George Dafermos' Weblog

03 January 2004

Free Software as a World Treasure

Unesco, after having created a portal specifically for free software, is now drawing attention to the cultural significance of free software, stressing that free software is part of our global cultural heritage, and an invaluable piece of our cultures. Link

Many congratulations to everyone who made this come true, and from what i know, lots of this great accomplishment owes much to the efforts of the brilliant lsm and abul people and abul's former president pierre jarillon. i'm trully honoured to know you people, and to be a small part of the magic and fascinating experience that lsm is.

6:30:27 PM

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Linux dies or lives

In the last addition to the otherwise marvellous and well-thought PBS column, Robert X. Cringely writes:
"The SCO debacle has created a crisis within the Linux community. They pretend that it hasn't, but it has. This will come to a head in 2004 with either the development of a new organizational structure for Linux or the start of its demise. Linux has to grow or die, and the direction it takes will be determined in 2004".

so, among his other predictions for 2004, Cringely argues that the ridiculous SCO claims over snippets of Linux code may destruct the organisational structure that sustains free/open source software development. it is the same claim as saying that the free/open source world is dependent upon the commercial sphere to prolong its stay in the software world. sorry bob, but this sounds very silly and non-pragmatic. for although money, adoption by the masses, corporates, and governments of the world is critical for f/oss to gain momentum, the organisational structure behind such undertakings is not sustained by neither legal nor commercial influences.

remember, as Riddersdale and Nordstrom say, talent makes capital dance. i 'd only add that collaboration, talent, and openness make capital dance. not the other way around.

6:30:01 PM

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Karaoke Capitalism

Stockhom School of Economics' chief executive madmen Riddersdale and Nordstrom strike back with Karaoke Capitalism: Management for Mankind. their first book, the infuriatingly uplfiting Funky Business: talent makes capital dance, is one of the best business books i've ever read. most of the ideas in the book, i recall a critic pointing out, are not their own and originate in the works of other authors. certainly. but their own way of composing, orchestrating, and presenting that knowledge is unique, no doubt about that. and their style makes for a great, engaging read. nothing monotonous or boring here. and despite the fact that many of their arguments can be easily countered, their arguments are nonethelesss challenging and as such they deserve to be heard.

here's a quote from the 1st chapter:

Today, more than ever, human beings are brands. My life is my piece of art, said Oscar Wilde.
This was given a new meaning when Bill Clinton signed the contract for his memoirs. The New
York Times estimated Clinton received more than $8 million which compares with the advance
of $8.5 million received by Pope John Paul II.20 (The pontiff obviously found this insufficient as,
soon after, he moved into the more lucrative music business with his first rap CD � Abbà Pater.
We joke not.) You don�t have to be a big name celebrity to cash in on your life. On our travels we came across a young British entrepreneur called Chris Downs. At the end of 2002, Chris launched an unusual
auction on eBay. What was on offer was over 800 pages of personal information, including
Chris� bank statements, mobile phone bills, supermarket receipts and his credit reference data.21
And how much did Chris sell off his personal data for? £150. How much will you get?

and another one:

We were in a nightclub. The club conformed to our stereotype of what we thought a nightclub should look like: dingy darkness, an obscure decorative theme, pumping music shaking the floor and expensive drinks.
We danced. Joining us was a friend who had also come along. After a while we noticed that our
rhythmic movements bore little relation to hers. We may bear little if any resemblance to John
Travolta in Saturday Night Fever � our dance moves being epileptic rather than eclectic � but in
this case it was obvious that the she was dancing enthusiastically and happily to another beat.
Then we registered that instead of listening to the music provided by the nightclub, she was
wearing her own personal MP3-player from which her favorite songs were being pumped out at
maximum volume.

the first chapter of the not-yet-published book is available online as a teaser. good stuff. go grab it here [PDF]
6:16:30 PM

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A Christmas Story...

that touches deep inside our hearts just hit my inbox. From Carl and Jody Vilbrandt:

As Santa Claus worked in a large department store in San Francisco, a simple unexpected event took place. All the day long children lined up with their parents to have their photos taken with Santa Claus -- on his lap. Each and every child had a long list of I wanta aaa and I wanta thaaaat... and on and on until -- By the end of the day, Santa Claus was just so sick and tired of hearing I wanta..... Santa Claus was thinking not one child asked for anything for anyone else. The lines were gone, everyone had left. It was late ..... when a young little girl (about eight years old) came walking up the store aisle alone. Santa Claus looked around, she was too young to be alone, there was no one with her. She was dressed in dirty clothes and a small smear of dirt on her face. She stood off to the side and stared at Santa. Santa motioned for her to come up. She hesitated .. Santa spoke to her in a deep soft Santa Claus voice "Oh ho ho come on up, its OK". She came up and hopped in Santa's lap. Santa said, "Now, what do you want for Christmas!" She turned her head, looked up for just a second and in a small child's voice slowly said, "nothinng... Santa." Santa then spoke to her in a large soft jolly voice, "What about peace on earth and good will to all men." She looked up in to his eyes. Her eyes brightening just a little for a second and then she spoke again in her small child's voice "Oh Santa! if you only could." Santa said to her, "I will do my very best for you ... to bring this Christmas wish true." -- This is a true story, it happened when Carl was 21. It was a small unexpected event never to be forgotten ... Link

happy new year everyone.
6:00:22 PM

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