Thank You, Free Software! Thank You, Linux!!

With the Covid-19 situation, many educators and students have been sent home and, with little or no training at all, they must keep their academic activities.  I am one of those professors.

While my workload has increased easily three times, I consider myself fortunate because I do not have to face the Windows-related issues that many of my colleagues seem to struggle with.

Also, I can say that the army of tools that Free Software offers has helped me to cope with my working needs. Thus, I want to make a list of all the tools I have been using lately (in no particular order):

1.  LibreOffice
2.  Galculator
3.  Kolourpaint
4.  Gimp
5.  Openshot
6.  Inkscape (and its Sozi extension!)
7.  Firefox
8.  Audacity
9.  Showfoto
10. Kdenlive
11. VLC
12. Openshot
13. Guvcview
14. RecordMyDesktop
15. HandBrake

And I still have many more to explore! Of course, all of them on top of my Linux system.

This list makes me see appreciate the great work of the developers and communities of each one of those great tools. I know that because of the pandemic, our pockets have also been affected but, if you can, please consider making a small donation to any of the projects that have had your back all this time.  :)

Maybe I should Go Back to Windows...

I noticed that lately I haven't been blogging as I used to back in 2010, when my Linux adventure started.

I've witnessed incredible changes.  Windows has actually started trying to imitate Linux, and Linux has been trying to imitate Windows.

MS Office is trying hard to keep its user base while LibreOffice is increasing its number of users... and the later is also trying to imitate MS Office (Yuk! The hideous ribbon!)

I've literally seen lots of cases in which the great Windows 10 has failed miserably (to run, to enable video/sound, to connect to the Web), along with MS Office being unable to open documents made with other versions of MS Office (and then humble LibreOffice comes to the rescue).

I've seen other people using Ubuntu in a professional environment without any hassle...

All that has been very interesting.

Still, something troubles me.

All these years using Linux (my initial distro is well dead now, along with many other I liked the most) have shown me something about myself.

As a Linux user, I totally suck.

Let me say it again.  I suck.

And I suck big time!

Seven years using Linux and I still don't have a clue using the CLI!

I remember the days when I started.  I knew nothing.  All my Power User Super Windows Guru Knowledge was utterly useless.  I had to learn from scratch.  And each day, I kept repeating to myself: "Don't worry.  You'll pick up the pace pretty soon.  Next year you'll be a Linux power user" (because a Linux guru was and still is way out of my league).

A year went by and I did not become a power user.

"Maybe next year,"  I thought.

One more year passed.  I told myself the same:  "Surely next year!"

No dice.  Is that what the Linux year really means?

How come I am a perpetual newbie??

And on top of that, the penguin is running so well these days that I on the verge of forgetting the few tricks I managed to learn!  What a shame!!

I feel so bored!  My desktop computer has been running for months without being turned off and the only changes I see are the different DEs I log into not to die of boredom.

Meanwhile.  I hear that Windows users are getting all the fun.

Since I suck as a Linux user, maybe I should go back to Windows after all.

I'll think about it.

My View on the Article "Is the Open Source Software Movement a Technological Religion?"

I read the article "Is the Open Source Software Movement a Technological Religion?," in which Gil Yehuda compares the movement to religion.

Although he has some interesting points, I think actually closed source or proprietary software advocates are the ones who seem much more to be into a religion.

Why?  To put it simply:

1.  Their leaders hide the truth (the code, flaws, etc.) from them and they simply accept it.

2.  They attack open source based on claims that have been given to them and that in many cases are not accurate.

3.  They do not have the will to investigate their products / leaders and take them as religious people take dogmas.

4.  They lack the scientific need to investigate and learn.  How many times they reject open source based solely on the claim that they "do not want to learn anything new"?

5.  They prefer to put up with the flaws of their software because "that's how things are".

6.  They are are not allowed to actually get into the depths of the software they use nor have the opportunity to change it.

7.  They let a specific corporation use them to its will and they happily keep giving this company as much money it asks from them, regardless of the product they receive.

Again, closed source advocates are more a religion in my perspective.  At least I have the freedom to choose and I will not go to software hell if I decide not to keep supporting a specific open source tool.

