It's becoming obvious that scan-type engines are having increasing difficulty with the amount of data on the internet. The bandwidth required by search engines will increase exponentially, and at some point it *will* become unworkable.
The other alternative is to have webmasters manage the directory themselves. This is problematic because webmasters have a strong incentive to list their website in as many places as possible. Some pr0n kings would do every single listing if they could.
So you take away the incentive for the listers to list everywhere, or give them a strong enough reason to list only in the correct places. Since the pr0n kings will never get it straight, you'd be better off using "trusted" maintainers. With the wonderful world of PKI cryptography, verifying submissions could be completely automated and your staff of submitters could be *very* large.
So you make it possible for anyone to become a submitter. It can't be easy enough for the pr0n masters to get a new ID every day, but maybe once every three to six months (say).
Then if enough complaints (*authenticated* complaints) are lodged, some sort of distributed arbitration process could decide to revoke a submitter's status - and then remove all of that submitters submissions.
The distributed arbitration process could take the form of a jury of twelve randomly selected submitters (or submitters with a special arbitration rating?). Basically, people could be polled at random, and anyone willing to be on the jury could examine the facts and make a vote. Perhaps a discussion group could be setup for deliberation.
Hmmm... it would be an interesting example of an online society. Would the system really run itself? If anyone has ideas, email me at tom@alterworld.net (put tom-ok in the subject line or it will bounce).
Then you are a rare gem, my friend. Although the fact that your title is "Engineering Director" might be the difference.
If your title were "Recruiter", then ten years of database development in five languages wouldn't hold a candle to six months experience in VB.
I always wondered what happened to those MIS graduates back in school. They seemed a bit strange to us CIS folk - one programming class, lots of spreadsheet classes and (gasp!) management and accounting classes all over the place.
Now I know, they recruit (and manage) those of us who can program! I just don't understand how they can be so clueless - I mean they'd really have to work at it.
Me: "Well, I've done eight years of RAD database development using Paradox and Delphi. I did more
years than that of Quick Basic and Turbo Basic before there even *was* a Visual Basic."
Recruiter: "But have you actually done any development in VB?"
"No, I fired it up, realized that it was just the RAD Way done by MIS types and uninstalled it because it was like making french quisine with kids cereal."
"Well, you're obviously not qualified. I'll get back with you next time my boss asks me how many resumes I have on file."
The real fix, of course, is to find operating systems vendors liable for selling systems which allow attackers to use OS vulnerabilities to take over a system and use it to attack a third party. Note that disclamers in EULAs don't matter in such cases, because the victim isn't the customer of the OS maker, but an unrelated third party. Someone needs to sue Microsoft for gross negligence over this, for selling mass-market operating systems with vulnerabilities years after the problem was identified.
What would your "real fix" do to Linux? It would legislate the old argument of "who can we sue if something goes wrong?" and make it illegal to create or distribute an operating system without someone to blame.
Another illustration of overzealous anti Microsoft fervor setting up a backlash on us. Don't take RIAA's stance - the UCITA is beginning to backfire on them. Just be calm, cool and reasonable. We have absolutely nothing to worry about, and here's why.
We live in a free-market economy - all of Microsofts billions (trillions?) can't compete with a bunch of volunteers giving stuff away. It will stabilize into the hardcore hackers doing what they enjoy (kernel / systems level stuff) and Microsoft and Apple will eventually wind up selling to their real market: non-computer experts. (Well, actually, Apple already does).
So Linux *is* a good thing, and may dominate the world. Microsoft's rise to the top drove the price of hardware down and amount of expertise (learning curve) wound up being less (shorter).
Now Linux will drive the price of software down and force Microsoft to make computers truly easy to use. Computer experts won't need anything from Microsoft or Apple, but my grandma always will.
Pre-Linux Microsoft User Manual: To accomplish your task, insert the cd, click ok, type your name and organization, click next five times, Slect this, select that, click next, enter your CD Key, click next ten more times, then click ok to reboot.
Post-Linux Microsoft User Manual: Get your computer's attention by saying it's name. Say "Download and Install winzip voice plus".
Open-source databases, in general, haven't endured the real-world conditions that Oracle, DB2 and MS-SQL have.
Interbase has. It's paid its dues, been around the block, been sold for hundred of thousands of dollars. And now it's free. See the firebird project on sourceforge for the open source version. Interbase has been used by Motorola for 911, and the army for tanks. It is mission critical.
Compatibility: Interbase / firebird had its SQL interface built to the SQL spec. It's probably impossible to be completely in line with the spec (too much open for interpretation), but it's a very good effort.
