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Last I checked the Linux kernel had 4672 bugs. Something is clearly wrong with the release process. Imagine if it took an airline 1-2 years to return your lost luggage?

This is an amazing published paper on the feasibility of a space elevator.
http://keithcu.com/wiki/images...

The big take-aways:
* Decreasing the x-sectional surface area by an exponential function as altitude decreases theoretically allows any material to be used, though the volumes required would be prohibitive for any but the strongest materials, and too steep an exponential function makes the geometries also not practically possible
* A yield strength of 46.5 GPa only requires a max-to-min cross-sectional area ratio ("taper ratio") of 10. A lower yield strength would require a larger taper ratio.

The material in this article has a yield strength of 9.6 GPa which is about 7.2% of the maximum strength of graphene and 20% of the way to 46.5 GPa, and I believe stronger than any bulk material previously manufactured. Reaching 46.5 GPa only requires 36% of the 130 GPa maximum strength of graphene, leaving lots of room for falling short on the actual average yield strength of manufactured product, and also including the required engineering safety factor in the design. And if we still fall short, we have some room to raise the taper ratio.

This TEDx video describes spinning carbon nanotubes to give them more than enough strength, which is basically what these people in this article have done! It also addressed the other concerns of the Gizmodo article. Since this manufacturing is firmly in the realm of engineering, now, I would expect to see a regular rate of increasing strengths in produced materials, as the processes improve. http://spaceref.com/space-elev...

TD;DR - Space elevator is entirely possible.

He assumes that Windows marketshare isn't going to decrease, and implies that Mac is fighting for marketshare with Linux for the market of "Unix based computers."

Linux desktop marketshare is taking off and will take marketshare from Windows. Look at OLPC, Ubuntu at 6 million users and doubling every 8 months, the recent news of an Indian state moving to free software, etc. Each doubling of users will double engineering resources to cause Linux to pick up further steam. Sure, Linux will dominate the embedded space, and it is well on its way to doing that already, but it will also own the desktop space as soon as its last 10,000 bugs are fixed.

Mac marketshare might grow somewhat from its piddly levels today, especially given its new ability to run Windows, but people buy PCs for the price and the choice and while Apple's outlook might be somewhat positive, their marketshare will never hit double-digits.

I can't see the Mac OS having long-term importance. Once Linux swallows Windows, obsoleting the Mac OS will be just a snack. If a Mac of the future is running FireFox, OpenOffice and tons of other free software, why not just run the whole stack and throw out the few, tiny, proprietary Apple pieces? Is anyone even a fan of Quicktime?

A good introduction. I have to chuckle a bit at the Fragmentation section, not because it's not valid but because I've always marveled anyone got away with trying to banish Un*x with it.

Even at its most fragmented (IBM/AIX, are you listening?) I was still able to sit down in front of any flavor Un*x and be instantly productive. Jumping from one version of Windows to the others doesn't hold the same promise of portable skills.

Regardless, more good information, always useful. Let me point to this article/blog: 10,000 bugs away from World Domination as a worthwhile read -- I have no vested interest in this author's (Keith Curtis, a former 10+ year Microsoft programmer) readership, but I think it is a great article with valuable insight into how close linux is and how far away it is at the same time. A good read, highly recommended.