Is Linux For Losers?

Source: Daniel Lyons, ~ FORBES NEW YORK - Theo de Raadt is a pioneer of the open source software movement and a huge proponent of free software. But he is no fan of the open source Linux operating system. "It's terrible," De Raadt says. "Everyone is using it, and they don't realize how bad it is. And the Linux people will just stick with it and add to it rather than stepping back and saying, 'This is garbage and we should fix it.'" De Raadt makes a rival open source operating system called OpenBSD. Unlike Linux, which is a clone of Unix, OpenBSD is based on an actual Unix variant called Berkeley Software Distribution. BSD powers two of the best operating systems in the world--Solaris from Sun Microsystems (nasdaq: SUNW - news - people ) and OS X from Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ). There are three open source flavors of BSD--FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD, the one De Raadt develops, which is best-known for its security features. In a sort of hacker equivalent of the Ford-versus-Chevy rivalry, BSD guys make fun of Linux on message boards and Web sites, the gist being that BSD guys are a lot like Linux guys, except they have kissed girls. Sour grapes? Maybe. Linux is immensely more popular than all of the open source BSD versions. De Raadt says that's partly because Linux gets support from big hardware makers like Hewlett-Packard (nasdaq: HPQ - news - people ) and IBM (nyse: IBM - news - people ), which he says have turned Linux hackers into an unpaid workforce. "These companies used to have to pay to develop Unix. They had in-house engineers who wrote new features when customers wanted them. Now they just allow the user community to do their own little hacks and features, trying to get to the same functionality level, and they're just putting pennies into it," De Raadt says. De Raadt says his crack 60-person team of programmers, working in a tightly focused fashion and starting with a core of tried-and-true Unix, puts out better code than the slapdash Linux movement. "I think our code quality is higher, just because that's really a big focus for us," De Raadt says. "Linux has never been about quality. There are so many parts of the system that are just these cheap little hacks, and it happens to run." As for Linus Torvalds, who created Linux and oversees development, De Raadt says, "I don't know what his focus is at all anymore, but it isn't quality." Torvalds, via e-mail, says De Raadt is "difficult" and declined to comment further. De Raadt blames Linux's development structure, in which thousands of coders feed bits of code to "maintainers," who in turn pass pieces to Torvalds and a handful of top lieutenants. The involvement of big companies also creates problems, De Raadt says, since companies push their own agendas and end up squabbling--as happened recently when a Red Hat (nasdaq: RHAT - news - people ) coder published an essay criticizing IBM's Linux programmers. There's also a difference in motivation. "Linux people do what they do because they hate Microsoft. We do what we do because we love Unix," De Raadt says. The irony, however, is that while noisy Linux fanatics make a great deal out of their hatred for Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ), De Raadt says their beloved program is starting to look a lot like what Microsoft puts out. "They have the same rapid development cycle, which leads to crap," he says. De Raadt says BSD could have become the world's most popular open source operating system, except that a lawsuit over BSD scared away developers, who went off to work on Linux and stayed there even after BSD was deemed legal. "It's really very sad," he says. "It is taking a long time for the Linux code base to get where BSD was ten years ago." Lok Technologies, a San Jose, Calif.-based maker of networking gear, started out using Linux in its equipment but switched to OpenBSD four years ago after company founder Simon Lok, who holds a doctorate in computer science, took a close look at the Linux source code. "You know what I found? Right in the kernel, in the heart of the operating system, I found a developer's comment that said, 'Does this belong here?' "Lok says. "What kind of confidence does that inspire? Right then I knew it was time to switch."

Earn Online Websites: Beware

I was reading some news about the Fired Yahoo CEO and saw a very appealing advertisement about making money on the internet while at home. I said to myself, now I want to prove this a hoax.

Every one needs a quick buck but you should also think if its as simple as they put it, the owners should have been the richest guys in the world. As the English saying goes "when the deal is too good, think twice"

I clicked on the link "careerpathjournal dot com", a very convincing nice URL and voila "A Nairobi, Kenya Mom [Kelly Richards] makes $6.795 /month.... " and I was Like "WTF" Not a "Wambui" or "Atieno" are you kidding me?

