Ozone

Great Quotes from Richard M. Stallman

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:45:00 +0000

"I could have made money this way, and perhaps amused myself writing code. But I knew that at the end of my career, I would look back on years of building walls to divide people, and feel I had spent my life making the world a worse place." (I like this one best. That's what `ethicalness' and `responsibility' means.)
"When I do this, some people think that it's because I want my ego to be fed, right? Of course, I'm not asking you to call it "Stallmanix"!"
"I'm always happy when I'm protesting."
"Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone."
"People sometimes ask me if it is a sin in the Church of Emacs to use vi. Using a free version of vi is not a sin; it is a penance. So happy hacking."
"If programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating innovative programs, by the same token they deserve to be punished if they restrict the use of these programs."
"Fighting patents one by one will never eliminate the danger of software patents, any more than swatting mosquitoes will eliminate malaria."
"People said I should accept the world. Bullshit! I don't accept the world."
"Giving the Linus Torvalds Award to the Free Software Foundation is a bit like giving the Han Solo Award to the Rebel Alliance."
"Would a dating service on the net be ‘frowned upon’ . . . ? I hope not. But even if it is, don’t let that stop you from notifying me via net mail if you start one."
"Once GNU is written, everyone will be able to obtain good system software free, just like air."
"If you want to accomplish something in the world, idealism is not enough--you need to choose a method that works to achieve the goal. In other words, you need to be "pragmatic."
"No person, no idea, and no religion deserves to be illegal to insult, not even the Church of Emacs."
"Today many people are switching to free software for purely practical reasons. That is good, as far as it goes, but that isn't all we need to do! Attracting users to free software is not the whole job, just the first step."
"If in my lifetime the problem of non-free software is solved, I could perhaps relax and write software again. But I might instead try to help deal with the world's larger problems. Standing up to an evil system is exhilarating, and now I have a taste for it."
"I see nothing unethical in the job it does. Why shouldn't you send a copy of some music to a friend?"
"'Free software' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of 'free' as in 'free speech,' not as in 'free beer'." (This may be the most famous one. It does clarify what's the meaning of `free'.)
"For personal reasons, I do not browse the web from my computer. (I also have not net connection much of the time.) To look at page I send mail to a demon which runs wget and mails the page back to me. It is very efficient use of my time, but it is slow in real time."
"Playfully doing something difficult, whether useful or not, that is hacking."
"Copying all or parts of a program is as natural to a programmer as breathing, and as productive. It ought to be as free."
"To have the choice between proprietary software packages, is being able to choose your master. Freedom means not having a master. And in the area of computing, freedom means not using proprietary software."

You can find more HERE.

How to Boot Fedora 9 Live from the Hard Drive

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:24:00 +0000

I just wanna give Fedora 9 a try. After downloading the iso image of the Live CD. I tried several times to boot it from my hard drive but no luck. I almost quit and burn the iso image to a CD and boot it from the CD drive. Jeez, it took me almost ten minutes to get into the gnome desktop on my laptop (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 processors, 512MB RAM). That's not standable. I can't imagine how slow the installation process would be. So I get back to my initial attempt: boot the Live system from the hard drive. I search the web but find almost nothing except in the Fedora forum a thread which talks the same thing though without a solution. I look around in the iso image. Finally I find something useful and with its help I successfully boot the Live system from the hard drive. In case of help to others, I write down the detailed steps below. (I assume you already have got a GNU/Linux in your box. Mine is Ubuntu.)

1. Get the ISO Image
Download an iso image of Fedora 9 Live CD/DVD from its website. Save it somewhere. In our case, ~/Distro/

2. Prepare your Hard Drive
Create a new partition on your hard drive using your favourite partition manager. GParted for gnome users, QtParted for KDE users. Or if you prefer the command line, cfdisk or fdisk is there for you. Anyway, create a new partition of size 1GB (750MB should be enough, but I am not sure, anyway, better more than less). In our case the newly created partition is `/dev/sda8'. Format it. We choose ext3. The name for SATA/SCSI hard drive is sdxn, while for IDE hard drive is hdxn (where x is the disk number, almost always a letter, and n is the partition number, counting from 1). You should be aware of what you have and choose the right name for your hard drive. But note that GRUB does not distinct them, any hard drive is simply called hdxn, where x is the disk number while n is the partition number (counting from 0). Don't confuse them. For more, read the GRUB manual, by typing the command `info grub' in your terminal.

3. Dump the ISO Image into the Hard Drive
Open a terminal, type in the following commands. Note that the su-way is for non-Ubuntu users. Ubuntu users, skip the first command su, add sudo to each command below if you prefer the sudo-way.)

su
cd /mnt/
mkdir fedora{ISO,Live}
mount -o loop -t iso9660 ~/Distro/Fedora-9-Live.iso fedoraISO
mount -t ext3 /dev/sda8 fedoraLive
cp -a fedoraISO/* fedoraLive/
umount /mnt/fedora*

Replace `Fedora-9-Live.iso' with the ISO image you get and `/dev/sda8' with the partition you created in Step 2.

4. Edit the GRUB Configuration
Open the famous `/boot/grub/menu.lst' file of GRUB using your favourite editor. Add the following lines to the end of the file.

# Fedora 9 Live
title Fedora 9 Live
root (hd0,7)
kernel /isolinux/vmlinuz0 root=/dev/sda8 rootfstype=ext3 rw quiet liveimg rhgb
initrd /isolinux/initrd0.img

Replace `root (hd0,7)' with `root (hdx,n-1)' if your partition is `/dev/sdxn' (or `/dev/hdxn'), `root=/dev/sda8' with `root=/dev/sdxn' (or `root=/dev/hdxn' ) , `ext3' in `rootfstype=ext3' with the file system type name you choose for the partition in Step 2, e.g., xfs. Save the changes to the `menu.lst' file.

5. Reboot and Done
Reboot and choose ``Fedora 9 Live'' from the GRUB menu.

That's all. I know you are curious how I make it, right? The key point is the options to the kernel. I get these options from the `isolinux.cfg' file lying in the same directory as the kernel, i.e., `/isolinux/'. Below is what's in the file. I am sure you will find it.

default vesamenu.c32
timeout 100

menu background splash.jpg
menu title Welcome to Fedora-9-Live-i686!
menu color border 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color sel 7 #ffffffff #ff000000
menu color title 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color tabmsg 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color unsel 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color hotsel 0 #ff000000 #ffffffff
menu color hotkey 7 #ffffffff #ff000000
menu color timeout_msg 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color timeout 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color cmdline 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu hidden
menu hiddenrow 5
label linux0
menu label Boot
kernel vmlinuz0
append initrd=initrd0.img root=CDLABEL=Fedora-9-Live-i686 rootfstype=iso9660 ro quiet liveimg rhgb
menu default
label check0
menu label Verify and Boot
kernel vmlinuz0
append initrd=initrd0.img root=CDLABEL=Fedora-9-Live-i686 rootfstype=iso9660 ro quiet liveimg rhgb check
label memtest
menu label Memory Test
kernel memtest
label local
menu label Boot from local drive
localboot 0xffff

Finally thanks to the Fedora team, you guys have done a really good job!

