Thanks, Mike

Mike Cassidy, the Silicon Valley Dispatches columnist at the San Jose Mercury News, did me, the Linux community and everyone who uses Free/Open Source Software a great favor today by writing his column about Lindependence and what we’ve done, so far, in Felton.

The column is here. Go ahead and take a look. I’ll wait.

[And if for some reason that link doesn't work, just go to SiliconValley.com and click on the link with my picture next to it.]

I want to thank Mike for a.) having an artesian depth of patience with both Bob Lewis and me while we shoveled metric tons of history and general GNU/Linux information his way in the few hours that Mike stayed here (no, we didn’t keep him hostage), and b.) writing a column that I think captured the essence of Lindependence in Felton.

Karen Borchers also took great photos of me in the so-called “underground bunker.” My only regret is that she didn’t have her “slim-down-by-50-pounds” lens with her to make me look more like, oh I don’t know, Michael Phelps.

So, thanks Mike and Karen.

(Fedora ambassador Larry Cafiero runs HeliOS Solutions West in Felton, California, and is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.)

Random thoughts to live by

While writing and doing other things that come with everyday life, I came across (or actually had a hand in) the following things:

Lindependence heads north to Portland: I’ve outlined this more in the Lindependence 2008 Diary blog, but it bears repeating. Lindependence takes a trip to Portland become a different kind of Trail Blazer; that is, bringing GNU/Linux and Free/Open Source Software to northern Oregon. David Kaplan, the organizer up there for Lindependence Portland has a Web page here for the event itself, and if you’re in the area, by all means stop by. I’ll be talking more about this as time goes on, without fail.

Happy birthday to GNU: GNU leaves the 18-24 demographic behind and joins the adult world in turning 25 years old on Sept. 27. It was on that day in 1983 that Richard Stallman (who I had the honor of chauffeuring around Northern California in February) announced that he intended to create a Unix-like system that would be completely open and hackable, giving anyone the right to modify and distribute it. British comedian Stephen Fry — known to some as the comedian Dietrich in the movie “V for Vendetta” (although his oevure is far more extensive) — has made this video outlining the history of GNU and its place in the digital realm with aplomb.

Chrome dome: For the past seven hours, I’ve been using Google’s Chrome on the Wintel box at my desk at the Santa Cruz Sentinel (which I mention so this blog pops up on the Google search by my boss, Marc DesJardins — Hey, Marc!), and I have to say that it has done everything I’ve asked it too so far, except run the Stephen Fry video. What I did get was the message saying that there was an error and that the browser had to shut down. Uh oh. So long blog entry. But what happened was that Chrome actually just jettisoned the offending tab, leaving the other four intact. Very cool, Google. Here’s hoping that the Linux version of Chrome is better than the Linux version of Picasa.

Film, as they say, at 11.

(Fedora ambassador Larry Cafiero runs HeliOS Solutions West in Felton, California, and is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.)

Lost in translation

[Note: This item also appears in the Lindependence 2008: Felton Diary blog.]

I got into journalism for a reason: My math skills are not exactly stellar.

In my last blog item — and picked up in a blog item written by Katherine Noyes of Linux Insider – I said that in October, 100 towns in Italy were going to do a Lindependence-type project. Actually, according to the Linux Day 2008 site (reading Italian helps here, but not necessary), I was off by . . . um . . . 79 towns. They’re actually up to 21, so far.

In my defense, the 100 number came from a conversation with a Fedora ambassador from Europe, and possibly something was lost in translation. Naturally, I should have checked it out before going public with it, but I found the fellow from whom I got this information trustworthy. But still, the fault is mine for misleading you all, and I apologize.

Regardless: even though it’s not in triple digits, 21 is still a pretty good number of towns in Italy taking the plunge, and we’re behind them.

Meanwhile, back in Felton, Felton LUG is starting to get going, establishing the first Saturday of the month as the regular meeting date and finding a regular meeting place (the fire station). The seeds that have been sown here are being cultivated and we expect them to bear fruit. If you’re in Felton and are interested in attending/participating/contributing, drop me an e-mail at lcafiero-at-fixedbylinux-dot-com.

(Fedora ambassador Larry Cafiero runs HeliOS Solutions West in Felton, California, and is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.)