Fraudster Updated 2025-07-16
Free and open-source software Updated 2025-07-16
A more precise term for those in the know: open source software that also has a liberal license, for some definition of liberal.
Ciro Santilli defines liberal as: "can be commercialized without paying anything back" (but possibly subject to other restrictions).
He therefore does not consider Creative Commons licenses with NC to be FOSS.
For the newbs, the term open source software is good enough, since most open source software is also FOSS.
But when it's not, it's crucial to know.
Berkeley Software Distribution Updated 2025-07-16
Legal issues stalled them at the turning point of the Internet, and Linux won. Can't change history.
Did Apple just fork it and made Mac OS X without giving anything back?
Veritasium Updated 2025-07-16
Does have some gems worth looking at. But generally always too superficial as can be expected from any self-sufficient YouTubber.
Video 1.
My Life Story by Veritasium (2018)
Source. Basically a don't be a pussy story where he describes how he has always been passionate by both science and film making. Veritasium is a nice guy.
Vibrato Updated 2025-07-16
Electronic design automation Updated 2025-07-16
A set of software programs that compile high level register transfer level languages such as Verilog into something that a fab can actually produce. One is reminded of a compiler toolchain but on a lower level.
The most important steps of that include:
OurBigBook.com / User acquisition Updated 2025-07-16
The general and ideal user acquisition is of course organic Googling:
However, before that point, it is very likely that Ciro will have to physically do some very hard and specific user acquisition work at some University. Maybe there is a more virtual way of achieving this.
This work will involve going through some open set of university lecture notes, and creating a superior version of them on OurBigBook.com, and somehow getting students to notice it and use it as a superior alternative to their crappy lecture notes.
Another very promising route is publishing the answers to old examination questions on the website. It is likely that we will be able to overcome any copyright issues by uploading only the answers to numbered questions. There is a minor risk that these would be considered derivative works of the copyrighted questions. But universities would have to be very anal to enforce a DMCA for that!!!
Getting in contact with students is an epic challenge, as an incredibly deep chasm separates us:
Walking with advertisement t-shirts mentioning specific course names in some university location is something Ciro seriously considers, that's how desperate things are. Watch out: docs.ourbigbook.com/#public-relations for T-shirt news!
Basal (phylogenetics) Updated 2025-07-16
When a characteristic is basal, it basically means the opposite of it being polyphyletic.
E.g. monotremes laying eggs did not evolve separately after function loss, it comes directly from reptiles.

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