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Free Software Foundation Awards Tonight
Leslie Proctor writes "The Second Free Software Foundation Awards will be held in New York at theBazaar Tuesday, December 14th at 7pm. Finalists for the award, honoring advancement of free software, are: John Gilmore, Miguel de Icaza and Donald Knuth." We ought to have a short report on the ceremony (and who won) up shortly after the event; CmdrTaco, Hemos, and I are all here in NYC, laptops in hand.
FreeBSD.
I agree fully; Miguel "the mouth" isn't even in the same CLASS as Knuth. Knuth is a legend and the entire FIELD of computer science owes a LOT to this guy. GNOME is a decent project; Miguel is a complete asshole. Does Knuth run around spreading FUD and bullshit about other authors? Hell no. If Miguel wins over Knuth then it will show what a sham this whole 'awards' ceremony really is.
Miguel shouldn't even be on the list.
(yeah and I know what a fanatical following Mouthboy has on Slashdot; I'm sure to be moderated into the negatives for daring to question Miguel).
Let's see, Miguel de Icaza is the head of Gnome. Gnome is part of the GNU Project. GNU is the FSF. Thus, the Free Software Foundation has awarded itself the prize for the Free Software Foundation Award!
Next on Geraldo, Linus Torvalds awards Alan Cox, Bob Young awards Matt Ewing, and Larry Augustin awards Eric Raymond. Bitter at not winning Larry's prestigious plaque, Rasterman creates his own award and presents it to Mandrake.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
As much as I despise Sendmail's arcane design in a world of T3's and 2GB of ram (and I really do hate its design), It's tough to deny the effect Eric Allman has made on open software. Sendmail has long been the example of the quintisential piece of open software, it does all things for all people, while delivering one of the backbone services of the Internet and still remaining the standard in it's field. I dont know if it's technically "Free" software (I've not read the license in years) but even before apache sendmail was THE reason to run the free unix systems like Linux and 386bsd.
-Rich
Who else has noticed that Richard Stallman and Miguel de Icaza are twins? I mean, shave off the beard and they're identical!
RMS: GNU is not Open Source, it's Free Software!
MDI: Gnome is not Open Source, it's Free Software!
RMS: The single most dangerous threat to Free Software is Qt.
MDI: KDE is the greatest threat facing Free Software today.
RMS: We have no qualms in temporarily using proprietary software in order to create a free operating system.
MDI: We will use the KDE source code to create the world's first 100% free desktop.
if you can't take it seriously, then don't read slashdot... you won't be missed...
John Gilmore was a very early FSF contributor -- I think he wrote GNU Tar. He's been more recently concerned with protecting the electronic privacy rights that nowadays are being taken from people before they even know of their existance. He co-founded the Electronic Freedom Foundation and Cygnus Support, among other things.
Yeah, go away and die. they rite just fin.
Check out thebazaar.com and try to find it. It's not there. I'd like to go, but considering the truthfulness of past /. articles (F.E. MS selling VisualJ++) I doubt this note is true since I can't verify this at thebazaar.com.
How much does it cost??? The website makes no mention of money! The Java conference last week at the same place was like $1200. Somehow I doubt the sponsorship has paid the entirety of the centre rental, and to get all the speakers there, etc. Does anybody know? Did anyone here go? I am finally working in a city (New York) when something that sounds interesting is actually going on, rather than bieng half the way around the world in the middle of nowhere wishing I was there...and here I am and I probably can't even begin to afford to go
Don't forget also his strong and vocal opposition to software parents.
As Michael Caine would say, not a lot of people know that.
What is the difference between a troll and a Gnome? Well, in case you hadn't noticed, as it seems many here havn't, one is a small mythical creature and one is a fishing technique using flamebait.
I would assume that Knuth is being nominated for TeX. How influential has TeX been? I never see it used in the "real" world. I would assume it used mostly in academic circles, but it clearly has not made any penetration otherwise. Now, software doesn't have to be used widely to be influential (see B and BCPL). Does anyone know what TeX has influenced in the publishing industry?
Funny, you have no compunctions about flaunting your arrogance...
Flaunting one's ignorance would be something along the lines of "I don't know who John Gilmore is, and I don't care!" The poster didn't have some information and took an appropriate measure to get it. Last I checked, that's how it's supposed to be done...
http://www.cygnus.com/about/corp-qa.html#5
/mill
That is John Gilmore.
Will it be like the billboard music awards? Or miss america pagent? Will the be music and demonstrations of the free software? Come on...who cares?
TeX is very well documented, especially its line breaking algorithms. I'd almost bet money there are some commercial systems which use TeX's excellent algorithm. (However, I can assure you that MS Word doesn't.)
I use TeX for everything I write, and I used it throughout college. I find it far easier to use than programs like FrameMaker.
But I'd rather acknowledge Knuth's rigorous study of algorithms over his (still amazing) TeX.
