Why We Use Linux?... To Be Different.

    Saturday, An Amazing Mind posted a blog about the real reason we use Linux. He suggests that regardless of what people say, or what the "norm" is, the reason that Linux users use that perfect OS is because it is "fun". Yes, this is definitely one of the many reasons… it is a lot of fun to use. But I do not think that is the only reason. Let me explain.

    Linux is largely unknown. For centuries, one of the constants in human nature is the exploration of the unknown. I firmly believe that no one person can know everything about the Linux OS. This is because Linux is constantly changing. Like in a previous post that I had, currently, ndiswrapper is set to not be compatible with the newest version of the kernel. Slackware 12.0, which was release last year, is fully compatible with the ndiswrapper application by default. That will change with Slackware 13.0 (or 14.0 if they are superstitious) if it uses the newest version of the kernel. This means people like me, are going to have to figure out a new way to get their wireless card working if they want to upgrade to the newest version of Slackware.

    This makes the world of Linux unknown again in regards to wireless networking to people in my situation. It opens the door for new challenges and new obstacles to overcome. In contrast, Windows is largely the same from version to version (all versions since Windows 95 have been based on the same layout). Because Microsoft does everything for you, if something doesn't work, Microsoft fixes it, releases an update, and you install it. Now whatever wasn't working before, is working now. This presents no challenge, nothing interesting, just... "Oh look… my sound doesn't work anymore. Microsoft released an update. Downloaded it, installed it, and now my sound is working again… yayyyyyy….". Windows turns your average computer user, and even techie geeks into robots.

    Linux is so much more than just having fun. It's about expressing your personality, challenging your mind, and educating yourself on how exactly computers do certain functions. Linux is almost like snow… no two systems are exactly the same. Windows is all about making everyone follow a mandatory standard that some rich 40-year old in an Armani suit, who knows nothing about how computers work, decides is the "best" standard. Windows strips people of their individuality and their creativity. Of course it also strips them of their security and their rights to manage their own computer. Linux just frees people to be themselves and work against the grain to come up with new and daring ideas without taking control out of their hands. Linux is just… freedom.

    Besides, windows are stupid pieces of glass that only allow you to look at your world. Penguins allow to you experience and interact with your world.

Ndiswrapper… Farewell?

Ok, so it is well known on here that I am an avid Linux user and supporter of the Open Source community and also support the freedom of software, the freedom to do what I want on my computer and on the web. Now it seems, however, that that community has taken a step towards becoming what I hate so much about the Microsoft business model: loss of freedoms. And this is being begun by none other than Linus Trovalds.

Now, if you don't know who Linus Trovalds is, he is the man who originally wrote the Linux kernel back in the early 1990's. He is now the project coordinator for the kernel development team, and he has final say as to what goes into it. This is all fine and dandy, however there are a few problems that could arise out of this, and I feel that one has.

The kernel development team is working hard on the next stable version of the 2.6 kernel, 2.6.24. According to this report the most recent update to the 2.6.24 kernel "…broke ndiswrapper by accidentally removing its access to GPL-only symbols." According to the report, Pavel Roskin, who is an avid supporter of the GNU Operating System, said, "Revert that change and add comments about the reasons why ndiswrapper and driverloader are treated in a special way."

Linus responded with the following statement:

"I'm not seeing why ndiswrapper should be treated separately.

If it loads non-GPL modules, it shouldn't be able to use GPLONLY symbols.

So if ndiswrapper needs GPL-only symbols, you'd better ask the people who made those symbols GPL-only whether they could be made available to ndiswrapper.

ndiswrapper itself is *not* compatible with the GPL. Trying to claim that ndiswrapper somehow itself is GPL'd even though it then loads modules that aren't is stupid and pointless. Clearly it just re-exports those GPLONLY functions to code that is *not* GPL'd."

