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Linux in Iraq 490

Posted by CmdrTaco from the moderators-prepare-your-offtopic-points dept.
Nereus writes "The BBC News is reporting on the newfound popularity of Linux in Iraq. The article discusses how the Iraqi Linux User Group believe Linux will aid the Iraqi people in the rebuilding of their country, and the benefits of open source in Iraq."
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Linux in Iraq More

Linux in Iraq

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  • Why not? (Score:3, Funny)

    by FortKnox ( 169099 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:07PM (#9520533) Homepage Journal
    They already got the beards for it....

    • Re:Why not? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Mr. Neutron ( 3115 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:12PM (#9520598) Homepage Journal
      Believe it or not, Saddam actually wouldn't allow people to have beards. His thugs would forcibly shave anyone who had one. This was to combat Islamist extremism, which he always found to be a threat.

      The man war brutal and evil, but keeping him in power probably would have helped us in the War on Terror.
      • Heh, I was thinking it woulda been a better joke for afghani's, but I guess not a lot of people found it funny to begin with (already getting troll mods). Oh well, I guess I'll leave comedy to the pros.

      • Re:Why not? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by bigberk ( 547360 ) <bigberk@users.pc9.org> on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:37PM (#9520906)
        This was to combat Islamist extremism, which he always found to be a threat.
        Interesting, you're saying that Saddam was against the Islamic extremists? The same morons who cry 'jihad' and drive planes into buildings, explode car bombs, etc.?

        So Saddam is against Islamist extremists, and we bomb him -- but we do business with Saudi Arabia, the country that is home to the wealthy funders of Islamic extremism, and home to all the Sept. 11 hijackers? Let's not kid ourselves, there are bad things happening in both countries but only one of those two countries was the champion of Islamic fundamentalists / extremists.

        I don't get it, it's too weird!
        • http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Sept- 1 1-Commission.html?hp

          Why did Saddam not ever have any dealing with any Islamic extremists, including Al Qaeda? Because it would have challenged Saddam's rule. He was a dictator, and we helped support him because he was anti-islamic - just look at the 10 year Iraq/Iran war. We funded him because that ended up killing over 1 million Iranians (and Iraqis, too).

          I don't even want to get into invading Iraq and stuff, but needless to say, we didn't find milli

        • Re:Why not? (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24, 2004 @03:47PM (#9521707)

          The same morons who cry 'jihad' and drive planes into buildings, explode car bombs, etc.?

          Likewise, would you like Americans to be called "the morons who try to impose their cultural and economical dominance to the rest of the world"? The problem is that you don't realise that you are probably more violent against the rest of the world than the rest of the world is to you -- even if it's a different form of violence.

          This is not a flame. You owe respect to the other side of the conflict, otherwise you're no better than your unelected president who believes war prisoners are a subclass of the human species who do not deserve to have their rights respected. Does Guantanamo ring a bell?

        • Re:Why not? (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Mr. Neutron ( 3115 )
          I don't get it, it's too weird!

          Sometimes I scratch my head, trying to make sense of Team Bush's foriegn policy. There are some points to consider:

          • There are security concerns other than Islamist extremists that might justify the war. Saddam was a security concern on his own.
          • There are valid legal reasons justifying the war. Technically, Saddam was in violation of the terms of the 1991 cease-fire.
          • Just because Saddam is against extremists in his own country doesn't mean he wouldn't use them against th

      • Re:Why not? (Score:5, Informative)

        by Rei ( 128717 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:49PM (#9521047) Homepage
        Actually, that's about as true as the "Powdered milk factory being a chemical weapons plant" story and the "throwing babies from incubators" story. Have you taken the time to look at pictures taken from people in Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule? Heck, even a lot of the casualty photos, such as this famous one [robert-fisk.com] show bearded men. Do you not even remember the shot of the bearded man [enki3d.com] in a lot of photos who, according to a popular web conspiracy, is the same person who was shown arriving with Ahmed Chalabi and as one of the "normal Iraqis" tearing down the statue in Firdos Square? Shots of bearded Iraqis are all over the place, and are even in some of the most famous shots from the war, so if this wasn't *pure* myth, it was mostly myth.

    • Obligatory Gentoo (Score:5, Funny)

      by swordboy ( 472941 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:23PM (#9520754) Journal
      emerge weaponsofmassdestruction

    • Re:Why not? (Score:2, Funny)

      by vanno ( 791267 )
      I wonder if Microsoft will start a "Linux Supports Terrorism" campain?

