[Ubuntu Chicago] Insight from Dr. Dobbs

[John Becker]

Swaine's Flames

Another pleasant evening at the Foo Bar, where Tux once again has one too 
many.

By Michael Swaine,  Dr. Dobb's Journal
Mar 14, 2007
URL:http://www.ddj.com/dept/linux/198000918

"I won't have it," Erickson growled around the stub of a cigar. "We're being 
scooped on this GPL3 business by everybody from Apress to Zdnet." When he 
shot me a certain look from under his green eyeshade, I knew what was coming 
next. "I think it's time," he said, "for another chat with your little 
friend."

I groaned. "Boss, he's not really my—"

"Yeah, yeah, nobody can stand the blasted bird. But you seem to be the only 
person on the planet who can get an interview with him." He took a swig of 
whatever he puts in that Kansas State Fair mug of his and waved me toward 
the door. "Git. Invite him to that bar where you hang out, take him to a 
hockey game, whatever it takes, just get me a story."

And so that very night at Foo Bar, the Silicon Valley night spot where I 
sometimes moonlight as relief bartender for the (news) tips, I heaped raw 
herring in the peanut dish and waited with mixed feelings—mixed between 
trepidation and deeper trepidation—to see if the legendary Linux penguin 
would once again accept my invitation.

At 8:30, he waddled in.

"You're looking well, Tux," I lied as he climbed awkwardly onto a stool and 
sagged into a fair imitation of a deflated soccer ball.

"I am not. I'm a little pale," he snapped, plunging a fin into the peanut 
dish. "I think I've got Mono." He jabbed me in the ribs with the other fin. 
"Get it? Mono?"

"I got it," I said, rubbing the jabbed spot. "Miguel de Icaza's Open Source 
take on .NET. Speaking of Open Source, what's your take on the controversy 
over Version 3 of the GNU Public License?"

"You're not really chewing that kelp, are you? There's no story there."

I'd never heard the expression "chewing that kelp" before, but I got the 
idea. "You think there will be satisfactory compromises in the language of 
the license?"

"Everybody'll adapt, then they'll adopt. Eventually. Like water runs down a 
drain. Like all Windows users will eventually pony up to Microsoft for 
Vista. Like Verizon will eventually kiss Steve Jobs's ring. No, the real 
story isn't GPL whatever; it's all the advances in the Linux desktop market 
this year."

"Really?"

"You don't have to sound so skeptical. Look at all the new drivers and 
codecs and the improvements in printing technology and technology to take 
advantage of new graphics cards. Those under-the-snow tweaks really position 
desktop Linux for a landslide this year. And we're seeing Linux preinstalled 
in new machines more and more, especially from Lenovo. Plus new apps—"

"Okay, okay, I get it that you're bullish on desktop Linux. And I guess 
you're considerably more sanguine about GPL3 than Linus is."

He reached across the bar with surprising speed and grabbed my by the 
collar. "Don't mention that Finnish gnome in my presence again. I do all the 
work, commuting all over the world promoting an operating system named after 
that slacker while he hides out up there in Oregon or some such primitive 
backwater sitting on his butt and swilling microbrews and taking all the 
credit. Speaking of which, can't you give me something to wash this down? 
What kind of bar are you running here? And remember, don't mention him 
again."

"I won't mention him again." I slid a Steelhead Amber across the bar. "How 
was the herring?"

"It was all right," he admitted grudgingly. "Shall I regurgitate some for 
you?"

"Maybe another time. So there's a lot of travel in your work?"

"Jeez, do you ever think before you talk? I live in the Southern Hemisphere, 
kid. In case you haven't noticed, very few of the big Linux sites are 
located in Antarctica or Tierra del freaking Fuego. You haven't experienced 
jetlag until you've had the longitudinal variety. The time doesn't just 
change, the seasons do."

"I suppose you have to pack multiple wardrobes."

"Watch it, kid. One tuxedo joke and I'm outta here."

I tried not to show how much that thought warmed my heart. "Any thoughts on 
the Microsoft-Novell deal or Oracle's move on Red Hat?"

"Old krill. That stuff only serves to legitimize Linux. But I want to 
correct something I said. There is one big Southern Hemisphere market for 
Linux among the BRIC countries. Brazil."

"Brick countries?"

"Brazil, Russia, India, and China, dummy, the big market opportunities of 
the 21st century. And three of them are gonna be huge, because you humans 
breed like cod."

Whereupon he burped emphatically and waddled out the door, leaving me to 
ponder how I was going to spin this into anything the boss would accept.

Michael Swaine

Editor-at-Large

mike at swaine.com

_________________________________________________________________
Make every IM count. Download Messenger and join the i’m Initiative now. 
It’s free. http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=TAGHM_MAY07