[svlug] Tri Huynh is a good guy (WAS something else, sic)

[Christian Einfeldt]

hi

On 10/18/07, Kristian Erik Hermansen <kristian.hermansen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> We should all meet up at some point and hash this out in the real
> world over food/beers, since it is easier to realize that Tri is not a
> troll.  Tri and I go back to the days when I was living in Boston.  If
> you knew him, you would understand that he is a little bit facetious
> at times, but he is a great guy and means well.


I had the sense that he was not being a troll, but that he was expressing
some frustration that he had.  Still, I would not have taken the risk of
irritating a list by submitting a first post the way that he did.

I am sure he was just asking because he comes from a more
> windows-oriented background.  Tri was (and still is?) the youngest
> person to ever obtain the MCSE cert in Vietnam.


I'm sure that he is proud of that accomplishment, but talking about MCSE
cert is not that exciting to me.  Technology is legislation, and Microsoft's
technology makes us all less free.  So while I think that it is good to give
Tri a break for coming to this list and basically breaking wind publicly and
audibly with his first post, let's please recall what a negative presence
Microsoft is in the world, and let's not encourage it use to much.  I
understand that you are sticking up for a friend, which I admire, but
talking about Tri's Microsoft cred is not winning points with me,
personally.  Let's see what others think.

Ubuntu
> Desktop edition offers a great user experience, and that's what using
> a computer is about to the other 99% of users out there who just want
> their computer to "work", without any hassle.


Tri, I have installed PClinuxOS on workstations for 10 to 13 year-olds at a
public middle school in San Francisco, California.  Neither the teachers nor
the students have received any training at all on the use of these
computers, as is the wish of the principal, who believes that computers
should be as easy to use as toasters (she's misguided on this point) and so
any training time is therefore wasted.  So if your issues are with basic
useability, I have seen PClinuxOS work very well under those circumstances.

At that point, it
> doesn't come down to a feature comparison any longer.  It's about
> community.  Linux is all the same to me anyways, and I can work on any
> distro (and have).  But I still prefer Ubuntu for the people.


+1

Tri, at the end of the day, Kristian hit the nail on the head.  It's all
about the power of community.  Microsoft does very little to encourage
community; and in fact, prosecutes those people who would try to share
Windows source code with others, or binaries for that matter.  Tri, I'm sure
that you have heard of the "Four Freedoms" that the Free Software foundation
identifies as being central to best software practices.  For me, this is the
primary purpose to use Linux.  It's Free as in freedom.  And while it might
seem sappy or preachy to speak about the freedom of Free Open Source
Software, you should know that the Mayor of Munich has said in his Digital
Tipping Point interview (and elsewhere, of course) that it is important to
assign cost values to proprietary lockdown, at least from his perspective as
the executive officer of the City of Munich:

http://www.archive.org/details/proof_of_concept_four_mins.mpg

The Four Freedoms are defined here, in case you haven't heard of them:

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

We maintain this free software definition to show clearly what must be true
about a particular software program for it to be considered free software.

Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept,
you should think of free as in free speech, not as in free beer.

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute,
study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four
kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:

   - 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 neighbor
   (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.
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