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Ask About the Iraqi LUG
Yes, there is a Linux Users Group in Iraq. When it was first mentioned on Slashdot it only had two members. It's grown a little since then, as has The Iraqi Linux Group Portal. Adam Davidson, an American reporter in Baghdad who helped start the group, has agreed to answer your questions about Linux in Iraq. Please post only one question per comment. We'll email Adam 10 of the highest-moderated questions, and post his answers verbatim (except for HTML formatting) when he gets them back to us.
Which distribution of Linux do most Iraqis use? RedHat, Mandrake, Debian, Slackware, or other?
libertarianswag.com
One has to ask, would this have been allowed under Saddam Hussain?
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
What is the age group(s) of Linux users in Iraq?
OK, I don't even know what it's in Sweden, but it would be interesting, right?
What is the density per capita of PC type computers in Iraq ? I mean how many people even own computers ? What is the average computer available for use in Iraq ?
windows?
We all know that the news only plays the parts that sell (normally the worst parts) of reality, which leaves everyone with a twisted idea of what it is like. So if I was born and raised in Iraq, what would my life really be like?
For years strict encryption rules were an issue for Iraq. Has the US now stopped it's encryption restrictions for Iraq or do you simply get your crypto from elsewhere?
How can we in the global community help the Iraqi LUG? Are there resources available for computer donation, etc.?
libertarianswag.com
Do any of the participants in the inevitable KDE/Gnome flamewars have the capability to launch Weapons of Mass Destruction in under 45 minutes?
...right here. Netscape == Mozilla, and such, I bet.
Have to remember to check that page a day or two from now... there'll be a new "busiest hour", probably.
The Army reading list
how do you think Iraq will merge very old and very new cultures in a beneficial way?
C|N>K
I'm presuming that any government computer infrastructure has been destroyed, and that they will be more or less starting from scratch.
Am I correct in assuming that Microsoft is in there big time locking down contracts to rebuild government computing sytems?
Three Squirrels
Only Ninnle Linux is approved for use by true followers of the five pillars of Islam. All others are unclean.
Are there any female Linux users/Linux Users Group members in Iraq? If so, how many? How old are they?
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
Can we help you in some way? Old computers, networking equipment, webspace, etc?
I would like to help the proliferation of Free software, as part of a larger effort to provide opportunities to connect, to the people of Iraq. How can we help? Would my old computer hardware help? How can I get it to you? What about my linux skills? I teach computer science/forensics at the university level and would be happy to offer training over the web.
Crap. That's two questions, isn't it?
Oh, shit. I'm screwed now, huh?
Dammit! I'm up to 5, aren't I?
Is the recent growth in your user group due to an influx of homegrown Iraqi talent, or are there more foreign users (ie, contractors) coming incountry?
I'm eager to ask, does he think that an increased presence of Linux in Iraqi homes during the last war would have had some impact in the way information was delivered to the outside world ?
Would it have improved the way the major news channels "translated" the events ?
Karma cannot be described by words alone.
Does the US Army come bursting in?
... From you MOM???
Well, on question should go for the numbers: do a lot of people have computers in Iraq? Is linux well-known there? How is it welcomed compared to the competition? IIRC the internet was outlawed under Sadam, so is it becoming available rapidly?
Of course we all know the fastest way to get network is to get a bunch of linux-geeks together.. Is the next linux beer.. erm.. thee hike going to be in Bagdad?
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
Any undertanding at all or just considered foreign and evil?
Help fight continental drift.
Why did you start a Linux Users Group in Iraq when there are clearly more pressing issues in that part of the world?
Given Iraq's clean-slate status:
How can the international community promote the freedom to use information technology for fair and lawful purposes (ie no DRM, free use of strong cryptography)?
So, as somebody who's actually there and actually knows what life is like for a techno-geek in today's Iraq, perhaps you could give us a detailed account about current network infrastructure, how easy or difficult it is to buy computer parts, how much Iraqi people (and Iraqi computer geeks in particular) use Internet technologies to connect to one another (e-mail, blogs, instant messaging, the web, etc.), what cultural attitudes in Iraq concerning the Internet, the global community, and the West, etc.
Most people in the United States (which is where most of the readers of /. come from) know very little about day-to-day life in Iraq. A detailed account would probably be very educational and broadening.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
And, what's your guess as to what a representative, popularly-elected government in Iraq will look like?
In particular, will "tyranny of the majority" cause minority factions (eg, Kurds, Sunnis, non-Islamic religions, etc.) to become dissatisfied and resort to arms?
How's the free press? Broadly factual, rational, sensational, biased?
"Provided by the management for your protection."
What is the nature of new Windows deployments in Iraq? Are they now more likely to be legit copies or pirate copies? (this is NEW installations)
If pirated copies of Windows are still the norm, and hardware/power is so unreliable that uptimes are irrelevant, what remaining advantages does Linux have over Windows?
Wouldn't it be better to promote OpenOffice/Mozilla/open file formats, so that the switch to Linux is easier once the infrastructure is more solid, and once piracy is no longer rampant?
I was curious as to what level of geekiness you've attained. Do you recompile the kernel? Hack the kernel? Use linux to learn system administration/unix concepts? User-mode? Or spare time hobby?
Are you allowed to use Mandrake, or
are you forced to boycott french products in the new Iraq??
Why did the submitter feel it necessary to post the link to the Iraq LUG on the Slashdot homepage? Now they are just going to get a bunch of GNAA trolls signing up to spam them.
