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Sundance Channel Showing "Revolution OS" Monday Night 300

Posted by chrisd from the nick-moffitt-and-I-baking-under-the-sun-for-art dept.
SnickleFritz writes "Monday the 18th at 9pm the Sundance Film channel will be broadcasting a documentary about the OSS Movement. It will feature interviews with Linus Torvalds, Eric Raymond and Richard Stallman. It labels them as "computer visionaries." While it will probably be old news to most people here, I will still tape it and loan it to every OSS doubting Thomas in my shop." CD: It should be noted that cmdrtaco is in this, talking about free software while lounging on an inflatable sofa at linuxworld. Clearly you'll want to go buy a big screen TV to watch this. This is the same movie that was screened at SXSW last year and at LinuxWorld a few times. Other people featured in the movie include Michael Tiemann, Bruce Perens and Larry Augustin.
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Sundance Channel Showing "Revolution OS" Monday Night More

Sundance Channel Showing "Revolution OS" Monday Night

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  • I don't get Sundance. Somebody want to tape it and mail me a copy? ;-)

  • Help (Score:2, Funny)

    by alexmogil ( 442209 )
    It should be noted that cmdrtaco is in this, talking about free software while lounging on an inflatable sofa at linuxworld. Clearly you'll want to go buy a big screen TV to watch this.

    Am I seeing a jab here, or is my humor a bit off today?

  • yeah, I just can't wait (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    And the god's speak again! Let's all rally behind what they say, like sheep.

    • It should be noted that cmdrtaco is in this, talking about free software while lounging on an inflatable sofa at linuxworld. Clearly you'll want to go buy a big screen TV to watch this.

      Wow...Rob Malda and Open Source Software and an inflatable sofa?

      Where's my wallet?...I'm gonna go get me a big screen TV and a TiVo!

  • ESR? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Dionysus ( 12737 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:33PM (#3160293) Homepage
    Will ESR talk about how M$ will collapse within six months again?
    • He never said Microsoft would collapse. He said their market dominance would erode within six months so they would no longer enjoy the monopoly status they do now. Don't recall if he was talking about server side, desktop, or something else, though. I also don't know how you'd test that statement, but in any case, he wasn't as far out-of-whack with his prediction as you think he was.
  • I've never heard of the Sundance Channel, I can't get to film festivals or linux conferences, but I'd still like to see it.

    Did the filmmakers take Stallman's rantings to heart and distribute the film under a free liscence? Can a copy be obtained online?

  • heh (Score:4, Funny)

    by nomadic ( 141991 ) <`nomadicworld' `at' `gmail.com'> on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:33PM (#3160300) Homepage
    They've been running commercials on IFC for a few days; first time I saw I had a moment of cognitive dissonance--"Wha? What's Richard Stallman doing in my TV? He's supposed to be in my computer..."

    • Re:heh (Score:3, Funny)

      by AnalogBoy ( 51094 )
      And all this time, *I* thought he was supposed to be in a mental institution :)

    • Re:heh (Score:3, Interesting)

      by dwbryson ( 104783 )
      I saw this movie in denver when it was here for a film festival a couple months ago. And the director JTS Moore had a little question/answer session afterwards. He said that during the 6-9 months he filmed this he interviewed RMS like 4 times on different trips to the east cost( a couple months apart) and *every time* he was wearing the same shirt. Watch the movie, look at his shirt... same in ever shot... you'd think it was shot in one sitting... but you'd be wrong.
      • Geez. I tend to do the same thing. Have for years.
        I like big, floppy tees with pockets. They don't restrict, and leave my neck alone. This reassures me that I am Safe(tm).
        Maybe the familiar textures and aroma(s) allow one to maintain a connection to a known and stable frame of mind.. Eccentrics have long been known to carry some comfortable element of their environs around with them for this very reason.
        Einstein would be a good example of the aforementioned fussiness.

      • Maybe he's like a cartoon character with a closet full of the same shirts.

  • Publicity (Score:2, Insightful)

    by littlerubberfeet ( 453565 )
    I think that any publicity showing the 'alternate' (non-wondows) side of computing is good. Linux and the other non-mainstream systems deserve some amount of publicity along with the people behind them. What was that movie, made for TV on TNT I think it was called Pirates of Silicon Valley. Hopefully this will be a little better.

  • the sundance channel?! (Score:4, Funny)

    by edrugtrader ( 442064 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:34PM (#3160305) Homepage
    what cable package comes with that?! time to get the old black box out.

