grahambinns.com

There's a nice story on the BBC news site:

The public perception of open source software is changing fast, said Mark Shuttleworth, who leads distribution of the Ubuntu operating system (OS).

"There has been a sea change in the way people think of Linux, which is very healthy," he said.

"We have seen a real shift in the last six months from folks seeing open source as either a super-specialist thing for people who run data centres or as an enthusiast thing, to something which is energising a lot of the straight commercial PC industry," said Mr Shuttleworth.

Hardy comes out on Friday. Ladies and gentlemen, start your bittorent clients*.

*Because it's easier on the servers than a metric assload of HTTP downloads.

So, after my two posts about this topic yesterday I thought I'd shut up about it for a while.

However, in the post this morning, along with my copy of Practical Photographer (which reminded me that I'd forgotten to enter the competition to win a Nikon D300, which I'd been coveting. Meh.) was a letter from my MP, Ben Wallace, to whom I wrote about this matter last Saturday. It reads:

Dear Mr Binns,

Thank you for your email of 12 April about photography in public places.

I am sure you will be pleased to hear that I have now signed Early Day Motion 1155 which urges the Home Office and Association of Police Officers to agree on a photography code for Police Officers on the ground, setting out the public's right to photograph public places and therefore enabling photographers to enjoy their hobby without unjustified suspicion.

Kind regards,

Ben Wallace

It's nice to know that writing to your MP really does work sometimes.

Oh, and whilst we're on the subject the photography stuff I posted about earlier, there's a petition on the Downing Street website that UK citizens and ex pats can sign:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to clarify the laws surrounding photography in public places.

Through history, we have documented the world around us, whether through written word, art or photography.

Photography in particular has provided fantastic insights into the past and present, and is a hobby enjoyed by millions of people worldwide.

But today, it's becoming increasingly difficult to take photos of our surroundings, particularly in cities like London.

In recent years, the price divide between professional and consumer equipment has blurred, and it's quite common these days to see amateurs and hobbyists carrying around tripods, SLR cameras and a backpack full of equipment.

Yet, we are constantly harrassed by security guards and police officers in the name of preventing terrorism. They seem to be operating under a different interpretation of the law to the rest of us, believing that somehow the length of your lens, or size of your camera is relevant.

We would like clarification by the goverment on the law regarding photography of buildings and landmarks from public locations.

Seems like a worth sentiment. If you feel you've got an interest, please sign it.

Jorge Castro just sent me a link to this story from El Reg. From TFA:

"The desktop market suffers from having one dominant vendor, and some people still perceive that today's Linux desktops simply don't provide a practical alternative."

So now you know. Hardy comes out next week, by the way, so feel free to go and download an RC ISO and help with the testing :).

Incidentally, in the comments to that article was this:

"Linux is intolerant of users who do not hold a BSc in Computing and who dislike hacking wads of configuration files by hand; and we don't care because we are elitist arses."

The above is true for all versions of Linux (including Ubuntu). It is a real shame that the Linux world doesn't seem to want to create anything which can actually be used by normal end-users.

I really, really wish that this opinion wasn't as pervasive as it so obviously is. So here's a question for you: what can we, the Linux users and developers of the world, do to help make it more accessible for John and Jane Q. User? What is it that you need the most?

Why not go and grab a copy of the Hardy Live CD when it comes out (or use the release candidate if you prefer) and bung it in your PC. You can reboot into Ubuntu without making any changes to your computer and you can give it a road test (bear in mind that running from a CD doesn't make it the fastest thing in the world). If you like it, why not use Wubi to install it through Windows so that you don't have to worry about things like managing your bootloader (which you should never have to worry about unless you want to)?

Go on, give it a shot. You've nothing to lose and lots to gain.

[Edit]

It's been pointed out to me that this isn't really news, since RedHat have never really taken the desktop all that seriously. Also, they're still apparently offering some desktop distributions, though I haven't yet read up on the what and whys of that.

It's also been pointed out that there are a number of comments in RedHat's press release that are pretty clear swipes at Ubuntu, which is a shame but not unexpected.

... when it really isn't.

So, finally, someone in a position of influence is doing a bit of stomping about over the recent trend towards the Police (or, worse, people who think they have the same authority as the Police) stopping people from taking photographs, having them deleted or even seizing equipment from photographers whom they deem to be breaking some non-existant law.

Austin Mitchell, MP for Grimsby, has tabled a motion in Parliament to have the law clarified, if not strengthened in favour of the innocent photographer. The BBC has a story about it here.

Please, please, please write to your MP about this and ask them to support the motion. It's ridiculous that we, in a country that's so full of things that are fantastic to photograph, are letting hysteria over terrorism and paedophilila, mostly whipped up by the media, to turn us into the kind of suspicious society that finds even an innocent artistic pastime to be sinister.

I've already written to my MP about this, though I've yet to have a response. If you're wondering where to find your MP's details you can write to them using writetothem.com.