1 and thus, the beast did lay upon the land, having grown large
and slothful and no longer produced quality software, instead growing
large on the people who had already fed it by releasing new versions that
they must purchase to show homage to the beast.
2 it had upon it many heads, and each head did act as if it were
upon its own control, yet all did bow down to the one head, which was
unkempt and wore thick glasses and was unbecoming to look upon.
3 and all the heads of the beast did speak with one voice,
proclaiming to all across the land that its words were true.
4 and many did believe, for they had pointy hair and wore suits
and as such were easily swayed by the voice of the beast saying, "listen
unto me and buy what I say and thou shalt not be fired."
5 and many did believe, for they wore sport coats and had
graduated with a degree in MIS from the business school and as such were
easily swayed by the voice of the beast saying "listen unto me and
continue to support none else but me and thou shalt not be fired."
6 and many did believe for they only read PC Week and believed
anything they saw in advertisements and as such were easily swayed by the
voice of the beast saying, "listen unto me and thou shalt find thy work
to be faster and more fun than ever before, e'en when thou playest not by
yourself the game with cards."
7 and many did believe for they knew not of computers and used
only what the manufacturers supplied and as such were easily swayed by
the voice of the beast saying, "listen unto me, we know what's good for
you, think not for thine own self."
8 then from a land across the great ocean in the east (except for
some people who lived on the same land on the same side of the water and
for those he came from the north, or the west and even for a few he came
from the south) came a figure
9 who rode upon a mighty GNU and bore upon his left arm a shield
and upon that shield was the sigil of the penguin, mighty with fish, and
its name was Linux
10 and bore in his right arm a sword and upon the sword were
graven the words, "as the OS be free, so shalt ye"
11 and bore upon his brow (above his glasses) a shining star that
bore his name and his name was Linus.
12 and upon his left hand was an unkempt one, riding an even
mightier GNU leading a hurd of GNUs and his name was rms,
13 and upon his right hand was a horde of daemons, and upon their
brows were born their names, such as "Free" and "Net" and "Open" and a
multitude of others.
14 and greeting him stood one wearing a red hat, who grew more
powerful with every passing day across this land.
15 and behind them, on many forms of beasts of the land and beasts
of the water and beasts of the air came his prophets and disciples,
bearing many strange names that those of the land on this side of the
great ocean cannot easily pronounce and bearing many scrolls upon which
were written source codes that did have vast power.
16 and they did cry with one voice across the land, "no longer
dost thou need to be subjugated to the beast!" but the voice of the beast
was mighty indeed and few heeded their call.
17 so Linus and his disciples did spread across the land and they
threw open many doors and cast daemons inside and the people inside did
rejoice and become powerful.
18 and they visited many universities, where the students were too
poor to pay homage to the great beast, and they cast daemons upon them,
and the students did rejoice and become powerful.
18a (and still those who would follow Linus did pay small homage
to the great beast who's system requirements were so large that the
manufacturers did produce faster and cheaper and more powerful machines
that did make them even more powerful than the great beast)
19 yet still across the land the voice of the beast did cry louder
and the beast did still grow larger
20 until even the land itself did cast itself up to challenge the
beast.
21 and the beast did laugh upon the land and the land held the
beast in contempt until the beast apologised
22 and the land was so large and lumbering that it did accept this
apology even though it was not meant in truth.
23 then the beast did raise its voice even higher among the people
saying, "look unto the land, which hath wronged me!"
24 and the many people, being easily swayed, did agree with the
beast.
25 then in the far west of the land on this side of the great
ocean, a great dragon did raise its head and did proclaim itself free
with the voice of one named Marc who did also speak for many, although
unlike the heads of the beast, the many did look up to the one called
Marc who had power enough against the beast to call it challenge.
26 and then in the far north, a most colorful hydra who did draw
pictures and write words and many things did raise its head who's words
were perfect and did proclaim that it did also believe the word of the
one called Linus.
27 and then did the star upon Linus' brow shine with a mighty
light and his shield shined with a vast shine and his sword did glow with
a wondrous glow.
28 though many with pointy hair and many with MIS degrees and many
who believed only the magazines and many who knew no better did still pay
heed to the voice of the beast, there were now many who could stand up
and proclaim themselves believers of the one called Linus for the great
dragon and the great hydra had given credence to his teachings.
29 so then many did cast their lot with him and followed him and
became also his disciples, though they did not always follow his
teachings exactly and there were many forms of daemons across the land,
they did band together, for they were open and free against the great
beast.
30 and tho the great beast was large, it now had fear in its eyes
for the one called Linus showed no fear, tho he was tiny and the beast
was vast, for he had many followers at his side and at his back who lent
upon him their strength and they did challenge the great beast, crying
"As the OS be free, so shall the people!"
31 and tho the many people, still listening to the voice of the
great beast did not believe, many were no longer swayed by the voice of
the beast and the followers and disciples did have great hope in their
hearts against the great beast and grew more powerful at each passing
day.