Interbase has been around for a long time, supports SQL-92, stored procs, triggers, generators, and has a super-spiffy multigenerational architecture that allows readers and writers to work without blocking each other. Yes, really. Check out Firebird, get involved, make it what you want in an RDBMS.
If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.
The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be.
Therefore the Master says:
I let go of the law,
and people become honest.
I let go of economics,
and people become prosperous.
I let go of religion,
and people become serene.
I let go of all desire for the common good,
and the good becomes common as grass.
It's finally time for Linux to get down to business. There are days when I'm the open-source bigot that everybody else is, but I'm tired as hell of writing applications on Windows to pay the bills.
With Kylix and Firebird (Interbase) I'll be able to write customized business applications for the "Small Business Next Door" to quadruple their efficiency and make my mortgage payment. And I'll do it all without Windows.
Hell yes, I'm here to make some money. I'm really getting fed up with "you should do everything for free". It's wonderful that there are open source projects out there (I have some that are all mine, and plan to write more), but I want to be able to buy the toys, man.
Yes, Win2K is the first Microsoft product since MS-DOS 6.22 that doesn't require 3 or 4 reboots per day. I switched to it at work (from Win98), and really like it.
But since there aren't any device drivers for Win2K, there's really not much difference anyway.
If you're forced to use it at work, just install Cygwin and forget the concept of multiple users and there's not all *that* much difference. Well, except that XF86 4 crashes all the time.
Win2K is really just another fringe OS like BeOS to me.:-)
And besides, OS/X on the desk and Linux in the server and on the power user's desk is a much better idea than Win9x on the desk and NT/2K for the server and power user.
Now we just need Gtk+ to run over VNC as a native network hextile protocol and all of those network devices could just have their pretty interfaces exposed to any viewing device on the network.
So could I surf on my Windows desktop at work looking at vncviewer running on my Linux desktop at home running on top of Gtk+/VNC displayed on my TV while sitting on my couch? (In the house that jack built)
Interestingly, the linked article says nothing about open source other than the title. I'm hoping our Borland employee here has the right story.
I have a couple of points:
1. The Free Pascal Compiler is a fully functional object pascal compiler which compiles for multiple OSs and architectures already. If the CLX libraries are open sourced, then (with some tweaking) you have a fully open source way to compile apps. You don't get the pretty IDE, but the Lazarus project has one in the works. And Borland's IDE is well worth the money.
If you're the type that hates IDEs, then download the free compiler and libraries and go. No big *freaking* deal.
2. C or C++ may be great for writing device drivers and filters, but for doing database apps? C'mon! Delphi's way of doing databases gives you the same easy programming as some of the crappy database-oriented scripting languages (paradox, powerbuilder) with fully compiled (and optimized) native code.
Isn't the attitude that "my tool is best" or "my os is best" the Microsoft way? Didn't we used to hate that?
The internet routes around errors, it should be able to route around marketing as well, right? It's just a more "active" type of error that responds to your defenses.
Unfortunately, with spam it has already turned into a war. Cyberterrorism of the future will involve being able to broadcast spam directly into the heads of a few million hapless Microsoft DirectX Brain (Bob?) users by taking advantage of yet another bug.
But not me, I'll have Wet/GNU/Linux installed in my head with portsentry on full alert. My mind jabbers already, so I might as well install that too...
drsoran wrote a satirical comment: "I agree. I think we need to also legalize murder and rape. [...] God Bless America." I believe (s)he is trying to point out that if we are going to legalize drug use, we might as well legalize murder and rape. I am responding both to drsoran and those with the general attitude that drug use or abuse should be illegal.
My response:
It is sad indeed when the issue is so confused that the idea of harming another person gets mixed up with the right to privacy. These are distinct and separate issues.
I hold these two truths to be self-evident:
It is never right to harm someone against their wishes, and it is never right to tell someone what they can and can't do if it has no effect on anyone else.
And it harm none, so let it be.
You can argue all you want that "drug use has social consequences" and you would be right that it does. But mostly because you make it that way. No matter what you say, it is possible for someone to use mind or mood altering chemicals without bothering anybody else. And you have zero moral grounds to stand on trying to stop them.
This all boils down to the neighborly christian attitude that that the "pious" (my very favorite epithet) have every right to tell the "non-pious" how to live their lives. This gentle and loving commentary on my life should, of course, have the full force and weight of law behind it. Because god's laws are higher than man's.
I love the fact that christians don't feel god is judging and damning nearly enough, so they gleefully step in to help him out. "Hey, god! You're slacking off here, my neighbors are having oral sex. If you're not gonna stop it, well I'm calling the cops. No? Well, screw you, god!"
If the elderly had the right to end their lives in dignity, would end-of-life issues be so difficult? Would you rather allow your parents a going away party and a "special drink" or would you rather keep them weak and bed-ridden for ten years against their wishes? Because no matter how much pain you are causing the people you love most, you are doing what you consider "the Right Thing".