Enable the Advanced File Permissions Dialog in Nautilus -- The GUI Way

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:37:00 +0000

Recently on Tombuntu there's a post which tells you how to Enable the Advanced File Permissions Dialog in Nautilus by issuing the command in a terminal:

``gconftool-2 --type bool --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_advanced_permissions True'' (without the quotes, to disable the feature, simply replace `True' with `False')

If you feel more comfortable to achieve the goal through a GUI way. Here you go:

press Alt+F2
type gconf-editor and
from the left pane in the pop-up window, choose app -> nautilus -> preferences
go to the right pane, find out the show_advanced_permissions, check the box on its right
close the window, done.

As you look around, you can change other configurations ``under the hood'' in the same way. It's said that ubuntu-tweak also lets you do many configurations easily, including enable this ``show advanced file permission'' feature in Nautilus, but I have not try it.

Goosh.org: The Unofficial Google Shell

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:22:00 +0000

If you are a shell lover, then you really will say "Wow, I'm Feeling Lucky!" after I tell you that there's a command line interface (CLI) for google now. Goosh.org, which bills itself "the unofficial google shell," puts a Unix-like CLI to Google on a web page using the magic of Ajax. Simply head to goosh.org and you will feel at home if you do much work in a shell daily.

You can type `help' to list all available commands.

Currently the function of these commands is very simple, it does what it is said to do. You can also see the usage of a command by typing ``help cmd'', where `cmd' is the command you want to learn. Note that there are aliases for most commands. They are similar to the aliases you create for commands in a real *nix shell. You can use these aliases instead of the full name of the corresponding commands. For example, type ``s goosh.org'' to search the web for `goosh.org'. This will give you the results in a similar format when you issue ``ls -l'' in a real *nix shell. Note that it gives you only 4 results. To get more, use the command `more'. When you want to go for a result, you have two choices: type command ``go num'' or ``open num'', where `num' is the number identifying a result. The former will open the result in the current tab, while the latter will open the result in a new window. There's no way to open the result in a new tab for the time being. That's annoying, I know, especially when you have a tabed brwoser like Firefox. If you do not want to go to the goosh.org page everytime, you can also add goosh.org to your Firefox search box using the `addengine' command. Now you can simply issue a command in your search box as if you are in the goosh CLI. After you press enter, it will send your command to goosh to be executed and get you to the goosh.org CLI with the result of the command displayed. Other commands let you request other services by gogole.

I like the idea of goosh though it's still not that smart as a real *nix shell, it lets me google more efficiently without always touching the mouse. It reminds me of an experimental search feature in google lab, keyboard shortcuts. These keyboard shortcuts are almost the same with those of Vim. Though it also can not open a search result in a new tab (I have suggested it do in the future but not sure whether google will implement the feature or not) I find it so useful that after a few days I can not go without it. For example, two days ago, I installed a Firefox add-on called google preview. With it on, I can not use those keyboard shortcuts properly (or say when using those keyboard shortcuts, I can not preview a search result). Anyway I simply uninstalled the add-on even though I find the thumbnails prefixing search results pretty nice ...

Help Firefox Set a World Record!

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:35:00 +0000

With more than 14,000 improvements, Firefox 3 is faster, safer and smarter than before. I am not preaching the merits of Firefox 3. I have used Firefox 3 Beta 5 for a while. (I know the RC1 is out. I do not immediately upgrade to the RC version since it's still under test by the Ubuntu community. And I am so patient/lazy to wait. ;-) ) I do feel the improvements of FF3 over FF2. If you are a long time FF user, I am sure so do you. FF gets more and more popular. People feel like spreading it as much as possible. SpreadFirefox.com does great work. FF3 will come out soon. SpreadFirefox.com recently launches a great deal: Set a Guinness World Record.

All you have to do is get Firefox 3 during Download Day to help set the record for most software downloads in 24 hours - it’s that easy.

Have you attempted to set a World Record with no luck? Well, now is your chance to change that! Help set a Guinness World Record by pledging to download Firefox 3 today.

Click on the button below to join us in our mission to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours! And then PATIENTLY (as I do) wait for the Shinny Download Day's coming!

Play Ogg -- a Painless Switch

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:16:00 +0000

OK, after reading the article in Free Software Foundation and learning some about Ogg in Wikipedia, you wanna switch to Ogg but find that you have hundreds of thousands of songs in mp3/wma format. How to convert that many mp3/wma files to ogg. It does take me some time to search for a nice converter which can not only do the conversion but also guarantee the quality of the output ogg files. In particular, you may need a converter which can do batch conversion. On Ubuntu, go to Applications -> Add/Remove, search for SoundConverter and then click Apply Changes to install. Or from the terminal, ``sudo apt-get install soundconverter'' (without quotes). After the installation, start it from Applications -> Sound & Vedio or from the terminal, ``soundconverter" (without quotes). The interface is very simple and clean. Choose Add File to convert only one file, choose Add Folder to convert all in one folder. The output files are in ogg format. On Kubuntu, you can find a similar tool soundKonverter. If you do not run *buntu, try to find these tools in your package repos. If you fail, go here to get SoundConverter, here to get soundKonverter.

SoundConverter does a good job in converting mp3 files, but performs poorly in converting wma files. Thus I tried to find another tool which can convert wma files to ogg files of better quality. After doing some search, I found OggConvert. You can install it in either way you do when installing SoundConverter on Ubuntu. Otherwise, you can get it here. The output file in ogg is almost of the same quality of the original wma file. But it can not do batch conversion. And it has not been updated for long.

There are some other tools or scripts but I do not try them one by one. You can find some here and here. Or you can do some search in google. If you find some other better tools, post a comment below to let me know. Thanks.

BTW, on Windows, you have another choice, MediaCoder. It's a nice tool but I just find its interface a little bit complicated and currently it lacks tutorial or documentation.

PS:
Aha, found this article in Linux.com. Very nice.

