Ask Alan Cox, Activist

Alan Cox is one of the world's most famous Linux kernel hackers. Lately he's been speaking out quite a bit on issues like copyright law, software patents, and the future of Linux, and has generally become a bit more politically active, at least in the public eye, than he was in the past. Slashdot interviewed Alan back in 1999. Lots of things have changed since then, but our interview procedure hasn't; one question per post, we send 10 of the highest-moderated ones to Alan, and post his answers verbatim as soon as he gets them back to us.

Vodak's First Question

[Vodak]

What are your feelings on something like GeekPAC?

European DMCA

[Yohahn]

Given that you won't visit the USA given the enactment of the DMCA. If the DMCA equivalent passes in Europe, will you move? If so, is there anywhere that is safe from this kind of insane law (it sounds like peru may be a new haven for free software)?

Free vs Commercial

[div_2n]

With free versions of software such as Open Office constantly improving, what place do you perceive commercial software to have in the free software world as free alternatives mature to an acceptable and usable state?

If the dmca, or europes version...

[Jacer]

make linux illegal, how would you react? would you continue work on the kernel?

Linux over the nest 5 years

[crumbz]

Alan:

What do you see as being the most important developmental direction that Linux will take over the next 5 years?
Big iron, embedded systems, desktops, PDAs, gaming system OS? Application suites, fixed use applications, games?

How do you expect to be listened to?

[autocracy]

In a world where politicians are a taxable asset (ok, no - but they ought to be), how do you expect anything that you push to work? DMCA is a very easy to find example. If you were to speak out against that, how would you do that so as to have an actual impact? Money talks really loud, and unless we're taking up bribes...

Copyright Laws and the Public

[1+(smarterThanYou)]

Do you feel that the current trend the Government is showing of providing more protection to Big Business over consumers/American Public is in violation of the Rights of the People that the Government is supposed to be in place to protect? Do you think that the Government will ever get rid of the DMCA and other bills protecting Businesses over Consumer's Rights and start to protect the people they were sworn to protect?

Linux politics

[adam613]

Mr. Cox -

Your famous series of -AC kernel patches is described by most as being much more experimental than Linus's kernels. Do you feel that Linux should be an experimental OS rather than one which is designed for production use? Or do you write these patches to take Linux closer to (or beyond it's limits) in the spirit of kernel hacking?

The future of Linux

[halftrack]

With the rise of KDE3, increased user friendlyness and "simple" distros such as Mandrake and Lindows. Do you belive the development of Linux and the open source comunity would be harmed in any way, if Linux ever became mainstream?

Have you ever considered a run for politcal office

[linzeal]

Would you think that you or a person like yourself would be suited to lifestyle of a politician? Would such a platform as what you have been proposing (against the slow but certain erosion of core technological and civil liberties) give more effect to your voice and the voices of countless others who support you or would it merely serve as an easily ridiculed figurehead?

I'm a supporter of direct action myself, and see a lot more utility in public debate & protest than I do in politics.

What is your political goal?

[Capt_Troy]

Alan-

What is the goal you hope to obtain in regard to the DMCA dispute? How to you intend to meet those goals ?

Personally, I think that as time passes, people will become more and more technical and eventually the absurdity of the DMCA will be exposed on a more general population than just the techies that it is now. So the nest means to an end IMHO is educating the general public. Is this your intention?

-Troy

Past Interview.

[reactivo]

Would be interesting if Alan Cox Answers the same questions of the last interview after 3 years.

GPL and BSD et al

[gnujoshua]

In your mind, when does a license stop allowing you enough freedom to work with it, that is develop code underneath that license? (e.g. GPL, LGPL, BSD, or some other less restrictive license that allows for intergration with proprietary software)

Another one

[adam613]

Mr Cox:

What are your feelings on microkernels vs. monolithic kernels? Linux attempts to be both through the use of loadable modules; is this an ideal answer to the question? How do you define what is an essential component of an operating system kernel?

Kernel Trees

[wizkid]

Over the last year, the Linux kernel has been developing more branches.

With more branches of the kernel popping up all the time, are you concerned with managing a stable kernel with the latest drivers? What problems with kernel tree management do you see in the future!

PS: DCMA SUCKS!

Re:The future of Linux

[Telastyn]

Yes. *duh*

A more interesting question I think would be:

What are your views, as they pertain to *nix in the mainstream, of OS X? Does it hurt or help Linux's chance in the area, or allow Linux to perhaps concentrate on server side areas?

Security for RedHat's Kernel

[iamsure]

As someone in the Information Security field, I am constantly working to improve the security of Linux machines.

