Linux Extremism: Puts a Hurt on Linux and Nothing Else

by Dietrich Schmitz

I have read the esteemed +Martin Gräßlin's post entitled Fanboys in Free Software and completely agree with his point of view.  It is quite sad that the true innovators are hated with such vilification.

To the point, I share with you today my own experience with Haters.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece entitled The Ubuntu FOSS Community: Merely Chumps on the Outside Looking In.  Now, mind you, most of my regular readership do take what I write in stride and the comments reflect that. (Image credit: nocookie.net)

To have used the word 'chump' is quite appropriate; here's a definition:

chump  

/CHəmp/

Noun A foolish person. An easily deceived person; a sucker.

Synonyms block - log

Now, I really could have done much worse.  But the bluntness of the word is 'effective' in conveying the notion that, however sincere the Ubuntu community members may be, they are really being deceived into thinking that Ubuntu is a 'genuine' community-based Distro.

The point of the article wasn't that they are 'chumps'.  The point was that Ubuntu is being treated by Canonical as though it is community-based, when in fact it isn't.  There's plenty of room for discussion and feel free to go back to the story and respond if you missed reading it.

Anyhow, I wrote several stories about Ubuntu/Canonical, with a follow-on story A Kumbayah Moment: New Ubuntu Community Website.

Okay, I admit, I am kicking dust on somebody's shoes by writing it, but it really smacks of complete insincerety.  A community website for Ubuntu?  C'mon.  I just checked my Drivers License and can confirm, I wasn't born yesterday.

So, needless to say, that story didn't sit well with one commentor by the name of +Michael Hall a volunteer Ubuntu community member.  No one questions, including myself, his loyalty and sincerety, but I chose to call him a 'chump'.  It wasn't meant so much as a mean-spirited personalization, but a reference to the preceding story "The Ubuntu FOSS Community": Merely Chumps on the Outside Looking In".

And in follow-up I wrote yet another story Fedora Community Members are Chumps and so am I that, in my own discovery process, stated I was a chump as well for using Fedora--given that Fedora's charter board includes a Red Hat-appointed Chair which has 'veto' power on any decision made by other members of the Board.  So, that makes me a chump.  And I feel for the most part that most of the Linux community Distros don't operate in a community consensus gathering fashion.  That is the reality that everyone needs to come to terms with.

Okay fine.  With me so far?  And previous to that story, I wrote another story with the suggestion that the Ubuntu community take the Ubuntu code base and fork it.  Why?  Because it would help the community to seize control of decision making which is made by Canonical.  I submitted the idea sincerely and hope it will be done soon, for the sake of Ubuntu, because it's getting derailed by elitist decision making, favoritism, all born of being under one roof under the control of Mark Shuttleworth.

So, you'd think maybe some of the readers would have read in progression to see and connect the dots?  Yes?  Well, the next thing I know someone has decided to erect a website using my name and likeness (photo from this website) and pretending to be me.  

A series of emails were originated by me to the hosting ISP and to the domain issuer to request takedown of the website.  The website fraudulently registered their domain and were forced to re-register but have spent additional dollars to hide their identity.  The website moved from its original hosting website last evening onto the domain issuer's hosting service where they currently have the site erected.

I have sent another email requesting take-down of the site by virtue of their Terms of Service violation.

We'll see where this goes.  But, it is quite emblematic of just how far haters will go to cause harm to others on the Internet for expressing an opinion or having a different idea or approach to doing things.

It's also representative of an ongoing problem with Linux that creates a true image problem.  Fiefdoms, ideological differences impede true innovation.  Extremism is the by-product of hatred.

Robert F. Kennedy wrote this about extremism:

"What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."

That extremism, or, The Linux Inside Stigma has caused Google to completely avoid using any reference to Linux in their marketing of the Chromebook.

So, let this serve to show just how far haters will go--Linux Extremism puts a hurt on Linux and nothing else.

-- Dietrich

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Linux or GNU/Linux: Is the Distinction Worth Preserving?

by +Katherine Noyes

As a young reporter just starting to cover Linux not so very many years ago, I quickly learned that simply calling it “Linux” is a grave mistake in the eyes of some.