My biggest confusion with this whole thing is I am not sure if this is a legal issue or not. If what the developers of ndiswrapper are doing technically doesn't follow copyright law with the windows drivers, then I would understand why Linus and other authors of the new kernel would want support dropped for it.

However, if it is not a legal issue, in anyway, and the only reason that they are trying to basically get rid of it is because THEY don't see a point in the app, or don't particularly care for it, then I think that they should just suck it up, and let it stay. There are many people out there (including myself) who are pretty much forced to use ndiswrapper because there are no default Linux drivers for their wireless cards.

I know that as of right now, I would be unable to use my Linux laptop wirelessly if ndiswrapper, or another app similar to it, was not available. Taking out the ability for the app to work to push a personal agenda will only deter potential Linux users away from the OS, and undermine what the whole ideology of the open source community. I honestly feel that they are starting to make themselves no better than Microsoft by wanting to take support out for something they do not care about. Hopefully the developers of ndiswrapper will combat this change by rewriting their code to allow ndiswrapper to work in the new kernel.

Puppy Torture Outrage

Wired.com posted a story about three Marines who supposedly threw an 8-week old puppy off of a cliff out in Iraq. You can see the article here: Puppy Torture. After the article, there were a bunch of comments left by people who bashed people in the military, and here is my comment that I left on the site. Please post your comments on what I said here.

My biggest problem with this, is not the fact that it could be real (even though I think it is fake), but the fact of what image things like this gives to people about the military.

My girlfriend is a prime example. She gets upset, when we are at the movies and they have one of those military ads before the movie starts. She feels that the makers of the ad (the military) should be required to show what "war" is really like to give people a "more realistic" idea of what the military is. Which in her eyes of course, is an extremely violent and horrible experience.

While fine, she is allowed to have this opinion, I really think this kind of attitude is detrimental to the needs of not only the military, but this nation. We need people to join the armed forces. Do I agree with the war in Iraq at this point, no; I do think we need to start coming up with an exit strategy, but right now, we are out there, and we need people to be ready to support our military personnel that are currently deployed in the event that something happens unexpectedly that requires more troops to be deployed. If something were to happen, and no one is joining the military, we won't have enough personnel to go out and support our troops that are already out there.

The other point I want to make right now is that we need to support our troops, because for the most part, they are only following orders from their superior commanders. Yes, obviously, there comes a point where moral responsibility overrides an order from a superior officer and they should have the moral fortitude to say no to an order that violates that moral responsibility.

The other reason of course, is that people who join the military are NOT dumb people. Overall, they are NOT evil by nature. It takes a great deal of courage, honor, and duty for an individual to sacrifice what our men and women sacrifice for their country. People who join the military need to be honored, respected, and remembered for their service to this great country of ours. Talking down about them and spitting on their memories and sacrifices is like talking down, and spitting on the flag of our country and on its citizens.

I am not one to say, "My country: always right". However, I think it is much more damaging, and wrong for people to say, "My country: always wrong." As far as I am concerned, if you hate this country so much, then why are you here? I cannot remember who said it, but one of my favorite things to say to people who hate this country: "Yes, you have the freedom speech. However, you also have the freedom to leave".

The Force Is Strong With This One...

So sometime in October, I covered a story of a few folks that were making an actual X-Wing rocket that they would launch somewhere in California. I expressed an extremely high interest and excitement into this, and a few days ago, I was just browsing around the internet and decided I would see what the update was on it, and if there was in fact a video of it. There is, and I am posting it here from YouTube for your enjoyment. There was also a Y-Wing that was made as well, and I have a video of that. The video will show the X-Wing launching first, then the Y-Wing, and the video will end with a random rocket launching into the great beyond. Enjoy the videos young padawans, and remember that the force will always be with you...

I'm Subscribed!!!

The following is a letter that I submitted to 2600 a few days after Christmas. Hopefully it will be in the Summer issue later this year. Enjoy.

