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Bill Joy For New National CTO Post?
jddeluxe writes "In an article in today's NY Times, John Doerr of Kleiner-Perkins proffered up Bill Joy's name when queried by Barack Obama for a recommendation for the position of Chief Technology Officer of the Unites States which Obama has promised to create and that the country is overdue to have.
I think that's a brilliant idea, and while you're at it, have the FCC report to him as well, why don't you?" If Bill is unavailable, I'll throw my hat in the ring, although I'm holding out for Secretary of Tubes.
Under Bill, vi will be the national standard. Yeah!!!
All ideas^H^H^H^H^Hprocesses in this post are Patent Pending. (as well as the process of patenting all postings)
While Sun has made efforts towards open source, Bill Joy still belongs to a community of developers who believe in hoarding. Would that Stallman would get a role in this administration.
Secretary of the Internet.
I claim first use of "Error No. 0B" - or "No. 0B error." It'll be the new ID 10T!
While Stallman would make an excellent adviser to the National CTO, he's too much of a "Throw the baby out with the bathwater" kind of guy. While I agree with RMS most of the time, that kind of personality doesn't last long in US politics.
All ideas^H^H^H^H^Hprocesses in this post are Patent Pending. (as well as the process of patenting all postings)
Not eleven, not twelve, but thirteen. If you guys keep putting only 12 stripes on our flag, then the terrorists have won.
I seem to recall Bill Joy having some decidedly pessimistic and even luddite attitudes towards future tech, but it's been so long since he's been in the news that I don't remember now what. Paranoid about nanotech, I think, for starters.
Infuriate left and right
Believe in hoarding? You realise he made massive contributions to BSD, including the TCP/IP stack, which were released under a permissive license allowing anyone to use it?
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
If the Republicans went crazy over Obama's friendship with Bill Ayers, just wait until they find out what Bill Joy said about Ted Kaczynski (the unibomber) in Wired.
Isn't it time we had someone in charge of evaluating new technologies who actually KNOWS how computers work, rather than having to refer to the opinions of out of touch people who still struggle with their VCR flashing 12:00 over and over since 1986?
We don't need a national CTO. We can make our own technology decisions without the government telling us what to do.
This thread points out the problem of anointing one person as CTO. Hate to say it but this is one of those things that might do better with a board, not a leader. That is to say that while there may be a judge, it's the jury that counts. Using one man is not enough, even the SCOTUS has nine. When it's important enough to do something, it's important enough to do it right. RMS should probably be on the jury, along with other notable technology evangelists.
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Apparently, Ed Felten is interested, while Lessig isn't.
I don't think RMS would even take it. Being in government requires adherence to a set of principles that many people end up finding reduces their ability to be principled. As an example, RMS would be required to back, in public, copyright law policies that he in private would vehemently disagree with. I just don't see RMS doing that, he's too much of a man of principle.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Under Bill, vi will be the national standard. Yeah!!!
There will be a revolt! We, the Emacs revolutionary council, will take up arms and fight to the death!
Hear Hear...
A board of 7. must have a mix of OSS and Closed source experts, as well as hardware experts.
Experts... not some guy that was CTO for some corperation, I want people that are either leaders in IT technology, or people that made a difference.. Being able to Code or design is a requirement for the position. too many time I have seen CTO's that were promoted from the Sales department.
Oh wait ,that will never happen... because it would be fair and balanced.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I just don't see RMS doing that, he's too much of a man of principle.
It goes beyond that. Certain people define themselves as opposition, as being not-the-man, and as such are uncomfortable in any position of authority, even if their principles were in no way being challenged.
These people serve a valuable role in society, but it is not within the corridors of power.
The Obama administration may be the place where the driving of the golden spike uniting open source development with open source government takes place. Using Federal IT standards to drive proprietary formats out of the government departments will create a cascade of rationalization and standardization throughout the US economy. Our creaky and costly medical care system desperately needs this kind of rationalization.
Accordingly, a prominent and effective member of the Open Source community should occupy this position, not a big-time software corporatist.
300iVote for vi
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I'd feel more comfortable with someone from the research or academic circles than I would with someone from industry for a position like that. Might just be my bias, but I feel that someone from industry might be a little more biased toward a particular set of interests. Although marginalized to some degree, I think someone like current science advisor John Marburger would be a much better choice. Just my $0.02.
Is some authority to set the standards as a mandate for **all** federal agencies. All of them, no exceptions. One of the first things that should be done is to mandate equal consideration for .NET and LAMP because Java has way too much of a fanboi following in the federal government.
