Linux is very transparent, but that only matters if someone is looking. Twice in the past year, I've submitted patches to the Linux kernel that contained code that was either copyrighted and/or patented by my employer. Both times my patches were accepted.
No offense, but follow-through has been a serious problem for OSS. Look at how many projects in freshmeat are at at version 0.5 and haven't been touched in a year.
That is not a very nice thing to say about Debian. Sarge will be released "When It's Ready"(tm) any year now.
Google Maps is easier to use and looks cooler than MapQuest, but it has a FATAL flaw. When you print Google's color maps on a B&W printer, the highlight color they have chosen to trace the route to your destination is the same color as the streets!! Maybe I should actually report this to them..
I'm still waiting until I can use my mobile phone as my PC. When mobile phones get fast enough, I should be able to dock my phone to a big keyboard and monitor, just like a laptop. My data and apps would always be with me, but I can access them using the best available hardware interface wherever I am. The oqo device is almost there, but I want something that is smaller and a phone.
hmm, maybe I should patent this idea before someone markets it.:)
if Debian shortens its release cycle, where does that put it in the Linux ecosystem? I doubt they will be able to support security updates for multiple stable releases, which is what they would have to do with a short release cycle to maintain the current length of support.
If Debian released more often, I think third-party groups (or companies) could more easily support backporting security patches to the previous stable version of Debian than the current situation where third-party groups are "forward-porting" Debian's unstable development branch by including more recent packages and patches (and creating incompatibilities between those Debian-based distros).
Why not just serve up a separate ie.css file (in addition or instead of your real.css file) depending on the browser's User-Agent string? Couldn't that prevent IE hacks from polluting your real.css file?
Is there anywhere you can get charts showing future share prices? I'm curious to see exactly how long it will take for TIVO to rise on future news--it seems to have happened before the market opened.
that's a funny, but unfortunately not too uncommon story. What was the company? And who is the world would acquire them?! Must have been the CEO's buddy's company..:)
I worked for a startup that was "acquired", but for just $50K by one of the VC's other startups. So in the news, it looks like his funded companies are doing great, but in reality they were just moving his own money from his left pocket to his right.:)
I like that you can get customized news without having register a username+password. My Yahoo wants to lock users in, but Google just wants eyeballs, I guess.
The desktop experience on linux is far better than Windows 3.1, for example. It's better than Win95. It's better, for certain values of better, than OS 9.
Windows 3.1 was released in 1992. So 13 years later, Linux is finally "far better" than Windows 3.1. The good news is that Linux improvement is accelerating. Linux only took 5 years to become "better, for certain values of better" than Mac OS 9, which was released in 1999.
So do you think the hardware guys spent more time up-front creating a better design/spec? Or that the design was just given more testers and scheduled test time? I think software teams aren't as carry (with designs or testing) because they don't have to be. Yes, software engineers are lazy, but most software can be patched (which is difficult for buggy hardware). Contrast the software development processes of VB developers writing Windows desktop apps with embedded software developers. I think the later has a more "hardware-like" development process.
And Debian does have Ruby 1.8.2, I run Debian unstable and I've been using 1.8.2 for a while now.
Try telling that to my web host. They (sanely) use Debian Stable on their servers. Debian Stable only includes Ruby 1.6.7. Why should they use Debian Unstable on production servers?
Even in the mobile phone world, where SVG had more traction than on desktops, Nokia (a big backer of SVG) just made a big deal with Macromedia to put Flash on their phones. Why would Nokia want Flash now? Has Nokia given up on SVG?
I like Linus' new proposal (and I even thought of this years ago), but I think it is mostly psychological. Bugs will be fixed in both 2.6.even and 2.6.odd releases, but with 2.6.even releases "themed" to be stabilizing bugfix releases, kernel developers will focus more on bugfixes and less on pushing out immat ure features. Plus, the 2.6.even releases will increase the rate of kernel releases, so bugs will get fixed sooner. Currently, some bug in 2.6.10 (let's say) wouldn't get fixed until 2.6.11 and users would have to wait for bug fixes AND new features to mature in 2.6.11rc pre-releases.
However, what DOES scare me is that Linus thinks (and he proves it time and time again) that HUGE kernel changes are safe within stable releases. In 2.4, he dumped the VM. In 2.6, he gave the example of switching from 3-level page tables to 4-level page tables. Linus, that is NOT a minor change!
Slashdot Mirror
Linux is very transparent, but that only matters if someone is looking. Twice in the past year, I've submitted patches to the Linux kernel that contained code that was either copyrighted and/or patented by my employer. Both times my patches were accepted.
No offense, but follow-through has been a serious problem for OSS. Look at how many projects in freshmeat are at at version 0.5 and haven't been touched in a year.
That is not a very nice thing to say about Debian. Sarge will be released "When It's Ready"(tm) any year now.
The Coralized site is even slower than the original site?!
