Samizdata - Governments should ban Linux

2006-01-14T19:36:00.000Z

Another item prompts me to get around to installing Ubuntu; Governments should ban Linux | Samizdata.net:

We need a licensing scheme, headed by the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization, for all programming tools so that only trusted individuals may use them, and that inappropriate use of them is communicated via the internet to the government. To put it simply, either Linux dies - or the whole of human creativity will become a stagnant swamp.

They had me worried for a few seconds. Only a few mind...

Technorati tags: linux, samizdata, teh funny, bullmer, copy protection

Personal space

2005-10-12T06:54:00.000Z

Well, on the grounds that there are other people out there with my name and I might, at some point, want a blogspot hosted personal blog (like the next time I decide to run for election somewhere), here's me.

Until I start using this properly, my personal journal and musings on life can be found here and my more political weblog on the state of the nation is Great Britain, not little England. I share the latter with my good friend and former housemate PaulJ, who managed to actually do well at university and got himself an MA in being clever and talking about politics. As we find it really difficult to find things we disagree about, it seemed to make sense to start writing about stuff, especially as we both have very strong views on civil liberties and liberal internationalism.

You want to know a bit more about me? Ok, if you're sure. Born in Paignton, Devon in 1974, I currently live in Torquay and work in an office about 5 minutes walk from the hospital I was born in (the maternity wing was shut down in the 1980s). This is random chance, it's a great, although very challenging, job; find out more here if you want. between now and then, I've dropped out of university, worked in retail, managed a small store, become very bored and returned to college and then a decent university to get a degree; not being the academic type really, the mark wasn't that good, but I'm damn proud to have acheived it anyway, so that's Matthew Bowles, BA if you want to be formal about things. I'm rarely, if ever, formal.

I love travelling, reading, the internet and playing games with friends. Combining all three together is bliss, so I collect card games, especially Warlord, for which I'm a member of the online Rules support team. If there's a reasonably sized event for the game in Europe, expect to see me there if finance allows. I also love decent music played by real musicians, and have a marked preference for wearing black and not cutting my hair. I'm not a Goth though, no self respecting individual voluntarily describes themselves as a Goth. Besides, it's called Deathrock now, apparently...

Just go read Not Little England, it's muc more interesting.

Great Britain, not little England: Backlinks: link here!

2005-10-12T00:55:00.000Z

Great Britain, not little England: Backlinks: link here!

Testing the backlink function.

A picture

2005-10-08T19:38:00.000Z

My avatar pic for various locations; a Belgian mad scientist rides a blimp through the California mines. Yes, it's as silly as it sounds.

Mat Bowles

Samizdata - Governments should ban Linux

Personal space

Great Britain, not little England: Backlinks: link here!

A picture