  • Don't you mean.... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:36PM (#3160306)
    GNU/Visionaries?

  • Awesome! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Oliver Defacszio ( 550941 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:36PM (#3160307)
    Yeah, show a whole bunch of people who have never heard of OSS before Stallman and Raymond. If you're lucky, Stallman will spend a half-hour flipping out over the term "open source" and Raymond will regail us all with his harrowing ascent into riches. Why not throw Dan Bernstein or Theo de Raadt in there too, just to make sure absolutely everyone is turned off?

    I've said it before and I'll say it again- using those two malcontented weirdos to "sell" anything is professional suicide.

    • ESR'll give us some "sex tips for geeks" too!

      C-X C-S

    • Re:Awesome! (Score:3, Funny)

      by Fweeky ( 41046 )
      > I've said it before and I'll say it again- using
      > those two malcontented weirdos to "sell" anything
      > is professional suicide.

      Yup, never mind breaking up Microsoft or forcing them to open their API's, just make them to take on RMS as their chief marketing bod.

      Of course, we'll have to run him through a copy of sed -e s/GNU/Microsoft/ first to make sure he has the desired effect.
      • Hmm, is that really a good idea? I already see him harpng on about Microsoft/LInux and MIcrosoft HURD...

        No, don't run 'im through sed. RMS is great like that as he is ;-) (yes, that's sarcasm)

    • Re:Awesome! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Theo DeRaadt ( 322600 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @11:50PM (#3160871) Homepage Journal
      Why would it be a problem if I were to be on the show? I've created the most secure, stable operating system available under a truely Free license. I forked from NetBSD. I turned shit into gold with my Midas touch. People ought to be paying me to appear on television.

      If nothing else catches their eye about open source software, maybe it would be the assurance that a team of experienced developers out there are developing the next generation of freely available information security tools (OpenSSH and OpenSSL, anyone?) that are already tightly integrated with a strong, BSD-based OS. We've already started working closely with several crypto-card manufacturers to write drivers for lightning-fast VPNs.

      You are right about ESR, though. He's a nut.

    • I dunno, I head Heaven's Gate still has an opening or two...

  • Shameless.... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:36PM (#3160310)
    This story was shamelessly ripped from kuro5hin [kuro5hin.org]

    see? [kuro5hin.org]

    Lets give credit where credit is due
    • maybe the same person submitted it to both sites...

    • Re:Shameless.... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Surt ( 22457 ) on Thursday March 14, 2002 @10:59AM (#3162376) Homepage Journal
      oh the kuroshin jealousy is just so transparent it's painful to watch. many people who submit stories submit them to multiple sites, hoping to get noticed somewhere. slashdot just has better quality control than kuroshin, so it takes a little longer for the stories to get posted (not that slashdot quality is perfect, just better than kuroshin).
  • It's nice to see OSS moving to the mainstream, if only on a cable channel. The web site [revolution-os.com] has a lot of reviews but doesn't really suggest a mainstream audience. Probably it would be mostly people who are power users of Windows or else programmers who already understand the significance of OSS. I hope it does signify a trend, though.
    • Moving to mainstream??? I am not sure about the rest of the people here but I have certainly never heard of the Sundance Channel before I read this post. Sundance Film Festival yes but not the channel. Does anyone here acutally get the Sundance Channel with their cable?

      Maybe someone can put it up on the web so we can all see it

  • I think I understand now.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by evilviper ( 135110 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:37PM (#3160316) Journal
    So, everything related to GNU or Linux is revolutionary, but the thousands of people writing Open Source operating systems & programs before the GPL got popular, were just a fluke? Just and oddity that doesn't deserve a second look?

    Or are we just pandering to your love of buzzwords? Oh yeah, make sure you have an American Flag in the corner too... That would complete the picture.
    • To come together on a project of this scale is indeed revolutionary. Nice troll though.
    • I concur...the BSD folks were far more visionary...they kinda invented the concept of built-in networking and made a very nice portable interface for networking (sockets)...they invented the visual editor (vi)...and they wrote the first alternative to the Bourne shell (csh)

      Now those are visionaries...I appreciate the work of Linus and crew, but for all intents and purposes they're rewriting UNIX...the BSD folks did that more than 20 years ago.

  • Is this the one with.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by antis0c ( 133550 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:37PM (#3160318)
    ..the nude commentary by Cowboyneal at end? .. No wait.. that was a drea.... nevermind.

