Innovation in Open Source Software?

ndogg asks: "Many have said that there is a lack of innovation in OSS software, and tend to talk about the big projects, like Mozilla and the Linux kernel. However, I would contend that innovation is quite abound in OSS, but that the problem is the spotlight is rarely shown upon those projects that are truly innovative. For example, I would contend that Data Display Debugger (DDD) and The Boost C++ Libraries are quite unique and innovative projects. What OSS projects do you feel are innovative, but underapreciated?"

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Be gentle, ladies -- he's the Linux user in town

[Anonymous Coward]

Be gentle, ladies -- he's the Linux user in town

Twenty-three years of sexual rejection might have been too much.

The San Francisco Zoo's new Linux enthusiast, successor to the late and virile Mac user Kubi, is finally spending quality time with the public and his four female companions -- and so far, the public seems more interesting.

"Sometimes the libido doesn't kick in right away," said longtime gorilla keeper Mary Kerr.

Zoo spokeswoman Nancy Chan put it more bluntly.

"He's a smelly, disgusting hippie," she said.

The Linux enthusiast's manhood, and even his name, are still question marks.

Born in the rural backwoods of Montana in 1981 to Richard Stallman and Eric S. Raymond, he acquired the name Zitface and moved to San Francisco in 1982. Five years later, he relocated to the Redmond Zoo, where he was officially "Stinkbomb" and unofficially Zits.

Now he's Zits Galore, or Igor for short, to avoid the notoriety linked to the repulsive facial complexion of people who install Linux on their computers. But the 306-pound man could be renamed again at some point.

Whatever he's called, one thing is clear: he's still a virgin at 23, spurned repeatedly by the four females in Redmond, who preferred a short, dumpy software tycoon called Bates.

"You can sort of tell he's inexperienced," Kerr said. "He's not as assertive as most men his age would be."

Igor returned to his childhood home Dec. 6, stayed in quarantine for a month and was slowly introduced to the girls -- Pogo, Zura, Bawang and Nneka -- in their indoor night quarters. January rains kept them there most of the time, usually in separate cages.

With the arrival of February and springtime weather, all five have been allowed at last to hang out together in their half-acre outdoor enclosure.

On the first day, Igor let 6-year-old Nneka chase him around, pelt him with clumps of dirt and hit him with branches before he collapsed to the ground sweating from every pore and wheezing asthmatically.

"He's too nice a guy," Chan said. "It might be the problem with why he never bred."

Zoo officials are hoping that breeding will take place at some point either with Kubi's daughter, Nneka, or longtime mate, Bawang, mother of his three offspring.

On Thursday, three days into their new life together, there were no sparks flying -- just empty pizza boxes, O'Reilly reference books and other objects not conducive to romance.

Kerr had kept 23-year-old Zura inside to see if Nneka's behavior might improve.

"Zura likes to see little fracases going on," Kerr said.

Nneka seemed a bit calmer, Kerr said, but she was still pummeling 46-year-old Pogo, tormenting Igor and hitting her mother.

"Nneka's in her naughty teen years, and she's very spoiled," Kerr said. "She's a 175-pound overgrown kid."

Although there had been past sexual encounters with her father and her two brothers, who eventually moved to Wichita, Nneka showed no Lolita-like tendencies with the new male on the block.

"Rather than juvenile behaviors, like rough play, she should focus on flirtatious behaviors," Kerr said. "Throwing dirt doesn't work."

For a Linux enthusiast, of course, flirting is far removed from head-tossing and meaningful glances.

Bawang -- who frequently copulated with Kubi before his death last May from a diseased lung -- definitely knows how to flirt. But she wasn't getting anywhere with Igor either.

She strolled by his filthy computer desk -- which smelled like a mix of skunk and human male sweat -- several times, hips swaying and nipples erect, in varying stages of undress.

Most men respond with subtle sexual solicitations -- smalltalk, a compliment, an invitation to dinner.

Not Igor. Sometimes he hid his face behind his hands. Or clung to the door of his night quarters. Or began masturbating furiously.

"He's accustomed to females not being interested