What you say about Sega vs. TuxBox could be said about IBM's OS/2 vs. Linux/BSD/.... While giant IBM couldn't make a viable operating system, other smaller groups have had great sucess.
While I admit that the situations aren't the same, they are similar enough to make looking into TuxBox -- or a similar system -- a project that is not entirely without value.
We're talking about specialists though. Personally, no matter how good of a kernel programmer Alan Cox is, I don't want him poking
around in my microwaves chips design, because he doesn't know the system. See my point there?
If you haven't yet -- read kernel traffic if you get a chance. Much of this has been covered there and in detail.
To summarize the comments there, Alan (or Linus, or Theo, or...) doesn't have to know about the specifics of the chips in the microwave. I doubt any of them would care to know the specifics of most hardware unless they have it.
Good code is highly portable; 'Bits are bits'.
Sure, different chips will execute the same string of binary information differently, but the design in the original code -- if solid -- will be reflected in the binary when compiled for any target device. (Baring, of course, compiler bugs you'd have to deal with anyway.)
Am I over-simplifying? No doubt. Yet, the design defects corrected in the non-hardware-specific code won't have to be fixed for each and every new piece of hardware.
In many cases, defects found working with a specific piece of hardware might point to flaws in the general code.
Very little programming is necessarily hardware-specific. Most code is either OS or interface not hardware.
The OpenOffice project has a new point-release with XML support as the standard file format. Since much of the code is based on StarOffice, the import/export capabilities are quite good.
OpenOffice isn't ready for prime time, though it compiles and (usually) runs on systems that MS Office can't.
Take a look for yourself, check out the mailing lists, read the docs;
For i86 desktop systems, I agree that it's possible to not pay the MS tax. All of my personal desktop machines have been built from parts...and as such, I've personally avoided the tax.
These concerns vaporize as soon as you have to maintain and buy systems for a company;
In-house labor is usually quite expensive per-machine.
Machines ordered in bulk are usually cheaper and usually have identical hardware.
More limited warranty (if any).
Warranty covers indivual parts, not whole systems.
I'm busy!
There are other reasons, but these alone make the tax something that is a given expense that simply can't be avoided regaurdless of the OS that ends up on the machine.
Notebooks, though, are damn difficult to buy without a pre-installed OS. Those that are available usually have some flavor of Windows installed first, and then wiped clean...so the tax isn't really avoided.
Oh, in that case...let me see. RIAA, Microsoft, lawyers, RIAA, Microsoft, lawyers, RIAA, Microsoft, lawyers, RIAA, Microsoft, lawyers. It is a tought decision, they're soooo similar, but I'd have to say -- definately -- lawyers.
Comdex -- even Fall Comdex -- is and has always been a waste of time. Having a booth is mostly an exercise in showing other companies 'we are important too'.
Personally, the only thing of value are the closed parties and hearing some trivia such as how much it costs to make something (floppy disk = $.03 + machine & moderate labor in the late 80s).
Q. Does Micrographics still host a chili cookoff? That was always a good one.
The last time I went to Comdex, I was the resident geek at a vendor's booth (PC DOS/Windows software). All I rember is that PICK software had the best booth bunnies...much an improvement over the previous year of booring but useful product demos. "Open" ment propriatory Unix at the time, and not a Gnu in site.
If there are any good times, it's now (or maybe 6-12 months ago).
I like Psion's palmtops. I actually owned one of them for a about a month before deciding I'm just too rough with most PDAs...and got rid of it before it became a paper weight.
While the Psion series are sweet, they aren't cheap. This thing retails for about 1/2 the cost of a Psion, though I admit if both were free I'd have a hard time choosing. For now, I'm sticking with my 2MB Palm III.
Just off hand, I remember that there are bad WD IDEs, IDE controllers (various companies), let alone odd BIOS and software interactions between the different parts. It can definately be the hardware sometimes! (Remembers problems with an old laptop.)
So many comments on how Nautilus isn't useful for the true 7eet or even the common user...by self-avowed non-Nautilus users.
I never understood how people can comment on something before even trying it. The pre-releases from a couple days ago aren't as good as what is available now.
The installer works like a charm for RH6/7 users, so that should cover many folks. Source is available for everyone else, with packages showing up over the next few days.
Eazel services are damn nice.
