Miguel's last meal was a McTaco Happy Meal and a cigarette. In the noonday broiling sun they tied him to a post in the courtyard. A sweat drenched bandana was wrapped over his eyes. A cigarette dangled insolently from his trembling lips. His head was held high. The sargeant strode stiffly up to Miguel, who was now standing, proud and erect. He pinned a Windows 2000 CD over Miguel's heart. A crude target, Miguel could only hope it would fail to boot this time. "Do you have anything to say?" the sargeant said. "Yes" Miguel answered, "and I want the entire world to hear." "
"I am sorry I ever heard of Windows and, no, I am not pentiti. No. I am only sorry that those bastardos killed shareware in our small village. What choice did we have? My family has only one goat. How could we afford Office 2000?"
"So we got pirate versions. So we tried to get by in this world. It wan't easy always looking out the window for the carbinieri while our son played with the ordinatiri."
"If only we had heard of Linux earlier! If only." His words were resigned, dry, not bitter. He stuck his chest out at the silent pointing row of guns. "Hurray for GPL! Hurray for Simon de Bolivar! Long Live the revolution.! I regret I have only one life to give for Penguins!"
"Go ahead, stinking dogs, shoot!"
BANG
Then I woke up.
Was it a dream?
EC<:-} |
