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Linus Torvalds' Benevolent Dictatorship
treebeard77 writes "BusinessWeek has posted Linus Torvalds interview '
The creator of Linux says "I can't be nasty" when leading the open-source movement since it's all built on trust and teamwork' "
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Hail Linus
That's GNU/Dictatorship damn you.
...not a 'movement'. He wisely left that nonsense to the zealots.
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
NASCAR is also based on a 'benevolent dictatorship' style of management. Maybe Linus should consuly Bill France for some tips.
Here's a link to the story in normal colors. There's a reason why some colors are considered "primaries" and others "secondaries".
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
> "I can't be nasty" when leading the open-source movement since it's all built on trust and teamwork.
Something the GNOME folks can learn from.
Linux become the No. 2 operating system worldwide for server computers.
Wouldnt that be nr 1 in server and nr 2 in desktop?
(:
If you found this interview interesting, I would recommend his book (ghost-written, of course), Just for Fun. It's suprisingly light reading.
from the article:
"... That has helped Linux become the No. 2 operating system worldwide for server computers."
Dumb question, I know, but who exactly is number 1, and what constitutes a server, anyway?
now back to work my open source minions. 2.6.100 won't write itself.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
saying that mr. "de radt" is considered almost "the devil" (or exactly the opposite of Linus) by many.
that guy has been ranting and cursing out everyone since he got online.
makes for an enjoyable read, but I know a lot of people who wouldn't work for someone like that..
guess they are working with linus eh?
anime+manga together at last.. in real time.
Theo isn't the most polite, but he certainly gets things done in an organized safe and secure manner
"Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
I think that goes for OS's too
Wow, 9 posts today, trying to get some karma points? heh mod this guy up
I think that not thinking about these things will eventually hinder Linux adoption, as it did in Munich's case.
So what's the long term plan? What kind of ideas are out there? I know there's a solution to be found!
Linus is just the maintainer of the general stable tree of the Linux kernel, he's not some kind of Linux czar.
There's a big difference between rule of an OS with an iron fist and maintainership of a kernel for an OS. Linus does a good job maintaining his project (the Linux kernel), so no one directly forks it.
Anyway, the article's a interview that ranges over his opinion on some patent issues.. not that you'd realize it from the post.
You're reading Slashdot. Of course you like Linux and pc hardware
Q: Some say Linux and a lot of open-source projects really aren't innovative, that they're copies of commercial products. What's your reaction to that?
A: I disagree. It's an easy argument to make. One reason people make it is that, in open source, they don't see the revolutionary new versions magically appearing. In comparison, look at commercial closed systems. They make a new release every year or three to four years with a huge marketing splash. They make it look very different. But it's a circus to make it look like a sudden innovation.
I disagree with Linus on this one. While the kernel might be worked on and might improve by leaps and bounds, MANY of the programs available through open source is fucking terrible and certainly nothing more than a free knockoff of a Windows/etc counterpart (hell wasn't that the entire point of Linux in the first place)?
Yes, sure, many commercial applications are buggy and have slow release times but at least they aren't 100% alpha quality with huge disclaimers that they aren't responsible for what happens to your computer when you run them.
Remember, this is the biggest reason that people don't go to Linux right now... No application support. It will likely get better but I can't believe he said that it wasn't as bad as I think.
that guy has been ranting and cursing out everyone since he got online.
Wasn't that how Jobs originally built Apple? I think he's been downgraded to "serious pain in the ass". While I don't agree with the pressure he put on the original Mac developers, there is something to be said for someone who can be a bit more forceful. I can almost guarantee that the iPod wouldn't have succeeded so well if Jobs hadn't been such a PITA about all the minor details.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
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If carrots got you drunk, rabbits would be fucked up. - Comedian Mitch Hedberg R.I.P. 03/30/68-2/24/05
Wouldn't the world be great if we could have political leaders that were more like Linus. The problem is people like Linus don't win elections because they're not manipulative liars like all the rest of politics.
-- Checking emails and kicking cheats `till the day I die.
