CyberBabble
Site-Seeing on the Internet

Darwin, Big Brother And The Evolution Of The Personal Computer 

Duff MacDonald
Mirror contributing writer

   Sure, it’s 2001, but it feels like 1984 all over again. The personal computer is undergoing both revolutionary and evolutionary changes. The Oscar-nominated Ridley Scott directed Apple’s landmark TV ad “1984,” depicting Apple leading subjugated people to the promised land away from Big Brother and the dominance of his oppressive operating systems (download the ad in QuickTime or RealPlayer formats at (www.apple-history.com/1984.html). With the release this week of Apple’s new Unix based OS X (ten) software and the continuing rise in popularity of the Open Source movement, we are indeed on our way to major changes (www.apple.com/
macosx). 
   In some kind of rabid dog delusional thought process, Microsoft has been alleging that Linux and the entire Open Source community are anti-American. This is incredibly amusing, given Microsoft’s $135 million investment in Corel last fall. It wasn’t just an exchange of money, for Microsoft was buying entrée into the Linux world. A commercial software developer which makes software for Windows, Mac, Linux and UNIX, Corel produces a version of Linux (linux.corel.com). 
   Microsoft Windows OS chief Jim Allchin’s attempt to deflect complicity in its current anti-trust lawsuit by using McCarthy-isms was ridiculed by others in the computer world. Matthew J. Szulik, the CEO of Red Hat, a maker of a popular version of Linux, said “It’s troubling to be in a great intellectual debate –- perhaps the most fundamental in the history of computing –- and have to face such specious and unfounded arguments and accusations,” in an essay, entitled, “On the Wrong Side of History” (www.redhat.com/about/presscenter/2001/
press_matthew.html). 
   Fearing both the Open Source planet and being left behind, Microsoft did an about-face, announcing it was going to make 95% of its code “open source read-only,” meaning look but don’t touch. Being the monolithic idea-swallowing monster it is, Microsoft plods along, taking Frankenstein-like baby steps, rather than wholeheartedly committing itself to the future. 
   Of course, there are some things that Microsoft came up with first, but it’s nice that Apple is finally getting the props due them for quite some time. Many people think that Microsoft is better at writing software than it is at creating operating systems (Windows and MS-DOS). And, given the strange symbiotic relationship of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, maybe it’s finally taking its inevitable evolutionary path. 
   Darwin is Apple’s take on the venerable UNIX that was invented in 1969 by Ken Thompson of AT&T’s Bell Labs. For a history of UNIX go to (cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/hist.html). In the 70s, students at UC Berkeley, including Bill Joy, who later became Sun Microsystems’ Chief Scientist, fine-tuned and further developed what became known as BSD, the Berkeley Standard Distribution [of UNIX]. There are currently 3 different flavors of BSD (www.bsd.org), (www.netbsd.org), (www.freebsd.org) and Darwin is culled from all three. 
   The O’Reilly Press book, “Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution” (www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/toc.
html) is a history of the hackers from the trenches and you can read it online for free. Work began during the Vietnam years, but it was Joy, in 1977 who put together BSD in true punk rock do-it-yourself indie fashion. 
   Students came up with their own takes on AT&T’s corporate UNIX OS and many versions of UNIX were/are given away for free, as is Apple’s Darwin (www.opensource.apple.com/projects/darwin/1.2/
release.html). But the thing to remember here is that the idea of a free operating system was/is not just about something for nothing, but about free speech and choice. Peter Wayner, author of the book, “Free for All: How Linux and the Free Software Movement Undercut the High-Tech Titans,” says “Open source is about giving programmers (and users) the chance to poke under the hood and change things.” 
   Apple’s Darwin (www.darwinos.org) is the core source code that is literally its next step up the evolutionary ladder. The power of UNIX hacker know-how based Darwin (www.darwinfo.org) is married with Apple’s elegant and intuitive user interface and software to create a sum greater than its parts. 
   With Apple embracing the Open Source movement, it appears that eventually the best operating system to run on any computer, no matter who makes the CPU, will be the Mac OS. There are plans to make OS X run on Intel-nased processors and it’s rumored Apple is also working with processor manufacturer AMD (wincent.org/transitional/ osx_thin_client.php). 
   Windows users shouldn’t worry though, as Microsoft has almost always created better versions of its software for the Macintosh. The Mac versions of Word/Office and Internet Explorer (IE) have always had cooler features and interface tweaks that appear first on the Mac and sometimes never even make it to the Windows versions (www.microsoft.com/mac). 
   Remember Microsoft was creating software for Apple computers, years before Windows was a glimmer in Gates’ eye. 
   Email CyberBabble: duffmacdonald@yahoo.com