Do we need our own Linux?

I downloaded a pre-release version of Bayanihan 5, the upcoming version of the state-sponsored Linux distribution, hoping to put it through its paces. Unfortunately, a few technical snags prevented me from making all but the most cursory review of what is by nature a complex product. After all, to get a fair reading of an operating system, you ought to have installed it and used it for at least a week. I only had two days, if that.

Since I didn’t have a spare computer on which to install it, I tried to run Bayanihan 5 off the Live CD—only to bump into my first snag. After the initial splash image and a few boot-up messages, the screen on my new LCD monitor turned black, with a floating message that said “input not supported.” I bumped into a similar problem when I changed monitors on my Ubuntu PC, so I knew this had something to do with how the X window system wasn’t properly configured to work with my new flat-panel display. I was able to fix this by editing the X.org configuration file—a process I abhor because it is ridiculous to require end-users to go mucking around a configuration file simply because they change monitors. In this case, however, even this option was closed to me because I wouldn’t be able to write to the configuration file on the LiveCD.

Plan B was to install Bayanihan in a virtual machine running inside Ubuntu.  This I was able to do, but hit another snag when I tried to install the operating system and not just run it off a CD. Unlike other LiveCDs, this one didn’t have an “install to hard disk” option—at least not one that I could easily find. I finally settled on running the LiveCD inisde a virtual machine—surely a poor alternative to running it off a hard disk.

A third snag was that I could find absolutely no help online to see what I was doing wrong. The Bayanihan Linux support forum was offline all weekend, with one terse message: “Sorry, but this board is currently unavailable. Please try again later.” I tried several times, to no avail. Nor did the help system inside Bayanihan offer much relief.

All this was unfortunate, because Bayanihan 5 looks like a promising and modern operating system, that like Ubuntu, is based on Debian Linux. Like other modern Linux distributions, Bayanihan 5 also comes with a complete set of free and open source applications, including an office productivity suite, a powerful image-editing application, a media player and a CD burner. The interface, based on KDE , is a little busy for my taste, but is slick and easy enough to navigate. But do we really need bouncing icons attached to the mouse pointer while an application loads?

There is some effort at localization.  Bayanihan’s OpenOffice, for example, is packed with templates of commonly used government forms. Firefox is set up with bookmarks to government and local news sites. But are such localized touches worth the effort of developing our own Linux distribution?

Developing countries began building their own Linux distributions when open source became a viable and attractive alternative to proprietary systems. Usually, these national distributions were done in-house using non-commercial sources. The most famous among these was Red Flag Linux, which China began in 1999. The Philippine government, through the Advanced Science and Technology Institute, began the Bayanihan project two years later, in 2001, and released Version 1 in June 2002. While early versions were based on Fedora Core and Red Hat Linux, Bayanihan began using Debian starting with Version 4, which was officially released in March 2007.  Two years later, no date has been announced for the final release of Version 5.

Without taking anything away from the team that developed Bayanihan, perhaps it’s time to re-examine its objectives and see if things might be done any differently. This assessment can begin with a number of questions.

1. What specific goals must a Philippine distribution meet? Do we really need local language support, given the widespread use of English?

2. What can a Philippine Linux distribution offer local users that established distributions such as Ubuntu or OpenSuse cannot? Do we need to fund a national distribution to realize these advantages?

3. There is strength in numbers in developing open source software.  How large is the community that contributes to Bayanihan? What can be done to broaden this community and to get more people involved?

4. Strength in numbers also applies to users. Given that the more users there are, the more likely it is that bugs are quickly addressed, what can be done to create an active community of end-users?

These are tough but fair questions to ask. It’s great that we already have a national Linux distribution. It would be greater still if a thriving community of developers and end-users formed around that distribution. After all, that’s what the concept of bayanihan, the spirit of communal unity, is all about.

Chin, this is the first I’ve heard of this effort.  Did you notice what the browser was and if it was localized?  I assume they’re using Firefox but wanted to know if there were any screenshots?

Mozilla does not have a Tagalog localization yet so if they’ve done it, we’d love to uplift it into an official Firefox localization.

I agree that the objectives should be re-examined, or at least re-defined. If the objective is to deploy this to all govt/public computers, then, I agree that this should continue.