-You may license this sig for only $6.99.
Well said.
This next part is to bypass the lameness filter.
After living under totalitarian rule, what is the state of the country's computing talent? What disciplines have the strongest computing talent?
What sort of help / donations are you seeking from the US and the West? Would some old manuals, parts, or anything else we might have laying around be of use to you guys and how would we send it to you (i.e. mailing address?)
please do not access the site, it would be hypocritical of you.
I disagree. Thinking the liberation was wrong does not imply a disregard for the current state of affairs in Iraq.
Whether or not you supported the war, we must deal with the situation as it stands, and Iraq can use all the help it can get. I fully support a free software initiative in Iraq.
Globe199
Be careful what you send. Make sure there are not still export controls. You could end up in jail.
I'm not entirely educated about the average computer experience in the Middle East. I know that, comparatively, very few people have up-to-date computers with reliable internet access, but how much more uncommon is it for an Iraqi civilian to have experience in programming? In the previous regime, was coding mostly government-sponsored, or else discouraged or at least difficult to pick up? Everything grows slowly and somehow, I suppose. Good luck to you.
Of course not, they are terrorists.
Religious fundamentalists.
They must be... how else to explain how they dare to rebuild thier systems with a single command, putting their systems in the hand of others.
I know i wouldn't. I don't have that kind of faith.
The only worse than gentoo people are those of the covert LFS clan. I mean, talk about fundamentalist control freaks.
Well at least your on topic!!
Do you think SCO can go after the group in a US court since Bush is currently the president of Iraq? Do you think they'll get rooted for oil??
What does Halliburton chrage for a RedHat Linux 9 on CD? $10,000?
I didn't accept the crypto controls, I don't accept hardware controls.
This national security bullshit has gone way too far already and it looks like it's going to get worse as the moron-in-chief is most probably re-elected this year.
I'm assuming that most Iraqis don't have a computer, and as such there is not a very large Windows marketshare.
Do you think the lower prices of linux will encourage widespread computer usage in Iraq? Do you think maybe people will use linux more than windows, since it's cheaper and can (maybe) get a foothold in the market faster?
Once upon a time the Middle East was the center of learning the world over. Scholars of all religions and nationalities flocked there to exchange ideas and learn. This tolerance made the Middle East rich both economically and culturally. Then fundamentalist religion reared its ugly head, stifling all types of learning except for the Koran. Is there any chance of overcoming the fundamentalist shackles of intolerance and return the Middle East to its former glory of knowlege and economic vibrants?
-- Will program for bandwidth
Cant allow terrorists having open-source operating systems and development tools..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
From the news reports I've read, Iraq currently has a single ISP and Internet Connectivity is extremely limited. Is this true, and if so, do you know if linux based systems are being used to rebuild the network infrastructure of Iraq?
I think this is a ridiculous sort of question. The same could be said of Americans. "Why don't you help your people to have some food, instead of tinkering with computers?" In any country you pick, you're going to have those who are starving, and those who are affluent.
But if Mahmoud from Iraq is good at "tinkering with computers", chances are he's going to be able to work, and if he's working, then he is, one way or another, "helping his people to have some food". Simple economics.
Dlugar
Computer Go: Writing Software to Play the Ancient Game of Go
What are your feelings about the Internet in relation to freedom of the press and global democracy?
Does the Internet help opressed peoples in dictatorial regimes to see the rights and freedoms that their governments deny them, and to see around the official views that are put out through party propaganda machines? Is it our responsibility to help people in nations like China circumvent their government's censorship mechanisms (using systems like the ill-fated SafeWeb) and see what's really going on in the world, much as Voice of America and BBC World Service have been doing on the radio for so many years?
How many people have you spoken to in Iraq who used the Internet in some form under Hussein and what did they think of the content? Impressed? Disgusted? Did the Internet have any influence before or during the war, perhaps persuading people not to resist or fight for the regime?
What uses have you found the for Internet in post-dictatorship Iraq? Communications, fostering democratic thinking?
Does Linux (being free and hence requiring no capital investment) represent the ideal way to get people online in Iraq when money is tight and perhaps better used elsewhere?
Out of curiosity, might as well ask someone who's in the field and there: what are the typical IT positions in Iraq? What skills are most sought after?
Has Apple yet announced any plans to pursue legal action against the clearly trademark-infringing "iLug" name? How can one make donations to your legal defense?
Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
Will Iraq will merge very old and very new cultures in a beneficial way? Being Johnny-on-the-spot, what's your take on Iraq's chances of having a real democracy, and not just a vehicle for some religious nutjob *cough*Sistani*cough* to take over?
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
flame off!!!
Too bad such a game could never be published.
Will the use of Linux assist in finding the till-now-non-existant weapons of mass destruction previously in Iraq but now supposedly hiding in Syria?
What features does Linux offer Iraq that Windows does not? Does it offer any special advantages besides the standard ones for open source? For example, are there better translations or special software used by people in Iraq?
(George W., I mean, get your head out of the gutter!)
Most of us who didn't and don't support the war in Iraq have nothing against a people liberated, and would have in fact enjoyed giving Saddam a good, sharp kick in the bum. But why tell everyone you're spaying a dog so it won't bite your kids if you really want to do the dog a favor? Don't pretend that liberation was anything but a useful and fortunate side effect that the administration fell back on when forced to eat crow. So as to stay on topic: I would much rather have Linux proliferate in Iraq than hate and fear. FUD anywhere should be corrected and soundly walloped.
