Slashdot Mirror
Open Source Gets Its Own TV Show
ChocLinux writes "A South African organisation has produced what it claims is the first television series dedicated to promoting open source software. The first episode of the show included an interview with Richard Stallman, who founded the GNU project, and Robin Rowe, who runs the Linux Movies Group, which promotes the use of Linux in Hollywood."
Smallest audience share ever. Maybe it can get on CNBC after McEnroe.
Most FOSS advocates don't need to watch a TV show promoting FOSS, they already use FOSS as much as they can. People who are not FOSS advocates won't bother to watch. Even if FOSS advocates did want to watch, they would probably rather do something on the computer than watch this TV show.
...is the show itself open source? Can I re-edit the show?
The more press the better. Maybe even more organizations and companies will switch over now... surely it seems like this will sway a lot of people, now that it's getting such veneration. Hopefully, it will air in the states, too. I would definitely watch it.
where the Linux source gets its first period?
I think the keyword here is "promoting" and actually getting more people to use open source 8)
It is tentatively titled "When Penguins Attack"
On todays show "Configuring your TV to run open source Beowulf software" "In Soviet Russia Open Sources You!" "But can it play OGG?" "Welcoming our Open Source bearing Geek Overlords!"
Guaranteed to jump the shark in Season Six when Stallman opens a taco stand.
I think a link to the shows own homepage might be a good idea, here you go: http://www.go-opensource.org/go_open/
^^
Is he related to the Mike Row Soft boss?
...is it Free? Can I download it (and where's the .torrent)?
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Can someone stick this series on eDonkey or set up a torrent ?
No g-news is good g-news unless its Gary Gnu's.
Go not unto/. for advice, for you will be told both yea and nay (but have nothing to do with the question)
I can already see the line up: 10:30 PM - Barely Legal Slackware Camp 12:00 PM - Debian Does Slackware 1:30 PM - Little Redhat Riding Hood XXX series
RMS? Leave it to the open source community to take a face made for radio and headline it in a TV show...
"It's really aimed at non-technical people"
Bah! First Tech TV, and now this. Where's the TV show for the hardcore geeks?!?!? Geez aren't there enough of us to form a suitable audience
I would say that The Screensavers used to advocate open source as well as Call for Help every now and then.
Of course they didn't preach it like a zealot, but I think they did promote it nicely.
When I search 'go_open', the search engine asked me if I meant 'Google'.
So what...open source is free right? That means no commercials because there is nothing to pay for? Or is it going to be one long commercial for open source?
I don't think this is going to reach the right people...a big flashing banner on CNN.com or something with a cute little monkey that you're supposed to shoot for the "free OS" would get more people to switch.
Sorry Tux, but you receiving awards at the Oscars? Please nooo....
WMP9 or better only.
I say slashdot bring back Geeks in Space (yeah that's right, I found the old school link).
The first episode of the show included an interview with Richard Stallman, the man responsible for GNU/Linux
Richard Stallman is the man responsible for GNU/Linux? Linux uses a lot of GNU programs in userland, but to call him "the man" responsible for GNU/Linux?
He's responsible for Emacs and the movement, but not GNU/Linux as a whole by any stretch...
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
Announcer: [whispering] He's really close now, but does he know it...? This is the third time his attention has gone to that object constructor... oh, he's getting that look in his eyes... his time's running short... can he make it eleven weeks in a row?
Geek [looks up from the computer screen]: Uh... I think, um, maybe the way IDataHandler::IDataHandler() is written right now... it, uh, might lead to an operation on a null pointer later on?
[A Siren goes off, balloons fall from the ceiling]
Announcer: And our reigning champion does it AGAIN! A special thank you to our challenger, who really kept it close this week. We'll be RIGHT BACK with the bonus round, but first, a word from our sponsors...
[cut to a noose hanging from the ceiling]
Voice-Over: Life boring? Feeling like THIS is in your future?
etc.
--------
Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
RMS or Linus Torvalds?
Richard Stallman is -
a) A famous Hollywood actor
b) A male supermodel for Soviet Jeans
c) The 'grandfather' of the Free Software Movement.
Unfortunately, the possibilities are endless.
Open source TV would be great, as long as there aren't any Windows ads
...it actually looks like a fairly high percentage of geeks prefer to use a computer. No, it's true! In fact, I hear a lot of them hang out around some...slashed dot, or something like that?
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
Go South-Afica Go
Dawie
Microsoft see this challenge head to head with the release of their new suspense-thriller "Installing XP SP2".
It's an exciting time folks.