Think about it. Suppose the canapes are lacking that certain je ne sais quoi. If the recipe were freely available, the combined effort of chefs worldwide could make it tastier, less bloating and more attractively presented. When chefs can read, redistribute, and modify the recipe for an appetizer (hereafter referred to as an "app"), it evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people add fresh-ground pepper using one of those increasingly long and phallic peppermills. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of conventional canape development, seems astonishing. I want to know what went into the shrimp cocktail, dammit!
You need only read Martha Stewart's ground-breaking essay, The Burger Chain and the Bistro and her follow-up paper, Homesteading the Noodle Soup to convince you of the virtues of open source catering. Then just as you support the open source software developed by fat men (computing is a sedentary profession, and many of its bright lights could benefit by visiting the gym), let's also support the open source cooking of the Two Fat Ladies!
You can also do your part by not eating closed source food. Kentucky Fried Chicken (the Colonel's secret recipe, remember?) is particularly bad, but the worst is McDonald's, who refuse to divulge the recipe of the Big Mac's "secret sauce," and threaten samller developers with FUD (Fries, Uncertaintly and Doubt).
give out an award to the most hypersensitive, overreacting, childish asshole in the free software commmunity. Oops, I forgot, Stallman can't win again.
I'd be really up for this (living in NYC), but I don't see a post on Slashdot until the registration is closed.
Haw badly does that suck?
This sig left unintentionally blank.
Not to mention the fact that his name sounds quite like GNUth... :)
Ben
Really? Then why are you hear, if you're getting nothing out of this? Personally, I find
Put up or shut up.
And the problem with this is?
But seriously, you're an idiot. Neuroscience has yet to perfect the ability to read people's minds that precisely. There's no way you can know if that is or is not the only reason. Maybe it's one reason, perhaps even a big one, but if you think we should have a problem with that, you seriously misunderstand what the free software movement is all about. I'll give you a hint: it has nothing to do with money.
But heck, even if it is, who cares? Just like a TV station, they get money for providing me with entertainment (and I'm not the one paying them, at least not directly). I don't think TV stations should be ashamed for making money. Why on Earth would I think
Watch in amazement as all critical posts are moderated into oblivion
Ahh, another paranoid idiot heard from...
--
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
--
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
What do the winners of this contest get? I didnt know about this contest until now, but do software companies look at this type of thing, or is this just something to put on a resume?(which isnt a bad thing)
Also, is there any TV coverage of this, maybe on ZDTV?
If Miguel wins I'll consider start using Gnome...
--
who's going to give the first hour long acceptance speech...
;)
I'd like to thank my parents, dog, cat, gerbil, great aunt dorothy... yada yada... boohoo sniffle sniffle... you get the idea
I get out of school @ 3PM EST and I'm near Philadelphia, is there an admission fee to this thing, can only importatnt people get in. Can I get to New York in time?
Shine on, you crazy diamond.
Since some of the award nominees have used commercial software, I find it would fundamentally compromise my principles to attend the awards. If your writeup is funny, I might see it and smile, thus myself deriving indirect benefit from the commercial sale of software, so please stick to the facts :)
It's writing like this that makes it difficult for me to take Slashdot seriously.
At this overview page, one can see how far Open Source software has come now. The choice of topics is very wide, and although centered on web related applications (document management included), some tutorials are about GNOME, KDE or Open Source in general.
For the people who have the privilege to go, the choice of which tutorials to attend is not easy...
I hope they'll turn down any cash that might be attached to it or RMS will likely propose to ban their project :)
Just curious, I didn't think his books were actually open source, that you could get them for free or anything like that....
Well, Knuth is the father of TeX (well-known and usefull typesetting system) which is "free" in the best sense of the word. And as for his book, publication of algorithms (in books, academic papers etc) is not only part of forming a foundation for those who write free software - but it also prevents companies like "those we all know and dislike" from doing their patent-stunts and preventing free software authors from writing their software.
So I guess that Knuth indeed does deserve to be nominated - he's doing a lot of good for free software.
Go Knuth
-- "Life is a bitch - and she hates me..."
can be found here.
To quote from the page: "We want to give this award to a person who has made a great contribution to the progress and development of free software (free as in freedom; see our definition of free software), through activities that accord with the spirit of free software."
I guess I'd vote for Knuth. Not just for TeX....but also for his other, widely *published* work on algorithms. While not necessarily being free "software", algorithms (and knowledge about) are important for free software....
Go Knuth (not that the other nominated aren't worthy...they definitely are...)
-- "Life is a bitch - and she hates me..."
On the other hand, it helps raise the profile of "Free Software" and that's no bad thing. If it also -encourages- people to be more involved, rather than more prize-hungry, that would be great for the entire "Free Software" community, and possibly offer a wake-up call to other award ceremonies.
