How much of Direct X was written by Microsoft?
on
MacOS X DP3
·
· Score: 2
MS HAS innovated. They have put out a lot of crappy products, but the HAVE innovated. Take Direct3D for example.
From what I understood, some of the APIs in the "Direct family" were actually created by companies which Microsoft subsequently acquired. Same with Active Server Pages (ASP). Unfortunately, I don't have a firsthand source..:-|
There was a chart with the results of a third-party stress test, which showed that the average uptime for Windows 95 was 2.5 days, NT 4 was 5.4 days, and Windows 2000 was 90 days (and counting...the test machine was still running)
I wonder if there is more information about this or these particular stress tests. If they are not internal Microsoft tests, it would be interesting to run them on the Linux development kernels.
How much dedicated stress testing do people really do for Linux development kernels? I know Microsoft "prides itself" in the stress tests it runs on its internal NT builds.
If these guys can do some good HCI work, perhaps taking some of the better concepts from OS/2 and NeXTstep, and actually create a usable and powerful "document manager," this seems to me to be quite a worthy task.
Remember, these "top designers" worked on General Magic's cumbersome "Main Street" UI metaphor. To switch apps, you would have to walk "outside and down a virtual Main Street to find the correct building/app. yuck...
Before someone says, "oh yeah can just add a purty theme for GNOME/KDE/X", I've never seen an X theme that doesn't look like Windows 3.1. Because the X themes and apps are so disconnected, there cannot be smoothly integrated. Maybe GNOME is working on this..??
Even with the best window managers out there, linux still ends up looking like shit compare to the MacOS, BeOS, or even Win2K.
I completely agree, but why is this? Why do all X themes look butt ugly?
We've all seen these before, but compare them and think, "What is Aqua doing that GNOME is not?" Nothing! Both screenshots are simple desktop+explorer shots. Yet somehow the Aqua screen looks like da bomb and GNOME looks like shite.
If Python uses whitespace to separate code blocks, does it treat tabs and spaces the same? Must you indent exactly N spaces? What if I tab-indent one line and then space-indent the next?
The GNU/HURD was started before Linux, yet Linux has rocketed past it. I don't expect HURD to ever be widely used. There are few userspace advantages for the HURD over Linux. Plus Linux has reached huge critical mass. Expect Linux development to speed up, not slow down!:-)
<I>the "Linux killer" is likely to be some sort of advanced AI interface that recognizes natural language (spoken or written) and learns about the user well enough to anticipate most requests. Of course, the PC as we know it will be considered old-fashioned; we'll have wearables, pocketables and smart appliances </I>
These are all applications. There is nothing preventing Linux from running new AI or natural language interfaces. Linux is so modular and free, expect it to <I>help</I> information appliances, not to be killed by them! Remember how much Linus has been talking about PDAs over the past year.
Microsoft's engineers were often stumped with problems that only a small hotel full of only three days or so of testing; imagine what millions of users in months of continuous running will find. Win2k's bug list is so large that you have to search for your problem at their site rather than all the known issues being made public through a definitive list. I for one would want to read that list before I bet my e-business site on it. Try running a check build of Win2k and ready the output from WinDbg. Note all of the errors flying by, filling WinDbg's 30,000 line buffer size. </i>
I used to work at Microsoft as a test developer for NT5 (before it was renamed Windows 2000). I can attest that Soldack's complaints are all true! Windows 2000 is a fragile house of cards. Only about 50% of reports bugs are be fixed. About 25% of reported bugs are closed as "uh-dont-know-it-works-for-me-you-sniveling-tester -so-lets-pretend-the-bug-doesnt-exist". This is why I left Microsoft. I later worked at a company that licensed the source code for Microsoft Visual C++ IDE. This code was the WORST code I have ever read (and fixed bugs in). Microsoft software is crappier than you think. Of course, all software is pretty crappy, but at least Linux lets you do something about it.
Microsoft's engineers were often stumped with problems that only a small hotel full of only three days or so of testing; imagine what millions of users in months of continuous running will find. Win2k's bug list is so large that you have to search for your problem at their site rather than all the known issues being made public through a definitive list. I for one would want to read that list before I bet my e-business site on it. Try running a check build of Win2k and ready the output from WinDbg. Note all of the errors flying by, filling WinDbg's 30,000 line buffer size. </i>
I used to work at Microsoft as a test developer for NT5 (before it was renamed Windows 2000). I can attest that Soldack's complaints are all true! Windows 2000 is a fragile house of cards. Only about 50% of reports bugs are be fixed. About 25% of reported bugs are closed as "uh-dont-know, works-for-me-you-sniveling-tester". This is why I left Microsoft. Microsoft software is crappier than you think. Of course, all software is pretty crappy, if you think about it.. At least Linux lets you do something about it.
