2nd Annual Free Software Foundation Awards 140
The awards were given out in conjunction with theBazar, a gathering of Open Source experts, boosters, and devotees featuring a number of tutorials on assorted Open Source and GNU/Linux-related topics.
Last year's Award for the Advancement of Free Software went to PERL-meister Larry Wall. This year the three finalists were Donald Knuth, John Gilmore, and Miguel de Icaza.
And the winner was (drum roll please) Miguel de Icaza!
Miguel lent the proceedings a moment of extra drama by arriving - literally - at the second his name was announced, right after RMS said he was not there and could not, therefore, be expected to make a speech. But there he was, and the speech was both brief and charming.
A surprise award was also given to Blockstackers, which has donated a significant amount of money to the Free Software Foundation. This award was accepted by a shocked - and literally blushing - Rob Malda.
We join the Free Software Foundation in congratulating Miguel de Icaza.
See pictures of the award ceromony and participants here.
How Many People Attended? (nt) (Score:2)
i dont display scores, and my threshhold is -1. post accordingly.
congratulations Rob (Score:1)
welll done
Um... (Score:1)
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"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."
404 (Score:1)
Re:Pictures? (Score:1)
Kagenin
Congratulations (Score:1)
All contributions are worthwhile, be they documentation, bug fixes, new projects/features, or purely financial. Don't forget it is a team effort.
-Nick
Re:404 (Score:1)
Mark Duell
I may have used Gnome once (Score:2)
Being almost a die-hard command-prompt (bash, et. al.) user, though, I can think of many other people that also deserve such awards. I wonder if we can get ZD (almost certainly MSNBC wouldn't cover the Tux Awards!) to do a 3 hour awards show that runs at least 45 minutes over?
Next time I run X, I guess I'll take a peek at Gnome to see what the fuss is all about.
Re:Pictures? (Score:3)
Anyhow, until the Bazaar pics are up, you can still waste your time looking at the fun pics from the
Re:Is this a bug? (Score:1)
Great. (Score:2)
I'm glad that the FSF is getting recognition.
BUT
As an NYC resident, I wish I'd known even 24hrs sooner, so I could actually go to the event.
Why not Knuth? (Score:3)
TeX on the other hand, has been around for a long time and is used non-stop in the lab where I work. Without it, the reports we dump out would probably take forever to make. I can't imagine using Word (or any word processor for that matter) to create documents that change as much in revision as ours do. TeX is a much more earth-shattering development than a spiffy new interface to X.
I think the FSF awards copped out and picked based on ``current and trendy'' instead of deserving of an award. Of course, if there is a monetary award involved (since there's no article, I can't tell, but I imagine there is), then I can see the politics behind it. Gnome sure needs cash more than any TeX-related project.
Congrats to the nominees and the winner.
-Chris
What? (Score:4)
So I hope that Knuth gets what he deserves next time. (It wouldn't hurt to give him a couple of VA shares either.)
I'm proud to say.... (Score:2)
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
I'm shocked (Score:1)
Re:Why not Knuth? (Score:1)
On the other hand, GNOME is GPL'd, and it's hard to dispute Miguel's indomitable energy. GNOME has certainly done a lot to push Linux onto desktops (as has KDE).
Personally, I agree with you, though. TeX continually amazes me.
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Re:Great. (Score:1)
As an NYC resident, I wish I'd known even 24hrs sooner, so I could actually go to the event.
I actually knew about the darn thing, and could've gotten free tickets, too bad it all took place during the dreaded finals week!
Congrats to all, and I am truly sorry I am not out drinking with the blockstackers crew right now.
Re:I may have used Gnome once (Score:2)
That was what my Linux experience had been as well. I think I compiled/configured XFree86 three years ago on a Debian box; I remember thinking boy, it's not really worth the effort unless you want to spend weeks tweaking it.
