HTH, HAND - Hope That Helps, Have A Nice Day IANAxxx - I Am Not A (whatever, usually Lawyer) IIRC - If I Recall Correctly AFAIK - As Far As I Know IMO/IMHO - In My Opinion/In My Humble Opinion (also IMnsHO: not so humble)
More can be identified at this handy little Acronym Page.
HTH. HAND.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
For those of you out there who have more pressing needs than a couple dozen MB of storage space and have the wherewithal to come up with your own backup mechanism (ie - those of you with entire servers worth of stuff to stick on the net), I strongly recommend Above.Net.
They are not your hand-holding, do everything for you but walk your terrier type provider... what they do give you is rock solid connectivity, excellent 24 tech support (with linux and BSD types handy to help you debug those remote-crash blues), proactive response to network issues, secured air conditioned (read: really fscking cold) facilities and BLAZING fast pipe.
Obviously, this is the sort of thing for people who want to START a WPP (Web Presence Provider) for other people, or who have a behemoth site that needs enormous pipe (think streaming mp3s =). One contractor of mine hosts around 2 dozen machines there, and after the rather unfortunate escapades which occured at Exodus (another big pipe provider), the switch to above.net was like a hit of pure oxygen after a smoggy LA summer afternoon.
Be advised that this sort of thing doesn't come cheap though. Service and pipe like this comes at a premium... but if your site is raking in the big bucks and pushing enough bits that only top quality will suffice, they're definately worthy of examination.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
MP3 is/was a great intermediate technology, and in many cases is "good enough", but one area (of many!) where mp3 falls down/goes boom is low bitrate encoding (ie: I'm aware of at least one technology in the works to handle this (and in so doing, help alleviate somewhat with other things mp3 doesn't handle well) that's potentially destined for open source use. I would expect there's more in the works I'm not privy to.
Basically,.mp3 will do fine until something better comes along that's supported... then it'll go the way of the LP, the 8 track, etc. For support, all one needs to do is get the major players onboard (nullsoft, real, the xmms gang and maybe mung$oft) and everyone else will pick it up for fear of being left behind.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
You need a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or something. Badly. =)
*BUT*... if you're that hard up (so to speak) for Lara's pixelized nipples, there are hidden goodies in the games where you can get your fill o' Croft pr0n. I can dig up the hidden moves and send 'em to ya in an email if you like =)
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
It's all too easy to build a tool which can so easily be misused by authority in the name of keeping us all safe and secure, yet because there's no mention of the moral or legal ramafications claim that, as the toolmaker, you're entirely innocent of the application. Sounds like the same thing going on with Back Oriface.
Why should the company pretend to be a judge or justice system? That far too dirty a job for most people. It doesn't need to be the law, it can affect basic attitudes about people, labelling some as 'undesirables' based on an collection of observed data. A specialist trained in identifying particular behaviour is still a human, whom people will recognize as having flaws and a particular bias (and act accordingly). Its far more difficult to argue with what is perceived as a 'hard fact' coming from a machine, giving all the parties plausable deniability.
Another possible excerpt from a future courtroom "wrongful death suit" drama...
Security Guard: "I only followed the recommendation the system gave me. It thought he looked suspicious, so I followed standard proceedure and detained him. He became agitated, I subdued him using standard pepper spray... how was I to know he was badly allergic to it?"
Who could be blamed? The security guard? He's just doing his job. The guys who wrote the software? Hey, they just wrote the thing. They don't tell anyone to go soak down some guy who looks suspicious. Yet systems like this WILL affect attitudes directly, by giving a pre-disposition against certain individuals that follow some sort of logic profile. I find this sort of categorization to be distasteful at the very least... and I've no doubt that the creators of this tool have weighed these very same thoughts throughout the development cycle. If they haven't, then its time for a refresher course in Ethics 101. Maybe it's time anyways.
I do hope that there are people out there who can look beyond the simple PR aspects, the zip-wowie-sho-bang eye glittering geek gadgetry gee whiz angles, and see how things like this can directly affect how we look at the world.
... and perhaps more importantly, how the world looks as us.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Ah, little troll, I see you've lost the ability to EXTRAPOLATE.
