22 February 2004
9 February 2004
Cybersurf 9 February – Open Source vs. Proprietary
Hello, good morning and welcome to Cybersurf, a weekly update on what's new on the Internet. I am your cyberhost Steven Lang.
Some time last week I was listening to AM Live, of course, and I heard my colleague John Perlman interviewing Alistair Otter of the tectonic.co.za site and it made me realise that it is time once again for Cybersurf to look at the running conflict between open source and proprietary software.
The need for this discussion became more urgent because this conflict was, to a degree, responsible for the recent tsunami of MyDoom viruses that flooded mail boxes the world over.
A slight digression – a colleague of my has pointed out that MyDoom is in fact a worm and not a virus – but I think that we'll leave technicalities aside and go with the generic virus.
It is believed that the author of MyDoom was specifically targetting a company called SCO – that is S.C.O because that company claims ownership of eight hundred thousand lines of coding that is currently used by the Linux system. SCO is also threatening to sue anyone who uses the Linux operating system – including computer giant IBM.
Many people in the open source fraternity believe that SCO's claim runs counter to the spirit and aims of the opne source movement – so certain open militants wrote the MyDoom virus to swamp the SCO web site. They were succesful in that I have not been able to access the SCO web site found at www.sco.com for more than a week. Just for good measure – a variant of the virus has also targetted Microsoft – the old enemy of Open Source. I don't know for sure how badly afected the Microsoft sites were – but I have had no trouble accessing them.
The open source versus proprietary software war has become ugly – and it is almost impossible to find an expert who is completely objective about the dispute. Microsoft commissioned a series of “independent” reports to compare its products with welll known open source software. The comparison criteria was the overall cost of operating the respective systems over the long term.
Guess what – surprise, surprise – the independent reports – commissioned by Microsoft – showed that it is cheaper to run Microsoft applications than open source software. Truly amazing!
If you would like to look at a site advocating open source software – then you will do well to look at the site I mentioned at the beinning of this program. Alistair Otter runs the tectonic.co.za site and it is very good if you want to keep up with th latest open source news in South Africa.
The CSIR open source centre at meraka.org.za that is m.e.r.a.k.a dot org dot za has loads of information about open source conferences and gives you a fair idea of government thinking on the issue.
Obsidian systems, which can be found at obsidian.co.za, has a very interesting site in that it is clearly aimed at turning a profit out of its distribution and implementation of Linux, but it also has a section advising you when it is not a good idea to use Linux.
If you are really interested in getting an excellent overview of the dispute, I advise you to go to the bridges.org site – that's it – bridges.org – there is no za in it even though it is being run from Cape Town. - Why I strongly recommend bridges dot org is because it has a complete section dedicated to the dispute. This section which contains mainly links to other sites, is divided into three groups – firstly The Background – then the arguments for open source software and the third group has a collection of links arguing in favour of propriatary software.
And before we wrap up today's edition of Cybersurf – let me state for the record that the script for this program was written in an openOffice document running off a Windows 95 platform – and since I have been told that anyone can now run a Linux operating system on their PC – let me tell you that my next project is to install Linuxon my home computer just to find out how easy, or how difficult it is.
Thanks for listening and remember to keep on surfing.
Hello, good morning and welcome to Cybersurf, a weekly update on what's new on the Internet. I am your cyberhost Steven Lang.
Some time last week I was listening to AM Live, of course, and I heard my colleague John Perlman interviewing Alistair Otter of the tectonic.co.za site and it made me realise that it is time once again for Cybersurf to look at the running conflict between open source and proprietary software.
The need for this discussion became more urgent because this conflict was, to a degree, responsible for the recent tsunami of MyDoom viruses that flooded mail boxes the world over.
A slight digression – a colleague of my has pointed out that MyDoom is in fact a worm and not a virus – but I think that we'll leave technicalities aside and go with the generic virus.
It is believed that the author of MyDoom was specifically targetting a company called SCO – that is S.C.O because that company claims ownership of eight hundred thousand lines of coding that is currently used by the Linux system. SCO is also threatening to sue anyone who uses the Linux operating system – including computer giant IBM.