Another idea is to develop for netbooks (if we get s significant number of sales/owners). Or for education (and maybe legislators or the powers that be who decide what type of computers to buy use a light version of Bayanihan.

Been to Bayanihan Linux forum and it was full of spam.

Do we need our own Linux?

After reading…

Pinoy : “Naku, ganito pala linux natin, dami pa pala problema. Iba na lang subukan ko.”

Porendyer : “Ayl weyz may taym ip ayl tray dis. ayl luk por anader! der ar lat ob distros awt der”

Nang mabasa ko po ang artikulo niyo dahil sa LINUX.ORG, ako po’y nahiya para sa bansa natin. Nakakahiya dahil sa naka-poste pa ang inyong artikulo sa kilalang websayt. Buong mundo po! Sana nalathala na lang sa ating pahayagan. Ayos lang sana, kaya lang sa tanong na “Do we need our own Linux?”, sana “Bayanihan 5 Linux Review” na lang. Kung tatagalugin ang pamagat, “Kelangan pa ba natin ng sarili nating Linux?”, malamang natanong niyo pagkatapos niyo magamit at may maranasan na hindi maganda sa Bayanihan Linux. Hindi bat parang insulto ang dating para sa bansa natin. Kumbaga anong bago, eh, meron namang iba na magagawa naman mga ginagawa ko sa kompyuter ko tulad ng Ubuntu, OpenSuse, atbp. na walang problema. ‘di ba?

Sa aking pananaw, kung sasagutin mismo ang inyong tanong na pamagat din ng inyong artikulo, kelangan natin ng sariling Linux. Kahit ba orihinal o hiram lang sa ibang distro ang ating distro, tagalog man o ingles, malaki man o maliit lamang ang sukat, maganda man o panget, ang mahalaga ay yung importante. at ang importante ay yung napahayag mo ang iyong kalayaan. eto ang kalayaan (FREEdom) na sinasabi ni Ginoong Richard Stallman. Kalayaang magamit. Kalayaang makita kung paano ginawa. Kalayaang maipamahagi. At kalayaang baguhin at ma-ipamahagi ulit ang binago.

These are my opinions to your questions (in order)

1)
* It is clearly stated on their website written in English. Even their distro is in English. Only the name of the distro carries Tagalog word. (For this reason I’m upset. China has Redflag. Brazil has Ekaaty. Iran has Karamad. Vietnam has Hacao. Taiwan has B2D. These distros are localized) Now, it’s up to the Bayanihan Linux Team if they will include local language support. I guess this is not their main goal. It can be included as an extra.

2)
- Pls. read the features of their product(s).

* Integrated office productivity applications, web browser, antivirus, CD/DVD burning tool, firewall utility, and many more.
* Improved out-of-the-box support for various wireless devices, peripherals and printers, as well as plug-and-surf capability for popular 3G wireless devices.
* Templates for common government forms for easy filling out and printing (Gov’t version).

Altogether in one distro called Bayanihan Linux by the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Not Ubuntu, not OpenSuse, not Mandriva, or other established distributions.

For me, these features are enough for a typical computer user.

3)
* Students are there. How many students do we have in the Philippines??? schools??? professionals??? pc/net users??? There are schools that are now adapting FOSS (Free/Open-source Softwares). Like U.P… i mean University of the Philippines… who else???

from the title itself, “Do we need our own Linux?”, can this attract Filipino readers, or will just retract them from using it??? How can Bayanihan Linux broaden the community now???

4.
- That’s why they have a forum. That’s why also you’re telling it is down. It was down, for them to improve and create an active community of end-users. Now check it again. See for yourself.

“Since the project’s launch, the Bayanihan Team has also conducted trainings and lectures on their products as well as on the Free/Open Source Software (F/OSS) philosophy, basic Linux concepts, F/OSS applications such as OpenOffice.org, among others. Bayanihan has been and will continue to be promoted primarily for use in the education sector, government, and SME’s.” – http://www.bayanihan.gov.ph

Conclusion

* Do THEY really need to RE-examine their objectives or WE, in the community, are the one who should examine their objectives and give them feedbacks? Which is nearer to the concept of BAYANIHAN?
* Bayanihan Linux is not the only Philippine Linux Distro. If I’m not mistaken, we have Lorma Linux, Igelle Linux and AMA Desktop Linux (last updated year 2007). Maybe there are unreleased distros or customized distros by Filipino hobbyists out there.
* If we are to help, we don’t need to shout “I WILL HELP YOU!”. Just help without saying something. Better, right? This is not just the concept but the spirit of BAYANIHAN .