Sendmail is like emacs: A nice operating system, but missing an editor and a MTA.
The Turkish Technology Channel had a weekly show on Linux; I did an interview there a while back when I was in Turkey. It seems to be now defunt, or at least I assume as much from this page which I can't actually read...
It should be titled something like "An Alternate View" and not be preachy about open source but just show practical examples of what open-source applications are out there and how people are using them.
They could pick a SourceForge "Project-Of-The-Week" which would hopefully serve the dual purpose of helping someone find a solution and recruiting developers to bring along projects that need a bit more attention.
It wouldn't have to be the flashy projects either, simple stuff like the Meeting Room Booking System could be presented and how users have taken this and applied it to airplane bookings, class schedules, etc etc.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
Speaking of Open Source TV, [URL=http://zed.cbc.ca]ZeD[/URL] came to mind. It's not the same, but it can be quite entertaining. I want more things like this.
I hope this show's on a public access station, because having Richard Stallman in your pilot episode is a sure-fire way to make sure you get cancelled right out of the chute.
Maybe the producer lost a bet?
It would be refreshing to see people become comfortable by giving others credit for what they did instead of overstating the case. Linus Torvalds started writing the Linux kernel (which is not an operating system). Years before Torvalds began his work, RMS started a social movement called the free software movement, he began the GNU project, and (to make GNU a reality) he started writing a number of programs including GCC and Emacs (now GNU Emacs to differentiate it from XEmacs and the other Emacs variants).
Digital Citizen
I guess they're hard up for programming in South Africa.
Also coming soon, EMACS the show.
Be warned, you'll need to map Ctrl-Alt-Meta-Play to your remote in order to do anything useful with the show.
Vi pundits have also announced their own show. This one will automatically re-map all of the keys on your remote so that each key will have an unidentified cryptic function whose purpose is not revealed even after pressing the button.
Once the show starts, the viewer is greeted by a blank screen. This blank screen will remain indefinitely until the user figures out the remote-key combination to quit the program. Don't mess up, because then you might not be able to quit at all!
In order to actually watch the show, you will have to press an unidentified button on the remote which will allow you to watch the show.
One
Line
At
A
Time
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
...makes it sound as if there is a lot of interest in open source software in South Africa. As should have been obvious from the post, Mark Shuttleworth is the guy behind this... once again.
A Creative Commons license would probably be more appropriate for a T.V. show, even if the show is mostly about GPL.
;)
Don't forget to install your mozcc extension in your Mozilla based browser so you can determine the creative commons license status of the web page that the T.V. show is on
Signatures are a waste of bandwi (buffering...)
Lord of the Code.
...
Linus Torvals as Frodo
Richard Stallman as Gandalf
Ballmer as Shelob
Bill Gates as
I'm not saying that RMS wasn't worthy of an interview... just that stating the facts incorrectly is bad.
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
It seems that it will eventually be on their web site (or maybe one day Bittorrent). So another http://www.slashdot.org/ article and they'll get every geek imagineable... at least the ones that care about OSS. "Go_Open will be broadcast on the South African television channel SABC 2 every Saturday at 5:30 p.m., but will soon be available for viewing on the Web site accompanying the series."
when you see the word 'Linux', drink!
Crickey!! I don't know about you lot, but strewth!, this little overflow bug is one cute little critter 'aint he? Let me just sneak up real close to him, cause I don't want to scare the little guy!
Look at him! Isn't he a beauty!? If you pay close attention to him, you'll notice that he has this small opening on him where, if attacked, he will defend himself by crashing the machine!
We've got to be REALLY careful and quiet in this bug's natural habitat... This little bug's predators could find him, and we don't want to alert them to his prescence!
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
There's not even one show about computers to start with. Let alone Open Source anything.
The Screen Savers is dead.
This show is not aimed at you, it is aimed at people who dont know about their other options.
Indeed, mass media can play a valuable role in promoting FOSS. My wife started to ask about Linux and Open Source because she saw the movie "Antitrust" (you know, the one where Tim Robbins plays a Bil Gates like person). This kind of exposure can really only be good for FOSS and for it's advocates.
Maybe TechTV Canada can buy the rights and broadcast it in Canada, never to be seen by most Americans.
Heh, it's working for Call for Help V2 so far...
Then again, most Canadian-produced shows never get seen by Americans (except for maybe Due South - that one was a real stinker).
/Troll
Remember, Richard Stallman loves you. He coded for your sins.
