Linux

Today I had a long and very positive meeting about software patents and the NZ Patents Bill with Commerce Committee chairperson, Labour party's Lianne Dalziel, as well as Drupal-peers Dave Lane and Jonathan Hunt.  Dalziel, Christchurch East MP, was well-informed about the Patents Bill, the Ministry of Economic Development's Patent Review and the insufficient attention paid to software patents (thanks to our emails and exchange of documents beforehand).  She was not so well-informed about software patents and the harm that they cause – as would be expected given the complexity and obscurity of these issues for those who do not work in the software development.

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Air New Zealand's in-flight entertainment system runs Linux. Unfortunately the layer of software that Air NZ has deployed on top of Linux is buggy and I noticed at least twice in one 3-hour flight that it crashed, causing Linux to reboot. (This is what led me to discover the systems run Linux.) Watching Linux boot on the seat-back console screen was fun. And it was nice to see Tux the Penguin about the airline.

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I had the joy of attending Linuxfest Northwest on April 26 in Bellingham, WA. The weather was great (just like last year), and the atmosphere relaxed and fun. Linuxfest is a 2-day community event, run by volunteers and free to the public. It is such a cozy atmosphere, and it is easy to interact with the speakers and the exhibitors.

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