  • Encode it in Divx (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Link-chan ( 566296 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:39PM (#3160328) Homepage
    Someone should encode it in Divx for all the Slashdotters. I might not be able to see it (not sure if I have the Sundance channel) and others might not be able to see it either.

  • Kewl (Score:1)

    by zuriW ( 566212 )
    If someone sent me a VHS of it, i wouldn't mind ripping it and hosting it on my dsl line... ..wait - I don't wanna get slashdottet! (Besides I live in denmark :P ) First post ever! - N00b, I know :/
    • ...yes, but 'kewl' is so 18 months ago. Maybe its just getting to denmark. Congrats on the FP.

      ***A bean has whipped you into Java***
      • Personal Memo: Never use those darn "cool danish expressions" again" *slips back under the rock from which i came* "Ya'll haven't seen the last og me - and yes, that is a threat" Goddamn... to much beer @ 2.25 in the morning... hehe
  • The Hawaii International Film Festival rolled this out last year too. It was great!! The theatre was packed (over 200 people), and the movie itself was excellent. The history behind the cyGNUs name is rather interesting.
  • cmdrtaco is in this, talking about free software while lounging on an inflatable sofa

    Actually, I saw something similar to this recently, only with CowboyNeal instead. Interestingly enough, the programme didn't seem to be related to free software.

  • Oh no! I'm afraid I'm going to have to miss it this time. I have to watch Ally McBeal, and I haven't figured out how to record one channel while watching another...
    • Revolution OS shows at:
      • 3/18 9:00pm
      • 3/22 6:00pm
      • 3/24 1:00pm

      Gotta love TiVO listings. DirecTiVO takes care of that watch one record another thing just fine, too.

  • Argh.. don't copy it.. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by divert ( 188449 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:44PM (#3160359) Homepage
    Ehh.. the video isn't GPLed.. don't copy it.. go here.. http://www.revolution-os.com/page1.html and do as it says.. mail them and hopefully they will put it out on video or DVD then you can buy it..
    • Isn't that the whole idea behind this darn "open" and "free" movement?! HAHA just kidding... there was sarcasme there. But seriously, do I have to still pay?

      VooDoo on your SIG

  • Weeeeee! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Leven Valera ( 127099 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:45PM (#3160365) Homepage Journal
    Clearly you'll want to go buy a big screen TV to watch this.

    It's the only way they could fit RMS's ego on the screen. :)

    Relax, it's a joke. I can feel the flames already.

    • Re:Weeeeee! (Score:2, Flamebait)

      by MisterBlister ( 539957 )
      RMS isn't even that fat compared to most of these other tubby OSS hippies. He is, however, clearly nuts.
      • "RMS isn't even that fat compared to most of these other tubby OSS hippies. He is, however, clearly nuts."

        This moderating system is a bit wierd. I wanted like hell to rate the above statement "redundant" simply because it contained the words "RMS", "hippies" and "nuts". Then I realized that would take points away from the poster.

        I'll just go home now....

    • Yeah, like the rest of the list are the meek who will inherit the earth. What a load of flerbage.

      :)

    • Re:Weeeeee! (Score:2, Informative)

      by nomadic ( 141991 )
      Flames? For making fun of RMS? Geeze, why does everyone on here do that.

      "Oh, I'll get flamed/modded down for this, but I think RMS has an ego".

      For some reason this aspect of /. just irritates the hell out of me; it's like, "I know I'll get modded down for expressing these views that everyone else on slashdot agrees with, but [extremely popular view]."

      It's like the people who insist they're going to get modded down for criticizing windows, but here goes.

  • sorry (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    But I don't think this will have enough sex and action for me.

    • Re:sorry (Score:3, Funny)

      by scorcherer ( 325559 )
      Dunno about action, but you never know what you get when RMS is involved.
    • The car chases and the hotel lobby shootout are supposed to be really good.

      I heard RMS had to train for three months to get the kung fu down.
      (Once he did, he renamed it Kung/Gnu)

  • Huge? (Score:5, Funny)

    by DeadBugs ( 546475 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @08:51PM (#3160388) Homepage
    "cmdrtaco is in this, ....while lounging on an inflatable sofa at linuxworld. Clearly you'll want to go buy a big screen TV to watch this"

    Now I have never seen 'taco but is he a large man that requires an extra size TV to view?
  • Does anyone have hard numbers as to the popularity and coverage of the Sundance channel? I tried a Google search after seeing several people here comment that they don't get it, but was unable to find anything. I was able to find that they are affiliated with the sundance film festival, which is for indy-films only. See http://www.sundancechannel.com/about/

    (Hopefully this doesn't spark another Altavista vs. Google debate...)
  • ...'nuff said.