Are there huge PS2 clusters running Linux from the Saddam era? I hear if you buy enough PS2s you can control missiles and whatnot.
Sometimes it's too bad that Slashdot doesn't have a dumbass tag like fark. Like now.
Are you teaching Iraqis to make bombs with linux?
Can you ping me now?... Good!
I organized a chat between the College Perk coffeehouse near the University of Maryland and the Baghdad Internet Cafe. The Cafe has about 50 computers, and during the chat they had six people in the Cafe for an Internet training course.
They reported being able to buy cheap computers ("200 USD FOR P4"), but power was an issue - it goes down a lot - fortunately the Cafe has a generator.
I plan to do another chat with them in February.
It is important to keep in mind that during the mid-70's, Baghdad was practially a "European" city in terms of infrastructure, based on high oil prices and Saddam's desire to create a showplace for the glory of his regime. Things didn't really go downhill structurally there until the war with Iran, then Gulf War I, the sacntions, etc.
Also, a lot of businesses now depend on email for communications to and from Iraq, as the phone lines are often less than dependable.
The Baghadad Internet Cafe opened August 1. It is my feeling that it would not have been possible to have an open public Internet chat like the one we had before operation Iraqi Freedom without some kind of government political official there to monitor things. I'll have to ask next time.
Iraqi LUG!?!? Does this mean the "Weapons of Mass Destruction Related Programs" mentioned in the State of the Union Address will be Open Sourced?
He was talking about computer programs, right?
Are the Iraqui's being forced to use Linux in English versions or are you being respectful and using Linux in Persian ?
What kind of courses does Iraq's higher educational system have in regards to computers? Do they have many classes regarding Unix/Linux type systems or is the emphasis more on proprietary software such as Microsoft's? In general, what kind of careers goals do the Iraqi computer students have?
Given the current political changes, do you find there are any political or even cutural hurdles? How do they affect your ability to bring Linux to Iraq?
"Your having a bad day when the voices in your head put you on hold"
...where are the biological and chemical weapons?
G.W.B.
the possibility of generating revenue locally instead of selling their petrol in order to send it back to the US.
Yes, I can see that...
Original version:
Question: Which distribution of Linux do most Iraqis use?
Answer: oh, they all use Windows. I think I saw one with Slackware once though.
Slashdot version, with HTML added:
Question: Which distribution of Linux do most Iraqis use?
Answer: oh, they all use Slackware.
What? We edited the question? Of course not! We just added some strategically placed comment tags...
What do you know about World Politic? Find out in this quiz
Foreign? Evil?
That indicates a thorough understanding. What is your question?
Did /.'s (a place for Nerds and stuff that matters) CNN like coverage of the anti-WMD and anti-terrorism war disgust you?
/.'s desperate tries to spread every kind of FUD SCO is able to produce on a daily basis?
How do you value
We had a few of those at my old college :)
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lug
Really, is the bias against Microsoft really that blatant in the minds of Slashdot robot moderators, that you score an obvious troll like this as 5? Interesting???
Funny, I always thought that the acronym "LUG" stood for "Lesbians Until Graduation". Kind of gives the article title a different spin...
Another troll. What does "risking its own staff" have to do with rebuilding the infrastructure there? In what way does contracting for goods and services to rebuild Iraq amount to looting, and why is Microsoft the only named "culprit"?
Ooooh, nasty, evil... CAPITALISTS! Get real, if it were Linus in there to try to get them to go with an all-Linux infrastructure, you'd be singing hymns.
Not really sure what Linux specifically would have to do with the ability of everyday Iraqis to get information off of the Internet (the same Internet that Linux and Windows connects to).
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
I can't believe you beat me to it!
Are you kidding ME? /. is "news for nerds". Hense the story fits, if you want to read your dribble just go to CNN or a news company that is supposed to discuss the things you want, you insentive clod.
How about "Do you think maybe people will use linux more than windows or Mac OS since it's cheaper and can (maybe) get a foothold in the market faster?"
Windows isn't the only commercial OS on the market, and Apple hardware isn't exactly an 'economy-priced' either.
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
Question:
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Do you think "Idiots!", when you see these kinds of questions?
Have any lawyers from Davis, Boies, and Schiller been in contact with the members?
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
The struggle for power in Iraq is at this time dominated by the fundamentalist groups which all of them favor non-democratic governmental forms.
Linux clearly being beyond governmental control must to these people appear to be very very dangerous.
All tyranies builds on the foundation of controlling information and information flow. So this initiative is clearly not in their favor.
with names like "gentoo" and "suse" you don't HAVE to make up stupid/silly names for linux distributions. ;-)
what do you mean by, "If you think liberation is bad"? Who are you talking to? just curious...
Are there any restrictions of any sort on using computers in Iraq in general and Linux in particular?
What is currently the most popular OS and hardware platform in Iraq, both by numbers and total computing power?
Issues:
* Crypto importing
* Access to Internet to maintain a Unix system
* The ".iq" top level domain
* Who runs the providers?
* Keeping Microsoft out (their own EULA forbids its use in Iraq)
Bill Gates or Saddam Hussein?
George W. Bush says Saddam Hussein supported the terrorists. I believe everything GWB tells me because Fox news tells me to believe it.
Are you guys really using Linux to support terrorism (another "ism")?
...when monkeys fly out of my ass.
Is the average Iraqi better off today than one year ago?
