Make no mistake, this business is NOT about meeting customer demand.
Right, that's how you become the most profitable company in the world. And before you go about your boiler plate "monopoly abuse" response, remember that MS was not born with marketshare - they earned it by meeting customer demand.
Part of the reason a company doesn't want their customer to compile the source is quality control and support. If the customer has compile problems, then MS has to support it. If the customer has problems with their compile version of the code, MS has to determine whethor or not the codebase was modified at all as the issue may not be MS's issue if it was.
As long as they are compensated and treated the same as Americans. Humans are not a commodity. H1B's generally come from desperate situations so of course they _will_ work for a lot less than Americans, but that doesn't mean that it's ethical to exploit the desperate situation in which they came from.
Instead, MSFT is releasing IIS6, which is pretty much a rewrite with a huge focus on security. We'll see a year from now how it fairs, but it looks promising.
Personally, I think the MS GUI peaked at Windows 2000, and went decidedly downhill with XP.
And that is your opinion. When I say the "Blue Gree Red" candy crap I said the same thing. Just last week I bought a Sony laptop which had WinXP and it was my first time really using the OS. Thankfully this OS is skinned, so dealing with that color combo is trivial. After giving the OS AND the new UI a fair shot (I did NOT revert to "classic mode"), I actually like it a lot better than my Win2K box. The grouped task bar is really nice (now I see why IE doesn't have tabbed browsing), the new start menu drove me nuts so I switched it to "classic" for a while, then switched back. Now it's growing on me. The larger window control icons (Close, Maximize, Minimize) are very welcome when using a laptop's less-than-precise pointing device.
Sure, I get pissed off when I can't figure out how to get to something because I'm so used to where it was in Win2K, but that doesn't make XP worse, that makes me used to 2K. If after using XP for a month I still can't figure it out, well then it's unintuitive. However, different does not equal unintuitive. The XP GUI is by all means not perfect, and XP as a whole seems like a "point" release from Win2K - in many cases it's not worth the money to upgrade from a Win2K box. However, I'm happy with it on my laptop. YMMV.
Whethor or not one is better than the other is not my point - that's a whole discussion that is way outside of the scope of this topic.
I didn't address the definition of event driven programming because I saw that others replied in regards to this topic. I can't give you an exact definition (I'm not a programming dictionary), but I can give you a simple example from my experiences.
An event is simply that, an event. It could be a mouse click, for example. An event handler is just that - a handler for that event. So, I can attach one or more function/method/subroutine to a given event via the handler. This essentially allows you to modify the behavior of an object without having to code it within the object. If you had a button object, for example, you would not hard-code the behvior for a mouse click, rather, you attach handlers in which are relevant to the context of that button (eg: the "Close" button would have an event handler that would close the application, whereas the "Edit" button would pass the user to an Edit screen).
Web application development by its own is certainly a valid and needed expertise.
Okay - we're on the same page. Just becareful because sometimes a Web app developer is abbreviated into Web Developer which is very different from a Web Designer (graphics/html - whis is also valid, just not as a "programmer").
Your implication that being "OO" and "strong typed" makes software somehow superior or is "better software engineering" does not hold water.
I agree - that's not what I intended to communicate. My point is that the differences between "traditional desktop software" and web software are narrowing more than ever partly because of platforms ASP.NET. The truth of the matter is, most every GUI is OO, and aside from a few exceptions (like Perl TCL:TK apps) most are strongly typed and event driven. I understand that this comparison is narrow in scope and doesn't cover other area's of programming (eg: scripting, embedded, device driver, gaming, etc.), but within the realms of IT (where Web Software is most relevant) I fealt that the comparison to Desktop Software was most relevant.
Why? The XBox Live is doing incredibly well. XBox Live has a higher subscription rate then any other console's online system. The only reason the volume isn't there (I think they've surpassed 300K users) is because there just aren't that many XBox's to begin with.
Unlimited funding (or nearly so) does have a way of keeping unsuccessful buisness ventures alive.
This is an intellectually dishonest statement for the following reasons:
A) $2B allocated (not spent) over a period of at least 2 years is not a lot of funding to break into the console business (or in any saturated market). Heck, Sony invested over $1B in chip manufacturing alone for the PS2 - a cost that MS doesn't even incur because they buy chips from Intel.
B) Nobody can determine if the XBOX is an unsuccessful business venture this early in the game. Wait until about a year after their next-gen console comes out and only then can we start to see if the long term investment in this sector paid off.