I read the article, and I am aware of the differences between what it said and what I'm whimsically imagining. The idea that tools such as these could be (and probably will be) used by governments and private organizations as just another means to ostracize and intimidate is not far fetched, and (given the number of replies thus far) is a concept shared by others that read here.
But I guess the slashdotter than can draw her own conclusions from reading and understanding an article is extremely rare.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I didn't say that the salem massacres were Orwellian. I said that if we reverted back to that mode of thinking, as buttressed by an all-seeing, all-knowing hidden camera system, that we'd be in an orwellian nightmare.
The association that you're missing is that the tactic of guilty before innocent based on ad homiem accusations and dubious "proof" (such as what might be derived from these 'smart' observation systems), and that one all-powerful, all-knowing 'ruling class' knows what's best for everyone is common between them. When you think about it, the only difference between the repressive regime in 1984 and the church back in the 1700s is the ability to use technology to discover what EVERYONE is doing and not requiring a snitch to put a person away.
As for the swift and severe punishments... well, we don't stone people or break them (at least, not in the western world), but as governments get more repressive and the whole structure solidifies into ever more rigid modes of thinking, punishments will once against rise to the level of the harsh and cruel. Like Celene Dion. <shudder>
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
This puts an entirely new spin on "Guilty until proven innocent". I can see a typical court case in an unpleasant future where the proceedings will go something like this:
Prosecution: According to our hueristic surveilance system, you were engaging in actions consistant with that of someone who planned on assassinating the High Commander. We know this because we've caught other people who've confessed to this selfsame crime that had the EXACT same movement patterns as you.
Defendant: Look, I was just hung over and heading off for my morning coffee...
Prosecution: Can you PROVE you were hung over? This sounds like a flimsy cover story to mask your true, murderous intensions! Where were you drinking the night before?
Defendant: Uhhh... I don't remember. I was drinking.
Prosecution: Your honor, we'd like to recommend the ultimate penalty... death by forcing the accused to listen to endless hours of Celine Dion albums until his brain leaks out his ears. Unless, of course, the defendant wishes to reveal the number and nature of his co-conspirators and thereby win himself favor in the eyes of the court...
Defendant: No! No! Anything but Celene Dion! I was gonna do it! All the guys I went drinking with were in on it, here... lemme write down the names...
Prosecution: Another triumph for justice...
Okay, this may be a little over the top, but it's not unheard of... the salem witch trials were conducted over little more than people's testimonial and a "known pattern of behavior" in which a witch was believed to engage. Should a system like this ever exist in a fully functional form, where it could be used as a tool directly to indict some poor schmoe, I'd say we'd slipped fully into an Orwellian nightmare and it's time for armed uprising.
Whoop, I better watch out. Maybe they can tell if I'm a potential threat by things I type. I'd better hide my black trenchcoat while I'm at it...
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I'm starting to feel old now. Too many people I've heard of are starting to drop off the face of the planet. Won't be long before I'll be suffering a new physical ailment every day and living on a fixed income.
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If the FBI contacted the ISP, and he did such a thing, he could be found guilty for obstruction of justice, even if the act of justice being performed by the FBI was illegal.
No charges were laid, in fact, nothing LEGALLY went down at this ISP. They just hauled it off "because". It'd be difficult to make obstruction charges stick when there isn't even a warrant issued, or any other sort of legal mandate.
The right thing to do is not "avoid the problem", but rather to confront it head on, and stand up for your rights. Running to some mystical data haven won't solve the problem. The FBI is an agent of the country with the most firepower. Fortunately, it's also one of the most democratic countries in the world.
Canada's a "mystical data haven"? Cool. Maybe I can become some sort of bit-swami. I wonder where I can find one of those funky hats...
Keep in mind that I'm not in the USA, and thus I'm not bound by their oft misguided laws... I'm in Canada, bound by our own oft misguided laws. The people who mirrored the site weren't in the states either, IIRC (IANAG and IHASMTBW - I Am Not A Geographer and I Have A Shaky Memory To Begin With... so I might be wrong). This guy didn't run. He complained to the media (one of the most successful ways for individuals to enact change, though not necessarily the type they want!) and we individuals picked up the rest. Looks to me like the standard route-around system worked just fine.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Well, more grumbling never hurts. Mabie it'll eventually get loud enough that a bunch of people will actually get together and *do* something.
