Try copying and pasting the entire article next.
And .45 mm handgun! I'd like to see that one...
Milpitas, Calif. - By day, they're
mild-mannered engineers
By night, they're geeks with guns
By Alex Pham, Globe Staff, 8/28/2000
n what has become a ritual during Linux
conventions throughout the nation, dozens of
computer programmers have been gathering to catch up
with old friends, trade tips on the latest hacking
techniques, and fire off a few rounds at the local
shooting range.
Their most recent meeting took place in Silicon Valley
two weeks ago. The occasion was LinuxWorld in San
Jose, a confab of 20,000 devotees of the Linux computer operating system.
Call them Linux Libertarians. This subculture of hackerdom is less about guns
than it is about an elaborate philosophy of a faction of freedom-loving geeks
with an acute distrust for authority. To understand them is to understand the
popularity of Linux, an operating system that spawned out of the insurgent ''free
software'' movement.
Members of this movement believe the source code - or recipe - for all
software programs should be freely available to the public. It's a notion
anathema to companies that sell software, especially Microsoft Corp., whose
Windows operating system is seen as the uber-rival of Linux.
Eric Raymond, founder of the Geeks With Guns group, summed it up best.
''Linux is about getting freedom,'' Raymond said. ''Personal firearms are about
keeping it.''
If attendance at Geeks With Guns events is any mea-
sure, this philosophy is gaining ground. A record number of geeks showed up to
the latest shooting event at Target Masters, a local shooting range, according to
Raymond, who has organized a dozen of these gatherings over the past two
years.
Word had gotten out, and the 40-geek group got more than its usual share of
novices that evening. They received a tutorial from Jordan K. Hubbard, a
veteran shooter and vice president of Berkeley Software Design Inc. Hubbard
issued precise instructions as though he was compiling code.
Hubbard, who has been shooting guns since he was 7 years old, also acted as
arms dealer that evening, bringing seven of his own guns for others to shoot. A
crowd favorite was the Sig-Sauer P220 0.45 millimeter automatic handgun;
another was the sleek silver Walther PPK, also known as the ''James Bond''
gun.
James R. Maynard, a software engineer with Compaq Computer Corp. in
Houston, was among those who came to socialize. Maynard greeted Raymond
as if the two were old friends. In fact, they had only met in person the day
before. But the two had corresponded via e-mail for over a decade. This,
Raymond said, is a common occurrence among geeks.
After hitting a few bull's-eyes, Maynard and Raymond talk about gun control.
The discussion becomes animated as more geeks join in. Needless to say, the
conversation is heavily biased against gun control.
''It's OK to stand on your principles,'' said Heather Stern, a senior engineer at
Tuxtops Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif., and one of a handful of ''Linux chix'' at the
event. ''It's not OK for you to step on mine.''
John Charles Randolph, a Macintosh programmer from San Jose, Calif., adds
with impeccable logic, ''If you illegalize guns, then only criminals will have
guns.''
What is it with geeks and guns?
''I think engineers don't particularly like being told what to do,'' said Randolph.
''And gun control is about the government telling us what we can and can't do.
They're treating us like children.''
Raymond, in an earlier interview, tried to explain. ''Hackers tend to have a
broadly libertarian view of the world,'' he said. ''Whatever hackers label
themselves, they tend to be more individualistic and more skeptical of
concentrations of power. From that attitude, there follows a sympathy with the
Second Amendment [of the US Constitution, which bestows the right of
individuals to bear arms].''
There is also a revenge-of-the-nerds factor, Raymond admitted. ''This is a
population that shies away from conventional sports,'' he said.
Of course, not all geeks like guns. And not all geeks with guns are libertarian.
Some geeks like to shoot guns for the sheer fun of it.
Sarah Luger, director of developer relations at OpenSales Inc. in San Mateo,
Calif., considers herself a ''liberal'' but also a gun enthusiast. Luger, a
descendant of the inventor of the automatic pistol used during both World Wars,
likes to schedule her first dates at the shooting range.
''Some guys get intimidated, but I'm a pretty full-on person, so this is a good
way for guys to get to know me,'' said Luger.
But for Michael Pelletier, guns are a key part of his political expression.
Pelletier, a senior engineer with Taos, a technical consulting firm in Santa Clara,
Calif., is a walking encyclopedia on gun control. A single question can trigger a
formidable lecture from Pelletier, complete with legal citations and verbatim
quotations from Supreme Court justices, Thomas Jefferson, and George
Washington.
''Gun control laws simply take away the right of ordinary citizens to protect
themselves,'' said Pelletier. He said he plans to print bumper stickers that read
''Linux and Guns - Tools of Freedom.''
Pelletier, a member of the Libertarian Party, sees a clear connection between
the right to carry firearms and the Linux ''free software'' movement.
''The myriad architects of Linux and other free software projects have a very
clear understanding of what freedom actually means and how it applies to our
everyday lives, and how the government can act to take it away,'' said Pelletier.
Asked whether society would be better off if there were simply no guns,
Pelletier remarks with the incredulous look of an engineer being asked to do the
impossible, ''You can't uninvent technology.''
This story ran on page C1 of the Boston Globe on 8/28/2000.
© Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.
