FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software

Gates by undeg+chwech · 2002-09-06 05:01 · Score: 5, Funny

I nominate Bill Gates. He should get the award for advancing free software

Re:Gates by packeteer · 2002-09-06 05:05 · Score: 3, Insightful

haha

I dont know if this is a troll but i sure hope not. I think this is true that Bill Gates is the reason for a lot opf the growth of free software. Microsoft's crappy quality is about 80% of the reason for my switch to Linux. Once i started learning about free software i stuck with it more but really its MS that pushed me over the "hump" of switching away from windows.

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Re:Gates by Citizen+of+Earth · 2002-09-06 16:46 · Score: 2

I nominate Bill Gates. He should get the award for advancing free software

I second the nomination, but I think that it should be for MS License 6.0.
Re:Gates by larry+bagina · 2002-09-06 17:25 · Score: 2

That story is bullshit. He had a 386, and and was using the minix OS (which was a somewhat popular unix-like OS for 8086 computers, but licensed under terms so modifcations were only possible via patches). Linux was written to circumvent those licensing terms, and fix some of minix's deficiencies. Browse google for the "linux is obsolete" thread.

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Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Re:Gates by adamjaskie · 2002-09-07 04:35 · Score: 2, Informative

Actually, what happened is Linus was using Minix, and was frustrated by it's terminal emulator. He decided he did not wish to code a new one in Minix, (i don't remember why, something about limitations of the OS iirc) and instead wrote it in assembly, and just booted it off a floppy disk. He used that for a while, but then needed to transfer files, so he wrote in code to access a minix file system. After a while, it started to become more and more like an OS, and it eventually became an os when he got bash running on it, and accidentally wiped his minix partition. This is what i read in "Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary" by Linus Torvalds and David Diamond. (a good book btw)

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/usr/games/fortune

I nominate KaZaa by anotherone · 2002-09-06 05:02 · Score: 4, Funny

I've downloaded more free software from kazaa than I ever have from any other source.

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Re:I nominate KaZaa by Asprin · 2002-09-06 08:32 · Score: 2

Clap..... Clap.....
Clap..... Clap..... Clap.....Clap..Clap..
Clap Clap Clap Clap WOO-HOO! Clap Clap Clap YEAH!Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap FREEBIRD!!! Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap..... Clap.. Clap.. Clap.....
Clap.....

Well done indeed!

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"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie

I've got it by Longinus · 2002-09-06 05:06 · Score: 2, Funny

"Any kind of activity could be eligible -- writing software, writing documentation, publishing CDs, even journalism"

That's it! Let's all nominate Katz just for kicks.

Re:I've got it by aardvarkjoe · 2002-09-06 07:38 · Score: 2

Calling Katz a journalist is an insult to real journalists everywhere. Perhaps there's a category for being a bottomless pit of stupidity?

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How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?

It has to be Microsoft!! by Gumber · 2002-09-06 05:11 · Score: 2

For inspiring open source development by giving people things to imitate and something to hate.

Re:It has to be Microsoft!! by Kissing+Crimson · 2002-09-06 05:14 · Score: 2, Funny

More specifically, the 'Activation' system in XP will probably have a massive imapact over the next year or so.

Everytime somebody's computer becomes unusable due to a hardware change or two, open source OSs become more attractive.

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What's that smell? Ah, that's my karma burning...
Re:It has to be Microsoft!! by cscx · 2002-09-06 05:32 · Score: 2

Hardly. It takes, I believe, 7 hardware changes for the need to re-activate. Of course if so, a quick 5 minute call to MS will solve this problem (the majority of the time is actually not spent on hold, but rather them reading a 50-character key over the phone to you.)
Re:It has to be Microsoft!! by Gumber · 2002-09-06 08:58 · Score: 2

I was half serious in both of my statements (wrapped, as they were, in a single sentence).

I'll leave it to you to figure out which halves.

Blender! by The_Dougster · 2002-09-06 05:12 · Score: 3, Insightful

The Blender Foundation has done an unprecedented thing by raising so much cash to bring Blender into the Free Software Fold. I'm not aware of any program in the free software base which is so sophisticated as a 3d modeler. I think they are pioneers and should be lauded for their efforts!