In reality, though, the position of CTO is likely to be more of a figurehead than a useful position. Obama is not likely to hand down an executive order authorizing the CTO to impose open standards and a "use the best tool for the job" method of selecting the tools that will be used for building new federal web sites and web applications.
A board? Oh, dear. No. It'd be a quagmire, a committee designed by a committee. icann did that, whciuh is why it takes $62M to replace what used to be literally a $15K/yr part time contract.
Brian K. Reid. Everybody else is either too corrupt or too bizarre to actually do the job. Brian understands people, unlike most geek geniuses.
Nobody else can do as good a job in that role. Plus, never forget Sun was founded by the commission of a federal crime.
Need Mercedes parts ?
The president can obviously not be 100% knowledgeable on each and every issue that is to be dealt with. Choosing the right people for the jobs, instead of a crony you owe favors to, is what makes or breaks a good administration. This is one of the reasons I'm so hopeful after 8 years of morons heading up our highest offices...
Bruce is my vote for CTO. I'd rather have someone outspoken in the role that's only partially crazy.
Does this mean that anyone who uses EMACS will be considered a terrorist and threat to national security?
Absolutely not. Please continue to enjoy use of emacs.
alias emacs='vi'
Reply to That ||
Bill Joy is also the guy who keeps warning of the end of the world if we don't stop developing various technologies. He wrote a number of articles and did a bunch of interviews about the world turning to gray goo if we don't kill nanotech research, how computers and weapons will kill us all, etc.
He started work on a self-sufficient, solar powered sailboat, presumably his form of a bomb shelter for the coming techpocolypse.
Basically, he has turned in to a crazy old coot.
Yes, I know what you're saying also, but let me quote rs79, a /. oldtimer:
Brian K. Reid. Everybody else is either too corrupt or too bizarre to actually do the job. Brian understands people, unlike most geek geniuses.
Now, limiting the controlling input to such a function for the ENTIRE COUNTRY to one person is fraught with problems as illustrated by the quote above. Even one President is backed up by House, Senate, and SCOTUS. See, if it's important, there should be some checks and balances. Just the mere mention of M$ on this site is cause for a flamewar. How would a single CTO personage be able to deal with all the crap/politics/bribery/governmental interference and all that will come their way? Even the DoJ was not free from corruption. One person, without a jury behind them, will fall prey to special interests. It seems inevitable. The idea is right, perhaps even the execution of that idea will be, but I have doubts about a single person as head of that implementation.
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That no one has recommended Ted Stevens for the post. I think he'll be looking for work soon.
This ain't rocket surgery.
We need someone with real vision.
I nominate Ray Kurzweil.
Virginia is for lovers. EVE is for griefers.
"The office should have had a 20 minute meeting deciding what their needs were, and pass that onto the technology department, who would simply deliver those needs."
Knock Knock,
Hey, guess who's in charge of that dept? When you want to create such a department guess who you appoint first?
Samsung took back my unlocked bootloader because Google wants me to rent movies. They're both evil.
He prefers to commune with the wild beastes. I'm pretty sure RMS is sasquatch.
"The cup is in turn designed for holding hot or cold liquids, and has an open rim and closed base." --US Patent #5425497
Bruce Schneier perhaps?
Nah, put him in charge of Homeland Security... then in 6 months when he dissolves it as "redundant and ineffectual" transfer him to the NSA working on crypto and shoring up our technology infrastructure. Could also put him in charge of the TSA for a bit to help streamline that down to something sane like it used to be and eliminate all the security theater.
Curiosity was framed, Ignorance killed the cat.
I don't know how to break this to you but the position of National CTO isn't quite as important as the role of SCOTUS. Upholding the laws and constitutional freedoms of the citizenry is much more important than what IM client government employees wil be allowed to use.
Why doesn't Slashdot ever get slashdotted?
My president (and Fox News) has taught me that it's more important that Americans "feel" secure than actually be secure. He just doesn't get that. You gotta listen to your gut on these things. He's too much of a thinker. Probably socialist, too.
the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
The CTO wouldn't set policy for all software development in the U.S. It would simply be an advisory position to aid the President and federal agencies in the making of techology decisions. Think of all the millions of our tax dollars that have been wasted by various agencies in ill-considered system "upgrades" that never worked and you'll understand why a CTO might be a good idea.
This ain't rocket surgery.
He'd likely have a staff... and robes... and commandments.... wait, got derailed there.
"There are no facts, only interpretations." --Friedrich Nietzsche.
We need someone with real vision. I nominate Ray Kurzweil.