Open Source Is not an Unknown Concept Anymore

I remember when, several years ago, Mechatotoro and I started to use Libre Office and moved to .odt for all our word processing needs.  Some colleagues did try to force Microsoft file formats on us in spite of the university's approval of ODF.

But slowly, more people have come to understand that open source is here to stay and that closed source is neither better nor safer. At the end, most of the complaints by closed-source defenders can be reduced to the following:

1- They are used to X and don't want to learn anything new.

2- They want to use open source but are locked into closed source.

3- They think closed source is better because X has more features. [Which, by the way, most people don't know about or don't really care for because they don't use such features and probably never will.]

4- They had a negative past experience with open source and did not care to update their knowledge.

5- They don't really know what they are talking about but pretend they do. 

6- They simply prefer closed source as a personal choice.

In spite of all that, I've noticed that more students know about ODF and some of them are using Libre Office themselves nowadays.

An interesting case happened a few days ago: a student who wants me to direct her thesis is interested in using Twine, an open source tool for writing interactive texts.

The world is changing.  Many just don't really see how it is doing it.

The Windows 10 Plane Has Arrived!!

Back in 2010, I posted this little joke about Operating Systems running airlines.

Yesterday, I realized that a meme on the Web equates Windows 10 to a plane...and what a plane!

One would think that after all these years, Microsoft's OSs would gain more respect (to most people they are a necessary evil), especially if we take into account that Windows 10 is trying to imitate lots of key Linux features...

...Apparently, the situation hasn't changed much.  Here you have it: The Windows 10 plane!

Here's another version:

Add the surveillance cameras tracking your every movement and those pictures will be complete!  :P

ZaReason Makes its Open Tablet: The ZaTab ZT2

Visiting ZaReason, a vendor of Linux PCs, I discovered that now they are offering a new device, ZaTab ZT2.  That's, according to their site, "the first open and hackable tablet":

"Some manufacturers consider "root" to be a four-letter-word. We don't. The ZaTab is an open device. The bootloader is unlocked. Root access is available. We welcome the community to develop custom ROMs and port other Linux distros to the ZaTab." 

I must say they got my attention.  I bought a laptop from them last year, an Alto 4330, and its specs and performance really satisfied me.  In fact, I am typing this entry from it.  

I've been reluctant to buy a tablet because I wanted an open device.  I've been waiting for the Vivaldi tablet, of course...but I think I may give the ZaTab ZT2 a try meanwhile.  It costs $300.

Unlike the other systems that ZaReason offers, you cannot choose the OS to be preloaded.  It is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. 

Here are the tablet's specs:

• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• Allwinner A31 SoC (4-core CPU, 8-core GPU)
• 10.1" IPS 1280x800 display
• 5 point capacitive touchscreen
• 8 GB internal storage + microSD for additional storage
• 2 GB RAM
• WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)
• Front (.3 megapixels) and Back (5 megapixels) cameras
• Sturdy metal back
• Stereo Speakers
• High-capacity 6000 mAh battery
• Ultra-light 600 grams

Ports:

• Headphone
• microSD card slot
• miniHDMI video out
• microUSB port

Package includes:

• Tablet
• AC Adapter
• USB Cable
• Source Code

It's good to have vendors that offer open devices!

Multimedia, Education, and Free Software

I was surprised today. A colleague showed me a CD that someone gave her in a course related to the Ministry of Education of my country. According to her, the CD contained "software for audio activities."

I took the CD. I expected to find a bunch of windows-only demos with a limited functionality or designed to expire in a month but my eyes read a familiar name: Audacity

Maybe Audacity doesn't mean much in the world of Windows but this name identifies the most famous audio tool in the world of Linux. Audacity is a multi-platform, open source audio editor, as the educational software should be.



Another of the programs included was new to me. Its name is JClic. JClic is an interesting set of educational activities that students can use.



However, it goes beyond that. It also lets teachers create their own activities...



