers turned over subscriber records.
"It's not a scenario we had truthfully envisaged," Sherman said. "If somebody wants to settle before a lawsuit is filed it would be fine to call us, but it's really not clear how we're going to perceive this."
The RIAA has issued at least 911 subpoenas so far, according to court records. Lawyers have said they expect to file at least several hundred lawsuits within eight weeks, and copyright laws allow for damages of $750 to $150,000 for each song.
The AP tracked targets of subpoenas to neighborhoods in Boston; Chicago; St. Louis; San Francisco; New York and Ann Arbor, Mich.
Outside legal experts urged the music industry to carefully select targets for its earliest lawsuits. Several lawyers said they were doubtful the RIAA ultimately will choose to sue computer users like the Pate family.
"If they end up picking on individuals who are perceived to be grandmothers or junior high students who have only downloaded in isolated incidents, they run the risk of a backlash," said Christopher Caldwell, a lawyer in Los Angeles who works with major studios and the Motion Picture Association of America.
The recording industry said Pate's daughter was offering songs by Billy Idol, Missy Elliot, Duran Duran, Def Leppard and other artists. Pate said that he never personally downloaded music and that he so zealously respects copyrights that he doesn't videotape movies off cable television channels.
Barnes, who used the Napster (news - web sites) service until the music industry shut it down, said he rarely uses file-sharing software these days unless his grandson visits. The RIAA found songs on his computer by Marvin Gaye, Savage Garden, Berlin, the Eagles, Dire Straits and others.
Barnes expressed some concern about a possible lawsuit but was confident that "more likely they will probably come out with a cease and desist order" to stop him sharing music files on the Internet.
"I think they're trying to scare people," Barnes said.
July 27, 2003
I'm back...Sort of
Well folks, I'm back...for a few days. I have to report to Camp Delmar (part of Camp Pendleton, CA) on 5 AUG 2003 for Marine Combat Training. That lasts for 3 weeks. I will then have 3 days of nothing before I must report for my MOS school at Camp Pendleton for 15 weeks. After that, I might be coming home, or I might be staying there until 28 FEB 2004. I honestly don't know! Hopefully I'll come home immediately.
As far as Boot Camp goes. It's hell. Imagine being told how to put soap on your body during a shower. Imagine being counted down while you do this. Imagine doing this with 49 other men in a shower that has 10 shower heads.
Sound fun?
Drilling...for hours. I actually liked that, but at first, it wears your sorry butt out! No joke, drilling for 2 or 3 hrs at a time, just short water breaks. If we were sucking, then it was time for a visit to the pit. Haha! The pit, that's another story all-together.
You get pitted...you jump into a sand pit and are told to push, you sound off "PUSH AYE SIR!" Then they might say push again, or side straddle hops, so on, so forth. You have to sound off with "
Getting dressed is fun...10 secs to get your trousers on, 10 seconds per boot, and 10 seconds for your blouse.
I could go on for hours with this stuff and stories of stuff that happened, but I've things to do, so I'll write more later!
July 25, 2003
You must bow to Microsoft because we did...
Ok, two web sites in two days, and I'm sure it won't stop.
This is what I see when visiting buymusic.com...
Thank you for visiting BuyMusic.com.
In order to take full advantage of BuyMusic.com's offerings you must be on a Windows Operating System using Internet Explorer version 5.0 or higher.
Download Internet Explorer Here.
I say to hell with Microsoft and their cheaply built and over priced software. What really REALLY kills me is Internet Explorer has got to be the worst browser in the world. It's the Least compliant to the internet standards.
Mozilla 1.4 and it's sister browser Netscape 7.1 are far more compliant to the internet standards than IE ever will be. It's a big fat joke, and I'm tired of being part of it. If a company can't see their being Ignorant and making a huge mistake by limiting their profit potential by only accepting the limited amount of IE users out there, then who needs them.
As I sit here writing this in mozilla I wonder how stupid a web master must be to only accept IE connections to their site, It shows a real lack of brain power.
Ah well, such is life. The stupid will reign while the enlightened toil.
July 21, 2003
SCO Escalates Linux Battle
From Internet.com
Laying the ground work to take its battle with Linux directly to Linux customers, SCO Group (Quote, Company Info) said it has received U.S. copyright registrations for its Unix System V source code, just the firepower it needs to pursue copyright violation suits.