When I saw Gnome for the first time, I flipped my lid. In that bubbly, excited emotional state that my new discoveries Linux/FS/etc. can produce, I called my friends and swore that Windows would meet its maker in a year or less.
Though a bit enthused, I still think that de Icaza's & others' work on Gnome is a serious threat to proprietary software in general. It presents a serious, no-foolin' example of fabulous free software that even the novice user can see. It's at that point that you can gently pose the question, "and why do you think these programmers wish to let others see their source code?" You can make reg'lar folks see the beauty of the idea for a minute at least...
Bravo to the FSF and de Icaza.
Miguel Deserved (Score:4)
Re:Um... (Score:1)
So, um, why not?
- Jeff A. Campbell
- VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com [velocinews.com])
Media (Score:3)
or http://kurt.andover.net/bazaar/fsf [andover.net], but note they won't be up for another hour or so.
Also, ZDTV will be broadcasting the awards here: http://www.zdtv.com/radio [zdtv.com] on Thursday, Dec 16 2:00pm http://www.zdtv.com/radio
how times have changed... (Score:1)
**********************
Watch out for the 6 foot blond!
**********************
I can't WAIT to see this one in Meta Moderation. (Score:1)
"I have no respect for a man who can only spell a word one way." - Mark Twain
Re:How Many People Attended? (nt) (Score:1)
Re:Why not Knuth? (Score:1)
And your point is?
As far as I can tell the only restriction on TeX is "If this program is changed, the resulting system should not be called TeX". You cant get much more opensourced than that.
Re:Who is Miguel? (Score:1)
.. you're kidding, right?
Miguel is widely known for heading the GNOME project, which has made incredible leaps in helping the user-friendly side of linux.
Re:Pictures? (Score:4)
Yes, I know putting them under the comdex dir is asking for trouble... but at least they are there
pax, Bishop
Re:404 (Score:1)
Reasonably offtopic here, but... (Score:1)
Re:Why not Knuth? (Score:2)
Re:FUCK MIGUEL (Score:1)
Re:What? (Score:4)
I say we don't give that Knuth a damn thing until he finishes vols 4 & 5 of The Art of Programming
Re:What? (Score:3)
Though I agree, it does seem weird to pass over Knuth in favor of Miguel. (No offense, Miguel, you and your contributions to GNOME and free software rock. :)
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Re:Why not Knuth? (Score:2)
Icaza could use the recognition boost more. That may sound funny around
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Re:I can't WAIT to see this one in Meta Moderation (Score:1)
what happens in meta moderation when someone sees the "+1 insightful" (or whatever it was) on this one-liner, and then marks THAT "unfair?" It'd be nice to be able to see the sequence of moderation. I suppose this should move over to j a w a d 's thread.
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Suggestion for Knuth so that he may win in future (Score:1)
- change his own name to VA LiKnuthux Systems
- make his own clock widget for GNOME
- talk endlessly about his free software/gun collection swap meet parties
- change the name of the MIX instruction set to something more catchy like 'KIX' or perhaps 'GNIX'
- refute his 'Art of Programming' books and say: "Why bother now that Java programs for you?"
- wear a red hat
Re:Great. (Score:1)
Re:Why not Knuth? (Score:1)
Well, everyone loves Knuth, but it seems to me that it is somewhat heartening that there is some award that he hasn't won.
Also, it would have been really ironic if he had won. Just check the list of people that have won the prize that is named after him. If you don't know who Lasy and Andy Yao are, well, I guess I'm not surprised, but they are both CS giants.
The Knuth Prize [acm.org]
I had to preview this 6 times before I got the html even close to right. Doh. Last day of classes. :)
One thing... (Score:2)
Is this supposed to encourage free software? (Score:2)
Re:Is this supposed to encourage free software? (Score:4)
Re:What? (Score:3)
> of excellence in computer science.
So let him continue to win Computer Science awards - this award was for the advancement of free software.
Re:Why not Knuth? (Score:1)
or 3:16 [barnesandnoble.com]. Lots of interesting things.