What surprised me most wasn't the software, but the fact that the Ministry of Education is promoting the use of free software. Well, it actually shouldn't puzzle me: in a context of an economic crisis, schools must save costs and at the same time maximize their efficiency.

Moreover, open source applications tend to be inclusive since they frequently run on different systems instead of requiring their users to acquire licenses of OSs that such users can't even call legally their own.

On Open Source and Academic Productivity...

Yesterday, I finished the analysis of a survey I passed for one of my courses.
I used tables, pie graphs, bar graphs, and many of those features people love to see when data analysis is presented.

Oh...I also used Open Office to build the whole thing.

That reminded me of the video bashing Open Office that Microsoft launched, I presume, as part of their "We LOVE Open Source" campaign.

The video, which some view as a desperate rant by the Redmond giant while others see it as an implicit warning of the dangers a hasty migration may cause, called my attention when it mentioned the academic sphere...

Can the use of Open Office actually cause students to get lower grades? Tricky question.

I guess those who answer "YES" are just viewing the side of the students. Students are used to their "friendly" MS Office 2007/2010 and since the "backwards" school uses Open Office, they "are penalized" because of format incompatibilities. The scenario may also be inverse: a student who uses Open Office faces the rage of a teacher who is used to MS Office...

Now...this second case is the one I want to analyze. As an educator, the model of a school penalizing a student because he/she used X technological tool makes me reflect on some of the purposes of education: empowering people with knowledge, promoting tolerance, and valuing diversity.

Are teachers entitled to take out points or **shudder** reject an assignment because students used a technological tool other than that the teacher knows or likes?

Education is very powerful. It either frees people or domesticates them. As part of the education system of my country, I always hope I am doing the first and I work my best for that purpose. After all, what value is a teacher if he/she cannot help his/her students to learn how to face the world by themselves? What good is a teacher who contents himself/ herself by making small replicas of his/her own being? "I use MS Office, so YOU use it, or lose!" I cannot believe people promoting that ideology may call themselves teachers.

Now...how can schools then justify having teachers who lower grades on account of students using different technological tools? Those are not schools; those are intellect-killing institutions. Those are factories taming potential winners and turning them into part of the herd. Schools are for humanizing and freeing individuals, not for turning them into mindless beasts that just follow the rest without complaining.

"Use MS Office and boost your productivity," preaches Microsoft. I love Open Office but I must acknowledge MS Office is an excellent product. It is an excellent product, but Microsoft is failing to consider (again!) the current changes in this world when speaking about productivity.

Those who believe MS Office will always equal greater productivity, especially in the academic field, are a bit short-sighted. It was true in the past (Microsoft past glories); it may be true in the present...but the future, the future will be quite different.

In the past, nobody cared to learn a second language and they were well off. For some, that model works even today. However, most of us have realized that today's world demands knowing at least two languages if one really wants to be productive. Some academics argue that knowing a third language is the best bet.

What is happening in the world of computers? Computers are changing...Apple's vision outruns Microsoft's. (Microsoft is now playing catch-up trying to get its tablet!)

As another example, One Laptop Per Child is teaching children in developing countries to speak a language...and that language is not Microsoft's: Sugar, the OS of those low-cost tablets, is Open Source!

That means that new generations will be growing...and they will be speaking two languages: Open Source and maybe Microsoft's (or Apple's, if Microsoft's vision continues as it is today.)

Those kids, fully bilingual when grown, won't find relevant today's "Use MS Office to boost your productivity," much less in the academic field: they grew up with open source!

Also, there's another language embodied by also open-sourced Google Documents: the language of cloud computing. It's not a secret cloud computing is growing stronger everyday. Microsoft couldn't see it at first, although they are trying to make up for their mistake.

Interesting sight...children in developing countries will be far more knowledgeable and productive technologically than those in developed countries because children in the latter stayed speaking only one language. Their schools failed to teach them well and didn't prepare them for the changing world. Individuals who use open source usually find no trouble using Microsoft's products; they are productive in both spheres. It is not so, however, with those who just know Microsoft.

Knowledge is power, they say...Terrible words if spoken in the information era....

Microsoft LOVES Open Source!!!

