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."
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?
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/
^^
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 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...
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.
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
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...