You mean like these guys protesting the potential corporate nation-states attempting to come to existance via the WTO? (See earlier posting about riots in Seattle)
I live in Vancouver, and I remember watching the news the other day thinking "You know, there's so many people there with so many diverse points of view, but one thing in common: They're pissed off about the WTO trying to get government style powers. I'll bet these WTO types will get an up close and personal look at one of the major problems governments have to deal with... armed uprisings."
(Yes, I know there hasn't been any shooting yet, but then the conference is only a couple days old. Maybe the wingnuts couldn't get those.308 hollowpoints from Zellers over the weekend.;)
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
In a situation like this, flaming does very little. It's not like there's a bunch of people out there who actually trust and love the FBI (unless they're really REALLY devoted X-Files fans;), so all the flaming does is piss people off and add a little to the general grumblings about big government gone bad and fuel conspiracy theorists.
The best way, IMO, to handle problems like this was what I (among several) suggested as the most direct solution: Mirror the site in an area outside FBI jurisdiction. As recent times have shown, once something is released to the 'net, it's pretty damn hard to get it off again. Throw up a couple mirror sites and that information is forever guaranteed to stay in circulation.
Well, maybe not forever, but at least until people get bored of it.;)
<sarcasm>Save the flame wars for something useful, like the linux vs. bsd "Fork!", "Spoon!" debate.</sarcasm>
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I saw a CG movie which I thought (when I was just a little chillin' protogeek) was every bit as cool as Toy Story... it's called Tron.
I rented it the other day so I could do a nostalgia trip. Yes, it wallowed in cheese, yes, watching Cmdr. Sherridan and Ambr. Mollari run around in refitted hockey gear tossing frisbees around was mighty odd, but I'm still impressed with the graphics they were able to generate for this movie circa 1980.
I bet there's a fair number of puter geeks of my age who's first 3-d modelling attempt was a Recognizer or game tank.;)
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Sexiest hardware in existance. I suppose that's the problem with pricing yourself up in the high end though, no decent market share.
Mind you, from all the VARs and such I know and hear complain, margins on hardware are slim going on nonexistant right now for just about everyone aside from maybe Intel and... uh... Intel.
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When was the last big riot in the states? The OJ thing? If that wasn't directly related to the government I dunno what is...
I haven't actually seen the site. I may never do so. But from the sounds of it, its just some guy with a conspiracy theory about the grunts stirring up shit, presumably to give the appearance of ligitimacy to some kind of martial law. Big fuckin' whoop.
The conspiracy minded would think the FBI has something to hide with this sort of thing, of course. Personally, I don't attribute to malice what can be sufficiently explained as incompetance.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Get some out of country bandwidth and plop the site down. I doubt the RCMP would bust a site talking about rioting in the states on y2k. In fact, we might read it and chuckle quietly to ourselves.;)
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Size large, grade-a kudos to these guys and all the others on the research team which have given the public an order-of-magnitude reduction in transistor gate size.
Pretty ballsy move. I expect some beancounters at the university must be just a weeeee bit choked right now.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Re:Incomplete definition of "Commercial Software"
on
FreeBSD at COMDEX
·
· Score: 1
Okay, a more pendantic definition:
I use a fully GPL'd kernel (as part of a distribution utilizing a mixture of predominantly GPL'd and some non-GPL open source and occasionally non-OSS commercial products) and GPL'd tools (GCC, GDB, et al)...
Keep in mind that the above companies' distributions are not GPL'd because, IIRC, distributions aren't really unique products in and of themselves to be GPL'd... IANAL, I could be wrong.