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Clickety Click ...

Re:Blender! by glwtta · 2002-09-06 06:21 · Score: 2

speaking of which - they are something like $700 short of their goal right now - so, donate people, donate!

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sic transit gloria mundi
Re:Blender! by MisterBlister · 2002-09-06 12:41 · Score: 2

Dont you think you should wait until its actually open sourced before nominating anyone for an award?
Dont get me wrong, I'm sure they have every intention of releasing the source...but cmon..Maybe consider nominating them next year!

Dr. Edgar Villanueva by oliverthered · 2002-09-06 05:12 · Score: 2

A quick quote from linuxjournal

"LJ What has been your exposure to, or experience with, free software?

Villanueva I've kept up with the Free Software movement in Peru for several years. Both the philosophy that drives it and the fact that, for technical and economic reasons, this software allows the implementation of solutions for a range of organizations.

LJ There are a number of other countries considering proposals similar to 1609, from Asia to Europe to Latin America. Are you familiar with these? If so, are there parts of your proposed bill that make it unique?

Villanueva Bill number 1609 has now been improved and is currently in the committee stage with number 2485, which is also signed by Congressman Jacques Rodrich. Congressman Daniel Estrada has presented a similar bill that is based on the same free software spirit. Among other countries, the closest are Brazil and Argentina; for Europe, we know about the law passed by the German parliament, as well as the proposal in France and the study presented to the English parliament. In Asia, above all there are the actions of the Chinese Government. All these bills are essentially similar, but in ours, like the Argentinian one, we claim exclusivity in all state bodies. Obviously putting this exclusivity into practice will need a whole process, which will take some time, because there are state bodies that are working well with proprietary software and would only choose free software for their future requirements, assuming it's available on the market. That applies quite generally to any institution. I'm only mentioning it because I'm convinced of how critical migration is, the importance of careful planning, and the availability of the necessary resources to cover the time and the risks that you take.
"

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thank God the internet isn't a human right.

Re:Dr. Edgar Villanueva by Swaffs · 2002-09-06 05:30 · Score: 2

I have to wonder if this is something that we want. He may not want to be cast as someone trying to support Free Software. Really he's trying to do what he think is best for his country, which he believes involves using Open Source software. Giving him such an award may make it look like he's using his position to try and improve the state of Free Software.

His support and the advancement that it has caused is great, but its more of a spin-off benefit caused by him doing what's right for his country.

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"Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." - Homer Simpson [1F10]

Mono by AirLace · 2002-09-06 05:12 · Score: 2, Troll

The Mono project has made great strides towards producing a free (GPL and BSD licensed) implementation of the .NET framework that's poised to replace the proprietary Sun/IBM Java installations, which represent one of the final major pieces of non-free software routinely distributed with GNU/Linux.

As Gtk# continues to mature, it looks like the Mono project will soon be able to provide a powerful cross-platform Java-like envoronment complete with a modern object-oriented language, C#, that has proved so popular in business and enthusiast circles alike, without any of the vendor tie-in associated with Java.

Linus Torvalds by Target+Drone · 2002-09-06 05:16 · Score: 2

Considering RMS received the Linus Torvalds award it seems only fitting that Linus get the FSF Award. ;)

He already did! by Longinus · 2002-09-06 05:18 · Score: 2, Informative

"People such as Miguel de Icaza, Donald Knuth, Brian Paul, Guido van Rossum, Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, and Larry Wall who have already received this or other awards for their contributions, are not eligible for the Award for the Advancement of Free Software.

grog! by bsDaemon · 2002-09-06 05:22 · Score: 2

Greg Lehey is an important person to many BSDers, and thus I have nominated him. He's a core team member, wrote a damned fine book, and also columns on daemonnews. Go Grog!

*Insert Wil Wheaton Fan Reference Here* by Embedded+Geek · 2002-09-06 05:23 · Score: 2

I mean, c'mon, the beat up Barney for Pete's sake!

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"Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."

Valgrind by Otter · 2002-09-06 05:26 · Score: 4, Interesting

This seems to be more a lifetime award than a "Year's Best" but since discussing what the year's biggest contribution should be is a lot more productive and less flame-y:

I'm going to nominate Valgrind. It's going to greatly improve the performance of Linux software across the board, and puts professional grade profiling in the hands of every MP3 playlist coder on Freshmeat.

