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In Search of OpenBSDCopyright © 1999 Ejovi NuwereIn search of OpenBSD; three days, three locations, one operating system. During the month of February I took a vacation to Japan for two weeks. Three days were dedicated to my discovery of technology in Japan and more importantly learning more about OpenBSD's following in Japan. Japan is known for it high tech electronics so I expected nothing less then to be amazed. That was to say the least. Akihabara Day 1:
First I walked into a software store in hopes to find an OpenBSD CD for sale...nothing, I don't know why I thought I would find it, it's not even available in stores in America. Next I went into a custom PC shop, maybe they might have OpenBSD servers for sale. It was worth a shot, but nothing. Lastly I visited a book store which was full of thousands of technical books and magazines alike. Here I knew I had to find at least a few mentions of OpenBSD. I already knew there wouldn't be any books (yet that is, see Day 2)! So I went straight to the magazine shop and picked up a copy of Software Design one of the leading Unix/Networking magazines in Japan. On the cover (which is in all Japanese) I was able to interpret "FreeBSD" in the center but in the lower corner I saw it, it was like gold, "OpenBSD." I specifically picked this magazine for a reason. In the days to come I will meet the editor of Software Design. The visit to Akihabara would have been a better experience if I was with a native who knew where the hot spots were. For now I had accomplished my goal, I found OpenBSD in Akihabara, so it was time for me to head home. The first OpenBSD Book! Day 2: Now comes the day I had been looking forward to for some time. Currently, there is somewhere near one hundred Linux books published in Japan and approximately thirty FreeBSD books, but not one OpenBSD book. Soon this will change. A group of OpenBSD enthusiasts decided now was the time. The majority of the book authors are from the Wakakusa OpenBSD users group lead by Mr. Kamo Hiroyasu. For this meeting I would travel to Nara Woman's University where Kamo is a professor. Nara is near Kyoto which is a famous tourist spot, so I was happy to go there. I arrived at the train station and to my surprise I was greeted by all the authors, I was speechless. As a gift and a show of good faith I had brought with me newly created OpenBSD buttons which I purchased from BadgeBrigade.com and handed them out to each of the authors. Needles to say, they loved them. Mr. Kamo placed it right next to his Star Trek pendent. I was especially greeted by Mrs. Tomoko Yoshida who organized this meeting. Mrs. Yoshida, who besides being a published book writer, writes a monthly piece in Unix User a Unix magazine published in Japan.
Software Design: The magazine for Power Users Day 3: Now comes the last day dedicated to OpenBSD. I met with Mr. Kazuo Shiobara, editor of the popular magazine Software Design. We spoke over dinner about his opinion of OpenBSD and how he supports and will continue to support the total BSD effort. We browsed through several of his magazines which covered, besides Solaris, Linux and various hardware products, ALL the BSD's including OpenBSD. Software Design is a mix between Sun Expert, Dæmon News and Data Communications all mixed into one. Besides the well organized publication, Mr. Shiobara is an all around great guy and a truly enthusiastic supporter of BSD. Of course he had a mini Toshiba laptop with FreeBSD and OpenBSD installed on it. I have come to believe everyone in Japan uses these laptops. Needless to say Mr. Shiobara received an OpenBSD pin also!
Links of interest: http://www.openbsd.ics.nara-wu.ac.jp wakakusa-clt@openbsd.ics.nara-wu.ac.jp : The Wakakusa Users group and Japanese mailing list http://www.badgebrigade.com/gallery/page4.html Makers of OpenBSD buttons
Ejovi Nuwere, joewee@monkey.org
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My first day led me to Akihabara also known as "Electric Town".
This was my first time in Akihabara and I was travelling all alone. I
wouldn't recommend this. This is definitly the type of place you want
to visit with a Tokyo native/techno' buff. Exiting the station is an
overwhelming feeling; there is no one direction to go, just
thousands of electronic advertisements and shops, in every direction.
It looks like a small town that was collocated as a dedicated
electronics shop. This being my first visit, I randomly choose a
direction and off I went.
Mrs.
Yoshida would also be the unofficial translator during our meeting /
party to follow. Besides me there were twelve other participants in
this meeting. Once the meeting commenced the topic of conversation
varied from time to time. We spoke about the current state of OpenBSD
and where we see it going in the future. An important topic was where
would OpenBSD fit in such a highly Linux influenced Unix community.
The conclusion was that OpenBSD and and Linux are not in competition
because they each attract two totally different user groups. Mr. Kamo
spoke about the task of not only adding Japanese language support but
adding multi-language support to OpenBSD. After the meeting finished
we went into one of the Nara University network rooms. I was
delighted to see the work of the Nara students; their task? To
install OpenBSD on several of the work stations. It was a sight
for sore eyes I tell you.
Once the meeting ended we left to a restaurant where the other
authors showed me their work. I had a wonderful look at microcomputer
systems and learned about Unix uses in Japan. We ate raw fish and played
with multiple Toshiba OpenBSD laptops at the table with net access
using PHS cellular phones. The book which is to be published in late
June 1999 will be the first book of its kind ever published
in Japan. This book will be opening the door to an entire new world
of Japanese interest and support in OpenBSD. I am proud to be a
member of the team.