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The Benefits Of Radiation On Linux
roblimo pointed out this article in Business 2.0 by one Clay Shirky, a professor of New Media at Hunter College. Shirky goes into the idea of "adaptive radiation," and makes some pointed observations about its effect on software, Linux specifically. An excerpt: "This will keep Linux out of the best of breed competition because it is never perfectly tailored to any particular environment, but it also means that Linux avoids the best of breed trap. For any given purpose, best of breed products are either ideal or useless." Shirky is an insightful commentator as well; he also set up a "Web Pay Phone" outside his office at Hunter a few years back. Now go mutate!
Hmm, Wouldn't Radiation and Linux produce those "Mutants" That Microsoft was talking about in their anti-Linux Ad :)
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Restated:
"It means humans, while versatile, will never be the best at anything because of the way we are built and designed. By extension, this also applies to ANY organism which can survive outside of specialized niches: primates makes likeable apes instead of Bengal tigers."
I may be nuts, but I think it's very possible for a "likeable mutt" to wind up being the best overall, far and away, because these "likeable mutts" have no real Achilles' heels. The Bengal tiger is nearly extinct; human beings are still undergoing population explosion.
Well, if I am still living in the same dimension I was 5 minutes ago then there is something real wrong 'round here. /. was mostly a pro-standartisation... If my head is still in its place I still remember posts talking about how good was RedHat and how bad were the kernel mutators... Well time seems in place. I don't see nothing strange 'round here. Is this and aftershock of /. getting hot about his journalistic quest? Maybe... A 180 degree move and not quite for the right place... Too much 180 degree.
Well frankly I am a mutator partisan. Paraphrasing Zhirinovskii, the reactionary political radical schizo here: "Mutate linux. Mutate the progs, the scripts, the source. Mutate the kernel! Everything should mutate, even the Tux the penguin and Torvalds." Maybe this is tooo radical. But still sounds good. As what makes linux is its capabilty to mutate. Think about what would happen if we sticked to "One License, one GUI, one Platform". That is exactly what M$ does. And that is what most companies do willingly or unwillingly.
If Linux had stucked into a strict environement then it would be never what it is now. Linux is the most multiplatform of all systems, from 86 to S/390. Meanwhile it is the systems that carries most of the Old and New World. In fact it is not only a continuation of UNIX but also of DOS and old Windows platforms. It even carries enough power to carry/emulate software from platforms that are long forgotten, such as ZX Spectrum or Commodore. Or to hold up emulation of weird platforms like Nintendo or Palm. It is a system capable of being a server or a desktop system. In this last point I should note that the author of the article is deeply wrong. linux is already ready for many desktops. I have seen/participated on the implementation of desktop systems for Internet & Office appliances. 68% of people don't want Windows back. And only a few stubbornly decry Linux as an Office system.
In one point I would still declare Linux a drawback. On vector design systems. Here Linux is still a way to go, even if Corel 9 is already out. On the rest Linux is already conquering. Yes, it is HARD to install it. To professionaly and carefully install it. But it is a system that works on the base "fire & forget". Once fired, technical support becomes miserable. So technicians are kicked to R&D, making its progress even faster and smoother.
It is mutation that makes this. And this is what M$ should be afraid of. Because this system is capable of inveding every computer and make it much more faster and reliable for a wide range of tasks.
However this should be taken with a few grains of pepper. Mutations are good if we can control them. If we change things too much then we may face future incompatibilities. But this does not mean keeping the kernel in one piece or flaming someone for choosing BlackBox against Gnome or KDE. The problem are not the changes but the rules of conduct to implement them. some sort of comitemments that would allow every program/mutation/patch/fix/implementation to live peacefully side by side. and to be used when they are needed, where they are needed. This is much better than having an abstract "Unity" on Linux.