Duncan Mac-Vicar P.

I don’t like to read about Mid East politics in planetsuse, as I don’t like to everyday be informed about private life of developers. Some times there are exceptions it is ok to see a vacation photo or some mumbling and ranting. It is even desirable. I respect other’s people blogging style so I just filter by topic and I just hope others do the same. I confess sometime I skip the filter because some planets give you some audience. So tagging for planetsuse or planetkde, etc is a good way when I want to create polemic with some post/rant.

Miguel is one of our bloggers who keep planetsuse updated with a weekly politics analysis of this chaotic world. His last post caught my attention, as it is an opinion related to Chile:

The same folks that were calling for “Iraqi Liberation” from Saddam are now pitching the need for a strong man. They never made any sense, but they are now venturing into new delusional grounds when they suggest that Augusto Pinochet is a good model to follow.

Of course, this particular columnist has always shown the intellectual prodigy of a clam, the wit and finese of a dumb rock.

His claim: Pinochet’s abuses “helped create a civil society”. Well, you can not get any dumber than that. All he knows about Chile he probably learned this week.

The journalist makes a big mistake when saying “the abuses created”, the abuses created nothing more than fear and deaths.

However, the topic is much more complex that that, and the world shows lot of arrogance when talking about the topic. This arrogance created a partial justice, which resulted in the military dictatorship being pure evil and the anti-democratic government of Allende in a process of international canonization. This attempt to make justice in just one side is what resulted in no justice at all, and still creates division and hate in the Chilean society.

So, it can get dumber than that. No big difference in an american conservative who learned about Chile this week, and any other auto proclaimed Chilean history expert.

Otra brillante entrevista a Felipe Lamarca. Él ya había escrito una columna hace algún tiempo, que le costó bastante cara entre sus pares.

En el otro extremo, grupos simpatizantes de los mapuches prisioneros por actos terroristas, han recurrido al método favorito de los regímenes totalitarios, la quema de libros. Lamentablemente, los grupos asociados a esta causa han sido siempre grupos ligados a la izquierda no democrática, por lo que no es mucha sorpresa que utilicen estos métodos.

Hace poco, como parte del plan bicentenario, Microsoft lanzó en cooperación con el estado chileno un language pack (set de idiomas) para hacer funcionar Windows en mapuzungun, el idioma mapuche.

Pueden leer el anuncio aquí, cito parte del texto:

Con el objetivo de dar un nuevo impulso a la educación intercultural bilingüe y aportar a la inclusión digital del pueblo mapuche, Microsoft entregará al Ministerio de Educación de Chile el software Windows XP en lenguaje mapuzugun para que el organismo gubernamental sea el encargado de la difusión de esta herramienta que pretende conservar la lengua de los mapuches.

Esperaba muy buenas reacciones. Sin embargo hoy en CNN aparece una noticia de cómo Microsoft esta envuelta en problemas legales por el “pueblo mapuche” (léase Huilcamán y cia), que están molestos porque no fueron consultados, y se están violando sus derechos intelectuales de “conocimientos ancestrales”.

Pense que era una broma. Pero le enviaron una carta a Bill Gates (? por que no a Ballmer), y pusieron un recurso de protección en la corte de Temuco, la cual se declaró incompetente. Otros medios de fuerte tendencia política tienen artículos al respecto.

Microsoft no necesitaba hacer esto. Microsoft no tiene como lucrar con un idioma que seguramente producir la traducción es mas caro que la cantidad de copias que el gobierno seguramente pagó por ello. Esto es un programa de integración y preservación de una lengua, que beneficiará a muchos niños que tienen acceso a un PC en las aulas.

En lo personal hubiese preferido que la traducción se hubiese hecho sobre software libre, pero ese es otro tema, y es complementario, no excluyente.

Los que luchan en la sociedad por un conocimiento abierto, sin barreras, se darán cuenta que si los ingleses nos pusieran trabas legales cada vez que tradujésemos un producto nacional al inglés. Lo mismo podrían hacer los españoles con todos nuestros productos. Que poco romántico es ponerle “copyright” a un idioma. Que feo suena restringir a alguien a usar una lengua. Es restringir la comunicación y el acceso a la cultura.

