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Stallman, Torvalds, Sakamura win Takeda Prize 184

hal_mit writes: "Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, and Ken Sakamura have been jointly awarded the first annual Takeda Foundation Prize, for "The origination and the advancement of open development models for system software - open architecture, free software and open source software". This is a major new recognition of the social value of free software and open source."
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Stallman, Torvalds, Sakamura win Takeda Prize

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  • by sllort ( 442574 ) on Friday October 12, 2001 @02:19PM (#2421504) Homepage Journal
    RMS should be pretty happy about this. Note that they listed him above Linus. That's Stallman/Torvalds.

  • Oh man... (Score:5, Funny)

    by btlzu2 ( 99039 ) on Friday October 12, 2001 @02:21PM (#2421518) Homepage Journal
    Guess who's going to reject it because it's not called the GNU/Takeda Foundation prize!
  • Is that the Takeda award is granted in 3 different areas.


    Sakamura, Stallma, and Torvalds were granted the award in the "Social/Economic Well-Being" category. This means that an international group has recognized that Linux and GNU pose great advantages over the current system of closed/secret source.


    Hopefully this recognition, and the 100 million yen prize will encourage further efforts to educate the masses.


    Anyone know how much 100 million yen is in american dollars?

  • Excellant (Score:4, Interesting)

    by SirSlud ( 67381 ) on Friday October 12, 2001 @02:22PM (#2421525) Homepage
    It is nice that there are concessions being made at this scale (such as these awards) that the open-source ideology definately has a place in a free-market world. Even nicer is that these awards do not seem to be tied to a singular (or multiple) corperate entity, unlike some other .com love-in awards and groups (like the webbies?)

    I'm more interested in seeing who will be getting these awards 5 years from now, once all the really obvious open-source prophets, kings and queens have gotten their past-due.
  • by trilucid ( 515316 ) <pparadis@havensystems.net> on Friday October 12, 2001 @02:22PM (#2421526) Homepage Journal

    Craig Mundie wins the CapitalGuy award for the most confusing contributions to the world of closed-source software. Mr. Mundie has generously made a grant to the Microsoft Foundation For Youth-Reeduction, his way of giving back to the loyal community that has honored him thusly.

    Marc Andreesen was on the list of nominees this year, but seems to have mysteriously vanished to the Isle of AOL (believed to be located somewhere in the South Media Sea).

    (disclaimer: it's supposed to be funny. please, no rotten eggs this time ;-] )

  • by MacGabhain ( 198888 ) on Friday October 12, 2001 @02:24PM (#2421537)

    I would like to introduce the MacGabhain Open Source Award. You may award it to anyone else you like, so long as you don't restrict them from awarding it to others. You may modify the award in any way you like, so long as that award may also be awarded by anyone else to anyone else. You must include the following statement in any issuance of this award:

    This award is or includes the MacGabhain Open Source Award. You may grant this award, either in its current form or in any modified form, to anyone provided you allow them to grant this award to anyone else and you include this statement in any granting of the award.

    • That's pretty good. The thing to do would be to set it up on a web site, perhaps with the condition that to grant the award you must explain to whom you are granting it and why. You would need to start out by granting it to at least 2 people. Then publish the succeeding grants and see what happens!

      sPh
  • Ken who? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by jeffy124 ( 453342 )
    Who is Ken Sakamura?? I probably know who he is, just never put a name with his actions. Did he come up with some major advancement in open-source?
    • Re:Ken who? (Score:4, Informative)

      by hoggoth ( 414195 ) on Friday October 12, 2001 @02:31PM (#2421587) Journal
      From the first page on the article linked above:

      Ken Sakamura is honored for developing and promoting the TRON open architecture, a real-time operating system specification for embedded systems.

      Now aren't you embarrassed?

      • i failed to mention one major thing -- im at work (military) behind firewalls blocking certain international domains. the .jp was a red flag to the firewall to deny me access :(

        so yes, i am sorta embarrased.
        • Just out of curiosity, what's the reasoning for blocking .jp site? Doesn't make any sense.
          • they block every international site that's not english speaking. For example, .au .ca and .uk are permitted, but anything else - nope.

            it is the military afterall, keep in mind not everything makes sense.

            someone (an ac) posted the google cache link, so at least i'll be able to use that if int'l sites crop up.
      • Re:Ken who? (Score:3, Funny)

        by sharkey ( 16670 )
        developing and promoting the TRON open architecture

        Neat! Does this mean I'll finally be able to get a lightcycle and one of those ass-kicking frisbees? Or is TRON not that far along? (I'd also like a Recognizer, BTW)

      • Open Source? Ahhh, after all, TRON was designed to liberate the system from the hideous MCP.