How do you think they will be one year (or 5 years) in the future?
As Bush says, to hell with US courts, they don't deserve US courts.
How can I, a savy *nix programmer with great database , website, and overall IT know-how skills, come to Iraq and help out? I'm not looking to cash in, in fact I really just want cost of living plus an extra 500 month to cover student loads paid for. I would also like to have airfare covered. But aside from that, I truly would like to help out in the (re)building of Iraqi IT ingrastructure. Whether it's setting up linux labs at schools, setting up open source solutions for gov't (websites, databases, etc), teaching the people etc. I'm open to anything. I also have extensive experience traveling in developing nations and am not afraid of adverse conditions.
and is he gay?
I would be curious to know what kind of software, in general, is being developed there? Are the Linux users doing mostly in-house, commercial, hobby, or other development?
If there is a lot of commercial development, in what areas?
My user name was a mistake. Input wasn't restricted, my bad.
Why, yes, Virginia. If Darl says it's true, then it must be. By using open source tools the terrorists can spend the money they saved on better bombs and mines. Why, Linus himself is from Finland, and as every Utah resident knows, Finland is only fifty miles or so from Baghdad and deep inside the Al Qu'aeda territory. Haven't you ever wondered - Linux is very good at networking - and Al Qu'aeda is also referred to as a network, isn't it? Also, Alan Cox has long hair - and asyou well know only hippies and terrorists have long hair.
on every computer in Iraq?
"/Dread"
I'm on my way back to Iraq to work on tracking support for U.S Army near Baghdad. And this is really nice to hear since I'll be there for a year. 4 months ago I was distributing Mandrake 9.0 there so this is maybe most used distro :-)))
Now I'm carrying Debian and Mandrake with me.
Habibi Iraqi.
Sinisa
How many Linux users are there in Iraq? And what kind of PC hardware are they using?
Best Community for Gaming and Gadgets!
They have a paypal button on http://linux-iraq.org/ Drop them a few bucks!
What flavour of Embedded Linux do you Weapons of Mass Destruction run on ?
Well, considering the CIA made Saddam president and Reagan supported both him and Osama, I'm guessing Reagan and his friends are some of the people he's talking to. (This is troll to everyone who is embarrased byt facts, flamebait to everyone who is angry at the truth, and offtopic to those who wish to pretend not to be either embarassed or angry.)
U.S. news on C-Span has been reporting that the Middle east governments are relaxing their previous strict control over citizens using the internet. However, the report only mentioned Iraq and Egypt by nane. What are you seeing from your neighbor states? Do you think these governments mean to stick with a policy of more free speech, or are any of them likely to crack down again in a year or so? Who's likely to be a holdout?
Who is John Cabal?
I read in other news that Iraq as under US occupation will get a copyright legislation written by a RIAA official. But nobody talks about software patents in Iraq. Will the United States pressure for a US style patent legislation in Iraq? I heard that patents are incompatible with islamic law. Some muslims in my neighborhood were much in favour of free software because of religious reasons. Do the Iraqis LUG guys also believe that the GPL unlike proprietary software is according to Shariah law.
Now is a good time to donate Used PC's. The holidays are over and some people have upgraded the old PC and it's now collecting dust. Save some space at the landfill.
The US military could chip in with some transportation, and get PC's into the hands of people that need them (schools, hospitals, police stations).
The local LUG could do a one-day install-fest in the native language. Schools might use k12ltsp or Lorma. Gates and Balmer will be over there making charitable donations before you can say "communist evil-doers"
I hate to see any Gnome vs. KDE flame wars over there. These guys use REAL FLAMES!
What was the state of network infrastructure before the war, and what is the current state of the network?
I.E. is broadband available? Is it mostly dialup etc...
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
Do you have bullet-proof case mods?
Table-ized A.I.
...for them to re-compile their kernels, so I heard. Some fat guy called Gilligan told me.
Word up to all the "STFU Katz!" 'ers out there!!!
has nerd. I bet you these guys will never see a girl take off her burka.
Aren't you too busy dodging enemy fire, and stuff?
He who knows not and knows he knows not is a wise man. He who knows not and knows not he knows not is a fool.
Perhaps you have a tally for how many Iraqui deaths have been caused by the Bushes?
Very few. Saddam is responsible for almost all of them.
How many hundreds of thousands of children died under sanctions, etc.
Saddam is directly responsible for this. The sanctions allow for adequate food and medicine. However, Saddam withheld these. Look at this fact: northern Iraq (Kurdistan) was under the exact same sanctions, but it had no food or medicine problems.
How many Iraquis have been killed directly and indirectly by Americans since their liberation, etc.
It is spelled "Iraqi". Again, it is very few. The Saddamite terrorists have been killing almost all of the victims.
People are unjustly killed or oppressed all the time in the American Iraq as well as in the U.S.
Very few, actually.
There were certainly huge problems in Iraq, but there were a number of rights that were not automatically as supressed as Bush worshipers
You cannot name one right that was badly suppressed under Saddamite Iraq.
Freedom starts at home. Regime change starts at home
Thankfully, this happened in 2000.
Just as when Japan was wiped to a 'clean slate' at the end of WW2 and then went on to become the worlds centre of technological development I wish you and your country prosperity in similar peaceful development. You should be very proud of your history. Few westerners know that it is not Von Neumann or Turing to whom we owe thanks for the birth of computing, but an Arab, Al Koridm Musa, who developed the first ever Algorithm (procedural stepwise method for performing a task) and that is where the name Algorithm comes from.