I'm not so much a leader, I'm more of a shepherd. Now all the kernel developers will read that and say, "He's comparing us to sheep." It's more like herding cats.
So I'm a pussy instead?
Cool Distinction that I made from the article:
One reason people make it is that, in open source, they don't see the revolutionary new versions magically appearing. In comparison, look at commercial closed systems. They make a new release every year or three to four years with a huge marketing splash. They make it look very different. But it's a circus to make it look like a sudden innovation.
In open source, you don't have a circus. You don't see a sudden explosion. It's not done that way. All development is very gradual -- whether commercial or open source. Even when you have a big thinker coming along with a new idea, actually getting it working takes a lot of sweat and tears.
Proprietary Vendors are like nitro dragsters, being the first ones off of the line with their brand new product. Trying to wow people and making a huge splash.
Open source is like a mile long freight train. Functional, slower to get started, but when the momentum gets going, its going to be much, much harder to stop than that nitro dragster.
Mr. Gates is a brilliant business man.
Don't be jealous NIN1385. What happened in 1385?
what's so difficult about updating packages and source?
vodka, straight up, thank you!
I wish Torvalds had used the word Alchemy instead of witchcraft, it is probably closer to what he was trying to say (in English at least).
Exactly...business man, he knows marketing and that is why his company was succesful. Grow some balls, get a nickname, read the article and stfu.
If carrots got you drunk, rabbits would be fucked up. - Comedian Mitch Hedberg R.I.P. 03/30/68-2/24/05
Can't blame a lack of replies on that. It's just that more people tend to RTFA when Linus speaks ;-)
Interesting. How is a discussion of forceful personalities vs. non-forceful personalities as it relates to software, in any way off topic?
Well, a server is something that servers. All those M$ machines with viruses serving up more of themselves for everyone else. That would be a server right? Keeping M$ in the lead. Maybe that's part of their master plan to stay at the top of servers.
Evolution or ID?
ever actually READ an EULA on a piece of commercial software? its a lot of really complicated legal text saying just that; they're not responsible for anything the software does to your computer. the *microsoft* EULAs usually also say you're legally bound to keep your mouth shut about anything bad the software does to your computer. i'm not joking. read one sometime.
Thank you mods.
Now if he only said something insightful I wouldn't have a problem with it but calling unspecified people that are involved in open source zealots is simply trolling.
was always my response to that one.
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Maybe Linux is rated the #2 server OS source by revenue...
This post wasn't meant as a joke. I wonder if somebody summed the revenue of Linux distribution providers and compared it to Microsoft? I wonder if this calculation would include IBM as a distributor?
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
*sigh*
"Murphy was an optimist" - O'Toole's commentary on Murphy's Law
Don't be fooled by the desktop statistics. Just because Windows or OS X came on the box, doesn't mean that it wasn't immediately wiped and replaced with Linux. Until bundling of operating systems with hardware is abandoned, those statistics will never be reliable.
If Linus is a "benevolent" dictator, we're not sending in troops to depose him?
And, obviously, we can't depose him on grounds of WMD, since Microsoft makes those, right?
So -- as long as he doesn't gas a whole room of Mac OS X users, we'll leave him be?
And -- he doesn't have any kids, right? Two boys that might go around killing anyone who doesn't win Linux-based UT2K4 tournaments in Linus' name, right? Or terrorizing anyone who challenges the vision of the kernel?
Finally -- Linus hasn't invested in any bunker construction for his new offices, right?
Just checking. I was concerned that maybe that troop realignment from Europe was in preparation for an attack on Mr. Torvalds.
IronChefMorimoto
Guilty as charged.
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." -Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear
"I can't be nasty"
This is an excellent example which others should strive for.
Alas, many don't. And it's one reason why I stay away from posting on the Linux Kernel Mailing List. There are just too many people there who think that they build up their reputation capital at the expense of others.
The only positive solution that I can think of is if people made a conscious effort towards adopting Linus' attitude. Perhaps that's wishful thinking.
He wisely left that nonsense to the zealots.