Even if commercial stuff is included... so? I don't have a problem with that. I don't expect or require every tool I enjoy the use of to be open source or free. I'm up close and personal with the reality that to eat, you need money. I make my money with providing custom code to suit people's custom needs. I there's custom code in linux distros to suit people's needs (like a nice purdy installer for the podunks who only know windows), then ducky for them, and people who need it/are willing to pay for it are welcome to.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Incomplete definition of "Commercial Software"
on
FreeBSD at COMDEX
·
· Score: 2
Commercial software is not just software built to be sold outright as a self-contained product. It can also be software built to generate revenue as part of a service or help reduce costs in-house. There are far more companies hiring programmers to build such systems than there are hiring programmers to produce code for public sale.
I am not now, nor do I ever plan, nor does my contractor ever plan, to sell the software I've written for them... However, they will USE that software (built on the back of GNU tools) to make a buttload of cash. Well, hopefully, because then they'll hire me to make more stuff for them.
As it turns out, one of the elements of the software I've written is actually conceptually based around an open source, GPL'd tool... my version is (in my humble opinion) more robust in its implementation. It's about as clean-room an implementation as one will find in the OSS environment, and as it makes use of no actual GPL'd code I'm under no geas to GPL it and re-release. However, I do feel a moral obligation to the people who helped make these tools available for me to return the favor, and thus I will be taking steps to release it (or a somewhat scaled down version of it which doesn't implement some of the proprietary elements which would be useless outside of that environment) to the community at large.
In a case like this, everyone wins. I program and get paid (I win). The company I wrote the software for uses it and produces a service for which they obtain a revenue stream (They win). The OSS community will get software more advanced than what they had made freely available to them (We win)... and I get the good vibes (and yes, the ego strokes) for giving good code to those who can appreciate it (I win... again! Sweet!). About the only losers I can think of are corporate types looking to pad their bottom line with what amounts to no-cost labour. I can't say I'm all that sorrowful for them.
On a more personal note:
I personally try to use whatever OS seems best for the job. Given my specialization in Linux issues, I probably see Linux as the best answer to the problems I personally face (either as an individual or as a subcontractor) more often than a person in a BSD environment might. I expect anyone who doesn't have exactly equivalent experience in ALL OSes will have a proportionally difficult time suggesting a given OS from a purely objective standpoint.
The offshoot of this, of course, is the whole nasty Us vs. Them ideological idiocy... A byproduct of community bonding, a fear of the unknown, and a fear of having training and specialization being rendered slowly moot. I understand that it's a powerful motivation to slam others based on thier OS choice, or assume the snooty, superior air of someone who feels (s)he knows the One True Way®... It's been my misfortune to encounter an over-abundance of BSD advocates who suffer the ill of being insufferable, and who have (inadvertently?) disposed me AGAINST using or contributing to the BSD project, in spite of my desire to remain objective (Hey, even though I know it's impossible, I'll still dare to try).
Please, Tom, try to avoid this more in the future. One catches more flies with honey than vinegar, and your posts are well on the path from the aesthetic to the ascorbic. Of course, Brett's prior flame-bouyant posts have gone well beyond ascorbic, and are hovering somewhere between sulfuric and that stuff that comes squirting out of H.R.Geiger aliens, but that's just MHO.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Yes, but if you continue that quote on to where the humor is apparent, you'll also note that the JOB he said he'd do would be (to paraphrase):
I'd happily sit on a tropical island and play Quake all day for 2 million a year (plus benefits) if Microsoft foots the bill.
I'll try to find the exact quote, but the above is fairly close. I dimly recall it being on linux-kernel a long long lonnnng time ago.
Ethics had nothing to do with the statement as I remembered it. It was a joke (possibly a half joke), to which most people replied "Hell yeah, give ME $2M a year to sit and play quake and I'll drop everything else too!".
Would people actually do it? I dunno. I probably would, but I'm already a corporate whore so I'd probably not lose much sleep over it;) I mean... I'd still dis MS, but I'll take thier money, sure! They wouldn't miss it, and I'd enjoy it immensely.
Sadly, the odds of MS sending some archfiend out to wave a couple megs american under my nose are just slightly better than my arms detaching themselves and flying off into the sunset whilst covered in tiramisu.
-- rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Slashdot Mirror
IANAxxx - I Am Not A (whatever, usually Lawyer)
IIRC - If I Recall Correctly
AFAIK - As Far As I Know
IMO/IMHO - In My Opinion/In My Humble Opinion (also IMnsHO: not so humble)
More can be identified at this handy little Acronym Page.