Donde está el problema?, representación. El Sr. Huilcamán está (para variar) hablando en el nombre de un pueblo y definiendo su futuro, sin la más minima responsabilidad. Líderes que piden la igualdad, poniendo recursos por propiedad intelectual?

Preservar la cultura no significa guardarla dentro de un frasco y protegerla, como intentan estos mal llamados representantes. Preservar la cultura significa regalarla a todos, dar libre acceso a ella y eso es justamente a lo que apuestan estas sorprendentes iniciativas, opacadas por personas poco serias.

Iniciativas como esta, más el software libre (que es el software más traducido a otras lenguas, y de libre acceso), Wikipedia (enciclopedia abierta y colaborativa), Creative commons (para licenciar contenidos digitales con más libertad) blogs y medios ciudadanos son los que aportan al libre conocimiento y una democracia más transparente, donde la información fluye sin barreras.

Creo que todos quienes apoyan la verdadera causa mapuche. La de preservar su cultura, integrarse al trabajo digno, a la educación y de llevar su cultura al mundo, deben expresar el más fuerte rechazo a estos pseudolíderes inconsecuentes que confunden el ser chileno y ser mapuches como términos que a veces son sinónimos y a veces son excluyentes.

A veces cuesta tomarlos en serio.

19 days after the Novell-Microsoft agreement was announced and the media is still very active.

It is interesting to see, that most of the noise comes from outside the openSUSE community. There were some noise and activity in the mailing lists for a while, but most of it it still cames from outside communities, zealot clubs, or people with just too much time. Most of the people haven’t yet read [all the information] available. It is easy to tell, as you still find wrong facts like Microsoft not being able to sue Novell, and Novell being able to use Microsoft patents (or even code!) in its products.

Today, Novell had to react, because, as expected by some people, Steve Ballmer started to confuse the people. First he invited other Linux vendors to do similar deals and focusing the agreement only in the patent covenants, when Novell’s contract has exclusivity for some years, and the agreement is not only about customer protection but lot about interoperability cooperation. The problem is, Ballmer is not afraid of contradictions and he does strange things (already used to) like inviting Linux vendors when he actually can’t, but his objective is not to inform but to create a sensation of insecurity. But those are the rules of playing with Microsoft: here is Novell answer.

Some quotes:

Since our announcement, some parties have spoken about this patent agreement in a damaging way, and with a perspective that we do not share. We strongly challenge those statements here.

We disagree with the recent statements made by Microsoft on the topic of Linux and patents. Importantly, our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property. When we entered the patent cooperation agreement with Microsoft, Novell did not agree or admit that Linux or any other Novell offering violates Microsoft patents.

Our stance on software patents is unchanged by the agreement with Microsoft. We want to remind the community of Novell’s commitment to, and prior actions in support of, furthering the interests of Linux and open source, and creating an environment of free and open innovation. We have a strong patent portfolio and we have leveraged that portfolio for the benefit of the open source community. Specifically, we have taken the following actions:

• We have stated our commitment to use our own software patents to protect open source technologies. more +
• We have spoken out against EU legislation that would liberalize the standards for granting software patents. more +
• We offer indemnification to our Linux customers accused of intellectual property infringement. more +
• We have teamed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and other industry leaders to reduce the issuance of “bad patents” in the software area. more +
• In 2005, we co-founded Open Invention Network (“OIN”), “an intellectual property company that was formed to promote Linux by using patents to create a collaborative environment.” Novell’s substantial contributions to OIN were made to benefit not only ourselves, but also other Linux vendors, distributors and developers, and anyone else willing to commit not to assert their patents against Linux. more +

I hope the valuable people stays next to Novell helping it to satisfy customers needs while still having the community support. Don’t forget Novell is a GPL software author, contributor, distributor and packager, so the strategy always be to work upstream with the community. Boycott anonymous cowards and people lying without references or spreading false information, they aren’t doing any different than Mr. Ballmer. You are welcome to disagree with Novell actions, even fight them. There is research being done in respect with GPLv2 and GPLv3 compliance, based on discussions and interaction. But please don’t join the zealot clubs which just move information from blogs to media and start all kind of rumors.