I assume you are refering to RMS, Chief GNUsance. Part of his zealotry has been to get copyright releases for code from all GNU contributors. As a result GNU packages have no where near the same legal vulnerablities as the Linux kernel because contributions are traced. RMS anticipated that legal dirty tricks would be used against him and he uses the law to his advantage (as does the GPL). Perhaps Linus should become more zealous in this respect.
an ill wind that blows no good
Linus's hair is looking a little pointy these days :)
UNIX/Linux Consulting
hehe, I like that honesty ;) adding you, a fellow canadian, to my friends list
Sorry, extra T.
What a completely objective and non-biased source of information.
//Laying it on, pretty damn thick.
I'm sure that will change the minds of all the 'rational' people that read it, regardless of their previous views on the matter.
Oh come on now. Did whoever modded this offtopic even read the parent post? This is about as on-topic as you can get.
My username does not make me Apathetic. It's irony, get it?
Apart from the points raised by other people on this thread (especially the one about EULAs being disclaimers claiming no warranty), I think what Linus was talking about was innovations from a technological point of view in the kernel, which I think is a valid point. MS comes out with Brand New NTFS(tm) and Brand New ActiveThis(tm) and ActiveThat(tm) every couple of years, as the reasons why you should upgrade to the latest Windows. Linux doesn't - it doesn't even encourage you to upgrade. The point is, rather than putting in *altogether* new features, Linus tries to maintain existing features (the standard Posix stuff) as efficiently and fast as possible. As Linus claims in his article, programs written in 1992 can still be run on the latest kernel. The whole point is that innovation with the kernel is happening behind the scenes, not in the marketing world where MS and other large software companies work.
My two cents on application usage: I think most developers are scared, because they know that if they get One Humongously Big Idea, large software companies will immediately embrace and extend them out of existance. They literally have no-one to hide behind under the open source model.
Having once believed the myth of Linusian bevolence, I was shocked to see him get down and dirty with me in a discussion of copyleft vs. less proprietary licenses like BSD and "MIT" licenses. The arrogant attitude was no suprise as such is to be expected and tolerated in very smart and productive people, but the over-emotional (little use of logical argument) and mean nature of his comments were a real suprise to me. He apparently sees no need to avoid deeply offending those who prefer not to withhold their software from closed-source developers.
is Benedict. Coincidence? I think not. fnord
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
I teach at a local technical college, also the occasional short course, etc. I'm fond of telling my students:
The classroom is not a democracy. We have very different roles here. But neither is it a tyranny -- if I get tyrannical, students will simply leave.
The classroom is best described as a pirate ship: I have power to the extent that the crew accepts me as their leader.
So too with Linus and linux. If people believe in him, he leads them; if people don't believe in him, he's just a mortal man again, everybody goes their own way. (I'm assuming he's not the type to incite mutinous plank-walking behaviors.)
-kgj
-kgj
perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
I'm not that concerned about the threat of Microsoft (MSFT ) enforcing patents against Linux. I think their mode of operation isn't through the legal system. I think they hate lawyers more than most companies. They've been on the receiving end. [CEO Steve] Ballmer and [Chairman Bill] Gates have pride in the fact that their competition may have tried to crush them with legal wars, but they overcame. I think they would have a hard time using legal tactics. They would be ashamed.
Interesting paragraph, seems to imply honour on microsofts part. Isn't there some kind of link between SCO and MS ?
If software patents become more common how will anyone know that they have knowing or unknowing violated a patent?
You can't know it. You just do your work and hope for the best.
The JPEG standard was thought to be unencumbered by patents. After a decade, the standard had to be redrawn. And yes, people carefully looked for patents when the standard was defined.
"...and i don't consider myself a pussy, ok?"
"Yes. i am also not a pussy."
I just realized that when I read Linus, his personality seems to correlate with that of Linus from the peanuts comics. Alway polite, good sense of humor, very low key.
President Bush called for an impromptu press conference today to inform the nation of a new threat in the War on Terror.