--Ben
Re: (Score:1)
Re:What? (Score:2)
Which he has done. Have you ever looked at the license for TeX?
Re:What? (Score:1)
Re:What? (Score:3)
I'd have to disagree. There's being a programmer, author, and teacher, who just happens to like to give away his code as examples as part of his teaching. I'd note that though he has a lot of excellent algorithms and utilities, and a very keen mathematical and "computer science" mind, his work is far more designed for true computer science-level programmers. That is not the majority of programmers, mind you; many will just use libraries that are built based on his code or algorithms, and probably not even know that's what they've got. [I'd be fascinated to learn just how much of the C++ STL classes and algorithms are based on his work.]
The task of designing a desktop, building on the experiences, both good and bad, of existing (and long dead) systems, managing a GREAT number of code contributors (in the bigger picture, more than the linux kernel), acknowledging the GPL to the point of letting multiple developers work on different applications that do the same thing (how many mail clients do we need, guys), with the understanding that the best will come to the fore, but the lesser will remain compatible and functional (lets see MS Windows try THAT one...), all the while developing his own contributions (core at that), addressing incoming contributions to the core, combining multiple technologies that weren't originally intended to work together (Corba, X, etc...), being a spokesperson for the effort, and finally giving up his day job to do it all...
Knuth was always a teacher and scientist. His work is greatly respected (and used) by scientists, engineers, developers, etc...this is good, and he has been acknowledged for it.
Miguel is leading an effort to develop an entire system not to be used by developers, but by ANYBODY. It will, in the end, be a MUCH more exposed project. Knuth has respect and honor in the scientific community; Miguel will be on his way to earning respect and honor in the entire linux-using world at large (well, those who don't use KDE, anyways...). Starting that public recognition among developers and open source enthusiasts is very critical to the success of the idea the Free Software is for (or should be made for) EVERYBODY, not just developers.
Yes, perhaps, it is political and timely. It is also necessary.
Re:What? (Score:1)
many people here (Score:1)
But let us not forget about all the books and stuff that Knuth has written even w/ out TeX Knuth's contribution to FSF and CS in general is far far greater than what Miguel has done. Please dont take this to mean I dont respect Miguel, I certainly do and highly enjoy the s/w that he is working on. But as someone on
Any ways I am just rambling on (had a long day) congrats to Miguel and all the folks in the g(e?)nome project
Re:404 (Score:1)
The award: Better than a damn gold statuette (Score:4)
Very colorful. Oscars just gather dust on shelves. This thing can hang on the wall. Very nice. Wish I had one.
OK, Knuth deserves one, sure, but he's not dead yet, and there will be awards like this in the future. Knuth may be VERY deserving of one, but it's hard to say that Icaza isn't deserving as well.
Hell yes. (Score:2)
And as for whether or not the code is used by you or not, there's a lot of code that you don't use. There are a lot of people who never use perl and don't code in it, but that doesn't mean that larry wall didn't deserve his last year. It's not necessarily about whether or not you use it, but about the impact the software has had.
And GNOME has had quite an impact. It went from buggy and barely realized to quite a nice system in very little time. And it's developing faster and faster as time goes on and as more people learn about GNOME. For that reason, even though I think it's had a big impact, the impact it has now probably isn't anything compared to where it's going to be in 2 more years
Re:congratulations Rob && about rest of the Bazaar (Score:1)
I didn't have time to stay for most of the FSF awards ceremony but I saw that first award presented, from the back of the auditorium. I think it's too bad that it was held so late in the day, after the rest of the conference. Then again, maybe it would have just conflicted with tutorial tracks or something like that.
I saw the panel discussion though, from the second row. That was interesting and got pretty amusing at times.
Anyway, will there be some sort of report on the whole of the Bazaar's proceedings here on slashdot after it's all done?
