MetaFilter posts tagged with FreeSoftware

"Because we don't know how to make a wheel that is still generally useful for legitimate wheel applications but useless to bad guys."

jeffburdges — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:47:41 -0800

Cory Doctorow's 28C3 talk The Coming War on General Purpose Computation (abstract, transcript) warns that "the coming century will be dominated by war against the general purpose computer, and the stakes are the freedom, fortune and privacy of the entire human race." Doctorow treats legislators relatively sympathetically asserting that "information technology confounds [their] heuristics" about whether regulation has unconscionable side effects, comparing regulating computation or networking with regulating the nature of wheels. A few choice quotes : [18m08] "an appliance is not a stripped-down computer, it is a fully functional computer with spyware on it out of the box" [19m30] "attempts to make a network that can't be used for copyright infringement always converges with the surveillance measures that we know from repressive governments." .. "In fact, the proponents of SOPA, the Motion Picture Association of America, circulated a memo, citing research that SOPA would probably work, because it uses the same measures as are used in Syria, China, and Uzbekistan, and they argued that these measures are effective in those countries, and so they would work in America, too!" [20m05] "copyright is just not important to pretty much everyone" [22m50] "The grievances that arose from unauthorized copying are trivial, when compared to the calls for action that our new computer-embroidered reality will create." [24m55] "there will be judges in the American South and Mullahs in Iran who will lose their minds over people in their jurisdiction printing out sex toys." [25m29] "Imagine what will happen the day that Monsanto determines that it's really really important to make sure that computers can't execute programs that cause specialized peripherals to output organisms that eat their lunch." [26m28] "as we saw in the copyright wars, all attempts at controlling PCs will converge on rootkits; all attempts at controlling the Internet will converge on surveillance and censorship" I hear Doctorow's book Little Brother contains the unabridged version. Ironically, Belarus criminalized using foreign websites and Spain passed SOPA-like legislation a couple days after his talk. In the same vein, The Un-Internet by Dave Weiner at Scripting News discusses about tech companies trying to take control away from users, taking Apple to task for leading a new "push to control users" through their App Store. "Once [Apple] took the power to decide what software could be distributed on their platform, it was inevitable that speech would be restricted too." Doctorow similarly criticizes the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) which restricts newer PCs to only running signed operating systems, noting that "repressive governments will likely withhold signatures from OSes unless they have covert surveillance operations." ¹ And Thom Holwerda concludes that Richard Stallman Was Right All Along. ¹ LinuxBIOS/Coreboot coauthor Ronald Minnich says "[the UEFI authors] make no secret of the fact that a 'core value' of EFI is the preservation of intellectual property related to chipset programming and internal architecture." (see also lwn.net and linuxfoundation.org)

Free as in Free.

unSane — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:30:59 -0800

"If you buy bus or train tickets for me, do not give my name! Big Brother has no right to know where I travel, or where you travel, or where anyone travels. If they arbitrarily demand a name, give a name that does not belong to any person you know of. If they will check my ID before I board the bus or train, then let's look for another way for me to travel." Richard Stallman's rider. Via.

Hello everybody out there using minix

DU — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 05:11:40 -0800

I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones.

With these words, an unknown hacker named Linus Torvalds released Linux into the world, 20 years ago this year. PS. ... It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(. Today Linux is the most portable kernel in the world, running on everything from phones to TVs to routers. And of course when coupled with the GNU set of tools and utilities forms an operating system of unrivaled power and freedom.

The Social Networking Appliance

tybstar — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:40:13 -0800

Plug in a wall-wart to delete your Facebook profile! Eben Moglen, General Counsel of the Free Software Foundation, solves the problem of proprietary social networks.