  • Obstacles (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SIGALRM ( 784769 ) * on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:07PM (#9520534) Journal
    They are united in their belief that open-source software like Linux could help their nation.

    Of course, the absence of basic infrastructure (power, water, sewage) is a real obstacle to their goals; not to mention the monumental lack of security in many parts of the country.

    Overall, however, a proliferation of F/OSS would be a positive step forward for Iraq, where proprietary software is very expensive. It would be interesting to find out what percentage of the population even owns a computer.

    • Re:Obstacles (Score:5, Interesting)

      by double-oh three ( 688874 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:09PM (#9520563)
      Computers are fairly common there actually, I remember reading a story in the NYT about how a IT person for one of the army units went out to buy a bunch of 64mb flash drives and was able to find a lot of (pirated) software like Photoshop and Windows at the store.

      • Re:Obstacles (Score:2, Informative)

        by Gumpmaster ( 756851 )
        When I was in Baghdad, pirated programs were less than $10, including windows (pirated movies were $2). I don't think the everyday joe has a computer. The cost is still too much for every family to own a PC. The locals are making a bunch selling to US forces. The selection of computer components wasn't great. We made a weekly trip to the local tech store and bought thousands of dollars worth of stuff (flash drives included).
    • Overall, however, a proliferation of F/OSS would be a positive step forward for Iraq, where proprietary software is very expensive.

      Are you sure? How much is the price of CDs with MS software (copied without permission from MS) on the streets of Bagdad?

      How does this compare to F/OSS?

      • And remember that of course, Iraqi law didn't recognise american copyrights until a few weeks ago, so these $10 CDrs were completely legal.
    • No running water for 95% of the population, and look at them - they're all over the place in IT.

      Certainly, this doesn't stop MSFT from building their campus there.

      http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesste ch nology/2001941126_microindia28.html

    • Of course, the absence of basic infrastructure (power, water, sewage) is a real obstacle to their goals; not to mention the monumental lack of security in many parts of the country.

      Of course part of the problem is the war, power vacuum, etc. Part of it is that you can only fix all these problems by spending lots of money.

      Less money spent on Microsoft software, and more spent on local services means more money in the economy which translates into a better ability to tackle these other problems.

  • How does this differ from other efforts? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by garcia ( 6573 ) * on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:08PM (#9520537)
    A lot of high profile Linux users believe that Linux could be the savior to all areas of the world (developed countries as well as third world countries). How is this guy any different than the rest of those out there promoting and educating others about Linux?

    "There is a shortage in power and water supplies, and sewage systems, so the last thing Iraq needs is spending billions of dollars on very expensive and overpriced products, especially software products," he said.

    This enables the country to build its own infrastructure based on open source, on open ideas," Ashraf Hasson.

    As of right now the "rebuilding" efforts of Iraq are in the hands of corporate contractors (from the liberating nations) who are being offered large sums of money to "help" over there. Will Linux be able to compete with the puppet-government mandated contractors who are likely more interested in filling their own coffers rather than those of the Iraqi people?

    • Re:How does this differ from other efforts? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by cheezedawg ( 413482 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:14PM (#9520641) Journal
      As of right now the "rebuilding" efforts of Iraq are in the hands of corporate contractors (from the liberating nations) who are being offered large sums of money to "help" over there. Will Linux be able to compete with the puppet-government mandated contractors who are likely more interested in filling their own coffers rather than those of the Iraqi people?

      I know that "corporation" is a pseudonym for evil here on /., but just who the hell do you suggest should be doing the work in Iraq instead?

      • Re:How does this differ from other efforts? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:19PM (#9520693)
        The 70% of unemployed of Iraqis?
        • It's called "Cash for Work" projects. The NGOs (non-governmental organizations) do them, and so do the private contractors. The work gets done on the cheap and the people involved have a good-paying job.

          So, in a lot of cases, the Iraqis ARE doing the rebuilding work.

          • Re:How does this differ from other efforts? (Score:5, Insightful)

            by Rei ( 128717 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:58PM (#9521156) Homepage
            First off, you're only talking about unskilled labor. This sort of system is humiliating to the highly educated Iraqis. You know what? I would *love* to have some Iraqi artists and architects come over here to design buildings over here in the US. Have you seen the sort of beautiful bridges and monuments they've made? For a tenth the cost we're paying these US companies to do so? And the ugly-as-heck replacements that these US companies are doing?