You are correct. Certain games that require more resources (eg: MMORPG's) would cost more, but your typical FPS/Racer/etc. type games will probably never incur an extra cost. Furthermore, the XBox live system is still more convenient because you are still logging in to one system with a unified interface accross games, and a unified billing process to make it very easy to manage. I don't want seperate monthly bills from EA, Sony, Capcom, etc.
You guys are not willing to work for this price range.
No, I'm not. Because I'm a professional, and I'm definitely worth my high salary to my employer. And so are you, and so are the talented folks in India.
For example: Google became the best search engine not by trying to get the cheapest talent, but by valueing employee's as PEOPLE, not as a COMMODITY.
Programmers in India are in a tight spot, because they virtually have no choice but to work for less then they're worth. However, I'd hope that everyone demands compensation relative to their worth to their employer.
Remember, working for less doesn't mean that you're a more humble person, it means that CEO's, executives, and VC's can buy a bigger boat next year.
The perennial "web programmer" and "web designer" and so on is out of work because there is no more market for them.
I may agree with the "web designer" designation, but web application development positions are still in high demand (relatively speaking). Most all IT departments are moving towards "no-deploy" web-based software. Programming software for the web is not a lesser form of programming software for a client. Heck, with platforms like ASP.NET (fully OO, compiled, strongly typed, event driven), the only difference is the GUI itself.
Re:It matters that Microsoft bought it.
on
Virtual PC 6 Review
·
· Score: 1, Funny
...after I calmed down I started to think rationally...
As far as power efficiency, it's called PowerNow from AMD. My Sony Vaio w/XP2000+ seems to stay around 500mhz and drops to the high 300's during really idle times. The clock adjustment happens 30 times per second, so there is no noticeable lag when you need the performanc. For example, the second I hit "compile" I immediately get a full 1.67Ghz of speed.
Some people just aren't genetically programmed to be fit...
No, some people just aren't genetically programmed to eat McDonald's twice a day and drink 4+ can't of Mountain Dew in one coding session. You'd be surprised how much this crap will screw with your metabolic rate, which in turn makes it (initially) much harder to maintain a healthy level of fitness.
Here's a summary of replies that understandy why this is better than a ~$15 CD:
A) You are paying for 12 songs you want, not 2 or 3 songs plus a few OK and a few crappy ones (depending on artist).
B) A benefit of point (A) - you don't have to buy 12 songs of the same artist or genre. Part of the price is flexibility.
C) You don't get a physical CD (or "token", as you call it). Extra manufactured crap (plastic) taking up space in my room, car, and office is not what I need. Obtaining 1000's of songs without taking up any more space than my iPod is much more effeciant, let alone environmentally sound.
D) Try before you Buy. Few retail chains allow you to try the music before you buy it, and those that do are generally limited to more mainstream music. This method allows you to preview the music, AND have the instant gratification of owning it the second you click "buy". Sure, you can preview music on CDNOW, but then you have to wait for your purchase to be delivered.
What makes you say that Boeing would write a GPL program for the DOD?
That's not the point. Read the post that I was replying to. The statement made was in regards to the quality of Linux, and how many "serious programming eyeballs" where looking over Linux, and how we'd benefit tremendously with the improvements made from Linux by said programmers. I simply dissagree.
It is the BSD license...
Stop right there - I didn't say anything about the BSD license, or any other license for that matter. I'm just pointing out a scenerio where the GPL fails - I am not contending that BSD is any better or worse.
This is good news as it means that GNU/Linux will have another set of *very careful* eyeballs looking through the code.
Not necessarily. There is nowhere in the GPL that forces you to give away your source to the world - it only forces you to distribute (or make easily available) the source to those that you are selling/giving the binaries. So, unless Boeing plans on giving us their software (ya right!), we won't benefit at all. Rather, all of the donated work is benefiting a profiting corporation without any form of compensation. This is where the GPL fails IMHO.
Open Office for Windows reads.doc files just fine.
No it doesn't. Whenever a client sends me a contract in Word I have to ask my roommate to print it for me, because when I print from Open Office I get a bunch of garbage half of the time. I'd pay the ~$300+ (OEM) for MS Office in a heartbeat if it weren't for the security issues.
Slashdot Mirror
Make no mistake, this business is NOT about meeting customer demand.
Right, that's how you become the most profitable company in the world. And before you go about your boiler plate "monopoly abuse" response, remember that MS was not born with marketshare - they earned it by meeting customer demand.