Many people in the open source fraternity believe that SCO's claim runs counter to the spirit and aims of the opne source movement – so certain open militants wrote the MyDoom virus to swamp the SCO web site. They were succesful in that I have not been able to access the SCO web site found at www.sco.com for more than a week. Just for good measure – a variant of the virus has also targetted Microsoft – the old enemy of Open Source. I don't know for sure how badly afected the Microsoft sites were – but I have had no trouble accessing them.
The open source versus proprietary software war has become ugly – and it is almost impossible to find an expert who is completely objective about the dispute. Microsoft commissioned a series of “independent” reports to compare its products with welll known open source software. The comparison criteria was the overall cost of operating the respective systems over the long term.
Guess what – surprise, surprise – the independent reports – commissioned by Microsoft – showed that it is cheaper to run Microsoft applications than open source software. Truly amazing!
If you would like to look at a site advocating open source software – then you will do well to look at the site I mentioned at the beinning of this program. Alistair Otter runs the tectonic.co.za site and it is very good if you want to keep up with th latest open source news in South Africa.
The CSIR open source centre at meraka.org.za that is m.e.r.a.k.a dot org dot za has loads of information about open source conferences and gives you a fair idea of government thinking on the issue.
Obsidian systems, which can be found at obsidian.co.za, has a very interesting site in that it is clearly aimed at turning a profit out of its distribution and implementation of Linux, but it also has a section advising you when it is not a good idea to use Linux.
If you are really interested in getting an excellent overview of the dispute, I advise you to go to the bridges.org site – that's it – bridges.org – there is no za in it even though it is being run from Cape Town. - Why I strongly recommend bridges dot org is because it has a complete section dedicated to the dispute. This section which contains mainly links to other sites, is divided into three groups – firstly The Background – then the arguments for open source software and the third group has a collection of links arguing in favour of propriatary software.
And before we wrap up today's edition of Cybersurf – let me state for the record that the script for this program was written in an openOffice document running off a Windows 95 platform – and since I have been told that anyone can now run a Linux operating system on their PC – let me tell you that my next project is to install Linuxon my home computer just to find out how easy, or how difficult it is.
Thanks for listening and remember to keep on surfing.
25 January 2004
Elections.org – Cybersurf
26 January 2004
Hello, good morning and welcome to Cybersurf, a weekly review of what’s hot on the Internet. I am Steven Lang.
This weekend, eligible South African voters were invited to check the voters rolls, and make sure they were registered ahead of this year’s national elections. Polling stations were opened for the convenience of our citizens and the Independent Electoral Commission – or IEC - had a massive publicity campaign trying to get the millions, yes, literally millions, of still unregistered voters to participate in our democracy.
The easiest way to check if you are properly registered is online at the www.elections.org.za web site. I am pleased to say that the site fully lives up to expectations in terms of functionality, lay-out and useful content.
I decided to check my own registration yesterday morning, and believe me it was very easy – all I had to do was type in my ID number and within seconds – on screen, it confirmed my name and address as well as my ward number and the full address of the school where I am supposed to vote.
The verification process is clean and easy – unfortunately you cannot register online, nor will you be able to vote online – yet!
The site also has a very useful FAQ section, explaining many of the obscure electoral rules – such as: will you able to vote if you turn 18 on the day of the actual election?
However, one part of the FAQ contradicts the front page of the site which tells us that this past weekend was the last chance to register. The FAQ says that you can still register, or update your details at the Municipal Electoral Offices during office hours – and, I believe that you can register to vote until the voting rolls are closed. So, when is it really your absolute, final, last chance to update the voters roll? Well, the elections.org.za site says that the voters’ roll closes officially at five pm on the day that the President proclaims the election.
Even if you are sure about your registration, the elections.org.za site is well worth the visit if you have any interest in the upcoming elections. It has the list of registered parties, the complete results of the most recent elections; information on how you could go about registering your own party; all the legislation surrounding the election process and a vacancies section if you happen to be looking for a job at the IEC.
That wraps up our broadly positive review of the IEC site at elections.org.za – hope you are registered, but if you’re not, then rush along to your nearest municipal electoral office – the president is sure to announce an official election date soon.
With that public service message, I will take leave of you for this week – be sure to join me again next Monday for more Cybersurf.
26 January 2004
Hello, good morning and welcome to Cybersurf, a weekly review of what’s hot on the Internet. I am Steven Lang.
