"Mainly, what I'm looking for, are opinions, articles, looks, and evidence about the drawbacks of using open source software in business."
I don't have links to share with you, but I can share my experience.
Almost 2 years ago, in a think-tank setting a bunch of us at a company that I won't name here, refused to use Open Source program/code out of the fear that if anything goes wrong using Open Source program/code, there is no one to "hold responsible" over it. Read that as to "sue" the party.
Because of this legal issue, we stayed away from Open Source. I know few other companies that I got in contact with share this few.
However, I must point out that now IBM is supporting Linux, things will change.
Along the same line, if you look overseas, you will see a lot of neighborhood have done things along this line of "sharing".
For example, I personally know places that share telephone lines, cable lines and even electrical lines to name some. While those neighborhoods have done so out of economical need and government/corporation irresponsiveness, doing the same in a developed country such as the US to create a NAN, or any other sharing utilities, is a dangerous thing to do.
This is why we have laws and license personal for those tasks. If we don't fallow them, you will regret it.
I am not against such projects, but just want to point out that things sound simpler than they really are.
Every now and than we see such a "cool" tech. offering from numerous companies. While they keep us amused and at the cutting edge, to me they are nothing but a short term PR to keep the companies' name visible.
Once we see REAL application coming out of those development, I won't get much excited. But don't get me wrong, I applause such effort as they promote further expansion. However, for the short term, they are noting but PR. So keep that in mind.
Backing up to floppy is one thing, but how about the following true story.
A long time ago, at a company I worked for, a guy used to back up his HD by zipping it into a ZIP file and than emailing the ZIPed file to himself. Once he received his self-addressed-email, he would delete last weeks email-backup.
As you would imagine, not only the entire email system got very slow during this process, but the size of the ZIPed file keeps on growing.
..will it ever register on the consumers radar? How about applications in use?
For consumers: we all know that MHz is not all that you should be looking for and yet if you ask any consumer about a PC, their mouth and eye will open wide once they hear about a faster MHz.
For applications: well, how many applications use pipe? Even those that do use them, what % of the time do they spend in pipes?
So, yes, this is good news for techies, but that is about it.
And yes, I may sound like flamebeat -- but, its is time to see the bigger picture for what Linux needs to bring it to the main stream. Mr. Torvalds already recognized this some time ago. This is why he is now focusing on stuff that consumers react to, such as UI.
I believe the title said it all to give you my view on working as a group.
Now on getting work experience, those schools that offer "co-op" are best when you want to get a feel to how it is "outside" the school system before joining the workforce.
As for the "zero" tolerance for cheating, schools put such policy in place to protect their bottom line: "preserving their name". Schools are there to prepare you for the future (and "life" if that's how you want to see it.) So, if you can "cheat" without "cheating" yourself out, I say do it for which "cheating" is a necessary evil just like being "honest".
I see a double requirement here folks which can make such a tech. not much usable.
In order for those devices to function they need body energy. The way to get body energy is to "exercise". In order for us to keep exercising, we must "eat".
Now tell me, is an already over-weighted, under-exercised society, are really willing to appreciate such a device, when it will constantly remind them to "wake-up and move" when it is low on battery? I think not!
We are a society looking for comfort, those "body-energy-devices" won't appreciate such an attitude.
It's amazing to see how those "big" companies (MS included with there "activation tech.") put a lot of energy and resources to go after such a small percentage of the market segment.
Yes, I can copy a CD for a friend of mine as I have the tools and the means to do it with my PC (not that I will), but hey, for every one CD-copier out there are over 100s tape-copiers. And those tape-copiers do it more often than CD-copiers -- its far more easier. So why aren't those music industry clones going after the tape-media rather than the CD?
My answer to my own question is simple: CD is high tech, while tap is not. Thus, doing it in the CD market, creates more "noise" in the media which leads to more reorganization.
Can you say "targeted" virueses?
on
GPS Meets PCS
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
"...to opt-out for all of the location based advertisements you will get with your GPS enabled phone"
Just like adds that can now be targeted at you based on where you are (thanks to the GPS enabled phones), there is something else that is also inevitable. Think about "targeted" viruses.
