Blog 6: A Linux Controversy!

SCO v. Novell

This was a lawsuit that made it up to the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. Novell bought the rights to the original Unix source code from AT&T in 1993. A couple of years later, Novell created an Asset Purchase Agreement with a company known as Santa Cruz Operation, or "Santa Cruz." The APA they created stated that Santa Cruz was allowed the rights to create new versions of UnixWare, Novell's version of Linux, and the right to license SVRX Unix either unintentionally or with Novell's permission.

A few years after this, a company known as Caldera became the successor to Santa Cruz and took over the APA. However, Caldera legally changed their name to "The SCO Group", or SCO. This company decided that they were the owners of the Unix source code. They then filed a suit against IBM for violating rights; Novell intervened.

In 2004, SCO filed a claim against Novell stating that Novell was falsely claiming ownership to the Unix source code.

Later, in 2005, Novell filed a suit against SCO for not following the APA agreement.

In 2007, a judge ruled in favor of Novell, stating that Novell was the owner of the original UNIX source code and had copyrights to UnixWare.

In 2008, a trial was held to determine how much money SCO owed to Novell in damages.

In 2009, another trial ended in a partial reversal of the 2007 judge ruling. Novell petitioned this decision in 2010 and requested that the Supreme Court of the United States intervene. Later in 2010, the court ruled in favor of Novell, expelling all the claims against Novell made by SCO. This decision closed the case.

The court's decision in favor of Novell came as good news to not only Novell, but also to Linux and the open source community.

Blog 5: Google’s Space Race

A new age space race, started back in 2008 by Google, to be the first to land a rover on the moon. The winner of the race will receive $20 million! Not much of a prize considering the costs involved with researching and building the actual lunar lander. But what a race! Imagine being dubbed the winner…not so bad, huh?

There are many teams out there competing, as the race has not had a winner as of yet. One of the teams out there is doing an open source team, FredNet, and they are going about the race the same way that Linus Torvalds went about creating Linux. I think this is a great idea because it will allow for many people to join in the race in any way they can. This opens the race to many who would otherwise never had the chance to compete. Having so many people supporting this one team will allow for many, many ideas as well as much more support than one would have going at this task alone. This is truly a remarkable feat. Team FredNet has a facebook page that I “Like” and so does Google (I also “Like”).

As far as I could tell, the main race page is located at http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/ and seems to be a blog. If you like the values or ideas that this race is undertaking, then you should try and support it in any way you can. It is probably the most human race that we have ever taken on. Go Google (and FredNet)! :)

FredNet has a page located at http://www.frednet.com/. If you can, perhaps you can donate to this great team and be a part of space history!

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that NASA has gotten in on the race as well. They are paying top teams at least $10,000 for any lunar data they uncover. This whole thing is wicked cool! Get involved in any way you can, you won't regret it!

Google’s facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/teamfrednet?v=wall#!/googlelunarxprize

FredNet’s facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/teamfrednet?v=wall#!/teamfrednet

High Speed DSL

Wireless DSL

Zippy dippy DSL
Ever since you fell away
I have been led quite astray

Quick speeds gone
Headaches Arise
Far, far from all those
Golden times

Alone I sit, here at night
wishing and hoping
that again I see that glorious green light

Alas, I may have to come to see
That this wish may never come to be

Please, oh please, don't torture me
DSL from AT&T!


(O_o)

Blog 4: Kernel! Number, number, number...number!

Linux Kernel System of Numbers…

Each time the linux kernel was released or revised, a new version number was assigned to it. The very first kernel was numbered 0.01. This type of numbering format changed after 1.0. The format implemented after 1.0 followed a system of x.x.x, where the first x was the actual “version” of the kernel, the second x was the main revision, and the third x was the small revision. Small changes included any security resolutions, bug repairs, new cool stuff, or new drivers.

Apparently, after much debate, everyone working on the numbering scheme decided that the first two numbers of the release were not important, and that the third number would be the “version” of the current kernel. A fourth number was then introduced to represent the minor revisions, such as bug problems and security issues. Why they didn’t just drop the first two numbers and keep the numbering simple is beyond me.

The four number system still remains today. However, as the first two numbers in the four number sequence are malarkey, the system numbering may seem ambiguous to new users looking for the most current version number. The first two numbers haven’t changed; therefore, at first glance, it may appear that a newer version has not been released in many years. On the other hand, this “new” numbering system (to those in the know) will make finding the most current/up-to-date “version” of the linux kernel easy to find. Again, I pose the question, “Why not drop the irrelevant numbers?!”

The linux kernel numbering system is an easy to understand numbering system that dismisses the first two numbers in the sequence and uses the third number as the version and the fourth number as the update. It helps maintain version clarity for developers and users alike.

[To the developers: Please drop the first two numbers? Maybe? Pretty Please?]