Free Software, Open Source and Microsoft

With a daily 2h commute, I have become an avid listener of podcasts. I mostly listen to those from the Twit network but I also like to listen to Lugradio, the U-turn cafe, BSD talk, etc...

I was just listening to the season 3 episode 23 of Lugradio, and the 4 guys talked about how they were surprised about their experience at Microsoft and how they had a hard time explaining the whole Open Source Idea to them. (Even though they seem to get the difference between Free Software and Open Source)

In my mind, it is very clear why they don't get it. Microsoft has a hard time understand Open Source (and an even harder time understanding Free Software) because they only think in terms of money, price, or value. They view software as a product, like a physical product, that you build and sell. And since they built not just a single product but an entire platform, they have a hard time understanding things outside of that model.

The FLOSS approach (especially Free Software) see software as information. Information wants to be free, thus it easier to simply accept that fact and distribute the source. And once it's out there, it's hard to make it disappear. Information them to see censoring as damage and tends to route around it. And the more popular the information is the faster and further it will travel.
It doesn't mean it cannot be sold: we buy books don't we? Aren't those simply information? What we actually pay for is the service, the easy access to a very portable and reliable form.

So explaining that to Microsoft, is like trying to explain to a book store owner what is library and how it works . He might never get it, and might even try to competition the library thinking it is his primary competition.

Microsoft cannot kill, or buy, or destroy in any way an open source project as long as there is still source available somewhere. Maybe, someday they will understand and start cooperating instead or trying to stop it...

HTPC / PVR

I found for a solution for my 'MAME arcade tv box' when I realized that MythTV hd an arcade plug-in.

For those who don't know what MythTV is, it is an application that runs on Linux and turns a computer into a PVR or HTPC. IT also include plug-ins for news, wheather, Image viewing, CD ripping, mp3 management, DVD management, even a phone plugin for SIP.

I searched the web for info, and found a couple of guides, as well as forums on the topic. From complete reviews to simple technical guide for Ubuntu, to a LiveCD, I can't wait to try and set it up... If I can find the time that is... or a spare box...

moving in

First of all: my new apartment is almost ready : Painting done, appliances delivered, Internet, phone and cable Working, Ikea Furniture built... Only my bed is missing and I can start to move in...

A big thanks to my friends and family! I was able to take the day off Sunday, and enjoy a couple of hours rollerblading. (While everyone else was watching the 2006 Mundial)

I'll be sure the reward the hard work...

Cool hardware projets to do this summer

I wish I had more time.

I have a growing list of personal projects which I can't find time to do...

I have a friend who built a mame arcade cabinet. While I find this very cool, I don't have the space for such a big cabinet. It still gave me an interesting idea: a complete home entertainment box, kind of like an Xbox or Playstation, but on the oldies side with MAME, NES or SNES Emulator (with hard-to-find legal roms) along with DVD and MP3 playback capability. While it's possible on the technical side of things, I really doubt I could easily decrypt DVD for playback... Still a Mame/Nesticle emulator on a tv set might be cool...

The second project I'm thinking of building is an Asterisk box. While it may not be very useful, have separate mailbox for each house occupant is very appealing.It might also be very interesting to combine this box with qpage and send a message to my phone each time the home network has problems. (or via Email-to-SMS bridge)

of course I have other ideas like:

• the traditionnal linksys wifi router hack to add QoS


• an all purpose listening post using special radio hardware and Gnu radio


• an open wifi mapper using a laptop, Ubuntu, a GPS and Google Maps/Google Earth


• even modify my motherboard ans install my own linux based BIOS

And thus I wish I had time...

What is Dating these days?

Dating, in my opinion, is not what is used to be...

Dating, in my mind, represent the method by which one can find a life partner. The basic idea is to meet people to find the perfect match. Thus, to meet as many people as possible maximizes the possibilities of finding the right person.

Before there was community gathering, bars, clubs, friends of friends, etc. Concepts relying on random chance or on shared interests.

But that all changed with the Internet. And cellphones. And an ever changing society.

Since don't have time anymore, we can't be bothered by the old way anymore. We also can't just leave it to chance anymore.

With the Internet came easier access to communication. With Cellphones came convenience of anywhere, anytime, as well as proximity.

