Lao Ye won, win cleanly.

Since August 22, members of the "Emergency Committee" have been arrested one after another, and only the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union, Pugo, has committed suicide. The State Emergency Committee of the USSR, which had lived for three days, died before the "anti" aspirations could be paid.

Their goals are nothing more than threefold: first, to prevent the signing of the treaty of the new alliance and save the life of the old alliance; second, to prevent the development of domestic reforms; The second is to prevent Gorbachev from moving closer to the radical reformers and forcing him to lean towards the conservatives. This is also the subtext of Yanayev's words at a press conference on the evening of the 19th, "My friend Gorbachev will return to the team."

However, the outcome of the coup d'état did not prevent it, but rather hastened the disintegration of the old Union.

BNB News took precautions, and while Moscow was battling with CNN, which was extremely responsive and equally advanced, it also broadcast the declaration of independence of Estonia and Latvia live on the 21st and 22nd, and let the audience in front of the world's television sets follow the camera lens to feel how the wave of independence spread from the three Baltic countries to almost all the union republics except Russia.

The abortion of the coup d'état made the CPSU like a rat crossing the street, and everyone shouted and beat it.

BNB International, German, Arabic and Spanish channels even broadcast live the entire broadcast of the first secretary of the Moscow Municipal Party Committee, Prokofiev, who was recognized by the citizens as he walked down the old square after attending the plenary session of the municipal party committee, so that he was escorted into a taxi and taken to the prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation.

A few days ago, the first secretary of the city party committee held a meeting of the heads of party organizations at all levels in Moscow to mobilize party members to support the "State Emergency Committee."

Immediately afterwards, the statue of Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the "Suppression Committee", which stood majestically in front of the KGB building for decades, was surrounded by 15,000 people. The most was pushed down after that.

The first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova, Yeremy, announced his resignation from the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

The authorities of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, decided to demolish the statue of Lenin, which was located in front of the Central Building of the Communist Party of Estonia.

The Central Building of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan was confiscated and "handed over to the state."

Acting Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Russia Khasbulatov announced his secession from the CPSU.

……

People are singing and dancing. A celebration meeting was held. Celebrating their "victory" and "chasing after the poor" with the courage to chase after them, they launched wave after wave of "anti-communist" movements.

The revolution is not a dinner party, but the body is the capital of the revolution, and whether you want to continue the revolution or not, you must eat.

At the strong request of the head of the Department of Mathematics-Mechanics of St. Petersburg Ivanovich, the head of the Department of Physics Yevgeny, the head of the Department of Chemistry Gregory, and Professor Peshkov of the Department of Physics, NB Software Development Co., Ltd. in St. Petersburg was officially announced on September 1.

Jiang Meimei, Director of Software Technology of the Group, and Tong Jiaming, Doctor of Computer Science of Hong Kong NB Laboratory, were invited to attend the inauguration ceremony, accompanied by Frederick and Franck, the chief and deputy managers of NB Electric St. Petersburg Branch, who represented the investor, and had a friendly and pleasant meeting with the officials of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Shengdaiwa City at the European Hotel.

Until three o'clock in the afternoon. I rushed to the woods villa in the suburbs to meet the big boss.

Throwing off the shopkeeper and not caring about anything, he still read books by the river as usual, took a plane for more than 20 hours, and coped with bureaucrats for another day, Jiang Meimei was exhausted, too lazy to go to the river to find him, half a trip on the deck chair in the garden, and sighed enviously: "The environment is so good, it's like a paradise, no wonder you can't think about it." ”

Xia Yao gently put aside the plate containing the melon. smiled knowingly: "If you like it, you can stay here for a few more days, and no one will drive you back." ”

"I think. I don't have time. ”

Jiang Meimei sighed lightly, and said with a helpless wry smile: "Lao Guo, Sister Shen, Lao Sun, and Lao Huang will leave as soon as you two say go, throw down such a big mess and let Principal Gao clean it up, everyone is in their 60s, and they have just taken office, can I stand by and watch?" ”

"What, the lab is troublesome?"

"It's a lot of trouble!"

Tong Jiaming took over the conversation and said in a stiff Mandarin: "The council only determines the framework, and we are responsible for all the specific affairs, we want to set up the NB laboratory asset management company, ask the design firm to design the office building, the laboratory building and the living building, allocate management and researchers to the three university departments, and recruit the first batch of graduate students...... There's a lot going on. ”

Xia Yao didn't understand the company's affairs, let alone the NB laboratory that had been separated from the company in a legal sense, and asked puzzledly: "What does an asset management company do, is it equivalent to property?" ”

"It's not a property, it's an agency that specializes in managing the lab's funds."

