You're right on the money to be bullish on this technology. The web has changed almost every significant business in America, and created some serious new ones. There's no going back, and the demand for talent, capital, and equipment is going to continue to rise.
This downturn could turn into a recession that lasts two-three years - during that time most investors will be scared off of the tech market. Those who stay long in this market are going to reap huge rewards.
This is just a bump on the road to a tech-dominated economy.
I for one am stuanchly opposed to "voter advocacy/empowerment" groups who solicit neighborhoods to get people to vote. Its one thing to give an old lady a ride to the voting booth, but its quite another to canvas voters who have not considered the issues or the candidates.
In the same vein, I believe mandatory voting, as required in some nations, is ridicuoous. I don't want people voting simply to keep themselves from getting fined.
Who has been wasting their time building a linux DTP program?
This market was locked up by Quark and Adobe years ago, and no one is interested in getting invloved with a new vendor at this point, particularly on a platform that has no color support, no support for high-end printing and lithography equipment.
Ugh! Is there ONE person/company in the linux world who is actually trying to build something that someone else didn't build five years ago???
Are you seriously comparing Gnome and KDE to the Mac? Try some missing featues like, uhm, drag and drop, application-aware documents, and other standbys that have been on Windows and the Mac for the better part of a decade.
Its hubris to think that KDE is even the equivalent of Windows, let alone OSX.
The Linux kernel is increasing support for desktop user space applications. USB, Firewire, DRI (for 3d/fx thus far), etc.
Yawn - who cares if none of the device vendors support linux out of the box? For example, consider the logitech USB webcam. It has a nice little applet included for taking photos and movies...on Windows. When is the linux version expected...never?
Projects like GNOME, KDE, and other desktop environments are burning up community efforts like wildfire.....Office suites are being released like mad.
AND NONE OF THESE PRODUCTS IS REMOTELY COMPETITIVE WITH MS OFFICE.
Thats my entire goddam point - these toys are still years behind the current crap you like to deride on Windows, and is at least five years behind what OSX will bring to the desktop.
I could continue this tirade,
Please don't, we've already conlcuded that you're a fanboy.
Linux has suffered similar problems to the Macintosh: people avoid buying them because "there just isn't enough software for them." They
proceed to then buy Windows
Oh come on, this is ridiculous. There is not a significant market of people who seriously consider linux and windows simultaneously when making purchase decisions.
Most linux users want nothing to do with windows (or have a windows box available for the things they need it for), and most windows users only have a vague idea what linux actually is.
Linux is only a mass consumer product insofar as Solaris or FreeBSD are mass consumer markets, and the markets these products actually compete in has almost nothing to do with the windows/mac market.
What I'm looking for is to be able to read my email anywhere I can find an internet cafe or airport kiosk.
Since I can't even predict what OS they'll be running or what device, the bottom line assumption is that a web browser with javascript support will be available, which makes web email my ownly choice.
Do you use e-mail? Is your mail editor a desktop app? What about your text editor?
Email reading is no longer necessarily a desktop-bound app - in fact, I use Yahoo Mail because I want my email available wherever I go - not just wherever I can find someone running Mutt who is willing to let me create and edit a fetchmailrc file so I can access my POP account.
I think email is one of those applications where your argument is weakest - web based email services have improved dramatically, and some even offer encryption.
What if you don't want your contact list on someone
else's server where they can see it (opinion piece in e-week on this)?
Uh, most desktop apps these days (in a corporate setting at least), store data on the network, so its a little late for those conerns. I don't know of any major corporation where user data is solely on the local drive. Its simply an issue of whether that network is a closed corporate network or one that is accesible anywhere. Of course some data is sensitive enough that you do not want it openly available on the web - in those cases you can employ security measures or keep it on a closed network (although arguable this is still insecure).
I would argue that for most data, the convenience of having it accesible everywhere (with reasonable security provided by SSL) is preferrable to closed internal networks (where users break the closure of the network daily by copying data insecurely to palm pilots or x-drive or i-drive, etc).
