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Ask About Life, Blogging and Linux in the Middle East
Isam Bayazidi is about as far from the current U.S. media stereotype of an Arab as you can get. He's worked on the Arabeyes (Unix/Linux in Arabic) project, helped start the Arabic Wikipedia, co-founded the Jordan LUG, is a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE), works as a senior software developer for Maktoob, an online community that boasts more than four million members, and created Jordan Planet, a blogging community whose members have many different religious and political viewpoints. Isam is also a long-time Slashdot reader, so he's the perfect person to ask what's going on in the Arab (cyber)world today. One question per post please. Isam will answer 12 of the highest-moderated questions. We'll run his answers verbatim as soon as he gets them back to us.
A communication infrastructure, or a transportation infrastructure? I ask this because what my American viewpoint sees of the middle east is the seeming lack of mass-transportation systems like we have in American (highways, railroads, and the like.) The Middle East also seems to lack a stable communication infrastructure, especially to rural areas. Which do you think is more important, communications or transportation?
Is there any collaboration between the Arab and Israeli communities when it comes to blogging, Free/Open Source Software or general computing?
Keep the faith, share the code
Pizza and some caffeinated beverage with an occasional foray into sushi are typical geek food in the west - what is finding it's way down the typical arabic chair dwellers gullet?
You have solid credits for several "Arab versions" of modern software. The Mideast, was where many technologies, like writing, urban living, astronomy and symbolic math were invented or mastered. What new uses of the Internet and open SW do you see originating in Mideastern hands? Which brand new apps are people in your world using in a way more familiar in the Mideast, which could make the jump to global popularity the way so much Western tech already has?
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make install -not war
But the question that really jumps out in my mind to ask is this:
After living in Egypt for a year, the biggest frustration I can recall with computers is how unreliable the power was. Due to the spikes and surges, the school I taught at would normally go through about 5 power supplies a month (for a building with about 200 computers). Any serious business who wants to protect their computer from an unwanted surge has at minimum a voltage regulator, and at maximum a UPS. Our school paid a company in Europe to host their website, as most Egyptian businesses did.
Is there any power infrastructure advancements that are being made to better support the growing rise of computer use in the middle east?
So, what's your opinion on the arabic kids who are defacing websites in protest to the Mohammed cartoons?
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Ok, Two-parter here...
1)As an Arab in today's world, how do you deal with those in the Western world who further the stereotype of "Arabs As Radicals"?
2) In addition how do you, as a forward-thinking Arab, address the issue of those in the Middle Eastern world that would seek to further the radical elements of Islam for thier own purposes, regardless of the consequences or the stereotypes this may create in the West? In other words, how does one function as a concientious objector in Middle Eastern Society?
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
Isam Bayazidi is about as far from the current U.S. media stereotype of an Arab as you can get.
The article itself, in this case, is very leading regarding an opinion of treatment of Arabs by the US media.
My question is, what do you feel that the stereotypes reinforced by major media outlets are? Certainly they reported that there were Arabic hijackers on 9/11, that Al Quaida has attacked the US many times, and has reported acts such as beheadings and suicide bombings. Unfortunately, the fact is that these events all happened.
Do you believe that there is an undercurrent of racism and bigotry in the media's portrayal or Arabs? Do you believe that the image of the Arab has been charicatured by the US?
As a follow-up. How do you feel that recent world events, such as the riots in Paris, riots over Danish comics, and even the actions of terrorist organizations or Arabic origin have influenced this view, by relation to media portrayal.
Do you see this adversely affecting your career, or have major business outlets mostly overlooked this?
I'm going to guess that office and IT environments around the globe probably share more in common than their superficial differences (language, decor, degree of automation etc...) suggest. Indeed, petty politics and general insanity are going to raise their heads regardless of your office's time zone. As such, how well does Dilbert, the quintessential North American corporate satire, translate into Arabic? Do you see your office in these cartoons? If not, is there an Arabic version that does a better job?
When you have nothing left to burn you must set yourself on fire
As a founder of an Arabic (Jordanian) blogging community, what do you perceive to be the source of news most popular/trusted by Arab bloggers? Is it local, Arab (AlJazeera, etc), European (BBC, TV5, etc), or American (NY Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, etc)? Is the Arab blogging community a large echo chamber for the latest and greatest western conspiracy theories, or is there genuine diversity of sources and opinions?
Imposing Libertarian views on everyone online since 1992.
A lot of people in the states are familiar with anti-export warnings on encryption technology:
Are their any technologies that the government of Jordan specifically mandates not be exported outside of its borders?
OR
How common is it that encryption technology that the U.S. Government asks not be used overseas is actually implemented "against their will"?
I accept the cartoons are blasphemy and deeply offensive. Yet I hear no acknowledgment that freedom-of-expression is religiously venerated in the West. Worse, official (pandering?) reaction (sanctions) holds large unrelated groups responsible rather than the tiny right-wing newspaper that did the wrong. The many must pay for the misdeeds of the few. This implies responsibility for their own extremists!