What else? Nothing much happened this year. I'd suggest the Mono developers who seem to have accomplished a lot, but won't because I haven't tried it myself and because it's not especially relevant yet (if ever). Mozilla got a lot better, but they did so much bragging up front I'm not inclined to puff them up again now that they've finally accomplished something.

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What I'm listening to now on Pandora...

Re:Valgrind by Uruk · 2002-09-06 08:27 · Score: 2

Like many other posts in this thread, you've nominated a free software project, and not a person. People get the awards, not software.

Larry Wall got the award one year, (but perl didn't). Guido van Rossum got the award one year (but Python didn't). I think you get the picture.

That said, while Valgrind is a neat tool, I don't think that it has made the same contribution that say, perl or python has made to the free software community. Valgrind allows people to debug very specific problems in very specific languages. But it does nothing for users, nothing for programmers in non C/C++ languages. I think the free software award should probably go to something that's a bit larger than this type of tool.

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-- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
Re:Valgrind by fault0 · 2002-09-06 09:11 · Score: 2

You should nominate Julian Seward, not valgrind itself. This award is geared for people, not projects.

But I agree, Valgrind is an impressive piece of work, and it deserves to be recognized. It finally gives a free software alternative to Purify, something that was sorely lacking in the tool chests of free software developers.
Re:Valgrind by dvdeug · 2002-09-06 09:41 · Score: 2

nothing for programmers in non C/C++ languages.

It works fine for GNU Ada, and there's no reason it can't work for any other compiled language (its assembly support covers what at least what GCC, G++, and GNU Ada output, but he's been quick about adding this type of support.)

Obvious Choice by PaddyM · 2002-09-06 05:27 · Score: 2, Interesting

The Peruvian Congressman:
David Villanueva Nuñez

I nominate me... by rppp01 · 2002-09-06 05:27 · Score: 2, Funny

I mean, I do give out free software all the time. I believe in advancing any software any one wants. Well, I give it away for free, maybe it wasn't free to begin with but that is besides the point. This is about advancing free software. Anyone got a cd?

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They stuck me in an institution, said it was the only solution, to...protect me from the enemy, myself

Gene Kan by brilliant-mistake · 2002-09-06 05:28 · Score: 2, Insightful

How about a posthumous nomination for Gene Kan for his work on Gnutella?

Itojun should get it by 0-9a-zA-Z_.+!*'()123 · 2002-09-06 05:29 · Score: 2, Interesting

He has commit access to three bsd's and is a tireless advocate/worker on ipv6 for them.

He posts regularly to users@ipv6.org and other
forums.

In terms of advancing free software outside of the US (where ipv6 adoption is still emerging), this is pretty important. You aren't going to run free software if it can't network properly.

He has also worked on Magic Point and other free software projects.

www.itojun.org

Fixed pointed Ogg Vorbis by randomErr · 2002-09-06 05:31 · Score: 2

Everyone wants Ogg Vorbis on their portable digital media player!

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/04/182521 9&mode=thread&tid=141

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You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?

Shouldn't this be... by corrosiv · 2002-09-06 05:33 · Score: 4, Insightful

The GNU Award for the Advancement of GNU Software?

Define "free" however you like, but I hate hearing "free" when it means GNU. If they want to be so pickey about defining all their terms, they should stop leaning on the ambiguity that the term "free" gives them. The neophyte immediately understands free to be free beer. GNU is exploiting that, since 6 pages of legalese in the GPL doesn't add up to free beer OR free speech.

