Team FredNet, the open source project to win the 20 million dollar Google X Prize, is a wonderful idea. If colonization of space is ever to get off the ground as anything other than a government or corporate experiment, private individuals must become involved in exploration. Team FredNet is making space exploration literally open to the masses. Anyone can now actually participate in the design of spacecraft, instead of just watching on the TV. Although this project will probably turn out to be somewhat pricey, with 6 to 10 million dollars just for the lift to Earth orbit, it is something finally within reach of a private, non-profit organization.
Team FredNet also clearly shows that the open source community can compete with major corporations on major physical projects, and not just information systems (as major as the Linux project is). This will open space travel to all kinds of unimaginable private pursuits, and provide competition to the military and industrial development of space. I can easily imagine a time in the not too distant future when the idea of Team FredNet has inspired the imagination of millions, and open source space exploration becomes the first public sector, open exploration project on the scale of the Apollo program.
Team FredNet is an inspiration for anyone who believes that space colonization is the destiny of a free humanity.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Blog 4, Linux kernal numbering
The Linux kernel is constantly in a state of development. Because of this there are many different versions of the Linux kernel in use today. If you are going to be working with Linux, or even discussing Linux with someone, it is very important to know which version of the Linux kernel you are working with. Additionally, knowing which version you are currently using allows you to determine if it is necessary to upgrade your kernel to a newer version.
There are 2 basic types of Linux kernels available: a production version, that is ready for general use, and an experimental version, which is still under development. If you are upgrading your personal Linux kernel, you would want the production version. For versions released prior to 2004, which version you are downloading could be determined by the second number in the kernels 4 number numbering scheme. If the second number (the number of the revision: the first number is the version) is even it is a production version. If it is odd it is an experimental version. For current versions of the Linux kernel 9version 2.6.0 or later) the letters "rc" are added after he numbers to indicate a version under development.
You can easily determine which kernel version is on your computer by using the uname command.
This numbering scheme does not seem to have any real disadvantages, as long as you are very careful not to mistakenly download a developing version of a kernel.
SOURCES:
http://www.linfo.org/kernel_version_numbering.html The Linux Information Project
http://www.lanana.org/docs/device-list/devices.txt
http://tldp.org/LDP/lame/LAME/linux-admin-made-easy/linux-kernel-upgrades.html Linux Administration Made Easy
http://www.lockergnome.com/linux/2002/04/09/kernel-numbering/ Linux Fanatics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel
There are 2 basic types of Linux kernels available: a production version, that is ready for general use, and an experimental version, which is still under development. If you are upgrading your personal Linux kernel, you would want the production version. For versions released prior to 2004, which version you are downloading could be determined by the second number in the kernels 4 number numbering scheme. If the second number (the number of the revision: the first number is the version) is even it is a production version. If it is odd it is an experimental version. For current versions of the Linux kernel 9version 2.6.0 or later) the letters "rc" are added after he numbers to indicate a version under development.
You can easily determine which kernel version is on your computer by using the uname command.
This numbering scheme does not seem to have any real disadvantages, as long as you are very careful not to mistakenly download a developing version of a kernel.
SOURCES:
http://www.linfo.org/kernel_version_numbering.html The Linux Information Project
http://www.lanana.org/docs/device-list/devices.txt
http://tldp.org/LDP/lame/LAME/linux-admin-made-easy/linux-kernel-upgrades.html Linux Administration Made Easy
http://www.lockergnome.com/linux/2002/04/09/kernel-numbering/ Linux Fanatics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel
Thursday, February 10, 2011
An explanation of The Cathedral vs. the Bazaar.
The following is an explanation of The Cathedral vs. the Bazaar.
The Cathedral vs. the Bazaar (or Cathedral and the Bazaar, abbreviated CatB), is an essay by Eric S. Raymond about methods of software engineering, based on his experiences developing the Linux kernel and managing the open source project, fetchmail. It contrasts the Cathedral and Bazaar models of software development.
The Cathedral method is where a small number of developers wok to develop a program in private. This process is not very efficient, however its advantage is that it allows a company to develop a product, market it, and make a profit, keeping their code proprietary. The profit motive encourages the development of limited use programs, which might otherwise never get written.
The Bazaar model is where a large number of programmers work together, publicly, to develop programs solely out of their own interest in doing so. The only way to do this is to use open source freeware. All of the programming is by necessity available to anyone, and none can be proprietary. The essay's argument is that "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow" (Linus's Law). This simply means that the more programmers working on developing a certain program, the more efficient will be the development of the program.
