Corporations； mighter than any of the Mainframe Corporations before it had it waxed。 And
Gates heart was hardened； and he swore unto his Customers and their Engineers the
words of this curse：
微软在微芯片公司中迅速膨胀，比过去的任何一个大型机公司都凶狠。盖茨心智冷
酷，诅咒消费者和程序员道：
〃Children of von Neumann； hear me。 IBM and the Mainframe Corporations bound thy
forefathers with grave and perilous Licences； such that ye cried unto the spirits of Turing
and von Neumann for deliverance。 Now I say unto ye： I am greater than any Corporation
before me。 Will I loosen your Licences？ Nay； I will bind thee with Licences twice as grave
and ten times more perilous than my forefathers。 I will engrave my Licence on thy heart
and write my Serial Number upon thy frontal lobes。 I will bind thee to the Windows
Platform with cunning artifices and with devious schemes。 I will bind thee to the Intel
Chipset with crufty code and with gnarly APIs。 I will capture and enslave thee as no
generation has been enslaved before。 And wherefore will ye cry then unto the spirits of
Turing； and von Neumann； and Moore？ They cannot hear ye。 I am become a greater
Power than they。 Ye shall cry only unto me； and shall live by my mercy and my wrath。 I am
the Gates of Hell； I hold the portal to MSNBC and the keys to the Blue Screen of Death。
Be ye afraid； be ye greatly afraid； serve only me； and live。〃
“冯诺依曼的孩子们，听着。我知道，你们的祖先曾经向上天祈求怜悯只因被IBM和
那些大型机公司所奴役。现在我告诉你们，我比之前的任何公司都强大。把你们从许可
中解救出来？不，我只会用数倍于你们先人的许可束缚尔等。将协议刻在你们心上，将
序列号写在你们额叶里。我要用诡计和孤僻的设计把你们束缚在Windows平台下，我要
用混沌的代码和劣质的程序接口把你们捆绑在Intel芯片集上。我要加倍的奴役你们。你
们干吗不向图灵、冯诺依曼哭诉？对，还有那个摩尔。他们听不到，我比他们都要强大。
你们只能向我啜泣，在我的仁慈和狂暴中生存。我是地狱之门，把守着MSNBC的入口
和死亡蓝屏的钥匙。恐惧吧，战栗吧。只有服侍我，才能苟活下去！”
译注：1。这一段里盖茨像一个说话吞音的古代魔王，给人的感觉不像《圣经》中的撒旦，
或者路西法。而和更像好莱坞电影里的古代恶魔，公式化而且低智慧。
2。 frontal lobe，额叶，人脑中负责逻辑思考等重要功能的部分。“把序列号写入额
叶”的意思就是让消费者尊崇微软的逻辑。
100
第八章 《Tux福音》
And the people were cowed in terror and gave homage to Microsoft； and endured the
many grave and perilous trials which the Windows platform and its greatly bodacious
Licence forced upon them。 And once again did they cry to Turing and von Neumann and
Moore for a deliverer； but none was found equal to the task until the birth of Linux。
人们在恫吓下臣服于微软，忍受着Windows平台诸多险恶的折磨，并且不断的被这
自负的协议所束缚。大家再次祈求图灵、冯诺依曼和摩尔的救赎，然而却无人胜任。一
切直到Linux出现。
译注：1。trials，在这里指的是强加给用户的操作习惯。
These are the generations of Linux：
Linux 世家：
SAGE begat ARPA； which begat TCP/IP； and Aloha； which begat Ethernet。 Bell begat
Multics； which begat C； which begat Unix。 Unix and TCP/IP begat Internet； which begat the
World Wide Web。 Unix begat RMS； father of the great GNU； which begat the Libraries and
Emacs； chief of the Utilities。 In the days of the Web； Internet and Ethernet begat the
Intranet LAN； which rose to renown among all Corporations and prepared the way for the
Penguin。 And Linus and the Web begat the Kernel through Unix。 The Kernel； the Libraries
and the Utilities together are the Distribution； the one Penguin in many forms； forever and
ever praised。
SAGE 创造了 TCP/IP 之父 ARPA，和 Ethernet 之父 Aloha。 Bell 创造了 Multics——C
语言和Unix之父。Unix和 TCP/IP创造了万维网之父Internet。 Unix创造了GNU之父
RMS，而伟大的 GNU 创生了 Libraries 和 Emacs——所有工具软件的领袖。网络的时代，
Internet 和 Ethernet 创造了 Intranet LAN。 在公司中闻名遐迩的 Intranet LAN 为企鹅的
出现做好了铺垫。李纳斯和网络通过Unix创造了Kernel。将其与Libraries、Utilities结合
便是发行版，通过这些渠道一只企鹅的形象明朗起来，这是一个值得永世骄傲的创举。
译注：1。这里的企鹅，是一个开源和Linux的意象并不是特指Tux。不要忘记，这是一
篇启示文学。
101
Now in those days there was in the land of Helsinki a young scholar named Linus the
Torvald。 Linus was a devout man； a disciple of RMS and mighty in the spirit of Turing； von
Neumann and Moore。 One day as he was meditating on the Architecture； Linus fell into a
trance and was granted a vision。 And in the vision he saw a great Penguin； serene and
well…favoured； sitting upon an ice floe eating fish。 And at the sight of the Penguin Linus
was deeply afraid； and he cried unto the spirits of Turing； von Neumann and Moore for an
interpretation of the dream。
当时世上有一个名为赫尔辛基的地方，那里住着一个名叫李纳斯托沃兹的年青学者。
他是一个虔诚的人，一个RMS的信徒并能受到图灵，冯诺依曼和摩尔强大的精神感召。
一天他在沉思着（诺依曼提出的）结构，恍惚间坠入幻境。在幻境中他看到一只硕大的企
鹅，它平静、姿态优美的坐在冰川上吃鱼。面对企鹅李纳斯感到彻骨的恐惑，他向图灵、
诺依曼和摩尔的圣灵哭诉，祈求开释。
译注：1。RMS，是RichardM。Stallman的缩写。即理查德M斯多曼，自由软件运动的
创始人。他被认为是自由软件人士的精神领袖和图灵等人的精神继承者。RMS的缩写形
式已被普遍使用。
And in the dream the spirits of Turing； von Neumann and Moore answered and spoke
unto him； saying； 〃Fear not； Linus； most beloved hacker。 You are exceedingly cool and
froody。 The great Penguin which you see is an Operating System which you shall create
and deploy unto the earth。 The ice…floe is the earth and all the systems thereof； upon
which the Penguin shall rest and rejoice at the completion of its task。 And the fish on which
the Penguin feeds are the crufty Licensed codebases which swim beneath all the earth's
systems。 The Penguin shall hunt and devour all that is crufty； gnarly and bobacious； all
code which wriggles like spaghetti； or is infested with blighting creatures； or is bound by
grave and perilous Licences shall it capture。 And in capturing shall it replicate； and in
replicating shall it document； and in documentation shall it bring freedom； serenity and
most cool froodiness to the earth and all who code therein。〃
梦中，图灵、冯诺依曼和摩尔的圣灵为他开解：“不要怕，李纳斯——最可爱的黑
客。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