Until now, SCO's conflict with Linux, which it claims is an unauthorized derivation of its Unix code, has centered on a breach of contract suit aimed at IBM (Quote, Company Info). But with the copyrights in hand, SCO said using Linux is essentially software piracy, and it is ready to open a new revenue stream by giving Linux users immunity to copyright violations through licensing.
*muddys note*
SCO stands for Microsoft whipping boys!
Steve Balmer and buddies have said for years they were going to take out linux so they didn't have to compete against it. Well this is their back door way, I hope that Balmer and the rest of his butt buddies at SCO remember they don't serve ice water in hell :-P
The company said it plans to offer UnixWare licenses tailored to support run-time, binary use of Linux for all commercial users of Linux based on the 2.4.x and later versions of the Linux kernel. SCO said any commercial Linux customers that purchase the license will be held harmless against past copyright violations and for any future use of Linux in a run-only, binary format.
"Since the year 2001, commercial Linux customers have been purchasing and receiving software that includes misappropriated Unix software owned by SCO," said Chris Sontag, senior vice president and general manager of SCOsource, the company's intellectual property unit. "While using pirated software is copyright infringement, our first choice in helping Linux customers is to give them an option that will not disrupt their IT infrastructures. We intend to provide them with choices to help them run Linux in a legal and fully-paid for way."
The company said Linux's Symmetrical Multi-Processing (SMP) capabilities are a derived from Unix System V and its derivative works (like IBM's AIX).
"For several months, SCO has focused primarily on IBM's alleged Unix contract violations and misappropriation of Unix source code," said Darl McBride, president and CEO of SCO Group. "Today, we're stating that the alleged actions of IBM and others have caused customers to use a tainted product at SCO's expense. With more than 2.4 million Linux servers running our software, and thousands more running Linux every day, we expect SCO to be compensated for the benefits realized by tens of thousands of customers. Though we possess broad legal rights, we plan to use these carefully and judiciously."
SCO said it will begin contacting companies regarding their use of Linux this week, and give them the option of buying a UnixWare license. The company's stock price rocketed up about 15 percent, to $13.75 a share, in mid-morning trading after the licensing plan was unveiled.
SCO's crusade against Linux began with IBM. On March 6, the company sent a letter to IBM Chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano, warning him that IBM had allegedly breached its contract with SCO by contributing portions of its Unix-based AIX code to the open source movement, and by introducing concepts from Project Monterey, a joint effort by SCO and IBM to develop a 64-bit Unix-based operating system for Intel-based processing platforms, into Linux. IBM scrapped Project Monterey in May 2001.
But in the meantime, while maintaining that its problems were with IBM and the alleged violation of its contract, SCO has also been giving customers notice. In May, it sent a letter to some 1,350 companies that use Linux, warning them, "similar to analogous efforts underway in the music industry, we are prepared to take all actions necessary to stop the ongoing violation of our intellectual property or other rights."
It also issued a statement that "Linux is an unauthorized derivative of Unix and that legal liability for the use of Linux may extend to commercial users."
While the case against IBM is still in the initial phases, SCO has already terminated IBM's license for the AIX operating system. IBM maintains the license is perpetual and irrevocable, and continues selling AIX.
July 20, 2003
John Doe Cancelled :-(
In case you watch "reality" tv shows and have no soul. You can skip this.
Ok, thinkers and fans of John Doe. I have discovered that John Doe has indeed been cancelled by Fox. However there is a strong following of the show and there is hope if the community speaks out they could bring it back.
If you enjoyed the show as much as Mrs. Muddy and I did then please sign the petition and or write/email the folks at Fox.
FOX~
Gail Berman-
President, Entertainment
Fox Broadcasting
10201 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Sandy Grushow-President, FOX Television
Fox Broadcasting Company,
P.O. Box 900,
Beverly Hills, CA 90213
E-mail:
stevenm@fox.com
iveyv@fox.com
stevefe@fox.com
Greetings From Parris Island
Hello Everyone! On thursday, July 24th, I'm going to become PFC Greene. I'm on liberty for a couple hours today, and I found the depot library and decided to use it's net access to post! Boot Camp has been tough physically, and mentally, but most of all, emotionally. If you've never been through it, you shouldn't ever say a bad thing about our armed forces because our lives are hell just for you. That's the blunt way to say it! Parris Island is so miserable even the Drill Instructors want off it! haha! Anyhow! I'm going to run! Good luck, and God speed! (BTW, try hopping in a room full of CS gas, it's fun!)