Re:Shouldn't this be... by Idarubicin · 2002-09-06 06:12 · Score: 3, Insightful

The neophyte immediately understands free to be free beer. GNU is exploiting that, since 6 pages of legalese in the GPL doesn't add up to free beer OR free speech.
But it is free like beer. You can take it, and you can use it yourself, and it doesn't cost you a penny. Actually, it's better than beer, because you can redistribute GPL'ed code as long as you follow the modest licensing provisions. Most people prefer it if you don't give them your recycled beer.
As far as 'legalese' goes, the GPL certainly isn't a painful read, and it's pretty unambiguous in its meaning. I honestly cannot think of any other licensing terms -- or any sort of contract in general -- that is as clearly stated.
Lastly, you're welcome to ignore the GPL if you want to. You fall back on the regular protections afforded by copyright law, which most people are familiar with. (They may not pay attention, but they understand the concept.) You can have this software, you can use it for free, but you can't then make copies and give them away. Replace 'software' with 'book' in the preceding sentence to see what I mean.

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~Idarubicin
Re:Shouldn't this be... by demaria · 2002-09-06 06:22 · Score: 2

Beer isn't free, last time I checked.

Telling someone "it's free like beer" makes no sense.
Re:Shouldn't this be... by Idarubicin · 2002-09-06 06:45 · Score: 2

Beer isn't free, last time I checked.
Telling someone "it's free like beer" makes no sense.
You're right. I guess "free as in speech, free as in air" just isn't catchy enough as a slogan.
I suppose, though, the issue is, do people understand what is meant? If someone told me, "Dude! Free beer!" then I'd go grab a bottle. I'd drink it. The end. I wouldn't try to duplicate it--I couldn't. 'Free' software is "free as in beer". It's even better, because if you follow the licence conditions, you get free softbeer for you and all your friends. (Okay, the buzz isn't quite the same.)
You could say "free as in books" to clarify. You can use the book, you can give the book to another person, but you can't photocopy the book and give away copies with the copyright notice in the front ripped out. You can't hijack chapters from the original work and put them in your own book without attribution. It's an idea people understand.

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~Idarubicin
Re:Shouldn't this be... by Uruk · 2002-09-06 08:32 · Score: 2

Sigh.

I know lots of people don't like the way the FSF does things, the way they define words, the way they say things, and so on. But here's what it comes down to:

When a group has written half of the useful tools on any GNU/Linux system, they can talk all the shit that you want, and they can do whatever they well please.

On the other hand, if you're just a slashdot pundit that gets their kicks from overanalyzing and picking apart the works of others, you don't necessarily get a fair say in what is right and what is wrong.

The award is for the advancement of free software. GNU has an entire page devoted to licenses and what qualifies as free software. People who know a bit about GNU will realize that this encompasses X11, BSD, and many other non-GNU GPL licensed software.

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-- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
Re:Shouldn't this be... by (void*) · 2002-09-06 09:13 · Score: 2

The neophyte apparently has never heard of the word liberty, I guess.
Re:Shouldn't this be... by fault0 · 2002-09-06 09:21 · Score: 2

Actually the legalese might not be legal, either.

I've never seen a license with so much political mumbo-jumbo as the GPL. If it ever get's tested, the judge is just going to laugh at it.

Perhaps it's time to do a clean-room rewrite of the GPL, that makes a license that might be more apt to be held up by an actual real-life court.
Re:Shouldn't this be... by dvdeug · 2002-09-06 09:28 · Score: 2

I've never seen a license with so much political mumbo-jumbo as the GPL. If it ever get's tested, the judge is just going to laugh at it. [...] Perhaps it's time to do a clean-room rewrite of the GPL, that makes a license that might be more apt to be held up by an actual real-life court.

Are you a lawyer? Is that a legal opinion? Because the lawyers and law professors who created the GPL and who have read through the GPL believe it solid. NeXT had the option to challenge the license on GCC, with serious commercial interest (their ObjC frontend). Their lawyers obviously told them that they couldn't win the fight, and this was a time when the FSF couldn't have called on the several companies - possibly even IBM - to help defend the GPL.
Re:Shouldn't this be... by corrosiv · 2002-09-06 09:32 · Score: 2, Insightful

I'm not a nitpicking pundit. I'm a user of free software that GNU doesn't consider to be "free". The licenses page on gnu.org does not mention X11 or BSD, and Stallman (as GNU spokesman) has vocally stated that these are not "free" software.

GNU refuses to respect other points of view on this subject (and to think that one of their supposed goals is collaborative learning). I am grateful for the work that has gone into "free" software - I just oppose the use of the term "free".

