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Iran: Even If Windows Is Free, Linux Is Preferred
gpwiki.org writes "Iran, a country which does not abide by international copyright law, is reportedly moving toward Linux. 'All the software in Iran is copied. There is no copyright law, so everybody uses Microsoft software freely,' said the secretary of Iran's High Informatics Council. 'But we cannot continue like this much longer.' The article suggests that a desire to enter the WTO, and Windows security issues are prime motivating factors. 'Microsoft is a national security concern.'"
this is NOT going to help linux' image at all...
(ps, i know we supposedly like iran comparatively)
Though open source, Linux is primarily developed in the U.S. by American programmers working for American companies
Are you insane? Are you suggesting that Iran would want to support one of the most vindictive and ruthless corporations in the world, and one of the largest sources of income for the US government who is currently on a rampage in their part of the world? Are you sharing whatever is being smoked over there?
This reminds me of back in the DOS and pre-DOS days, and even Win 3.x, when most software I saw around was copied. I can remember bringing bits and pieces of software home from the office to use on my computer, such as it was at the time.
/dev/zero > /dev/hda without rebooting? =)
It's interesting to see how this plays out. On the one hand, we have the tried-and-tested Windows, which, from their point of view, is easier, but costs a lot of money...or Linux, which has no legal threats [ignoring, for the moment, the SCO lawsuits, certain video codecs, and other matters of similar irrelevance], but something of a porting cost, given that you'll have to train the former M$ pirates to run Linux.
Also, it's important to note that an improperly configured Linux system is even more vulnerable than an improperly configured Windows system...after all, how many Windows systems will let you run cat
It's only an insult if it's not true.
I am all for the exchange of ideas and a fostering of ties between communities. I would believe that the community of hackers would not shun the idea like our government counterparts have shunned other such opportunities.
I for one would browse their LUG's online community site often and with interest.
:-( --- argh. Despair, I owe again.
Unix is a creation of the west, AT&T, and was "opened up" by UC Berkeley.
Yeah, and the Internet was developed mostly with funds from the US Defense Department. Funny how people everywhere are ignoring that and adopting it despite its evil origins. Actually, the story is a bit similar to unix, since the actual development was done in a lot of universities and companies. The military took the code and cloned it, but left the public version behind, and it's that version that became the public Internet.
Apologies to Muslims, I don't know the term for your dietary rules.
The term is "halal" (with a few variant transliterations). The rules are nearly identical to the Jewish kosher laws, with a few differences from centuries of different religious interpretation. There are a number of food suppliers in the US that are certified under both the kosher and halal laws. Only the most rabid fundamentalists (Muslim or Jewish) would be offended by your confusing them.
And, of course, even if you don't believe in these laws, you still might buy the food because of its high quality. I even know a number of Muslims that buy Hebrew National hot dogs, because they like them and trust the maker to not contaminate them.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.