How Google uses Linux kernel

For the note: http://lwn.net/Articles/357658/

Graphical vi Cheat Sheet and Tutorial

Finally I've found it again! It's here:
http://www.viemu.com/a_vi_vim_graphical_cheat_sheet_tutorial.html

Well, actually, it's quite easy to find if one knows what to ask google about.

And I really like those pictures, they come as lessons (see below) and they finish with a final cheat sheet, ready for printing.

Lessons:

1.   2.   3.   4.

5.   6.   7.

Result (all lessons in one page):

Boycott Novell - Champion of freedom or den of paranoia?

Observations about Boycott Novell:

http://www.linux.com/feature/151215

Free and open source system first, usability and ease of use next

PJ from Groklaw commented on the Ubuntu Bug #269656:

[In reply to Mark Shuttleworth]
I acknowledge your amazing skill and energy at mobilizing and spreading acceptance of GNU/Linux on the desktop. And part of that skill is your ability to figure out what makes it accessible to grannie too.
[...]
The only caution I feel is this: the first goal is to provide a free and open source system. After that comes usability, ease of use, convenience, protection of users, etc.

To which Mark replied:

Yes, I agree. It's that feeling of being part of something profoundly
different, and liberating, that makes us tick. And the "make users life
easier" theme is a very slippery slope, that can be used to justify the
whole shebang - Skype, Flash, you name it. Walking the fine line between
selling out and actively furthering the cause of free software through
some pragmatism is possibly the toughest thing we do [...]

Now that's something, really really something. PJ just summed it up so very nicely. For all the whiners that are uncomfortable with Linux there is an answer: "the first goal is to provide a free and open source system". Even if some Linux distro is not as polished as one might want it to be, it is a free system, dammit! It it wasn't you wouldn't have a thing to complain about!!! And if there's something to complain, then it's most probably the famous "itch to scratch". Then better yet, instead of complaining just scratch it, *DO* something to improve the situation. Submit a bug report, a translation, a patch if you're skilled enough... Act, don't complain. Do as others do: cooperate.

Then again, if you still only want to complain, mind this: "talk is cheap". And if you insist on complaining, you're most probably a green, ugly, internet troll - move on somewhere else.

Mule and real open-source ESB

Set of links:
* http://www.keith-chapman.org/2008/06/is-mule-really-open-source.html
* http://sanjiva.weerawarana.org/2008/06/mulesource-giving-up-on-open-source.html
* ESB | WSO2 - http://wso2.com/welcome/esb/

How open source has influenced Windows Server 2008

http://port25.technet.com/archive/2008/02/27/opening-windows-server-2008.aspx

Book: Autotools - a practitioner's guide to Autoconf, Automake and Libtool

A nice and interesting thing to read:

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/books/autotools_a_guide_to_autoconf_automake_libtool

Interview to OpenBSD project leader Theo de Raadt

YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9fQa00CB9U

Shuttleworth Acknowledges Ubuntu’s Debt to Debian

http://practical-tech.com/operating-system/shuttleworth-acknowledges-ubuntus-debt-to-debian/

Tools for comparing/synchronizning directories

Komparator
http://sourceforge.net/projects/komparator
http://polishlinux.org/kde/komparator-a-comparing-tool-for-kde/

Meld
http://meld.sourceforge.net/index.html

Unison
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/

Kdiff3
http://kdiff3.sourceforge.net/

GTK+ 3.0 - predictions and plans

GTK+ 3.0: Getting serious
http://federkiel.wordpress.com/2008/03/12/gtk-30-getting-serious/

Reinventing GTK: envisioning the future of the toolkit
http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/reinventing-gtk.ars

Shame for Creative...

I have been a happy user of Creative Sound Blaster Live! Value card for a long while. I bought it in the Windows Me era, and it worked great there. In Windows 2000 the Creative software did not provide the full experience I had on Windows 98/Me. In Windows XP the card just goes with the drivers and no additional software is fully installed. So, I really experienced the gradual removal of features for an older product. And now for Vista, the current Creative drivers are really bad. So bashing a person for taking incentive in his own hands is even more bad from the PR point of view. Looks like the Creative will never learn how to live in the open source world... Since in that case the code would be already accessible, modifiable and redistributable. And the overall word for the Creative products would be even better. But they don't really want to do that.

In short: no more Creative sound cards for me for a good while. That's sure :(

http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&thread.id=116332&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/174096756/m/896004731931/p/1

Real men don't attack straw men

For the historical record:

https://www.mail-archive.com/misc@openbsd.org/msg53996.html


In short: Richard Stallman, the GNU creator, says in his own particular idiom on the openbsd-misc mailing list that he "doesn't recommend OpenBSD". Because of his style of writing and resulting understatements people tend to treat his opinions literally, and attack him. During the following storm-o'words (aka flamewar) interesting things are being said.

In the end I've lost a great deal of respect for the original poster. This is one of the moments after which I realize that I've grown up a little more.


If/when I find time to read the story again I'm going to add quotes along with the links. Here's one for start:

The GNU Project campaigns to give software users these four essential freedoms:

Freedom 0: the freedom to run the program as you wish.
Freedom 1: the freedom to study the source code and change it so it does what you wish.
Freedom 2: the freedom to distribute exact copies to others when you wish.
Freedom 3: the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others when you wish.

https://www.mail-archive.com/misc@openbsd.org/msg54011.html

Also worth reading:
http://blue-gnu.biz/content/dealing_contentious_kernel_blobs#comment-248
http://blue-gnu.biz/content/dealing_contentious_kernel_blobs#comment-249

EDIT: Fixed two of four broken links.
http://www.sigmasoft.com/~openbsd/archives/html/openbsd-misc/2007-12/msg00681.html
http://www.sigmasoft.com/~openbsd/archives/html/openbsd-misc/2007-12/msg01543.html

Chris Travers, Installing Apache 2.2 with SSL/TLS on Windows

http://port25.technet.com/videos/images/TechnicalAnalysisInstallingApacheonWindo_C21A/InstallingApacheonWindows.pdf