One of the side effects of the Bazaar model is that it will almost certainly eliminate many private companies from the field, with the resulting economic effects. As Microsoft's "Halloween Document" illustrates, even the industry giant is worried about this. It will also greatly expand the library of free software, and make it impossibly for companies to charge excessive prices, or use monopolistic practices, for their software.
According to Eric Raymond there are 19 guidelines for creating open source software:
(Quoted from Eric S. Raymond (1999). The Cathedral & the Bazaar. O'Reilly. ISBN 1-56592-724-9. http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/: )
1. Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer's personal itch.
2. Good programmers know what to write. Great ones know what to rewrite (and reuse).
3. Plan to throw one away; you will, anyhow.
4. If you have the right attitude, interesting problems will find you.
5. When you lose interest in a program, your last duty to it is to hand it off to a competent successor.
6. Treating your users as co-developers is your least-hassle route to rapid code improvement and effective debugging.
7. Release early. Release often. And listen to your customers.
8. Given a large enough beta-tester and co-developer base, almost every problem will be characterized quickly and the fix obvious to someone.
9. Smart data structures and dumb code works a lot better than the other way around.
10. If you treat your beta-testers as if they're your most valuable resource, they will respond by becoming your most valuable resource.
11. The next best thing to having good ideas is recognizing good ideas from your users. Sometimes the latter is better.
12. Often, the most striking and innovative solutions come from realizing that your concept of the problem was wrong.
13. Perfection (in design) is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away.
14. Any tool should be useful in the expected way, but a truly great tool lends itself to uses you never expected.
15. When writing gateway software of any kind, take pains to disturb the data stream as little as possible—and never throw away information unless the recipient forces you to!
16. When your language is nowhere near Turing-complete, syntactic sugar can be your friend.
17. A security system is only as secure as its secret. Beware of pseudo-secrets.
18. To solve an interesting problem, start by finding a problem that is interesting to you.
19. Provided the development coordinator has a communications medium at least as good as the Internet, and knows how to lead without coercion, many heads are inevitably better than one.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_Documents
The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary (O'Reilly Linux) (Hardcover) by Donald Mitchell
http://www.ite.poly.edu/chapel_printable.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar
Eric S. Raymond (1999). The Cathedral & the Bazaar. O'Reilly. ISBN 1-56592-724-9. http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/
The Cathedral vs. the Bazaar (or Cathedral and the Bazaar, abbreviated CatB), is an essay by Eric S. Raymond about methods of software engineering, based on his experiences developing the Linux kernel and managing the open source project, fetchmail. It contrasts the Cathedral and Bazaar models of software development.
The Cathedral method is where a small number of developers wok to develop a program in private. This process is not very efficient, however its advantage is that it allows a company to develop a product, market it, and make a profit, keeping their code proprietary. The profit motive encourages the development of limited use programs, which might otherwise never get written.
The Bazaar model is where a large number of programmers work together, publicly, to develop programs solely out of their own interest in doing so. The only way to do this is to use open source freeware. All of the programming is by necessity available to anyone, and none can be proprietary. The essay's argument is that "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow" (Linus's Law). This simply means that the more programmers working on developing a certain program, the more efficient will be the development of the program.
One of the side effects of the Bazaar model is that it will almost certainly eliminate many private companies from the field, with the resulting economic effects. As Microsoft's "Halloween Document" illustrates, even the industry giant is worried about this. It will also greatly expand the library of free software, and make it impossibly for companies to charge excessive prices, or use monopolistic practices, for their software.
According to Eric Raymond there are 19 guidelines for creating open source software:
(Quoted from Eric S. Raymond (1999). The Cathedral & the Bazaar. O'Reilly. ISBN 1-56592-724-9. http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/: )
1. Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer's personal itch.
2. Good programmers know what to write. Great ones know what to rewrite (and reuse).
3. Plan to throw one away; you will, anyhow.
4. If you have the right attitude, interesting problems will find you.
5. When you lose interest in a program, your last duty to it is to hand it off to a competent successor.
6. Treating your users as co-developers is your least-hassle route to rapid code improvement and effective debugging.
7. Release early. Release often. And listen to your customers.
8. Given a large enough beta-tester and co-developer base, almost every problem will be characterized quickly and the fix obvious to someone.
9. Smart data structures and dumb code works a lot better than the other way around.
10. If you treat your beta-testers as if they're your most valuable resource, they will respond by becoming your most valuable resource.