Google Maps is easier to use and looks cooler than MapQuest, but it has a FATAL flaw. When you print Google's color maps on a B&W printer, the highlight color they have chosen to trace the route to your destination is the same color as the streets!! Maybe I should actually report this to them..
I'm still waiting until I can use my mobile phone as my PC. When mobile phones get fast enough, I should be able to dock my phone to a big keyboard and monitor, just like a laptop. My data and apps would always be with me, but I can access them using the best available hardware interface wherever I am. The oqo device is almost there, but I want something that is smaller and a phone.
hmm, maybe I should patent this idea before someone markets it.
if Debian shortens its release cycle, where does that put it in the Linux ecosystem? I doubt they will be able to support security updates for multiple stable releases, which is what they would have to do with a short release cycle to maintain the current length of support.
If Debian released more often, I think third-party groups (or companies) could more easily support backporting security patches to the previous stable version of Debian than the current situation where third-party groups are "forward-porting" Debian's unstable development branch by including more recent packages and patches (and creating incompatibilities between those Debian-based distros).
ok, you make a good point. Plus using just one
btw, Zeldman's CSS book is on my Amazon wishlist. Maybe I'll move it to the head of the queue.
Why not just serve up a separate ie.css file (in addition or instead of your real
The third pillar of Longhorn was the Avalon GUI framework, but even that is being backported to Windows XP!
If you are making a web page and you are not coding so that is renders correctly on IE you are a fool. It has 85% market share.
I code to standards. If IE does not display my web site correctly, then it is MICROSOFT, not me, who loses out.
Somehow I doubt people who use Netscape 4 in 2005 are big-spendin' customers. So how much time and dev costs are really worth supporting them?
Is there anywhere you can get charts showing future share prices? I'm curious to see exactly how long it will take for TIVO to rise on future news--it seems to have happened before the market opened.
that's a funny, but unfortunately not too uncommon story. What was the company? And who is the world would acquire them?! Must have been the CEO's buddy's company..
I worked for a startup that was "acquired", but for just $50K by one of the VC's other startups. So in the news, it looks like his funded companies are doing great, but in reality they were just moving his own money from his left pocket to his right.
I'm an American, I don't care about no friggin' soccer.
I'm an American, too. What is soccer?
I like that you can get customized news without having register a username+password. My Yahoo wants to lock users in, but Google just wants eyeballs, I guess.
3 years? My Yahoo launched in 1997. That's 8 years by my reconing.
um, try again: 2005 - 1997 = 3 years
The alternate viewpoint to this article is given by Kuro5hin's "Politics-Oriented Software Development". That article includes advice and insights such as:
Maybe embedded developers are:
1. too busy working to read Slashdot
or 2. too unemployed or broke to afford internet connectivity
The desktop experience on linux is far better than Windows 3.1, for example. It's better than Win95. It's better, for certain values of better, than OS 9.
Windows 3.1 was released in 1992. So 13 years later, Linux is finally "far better" than Windows 3.1. The good news is that Linux improvement is accelerating. Linux only took 5 years to become "better, for certain values of better" than Mac OS 9, which was released in 1999.
i personally don't see this as unethical. the information is already there, it simply isn't linked.
And your bank account information is already there. It simply isn't linked from a public web site.
So do you think the hardware guys spent more time up-front creating a better design/spec? Or that the design was just given more testers and scheduled test time? I think software teams aren't as carry (with designs or testing) because they don't have to be. Yes, software engineers are lazy, but most software can be patched (which is difficult for buggy hardware). Contrast the software development processes of VB developers writing Windows desktop apps with embedded software developers. I think the later has a more "hardware-like" development process.
Unfortunately, fluorescent light is yucky.
And Debian does have Ruby 1.8.2, I run Debian unstable and I've been using 1.8.2 for a while now.
Try telling that to my web host. They (sanely) use Debian Stable on their servers. Debian Stable only includes Ruby 1.6.7. Why should they use Debian Unstable on production servers?
Even in the mobile phone world, where SVG had more traction than on desktops, Nokia (a big backer of SVG) just made a big deal with Macromedia to put Flash on their phones. Why would Nokia want Flash now? Has Nokia given up on SVG?
I like Linus' new proposal (and I even thought of this years ago), but I think it is mostly psychological. Bugs will be fixed in both 2.6.even and 2.6.odd releases, but with 2.6.even releases "themed" to be stabilizing bugfix releases, kernel developers will focus more on bugfixes and less on pushing out immat ure features. Plus, the 2.6.even releases will increase the rate of kernel releases, so bugs will get fixed sooner. Currently, some bug in 2.6.10 (let's say) wouldn't get fixed until 2.6.11 and users would have to wait for bug fixes AND new features to mature in 2.6.11rc pre-releases.
However, what DOES scare me is that Linus thinks (and he proves it time and time again) that HUGE kernel changes are safe within stable releases. In 2.4, he dumped the VM. In 2.6, he gave the example of switching from 3-level page tables to 4-level page tables. Linus, that is NOT a minor change!