Taking data off the local net and putting it on your palm pilot is not good security. So far I have found three palm pilots in airports, one belonging to a Sun exec who shall remain nameless.
At least with reference to contact management, desktop apps are dead. Anyone who needs to actually manage their contacts is likely mobile enough to need the contact data available on the road, which makes a web-based solution natural.
As for office apps, this is a dead business. Anyone who needs Office already has it. Why people even bother with this is beyond me - you'd think the lukewarm response to Applix, KOffice, StarOffice, etc. would demonstrate how little demand there actually is for office suites on linux.
Its web application developers who have the opportunities in front of them - why address one platform when you can address all of them? Look at salesforce.com to see where apps are heading - people want this stuff on the network.
Outside of web browsing, the desktop app is dead, RIP.
The highways have long been a butcher shop, and this hasn't resulted in fewer people using cars, highways, etc. Obviously you would have to have more stringent requirements for licensing, somewhere between the current requirements for a car license (do you have a pulse?) and a plane license (sort of difficult).
From what I can gather of the nebulous.Net architecture, MS essentially has developed bindings for most major languages (or plans to), unfortunately, its proprietary, its vapor, and it will likely suck in any case.
Java's syntax is ridiculously verbose. I understand having some degree of verbosity is useful for maintaining legibility, but come on, Java's syntax is over the top with respect to this.
While I prefer perl's compact syntax, I think for most people Python offers a useful comprimise.
Writing code in Java is only going to get you RSI.
I happily give my vote someone who actually
maintains some integrity.
Its easy to take the high ground when you have no hope in hell of ever being elected.
Ontario's NDP rode the high horse for years and then finally got elected in the early nineties. They came crashing down to earth with all the scandal, scum, grift, and influence peddling that surrounds every mainstream party.
Of course, since they wouldn't shutup about how moral they were all those years in opposition, the voters essentially voted the party out of existance on a national scale in a few years.
One of the functions of government is to factor in social obligations to its people, especially the ones who need the most
help.
Nowhere in any document describing the foundations and obligations of the American government will you find anything referring to your statement. You're thinking of France.
A purely economical standpoint leads to a corporate strategy, not a national one. Or in other words, a fascist state.
You seem like a lefty - read some Chomsky and you'll see that we already have that, and the government is the chief culprit.
You do *not* want to maximize the total output of a national economy. That's why the Fed has been trying to slow us down.You're making an implicit correlation between inflation and productivity that doesn't necessarily exist.
As Brin explained, top-heavy taxation leads to redistribution of wealth through charitable giving.
And so yes, the richest Americans should pay most of the
taxes, and no, they shouldn't get a tax break, because darnit, they don't need the help!
That has nothing to do with the issue. Even ECON 101 will give you more insight on the nature of taxation.
We already have a tax surplus, so right off, there is no need to soak anyone, regardless of income.
Secondly, there are a raft of issues that you haven't even considered, like investment vs. consumption, proportionate taxation, etc.
Taxation has nothing to do with "getting back" at people who are wealthier than you - it is an integral part of the eceonomy and should be managed as dispassionately as possible - which means as much as it pains you to say - rich people are an asset to the economy, and how their wealth is taxed in proportion to other citizens should be considered from a perspective of utility and fairness.
Its pretty simple - America is becoming more and more dependent on the top 10% to cover government expenditures, even though the top 10% consume the fewest government social services.
Yes, the rich should pay more than the poor, but only to a certain point - the rich should be treated fairly too. This bolshevik crap that the rich should be taxed to death has been the undoing of most European economies.
The wealthy are being disproporionately taxed, but they are also disproporionately benifiting from the society
How so? The wealthy use far fewer social services. If you look at the government as an organization that provides essential services to parts of the population, the rich certainly partake in fewer services than other segments.
Slashdot Mirror
Go back and read the slash article on Mojo - its utterly convoluted and without the necessary userbase to make it worth the hassle.
