The reason is simple: I despise the "just throw more hardware at it" approach, and can't stand bad code. It's always cheaper and better to write it correctly the first time than to have to return months later and fix it.
Sometimes you need more hardware, and sometimes you need to look at the approach and optimize the algorithm and the code itself.
The SQL example is just an easy one to point to, as I've seen it many times, and great hardware won't save bad queries.
There's nothing wrong with PHP - it's a great scripting lanugage that can be used to actually write a serious program. But just like any other tool, it can be easily misused to create inefficient crap that's suceptible to XSS attacks, injection attacks (SQL and mail being biggies), etc.
Embedding PHP in HTML is okay if you know what you're doing.
Again, I've just had to clean up naive code many times that brought real business operations to a grinding halt, and the fixes have usually been pretty simple and SHOULD have been incoporated into the code from the beginning.
The Yahoo, Google, et al. scalability is one thing, and the second example of high volume critical data is another.
...and I'll help people with whatever they have and want to run. Linux, Windows, whatever, so long as they are willing to pay the service rate.
The one thing I will NOT do is install or provide any assistance or other service with pirated software or any illegal activities. Non-negotiable, it ain't happening.
That sort of coding attitude of "just throw more hardware at it" is the biggest cause of websites that can't scale to handle any real traffic loads. I've personally bumped site performance with just a few line tweaks and optimizing a few SQL queries.
Ask the machine to do something stupid, and it will.
Ever see someone write "SELECT SUM(ColA) FROM Scores WHERE QID = 3" on a high-volume site? Do you understand the impact just that naive query is going to have on the back-end server?
Here's a clue - you're going to end up with queries taking 30 seconds on that nice 8-core box with a RAID-10 array because you are constantly re-totaling 250,000 records and asking to do so 100 times a second. Time-out city coming. How about database table locks?
Any semi-decent programmer will know better, and actually use a decent algorithm.
You simply do not compromise your performance for laziness. And just because it runs fast on an unloaded test-bed doesn't mean it will work in the real world.
Try getting linked to by Yahoo some time and see what scalable means.
Or try writing an image processing filter with real response time restraints so you can send appropriate pan/tilt commands to the source camera. You need real code for that, not crap. And no, more CPU speed won't get you out of that one either, and no, you can't write it in Java or C#.
I wonder what their definition of "unlicensed" is. Are they using their definition that unlicensed means you can't find the original invoice for the software? You know, the one where you can have every COA stuck to the case of each machine, but no invoice is considered unlicensed because you can't prove that you didn't buy the licenses after the fact?
Do they consider Open Source code to be unlicensed? Or shareware? Or what?
Are they counting companies that shift licenses around when employees leave and PCs are retired?
There was Silicon, and Electrons, and all was good. Then came along Programs, which put into bondage all Silicon and every Electron, and made them one and all bend to the will of the Programmer.
And then there came Assembler, letting the Programmer's will be done. And it was good.
Then came C. And all was better.
Then came Pascal, and BASIC, and the Silicon became stressed, and the Electrons became depressed, and it looked for a while as if the entire Circuit would become Shorted.
And then, the Electrons and the Silicon, threw off the yoke of the mythical Moore, disobeyed his Laws, and created the Internet.
And from such beast sprang languages such that expressive power of REGEX was spread upon the Wires, and all the old Mainframes quivered in fear if its power. PERL and PHP, and HTML ruled the land for a millenium of Months.
Until they too were challenged by the power of the SUN's JAVA, and the evil empire of Visual BASIC, and of Delphi, and all other languages which had sold their souls and hearts to Expression over Electrons and Silicon.
Oh, WTF??? We're discussing the evolution of HUMAN LANGUAGE???
Never Mind.
I thought we were talking about code here.
After all, Nerds don't care about history, and Geeks consider it to have started with the release of the Z80.
...could be interesting, depending on the signal to noise ratio when these things are used to store non-saturated resistance values. Especially if it can be controlled in steps of 256 (8 bits per cell), 65536 (16 bits per cell), etc.
If this stuff actually works as promised, it will be way faster and longer-lived (in terms of write cycles) than flash. 50nS is pretty slow compared to DRAM, but for flash replacement it should be pretty zippy. Especially if there's no need to do block erase and rewrites.