(I chose that example because it compares both issues of harming others and a right to privacy. It shows that sometimes you have to do something that doesn't sound right at all to really do the right thing.)
And if you think god's laws are higher than man's, who really wrote those laws? And is hearsay enough evidence to destroy our society? Personally, I don't think so.
For me, experiences with martial arts have always had a strong correlation to software development. Both require an advanced degree of concentration. The chief tool of buddhist "mystics" is meditation, and anyone who tries it for a long period of time learns that the mind is merely another tool.
A calm mind can explore the farthest reaches of the universe within all of us. Eventually we learn that we can shatter the "Ball of Confusion" that we think we are and become better people, more compassionate, less likely to work for Microsoft.:-)
The mind is a powerful thing, and I truly believe many people live their lives without ever knowing this. Holding thousands of lines of code in the mind like an algorithmic mandala has allowed some people to realize the awesome power that lies just beneath the surface.
Break on through to the other side. Use the code, young padawan.
And the trend in tech schools is to drop the humanities anyway. I know a mechanical engineer who had no humanities, history, philosophy or literature. The closest thing to composition was a technical writing class. She has a BSME, and it was still a 5 year program.
And if you're into corporate paranoia, the big corps don't want people to know about arts and literature anyway. What if they were looking at art instead of working or something?
I think the only classes I had that exposed me to anything new on the liberal arts side of things were Humanities I and II. But the fact that you can identify baroque period music by a moving bassline (and I'm not really sure my memory serves me here) doesn't really seem very important to my search for meaning in life.
Philosophy? Truth is something you have to look for by yourself. Some old fart trying to get into the girls pants teaching philosophy class does me very little good.
Higher education is a joke. Yes, a joke. You don't think so? Ask my health class professor who said it was a good idea to drink cold water after a strenuous workout because the molecules are smaller and the body can absorb them quicker. There wasn't a hint of hesitation among 40-50 students as they dutifully wrote that into their notes. The only jaw on the floor was my own. I didn't go back to that class.
The really funny thing is that if you created a napster / gnutella clone using SOAP over HTTPS, there's very little in the way of an ISP filter or firewall that could be setup to stop this because:
A) It would be indistinguishable from any other HTTPS traffic, unless you had enough raw CPU power to crack the 100,000 or more currently running HTTPS servers in realtime.
B) Since you don't know what is being passed via HTTPS, you can't selectively allow credit card ordering and stop other types of data. There's size, but a large cluster of cooperating clients could get around that.
People were complaining that SOAP routed around corporate firewalls by going through regular HTTP / HTTPS. This whole mess sounds like a good argument FOR an ability to route around firewalls.
My real point here is that there will always be a way to get data from one point to another, even if the types of data are restricted. This is what information theory and encryption are all about!
It's like some Godzilla movie where the rampaging giant monsters finally stop tearing down Tokyo skyscrapers and kill each other.
There is a new ODBC driver in the works from Jim Starkey (the original architect of Interbase). Yes, there's a perl module. There's a python module. There's a zope module in the works. The C library is based on DB2 since it was the closest thing to a standard when they were writing it.
Check out www.interbase2000.org, there's even an alpha quality DB-OLE (or whatever the heck it's called) driver.
Free Pascal support seems to be in the works, but since Inprise open-sourced the IB-Express objects for Delphi, maybe they will eventually compile under FPC as well.
The sweetest way to connect is through Jason Wharton's IBObjects using Delphi or BCB. Hopefully these will eventually migrate over to Linux when the Kylix project releases Delphi 6 for Linux in late September.
Interbase's best attributes are: size (this is not bloatware, people!) and reliability (one of the case studies refers to usage in a tank because when the big gun goes, the computer reboots).
The super-niftiest feature is the multigenerational architecture where readers never block writers and writers never block readers. I'm sure other DBMS's have something like this, but Interbase was the first.
Jim Starkey, the "Big Bad Wolf" of Interbase and original author claims to have invented the concept of a BLOB (binary large object) stored in a relational database.
This database has been around for more than 15 years. It's interesting looking at the code - you can compile for some quite rare platforms. What is the Apollo?
Yes, Delphi has pointers. This will be lost in a haze of moderation but I don't care. All object references in Delphi are pointers. They are automagically dereferenced, which is probably where the confusion comes in.
How could Delphi make Windows API calls without pointers? Delphi is a fully natively compiled OO language. The only thing missing is multiple inheritance, which is (quite arguably) not necessary.
So if I start a religious war is that good or bad for my karma? I can't ever seem to remember.
