The Linux Extremist

According to reports on BBC News, Britain is the country with the greatest penetration of digital television in the home. Most recent figures indicate that 70% of UK viewers have it. Of course the question that no one is asking is if that’s doing us any good.

A leading example is the UKTV History channel. It used to be that it was sort of like having CNN for 1945, complete with broadcasts of Churchill’s speeches and reports of Allied victories in France. It was refreshing to hear politicians speaking something other than waffle and see an actual enemy of humanity getting pounded into the dust.

UKTV History then decided to turn into the Fred Dibnah channel. Fred Dibnah, for those who aren’t familiar with him, was one of Britain’s last steeplejacks who somehow became a presenter of a series of programmes on 19th century industry. He had a coal mine in his back yard and was prone to saying things like “the scent of oil and steam should be made into a perfume” and telling the audience how he got a skin infection from allowing his cap to sit in a puddle full of pigeon droppings. In other words, he was Britain’s most tediously bizarre presenter, the God of the Train Spotters and their ilk.

The rest of television is not much better; as such, I’ve been watching my “24″ box sets repeatedly, Seasons 1 through 4, to the point where I wonder if it’s possible to burn them out. I am salivating for the arrival of Season 5.

I am happy to report that the show never gets repetitive or boring, in spite of repeated watchings. I have picked up on a small detail which provides a subliminal reason why I love this programme; it seems that Open Source is rife throughout the programme, to the point that it could be considered a long advertisement for it.

I have a bad habit of noticing what hardware and operating systems are being used, even when it’s just on television or film. While there are some Macintosh computers in use during the programme, it appears that most people are definitely not using Windows. The motif on the upper right hand corner of the windows is indicative of the X Window system, not Microsoft. Open Source even makes an appearance on one of the character’s home computers; in Season 4, Tony Almeida’s home PC appears to be using the Xfce desktop environment.

Terminology provides additional clues to the use of Open Source; the characters Edgar Stiles and Chloe O’Brian discuss “the kernel”, “the root”, and so on, in a way that Microsoft technologists do not. The combined linguistic and graphical clues suggest that “24″, in a very subtle way, is advertising all the works of Open Source. Definitely, Jack Bauer’s outfit is too intelligent to be caught dead using Windows.

In a strange sort of way, this is perhaps the most realistic aspect of “24″; it’s certainly much more true to life than Jack Bauer’s strange capacity to avoid eating or using the toilet. No one concerned with security should let Windows anywhere near their PC; an organisation that requires absolute, iron-clad data protection would be insane to use it. In this past week alone, it was reported that the number of “Zombie” PCs (i.e., those under the control of remote hackers for nefarious purposes) has shot up 23 percent due to a new software worm.

That said, the promotion of Open Source on “24″, may not be at all subliminal on the part of the show’s creators, or just an attempt to add realism to the programme. In addition to the clues in the show, it’s interesting that “24: The Game”, is made for Sony Playstation, the video games console that runs Linux. It’s not available for Microsoft’s Xbox.

So kudos to the producers, who are the bringers of good things, in a world of entertainment that is still benighted even though it’s digital. Not only is it gripping stuff, it’s technically correct, and as such, completely satisfying.

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