Part of the reason a company doesn't want their customer to compile the source is quality control and support. If the customer has compile problems, then MS has to support it. If the customer has problems with their compile version of the code, MS has to determine whethor or not the codebase was modified at all as the issue may not be MS's issue if it was.
As long as they are compensated and treated the same as Americans. Humans are not a commodity. H1B's generally come from desperate situations so of course they _will_ work for a lot less than Americans, but that doesn't mean that it's ethical to exploit the desperate situation in which they came from.
Instead, MSFT is releasing IIS6, which is pretty much a rewrite with a huge focus on security. We'll see a year from now how it fairs, but it looks promising.
Personally, I think the MS GUI peaked at Windows 2000, and went decidedly downhill with XP.
And that is your opinion. When I say the "Blue Gree Red" candy crap I said the same thing. Just last week I bought a Sony laptop which had WinXP and it was my first time really using the OS. Thankfully this OS is skinned, so dealing with that color combo is trivial. After giving the OS AND the new UI a fair shot (I did NOT revert to "classic mode"), I actually like it a lot better than my Win2K box. The grouped task bar is really nice (now I see why IE doesn't have tabbed browsing), the new start menu drove me nuts so I switched it to "classic" for a while, then switched back. Now it's growing on me. The larger window control icons (Close, Maximize, Minimize) are very welcome when using a laptop's less-than-precise pointing device.
Sure, I get pissed off when I can't figure out how to get to something because I'm so used to where it was in Win2K, but that doesn't make XP worse, that makes me used to 2K. If after using XP for a month I still can't figure it out, well then it's unintuitive. However, different does not equal unintuitive. The XP GUI is by all means not perfect, and XP as a whole seems like a "point" release from Win2K - in many cases it's not worth the money to upgrade from a Win2K box. However, I'm happy with it on my laptop.
YMMV.
Whethor or not one is better than the other is not my point - that's a whole discussion that is way outside of the scope of this topic.
I didn't address the definition of event driven programming because I saw that others replied in regards to this topic. I can't give you an exact definition (I'm not a programming dictionary), but I can give you a simple example from my experiences.
An event is simply that, an event. It could be a mouse click, for example. An event handler is just that - a handler for that event. So, I can attach one or more function/method/subroutine to a given event via the handler. This essentially allows you to modify the behavior of an object without having to code it within the object. If you had a button object, for example, you would not hard-code the behvior for a mouse click, rather, you attach handlers in which are relevant to the context of that button (eg: the "Close" button would have an event handler that would close the application, whereas the "Edit" button would pass the user to an Edit screen).
Web application development by its own is certainly a valid and needed expertise.
Okay - we're on the same page. Just becareful because sometimes a Web app developer is abbreviated into Web Developer which is very different from a Web Designer (graphics/html - whis is also valid, just not as a "programmer").
Your implication that being "OO" and "strong typed" makes software somehow superior or is "better software engineering" does not hold water.
I agree - that's not what I intended to communicate. My point is that the differences between "traditional desktop software" and web software are narrowing more than ever partly because of platforms ASP.NET. The truth of the matter is, most every GUI is OO, and aside from a few exceptions (like Perl TCL:TK apps) most are strongly typed and event driven. I understand that this comparison is narrow in scope and doesn't cover other area's of programming (eg: scripting, embedded, device driver, gaming, etc.), but within the realms of IT (where Web Software is most relevant) I fealt that the comparison to Desktop Software was most relevant.
So make it free...
Why? The XBox Live is doing incredibly well. XBox Live has a higher subscription rate then any other console's online system. The only reason the volume isn't there (I think they've surpassed 300K users) is because there just aren't that many XBox's to begin with.
Unlimited funding (or nearly so) does have a way of keeping unsuccessful buisness ventures alive.
This is an intellectually dishonest statement for the following reasons:
A) $2B allocated (not spent) over a period of at least 2 years is not a lot of funding to break into the console business (or in any saturated market). Heck, Sony invested over $1B in chip manufacturing alone for the PS2 - a cost that MS doesn't even incur because they buy chips from Intel.
B) Nobody can determine if the XBOX is an unsuccessful business venture this early in the game. Wait until about a year after their next-gen console comes out and only then can we start to see if the long term investment in this sector paid off.
You are correct. Certain games that require more resources (eg: MMORPG's) would cost more, but your typical FPS/Racer/etc. type games will probably never incur an extra cost. Furthermore, the XBox live system is still more convenient because you are still logging in to one system with a unified interface accross games, and a unified billing process to make it very easy to manage. I don't want seperate monthly bills from EA, Sony, Capcom, etc.