        I keeeck your ass with a frisbee!

        "SAAAAAAARK! Rise from the dead, SAAAARK!"

  • GNU/Takeda? I couldn't care less.... :-)
  • One day soon... (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by Ace905 ( 163071 )
    One day, in the not so far future, I think the ECA will be given this prestigious prize... and everyone will say, "I knew they were gonna get that darned prize all along... if only I had done more to support them in the beginning"...

    Or atleast... that's what people who don't know how to support the ECA would say, but luckily you can support the ECA just by spreading word of the Eggplant in all it's forms and variations.... but how do you do that? easy... click Eggplants! [eggforge.net].

    Eggplants! [eggforge.net]

  • Hmmm... (Score:2, Funny)

    by ajuda ( 124386 )
    They chose the three biggest names in open source. Let's see, Alan Cox will win next year, then who is left? They really should have paced themselves, they ran out of the big names far too quickly!

    • This award is not for excellent work in open source software. It is for "research achievements that began with a concern for human needs, and which have made an outstanding contribution to the industrial technologies intended to satisfy those needs."

      There are 3 catagories: social/economic, individual/humanity, and world/environmental.

      Research and engineering that produces benefits in each of these three catagories are acknowledged with the prize. This year, open source software got the nod for research that had social/economic benefit.

    • Re:Hmmm... (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Arandir ( 19206 )
      Wall, Van Rossum, McKusick, de Icaza, de Raadt, Dawes, Raymond, Perens, yada, yada, yada ad infinitum.
    • Andrew Tridgell and the Samba Team.

      Bruce Perens (hey, I'm using Busybox a lot at the moment).

      .. don't even get me started on the names behind such famous products as the *BSD's, Apache, KDE, Gnome, Postfix, GIMP...

      (and no, it's not because I'm too lazy to STFW to find out who they actually are ;)
  • "GNU is the forerunner of the recent open source movement."

    While most of us would probably agree with that statement, FSF would prefer the use of the term "Free Software Movement".

    GNOS: GNOS's Not Open Source ;-)

    Jason
  • From their literature it seems that Sakamura's project is influential in Japan, but it seems to be open only in the sense of having an open API. Does anyone know if their source is available?
    • Sakamura Lab. had been distributing ItIs [tut.ac.jp], a open-source implementation of ITRON [itron.gr.jp]. The maintainer (and the main author) of ItIs [tut.ac.jp], who was an assistant of Sakamura Lab, became an Associate Professor of Toyohashi Univ. of Technology, so the distribution site of ItIs was also moved to the new site. ItIs was based on the older spec of ITRON, so the another free ITRON implementaion based on the newest spec, TOPPERS/JSP [tut.ac.jp] is released and maintained well.

      Notes: Some links above include Japanese only pages.

  • Stick in the Mud? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by xanadu-xtroot.com ( 450073 ) <(moc.tibroni) (ta) (udanax)> on Friday October 12, 2001 @02:42PM (#2421648) Homepage Journal
    Hey!

    I hate to be a stick in the mud, but...
    I *KNOW* these folks have done wonders for us and the industry, but what about Allen? My impression of the guy (only from reading online interviews and such) is that he's not the sort of bloke that would really even think of getting recognised like this (I could be VERY wrong, I don't know the guy). But to recognise Linus (I know, he greatly helped start all this stuff, please don't flame me for that), is really electing a Poster Child (as he has said Himself).

    Sorry. I'm just helping vote for the Underdogs...


    (Man, I'm losing mod points like crazy latley...)
    • >what about Allen?

      For writing most of MS Basic while Gates was out playing poker? I'm not sure an award is the best way to recognise that particular achievement.
      • Well, actually, that's kinda my point. He's been doing a ton of work that not a whole lot of folks notice. Granted RedHat is paying him to do it and Linus has another job [transmeta.com], but still...

        I do agree, and certainly don't argue the point that, an "award" isn't the greatest way to say "thanx, man", but some mention of the guy would be nice...
    • by dinotrac ( 18304 ) on Friday October 12, 2001 @10:20PM (#2422938) Journal
      Don't you worry about Alan.