One of the low points of Linux administration is that very few daemons are chroot'd, and the few that are, dont have much protection because of the Linux kernel's very weak chroot protection.

Projects like OpenWall [openwall.com], GRSecurity [grsecurity.net], and SELinux [nsa.gov] (from the NSA), all attempt different solutions to this problem.

Of course, they are all incompatible with each other, but the problem remains that the Linux kernel, as shipped by RedHat is insecure when it comes to chroot protection.

Will this ever change, does RedHat care, and if so, which of these projects do you personally feel is most appropriate to lead the way in the future?

What should we fear the most?

[jmv]

There are many plagues that threaten the open-source community and even the software industry in general. There are software patents, DMCA and the like, frivolous lawsuits, MS bullying to name a few. In your opinion which one is the most dangerous? Also, what do you think is the best way to fight it?

The average user

[YanceyAI]

Alan, I use a Mac at work for general administrative work and some desktop publishing. At home, I use Windows, mostly for gaming and surfing the net. I like the idea of Linux, but am not yet convinced enough to go through any trouble to do it and then have to worry about compatability issues. What argument would you use to persuade me (and others standing on the fence)?

How to live from GPL software?

[GdoL]

I'm a young developer with 10 years experience on programming with a MS on computer science. What can I do to live only from free programming?

Microsoft .NET and Linux

[SL33Z3]

What are your feelings on Microsoft's .NET and any initiatives to make the technology work on Linux?

Do you have any other interests?

[gosand]

Alan,

Do you have any other interests, besides Linux? I know in order to get to the "guru" status you have to be pretty dedicated to one thing. But what else do you like? Or are you a 100% Linux-kernel-hacker? I swear I saw you the other day riding a Harley. ;-)

Linux and the other Nix's

[alfredo]

Would you go to work for Apple if they wanted you to work on their Darwin project? If yes, explain and likewise if the answer is no.

RedHat's stand

[jdavidb]

I admire your firm convictions and the stands you take on various issues. I also admire RedHat's stand on shipping (almost) exclusively free software. (For example, I think they didn't ship KDE for awhile when it was non-free, and they replaced Netscape with Mozilla as soon as they could. AFAIK, Netscape was the only non-free component of RedHat from 7.0 or earlier onward.)

My question is, do you feel that part of RedHat's commitment to free software is based on keeping you satisfied working with the company? Does a possibility of losing their biggest-name developer help to keep them from changing their model too drastically?

Linux in the developing world

[fruey]

I work in Morocco and travel around Africa, where I have seen a small base of Linux installations being put to good work. It helps leverage more power per server per dollar spent, and keeps any of the money from going to Microsoft. I am, in my own small way, trying to champion that issue here. All that needs to be paid is labour costs, and this can usually be kept within the local market, benefitting local companies. Of course, European and sometimes American gurus also get paid to come out here, but are more likely to be Cisco engineers and commercial firewall types.

Have you been involved in any "Linux for development" type issues?

I would have linked to another post I made in more depth about this but I can't get at it, it's more than 25 posts ago :-(

The ultimate question...

[OpCode42]

The ultimate question to OSS, kernels and everything...

vi or emacs?

Piracy.

[halftrack]

Plain and simple. What's your take on piracy and acceptable means to fight it?

Web Server embedded in Kernel?

[Anonymous Coward]

Alan,

I read a while ago in an article on eweek.com that you were working on a mini web server that is part of the kernel, similar to what Novell has done with Netware 5.X. This would be great, enabling basic server management over http but not requiring a full-blown service to be running.

What is happening with this project? Was it abandoned, not technically feasible, or is progress being made?

Thanks in advance, and thanks for all the fine work you've put into the community!

make Europa

[BESTouff]

Alan, Europa is building now, and many free software residents fear it'll adopt the American model wrt software patents, DMCA, etc. What are, in your enlighted opinion, the steps individuals can take to prevent such a thing to happen ?

Microsoft's attitude towards GNU and Linux

[Bilbo]

Not too long ago, Bill Gates and Microsoft treated Linux as little more than an annoyance -- a pesky gnat buzzing in their ear, but of no particular significance to anyone other than geeks and raving, MS bashing loonies. In the past few years however, this attitude has taken an abrupt turn, to the point where Microsoft in one statement declared Linux as their #1 threat.

Obviously, a lot of this is marketing bravado and chest-beating, with Microsoft alternately dismissing Linux (when talking to their clients about OS choices), or trumpeting Linux as a serious competitive threat (when talking to the lawyers/politicians/judges in the Antitrust trial).