...should be decided by asking "Who would Osama vote for?"
Stupid sexy Flanders.
The thing is, he was right (probably without knowing it). They gave us the concept of zero in about 950 (I think). I would guess that it probably came also from Baghdad, along with all the other stuff.
The story of the sack of Baghdad must be more complicated. As a rule, if you agreed to their notional rule (the Kahn was usually a long way away) and raised and paid taxes, cities were generally left alone.
Is there any optimism that, once the current turmoil settles down, Iraq will be able to grow a stronger technology-based economy?
"Obviously, I'm not an IBM computer any more than I'm an ashtray" (Bob Dylan)
Since the per capita income in Iraq is around $2700 a year the special advantage to using Linux over Windows is that the people there can still afford to eat.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
Wrong. Ask more questions. Question everything. Only by doing this do we arrive at truth and understanding.
Here where I work, we've been talking about the PayPal link you have. It's a great idea and I'd love to contribute. Linux is a passion of mine, and I'd like to help directly (if only in a small way) to rebuild the information infrastructure that my government has done their best to level. But what assurances can you provide that contributions will be used only to promote linux in Iraq? I wouldn't want to end up in Guantanamo bay with Ashcroft's rifle-butt in my stomach.
This is a serious question - are you affiliated with any international organization? I don't know what the government is like right now - can you be registered as a non-governmental organization? Is there someone who can audit your finances? Any information you can provide would be useful.
How can we help? Are there ways for Americans to donate machines to the Iraqi people and what types of machines are needed most?
:)
Here in Seattle there are lots of PII's at the Goodwill - great for Linux use
I'm probably headed back to Saudia Arabia for a week in February, and I had a heck of a time finding good servers. You never know how much you rely on a fast Internet connection until you spend three days downloading the source for Open Office for your Gentoo-based laptop.
And yes, I know for the future that the binary Open Office package is smaller, just about as fast, and that it doesn't take 30 hours to build on a P3 system.
Building in an environment with little legacy infrastructure can provide excellent oppportunities for deploying new technologies. Are you considering suggesting Linux for voice services (e.g. for example, my own project, Asterisk) as well as data?
Having been liberated by the United States, I suspect that Iraq will soon pass copyright protections and recognize international copyrights.
From the anti-intellectual property perspective, this means that a country that rejected intellectual property will start having copyrights. I suspect that, sometime in the near future, commercial software will start being available in the country, and that Iraq will see a major crackdown on the copying and free distribution of copyrighted material.
If your primary political view revolves around rejectiong the existence of intellectual property, then the Iraqi war would be seen as a step backward...the poor people of Iraq are being enslaved by property rights.
Yeah, in the old Iraq, you would get tortured and brutally murdered for expressing your opinions, but you didn't have to pay for your CD collection.
BTW, check out these Iraqi blogs:
Baghdad Burning
Salam Pax
The Mesopotamian
Iraq at a glance
Hammorabi
Nabil's blog
Baghdadee
Fayrouz
Iraq the model
Iraq and Iraqis
A Family in Baghdad
Road of a nation
Ihath - Losing myself
Sun of Iraq
Post it to the following address:
Adam Davidson or Ashraf T. Hasson
c/o Sinclair Cornell CPA (USAID/IRAQ) OTI APO AE 09335
-he who laughs last, is a bit slow.
journal
GET SOME PRIORITIES PEOPLE! Iraq has just sufferred the most demoralizing invasion of Westerners in a decade! They are out in the street starving and looking for work! And here we are talking about what distrobution of Linux they use?!?! GET SOME PRIORITIES!
What's the average rainfall in Iraq?
(I figured asking about linux usage in Iraq was ridiculous...might as well find some others to ask).
This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it. - Dorothy Parker
What Free Software/Open Source projects are the ILUG members most interested in contributing to, or are already participating in?
The real Webmaven is user ID 27463. I don't rate an imposter, because my ID is such a lame-ass high number.
I'm going to ask what I believe is the most obvious question. I also ask this question in the most sincere way.
How is Linux going to help Iraq?
I believe Linux could help Iraq in terms of infrastructure and perhaps it can help low-cost news organizations (radio, newspapers).
What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean....
When are you going to hand over control of the Iraqi Lug to the Iraqi people?
--Joey
Very few. Saddam is responsible for almost all of them.
By the unofficial tally of Bush or his loyalists, yes. By others, no.
Saddam is directly responsible for this. The sanctions allow for adequate food and medicine. However, Saddam withheld these. Look at this fact: northern Iraq (Kurdistan) was under the exact same sanctions, but it had no food or medicine problems.
Certainly Sadaam could have done more to prevent them from starving, as could have those imposing policies there who share the blame with Sadaam for the deaths. If that makes Sadaam directly responsible, the sanctions policymakers were as well. Without the sanctions, the children would not have died. It was obvious from almost the start that the sanctions were most-significantly harming the innocents, that Sadaam didn't stop building palaces to care about the poor, but felt forced to take the money from other sources.
There were a lot of better outcomes "allowed for" by more peaceful nations at the UN that were disregardeded by the US administrations, and in the end it was obvious that there was nothing (not even toppling Sadaam and looking for a year for himself) that could have convinced Bush he had no WMD.
The Saddamite terrorists have been killing almost all of the victims.