HTH. HAND.
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
If so, what would come squishing out?
(shovel and closepin on standby)
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They are not your hand-holding, do everything for you but walk your terrier type provider... what they do give you is rock solid connectivity, excellent 24 tech support (with linux and BSD types handy to help you debug those remote-crash blues), proactive response to network issues, secured air conditioned (read: really fscking cold) facilities and BLAZING fast pipe.
Obviously, this is the sort of thing for people who want to START a WPP (Web Presence Provider) for other people, or who have a behemoth site that needs enormous pipe (think streaming mp3s =). One contractor of mine hosts around 2 dozen machines there, and after the rather unfortunate escapades which occured at Exodus (another big pipe provider), the switch to above.net was like a hit of pure oxygen after a smoggy LA summer afternoon.
Be advised that this sort of thing doesn't come cheap though. Service and pipe like this comes at a premium... but if your site is raking in the big bucks and pushing enough bits that only top quality will suffice, they're definately worthy of examination.
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Basically, .mp3 will do fine until something better comes along that's supported... then it'll go the way of the LP, the 8 track, etc. For support, all one needs to do is get the major players onboard (nullsoft, real, the xmms gang and maybe mung$oft) and everyone else will pick it up for fear of being left behind.
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You need a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or something. Badly. =)
*BUT*... if you're that hard up (so to speak) for Lara's pixelized nipples, there are hidden goodies in the games where you can get your fill o' Croft pr0n. I can dig up the hidden moves and send 'em to ya in an email if you like =)
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Why should the company pretend to be a judge or justice system? That far too dirty a job for most people. It doesn't need to be the law, it can affect basic attitudes about people, labelling some as 'undesirables' based on an collection of observed data. A specialist trained in identifying particular behaviour is still a human, whom people will recognize as having flaws and a particular bias (and act accordingly). Its far more difficult to argue with what is perceived as a 'hard fact' coming from a machine, giving all the parties plausable deniability.
Another possible excerpt from a future courtroom "wrongful death suit" drama...
Who could be blamed? The security guard? He's just doing his job. The guys who wrote the software? Hey, they just wrote the thing. They don't tell anyone to go soak down some guy who looks suspicious. Yet systems like this WILL affect attitudes directly, by giving a pre-disposition against certain individuals that follow some sort of logic profile. I find this sort of categorization to be distasteful at the very least... and I've no doubt that the creators of this tool have weighed these very same thoughts throughout the development cycle. If they haven't, then its time for a refresher course in Ethics 101. Maybe it's time anyways.
I do hope that there are people out there who can look beyond the simple PR aspects, the zip-wowie-sho-bang eye glittering geek gadgetry gee whiz angles, and see how things like this can directly affect how we look at the world.
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I read the article, and I am aware of the differences between what it said and what I'm whimsically imagining. The idea that tools such as these could be (and probably will be) used by governments and private organizations as just another means to ostracize and intimidate is not far fetched, and (given the number of replies thus far) is a concept shared by others that read here.
But I guess the slashdotter than can draw her own conclusions from reading and understanding an article is extremely rare.
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The association that you're missing is that the tactic of guilty before innocent based on ad homiem accusations and dubious "proof" (such as what might be derived from these 'smart' observation systems), and that one all-powerful, all-knowing 'ruling class' knows what's best for everyone is common between them. When you think about it, the only difference between the repressive regime in 1984 and the church back in the 1700s is the ability to use technology to discover what EVERYONE is doing and not requiring a snitch to put a person away.
As for the swift and severe punishments... well, we don't stone people or break them (at least, not in the western world), but as governments get more repressive and the whole structure solidifies into ever more rigid modes of thinking, punishments will once against rise to the level of the harsh and cruel. Like Celene Dion. <shudder>
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Whoop, I better watch out. Maybe they can tell if I'm a potential threat by things I type. I'd better hide my black trenchcoat while I'm at it...
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"Staggggggerrrrr LEFT... Stagggggggerrrr RIGHT... Jump! Jump!"