July 19, 2003
2003 Dayton International Air Show
Well the 2003 Dayton Air Show was awesome!
With the Canadian Snow Birds, Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels headlining how could you go wrong? We got there a little late just as the F-117 Stealth Fighter was making it's last couple passes so I didn't get a shot of it. Here are two shots I did get, one a F4U Corsair much like the one Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington flew for the Marine Corp in WWII.
The other shot is a sweet fly by for the Heritage tour of 3 P-51 Mustangs and a F-15C Eagle.
I have over 45 min of digital video as well, but that is going to need some editing. I'll post more later.
-Muddy
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July 18, 2003
Weapons of Mass Destruction have been found and removed
"The U.S. military says it has discovered a mass grave near Mosul, in northern Iraq, which may contain as many as 400 bodies. The remains are believed to be those of Kurdish civilians killed during the Saddam Hussein regime. "
"Military specialists say they have already exhumed the remains of 25 women and children, found buried some three meters below ground. The corpses all had what appeared to be bullet holes in their skulls. "
This was reason enough to remove Saddam from power. We have found over 60 mass graves in the few months since we have been there and all the left can ask is "where are the weapons of mass destruction"?
I say we already found the weapons of mass destruction. We removed him from power and he will not do this anymore. There are also over 500,000 civilians missing since Saddam took power. These numbers are from the NY Post. Research it.
How many more mass graves have we prevented by removing Saddam from power? These were women and children not ENEMY COMBANTANTS. I dont see how some of you can consider yourselves a humanitarian and yet not have wanted to stop this. How dare you. If even one of these bodies were a member of your family you would have wanted to stop it. But since its not all you care about are "Where are the weapons of mass destruction"?
You make me sick
Religion : The Anti-Christ
Homosexuality Issue Threatens to Break Anglicanism in Two
The election last month of an openly gay bishop in the Episcopal diocese of New Hampshire is now threatening to crack open the long-existing fault line over homosexuality in the worldwide Anglican Communion, a global association of churches in 164 countries.
*Muddy's Notes*
In case you ever wondered why I say religion is NOT what God wanted or that he is ok with it. Here is yet another example of Man's religion without God in it.
If everyone calling themselves a believer in the trinity, God, Son and Holy Spirit would break free from all the different "cults" or religions and join together under God instead of their "man made" religions. This would be a much, much better place.
I tell you the truth, all factions who call themselves Christians yet impose their man made rules on top of what God requires are doing more harm to this world than the cults based on false gods.
When Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, the light and no one can get to the father except by me" I don't recall him saying "oh yea and any stupid thing religion makes up after this you have to do that too".
When people realize that religion is man made bullcrap and not of God, that is when the healing on this planet will begin.
If the people who claim to follow Jesus can't even get along, what hope does the world as a whole have?
July 17, 2003
France thanks WWII heroes
The French decide now is a good time to thank all the American WWII Heroes. I wonder why they choose now? No hidden agenda behind it I am sure. Timing is everything.....
July 15, 2003
You think your city does dumb things?
For those of you who think your city or town does dumb things, mine's got yours beat by far.
They planted concrete corn cobs in perfect little rows at the corner of an intersection.
Rising six feet into the air each they loudly scream, look how stupid we can be! w00t!
If you don't believe me, check out the pictures, the sheer scope of this project can only be understood in person, but you'll get an idea of it from the pictures.
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July 14, 2003
Enough of the speech already!
Ok, I've heard this "news" (and I use the term lightly here) far, far, far to much.We all know the government lies to us daily and most are back-stabbing animals. So Why, oh Why are we STILL talking about this one sentence the president put into his state of the union speech?
I'll tell you why...
The reason is quite simple, it's ALL politics. The democrats hate the republicans and visa versa. When one party finds something (even something small and non-important) they take it to their buddies in the press (both sides have their secret outlets) and make it news.
Yea news man, it's just news. No in-fighting here.
Whatever.
I say now is the time to rid this country of the scourge of political parties forever. Make them illegal.
Think about it, we could actually vote on people based on THEM and NOT their parties.
Wow, you mean we would actually see what these so call representatives are worth?
Oh yes my friends, we would see them for what they are.
Fodder.
Our public representatives should be men and women of integrity, not the scum we have had over the last century. I encourage everyone to re-register as an independent and ditch your party.