Tong Jiaming was afraid that she would not understand, and added: "We have government grants, group investment, and social donations in the future, which is a large amount of money, and it is impossible to spend it all at once, so we must set up a special financial management institution, which is operated by professional managers as market operating entities." ”

"Doing business with the money from the lab?"

"You can think so, but this kind of investment is healthy, the income is stable, and it is much higher than just saving."

Seeing that she still didn't quite understand, Jiang Meimei looked back and smiled: "This is an internationally accepted method, and it is the same thing as the Yale University Investment Committee, Harvard University Asset Management Company, and Stanford Management Company." ”

Xia Yao thought for a while and asked, "Doesn't the group have an investment department?" ”

"Funds can be deposited in NB banks, but in order to avoid suspicion, the investment institution must be composed of third-party personnel. To this end, President Gao hired 20 Hong Kong celebrities, including Mr. Gu and Mr. Lee, to form an 'NB Lab Fund Think Tank', which will guide and supervise the operation of the asset management company. ”

If you ask again, it will really become a gentleman's belly with the heart of a villain, Xia Yao hurriedly changed the topic and asked with a smile: "Dr. Jiang, Dr. Tong, are you programming and writing software in the group's technical department and laboratory?" ”

To her surprise, Jiang Meimei actually shook her head and smiled: "Writing a program is just a simple repetitive work, and there is no innovation." An undergraduate student can do it enough, and we don't need to do it ourselves. ”

"And what do you usually do?"

"Engage in scientific research. We all have our own research directions. Software development is just one part of everything. ”

looked at her with a puzzled look. Dr. Tong Jiaming was happy, took a bite of melon, and patiently explained: "Jobs like management information systems, device-driven development, and tool software development do not require creativity, but patience and experience, and an accurate understanding of the existing norms, which is most suitable for improvement in actual combat, and theoretical learning has no effect." Let a doctor do these things. It's tantamount to killing a chicken.

But in the fields of artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, image compression, virtual reality, massive data retrieval, natural language understanding, computer graphics, etc., theoretical learning occupies an absolute dominant position! And the impact of breakthroughs in these fields on human life is extremely huge and profound.

So for those general developments, we are only involved in the early stage of the architectural design. The rest of the work will be done by Ansoft and the newly established Shengsoft (St. Petersburg NB Software Development Company). ”

My husband is engaged in scientific research, but he doesn't even have a degree so far.

It's women who have vanity. Looking at the two PhDs who graduated from the University of California in the United States and Max Planck in Germany respectively, Xia Yao looked envious and couldn't help but smile and asked, "Dr. Jiang, Dr. Tong, so what do doctors like you do and what do you study?" ”

What a strange question, Jiang Meimei pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "Before discussing what we do, we must first figure out what 'scientific research' is all about. Many people think that scientific research is like sitting in a small room, filling the table with calculation paper, and then disappearing for ten or even decades, and finally coming to a conclusion that looks like Goldbach's conjecture.

But such a model is not only completely outdated, it is also incorrect. Because scientific research comes from the exchange and realization of ideas. If you have a good mind and don't communicate with others, then you can't complete your scientific research work; If you have excellent expression and do not have the ability to realize your ideas, then you will not be able to do scientific research.

Here the 'realization of the thought' is not the thought itself, which may be difficult for some people to understand. In fact, even theoretical work requires excellent implementation skills, such as mastery of mathematical tools. Without the ability to achieve basic realization, there is nothing surprising about dry thinking in itself. ”

Although they are colleagues, they have rarely communicated with each other.

Tong Jiaming was deeply touched by her words, adding: "Scientific research means consuming time. Whether it is the researchers in our lab or the professors at HKU and CUHK, all weekends are spent reading papers and programming, and no one will sympathize with you because you are studying or working on the weekends.

Either work or 'duplicate work', most research means building on what came before us, and most of the time, we may not really have a new idea for a year. In fact, innovation is difficult. And most innovations don't happen in a vacuum, so most of the time we don't have anything really exciting to look at. ”

Remembering that in addition to reading papers, the charter was to do some repetitive tests, Xia Yao nodded slightly.

Thinking about Cao Cao and Cao Cao, before she could speak, her fiancé, who didn't know when Lu Dao would come back, smiled behind him: "In addition, scientific research is also a kind of business, you need to promote your ideas everywhere, let others pay attention to your work, hiding at home is not the way after all."