I just don't know what to think about this. I actually got an email response from a member of congress. Hmmm... maybe democracy could really work.
Dear Tom:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the so called "sneak and peak" measures included in the Methamphetamine Anti- Proliferation Act, H.R. 2987 and as a Senate amendment to H.R. 833.
It is my understanding that this language will be removed altogether from H.R. 2987. This should alleviate any concerns regarding privacy in an effort to pass this important piece of legislation to bolster the DEA's ability to combat methamphetamine, increase penalties for amphetamine abuse, ban dissemination of drug recipes, and toughen criminal penalties.
A separate bill, H.R. 833, the Bankruptcy Reform bill, passed the House and was amended in the Senate to include the same provision. A conference committee is currently meeting to iron out the differences between the House passed bill and the Senate amended version. The so-called 'sneak and peak' language is one of the differences being worked out currently. I will consider your comments when the final version of this bill comes to the House for approval. Thank you again for contacting me.
If you want a kid to really get interested in something, use something similar to the Montessori method. Give them something to play with that is a challenge to their intellect, show them how to use it, and let them decide if they want to.
I'm assuming they've already gone through a lot of games, or they wouldn't be interested in a computer at all.
How about you install Corel Linux (easy to use) and point them at some web sites with open source games. After playing the game for long enough, their curiosity will turn to how the thing works.
If I'd had open source when I was 15 I would know ten times as much as I do today. I'd be fluent in a dozen or more languages rather than 3 or 4. I would have much more confidence as a developer because I would have had years to study the code of world-reknowned experts like Linus and Alan.
As far as programming, if they're interested in computers it will eventually roll over into software development - it's natural.
So just give them a box and let them do whatever they want. The opportunity for a developing mind to be unconstrained by limits (not being able to answer questions because of closed software) is going to produce minds brighter than the generations before.
I really envy your kids. If I were almost a teenager and had a cable modem I'd be unstoppable. Is that I good thing or a bad thing?:-)
According to the IB-Architecture list (on egroups I believe) there is an ODBC driver under development that will be open source. A JDBC driver is also under development. The drivers are being written by Jim Starkey, one of the original developers of Interbase who is now back on the project.
The business part of this deal was both lame and boring, but from a development standpoint there was something (for me) to get excited about.
As me and all my buddies well know (I'd say "As everyone knows," but I haven't checked with them), the real money has been in services that fulfill a specific business need. This means databases.
Inprise has Interbase. They also have RAD database development tools that are at or very near the top of their class. They have the AppServer, making it a little easier to deploy and monitor highly scalable n-tier systems.
Corel has Paradox. This was originally a Borland product, but aimed more at end-users than the rest of Borland's tools. So Corel came along and took over development plus sales and distribution.
Why is this important? Borland + Paradox covers all of the aspects of database access and programming, doing a much better job than anything else out there. The report writer in Paradox blows Crystal Reports away, the Query By Example is simpler than SQL and more flexible than the MSQuery BS. (religious wars to/dev/null).
Since Corel is going broke and Inprise doesn't really do end-user type software, does that mean maybe they'll open-source Paradox?
I'm betting that Corel / Inprise have (had?) some sort of a plan to unify database access under Linux. Hopefully *not* the BDE, but it was as good a solution as ODBC, so what the hell...
Whatever it is, it will be the technology that makes Linux work in the corporate world. Don't believe me? What were the effects of dBase, Clipper and Delphi on the DoS / Windoze world? They made DoS / Windoze usable in the business world, that's what.
The accepted way (AFAIK) to make a compatible protocol is to completely clean room engineer it. Why not build a test suite using the published specs (so we can verify that Microsoft actually meets their own specs) and then let distributed.net do a GIANT genetic algorithms search for an algorithm than can meet this spec.
A fairly robust fitness algorithm would have to be developed. The algorithm could start with a current open implementation of Kerberos as it stands without the Microsoft addons. Just do random tweaks (even to a specified part of the code) until the test suite OKs the code.
This may be impossible, or it may be trivial. It should be easy enough to prove that nothing was reverse engineered. Does this get around the DMCA issues at all?
You'd have to have a C interpreter, or an interpreted language that could be translated to/from C reliably.
Just a thought... but it would be a fascinating way to circumvent issues such as this.
I've modified the script so that it works under Interbase (using the isql command-line utility). The script is available at http://www.intellex.com/~wcs/msproj.sql .
But, like another poster said, there's no ODBC driver avail for 6. One of the 5.x or even 4.x drivers might work.
Slashdot Mirror
It's becoming obvious that scan-type engines are having increasing difficulty with the amount of data on the internet. The bandwidth required by search engines will increase exponentially, and at some point it *will* become unworkable.