      I hear he's already working on an ac patch.

      The Takeda-ac prize won't get as much press attention, but it will get all of the best candidates before the "other" Takeda prize.

      Plus, it's unlikely ever to make a "brown paper bag" selection.
    • I *KNOW* these folks have done wonders for us and the industry, but what about Allen?

      Indeed. Where would computing be today if it weren't for guys like Tim demanding more power?
  • Open source software
    and open architecture
    Win Takeda Prize

  • Timely (Score:4, Funny)

    by hysterion ( 231229 ) on Friday October 12, 2001 @02:43PM (#2421658) Homepage
    The Takeda Foundation demonstrates a thourough understanding of Open Source. From the citation [takeda-foundation.jp]:
    Award recipients will be announced in early September of each year
  • by po8 ( 187055 ) on Friday October 12, 2001 @03:09PM (#2421783)

    Remember how, in Star Trek, it was/is the rule when citing history to give 3 sources: two of which you've heard of, and one which is apparently post 21st-century? You know, Kirk will talk about e.g. ``defenders of freedom like Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Ankuba of Sirius 43.''

    Meaning no disrespect to the fine work of any of the recipients of this generous prize, but...

    • If I wasn't a karma whore, thus refusing to mod, I'd have to give that a +1, Funny.

      • Hm? What's the karma whore / no mod connection? Does mod'ing now cost karma, or are you just worried about a negative meta-mod?

        • Negative meta-mod. I used to mod once or twice a week, and the burn rate on my karma was outrageous. And it's not as if anything I was modding was particularly odd or inappropriate. I tried following the guidelines, but it seems that many meta-modders don't understand them. I tried the 'underrated/overrated' trick for a while, but that was too dishonest. So I just marked 'unwilling to mod'.

    • Richard Stallman, Ken Sakamura, and Linus Torvalds, have been jointly awarded the first annual Takeda Foundation Prize,...

      Remember how, in Star Trek, it was/is the rule when citing history to give 3 sources: two of which you've heard of, and one which is apparently post 21st-century? You know, Kirk will talk about e.g. ``defenders of freedom like Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Ankuba of Sirius 43.''

      You've never heard of Linus Torvalds?!?!

      -- MarkusQ

    • Like the children's rhyme in This Perfect Day, by Ira Levin, naming the great socialists.

      Christ, Marx, Wood and Wei, we thank you for this perfect day. ... Marx, Wood, Wei and Christ, all but Wei were sacrificed.

  • After reading the "tell all" [slashdot.org] interview what are the odds that Linus:
    1. Doesn't know?
    2. Doesn't care?
    3. "really likes our filesystem layer"
    • 4. Cowboy Neal.
      • by Anonymous Coward
        It is not unpatriotic to exercise your rights and it is un-American to suggest otherwise.

        What does "un-American" mean?

        You can't mean it's unpatriotic to suggest otherwise, since anyone making that suggestion would be merely exercising their rights, which you categorically state is not unpatriotic.

        Do you mean that suggesting otherwise is something that Americans don't do? If so I think you're so obviously wrong it's difficult to see how you could have reached that conclusion.

  • Anyone know how Linus' book is selling? Is that information available on the web?

    With the likely dissolution of Transmeta in about one year's time (at their current cash burn rate) it will be nice to see Linus get this money. From reading his book, I got the impression that Linus spent most of his stock option money on his house.

    Also we might as well begin this speculation now: where will Linus work after Transmeta?
    • Anyone know how Linus' book is selling?
      According to
      http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1587990 80 6/o/qid=1002929163/sr=2-2/ref=sr_bt_2/202-9281352- 4689406
      'Just For Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary' by Linus Torvalds, David Diamond, is the 3769th best selling book in Amazon UK.
      So a real mass market success...
  • Recognition (Score:1, Insightful)

    by ZaneMcAuley ( 266747 )
    I am a dev myself but one thing that is too common is the attitude to the other people within te software development process. Testers.

    What about testers next? Without them we would still be hacking blindly. Personally I think testers dont get enough recognition. I personally thank testers for helping me write good scaleable, solid, reliable secure code.
  • by Darth RadaR ( 221648 ) on Friday October 12, 2001 @03:32PM (#2421910) Journal
    You Takeda Prize.
    \(^_^)/
  • Major recognition? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ldopa1 ( 465624 ) on Friday October 12, 2001 @03:34PM (#2421924) Homepage Journal
    "This is a major new recognition of the social value of free software and open source."