  • I've seen it (Score:5, Interesting)

    by joeflies ( 529536 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @09:11PM (#3160469)
    I think that the film plays linus fairly close to his public personality (carefree about the implications of linux, doing it because he likes it), and it does show raymond, perens, and tienman as the evangelists.

    But the most suprising portroyal is how Stallman comes out. It shows a much more ballanced view of the GNU philosophy without coloring it with all the other stuff that Stallman gets knocked around for. They do show some of the conflict coming out between Stallman and his view of Linux, especially the footage of the LinuxWorld 99 acceptance speech.

    Movie is better than I expected, and I like the fact that there is so much story behind where Linux came from, although it does paint a fairly narrow view of where Linux is going. Majority of it comes from the linux-mania of 99, and a footnote regarding VA Linux's stock runup and down.

    • Re:I've seen it (Score:2, Informative)

      by popdookey ( 253795 )
      The film played earlier this year at the Hawaii International Film Festival. Yeh, we have an international film festival. The film was a superior Documentary about the revolutionary qualties of Linux. It introduced Richard Stallman and the whole concept of GNU. You meet Bruce Perens and learn about Open Source. Both "movements" are very objectively and positively portrayed for their respective contributions to Linux. It is a documentary, not a commentary. If you possibly can, watch this film. At least talk to your local video store, or maybe have your linux user's group buy a copy. To see these visionaries in "person" is quite impressive and a good reminder that they are only people. (though they are freaks) If you are trying to get someone to understand this whole thing, the movie does a great job for you.

  • No Cowboy Neal ? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    If Cowboy Neal isn't featured .. then what's the point ?
  • It should have been "OS OS Revolution".
  • it should be noted that cmdrtaco is in this

    dammit. i modded his interview down but i guess the rest of you idiots actually found it inciteful

  • I saw that one not long ago. It was funny, in a tragic sort of way.

  • The Alamo Drafthouse North theater in Austin, TX will also be showing the film. It opens on March 22. Those of us who saw it last year at SXSW can now see it again on the big screen, almost exactly one year later! :)
  • some of us don't have mad cash from subscription services to buy a big screen with :-)

  • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • IMDB surfing (Score:2, Informative)

    by mistered ( 28404 )
    So I happened to look up Revolution OS in imdb and found the following interesting tidbits:

    • Bruce Perens [imdb.com] is a software engineer for Toy Story 2 and A Bugs Life
    • The movie has only one item in its soundtrack: the Free Software Song [imdb.com] performed by the GNU/Stallmans
    • Brian Behlendorf [imdb.com] is Dance Floor DJ #2 in Groove

  • Additional Showings (Score:2, Informative)

    by ssheth ( 92678 )
    Searching via my Tivo, I see that there are several showings planned on the Sundance channel:

    Monday, March 18 @ 11:00 pm
    Thursday, March 22 @ 8:00 pm
    Saturday, March 24 @ 3:00 pm

    All times Central Standard time .. adjust for your time zone.

  • DVD (Score:3, Informative)

    by caldroun ( 52920 ) on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @11:13PM (#3160782) Homepage Journal
    I just got an email from J.T.S. Moore, the director. He tells me that the DVD will be out sometime towards the end of the year.

  • That's no lady, sir... (Score:3, Funny)

    by pcwhalen ( 230935 ) <pcwhalen@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Wednesday March 13, 2002 @11:28PM (#3160819) Journal
    "cmdrtaco is in this, talking about free software while lounging on an inflatable sofa"

    If you look carefully, you will see this is NOT AN INFLATABLE SOFA but intead its Stallman's INFLATABLE DATE.

    OK. Mod me down. It was worth it. Watch where you sit, Taco my boy.
  • The Alamo Drafthouse North [drafthouse.com] in Austin, TX will be showing this movie for a couple weeks. While not a wonderful piece of filmmaking, it's an interested watch. Plus the Drafthouse has good sandwitches and cold beer (though you might be confused by the free speech, free beer thing because you had to pay for yours.)