The Story of Linux

hippybear — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:57:26 -0800

Revolution OS [1h25m Google Video] is a 2001 documentary which traces the history of GNU, Linux, and the open source and free software movements. It features several interviews with prominent hackers and entrepreneurs (and hackers-cum-entrepreneurs), including Richard Stallman, Michael Tiemann, Linus Torvalds, Larry Augustin, Eric S. Raymond, Bruce Perens, Frank Hecker and Brian Behlendorf. The film begins in medias res with an IPO, and then sets the historical stage by showing the beginnings of software development back in the day when software was shared on paper tape for the price of the paper itself. It then segues to Bill Gates's Open Letter to Hobbyists in which he asks Computer Hobbyists to not share, but to buy software. (This letter was written by Gates when Microsoft was still based in Arizona and spelled "Micro-Soft".) Richard Stallman then explains how and why he left the MIT Lab for Artificial Intelligence in order to devote his life to the development of free software, as well as how he started with the GNU project. Linus Torvalds is interviewed on his development of the Linux kernel as well as on the GNU/Linux naming controversy and Linux's further evolution, including its commercialization. Richard Stallman remarks on some of the ideological aspects of open source vis-á-vis Communism and capitalism and well as on several aspects of the development of GNU/Linux. Michael Tiemann (interviewed in a desert) tells how he met Stallman and got an early version of Stallman's GCC and founded Cygnus Solutions. Larry Augustin tells how he combined the resulting GNU software and a normal PC to create a UNIX-like Workstation which cost one third the price of a workstation by Sun Microsystems even though it was three times as powerful. His narrative includes his early dealings with venture capitalists, the eventual capitalization and commodification of Linux for his own company, VA Linux, and ends with its IPO. Frank Hecker of Netscape tells how Netscape executives released the source code for Netscape's browser, one of the signal events which made Open Source a force to be reckoned with by business executives, the mainstream media, and the public at large. (this text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License)

The R Project for Statistical Computing

parudox — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:07:47 -0800

R is quickly becoming the programming language for data analysis and statistics. R (an implementation of S) is free, open-source, and has hundreds of packages available. You can use it on the command-line, through a GUI, or in your favorite text editor. Use it with Python, Perl, or Java. Sweave R code into LaTeX documents for reproducible research. Good places to get started: official manuals and FAQ, Quick-R, R help, and the R Wiki. (R translations exist for MATLAB users and Octave users.) Handy resources: RSeek and the R reference card (PDF). See also intros to R for psychology and must-have R packages for social scientists. There's even some books on R. Check out some neat graphs (with R source code). Popular graphics packages for R include lattice, ggplot2, and RGL or rggobi for more complex data visualization. Melt down and recast your data with the reshape package. Many R GUIs are available, including R Commander, JGR, Rattle for data mining, and even an R GUI Generator. Or use R through text editors: Emacs Speaks Statistics, a vim plugin, SciViews-K for Komodo, and Tinn-R. The Omega Project has some other interesting R interfaces. Happy data crunching!

A Long, Incomplete, and Mostly Wrong History of Free Software

Monday, stony Monday — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:07 -0800

In Two Bits (full-book in html) , Christopher M. Kelty investigates the history and cultural significance of Free Software, revealing the people and practices that have transformed not only software, but also music, film, science, and education. The author encourage his readers to modulate the book. Sadly, Two Bits has not been endorsed by Richard Stallman. There have been reviews, notably in MIT's Technology Review and Inside Higher Ed. It also has provoked interesting reactions from readers, including this story about the early Korean Internet, and this (title-inspiring) comment from Thomas Lord. [via LtU]

Wubi: Ubuntu the easy way

Foci for Analysis — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:09:41 -0800

Ubuntu has quickly become the number one Linux distro for the desktop. Not only is it free, but it has also made Linux easier to use than ever. Now, Wubi enables Windows users to install Ubuntu just like any other application, so you no longer have to mess around with partitions, burning CDs, etc. Be advised that Wubi is just an installer, i.e. it still has to download Ubuntu, ca 700 MB in size, from the web. The software is still beta. Interesting info from the Wubi FAQ:

What are the system requirements? 256 MB RAM and an 1 GHz or faster Intel/AMD processor is recommended for optimal performance, though Xubuntu might work on less. As for disk space, the installation requires a minimum of 4GB. This space is mostly used by the virtual hard disk file. Most computers purchased within the last 3 years should be able to run Ubuntu fine, and Xubuntu is suitable for older computers. What platforms are supported? Wubi will run on on all Windows versions from Windows 98 to Windows Vista, more platforms to come soon. 64-bit builds are possible but not yet available. Linux/*nix/*BSD are supported through Lubi (download location and guide), and Mac OSX will eventually be supported through Mubi (developers still needed). How does Wubi work? Wubi adds an entry to the Windows boot menu which allows you to run Linux. Ubuntu is installed within a file in the windows file system (c:\wubi\disks\system.virtual.disk), this file is seen by Linux as a real hard disk. Is this running Ubuntu within a virtual environment or something similar? No. This is a real installation, the only difference is that Ubuntu is installed within a file as opposed to being installed within its own partition. Thus we spare you the trouble to create a free partition for Ubuntu. And we spare you the trouble to have to burn a CD-Rom. What flavor of Ubuntu will I get? Most flavors, including Ubuntu (default, with GNOME), Kubuntu (with KDE), Xubuntu (with XFCE for older computers), Edubuntu (good for schools and younger users) and UbuntuStudio (for multimedia workstations). Contact us if you would like your own flavor to be available for installation via Wubi. How do I run Ubuntu? You have to reboot and choose "Ubuntu". How do I run Windows? You have to reboot and choose "Windows". How do I uninstall it? You uninstall it as any other applications. In windows go to the control panel and select "Add or Remove Programs", then select Wubi and uninstall it. You can also use the uninstaller that you find in C:\wubi\uninstaller.exe.

The software patent cold war is getting less cold

finite — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 05:26:56 -0800

[Patent Lawsuit Filter] On Wednesday Sun Microsystems announced a counter suit against Network Appliance, wherein they will draw on their "defensive portfolio" which is "one of the largest patent arsenals on the internet". They are going to be requesting a permanent injunction to remove all of NetApp's filer products from the marketplace, and also seeking monetary damages (half of which they've pledged to donate to the Software Freedom Law Center and Peer to Patent Project). Last month, NetApp sued Sun for patent infringements in ZFS. Earlier this month in Texas, the first ever patent infringement lawsuit against Linux distributors was filed. The plaintiff in the case against Red Hat and Novell is IP Innovation and Technology Licensing, a company that successfully got some money from Apple with a similar claim earlier this year. They're owned by Acacia Technologies, a company with close ties to Microsoft, which has caused some to suggest that this suit might be more about spreading FUD than about securing licensees for patents. The Sun/NetApp case is less clear-cut. In September, the founder of Network Appliance (Dave Hitz) announced on his blog that they were suing Sun for patent infringement, explaining that "Sun has been using its patent portfolio as a profit center. About 18 months ago, Sun’s lawyers contacted NetApp with a list of patents they say we infringe, and requested that we pay them lots of money." Sun's CEO (Jonathan Schwartz) replied on his blog, thanking NetApp for suing them and saying that "Sun did not approach NetApps about licensing any of Sun's patents and never filed complaints against NetApps or demanded anything." Dave replies that he is stunned by Jonathan's response, in a post titled "Sun Patent Team Demanded $36 Million From NetApp". After this, their blogs went silent on the subject for a few weeks. Then, Jonathan announced the counter suit (the first link in the fpp), and Dave responded with two more blog entries. Groklaw has reason to believe Microsoft is also involved in this case.

Da-Doo Ron RONJA

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 08:45:23 -0800

RONJA is an optical networking device that can be built by nearly everyone, using readily available components and using only free software.

Desktop Earth 2.0

purephase — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 19:37:00 -0800

"Desktop Earth 2.0 is a wallpaper generator for Windows. It runs whenever you're logged on and updates your wallpaper with an accurate representation of the Earth as it would be seen from space at that precise moment." The images are fantastic. Oh, and it's free. (See similar - via digg).

find out what's in it before it's in you.

crunchland — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 10:32:54 -0800

Find out what's in it before it's in you ... using free software provided by the US Department of Agriculture's database. The information, which can be kept on a PC (Windows) or PDA (Palm OS), provides a detailed listing of nutrients (calories, protein, fat, carbs, sugars, vitamins, minerals) on almost 7,000 foods, including processed and fast foods.

Peru goes GNU.

BGM — Thu, 02 May 2002 11:43:30 -0800

Peru goes GNU. And I quote: "You may have heard about this if you watch the free software news, but I just want to repeat it for anyone who hasn't. The Peruvian government has introduced legislation requiring government offices to use free software; Microsoft is unhappy; and a member of the Peruvian Congress has written a response which I highly recommend reading, in which he explains in strong terms why it's out of the question for the government of a democratic nation to use proprietary software."