It seemed obvious to me, even when I was young, that lots of practice is important in mastering a skill.
[...] Guy with 90 IQ is never gonna be a chess grandmaster or a nuclear physicist, even after 10,000 hours or 100,000 hours.
Or maybe I'm not a genius and these are pretty damn obvious points that should occur to anyone looking without blinders on [...]
I'm sure it is true for nuclear physicist. For years I would have agreed with the statement about chess grandmasters (being a chess player myself). The shocking thing is that
You can imagine how shocked I was to read:
After a century of investigation, not a single study with adult chess players has managed to establish a link between chess skill and intelligence. Intellect had little predictive power among strong chess players.
If Microsoft hadn't patched IE on XP some people would have switched the browser. I doubt anybody would have switched the OS that hasn't already. Just imagine the press: "XP users should really switch their OS, but if you are on XP at least switch to a different browser." With releasing this patch (which you correctly state they had anyways) this message didn't go around the world.
TL;DR IMHO we will not see security patches for the core XP just IE for the "public".
It would nice to be able to have a realistic alternative to Apple and Google. Unfortunately, signs are that Ubuntu will stand with them rather than apart from them with regards to privacy intrusions.
I'm a happy owner of a FirefoxOS device (the geeksphone revolution). Privacy and Softwarefreedom wise it is unbeatable. It is my first modern smart phone so I don't really feel the pain of the apps I am (currently) missing (never had an iOS/Android). I do think that the html5 platform has an interesting future.
You have a good point, but I think it is important to understand that Windows is probably only the third most popular OS after Android and iOS at this point if we count installations where the end user has the right and ability to install new software.
However, non-jail-broken (can't I just say jailed?) iOS violates that definition.
I'd say a little less than half are below average.
Only if you keep the metric constant. Poor self judgment isn't even half the story why so many people think they are above average.
I'm an above average driver, because I take my bicycle or public transportation instead of driving (it's almost 10 years since the last time I drove a car). Being a good driver starts with picking the right vehicular for the job;-)
As a professional developer myself, the last thing I would want is someone googling my name and seeing that I "accept bribes" or something stupid. Given how HR departments work these days, they probably wouldn't even bother going to the website to see what it's actually about, and your resume would go into the trash can without a second look.
Maybe. But maybe instead your new employer would have expectations that you find uncomfortable to fulfill.
Initially systemd didn't seem invasive. It was comparable to upstart that it could run initd scripts but preferred daemons to support it native.
After that it developed a new dynamics e.g. as GNOME noticed that booting had same problems as session management (initializing, monitoring and shutting down processes) and systemd solved it elegantly (however we know that pottering is part of the GNOME universe).
So I would say that you can say the systemd is invasive or hardly justified but not both.
As much as I agree with what you say, I also think it misses the main problem. After Canonical announced that they would switch to Wayland, they could have gotten active in the discussions and development of it. They decided not to (or at least they didn't).
Sometimes groups try to work together and then realize that they have different visions or disagree over technical (maybe even political) reasons, that they decide that it would be more efficient to work separate. Google Blink forking from Webkit is a recent example.
Canonical however didn't even try.
All real world code sucks. Seriously. Mine, too. It's all a matter of priorities. Writing good code is hard.
Writing good code that is constantly changing is almost impossible. Considering the value of the resources
(your time) it would be stupid to not except trade-offs.
When someone joins the project it gives valuable information where the parts are that are difficult to understand.
Improve them by making them clearer and everyone profits.
Slashdot Mirror
If you're allergic to trimming your neckbeard and running a modern init,
There's no reason a Window Manager should depend on a particular init system. Doing so is a clear sign of bad software architecture.
Correct. But KDE isn't just a Window Manager. There is no reason why a Window Manager should interact with power management.
One more reason to use Mint. That's the best they could do out of this situation.
The thing about staying neutral in a war of religion is that you run the risk of being branded a heretic by both sides.
Except that Debian support both, too. It is more about communication (marketing it), then anything else.
