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Linux 2.4 Wins 4th Place ... in Vaporware
An anonymous reader says: "Linux kernel 2.4 got itself at the 4th position in
Wired Vaporware 2000 contest!
The top prize goes to ... (check the link out for yrself ;)"
I have a hard time calling something Vapor that I've been running on 30 days uptime, but what do I know? I guess a "product" without a release date just isn't something comprehensible.
What happened to the RIAA-approved DVD player that was supposed to be shipping?
> Can we solve this problem?
Yes. Lend your support for a different opensource OS, such as Fluke or EROS. Get it running under VMWare and the rest of the hardware support picture can be done at a more leisurely pace. Linux isn't the only game in town.
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I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
They may have a point here. But not enough to consider the 4th place.
;) . The problem here is that we are starting to have a community segment that is not capable to achieve this, by their own means...
Yes, Linus stated a lot of "soon, soon, soon..." and that's bad. I think that timelines should be more strictly stated and the process of kernel delivery made more simple and strightforward. Because many people are already working with 2.4 since the first "test" releases. Here 2.4 is widely used since test6 and that is a few monthes ago. A lot of people on the community are already using "test" tarballs for quite long.
Yes, many users don't feel the "benefits" of 2.4. But sorry people that's what Linux is all about - construction sets. I perfectly understand that some may not have the preparation to make a kernel upgrade or play with it. Unfortunately the difference between Windows and Linux is exactly on this. You build the system according to your needs and don't wait for the train to arrive to your station. You build the train and get off the station
Anyway, Linus is wrong by saying a lot of "soons". But even if he shot 2.4 in December, it would take 3-4 monthes to see it on the distros. And nearly half year to see it widespreading. So I would still put 2.4 in this vapourware list. Just to blame the way this kernel is being promised. But surely not in 4th place. Somewhere between 8th or 9th, maybe.
They shouldn't be mentioning release dates when they really have no idea what the hell they're talking about. When was 2.4 originally supposed to come out? Like a year ago? What happened to that date? And now there's something from Linus saying early December, hopefully. Hell, it's almost early January. Since they obviously have no clue what they're talking about why even mention a release date in the first place?
Why not just say "It'll be done when it's done" and leave it at that rather than pulling dates out of thin air that obviously mean nothing?
Yeah, I guess if you count prerelease test kernels.
infinitely more vaporous than most of the top 10, including OSX, which has been in beta for a while...
of course, .NET will be out there, RSN
tagline
... hi bingo
Please. TF2 is the biggest piece of vapourware to be .. erm, conceived? They've been working on this game for YEARS!
Don't get me started on Daikatana.
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CitizenC
Linus said 2.4 would be out in December. But December isn't over yet...
Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
god and Santa Claus. I have been praying for peace on earth and putting it at the top of christmas list for about 37 years, and once again, I look under the tree, up in the heavens, and on the nightly news, and I see no sign of it. *sigh*
Going on means going far
Going far means returning
Going on means going far
Going far means returning
One list of 2.4 issues is available here, for the curious.
dtach - A tiny program that emulates the detach feat
The architecture of the current Linux kernel served it well over the first few years of its existence: it allowed a lot of features and reasonable performance to be implemented quickly. But it may not serve as well in the current environment.
Can we solve this problem? Maybe one of the open source microkernels, or maybe the use of some other programming language for the kernel that couples different parts of the kernel less tightly and isolates the kernel from problems in individual modules would help. Or maybe it will be possible to move there incrementally, without starting from scratch.
Actually, when Mark Ursino coined the phrase it meant products that existed only in their press releases. At the time a lot of companies would do the press release and possibly a mock up and show that to the press and at trade shows to get orders. They'd then take the money from those orders to pay for tha actual development while putting out announcements about the final version being delayed. So any product that is even in development isn't truly vaporware.
1) Vaporware USED to mean that it does not exist except as a pipe dream and Linux 2.4 is WAY beyond just a pipe dream... it really _will_ come out soon (and how many times has that been said!).
:)...
... January... spring... summer... fall... december", then people would not be so hyped/disappointed.
2) But if you are using their definition of vaporware as just software that was expected out by now, then the 2.4 kernel does earn a spot.
It is easy to second guess the actions of great men (Linus Torvalds and company) but far harder to be worthy of their respect. And yet I critisize anyway
When Linus Torvalds blessed the beginning of the 2.3 developement cycle, he said he wanted MUCH SHORTER developement cycles with "9 months being about right". Nine months came and went and he started saying he expected to see it done by xx/xx/xxxx date while in the mean time, he kept accepting neat new features/rewrites to the kernel causing more delays.
Now if Linus had not talked publicly about "shorter developement cycles" and "hope to get it out before
If Linus had just said something to the press like this:
"I really don't know when to expect the next kernel out. We are perfectionist and when a new kernel is released, we want to be proud to have our names attached to it... We think that the 2.2 kernel is a very good kernel and we hope that for those few who could really use the new features in 2.3, that we can provide them as soon as we know how."
With variations of a response like that, people would never be able to claim 2.4 is late. Now on the mailing list, Linus's speaches about getting 2.3 ready ASAP, was/is resonable and any reporter who writes about stuff from the kernel mailing list should be lynched.
BTW: From reading LKML, I think the kernel developers have done an exceptional job with the 2.4 kernel and it is really something to look forward to.
I miss the Karma Whores.
And Apple's OSX - they aren't done either. Tribes 2 is full of bugs, and it isn't done. I hope companies don't listen/read these. I'm happy to wait for a finished product. Release it when it's done, not when it's due.
Do the obvious to e-mail me.
Duane
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
Vaporware used to imply software that only existed in press releases and screenshots. No one outside of the company had seen actual running copies of the software in question.
.NET could be considered non-vapor, if you consider Visual Studio.NET and the Whistler betas to be released products.
By that standard, Linux 2.4.x and Mac OS X are certainly not vaporware. Even
I mean, it's not like the 2.4 test kernels are hidden from the world, only mentioned in glowy press releases and described as the Second Coming of MS.
Wired: Will Troll For Hits
Someday, you're going to die. Get over it.
I heard that Linus said he is going to give a 5% discount for each day that 2.4 misses the December release date by.
.
Oh, wait . .