            Case and point: read
            • grr... accidentally hit submit when changing windows.

              Read Riverbend's blog entry [blogspot.com] for August 28th.

              Why on earth are we paying companies like Haliburton and Bechtel to charge us 10 to 50 times as much for the same job? It is completely ludicrous, and is only going to create anti-American sentiment (in addition to breaking the bank for us). It treats Iraqis like ignorant dogs who can only lift bricks and pour concrete.

              Look at the sort of work Haliburton and Bechtel have been doing. Haliburton is on the

      • Re:How does this differ from other efforts? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by TopShelf ( 92521 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:20PM (#9520720) Homepage Journal
        Obviously, send in the hippies! Once Phish wraps up their tour, I'm sure they'll need something to do.

        Seriously, though, of course corporations are picking up most of the work. Don't forget, however, that federal procurement rules also carve out a portion of bids for small businesses. I saw a recent TV news story that claimed roughly $500 million in contracts have been given out already to small businesses engaged in the Iraq rebuilding effort.

      • Re:How does this differ from other efforts? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Mz6 ( 741941 ) * on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:21PM (#9520731) Journal
        I know that "corporation" is a pseudonym for evil here on /., but just who the hell do you suggest should be doing the work in Iraq instead?

        Well definetly corporations should have a chance to help rebuilt Iraq, however, there should be more competition for it rather than a company being handed a "no-bid" contract. If the military did this instead of corportations, there really would be no spark to help the economy out.

        • Halliburton, et al, are screwing things up on the edges, but overall, there are very, very few corporations that could operate on that scale and actually get things done.

          A bidding war would have resulted in A) way too many corners cut (even more than currently), and B) Nothing done yet, because the bidding process would stil be ongoing.

          Sometimes you just have to cut the competitive bid process out, and say "Here, you do it!"
          • I'm not so sure I can agree with that. How do you know that there aren't many companies that could handle it? Unfortunately, in this case, we don't because it was simply handed to them. However, what's done is done. What I think should happen now is start to bring in firms that actually want to compete for business over there. Let them compete to put their workers and equipment over there to help them rebuild.
      • I suggest that there be an open bidding war instead of a mandate coming from one of the highest offices in the US Government because of his previous ties w/that corporation. *cough* Chaney *cough*.

        • Re:How does this differ from other efforts? (Score:5, Informative)

          by workindev ( 607574 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:58PM (#9521159) Homepage
          Sorry, but the the federal procurement system is a highly structured process. Politicians have no access to it because these contracts are in the hands of civil servants, who would be risking their careers if they were steering contracts to big political donors.

          Halliburton's KBR has always been at or near the top of the bidding process. They were even awarded so-called "no-bid" contracts during the Clinton administration to help rebuild the Balkans.

          KBR did a risk assessment of potential oil fires before the invasion, which was covered by their 2001 contract. In March 2003, when the attack was unfolding, Pentagon planners issued an additional bridge contract to KBR to put out any fires that were set. KBR had the experience and their personnel were in place. It would have been crazy to open up a three-to-five-month bidding process at that time.

          Even Steven Kelman, who was an administrator in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy under Bill Clinton, said this regarding the Halliburton Iraq contracts:

          "One would be hard-pressed to discover anyone with a working knowledge of how federal contracts are awarded -- whether a career civil servant working on procurement or an independent academic expert -- who doesn't regard these allegations as being somewhere between highly improbable and utterly absurd"

      • Iraqis? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Zilfondel2 ( 662431 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:35PM (#9520885)
        Why give large rebuilding contracts out to US firms, when there are literally millions of Iraqis who are unemployed - and will work for cheap - that are already in Iraq?

        Not to mention the huge Iraqi construction companies who - over the last 20 years - built all of Saddam's palaces, military bunkers, etc. They certainly have the means, techinical expertise, and manpower to do that stuff. And they are already there.

        That would go far beyond any Haliburton/Bechtel efforts to rebuild Iraq, as none of the money Haliburton gets paid goes to help Iraqis.
        After all, the point in rebuilding a country is to eventually restart said country's economy so people there can work.
        This almost sounds like Saudi Arabia all over again, with 80% unemployment rates - sans the monthly oil checks.

