ps ax | awk '/gw\/smsbox/ {print $1}' | xargs sudo kill -9
A shorter one:
sudo kill -9 `pidof -s smsbox`
Monthly Archive for September, 2005
Kill a runaway Kannel smsbox process:
Hope not. But the ugly (anonymous) postings at the PLUG GA 2005 nomination wiki seems to indicate that direction.
And it’s sad, because everything seems to be doing just fine: the list was going along smoothly, activities are regularly happening for the org.
For the past, what, four years I have been following the list, this is by far the most active one. This is a Good Thing. There was no need for those remarks. As I said in the list, they were not worthy of the bandwidth. But I guess, sadly, that it’s Pinoy mentality at work.
Hay. Time for some coffee, I guess. 
If you are subscribed, like me, to the foremost Linux users’ mailing list in the Philippines, you’ll be amazed at the sheer volume of emails lately, mostly concerning the (immediate, urgent) switch to Linux because of the recent spate of BSA raids on establishments using pirated software.
And the running thread is, can Windows games work on Linux?
As I wrote in a previous entry, it bodes good tidings for Linux and F/OSS. But I can’t help but bear reservations. Among them: is Linux ready for primetime here in the Philippines, at least in the gaming scene?
I’m not much of a gamer myself, but I understand that there’s a market out there for that. One needs only go to the nearest neighborhood internet cafe to know. But how big is that market? One poster in PLUG says that it’s miniscule, if not insignificant. Well, not exactly like that, but words to that effect.
For game developers (the big ones in Korea, US and EU) to even think about porting games to Linux and other platforms for that matter, there must be a significant market out there. That’s free market for you: build enough demand and they will come.
Well, there’s always Wine and a new (?) gig called Cedega. But these are at most bandaid measures — they don’t actually port the games but make them run in a sandbox environment that emulates Windows, sort of. From what I hear, they’re not that hot neither.
So there are two choices: build that critical mass of users — the market — for big-time game developers to take notice, or, in the grand tradition of F/OSS, roll our own.
The first isn’t happening yet, and I don’t think it will happen soon. With net cafe’s owners’ tendency to get the most of their bucks (read: use pirated software to save on costs), they’re not about to pay for software they can get through illicit means, Windows or Linux. And since Windows is more conveniently available, they’d just as soon stick to it than switch to one with which they’re not familiar.
The second bears some interesting thought, but it would entail huge logistics. How do you farm out the production process required in game development? I’m not so sure there’s a bazaar equivalent for that — at least not yet.
So does the open source community have to admit defeat and lay down its ideological weapons? I hope not, because, as the recent raids show, there will always be people willing to switch. When the going gets tough, they will all switch to Linux and F/OSS. Heh. Or, Microsoft will take notice and lower licensing costs. Or, game developers will see the diaspora and join in as well. Or…
Just passing wind, I suppose.
Got this from a friend and former co-worker. Thought it was one of those cornball inspirational chain emails, but it hit right home for me. (Note: it’s in the vernacular — I’ll try to do a translation later.)
- Ang naunang magalit ang may karapatang magalit. ‘Pag naunahan ka na ng galit niya, tumahimik ka na lang muna.
- Walang taong nag-aaway mag-isa. Pag hindi kayo sumagot o pumatol, titigil din daw ang taong nakikipag- away sa inyo.
- Ang taong galit, ‘bingi.’ If someone is angry, wala raw pinakikinggan, so, don’t try to explain and fight back. Hindi ka niya iintindihin dahil wala siyang naririnig kundi ang sarili nya.
- Ang taong galit, ‘abnoy.’ Ayon sa pastor, Biblical daw ito? because the Lord said when He was crucified, “Father, patawarin mo sila dahil hindi nila alam ang kanilang ginagawa.” Modern term for these kinds of people are abnoys, so you better not get angry para huwag kang matawag na abnoy. You should also know and realize that the persons who make your day bad are jewel, because you need them for you to mature. Hangga’t andyan daw sila at kinaiinisan mo, ibig sabihin, immature ka pa. God will not take away those people; it’s for you to take away your bad feelings towards them. You’ll know na mature ka na pag dumating ‘yung time na hindi ka na naiinis sa mga taong ito because you have learned to accept them and to have patience with them.
- Finally, the best part of this is to tell yourself na, because of this person, “I will grow mature,” and that DAHIL SA CONTRIBUTION NIYA SA MATURITY MO, KUKUNIN DIN SYA NI LORD.
Works for me. This is me, in senti mode.
BSA’s recent campaign to stamp out piracy by raiding establishments that use pirated software is gaining some new friends for Linux and F/OSS.
In the mailing lists I frequent, there are numerous threads about how to migrate to Linux; can Linux do this and that; what X software to use in replacement of (proprietary) Y; etc. In our area, there has been a scramble to install Linux in gaming and internet cafes, and, to some extent, in offices and homes.
Microsoft, BSA and company may not realize it but their current FUD campaign might blow in their faces, because instead of gaining “legal” customers, they will lose them to open source. As one list subscriber pointed out, BSA has become an unofficial business partner for Linux and F/OSS.
And it’s all good — for open source and the advocacy, I mean.
By turning up the heat, BSA may well be frying themselves in their own fat.