Firefox -- Even God Uses to Browse Our Milky Way Galaxy

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:27:00 +0000

picture from: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/04/firefox-logo-sp.html

One of the pictures above is a photograph taken by the Hubble space telescope on December 17, 2002. The other is the one we can not be more familiar. Can you believe that?

You can find more photos of the same star, V838 Monocerotis, in Wikipedia. You may notice that the photos in Wikipedia are a little bit different from the one showed here, which has been rotated relative to the original one by Humble and some of the gas cloud may have been edited out around the "tail" of the fox.

Anyway, it's there, Uh? Now Firefox has been popular in the deep space, so any reason not to switch to the one even God also uses?! ;-)

ISO Captured by Micro$oft

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:32:00 +0000

Brussels, 2 April 2008 — ISO members failed to disapprove the Open XML format. Micro$oft has compromised the International Standards Organisation (ISO) during the rush to get a stamp for their Office OpenXML (OOXML), using unfair practices such as committee stuffing in several countries and political interventions of ministers in the standardization process.

Now ISO is not International Standards Organization any more, it simply means I $old Out, and becomes a division of Micro$oft. And Micro$oft is now not Micro$oft, it is Mi$o$oft.

Now that the broken OOXML format becomes a standard, what we need to do from now on is to keep far far away from it, refuse to use it, stick to and try all our best to spread and promote ODF. The fight against OOXML is not over, it will continue. Mi$o$oft makes the beginning of a new attack. I'd like to remind it: EVERYTHING THAT HAS AN BEGINNING HAS AN END! We won't give up our fighting!

“ISO should hang their heads in shame for allowing it to happen.”

-- Tim Bray

唯美的环保宣传画

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 06:47:00 +0000

Protect the Environment. EcoEarth.info

Final Results of the PWN to OWN Competition -- Ubuntu Victory!

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:22:00 +0000

PWN to OWN Competition is an annual contest established in 2007 by CanSecWest organizers where hackers get together to try to hack into machines. The main purpose of this contest is to responsibly unearth new vulnerabilities within these systems so that the affected vendor(s) can address them. This year's PWN to 0WN contest began on Mar 26th through to Mar 28th. The contest includes three laptops, running the most up to date and patched installations of MacOS X Leopard, Windows Vista, and Ubuntu Linux. You can find more here. The final results are both surprising and unsurprising as well.

The first machine to go was the MacBook Air. Charlie Miller from Independent Security Evaluators, discovered an exploit in the Apple iPhone last year then compromised the MacBook Air in the first two minutes on Day two (!*Surprising*!).

The Vista machine was the next to go, on Day 3, the final day (!*Unsurprising*, it's destiny!). Shane Macaulay, from Security Objectives, found an exploit into Vista through a disclosed bug in Adobe Flash. He won the Fujitsu laptop running Windows Vista SP1, a $5,000 prize from Zero Day Initiative.

And finally, the machine running Ubuntu Linux wasn’t compromised at all. Hackers fails to do so. That's expected! :-)

Thus, Ubuntu was left standing. Hooray! Victory! Digg it here!

PS:
About the word `pwn'. For more see here.

Pwn (/poʊn/, /puːn/, /pɔːn/) is a leetspeak slang term that implies domination or humiliation of a rival, used primarily in the Internet gaming culture to taunt an opponent who has just been soundly defeated. Past tense is sometimes spelled pwnt (pronounced with a t sound), pwned, pwnd, pwn3d, or powned (with the standard d sound). Examples include "pwnage" or "you just got pwned". It can also be used, especially by non-gamers, in the context of getting "pwned" by The Man.

In Internet security jargon, to "pwn" means "to compromise" or "to control", specifically another computer (server or PC), web site, gateway device, or application; it is synonymous with one of the definitions of hacking or cracking. An outside party who has "owned" or "pwned" a system has obtained unauthorized administrative control of the system.

Attempts to Recursively Define My Nick Name

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:20:00 +0000

You see my nick name in ``About Me" or my profile? Yes, it's `DAY'. And it's defined recursively as: DAY's dAi Yi. This humor is a common tradition in the hacker community. Many coined terms/abbreviations are defined in such a manner. The most famous one is `GNU', which stands for GNU's Not Unix. But that's just a single recursion. There is another famous one using mutual recursion, that's the name of the `GNU Hurd' project. Below is sited from its homepage which explain the meaning of Hurd:

`Hurd' stands for `Hird of Unix-Replacing Daemons'. And, then, `Hird' stands for `Hurd of Interfaces Representing Depth'. We have here, to my knowledge, the first software to be named by a pair of mutually recursive acronyms.

There are many other similar terms/abbreviatons defined in the similar way, you can find more here. So according to the article in Wikipedia, `GNU' and `Hurd' are both Recursive Acronyms. They are formed from the initial letters of tokens in their recursive definition. Compared with them, the definition of my nick name seems a little bit strange since the letter `A' is not the initial letter of `dAi' but the one in the middle. Thus to be precise, it's not a recursive acronym. I may need to think of another one.

Em ...
Aha, got it!

How about `DADY', which stands for `DADY's Dai Yi'? Yeah, it seems not bad and is precisely a recursive acronym. But how to pronounce it? /'dædi/? Oh, my God! It's so amusing! Anyone wants to call me /'dædi/? It may be, but it's not born and it still does not find who and where is its mother yet. OK, keep it in mind till some day ... Then, how about `DAIDY', which refers to `DAIDY Is Dai Yi'? Er, it seems good. Turning to its pronunciation, /'deidi/, Jeez, it is almost the same with /'dædi/!

I guess no one would like to call me `DADY' or `DAIDY', at least for the time being, so I'd better stick to the pseudo recursive acronym,`DAY'. I am hungry now. It's time for lunch. Have a good DAY! ;-)

Free Thoughts on Document Freedom Day (DFD)

