Category: FOSS
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AI and Open Source – II
Linux Freedom I first heard about Linux a couple of months after returning from the 1992 UN’s Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. I was working part-time as a Research Associate in one of the social research centers of my college while doing consultancies on my own – thus the Rio trip. The academic job…
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AI and Open Source – I
By all accounts, the ChatGPT “revolution” has triggered a well-deserved resurgence of free software or Open Source free/Open Source software (FOSS) that, some argue, will allegedly challenge the dominance of Big Tech over LLMs. While I disagree with such a prediction, I think FOSS can still play a vital role, as it did over 20…
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Internet Metaphors in Practice – II
A couple of years later, I installed our first Wi-Fi router, allowing us to connect our laptops to the network from almost any point in the house. But wireless connection speeds were limited to 11 Mbps while the good old ethernet wire could do 100 Mbps. Not even close. Wired connections were not only faster…
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Internet Metaphors in Practice – I
The first time I ever bought something over the Internet was in 1994. And it was not from Amazon, but from a now long-gone company called CDNow. As its name suggests, its core business was selling CDs online. Interestingly, one could also access the site via telnet which was not very user-friendly, certainly not for…
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Programming – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (maybe) – II
Today Expert systems, an integral part of AI, are one of the best examples of rules-based programming. The core idea is to have a computer system that can provide the same depth of knowledge as top-notch human experts on a field-by-field basis. In theory, I should be able to build one of those beasts for…
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Programming – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (maybe) – I
Yesterday I accidentally learned how to master computer programming. I was finishing high school and faced the daunting decision of choosing a study field. As my father was an engineer, I leaned toward the same area. However, my passion for music dominated my then-minimalistic environment. I was thus more inclined to go for electronic engineering—not…
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Latinux Magazine Interview
“Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are not an end in itself but rather a means to reach people and enhance their lives.” (Raúl Zambrano) Born in Colombia, Raul Zambrano is trained as an engineer, sociologist and economist. He currently works as ICT and e-governance policy advisor at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) headquarters in…
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OSS Follow-up IDRC/Bellanet
I spoke to Mark Faul from Bellanet on the above. We agreed to: – organise a conference call next week with UNESCO, UNDP, USAID & Bellanet to see if we can coordinate our efforts. – support the workshops in Peru (August), Paris (November) and others is available – discuss the Open Source Resource Centres in…
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2nd Open Source Conference in DC
Atsushi and I attended the conference which went from 17th to 19 March. The focus of this one was on OSS efforts in the US, Europe and Japan. We made several contracts, including: – UNESCO: possible collaboration on OS, have a keen interest. A regional OS workshop in Perú is being planned by their regional…
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OSS Interview
I received an email from a WSJ journalist on Wednesday requesting to do an interview over the phone. That happened yesterday at noon. This is one of the results of the conference we co-sponsored in DC. I was on the phone with him for almost an hour. I also gave him contact names in SA.…