      • Re:How does this differ from other efforts? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by American AC in Paris ( 230456 ) * on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:47PM (#9521011) Homepage
        I know that "corporation" is a pseudonym for evil here on /., but just who the hell do you suggest should be doing the work in Iraq instead?

        The US government and the local population.

        Seriously--does it make sense to rely on private enterprise to tough it out in a war zone? Should taxpayers be footing the bill for security consultants--people who typically cost several times that which a soldier costs? Should taxpayers be footing the bill for multi-billion dollar cost-plus contracts--contracts which stipulate that a contractor is guaranteed a profit? Is it really all that smart for our troops to be dependent on private companies and individuals who can simply up and leave at their discretion?

        Iraqis aren't knuckle-dragging cave dwellers, you know. They know how to do things, and even the ones that don't are generally capable of lifting things and following basic directions. Why are we so anxious to throw billions of dollars at American companies while there are millions of unemployed, discontented Iraqi workers already there?

        How are we supposed to win hearts and minds when we're not even willing to trust Iraqis with the task of rebuilding their own country?

      • Why not the 35% of Iraqi males who are currently unemployed and have nothing better to do than listen to paid propagandists working for Islamic extremists?

        Probably would cut down on the numbers of people we'll have to kill there, not to mention the number of American soldiers who don't deserve to die because their civilian leadership was completely incompetent.

        Instead of busing over tons of Indian and Egyptian contractors for 'cost plus' via Halibuton, why wouldn't the invading force organize the local pe

  • Is a GNU/Linux biz feasible? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by bollow (a) NoLockIn ( 785367 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:08PM (#9520547) Homepage
    How difficult would it be to start a successful Free Software business in Iraq? For example by selling installation/training/troubleshooting services?

    If the Iraqi population is not already hooked on the MS stuff, maybe the widespread anti-American sentiments could help gain such a company an important advantage over competing companies which provide similar services for (unauthroized copies of) proprietary software?

    • How difficult would it be to start a successful Free Software business in Iraq? For example by selling installation/training/troubleshooting services?

      Probably very difficult. For all the talk many companies based on OSS in the West are struggling for profitability as far as I can make out, and I dont see them flooding the job markets with linux requirements. Additionally you have the 'benefactor' issue in Iraq. The US want their contracts, and to be honest many of these are huge projects. Abdul and his

    • Apart from forces of one insane religious fanatic (George Bush) trying to kill the forces of another insane religious fanatic (Bin Laden) who is trying to do the same back, with neither party trying that hard to avoid hurting anyone vaguely in the same area I don't think there are any major problems with your business plan :-)

      • Apart from forces of one insane religious fanatic (George Bush) trying to kill the forces of another insane religious fanatic (Bin Laden) who is trying to do the same back, with neither party trying that hard to avoid hurting anyone vaguely in the same area I don't think there are any major problems with your business plan :-)

        You do have a point with the insane religious mofos.. but to iraq's credit(?) the business landscape is probably very different. I don't want to make assumptions because i've never
    • >How difficult would it be to start a successful Free Software business in Iraq?

      What do you think?
      It's already difficult enough in the U.S.

      (Not to mention that they can't run their computers 'cause there's no electricity.)

  • First things first (Score:5, Insightful)

    by L. VeGas ( 580015 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:08PM (#9520549) Homepage Journal
    Let's see if we can get the electricity working first.
    • How do you think that that electricity is regulated and metered? By hand? How do you think that that the distribution points are monitored and controled? By hand? How do you think that the electric-plants run their offices. . . etc. etc. etc. You need computers to run the infrastructure they are building.

      Linux isn't just something that sits on your desk at home like most Windows computers. It is actually QUITE approporiate that they are considering Linux at the same time they are building the nation's

  • They need to tone it down (Score:5, Funny)

    by stecoop ( 759508 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:10PM (#9520564) Journal
    And so enters a new age of a gigantic battle [myway.com] between vi vs emacs users in Iraq.
    • Hey, that's the last thing we need. A new version of a Linux holy war deabating Vi vs. EMacs, or Gnome vs. KDE. Thanks, but no thanks, I prefer I.T. department personnel to stay alive and not scuicide themselves because of a text editor.

      (yes this was a jab at their so called "holy wars" where fanatic lunatics think killing themselves is part of "God's calling" for them - thanks but no thanks that's just not right)

      Karma be damned,

  • In other news... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by baudilus ( 665036 )
    Linux cures cancer! And makes julienne fries to boot!