Reading the award page (http://www.gnu.org/award/2002/2002.html) I found a very interesting quote:

We want to give this award to a person who has made a great contribution to the progress and development of Free Software (free as in freedom as defined in the Free Software Definition)

So you see, this IS a GNU award, because it is not given to proponents of free software, but to proponents of GNU software.

Oh. My. God. by FreeUser · 2002-09-06 05:36 · Score: 2

The Mono project [go-mono.com] has made great strides towards producing a free (GPL and BSD licensed) implementation of the .NET framework that's poised to replace the proprietary Sun/IBM Java installations, which represent one of the final major pieces of non-free software routinely distributed with GNU/Linux.

Funny, no one at my enterpise misses .net functionality. Indeed, not one of a dozen companies I know who are using free software, FreeBSD, and GNU/Linux have any, even remote, desire for .net, or a free "chase the ever moving Microsoft target, oops, stepped on a patent mine!" alternative implimentation of a standard dictated by a convicted monopolist.

As Gtk# [sf.net] continues to mature, it looks like the Mono project will soon be able to provide a powerful cross-platform Java-like envoronment complete with a modern object-oriented language, C#, that has proved so popular in business and enthusiast circles alike, without any of the vendor tie-in associated with Java.

gtk# and mono may be worthwhile projects (much as samba is), but regardless, I can't believe even a slashdot moderator could be so stupid as to mod up such obvious and blatent marketdroid speak. Baseless (and to all appearances inaccurate) claims of C#'s popularity "in business" and "enthusiast circles alike" are only exceeded by the incredibly silly "without any of the vendor tie-in associated with java" comment. As if though .net's "standard" as dictated by Microsoft isn't about as 'vendor tied in' as it gets.

I'm no fan of java (in fact, I loathe it for a number of reasons, not least of which is its byzantine, brain-dead time and date class), but compared to .net it is a godsend. .Net in comparison is a trojan of epic proportions, and Mono is likely just another of its victims.

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The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy

I've nominated Per Bothner by joto · 2002-09-06 05:37 · Score: 3, Informative

The man has been involved in pretty much anything in gcc (as in gnu compiler collection, not just gnu c compiler), gdb, and other parts of the toolchain. He has also written Kawa, and been involved in lot's of other free software projects.

I'm not sure if he was the one who started cygnus support, but if he is, that is also something that should help him get the prize (where would free software be without cygnus today?).

I nominate... by Maniakes · 2002-09-06 05:38 · Score: 2, Insightful

...This guy

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A legparnasom tele van angolnaval.

While we're on the topic of OSS/FS awards... by i_am_nitrogen · 2002-09-06 05:41 · Score: 3, Informative

Don't forget about Lindows's "Clicky Award..." Think what you will of Lindows, or LindowsOS, or the name "Clicky," but 50 grand donaed to Open Source software projects is 50 grand. Yeah, $50000US. Go forth and nominate!

Oh, and where it says "we will add you to our mailing database," you can immediately unsubscribe from the Lindows web page.

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A solution to the problem with music today

Re:While we're on the topic of OSS/FS awards... by jbn-o · 2002-09-06 06:52 · Score: 2, Informative

We were never on the topic of "OSS/FS awards". The award is being given "for the Advancement of Free Software". There is no mention of the other movement and for good reason. The event is being organized by the FSF and the GNU project which have no affiliation with the Open Source movement. Please take the time to read the press release and learn the difference between the two movements so you won't be confused and confuse others.

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Digital Citizen

Re:He already did! - but... by victim · 2002-09-06 05:55 · Score: 5, Funny

Linus Torvalds has received the award, but the plaque was engraved...
GNU/Linus Torvalds
in order to reduce confusion.

Nonsense by AirLace · 2002-09-06 06:01 · Score: 2

I know who are using free software, FreeBSD, and GNU/Linux have any, even remote, desire for .net, or a free "chase the ever moving Microsoft target

I'm a firm believer that anyone who took the bytecode compile-once-run-anywhere concept, took a look at Java and then pumped millions of dollars into improving on it would have come up with something akin to .NET. I only run Free Software (Debian GNU/Linux, main) so the fact that it comes from Microsoft is just a detail to me. Take away the added bonus of compatibility with Microsoft's .NET implementation and you still have a next-generation bytecode platform. It makes a very fair attempt at supporting multiple languages (wheras any attempt to do so with the Java bytecode is a cludge). At the end of the day, C# and .NET far exceed everything I could ever wish for from a Free Software VM platform. Remember that Linux and open source in general have taken many ideas from non-free software from the behemoths of their days, by imitating the best ideas from commercial software (think GNU/UNIX).