There is a LOT of bio-waste available. Almost every food crop plant produces far more leaves, stems, husks, etc. than actual "food product". For example, look at corn - the cob and husk is far bigger and heavier than the kernels. It's the same for all grains.
Plus, look at how many pounds of just grass clippings mowing a normal suburban yard creates in a year.
With the GPL code, you may not link the binary "object code" into a final executable file that isn't GPL-licensed itself. The GPL stuff must remain in its "own entity".
It's perfectly fine to make it a.dll or shared library that's dynamically called, as is running it as a service or daemon that's accessed via a socket, "exec call", or RPC of some sort.
Another mechanism you can make is to write your wrapper code and keep THAT on the "GPL Side" of the divide. Or contact the owner of the GPL code and negotiate a propreitary license.
As for "I can't see why the GPL and similar licenses can't just be 'we don't claim ownership of this code, kudos to.'" the reason is self-evident - the developer's work product isn't yours to use any more than a commercial library is.
Ask yourself one question: how would your company react to someone taking some modules out of your project and bundling them into their own without taking out a license from you?
Or how would your company treat a proprietary-licensed library that made development easier? You would probably pay the fee, the royalties, and abide by any terms. GPL is the same, except that its "fee" is measured in participation, not dollars.
Re:C# isn't a language...
on
Head First C#
·
· Score: 1
C# is like taking C, stripping out the pointers, and mixing in some VB and Java.
If I want to write easy code without dealing with pointers, I use VB. It's great for those things. Especially when I can use VC++ to create a new ActiveX to extend functionality rather easily. I can even create some pretty whiz-bang stuff that integrates nicely into Access and makes VBA rock.
If I want super fast code to crunch things like graphics, then straight old C is my tool of choice.
If I want clean syntax, plus the ability to use pointers, then my choice is a good Object Pascal or Delphi. ANSISTRINGs and dynamically resizable arrays are manna from the code gods when time is short and speed counts.
For web stuff, PHP is king.
C# to me is basically putting up with the cryptic PITA of C while giving up the benefits, and it lacks the cross-platform advantages of Java.
It's called fascism (in the Mussolini form), and basically is a merger of government and business. It's a centrally planned and controlled system with private ownership and profits.
Really, it is an oligarchy run by elitists, and is not terribly different from feudalism.
Actually, Foo is simultaneously right and wrong regarding the nature of Free Software.
The reason is that it's not "communist-ic" but it is strongly "libertarian" in philosophy.
That is because licenses such as the GPL only bind developers who voluntarily use Free Software as a starting point for their own efforts, and does not inhibit others who choose not to participate. It does, however, require that those who do participate in the development of the code and direct derivitave works follow the rules and provide their work back to the community. It is actually the license fee to do so.
We tend to view fees as monetary flows from "Party A" to "Party B", but Free Software is more akin to a "barter economy" instead.
Any scheme that is "communist" or "socialist" requires mandatory participation. A "communist-ic" scheme would require that even from-scratch code would immediately become a publicly-owned work.
It is noteworthy that Free Software does allow anyone to republish and distribute copies at any desired price, so long as the source code is made available for no charge or basically "at cost".
It's important to further clarify that sometimes terms become muddy in popular use.
"Communist" and "Socialist" really mean "slave to the commune, with no option whatsoever."
The term "free market" is a market without external pressures of whatever kind used to create artificial barriers to entry or change.
"Libertarian" indicates the individual choice of who each individual chooses to participate with. It is based on voluntary cooperation and participation, not coersion and force, but does recognize defense.
In practice, all these get jumbled together, shaken, stirred, bent, folded, spindled and mutilated until none of them are recognizable.
Irrigation may require placing a lot of these in the field, and sending someone around to check and see if they are functioning properly is pretty expensive. Plus, it makes reprogramming the water flow much easier when it can be centralized. Couple that with some moisture sensors and the resulting data can allow for the optimal planning of irrigation patterns to maximize yield and minimize wasted water.
Using the net makes sense too. It is a lot less costly than pulling wires to all of these devices or setting up a massive Frame Relay WAN.
Guess the thieves never realized that they should reprogram the thing before putting it back in use.