“It should be GNU/Linux,” they'd urge. “Linux is just the kernel.”

That distinction was made crystal-clear for me when I had the opportunity to interview none other than Richard Stallman, whose willingness to be interviewed was actually conditional upon LinuxInsider's agreement to use the term “GNU/Linux.” (Image credit: springfieldpc.dyndns.org)

“Linux is just one component of the GNU/Linux system, which is, in turn, just a part of the world of free software,” Stallman told me back then. “You'll have no chance of understanding or explaining anything about the Free World if you don't keep those distinctions straight.”

The Free Software Foundation, of course, provides a very nice explanation of the difference on its site.

Rarely sighted

Fast forward to today, and I still occasionally hear the same argument made. Just the other day, in fact, I was reminded by a reader of the distinction.

Take a quick scan through the Linux media, however – including not just LinuxInsider but also Linux Today, Linux Journal, the Linux Line section at PCWorld, and the site you're reading now, among numerous other publications – and you'll soon get a pretty strong indication that the distinction is rarely upheld.

You won't see it made routinely by the Linux Foundation or on Linux.com, and Linux creator Linus Torvalds himself has reportedly dismissed it.

My question to you, fellow Linux Advocates, is whether it's really still worth making. Personally, I don't think it is.

More than a mouthful

I realize that there are strong historical and philosophical reasons for separating the Linux kernel from the GNU system.

I also realize that it's technically more accurate to call it GNU/Linux.

What I'm also aware of, however, is that few beyond the inner core of free software enthusiasts still adhere to or understand the distinction; to most mainstream users, it's baffling. The term GNU/Linux is klunky and unwieldy in printed text, and even more so when you're speaking.

Meanwhile, as Linux advocates, we all want to promote Linux, and to advance its use over proprietary counterparts – right? We'd like to see Linux covered as much as possible for all its many successes, making clear to the mainstream world that it is now a fully competitive alternative.

Are those goals worth sacrificing in the interests of a linguistic distinction? I'm thinking not.

Connecting the dots

Please make no mistake: I am nothing if not an advocate for Linux and free software in general.

Personally, however, I'd rather see Linux trumpeted on the pages of PCWorld and other mainstream publications as “Linux” than see stories passed by because of the niggling debate over its name, which tends to make editors groan. Personally, I'd rather be able to have a conversation with an SMB about the advantages of “Linux” than have to bog down my speech with the clumsy “GNU/” as well, thereby potentially confusing them.

Realistically, we're lucky if mainstream users and readers today are familiar with Linux, per se; I generally make sure to add the “Linux” name to headlines involving distros such as Ubuntu and Fedora to help them make that connection.

But to add “GNU/” to the conversation? It's unreasonably idealistic, and just doesn't make sense. If we want to advance the use of Linux in the mainstream world, let's leave the history and the deep-seated philosophy for the background.

It won't get lost, I promise; rather, it will still be fully available for those who care. For all others, it will free up the “Linux” term to help us chip away faster at all the many proprietary monopolies in this computing world.

In closing, I offer you this last bit of evidence. Go to Wikipedia.org's home page and search on "GNU/Linux." What do you get? It redirects you to "Linux." That, I think, sums up the prevailing sentiment nicely.

-- Katherine Noyes

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The Low Point – a View from the Valley

By Guest Writer +Jeremy Allison 

The Low Point – a View from the Valley.

”Crossing the Chasm”

A long time ago in a galaxy far away.. I used to compare the LinuxWorld Conference “Golden Penguin Bowl” geeks vs. nerds quiz show. My greatest coup was arranging a “Microsoft vs. Google” grudge match with a team from each company. (Image - Right Credit: Wikipedia)

All credit to the Microsoft team for getting into the spirit of things. Bill Hilf, at the time their head of Windows Server Marketing, came dressed as Star Wars “Darth Vader” with a couple of white-suited Storm Trooper buddies. I was dressed as the “black and white” Star Trek alien character. The Google guys just came in jeans and T-shirts, and proceeded to wipe the floor with the Microsoft Team. “Never mind,” I told Bill, “the third time you compete you'll probably win”, echoing a popular joke about Microsoft's products at the time. But LinuxWorld as a conference ended before they got the chance.