To convert to this great new religion, simply send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope, stuffed with hundred-dollar bills, to the address on your screen:
...Disclaimer: This retarded comment is not affiliated with, not is it sponsored in any way, by RMS or the FSF. It's just a joke. So get over it, asshole.
Firstly, I don't know who this program was targeted at, but the presenter (who tries to be a comedian) made jokes that are too nerdy for normal people to understand, yet, not funny to the nerd crowd at all.
Secondly, the interview with Richard was not introduced appropriately. One moment we're hearing that Linux is the best because it is open, next moment we hear that Linux is not the best, but only a small part of the bigger vision which is free (as in speach) software. I understand what's cooking, but my girlfriend doesn't.
Thirdly, having an interview with the one of the "great" open source developers of South Africa turned out to be a chat with a guy who downloaded the Nokia SDK and developed a game for cellphones and are now trying to sell it to some distributor.
There's nothing wrong with it - I just expected so much more...
I was dissappointed up to the very end where they did not even number the possible answers to the competition question. Should I SMS '3', 'c' or 'The 'grandfather' of the open source movement'
I'll watch the show this week again - it is followed by an animated version of Mr Bean and thereafter there is the rerun of Malcolm in the Middle...
Black said that production costs were five million South African rand (about £450,000).
/. is so pessimistic about this IMO this is a step in the right direction??
You must be joking... USD to ZAR is currently 1: 5.93346. By my calculation that's either $842,678.639 if you convert from R5 mil, or R2,670,057 if you convert from $450,000
Oh and by the way I'm surprised everyone at
I live in South Africa and when I went to work on Monday half of the employees in my company were talking about OSS after seeing it on TV. The show in question was explaining all the features of Firefox. Everyone wanted to know more, and I ended up installing a stack load of machines with Firefox. Everyone is impressed. I don't think it would have been as easy if the "TV" didn't say Firefox was good.
I wonder if RMS showed up and insisted they rename the show to GNU/GO OPEN instead of just GO OPEN.
Disclaimer: I'm on it from time to time.
They're lagging a bit on posting the shows, (the only one up so far is the first show from August 2004,) but they're posting more soon.
Yes, looks like it is going to be available for download under Creative Commons at some point!
There will also be a printed magazine on free software in a few months:
Free software magazine
---
"Linux" is not an operating system. It's a viral buzzword that takes credit for the work of others. People call linux "the kernel" or "the linux kernel"[1] because the word is too busy being applied to the system as a whole.
Linus personally wrote less than 2% linux. For some reason everyone thinks this gives him the right to rename, and thus take credit for, The GNU System.
People say "the linux community". When people use the word "linux" in that context what they mean is "Free Software". Even more undeserved credit indirectly pointed at linus.
He once said, in jest, that he was a guy who liked to take credit for the work of others. Why would he say that unless he was actually feeling guilty about getting more credit than he deserved? Feeling guilty is a good first step but he still does nothing to fix the situation.
[1] Implying that its the kernel of linux, not linux itself.
What do we know about RMS's face? Maybe we'll know a lot more about it after they gave him a haircut and a shave before shoving him into that studio?
As it is about open source, can I download the scripts from anywhere and upload my own alterations? Are the scripts under any form of version control? Is there a link to ScriptForge?
-- "Can't sleep, clowns will eat me!"
... were a couple some time back. No, seriously. Adding a few tidbits about that sure will widen the scope of audience.
I guess you have all seen the job ads for FSF and the strange clause about having to be open minded. That, evidently, is not about being open to new software ideas but also, uh, uses of personal hardware.
neat idea I think. G4/Tech TV's Screen Savers is so Windows loving it makes me sick so this show could fill a niche. Although maybe instead of being only about oss maybe the show should be "Slashdot TV" complete with a few talking heads to argue about something in the last 5 minutes of the show to represent the forums here. :)
I'm all happy that there's a new TV show dedicated to Open Source, but I would have hoped they could find a better musical act than Richard Stallman.
This is not my sandwich.
So when will it start showing on torrentocracy ?
-- Buzh
So far official ratings have put the show at .05% market share, but the OSS community is confident that within 2 years OSS shows will serve the majority of the TV watching public...
..will being on TV give us a chance to get laid?
In Turkey, long time ago (~ 2 years), a TV Program called "Penguenin Gunlugu" (Penguin's diary) boradcasted every week. This program is dedicated only open source, especially Linux.. But this channel (Technology Channel) only accesible with a paytv service "digiturk" (over satellite). I don't see this program, i can't have "digiturk" system. But, editor of this program is my friend Gorkem CETIN.