The famous pickup lines was all about ice breaking, about establishing a communication medium. It was about creating a context into which you were not a stranger anymore. The new technologies are the pickup lines. The new medium by which communication is established is the change of context. You don't have to break the ice anymore, the system does it for you. It also changes the dynamics of meetings, as it creates a medium where women are more confident and contact men as often as men contact women.

are things getting better or worse? or just different?

MMORPGs, the list

I am searching. Searching for a good game I could play online with friends. We can always play the usual UT2004, or Freelancer, or Starcraft, or whatever, but it's a sort of repetitive experience.

I want to find something persistent... Some universe we can go back to... Some form of building up with competition and cooperation that never really ends...

I'm thinking of getting my own Baren Realms Elite game server! (Ha! the good old times...) But since the new craze is all about MMORPGs, I decided to have a quick look at those, and here is a list of what I found interesting (sources here and here:

• Shattered Galaxy - This is an older one in my mind because it's one of the first I played (back in 2002). Still a good game, and a rare breed of MMORPG with RTS (in other words, MMORTS). This game is free, but non-paying character suffer penalties.


• Guild Wars, another free-to-play game. You only pay the initial price of acquiring the game. I might try this one has it seems to be casual-gamer-friendly.


• Planeshift yet another free game, but this only is still in beta. This one is special, as the game engine is GPL, meaning you only will pay for things like artistic content and server access (once the game is finished)... Interesting title to say the least.


• MapleStory - Free 2D anime-like cartoon game. No comments.


• EVE Online - I could be considered a fan of this game. I played the 14 day trial, and liked it very much, but saw little incentive to pay for the game (considering I was unemployed at the time). I liked the huge skill tree that permit one to survive mostly on trading, or on mining, or fighting, etc. I also liked how you could, in theory, be a more casual gamer and only play a couple of minutes each day. (of course it always turned into an hour or two, but on some occasions, I only logged in, changed skill, and logged out.) The big downside to this game, is the fact that you aren't the pilot, the computer is: you tell it what to do, but it's more homeworld-like than space-sim, in that regard.


• Jumpgate - an older Space-based MMO. The graphic looked dated by todays standard, but I don't know about the gameplay.


• Rise - I could find little information on this game, but it seems a bit like Planetside, in which you have to fight for a planet.


• Darkspace - Space-based MMORTS.


• Vendetta Online - now this one seems interesting. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks promising. A real space sim with the story somewhere between EVE and freelancer.


• Infinity - Now there's a very interesting game. Problem is, it's not out yet... not for at least another year.

Interesting articles and thoughts

Here is a couple of random thoughts for today.

it's been a long week since I last posted, and I wanted to give a idea, kind of a roundup, of what i've been thinking all week.

First of all, there is a couple of interesting thought provoking articles that exist on the Internet, and I stumbled across one today. It's a speech from 2 years ago, on why DRM is bad. Bottom line: DRM can never be designed to be uncrackable, and it's not what consumers want. Corporation should try to find new markets instead of trying to fight the new technologies.

And while we are on the subject of thought provoking articles, here is a small list of those I found interesting enough to keep:

• Microsoft Research DRM talk by Cory Doctorow, the article I just mentioned


• "Free Culture" by Lawrence Lessig - An electronic book about the reasoning of copyright law, and how the idea behind it is loss to the modern world.


• "Cargo Cult Science" by Richard Feynman - A critic of modern scientific integrity by a well known Nobel prize American physicist.


• Space Shuttle Challenger Accident Report, Appendix F - Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle, again, by Richard Feynman. "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."


• "The Mathematics of Monkeys and Shakespeare" - A Short look at the classic problem behind making Hamlet with an infinite numbers of monkey.


• The Six Dumbest Ideas in Computer Security - Title says it all...


• Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments - An ignobel winner , tell why some individuals are incompetent and will stay that way because they can't see that they are wrong.


• The Problem With Music a small article by Steve Albini about how music bands don't get much from signing deals (while the record company got a lot of revenue).


• Why Are There So Few Female Computer Scientists? a 1991 text that tries to explain why there are so few female in the tech field.


