As promised by my previous post, here is the basic exchange guide for proprietary software credits.

Each OS manufacturer is assigned a base value, to that we add the proprietary footprint of the OS they provide.
Notes on some OS's are provided. If the OS was particularly difficult on the user, then the overall cost is higher.

If the manufacturer has spread FUD about Open Source, they are taxed additionaly. Apple you will notice has a higher
than average credit price because they fall in the "wolf in sheeps clothing" arena. They create a product "based" on
open source but are not open source. They are a factory churning out smugness with every shiny powerMac and sleek iMac
like corn through a goose. Microsoft, also deserves additional taxation due to the FUD, and for churning out the
"blue screen of death" at an unprecedented rate.

This is just the OS credit exchange, there are some software packages that need to be added as time permits.
Microsoft Office springs to mind. There should be some special level of credit hell for anyone who has ever used
excel as a programming environment rather than a spreadsheet application.. I will have to work on how that will be handled.

These cost are per system. So if you have multiple computers, you need to add up all the values. If you are a corporation
looking to offset your proprietary footprint then bulk rates may apply. Just drop me a line and I will work it out with you.

If you find any holes, or additional software that should be placed on the list, or have a discrepancy with any of the cost
let me know. Any additional comments to the list are welcome.

————–Exchange Guide—————-

Acorn $2.00
Arthur $5.00
ARX $5.00
MOS $5.00
RISC OS $5.00
RISC iX $5.00

Amiga $2.00
AmigaOS $5.00         *smugness up charge. There are still people using this thing!! And still harping about it.
Amiga Unix $5.00      *See above.

Apollo $2.00
AEGIS/Domain/OS $5.00

Apple $5.00                         * Black turtleneck up charge.
Apple DOS $6.00
ProDOS $6.00
GS/OS $6.00
SOS $6.00
Lisa OS $6.00                     * 10 grand for this chunk of crap! cmon' Ray.
Mac OS System Software 1 $6.00
Mac OS System Software 2 $6.00
Mac OS System Software 3 $6.00
Mac OS System Software 4 $6.00
Mac OS System Software 5 $6.00
Mac OS System Software 6 $6.00
Mac OS System 7 $6.00
Mac OS 8 $6.00
Mac OS 9 $6.00
A/UX $6.00                                  * was this really Unix? I think not! cha-ching!
Mac OS X v10.0 $6.00
Mac OS X v10.1 $6.00
Mac OS X v10.2 $6.00
Mac OS X v10.3 $6.00
Mac OS X v10.4 $7.00
Mac OS X v10.5 $8.00                 * leoptard charge. Extra cost of driving your Prius down to the Apple store to stand in line with other MacTards, so you too could be cooler than the rest of us.

Mac OS X Server $5.00

Atari $2.00
Atari DOS $2.00
Atari TOS $2.00
Atari MultiTOS $2.00

Burroughs $2.00
BTOS $2.00
MCP $2.00

Convergent Technologies $2.00
CTOS $2.00

Be Incorporated $5.00            * took up were Amiga left off. geez enough already about Be
BeOS $5.00
BeIA $5.00
ZETA $5.00

Digital/Tandem Computers $2.00
OS/8 $2.00
ITS $2.00
TOPS-10 $2.00
WAITS $2.00
TENEX $2.00
TOPS-20 $2.00
RSTS/E $2.00
RSX-11 $2.00
RT-11 $2.00
VMS $2.00
Domain/OS $2.00
RTE $2.00
TSB $2.00
Digital UNIX $2.00
Ultrix $4.00                                * Have you ever had to run Ultrix? What a POS.
NonStop Kernel $2.00
Guardian $2.00
OSS $2.00

Green Hills Software $2.00
INTEGRITY $2.00
INTEGRITY-178B $2.00
µ-velOSity $2.00

Hewlett-Packard/Compaq $3.00                  * Carly Fiorina up charge. Compaq merger indeed.
MPE $2.00
HP-UX $3.00                                                   * Could you make this any un-friendlier to use? sure you can.