The other alternative is to have webmasters manage the directory themselves. This is problematic because webmasters have a strong incentive to list their website in as many places as possible. Some pr0n kings would do every single listing if they could.
So you take away the incentive for the listers to list everywhere, or give them a strong enough reason to list only in the correct places. Since the pr0n kings will never get it straight, you'd be better off using "trusted" maintainers. With the wonderful world of PKI cryptography, verifying submissions could be completely automated and your staff of submitters could be *very* large.
So you make it possible for anyone to become a submitter. It can't be easy enough for the pr0n masters to get a new ID every day, but maybe once every three to six months (say).
Then if enough complaints (*authenticated* complaints) are lodged, some sort of distributed arbitration process could decide to revoke a submitter's status - and then remove all of that submitters submissions.
The distributed arbitration process could take the form of a jury of twelve randomly selected submitters (or submitters with a special arbitration rating?). Basically, people could be polled at random, and anyone willing to be on the jury could examine the facts and make a vote. Perhaps a discussion group could be setup for deliberation.
Hmmm... it would be an interesting example of an online society. Would the system really run itself? If anyone has ideas, email me at tom@alterworld.net (put tom-ok in the subject line or it will bounce).
Then you are a rare gem, my friend. Although the fact that your title is "Engineering Director" might be the difference.
If your title were "Recruiter", then ten years of database development in five languages wouldn't hold a candle to six months experience in VB.
I always wondered what happened to those MIS graduates back in school. They seemed a bit strange to us CIS folk - one programming class, lots of spreadsheet classes and (gasp!) management and accounting classes all over the place.
Now I know, they recruit (and manage) those of us who can program! I just don't understand how they can be so clueless - I mean they'd really have to work at it.
Me: "Well, I've done eight years of RAD database development using Paradox and Delphi. I did more
years than that of Quick Basic and Turbo Basic before there even *was* a Visual Basic."
Recruiter: "But have you actually done any development in VB?"
"No, I fired it up, realized that it was just the RAD Way done by MIS types and uninstalled it because it was like making french quisine with kids cereal."
"Well, you're obviously not qualified. I'll get back with you next time my boss asks me how many resumes I have on file."
The real fix, of course, is to find operating systems vendors liable for selling systems which allow attackers to use OS vulnerabilities to take over a system and use it to attack a third party. Note that disclamers in EULAs don't matter in such cases, because the victim isn't the customer of the OS maker, but an unrelated third party. Someone needs to sue Microsoft for gross negligence over this, for selling mass-market operating systems with vulnerabilities years after the problem was identified.
What would your "real fix" do to Linux? It would legislate the old argument of "who can we sue if something goes wrong?" and make it illegal to create or distribute an operating system without someone to blame.
Another illustration of overzealous anti Microsoft fervor setting up a backlash on us. Don't take RIAA's stance - the UCITA is beginning to backfire on them. Just be calm, cool and reasonable. We have absolutely nothing to worry about, and here's why.
We live in a free-market economy - all of Microsofts billions (trillions?) can't compete with a bunch of volunteers giving stuff away. It will stabilize into the hardcore hackers doing what they enjoy (kernel / systems level stuff) and Microsoft and Apple will eventually wind up selling to their real market: non-computer experts. (Well, actually, Apple already does).
So Linux *is* a good thing, and may dominate the world. Microsoft's rise to the top drove the price of hardware down and amount of expertise (learning curve) wound up being less (shorter).
Now Linux will drive the price of software down and force Microsoft to make computers truly easy to use. Computer experts won't need anything from Microsoft or Apple, but my grandma always will.
Pre-Linux Microsoft User Manual: To accomplish your task, insert the cd, click ok, type your name and organization, click next five times, Slect this, select that, click next, enter your CD Key, click next ten more times, then click ok to reboot.
Post-Linux Microsoft User Manual: Get your computer's attention by saying it's name. Say "Download and Install winzip voice plus".
Open-source databases, in general, haven't endured the real-world conditions that Oracle, DB2 and MS-SQL have.
Interbase has. It's paid its dues, been around the block, been sold for hundred of thousands of dollars. And now it's free. See the firebird project on sourceforge for the open source version. Interbase has been used by Motorola for 911, and the army for tanks. It is mission critical.
Compatibility: Interbase / firebird had its SQL interface built to the SQL spec. It's probably impossible to be completely in line with the spec (too much open for interpretation), but it's a very good effort.
Interbase has been around for a long time, supports SQL-92, stored procs, triggers, generators, and has a super-spiffy multigenerational architecture that allows readers and writers to work without blocking each other. Yes, really. Check out Firebird, get involved, make it what you want in an RDBMS.
If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.
The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be.
Therefore the Master says:
I let go of the law,
and people become honest.