Looking forward to the party tomorrow evening - assuming that the possible MTA strike doesn't mess everything up.
hmaon [greg velichansky]
ps Can't log in because I lost my password and the email points to a machine that doesn't exist anymore so I can't have it mailed to me! Grr! Hey, Rob, if I find you and bug you in person, will you reset my password?
Correct URL for photos (Score:4)
-
<SIG>
"I am not trying to prove that I am right... I am only trying to find out whether." -Bertolt Brecht
Pictures: (Score:2)
Perhaps I'm looking at the wrong URL, if so, sorry...
Re:FSF Politics and Hype (Score:1)
Re:many people here (Score:1)
It is "For the Advancement of Free Software" (Score:4)
I think this why Knuth didn't win. TeX is an integral part of the GNU system but isn't as important as GNOME. As far as all of Knuth's other accomplichments, well, I don't think the award is about that.
I personally feel that Knuth should have gotten the award but I can understand why Miguel got it. Just look at everything he has done with GNOME:
So it makes sense really. But still, developing TeX and making it free... a difficult thing to compete with.
Congratulations to Miguel and the finalists... and thanks.
(I sincerely hope there is no political hocus-pocus going on... I don't think so but...)
huh? (Score:2)
Does being our geekie selves mean we can't manage to put a caption on a few measly photos or put them on the web in thumbnail size that can be expanded? I mean, have we sworn off making things remotely user-friendly when it come to a simple web page or something? No one ever tells me these things.
Re:I can't WAIT to see this one in Meta Moderation (Score:1)
Most of the discussions about moderation are a "here & now" sort of deal. What I mean by that is, it needs to be discussed in the main forum to allow moderators to fix their mistakes. It's important to discuss, but sometimes more important to discuss shortcomings when something can be done.
Just my $.02.
An even more off-topic thought: It would be nice if we could down moderate our own comments without losing karma. I know this is dreadfully off-topic, if I could knock it down to a zero or -1 without posting anonymously, I'd appreciate it.
i dont display scores, and my threshhold is -1. post accordingly.
RMS in the 3rd pic (Score:2)
Has anyone else noticed that RMS looks a helluva lot like Ron Jeremy there?
I bet with a little shaving, RMS could be the next great porn star!
Re:Pictures: (Score:2)
You've probably seen a picture of rob malda too - he's the guy with the very short hair and the small beard.
The other guys I don't know, but stallman, malda, and miguel were primarily the ones at the podium.
Re:Who is Miguel? (Score:1)
Re:What? (Score:1)
>> the guy's a shining beacon of excellence in computer science.
>Have you ever looked at the license for TeX?
So he wrote TeX and is nominated because of it. My point was that his acheivements in the field of computer science are not particularly relevant to THIS award. His comp sci acheivements are why some posters seem to think he should have won... is this simple point really that tough to follow?
Re:many people here (Score:1)
Everywhere I went people delete this stuff and still rely on old good man pages
you expect slashdoters to actually read? (Score:1)
Re:What? (Score:1)
Giving a lecture on MMIX tomorrow (Wednesday) here at MIT (I think that's the right date)
Re: Pictures? (Score:1)
Some answers (Score:4)
There were probably about 125 people in the audience by my estimation.
RMS explained why they eliminated Knuth from the 3 finalists by basically saying that he was in a whole other league and has already won just about every award out there and there wouldn't be any point in adding yet another award to the long list. He is already recognized.
-Rasmus
Re:Join us now...... (Score:2)
That is truuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeeee hackers that is trueeeeeeeeee....
By the way, if you're looking for a techno version of the free software song, look no further:
http://opop.nols.com/krank/rms.mp3
Re:Great. (Score:1)
then you'd know.
Yes, we celebrated Free Software with Free Beer.
thanks for the hospitality, Copyleft.
Paul
Felicidades Miguel !! (Score:3)
wins this award, specially since his effort
to make linux more friendly, will help our
schools, which belive me, need LOTS of help.