Jean Paoli, the general manager of Microsoft's interoperability strategy team, recently said "we love open source." You can read about it here.
Isn't it great? The company that once called Linux "a cancer" now loves open source! This is the happiest news you'll ever hear! Of course, we all can assume that from this new love relationship between Microsoft and open source, the closed, privative soon-to-be-born Windows 8 will be replaced by a free (both as in freedom and as in free-beer) open-source Windows called PENGUINDOWS.

Penguindows will come in four great editions:

1. Lovey Dovey Edition
2. Rosy Edition
3. Happy-Ever-After Edition
4. Fairytale Edition

You will be able to download it, or you can ask Microsoft for a free copy. They'll send it to you promptly if you accept the license agreement:

"Do you accept to love all human beings and use your Penguindows for the benefit of humanity without asking for anything in reward? YES NO"

Surely, Penguindows will make a new, happy world for everyone!
THANKS, MICROSOFT, FOR TAKING SUCH A HUGE STEP TOWARDS A BETTER WORLD!!! WE LOVE YOU, TOO!!! Let us all dance together with Brother Ballmer!!!



Please...don't let the shadow of doubt and critical thinking cloud such a happy moment for humanity...

Please, don't think that the same Paoli who uttered those words of love is the same Paoli who helped design the XML specification. Yes, the same that gave (and still gives) so many headaches to users of Office 2003 and older. Surely, he was thinking about interoperability when that "open" closed format was adopted and left those users clueless. After all, the new format is for the benefit of humanity! It compresses files! It makes your PowerPoint presentations substantially smaller so you can send them more easily by e-mail! That shows how much he does care for poor users without fast Internet connections...What does it matter if you have to spend hours from your slow connection to download the 27.5 Mb patch for your Office 2003 to be able to use the new format? You will be able to make smaller files after all!!!!

Please, don't think that this new love affair responds to a hidden agenda, either. Let not the crazy thought of cloud computing stain the purity of this affection. It does not matter that Microsoft leaders made the mistake of underestimating the Web when they concentrated all their efforts on desktop computers, pretty much as IBM concentrated only on mainframes during its prime years.

Don't ever think that by releasing Office 2010 and its cloud-computing features, Microsoft is trying to take hold of the market it left aside in the past. No. Forget those impure thoughts. Don't ever link that to Microsoft's new interest in Open Source. No. After all, cloud computing is deeply related to open source technologies, which enable their interoperability, but that's not the reason for Microsoft love.

Why is it that whenever pure love appears, there is always a horrible crow spreading its black wings and piercing the sky with its horrible squawking? Let's believe in LOVE!!!

Cuestión de Código Abierto...

Hasta hace poco, las compañías de software propietario, al igual que guerreros visigodos, machacaban los pequeños poblados de desarrolladores de código abierto usando, cual mazo devastador, el argumento que "El software libre es inseguro, obsoleto y el código abierto es totalmente inservible a nivel de mercado y productividad". Al igual que en el dibujo arriba, decían que los adeptos al código abierto eran un montón de comunistas, piratas, o anarquistas que buscaban envenenar la sociedad con sus ideas peligrosas.

Sin embargo, no basta más que probar Open Office para darse cuenta de la gran calidad y eficiencia del software libre. De hecho, esta suite ofimática es capaz de trabajar con los formatos de MS Office además de formatos que la "poderosa" Microsoft Office ni siquiera reconoce, a menos que se le instalen parches y actualizaciones (traten de abrir un archivo .odt, .odf o .abw). La lógica del consumidor es "si pago más, debería ser capaz de trabajar con más archivos", pero la lógica de Microsoft es "pague más para que pueda abrir MENOS archivos". ¿Extraño, verdad?

Sobre la cuestión de acceso al mercado, alguien reconoce algunos de estos logos de software de código abierto?





Ahora, me parece sumamente interesante que la misma Microsoft esté volviéndose hacia el código abierto que alguna vez llamó "cáncer". De hecho, ahora están tratando de trabajar Outlook con código abierto. Aquí se puede leer la noticia en inglés

¡¡¡¡COMUNISTAS!!!! :P


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