If Rob deletes the "Bruce Perens." account, then the imposter will simply create a new account. Deleting the account doesn't quiet him; it just gives him extra attention. At least we know the "Bruce Perens." account is fake and can warn other people.
async i/o code is now in the tcp/ip stack with a feature called i/o completion ports,... Uh, I got the i/o completion ports info from a guy inside Microsoft.
I/O Completion Ports were introduced in Windows NT 3.51, not Windows 2000.
why is the best software writing organization on earth unable to produce innovative interfaces, when small commercial software companies do so with regularity (if not always with commercial success)? The answer is relatively simple: The Open Source movement has no feedback loop to end-users, and no imperative to create one.
I think this is the author's fundamental mistake. The developers of successful Open Source projects are its users. The user has a software itch that must be scratched. No one else is going to do it. Most Open Source developers don't get paid to write their software. They code for personal enjoyment. Can someone think of an example Open Source project where the developers are not users?
Dave Cutler still works at Microsoft.
on
FreeBSD VM Design
·
· Score: 2
From what I hear, Dave Cutler took some time off from Microsoft to play with his racecars. Now he is developing Win64, the 64-bit Windows 2000 vaporware.
So you can't have tyranny since it infringes on basic liberties, and you can't have democracy because the majority will usually be wrong. What's left? How about governing yourself and leaving others alone. There's no government like no government.
You imply that the US is a democracy, which is incorrect. The US is a democratic republic, a compromise between "democracy by idiots" and "tyranny by tyrants". In the US, we get a selection of tyrants from which to choose. >;-)
I recently read an article about living in Silicon Valley. The article focused on people with non-tech jobs, such as service jobs and teachers. Housing is so scarce and expen$ive that the Silicon Valley school district is considering a plan to build "project housing" for teachers. Their teachers cannot afford to live in the area, so the school district would offer housing as a job benefit.
What if the school district put that housing money into their teacher salaries? I don't know what the "solution" is. This are some crazy times and Silicon Valley is a surreal place sometimes..
You really have to LIKE CS to be good at it, and be good whne you graduate. Those who are just in it for the money are easy to spot, both by us, and hopefully, by companies.
I was talking about this with one of my undergraduate professors. He said that CS class sizes have grown a lot over the past decade. With a larger population of CS students, you would expect more good students, but he saw that the number of really good CS students was constant.
I live in Seattle. The city of Seattle rocks. It's clean, cozy, hip, close to nature, and is full of young people. The downtown is being revitalized and a huge Internet boom is erupting here. However, Seattle weather sucks!!! It rains every goddamn day! My Seattle native friend forgot that the sky is not naturally grey (it is supposed to be blue).
I moved here from San Diego and I can't wait to move back to California. I can't stand 10 months of winter and 2 months of "summer". sigh.. If only Seattle was located in a nicer climate. The rain does have one advantage: lush, green plants and trees everywhere!
Good weather, good pay, low cost of living. And San Diego has two out of three, almost.
I used to live in San Diego. Which of your three desirables does San Diego lack? I'm just curious.:-)
Java Servlets increase your development time?
on
Java Success Stories
·
· Score: 2
I -love- JSP/Servletes. I have been able to increase my development time significantly and the performance is not (in my perception) lower than Perl or PHP.
So Java Servlets are responsible for the increase in your development time?
Extreme Programming (XP) is supposed to be an ongoing dialog between "Business" (the "Client") and Development. If the client wants a new feature, the developers need to introduce the Client to the "Software Triangle" (Cheap, Fast, or Good: choose two). Clients are paying for the software, so they should get what they are willing to pay for. If a client wants a new feature "quickly", the Developers give the client a revised time and cost estimate for the added feature. Developers are good at deciding how long something will take to implement. Clients are good at deciding whether they want to invest the time and money for that feature, once they know how long the feature will actually take to write.
For a gentle introduction, check out ExtremeProgramming.org. They also have a nice on-going column about developing an "extreme"-style coffee maker.
This article description is very misleading.
on
Intel using FreeBSD
·
· Score: 4
Intel, despite their investment in Linux companies, is using FreeBSD as their OS of choice, as they are now stating.
