Manifesto

Newsgroup: it.comp.os.linux.annunci
From: "Alfonso Vacca" <alfonso.vacca@nuvolinux.org>
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 23:00:25 +0200
Subject: NuvoLinux.Org

Hi NG,
I am pleased to announce the official start of
"NuvoLinux.Org" (http://www.nuvolinux.org).
Actually, it started a while ago, but both I and "it"
were not yet ready to announce the happy event to the world !
It's been some months since this website started, but this is
an ambitious project and a bit of technical and "spiritual"
preparation was required.
Where I start from:
I've been interested in Linux kernel programming for some time;
my goal is learning what exactly an OS is, I want to clearly understand
how the Kernel works, how it is structured and how it interacts with
the machine it runs on.
My only priority is achieving high quality knowledge !
I think that the terms "quality" and "research"
became synonyms of waste of time down here in Italy; as a consequence,
I believe that we need to understand the true meaning of those words
again.  Our mentality should become more similar to that of some
researchers from emerging countries (e.g.: Brazil and India): we are
already competing with them and we don't even know; I'm not saying
that we should fight against them, but we should at least achieve
comparable results...
The idea:
I started NuvoLinux.Org with the above considerations in mind.
The Open Source world is really wonderful; it gives anyone the
actual opportunity to create progress, if only he or she is willing
to contribute !
In this world, you can find everything you want: programs, source
code, documentation, communities and people willing to cooperate,
but... is this enough to create progress ?
Henry Ford once stated: "True progress is made only when the
advantages of a new technology are within reach of everyone" !
In the Open Source world, this can be done, in principle; but
unfortunately the huge availability of information can ironically
become an obstacle.
Starting from scratch and studying a complex topic such as kernel
programming will probably lead you to get lost in an ocean of
documentation, websites, news, magazines, chatting, urban legends, and
so forth: really scaring if you think of it.
Let alone the prerequisite knowledge: C, software engineering,
assembly, ...
Consequently, a lot of people limit their study to the partial
understanding required by their day-by-day needs; those same
people, with a good help, would not stop studying when their
little problem is solved, but could go on and learn more.
The objective:
NuvoLinux.Org has the following ambitious goal: create a path for
those willing to approach kernel programming, but also for experts
who often need clear and ready references.
Many different ways will be followed to achieve this goal, but
each one will be integrated into a document structure which
will lead from the topic introduction til its full coverage,
just like in a museum.
Finally:
In this long post I drafted the NuvoLinux.Org manifesto; many people
will be uninterested in this project, and I will receive much
criticism, but I am sure that many others will appreciate and
possibly will be willing to contribute.
As you can see, the website is still quite poor, in the past
months I've wondered several times whether I should have inserted
more material before publishing the website itself.
In the end, I realized that, if I had done so, I would have 
fallen in the temptation of doing everything by myself; some
courage is needed when you decide to share your work, or your
ideas, with the rest of the world, but this is precisely the
point of Open Source philosophy, that is to say, refraining from
falling in the temptation of keeping everything for oneself, and
deciding instead to share in order to enhance your project and
create progress.
As a consequence, as you can see by looking at the very website,
NuvoLinux.Org is a project that really needs a control team
to support it and let it grow.
In this first step, I would like to hear your opinions, in order
to discuss and create the control team; after that, I would like
to ask the team to decide, as their first task, which further
steps are needed for the project growing.
I hope you read til this point, if you did, then you are
probably interested in this project, and you are possibly ready
to get in touch with me.

Thank you for listening to my ideas.

Alfonso Vacca (alfonso.vacca@nuvolinux.org)
Linux Kernel Hacking

di Alfonso Vacca (alfonso.vacca@nuvolinux.org)

Manifesto