You guys are not willing to work for this price range.
No, I'm not. Because I'm a professional, and I'm definitely worth my high salary to my employer. And so are you, and so are the talented folks in India.
For example: Google became the best search engine not by trying to get the cheapest talent, but by valueing employee's as PEOPLE, not as a COMMODITY.
Programmers in India are in a tight spot, because they virtually have no choice but to work for less then they're worth. However, I'd hope that everyone demands compensation relative to their worth to their employer.
Remember, working for less doesn't mean that you're a more humble person, it means that CEO's, executives, and VC's can buy a bigger boat next year.
The perennial "web programmer" and "web designer" and so on is out of work because there is no more market for them.
I may agree with the "web designer" designation, but web application development positions are still in high demand (relatively speaking). Most all IT departments are moving towards "no-deploy" web-based software. Programming software for the web is not a lesser form of programming software for a client. Heck, with platforms like ASP.NET (fully OO, compiled, strongly typed, event driven), the only difference is the GUI itself.
...after I calmed down I started to think rationally...
:-)
You must be new here
As far as power efficiency, it's called PowerNow from AMD. My Sony Vaio w/XP2000+ seems to stay around 500mhz and drops to the high 300's during really idle times. The clock adjustment happens 30 times per second, so there is no noticeable lag when you need the performanc. For example, the second I hit "compile" I immediately get a full 1.67Ghz of speed.
Some people just aren't genetically programmed to be fit...
No, some people just aren't genetically programmed to eat McDonald's twice a day and drink 4+ can't of Mountain Dew in one coding session. You'd be surprised how much this crap will screw with your metabolic rate, which in turn makes it (initially) much harder to maintain a healthy level of fitness.
Considering the fact that Microsoft killed Corel
Considering what fact? Your opinion? MS invested in Apple too - is that why Apple is doing so well?
I appreciate a good discussion on the issues at hand, but you lose all credibility when you spout off conspiracy theory's as "fact".
Here's a summary of replies that understandy why this is better than a ~$15 CD:
A) You are paying for 12 songs you want, not 2 or 3 songs plus a few OK and a few crappy ones (depending on artist).
B) A benefit of point (A) - you don't have to buy 12 songs of the same artist or genre. Part of the price is flexibility.
C) You don't get a physical CD (or "token", as you call it). Extra manufactured crap (plastic) taking up space in my room, car, and office is not what I need. Obtaining 1000's of songs without taking up any more space than my iPod is much more effeciant, let alone environmentally sound.
D) Try before you Buy. Few retail chains allow you to try the music before you buy it, and those that do are generally limited to more mainstream music. This method allows you to preview the music, AND have the instant gratification of owning it the second you click "buy". Sure, you can preview music on CDNOW, but then you have to wait for your purchase to be delivered.
You simply tell the compiler "When this method is called, do this first (or afterwards)."
// ...
Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point, but can't this be accomplished via OOP?
override MyMethod() {
base.MyMethod();
}
From the _article_ -
The desktop is clean similar to its predecessor, XP.
If Boeing distributes GPL'd code to the US Army it also must give any third party the source if they ask for it.
But OUR version of Linux will not get anything out of it - that's my point.
What makes you say that Boeing would write a GPL program for the DOD?
That's not the point. Read the post that I was replying to. The statement made was in regards to the quality of Linux, and how many "serious programming eyeballs" where looking over Linux, and how we'd benefit tremendously with the improvements made from Linux by said programmers. I simply dissagree.
It is the BSD license...
Stop right there - I didn't say anything about the BSD license, or any other license for that matter. I'm just pointing out a scenerio where the GPL fails - I am not contending that BSD is any better or worse.
This is good news as it means that GNU/Linux will have another set of *very careful* eyeballs looking through the code.
Not necessarily. There is nowhere in the GPL that forces you to give away your source to the world - it only forces you to distribute (or make easily available) the source to those that you are selling/giving the binaries. So, unless Boeing plans on giving us their software (ya right!), we won't benefit at all. Rather, all of the donated work is benefiting a profiting corporation without any form of compensation. This is where the GPL fails IMHO.
Open Office for Windows reads .doc files just fine.
No it doesn't. Whenever a client sends me a contract in Word I have to ask my roommate to print it for me, because when I print from Open Office I get a bunch of garbage half of the time. I'd pay the ~$300+ (OEM) for MS Office in a heartbeat if it weren't for the security issues.
Hey, it's open source - fix the bug yourself!