"I'd like to start by thanking the brave and strong Americans at home and abroad who have stood by our troops and supported our efforts in the War on Terror. Today I bring news of an even greater threat. Our intellegence shows that a New Dictator has gained power and established a large network of terrorist computer cells in homes and offices around the country. This New Dictator is Linus Torvolds and I can assure you he hates America, he hates Capitolism and he hates Freedom. Today we begin our war with another terrorist, a terrorist that is bent on destroying Corporate America and our way of life. Already he has duped many of our citizens and corporations to convert to "Linux" a terrorist organization no less dangerous than Al Qaeda or the brutal Dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. We must band together and stamp out this threat to our liberties and safety. Today I have appointed Steve Balmer as Special Consultant for the creation of the Desktop Security Agency which shall be a part of the Homeland Security Agency. Together with Tom Ridge and Donald Rumsfeld, Mr. Balmer shall create a roadmap of shock and awe to root out and destroy this new threat before it is too late."
How many geeks would drop to their knees the moment Linus drops his pants?
How many of us will laugh?
How can this theme look so good, and this one look so bad?
It boggles the mind.
I find that funny because RMS doesn't code either anymore.
As long as i have TCP/IP over parrots, i'm fine. I wonder how many times you would have to say http://slashdot.org to a parrot before he can repeat it and pass the message on to the next parrot on the next island.
Made me laugh!
-kgj
-kgj
I don't know, but anything is better than apache.slashdot.org
I've just signed legislation that'll outlaw Russia forever. We'll begin bombing in five minutes.
' The creator of Linux says "I can't be nasty" when leading the open-source movement since it's all built on trust and teamwork'
... never stopped Theo :)
Hmm
With the pirates, though, mutiny was rare, even if the captain was an evil malevolant tyrant. No matter what he did, mutiny was worse. Mutiny is the worst crime you can commit on the high seas.
That's very interesting -- thanks for the info.
Word got out that you took part in a mutiny, no matter what an asshole Captain Blythe was, you'd never serve on a ship again in your life. Hell, you'd be lucky to pay for passage on one.
Blythe wasn't a pirate, was he? I believe he was a Captain (Admiral?) in the Queen's Navy.
-kgj
-kgj
Does this mean somebody is trying to explain to him the benfits of open source?
Typically #3 is the only thing to work.
Q: What makes you believe Linux will continue to gain momentum?
:-)
A: I think, fundamentally, open source does tend to be more stable software. It's the right way to do things. I compare it to science vs. witchcraft. In science, the whole system builds on people looking at other people's results and building on top of them. In witchcraft, somebody had a small secret and guarded it -- but never allowed others to really understand it and build on it.
Traditional software is like witchcraft. In history, witchcraft just died out. The same will happen in software. When problems get serious enough, you can't have one person or one company guarding their secrets. You have to have everybody share in knowledge.
Very well said! The world works better when everything is shared... well... maybe not everything
Has Comcast disconnected your Internet account? Same here. You can read about it at http://comcastissue.blogspot.com
He never passes up the chance to insult the gcc developers, even as he's writing code which relies on undefined behavior.
Jobs isn't the only one who built apple. Woz was just as instramental as the other Steve.
"Software patents concern me. I worry about some greedy companies -- possibly failing ones, trying to make trouble and abusing the system. Software patents, in particular, are very ripe for abuse. The whole system encourages big corporations getting thousands and thousands of patents. Individuals almost never get them.
We have random people in random countries working on random things, and they don't have 1,000 patent lawyers. So I'm not worried about one patent in particular, but the whole system. It's not a problem today. But it's a thing I can't control, unlike the technical side, where I can actually do something."
It is refreshing to hear Linus state what RMS has been saying for the past five years. Software patents are evil, evil, evil. Yet Linus seems to stir less controversy when he says these things. I think both of them have a great deal of admiration for each other and both of them do very important if parallel work.
For all the talk about the Hurd, RMS doesn't use the Hurd.