And if you are from such a jurisdiction, then your use of our service is hereby unauthorized and subject to civil and criminal penaltiies under the laws of the United States and the State of California.
May God have mercy upon your soul if you sue us, asshat.
Seriously, there ARE some good lessons to take from Orwell and the example of Che. Orwell was a great writer, who accuately predicted the sheer opressiveness of too much power in too many hands. And Che... that fuck got what he deserved. Shot down by an enlisted man without unecessary ceremony.
I don't completely agree with Paul on every issue, and strongly disagree with him on some.
Actually, I wish he would come home to Pittsburgh and get this place in order. It's become a whacked-out leftist island in the middle of a sea of reality.
In all seriousness, the proper role of a CIO is to ensure that the proper information (the "I") is delivered to the people who need it in the least expensive and fastest manner possible.
Period.
It doesn't matter if that info comes in via computer, iPhone, or carrier pigeon. Just that the people have what they need when they need it, at the lowest possible cost.
A CTO has the task of picking the technology that makes that possible.
A CFO has to look at the real numbers and move them from column "A" to column "B" such that profit is maximized and cost is minimized. Without committing a felony in the process.
The CEO has to figure out WTF all the other CxOs are doing, try to watch the outside world, and figure out a plan that maximizes his paycheck without pissing off shareholders, getting sued into oblivion, prosecuted (see CFO), or committing a felony that he can't pawn off to the CFO. All while being liable for both mistakes and lies of the other CxO's under him.
Slashdot Mirror
Uh, doesn't removing the query cache run counter to the goals of making it fast?
The bastard patented the use of any tool or weapon to seek vengeance upon patent trolls.
It's called a "shotgun" and shells are available from blank to bean-bags, to birdshot, to buckshot, to slug, or even to HE Grenade for military users.
This looks like a solution in desperate need of a problem.
The reason is simple: I despise the "just throw more hardware at it" approach, and can't stand bad code. It's always cheaper and better to write it correctly the first time than to have to return months later and fix it.
Sometimes you need more hardware, and sometimes you need to look at the approach and optimize the algorithm and the code itself.
The SQL example is just an easy one to point to, as I've seen it many times, and great hardware won't save bad queries.
There's nothing wrong with PHP - it's a great scripting lanugage that can be used to actually write a serious program. But just like any other tool, it can be easily misused to create inefficient crap that's suceptible to XSS attacks, injection attacks (SQL and mail being biggies), etc.
Embedding PHP in HTML is okay if you know what you're doing.
Again, I've just had to clean up naive code many times that brought real business operations to a grinding halt, and the fixes have usually been pretty simple and SHOULD have been incoporated into the code from the beginning.
The Yahoo, Google, et al. scalability is one thing, and the second example of high volume critical data is another.
...and I'll help people with whatever they have and want to run. Linux, Windows, whatever, so long as they are willing to pay the service rate.
The one thing I will NOT do is install or provide any assistance or other service with pirated software or any illegal activities. Non-negotiable, it ain't happening.
...because you're fuckin' fired!
That sort of coding attitude of "just throw more hardware at it" is the biggest cause of websites that can't scale to handle any real traffic loads. I've personally bumped site performance with just a few line tweaks and optimizing a few SQL queries.
Ask the machine to do something stupid, and it will.
Ever see someone write "SELECT SUM(ColA) FROM Scores WHERE QID = 3" on a high-volume site? Do you understand the impact just that naive query is going to have on the back-end server?
Here's a clue - you're going to end up with queries taking 30 seconds on that nice 8-core box with a RAID-10 array because you are constantly re-totaling 250,000 records and asking to do so 100 times a second. Time-out city coming. How about database table locks?
Any semi-decent programmer will know better, and actually use a decent algorithm.
You simply do not compromise your performance for laziness. And just because it runs fast on an unloaded test-bed doesn't mean it will work in the real world.
Try getting linked to by Yahoo some time and see what scalable means.
Or try writing an image processing filter with real response time restraints so you can send appropriate pan/tilt commands to the source camera. You need real code for that, not crap. And no, more CPU speed won't get you out of that one either, and no, you can't write it in Java or C#.
