Xen is a tool that allows a computer to run multiple instances of an operating system.
This means Windows and Linux can not only run on the same PC (they can since almost the beginning). This means that they can run at the same time. This technology is truly amazing!
This allows you, for example, to write an article with Microsoft Word in Windows, to release the cursor, to switch the window just as if MS Windows was a simple application of your operating system and to go on your work with Ubuntu or any Linux flavour (that supports Xen, however).
Basically, Xen is based on a guest OS (the dom0). It is in general a GNU/Linux distribution, but some other operating systems (such as NetBSD or OpenSolaris ) supports it. This dom0 is modified, so that it can welcome the guests (the domU’s).
If your hardware is good enough, the domU’s will not have to be changed. You can boot your MS Windows as you ever did (this is the so called full-virtualization – the guests are absolutely not aware that they are running virtually). If not, you’ll have to find a suitable modified distribution (most Linuxes for example) that will allow you to run multiple instances. This is called the para-virtualization.
Even though the performance is a little reduced, it remains excellent (especially for the para-virtualization, because the guests are designed for this technology). Moreover, you can determine what hardware you will assign to which virtual machine VM. Your Windows need a new network card? Just add one! You need to add a hard drive to one of your VM’s? No problem!
This sounds great. Ok, the reality is not as simple as I described above (especially if you have a PC with multiples network interfaces), you will have to find some tricky solutions, work with the command line and edit files, but it the end, it works ! As soon as the Xen developers will build an intuitive graphical interface, this technology will become one of the killer-features of GNU/Linux for the desktop.
The desktop market is the ultimate goal for Linux. But behind the lights, where Linux is not an exception anymore (and little people are aware of that fact), Xen is going to be one of the reasons why system administrators should leave, for example, Netware.
The most striking argument in favour of Xen on the server market is the cost: why should companies continue to pay for 6 average servers when they can build 6 virtual machines on top hardware. This can cut costs in energy, administration, and networking.
Last but not least, Xen is Free software. It means that the basic version is free (whereas Xen Enterprise and Xen Server are not) and you can get the source code, modify it, and adapt it to your needs.
To me, Xen is the ultimate example of how innovative and attractive free software can be. VMware, the proprietary solution is also a good product, but as Xen respects the GNU General Public License, it will be included in a lot of Linux distributions (it is already part of openSUSE) and thus, its community will grow very quickly. It will so benefit from the feedback of millions of the users and developers.
Free software (I will try to give my point of view on it later) does not necessarily mean software communism: XenSource (the company behind it) sells its enterprises versions. I hope they will make money with it and will continue to improve their product -with the support of the open-source community- so that end-users and companies can improve their productivity or have simply have fun with it!
Bulgaria is one of those Eastern European ex-communist countries that lately joined the European Union. The reasons why they did it are quite simple :
- they are aiming at political stability.
- they want to be part of a huge and powerful economic zone that could bring them welfare and growth.
- they want to be protected from the Russian ex-”big brother” who did not them only good.
Even though Bulgaria and Romania were not completely ready to join the Union, they now are in and it is good to have them : the European family is now about to be complete.
Some of the newcomers reproached (rightly somehow) the European Union its politic weakness and its incapacity to form a solid bulwark against Russia, the former oppressor.
This story of Bulgarian medics who were imprisoned for some doubtful reasons in Libya was THE opportunity for the EU to show the world and itself its political power. The negotiations with the Libyan authorities went to their end when France decided to send the wife of the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to accelerate the process.
What the hell was she doing here ? Have you ever seen Mrs. Bush intervene in any political crisis in the world ? What kind of legitimacy does she have to negotiate with one dictator ?
The EU could have improved its credibility and its unity at the same time. We could have shown the world that we can stand together when our citizens are in danger and thus ensure Eastern European countries our will to protect them. It did it partially (one of the nurse told “if Bulgaria would not have been in the EU, we would not be free now”) but this European victory is, in my opinion, blurred by the French attitude.
When will we have a real common foreign policy ? When will France stop sending French troops in Africa (or the president’s wife) and will pass the relay to the European Union ? When will German, French and British soldiers fight, for instance, together in Afghanistan for the blue and yellow flag and in the name of the EU ?
I am not naive, this not going to happen tomorrow, but it is what we must strive for.
Since April 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy is the new president of the French republic. In my opinion, his election and the following deputies’ election are a sign of the not-that-all-democratic character of the French institutions.
- The leader of the centrist party (MoDem - democratic movement), Francois Bayrou, collected 18 percent of the votes at the first round of the presidential election. His party, that has now 3 seats on a total of 577 in the French lower house of the parliament, is now struggling in order not to disappear.
- According to the medias, Nicolas Sarkozy won a “crushing victory”. This is not true, unless you consider 46,93 percent of the electors who voted for his opponent, Ségolène Royal, are peanuts. This is a victory, but it could be wise for Sarkozy to take millions of people in consideration.
- The majority of people who voted for the deputies of the lower house of the parliament voted for left-wing parties. However, due to the geographical repartition of the seats, Sarkozy’s right-wing party, the UMP won 345 of the 577 seats. How representative and legitimate can be this parliament ?
The UMP won these elections. Fine. The problem is : how did the UMP win ? Nobody seem to care in France, that one party is trusting the whole power, even if it became less votes !
France needs to change its constitution : its institutions must become more decentralized, more democratic and more representative of its population.
After his election, the new French president claimed he wanted to “handle” and create a “tax shock”, in order to boost the economic growth.
In fact, France will try to pay its tax cuts by making more and more debts. Even in a period when the growth is booming and the employment rate is growing, the French are about to continue to dig the huge hole of debts they are already standing in.
Sarkozy claimed about France’s difficult financial situation : “you will judge me only at the end of my presidency”. This sounds extremely vague and it would be an error not to benefit from the current positive economic situation to refund some money.
France suffers from its huge number of civil servants, though the government promised to divide their number by two in the future. This is fine because the mass of civil-servants in France is a structural problem, but I really hope these cuts will not affect, for instance, hospitals or universities.
On the contrary it is not the role of the state to deliver electricity or to run the trains in the country. Sell companies like the SNCF or EDF could be a good way to raise funds to get rid of some civil servants, not to employ more of them though !
For the French who read these few lines, you will be pleased to know that even though German civil servant are employed for a lifetime, they do not have the right to strike !
On an international level, Sarkozy’s efforts to save the Constitution (or what is left of it) were good. Nonetheless, France’s budget is a hot topic in Europe. French people may think their financial condition is their own problem, but it is not anymore. According to Sarkozy’s prime minister Fillon, France must get one percent more growth this year, so its government will take the right to get rid of its commitment to the reduction of the debt. We now all have the same money and the credibility of the Euro must be guaranteed by all countries of the Euro-zone, including France, which is one of the most important.
I hope Sarkozy will pursue its effort to save the European constitution, but the financial difficulties of the French state are worrying and the president should use the current economic situation to clean up this mess.