They do not have an "OS of choice". Intel wants is OS agnostic. They don't care which OS you run, as long as it runs on Intel hardware. Intel probably used FreeBSD for this "file server applicance" because of the BSD license, which is favorable to companies that would like to borrow BSD code for closed, commercial products.
their Mean Time Between Failure, 77,244 hours, or a shade under 9 years.
When Intel quotes a MTBF of 9 years, they are talking about the hardware, most likely the hard disks. They are not talking about FreeBSD.
Link to Wired article on Henry Masselin
on
V2 OS
·
· Score: 2
Slashdot Mirror
MS HAS innovated. They have put out a lot of crappy products, but the HAVE innovated. Take Direct3D for example.
:-|
From what I understood, some of the APIs in the "Direct family" were actually created by companies which Microsoft subsequently acquired. Same with Active Server Pages (ASP). Unfortunately, I don't have a firsthand source..
Thus, smaller HTML files! :-)
I wonder if there is more information about this or these particular stress tests. If they are not internal Microsoft tests, it would be interesting to run them on the Linux development kernels.
How much dedicated stress testing do people really do for Linux development kernels? I know Microsoft "prides itself" in the stress tests it runs on its internal NT builds.
Remember, these "top designers" worked on General Magic's cumbersome "Main Street" UI metaphor. To switch apps, you would have to walk "outside and down a virtual Main Street to find the correct building/app. yuck...
Before someone says, "oh yeah can just add a purty theme for GNOME/KDE/X", I've never seen an X theme that doesn't look like Windows 3.1. Because the X themes and apps are so disconnected, there cannot be smoothly integrated. Maybe GNOME is working on this..??
I completely agree, but why is this? Why do all X themes look butt ugly?
We've all seen these before, but compare them and think, "What is Aqua doing that GNOME is not?" Nothing! Both screenshots are simple desktop+explorer shots. Yet somehow the Aqua screen looks like da bomb and GNOME looks like shite.
If Python uses whitespace to separate code blocks, does it treat tabs and spaces the same? Must you indent exactly N spaces? What if I tab-indent one line and then space-indent the next?
The GNU/HURD was started before Linux, yet Linux has rocketed past it. I don't expect HURD to ever be widely used. There are few userspace advantages for the HURD over Linux. Plus Linux has reached huge critical mass. Expect Linux development to speed up, not slow down! :-)
<I>the "Linux killer" is likely to be some sort of advanced AI interface that recognizes natural language (spoken or written) and learns about the user well enough to anticipate most requests. Of course, the PC as we know it will be considered old-fashioned; we'll have wearables, pocketables and smart appliances </I>
These are all applications. There is nothing preventing Linux from running new AI or natural language interfaces. Linux is so modular and free, expect it to <I>help</I> information appliances, not to be killed by them! Remember how much Linus has been talking about PDAs over the past year.
Microsoft's engineers were often stumped with problems that only a small hotel full of only three days or so of testing; imagine what millions of users in months of continuous running will find. Win2k's bug list is so large that you have to search for your problem at their site rather than all the known issues being made public through a definitive list. I for one would want to read that list before I bet my e-business site on it.
r -so-lets-pretend-the-bug-doesnt-exist". This is why I left Microsoft. I later worked at a company that licensed the source code for Microsoft Visual C++ IDE. This code was the WORST code I have ever read (and fixed bugs in). Microsoft software is crappier than you think. Of course, all software is pretty crappy, but at least Linux lets you do something about it.
Try running a check build of Win2k and ready the output from WinDbg. Note all of the errors flying by, filling WinDbg's 30,000 line buffer size. </i>
I used to work at Microsoft as a test developer for NT5 (before it was renamed Windows 2000). I can attest that Soldack's complaints are all true! Windows 2000 is a fragile house of cards. Only about 50% of reports bugs are be fixed. About 25% of reported bugs are closed as "uh-dont-know-it-works-for-me-you-sniveling-teste
Microsoft's engineers were often stumped with problems that only a small hotel full of only three days or so of testing; imagine what millions of users in months of continuous running will find. Win2k's bug list is so large that you have to search for your problem at their site rather than all the known issues being made public through a definitive list. I for one would want to read that list before I bet my e-business site on it.
Try running a check build of Win2k and ready the output from WinDbg. Note all of the errors flying by, filling WinDbg's 30,000 line buffer size. </i>
I used to work at Microsoft as a test developer for NT5 (before it was renamed Windows 2000). I can attest that Soldack's complaints are all true! Windows 2000 is a fragile house of cards. Only about 50% of reports bugs are be fixed. About 25% of reported bugs are closed as "uh-dont-know, works-for-me-you-sniveling-tester". This is why I left Microsoft. Microsoft software is crappier than you think. Of course, all software is pretty crappy, if you think about it.. At least Linux lets you do something about it.