- muddy
July 13, 2003
Have Digital Camera Will Travel
Well I did it, finally went out and bought a digital camera. After much research and debate I ended up with the Kodak DX6340. Yea it's not super high powered but it's not super expensive either :-P
I've been learning how to use it and have put a couple test pics up.
I'm heading to the Air Show next week so I'll be practicing and posting all week.
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server's back up
Well after not being able to get to my website and do anything on it for two days my webhost has things ironed out now. (i hope)
So I'll be posting more tonight.
July 11, 2003
Police Report: Sausagegate
Remember this: Randall Simon is innocent until proven guilty. Page 2 has received a copy of the complete police report from the incident, so read through the evidence before you declare Simon be sent to jail.
*Muddys Note* this is a funny take on a sad story. The Pittsburgh Pirates Randall Simon decided it would be a good thing to wack one of the sausages in the traditional "sausage" race after the sixth inning with his bat. It was not funny as the poor slob was waxed pretty good knocking him flat on his butt.
July 09, 2003
Administration clears way for direct aid to Palestinian Authority
The Bush administration has cleared the way for $20 million in direct U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority, a step reflecting its support for Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' leadership.
"We stand behind Mr. Abbas and under his leadership we have seen constructive change," State Department deputy spokesman Philip T. Reeker said Wednesday.
After consultation with Congress, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on Tuesday signed a waiver from congressional restrictions that barred direct U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority, which is led by Yasser Arafat. The administration and Congress had accused the Palestinian leader of corruption.
Reeker said that under Abbas and Finance Minister Salam Fayad the U.S. assistance would be used for humanitarian purposes in ways that were open and accountable to the Palestinian people.
The $20 million is part of a $50 million special assistance package approved by Congress. The other $30 million was distributed through U.N. offices, thereby bypassing Arafat.
Overall, the Palestinians are due to receive more than $200 million in U.S. assistance this year.
Armitage's move had the support of Israel and members of Congress, Reeker said. However, the U.S. official said he did not know if there would be additional direct contributions to the Palestinian Authority.
Abbas is caught in a split among the Palestinians on how to deal with Israel. The State Department on Tuesday rallied to his support, with Reeker saying that Abbas held out the promise of "a new day" for the Palestinian people.
For years, the United States has bypassed Arafat and the Palestinian Authority and has assisted Palestinians directly through the United Nations and private groups.
This year, the Palestinians are due to receive $124.5 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development, while the State Department's refugees bureau provides Palestinians with $89 million through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
The European Union and the Arab League have given more than $1 billion directly to Arafat and the Authority this year.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has showered praise on Abbas, calling him the kind of leader the Palestinian people should embrace. Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, traveled to the West Bank in June to invite Abbas to meet with the president in Washington.
No date has been set for a meeting, but the administration's admiration for Abbas reached new heights with the promise of four Palestinian terror groups to suspend attacks on Israelis for three to six months.
The decision to circumvent Arafat in providing aid was based on a slowly developed judgment that he is an inadequate leader and that U.S. assistance was being diverted.
July 05, 2003
Torvalds on SCO suit, Microsoft and his exit from Transmeta
Linus Torvalds is the creator of the Linux operating system, the open source version of Unix that is sweeping through the software world in a direct challenge to Microsoft. He is a technical leader and an outspoken advocate of open source development, which allows software users to develop and modify their own versions of software for free. He spoke candidly with Mercury News staff writer Dean Takahashi about the lawsuit from SCO Group versus IBM (where Big Blue is accused of illegally putting Unix code into Linux), on Microsoft and open source development. He also shed light on his decision to leave chip maker Transmeta for a Linux corporate software consortium, the Open Source Development Lab. Here is an edited transcript:
Q: The SCO Group has sued IBM for illegally contributing Unix code to Linux. Do you believe this episode reveals any vulnerabilities in the open source movement?
A: Not really. Open source software is very visible. That means it's very easy to see if there is something wrong. I think that is a good thing. I think the whole point is that, with the kind of transparency you get with open source, people are a lot less likely to ever have intellectual property issues. I compare it to stealing a car. Do you steal a car in the bright daylight with a lot of people around? Or do you steal a car, go for a joyride at 4 am in the morning when there aren't a lot of people around. With open source, there is a lot of daylight. A lot of people looking at the code. You don't really go around and steal things.
Q: There was some mention of the origins of Linux being murky.