I let go of economics,
and people become prosperous.
I let go of religion,
and people become serene.
I let go of all desire for the common good,
and the good becomes common as grass.
It's finally time for Linux to get down to business. There are days when I'm the open-source bigot that everybody else is, but I'm tired as hell of writing applications on Windows to pay the bills.
With Kylix and Firebird (Interbase) I'll be able to write customized business applications for the "Small Business Next Door" to quadruple their efficiency and make my mortgage payment. And I'll do it all without Windows.
Hell yes, I'm here to make some money. I'm really getting fed up with "you should do everything for free". It's wonderful that there are open source projects out there (I have some that are all mine, and plan to write more), but I want to be able to buy the toys, man.
That's what it's all about anyway, right? Toys!
OK, and I'm guessing you think the GPL shouldn't apply to you as well?
Yes, Win2K is the first Microsoft product since MS-DOS 6.22 that doesn't require 3 or 4 reboots per day. I switched to it at work (from Win98), and really like it.
:-)
But since there aren't any device drivers for Win2K, there's really not much difference anyway.
If you're forced to use it at work, just install Cygwin and forget the concept of multiple users and there's not all *that* much difference. Well, except that XF86 4 crashes all the time.
Win2K is really just another fringe OS like BeOS to me.
And besides, OS/X on the desk and Linux in the server and on the power user's desk is a much better idea than Win9x on the desk and NT/2K for the server and power user.
Now we just need Gtk+ to run over VNC as a native network hextile protocol and all of those network devices could just have their pretty interfaces exposed to any viewing device on the network.
So could I surf on my Windows desktop at work looking at vncviewer running on my Linux desktop at home running on top of Gtk+/VNC displayed on my TV while sitting on my couch? (In the house that jack built)
Interestingly, the linked article says nothing about open source other than the title. I'm hoping our Borland employee here has the right story.
I have a couple of points:
1. The Free Pascal Compiler is a fully functional object pascal compiler which compiles for multiple OSs and architectures already. If the CLX libraries are open sourced, then (with some tweaking) you have a fully open source way to compile apps. You don't get the pretty IDE, but the Lazarus project has one in the works. And Borland's IDE is well worth the money.
If you're the type that hates IDEs, then download the free compiler and libraries and go. No big *freaking* deal.
2. C or C++ may be great for writing device drivers and filters, but for doing database apps? C'mon! Delphi's way of doing databases gives you the same easy programming as some of the crappy database-oriented scripting languages (paradox, powerbuilder) with fully compiled (and optimized) native code.
Isn't the attitude that "my tool is best" or "my os is best" the Microsoft way? Didn't we used to hate that?
The internet routes around errors, it should be able to route around marketing as well, right? It's just a more "active" type of error that responds to your defenses.
Unfortunately, with spam it has already turned into a war. Cyberterrorism of the future will involve being able to broadcast spam directly into the heads of a few million hapless Microsoft DirectX Brain (Bob?) users by taking advantage of yet another bug.
But not me, I'll have Wet/GNU/Linux installed in my head with portsentry on full alert. My mind jabbers already, so I might as well install that too...
drsoran wrote a satirical comment: "I agree. I think we need to also legalize murder and rape. [...] God Bless America." I believe (s)he is trying to point out that if we are going to legalize drug use, we might as well legalize murder and rape. I am responding both to drsoran and those with the general attitude that drug use or abuse should be illegal.
My response:
It is sad indeed when the issue is so confused that the idea of harming another person gets mixed up with the right to privacy. These are distinct and separate issues.
I hold these two truths to be self-evident: It is never right to harm someone against their wishes, and it is never right to tell someone what they can and can't do if it has no effect on anyone else.
And it harm none, so let it be.
You can argue all you want that "drug use has social consequences" and you would be right that it does. But mostly because you make it that way. No matter what you say, it is possible for someone to use mind or mood altering chemicals without bothering anybody else. And you have zero moral grounds to stand on trying to stop them.
This all boils down to the neighborly christian attitude that that the "pious" (my very favorite epithet) have every right to tell the "non-pious" how to live their lives. This gentle and loving commentary on my life should, of course, have the full force and weight of law behind it. Because god's laws are higher than man's.
I love the fact that christians don't feel god is judging and damning nearly enough, so they gleefully step in to help him out. "Hey, god! You're slacking off here, my neighbors are having oral sex. If you're not gonna stop it, well I'm calling the cops. No? Well, screw you, god!"
If the elderly had the right to end their lives in dignity, would end-of-life issues be so difficult? Would you rather allow your parents a going away party and a "special drink" or would you rather keep them weak and bed-ridden for ten years against their wishes? Because no matter how much pain you are causing the people you love most, you are doing what you consider "the Right Thing".