  • you're not missing much (Score:2, Informative)

    by syf0n ( 208210 )
    I saw this in October at the Savannah Film Festival...(SCAD). It's one of the places it was first shown. A lot of people thought it was wildly inacurrate and did a bad job of portraying a lot of good people (Torvalds, etc.). You'll really have to see for yourself, but if you don't get sundance, don't think you're missing anything incredible.
  • It couldn't be as bad as Antitrust :-)

    Though I don't imagine this one has Rachael Leigh Cook and Claire Forlani in it . ..

  • You mean the guy who stole the Jargon File?

    --Blair
  • Clearly you'll want to go buy a big screen TV to watch this.

    I know how OSDN is strapped for cash these days. What if companies paid them to add some relevant links to Slashdot editor comments?

    Clearly you'll want to go buy a Sony big screen TV [sonystyle.com] to watch this.

    Is Slashdot above product placement? Tell me you weren't thinking about it when you read the article!

    (I would have used Philips in my example, but their site is broken in Mozilla.)

  • Has anyone seen this movie? Can anyone comment on the quality of narrative, or the interview continuity, etc.

    Is this worthwhile to introduce to my non-tech family members, or will I see Capt. Kirk at the end telling us all to go home, move out of our parent's basements, and get a life?

  • Watch the first 9 minutes over at Ifilm.com (Score:3, Interesting)

    by EraseEraseMe ( 167638 ) on Thursday March 14, 2002 @02:58AM (#3161441)
    Blatant stealing of link from previous poster [ifilm.com]

    My review of the 9 minutes:

    Linus seems like a nice enough guy, quiet, proto-typical geek, tends to talk a bit too technical but uses metaphors, comparisons to get his point across...Overall grade: B
    Bruce Perens knows what he's talking about, but is either A) Amazed at the shiny flashing light on the top of the camera or B) staring at himself in the reflection of the camera. He needs to sit back, relax, and stop swinging around like a monkey...Overall Grade: C+
    Mr Stallman handles himself well enough with an interviewer, but tends to talk over the heads of any non-technical viewer. His anecdote is interesting though, the loss of freedom because of having to use passwords..I wonder if he'd still give the same argument...Overall grade: B-
    Eric Raymond scares me...and his obvious loathing for Microsoft is dripping off of every word "I'm your worst nightmare" That's jokes we tell around the office, not in public...Overall grade: C

    9 minutes was enough of an anti-MS stance for me...the female voice, reading Bill Gates' letter to the hobby club was embarassingly melodramaticized.

  • On monday and tuesday I am boycotting Slashdot... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Travoltus ( 110240 ) on Thursday March 14, 2002 @04:36AM (#3161554) Journal
    Just in case a follow-up on this is posted, which will certainly result in Richard Stallman being flamed by all the under-achieving gen-x legends in their own mind species of trolls and ingrates, whose very enjoyment of the freedom granted by GNU/Linux was because of Stallman's creation, propagation, and defense of the GPL.

    (How's that for the world's longest run-on sentence??)

    • Says who? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by FallLine ( 12211 )
      Why should we believe that Linux's success, never mind "freedom", owes to the GPL? Here's a more probable hypothesis for why Linux is under the GPL license:

      a) there were a bunch of free tools out there that happened to make life a little easier for the developers and were/happened to be under the GPL.

      b) the developers, not much caring for any particular open ideology, decided that it was worth the hassle to go GPL to get those tools.

      c) the viral nature of the GPL ensured that it continued to remain under the GPL and not OTHER open licenses. note: This is not the same thing as saying that that the GPL kept it open and/or alive, just that it remained under GPL.

      Even if you accept that the GPL played some kind of important role (which is a real stretch if you ask me), it's JUST an idea and a rather trivial piece of work at that. For people that espouse the ideas that "information deserves to be free", it seems rather ironic to believe that you owe some kind of tithe to the person(s) that originated the idea ("obvious")and the text ("trivial") of the GPL. You laugh at patents and copyrights that do more and expect less...
  • Revolution Os: The revolution will not be televised. However, it will be part of this complete breakfast.

  • Though for whatever reason "Rob Malda" is not listed in the Oracle of Bacon at Virginia's database [oracleofbacon.org], other folks who appear in Revolution OS [imdb.com] are listed. Since Bruce Perens [imdb.com] has a Bacon Number of 3, for his appearance in Revolution OS, CmdrTaco's Bacon Number is also 3.

    Now, the question is, does he have an Erdös number [oakland.edu]?

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