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OSS Unix: Dividing & Conquering Itself
(Score.5, Interestin writes "Security guru Marcus Ranum has some interesting thoughts about how a continuing lack of consistency among Unix systems (and particularly Linux) is hurting Linux (and remaining commercial Unix vendors like Sun) and helping Microsoft. Admittedly this has been said before, but no-one else quite manages to phrase things the way Marcus can."
This is a legitimate issue, but it has no solution as long as opensource development continues to be done by insecure "14 year olds" who have no understanding of enterprise needs. The only solution I can see is for more corporate involvement , sponsorship, and ultimately leadership.
It takes longer to configure code than to compile it these days, which is categorically not the case on Windows.
./configure: 11 seconds
:P The average file compile time was 6.43 seconds. I really don't know what the author was thinking when he wrote what he did.
What kind of high school class project is he trying to compile that takes longer to configure than make? Lets test a program that I'm developing right now - just a single developer project, ~7000 lines of C++ code currently. I'll compile without *any* optimization on.
make: 4 minutes 11 seconds (~23 times longer)
Heck, some of the larger, more complex individual source files took more than 11 seconds to compile
If a tree falls in the forest and no engineer observes it, does it have a drag coefficient?
They are about what it takes to get two groups to embrace Free Software: proprietary software vendors, and know-nothing bozos. The former will never embrace Free Software because, frankly, they have little to offer it, and less all the time. The latter will use what they're given and like it, as they always have. Everybody else already sees the advantage, and has switched or is planning to switch.
This is the stupidest, most arrogant comment I've ever heard. Everyone who isn't already planning to switch to Linux is an ignorant bozo? You clown. You're dissing about 99% of the world's computer users. Well, welcome to the exciting world of Mr 1%. Enjoy non-existent hardware support, meaningless feelings of superiority and being laughed at as a geek for the rest of eternity. I suggest you take it a step further: dismiss Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and Atheos users as foolish sheeple, and write your own kernel. Presumably you have plenty of free time on your hands.
Written from Firefox on Debian.
Wow, time for a Screed Part II.
The former will never embrace Free Software because, frankly, they have little to offer it, and less all the time.
No, the former (software vendors) are reluctant to embrace it, not because they have so litle to offer it but because they have so little to GAIN FROM IT.
Profit is revenue minus costs. The fragmentation of the market significantly raises costs.
And as long as the "I'm entitled to your work for free and the real heros are the ones who help me obtain it" ethos continues to pervade the Linux user community, those who make their living creating software for sale don't expect there will be much revenue.
Low revenues plus high costs.... But the 14 yr olds still living with Mama, the ones the article referred to, seem to consider themselves heroes of a revolution against those who work for a living, so it's hard for them to understand.
The question isn't whether ISVs have anything to contribute. Millions of users of useful Windows apps with no real equal on Linux know that they do. The real question is whether alternative business models will appear that provide equivalent incentive for the development of software to that currently driving commercial Windows ISVs. My experience as a user of both platforms is that for servers we're already there, but for general workstation use, we're not even close yet.
The "know-nothing bozos" referred to, of course, are the vast majority of human beings--the ones with lives too full of important things to leave much room for configuring computers.
Windows does a remarkably poor job of serving their needs, yet Linux can't hold a candle to Windows yet for serving most of them.
Though a very large percentage of the Linux community appears to have no life beyond configuring their systems, downloading porn, ripping off music, and demanding various "rights", the best and brightest in the community are far more impressive.
There are very smart people who care a great deal about making Linux as useful and convenient as possible for doctors trying to cure diseases, small business people trying to produce things of value, grandmothers too old to travel who and who live for pictures and news of their grandchildren, and so on.
Fortunately these savvy people have more than their proportional share of influence over developments in Linux and free software, so there is reason for optimism. But the armies of lifeless system configuring trolls who consider the living "know-nothing bozos" are a real achilles heel for Linux.
"Those who have never entered upon scientific pursuits know not a tithe of the poetry by which they are surrounded."
Wow, what a great use of Flash! Without Flash, how could someone display static text and static images at the same time! And by automatically advancing them I was able to enjoy reading at the rate the author decided instead of my own reading speed which might be faster or slower. Also, if without Flash how would we have heard that amazing MIDI tune, highlighting the capabilities of the "Demo Mode" button on a 1990 Casio keyboard. Truly we are in the World of Tomorrow with such amazing capabilities.
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