For example, President Gao, many years after he invented optical fiber, has been committed to promoting; Another example is that a scholar in North America will not have research funding if he does not promote and publicize his work. Therefore, the more accomplished a scholar is, the more eloquent he is, and the better his communication skills. ”

Jiang Meimei smiled and echoed thoughtfully: "Presentation skills are indeed very important, for Chinese students like us, this is a weakness, in addition to language, we lack skills. Especially when I first went to Germany, I read the words on the slides one by one on the stage, which made people sleepy. So much so that the supervisor bluntly said that if he did that again, he would not be able to become a qualified doctoral student. ”

After talking for a long time, Xia Yao couldn't help it anymore, and said with a smile: "Dr. Jiang, Dr. Tong, what are you studying?" ”

"I study artificial intelligence, Dr. Tong studies graphics, and Jiang is also a computer expert in the CT project team, but he is researching computer medical image processing and reconstruction."

Thousands of dollars are easy to obtain, but talents are hard to find.

You can't do things that mislead people's children. The gold signboard of the NB laboratory cannot be smashed. If not there are enough specialists. NB Labs will not find excuses to delay the Hong Kong government's request to train 200 PhDs and Masters per year.

When he is done, President Gao will recruit talents for the NB Lab within the scope of the world, just as he did when he first took up his post at CUHK. In order to ensure the leading position of NB Lab in academics, it needs to recruit talents a grade higher than that of HKUST, which can be called the "Rolls-Royce University".

Considering that computer science has been incorporated into the basic laboratory and is a research direction as important as mathematics, physics, and chemistry, he put down the stack of papers in his hand and asked thoughtfully, "Both." Has the Emacs developed by Mr. Richard Matthew Stallman, the spiritual leader of the free software movement in the United States, been used? ”

"Who hasn't used a computer before?"

As soon as Jiang Meimei's voice fell, Tong Jiaming added: "It is a very complementary software, not only an editor, but also an integrated development environment, which can send and receive emails, edit remote files through FTP/TRAMP, log in to the host and newsgroups through Telnet, log in to IRC to communicate with friends, view calendars, and write article outlines." and edit in a variety of programming languages, and even debug programs. Combine GDB to play games, calculators, keep a diary, manage schedules, and more. ”

The charter nodded slightly, and then asked, "What about his copyleft?" ”

Jiang Meimei was made ridiculous, and scolded with a smile: "Engineer Zhang, I know that you know a little bit of software, but there is no need to show it off in front of us, right?" ”

"It's not to show off, but to know what you think about open source code?"

"Personally, I really appreciate his spirit of solidarity and cooperation, but NB Electric is a company and we are responsible to you as an investor. What's more, we are a latecomer in software development, and so far we have engaged in a PLC programming software, and the rest is embedded. ”

"We are indeed a latecomer, so we have to find some way to make us come from behind."

Jiang Meimei was confused, and asked with a puzzled expression: "Zhang Gong, can you be specific?" ”

Chartering took the melon from his fiancée and said casually: "Not long ago, a student at the University of Helsinki named Linus Tovaz wrote a piece of software similar to a Unix disk driver and file system. Inspired by the spirit of Richard Stallman, he quickly added the operating system under the name Linux to the Free Software Foundation's GNU project, and through the GPL's general license, users were allowed to sell, copy, and modify the program, but the same freedom must be passed on, and the modified code must be released for free. ”

Jiang Meimei immediately became interested and asked eagerly: "How about that system?" ”

"I tried it in the computer room of the Holy Land Computer Center, and there were many flaws, and if I could modify and supplement it, I believe it would become a very good operating system."

Thinking of the upcoming "supercomputing" project, Tong Jiaming asked with interest: "Zhang Gong, can that system run on the server?" ”

"It should be possible, but it needs to be refined."

NB Lab needs results, NB Electric needs brand influence, NB Computer needs an operating system, Jiang Meimei understood it like an empowerment, and immediately got up and said: "Zhang Gong, I think we should go to Helsinki." ”

Finland is very close to St. Petersburg and has direct trains, planes and boats.

It's too late today, and there is no preparation in advance, the charter beckoned her to sit down, and said with a smile: "Everyone has already made the source code public, it doesn't matter to us to go early, late, or even whether we go or not, the key is whether this system has a future and whether it can survive after it is really made." After all, the operating system must have sufficient software support, and if it is not compatible with anything, then it is better not to do it. ”

"Apps aren't always free, are they?"

"If you can charge an app, but if you don't have enough users, who's going to develop it?"