11. The next best thing to having good ideas is recognizing good ideas from your users. Sometimes the latter is better.
12. Often, the most striking and innovative solutions come from realizing that your concept of the problem was wrong.
13. Perfection (in design) is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away.
14. Any tool should be useful in the expected way, but a truly great tool lends itself to uses you never expected.
15. When writing gateway software of any kind, take pains to disturb the data stream as little as possible—and never throw away information unless the recipient forces you to!
16. When your language is nowhere near Turing-complete, syntactic sugar can be your friend.
17. A security system is only as secure as its secret. Beware of pseudo-secrets.
18. To solve an interesting problem, start by finding a problem that is interesting to you.
19. Provided the development coordinator has a communications medium at least as good as the Internet, and knows how to lead without coercion, many heads are inevitably better than one.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_Documents
The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary (O'Reilly Linux) (Hardcover) by Donald Mitchell
http://www.ite.poly.edu/chapel_printable.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar
Eric S. Raymond (1999). The Cathedral & the Bazaar. O'Reilly. ISBN 1-56592-724-9. http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/
Friday, February 4, 2011
CIT 128, Blog # 2, This is a short description of the Linux kernel.
This is a short description of the Linux kernel.
The Linux kernel is the core of the Linux operating system. It is an enormous mass of software (over 6,000,000 lines of code), that allows different applications to be run at the same time, on the same computer. Although the Linux kernel can be considered one large system, and does occupy a single address space on the hard drive, in reality it is made up of many subsystems that manage different processes, such as memory management, communication management or device drivers. Before the development of the Linux kernel (or similar operating systems) it was necessary for programmers to develop only in the particular machines language, with only one user or application being run at a time. This was particularly cumbersome, difficult and inefficient.
The Linux kernel is the core of the Linux operating system. It is an enormous mass of software (over 6,000,000 lines of code), that allows different applications to be run at the same time, on the same computer. Although the Linux kernel can be considered one large system, and does occupy a single address space on the hard drive, in reality it is made up of many subsystems that manage different processes, such as memory management, communication management or device drivers. Before the development of the Linux kernel (or similar operating systems) it was necessary for programmers to develop only in the particular machines language, with only one user or application being run at a time. This was particularly cumbersome, difficult and inefficient.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Cit 114 Blog #1
Hi Kathy,
This is Curtis Klein. I am using the same blog I used for the last class I took with you. I hope this is OK. I look forward to studying with you again. Below are 7 things you do not need to know about me.
1. I am rapidly going bald.
2. I am a Real Estate Broker.
3. I greatly prefer warm weather to cold weather.
4. I have worked in Thailand, I India, and Honduras.
5. I do not like peas.
6. I am a very good cook.
7. I like hiking, but not driving.
This is Curtis Klein. I am using the same blog I used for the last class I took with you. I hope this is OK. I look forward to studying with you again. Below are 7 things you do not need to know about me.
1. I am rapidly going bald.
2. I am a Real Estate Broker.
3. I greatly prefer warm weather to cold weather.
4. I have worked in Thailand, I India, and Honduras.
5. I do not like peas.
6. I am a very good cook.
7. I like hiking, but not driving.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Blog 14
Blog 14
Your mother has written you an email wondering about viruses. Search the Internet to find a "new" virus you wish to warn her about. Tell her about the virus, what is does, and more importantly, how to remove it. Don't use technical terms, she won't understand it. Tell her what to watch out for in general and how to prevent getting any type of virus.
Hi Mom;
Ther is an update to a “Conficker”, a virus that first appeared in November 2008. Conficker, also known as Kido, Downadup, Downadup, and Downup, has gotten its latest upgrade in April 2009, to make it much more dangerous. Conficker works by infecting websites, and then passing itself on to computers when they connect to the website. The new version checks out 5000 website addresses at a time, instead of the 500 that the old version did. This greatly increases the chance of finding a website that is not as fully protected as it should be. Microsoft has designed a fix for the problem in its Windows programming, but it has to be used by the web hosts, and with this many targeted it is likely some will not get the upgrade. McAfee (the anti-virus company) has also released a fix for this virus for home computers, so make sure to keep your virus protection up to date!
Conficker will cause Windows to continually restart, lose internet connections, and drop your toolbar.
With more than 7,000,000 computers now infected, Microsoft is offering $250,000 for information leading to the arrest and convictions of the people who wrote or use Conficker. It is believed that the origin of Conficker is probably the Ukraine.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conficker
www.microsoft.com/security/worms/conficker.aspx
www.symantec.com
vil.nai.com/vil/content/v
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200911/3157/Conficker-Worm-fighting-back-a-new-variant-discovered-disables-security-measures
Your mother has written you an email wondering about viruses. Search the Internet to find a "new" virus you wish to warn her about. Tell her about the virus, what is does, and more importantly, how to remove it. Don't use technical terms, she won't understand it. Tell her what to watch out for in general and how to prevent getting any type of virus.