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 03:12:00 +0000

Today is Document Freedom Day (DFD), it's a global day for Document Liberation. It's a day of grassroots effort around the world to promote and build awareness for the relevance of Free Document Formats in particular and Open Standards in general. It's a complementary to Software Freedom Day. Today, the last Wednesday of March, 2008, is the first year that Document Freedom Day is being called for. You may wonder why and how Document Freedom concerns you. Here is the answer.
Last night, I watched the film The Matrix again. It is about nine years ago when I was a middle school student that I watched it for the first time. I did not quite understand what it's talking about then, especially What is The Matrix, the question confused Neo before he was taken back to the Real. But yesterday night, when I watched it for the second time, I quite understand. Because I realized that we are falling into (and in fact many has been in) The Matrix built by those proprietary shits. They go to absurd lengths and try all tricks to restrict our freedom. Unfortunately, many people are not aware of that. You do not realize that you have long been "slaves" of those who claim to provide you any service you need. You are always satisfied with their services and be happy to pay them. Why? Because you are so FUDed that you can not see the Real. You think that you are living a comfortable digital life in a world ruled by Micro$oft and its collaborators. You think that only your "master" can give you a reliable hand. You don't believe and refuse to accept the truth. I am not kidding. One of my roommates (also majoring in IT) is such a person. I showed every fantastic thing in my GNU/Linux box and told him several times that how the freedom matters, he simply rejected it. Speechless, Uh? How can you see the whole *Real* world through Micro and $oft Windows? I always ask them. In fact, some people do know the issue, but they just refuse to face it. They prefer to stay in the situation, they prefer to live in The Matrix. That's why Gustavo Narea recently wrote the article I've seen the light, GNU/Linux Does Not Matter That Much. Attention that the title is a little bit misleading. It doesn't mean GNU/Linux doesn't matter. If you read the article carefully, you will get the point, it just tries to introduce a new and expected-to-be efficient way to spread the word, freedom. I mostly agree with Gustavo, in particular the three tasks he listed:

First and foremost, make people worry about the formats and protocols they rely on;
Make it really easy for people to switch to unconstrained formats and protocols, under the current operating system, but also warn them that everything won’t be completely solved until they throw the non-free system away;
And finally, make people switch to a freedom-respectful operating system, like GNU/Linux.

Task #2 will help people smooth the switch to a freedom-respectful OS like GNU/Linux. And that's the key point, imho. I admit that Free Software movement plays a VIP role in spreading free document format. But that happens only after you succeed helping more people switch from a proprietary OS to a freedom-respectful OS such GNU/Linux. Do remember that to liberate people from The Matrix is a long time campaign. To stick to our goal and idealism is good but to find an efficient and effective way to step toward it is another thing, *Action*! Gustavo did not mean to play down the part of Free Software movement if you have noticed what he has done to contribute. In fact, GNU/Linux still occupy the ultimate role in the list, but before it comes out to be what it should be, we have more to do, especially Task #2.

The Matrix needs a revolution. Free Document Day is a good start, so is Free Software Day. Let's join in! :-)

PS:
I just found an interesting article Microsoft is like the Matrix. That's what a GMTA thing is. ;-)

你用Linux能办到, 用Windows或在Mac上却无法办到的最酷的事儿是什么?

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:52:00 +0000

一些人最近向我问起这个问题. 要我回答, 答案可不只一个. 我把我所想到的编排了一个清单, 然后用电子邮件发给我的朋友... 后来我想我也要在这儿发一下, 供来日回味参详. 请随意往这清单上添加. 在整理我的想法的时候我又想起论坛上曾有一篇帖子也是关于同一话题的, 所以我也从那里盗了些许过来.

名正言顺地升级到最新版本, 无须付钱
让最新版的操作系统在相同的硬件上比之前的版本跑得更快
倘若我不喜欢默认设置, 可以轻易安装运行不同的图形界面
用一条命令安装二十个程序
让系统自动为我更新所有安装的程序
在多台电脑上安装我的OS(Ubuntu)之同一副本而不用担心许可协议的限制或者激活码.
派放操作系统副本以及运行其上的其他程序而不触犯任何条例准则, 不论是政府定的, 道德上的抑或良心上的, 因为原本它完全就是要这么受用的
完全控制我的电脑硬件, 知晓在我的软件中不存在心怀叵测的软件公司和政府机构安置的秘密后门
运行我的电脑, 无需使用病毒扫描程序, 更用不着针对恶意广告软件/间谍软件的防护, 甚至我可以确保获取所有安全更新而连月不用重启我的电脑.
运行我的电脑而无需对我的硬盘驱动进行碎片整理
试用软件, 一旦发觉我不喜欢, 便卸载, 且知道它没有在某个注册表项上留下任何可能逐步累积并拖慢我机器速度的残渣碎片
一个造成需要彻底重装系统的大大的失误能在不到一小时内搞定, 因为我把我所有的数据都放在了另外一块与操作系统和程序相隔离的分区
在一台已三年的旧电脑上，引导进入一个在炫目与效果上与Windows Vista一样酷的桌面...用时不超过40秒, 包括输入我的登录用户名和密码
名正言顺地对任何我所想的东东进行量身设置, 包括我最喜欢的程序. 我甚至可以寻访软件开发者向他们请教, 建言献策, 如果我愿意我还可以参与到实际的设计/软件起草过程当中
让4个以上的文字处理器窗口开着在页面上工作, 听音乐, 玩转炫目的桌面效果, 与一个相当快乐的社区保持沟通, 让Firefox, 即时消息以及电子邮件客户端同时开启, 完全不必向他人求取代码来使我的OS正常运作, 系统不会运行缓慢以致如同废物
用命令 "dpkg --get-selections > pkg.list"就将我已安装的软件详尽列出, 在一个单独的分区将我的/etc以及/home目录进行备份, 而且可在任何时候轻易地恢复你的系统
同时运行多个桌面, 甚至让多个用户同时登录使用电脑
调整一块硬盘分区的大小, 无须删除它亦不会丢失其上的任何数据
相同的硬件, 用上超过5年的时间, 直到它真的需要替换为止... 我有些硬件都快将近10年了, 跑Linux, 依然好使
在OS还在安装时就浏览网页!
几乎可用任何硬件, 而其驱动都内含在操作系统中... 避免了去网上游窜搜寻硬件制造商网站才能找到的必要
获取几乎任何东东的源代码, 包括OS内核以及我大部分的应用程序

我还可以继续, 但估计已经够长了吧. :)

作者简介：
Matthew Helmke是一位网站设计者兼管理员, 同时也弹吉他, 写作, 做研究, 还是一位电脑怪才.

译者注：
- 本文的翻译得到了Matthew Helmke先生的应允与支持，在此向他表示衷心的感谢。

- 由于中途为他事所扰，从推荐此文到翻译结束历时近3日，昨日译至一半，偶然发现已有一位仁兄已写了简介并翻译发表。倘那位仁兄事先知会，亦不会有此重译之情况。本想删除译稿却又不舍，且已与Matthew Helmke先生有约在先，待译完付梓必予告知，故强自为之，然并未参照那位仁兄译作之丝毫，如有雷同之处，实属巧合，望那位仁兄海涵。事已至此，两译文并存，权作谈资。

Note from the translator:
The article is translated with the permission and support from Mr. Matthew Helmke, my sincere thanks to him.