Those "smart" viruses would scare me more than those dull adds.
I don't know if this post will ever get moderated or read given the fact that this topic is now "old" on the list, but here it go.
There is a lot of post on this topic but it seems to me that most of them missed one key element of schooling. In my view, school AND education is all about history. When you are in school, no matter what at level, you are learning no more than about the past history. Only when you learn to see the past will you be able to see/predict the future.
So while you are at school, try to learn the past as much as you can. Once you are out of it, use your "imagination" and what you learned about the past to map the road ahead.
Reading the article and the brief comment about it on Slashdot, I get the feeling that this should not have happened and that it is a bad move by HP for those gurus.
Let me first tell you that I feel sorry for those guys, just like anyone else, but at the same time I want to point out that this is the natural of evolution/change.
Some may argue that those guys are so-important/good and should not have been let go, or that the project at hand is so-important/good et. al..., and so on.
I think we need to look at this, and everything else, as part of what makes us "advance" forward and look ahead. To me this is nothing but "change-in-action" for which without "change" we will never see beyond our current perspective.
I am very confidence that those HP engineers (and the project) that are being doomed today, will go out and come back with a much superior product now that they are faced with higher challenges due to this "change" that has been forced upon them.
EULA for the software industry is very scary -- even when it doesn't come from MS.
My question is: how different is a software EULA from non-software EULA -- for example, a car, a home/life/etc. insurance, a work contract. Yes, they don't have an EULA, but there is a "legal" clause which acts as an EULA.
If you dig around I am sure you will find a much scarier EULA than the one MS is trying to impose on us. Heck, even the very basic ones are so restrictive but we hardly pay attention to them.
Just like during the Gulf War, this incident is going to test how well the world will react. The result will either be another strong coalition with the majority of the world nations united against those few exterminates or (God forbid) WWIII.
From the article: "You're sitting in class, and meanwhile, you're hearing about people your age making millions and millions of dollars,"
Well, this is like seeing a news report on how *someone* wone $M's in the lottery and than everyone jumps on and goes crazy beliving they are *the-one* going to win next no matter what.
Lets face it, the number of the DOT-COM'ers that made a $M+ are propotional to the number of people win the lottery to those who don't. The irony is that news media loves to give you news on such unique situations (and we love to hear them) -- so it ends up sounding as if *every* DOT-COM company is a $M winner where the reality is it's only 1 out of a M just like in a lottery.
Lets regulate the news-media -- maybe/.;-).
Can we move on to the next level please?
on
MenuetOS Debuts
·
· Score: 2
I don't mean to be a "flamer" but, please let us think about this in a broader perspective.
Lately I have been seeing a lot of OS announcements (as may posters pointed out before me) everything from BeOS, to FreeDOS and Linux, et. al. -- and all of those OSs seem to be centered around taking on Windows of the evil M$.
If that is the intention, may I suggest that the OS war is over and that M$ is the clear winner and that any continues battle on this ground is just a step backward.
Lets face it, in few more years, we will care less about the OS and wary more about the user interaction and front-end applications. Even Linus Torvalds realizes this as his new focuse for Linux is now on: Making Linux usable tops Torvalds' list
If a radio station broadcast over the air or over TCP/IP -- in what way is it different for them. In fact it is MUCH easier to copy over the air than TCP/IP as the medium is much widely available and accessible. This is just a stupid reaction by the stations.
Slashdot Mirror
This explains why /. is *so* quiet today. Everyone is waiting in line at their local computer store for a copy. ;-)
"Mainly, what I'm looking for, are opinions, articles, looks, and evidence about the drawbacks of using open source software in business."
I don't have links to share with you, but I can share my experience.
Almost 2 years ago, in a think-tank setting a bunch of us at a company that I won't name here, refused to use Open Source program/code out of the fear that if anything goes wrong using Open Source program/code, there is no one to "hold responsible" over it. Read that as to "sue" the party.
Because of this legal issue, we stayed away from Open Source. I know few other companies that I got in contact with share this few.