Jiang Meimei muttered: "If that system is really as good as you say, it will be completely used to supplement and improve Linux with the funds from the purchase of Unix, and apply it to our power, banking and medical systems." ”

Tong Jiaming weighed it, shook his head and said: "How much money can be used to purchase Unix, and how much does it cost to improve a system software that can't bring revenue at all?" Dr. Jiang. I don't think it's a good idea. ”

Linux is a very good system software. In the near future, it will occupy more than 9% of the server market. Even the future Android was developed based on its kernel.

If nothing else, in the future, there will be thousands of fanatics gathered around Linux, regardless of the gains and losses, for Linux additions, modifications, investment is now a loss to make money, but in the future will definitely be able to earn back with interest.

NB Electric has the advantages of NB Electric, there are Ansoft and Shengsoft, and there are thousands of cheap "code farmers". What's more, Windows 3.0 is also very average now. If we can concentrate on optimizing Linux over a period of time and develop a graphical interface similar to 95, it will not be NB Electric but Windows that will follow.

The NB operating system developed based on the Linux kernel is completely free, and it is necessary to lose money first, and then recover the investment through hardware and other application software after it has a certain market share.

The charter pondered for a moment, and resolutely said: "Two, I think we can make it a public welfare project of NB Lab and part of the group's investment. Use a little government grant and get a little more social donation. Funding shouldn't be a problem. At the same time, it can also be used as a development platform to promote the development of Hong Kong's IT industry. ”

Tong Jiaming was not very optimistic and reminded: "Zhang Gong, but this requires a lot of investment, and it can't be rewarded at all." ”

"It looks like it, and it does."

Charter smiled and said meaningfully, "Dr. Tong, but this is a great opportunity for us to enhance our brand image. Think about it, if a quarter of the world's computers are running NB-Linux, and hundreds of millions of people turn on their computers and see our logo and the slogan 'Dream Change the Future', how much will it help our other businesses? ”

"From this point of view, the key is that as you said, Linux has made the source code public, and it is likely that a bunch of operating systems based on the Linux kernel will appear in the future, which shows that it is difficult to guarantee market share, and it is difficult to guarantee the brand influence brought by development."

"So we have to take NB-Linux to the extreme."

"How much can you invest?"

Tong Jiaming paused, and then said: "You must know that the annual funding of more than 100 million US dollars is really nothing for a laboratory that conducts so many studies at the same time, and social donations can only be used as a supplement, and donors have an absolute say in how to use it. ”

"If the social donation is not enough, then look for a national donation."

The charter smiled confidently: "Believe me, funding is not a problem, as long as we can get it, there must be many countries and governments that don't like to be controlled by others, and are willing to provide us with funding." ”

He was undoubtedly referring to China.

The just-concluded Gulf War has taught the whole world that many systems are not secure, and the open source ones are different, although no one can say which one is safer.

Tong Jiaming also holds the position of a technical consultant in NB Medical, and he knows a little about the company's operations, thinking of the risks that this may bring, he bluntly asked: "Zhang Gong, is this beneficial to the development of the group?" ”

"I know what you're worried about, but our starting point is not information security, but intellectual property."

Looking at his confused look, the charter continued: "The whole world knows that the Chinese government is seeking to join the WTO, and intellectual property rights will be an important negotiation topic. One can imagine how passive it would be at the negotiating table if all of China used pirated operating systems. And our operating system is completely free, with a little promotion, you can avoid this embarrassing problem. ”

"But the mainland government's foreign exchange reserves are so tight that it is impossible for us to provide much support."

The charter smiled and said proudly: "We don't need foreign exchange, we just need a little land." Like the quota for doctoral students, the quota will be exchanged for the development land of NB Electric China, and then used to replace the land for the test center of NB Laboratory. ”

Tong Jiaming reacted at this time, and couldn't help laughing: "I think the mainland government will be interested in this, and may ask to join the R&D team." ”

"It's not a bad thing for us, as long as we have the NB trademark, we can even relinquish ownership of the project."

"That's no problem."

The two big men talked not about technology, but about business, and Jiang Meimei, who had been unable to interject, finally asked, "Then do you want to go to Helsinki?" ”

"Of course I want to go," said the charter with great seriousness, "Linus is not only a computer genius, but also a spiritual leader of the free software movement like Richard, and if we can invite him to our lab, it will undoubtedly attract more software talents to us." ”

"How can I get him back?"

"Give him a chance to host a supercomputing project, I'm sure he'll be interested." (To be continued......)