A: There has been a lot of rumor. It's more of an allegation. It's complete crap. Quite the reverse. If you look at murky, it's SCO's allegations that are murky. With Linux code, you can see how it's been developed. You can see who applied patches. You can see when they got applied. It's all in the open.
Q: They were referring to the original creation of Linux.
A: No, it's not an issue. Some of the history might be slightly hard to find, but compared to other projects, it's a lot better documented than any proprietary operating system ever. Most of the stuff that has been on public mailing lists is archived.
Q: How about the history of Unix itself. Is it hard to follow?
A: There was a lawsuit between AT&T and Berkeley. AT&T sued UC Berkeley for copyright infringement because the Berkeley version of Unix was made available openly with the Berkeley license. It took a few years but it was shown that it wasn't Berkeley that stole code from AT&T but it was AT&T that stole code from Berkeley, removed Berkeley copyrights, and they ended up settling out of court. So there is no judge that has said so officially but it was believed that Berkeley had done nothing wrong. This is the same code at issue. In that case, there was a clear genetic continuation. Now SCO is trying to use the same code that already failed a test once and to apply it to something where there isn't the same genetic continuation.
Q: For our readers who don't know the origins of Linux, can you talk about how it was written given the existence of Unix?
A: The origin was all written by me. For the first six months or so I was the only person working on Linux. It took almost a year before there was a major contribution from people outside. It's all original code since day one.
Q: The SCO Group has said that you haven't had the highest respect for intellectual property rights. How do you react to that?
A: That's very normal that you always try to twist the truth in lawsuits. The only part that has been irritating is they make it personal. They are showing my e-mails to the Linux community to the press. They called my approach cavalier because I made a joke in an e-mail. OK. Tough. If they can't take a joke, that's their problem. I think it backfired. Most journalists do have a sense of humor. They didn't mind.
Does it surprise you that Linux is a pawn in a battle between big companies, like IBM and Microsoft?
No. I'm not surprised about lawsuits per se. When there is enough money involved, lawsuits are inevitable. I don't think that's anything strange. To a large degree, and a reason I made it open source in the first place, was I was interested in the technical side, and not the legal and commercial side. It's not a pawn that somebody takes over. That's one of the points. I find it interesting that people have used it in different ways that I didn't envision and also that they're raising issues that I don't care about.
Q: What do you care about?
A: I still care about the technology and the community. The people putting it together. And I do care about if someone has actually copied stuff into Linux that they don't have rights to, I'd be upset about that. I care about software rights. Right now I'm taking a leave. From what it looks like, as long as it is contract rights between SCO and IBM, I don't care at all. IBM can defend themselves. And if IBM ends up having to say OK we did something bad, it's not my problem.
Q: Microsoft took out a license from SCO. Do you think that was necessary and that the timing seemed strange?
A: It's not exactly clear what they licensed. Most people see it as a PR move. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I'm not a lawyer.
Q: Do you worry now that, regardless of who wins the lawsuit, that it will do some damage to the adoption of Linux?
A: What I worry most about is these things tend to drag out. If somebody were to show this is what a judge thinks about this case, I'm fairly confident that Linux is OK. I worry that it will drag out forever.
Q: Can you tell us how Linux evolves?
A: It all boils down to hundreds of different groups. A group can be a huge company that has an agenda. Or it can mean one person at a university working on a research project. They have their own thing they want to fix. All of these people make their modifications, and not all of them are accepted. I see it as a kind of ecosystem. You have survival of the fittest. Some changes work better. Sometimes it is for purely technical reasons. It's just the right thing to do. Sometimes it is for personality reasons. Some people who push their changes are more likely to get things done because they are nicer about it. It's not really centralized. I am at the center, but I don't direct any teams. All these people are trying to pull me in different directions. Some groups pull together in the same direction. It's a very dynamic situation.
Q: Do you think it works well that you have the final say?
A: I think it works well because I don't have the final say. I have this final say in my tree. It is special in that a lot of people trust my tree. So some people will not use it if it is not my tree. That is a minority. But most people end up using various appendages. My tree is really not. Yes I have the final say on my tree. There is always this forking but there is always this joining. There is more forking than there is joining. But that just means that there are all these dead branches that not end up not being interesting. My branch is to some degree, you could think of it as the trunk of the tree. People try to join back into my tree.
Q: Competitively, do you think this controlled chaos works against a company like Microsoft?
