OPEN SOURCE

Robin Williams in one of his usual explosive stand up routines enacted a sequence, in his own inimitable style,involving Bill Gates and a reporter.The reporter asks "Mr.Gates, Are you not trying to create a monopoly?" to which Gates replies "Monopoly is a stupid game,my friend,I'm trying to control the world"(read with liberal expletives).I laughed along with everyone who saw that. But it isn't very far from the truth is it?

I am writing this blog using Microsoft's word processor obviously running on the Windows platform and in all probability you are going to read this on the browser provided along with Windows.I shall be damned if i say Gates isn't controlling my virtual life. His organisation has made an almost scary pervasion into our computers banking mainly on the workings on the human psyche. Let me explain a little here. We all know how wonderful Windows is. We all started working on computers only because it was easy to work with Windows. It made things simple for us. Who would not like a gift neatly wrapped. The catch here is that you cannot really open the gift. Its all yours as long as you don't open the gift box. If you think about it,this story has all the makings of a blockbuster hollywood movie. A machiavellian businessman who has a potential life changing tool with him and seeks to control the world. He is almost successful but for a bourgeois saviour who wakes people up from their trance and makes them realize.

Only in our true life story we do not have a single saviour but a bunch of nerds and geeks doing it for us. Stalwarts like Richard Stallman and Linux Torvalds ushered in a new era.They came up with a tool which was astonishingly simple. Its not so much a tool as it is a system because it redefines our way of approaching computers. I'm talking about OPEN SOURCE. One of the basic complaints about Windows was that it was not transparent. What do you do if you are affected by a virus for which Microsoft has not released the patch yet? What do you when you see a feature in Internet explorer that makes it vulnerable to attacks? You just squat and pray that the geniuses at Microsoft will eventually solve the problem.Why can't you solve the problem? Simple. You don't have the source code of any of these programs.

Open source changes all these. This term actually applies to the source code of a software. This is made available to the general public along with the software. So next time that software poses a problem the tweaker in you does not need to die a silent death. OPEN SOURCE seeks to shatter every convention established by Mr.Bill Gates and Co. They want to straitjacket you and open source breaks all the shackles. Anyone who has used the UNIX operating system, I'm sure, will agree with me. It offers a seemingly endless array of features the most noticeable being the multi-user capability. One classic example of the utility of Open source is the evolution of LINUX OS which seamlessly combines the capabilities of UNIX with the interactivity of windows not compromising on transparency. LINUX is a collection more often called a distribution available for download.

As is most often the case, Open source has these days come to refer to a lot more than just softwares. It has become a cult. Nowadays, it exemplifies transparency and openness. Cola companies are being urged to give out their secret recipes.This is seen as a sign of Open source going beyond the realm of computers. One other example could be the use of open source in medicine which calls for open-source pharmaceutical development.

All said and done, we ( yes, we) still have a very long way to go before we can get anywhere close to challenging the Gates' hegemony but i daresay we are on the right path. So, next time your pc freezes or gives the dreaded "blue screen of death", you know what to do. UNIX has been called the greatest operating system you may never use. Let us break the myth.

Fiery fifty

I have been tagged for the second time! What an achievement,because i thought no one would ever read my blog beyond the first post! This time its not

to my liking but i have to keep up the tag and honour my blogging obligations(rotfl). So here goes..

1. Were you named after anyone?
The sun.

2. Do you wish on stars?
Nope..Im not astrologically inclined..thank heavens for that!

3. When did you last cry?
Can't remember.

4. Do you like your handwriting?
Nope.

5. What is your favourite meat?
How dare you ask that question to a vegetarian..im going to sue you,you know!

6. What is your most embarrassing CD on your shelf?
There's not one CD that embarasses me.. every little baby in there is "MY PRECIOUS"

7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
Nope..i belong to the woody allen kind.."I WOULDN'T BE PART OF A CLUB THAT HAS ME AS A MEMBER".

8.Are you a daredevil?
Nope..me is a coward and the most insecure person on this earth.

9. How do you release anger?
Venting it out on people who wouldn't mind(or atleast i think they wont)

10. Where is your second home?
My college..

11. Do you trust others easily?
Yup.

12. What was your favourite toy as a child?
Don't remember

13. What class in school/college do you think is totally useless?
Those management classes that engineers have to do..Dont see the point of those.

14. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
Sarcasm makes my day.. Optimism is so boring!!

15. Have you ever been in a mosh pit?
Nope.

16.What do you look for in a gal(/guy)?
If she is committed or not.

17. Would you bungee jump?
Yap..sure thing..just give me the money and the next thing you know,ill be jumping off a cliff..

18. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Yup

19.what's your favourite ice cream?
My money=vanilla, Friends' money=honey fudge soaked with raisins and strawberry topping.

20. What are your favourite colours?
Black.

21. What are your least favourite things?
The list keeps changing..time dependent..right now,having to wait for daily soaps to get over.

22. How many people do you have a crush on right now?
Do crushes on celebrities count?..then the number is 22321.

23. Who do you miss most right now?
Nobody.

24. What are you listening to right now?
Wish you were here-pink floyd!

25. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Black.

26. What is the weather like right now?
Humid.

27. Last person you talked to on the phone?
Vydhieswaran.

28. The "first" thing you notice about the opposite sex?
The way their hair is dressed.

29. Do you like the person who sent you this?
Of course.. In fact i admire him.

30. How are you today?
Feeling strangely indifferent about india's loss to srilanka.

31. Favourite non alcoholic drink?
Coffee.

32. Favourite alcoholic drink?
Considering the fact that the only ever alcoholic drink i tasted was vodka,my answer would have to be beer i suppose..

33. Natural hair colour?
Black.

34. Eye colour?
Black.

35. Wear contacts?
Used to..too messy for my liking.

36. Siblings?
elder bro.

37. Favourite month?
Jan.

38.Favourite food?
Thayir sadam with potato chips.

39. Favourite day of the year?
Jan 1st.

40. Have you ever been too shy to ask someone out?
I dont really know,having never really asked anyone out..should try it out sometime.

41. Scary movies or happy endings?
Neither.

42. Summer or winter?
Chennai winter.

43. Holi or Diwali?
Diwali.

44. Do you like your name?
Who wouldn't!

45. What book/magazine are you reading?
India Today

46. What's on your mouse pad?
I dont have a mouse pad..

47. What did you watch on TV last night?
Recap of some match that india won.

48. Favourite Smell?
Masala.

49. Have you ever regretted breaking up with someone?
Nope.

50. Most tiresome thing you’ve ever experienced/done?
Trekking in Mudumalai..when i was in school.

Now that im done,(phew!) i tag Vijay(since everyone else i know is tagged)