Again the right of Bush and Bush loyalists to call anyone a terrorist and then they even become responsible for their own death, even if they were fighting in their own country for freedom from the occupying crusaders.
Very few, actually.
Trivializing all these deaths does not make your case. I guess that means that deaths in the world trade center bombing were also few, because more innocent people die by the Bush-supported Tobacco companies in a year from second hand smoke.
Far more Iraqis are dying than Americans in the new Iraq, not one of which I have heard of having received a fair trial. And Bush has no legal right to be there. Of course, in Bush America and Iraq, a fair trial is an unaffordable luxury, as is keeping a credible tally of the bodies, even those blamed on previous regimes. Vigilanteeism is not helpful either at the local or the international level, and those who practice it, as both Bush and Sadaam did, are criminals except where acting in self defense, which Bush clearly was not, so he is guilty of the deaths he caused.
You cannot name one right that was badly suppressed under Saddamite Iraq.
It is hard to detect what your statement really means. What did you mean by "badly", ineffectively, or evilly? I can name both, just as I can for the USA.
How about the rights of the people to keep and bear arms?
There were certainly examples of free speech on the internet by Iraqis. No government supresses it's citizens for acts of freedom that it does not find threatening. There is not as much freedom of speech in the US, either, if it comes to something the Government does not like. Put two demonstrators together at a Bush appearance as President supposedly of all the people, one holding a sign that says "Tax cuts are great" and one that says "No to tax cuts" and see which one gets removed by the Secret Service, as though an assassin would not know which sign to hold up, and that is the smallest tip of the iceberg.
If I openly spoke my thoughts freely on the present oppressive regime in the US, I would be investigated and possibly imprisoned by the government, even though there is no illegal action on my part (and no morality in their actions).
I have not heard of any Canadian stopping over in an airport in Iraq being shipped off to Syria for brutal torturing to get him to talk. No probable cause was ever found when this was done to a long-time Canadian in New York by Bush -- he was eventually returned with no charges ever filed -- and there was no justification for Bush intentionally sending him outside of the US to be tortured, in Syria of all places. If there is any message Bush has sent, it has bee
Just out of interest, I remember reading 'Atari User' magazines when I was a kid. There was at least one program, possibly more, written by a guy called 'Mike Rowe'.
I remember thinking, "Is this the guy's real name? Really?"... bearing in mind that "micro" was a common abbreviation for "microcomputer" (which most were at the time).
Fascinating fact: This would have been around the same time that the 'famous' Mike Rowe was born.
Yeah, okay, I'll shut up now.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
If they want to phunk around with RedHat educating and entertaining themselves who are you to cry foul?
That's Fred, not Selma! A country of budding internationally-aware Whigs? That would be great!
Yes, Saddam is responsible for almost all of the civlian deaths. This is reality, not Bush tallies or Saddamite/UN tallies. For example, he located military targets in civilian areas to make use of "human shields".
Certainly Sadaam could have done more to prevent them from starving, as could have those imposing policies there who share the blame with Sadaam for the deaths
He intended them to starve, which is why he kept food from them. The only ones who share the blame are his underlings. The sanctions had nothing to do with the starvation. Again, Kurdish North Iraq was under the same sanctions, but had no starvation (no Saddam).
Without the sanctions, the children would not have died
He would have found another way to kill them.
It was obvious from almost the start that the sanctions were most-significantly harming the innocents
It wasn't obvious because it was never true.
even if they were fighting in their own country for freedom from the occupying crusaders.
"Crusader" is an insult used by terrorists, actually. The Saddamite terrorists are fighting to make their country less-free. They are in fact an anti-Iraqi army. (also, whether or not they are terrorists has to do with what they are. Not what Bush calls them).
Trivializing all these deaths does not make your case
You are trivializing them by lying about the true cause.
I would be investigated and possibly imprisoned by the government, even though there is no illegal action on my part (and no morality in their actions).
There is no oppressive regime. You are lying again. Nothing would happen to you for lying quite loudly, too. Look at Michael Moore. However, if you hate this country so much that you keep lying about it, why not get the hell out. Go to North Korea. You surely love terrorist dictators.
The first thing Bush does when confronted with an oppressive regime is give away all the moral high ground America posesses and compete by becoming as oppressive as he can, and start subsidizing the next dictator, as though we need another Sadaam for the future.
He is much less oppressive than Clinton, If you are referring to allying with Pakistan, well, you know nothing about the place. Bad as Musharaff is, he a voice of moderation in a place where Muslim terrorists are quite strong politically.
There are certainly some who thank Bush for greatly restricted rights, a less-secure nation
He hasn't restricted rights (in fact, he is more protective of them than Clinton), and the nation is much more secure from terrorist attack then it was when Clinton handed it over.
There were a lot of better outcomes "allowed for" by more peaceful nations at the UN that were disregardeded by the US administrations
The so called "peaceful" nations were quite warlike: they supported Saddam and his killing 20,000+ Iraqis a year. Also, these outcomes were much worse: they would have subsidized Saddam and kept him in power.
and in the end it was obvious that there was nothing (not even toppling Sadaam and looking for a year for himself) that could have convinced Bush he had no WMD
Nothing? Now about facts. The evidence on WMD was such that even France (and Clinton) believed Iraq had them. The problem was that Saddam was blocking inspections. He was supposed to have complied many years ago. In fact, he was in violation in many ways of the cease-fire. It was like his war of aggression against Kuwait was not even over.