Linux distros in general are good software.  I like it a lot.  But there are drawbacks like sound issues, video regressions and forking.  Check out this website http://lunduke.com/?p=429

If the developers will try to focus on these issues then people and companies will easily embrace Linux in general.

If you will ask MS Windows fanatics about Linux, what do you expect?

Check out this website also ...

http://www.edmartechguide.com/2009/04/top-five-reasons-to-switch-to-linux.html

(start from no. 5)

..sound/video is not an issue anymore. Obviously, you will wonder, there are so many linux distros available. It’s just a matter of choice. If one will not work, try another. The reason, most of the distros are in live cd. Just boot. If it’s ok, use it. If not, check for another. If you want help, there is support available on the forums.

Linux teaches you how to catch fish but not how to eat fish.

I know what you mean my friend.  I have been using Linux for more than 2 years and I love it.  My idea is that there should be a standard system when it comes to audio-video, peripheral support, software packaging, APIs or frameworks, etc.  So that big software companies like Adobe, Corel, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Sony, Philips, etc. will support Linux 100% not just a backdoor system but a full desktop and we are talking.  Linux has a great potential but as long as developers will not use standard system in general then big companies will get discouraged to support Linux 100% for the desktop.  Personally I am a Linux/FOSS supporter by heart and mind but like I said if the developers keep on forking their programs then it will become a “rolling stone that gathers no moss.”

I understand you my friend. I agree...To *them* you will normally hear that (sound issues, video regressions...), but to us, it’s different, right? You’ve been using Linux for more than 2 years, so I guess, for you, it’s not a problem anymore and your system is running ok. The link that you referred to, I guess also, that man was not prepared just to show that Linux Su*** for the sake of his presentation.

In my opinion, Standards are there (e.g. x.org for videos running behind KDE, Gnome and others, ... and being an *open-source*). The only thing that confuses us is the desktop environment. Thinking why too many, why not only one like Windows or why there is no standard. Standard like installing programs. So that sound and video issues will be easily solved. If it is not supported by the OS, just look for the driver, plug it, install, and then finish. Linux is just a coin on the floor waiting for somebody to pick him up. Linux is not one but hundreds. And it is a global community. As I’ve said it’s just a matter of choice.

As end-users, we don’t care how it is done. In Windows, programs are written in different languages. Are these developers using a standard or just developing programs to implement in Windows with their own standard depending on the language that they are using (e.g. C/C++, BASIC, dot NET, etc...standards )? Pls. correct me if I’m wrong… these developers do not care about standards in general. They are professional. So they know what they are doing.  As long they can implement their programs in a system and they are getting *money* out of it. I would be very happy if these developers will give their programs for free

I doubt that big software companies like Adobe or Corel will support Linux *100%*. Are they willing to develop programs (in general) for gratis? We know the philosophy of Linux (I mean GNU/Linux and Free Software as a whole). Let us reverse the statistics. Let us say, if most of us are Linux users ( let us also include Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Sony, Philips, etc..), what do you think these software companies (+hardware manufacturers for their drivers) will do?

Conclusion:
I don’t know if we can merge KDE+Gnome+Xfce+etc.... RPM+DEB+TGZ+ETC.... GTK+Qt+Etc...C/C++ + Python + Java + Etc… and etc… to form a *standard*. What I know, we can merge these to form one system, a free and open-source which is called Linux (GNU/Linux).

There are so many linux distros available. It’s just a matter of choice. If one will not work, try another. The reason, most of the distros are in live cd. Just boot. If it’s ok, use it. If not, check for another. If you want help, there is support available on the forums.

I do agree with last commenters. I’m not a programmer, just an amateur who loves using pc and web surfing. On my point of view, the future is and can only be Open Source: pay-software like MOffice is the past. Why should we pay for something we can have for free (meaning Open Office)?
I know the world is strange and unpredictable, but I feel that when Open Source Programs or Shareware solve their graphic and customer support troubles, they’ll have free way ahead.