C#'s popularity "in business" and "enthusiast circles alike"

This may have come accross as 'marketdroidish' but the point I'm trying to make is that there are over 100 Mono developers with CVS access, and many more who contribute code through the mailing lists. Mono has been an enabling factor for many MSCE types to start dabbling with Mono and thus Linux. The internal structure of the Mono project is an excellent example of how enthusiasts and companies with commercial interests can work together to hack some really cool code.

At the end of the day, Mono hackers hack Mono because they love the technology. .NET really grows on you -- please don't try to tear it apart without at least giving Mono a go. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Re:Nonsense by FreeUser · 2002-09-06 06:10 · Score: 2

At the end of the day, Mono hackers hack Mono because they love the technology. .NET really grows on you -- please don't try to tear it apart without at least giving Mono a go. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Mono and gtk# have neither my ire nor my adoration. What annoyed me was the very real "marketdroid" sound of your post. Apologies if my reaction was scathing, but I have a low tolerance for such things even when they come out in support of something I like (e.g. GNU/Linux). When it comes out in support of something I'm skeptical of to begin with my tolerance is even lower.

I think the .net approach to things in general is not a very good idea, from both a security and a privacy perspective. Add to that the very real liklihood of Microsoft using it to entrap people using it onto their platform, the liklihood of their leveraging patents, copyright (and undocumented "features"), and making ad-hoc modifactions to the standard itself (something they as the owner of the standard can do at will), and I think Mono stands a good chance of discovering Microsoft's "open standard" to be little more than a Tar Baby.

That having been said, no one would be happier than I to eat crow and be proven wrong, so while I am profoundly skeptical of Mono (and certainly don't think it warrents consideration for the FSF award, at least not yet), I wish the project both luck and success.

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The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
Re:Nonsense by FreeUser · 2002-09-08 04:33 · Score: 2

okay, this just proves your ignorance of what Mono is all about. Mono != .Net.

I never said that it was. It is, however, chasing the .Net standard, with a stated goal of compatability. My point remains.

Secondly, what security/privacy perspective? C# is a friggin' programming langauge!!

C# is not equal to .Net. Now your ignorance is showing, as well as your inability or unwillingness to comprehend my post. The point you so stunningly fail to rebutt discusses Mono's .Net efforts, not their C# implimentation. Hint: I did not mention or discuss C# anywhere, except to point out that I had neither ire nor adoration for gtk#.

while it *is* possible that Microsoft might try to leverage their patents...it is extremely unlikely that it would hold water in court - seeing as how they have submitted their language to the ECMA.

Here you display an apalling ignorance of patent law. Courts will not nullify a patent merely because it has been submitted as part of a public standard, nor will they rule it unenforcable. You are probably misremembering the people who got slapped down for fraud and contract breach when they tried to enforce patents they had publicly stated, in writing were not a part of the standard they had helped to define.

Microsoft has made no such claim, signed no such agreement, and their patents will remain perfectly enforcable regardless of how many standards incorporate them. If they are somehow overturned it will be because of traditional prior art, something no one can count on and something that has absolutely no bearing on how far and widely the technique may have been implimented or be in use.

Also, Mono is being very careful about not looking at Microsoft's implementations so that they may stay "pure".

Which, once again, means nothing with respect to patent law. Good Lord, learn something about patent law before making such gradiose, and incorrect, assertions.

Fourthly, it is stated in the FAQ that Mono wants to avoid straying from the ECMA standard, but that does not mean that it will necessarily try to match Microsoft's implementation class-for-class. It doesn't need to in order to be useful.

They are striving for compatability. Your assumption that they may settle for less may be true, but it is just as likely false, moreso given the project's public statements on the matter. Do you really know anything about anything you're discussing here?