This weekend, eligible South African voters were invited to check the voters rolls, and make sure they were registered ahead of this year’s national elections. Polling stations were opened for the convenience of our citizens and the Independent Electoral Commission – or IEC - had a massive publicity campaign trying to get the millions, yes, literally millions, of still unregistered voters to participate in our democracy.
The easiest way to check if you are properly registered is online at the www.elections.org.za web site. I am pleased to say that the site fully lives up to expectations in terms of functionality, lay-out and useful content.
I decided to check my own registration yesterday morning, and believe me it was very easy – all I had to do was type in my ID number and within seconds – on screen, it confirmed my name and address as well as my ward number and the full address of the school where I am supposed to vote.
The verification process is clean and easy – unfortunately you cannot register online, nor will you be able to vote online – yet!
The site also has a very useful FAQ section, explaining many of the obscure electoral rules – such as: will you able to vote if you turn 18 on the day of the actual election?
However, one part of the FAQ contradicts the front page of the site which tells us that this past weekend was the last chance to register. The FAQ says that you can still register, or update your details at the Municipal Electoral Offices during office hours – and, I believe that you can register to vote until the voting rolls are closed. So, when is it really your absolute, final, last chance to update the voters roll? Well, the elections.org.za site says that the voters’ roll closes officially at five pm on the day that the President proclaims the election.
Even if you are sure about your registration, the elections.org.za site is well worth the visit if you have any interest in the upcoming elections. It has the list of registered parties, the complete results of the most recent elections; information on how you could go about registering your own party; all the legislation surrounding the election process and a vacancies section if you happen to be looking for a job at the IEC.
That wraps up our broadly positive review of the IEC site at elections.org.za – hope you are registered, but if you’re not, then rush along to your nearest municipal electoral office – the president is sure to announce an official election date soon.
With that public service message, I will take leave of you for this week – be sure to join me again next Monday for more Cybersurf.
4 January 2004
A special project team to coordinate the commemorations for the Ten Years of Freedom has been set up in the Presidency of South Africa. This team has the full support of Cabinet and is made up of senior officials from the Presidency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs and the Department of Arts and Culture. It is clearly a powerful body within government.
The Ten Years of Freedom refers to the ten years of democracy South Africa has experienced since the first full democratic elections were held in 1994. The culmination of a series of year-long celebrations is set for April 27, 2004 - the anniversary date of the historic election that put the African National Congress firmly in control of government.
On April 27, there will be a huge music concert at a stadium in the Pretoria area, and if an election date is announced early this year, it is conceivable that President Thabo Mbeki could be inaugurated for his second term of office as President of our young democracy.
The Project team is serious about promoting the Ten Years of Freedom to include members of all races and to use the celebrations as a unifying exercise in a country that is still deeply divided along racial lines. However, it has already picked up warning signs that the white population might not be willing to buy into the celebrations.
White South Africans did not turn out in large numbers for the December 16th, Reconciliation Day celebrations, and now there are fears that the Ten Years of Freedom Commemorations might be perceived as yet another "Black Party".
Black South Africans will see the absence of white people at the commemorations as further evidence that most whites still hanker after the privileges of the apartheid past. Blacks will believe that whites do not care about the long and bitter struggle for democracy.
The Ten Years of Freedom refers to the ten years of democracy South Africa has experienced since the first full democratic elections were held in 1994. The culmination of a series of year-long celebrations is set for April 27, 2004 - the anniversary date of the historic election that put the African National Congress firmly in control of government.
On April 27, there will be a huge music concert at a stadium in the Pretoria area, and if an election date is announced early this year, it is conceivable that President Thabo Mbeki could be inaugurated for his second term of office as President of our young democracy.
The Project team is serious about promoting the Ten Years of Freedom to include members of all races and to use the celebrations as a unifying exercise in a country that is still deeply divided along racial lines. However, it has already picked up warning signs that the white population might not be willing to buy into the celebrations.
White South Africans did not turn out in large numbers for the December 16th, Reconciliation Day celebrations, and now there are fears that the Ten Years of Freedom Commemorations might be perceived as yet another "Black Party".
Black South Africans will see the absence of white people at the commemorations as further evidence that most whites still hanker after the privileges of the apartheid past. Blacks will believe that whites do not care about the long and bitter struggle for democracy.
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