The shocking thing is that You can imagine how shocked I was to read:
I guess I proved my point by screwing up this sentence :-/
It seemed obvious to me, even when I was young, that lots of practice is important in mastering a skill.
[...] Guy with 90 IQ is never gonna be a chess grandmaster or a nuclear physicist, even after 10,000 hours or 100,000 hours.
Or maybe I'm not a genius and these are pretty damn obvious points that should occur to anyone looking without blinders on [...]
I'm sure it is true for nuclear physicist. For years I would have agreed with the statement about chess grandmasters (being a chess player myself). The shocking thing is that You can imagine how shocked I was to read:
After a century of investigation, not a single study with adult chess players has managed to establish a link between chess skill and intelligence. Intellect had little predictive power among strong chess players.
So what did the studies find? From the same article:
Studies have found that adult chess players are more introverted and intuitive than the general population.
If Microsoft hadn't patched IE on XP some people would have switched the browser. I doubt anybody would have switched the OS that hasn't already. Just imagine the press: "XP users should really switch their OS, but if you are on XP at least switch to a different browser." With releasing this patch (which you correctly state they had anyways) this message didn't go around the world. TL;DR IMHO we will not see security patches for the core XP just IE for the "public".
It would nice to be able to have a realistic alternative to Apple and Google. Unfortunately, signs are that Ubuntu will stand with them rather than apart from them with regards to privacy intrusions.
I'm a happy owner of a FirefoxOS device (the geeksphone revolution). Privacy and Softwarefreedom wise it is unbeatable. It is my first modern smart phone so I don't really feel the pain of the apps I am (currently) missing (never had an iOS/Android). I do think that the html5 platform has an interesting future.
So Microsoft thinks they can charge for Android, but not for Windows Phone. I think I would challenge that as a competition regulator.
You have a good point, but I think it is important to understand that Windows is probably only the third most popular OS after Android and iOS at this point if we count installations where the end user has the right and ability to install new software.
However, non-jail-broken (can't I just say jailed?) iOS violates that definition.
Computers have moved on to more intellectually challenging games . . . like Jeopardy.
Don't forget Rock, Paper, Scissors.
I'd say a little less than half are below average.
Only if you keep the metric constant. Poor self judgment isn't even half the story why so many people think they are above average. I'm an above average driver, because I take my bicycle or public transportation instead of driving (it's almost 10 years since the last time I drove a car). Being a good driver starts with picking the right vehicular for the job ;-)
As a professional developer myself, the last thing I would want is someone googling my name and seeing that I "accept bribes" or something stupid. Given how HR departments work these days, they probably wouldn't even bother going to the website to see what it's actually about, and your resume would go into the trash can without a second look.
Maybe. But maybe instead your new employer would have expectations that you find uncomfortable to fulfill.
And it has nothing to do with the tea party.
It has to do with the Nazi party, of which Lennart Poettering is a member of. Do not forget the horror of Pulse Audio.
Ubuntu was happy to adopt pulseaudio and still uses it. (Yes, I know I'm violating godwin's law)
Initially systemd didn't seem invasive. It was comparable to upstart that it could run initd scripts but preferred daemons to support it native. After that it developed a new dynamics e.g. as GNOME noticed that booting had same problems as session management (initializing, monitoring and shutting down processes) and systemd solved it elegantly (however we know that pottering is part of the GNOME universe). So I would say that you can say the systemd is invasive or hardly justified but not both.
As much as I agree with what you say, I also think it misses the main problem. After Canonical announced that they would switch to Wayland, they could have gotten active in the discussions and development of it. They decided not to (or at least they didn't). Sometimes groups try to work together and then realize that they have different visions or disagree over technical (maybe even political) reasons, that they decide that it would be more efficient to work separate. Google Blink forking from Webkit is a recent example. Canonical however didn't even try.
All real world code sucks. Seriously. Mine, too. It's all a matter of priorities. Writing good code is hard. Writing good code that is constantly changing is almost impossible. Considering the value of the resources (your time) it would be stupid to not except trade-offs. When someone joins the project it gives valuable information where the parts are that are difficult to understand. Improve them by making them clearer and everyone profits.