The browser integration works well, though it will make some folks cringe in parts (right clicking on links does nothing for me).
Throughout the whole program are nice touches that are well thought out; side panel tabs, icon stretching, text-in-icon, multiple data-specific views,...
Is it 'too simple'? YES! Is that a bad thing? Gripe gripe gripe...but can you code? Do you have alternate tools? If so, what's so satisfying about complaining?
The version I have is from late last night (EST; east coast USA)...and says 'Nautilus 1.0' in the 'About Nautilus' dialog. It might be a pre-release, though I can't tell.
It's faster, but still has some oddities (I didn't wake up early enough to join in with the Nautilus Bug Day...bummer).
So far, I have problems with the helper applications; mouse over on sound/music files does nothing, double click yeilds an error message though the 'View as Music' option works like a charm.
Since my system is a frankenstein grouping of parts, I've set up a seperate computer to do a 'clean' install of this on. Till then, the problems I've encountered might be caused by something I've done and not the Gnome/Nautilus folks.
This message was posted using Nautilus (Mozilla web page view) while listening to Bruce Hornsby.
How does an NDA like that work? Does everyone in the company have to sign? Or does it just affect employees without their knowledge?
It piggy-backs on your original work contract; as an employee, you (might) have the responsibility to be held to all contracts signed by authorized people in your company. Most of the time I've delt with it, has simply been pointed out to me as part of the employee manual.
Through this program? I don't see it. For one, this is just a broading of the existing program; you go to a MS-run secure site, look at the source on MS's machines, and then leave...taking nothing with you but what you learned. The NDA covers what you learned, so even that's not available to be shared.
I'm surprised more 'paranoid conspiracy theory' posts haven't appeared yet. Be that as it may, the obvious danger here is that the NDA probably has a non-compete clause that would make it hard/impossible to work on other operating systems for a certian number of years.
While the number of developers lost to both comercial and free/open operating systems should be low, we might never know the real loss.
If the NDA covers a whole company -- as the last one I had with MS for Win95 did ^ -- simply being an employee might stifle... well... inovation.
If so, this is a real 'win-win' for Microsoft in the long run.
How often do we discuss employment contracts and non-competes? The lack of talk on this issue here seems to show that NDAs aren't taken very seriously.
Well, they might not be doing too bad. The last keyboard I bought was $5 -- and it's only marginally less comfortable then the $60 Alps Wave I'm typing on right now.
If you figure that the retail markup is 30-50%, this is fairly cheap advertising.
Too bad they aren't taking any more orders for this keyboard!
I'm bored with the whole ST 'universe'. Give me a show with a larger plot that spans a whole season or even multiple seasons.
The lead characters should change over time, get replaced, or even die. There should be real humor and banter amoung the characters. They should carry grudges.
This ST Voyager 'let's see what's new this week' same-old, same-old, just shows how worthless Paramount's 'franchise' has become.
Who would care if Janeway, Paris, or any of the other characters die. They are not 'real' in any sense of the word. They have reset buttons, and spring back at the begining of the next show.
Good 'space' shows are;
Earth: Final Conflict
Babalon 5
Farscape
Lexx
Of these, B5 had the strongest series plot line, leading to the show ending.
I've thought of doing the same thing, and came up with this simple formula that looks to be compelling; focus on a specific business and provide thin clients (custom xterm, food service kiosk, cash registers...) that are both cheap and simple, while all the quality parts are in the server. Leave 'spare' client system(s) on the customer site, with explicit emergency directions if necessary...including the important service you provide in handing any emergency. When/if the cheap client systems fail, you have a chance to offer more services...and you will look like a hero for having thought of how to handle problems.
Why go with cheap clients at all? Expensive ones aren't usually necessary, and can be an up-front cost savings for the customer that will allow you to sell the complete package to begin with.
Investigate specific customer needs, such as Point of Sale (retail) or small offices (accountanting groups for example), and spend the time learning what thier main concerns are. Build systems that these groups would kill for. An ideal customer would be a small franchise company that would need the same equipment; small enough to tackle, with potential future sales to the new owners...and possibly other companies that the different owners have.
I'd love to see parts of the WorkPlace Shell GPLed...yet, much of OS/2 is licenced by both IBM and Microsoft, so the chance of that happening is minimal. If this wasn't a resctriction, there would be porting headaches and that the WPS isn't a natural thing to port to X.