One of the questions I asked still strikes a chord with me though. It was about the current ranking of the worlds fastest super-computers, and which of them ran which operating system. It was a trick question, as none of them ran Windows of course. Over ninety-nine percent of them ran Linux.

Needled by the question, Bill announced, “I'd rather have ninety-nine percent of the desktop than one-hundred percent of the super-computer market” which got him a lot of laughs. At the time he was right of course. Linux at that time was really a server-only operating system, with a very small desktop presence. Windows owned the desktop completely (and still does for that metter). If you've read the Geoffrey Moore book “Crossing the Chasm” you'll recognize Linux was still in the technology enthusiasts stage, yet to make the leap to mainstream acceptance. It was nowhere on the desktop.

Around that time every year was heralded as “the year of the Linux desktop.” Strangely enough, every year still is. At the time I was completely confident that this would eventually occur. “If you haven't used a Linux desktop yet,” I would say, smiling smugly, “just wait. Give it five years, give it ten, you eventually will.”

I'm now not so sure of that claim. But not because Linux hasn't taken off or gotten mainstream acceptance. Because in five to ten years time there just won't be as many people running conventional desktop PC's. The landscape has completely changed. I first noticed this a few years ago, when flying to a conference and looking around the main cabin (I don't get to fly business). There were only two people using a laptop, and both of us were old. Everyone else was using mobile devices, phones or tablets. I think these days I could safely make the prediction “If you haven't used a Linux device yet, within five to ten years you will.”

Are you winning if you own ninety-nine percent of a moribund market ? I don't think so. Linux and Open Source/Free Software has crossed the chasm now. It has become the mainstream. Every Android tablet or phone out there is a Linux and Open Source/Free Software platform, and in the next few years I fully expect this to become the most common form of computing for most people worldwide (disclaimer, I do work for Google so please take such predictions with the pinch of salt they deserve).

For Free Software advocates like myself this is a tremendously positive change. The dirty secret of Samba, my own Free Software project, is that for a while the developers only ever run Windows ourselves in order to test Samba (which is an interoperability solution). Mostly everyone uses a different variety of Free Software desktops and servers (with the odd Mac or Solaris/Illumos user thrown into the mix). The default at least for us has become Free Software.

So have we won ? Should we just pack up the advocacy tent and go home ? Unfortunately not. Most of the applications running on these devices are still proprietary. Most people using mobile devices, although they might be running a Free Software operating system underneath, still don't realize why Free Software is important.

You could argue that Free Software is an exotic subject, that most people just don't care, but I disagree. Everyone understands why having a wide network of car repair shops where you can take any car is important to keep the economics of car maintenance reasonable. But few seem to understand why having the source code of the programs that you run on your computer is important. Most important of all is the freedom to modify and install changed versions as you wish. Even if you can't or don't want to do it yourself, having the source code enables you to go to the Free Software equivalent of the local car mechanic and get the changes you need made.

My hope is that this is a generation gap that will eventually close. A lot of older people know how to work on cars. When I grew up it was common for many car owners to be able to do simple repairs to their own vehicles. A younger generation raised on computers and the Internet should feel the same way about the mobile computing devices they own.

There are some good signs in this direction. The recent “We the People” petition requesting the US government to allow unlocking of cell phones from carrier network restrictions shows that people do understand the restrictions that can be placed on their freedom to use their devices as they wish, and want them removed.

Another positive sign is the backlash against the hideous Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill that would have added restrictions to the Internet, our primary source of communications freedom. The reaction was so strong that even the US Congress ran screaming from the rage of their own constituents.

What I'd love to see is the Internet generation feeling that same sense of outrage when their computer or mobile device tells them some version of “I'm sorry Dave, but I can't let you do that.” Because it doesn't fit the business model of the vendor, or the restriction will somehow make them more money.

