你沉着干练。你所见的硕大企鹅是将由你创造,并惠及世人的操作系统。冰川是那
些现存的系统,上面的企鹅颐心于它所完成的使命。嘴里的鱼是那些只能在现存系统下游
走的低贱的许可协议。企鹅会猎杀所有这些混沌,冗余,自负的生物。这些虚以委蛇的
代码,或是在麻木的人手中滋生,或是携带着险恶的协议,它们都将被捕获。而只有那些
在获取时可以自主复制,复制时能加以改动,并且能自由修改的代码,才能给世人带去绝
妙安逸的生活。”
102
第八章 《Tux福音》
译注:1.cool,froody,都不是书面用语,这段两词都是同时出现,所以我将它们引申翻
译。
2. spaghetti,意大利细面条,这里是说代码没有调理、编写时敷衍了事。并且形容
其面目可憎,故而使用“虚以委蛇”一词。
Linus rose from meditation and created a tiny Operating System Kernel as the
dream had foreshewn him; in the manner of RMS, he released the Kernel unto the World
Wide Web for all to take and behold. And in the fulness of Internet Time the Kernel grew
and replicated, becoming most cool and exceedingly froody, until at last it was recognised
as indeed a great and mighty Penguin, whose name was Tux. And the followers of Linus
took refuge in the Kernel, the Libraries and the Utilities; they installed Distribution after
Distribution, and made sacrifice unto the GNU and the Penguin, and gave thanks to the
spirits of Turing, von Neumann and Moore, for their deliverance from the hand of Microsoft.
And this was the beginning of the Fourth Age, the age of Open Source.
从冥思中醒来的李纳斯,遵循梦的启示创造了一个精巧的操作系统核心。以RMS
之名,他将这个核心释放到了万维网上,以便所有人都可以获取。在丰富的因特网时代
它 不断的成长、复制。至酷,至炫。最终成为一只健硕强大的企鹅——Tux。李纳斯的
追随者托庇在这个Kernel以及Libraries、Utilities之下,不断地安装分发。他们对企鹅
和GNU作出贡献,对圣灵们报以感激,只为脱离了微软的魔爪。这,便是第四个时代的
开始,开源的时代。
Now there is much more to be said about the exceeding strange and wonderful
events of those days; how some Suits of Microsoft plotted war upon the Penguin, but were
discovered on a Halloween Eve; how Gates fell among lawyers and was betrayed and
crucified by his former friends, the apostles of Media; how the mercenary Knights of the
Red Hat brought the gospel of the Penguin into the halls of the Corporations; and even of
the dispute between the brethren of Gnome and KDE over a trollish Licence. But all these
things are recorded elsewhere, in the Books of the Deeds of the Penguin and the
Chronicles of the Fourth Age, and I suppose if they were all narrated they would fill a stack
of DVDs as deep and perilous as a Usenet Newsgroup.
那时诞生了很多值得记录的佳音和咄咄怪事。比如:微软高层如何策动一场对企鹅
进攻,却在万圣节前夜破产;盖茨如何陷入律师的困境同时被他过去的盟友——Media的
使徒出卖并送上绞架;贪婪的RedHat爵士如何将企鹅推进公司的深渊;以及Gnome
和KDE如何手足相残。凡此种种都被记载在《圣经》的《企鹅之书》和《四代记》中。
103
我想,如果将它们全部写下来,足够装满一堆DVD。如同Usenet新闻组一样深邃而危险。
译注:1.crucified,指在十字街上钉死。是长时间以来深受欧洲人喜爱的死刑执行方法。
但是我如果用汉语直译出来很容易让人联想到基督,这不符合文中盖茨的形象。故而用绞
架替换。
2.本段涉及很多 1998 年的重要事件。其中包括:《万圣节文件》事件;美政府诉微
软垄断案;RedHat公司接纳商业投资并拟定1999年发行股票;Gnome和KDE在开源社
区内部展开争斗。
3.a trollish Licence,KDE 基于 QT 开发,而 QT 是 TrollTech 公司开发的商用开发工
具,故此有atrollishLicence一说。troll同时又有怪物的意思,在此一语双关。GNOME
则是彻头彻尾的开源项目。
Now may you code in the power of the Source; may the Kernel, the Libraries and the
Utilities be with you, throughout all Distributions, until the end of the Epoch. Amen.
开源代码赐予你力量,Kernel,Libraries和Utilities将与常你同在,惠及所有发行版,
直到时代终结。阿门。
刘安辙
2007.8.13
《Tux福音》中文版
《TheGospelofTux》英文原版
文中:atrollishLicenc这一条目的注释来自roy_hu,并在此感谢roy_hu和
windrose 二位指正了文中的错误。我称现在看到的版本为我的 1.0.0.7 版。
如有纰漏,万望指正!