PS:
Matthew has added a link to my translation in Comment #130 in his blog. My honor!
What is the coolest thing you can do using Linux that you can't do with Windows or on a Mac?

The article has been in Yeeyan for a while. I make it here for my convenience of future reference.

DUF vs FUD

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 11:31:00 +0000

Much has been said about the FUD imposed by Microsoft upon its users against us GNU/Linux and Free Software. We, enlightened, GNU/Linux and Free Software users, are so tired of those tricks of Microsoft that some people called for ``Can we stop fighting FUD with FUD?'' Although I did call for continuing fighting FUD with FUD in my comments on the article I kinda agree with the author. It's unnecessary to emphasize too much any of those thicks. But we must record them (The FUD FAQ, FUDzilla) and be totally aware of them. Then what? *Always* stick to the truth!

To stick to the truth and to let more and more FUDed people know the truth, it can not be avoided to uncover those tricks. But remember, just uncover them to show the truth, do not impose any of our thoughts upon people. Yes, it's hard to do decently. But when there is a will, there is a way. Here the author is right in a way. "If we want to promote free software -- and it’s associated ideals - to new users then we should promote it on its merits, without twisting facts and by giving them a chance to get it wrong occasionally." And meanwhile, as Stallman said, "stick to the truth", "accept the limitations of existing free software, and/or change them by writing or supporting development of further free software."

In mind, I am a strong supporter of Free Software, no doubt. But concerning the fight against FUD, I prefer the way of Taiji - conquering the unyielding with the yielding. Thus I invent the DUF (previously FUD when I commented on the article).

D - Decision (This talks about choice. You are the decision-maker for a choice)
U - Unclosure (This term is coined to emphasize the concept of ``Open Source''. If one does want to know what's inside, I'd like to show him the OSD by OSI.)
F - Freedom (This does specify what's the meaning of `Free' in ``Free Software'', and If one does want to know what `Freedoms' he can win, I'd like to show him the FSD by FSF, in particular, the four essential freedoms.)

As you may noticed, the one occupying higher level on the list is based upon the one below it. And *Freedom* is the right base of all other two above. And the term `Unclosure' instead of ``Open Source'' also implies my bias to ``Free Software''. One may be curious that how Stallman got to know the article. To tell you the truth, I sent him an email telling him about that and also show him this invention (in the email, originally, in the order F, U, D). So what's his comment on my invention? ``That's clever.'' Yes, that's what he said. :-)

OK, it's time for us, if we really fight FUD with FUD recent years (according to the author of the article), agree or not, to stop fighting FUD with FUD, but continue to fight FUD with DUF! :-)

如果Linux君临天下的话...

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 03:18:00 +0000

你能想象如果Linux取代Windows同时Microsoft破产会发生些什么变化吗? 哈, 我倒是详加考虑了一下, 于是脑子里有了这些想法. 它们多数都纯属虚构, 只为消遣. 希望你们喜欢.

企鹅们要乐翻天了. 它们将从南极送出漫天的飞吻. 有些甚至会游水北上去与它们的表亲, Tux会面.
Google的那群人要到野外狂欢了. 一些亲Microsoft分子将加入Al Qaeda, 向Google的办公大楼发动炸弹袭击.
反病毒公司要倒闭了. 由Symantec领衔, 它们将开起他们各自的面包店.
少数PC用户还会被突发蓝屏死机或者发现他们所有的重要文件和图片都没了而被折腾得死去活来.
相反, 盗名黑客的死亡率将出奇上升. 有些会开始资助Microsoft以拾昔日有Windows时的美好时光. 其他的一些则会尝试将目标转向Linux, 但只有被Tux叼走的命.
船通常因台风, 技术差错或者意外撞上冰山而沉没. 但现在更多的船则是由于免费的Ubuntu ShipIt! CDs超重而沉没.
Intel Pentium又要东山再起了- 多数Linux Distro在Pentium IV, 512 MB RAM上跑得飞快, 毫不含糊.
Steve Ballmer将被逮住在他自己的PC上也用Linux. 理由 - Windows Vista对那可怜的人的钱袋来说也承受不起了!
遭池鱼之殃的Adobe将把Photoshop的价格从$700砍到$7. 然而人们依然偏爱免费且开源的GIMP.
由于游戏开发公司转而关注Tux, Linux用户将变为游戏狂.
诸如Internet Explorer和Windows Media Player之类的名称将进入历史书.
计算机病毒将销声匿迹. 生物病毒又要欣喜若狂了 - 它们将不再如以前有计算机病毒时那样被忽略了. 在Google搜索一下"virus", 出现在顶端的将不再是计算机病毒, 而是生物病毒. 为了对Linux用户表示感谢, 它们将停止传播AIDS.
Netscape Navigator又将以迅雷之势重新崛起, 但并不针对 Firefox和Flock.
The Pirate Bay和Mininova之类的Torrent站点将与早已长眠于地下的昔日对手Demonoid团聚了.
Microsoft的瓦解带给Apple的欢喜将由于Linux占据了主导地位而夭折. 然而, 不像Microsoft, Linux将因Apple坚实的操作系统Mac OSX而给予其认同.

哎! 在可预见的将来, Linux还不会主宰PC世界, 而Microsoft也还不会变成一个"谁在乎?"似的东东. 将近一年, 我几乎全用Ubuntu. 我发现它确实相当稳定, 但是要把它打造成为一个严格意义上的Windows的竞争者, 绝对还需要一些细微的改进. Windows用户, 请不要认为我讨厌Windows或者任何东东! Windows XP和Windows Vista我都喜欢. 正如你所见, PC Ton!c几乎全是关于Windows的.

:)

作者简介:
Ashutosh Mishra是印度一名12年级的学生. 他喜欢计算机, 小说, 野营和网球. 他还是一名Yahoo! Answers的答疑常客, 同时赢得了2007印度答疑之星的称号.

译者注:

本文的翻译得到了原作者Ashutosh Mishra的应允与支持, 在此向他表示诚挚的谢意.
专有名词采取了不译的做法. 为方便部分读者, 现将其中译者知晓的一些有常见中文译名的附上.

Al Qaeda(基地组织), Apple(苹果), Firefox(火狐), Google(谷歌), Intel Pentium(英特尔奔腾), Linux Distribution/Distro(Linux发行版), Microsoft(微软), Windows Media Player(Windows媒体播放器).

Note from the translator:
The article is translated with its author Ashutosh Mishra's permission and support. My sincere thanks to him.