Hi Mom;
Ther is an update to a “Conficker”, a virus that first appeared in November 2008. Conficker, also known as Kido, Downadup, Downadup, and Downup, has gotten its latest upgrade in April 2009, to make it much more dangerous. Conficker works by infecting websites, and then passing itself on to computers when they connect to the website. The new version checks out 5000 website addresses at a time, instead of the 500 that the old version did. This greatly increases the chance of finding a website that is not as fully protected as it should be. Microsoft has designed a fix for the problem in its Windows programming, but it has to be used by the web hosts, and with this many targeted it is likely some will not get the upgrade. McAfee (the anti-virus company) has also released a fix for this virus for home computers, so make sure to keep your virus protection up to date!
Conficker will cause Windows to continually restart, lose internet connections, and drop your toolbar.
With more than 7,000,000 computers now infected, Microsoft is offering $250,000 for information leading to the arrest and convictions of the people who wrote or use Conficker. It is believed that the origin of Conficker is probably the Ukraine.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conficker
www.microsoft.com/security/worms/conficker.aspx
www.symantec.com
vil.nai.com/vil/content/v
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200911/3157/Conficker-Worm-fighting-back-a-new-variant-discovered-disables-security-measures
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Blog 13, Curtis Klein
Pick a legislator, a govenor, a vice president, a senator,a president, or someone in power and tell me where they stand on technology.
Harry Reid does not seem to be extremely technology oriented, although he does claim to be. I say this because there is not much he actually does with it. He is a member of the Congressional Internet Caucus, which is a group of 150 Congress people and Senators trying to educate each other about using the internet, and promoting growth and use of the internet.(1) He was also instrumental in getting 122 acres of land for UNLV to be used for their Harry Reid Research and Technology Park.(2) UNLV has a research center on the park to support technological and economic growth.
Senator Reid recently said that with its climate “Nevada is poised to be a leader in the clean energy revolution.”(3)
In what is probably Harry Reid’s strongest stance on any technology issue, he came out very adamantly in favor of stem cell research. The following is a direct quote from Harry Reid’s website (or at least what appears to genuinely be his website.
“Democrats will not give up the fight for stem cell research. It is a fight America must win. We're going to press Republicans to override this veto--just as we pressed to get it to the Senate floor and just as we pressed to get this bill passed.
This should have been a day of hope for millions of Americans. Democrats listened to the American people, and through our persistence overcame Republican delays to pass critical stem cell legislation.”(4)
Personal note: Although I tried to keep this essay as non-political as possible, it is impossible to write about any political figure without reflecting their views
References:
(1)http://www.harryreid.com/page/community/post_group/VIPs/Vjxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Harry_Reid
(2) http://www.unlvresearchpark.com/park-
(3) history.htmlhttp://www.ontheissues.org/Background_Technology.htm
(4) http://www.ontheissues.org/Economic/Harry_Reid_Technology.htm
Harry Reid does not seem to be extremely technology oriented, although he does claim to be. I say this because there is not much he actually does with it. He is a member of the Congressional Internet Caucus, which is a group of 150 Congress people and Senators trying to educate each other about using the internet, and promoting growth and use of the internet.(1) He was also instrumental in getting 122 acres of land for UNLV to be used for their Harry Reid Research and Technology Park.(2) UNLV has a research center on the park to support technological and economic growth.
Senator Reid recently said that with its climate “Nevada is poised to be a leader in the clean energy revolution.”(3)
In what is probably Harry Reid’s strongest stance on any technology issue, he came out very adamantly in favor of stem cell research. The following is a direct quote from Harry Reid’s website (or at least what appears to genuinely be his website.
“Democrats will not give up the fight for stem cell research. It is a fight America must win. We're going to press Republicans to override this veto--just as we pressed to get it to the Senate floor and just as we pressed to get this bill passed.
This should have been a day of hope for millions of Americans. Democrats listened to the American people, and through our persistence overcame Republican delays to pass critical stem cell legislation.”(4)
Personal note: Although I tried to keep this essay as non-political as possible, it is impossible to write about any political figure without reflecting their views
References:
(1)http://www.harryreid.com/page/community/post_group/VIPs/Vjxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Harry_Reid
(2) http://www.unlvresearchpark.com/park-
(3) history.htmlhttp://www.ontheissues.org/Background_Technology.htm
(4) http://www.ontheissues.org/Economic/Harry_Reid_Technology.htm
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