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Apple Cuts Off Under-18 Darwin Developer
Crispyking writes "Finlay Dobbie has been a leading contributor to the Darwin project, most notably
helping track down the infamous PPP-hang bug. He's been nominated to become a Darwin contributor (which comes with limited check-in privileges) but when going through the process, Apple found out he's under 18 years old, and not only refused to let him be a contributor to this 'open source' project, but canceled his
Apple Developer Connection membership (which gives him download access to the source code) on the grounds that because he's under 18, he can't be legally bound to the small-print agreement." Update: 03/26 00:26 GMT by P : Finlay wrote in email that he wasn't getting the Darwin source through his ADC account, but through a third party development project, which he resigned from as a result of all the red tape and the ADC account being disabled.
Maybe if the coder's parents signed, it would work. Also, certain states allow "removal of restrictions of nonage." This allows a minor to become a legal adult. In Florida, it just requires you to take your kid to the court house and sign some forms.
There must be some solution of ther than simply kicking the coder off the team. I didn't join ADC when I was under age, but I did write plenty of Mac programs. I don't see how throwing away young talent is a sound business practice.
t'nera semordnilap
"I think megahertz and gigahertz are really the only way of accurately assessing what you're buying, because it's a clear measure in terms of processor performance and it clearly states to the consumer what they're getting for their money. I don't think the chip architectures are that different. I think whatever you do with your processor the clock speed is still one of the defining measurements of chip performance, and once you put the chip into a PC, there are so many other factors that can affect the performance of the system, that coming back to gigahertz as being the key measurement is key. If you look at where we're going over the next year, we're going to be announcing faster chip speeds. We think that the core of the Pentium four processor as it is today, could scale up to ten gigahertz over the next five to ten years."
He's a UKer...
Which means, with the legal buying beer in [pubs|shops] age of 18, and considering how those ages are enforced over here, he should be able to drink in 2, maybe 3 days time :D
tlhf
xxx
Or maybe he could just ask his parents to buy it for him, it's legal from 5+ (I think) to drink over here with your parents consent.
oh bad, bad stupid Dobbie!
DO NOT DISTURB THE SE
Bzzt! Wrong. See Seth Finkelstein's excellent analysis of the phrase, which states:
Few people are unfamiliar with the phrase The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers. Rueful, mocking, it often expresses the ordinary person's frustration with the arcana and complexity of law. Sometimes it's known that the saying comes from one of Shakespeare's plays, but usually there's little awareness beyond that. This gap in knowledge has inspired a myth of "correction", where it is "explained" that this is line really intended as a praise of the lawyer's role.
[snip]
As long as there are lawyers, there will be "lawyer jokes". And lawyers will show how those jokes ring true by trying to explain how such lampooning really constitutes praise for their profession, thus by example justifying the jokes more than ever.
Not trolling, just informing...
For those who are lacking context, Dobbie is a Terry Goodkind reference.
Jouster
This just goes to show that Apple does not want to be free. The only future "rights" that can be protected this way, is for Apple to keep you from:
Using your software as you see fit.
Changing your software to suit your needs.
Sharing your improvements with your friends.
Allowing your friends all the above rights.
Don't tell me that this was not HIS software, but was Apple's. He was writing it, it was his as well as others. As with most non-free software interests, Apple locked our friend out of his work.
Why do people appologize and defend such obviously ugly behavior? Once again, the downsides of non-free development are made manifest. What were the benifits? That more people would use your code thanks to Apple's marketing department? That Apple would better control quality? That Apple's co-operation with other non-free software and hardware vendors would make sure that users of your code could use hardware not available to others? That you would have to give Apple money to have your software back? As you help Apple to deny other's rights you make them stronger and more able to do things like this to you. If you consider such impositions "protecting future rights", you are really warped.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.