The world doesn't have to be that way. Many of us have moved from a proprietary operating system platform onto a free one, now let's push up the application stack and make all the software we depend on Open Source/Free Software. We've crossed the chasm, now let's climb the mountain of proprietary applications that still lies ahead of us.

Just using the software and reporting bugs is very helpful to the developers. We can all help make Free Software programs better for us to share with our friends and neighbors !

Jeremy Allison,
Samba Team.
Cupertino, California.
14th March 2013.

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Advocacy by Highlighting Flaws Found in the Opposition

By Guest Writer Dr. Roy Schesterwitz

Positive advocacy is rarely controversial because it speaks positively of some and negatively of none. But when striving to inform others of better alternatives, it becomes imperative to get their attention without insulting them.

In advocating Linux and other free software projects, it ought not be a taboo to criticise the character of businesses (in the metaphorical sense). People are attached to friends and family, but less so to corporations, unless these corporations pay them a wage. People value people, not brands or code, unless those are their own brands or code, except perhaps in cases of pseudo-kinship and affiliation one conceptualises (marketing professionals know how to develop attachment to brands, including Linux).

There is sometimes a sense of hostility and alienation towards Linux advocates who dare to speak about bad deeds of companies that are acting aggressively, including litigation against Linux. These advocates receive misplaced flak for doing what many others are apprehensive about due to business relationships -- current or prospective -- or perhaps the expectation that seeming 'business-hostile' is counter-productive to one's career.

One must recognise the fact that advocacy which criticises the 'opposition' is not partisanship as long as it is true and consistent. 

We must try to objectively inform people, to challenge out-of-line corporations, to bring a human and humane side to corporations that are otherwise apathetic to human factors, largely unaccountable, and insensitive to the needs of a community if shareholders take charge and those shareholders are not users and/or developers. What distinguishes Linux and other such projects is that stakeholders are mostly users and/or developers, who are sometimes also shareholders. They keep the projects relatively loyal to users and/or developers. That is why so many people love Linux and other free software projects. There is an actual justifiable sense of belonging, control, participation, and -- dare one say -- attachment.

Nobody is immune to criticism and those who are moral have no reason to fear criticism, or even absolute transparency. Rather than criticise critics, we need to listen to their arguments and assess these based on their merits, or lack thereof.

The notion that criticism is by default a "negative" thing is exactly the notion which vicious players want us to embrace. A lot of the time the loudest critics are those whose interests are exactly the same as everyone's, except for a small conspiracy of people at positions of power in corporations which use software to control the users -- a reversal of roles for sure.

The bottom line is, the enemy is not critics within the community; it is often those whom they criticise. It's just not always simple to see it. PR budgets make a tremendous difference.

-- Dr. Roy Schesterwitz

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Freedom on Buses, Computers and Everywhere

Rosa Parks (ca. 1955)
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By +Robert Pogson

Today, I watched the president of the USA speak at the installation of the statue of Rosa Parks. She was an icon of the US movement for civil rights when I was just a child.

He said,

"Whether out of inertia or selfishness, whether out of fear or a simple lack of moral imagination we so often spend our lives as if in a fog, accepting injustice, rationalizing inequity, tolerating the intolerable like the bus driver but also like the passengers on the bus. We see the way things are, children hungry in a land of plenty, entire neighbourhoods ravaged by violence, families hobbled by job-loss or illness and we make excuses for inaction. We say to ourselves that's not my responsibility. There's nothing I can do. Rosa Parks tells us there's always something we can do. She tells us that we all have responsibilities to ourselves and to one another. She reminds us this is how change happens. Not mainly through the exploits of the famous and the powerful but through the countless acts of often anonymous courage and kindness and fellow feeling and responsibility that continually stubbornly expand our conception of justice, our conception of what is possible. Rosa Parks' singular act of disobedience launched a movement. "

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Following The Freedom

By +Robert Pogson

One of the beauties of GNU/Linux is the freedom to change things. A couple of years ago, I converted most of the PCs in my home to GNU/Linux but another family member converted some to Ubuntu GNU/Linux while I used Debian GNU/Linux. At first there wasn't much difference in the user-interface so we got along well enough. Mostly the Ubuntu GNU/Linux systems just ran a browser or a multimedia application so users were interacting with that rather than the OS. Lately, Canonical has been "innovating" a little more than I like and recent versions are a jarring experience for the user of Debian GNU/Linux or that other OS:

