" Having a Classroom Debate "

          Last Monday, we have had an untypical way of discussion; we’ve done a classroom debate about some issues regarding the applications of Open Source Technology in our society. Although it’s not new to me, still it’s a good style of discussion to perform. From this, everyone can contribute their ideas or answers and share it to the whole class. And so that the topic will be properly deliberated and also to make it more clear to each and every student. Furthermore, every one of us, as a group, had given a chance to criticize another group. It’s also a great experience for us, especially now that we’re currently making up a thesis where we’ll be experiencing a lot of defense and criticizing.

          I hope that’s not the last that we’ll be doing this because I’ve enjoyed it so much. And next time, I’ll try to improve my performance.

" Revolution OS "

            As the title states itself, "Revolution OS" narrates the inside story of prominent hackers and entrepreneurs who rebelled against the proprietary softwares and especially Microsoft to create GNU/Linux and the Open Source movement. The documentary film introduces the viewer to some of the most important "characters" in this movement, Richard Stallman (founder of The GNU Project and free software movement), Linus Torvalds (founder of Linux), Michael Tiemann (Vice President of Open Source Affairs), and Eric Raymond (author of "The Cathedral and the Bazaar").

            Actually, I was unfamiliar with those Open Source things. I'm just only aware with the Linux OS because I'm recently using it for a subject in school. But after I watched the movie, I saw how powerful Linux can be. And aside from seeing its development, the most appealing issue that revealed was those disadvantages with using those proprietary software. It somehow change my contentment to just only use Microsoft Windows products and now explore or also try to collaborate with the Open Source technology that have been created by those people in the scene. But I'm not trying to be rude to MS, because its still my first learning area in Computer World. Almost every assignments, projects, etc. are made in MS applications.

            I've also just realized the inconvenience of software piracy that is so chronic these days. Honestly, I'm also one of those software pirates that keep on searching on GOOGLE to find free software simply because it's FREE of CHARGE. But I also felt guilty to programmers or developers of those software who spend a lot of effort in their work. Yet, what's good in Open Source Software is that it has been built and developed through the cooperation of several users.

I've just only read from an article in a site, "Linux is a Cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches", stated by the CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer. Is it that Microsoft "fears" GNU/Linux? But it is clear that Linux and the Open Source Movement represents the greatest threat to Microsoft Corporation. Who knows, maybe someday Open Source will make its way to top.