PS:
The original article If Linux Ever Rules ... can be found here. It is very amusing. I have read it for several times and every time enjoy the reading. During the translating, I try my best to keep the fun in the words (in English). But I still highly recommend you to read the original article. Anyway, hope you enjoy! ;-)

Richard M. Stallman采访记

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:24:00 +0000

Stallman先生, GPL, FSF以及GCC的创始人, 分享了他对诸多话题的看法.

Colin McGregor
2008-01-23

Richard M. Stallman早已成为自由软件运动中的灵魂人物, 有时也可以说是备受争议的一个人物. Stallman先生的成就包括起草GNU公用许可协议(GPL), 创立自由软件基金会 (FSF), 编写GNU C编译器, 但不仅限于此. Stallman先生将在这儿与我们分享他对诸多话题的看法.

自由软件人: Richard M. Stallman

1983 年9月, Richard Stallman宣布了开发一个类似Unix操作系统的自由软件计划: GNU. 1985年, 他成立了自由软件基金会以实现那个目标. 到1991年, GNU除了内核以外均已完成. 当1992年Linux内核成为自由软件时, GNU与Linux的结合便形成了第一个现代自由操作系统: GNU/Linux系统(俗称"Linux").
Richard Stallman亦起草了作为GNU开发环节中的一部分的GNU通用公共许可协议.

Richard M. Stallman

CM: 你能解释一下为什么新的自由软件用户应该认识"free"指的是"自由言论"中的"自由", 而不是"免费啤酒"中的"免费"吗?
RMS: 倘若他们想正确地理解"自由软件"的概念, 这是一种可行的方式. 其含义无非是软件应该尊重用户的自由. 自由软件意味着软件给你四项最基本的自由:

第0条自由: 随意运行软件的自由.
第1条自由: 研习源代码以及修改源代码使其遂你所愿的自由.
第2条自由: 随意重发布程序副本的自由.
第3条自由: 随意发布你修改后版本的副本的自由.

这些自由使你得以享受自主的计算机体验, 并且使你有可能成为一个互助社区的一份子. 它们也带来了民主: 自由软件开发者们受用户的导向. 而专有(非自由)软件则把用户置于开发者的掌控之下.
自1983年基金会成立开始, 这些自由价值和社会凝聚就一直是自由软件运动的基本理想. 这些理想正是我启动GNU操作系统开发的动机. 它们也是我们社区存在的理由.

这些为自由软件而付出的努力是值得的, 因为自由和社区之重要. 而免费软件不值得如此卖力, 因为价格通常不成其为一个道德问题. 支付没错, 被支付也没错. 但践踏他人的自由和社区就是错的. 所以自由软件运动旨在结束这种行径, 至少要在软件领域.

CM: 大多数自由软件都是在第2版的GPL下发布的. 那新的也就是第3版的GPL要解决一些什么样的具有争议或者备受关注的问题呢?
RMS: GNU通用公共许可协议基本的思想就是要保证所有使用代码的用户都享有那四项自由. 它通过禁止中间人剥夺你这些自由的合法的反版权手段来达到此目的. 反版权被证实还有其他好处. 而且那些认同"开源"的实用价值而非自由软件的道德理想的人经常都选用GNU GPL.

1989 年, 当我起草第1版GPL的时候, 我们知道那些中间人有两种手段可尝试去达到他们的目的: 通过添加带限制性的许可协议条款, 或者隐藏源代码. 第1版的GPL就是为防止这两种手段而设计的. 1991年第2版GPL的设计, 同样是为了防止持有专利者利用他们的专利权以某种会使软件变得非自由的手段强加许可协议给重发布者.

自那时起, 其他限制自由软件的种种手段陆续发展. 比如有一种叫Tivo化的手段, 机器一旦检测到修改了的(软件)版本就关闭. 然后又有Novell-Microsoft的合伙, Microsoft利用其专利权威胁除了Novell用户以外的所有人. 于是我们设计了第3版的GPL以阻止这两类对我们的自由的侵袭. 再者, 我们设计它也为了能在不同国家之间都给出更加统一的结论, 同时扩展与其他的一些自由软件许可协议之间的兼容性.

CM: 你所有的项目中哪一个让你尤为自豪?
RMS: 在所有经我之手的项目中, 最富挑战性的当数GCC, 但我最喜欢的还是Emacs. 然而, 当我审视什么足以让我感觉自豪, 那不是任何一个程序. 我为能投身争取自由的运动而自豪. 还有很多其他我喜欢做的事, 但是没有一件能有这一件这么重要.

CM: 为什么DRM("数字约束管理"或者"数字权利管理")非道德呢?
RMS: 数字约束管理意味着软件或硬件围绕限制和控制我们对出版作品的使用来设计. 其结果就是否定任一或者全部版权法赋予我们的本来就少得可怜的那一点点自由. 那根本就不公平.

同时, 很多国家包括英国都实行通过了一些限制发布可触及这些数字约束作品的自由软件的不公平法案. 因此, 所有的DRM也是对自由软件的一种侵袭.

我们决不应该购买那些带有DRM的产品, 除非我们有办法破除它. 因此, 不要买DVD除非你有一款可以播放它的自由软件---而且决不要购买HDDVD或者Blueray!

CM: 对于你自己, 还有什么想让自由软件杂志的读者了解的吗?
RMS: 我想让他们知道的是, 我之所以启动他们大多数人都知道的Linux操作系统项目(尽管不包括Tolvads提供的内核)完全是为了我的自由, 你的自由, 以及他们的自由.

了解这一点非常重要. 因为我们总会面临来自那些掌权者的压力. 那些人想剥夺我们的自由. 他们频频向我们提供各种充满诱惑的事物, 希望以此作为交换让我们放弃我们的自由而屈服. 比如, 布莱尔想放弃他作为英国人的崇高的尊严来虔诚地为他的美国主子, 布什效劳. 他就通过那种"特殊关系", 打着一切为了他人的幌子, 带着那种可以感动他的主子的自以为是的想法, 献上了使不列颠人免受这样或那样(威胁)的"保护伞".

同样的事情也在我们的领域内发生. 那些制造电子消费产品的公司想把DRM强加给我们; 他们先对获取的自由软件的程序动了手脚, 然后再把这类程序传递给我们使得我们无法再自由修改. 他们想用这种方式来达到他们的目的. 因此他们就对我们发出邀请, 允许我们的软件被Tivo化, 而且抛下诱饵, 只要我们投降, 我们的软件就将变得"更加热门".

保持我们自由唯一的方式就是拥有拒绝那些诱人赠予的坚强意志. 我们必须转向一个可以拦截这些魔鬼来路的类似第3版GPL的许可协议.

CM: 感谢你花时间回答我的提问.