However, I must point out that now IBM is supporting Linux, things will change.
Along the same line, if you look overseas, you will see a lot of neighborhood have done things along this line of "sharing".
For example, I personally know places that share telephone lines, cable lines and even electrical lines to name some. While those neighborhoods have done so out of economical need and government/corporation irresponsiveness, doing the same in a developed country such as the US to create a NAN, or any other sharing utilities, is a dangerous thing to do.
This is why we have laws and license personal for those tasks. If we don't fallow them, you will regret it.
I am not against such projects, but just want to point out that things sound simpler than they really are.
Now there is a whole new meaning to "Yada, yada, yada, ..."
I don't think the poster is asking for legal advice -- he is asking for ideas to prevent it.
Every now and than we see such a "cool" tech. offering from numerous companies. While they keep us amused and at the cutting edge, to me they are nothing but a short term PR to keep the companies' name visible.
Once we see REAL application coming out of those development, I won't get much excited. But don't get me wrong, I applause such effort as they promote further expansion. However, for the short term, they are noting but PR. So keep that in mind.
How about offering one of those to Osama bin Laden and his followers? Don't they need one to keep in touch with each other?
Backing up to floppy is one thing, but how about the following true story.
A long time ago, at a company I worked for, a guy used to back up his HD by zipping it into a ZIP file and than emailing the ZIPed file to himself. Once he received his self-addressed-email, he would delete last weeks email-backup.
As you would imagine, not only the entire email system got very slow during this process, but the size of the ZIPed file keeps on growing.
..will it ever register on the consumers radar? How about applications in use?
For consumers: we all know that MHz is not all that you should be looking for and yet if you ask any consumer about a PC, their mouth and eye will open wide once they hear about a faster MHz.
For applications: well, how many applications use pipe? Even those that do use them, what % of the time do they spend in pipes?
So, yes, this is good news for techies, but that is about it.
And yes, I may sound like flamebeat -- but, its is time to see the bigger picture for what Linux needs to bring it to the main stream. Mr. Torvalds already recognized this some time ago. This is why he is now focusing on stuff that consumers react to, such as UI.
The only thing there is to fear is /. itself.
"...it automatically executes them."
Now if an "executed" program is STILL a security risk -- I don't know how we can ever be secure.
"...at least 3 different versions (with different copy protection techniques)."
I was able to copy the CD on my flat-bed copier without any problem and I ened up with a good color, detail, et. al. quality.
However, a friend of mine ended up damaging his copier as he was trying to squeeze the CD through the copy feeder on his non-flat-bed copier.
I don't know about the third method of copy prevention -- as I haven't figured it out yet.
I believe the title said it all to give you my view on working as a group.
Now on getting work experience, those schools that offer "co-op" are best when you want to get a feel to how it is "outside" the school system before joining the workforce.
As for the "zero" tolerance for cheating, schools put such policy in place to protect their bottom line: "preserving their name". Schools are there to prepare you for the future (and "life" if that's how you want to see it.) So, if you can "cheat" without "cheating" yourself out, I say do it for which "cheating" is a necessary evil just like being "honest".
With email, I get to exercise ALL of my 10 fingers. While with pen-based-mail only 3 get used -- and some use only 2 fingers.
I keep wandering how our parents managed life with only 2-3 fingers; must have been very boring. So what were they doing with the "other" hand?
I see a double requirement here folks which can make such a tech. not much usable.
In order for those devices to function they need body energy. The way to get body energy is to "exercise". In order for us to keep exercising, we must "eat".
Now tell me, is an already over-weighted, under-exercised society, are really willing to appreciate such a device, when it will constantly remind them to "wake-up and move" when it is low on battery? I think not!
We are a society looking for comfort, those "body-energy-devices" won't appreciate such an attitude.
It's amazing to see how those "big" companies (MS included with there "activation tech.") put a lot of energy and resources to go after such a small percentage of the market segment.
Yes, I can copy a CD for a friend of mine as I have the tools and the means to do it with my PC (not that I will), but hey, for every one CD-copier out there are over 100s tape-copiers. And those tape-copiers do it more often than CD-copiers -- its far more easier. So why aren't those music industry clones going after the tape-media rather than the CD?