• sluggish, jerky performance,
• slow updates,
• windowing widgets in top-left instead of top-right...,
• various problems with audio and video

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The Awesome Power Of GNU/Linux

By Robert Pogson

Modern computing hardware is awesome. GNU/Linux allows you to have it all. Unlike other operating systems which charge extra for the privilege of using your hardware to its fullest capability, GNU/Linux lets you do everything from Day One for $0, no extra charge, nada...

To focus your mind, consider networking your PCs. Lots of people and organizations have a bunch. They are on a network so you can use them all any way you want, right? Who owns the hardware after all? Look at M$'s EULA:

"The software is not licensed to be used as server software or for commercial hosting ­ for example, you may not make the software available for simultaneous use by multiple users over a network."

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Linux Advocates Indiegogo Campaign Kicks Off Today

Support Linux Advocates Campaign

Dear Linux Advocates,

I am happy to announce the kick off of our Indiegogo Support Linux Advocates campaign officially begins today.

I would like to give special thanks to Katherine Noyes, not only for all her help in putting the Campaign together, but for all of her ongoing support of the Linux Advocates website and for believing in me.

The purpose of this campaign is to help defray costs associated with running this website.

Please click the link to see the details.

Funding this campaign will allow me to devote myself full-time to all aspects of operation and projects growing this site's advocacy and scope of visibility around the world.

I truly believe that, with your help, this site can make a real difference advancing Linux and free software throughout the world, making computing and technology-enabled opportunities more accessible to everyone.

Even if you can't contribute, I would be most appreciative if you would share this story with others who you feel may be in a position to make a small donation.

For the sake and Linux, FOSS and freedom, thank you so much for any help you can give!

--Dietrich T. Schmitz, Linux Advocate and Site Owner

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Software To Love

By Robert Pogson

Some software you just have to love. It works well. It's easy to learn. The price is right. You can share it with others and not have to fear a knock at the door. It's Free Software. Love starts with the terms of the licence:

• OK to run the software,
• OK to examine the code,
• OK to modify the code, and
• OK to distribute the code modified or not under the same terms.

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What Feminism has to do with Software Freedom

English: The symbol of meritocracy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Guest Writer: Bruce Byfield 


I'm often asked why I support feminism in free software. Mostly, the question is polite. Sometimes, it is rude and unintentionally comical, describing me as "a neutered male" in need of  an intervention. Others keep silent, except maybe to sigh, obviously thinking it wearily inevitable that someone with a reputation as a free software supporter should go galloping at the windmill of yet another cause. But even then, the question lingers in the air, waiting for an explanation.

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Guest Writer Robert Pogson on Deck

As part of a regular weekly series, Katherine and I will be having Guest Writer appearances on Linux Advocates.

Robert Pogson, Technology Analyst

We are pleased to announce that +Robert Pogson, Technology Analyst, has kindly and graciously accepted an invitation to write and will be making a 'Guest Writer' appearance this coming week.

Robert offers up this short bio about himself:

"Robert Pogson is an old man in his sixth career, retirement. That leaves time for writing about GNU/Linux in his spare time between gardening, hunting, grandfathering, and walking around.

GNU/Linux found him in the Arctic of Canada trying to keep five PCs running for one class at a time in his classroom. That other OS did not work. GNU/Linux did. Since then he has introduced thousands of students and teachers to GNU/Linux and they have enjoyed increased reliability and performance for very little cost.

He has learned about Free Software and sharing. That's the right way to do IT and he doesn't miss an opportunity to tell everyone about it."

Robert Pogson is a regular commentator on +Katherine Noyes' LinuxInsider Linux Blog Safari column.  He also maintains his own blog website providing regular insightful stories covering all manner of  Information Technology related trending topics.

On behalf of Katherine Noyes, myself, and staff, I would like to extend a special thank you to Robert for donating his time to Linux Advocates.  --Dietrich

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