Management is responsible for staffing concerns, not you.
If you are so pivital to the project, then it's management's problem not yours.
If the company is doing so poorly, then the decision will be made for you within the year even if you do nothing.
Leave. Stay. Either way, be honest and remember what you are responsible for and what is out of your control.
Jumping immediately to another interesting company is a really good way to keep your spirits up. If you can bring some of the good people with you, go for it. They'll appreciate it because they know that you aren't responsible for them but will deeply appreciate it. Good for building loyalty and/or friendships.
From what you wrote, you've already made up your mind -- probably a few moments before pressing the submit button.
Slashdot Mirror
Clone - A time-shifted twin.
While I admit that the situations aren't the same, they are similar enough to make looking into TuxBox -- or a similar system -- a project that is not entirely without value.
Has anyone found cheap CDs from another reliable source?
If you haven't yet -- read kernel traffic if you get a chance. Much of this has been covered there and in detail.
To summarize the comments there, Alan (or Linus, or Theo, or ...) doesn't have to know about the specifics of the chips in the microwave. I doubt any of them would care to know the specifics of most hardware unless they have it.
Good code is highly portable; 'Bits are bits'.
Sure, different chips will execute the same string of binary information differently, but the design in the original code -- if solid -- will be reflected in the binary when compiled for any target device. (Baring, of course, compiler bugs you'd have to deal with anyway.)
Am I over-simplifying? No doubt. Yet, the design defects corrected in the non-hardware-specific code won't have to be fixed for each and every new piece of hardware.
In many cases, defects found working with a specific piece of hardware might point to flaws in the general code.
Very little programming is necessarily hardware-specific. Most code is either OS or interface not hardware.
Take a look for yourself, check out the mailing lists, read the docs;
http://www.openoffice.org
These concerns vaporize as soon as you have to maintain and buy systems for a company;
In-house labor is usually quite expensive per-machine.
Machines ordered in bulk are usually cheaper and usually have identical hardware.
More limited warranty (if any).
Warranty covers indivual parts, not whole systems.
I'm busy!
There are other reasons, but these alone make the tax something that is a given expense that simply can't be avoided regaurdless of the OS that ends up on the machine.
Notebooks, though, are damn difficult to buy without a pre-installed OS. Those that are available usually have some flavor of Windows installed first, and then wiped clean...so the tax isn't really avoided.
Oh, in that case...let me see. RIAA, Microsoft, lawyers, RIAA, Microsoft, lawyers, RIAA, Microsoft, lawyers, RIAA, Microsoft, lawyers. It is a tought decision, they're soooo similar, but I'd have to say -- definately -- lawyers.
Comdex -- even Fall Comdex -- is and has always been a waste of time. Having a booth is mostly an exercise in showing other companies 'we are important too'.
Personally, the only thing of value are the closed parties and hearing some trivia such as how much it costs to make something (floppy disk = $.03 + machine & moderate labor in the late 80s).
Q. Does Micrographics still host a chili cookoff? That was always a good one.
The last time I went to Comdex, I was the resident geek at a vendor's booth (PC DOS/Windows software). All I rember is that PICK software had the best booth bunnies...much an improvement over the previous year of booring but useful product demos. "Open" ment propriatory Unix at the time, and not a Gnu in site.
If there are any good times, it's now (or maybe 6-12 months ago).
While the Psion series are sweet, they aren't cheap. This thing retails for about 1/2 the cost of a Psion, though I admit if both were free I'd have a hard time choosing. For now, I'm sticking with my 2MB Palm III.
That's simple. The lawyers.
You don't read Kernel Traffic much, do you? :)
Just off hand, I remember that there are bad WD IDEs, IDE controllers (various companies), let alone odd BIOS and software interactions between the different parts. It can definately be the hardware sometimes! (Remembers problems with an old laptop.)
I never understood how people can comment on something before even trying it. The pre-releases from a couple days ago aren't as good as what is available now.
The installer works like a charm for RH6/7 users, so that should cover many folks. Source is available for everyone else, with packages showing up over the next few days.
Eazel services are damn nice.
The browser integration works well, though it will make some folks cringe in parts (right clicking on links does nothing for me).
