Open Source Haggadah, chapter 2

Last Passover, I spoke of the Commandments that companies should follow in order to be good Open Source citizens.

Also read: Open Source Commandments I

Also read: Open Source Commandments II

My, what a difference a year makes -- or maybe not so much.

In 2008, Google, it turned out, followed Rabbi Perlow's advice about mentoring and not controlling the source and released the complete source code to Android, including that of its Dalvik JVM. It's expected that an x86 version of their mobile device OS for use in netbooks and desktop PCs will be hitting the promised land shortly.

Click on the "Read the rest of this entry" link below for more.

Even to my own dismay, Microsoft broke the "Thou shalt not threaten" commandment early in 2009 with its lawsuit against TomTom. Although it was settled weeks later, and TomTom has dodged the proverbial bullet (or would that be a sling shot?) from both protracted litigation and losing it's right to use the Linux kernel under the GPL, Microsoft's activities have elevated tensions between the Open Source community and the the company, erasing any good will that it had started with its interoperability initiatives, and leaders are calling for initiatives to have FAT32 and any other technologies which Microsoft may use to hold vendors which use Linux hostage replaced with fully open alternatives.

I would wish ten plagues upon Redmond and the wicked Pharoah Ballmer, but they've already been punished enough with Conficker.C and Windows Vista, and they're about to sacrifice their first born, Windows XP, to the Extended Support false Gods.

Passover, or pesach,  is a time for telling stories.

Also read: Open Source Haggadah, chapter 1

During the ritual Passover meal, or Seder, it is customary for members of the family to sit around the table and read portions of the Haggadah, which is the retelling of how Jews escaped bondage in Egypt. But this year, ZDNet Goverment blogger Richard Koman and Iwanted to bring you up to date on how we escaped the bondage of proprietary software.

Koman concludes: "Linus nursed the kernel and added to it many GNU programs that Stallman had nurtured and he shared the sources and called its name Linux and he said, because I drew it out of Minix."

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to display a plate of food representing the five major Linux distributions or the sacraficial enterprise UNIX server vendor, but I was stuck in Atlanta tonight so I went out for Vietnamese food and had grilled lamb. In any case...

But Stallman, blessed be he, said "Thou shalt not covet Proprietary Software, and thou shalt not confuseth Open Source with Free. Thou shalt have a covenant with the FSF, and be fruitful and multiply. And thou shalt calleth thy Operating System GNU/Linux, for thou useth the General Public License and thy userland cometh from the loins of Free Software."

For some years Linus wandered the cold forests of the North Men, until he came upon the Valley of Silicon. And there he encountered the Prophet Ewing, who had a vision of a bird that was flightless and portly. And thus the Tux was given to all that would receive him, and there was much rejoicing and beer. The Flightless One begat the Red Hat and the Green Lizard, and the Swirly Thing which shall never be released on time.

But all was not right in the Valley of Silicon. There a peaceful company, once known for it's Playful Hippies grew jealous of the Tux, for it saw its profits decrease since the Volcano of the Great Salt Lakes hath swallowed it and the evil McBride took the throne, banishing the Good King Ransom. The evil king, seeing that the Tux could not be litigated, sought war with his ally the Blue Giant, which he found to be fruitless and would see his kingdom in ruin.

And now we come to the musical portion of our story.

"One Little Lizard"

To the music of One Little Goat (Chad Gadya)which sounds a lot better in the original Aramaic.

One Little Lizard, One Little Lizard.

Which Novell bought for two hundred and ten million Zuzim.

One Little Lizard, One Little Lizard.

Microsoft came and released the Vista, and befriendeth the Lizard, Which Novell bought for two hundred and ten million Zuzim.

One Little Lizard, One Little Lizard.

The Ubuntu came, which beat the Vista, That Microsoft botched, Who befriendeth the Lizard, Which Novell bought for two hundred and ten million Zuzim.

One Little Lizard, one Little Lizard.

The Recession came, which facilitated Ubuntu, which beat the Vista, that Microsoft botched, who befriendedh the Lizard. Which Novell bought for two hundred and ten million Zuzim.

One Little Lizard, one Little Lizard.

The Recession begat the Netbook, which facilitated Ubuntu, which beat the Vista, that Microsoft botched, who befriendedh the Lizard, which Novell bought for two hundred and ten million Zuzim.

One Little Lizard, one Little Lizard.

And then the MIGHTY GOOGLE came, which released the Android, which runneth on the Netbook, which was begotten by the Recession, that facilitated the Ubuntu, which beat the Vista, which Microsoft botched, who befriendeth the Lizard.

Which Novell bought for two hundred and ten million Zuzim.

One Little Lizard, one Little Lizard.

Happy Passover everyone. Next year, We Celebrate in the Twitterverse.

Got any more to add to the Open Source Hagaddah? Or have Koman and I drunk far too much Manischiewitz for one evening? Talk Back and Let Me Know.