A: I think it ultimately the only way to do software. I have arguments why. The main one is the complexity issue. It's very hard for someone who doesn't work like this to keep control of an increasingly complex source base and increasingly complex user base. If you try to control the process too much, you can go straight to the end point where you want to go. That works well if you know where the end point is. If you don't know where it is and you can't control where people want to use your software, it's a very bad thing to have one branch that is very concentrated on one line of development. The best analogy is biological diversity. You have the Linux approach that is fairly diverse and all over the map. Maybe it is not very efficient. But it works very well in the face of complexity and changing circumstances. Changing circumstances will really show that part of that diversity really works. Biology on the other extreme is a very mono culture, which works very well as long as the circumstances stay the same. To some degree they are seen as very efficient and they can live on for a long time. A perfect case in genetics is sharks. They are very stable but they also don't evolve anymore. That works, but if you want to go past a certain point, it's a problem.
Q: That's what Bill Gates is.
A: That's a fairly good analogy but sharks is a bad word. I should make up another example. Turtles! Turtles are very stable and have been around forever. But they have problems adapting. When humans came along, turtles came under serious threat. The Dodo too. Biodiversity is good and I think it is good in technology as well. If you look at a lot of stable things, you have a certain amount of biodiversity. Look at cars. The U.S. car industry was sloppy. There wasn't a lot of biodiversity. There no real competition from true diverse species. The Japanese came in and provided new diversity for the market. It was a huge boon for the car industry, though not so good for certain countries. Cars started improving.
Q: If you look at how Microsoft is now struggling to deal with Linux, what do you think?
A: They are not in trouble. I think they are struggling to deal with Linux partly because Linux is undermining them the same way they undercut their competition. If you look at DOS, or maybe compilers, one thing that happened with Microsoft was that these small upstarts came out and had cheaper compilers. DOS was also cheap and it undercut the competition. They never had a competitor like themselves. Then comes somebody who undercuts them and they start acting exactly how all of their competitors acted. If you look at how Unix vendors acted toward Microsoft, they were belittling Microsoft. They were saying yes we're more expensive but we're better and we give better support. Whether that was true or not was not the point. The reaction to somebody coming in and undercutting you is for Microsoft exactly the same as the failure mode for their competitors. Microsoft is on the receiving end of this undercutting.
Q: You have left Transmeta (the Santa Clara maker of low-power microprocessors) where you worked for six years. Now you've joined the Open Source Development Lab (which is creating a version of Linux for corporations). Can you explain why you took the leave of absence?
A: It's a number of reasons. One was for the last six months I was spending a lot of time working on the next 2.6 release of Linux. We're getting close. But I expect it to take a few more months at least. This happened before with other releases. I don't like doing releases but we have to do them. Before releases you get into a painful mode. Transmeta has been very good to me. This time I felt I'd have a hard time bouncing back to the Transmeta work. I was feeling more guilty about that. I talked to a lot of people there. They knew how I worked. The OSDL thing came along. I asked about that position when I decided I needed to leave. It was a neutral place. I need to concentrate on Linux. Why not let somebody pay me for that? I can't go to a Linux vendor like Red Hat because I would no longer be seen as neutral.
Q: With Transmeta, their plan didn't work out as expected. Did that affect your decision to leave them?
A: A lot of companies share that problem. I don't know. What made it easier to leave now was that it seems to have stabilized lately. We didn't have the panic problems we had. That made it easier and I didn't feel like I was a rat leaving a sinking ship. The fact that it didn't worked out affected a lot of my co-workers more than it did me. I ended up being able to cash in on my dream. It happened in a strange way. But I got my house in the area. In that sense it didn't affect me. Because the Transmeta dream didn't work out, it has less resources to do fundamental research. It has to concentrate on the customers and the products. For me, because I'm interested in the crazy stuff, that made Transmeta maybe not as fun as it was five or six years ago. Five or six years ago we did stuff at Transmeta that universities didn't do. We did fundamental research. That made Transmeta a very special place.
Q: You want to concentrate on going after one monopoly at a time?
A: (Laughs). I never saw Intel as a monopoly. It has competition. To me personally, Intel has always had a healthier position. A lot of people thought, yeah, he's always going after the big guys. That wasn't the point of being at Transmeta. I want to do something that is relevant, and if it is relevant there is always somebody else out there.
Q: Do you see any boundaries for Linux? Do you want to go after Wind River and other companies in the embedded software space?