Does g++ contain all the classes that MSVC++ has? No. Does it make g++ any less useful? No.

GCC does adhere to K&R C and various ANSI C and C++ standards. GCC is not, and makes no pretense about, trying to maintain MSVC++ compatability. Mono is trying to achieve .NET compatability. That makes any comparisons between the two in the context of this thread completely absurd and irrelevant.

Frankly I didn't think anyone, not even an anonymous coward or a deliberate troll, could be as ignorant about as many points in a discussion as you have proven to be.

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The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy

Debian Project by Florian · 2002-09-06 06:05 · Score: 5, Insightful

I couldn't think of a project that has done more for the advancement of free software (in practical terms) than Debian. The years of continuous good work seem to pay off now. While RedHat is popular among corporate customers, Mandrake (and, in Europe: SuSE) among newbie users and people who boot into GNU/Linux only occasionally, it seems as if Debian is becoming the de facto standard distribution of non-corporate advanced users (who typically pick Debian as their second distribution and then stick with it). As a genuinely free distribution, Debian is also much appreciated in education; my university, for example, hosts its own Debian FTP mirror.

While Debian's Free Software-only politics was controversial some years ago - anyone remember the ugly term "Debian Nazi"? -, it no longer seems so due to DMCA, patenting, and perversions of copyright. Debian has done invaluable work for the Free Software community by thoroughly reviewing the licensing of the software it ships, freeing users from the hassle to become legal experts. Debian users enjoy both the technical excellence and the legal safety of running Debian "main".

It would be good if the FSF Award were given to Debian to finance work on the new Debian installer. This is the last showstopper piece which prevents massive newbie user adoption of this distribution.

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gopher://cramer.plaintext.cc http://cramer.plaintext.cc:70

materilistic by oliverthered · 2002-09-06 06:15 · Score: 2

For a bunch of people all advocating freedome your being very materialistic.

So I nominate RMS for the GPL and the ideas behind free software.
For all the GNU tools.

and for being able to stir up an argument like no-one else.

some people might think he's a big anal, but so was Einestine, he didn't 'believe' in qauntum physics.

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thank God the internet isn't a human right.

Re:He already did! - but... by bhsx · 2002-09-06 07:08 · Score: 2

oh man.. where are my mod points????

oh crap, now i gotta go pee...

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put the what in the where?

Really?? by Eric+Damron · 2002-09-06 07:17 · Score: 2

"...C#, that has proved so popular in business and enthusiast circles alike ..."

Really? I just attended a technical conference in which the .NET was introduced. The reaction from the group of software engineers was truly frightening. I thought for a while that we were going to have an old style lynching. I don't believe that .NET has proven very popular at all. Further, I believe that most programmers feel that Microsoft is trying to ram it down our throats.

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The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!

I nominate... by RadioheadKid · 2002-09-06 07:22 · Score: 5, Insightful

Chris "Monty" Montgomery the mastermind behind Ogg Vorbis and cdparanoia.

--
"Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." -Homer Simpson

CowboyNeal by Jungle+guy · 2002-09-06 07:32 · Score: 2, Funny

CowboyNeal has my vote! Where can I vote for this poll?

GNU is a subset of free by The+Pim · 2002-09-06 07:42 · Score: 2

"GNU software" refers to software expressly under the GNU banner. Most free software is not GNU software. And indeed you'll note that the past recipients of the award are known mostly for their non-GNU software. So your suggestion is clearly off the mark.

People--including the FSF--have tried for a long time to come up with a better (English) term than "free software". The only one that has caught on is "open source", which has entirely different connotations. "Free software" is imperfect, but it's what we got.

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The evaluation of an action as 'practical' . . . depends on what it is that one wishes to practice.

Re:GNU is a subset of free by aardvarkjoe · 2002-09-06 07:59 · Score: 2

They could use "libre software" (or "software libre"), or "GNU/free". (Those two happen to be the ones that I think are most reasonable; but I've seen lots of suggestions.)

The OP is perfectly correct, though, in saying that the "free software" movement attempts to capitalize on the fact that the phrase means "software without monetary cost", not "software that is licensed in a way which protects the FSF's idea of your freedoms." I don't think that they have made any real attempts to come up with a better term.