作者注: 这些采访的目的是为了介绍自由软件社区的重要人物, 让他们讲述他们的故事. 遵照在采访之前的邮件接洽中Richard Stallman的意思, 介绍以及提问中都选用了确凿的言辞.

版权信息
本文在来于http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/的"署名-非商业性使用-禁止演绎"第2.5版知识共享许可协议下可用.

作者简介:
Colin McGregor: Colin McGregor (www.mcgregor.org) 在一家多伦多地区的慈善机构工作, 另外兼职咨询业务, 同时任Toronto Free-Net的总裁. 他同时也是大多伦多地区Linux用户团体大会的秘书, 并不时应邀发表客座演说.

译者注:
本文的翻译得到了Colin McGregor先生的应允与支持, 在此向他表示诚挚的谢意.

Note from the translator:
The article is translated with the permission and support from Mr Colin McGregor. My sincere thanks to him.

PS:
The original article Interview with Richard M. Stallman can be found here. Recently, Mr Colin McGregor sent me an email telling me that I mistake numbering the four essential freedoms. It should be 0, 1, 2, 3, instead of 0, 1, 3, 4. I have corrected it. Thanks to him for his continuous support. In the email, he also told me that he post in the community the link to my translation I sent to him and some Chinese members told him that it's excellent. I am honored. Hope you enjoy the reading. :-)

Yeeyan and Yeeyaner

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:45:00 +0000

I mentioned in my profile that I am a yeeyaner. You may wonder what is a yeeyaner.

Yeeyan is a community with its members (mostly Chinese) from all over the world. We call us yeeyaner. A yeeyaner is a person who introduces interesting articles on almost any subject to Yeeyan. A yeeyaner also translates these articles into other languages (mainly Chinese) . The purpose of Yeeyan is to let more and more non-native English/French/... speakers enjoy reading interesting articles in these languages on the internet. The ultimate goal is to have people recognize that there are more preferable things than others on the internet. We are enthusiastic about translation and always have fun.

I do not remember how I found Yeeyan. Maybe from google, I am not sure. I am still a young man in Yeeyan. So far, I have translated three articles originally in English. I list them below:

Richard M. Stallman采访记（Interview with Richard M. Stallman by Colin McGregor）
如果Linux君临天下的话（If Ever Linux Rules ... by Ashutosh Mishra）
你用Linux能办到，用Windows或在Mac上却无法办到的最酷的事儿是什么？（What is the coolest thing you can do using Linux that you can't do with Windows or on a Mac? by Matthew Helmke）

You can find them in my space at Yeeyan. Or I may collect them here later. These articles are translated with the permission and support from their authors, my sincere thanks to them. You may notice that all these article I choose to translate are about Free Software (Linux is FS too). Yes, I am a Free Software supporter. ;-). I hope you will also support Free Software after read some of my translations. My work will go on. I hope you will have fun while reading as I do while translating. And I also want to invite you to be a yeeyaner! May the fun be with you! ;-)

影响计算机算法世界的十位大师

noreply@blogger.com (DAY) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:08:00 +0000

Don E. Knuth

伟大的智者——Don E. Knuth，中文名：高德纳(1938-)算法和程序设计技术的先驱者。“Oh, God!” 国外的一些网站这样评价他。一般说来，不知道此人的程序员是不可原谅的。其经典著作《计算机程序设计艺术》更是被誉为算法中“真正”的圣经，像KMP和LR(K)这类令人不可思议的算法，在此书中比比皆是。难怪连Bill Gates都说：“如果能做对书里面所有的习题，就直接来微软上班吧！”

关于Don E. Knuth本人，一生中获得的奖项和荣誉不计其数，包括图灵奖，美国国家科学金奖，美国数学学会斯蒂尔将（AMS Steel Prize），以及发明先进技术荣获的极受尊重的京都奖（KyotoPrize）等等，写过19部书和160余篇论文，每一篇著作都能用影响深远来形容。Don E. Knuth也被公认为美国最聪明的人之一。当年他上大学的时候，常写些各种各样的编译器来挣外快，只要是他参加的编程比赛，总是第一名，同时也是世上少有的编程达到40年以上的程序员之一。他除了是技术与科学上的泰斗外，更是无可非议的写作高手，技术文章堪称一绝，文风细腻，讲解透彻，思路清晰而且没有学究气，估计这也是《计算机程序设计艺术》被称为圣经的原因之一。

Edsger Wybe Dijkstra

谦逊的长者——Edsger Wybe Dijkstra，1930年出生于荷兰阿姆斯特丹，2002年逝世于荷兰纽南。他在祖国荷兰获得数据和物理学学士，理论物理博士学位，2000年退休前一直是美国Texas大学的计算机科学和数学教授。以发现了图论中的最短路径算法（Dijkstra算法）而闻名于世，1972 年因为ALGOL第二代编程语言而获得图灵奖。“Go To Statement Considered Harmful”(EWD215)也是被广为传颂的经典之作。除了科学研究之外，他最喜欢做的事情就是教学，被人称作“一天教学24小时”的教授。

且不说Dijkstra算法对计算科学，网络科学发展的深远影响，单从他在1972年获得图灵奖时的演讲“The Humble Programmer”就不得不肃然起敬，在获得计算机科学中至高无上的奖项时，Edgs Wybe Dijkstra仍然称自己不过是一个谦逊普通的程序员，何等胸襟，举世之中几人可比。

George Dantzig

运筹学大师——George Dantizig可谓是由父亲一手培养出的天才。George的父亲是俄国人，曾在法国师从著名的科学家Henri Poincare。他曾经这样回忆自己的父亲：“在我还是个中学生时，他就让我做几千道几何题 …… 解决这些问题的大脑训练是父亲给我的最好礼物。这些几何题，在发展我分析能力的过程中，起了最最重要的作用。”

在伯克利学习的时候，有一天George上课迟到，只看到黑板上写着两个问题，他只当是课堂作业，随即将问题抄下来并做出解答。六个月后，这门课的老师——著名统计学家Jerzy Neyman——帮助他把答案整理了一下，发表为论文，George这才发现自己解决了统计学领域中一直悬而未决的两个难题。

George后来在运筹学建树极高，获得了包括“冯诺伊曼理论奖”在内的诸多奖项。他在“Linear programming and extensions”一书中研究了线性编程模型，为计算机语言的发展做出了不可磨灭的贡献。天妒英才，他于2005年5月13日去世。