• MIT's OpenCourseWare - a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners around the world.

I'll post more went I remember them.

Second 'topic' I gave lots of thought about is dating. I'm presently single, and in the I.T. Field, it's not easy to meet women (even harder my age). I'm preparing a complete post on this topic, so i'll just leave it at that for now.

Third concept that occupied my thought this past week is a concept i've seen in ethics. I don't know the exact term in english but it can be roughly translated to 'forbidden to think'. It is a process by which you tell people what to think instead of giving them the tolls to come to proper conclusions by themselves. I have also prepare a simple post, and I need a picture to complete the post, so more on that later.

finally the topic of MMO. I have talked with a friend of mine yesterday about the economies and the principles that makes MMO fun. One thing stuck out: for us, at least, it has to be casual, not power leveling. Thus I ask for advice from a friend who followed this industry closer than I do, and I might try out Guild Wars. The no monthly fee is a very interesting aspect, to say the least. In any rate, i'll keep you posted...

Explaining technology to the commoner

Theories or hypothesis are never of real value until you test them in the Real World(Tm). And sometimes they fail miserably.

Well, this is exactly what happened to me this week. I had this very well thought-out theory on how to teach technology to the common men. The basic idea is that while you can get by only how things work, you can never really master technology until you learn why things are the way they are. You can only go so far only learning everything by heart. I have already touch that part of the subject and I won't reproduce the entire argument here...

And so with this idea in mind I sought out to find the perfect way to teach someone how to use technology better, and how to teach those around me enough knowledge about computers and security to make them efficient and safe. With a solid base on how computer works, it's much easier to understand why you should or should not do something. It's also easier to see anything that might be problematic, like a phishing scam or a scrupulous website. I Truly believe that with a solid foundation, one can be good enough to be self-sufficient. I also think that everyone should follow some sort of computer training in order to insure the overall safety of the entire network. But then, I compared notes with a friend and found out that I forgot something important:

People are lazy. People are stupid. They don't want to learn.

When was the last time you opened a manual of any device you used? If you actually read the manual (like I tend to do), ask around. You might find that you representing a small minority. We, North-Americans, tend to think about ourselves and give as little attention as possible to things that don't seems useful. Can't learn to use it in 5 second? it's useless. Can't be explained a new notion in less than 5 min.? don't want to hear it. We just don't care.

Teaching a notion to someone who isn't intended on mastering it can be a real pain.

But there is still hope for those you want to learn. Because computers and technology will be in every aspect of ours lives soon enough. Learning it will no longer be a simple requirement, it will be impossible to do live a normal live without it. And thoses who will lack the basic computer knowledge will become second class citizens (or un-netizens): unable to communicate or participate on the community, to socialize with friends, or to meet anyone. It is similiar to the phone system from years ago, you don't hear this anymore: "You don't have a phone number? But how am I going to reach you?". But very soon, people without Cell phone, e-mail adresse, Blog or any new communication technology deemed necessary for communication will be left out.

So why not start today? Learn something new today. Take a simple step forward. Before you know it, you will have walked a mile, or 10000, and will have joined up with the information revolution.

Value your time

In most of my post, I tried to be insightful... To show something usefull to someone. But i'll try something different this time. Since I have a little trouble with organizing my time, i'll share a simple test I did.

Take a sheet of paper. Divide it in four. On the top write 'Urgent' and 'Not Urgent' at the top of each of the collums. Write 'Important' and 'Not Important' in each of the row.

Done? ok

Now, try to place things you do in a day, projects you have, things that should be done, daily chores, etc. in an appropriate place. Think carefully before you place anything.Take your time.

Done?

Now look back at the sheet, but don't change anything. Is everything placed right? Is it really urgent? It is really important? is it both?

This exercise is supposed to show you want you fill you time with. We tend to fill our time with things that are urgent, but not neccessarily important, and neglect the important thing, until they become urgent. Yet, when you stop and think about it, it should be the opposite, we should be doing important things first...

It is mostly a problem of priority, but also one of perception. We don't think before we do things. We don't stop, and think: 'it is urgent? Should I be really doing this?'. I know I already talked about this butI want to really explain the idea behind it.