Yet another reason why I choose to identify myself with the "open source" camp instead.

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How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Re:GNU is a subset of free by The+Pim · 2002-09-06 08:20 · Score: 2

the "free software" movement attempts to capitalize on the fact that the phrase means "software without monetary cost"
Given how strenuously they emphasize that it's "free as in freedom", I don't think you can justify this accusation.
As for the examples you gave, "libre" is not English, and "GNU/free" is not a word. Both pretty significant disadvantages.

--

The evaluation of an action as 'practical' . . . depends on what it is that one wishes to practice.

How about these guys?!? by tlambert · 2002-09-06 07:46 · Score: 5, Informative

How about Paul Vixie, for maintaining the comp.sources archives for forever, so that they didn't get lost in the mists of time?

How about Fred Fish, who pretty much single-handedly invented the compilation distribution disk?

How about CSRG for BSD UNIX?

How about Kernighan and Ritchie, for the C language?

How about DECUS, for the DECUS tapes?

How about Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, for inventing the modem, and giving the idea away?

How about Ward Christensen again, for inventing the Xmodem protocol, and giving the software away?

-- Terry

Bill Gates/Steve Ballmer by anonymous+cupboard · 2002-09-06 09:12 · Score: 2

It may seem odd nominating these guys but their pronouncements and actions running Microsoft have probably done more to worry people enough to start running Open Source software. It isn't like other closed source companies are doing the same thing, but should they get to a dominant position, they too have the same powers to abuse their customers.

Seriously though, my vote would go to the Peruvian guy for writing such an eloquent argument!!

Re:We all suck? by fault0 · 2002-09-06 09:32 · Score: 2

> Then why is it that Microsoft has the most bugs of any mainstream OS

Not trying to be a Microsoft-lover or anything, but perhaps this is because Microsoft products are in use most? And the fact that for many markets, their products are the ONLY mainstream OS?

While I abhor Windows, I'd have to say that things like WindowsXP are a increadibly complicate piece of coding. Of course, Microsoft has the money to hire the programmers to do it.

-- watches as he gets moderated down

John Carmack by fault0 · 2002-09-06 09:39 · Score: 4, Insightful

I've already nominated someone, but anyone want to nominate John Carmack?

He's released much of id's older under the GPL, most recently Quake2.

I think he gives a good balance between making money in the commercial sector and releasing code for people to learn and develop from. When a game engine is no longer profitable, he releases it. I think this should serve as a model to other companies to release the code for their old software/abandonware, especially in games.

Just asking for a religous war... by Sanity · 2002-09-06 12:21 · Score: 2

...what about Gentoo? Why is the distribution that happens to be favored by non-corporate advanced users any more deserving of recognition than distributions which serve other sets of users?

This is not that I don't like Debian (although I don't have the patience to use it as a desktop OS), but it is dangerous to nominate one project where many other equivolent projects exist, and where there is an ongoing debate as to which is best.

Debian's longer history by Goonie · 2002-09-06 12:51 · Score: 2

Not knocking Gentoo, but Debian has been doing a comprehensive volunteer distribution for an extremely long time, and demonstrated its ongoing viability through leadership changes and occasional political turbulence.

Gentoo, though by all reports I've heard it's excellent, is a much newer project.

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Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)

William Gates by chazzf · 2002-09-06 16:45 · Score: 2

In providing a common (perceived) enemy Gates and Microsoft have given free software a goal, something to strive for. We're fighting the Evil Empire, looking to develop better products. In a word: competition. If there was no Microsoft, what would drive most of this development? Rather, if there was not an unhinged company making inferior closed-source software, I doubt there would have been such a flow of free software because it would not have been necessary.

Given that, one could argue that Gates caused all our problems so screw 'em, but I would rather concentrate on the beautiful cooperation and spirit demonstrated by GNU/Linux/BSD/ developers around the world.

Just remember: Gates made you do it

~Chazzf

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No statement is true, not even this one.

Argentine by oliverthered · 2002-09-07 00:36 · Score: 2

I thought he was in Peru?
any-how free software isn't about money.
it's free as in speech no free as in beer.

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thank God the internet isn't a human right.

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