Free speech also means responsibility.

Recently in some blog someone recommended to watch Press for truth.

Today I saw it, and I muss say that it is a really good documentary. Give a look to the timeline which is hosted in the cooperative research framework. The idea is interesting as it can be used by different groups in the society to do research the burochratic system can’t, either for capacity or political reasons (like the 9/11 ) case.

Trailer:

The whole video is also in google video.

Yesterday we enjoyed a nice party at Will’s place. I was definitely defeated on Karaoke by Lisann.

spca5xx webcam drivers package builds again for all SUSE versions, including factory.

Today I found about eCryptfs:

eCryptfs (SourceForge page) is a POSIX-compliant enterprise-class stacked cryptographic filesystem for Linux. It is derived from Erez Zadok’s Cryptfs, implemented through the FiST framework for generating stacked filesystems. eCryptfs extends Cryptfs to provide advanced key management and policy features. eCryptfs stores cryptographic metadata in the header of each file written, so that encrypted files can be copied between hosts; the file will be decryptable with the proper key, and there is no need to keep track of any additional information aside from what is already in the encrypted file itself. Think of eCryptfs as a sort of “gnupgfs.”

I haven’t tried packaging it yet. But could be a nice addition to the security:privacy repository in the build service. Also you may want to give a look to TPM keyrings.

from itmanagers journal…

So let’s try a online music store…

Today, I visited the Yahoo Music Store. Found some artists I like (I already have the album but I was just trying it..) I clicked buy, and… oh, I can’t see what the popup says because it is displayed behind the advertisement. Ok, I can’t buy music here. Close the window.

I have been searching for long time a nice way to buy legal music, because I just don’t buy CDs anymore. The online stores I have found:

• Are from russia, and other countries claim music bought there is ilegal.
• You get files with DRM, so when you want to move your files, backup them, carry them on a device, etc, you can’t.
• You get files in proprietary formats.
• The store decides which player you use.
• Stores without DRM (usually mp3 format) lack content, because music labels won’t work with them.

Any Linux user has tried emusic.com ? Any experiences? Which other systems do exists? independant music?

I support of copyright. I do think people should pay for the media they want to see. But I do think the topic is manipulated:

• FUD against peer to peer technologies, by the recording industry, whose managers has been sleeping in terms of innovation and did not see the digital age coming.
• RIAA using every trick that the law allows to spread fear, at the expenses of, sometimes, innocent people.
• FUD against encryption
• DRM, technology that tries to control what you can play or not. As every technology has problems, sometimes you will find yourself not being able to play stuff you own.
• Artists still the forgotten part of the story.

Conclusion, today, the whole system sucks.

To educate yourself about the topic, some interesting readings:

• Electronic Frontier Foundation DRM Guide

Napster 2.0 and many services like it provide celestial music jukeboxes, but you’d better bring a sack of quarters. Using DRM, they charge extra for many traditionally free uses of your music.

For a monthly subscription fee, the Napster Unlimited music rental service offers you the ability to stream and download as much as you like from its entire catalog. If you miss a monthly payment, the DRM renders the downloaded music unplayable.

Even while your subscription lasts, however, the DRM ensures that you don’t get to use the music “any way you want.” Want to move your music to a portable player? That’ll be an extra five bucks per month for Napster To Go — and you’ll still only be able to play it using software or devices licensed to play WMA-protected subscription content, which excludes the iPod and most other portable players. How about burning a song to CD? Napster’s DRM requires you to cough up 99 cents more. What if you want to copy music to more than three computers? Pay another monthly subscription fee, or 99 cents per song. And what if you want to mix a song snippet with a home movie? Forget it—the DRM forbids that entirely.

• DRM free music stores

Other stuff…

• Snakebite - A BitTorrent Server

It’s easy to download files with BitTorrent, but sharing your files over BitTorrent is somewhat complicated. You have to generate torrents for each file you want to share, run a tracker, and run a seeder. Most people don’t even know what any of that means. It’s much more complicated to share files using BitTorrent than with a webserver. To put your files on the web, you just drop them in the correct folder and then webserver does the rest.

