I Got My Penguin

Chin Wong gave me a penguin!

Well, at least a personalized drawing of a one on the penguin collection graphic on his website (www.chinwong.com). You can see my penguin (notice the beard) in the blown-up version on the right . The original is a cool, high-resollution affair, and you can get your own penguin on it simply by asking Chin. His site has a form just for that.

Chin was the Editor-in-Chief of Computerworld Philippines, a position he ably held for many, many years. He is also a happy convert to Linux, having made the switch in 2006. In his blog article, “Secret Weapon“, he says this of the tale:

Two years ago this month, I erased Windows XP from my home PC and installed Ubuntu on it and have not looked back since. Today, the Linux-based system I have is more secure, more efficient in its use of resources—and more fun to use— than any Windows-based installation on comparable hardware. It certainly blows Windows Vista out of the water. Remarkably, it’s also 100 percent legal and 100 percent free, which is something you could never say about Windows, whether you used a licensed version or a pirated knock-off.

Now how’s that for a ringing endorsement? it’s these success stories — and helpful users like Chin — that win new converts to Linux.

I first began using Linux in 1999, when I installed Red Hat 5.0 on my 180MHz clone. Just like Chin, I had my ups and downs. Linux was certainly not as easy to install then, and the Red Hat graphical desktop was usable but had some pretty rough edges. I’m now running CentOS, a free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

If you have a Linux success story to tell, let Chin know about it and get yourself a penguin. You’ll be in good company.

Investigating the OOXML Vote

Although Microsoft managed to get its OOXML ratified as a “standard” via a spectacularly flawed fast-track process, that travesty has caused quite a ruckus in the ISO itself, and may have mortally wounded the credibility of the standards approval process. It’s not all over yet, however, as reported in the ZDNet story, “Venezuela and India appeal OOXML ratification“:

“After the two-month appeal period, we now have four appeals — Brazil, India, South Africa and Venezuela,” Jonathan Buck, the director of communications for IEC, told ZDNet.co.uk on Monday. “The appeals are now with our CEOs, IEC General Secretary Ronnie Amit, and ISO Secretary General Alan Bryden, who have a 30-day period to make sure appeals conform to directives.”

Since groups in at least four other countries have had the courage and integrity to question how their representatives could have voted “yes” to such a mockery of standards and the approval process, perhaps it’s about time Filipinos do the same. When will an investigation of the Philippine vote take place? After all, the Philippines voted to approve a “standard” whose final form had not really fully discussed, and which cannot even be implemented by it’s creators (Microsoft). How can the interests of the Philippines be represented by such silliness?

Those in the Philippines who voted to approve the OOXML non-standard should not be allowed to get away scot-free with such a disservice. It’s about time someone send a letter of protest — not just to ISO but to the Commission on ICT as well!

Resources

Groklaw has done a great job keeping track of “ISO-Gate”, which is quite an appropriate name for this fiasco. Some resources include:

• An Open Letter on OOXML Happenings in India
• A Reminder: ISO’s Code of Ethics & What Happens Next – Update: Venezuela Appeals Also
• Now an OOXML Protest from Denmark’s OSL – Updated 3Xs: Official English Translation