Intel $2.00
iRMX $2.00

IBM $2.00
IBM 7090/94 $2.00
SYSTEM 1400/1800 IJMON $2.00
BOS/360 $2.00
TOS/360 $2.00
DOS/360 $2.00
DOS/360/RJE $2.00
DOS/VSE $2.00
DOS/VSE/ESA $2.00
z/VSE $2.00
OS/360 $2.00
PCP $2.00
MFT $2.00
MVT $2.00
RTOS $2.00
OS/370 $2.00
OS/VS1 $2.00
OS/VS2 $2.00
SVS $2.00
MVS $2.00
OS/390 $2.00
z/OS $5.00
TPF $2.00
CP/CMS $2.00
VM/CMS $2.00
VM/XA $2.00
VM/ESA $2.00
z/VM $2.00
SSP$2.00
CPF$2.00
i5/OS $2.00
AIX $4.00                      * Take Unix and screw it up… you get AIX.
AOS $2.00
PC-DOS $2.00
OS/2 Warp $7.00                * Ahhh.. IBM dancing with the devil.
eComStation $2.00
8100 DPCX $2.00
8100 DPPX $2.00
K42 $2.00
EDX $2.00
RPS $2.00

ICL $2.00
GEORGE 2 $2.00
GEORGE 3 $2.00
GEORGE 4 $2.00
VME $2.00

Micrium $2.00
MicroC/OS-II $2.00

Microsoft $9.00                      * Bill Gates + Steve "Dance Monkeyboy" Balmer = The seventh ring of hell.

   Xenix $10.00                      * how dare you call that unix..   
   MSX-DOS $3.00
   MS-DOS $3.00
   Windows CE 3.0 $3.00
   Windows Mobile  $3.00
   Windows CE 5.0 $3.00
   Windows 1.0 $3.00
   Windows 2.0 $3.00
   Windows 3.0  $3.00
   Windows 3.1x $5.00                     * introduced us to the "Blue Screen of Death". Thanks a lot.
   Windows 3.2  $3.00
   Windows 95  $5.00                       * Virtual device drivers… you buttheads.
   Windows 98  $5.00        
   Windows ME  $5.00
   OS/2  $7.00                                    * Some people loved it, still do. It was buggy and unforgiving.  
   Windows NT 3.1 $3.00  
   Windows NT 3.5 $3.00  
   Windows NT 3.51 $3.00
   Windows NT 4.0 $3.00
   Windows 2000 $3.00
   Windows XP  $3.00
   Windows Server 2003  $3.00
   Windows Fundamentals $3.00
   Windows Vista  $12.00                * Bloated. Crashing. Marketed incorrectly. If you are running this you deserve to pay more.
   Windows Server 2008  $3.00
   Windows 7  $3.00
   WinPE $3.00
   Singularity $3.00

Novell $2.00                                       * Should be charged extra for even thinking of NetWare, but purchase of SuSe offset it.
   NetWare  $4.00

Unicoi Systems $2.00
   Fusion RTOS $2.00
   DSPOS  $2.00

Other $2.00
  EOS  $2.00
  EMBOS $2.00  
  GCOS $2.00  
  PC-MOS/386  $2.00  
  SINTRAN III $2.00  
  TinyOS $2.00
  TRS-DOS  $2.00
  TX990/TXDS $2.00
  MAI Basic Four $2.00
  MUSIC/SP $2.00
  TSX-32 $2.00
  OS ES  $2.00
  Prolog-Dispatcher $2.00
  Aegis $2.00
  Amiga Unix $4.00
  Clix $2.00
  Coherent $2.00
  DNIX $2.00
  DSPnano RTOS $2.00
  Idris $2.00
  INTERACTIVE UNIX $2.00
  IRIX $4.00                                     * The original "pretentious" unix system. Tried to be the Apple of the Unix world.
  MeikOS $2.00
  NeXTSTEP $4.00
  OS-9 $2.00
  OSF/1 $2.00
  QNX $2.00
  Rhapsody  $2.00
  RISC/os  $2.00
  RMX $2.00
  SCO UNIX $CALL                       * Darl McBride up charge. Sue happy bastards. If you are using this contact me and I will get the lawyers working on your fee.
  SINIX  $2.00
  Solaris  $5.00                                * Sun is starting to come around. This cost may go down later.
  SunOS  $6.00
  SUPER-UX  $2.00
  System V  $2.00
  System V/AT $2.00
  Trusted Solaris $2.00
  UniFlex $2.00
  Unicos $2.00
  Unison RTOS  $2.00
  DG/UX  $4.00                                 * Pain up charge. Hated this OS.