Throughout the whole program are nice touches that are well thought out; side panel tabs, icon stretching, text-in-icon, multiple data-specific views, ...
Is it 'too simple'? YES! Is that a bad thing? Gripe gripe gripe...but can you code? Do you have alternate tools? If so, what's so satisfying about complaining?
Forgot to mention my hardware; PII-465, 128mb RAM, Voodoo 3 2000 (never peppy on 2D).
It's faster, but still has some oddities (I didn't wake up early enough to join in with the Nautilus Bug Day...bummer).
So far, I have problems with the helper applications; mouse over on sound/music files does nothing, double click yeilds an error message though the 'View as Music' option works like a charm.
Since my system is a frankenstein grouping of parts, I've set up a seperate computer to do a 'clean' install of this on. Till then, the problems I've encountered might be caused by something I've done and not the Gnome/Nautilus folks.
This message was posted using Nautilus (Mozilla web page view) while listening to Bruce Hornsby.
It piggy-backs on your original work contract; as an employee, you (might) have the responsibility to be held to all contracts signed by authorized people in your company. Most of the time I've delt with it, has simply been pointed out to me as part of the employee manual.
Through this program? I don't see it. For one, this is just a broading of the existing program; you go to a MS-run secure site, look at the source on MS's machines, and then leave...taking nothing with you but what you learned. The NDA covers what you learned, so even that's not available to be shared.
While the number of developers lost to both comercial and free/open operating systems should be low, we might never know the real loss.
If the NDA covers a whole company -- as the last one I had with MS for Win95 did ^ -- simply being an employee might stifle ... well ... inovation.
If so, this is a real 'win-win' for Microsoft in the long run.
How often do we discuss employment contracts and non-competes? The lack of talk on this issue here seems to show that NDAs aren't taken very seriously.
^. Not source.
Well, they might not be doing too bad. The last keyboard I bought was $5 -- and it's only marginally less comfortable then the $60 Alps Wave I'm typing on right now.
If you figure that the retail markup is 30-50%, this is fairly cheap advertising.
Too bad they aren't taking any more orders for this keyboard!
CE isn't NT. Is there any magic that would prevent a PalmOS or Linux Jornada from syncing with Outlook? I can't think of any.
I have 3 SparcStations (two 1s and a 2). Very bumed that they dropped support in the latest version, but not too surprised.
DS9 - Agreed, but only toward the end with the Dominion episodes.
The lead characters should change over time, get replaced, or even die. There should be real humor and banter amoung the characters. They should carry grudges.
This ST Voyager 'let's see what's new this week' same-old, same-old, just shows how worthless Paramount's 'franchise' has become.
Who would care if Janeway, Paris, or any of the other characters die. They are not 'real' in any sense of the word. They have reset buttons, and spring back at the begining of the next show.
Good 'space' shows are;
Earth: Final Conflict
Babalon 5
Farscape
Lexx
Of these, B5 had the strongest series plot line, leading to the show ending.
Why go with cheap clients at all? Expensive ones aren't usually necessary, and can be an up-front cost savings for the customer that will allow you to sell the complete package to begin with.
Investigate specific customer needs, such as Point of Sale (retail) or small offices (accountanting groups for example), and spend the time learning what thier main concerns are. Build systems that these groups would kill for. An ideal customer would be a small franchise company that would need the same equipment; small enough to tackle, with potential future sales to the new owners...and possibly other companies that the different owners have.
I'd love to see parts of the WorkPlace Shell GPLed...yet, much of OS/2 is licenced by both IBM and Microsoft, so the chance of that happening is minimal. If this wasn't a resctriction, there would be porting headaches and that the WPS isn't a natural thing to port to X.
Management is responsible for staffing concerns, not you.
If you are so pivital to the project, then it's management's problem not yours.
If the company is doing so poorly, then the decision will be made for you within the year even if you do nothing.
Leave. Stay. Either way, be honest and remember what you are responsible for and what is out of your control.
Jumping immediately to another interesting company is a really good way to keep your spirits up. If you can bring some of the good people with you, go for it. They'll appreciate it because they know that you aren't responsible for them but will deeply appreciate it. Good for building loyalty and/or friendships.
From what you wrote, you've already made up your mind -- probably a few moments before pressing the submit button.