If Rob deletes the "Bruce Perens." account, then the imposter will simply create a new account. Deleting the account doesn't quiet him; it just gives him extra attention. At least we know the "Bruce Perens." account is fake and can warn other people.
async i/o code is now in the tcp/ip stack with a feature called i/o completion ports, ... Uh, I got the i/o completion ports info from a guy inside Microsoft.
I/O Completion Ports were introduced in Windows NT 3.51, not Windows 2000.
I think this is the author's fundamental mistake. The developers of successful Open Source projects are its users. The user has a software itch that must be scratched. No one else is going to do it. Most Open Source developers don't get paid to write their software. They code for personal enjoyment. Can someone think of an example Open Source project where the developers are not users?
From what I hear, Dave Cutler took some time off from Microsoft to play with his racecars. Now he is developing Win64, the 64-bit Windows 2000 vaporware.
Without patches, Windows 9x will die after about 48 days because of the timer rollover.
So you can't have tyranny since it infringes on basic liberties, and you can't have democracy because the majority will usually be wrong. What's left? How about governing yourself and leaving others alone. There's no government like no government.
You imply that the US is a democracy, which is incorrect. The US is a democratic republic, a compromise between "democracy by idiots" and "tyranny by tyrants". In the US, we get a selection of tyrants from which to choose. >;-)
I recently read an article about living in Silicon Valley. The article focused on people with non-tech jobs, such as service jobs and teachers. Housing is so scarce and expen$ive that the Silicon Valley school district is considering a plan to build "project housing" for teachers. Their teachers cannot afford to live in the area, so the school district would offer housing as a job benefit.
What if the school district put that housing money into their teacher salaries? I don't know what the "solution" is. This are some crazy times and Silicon Valley is a surreal place sometimes..
You really have to LIKE CS to be good at it, and be good whne you graduate. Those who are just in it for the money are easy to spot, both by us, and hopefully, by companies.
I was talking about this with one of my undergraduate professors. He said that CS class sizes have grown a lot over the past decade. With a larger population of CS students, you would expect more good students, but he saw that the number of really good CS students was constant.
I live in Seattle. The city of Seattle rocks. It's clean, cozy, hip, close to nature, and is full of young people. The downtown is being revitalized and a huge Internet boom is erupting here. However, Seattle weather sucks!!! It rains every goddamn day! My Seattle native friend forgot that the sky is not naturally grey (it is supposed to be blue).
I moved here from San Diego and I can't wait to move back to California. I can't stand 10 months of winter and 2 months of "summer". sigh.. If only Seattle was located in a nicer climate. The rain does have one advantage: lush, green plants and trees everywhere!
Good weather, good pay, low cost of living. And San Diego has two out of three, almost.
:-)
I used to live in San Diego. Which of your three desirables does San Diego lack? I'm just curious.
I -love- JSP/Servletes. I have been able to increase my development time significantly and the performance is not (in my perception) lower than Perl or PHP.
So Java Servlets are responsible for the increase in your development time?
Extreme Programming (XP) is supposed to be an ongoing dialog between "Business" (the "Client") and Development. If the client wants a new feature, the developers need to introduce the Client to the "Software Triangle" (Cheap, Fast, or Good: choose two). Clients are paying for the software, so they should get what they are willing to pay for. If a client wants a new feature "quickly", the Developers give the client a revised time and cost estimate for the added feature. Developers are good at deciding how long something will take to implement. Clients are good at deciding whether they want to invest the time and money for that feature, once they know how long the feature will actually take to write.
For a gentle introduction, check out ExtremeProgramming.org. They also have a nice on-going column about developing an "extreme"-style coffee maker.
Intel, despite their investment in Linux companies, is using FreeBSD as their OS of choice, as they are now stating.
They do not have an "OS of choice". Intel wants is OS agnostic. They don't care which OS you run, as long as it runs on Intel hardware. Intel probably used FreeBSD for this "file server applicance" because of the BSD license, which is favorable to companies that would like to borrow BSD code for closed, commercial products.
their Mean Time Between Failure, 77,244 hours, or a shade under 9 years.
When Intel quotes a MTBF of 9 years, they are talking about the hardware, most likely the hard disks. They are not talking about FreeBSD.
Link to Wired article on Henry Masselin: Qua