SDS (Scientific Data Systems) $2.00

  CP Control Program $2.00

TRON Project  $2.00

  TRON $2.00

UNIVAC (later Unisys) $2.00

   EXEC I $2.00
   EXEC II $2.00
   EXEC 8 $2.00

WAVECOM $2.00

   Open AT $2.00

 
</pre>

Now that I have received some feedback, I need to clarify a few points about the credit program.

First, I am not making a judgment about the usability of the proprietary software. It may be better for you, it may run faster, jump farther, be the package you know, etc. The judgment is that it is not open source software. If you are perfectly happy forwarding the idea of proprietary software, and its cost, then you should not consider buying offset credits.

If the open source Community is important to you, and you would like to see it grow, then you should consider buying credits. Much the same way that buying Carbon offsets benefits the environment of Earth, buy PSC's will benefit the environment of computing.

I have seen, far to many open source advocates, that use .. daily .. proprietary source packages. They are caught between two worlds. Lets take a typical open source development project, say…. Ruby on Rails.

Rails is a great project. Open Source through and through. It has a thriving and growing community. More and more projects are turning to using it for their web-framework. Now, go pop into any rails forum and ask a question. The Mac pretentiousness oozes back at you. One would think that you can not actually write Rails code without a Mac, OSX, and textmate. In fact, can anyone find a screencast on Rails that is not done on a Mac using textmate? I for one, have been very successful writing Rails ( and Ruby ) using my Ubuntu system and Vim.

We have to give this whole type of user an outlet for providing back to the open source community which they use. To bring symbiosis to the relationship rather than having the open source picked over by carrion, only to be left aside when shiny proprietary software whispers sweet nothings…

The next post will contain the basic structure for calculating ones proprietary footprint, and how many credits will be needed to offset.

Oh, and you Mac guys that are dual booting Windows on top of a Mac …. shame on you.

I was driving to work the other day, listening to talk radio. They were discussing the Democratic National Convention and how it was “going green”. This intrigued me, and I went to take a look.

At the site, there was a Carbon Calculator, where a traveler to the convention could get an estimate of the Carbon footprint that their trip would have. The next step would be to purchase Carbon credits to offset one's trip. Other tips for “going green” are given on the site.

The thought struck me that we need something similar in the open source world.

I propose Proprietary Source Credits. ( Go Blue! )

Say you are fully supportive of open source, even use some from time to time, but you just dont have the time or ability to actually join a project.

Even developers who love open source, but carry around proprietary OS systems like Windows or Macs that feel that they are more productive in a closed source system, but want to give back to open source somehow.

Think of all the tortured souls carrying Mac Book Pros around conferences, presenters at open source gatherings that feel guilty for using power point to give their presentation. No longer will they need to feel on the outside of the open source Community. They can purchase credits that will go directly to open source projects to further the cause of innovation and sharing in the computing community, and still be able to use their proprietary OS's and software.

I will shortly be announcing my Proprietary Source Calculator for those that are unsure of their proprietary footprint. For those that are using Windows, Mac, (Closed Solaris), HPUX, AIX, etc..

You know who you are and what you are doing, I will be setting up a PayPal account where you can purchase your credits. There will be a bulk rate for OS's, and a guide to add up all those other proprietary software applications that are in your system.

This will be a great thing for the Open Source Community, and even more so, a great thing for all of computing, to lay aside our differences and move forward going Blue with Open Source Software.

Having read my colleagues post on the Trent Reznors open source music project, and being a fan of Nine Inch Nails earlier work,

I zipped right out and fired up ktorrent to download the albums. I say albums as Ghost I - IV is not a single disc, but rather more

like 4 discs with 9 tracks each.  The discs are labeled 1 - 4, and the tracks 1 - 36.  Even though the tracks are listed contiguosly, I

recommend listening to one disc at a time, as a body of work unto itself. Each disc (album?) has a feel that seperates it from the others.