Education in Mexico doesnt have a big
budget, and the best public schools at the most
have a couple of old pentiums. My mom was a
teacher in one of the top 3 public schools in my city,
Mexicos seconds largest and richest, and they only
have 20 or so old pentiums.
A lot of companies are donating old equipment
to the schools and only linux and gnome will make
this equipment useful and worth using.
Not only does he deserve the award for technical
merit, but also for his social awareness; well,
at least for what he has done in Mexico
Again, congrats Miguel!
Re:Join us now...... (Score:1)
Cut and pasted from the Post Comment page. (Score:2)
I got moderated down massively in the past for f*c*ing that one up.
Cut and pasted from the Post Comment page. (Score:1)
I got moderated down massively in the past for f*c*ing that one up. Now I'll get moderated down for being a sarcastic ass. HA!
I don't understand this (Score:2)
So some of you guys think Miguel won the award because his contribution is more recent?
Then why do they even bother to include Knuth as one of three finalists?
There are tons of free software projects out there. Why didn't they pick one of those programmers? And how Larry Wall got the award last year?
What is this? The House of Style? (Score:1)
Roblimo, I've never seen your picture but I'm guessing you ain't close to Rebecca Romijn(?) Stamos. I'll be awaiting your report on Entertainment Tonight. hehe
But seriously congrats to all the winners!
Now I'll get moderated down for double posting (Score:1)
LOng day./...............
All Apologies
Re:15 to 20 (Score:2)
Testing turning off the +1 bonus in KFM again...
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Re:Of course Miguel won (Score:4)
I have been following the GNOME project since Miguel was writing the predecessor to Gnumeric in Scheme. (Yes, Scheme.) During this time, I have never seen him bash anyone or anything. He even gives credit to Microsoft, for cryin' out loud (for good GUI design in Word and Excel, in case you're curious). The only criticisms I have seen him make are of 1) Microsoft's business practices and 2) the old Qt license. These were reasoned criticisms that actually explained how consumers were hurt and focuesd on positive solutions. There was never anything approaching "bashing". Miguel is always one to say "I believe" or "many people prefer" or "there are concerns about". He almost never explicitly says "This is bad."
Since the new Qt license, I haven't seem Miguel say a bad word about KDE. His only comments are ones of encouragement and praise for the virtues of "competition". By the way, did you know he uses FreeBSD as well as Linux? Now he tests his software on his own box, running FreeBSD. So he's not bashing anyone in that camp, either.
Despite the divisive flames of people like you, the actual KDE and GNOME developers are working closer than ever before. Window managers like E support them both. The only thing lacking is a common object model, and programmers from both sides are working on the idea.
Stop trying to sabotage the free software movement. Stop slandering Miguel.
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Knuth should not have been shortlisted (Score:3)
Re:What? (Score:1)
Photo gallery from the award seremony (Score:2)
Re:RMS in the 3rd pic (Score:1)
Re:Suggestion for Knuth so that he may win in futu (Score:1)
Yes, Virginia, there is an info file (Score:1)
Re:Why not Knuth? (Score:1)
Knuth doesn't need any awards. He deserves them in
spades, but what good would it do? Everyone knows who he is! He's one of the most,
if not the most respected programmer in existence!
I agree with you, but if this is true, it is wrong to nominate him in the first place! It has the same stale taste as considering the Kalashnikov and Perl as the greatest hacks of all time
Re:The cult of Slashdot pays off, I guess. (Score:1)
Miguel the winner? This is a bad joke. Miguel is NOT in the same league as Knuth. It is a downright insult that he won over Knuth. But I
guess being the flavour of the month pays off right? Slashdot has done wonders for Miguel the Mouth's image, especially by helping Miguel
belittle other projects. Has Knuth done that? Nope. How has making a desktop environment 'advanced' computing in general? Gnome &
KDE are still behind what you can find on other environments. Alan Kay deserved an award for helping invent the GUI in Smalltalk but that
was over 20 years ago. Is Gnome somehow more user-friendly than any other GUI out there? Not by a bloody longshot. But hey, I guess shiny
themes are more important than integrity. On the basis of Miguel's unrelenting BASHING of other projects he did NOT deserve this
recognition. If he was anyone else people would be screaming and yelling because of comments like "KDE has no future". Has Knuth bashed
other computer scientists? Has Knuth gone on record time and time again badmouthing competing ideas? It's clear this award was a
popularity contest, nothing more. I guess being part of the Slashdot clique pays off, eh? It's great to see that the Free Software Foundation
wholeheartedly supports such an unrepentant asshole as Miguel D'Icaza. (Go ahead slashdot censors, moderate me down...you gotta preserve
your boy's club don't you?)
