Linux advocacy

As a long time Linux user, I usually cheer when my operating system of choice gets press coverage ["Fast, free and anti corporate," Feb. 12]. However, your article epitomizes everything I think is wrong with current state of Linux advocacy and press coverage. I'm growing tired of seeing Linux (and open-source software in general) depicted as anti-corporate or anti-Microsoft. The point of Linux is not to destroy capitalism in general or Microsoft in particular, it is about having access to robust, serviceable, free and open software. That's all.

When promoting an alternative operating system, you need to come up with compelling arguments. Giving "the finger to Microsoft and the corporate universe of 21st-century computing" is not one. Being a Linux supporter would be much easier if not for the anti-corporate aura that Linux is being shrouded with by overly enthusiastic advocates and misguided journalists. If we want Linux to be the Trojan Horse of collectivism in this overly capitalistic and individualistic society, we have to fight the right battle with the right set of arguments.

» Etienne Goyer

Palestinian plight

Regarding Stefan Christoff's commentary on the situation of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon ["Return to the camps," Feb. 5], one has to recognize the accuracy of the description he made of the refugee camps in Lebanon. This inhumane situation is still hardly acknowledged by both the Lebanese society and government. Although the rules and regulations surrounding and choking the refugee camps have been well asserted by the columnist, some important realities remained obscured, mainly:

(1) The refusal of the integration of the Palestinian refugees in the Lebanese society is as much a Lebanese as it is a Palestinian request. For it is considered that the integration will weaken the Right of Return, a major claim of the Palestinian Authority in its successive negotiations with Israel. This, of course, does not excuse the way the Lebanese authorities have been dealing with the refugee issue, but adds a new layer of complexity to the situation.

(2) The explicit role of the Palestinian military factions in Lebanon since 1969 and during the Lebanese civil war has been totally left aside by the article. When the author writes, "the refugee camps of southern Lebanon (…) remain in terrible despair due to countless attacks during the Lebanese civil war," he implies that the Palestinians were only victims of the war and not major participants. It is important to note that during more than a decade the Palestinian factions, in their fight against Israel, took hostage a part of the Lebanese people and territory. From 1969–1982, the Palestinian armed resistance, mainly based in Lebanon, slowly but surely, because of the power granted to it by the Arab states and the weakened Lebanese government, drifted from its struggle for the liberation of Palestine to the control of the Lebanese territory and state. For that, many Lebanese are still reluctant to turn the page and reconcile with the Palestinian civilian presence in Lebanon. This omitted reality gives a different meaning to the comments of the Palestinian activist quoted by Christoff: "Palestinians are treated as a threat to Lebanon."

(3) The crucial part played by the Syrians in post-war Lebanon. Syria, through its hegemonic role in Lebanon, refuses to integrate the Palestinian camps and the Palestinian armed forces still present. Very intelligently, Syria is using this issue to blackmail the Lebanese, as if to say that "without our military presence in Lebanon you will be once again confronted to the Palestinian military presence."

This element sheds a new light on the Lebanese military presence around refugee camps like Ein El-Helweh. In that same camp mentioned by Christoff, and because of this Syrian strategy, feuding Palestinian militias are still free of movement - coincidentally assassinating Lebanese magistrates and officials and safely returning to the camp every time a peace envoy is sent to the region.

(4) Both the Lebanese people and Palestinian refugees are used as bargaining cards between Syria, Israel and the U.S. Where Syria once again imposes itself as the only guarantee for Lebanese stability and the containment of irregular and regular armed forces in Lebanon (the Lebanese Hizbollah as well as other Palestinian elements close to Syria such as the Democratic Front mentioned by Christoff).

Ultimately, it should be noted that we are only arguing about the effects and not the causes of the Palestinian tragedy. We are discussing the best way to accommodate the refugees and not the way to remedy the wound itself. For that we need to shift our focus further south from Lebanon.

» Walid Bakhos

Puck up

Obviously Johnson Cummins, who reviewed the film Miracle ["Holy puck!" Feb. 5], is anti-American - and was probably born after the actual events in the movie took place. I went to see Miracle this afternoon, and it ranks among the top hockey movies of all time.

Kurt Russell is stellar in taking the tough role of coach Herb Brooks, and the actors playing the 1980 U.S. Olympic team did a great job of portraying the gang that would take on the mighty Soviets. Sure, as a hockey fan I noticed a few errors in the film (some Soviet legends, left-handed for the most part, shot right-handed, for one). And it's true that Miracle revolves around the greatest sports moment in American history - if a film producer ever decided to do a movie on the events surrounding Canadian Paul Henderson's goal back in 1972, that movie would destroy Miracle.

Nonetheless, seeing this movie made me feel like I was a 14-year-old kid again.

» Pierre Chastenais

[Ed's Note: Actually, in 1980 Johnson was a spry straight-edge teenager]

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