Happy Birthday Charles Darwin*

I only subscribed to internet in college due to necessity. I was not privy to the age of MIRC where "eyeballs" were an acceptable and even hip way to meet people. It was in that context that I first heard about Linux. Some boys in school were versed in hacking into accounts and getting into the computers of other people. They were the Linux users I knew. As such, I identified Linux with the 'dark side'. I dismissed it to be something for either the Damiens or the Steve Jobs-es of this world. I know Steve Jobs uses a different OS but he's the only other famous geek I know aside from Bill Gates. Being the technology illiterate that I was, I didn't think Linux was an option for me. I wanted to purchase an Asus Eee but I decided against it after I found out that that it runs on the said OS. I never liked penguins since Danny Devito in Batman Returns, anyway. Linux is not user-friendly. It's beyond me, I concluded. Then came Mr. Reidenback.

Last Friday's talk convinced me that Linux, or open source software for that matter is not all that bad. In fact, it is the more enlightened choice. It's hard to argue against something that was designed for scalability, reliability and multi-tasking. I was particularly wooed by the reliability aspect since my computer recently crashed (Mr. Jobs, you let me down). A paradigm for evolution, open source allows the best to survive and even to dominate. Some versions are more popular than others but the point is that users are given a choice. If a certain version has flaws, it can be altered. Input can come from all over the world. If it's modified, a new and better version emerges- meaning things can only get better, never the other way around. This is Darwinian evolution at its finest. Post open source education, I admit that I'm still anxious to use Linux but at least I'm more willing to try. There's an addition to my very limited 'famous geeks list' by the way. It's Linus Torvalds.

*Charles Darwin was born on Feb 12 1809