    Come on, if they were using Windoze no one would say 'Windows is helping to rebuild Iraq.' I love Linux as much as the next guy who is even semi-informed, but come on people. It's not the next wonder drug.

  • Over in Fallujah... (Score:3, Funny)

    by S. Baldrick ( 565691 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:11PM (#9520584)

    ...they run it headless.

    /going to hell

  • What does Linux give Iraq that other OS's do not? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by scumbucket ( 680352 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:13PM (#9520615)
    What features does Linux offer Iraq that Windows does not? Does it offer any special advantages besides the standard ones for open source? For example, are there better translations or special software used by people in Iraq?

  • Haliburton's burned hallowed hurtin' ballads (Score:4, Funny)

    by dominion ( 3153 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:14PM (#9520635) Homepage
    Wait, so you're saying that Microsoft won't be getting a no-bid contract?

    Riiiiiiight...

  • that'll do it... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:15PM (#9520646)
    get them internet access (porn) and accounts on everquest and you'll see a 95% decrease in bombings and protests...

    • If the p0rn don't do it then nethack sure will....
    • ...you're probably not that far off. One of my pet theories is that terrorists are generated mostly in areas where there's simply nothing better to do, or a lack of varied sensory input, like reading the Koran 12 hours a day for 15 years under the tutelage of an extremist imam, just to toss out a completely and utterly random example.

      It's not the ideo/theology, it's the brain wigging out from existential boredom.

      The entertainment industry will save civilization yet.

    • I'm more worried about them getting copies of "America's Army" and using it as study material.

  • Good thing... (Score:4, Funny)

    by moehoward ( 668736 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:17PM (#9520674)
    Good thing that Bush invaded Iraq. Now we get to have a daily Linux in Iraq Slashdot story.

    If we hadn't invaded, we be stuck with all those "Windows 98 in Afganistan" success stories. And we all know how painful THAT can be.

  • Sounds like... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:18PM (#9520683)
    ...someone took the idea of a bullet-proof OS a little too literally.

    --ac

  • The Vole (Score:5, Interesting)

    by drunkahol ( 143049 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:19PM (#9520694)
    The article also points out that Microsoft are "helping" rebuild the country with huge discounts on licenses (i.e. free???).

    How long are these licenses to be free?

    It's not just drug dealers that get people hooked by supplying freebies until users get dependant.

  • OSS vs free-as-in-beer (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sczimme ( 603413 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:20PM (#9520707)

    From the article:

    Both of them are firm believers in open source software. Unlike expensive proprietary software, open-source software can be freely distributed and modified, as long as the modifications are shared with other users.

    This happens quite often is these discussions: people like the reporter confuse/conflate (the ideals of OSS) and (getting something for free). I believe the Iraqi gentlemen - even though they are coders - are looking at the free-as-in-beer aspect as the primary benefit. This is not a Bad Thing(tm) - it's a heck of an advantage - but it is not the same as supplying the Iraqi people with OSS so they can make and distribute changes.

    Also from the article:

    "This enables the country to build its own infrastructure based on open source, on open ideas," Ashraf Hasson.

    No, it lets the country build its infrastructure for a heck of a lot less money than it would cost to do so using commercial products. What is wrong with saying "I like to use Linux [or whatever] because it costs me very little money"?

    For the record, one of the reasons I like to use Linux because it costs me very little money. (I buy commercial distros about half the time so I'm not a total leech...)
    • Do you really think that Iraqi people would give a sh*t about legality of pirating software? C'mon, they don't do it in Eastern Europe, China, Russia, India, countries that are much stabler and healthier than Iraq.

      That said, it's probably good for them to use open-source, because there's no danger of backdoors planted in their software.

    • For the record, one of the reasons I like to use Linux because it costs me very little money. (I buy commercial distros about half the time so I'm not a total leech...)

      I think that is commendable (I just paid for SuSe 9.1 Pro), but my understanding is that there are several non-commercial distribution organizations that would gladly accept cash to keep their servers up and such.

      As I do hope to gain financially from Linux soon, when I do, I hope to make donations to organizations that develop the OSS soft

  • Not too sure about this... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Dr. Bent ( 533421 ) <ben&int,com> on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:22PM (#9520744) Homepage

    One of the major "selling" points of Linux is cost. Obviously there are other reasons to use it (security, flexibility, access to source code, etc.) but most laymen don't care about those reasons...they just care how much it's going to cost them.