A: That is a traditional company question. If you're a company, you want to go after certain markets. The point of open source is there is no such thing as certain markets you go after. It's more like certain companies use Linux to go after a market. The embedded space has been very receptive to Linux. It's not like Wind River doesn't exist, but Linux is growing.
Q: Did it surprise you that IBM, this big giant company, embraced Linux?
A: I always thought IBM was interesting. Early on in 1998 and 1999, a lot of people were going through the motions of embracing Linux. They would mention it in a press release. But IBM always followed through. Because I was never interested in the commercial market, I never found fault with how people used Linux there. I enjoyed that IBM started porting Linux to the S390, found that hugely amusing. I thought, OK, somebody has done a few too many drugs. But it ended up being a master stroke. The people who started it just did it because they found it interesting. It ended up working out really well.
Q: You mentioned you wanted to end up at a neutral space. Do you feel like a religious leader? Or what kind of leader do you see yourself as?
A: I try to avoid that. I think I've been fairly successful. Some of the free software people don't like how I'm not very religious. I try to be pragmatic. People know that. At the same time I have a very high profile and because people trust me and want to continue to trust me and I want people to trust me, I want to make sure that there is nothing that has the appearance of being bad. Going to work for a specific Linux company would, even if I work the way I've always worked, it would still look like I was favoring one vendor over another. You can't avoid it in the environment we're in.. I want to make sure everyone sees that I'm neutral. They may disagree with me and quite often they do. But at least they know I'm not working for the competition. I may not care about their viewpoint, but they know I do it for my own personal reasons. That makes people a lot more accepting. That makes it easier for me to make decisions. People will accept those decisions more if they understand they are my personal decisions and not because I am trying to screw them over as a competitor. It gives me more authority. That's the only authority I have. I don't have legal rights. I have one special right since I started Linux as the owner of the collective copyright. From a license standpoint I don't have any special rights.
Q: What about cashing in on Linux? Where do you stand on where it is appropriate for you to make money from Linux?
A: I'm cashing in in the sense that I have a good salary. I did get stock options and I accepted them when there were no strings attached. In the good old days there were a few Linux companies that gave me stock options as a thank-you. Nobody thought they would be worth that much when they gave them to me. I bought a house in this area so they were worth a lot. I'm doing OK. I'm not a Larry Ellison. There only needs to be one.
Q: You moved from Finland. How do you like living in Silicon Valley.
A: Some parts I love. I have a convertible. I will never ever move to a place where I can't drive a convertible. I like the dynamics. Sometimes it's sad how you go into a random restaurant and all the tables around you talk about technology. At the same time, it is nice to be where you understand the people. Genetically maybe not very homogenous. But perspective wise, it's a nice place to be. It's too crowded. It's too expensive.
Q: And what about the bust?
A: Everybody was expecting it. Everybody was calling it a bubble. The people who now complain about it. They didn't complain two years ago. What I think is sad is the people who came here two years ago, just as the bust was starting, had jobs for not very long, got laid off, and had to move back. They changed their lives. That's nasty. I remember it took me four years to get a green card. The people who came in at the wrong time, they had to go back. The social issues there are huge.
Q: Any irony that you might be deposed by (SCO counsel) David Boies, who led the case against Micosoft?
A: I was a bit surprised. I realize that David Boies wasn't against Microsoft. It's that he likes high-profile cases against big companies. That's what he specializes in. In that sense, SCO vs IBM makes sense. It's a nice twist but it doesn't mean anything.
July 01, 2003
I Laughed, I cried and it's still going.
In case any of my regular visitors have not noticed, the stuck up europeans (notice it's not capitalized) have been saying so many bad and what I thought were untrue things about Americans. Well, sad to say we are proving them right. Yes you my fine American brothers and sisters. I recall the words of that famous American who said, give us your poor, your weak your ... phone numbers????
Yes!, you heard right. Americans are flocking to Muddysmind.com to give me their Phone Numbers!
Why?
Well it's simple really. I posted a little blurb about the new donotcall.gov web site and linked directly to it for my readers convenience. However some mindless twit decided it would be a great idea to NOT read what I wrote and asked me to remove his phone number from telemarketers lists.
How can I do that?
Good question.
Now that one phone number has turned into 30 or even 40 by now. I'm amazed at the insight the europeans had. I must know capitulate (learned that from the french) and admit we're dumb.
I'm thinking of selling these wonderful new phone numbers I did not ask for and make a little cash to help keep this site running.
What do you think I should do with them?
The origional article is here