I think Stevie Wonder played one of those at some point.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
Kurzweil?
You gotta be kidding.
OK, so the man's got vision, but so has any brain-addled acid-crazed schizo hippy you care to mention.
You need someone with real vision and practical common-sense, like Joy, or maybe Jobs (yes, I know I'll get flamed for that) or even Wozniak.
You might as well suggest Eric Drexler - another self-publicist with no notable contribution to make.
One swallow does not a fellatrix make
What? They are against fusion??
Ok, I'm now officially not shining for them anymore!
Against fusion... pah...
Yours,
Sol the Sun
(Friend of Joe the Plumber)
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Obama: Nuclear power worth considering, not panacea
Could it be that Obama is actually a center-Right presidential candidate, and not the radical left wing terrorist sympathizing deep green wacko he was portrayed as in the campaign? Say it ain't so, Joe (the Plumber).
Under Federal law, you have to be a licensed theoretical physicist if you want to begin a multi-billion-year chain fusion reaction.
i don't think a "group" of 7 people would be that susceptible to groupthink. generally, when it comes to group behaviors, the larger the group, the more pronounced the effects of group psychology are.
groupthink/group mentality isn't a blanket argument against synergetic bodies or group collaboration, nor is it a very good argument for autocratic decision-making. deliberative assemblies, or committees, are so popular because when you invite more than one perspective on a particular issue you encourage discussion and debate, which facilitates better decision-making. you're more likely to make the wrong decision when you don't have to argue your position to opposing committee members. discussion forces people to give more careful thought to their actions/choices.
the issue of accountability also isn't much of a problem with a committee of this size. it's not like the military chain of command where the ones giving the orders are distanced from the resultant consequences, and "following orders" introduces ambiguity of responsibility.
as long as records are kept of each committee member's votes & statements, they can be held directly accountable for their actions. that is, assuming there's some sort of government or public oversight. but the same problem would arise with an autocratic system.
Not seven, but nine, and we shall call them the fellowship of the token ring.
This is a solution to an un-defined problem. We should only implement solutions AFTER we have defined a problem. "Jumping to Solutions" is why so many decision-making processes go wrong.
Expanding the Presidential Empire is not necessarily the answer to our current problems. Government interference in the distribution of goods and services normally reduces the effectiveness and efficient workings of the marketplace, thus depriving the potential customers.
"The mind works quicker than you think!"
But think about it, a really representative panel of that sort would really need someone representing, say, Microsoft, maybe Apple, maybe HP and/or Dell, and then a couple of FOSS guys. Imagine Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, RMS, and ESR on such a committee. Easily imagined. Now imagine anything getting done by this committee, ever... Not so easily imagined. When the closed source guys were not fighting over which of their personal pet technologies was best for a given purpose, they'd be in grid-lock as RMS and the FOSS guys try to block all proprietary anything. I'd be inclined to say that the closed source people should get 4 seats and the FOSS 3 seats: on the theory that it's more likely that at least on closed source advocate would side with FOSS on a given specific question than that the the FOSS guys will ever side with the closed source guys, and if all 4 cosed source guys agree with something it's likely to be a least a slightly open system.
Still I think one guy, preferably fairly neutral and willing to work with all parties and being advised by a committee like you recommend, would be better. He might not always do what any one of us might want or hope he'd do, but a least something will get done.
I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
These people serve a valuable role in society, but it is not within the corridors of power.
I was thinking about this exact subject this morning with regard to Ralph Nader. Smart guy, definitely has the interests of the people at heart, and he's worked in previous administrations under the Secretary of Labor. Unfortunately, he is literally his own undoing. His mere presence would polarize people to the point where nothing could get done, despite the fact that he'd probably have some pretty good ideas.
Maybe being uncomfortable in a position of authority isn't such a bad thing.
I don't think RMS would even take it.
He would also have to cut his hair, trim his beard, start wearing ties, and taking showers on a regular basis. Can you imagine RMS in a suit and tie? I just cannot picture that.
I think a board is the right move. And Ballmer should hold the chair.
True, and he's also come out in favor of censorship of science. He has stated, for instance, that the human genome should not be made publicly available as it may be used by terrorists, etc., to manufacture biological weapons. I think he even suggested that perhaps laws be passed to enforce such a doctrine. Do we really want such a person to be in a position of power?
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
These people serve a valuable role in society, but it is not within the corridors of power.
They are called "prophets".
They preach absolute righteousness and call for repentance (i.e. changing your ways).
They also wear odd clothing and have long beards, but that is a secondary qualification.
I am anarch of all I survey.