In your opinion, what fundamental changes have taken place deep down in Microsoft's attitude towards Open Source/GNU software (including, but not limited to Linux as an OS), and how has that change shifted the playing field?

Binary Kernel Modules

[Anonymous Coward]

Based on this lkml thread [zork.net] it sounds like you are against binary only kernel modules (e.g. the National Instruments GPIB driver [ni.com]). What is your stance on the legality, morality, and practicality of binary only kernel modules? Specifically, is a binary only kernel module a violation of the GPL or DMCA, and if so, why? Isn't a binary kernel module driver better than no driver at all?

When did you decide to become an activist?

[Kasreyn]

What specific issue (software patents / DMCA abuses / Linux issues / other) was the "straw that broke the camel's back", such that you decided to become so much more active politically?

Thanks,

-Kasreyn

Still MUDding?

[dorzak]

Alan, you were one of the coders, if not the primary coder behind AberMUD. Do you still play around with the MUD scene?

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Kernel drivers

[C0vardeAn0nim0]

Waiting for new open source drivers to be included in the kernel is a pain in the rear-end, and when they finally arrive the hardware may even be obsolete. install proprietary drivers suplied by the manufacturer is also annoying, and usually requires a recompilation, something average users don't know how or don't want to do and finally, some hardware manufactures don't like the idea of releasing source drivers in order to protect their "secrets".

I consider this as a major impediment to the acceptance of linux as a mainstream desktop OS. don't you think is about time to create a standard, wrapper for binary drivers that'll allow hardware manufacturers to:

1- create closed source drivers;
2- make the closed source drivers kernel version independent
3- make it simple to "joe average" to install new hardware such as a video card and the related drivers ?

Of Security: Linux and Microsoft

[dbretton]

Alan,

On the enterprise side, one of the greatest strengths of Linux has been its ability to be an extremely secure OS.
Now that Microsoft has shifted its focus [com.com] to security being the top priority, and given their ability to shift gears extremely quickly and effectively (ala Internet Explorer), it is quite apparent that Microsoft will be contending for top honors in the security area within the next 2-3 years.

What impact, if any, do you perceive this having on Linux development, Linux deployment, and the Linux community in general?

Linux & Hardware

[Jedi1USA]

Greetings Alan,
I am new to Linux and have been working on getting my system up and properly configured. The biggest stumbling block for me has been difficulty getting hardware problems properly diagnosed and correctly configured. I have talked to several people and this has been a common gripe. In my opinion, this is a major reason that Linux has not spread more quickly in the desktop arena. In your opinion, are there things that the Open Source community should do to improve this situation? Or do you feel this is entirely the fault of Hardware manufactures for not releasing better drivers/tools for their hardware under Linux?

organizing the OSS community for activism

[akb]

Free software programmers and the extended community are arguably the most organized non-hierarchical, grassroots constituency in the world. The community includes the tens of thousands developers and millions of endusers tightly networked through institutions like sourceforge, slashdot, countless LUGs, etc. The ability to produce projects of the scale and complexity of the Linux kernel, the Debian distribution, or the engineering behind the Internet itself is a testament to the community's ability to organize more than anything else.

Despite this incredible organizing for software production, support and distribution very little of this gets translated into the political realm. In his last slashdot interview [slashdot.org] Lawerence Lessig chided the community for this.

Organizers of traditional political campaigns for social justice or equitable distribution of power would drool over having a constituency as organized as that which we have. How do you think the community can translate its effective organizing in the technical arena into the political realm?

A programming question

[Anonymous Coward]

What is the nicest, most elegant, simplest and just
cool programming trick you've seen while hacking kernel?

Grand unification of everything

[guacamolefoo]

AC:

There has been much talk of linux development fragmenting. This is a real risk, but I am seeing a different story taking place that to me is of more lasting importance:

1. Apple has moved toward *nix (albeit not linux) with OS X, essentially being Borged into a free (but somewhat customized) *nix.

2. Sun seems (to me) to be having trouble with Linux eroding its user base.

3. IBM has backed linux in a big way and is reaping big dividends.

4. Linux is being moved into virtually every kind of device imaginable, from PDAs to servers to desktops to embedded systems to routers.

5. Windows servers, while very popular, are becoming harder to rationalize in terms of price/performance and (currently) security (although MS has sworn to change this).

The desktop, in corporate america and in the home, appears to be the last reservation for MS.

Is the current state of (free) *nix really this good or is this a Pollyanna summary? Is winning the desktop battle really that important anymore? Was it ever?

Guac-foo.

Re:Kernel drivers

[CJ Hooknose]

Waiting for new open source drivers to be included in the kernel is a pain in the rear-end, and when they finally arrive the hardware may even be obsolete.