Pragmatism as an ideology is not particularly pragmatic in the long term. Keep it in mind when you dismiss Free Software
Linux will ultimately lose. I'm posting anon cos this ones goin down in flames, baby, but its got to be said. You have a dispersed, widely spread group going against a single, organised, massively influential force. If Rome taught us anything, its that small groups, no matter how skilled or courageous, will lose to an organised and capable foe with clear lines of communication under one leader.
And this cult of personality that is feebly trying to spring up around Linus Torvalds is just truly pathetic. Not to say that worthy has no personality, but he has no charisma. They "memorable quotes" you see dotted around are such milksops you can only imagine how tedious his normal conversation is. And of course, he's just sitting there lapping it up, firm in his faith that it will all work out.
Newsflash boys, the evil empire has no fear of Linux in the long term. Too opaque, too elitist, too fragmented, and frankly, lacks ANY marketing savvy. I mean, come on, its a joke. The GIMP is your "photoshop killer". No don't even let technical thoughts enter your mind. The GIMP. From the insanely popular pulp fiction, this is a pair of sodomites' S&M bitch. Nice one. The BSD devil? Score. And a penguin. Ah forget it, why am I bothering? This is like trying to explain colour to a blind man. I see rants on security, dependability, etc., here every day.
What you folks don't get is that no one gives a good f*ck about that sort of thing. Average people (who would whip yer arses up and down in their own fields, by the way, but what are we calling them today, lusers is it?) have no more need to understand how to find, download, and intall *nix than they need to work out how to hand-dye their socks. You are trying to teach this fine art to people, MS is selling predyed. Crap, but cheap enough (or apparently free since it comes bundled with the whole suit).
Guess who wins that particular struggle?
Much like the Roman Empire, the only way MS is gonna fall is when Bill Gates and / or Ballmer drops dead, and it is eaten away from within. And even then kiddies, the barbarian tribes never did amount to much.
In the meantime, learn to hack, learn to crack, parasite or saprophyte, find a country where they aren't quite gods yet. Move there if it matters to you that much. Learn how to hide baby, because the big bad ogre has already eaten your lunch and is feeling peckish again.
Canadian? Umm...nope :) Corn fed, born-n-raised, Midwestern male here. I included the votefordubbya.ca in one of my posts as an example only.
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." -Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear
It's not even secret. AdTI & Linus colaberated on the research that revealed that Santa was the real author of Linux
Your analogy is certainly interesting. Even thought provoking. Has a poor basis though (clear lines of communication? unlikely in a modern corporation).
I mean, really, Linux is opaque? As opposed to proprietary products (particularly of the MS variety)? Have you looked at Microsoft documentation lately?
What exactly does "splintering" a license mean? How, precisely, is interoperability curtailed by the free software movement?
Digital Citizen
Ah God! Don't do that without warning me! My eyes are bleeding now!
Yeah, but the best managers are always guys who used to code, and still code a little. I would sacrifice some of the best coders on my team if the managers were all people with both coding AND management skills.
Schrodinger's cat is either dead or really pissed off...
"It was designed to suit a particular task and do it well."
I do not see how this product (XP) can be said to be designed to do a task well, unless that task is to make Microsoft lots of money. The security model for XP is a joke. SP2 is (reported to be) breaking applications. Your comments would be humorous if your goal did not appear to be spreading FUD against Linux.
Sadly, on /., the term zealot is coupled with RMS almost exclusively despite the pay off from his detailed attention to licensing, patent law, and understanding the differences between the laws lumped together as "intellectual property". Some posters don't hesitate to argue their point by namecalling (such as you calling RMS "a wack job") which doesn't advance the conversation. By contrast, I don't see people calling open source movement advocates names. I get the impression that stumping for businesses is far more popular and more widely recognized on as a genuine good by those who post on /. than stumping for everyone's software freedom.
Digital Citizen
Not like there aren't plenty of free OS out there either. Yet something clicked with linux. If you knew what that was you could make billions. Well at least make billions by selling MS the antidote :P
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Me wonders if he even knows what witchcraft was and really still is all about....
It certainly has not died out... Contrary to what certain religious sects might have you believe...
From the article:
Q: What makes you believe Linux will continue to gain momentum?