(I chose that example because it compares both issues of harming others and a right to privacy. It shows that sometimes you have to do something that doesn't sound right at all to really do the right thing.)
And if you think god's laws are higher than man's, who really wrote those laws? And is hearsay enough evidence to destroy our society? Personally, I don't think so.
For me, experiences with martial arts have always had a strong correlation to software development. Both require an advanced degree of concentration. The chief tool of buddhist "mystics" is meditation, and anyone who tries it for a long period of time learns that the mind is merely another tool.
:-)
A calm mind can explore the farthest reaches of the universe within all of us. Eventually we learn that we can shatter the "Ball of Confusion" that we think we are and become better people, more compassionate, less likely to work for Microsoft.
The mind is a powerful thing, and I truly believe many people live their lives without ever knowing this. Holding thousands of lines of code in the mind like an algorithmic mandala has allowed some people to realize the awesome power that lies just beneath the surface.
Break on through to the other side. Use the code, young padawan.
And the trend in tech schools is to drop the humanities anyway. I know a mechanical engineer who had no humanities, history, philosophy or literature. The closest thing to composition was a technical writing class. She has a BSME, and it was still a 5 year program.
And if you're into corporate paranoia, the big corps don't want people to know about arts and literature anyway. What if they were looking at art instead of working or something?
I think the only classes I had that exposed me to anything new on the liberal arts side of things were Humanities I and II. But the fact that you can identify baroque period music by a moving bassline (and I'm not really sure my memory serves me here) doesn't really seem very important to my search for meaning in life.
Philosophy? Truth is something you have to look for by yourself. Some old fart trying to get into the girls pants teaching philosophy class does me very little good.
Higher education is a joke. Yes, a joke. You don't think so? Ask my health class professor who said it was a good idea to drink cold water after a strenuous workout because the molecules are smaller and the body can absorb them quicker. There wasn't a hint of hesitation among 40-50 students as they dutifully wrote that into their notes. The only jaw on the floor was my own. I didn't go back to that class.
The really funny thing is that if you created a napster / gnutella clone using SOAP over HTTPS, there's very little in the way of an ISP filter or firewall that could be setup to stop this because:
A) It would be indistinguishable from any other HTTPS traffic, unless you had enough raw CPU power to crack the 100,000 or more currently running HTTPS servers in realtime.
B) Since you don't know what is being passed via HTTPS, you can't selectively allow credit card ordering and stop other types of data. There's size, but a large cluster of cooperating clients could get around that.
People were complaining that SOAP routed around corporate firewalls by going through regular HTTP / HTTPS. This whole mess sounds like a good argument FOR an ability to route around firewalls.
My real point here is that there will always be a way to get data from one point to another, even if the types of data are restricted. This is what information theory and encryption are all about!
It's like some Godzilla movie where the rampaging giant monsters finally stop tearing down Tokyo skyscrapers and kill each other.
Go go Godzilla! - Blue Oyster Cult.
To my surprise, the paper clip works quite well under the latest WINE. Along with Microsoft Word.
Who needs a port!
There is a new ODBC driver in the works from Jim Starkey (the original architect of Interbase). Yes, there's a perl module. There's a python module. There's a zope module in the works. The C library is based on DB2 since it was the closest thing to a standard when they were writing it.
Check out www.interbase2000.org, there's even an alpha quality DB-OLE (or whatever the heck it's called) driver.
Free Pascal support seems to be in the works, but since Inprise open-sourced the IB-Express objects for Delphi, maybe they will eventually compile under FPC as well.
The sweetest way to connect is through Jason Wharton's IBObjects using Delphi or BCB. Hopefully these will eventually migrate over to Linux when the Kylix project releases Delphi 6 for Linux in late September.
Interbase's best attributes are: size (this is not bloatware, people!) and reliability (one of the case studies refers to usage in a tank because when the big gun goes, the computer reboots).
The super-niftiest feature is the multigenerational architecture where readers never block writers and writers never block readers. I'm sure other DBMS's have something like this, but Interbase was the first.
Jim Starkey, the "Big Bad Wolf" of Interbase and original author claims to have invented the concept of a BLOB (binary large object) stored in a relational database.
This database has been around for more than 15 years. It's interesting looking at the code - you can compile for some quite rare platforms. What is the Apollo?
Yes, Delphi has pointers. This will be lost in a haze of moderation but I don't care. All object references in Delphi are pointers. They are automagically dereferenced, which is probably where the confusion comes in.
How could Delphi make Windows API calls without pointers? Delphi is a fully natively compiled OO language. The only thing missing is multiple inheritance, which is (quite arguably) not necessary.
So if I start a religious war is that good or bad for my karma? I can't ever seem to remember.