There are others with fond memories of freer times and even Clinton as bad as he was, was more respectable
Clinton was much less respectable in just about every way. However, Clinton knew Saddam was a dangerous imperialist dictator. He even bombed Saddam for outrageous actions during his administration.
Mossadegh was a fascist. He was propped up by Moscow and spent his time amassing wealth into a single-party totalitarian state. Not very "Democratic". unless you think the GDR was "Democratic".
was there a revolution in iran and a new anti-us regime?
The revolution in Iraq replaced the Shah with a muhc more brutal regime. If you have a complaint about the Shah, brutality can't be it.
In retrospect, helping the Shah was quite good: it put off Iran becoming a horrific terror-state by a couple of decades.
buy a PC from Dell and click that little box that says "I'm using it for building WMDs thanks."?
Iraqi Linux! It's free as in... ???
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
Not a question, but I'd just like to point out that Al-Sistani, the Shi'ite cleric that's currently causing such a lot of trouble for George Bush has his own website (yes, there is an English version):
http://www.sistani.org/
Al-Sistani is one of the top Shi'ite clerics in Iraq, based in the holy city of Najaf and a direct descendent of the Prophet Mohammed. He is of course conservative. It's interesting to see this mixture of latest IT and tech.
Anyway one of the questions here is do clerics in Iraq see IT tech as evil? I think that if even the top Shi'ite cleric the Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani has a website I think that somewhat answers that question. You can even ask religious questions through a webform, the answers to which are guaranteed to 'bear the seal of the office of the Grand Ayatollah Uzma Sistani.'
And it runs Linux - Red hat to be precise.
Right after they get done suing Iraq for its obvious ploy to subvert the Macintosh naming-convention "look and feel" with its transparent recapitalization.
Them and iRan, iLlinois, iNdia, iStanbul...
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
Copyright lasts 50 years, or 25 years if the author is dead. There are no provisions against circumvention of TPMs.
This is a pretty sensible law, IMO, so they'd be stupid to change it.
First we invade them and now we slashdot them!!
what's next?
Are they going to declare jihad on SCO?
"In the last two years, we've toppled two regimes we helped to create!"
Saddam created himself and was well in power for years before US involvement.
My understanding is that because of the deteriorated or destroyed telephone system, it is very difficult for people to call their neighbor across the street or other local numbers unless there are cellphones at both places. One solution is to set up a wireless mesh network (similar to www.locustworld.com) to voice services (VoIP) to places where the land lines no longer connect to the rest of the phone system. Are there any plans to create a wireless network like this to provide this kind of service?
fair.org counterpunch.com truthout.com indymedia.org salon.com
eff.org guerrilla.net debian.org gentoo.org
Ah yes, the joys of forgetting to finish the post topic...
Should read "Wireless mesh for phone service" instead. Oops!
fair.org counterpunch.com truthout.com indymedia.org salon.com
eff.org guerrilla.net debian.org gentoo.org
I'm not going to put some more oil, because I know I will be wrong nonetheless. This is something you can't say. And especially on /.
But come on, you really think you are helping a country crippled by war and the result of 20 years of both dictatorship and embargo by playing with computers ?
I really wonder how a regular Iraqi fellow would react, considering that some of his fellowcitizens are answering questions such as : 'which distribution do you like most'?
You are right on one point : this can be said in every fucking country in the world. What I was saying was more of an ironic statement than anything else.
So, if you don't mind, let's go away for a little while from economics and let's look at what is happening in *our* streets. Please tell me how you relieve, by being a computer-scientist, people that live there. Easy answer : you don't. The only way to do it is to get involved in some charity. Now you are helping people. Let's take apart the criticisms implying that this is one more manifestation of western-centred mentality, or maybe of a void try to get rid of my guilt feelings. This is what I do, twice a week, in *every* fucking country I live in. It's a fucking pain in the ass for somebody who is not born with that job in blood, but I do it whatsoever. This is some kind of personal acountability, if you want.
This is already a fucking mess in my mind to see 90% of people, entranched in specializations and fileds and areas, not doing anything for their people. But trying to promote such a ill-suited concept to other countries ? And trying to divert people for what should be their prime objective (don't you remember about patriotic huge movements like women at work during WWII) ? What is that ?
Again I guess this is something you can't say.
And I have no hard feelings. But Life is a matter of priority.
Regards,
jdif
Let's overcome our weakness.
As a student of Arabic, I find there's FAR more material out there in Arabic for linux than I was able to find for windows. In fact, I find that Koffice's support for arabic shaping, that is joining of the characters, is superb (and FreeBidi applications -- save for AbiWord, it's arabic support is atrocious). MS Office's support is only so-so IMHO.
Also, there's Quaran study tools, english-arabic dictionaries (dictd), a spell checker, tons of fonts, and 2 almost-completely-arabized environments available.
See: http://www.arabeyes.org/
There's plenty more arabic software to come, and insha'allah, more translations of current software.
I'd LOVE to see more work done on support Arabic in the console in linux. There's plenty of things that need to be done, sure, but I think Linux is a BIG key to bringing modern technology to the middle east.
You may want to check this interview out before submitting questions to Adam to aviod repetition.
I found answers to most of the questions asked here in that article. It's a good read. Enjoy.
Won't somebody please think of the Karma!
Can't the questions be sent to the Iraqi's for comment rather than an American reporter? I mean it was nice and all if he helped to set them up, but we hear enough Americans talking for other people.
