In one sense Richard is right. Linus did invent the kernal but the Gnome stuff is what makes my laptop possible.
But why reverse engineer a driver that will wind up doing exactly the same thing as the manufacturer's driver.? The manufacturer wants you to have the driver because the product is useless without it. The Linux driver for the video card on my desktop produces a lower resolution. But Mark Shuttleworth is as much a hero as anybody because he took a chaotic development atmosphere, a system with great possibilities that needed to be taken by the hand, and a flawed marketing model (give the product away and then charge people to be told how to use it) and turned it into an operating system that keeps Steve Jobs and Steve Ballmer awake nights. They are developing other products because I think that they see that eventually Linux will pass both of their operating systems and become the dominant desktop. It's hard to charge for something when people can get a better product for free (I used to teach in Catholic School, I know.) I thought that the picture of you and Stallman had me wishing that you had told him that he needed a shave and a membership in Weight Watchers. He looked like a mess. On Wed, 2010-03-03 at 09:54 -0500, Joseph Apuzzo wrote: > I forgot to add to my RMS post that I did have a chance to have a talk > with Frank Palmeri of the Capital District LUG. > Since we had to wait for some time, we talked about our LUG's, Free > Software and why people use Linux. > He expressed interest in coming to our meeting tonight. > Here is his post to the CDLUG list ( thus this is really a cross > post ) as you see much better then my 3 lines ;-) > > I went to see Richard Stallman @ SUNY Albany last night. It was quite > an experience. > > The talk was supposed to start at 1600 but he kept us waiting. Finally > at about 1620 this long haired guy ambles down the corridor and walks > up to the stage. You could tell right away he was "different" :) First > thing he says to the crowd, is, "Where's the bathroom and where is > there an electrical outlet?" Kind of unconventional for a keynote > speaker :) > > So he goes to the bathroom, comes back to the podium, takes off his > shoes (!), and then starts the talk. On a little table was some drinks > for him, including a couple bottles of Dasani water, which he tells us > he can't drink because it's made by Coca-Cola and they have union > leaders in South America assassinated. Wow. > > Most of the talk was about the whole free software movement, and how > it's really not Linux, but GNU/Linux. He mentioned Torvalds many > times, and clearly he's perturbed about the fame Linus has. He also > will not use, recommend, or sanction *any* commercial software at all, > which is a problem for me as I have an nVidia driver on my Ubuntu box. > He would not be happy with that. > > At the end he put on this robe and a hat made from a platter from an > ancient hard drive and did this whole eMacs riff, ragging on VI of > course. It was quite entertaining, as was he. > > I came away feeling that he's fighting the good fight, but most people > just want to get their work done with their computers and don't really > care what they run as long as it works. Would it be better if all > software was free and modifiable, and we had the source code for > everything, and Microsoft didn't have the gaul to charge $35 just to > ask a question? Of course but it's never going to happen. > > I had the pleasure of meeting and sitting next to Joe Apuzzo from the > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group (www.mhvlug.org). Joe told me > about some exciting programs his group is having, and about a Debian > conference in NYC later this year. Joe said he'd post to this list the > details when he gets a moment. > > All in all a fun way to spend a winter night. Stallman's site is > http://stallman.org/ > > -- > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > Frank L. "Cranky Frankie" Palmeri > Guilderland, NY, USA > Risible Riding Raconteur & Writer > “A man’s errors are his portals of discovery.” > - James Joyce > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > CDLUG-General mailing list > [email protected] > http://cdlug.net/mailman/listinfo/cdlug-general > > _______________________________________________ > Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org > http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug > > Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium > Mar 3 - Sahana and 7 Years of MHVLUG Celebration > Apr 7 - Nagios > May 5 - Android -- Robert Mark Wallace 60 Delaware Road Newburgh, NY 12550-3802 Telephone: (845) 566-0586 Please note my new address and update your records _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Mar 3 - Sahana and 7 Years of MHVLUG Celebration Apr 7 - Nagios May 5 - Android
