(^utxt'<html> <head> <title>awaretek.com :: badam. </title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="awaretek.css"> </head> <body> <table width="100%" height="100%" border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0> <tr> <td colspan=2 class="header" height=100> <h1>badam. </h1> <em></em> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 height=20 class="middlebar"> <div id="horizontal_list"> <ul> <li><a href="plf.html">Python</a></li> <li><a href="whyiamabahai.html">Baha'i</a></li> <li><a href="poemsandpoetry.html">Poetry</a></li> <li><a href="/weblog/">Blog</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.newshub.com/newsfeed/460">Tech News</a></li> <li><a href="farnhamsfreehold.html">Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="index.html">AwareTek</a></li> </ul> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="sidebar" width="100" valign="top"> <strong><u>menu A</u></strong><br> <a href="#">item 1</a><br> item 2<br> item 3<br> item 4<br> item 5<br> <br> <a href="search.html">Search this site</a><br> </td> <td class="main" valign="top" width="80%"> <p> <!DOCTYPE PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/; charset=ISO-8859-1"> We are all on the road to Babylon, and along the way we experience a few difficulties. No software is perfect, and this includes Linux as well as the open source applications that we use on top of Linux. <br> <br> But the journey is worthwhile in and of itself. We may never arrive at the final destination, because goals change and objectives are re-defined. We want more as time goes on, and we move the goal-posts.<br> <br> Unix is bigger than Linux, and open source is bigger than Unix. But we are experiencing the evolution of an amazing system, built on top of a software stack that starts with various machine languages.<br> <br> The programming langauge "C" is the heavy weight foundation of our experience. All of Unix is written in the C language, including Linux. C is like a portable assembly language. And boy, when we say "portable", we do mean portable.<br> <br> C, and Unix, and Linux run on almost any microprocessor architecture you can name. In particular, Linux runs on the world's most powerful servers, desktops, PDA's, and embedded applications. Chips supported by Linux include Intel's X86 and also ARM processors, IBM and Motorala's Power PC, MIPS, Sparc, Alpha, and many, many others.<br> <br> On top of C, we have the Linux kernel, and on top of that, all of the many console applications and all of the many window managers such as Sawfish, Enlightenment, KDE, and Gnome.<br> <br> OpenOffice, Mozilla, Apache, Mailman, Sendmail, Evolution, and the GIMP are just a few of the infrastructural applications we use in this amazing architecture. And each and every one of these programs is being constantly improved by a legion of open source coders.<br> <br> Higher level open source programming languages have been built on top of C, including Perl, Python, Tcl, Ruby, and many others.<br> <br> Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, Larry Walls, Guido van Rossum, Matz, Jeremy Allison, Bruce Perens, Jon "Maddog" Hall, Miguel de Icaza, and Eric S. Raymond are all leading contributors.<br> <br> Many books, articles, and theses have been penned to document and explore the ethic underlying the movement. The book "Rebel Code" will inspire hundreds of thousands of open source coders and advocates. "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" is a ground-breaking exploration of the logic of open source development. "Just for Fun" documents Linus Torvald's early journey.<br> <br> Maybe not all the applications are as slick as we would like. Maybe there are bugs. Maybe there are frustrations as we learn. Learning any new system is difficult; and one thing is for sure, the best way to learn is by doing. Only by using Linux day in and day out will one accrue the sweat equity desired. <br> <br> But the journey along the way is the best part of the whole experience. Not only will you learn Linux, but you will learn file systems, security procedures, scripting, compiling, archiving, and much more. If learning is important, then Linux is a Good Thing.<br> <br> Millions of Mac OS-X users are learning along with us. And millions of computer scientists have used various Unix flavors for years as servers and engineering workstations.<br> <br> Unix has been evolving and improving since the 1960's. Linux has immeasurably added to the growth of the stew; FreeBSD and the other BSD's are adding their ingredients, MAC OS-X is a major leap forward on the desktop, handheld PDA's such as the Sharp Zaurus go boldly forth, and universities around the world continue to use and advance Unix and Linux every day.<br> It is not world domination we aim for, but world enhancement.<br> <br> And, someday when you least expect it, you may well just look up and see, shimmering ahead in the distance, not Babylon, but...<br> <br> Damascus.<br> <br> Ron Stephens<br> Linuxc Chronicles, May 19, 2002<br> </p> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html> runsUCTxddGeneva UCgaqqGeneva rlrs(brlrrext""