Dear 2600,

I just wanted to pass on the good news. I have been a loyal reader for the last three years and I have thoroughly enjoyed all the articles and letters that are put into your fine publication. I have written a few letters myself that have been published in your magazine. I wrote these under the alias of P3ngu1n, but I have since decided to start going by the alias I have been known by on the Internet for well over a decade now. Anyway, I digress a little.

First and foremost, I have learned a lot about the hacking community from reading 2600 that I never knew before. It has helped me come up with new ideas and new solutions to problems that I have run across in my daily life and for this I thank you. It has also helped me gain a much higher respect for the hacking community than I ever held before. I try on a daily basis to spread the message that you have worked so hard to get out.

Now, time for the good news. After reading your magazine religiously for three years, and dating my girlfriend for a little more than half that time, my girlfriend did something very special for me this holiday season. She was a little short on funds and had a little difficulty coming up with a good gift idea that wouldn't break the bank. She had already gotten me a few things, but she felt that there was one other thing she had to get me. Her mother suggested getting me a subscription to my favorite magazine and lo and behold, she got me a subscription to 2600.

She had tried earlier in our relationship to get me to read a more "normal" magazine like Maxim or Stuff, but I am not really into those magazines all that much, and 2600 is the only one that I actually look forward to every time. She finally realized this, and got me a subscription for Christmas. The winter (24:4) issue was the first one that I received, and I was really excited to get it. I am looking forward to this years magazines, and I will definitely be renewing my subscription in a year. The best part about it, is that my girlfriend told me that if she could have afforded it, she would have gotten me the lifetime subscription. I told her that was a good gift idea for next year.

On a final note, I was not surprised at all by the message on the spine. I really like how you literally use every square millimeter of space that is available to you on your mag. What I was surprised by was the fact that the message on the spine looks proper when you move the summer issue to the top of the stack. If you keep the stack in order which they were published, "Surprised?" doesn't look right at all. I am currently trying to figure out the riddle to the reason you made it so the summer issue had to be on top. Any hints?

Well, once again, thank you for putting out such an important and great magazine and keep up the good work. Don't be discouraged by people judging your magazine who have no idea how to make one or maintain one for as long as you have. I have no idea what it takes to do what you do, so I will not pretend to know what is best for your magazine. The only thing I can say is make decisions that are best for 2600 and it's readers and don't hold any regrets about those decisions. Good luck at the HOPE conference this year; I wish I could go, but I have no extra money to go. I wish it wasn't the last one, but thats life. Also, good luck in the fight to save Hotel Pennsylvania.

Unr3a1

There is an interesting article on a type of P2P that I will write about in a little while. I would like to do my research on it first.

Ho... Ho... Ho... And A Happy New Apple!

Ok, so Christmas has come and gone, and 2008 is less than 5 hours away. I am stuck here at work with Time Warner until 9pm. No one is really calling, which is good because it gives me a chance to finally update my blog.

Christmas was good for me. I got a lot of really cool stuff which included a bunch of t-shirts, other clothes, Converse All-Star sneakers, and a subscription to 2600. That's right. My girlfriend, the bestest of best people in the world got me a subscription to my favorite magazine. And she said I could renew it next year! That makes me so happy! I got her a really nice blue topaz ring to replace the cheaper one I had gotten her last year. So both of us actually had a really good Christmas, because she also got an iTouch, which if you haven't heard, is like the coolest iPod ever. Basically it is an iPhone without the phone and camera. She really likes it.

I didn't get any cool electronics this year, but that's ok, because as long as everything goes well, I will have a new computer soon. My laptop, which is a Gateway 7422GX is finally starting to shit the bed. It likes to randomly overheat and shut off, it doesn't read DVD's that it has burned anymore, and the monitor needs to be replaced again because of stress fractures that occur on the hinges of the monitor. My parents bought it for me from Best Buy back in 2005 along with the Performance Service Plan (PSP). It runs out in February, so I took it into BBY today to see if they could replace it.