I wonder what their definition of "unlicensed" is. Are they using their definition that unlicensed means you can't find the original invoice for the software? You know, the one where you can have every COA stuck to the case of each machine, but no invoice is considered unlicensed because you can't prove that you didn't buy the licenses after the fact?
Do they consider Open Source code to be unlicensed? Or shareware? Or what?
Are they counting companies that shift licenses around when employees leave and PCs are retired?
There was Silicon, and Electrons, and all was good. Then came along Programs, which put into bondage all Silicon and every Electron, and made them one and all bend to the will of the Programmer.
And then there came Assembler, letting the Programmer's will be done. And it was good.
Then came C. And all was better.
Then came Pascal, and BASIC, and the Silicon became stressed, and the Electrons became depressed, and it looked for a while as if the entire Circuit would become Shorted.
And then, the Electrons and the Silicon, threw off the yoke of the mythical Moore, disobeyed his Laws, and created the Internet.
And from such beast sprang languages such that expressive power of REGEX was spread upon the Wires, and all the old Mainframes quivered in fear if its power. PERL and PHP, and HTML ruled the land for a millenium of Months.
Until they too were challenged by the power of the SUN's JAVA, and the evil empire of Visual BASIC, and of Delphi, and all other languages which had sold their souls and hearts to Expression over Electrons and Silicon.
Oh, WTF??? We're discussing the evolution of HUMAN LANGUAGE???
Never Mind.
I thought we were talking about code here.
After all, Nerds don't care about history, and Geeks consider it to have started with the release of the Z80.
...could be interesting, depending on the signal to noise ratio when these things are used to store non-saturated resistance values. Especially if it can be controlled in steps of 256 (8 bits per cell), 65536 (16 bits per cell), etc.
If this stuff actually works as promised, it will be way faster and longer-lived (in terms of write cycles) than flash. 50nS is pretty slow compared to DRAM, but for flash replacement it should be pretty zippy. Especially if there's no need to do block erase and rewrites.
There is a LOT of bio-waste available. Almost every food crop plant produces far more leaves, stems, husks, etc. than actual "food product". For example, look at corn - the cob and husk is far bigger and heavier than the kernels. It's the same for all grains.
Plus, look at how many pounds of just grass clippings mowing a normal suburban yard creates in a year.
That actually sounds like a normal night's Coast To Coast AM show.
"you don't go from a fringe party getting a negligible number of votes to winning an election in just a few years."
It is exactly how the Republican Party started up in the USA in the 1850's. They went from zero to President in under 10 years.
So, yes, it can happen.
The real key is to have the right answers to the questions that resonate with enough people at the time to win credibility.
...it's necessary to do it the correct way.
With the GPL code, you may not link the binary "object code" into a final executable file that isn't GPL-licensed itself. The GPL stuff must remain in its "own entity".
It's perfectly fine to make it a .dll or shared library that's dynamically called, as is running it as a service or daemon that's accessed via a socket, "exec call", or RPC of some sort.
Another mechanism you can make is to write your wrapper code and keep THAT on the "GPL Side" of the divide. Or contact the owner of the GPL code and negotiate a propreitary license.
As for "I can't see why the GPL and similar licenses can't just be 'we don't claim ownership of this code, kudos to .'" the reason is self-evident - the developer's work product isn't yours to use any more than a commercial library is.
Ask yourself one question: how would your company react to someone taking some modules out of your project and bundling them into their own without taking out a license from you?
Or how would your company treat a proprietary-licensed library that made development easier? You would probably pay the fee, the royalties, and abide by any terms. GPL is the same, except that its "fee" is measured in participation, not dollars.
C# is like taking C, stripping out the pointers, and mixing in some VB and Java.
If I want to write easy code without dealing with pointers, I use VB. It's great for those things. Especially when I can use VC++ to create a new ActiveX to extend functionality rather easily. I can even create some pretty whiz-bang stuff that integrates nicely into Access and makes VBA rock.
If I want super fast code to crunch things like graphics, then straight old C is my tool of choice.
If I want clean syntax, plus the ability to use pointers, then my choice is a good Object Pascal or Delphi. ANSISTRINGs and dynamically resizable arrays are manna from the code gods when time is short and speed counts.