James Cooley

推动时代前进的人——James Cooley(1926-)美国数学家，哥伦比亚大学的数学博士，以他所创造的快速傅立叶变换(FFT)而著名，不能不说是意义极其重大。FFT的数学意义不光在于使大家明白了傅立叶(Fourier)变换计算起来是多么容易，而且使得数字信号处理技术取得了突破性的进展，对于现在的网络通信，图形图像处理等领域的发展与前进奠定了基础。Fourier变化的意义在于将电能变为了工业的命脉，而FFT的意义更是在于他推动了整个社会信息化的进程。在 IBM研究中心中主要从事数字信号处理的研究一直到1992年退休，同时他还是IEEE的数字信号处理委员会的成员。1980年获得 ASSP's Meritorious Service Award, 1984年获得ASSP Society Award以及IEEE Centennial Medal。

John Backus

FORTRAN之父—— John Backus早年在Hill School学习的时候因为讨厌学习，成绩一踏糊涂而不得不在暑假补课。1943年他在父亲的要求下到维吉尼亚大学学习化学，随后参军、照顾头部受伤的伤员、在医学学校学习治疗，可是最后又都放弃了。不过还好，战后Backus进入纽约哥伦比亚大学学习数学，并于1949年毕业。在毕业前夕，他跑到了麦迪逊大街的IBM计算机中心参观。事情凑巧，和导游聊天的时候Backus谈到自己正在找工作，在导游的鼓励下，他和中心一位主管的面谈，成为了一名IBM 的程序员。

在IBM，Backus的才华得到了施展，发明了人类历史上第一个高级语言——FORTRAN。接着，又提出了规范描述编程语言语法的Backus-Naur Form (BNF)。这位当年的“差生”终于被整个计算机世界肯定——美国计算机协会于1977年授予John Backus图灵奖。

Jon Bentley

实践探索先锋—— Jon Bentley 1974年获得了斯坦福大学的学士学位，1976年获得北卡罗莱纳大学的硕士和博士学位。毕业后在卡耐基梅隆大学教授了6年计算机科学课程，1982年进入贝尔实验室。2001年退休后加入了现在的Avaya实验室，他还曾作为访问学者在西点军校和普林斯顿大学工作。他的研究领域包括编程技术、算法设计、软件工具和界面设计等等。

他写作过三本编程书籍，其中最著名的就是涵盖从算法理论到软件工程各种主题的“Programming Pearls” （《编程珠玑》），这其实是他发表过的文章的合集。在这些文章里，Jon从工程实现的角度出发，为程序员们提供了一个个艰难问题的解决方案，犹如一颗颗闪闪发亮的珍珠。Bentley的珍珠超出了可靠工程学的范畴，利用他的洞察力和创造力为那些恼人的问题提供了独特而巧妙的解决方案。

Nicklaus Wirth

Pascal之父——Nicklaus Wirth，如果说有一个人因为一句话而得到了图灵奖，那么这个人应该就是Nicklaus Wirth，这句话就是他提出的著名公式“算法+数据结构=程序”。这个公式对计算机科学的影响程度足以类似物理学中爱因斯坦的“E=MC^2”——一个公式展示出了程序的本质。

Nicklaus Wirth，1934年出生于瑞士，1963年在加州大学伯克利分校取得博士学位。取得博士学位后直接被以高门槛著称的斯坦福大学聘到刚成立的计算机科学系工作。在斯坦福大学成功开发出Algol W以及PL360后，爱国心极强的Nicklaus Wirth于1967年回到祖国瑞士，第二年在他的母校苏黎世工学院他创建并实现了Pascal语言——当时世界上最受欢迎的语言之一。后来他的学生Philipe Kahn毕业后和Anders Hejlsberg (Delphi之父)创办了Borland公司。靠Turbo Pascal起家，很快将Borland发展成为了全球最大的开发工作厂商，这一切都不得不说要归功于PASCAL语言的魅力。PASCAL已经影响了整整几代的程序员，Nicklaus Wirth的思想还将会继续指引现在和以后的程序员前进的方向。

Rebort Sedgewick

算法的讲解者——Robert Sedgewick是普林斯顿大学的计算机科学教授。他还是Adobe Systems的一名主管，也曾作为访问学者在 Xerox PARC、IDA和INRIA工作。他在斯坦福大学获得博士学位。他的著作包括“Algorithm in C”，“Algorithm in C++”，“Algorithm in Java”等系列书籍，这些书都再版多次。“没有人能够将算法和数据结构解释得比Robert Sedgewick更清楚易了！”，很多读过他著作的程序员这样说。

目前Robert正在研究算法设计，数据结构，算法分析等方面的基础理论。他善于通过数学方法评估和预测算法性能，设法发现算法，数据结构的通用机制，例如使用逼近方法寻找更快速更高效的算法。另外，他还将算法和图形学结合起来，例如使用可视化方法评估算法效率，算法的图形化模拟，用于出版物的高质量算法表现方法等等。

Tony Hoare

计算机领域的爵士——Tony Hoare，1934年出生于英国，1959年博士毕业于俄罗斯莫斯科国立大学，获得语言机器翻译专业学士学位。1960年发布了使他闻名于世的快速排序算法（Quick Sort），这个算法也是当前世界上使用最广泛的算法之一。

Tony Hoare在取得博士学位后，就职于Elliott Brothers，领导了Algol 60第一个商用编译器的设计与开发，由于其出色的成绩，最终成为该公司首席科学家。从1977年开始，Tony Hoare博士任职于牛津大学，投身于计算系统的精确性的研究，设计及开发。因其对Algol 60程序设计语言理论，互动式系统及APL的贡献，1980年被美国计算机协会授予“图灵奖”。

1999年在牛津大学退学后，Tony Hoare博士被微软剑桥研究院聘请担任高级程序员，从事微软剑桥研究院研究生成果的工业化应用的工作，以及协助其它研究人员进行服务于软件产业及用户的长期基础研究项目。2000年因为其在计算机科学与教育上做出的贡献被封为爵士。

Udi Manber

首席算法官——世界上还有如此奇怪的职位？但是对于Amazon乃至Google来说，这一点也不奇怪。Udi Manber，这位前Amazon的“首席算法官”，现在是Google负责工程事务的副总裁。他研究WWW的应用程序，搜索以及隐藏在这背后的算法设计。在此期间，他与其他人共同开发了Agrep，Glimpse和Harvest等Unix上的搜索软件。1998年，Udi成为了Yahoo!的首席科学家。2002年，Amazon创造性地给了Udi“首席算法官”的职位，这与Udi为Amazon的“Search Inside the Book”搜索项目所做的工作相得益彰。

Udi还因为他所著的“Introduction to Algorithms——A Creative Approach”而被大家称道。

来源: 不详