Ghost 1, has a much more raw feel, than Ghost IV.  In this age of voice enhanced, throw away lyric, pop, or highly derivative techno, the Ghost disc

come across more like funk, rock, jazz fusion. The Jazz elements come through in traditional call and response, with underlying bass

lines coming through during breaks, to give a consistent feel to the tracks.  The main downside to the set, is the extensive use of drum

tracks, I much prefer the organic sound of live percussion to electronic drums. The entire set could easily be confused with a soundtrack

as Rezner builds and fades each peice as if to build on a visual moment in time. I would not be surprised to see tracks used for effect in

movies or theatre. There are several tracks ( Ghost IV - 28 in particular ) that have a eastern Asian feel to them.  And several other tracks

that I can easily see having lyrics added at a later time. ( Ghost II - 17 being one. ) 

Overall, if you are in a instrumental mood, I recommend the whole set, but Ghost IV is my favorite by far.  

On a scale of 1 - 10 Lines of Code, I give it a 7 LOC. 

I rarely ( read never ) blog about other blogs.. that seems so … plagiaristic … to me. But,

I caught this from the O'Reilly feed, and jumped to the link. It is a youtube video on Startup Metrics.  I have no original thoughts about it, other than to say it is good listening / watching and I recomend giving it a view. While everything said does not apply to every startup, there are some good lessons learned in there..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irjgfW0BIrw

I am amazed by spam. Initially, I was irritated by it. But, the more I get, the more amazed I am.  If people, somewhere did not respond to it, then it would not work… so, the amazing thing is that someone out there really believes that stuff…

I get a variety of spam.. By far the most prolific is Mortgage brokers. I get many mails a day from them, and about 90% of the adware on the top of websites seems to be from them.  If I wanted to refinance with some asinine ARM mortgage that would wreck me financially, I would just go to the mafia.  The second most active spam ( in my mailbox ) is pharmaceuticals.. well, more often specific drugs. (Viagra being the most often touted.) Who would in their right mind by medications from someone who can't even spell the name of the drug they are selling? Amazing..

Not to be outdone, the tobacco companies or at least  some shill for them, are trying to send me "free smokes". These, I dont find so amazing, as it is pretty common knowledge that the tobacco industry is trying to sell their crap to anyone, anytime, and spam might just be the best marketing they have.

My favorite? Free money. I decided to keep track of how much money I would make in 1 week from the classic Nigerian/English Barrister/Call and collect your share emails…

Free Money :

$1,000,000 from MR CHRIS ALOZIE ( chrisalozie@ig.com.br )
$450,000 from BMW and a new car!  (BRAIN JONES <brainjones100@yahoo.es>. ) odd that BMW uses a yahoo mail address, but what the hay, I get a new car!

$3,328,257.20 from  Mr.Raymond Eze (Esq.) ( rayeze400@ig.com.br )                                             $3,400,000.00 from  Dr. Paul Brown <paulbrown@drbalica.com>                                                 $7,250,000.00 from Mr. Martin Mukoya <mrmartin_mukoya@martin-mukoya.com>                       

$850,000.00 from Mr  Abebe  (abebe01@virgilio.it) 

$852,810.00 from Coolly White President World Bank Auditors worldbankauditors3@ig.com.br

$35,000,000.00 from  NIGERIAN INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT (info@investigationdepartment.org)

$715,810.00 from INTERNATIONAL LOTTO COMMISSION (euro_africlottoclaim@ibest.com.br )

$850,000.00 from Mr. Evans (evansonumba6@virgilio.it)

——————

My 1 week total = $52,981,067.20   WOW!! I may need to quit my job. 

I include their email address's if anybody else wants to get in on some of this free money. I am sure there is more than enough to go around. Tell them I sent you and they may throw in a couple extra million.

I think I will collect spam for a month and see how much I would make.. I could be bigger than Bill Gates!! 

