Re: The Economist: Lebanon most liberal state in the region

josephmouhanna wrote:

If you want to work with one particular brand of Linux, and if you decide to go to their web site as a starting point for the Open Source versions, you must register and submit an email address. I even had to register and supply and email name when I went to www.linux.org.

I use Suse.. although I find it easier to buy the distribution.. I thought to check to see if it is available for download without providing an email address:

http://www.opensuse.org/Released_Version

I doubled checked red hat, ditto:
http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/4/i386/iso/

No email address needed.. it goes against the open source culture.

Reality is that Linux has been around since early 90's, predating anything since win95. So, law bidha tshati kanit ghayamit. What are the 65+ updates for? :-)

Having an OS around since the early 90's does not make it popular.

popularity was not my point.. my point in the context was that the older the open source OS the less likely to contain known vulnrabilities.

A bunch of these updates were for security puprposes. In fact, right before I responded to this, I deleted a message warning that a new security patch for PHP4 is available. 

PHP is not Linux.  I bet there is PHP4 for Windows. :-)

Bad software, or more accurately legacy support, has a lot to do with the Emperor's weak defenses, but the Penguin's walls are also made from the same raw materials. The problem is not the designers on both ends, it's the limitations imposed by the state of the art of hardware, forcing some software design decisions to insure an acceptable level of performance. The situation will change when the OS becomes irrelevant (and I hope that this day will come soon), and open *services*, non-OS specific become available. It's the next logical step in software evolution. As an end user, the OS matters very little to me, sa my main concern is the application.

I do hope that one day the OS becomes irrelevent. A friend of mine who is technophobe keeps wishing for an outket in the wall that says "computer" similar to power or telephone outlets :-)

Bad software is often due to complexity (Jurasic Park comes to mind), the rush to get something to market, and disrespect of users (for a $99 commercial OS don't expect much).

I much rather that the OS be unclutered with apps (browser, messenger, netmeeting, games, outlook, media player, etc.). Let the user select what the user wants to install. The Linux model is ideal:

- The OS development is independent of
- Utilities development (GNU, perl, etc.)
- Third party apps (apache, mysql, open office, mozilla, etc.)

Having one company does all the above is incestuous.

That would be a good idea. The Lebanese government can isure this by privatizing the IT sector, which is under the Ministry of Telecom. It's not unrealistic to think that a $200-$400 initial invetement, plus $25 per month can provide a family with hardware plus a suite of applications/services. 

Perhaps even less.. $25/month for some could be a fortune.

Agree. One of the primary issues facing them is that they buy PCs for their families and their kids want computer games. This is lacking big time in the Linux world.

Not sure I agree.. rather, you need to define what you mean by "computer games". Freeware games have always existed. A typical Linux distrubution comes with hundreds of free games.

The big name game publishers obviously don't develop for Linux because the Linux market segment is populated with techies. You give a techie a linux game and he/she is liable to pick it appart and redistribute it improved.

The Windows closed environment is a safer bet. Once you stick a game CD in it takes over the PC.

But now the rage is internet games where Windows/Linux is not even relevent.

Did you see the $100 computer in the technology summit?

Which technology summit? I've been to a few of those lately :-) I've been looking at a number of designs in the $100 to $200 range. 

The one that just happened in Tunis.   See some links:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2005/11/28/stories/2005112800110300.htm

Launch of $100 laptop

Another event that caught everybody's fancy at the Summit was the launch of the $100 laptop by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab.

The green and yellow prototype of this computer for school children, unveiled by the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and MIT Media Lab's founding chairman, Nicholas Negroponte, was all over the media in the following days.

The laptop is planned to be distributed free to schoolchildren in poor countries through the respective Governments.

It has a handle to crank up power, Wi-Fi for wireless Internet access and is based on the Linux operating system.
[..]

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2005-11-27-voa1.cfm

has picture..

http://www.mobileafrica.net/news-africa.php?id=970

better picture

bassem
.

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