A: I think, fundamentally, open source does tend to be more stable software. It's the right way to do things. I compare it to science vs. witchcraft. In science, the whole system builds on people looking at other people's results and building on top of them. In witchcraft, somebody had a small secret and guarded it -- but never allowed others to really understand it and build on it.
Traditional software is like witchcraft. In history, witchcraft just died out. The same will happen in software. When problems get serious enough, you can't have one person or one company guarding their secrets. You have to have everybody share in knowledge.
First they burn books, then they burn people.
Interviewer: "So why don't you tell us what you do here?"
Linus: "Well I take the orders from the customers and I take them to the software engineers"
Interviewer: "So you physically take these orders and carry them over to the engineers?"
Linus: "Well no see my secretary actually carries them over..."
Interviewer: "So I gotta ask, why can't the customers just go directly to the software engineers?"
Linus: "Welll uhhh uhh I'll tell you why? Because they're not good at dealing with people"
Interviewer: "So what exactly would you say you do here?"
Linus: "Look, I already told you! I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don't have to! I have people skills! I am good at dealing with people! Can't you understand that? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!"
the TCP/IP stack being sold separately?
the compiler being sold separately?
per-user and per-CPU license costs?
Dang, they were asking to die.
I am surprised that Linus thinks of himself as a dictator. I suppose that he could be considered that except for the negative connotations.
I see him more like a Benjamin Franklin, or perhaps George Washington.
Or maybe more like a Martin Luther.
None of these would I call dictators.
And all the people who I can think of as dictators I can't say that I like.
Linus is more like a George Washington. He is leading the army. He starts the country. He is the general in charge, not a dictator but a natural leader.
Anything even vaguely gnuish was probably using a similar process. I know the X11 project did. Yeah, it was more centralized, but so was Linus's original setup. His merely evolved into what it is now, as did many others. The GIMP did something similar in the same time frame, except that the original authors bowed out completely.
Actually, I thought that was the best quote in the interview. Bill Gates with a pointy hat and wand, cursing the known universe...
Doesn't Mr. Potatohead have a dictater?
love is just extroverted narcissism
What's interesting here is that the onus of responsibility falls on the GPL to allow these derivatives rather than taking the authors of the OGL to task for writing a GPL-incompatible license (despite the GPL's clear popularity when the OGL was written). What is particularly ironic about this incompability is that the Open Gaming Foundation claims to be "based on the Free Software GNU General Public License ". But even if you're not willing to do that, all is not lost -- what happened when you asked the copyright holders of the two works for permission to make this derivative? Copyrighted works can be licensed any number of ways to any number of other parties. Perhaps they would grant you special permission to make your work. Also, why is it any GPL licensor's duty to let you create such a derivative by default?
Linux is a kernel, not an operating system. GNU predates the release of the Linux kernel. The existence of GNU and/or the Linux kernel does not prevent Microsoft from continuing the development of their UNIX-like system nor does it prevent them from writing MS Office for any OS they wish (including any free software OS). It seems to me that Microsoft's decision to can a program you appear to want is best addressed by talking to them, not chastising RMS. It appears that the Free Software Foundation is not interested in throwing aside their goals for mere popularity:
Digital Citizen
So, it turns out that Linus was really telling the truth? That Linux was made by Santa Claus?! :-)
Wow...
So, it turns out that Linus was really telling the truth? That Linux was made by Santa Claus?!
I can't believe that I'm THE ONLY ONE who has noticed that you never see both Linus and Santa Claus IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME!
Get a clue, people!
-- I could tell right away that she was impressed with my HUGE Slashdot Karma.
cool, since all my linux home network boxen have hostnames that are spongebob squarepants character names, my kernel can be mr. krab...weird, but at least i'm on the same page...
Serenity now, insanity later.
How would Linux and Opensource be affected? Who's the next person in line most likely to take his place? Has this even been considered?
"You can have a Windows machine to play those games on but I won't fix it when it messes up. I have to tolerate MS at work; I won't tolerate it in my free time. If you want Windows, you will have to learn to fix it yourself when it goes wrong."