Perl is a must have tool on every system. I use it almost every day to manipulate data from command lines and to write small utility scripts. I made the jump to Ruby a number of years ago and concede to the readability and cleanliness of it's object oriented language over Perl. Anything that I can do in Perl I can also do in Ruby. That said, I still use Perl because of the huge repository I have of legacy Perl scripts and the sheer number of scripts available on the net. Ruby will ( in my opinion ) surpass Perl in this regard, but until that day comes, I will still be writing some Perl.

Even more recently I have been writing a lot of Groovy code. Groovy is a great Java scripting language that has access to the entire Java API. It is incredibly useful language and I highly recommend giving it a try. 

All that said, lets get on to the subject at hand.. Transportable Perl.  Ok, what the heck does that mean? Perl scripts are generally transportable from system to system and can even, within some limits, move from OS to OS. What I am referring to, is the ability to move the Perl executable from one place to another on your system without recompiling Perl. Why would you want to do this? Well, several reasons spring to mind. Out of space on a primary disk. Disk restructuring. You work for a company that delivers OSS content to the desktop, and you want to be able to install Perl anywhere the end-user wants to specify, without making them recompile. 

And that, is the exact reason why I have been looking at the issue.

When you compile 'C' projects you can ( and frequently do ) specify the install directory where the build artifacts will reside. [ - - prefix during configure on Unix systems ]  That is very handy. However, lets say you precompile perl to the install directory of c:\toolbox\perl.  Then you bundle that compiled binary and place it on a different computer say in c:\tacklebox\perl.  The Perl interpreter will work. It will run perl scripts and everything will be fine.

Unless….  you want to extend that install of Perl. You just found a cool new module on CPAN, and you want to install it and play with it. Now, you have an issue with that new path. The original path                  ( c:\toolbox\perl ) is compiled into, and configured into that Perl distribution. Even if you have the right tools to compile that module on your windows ( yuck! ) box, it will install it into that old path, rather than the new path you would rather have. 

We need some tool that can fix that inbred old path turning it into the new  path that we really want.  What tool should we use to do that? Perl, of course,  it is a great language to data parsing and replacement.

The first  thing we need to do is find all of the places were that old path is lurking. 

Most module builds will use the Perl module ExtUtils::MakeMaker and Config to generate the Makefile that will be used to install the module. That module creates / uses several files by which it generates the makefile. Those files are the key to moving the Perl install. With just a few one liners you can fix the install path. The first file to work on is in the Perl source, it is config.sh.

We want to reset the "head" of the Perl distribution so an example one liner to do that would be.

perl -p -i.bak -e 's/c:\\toolbox\\perl\\lib/c:\\tacklebox\\perl\\lib/g' config.sh 

Then we would do the same command on the file Config-heavy.pl. ( Found in the lib dir of Perl )

We need to do the same on the Config.pm file, but as we look in it, we see that it uses double slashes rather than singles for referencing directories. ( man, that is a pain in the neck!!) So, we would modify our  one liner to look like this :

 perl -p -i.bak -e 's/c:\\\\toolbox\\\\perl\\\\lib/c:\\\\tacklebox\\\\perl\\lib/g' config.sh

And viola!! you should have a working set of files. There are some gotchas along the way here. If you are using a UNIX style perl distribution, you will have the lib dir under the Perl src directory, you will need to make a copy of that and move it to lib. Also, Windows nmake will look for a config.h file in the src directory that does not exist. It does not have to have anything in it, but does need to be created.

Once you pull down a module, then you can run : perl Makefile.pl.   This should create a correct makefile for the new perl path and allow you to then run nmake, and build the module. nmake install && nmake test should both work ( if present in that particular module ) 

Additionally, the PERLLIB and PERL5LIB environment variables need to be set correctly for the new Perl location. 

The next steps would be to roll the changes into one "Fix" script. ( Creation of the environment variables, conifg.h file, in place edits of the config scripts ) Actually, in my case I have built these changes into the OpenLogic Enterprise software package, such that when a user of our software request an install of Perl, we can install a pre-compiled version of Perl, and then restructure the compiled elements to live anywhere on that users system that they request.