This downturn could turn into a recession that lasts two-three years - during that time most investors will be scared off of the tech market. Those who stay long in this market are going to reap huge rewards.
This is just a bump on the road to a tech-dominated economy.
Go back and look at how many automobile manufacturers there were in the US in the 1920s and 1930s - over four hundred. How many are there now?
And guess how many people were pronouncing the death of the automobile industry when those companies were dying off a dozen at a time??
Turnover is going to be common for the website business, since the barriers to entry are still lower than most traditional businesses.
This is just the beginning of what will become a huge industry. I'm still long on tech.
In the same vein, I believe mandatory voting, as required in some nations, is ridicuoous. I don't want people voting simply to keep themselves from getting fined.
Ugh!!! I had programs to do that on the Amiga in the 80s!!
ChilliWare is doomed. There is no demand for a linux program to print community fliers.
This market was locked up by Quark and Adobe years ago, and no one is interested in getting invloved with a new vendor at this point, particularly on a platform that has no color support, no support for high-end printing and lithography equipment.
Ugh! Is there ONE person/company in the linux world who is actually trying to build something that someone else didn't build five years ago???
Oh, I see there is.
Cheap knockoffs a decade too late to save unix.
Are you seriously comparing Gnome and KDE to the Mac? Try some missing featues like, uhm, drag and drop, application-aware documents, and other standbys that have been on Windows and the Mac for the better part of a decade.
Its hubris to think that KDE is even the equivalent of Windows, let alone OSX.
The Linux kernel is increasing support for desktop user space applications. USB, Firewire, DRI (for 3d/fx thus far), etc.
Yawn - who cares if none of the device vendors support linux out of the box? For example, consider the logitech USB webcam. It has a nice little applet included for taking photos and movies...on Windows. When is the linux version expected...never?
Projects like GNOME, KDE, and other desktop environments are burning up community efforts like wildfire.....Office suites are being released like mad.
AND NONE OF THESE PRODUCTS IS REMOTELY COMPETITIVE WITH MS OFFICE.
Thats my entire goddam point - these toys are still years behind the current crap you like to deride on Windows, and is at least five years behind what OSX will bring to the desktop.
I could continue this tirade,
Please don't, we've already conlcuded that you're a fanboy.
Oh come on, this is ridiculous. There is not a significant market of people who seriously consider linux and windows simultaneously when making purchase decisions.
Most linux users want nothing to do with windows (or have a windows box available for the things they need it for), and most windows users only have a vague idea what linux actually is.
Linux is only a mass consumer product insofar as Solaris or FreeBSD are mass consumer markets, and the markets these products actually compete in has almost nothing to do with the windows/mac market.
What I'm looking for is to be able to read my email anywhere I can find an internet cafe or airport kiosk.
Since I can't even predict what OS they'll be running or what device, the bottom line assumption is that a web browser with javascript support will be available, which makes web email my ownly choice.
Email reading is no longer necessarily a desktop-bound app - in fact, I use Yahoo Mail because I want my email available wherever I go - not just wherever I can find someone running Mutt who is willing to let me create and edit a fetchmailrc file so I can access my POP account.
I think email is one of those applications where your argument is weakest - web based email services have improved dramatically, and some even offer encryption.
What if you don't want your contact list on someone else's server where they can see it (opinion piece in e-week on this)?
Uh, most desktop apps these days (in a corporate setting at least), store data on the network, so its a little late for those conerns. I don't know of any major corporation where user data is solely on the local drive. Its simply an issue of whether that network is a closed corporate network or one that is accesible anywhere. Of course some data is sensitive enough that you do not want it openly available on the web - in those cases you can employ security measures or keep it on a closed network (although arguable this is still insecure).
I would argue that for most data, the convenience of having it accesible everywhere (with reasonable security provided by SSL) is preferrable to closed internal networks (where users break the closure of the network daily by copying data insecurely to palm pilots or x-drive or i-drive, etc).