• Steal this Film

“Steal This Film is the first part of a free documentary series about file-sharing. This part focuses on The Pirate Bay, and copyfighters Piratbyran. From their website: “There have been a few documentaries by ‘old media’ crews who don’t understand the net and see peer-to-peer organisation as a threat to their livelihoods. They have no reason to represent the filesharing movement positively. And no capacity to represent it lucidly.”"The film is free for you to share, watch on your DVD-player or on your iPod, or show in cinemas.” Torrents are available on their website, or watch part one, two, three and four on YouTube.”

Torrent here

Horacio just sent me the link to Allpeers, a nice Firefox Extension that promisses no more attachements in emails, and allow to share files with the people you want in a easy way and using efficient P2P technology.

I went to the website to get more details. So here we go:

Spyware, according to FAQ:

AllPeers does not and will not contain these software pests. There are no Adware, Spyware or any other nastyware in AllPeers.

Now, the privacy page says the typical blah blah:

When you register to use AllPeers, we collect the following information from you, and you need to give it to us in order to use our service: (i) username, (ii) password and (iii) email address. We do not look at the content of any message or files you share through our service. However, we sometimes collect anonymous information about your use of AllPeers. We need this information in order to operate AllPeers, but we do not share it with anyone. If we ever did contemplate sharing it, we would ask your permission first. We will use your information to authenticate your use of the service. Occasionally, we may use your email address to send you notices directly regarding AllPeers.

So, I was a bit exceptic. What do they collect? Even if they promisse to not share such information. There are goverments forcing to log such data in order to get it later with any excuse. Sounds crazy, but, bad people use anonymous systems for bad things. But bad goverments use people’s information also for bad things.

Then I saw:

AllPeers is a privately held European company with offices in Oxford, United Kingdom and Prague, Czech Republic.

The company being outside the US. is great news. That is the main problem of Google, no matter how hard the try to not be evil, they are a threat, being such society database in a country which goverment is every day more hungry for such data (yeah they even want MySpace data). Now, the UK s not doing really well in this topic.

What do you think about Allpeers? Oh, it runs on Linux too. How will it compete with built in instant messaging file transfer?

Sometime ago I blogged about Tor, a connection-based low-latency anonymous communication system, and some nice utilities to control it. Since that that I am maintaining some packages in the security:privacy repository in the OpenSUSE build service.

Today updated Tor to the lastest version. The KDE front-end TorK is also there. Surfing, I found the Vidalia Project, which provides a cross-platform frontend based on Qt 4.1. I packaged it and added it to the repository, although it is not built yet as either there are some missing packages in the base repository or I did some dumb mistake.

Also, surfing I found this funny post, where Guy Kewney, from Newswireless.net sends an “open invoice” to Bill Gates, complaining how Windows Update screwed up his system. Probably Mr. Kewney did not read the EULA of the software he bought.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND REMEDIES. Notwithstanding any damages that you might incur for any reason whatsoever (including, without limitation, all damages referenced above and all direct or general damages), the entire liability of Microsoft and any of its suppliers under any provision of this EULA and your exclusive remedy for all of the foregoing (except for any remedy of repair or replacement elected by Microsoft with respect to any breach of the Limited Warranty) shall be limited to the greater of the amount actually paid by you for the Product or U.S.$5.00. The foregoing limitations, exclusions, and disclaimers (including Sections 9 and 10 above and as stated in the Limited Warranty) shall apply to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, even if any remedy fails its essential purpose.

Proprietary and expensive software does not give you any additional warranty, Mr. Kewney. Actually this myth was used years ago to spread FUD against opensource: “opensource software” does not give you any warranty. Sorry, proprietary does not. So enjoy learning the available opensource software while Bill Gates uses your invoice as a prop for his desk. You will get as maximum what you paid for the software, or U.S.$5.00., even if you get the second should be enough to get a Linux DVD from the net.

In other news, Department of Defense study urges open source adoption.