I used to work there, so I figured I would go in, and talk to one of the managers who I have a good relationship with and just have them swap it out. Well, they couldn't find him, so they asked a manager who I did not end on the best terms with. He was polite to me, but told me that they had to send the laptop out to service instead of just swapping it out. So I was denied. Sucks, but because there is so much work that has to be done to it, I am hoping that the service center just tells them to swap it out. In which case, I will be getting a brand new Macbook.

That's right, I am making the switch to Apple if I can. It is a really nice computer that has an Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB of RAM, 120GB HDD, and most importantly, it does NOT have Vista. I am really crossing my fingers on this one, because I really do not want a Vista computer, and I will still be able to run XP on it if I need to, and I will definitely be able to put Linux on it. Working at TWC, I have really solidified my hatred towards Vista. It is just a pain in the ass to work with, and it doesn't like wireless networks that much.

In other news, one of my favorite TV shows is ending next year. The Shield on FX. It has been a really good show the last 6 years, even though I have not seen the 6^th season yet. I will definitely be DVRing the show next year as I will probably never get a chance to watch it when it actually airs. The one thing that I am really disappointed in, is the creator of the show, Shawn Ryan, is loyal to the Screenwriters Guild. So when they went on strike, he did not assist in, or allow the writers of the show to write the final episode. He was also not be present, and did not allow his writers to be present on the set of the show when they were filming the final episode.

I think this was really shitty of him considering that he likes to think of the show as “his baby”. He takes great pride in the quality of the show, and in it's most important episode, he did not assist in the writing, and wasn't present on the set. All so that a bunch of greedy bastards could get more money. I can't make a final judgment on his actions until I actually see the episode. If it is unaffected by it, then I suppose we could write this as a no harm, no foul. But if the final episode is really weak in comparison to the rest of the show, then I will truly be very upset about it, and I will lose all respect for Shawn Ryan.

StarCraft 2 is still being worked on. Blizzard is releasing a lot more information and photos about it. I am getting really really excited about it. There are a multitude of new units being introduced, and they are bringing back a lot of the key heroes from the first game. Marines will now have a shield upgrade that you can get for them, the Zerg are going to look a hell of a lot cooler now. I really think they are going to make a really great game. Here is hoping, because I loved playing the first game when I was younger. I have even picked it back up. I am not really playing it that much now that my laptop is in for service. Oh well. I am just hoping that Blizzard will make it so that it can run on older hardware (incase they just fix my laptop), or allow it to run on 144mb of shared video memory (incase I can actually get my new Apple computer). I am really crossing my fingers on this one, because I do not want to miss out on this game.

Well, 2008 is now less than 4 hours away, and my shift is almost done here, so I will say goodbye for now. I will try and keep this more updated with newer posts in the future. Probaby right around when I get a new computer, or when mine gets fixed. Have a fun and safe New Year! See you in 2008!

Caught Red Handed

So the cat is out of the bag. My girlfriend discovered my blog. She did indeed call it gay, but she is actually not making me take it down. She actually said that I could keep it up, and she will just check periodically for updates. So that's pretty cool.

The holidays are almost upon us. Less than 10 days to go before Christmas. I am really excited for this year because I got my girlfriend a really nice gift. I won't share right now, because she will read this and I don't want to give it away. But rest assured that it is really nice. I am also excited for all the cool stuff I am going to get as well. It will definitely be a good Christmas this year.

As for new news for me, I am finished my training at Time Warner Cable, and am now on the phones full time. I already have a few funny stories, but I will not post any of them here... sorry. Things at TWC though are going really well. The job is a lot of fun, and pretty challenging. I thourouly enjoy it. Unfortunately, there is one backdrop, and that is the fact that I do not have an Apple computer to reference with customers. I need an Apple machine, so I will probably have to take my laptop into Best Buy and try and get them to swap it out.

Thats all for now; I know it was a short post, but it's all I really had time for. I will post soon with more technical stuff.