The no-sex threat was a pure bluff....ever notice that is always the first gun to get dragged out if a guy stands his ground?
yhbt. hand!
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
I know it's impossible to measure, but it would be interesting to see which platform is serving the most "useful work".
If you look at the number of bytes served, for example, then Linux would come up high because of the likes of Google which is serving GBs or TBs daily, at a guess.
Most FOSS advocates would claim that one linux server does the useful work of more than one windows box. I suspect this is true, but I'll refrain from making the claim in the absense of hard figures.
You make the mistake of thinking you can educate the fundamental stupidity out of people. You can't.
We're talking about an open collaborative method vs. a closed, secretive one.
Witchcraft is a closer fit to magic, which IS secretive. Alchemy is a pseudoscience closer to true science, those like Newton, Boyd and Locke did, however secretly, confer and test each other's theories in a proto-scientific method.
Witchcraft/magic on the other hand totally depends on secrets for its effectiveness. Religion, which has always sought to take witchcraft's place is also secretive.
Consider the response of a scientist and a magician to a theory which has failed: the scientist goes back and gathers more data, tests the working hypothoesis of others and tries again. The magician simpy says "the didn't work, the time wasn't right, and the gods are angry with you".
Not a bad analogy between closed vs open source, is it?
insecurity asks the wrong question irritation gives the wrong answer
I think it's hardly capitalism where "those people work who choose to".
In capitalism you work, or you go to the street and die off.
How many people are like me: I buy a computer, get a Windoze license, then at some point in time stop using it when I switch to Linux?
So, I get calculated as point for Windows in the desktop, but actually use Linux. The metric might actually be lower than expected for the MS products.
I do not moderate.
That's a great name for trying to persuade neutrals of your arguments.
I took a look at your site. It's not often I use this phrase but in your case I'll make an exception as you have evidently forgotten that there is a world out there: "Get a Life!"
No but, yeah but, no but...
If you find one thing false in that article I posted I have yet to hear someone tell me about it, biased or not. Nevermind the fact that Microsoft pissed someone off so bad that they had to make/pay for a website praising the hatred of them, that is just completely irrelevant.
If carrots got you drunk, rabbits would be fucked up. - Comedian Mitch Hedberg R.I.P. 03/30/68-2/24/05
Let's assume there is 1 billion computer worldwide,
1% of 1,000,000,000 = 10,000,000 computers.
Of course, it's not anything near Windows.
But don't forget that Google only register
computers that access Google...
Have you seen a web server or database server lately accessing Google just because
it had spare computer cycles to waste? =P
Stoopid cunts mudded mie brill eee ent pots doun. klik heir two C rie butt tall.
Twitter, you're a petulant cock-gobbling sycophant to Linux Torvaldyos! Quit taking DP from ESR and RMS's feculent cocks and why don't you try to stop sucking quite so much? Get out of your parents' basement and see the real world - maybe then you'll see how pathetic you sound, with your neverending stream of bullshit about how Microsoft is stalking you. Wasn't it you who said that Microsoft believes your insane ranting is actually a threat to them, so they PAY PEOPLE to reply to you on Slashdot? No sir, I don't get any money. I do it for the love. Someone has to go up against your paranoid whining. So get back in your cage and shut the fuck up already.
If Rome taught us anything, its that small groups, no matter how skilled or courageous, will lose to an organised and capable foe with clear lines of communication under one leader.
:-)
C'mon, everything comes in cycles. Big guys will rise and fall over time. Think Psychohistory. Babylon fell, after all.
Once upon a time, the Roman empire was not the biggest, but one of many small ones. It's chance circumstances and personalities that make things happen. The situation may appear dire now, but a generation after Gates retires, MSFT will be pretty much like ORCL and YHOO and many other software companies.
Overall, I think it's a poor analogy. When we talk about Rome, are we talking about the aqueducts? Or the roads? Irrigation? Wine? Public baths? Keeping Order? Life of Brian Script.
Note to ACs: I won't mod you up, even if you are being funny or insightful. So take a chance! It's not real life!