Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister Reza Taqipour says a national open source operating system is on the way.
“The operating system will be primarily installed for industrial centers and organizations and then home users could utilize it if they are willing,” Mehr news agency quoted Taqipour as saying on Monday.
He said that the efforts to develop the new project have been accelerated as the existing operating systems in the country are susceptible to becoming infected with malwares and other malicious software programs finding their way into the systems via networks.
Taqipour also pointed out that an open source operating system would help pinpoint penetrable portholes in systems and said, “Many countries are turning to the open source [OS] as a solution to this problem.
The Iranian minister noted that the project is aimed at preventing other systems from breaking into local networks to steal data from the systems in the country.
Great news if true. Not knowing anything about computers, I have no idea how hard it is to do that. I would imagine Iran could take linux and modify it a bit, to fit its own needs. But I’m not sure.
Can anyone comment?
@Lysander: Good to hear from you!! Where have you been? All the best for 2011!
Now, to answer your question: an operating system is composed of several parts. The ‘core’ is called a ‘kernel’. This is a big chunk of code which is responsible, amongst other things, of making the other applications ‘talk’ with the hardware. Linux, stricly speaking, is NOT an operating system, it’s a kernel. On ‘top’ of such a kernel, you have the operating system itself. In the case of Linux, the most important part of this operating system is called ‘GNU’. So the correct way to refer to the full operating system would be “GNU/Linux” meaning GNU running on to of a Linux kernel. The kernel, by the way, can quite easly be configured and even changed. There are LOTS of more or less adapted/modified Linux kernels out there running everything from your Android cellphone to most of the top 500 supercomputers on the planet.
There are other kernels out there, including the various BSD kernels, the Mach kernel, various versions of the infamous Windows kernels and the so-called XNU kernel which Apple computers developed on the basis of a BSD kernels.
Kernels are not the operating system, but they are a vital, complex and crucial part of any operating system
The Iranians could, if they wanted to, develop their kernel, but I really doubt that they would go down that road. I am quite confident that they will either use a Linux or a BSD kernel, depending on what their priorities are (Linux is more capable, but possibly somewhat less secure and somewhat less stable, possibly slower, depending on what you do). What they will then do is add the rest of the operating system to this kernel, including probably a lot of open source and free software adapted to their needs (linguistic or otherwise).
All in all, this is really not a complicated operation. A single talented Iranian computer hacker (‘hacker’ is sombody who finds creative ways to solve a problem; not to be confused with ‘cracker’ which is somebody who does illegal stuff on computers he does not have permissions to access or use) could do that in a couple of months, really. The challenge here is purely an administrative one (definition of needs, implementation, transition, training, legacy systems, data migration, writing manuals, etc.). This is a massive bureaucratic challenge, but in techological terms, this is a no-brainer.
HTH and kind regards,
The Saker
Thanks Saker! That was a great answer that even a techno dumb-dumb like myself could understand.
On a totally unrelated note, I continue trying to learn guitar. And while I’m making progress, it seems very hard to learn well at my age.
I do love it though. And if I could change just one thing in my life, it would not be “better stock investments’ or “meeting more attractive women.” It would be starting guitar at age 9 or 10, instead of 2 years ago at age 40.
Thanks and happy new year to you too!!!
@Lysander: I am glad that I could make some sense of the otherwise sometimes cryptic world of computers and operating systems :-)
As for guitar, I was fortunate to being at age 10, and its true that it is easier for kids to study. However, adults are far more disciplined and what a kid can learn, say, between the ages of 10-15 can be learned by an adult in 2 years. So do not be discouraged, just work hard. Also, make sure you have a good teacher and try to practice at least one hour each day. And I mean practice, not just ‘play stuff’ and have fun. If you work in a concentrated fashion for one hour each day you can learn really fast. Another thing which I recommend to do besides going to weekly guitar lessons and practicing one hour each day, is to listen to guitar music you like and pick it up by ear. That is a super-helpful exercise for two reasons a) it develops your ear and b) there is no better way to learn than to copy the masters. John McLaughlin has it right when he speaks of “thieves and poets” – all musicians are just that, thieves who ‘steal’ other people’s music, and poets, because they make that music their own and put their feelings, heart and soul into it.
What kind of stuff are you playing exactly right now?
Cheers!
Hey Saker!
For the past couple of years I’ve been learning classic rock, mostly old Zeppelin. To give you an idea, I can play “Over the Hill and Far away” beginning to end including the electric solo.
But not really “well.” I make some mistakes and even without them it just doesn’t quite sound the way my instructor plays it. (He’s a very good teacher I think)
But certainly recognizable. Also “the song remains the same” but the solo part in it is too fast for me.
Recently, I really developed a liking for Flamenco and got the instructional DVDs and books by Juan Martin. I like them because he starts off simple and you learn a new technique each lesson.
I practice “on average” an hour a day or more, but I’ll take your advice and try to do it with more structure. (15 minutes of scales, 15 for speed drills, 15 for learning new material and 15 for review. for example.)
You’re advice on learning by listening I’m sure is correct. After all, how did Eric Clapton and the old guys learn the blues? By getting on youtube and watching a step by step lesson? Or by listening to the masters over and over and trying to figure out what they did?
That’s great advice but I confess modern tech makes us lazy!
Thanks so much for the inspiration and advice. I can sure use it :-)
@Lysander: studying Led Zeppelin is a very good approach. Jimmy Page is an excellent guitarist who combines a lot of various techniques in creative ways (‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ is a very good example of that).
Try playing ‘Rain Song’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven’. They are also very well written and show you a lot of good stuff.
The main thing is to work hard while enjoying every minute of it :-)
Also – check out some jazz guitarists like Philip Catherine, John Abercrombie, John McLaughlin, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Jim Hall and many others. There is plenty of good stuff there too.
Enjoy!!
The Saker