In short, something like this should be treated like any other bug-fix. If the code(ers) gains, keep it in, otherwise back it out. The glitz is irrelevent.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Just curious, I didn't think his books were actually open source, that you could get them for free or anything like that....
john gilmore? is he, like, the brother of some pink floyd guy?
miguel de icaza? what's the difference between a troll and a gnome?
donald knuth? Some dude, some chick, whatever!
This shows the elitism rampant in the open source community. how many of these people have practically layed your favorite young actress in your lap (so to speak)?!
i've spent days of gut-wrenching labor on my copyrighted undistributable open source natalie portman and open source drew barrymore project. so what if it's not gpl, lgpl, pgp, lsd or whatever other meaningless acronym you care to string together!
"he's not cool! his logo doesn't have some stoned-looking cow in it!"
yeah... who's the one with handsome rewards?
thank you.
After all, Free Software means "Free as in Free Speech, not Free Beer".
The "geeks" are off to NYC to promote open source, free software, and celebrate those who participate? Shame Shame.
/. is nothing. We give everything to slashdot and they give nothing.
/. is not an OpenSource/Free Software advocate for any other reason except profit and (false) recognition.
You've made it clear that we are a "low priority". Why aren't people screaming? Without us
Put up or shut up.
Watch in amazement as all critical posts are moderated into oblivion
Fish! LipHo
John Gilmore isn't as well-known as he should be. Of the candidates mentioned, he's most deserving of the award.
Things he's either started or made major contributions to include Cygnus, EFF, the alt groups, GNU tar, GNU gdb, Kerberos, BIND, and the Cypherpunks. He's perhaps the most important activist for overturning the US anti-cryptography laws.
Check out his biography.
John Gilmore was the tenor sax soloist in the Sun Ra Arkestra ...
Interesting...a Slashdot-sponsored party but no word about it here on /....
Looky here...
Wednesday, December 15, 1999
"Drinks for Nerds. Stuff that REALLY matters" Party!
6:30 - 8:30pm, Javits Center
Join us on the exhibit floor following Mr. Ralph Nader's presentation for a party sponsored by Andover.net and the Slashdot crew! As usual, substance is key so your preference in refreshments will rule. Pasta stations, an assortment of yummy appetizers, and large amounts of Freshmeat served along with an array of internationally chugged beer and wine. The perfect beginning to your evening, which ends at the FAO Schwarz Champagne and Dessert Spectacular.
How curious... is Andover/Slashdot supportive of Ralph Nader?
Will the pasta be penguin-shaped?
Wow, and how about that *nifty* FAO Schwarz Champagne Spectacular?...
Gee, what purity!
What Corporate Disdain!
What Nobility!
What a Load of Horse Sh*t...
If you drive real fast you just might make it to NYC in time...not sure about getting in though.
I have to return some videotapes...
As a native New Yorker I was deeply concerned over the posibility of a transit strike happening. (If no reconsiliation is met the strike is set to start at midnight Wednesday morning).
:)
Suddenly its all clear!
1) The FSF is holding its awards in NYC on wednesday.
2) Microsoft is a large supplier of software to government.
3) Obviously, in an effort to insure poor coverage and a poor turnout at the FSF awards, Microsoft has gotten the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority who run our busses and subways) to make a 'strike' happen. If the MTA didn't do this then Microsoft would withhold some crucial patches to Microsoft's "Big Government '00" (y2k edition) software.
Of course an alternative view is that in an effort to promote the view that reliance on one vendor is a bad thing, RMS is actually instigating this so people see that relying on one Transit Authority for all your commuting needs is a bad thing.
(removing toungue from cheek)
On the other hand it could just be bad management/union negotiations
- Reunite Gondwana-land
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OPEN THE CURRENT SLASHDOT SOURCE!!!!
John Gilmore is the brother of Gary Gilmore, the Utah murderer executed by firing squad.
Who wrote it shouldn't be *that* much of an influence on whether or not you use it. I certainly don't pick my window manager based on how many awards the authors have won.
We're in this business because we seek quality and open source code, aren't we?
Don Pardo will be awarding a complete array of wonderful prizes, including a deluxe Amana Radar Range, a year's supply of Rice-a-Roni (the San Francisco treat), and a case of Alpo dog food.
You can use the algorithms in anything you like. You probably won't be using the source directly, but if you are (making a derivative of the tex program), you can make changes via change files.
Take a look at ctan for more details (http://www.ctan.org).
Who is John Gilmore? The other two I know, but this name is not familiar. I am also quite disappointed that nether Kirk McKusick, William Joy, nor Jordan K. Hubbard were finalists.
I love Tex, and LaTex... I hope Knuth wins. If it wasn't for Knuth, I'd be using Microsoft Equation Editor to do my math essays...
Huh? Are these affiliated by Linux? And do the winners get a trophy or a CD?