I just don't know what to think about this. I actually got an email response from a member of congress. Hmmm... maybe democracy could really work.
Dear Tom:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the so called "sneak
and peak" measures included in the Methamphetamine Anti-
Proliferation Act, H.R. 2987 and as a Senate amendment to H.R.
833.
It is my understanding that this language will be removed
altogether from H.R. 2987. This should alleviate any concerns
regarding privacy in an effort to pass this important piece of
legislation to bolster the DEA's ability to combat
methamphetamine, increase penalties for amphetamine abuse, ban
dissemination of drug recipes, and toughen criminal penalties.
A separate bill, H.R. 833, the Bankruptcy Reform bill,
passed the House and was amended in the Senate to include the
same provision. A conference committee is currently meeting to
iron out the differences between the House passed bill and the
Senate amended version. The so-called 'sneak and peak' language is
one of the differences being worked out currently. I will consider
your comments when the final version of this bill comes to the
House for approval. Thank you again for contacting me.
Sincerely,
Steve Largent
Member of Congress
No mention of the linking issue though.
If you want a kid to really get interested in something, use something similar to the Montessori method. Give them something to play with that is a challenge to their intellect, show them how to use it, and let them decide if they want to.
I'm assuming they've already gone through a lot of games, or they wouldn't be interested in a computer at all.
How about you install Corel Linux (easy to use) and point them at some web sites with open source games. After playing the game for long enough, their curiosity will turn to how the thing works.
If I'd had open source when I was 15 I would know ten times as much as I do today. I'd be fluent in a dozen or more languages rather than 3 or 4. I would have much more confidence as a developer because I would have had years to study the code of world-reknowned experts like Linus and Alan.
As far as programming, if they're interested in computers it will eventually roll over into software development - it's natural.
So just give them a box and let them do whatever they want. The opportunity for a developing mind to be unconstrained by limits (not being able to answer questions because of closed software) is going to produce minds brighter than the generations before.
I really envy your kids. If I were almost a teenager and had a cable modem I'd be unstoppable. Is that I good thing or a bad thing? :-)
According to the IB-Architecture list (on egroups I believe) there is an ODBC driver under development that will be open source. A JDBC driver is also under development. The drivers are being written by Jim Starkey, one of the original developers of Interbase who is now back on the project.
The business part of this deal was both lame and boring, but from a development standpoint there was something (for me) to get excited about.
As me and all my buddies well know (I'd say "As everyone knows," but I haven't checked with them), the real money has been in services that fulfill a specific business need. This means databases.
Inprise has Interbase. They also have RAD database development tools that are at or very near the top of their class. They have the AppServer, making it a little easier to deploy and monitor highly scalable n-tier systems.
Corel has Paradox. This was originally a Borland product, but aimed more at end-users than the rest of Borland's tools. So Corel came along and took over development plus sales and distribution.
Why is this important? Borland + Paradox covers all of the aspects of database access and programming, doing a much better job than anything else out there. The report writer in Paradox blows Crystal Reports away, the Query By Example is simpler than SQL and more flexible than the MSQuery BS. (religious wars to /dev/null).
Since Corel is going broke and Inprise doesn't really do end-user type software, does that mean maybe they'll open-source Paradox?
I'm betting that Corel / Inprise have (had?) some sort of a plan to unify database access under Linux. Hopefully *not* the BDE, but it was as good a solution as ODBC, so what the hell...
Whatever it is, it will be the technology that makes Linux work in the corporate world. Don't believe me? What were the effects of dBase, Clipper and Delphi on the DoS / Windoze world? They made DoS / Windoze usable in the business world, that's what.
The accepted way (AFAIK) to make a compatible protocol is to completely clean room engineer it. Why not build a test suite using the published specs (so we can verify that Microsoft actually meets their own specs) and then let distributed.net do a GIANT genetic algorithms search for an algorithm than can meet this spec.
A fairly robust fitness algorithm would have to be developed. The algorithm could start with a current open implementation of Kerberos as it stands without the Microsoft addons. Just do random tweaks (even to a specified part of the code) until the test suite OKs the code.
This may be impossible, or it may be trivial. It should be easy enough to prove that nothing was reverse engineered. Does this get around the DMCA issues at all?
You'd have to have a C interpreter, or an interpreted language that could be translated to/from C reliably.
Just a thought... but it would be a fascinating way to circumvent issues such as this.
I've modified the script so that it works under Interbase (using the isql command-line utility). The script is available at http://www.intellex.com/~wcs/msproj.sql .
But, like another poster said, there's no ODBC driver avail for 6. One of the 5.x or even 4.x drivers might work.
uh, its marked for no access, unless you can supply a username other than anonymous?