I had to hide my internet identity, that means I have to hide my IP from their server. How do I accomplish That? Web Proxy sites. I first try the hidemyass dot com one. And know what? Kelly moves to New Jersey I try another and another Proxy's in different locations of the world and Kelly keeps Moving. [see below]

 

I think I am at liberty to do a comment about this website - May be say I received my First $ 6,000 cheque. I moved to the comments section and guess what? You need to have your comment approved, All comments are anonymous and on top of all that there are no and i mean no authentication means, No Captcha [ so all comments are Doctored if you know what I mean.]

I did click the recommended link, apparently pointing to another site. "newonlineincomes dot com". The initial signup cost is around $200, try to leave the site by typing something else on the address bar and you get a message further trying to lure you into buying. now they bring the price to $99 (click ok and cancel) They redirect the page to another file, try to leave again and the price is brought again to $79. again click Ok and cancel try to leave again and the price becomes $49. Now you know they are bound to reaping at least $49 from each and every ambitious online wannabe earner.

 

Why a $25 PC? Because it's the price of a textbook

There is growing interest surrounding the Raspberry Pi Foundation and their promise of a PC that will cost just $25. We’ve seen how the OLPC has struggled to deliver a $100 laptop for developing countries, and yet Raspberry Pi is confident in delivering the $25 PC by November this year.

 

Although we know a bit about the PC, there’s still a lot of information missing, but further details are starting to appear as Raspberry Pi develops the machine further and talks to more people about it. Eben Upton, director of the foundation, recently gave a talk at Bletchley Park regarding Educating Programmers, which focused on the thinking behind the $25 PC. You can watch it below.

 

During the talk Eben explains that the $25 price point was decided upon because it is the cost of a textbook so it made sense. Students buy textbooks, so a PC priced the same is a natural fit and hopefully an easy purchase for them, their parents, or their school.

 

As to why a $25 PC is needed, it simply comes down to the need to develop programming skills while still young, a skill that seems to have disappeared in recent years. Eben explains this as due to the typical hacking and experiment platforms such as the Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX81 all disappearing and being replaced with the closed game consoles. Even the PC has become closed as families typically share it and kids aren’t encouraged to experiment for fear of breaking it.

 

Other interesting gems of information that come to light during his talk include Raspberry Pi’s original wider scope of not only providing a cheap PC, but the curriculum that surrounds it. That has now been rethought with the learning part left to teachers and the community while they focus on the hardware.

 

The foundation has also realized that the $35 PC with more RAM and a network port is going to be the most popular device by a significant margin. Something we didn’t realize is that Raspberry Pi not only intend to make this PC work through a HDMI and DVI connection, they also want it plugged into old analog TVs just like kids managed with in the 80s. It also means you don’t need an up-to-date display in order to start playing with this device.

 

Although the $25 PC will be available in November, the foundation doesn’t expect to give out test units until October because there are still a number of kinks to work out. Also, don’t expect these PCs to look like the original USB-stick layout we saw a few months ago. The connectors simply don’t fit on a board that small, so instead expect a thick credit card-sized device or even a plug form. Any thoughts of it shipping with Ubuntu should also be scaled back with Eben mentioning vanilla Debian and LXDE as the current favorite, and memory optimizations being implemented specifically for the 128MB version to get that working well.

 

We can also rest assured Raspberry Pi already has a hit on its hands. Eben says he’s received emails from people around the world and working in developing countries asking how to place bulk orders. Already thinking ahead, Raspberry Pi believes there’s a market for resellers willing to pick up the shipping costs on containers full of $25 PCs. There is no hardware discount for bulk orders as the price we pay is the price of manufacturing the device.

 

As they are so small and cheap to make, we doubt there’s going to be a shortage of them available. Maybe there will be at launch due to sheer demand, but come 2012 they could be everywhere and changing the landscape for young kids and hobbyists learning to code. $25 PCs may produce the the next generation of computer geeks.

 

Source: Geek.com