Jad's Thoughts

Isam Bayazidi is about as far from the current U.S. media stereotype of an Arab as you can get. He’s worked on the Arabeyes (Unix/Linux in Arabic) project, helped start the Arabic Wikipedia, co-founded the Jordan LUG, is a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE), works as a senior software developer for Maktoob, an online community that boasts more than four million members, and created Jordan Planet, a blogging community whose members have many different religious and political viewpoints. Isam is also a long-time Slashdot reader, so he’s the perfect person to ask what’s going on in the Arab (cyber)world today. One question per post please. Isam will answer 12 of the highest-moderated questions. We’ll run his answers verbatim as soon as he gets them back to us.

(18:31:03) Jad: lel 2amam da2iman ya abu yazidi
(18:31:53) Isam: yala man.. I would like to thank you.. and thank every one who supported me in the last years.. without you I won’t be holding this award (I am effected by the Oscars)

[tags]isam, bayazidi, slashdotted [/tags]

The Debian distro is not only free, but boosts flexibility and transparency.

The Debian project doesn?t only produce a free (as in freedom, not only of charge) distribution, but is itself a strong supporter of free software. While many people spend hours discussing the differences between free software and open source software, Debian explicitely explains its position in two documents: The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG), which defines what constitutes free software according to the Debian project; and the Social Contract with the free software community which positions the project itself.

Advantages and disadvantages on the technical level

Debian?s different approach becomes visible not only formally but also in technical details. It ships with a unique and robust package management system, centering around the APT tools and the ?dpkg? utility, that Debian developers and users are especially proud of. It is the best way to install software quickly and easily on your machine?even as a newbie you?ll appreciate and love it. The package management system uses ?dependencies? between packages to ensure correct software installation. Pre-compiled packages are distributed in a specific archive format with ?.deb? file extension. While utilities like ?dpkg? and ?apt-get? are pure command-line tools, Debian also provides a set of package management front-ends to choose from like ?dselect?, ?aptitude? and ?synaptic?. Most tools access software repositories via FTP or HTTP, provided the user wishes so. You type a single command, and Debian will download, install and configure the software for you. You don?t need to worry about where the software resides?as long as the configuration file /etc/apt/sources.list contains the repository?s proper URL. Each repository entry looks like the following line:

deb www.debian.org... sarge main contrib non-free

Countries like China, Italy and Brazil have been studying the success of the project.

Due to its robust, flexible and highly configurable nature, some governments have chosen Debian upon which to base the development their own Linux distro and the project has been a success

Via FreeSoftwareMagazine

[tags] why, debian, good, linux, distro [/tags]

Proprietary software

The orientation of proprietary software is to create good software. It?s that simple. Its techniques, from a philosophical point of view, are similarly banal, involving various development methodologies and the application of copyright to both protect the software from outside interference and to protect the financial interests of the authors.

The logic behind this technique is, its proponents tell us, in the spirit of copyright: to reward the authors, and to promote future creativity. However, since propietary software may be released for free (freeware), the reward isn?t necessary. Given that both the free and open source approaches also allow for rewards, we have to discount this as being philosophically distinct to the proprietary approach (though it is an open question for economists). Rather, the distinctive quality of proprietary software is that the source code is closed, making creation and modification the exclusive preserve of those to whom the owner gives access.

Free and open source approaches to software development may be identical, but their philosophies are radically different

Open source software

The orientation of open source software is described by the Open Source Initiative as producing good software. The definition of open source software is given in relation to proprietary software, comparing the techniques in terms of development methodologies and copyright licensing terms. It is the techniques that set the two approaches apart, not least because open source software rejects the main premise of proprietary software licensing?that it is better to restrict access to the source code. The logic for this difference, according to the OSI, is that ?when programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software, the software evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of conventional software development, seems astonishing.? (OSI, 2004a)

Open source shares the philosophical orientation of the proprietary approach, but rejects its techniques

Free software

The orientation of free software is to create good software that provides certain socially useful freedoms. It is defined in terms of ?liberty not price?, a frame of reference entirely absent from both the proprietary and open source approaches. And crucially it is defined as an ethical orientation, not a pragmatic orientation (Stallman, 1992, 1994). According to the Free Software Foundation, the orientation is related to four kinds of freedom (FSF, 2004a):

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour (freedom 2).
• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

Free software advocates reject the orientation and logic of both proprietary and open source approaches

read full article at FreeSoftwareMagazine

[tags] freesoftware, OpenSource, proprietary, Philosophical, difference, software, licensing, copyright [/tags]

As far as possible, we try to use a standard process for our web projects. Although it can seem like overkill for smaller projects, one thing I’ve discovered is that when it comes to building web sites for large organizations, there really are no shortcuts.