I'm starting to feel old now. Too many people I've heard of are starting to drop off the face of the planet. Won't be long before I'll be suffering a new physical ailment every day and living on a fixed income.
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No charges were laid, in fact, nothing LEGALLY went down at this ISP. They just hauled it off "because". It'd be difficult to make obstruction charges stick when there isn't even a warrant issued, or any other sort of legal mandate.
Canada's a "mystical data haven"? Cool. Maybe I can become some sort of bit-swami. I wonder where I can find one of those funky hats...Keep in mind that I'm not in the USA, and thus I'm not bound by their oft misguided laws... I'm in Canada, bound by our own oft misguided laws. The people who mirrored the site weren't in the states either, IIRC (IANAG and IHASMTBW - I Am Not A Geographer and I Have A Shaky Memory To Begin With... so I might be wrong). This guy didn't run. He complained to the media (one of the most successful ways for individuals to enact change, though not necessarily the type they want!) and we individuals picked up the rest. Looks to me like the standard route-around system worked just fine.
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You mean like these guys protesting the potential corporate nation-states attempting to come to existance via the WTO? (See earlier posting about riots in Seattle)
I live in Vancouver, and I remember watching the news the other day thinking "You know, there's so many people there with so many diverse points of view, but one thing in common: They're pissed off about the WTO trying to get government style powers. I'll bet these WTO types will get an up close and personal look at one of the major problems governments have to deal with... armed uprisings."
(Yes, I know there hasn't been any shooting yet, but then the conference is only a couple days old. Maybe the wingnuts couldn't get those .308 hollowpoints from Zellers over the weekend. ;)
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The best way, IMO, to handle problems like this was what I (among several) suggested as the most direct solution: Mirror the site in an area outside FBI jurisdiction. As recent times have shown, once something is released to the 'net, it's pretty damn hard to get it off again. Throw up a couple mirror sites and that information is forever guaranteed to stay in circulation.
Well, maybe not forever, but at least until people get bored of it. ;)
<sarcasm>Save the flame wars for something useful, like the linux vs. bsd "Fork!", "Spoon!" debate.</sarcasm>
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I rented it the other day so I could do a nostalgia trip. Yes, it wallowed in cheese, yes, watching Cmdr. Sherridan and Ambr. Mollari run around in refitted hockey gear tossing frisbees around was mighty odd, but I'm still impressed with the graphics they were able to generate for this movie circa 1980.
I bet there's a fair number of puter geeks of my age who's first 3-d modelling attempt was a Recognizer or game tank. ;)
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Hey grits guy... at least take a page out of the history of the Meept and actually create an account.
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Mind you, from all the VARs and such I know and hear complain, margins on hardware are slim going on nonexistant right now for just about everyone aside from maybe Intel and... uh... Intel.
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(little tyop there)
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I haven't actually seen the site. I may never do so. But from the sounds of it, its just some guy with a conspiracy theory about the grunts stirring up shit, presumably to give the appearance of ligitimacy to some kind of martial law. Big fuckin' whoop.
The conspiracy minded would think the FBI has something to hide with this sort of thing, of course. Personally, I don't attribute to malice what can be sufficiently explained as incompetance.
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There is an RCMP detachment just down the street from me though. Maybe they're listening in.
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Pretty ballsy move. I expect some beancounters at the university must be just a weeeee bit choked right now.
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I use a fully GPL'd kernel (as part of a distribution utilizing a mixture of predominantly GPL'd and some non-GPL open source and occasionally non-OSS commercial products) and GPL'd tools (GCC, GDB, et al)...
Keep in mind that the above companies' distributions are not GPL'd because, IIRC, distributions aren't really unique products in and of themselves to be GPL'd... IANAL, I could be wrong.
Even if commercial stuff is included... so? I don't have a problem with that. I don't expect or require every tool I enjoy the use of to be open source or free. I'm up close and personal with the reality that to eat, you need money. I make my money with providing custom code to suit people's custom needs. I there's custom code in linux distros to suit people's needs (like a nice purdy installer for the podunks who only know windows), then ducky for them, and people who need it/are willing to pay for it are welcome to.