For web stuff, PHP is king.
C# to me is basically putting up with the cryptic PITA of C while giving up the benefits, and it lacks the cross-platform advantages of Java.
So what is the damn thing GOOD for?
How'd you get access to /. from jail?
It's called fascism (in the Mussolini form), and basically is a merger of government and business. It's a centrally planned and controlled system with private ownership and profits.
Really, it is an oligarchy run by elitists, and is not terribly different from feudalism.
Actually, Foo is simultaneously right and wrong regarding the nature of Free Software.
The reason is that it's not "communist-ic" but it is strongly "libertarian" in philosophy.
That is because licenses such as the GPL only bind developers who voluntarily use Free Software as a starting point for their own efforts, and does not inhibit others who choose not to participate. It does, however, require that those who do participate in the development of the code and direct derivitave works follow the rules and provide their work back to the community. It is actually the license fee to do so.
We tend to view fees as monetary flows from "Party A" to "Party B", but Free Software is more akin to a "barter economy" instead.
Any scheme that is "communist" or "socialist" requires mandatory participation. A "communist-ic" scheme would require that even from-scratch code would immediately become a publicly-owned work.
It is noteworthy that Free Software does allow anyone to republish and distribute copies at any desired price, so long as the source code is made available for no charge or basically "at cost".
It's important to further clarify that sometimes terms become muddy in popular use.
"Communist" and "Socialist" really mean "slave to the commune, with no option whatsoever."
The term "free market" is a market without external pressures of whatever kind used to create artificial barriers to entry or change.
"Libertarian" indicates the individual choice of who each individual chooses to participate with. It is based on voluntary cooperation and participation, not coersion and force, but does recognize defense.
In practice, all these get jumbled together, shaken, stirred, bent, folded, spindled and mutilated until none of them are recognizable.
Irrigation may require placing a lot of these in the field, and sending someone around to check and see if they are functioning properly is pretty expensive. Plus, it makes reprogramming the water flow much easier when it can be centralized. Couple that with some moisture sensors and the resulting data can allow for the optimal planning of irrigation patterns to maximize yield and minimize wasted water.
Using the net makes sense too. It is a lot less costly than pulling wires to all of these devices or setting up a massive Frame Relay WAN.
Guess the thieves never realized that they should reprogram the thing before putting it back in use.
Just spray some Lysol on a rag and wipe it down. If you are really worried, you could spray the machine directly, but I'd be concerned of damage.
And if you are from such a jurisdiction, then your use of our service is hereby unauthorized and subject to civil and criminal penaltiies under the laws of the United States and the State of California.
May God have mercy upon your soul if you sue us, asshat.
There isn't any REAL content on broadcast any longer that compares even with that of even the early 80s.
Desperate Housewives? Gimme a break.
When they can show South Park and real Soprano's episodes, I may tune back in.
Smoke another one or three.
Seriously, there ARE some good lessons to take from Orwell and the example of Che. Orwell was a great writer, who accuately predicted the sheer opressiveness of too much power in too many hands. And Che... that fuck got what he deserved. Shot down by an enlisted man without unecessary ceremony.
I don't completely agree with Paul on every issue, and strongly disagree with him on some.
Actually, I wish he would come home to Pittsburgh and get this place in order. It's become a whacked-out leftist island in the middle of a sea of reality.
Shoot them twice. In the back of the head. On sight.
End of burglaries in that county for a while.
In all seriousness, the proper role of a CIO is to ensure that the proper information (the "I") is delivered to the people who need it in the least expensive and fastest manner possible.
Period.
It doesn't matter if that info comes in via computer, iPhone, or carrier pigeon. Just that the people have what they need when they need it, at the lowest possible cost.
A CTO has the task of picking the technology that makes that possible.
A CFO has to look at the real numbers and move them from column "A" to column "B" such that profit is maximized and cost is minimized. Without committing a felony in the process.
The CEO has to figure out WTF all the other CxOs are doing, try to watch the outside world, and figure out a plan that maximizes his paycheck without pissing off shareholders, getting sued into oblivion, prosecuted (see CFO), or committing a felony that he can't pawn off to the CFO. All while being liable for both mistakes and lies of the other CxO's under him.