[Nottingham] [Talk] *Tomorrow* 7:30pm 17/05/2018: Software Freedom, Money, and Proprietary, and What Next!

[Martin]

Folks,

Just for fun ( :-P ) for our talk/discussion, we enjoy a real
roller-coaster ride to whiz through the fun of how we got to the modern
day computing we know today, revelling in the antics of the various Big
Boys! We also have the elephant of Social Media, The 'Cloud', and
'others'. And there is also FLOSS...


Over beer, we share some ideas of:

*What Next* ?!

We have a fantastic history here, but where is it going?



All welcome at our favoured venue of:


7:30pm Thursday 17/05/2018
==========================

    *Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem*

    1 Brewhouse Yard
    Nottingham, NG1 6AD

    Phone:
    0115 9473171


We have the ground floor (apt-ly haunted :-) ) snug room.

Just ask the friendly bar staff for Linux or follow the Penguins!


Some of us will be there earlier for some of their fine food and warmth.


All welcome!

See ya there,
Martin



For just some of the rich history of FLOSS[*] and including some of the
inevitable rivalry:


* FLOSS: Free/Libre Open Source Software
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software#FLOSS


Free software means the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute,
study, change and improve the software.
http://www.gnu.org/


"GNU, which stands for Gnu's Not Unix, is the name for the complete
Unix-compatible software system which I am writing so that I can give it
away free to everyone who can use it."

-- Richard Stallman


"If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won."

-- Linus Torvalds



1984:
A gifted developer and prickly, uncompromising individual, Stallman quit
his job at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab in 1984 to found what he
considered to be a social movement guided by ethical principles. He set
forth those goals in the GNU Manifesto...



1991:
What would you like to see most in minix?
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/comp.os.minix/dlNtH7RRrGA/SwRavCzVE7gJ
"... I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and
professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones.  This has been brewing
since april, and is starting to get ready..."



1991:
Stallman and his collaborators had conjured an entire free operating
system: GNU/Linux

See:

The history of Linux: how time has shaped the penguin
https://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/the-history-of-linux-how-time-has-shaped-the-penguin-1113914



2001:
Ballmer: “Linux is a cancer”
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/02/ballmer_linux_is_a_cancer/



MS Linux: Shipping in November 2003
http://mslinux.org/



2007:
Microsoft takes on the free world - Microsoft claims that free software
like Linux, which runs a big chunk of corporate America, violates 235 of
its patents. It wants royalties from distributors and users. Users like
you...
http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm

"... The conflict pits Microsoft and its dogged CEO, Steve Ballmer,
against the "free world" - people who believe software is pure
knowledge. The leader of that faction is Richard Matthew Stallman, a
computer visionary with the look and the intransigence of an Old
Testament prophet..."



2008:
Meet Bill Gates, the Man Who Changed Open Source Software
https://www.wired.com/2012/01/meet-bill-gates/

"... At the invitation of the company's chief legal minds – Smith and
Gutierrez – Ramji sat down with Gates, chief software architect Ray
Ozzie, and a few others to discuss whether Microsoft could actually
start using open source software. Ramji and Ozzie were on one side of
the argument, insisting that Microsoft embrace open source, and
Gutierrez offered a legal framework that could make that possible. But
other top executives strongly challenged the idea.

Then Bill Gates stood up.

He walked to the whiteboard and drew a diagram of how the system could
work, from copyrights to code contribution to patents, and he said – in
no uncertain terms – that the company had to make the move..."



2013:
Linus Torvalds: I will not change Linux to “deep-throat Microsoft”
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/02/linus-torvalds-i-will-not-change-linux-to-deep-throat-microsoft/



2013:
The father of Linux, Linus Torvalds, once said, 'If Microsoft ever does
applications for Linux it means I've won.' Microsoft yesterday released
one of its cash cows, Microsoft Office, for Android. Since Microsoft has
a very vague idea of what users want and is suffering from lock-in, the
app is just an Android front end of Office 365 and is accessible only by
the paid users...
https://linux.slashdot.org/story/13/08/01/1413252/with-microsoft-office-on-android-has-linus-torvalds-won



2015:
Microsoft Loves Linux
https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/windowsserver/2015/05/06/microsoft-loves-linux/

"... Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella put up a slide proclaiming “Microsoft ♥
Linux”.  Wow!  What a great slide and what a change for Microsoft!..."



2015:
Microsoft has developed its own Linux. Repeat. Microsoft has developed
its own Linux - Redmond reveals Azure Cloud Switch, its in-house
software-defined networking OS
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/18/microsoft_has_developed_its_own_linux_repeat_microsoft_has_developed_its_own_linux/

Microsoft Built Its Own Linux Because Everyone Else Did
https://www.wired.com/2015/09/microsoft-built-linux-everyone-else/



2016:
Microsoft embraces Linux -- way too late
https://www.infoworld.com/article/3050845/microsoft-windows/microsoft-embraces-linux-way-too-late.html

"... we found out Microsoft was offering SQL Server running on Linux.
Then at Build last week, Microsoft introduced “native Ubuntu Linux
binaries running on Windows” and treated us to a demo of Bash on
Windows 10.

The fact that Microsoft now supports SQL Server on Linux isn’t really a
technical development -- it’s a business move..."



2016:
Yes, that's Linus Torvalds happily chatting with Microsoft folks at a
tech conference
http://uk.businessinsider.com/linus-torvalds-happily-chatting-with-microsoft-2016-8?r=US&IR=T


Enjoy! :-)