    I hadn't even heard of the Takeda Prize until this article. If someone like me, who it very up to date on technology doesn't have the slightest clue about what the Takeda Prize means, or what it would be for, how can you call it major recognition? If nobody knows about it, it isn't major. There aren't exactly a half-billion people rearranging their dinner schedules to catch the Takeda Prize.

    Which leads me to another point; This is the first annual Takeda Prize. Again, I ask, how is this "major recognition"? This isn't the Nobel Prize, which is 100 years old and internationally recognized. This isn't even the Pulitzer Prize, which ANYONE can enter.

    Yes, I realize that the Nobel Prize was once new, and it takes time. I just don't see it as major recognition.

    BTW: I won this year's First Annual Nimrod Prize for Outstanding Slashdot Commentary. This is a major new recognition of the social value of LDOPA1's digital literature.

    See my point?

    Moderators: This isn't Flamebait, it's textual criticism [m-w.com]. There is a difference.
    • by Anonymous Coward
      While we haven't heard of this, it is probably because it is centered in Japan. A lot of things happen in Japan, you know. They have this whole other language, culture, and prizes...

      I don't know if this is a big thing that most Japanese know about, but regardless, just because us geeks haven't heard of it, doesn't mean its bullshit!

      jdandr2@uky.edu (forgot slashdot password)
    • Considering the prize is 100 million yen, or over 800,000 US dollars, the prize IS significant. Nobel Prize winners split just under a million US dollars. This isn't too far off.
  • TRON Inside? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by JasonAsbahr ( 54085 )
    Just curious, I've heard of TRON, but I don't what specific products actually use it. How many TRON-based Japanese products are in our homes right now?

    Jason
  • Just how many other open source projects have there been that are successful?

    Seriously, there just aren't that many projects out there with universal recognition, let alone acceptance.

    Here's a prediction for next year's winners:
    1. Larry Wall
    2. Guido Van Rossum
    or
    3. whoever invented TCL or Beowolf.

    And then we're fresh out of winners for all subsequent years. It'll be worse than the Oscars.
  • Yeah, patting yourself on the back in the form of gratutious awards is a super nifty keen way to gain "respectability" when most people won't give you the "Time of Day" award.

    I'm not ragging on open source it is just that touting Open Source awards given by Open Source people is like buying yourself a birthday present when no one cares enough to give you one. With all due respect, who outside the "Open Source World" gives a rat's shit?
    • I'm not ragging on open source it is just that touting Open Source awards given by Open Source people is like buying yourself a birthday present when no one cares enough to give you one. With all due respect, who outside the "Open Source World" gives a rat's shit?

      Other than the fact that it was won by people involved in open source, the award is not in any sense an "Open Source Award".

      It's an award for "Techno-Entrepreneurial Achievement for Social/Economic Well-Being". There was no reason that it couldn't have been awarded to people working on closed source software. There doesn't seem to be any link between the Takeda Foundation and open source software. It doesn't seem to be in any way a foregone conclusion that this award would go to people working on open source software.

      If you know of some reason to believe otherwise then say what it is, otherwise complaining about "Open Source Awards given by Open Source people" is totally irrelevant to the award under discussion here.
  • I've heard of Stallman and Sakamura, but who is this Torvalds guy?

    :)
    • I've heard of Stallman and Sakamura, but who is this Torvalds guy?

      Oh, right, not many people are heard of him... Linus Thorwalds is a Norwegian fisherman who designed an embeddable operating system for use in trawlers. Or something. =)

      (this is a legendary parody of one particularly typoful/misinformationary computer glossary somewhere...)

  • Oh the sad irony that the figures are in format based upon a software patent. See the FSF's Why no GIFs? [gnu.org] for details. As an aside there is an open source OS that supports the uITRON 3.0 API and POSIX -- RTEMS [rtems.com]. Congratulations to all recipients. The projects are definitely worthy. --joel
  • From The Takeda Foundation [takeda-foundation.jp]: "Each award will be accompanied by a monetary prize of 100 million yen."
    The XE.com Universal Currency Converter [xe.com] yields these figures:

    100,000,000.00 Japan Yen =
    $825,900.067 United States Dollars

    This is $275,300 USD for each of the awardees.

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