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Short Takes: February 15, 2009


By SD Times News Team
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February 15, 2009 —  A jealous leader
It's somewhat ironic that the founder of the free software movement is jealous of one of the primary figures within the movement. When I interviewed Richard Stallman for this month's cover story, I had lots of questions to ask. But one that wasn't on my list was “What do you think of Linus Torvalds?”

No matter, Stallman took the time to answer this question without my ever having to ask it. His answer? He doesn't like the man at all. I got a 10-minute earful about how Torvalds doesn't believe in free software, doesn't care about licenses and doesn't deserve the credit for building the largest GPL project out there.

For a guy who's built a whole movement based on working together and collaborating, Stallman is certainly not happy about sharing the spotlight.
— Alex Handy

Talking through the iron curtain
Microsoft's Sam Ramji was insistent on having a dialog with the Software Freedom Law Center's Bradley Kuhn. Ramji believes that it is important for Microsoft to articulate its position on the GPL and to clear up any "misconceptions" that its critics have.

Unfortunately, Ramji was unable to comment further by press time, but he has promised a response to some of Kuhn's more cutting remarks.

Due to its actions in the not-so-distant past, Microsoft has a long way to go to earn the trust of open-source advocates like Kuhn. It is encouraging that both Kuhn and Ramji were willing to have an amicable dialogue. I'm going to continue to drive the conversation, and you, our readers, can come to your own conclusions. — David Worthington

Texting is tricky business
Over the past few months, I have fallen deeper into the ever-growing pit of doom that is text messaging. I used to be a once-in-a-while texter, asking and answering a quick question here and there. But recently, I’ve found myself relaying whole messages to friends and family, setting up weekend plans and telling people in detail about my day.

It’s an ugly habit. My phone has this irritating texting feature where it tries to guess the word that might be coming next. So if I type “how are” it will display “you” next. However, nine times out of 10, it isn’t as spot-on as that example, and will suggest a word that makes zero sense. That’s the type of thing that will make me get back to dialing a number and putting the phone to my ear.
— Jeff Feinmain




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