AltaVista, when it was the brainchild of a bunch
of bright Digital employees, showing off the
power of their Alpha servers, was a wonderful thing and I loved it. I regarded it, faithfully, as the "source of all
knowledge." It was a true treasure.
Now that it has been bought and sold by such pimps
as Compaq and Remarq, it has become an Internet whore,
and I weep for the wonderful individuals who
poured their hearts into such a wonderful thing.
Now the corporate lawyers are attempting to wring
something from nothing, to pay off the bills, which I can assume are pretty huge. It is so sad,
an ignoble ending for something so worthy. Their old logo, snow-capped mountain peaks, seemed to beckon to purity and reach for a higher plane.
www.altavista.digital.com was cool
www.altavista.remarq.com is not
www.altavista.com is not
In a decent world, Compaq would spin off Digital,
which would re-host Altavista, and the world
would be good again. Yet I am jaded by reality;
goodness is no longer a mitigating factor. The innocence of the
Internet is dead.
Does anyone know what happened to the multi-vendor spec that was proposed last summer as a counter to AIM? Seems nothing has happened since the first couple of press releases.
Was it a real developmental entity, or just a lot of marketing and political posturing?
It would be wonderful to have a standard transport mechanism across devices and different types of nets. It appears that IETF does not consider IM to be a very high priority.
I'm sorry, but after reading the letter, I do not
have the impression that it has either diatribe or
threats. It seems more like a set of simple
suggestions that might benefit the authors.
Of course, the letter is a statement of advocacy,
and it has a point of view. I don't necessarily
agree with everything said, but isn't this a great
example of how the industry should handle this topic, especially when compared to the relatively fascist tactics used by the music industry?
I think this is very refreshing. And even if you don't agree with what they say, this type of enlightened discussion is so much better than the legal tripe that has been in the press lately. It should be used as an example to others.
Slashdot Mirror
Now that it has been bought and sold by such pimps as Compaq and Remarq, it has become an Internet whore, and I weep for the wonderful individuals who poured their hearts into such a wonderful thing.
Now the corporate lawyers are attempting to wring something from nothing, to pay off the bills, which I can assume are pretty huge. It is so sad, an ignoble ending for something so worthy. Their old logo, snow-capped mountain peaks, seemed to beckon to purity and reach for a higher plane.
www.altavista.digital.com was cool
www.altavista.remarq.com is not
www.altavista.com is not
In a decent world, Compaq would spin off Digital, which would re-host Altavista, and the world would be good again. Yet I am jaded by reality; goodness is no longer a mitigating factor. The innocence of the Internet is dead.
Ishmal
Was it a real developmental entity, or just a lot of marketing and political posturing?
It would be wonderful to have a standard transport mechanism across devices and different types of nets. It appears that IETF does not consider IM to be a very high priority.
The link is here.
Of course, the letter is a statement of advocacy, and it has a point of view. I don't necessarily agree with everything said, but isn't this a great example of how the industry should handle this topic, especially when compared to the relatively fascist tactics used by the music industry?
I think this is very refreshing. And even if you don't agree with what they say, this type of enlightened discussion is so much better than the legal tripe that has been in the press lately. It should be used as an example to others.