Taking data off the local net and putting it on your palm pilot is not good security. So far I have found three palm pilots in airports, one belonging to a Sun exec who shall remain nameless.
At least with reference to contact management, desktop apps are dead. Anyone who needs to actually manage their contacts is likely mobile enough to need the contact data available on the road, which makes a web-based solution natural.
As for office apps, this is a dead business. Anyone who needs Office already has it. Why people even bother with this is beyond me - you'd think the lukewarm response to Applix, KOffice, StarOffice, etc. would demonstrate how little demand there actually is for office suites on linux.
Its web application developers who have the opportunities in front of them - why address one platform when you can address all of them? Look at salesforce.com to see where apps are heading - people want this stuff on the network.
Outside of web browsing, the desktop app is dead, RIP.
The highways have long been a butcher shop, and this hasn't resulted in fewer people using cars, highways, etc. Obviously you would have to have more stringent requirements for licensing, somewhere between the current requirements for a car license (do you have a pulse?) and a plane license (sort of difficult).
You could go over the docs, download SmallEiffel, and crank out some code, but the fact that you are highly unlikely to use it in a useful manner.
The mindshare for Eiffel is miniscule to nonexistant, and its opportunity to make an impact on the language scene came and went many years ago.
Basically, its a dead language.
From what I can gather of the nebulous .Net architecture, MS essentially has developed bindings for most major languages (or plans to), unfortunately, its proprietary, its vapor, and it will likely suck in any case.
While I prefer perl's compact syntax, I think for most people Python offers a useful comprimise.
Writing code in Java is only going to get you RSI.
PARC is a relic of another era, and even as a research center, it has been relegated to imagining the ultimate photocopier.
Uh, no - the govt brought the case against them, not the other way around.
i agree that boies and klein and the doj are wasting your money on the case though.
Its easy to take the high ground when you have no hope in hell of ever being elected.
Ontario's NDP rode the high horse for years and then finally got elected in the early nineties. They came crashing down to earth with all the scandal, scum, grift, and influence peddling that surrounds every mainstream party.
Of course, since they wouldn't shutup about how moral they were all those years in opposition, the voters essentially voted the party out of existance on a national scale in a few years.
HUH? Investments count as inherited wealth. Are you saying old people should blow their money on fast cars and televisions?
Nowhere in any document describing the foundations and obligations of the American government will you find anything referring to your statement. You're thinking of France.
A purely economical standpoint leads to a corporate strategy, not a national one. Or in other words, a fascist state.
You seem like a lefty - read some Chomsky and you'll see that we already have that, and the government is the chief culprit.
You do *not* want to maximize the total output of a national economy. That's why the Fed has been trying to slow us down.You're making an implicit correlation between inflation and productivity that doesn't necessarily exist.
As Brin explained, top-heavy taxation leads to redistribution of wealth through charitable giving.
Which is utter gibberish.
Gates and Ballmer currently not receiving welfare is my supporting evidence. Yours?
That has nothing to do with the issue. Even ECON 101 will give you more insight on the nature of taxation.
We already have a tax surplus, so right off, there is no need to soak anyone, regardless of income.
Secondly, there are a raft of issues that you haven't even considered, like investment vs. consumption, proportionate taxation, etc.
Taxation has nothing to do with "getting back" at people who are wealthier than you - it is an integral part of the eceonomy and should be managed as dispassionately as possible - which means as much as it pains you to say - rich people are an asset to the economy, and how their wealth is taxed in proportion to other citizens should be considered from a perspective of utility and fairness.
Yes, the rich should pay more than the poor, but only to a certain point - the rich should be treated fairly too. This bolshevik crap that the rich should be taxed to death has been the undoing of most European economies.
How so? The wealthy use far fewer social services. If you look at the government as an organization that provides essential services to parts of the population, the rich certainly partake in fewer services than other segments.
Why? The top 10% probably consume about 1% of government expenditures for social programs. The consumers of those programs should be supporting them.