I give the example of the telephone. It rings. It is urgent? Of course! If you don't answer you will miss the call. But is really important? What will happen if you miss the call? It is really worth stoping what you are curently doing? Can't you just call back and say: 'Sorry I could not come to the phone'? It's even worst when you think that cellular phones are everywhere. I made a conscious decision and told my friends, that unless i'm not occupied, I might not answer the phone. If it is really urgent, they can send me an SMS. It takes me 5 sec to read it and I think it's more important that what I'm doing, I will call back. I do the same for them.

Another example is the all news channel. It is presented as if every bit of news was important, and we tend to sit there watching the news slowly develop minute by minute, hour by hour. But what do we learn that we would'n have learn simply watching the evening news? There is a certain limit to witch we can absord information. beyong that point, we suffer from something called 'information overload' where you see so much information, that you have trouble remember most of it. The north american sosciety is so obsessed with time and information that this sort of reflection is never done. We react to the what the world throws at us, but we don't priotize what we do.

I had one friend who could not cope with the idea of not seeing a movie in a cinema. He was so used the movie theater experience that he could not accept less. Now the theater experience is quite nice, I'll say that much, but it really that important? What is going to happen if you don't see that movie? I, on the other hand, don't watch much tv these days, much less go to a theater. I moved to a dorm on the campus 6 years ago, in a room with not access to cable or satelitte tv. At first, it felt like I was missing something, but I got used to watch nothing much than the evening news. I don't feel like I missed something important. No I didn't watch 'Lost' or '24'. I'm sure it's pretty good, but It's not called 'the entertainement industry' for nothing. I just didn't felt like I needed to be entertained. I can occupy my time with something else.

We have to learn to say 'NO'. Why? Because it's not important. Nobody will die. Nothing will explode. The world will still turn. The sun will still burn.

Value your time. Value your energy. You have a limited supply of both.

A closed mind?

I'm pretty sure you all have seen, at one point, things like this post. While I think it's a nice example of free speech, I don't think the writter understand the issues at all. Comments like this one gives a clue as to why: "And I would never go to Europe. What is there to see?"...

If you check the terms and conditions at the bottoms, you can read:

The web site is designed to be funny. We hope it made some of you laugh.

I won't give my opinion on the topics, but the fact that the (fictional) writter doesn't want to face the rest of the world, reminds me of some coworkers I had who didn't want to discuss the reasons why they beleived in some political party: because it was, to them, the only truth.

Well, if it was the absolute truth, why didn't everybody embrase it yet?

A closed mind is the worse thing anyone can have. The strength of one ideals of faith is not mesure by your devotion, or the number of things you do: it is mesured by going deep into hell and coming back unscared, by facing the demons themselves and comming back victorious. And I'm not speaking about a test of might, but more of a test of ideas. If your faith is perfect, and you know that you have the absolute truth, why are you afraid to test it? If you never tryied anything else, if you never been anywhere, if you never did anything, how can you be sure that your choises are the best ones? If truth was as crystal clear, why is there someone else to oppose you?

I talked about the fact that history repeats itself, and this is a classic example of the Allegory of the Cave, a concept describe by Plato in 'The republic', some 2000 years ago. In his exemple, a group of people was living inside a cave, and had never seen the outside. A single individual was taken from this group, and shown the outside: the sun, the plants, the trees, etc... But if he could never go back to the cave, not after seeing the outside world, and if he did, the individuals inside would simply never believe him. They would probably exile him because he is now an excentric in their eyes. But we all know he is not... Since people don't like to change and don't like to be wrong, they can sometime do very unlogical things, and not see that they are wrong...

Admiting that you might be wrong is, for some, the single most hardest thing they could ever do. That is why we have so many religion, so many political party, etc. because we hate to admit that we might be wrong, and prefer to stick to our ideas even if they are wrong.

Your house stays up because the ideas behind it, the works of the engineers that approved it, was tested over and over again, until they knew why this part or this part was wrong. Houses, bridges and the likes don't fall anymore because we have been perfecting the engineering expertise behind them from before ancient Roman times.

Brigdes occassional fall (Tacoma narrow bridge come to mind), and ideas are sometimes wrong, but if we don't want to change and to learn, we will never know what was wrong...