My answer to my own question is simple: CD is high tech, while tap is not. Thus, doing it in the CD market, creates more "noise" in the media which leads to more reorganization.
"...to opt-out for all of the location based advertisements you will get with your GPS enabled phone"
Just like adds that can now be targeted at you based on where you are (thanks to the GPS enabled phones), there is something else that is also inevitable. Think about "targeted" viruses.
Those "smart" viruses would scare me more than those dull adds.
I don't know if this post will ever get moderated or read given the fact that this topic is now "old" on the list, but here it go.
There is a lot of post on this topic but it seems to me that most of them missed one key element of schooling. In my view, school AND education is all about history. When you are in school, no matter what at level, you are learning no more than about the past history. Only when you learn to see the past will you be able to see/predict the future.
So while you are at school, try to learn the past as much as you can. Once you are out of it, use your "imagination" and what you learned about the past to map the road ahead.
Reading the article and the brief comment about it on Slashdot, I get the feeling that this should not have happened and that it is a bad move by HP for those gurus.
Let me first tell you that I feel sorry for those guys, just like anyone else, but at the same time I want to point out that this is the natural of evolution/change.
Some may argue that those guys are so-important/good and should not have been let go, or that the project at hand is so-important/good et. al..., and so on.
I think we need to look at this, and everything else, as part of what makes us "advance" forward and look ahead. To me this is nothing but "change-in-action" for which without "change" we will never see beyond our current perspective.
I am very confidence that those HP engineers (and the project) that are being doomed today, will go out and come back with a much superior product now that they are faced with higher challenges due to this "change" that has been forced upon them.
"...is not the same as hanging up a big "closed" sign -- Exodus is still operating, ...for a good long while (since Slashdot is hosted there)."
/. is going to post in the hopes of being the Last Post.
Oh great, I see it coming. Very soon, everyone at
For once we finaly have an opportunity to out-post those First-Posters clones.
EULA for the software industry is very scary -- even when it doesn't come from MS.
My question is: how different is a software EULA from non-software EULA -- for example, a car, a home/life/etc. insurance, a work contract. Yes, they don't have an EULA, but there is a "legal" clause which acts as an EULA.
If you dig around I am sure you will find a much scarier EULA than the one MS is trying to impose on us. Heck, even the very basic ones are so restrictive but we hardly pay attention to them.
Just like during the Gulf War, this incident is going to test how well the world will react. The result will either be another strong coalition with the majority of the world nations united against those few exterminates or (God forbid) WWIII.
From the article: "You're sitting in class, and meanwhile, you're hearing about people your age making millions and millions of dollars,"
/. ;-).
Well, this is like seeing a news report on how *someone* wone $M's in the lottery and than everyone jumps on and goes crazy beliving they are *the-one* going to win next no matter what.
Lets face it, the number of the DOT-COM'ers that made a $M+ are propotional to the number of people win the lottery to those who don't. The irony is that news media loves to give you news on such unique situations (and we love to hear them) -- so it ends up sounding as if *every* DOT-COM company is a $M winner where the reality is it's only 1 out of a M just like in a lottery.
Lets regulate the news-media -- maybe
I don't mean to be a "flamer" but, please let us think about this in a broader perspective.
Lately I have been seeing a lot of OS announcements (as may posters pointed out before me) everything from BeOS, to FreeDOS and Linux, et. al. -- and all of those OSs seem to be centered around taking on Windows of the evil M$.
If that is the intention, may I suggest that the OS war is over and that M$ is the clear winner and that any continues battle on this ground is just a step backward.
Lets face it, in few more years, we will care less about the OS and wary more about the user interaction and front-end applications. Even Linus Torvalds realizes this as his new focuse for Linux is now on: Making Linux usable tops Torvalds' list
If a radio station broadcast over the air or over TCP/IP -- in what way is it different for them. In fact it is MUCH easier to copy over the air than TCP/IP as the medium is much widely available and accessible. This is just a stupid reaction by the stations.