Examples, please? I know of a few things that are not well-supported--Kyro video cards, really cheap software modems, really cheap USB devices, and really cheap printers--but your question is pretty nebulous.

install proprietary drivers suplied by the manufacturer is also annoying, and usually requires a recompilation,

nVidia's evil binary-only X server and kernel module doesn't require this, presuming you're using a distro-supplied kernel (as all the newbies you're referring to will do.) Just install the proper nVidia RPM! Heck, SuSE 8.0 has very recent builds of those, and the installer asks you if you want to use them, should it detect an nVidia card in the system. The Lucent Winmodem drivers also have RPMs available for Redhat and some other distros.

create a standard wrapper for binary drivers that'll allow hardware manufacturers to make the closed source drivers kernel version independent

This is a very nontrivial task. A better solution has been implemented in the nVidia and Lucent modules I mentioned--there's a source wrapper distributed with a big chunk of binary code, you recompile the source wrapper against the kernel headers of the kernel version you want to use, and bingo, you've got a module that works. This approach avoids the kludge of putting together a binary interface, and puts the burden of hardware support directly on the manufacturer, where it really belongs.

make it simple to "joe average" to install new hardware such as a video card and the related drivers ?

Something you may not know is that XFree86 4.N has an abstract binary interface that allows people like nVidia and Kyro to create binary-only X servers. The problem is that, for various reasons, most of the binary-only X servers currently available also rely on binary-only kernel modules to do some work. (one part of the nVidia module actually emulates part of the Windows Registry... gack.)

Linux vs commercial UNIX Systems

[isa-kuruption]

Over the past year more than previous, more and more organizations have switched to Linux, however some companies (such as the Fortune 100 I work for) still struggle to get Linux in house. The question is, what technological advantage does Linux have over commercial UNIX systems? (aside from the multiple-platform idea)... and of course, what technological advancements will Linux have in the next 2-3 years that will truelly give Linux the advantage over traditional commercial UNIX systems in Fortune 100 companies where money really is not the issue?

The end of cheap "open" hardware?

[I91MM]

Alan,

It looks like us PC hardware hackers are likely to have a much harder time in the next ten to twenty years as the average (desktop) PC becomes increasingly integrated. I see a trend away from the PC of today towards an increasingly closed 'black box' where the components are no longer a set of cards which are easily replacable. This is inevitable, especially at the lower end of the PC market, since increasing integration leads to lower costs for the manufacturers. Correspondingly, custom hardware will become more expensive and be increasingly restricted to the high end...

How do you think such a trend away from "open" hardware would affect open source development, especially at the lower end of the spectrum? As the computer becomes more and more of a mysterious black box, do you think that the would-be hardware hackers of tomorrow are more likely to turn towards software and application development, and would this be mostly good or mostly bad for open source software (more applications/systems programmers, but fewer hardware-level programmers)?

-Malcolm.

Re:The future of Linux wrt OS X

[IamTheRealMike]

Following this one up, what is your take on OS X as a whole?

You once mentioned that how open the source was is largely irrelevant, what matters is open standards and interfaces. Apple has opened up some their code, but considering that large parts of the most important components are closed, and their interfaces are protected by patents and IP law, should OS X be seen as a threat to open computing?

What could kill Linux?

[jukal]

Name your horror scenario:
What incidents would compose a paralyzing blow to the Linux "momentum". Do you believe Linux is immune for the loss or sudden mental illness of 10 key persons for example? Why? Or could, these core people, including you, deliver a killing blow by poisoned decisions, for example?

what can I do against European DMCA?

[Pflipp]

Why the hell doesn't anyone ask this?

Oh wait, that's not my question to AC. This is:

I haven't been able to act against the DMCA much, because I'm not an American and thus haven't got much ground to criticise the American law system (even if I'd like to). But I'm Dutch and I would love to take any opportunity to act against restricting acts within Europe, of course. I've been informed by Slashdot [slashdot.org] lately that such acts are in the making. Some guy named Alan Cox seems very exited, but the article doesn't direct me, as European citizen proposing such laws, further.

...where the heck can I go?

Weaknesses of Unix and Linux in particular

[raahul_da_man]

Alan, after all your years in the field, what do you think is the biggest problem in Unix,and linux in general that is still unaddressed?

Pessimists Question

[Empty_One]

With things like the DCMA seeming to spread out across the world, and worse bills on the horizon, how worse do you think it is going to get before people come to their senses, and things come around. More importantly, do you see things ever turning around?

what do you run?

[chr15m]

Alan, What do you run? which kernel, window manager, desktop, widgets, editors, and favorite programs?