    As was mentioned in the article, most of the software in Iraq is pirated, so cost isn't really an issue since most people don't pay for software. So, in my opinion, Linux is going to have a bit of an uphill battle to gain wide acceptance among the people. Government instutions and large companies might see it a little differently since they're more likely to abide by the law, but I just don't see your average Iraqi citizen using Linux (which he's probaly has never heard of) when he can get Windows for free.

  • Liberated (Score:5, Funny)

    by burtonator ( 70115 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:27PM (#9520798)
    They've only been liberated for a few months now and they're already moving towards communism!

    Regan must be spinning in his grave!

    hehe
  • There are a bunch of different languages in Iraq not just Arabic, including Kurdish, Assyrian and Armenian, not the mention the bibblebabble of the coalition forces: US English, UK English, Polish, Italian etc.....

    Not Spanish Not French Not German Not Russian though.

  • Of course... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by bigberk ( 547360 )
    They might have been better off before we started dropping bombs on their country. I used to receive emails from some engineering students in Iraq who enjoyed using my software. I stopped hearing from them around war time, and have no idea whether they were killed, fled the country, or what. They were around my age, early 20s.

    Anyway, my point being that it seems kind of silly to 'celebrate' rebuilding Iraq when they had all kinds of existing infrastructure before the US invaded. We just, uh, BOMBED it all.
  • The information may be slightly outdated, but we had an excellent, first-hand, report on tech (and general) situation in Iraq right here [slashdot.org].
  • Check out the June 2004 Issue of National Geographic. In it is a story on Iraq. Shows some good pictures of what can happen to a computer user that has the wrong kind of material on their computer. You get a beating by a religious fanatic. Of course that all depends where you live. This showed one Shiite region.

    I wonder what OS is the best for assisting in inspecting peoples computers so you can beat them if you don't like what is on it?
  • I wonder what our favorite ex-lug president [slashdot.org] would have to say about this. He would probably say that they are collaborating with the enemies of the Iraqi people by contributing to open source. Oh the contradictions! Next up... Jihadists beheading a penguin.

  • The Iraqi Information (Technology) Minister Says: (Score:5, Funny)

    by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @02:31PM (#9520846) Journal
    "Linux is a great and powerful Operating system! Open Source desktops are fully mature and without flaws! All hardware works perfectly with linux! Authentication with PAM/SAMBA/LDAP/nsswitch is easily configured! Printing is plug and play! BSD is dying in the street!"
  • If Iraqis Linux User Group is going to succeed, they should make their own localized distribution. It could be based on Knoppix or any distribution they like, but should be localized as much as possible and easy to install and use.
    I think Knoppix or something similar is the easiest to start with. AFAIR from earlier slashdot articles and posts there is lack of proper localization for Iraq in Windows so it would be a great advantage for Linux.

    Regards

  • Before MS goes and pulls a Halliburton on the country.
  • From the article:
    Inside the country, the Iraqi Linux User Group is thinking big. Their ambitious goal is to see every server in the country running Linux a year from now.
    One...

    Two...

    Success!


  • ...until Microsoft issues a FUDrelease claiming that Linux is supporting terrorism?

    When you download distros, you're downloading al-Qaeda...

  • The advantage here... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Mongoose Disciple ( 722373 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @03:18PM (#9521350)
    As far as I'm concerned, the thing to get excited about is not, exactly, Iraqis running Linux on their desktops or what have you...

    Rather, it's the notion of how OSS grows. It's a good thing if geeks in the west and geeks in Iraq can collaborate on an open source project together. (And if that, or Western/Middle-Eastern OSS collaborations become a more common thing.)

    Granted, I think techies tend to be a little more progressive than the general population, but still -- people in the U.S. and people in Iraq being able to work on a project together and come to understand each other better as people, in any capacity, can only be a good thing for the people of both nations, and indeed even the world.

  • come on (Score:3, Funny)

    by cookiepus ( 154655 ) on Thursday June 24, 2004 @09:44PM (#9524377) Homepage
    I understand we had to bomb these people for their own good, we made them sacrifice their security for a potential freedom down the road, but why the FUCK are we going to make them use software that's not ready for the desktop? Haven't they suffered enough?

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