If you cut corners, it will always come back to bite you in the end, whether it is in the form of last minute design or content changes or a site that just doesn’t meet users needs.

1. Concept
2. Discovery
3. Content development
4. Design
5. Development
6. Launch
7. Post-launch

by SmileyCat

[tags] web, standards, development, workflow, design [/tags]

Note: This tutorial assumes you have a basic knowledge of how to use CSS, but only have a very basic understanding of how it works. If you have NEVER used CSS before, you will want to start with the w3schools introduction to CSS.

Continue reading

[tags] css, tutorial, howto [/tags]

During a speech at the II open-source conference in SpainUnited Nations inspector Dominique Ouredrago said that the UN has recommended its members to use open-source software, particularly in areas related to health, education and international commerce.

He added that the United Nations considers open-source as the most appropriate vehicle for the development of its members. It probably doesn’t hurt the OSS case that Microsoft (obvious avatar of proprietary software demons) attracts criticism at every turn and faces unending anti-monopoly actions.

Via Softpedia.com

[tags] UN, United, Nations, recommends, OpenSource [/tags]

Everyone likes pretty pictures. The newsagent?s stand is now crowded with glossy magazines, roadside advertisements glare out at you as you drive along the freeway, you see a wondrous mosaic as you look at all the packaging on supermarket shelves. Television long ago replaced the radio as standard home entertainment and the fact that you cannot judge a book by its cover doesn?t prevent the vast majority of the human population from doing so. The same applies to computers now. The GUI (Graphical User Interface) or ?windows functionality? has become part of the machine that everyone now takes for granted.

X is not a GUI?it is an infrastructure that a GUI uses

One of the most confusing aspects of X is the naming of the parts, in that the terms server and client are the opposite of what many would expect. An X server is the screen and keyboard, what a lot of MS Windows people would automatically think of as the ultimate client. An X client is a program that opens and uses windows, such as a browser, email client, word-processor and so on. To go into why this is so I will compare an X-server to a file server…

A file server is a machine on a network where files exist and other machines, or clients, can connect to it to open, read, write or manipulate files. Often, of course, the file server and the client is the same machine, but sometimes it isn?t. What a file server is serving is data in files.

Read full article
[tags] linux, x, gui, server, client [/tags]

From Page 4 of the article: “The Venezuelan revolution is perhaps the
first revolution in history saved by computer hackers and this is one
of the reasons the government is so very strong on promoting the use of free software, particularly in public administration.” On Page 4,
the article explains the details of the operation. Cool!
read more digg story

[tags] freesoftware, liberate, Venezuela [/tags]

How many times do programmers have to port software written to run on one particular architecture into another (or more than one) architecture? Does it always go smoothly? If you answered ?yes?, you might not need this book. But if your answer was ?no?, then this book is for you.

Brian Hook is a professional software developer, and has worked primarily in the gaming and entertainment industry. He collected his experiences in this book in order to advise us on how to write portable software.

Despite its physical dimensions (due to the use of recycled paper), ?Write Portable Code? is a concise book: it?s only 250 pages, but it?s crammed with examples. This might sound like an exaggeration, but I think of it as a sort of new Kernighan and Ritchie: Hook was clever enough and so well focused, that he wrote precisely the right amount to cover everything he needed to, without rambling.

Hook takes into account all of the aspects of writing portable code that a programmer might face: editing, porting, scalability, internationalization, processors and networking. And he doesn?t forget to explain how portability can be affected by operating systems, floating point management, filesystems, data formats and dynamic libraries. Since he?s chosen C/C++ as the reference programming languages, Hook has devoted some chapters to the compilers and the preprocessor.

Even though Hook has chosen the C/C++ languages, he still advises using other, higher level (scripting) languages, to improve portability. One chapter summarizes some of them.

via FreeSoftwareMagazine
[tags] freesoftware, magazine, book, review [/tags]

Borrow a Muslim from the Library is the funniest and the greatest idea I’ve ever heard of to bridge communication between Muslims and others in local community.

Blagarden library in Copenhagen has started a program inteded to explain misunderstandings and promote cultural exchange, through which a Dane can go to the library and, in essence, check out a Muslim for an hour (over coffee paid for by the library). Although the program advertises this service in a tongue in cheek humoristic way, the intent behind it is rather serious.

I believe I have gotten many to let go of their prejudices, says Ali Nicolaisen, 35, the resident Muslim at the library.

He is tops, said the library chief Agot Berger. He is more popular than our most checked-out books…There was such a high demans especially on muslims, that we have had to contact several more to participate.” The library also plans on loaning out a Swede, a policeman, a Danish priest, an Arab etc., but the Muslim is the most sought after so far.

Via scandarabia

[tags] scandarabia, swedish, muslims, barrow, library, bridge, communication, understanding, others, people-to-people [/tags]