Actually it would be pretty dumb to use a Swiss bank in order to park bribes or other illicitely won gains.
The only good reason to use a Swiss bank is if you plan to do some tax evasion.
See, tax evasion is considered a mild misdemeanor in Switzerland (relatively small fine, a slap on your wrist and 20 hail maries or so) and thus banks will not provide information about their customers on tax evasion cases. Tax fraud (i.e. you don't 'forget' some income on your tax statement, but you cook the books) is a different story and in such cases (as in all criminal cases) the banks provide customer information to authorities (foreign and local).
Also the myth about the infamous numbered accounts is riddled with bullshit. Mind you, they do exist, but that doesn't mean that a customer is anonymous (this is prohibited by Swiss laws and the last loopholes where closed some 15 years ago), but that he is bank internally coded by a number. The true owner is known by only very few people in the bank, but is never anonymous.
If you really want to park dirty money there are far better places then Switzerland, like The Cayman Islands or even a few crooked banks in Florida (which is the worlds money laundring capital, btw)
ich bin der musikant
mit taschenrechner in der hand
kraftwerk
Is it possible to get a green card? Would I be gunned down in the street for being British? Are there new positions at universities opening up?
I'm being serious here, it would be a great experience to help rebuild the Iraqi IT and comms infrastructure.
If you're dead serious about it, maybe joining something like peace corps (or the British equivalent) could be the way to go - less risking yourself since you'll be around people with more conflict experience. Then again, I'm not sure they are currently active in Iraq, but they do have several projects going on in Africa for example.
Now it all became clear! The WMDs we were looking for, and never able to find, were actually about the wrong "M" - "M" stands for Microsoft, not Mass ;)...
I saw a BBC TV piece about the Iraqi police force. The guys on the ground are yute driving, gun weilding Iraqis, but behind the scenes there was this Armerican officer acting as what we'd call a Custody sergeant. Keeping track of prisoners, charges, and related data on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The screen of his laptop was shown in close up.
There seemed to be some process (a manual one I guess) whereby the list was updated and circulated MONTHLY. Meanwhile parents were enquiring after missing children (something they did under Saddam for different reasons) and their children couldn't be found in the spreadsheet because it either hadn't been updated or was inaccurate.
A particularly interesting scene was where the BBC journalist had to explain to the Iraqi father that the US soldiers weren't very good at spelling Iraqi names so made sure that the man wrote down the name on the spreadsheet - kind of like an involuntary alter-ego born from the seed of a yank's typo. The man then had to go to another prison and search for his son using a variety of differently spelt names.
Apparently no-one had thought of circulating a dictionary of common names, or using SOUNDEX for that matter.
Think of the great centres of nationalism in history: China, the USA, Rome, Nazi Germany, etc. They all suffer from this. There are cultural notions in a society of what browny points a nation must reach to be 'powerful', so the said group warps their view and preaching of history to fit to make themselves feel better about their *obvious superiority* etc.
The problem with the browny points ascribed to the historical greatness of the Arabs is that they tend to vary from distortions of the truth to downright fabrications. Arabs invented this, Arabs invented that: most of the technology associated with being invented by the Arabs in the real world was invented by others, often by Indians.
Besides, most of the population of the Islamic Empire was neither Muslim nor culturally Arabic during the 'golden age'. Once Islam and Arabic culture had been colonialised over the lands conquored by the Arabs, that was when those lands went into decline. If anything, it was the Arabisation of the non-European Old World that co-incided with its decline, not its ascent - the 'science and phylosophy' that went on were merely a continuation of what was happening for thousands of years before the Arabs left the Arabian penninsula.
And 'Tolerance'? What kind of tolerance? Do you have any idea what the medaeval Islamic empire was? It was a brutal, loot-seeking, dictatorial colonial empire than slaughtered and enslaved millions and millions. Do you realise how you would live in those times if you weren't a Muslim? You would've been far better off as a black American in 1950s Alabama.
All the modern N. American and European university professor types who go out of their way to praise the historical greatness of the Arabs would've literally had their heads chopped off if they'd lived back then. They also go out of their way to portray Europe negatively in lieu of the Islamic world at the time. I find this comical that they try to say Europeans were no good because some urbanised people lived in dirt and muck - half the population of Africa today lives in dirt and muck, does that make them objects of scorn for leftists? What double standards society weaves.
I'm not writing this because I'm a far-right diehard or anything, but I want people to realise that mindless repeating nationalistic rhetoric or political correctness, whether it be Arabic or American or anything else, is dangerous, and it is often based more on wishful thinking and unholsome desires than anything else.
I doubt Iraqis have the money to upgrade their computers every 18 months like young American males like to. Would I be correct in assuming that the Iraqi fleet of computers is kind of old? People on 486s & Pentium 1s? Does this make using Linux kind of tricky because the system requirements it requires to perform well in a GUI environment are so much higher than Win98SE for example?
It's not wise to put strong encryption capabilities in the hands of any Islamic nation.
Public-key encryption relies on mathematical methods called "algebra". Remember your mathematical history: who invented algebra? (Clue: "Algebra" starts with al, the Arabic word for "the", so it was probably an Arab.) His name was Abu Abd-Allah ibn Musa al'Khwarizmi. He was born near Baghdad. It stands to reason that because an Iraqi-born mathematician wrote a seminal work on algebra, Iraqis should have access to the fruits of his work.
Jew calls others hypocritical. Film at eleven!
Can you get me a job in Iraq?