I know media everywhere is seriously distorted. In the West, fear sells ink, photons and electrons. I wanted to understand the feeling on the ground. What are the people feeling?
Yeah, here in Egypt we have a lame joke regarding this topic.
Q: How does an English person iron his clothes?
A: From left to right!
*ducks*
As an Arab, a Jordanian, a regular Slashdot reader, and a computer addict my self, I feel compelled to ask this question. But first a little about why I'm asking... I started my addiction when I was in Jordan at an early age in the mid 80's, and moved to the United States in the late 90's. So I think by now I'm out of touch with how things are advancing in our part of the world. I used to be considered as a knowledgeable geek, but that was a long time ago when I had more time on my hands. :(
:)
My questions are (really it is the same LONG question:)
Now that online communities and computer volunteering (especially OSS) is growing on the highest rate in the western part of the glob, how do you see participation and understanding of such participation in Jordan in specific, and the middle east in general?
Do you see the Arab population is going toward a more active role, or maintaining a technology consumer role as it used to be in the old days? Do you feel that you are a loner in what you do and contribute? Or do you get a whole lot of "Hey man that is soo cool, how would I start contributing like you do?"
Last but not least, from your day-in-day-out interaction with the local-online-communities, when do you see us (Arabs) technologically maturing to a level where we can be a major contributing force in the OSS global community... is it happening now?
May be one of those days we'll meet... after all Jordan is a small place
Personally, as an Arab developer, I have no problems with coding using English constructs. Most Arab developers are the same.
.net's IComparable and IComparer interfaces, or what a 'paradigm' is. In many cases part of the lesson had to be a lesson in English instead of programming!
It's quite the opposite, in fact, there have been many attempts to create an 'Arabic programming language' that used Arabic keywords and identifiers, but none of them became popular even if the language itself was good.
The problem, IMO, is with learning, not developing.
Some of my students are not very good English speakers. They have no problem with basic programming constructs like for or while, but when it comes to high level abstractions, they have trouble.
For example, we have to spend quite some time explaining the difference between
I heard that in the middle east, Egyptians are often regarded as having a sense of humour. I saw a quote from a reporter interviewing people in Egypt after 9/11 asking them what they thought about the fact that it was an Egyptian who lead the attacks. One person shook his head and said something to the effect of, "No way the ringleader could have been Egyptian. These attacks required planning and coordination..."
I was watching this thing on TV about some guy named Hitler. Someone should stop him!
Is there any power infrastructure advancements that are being made to better support the growing rise of computer use in the middle east?
They'd like to move to nuclear power, but have hit some snags.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
I couldn't stop staring at the screen when I read this string and I have to ask a simple question; are you (all of you) still determined to fight the first crusade/jihad?
Both arguments don't hold water, and yet they are both right in a way. What frustrates many 'westerners' is the lack of understanding in the Muslim world for how many western-style governments work. For example= Thousands of Muslims have demonstrated, peacefully and not, that the Danish government apologize for something they didn't do. Yes, that is right, the Danish Govt. does not control, fund, or dictate what is printed in the papers. Just as the average Afghani is not responsible for the Taliban's destruction of the Hindu monuments, the Danish Gov. it not responsible for the action of a private buisness, especially because the Newspaper did not break any laws in Denmark. (Also, your lack of acknowledgment that critical caricatures of other religions, especially christian, have been and continue to be printed often is disturbing. If you dare ask what the Christian response is to negative representations of Christ are, the answer is; they tolerate it.)
In response to the parent post... yes. The Jews have received, and in many cases continue to receive, the brunt of religious persecution in the world today, but NO RELIGION'S HISTORY IS PERFECT, because people are not perfect. In the same breath it is presumptuous to claim that the 'European' doesn't know his own history. Perhaps he simply is ignoring it. (You fail to mention that the Jews own recorded biblical history contains accounts of genocide and your assertion that it is unfortunate that 'people like him' exist smaks of the same hate you denounce.)
You must take people one at a time. I should not be liable for my grandparents or fathers actions and neither should you. Apologize for your own mistakes and I will apologize for mine. Expressing compassion and regret for whatever offense or negative incident has happened should be a human action, not a religion-specific trait. (If I remember correctly, the Danish Gov. did so.)
I don't condone offending anyone and I am sorry (any of) you were offended. That aside, I had no involvement in the cartoons or the Taliban destroying monuments or the holocaust or the crusades or slavery or Micro$oft or $CO or the Siberian Gulags, or Hiroshima/Nagasaki or 9/11 or Katrina or my sister-in-law's wedding - all of which are disasters. I like-wise don't hold you responsible for any of them.
The point is to learn from past mistakes and try not to compound them by over-reaction or repetition. Otherwise we will be fighting the crusades/jihad or world war (WW2 included some (not all) Muslims allied with Hitler along with Christians, WW2 was not a religious war).
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to govern any other" -John Ada