OpenCafé

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Charlie - from Jackal and Wolf contacted me a few days back. He asked me if we could make their music available on our Freedom Toaster. I was quite surprised since he is the first artist with such a request. Of course the music will be available on the toaster - as soon as the upgrade is done - in the meantime you are welcome to pick up Charlie’s free & open music at the cafe - all you need to do is ask and you can leave with your own copy of the Cathedral and the bazaar.

From the band’s myspace page :

Commerce versus art; capital greed or creative freedom; the cathedral and the bazaar…inspired as much by philosophy as the need to make a very loud noise, Jackal+Wolf are not your run-of-the-mill rock band out looking for kicks, chicks and the mighty moolah.

Exploding on to the local rock scene, this new power-trio featuring Charlie Murder on vox and guitar, with brothers Morgan and Redge O’Kennedy on drums and bass, are more intent on creating great tunes and playing them live than topping the charts, a refreshing change from the hit-obsessed mentality that pervades modern music.

The band’s intent is immediately obvious: not only is the title of their debut album, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, a tribute to the free music philosophy that inspires them, but the album is available for free download on the band’s website www.jackalandwolf.com, and the band have already pressed 1000 discs to give away at their upcoming gigs.

“The title of the album is originally from a book by open-source software exponent Eric Raymond,” explains frontman Charlie Murder, “and it refers to the concept of the cathedral representing commercial, corporate interests while the bazaar represents to complete creative freedom.”

The trio’s decision to remain independent and embrace the free music philosophy was sparked, in part, by their personal experiences in the industry: Charles and Morgan first met up as co-members of dark rock outfit Velve; the two brothers, meanwhile, had also teamed up previously in alt-rock outfit Ghost.

Also providing inspiration are the writings of free music agitators such as Ram Samudrala (www.ram.org/ramblings/philosophy/fmp/music_future.html) and alternative music producer Steve Albini (www.negativland.com/albini.html), along with the success of bands like Radiohead and Public Enemy who both embrace the free music philosophy.

Click to read on …

It’d be great to see other artists follow this example and make their work available on the toaster - it’s a whole new & free way of reaching fans & making your voice heard.

While our toaster is in need of a major upgrade and is not available right now for burning your Linux CDs - we do have the latest distros - you are welcome to pop in and we will make sure you have a copy of your favourite distros.

Question : “I’ve downloaded a certain amount, let us say 600+ MB of software and installed them. Now, from the preferences under ‘Files’ menu, we have an option ‘Delete Cached Packaged files’ - can you please let me know if I can install the software again from these packages on the other system?”

Answer : You need an application named apt-cacher which will turn one of your machines into a local Ubuntu cache.

Instructions can be found here:

http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2007/01/08/save-bandwidth-during-updates-with-apt-cacher-ubuntu-610/”

The OpenCafe is an Ubuntu cafe - all our workstations run Ubuntu Linux and most people know that we can help them install and run Linux and help search for the right applications, help find Linux tutorials and other related material.

Actually the cafe does have an aim beyond all the above. We do try to teach people about Ubuntu Linux but also about the basic values that the concept of Ubuntu represents - and we take part in many online discussions around this concept.

You might be familiar with Desmond Tutu’s definition:

A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

Nelson Mandela says when asked about Ubuntu:

A traveller through our country would stop at a village, and he didn’t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but Ubuntu has various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enrich themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to improve?

Click to see the YouTube video for more…

Read more about Ubuntu on Wikipedia.

Recently the ubuntu concept was discussed on Gaia, an online community, and later on Martha decided to introduce the concept on her campus at GateWay Community College in Phoenix, Arizona. Click here to read Marta’s presentation on this topic.