The iMac in this photo, which lives at the /root cafe at 60 Main Street, New Paltz, is not running on OSX — it’s running on Ubuntu, a version of Linux. The difference is that Linux is part of the open-source movement (an affiliation of programmers who develop programs based on one another’s work), whereas Apple’s official operating system software is proprietary. Technically you cannot revise, edit or share the programs that come with the computer (though people hack them).
Ubuntu defines itself as “an operating system built by a worldwide team of expert developers. It contains all the applications you need: a web browser, office suite, media apps, instant messaging and much more. Ubuntu is an open-source alternative to Windows and Office. Ubuntu will always be free of charge, along with its regular enterprise releases and security updates.”
Linux can run on anything; a Mac, a PC, PlayStation, certain cell phones, a motorcycle and — according to Justin — certain cruise missiles. I see a conversation has started about this; I’ve written to Justin to get him on board.
..He’s a good looking kid.
How does one move to open source? When your browser is Safari, how does one get off of the flow? Seriously, I want out of the B.S.. I don’t want to play with these kids any more.
,much more too ask, somehow, I have to stare at Apple for a few.
Love J
Okay, this is funny, now. Because, I missed the cruise missile reference. (!)
Got to ‘motorcycle’, noticed it was a hyperlink, wondered for a moment whether to go down that rabbit hole, decided not to; then saw someone had responded to the post and chose to go down that one instead.
Sorry, Len. When I said I wasn’t seeing what you were seeing, I wasn’t kidding! Ha! ha! What I wasn’t seeing was the last half of that last sentence!!
But, I do like your metaphor about a virus using our DNA against us.
Eerily, I sense there is something very much like that gong on with this technology.
I mean, DARPA’s pretty straightforward (at one level) about its history, its mission, its needs and its accomplishments. And, when it puts out bulletins and BAAs (no kidding…that’s the acronym) outlining its research needs, corporations, businesses, universities, and individuals line up around the block to get a shot at ‘partnering’ with them. It’s the best research grant going. They fund you, they protect you from red tape, they give you what you need to chase your wild, whacky, wonderful ideas. And, if you come up with something promising, there are capital venture partnerships waiting discretely behind the curtain to help you ‘monetize’ your brain child. All you have to do is make sure your ideas are in harmony with DARPA’s needs. As with any other grant, applicants inevitably tailor their proposals to the requirements of the funding body.
DARPA’s requirements are clear. The research must serve to enhance the US military’s combat power, including its ability to apply asymmetric warfare countermeasures against elusive, mobile targets anywhere on earth. Dual purpose projects – those that have both military and commercial potential are favored.
From 1957 to now, there isn’t anything in the realm of digital communications technologies that does not have DARPA’s stamp on it. Go to the W3C web site, for example, and notice whose sponsorship logo you see there. I haven’t seen any documents specifically linking Ubuntu with DARPA funding, but I notice that crowd sourcing has been identified as being one of the more effective ways to accelerate development.
So, going back to the image of a virus using our DNA against us…if the technology as a whole has been directed and driven by a military agenda at every step in its development, all the gentle, caring people who commit themselves to the idealism and practice of open source technology may potentially be in the position of having their best qualities of heart and mind exploited and, in a sense, used against them.
I partially agree with Eric that technology, like any tool, is essentially neutral (anymore than a tool is always shaped for a specific purpose). And, I don’t think it makes any difference whether a team of Apple employees or a network of Ubuntu coders has written the code that fires a missile.
But, I also keep thinking of a period back…years ago, somewhere in the UK when there was a rash of violent crimes in which chainsaws were the tool of choice. There was enough of a discussion, among the merchants who sold these tools, about the ethics of stocking up for the increased demand when they knew what they were going to be used for, that it made the newspapers.
I would expect to hear a bit of discussion among geeks and techies regarding the nature of the industry we’re involved in, and how to participate without contributing to the other side of it. But I have yet to hear any of us having that discussion.
Com’on, Justin, dance with me on this one.
This reference comes from Justin, who is full-on in the open source movement. If Linux runs on everything else, it can certainly be used to operate a missile. But this is another way of saying that guns don’t kill people; people kill people.
There is an odd synchronicity here. A couple of months ago I was corresponding with Richard Stallman, one of the creators of GNU-Linux and someone who is considered a founder of the open source movement.
He refused to give his birth time because he felt that astrology had “no objective validity.” I replied that Linux can be used to do anything you want and as such has no objective validity. It exists, though its existence is entirely subjective, depending on the intentions and ethics of the user.
Here is a transcript. I was not aware of the cruise missile issue at the time; I was stating the possibilities. His email address is public record:
On 2/9/10 4:45 AM, “Richard Stallman” wrote:
>> I am curious to see your chart…
>
> I don’t want to lend my name to astrology, because I am convinced
> it has no objective validity.
Neither does computing, Richard. Someone might take a nice Linux machine and use it to obsess on facebook; or to detonate a nuclear bomb. The value of a computer is based on what you or anyone chooses do with it, which is entirely subjective.
In reality the chart is merely a scientific calculation (a fractal of the movements of the planets). The interpretation is a personal choice made in a pre-existing environment – as are most things.
efc
Hi Ariel,
Thank you for asking. The truth is i’m not the one you were waiting for. Actually i was responding to Eric’s “cruise missle” reference. Thank you for giving me generous credit but i’m not all that.
What you are getting at is more substantial and mostly over my head. Telling the dancer from the dance is a beautiful way to put it. The question of proprietary Vs open source is not so simple for me although i’m aware of many who have strong feelings on either side. It’s not that i’m a wishy-washy fence sitter either. On the one hand proprietary creates value and aren’t we all trying to distinguish ourselves so that we can exchange value-for-value with each other? On the other hand, open source creates affordable opportunities for the many to participate and be creative, it’s egalatarian.
When you get right down to it, any tool can be used as a weapon. If humans were to vanish, nearly all tools and weapons would be rendered indifferent and inert. It is our intent (individually and collectively) and what is in our hearts that is the issue. Oh yeah, and that saying about a little knowledge being a dangerous thing (a remark i resemble). Hopefully this response is not a dissappointment to you.
Len,
Could I draw you out on this a bit, please?
Because, I’m studying web development and have been waiting and waiting to hear someone other than DARPA call this technology what it is: weapon.
But, I don’t think I’m seeing exactly what you’re seeing, here; so, I need to ask: Is it just Apple products and/or proprietary software that, in your opinion, falls in the category of weapon of mass destruction? Or …. (?)
Because, what I’m noticing is that open source software (“crowd-sourcing”), is, itself, an integral part of the strategy. Can we tell the dancer from the dance?
Please, if you have time, I’d like to hear more of what you can say about this.
Thanks.
A weapon of mass distruction running on open source software? Something very disquieting about that. Sort of like a biological virus using our own DNA against us.