It's a nice day outside. Why don't you go meet a nice woman or something, enjoy a milkshake, take a relaxing bath?
Then maybe you won't take offensive hissy fits on public internet forums, and stay bitter that nobody wants to hear it. Your objections were echoed by a about a thousand other, less asshole-ish people than you.
Go to hell, troll.
Marc
Moderate this up! (n/t) (Score:1)
--
Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.
Journalistic style! (Score:1)
I had to click to get the full story and the comments.
Put important information early in your post. Inverted pyramids!
This is a news site, not Agatha Christie.
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Re:Is this supposed to encourage free software? (Score:1)
Re:I'm shocked (Score:2)
Another little note: I counted approx. 160 people in attendance. They were spread throughout a large room so the photos didn't capture them all.
- Robin
Hippys (Score:1)
Is there some sort of story behind the blanket? Why give a blanket as an award? Just seems kinda odd to me.
Re:RMS in the 3rd pic (Score:1)
Maybe in the next Linux distro release, we can have an .au file of Linus pronouncing Linux, and a sound byte of RMS shouting 'AAHH-AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!'
Just a thought...
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The Most Shameful Decision of the Year (Score:1)
more asahamed than now. Shortlisting one of the
greatest scientists just because he already has
enough awards, is unfair. I'm not telling that
Gnome is good or bad. My point is that NO ONE
compares to such prominent figures as Dr. Knuth,
V. Cerf, E. F. Codd, N. Wirth and other outstanding minds.
For ignorant script-kiddies that think Dr. Knuth is just an author of TeX,
I would recommend visiting his website and having a look at the list of his work.
Miguel de Icaza is excellent at programming. People like Dr. Knuth are programming itself.
Re:What? (Score:1)
I say Knuth doesn't give a damn.
Re:What? (Score:1)
A computer programmer is someone capable of using certain tools to construct computer applications. OTOH, a computer scientist is someone who studies the science of computation (which really only recently has anything to do with the machines we call "computers").
AFAIK, Miguel is a computer programmer. OTOH, Don Knuth is one of the most recognized and cited computer scientists in history. Miguel has apparently written much of the code for cool graphical apps for unix, which is commendable, while Don Knuth has contributed to the science of computing so much so that he is cited in nearly every computer science related book I have ever read. (this includes books dealing with topics ranging from databases, to computer graphics, to artificial intelligence). Forget about TeX (which is fabulous software that I use weekly), Don Knuth's contributions to the science of computing exceed any hacking efforts by several orders of magnitude.
So, Miguel gets the award. You got to love how money and politics has changed the computer world.
Re:What? (Score:1)
Despite what some free software zealots believe, free software is based on what has come before it. Knuth is one of the largest contributers to this pool of knowledge. Dismissing his contributions as irrelevant is revisionist and disrespectful.
Furthermore, Knuth has always taken a stand against software patents and has advocated open algorithms.
is this simple point really that tough to follow?
No, you are just wrong.
Re:Bullshit (Score:2)
You obviously can't prove your claims about IRC, but what about these supposed media "FUD"? Where are the articles? Post some URLs. Then we can all judge for ourselves whether he's a good software diplomat.
Vovida, OS VoIP
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product