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I use a GPL'd OS (Linux) and GPL'd tools (GCC, GDB, et alia) to build completely proprietary, closed-source NastyWare©. I have no doubt that there are some vitriolic bastids out there who're now hunting down a picture of me so they can mark a big, red X over my face for having admitted as such.
I am not now, nor do I ever plan, nor does my contractor ever plan, to sell the software I've written for them... However, they will USE that software (built on the back of GNU tools) to make a buttload of cash. Well, hopefully, because then they'll hire me to make more stuff for them.
As it turns out, one of the elements of the software I've written is actually conceptually based around an open source, GPL'd tool... my version is (in my humble opinion) more robust in its implementation. It's about as clean-room an implementation as one will find in the OSS environment, and as it makes use of no actual GPL'd code I'm under no geas to GPL it and re-release. However, I do feel a moral obligation to the people who helped make these tools available for me to return the favor, and thus I will be taking steps to release it (or a somewhat scaled down version of it which doesn't implement some of the proprietary elements which would be useless outside of that environment) to the community at large.
When I release it, I'll release it under GPL... partially because the original package was GPLed, partially because I don't like the idea of Immoral Megacorp© taking my code, slapping thier own label on it, and selling my efforts for thier profit. Of course, they might do their own clean re-implementation, in which case their code is theirs and there's no flies on them, so to speak.
In a case like this, everyone wins. I program and get paid (I win). The company I wrote the software for uses it and produces a service for which they obtain a revenue stream (They win). The OSS community will get software more advanced than what they had made freely available to them (We win)... and I get the good vibes (and yes, the ego strokes) for giving good code to those who can appreciate it (I win... again! Sweet!). About the only losers I can think of are corporate types looking to pad their bottom line with what amounts to no-cost labour. I can't say I'm all that sorrowful for them.
On a more personal note:
I personally try to use whatever OS seems best for the job. Given my specialization in Linux issues, I probably see Linux as the best answer to the problems I personally face (either as an individual or as a subcontractor) more often than a person in a BSD environment might. I expect anyone who doesn't have exactly equivalent experience in ALL OSes will have a proportionally difficult time suggesting a given OS from a purely objective standpoint.
The offshoot of this, of course, is the whole nasty Us vs. Them ideological idiocy... A byproduct of community bonding, a fear of the unknown, and a fear of having training and specialization being rendered slowly moot. I understand that it's a powerful motivation to slam others based on thier OS choice, or assume the snooty, superior air of someone who feels (s)he knows the One True Way®... It's been my misfortune to encounter an over-abundance of BSD advocates who suffer the ill of being insufferable, and who have (inadvertently?) disposed me AGAINST using or contributing to the BSD project, in spite of my desire to remain objective (Hey, even though I know it's impossible, I'll still dare to try).
Please, Tom, try to avoid this more in the future. One catches more flies with honey than vinegar, and your posts are well on the path from the aesthetic to the ascorbic. Of course, Brett's prior flame-bouyant posts have gone well beyond ascorbic, and are hovering somewhere between sulfuric and that stuff that comes squirting out of H.R.Geiger aliens, but that's just MHO.
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
I'd happily sit on a tropical island and play Quake all day for 2 million a year (plus benefits) if Microsoft foots the bill.
I'll try to find the exact quote, but the above is fairly close. I dimly recall it being on linux-kernel a long long lonnnng time ago.
Ethics had nothing to do with the statement as I remembered it. It was a joke (possibly a half joke), to which most people replied "Hell yeah, give ME $2M a year to sit and play quake and I'll drop everything else too!".
Would people actually do it? I dunno. I probably would, but I'm already a corporate whore so I'd probably not lose much sleep over it ;) I mean... I'd still dis MS, but I'll take thier money, sure! They wouldn't miss it, and I'd enjoy it immensely.
Sadly, the odds of MS sending some archfiend out to wave a couple megs american under my nose are just slightly better than my arms detaching themselves and flying off into the sunset whilst covered in tiramisu.
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)
Personally I like struct dumb by[sizeof member]. Muhahahahaha...
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rickf@transpect.SPAM-B-GONE.net (remove the SPAM-B-GONE bit)