coLinux (http://www.colinux.org/) should be integrated with the said solution: You should then have clean interfaces from IE, Windows Explorer (using WebDAV), X windows (with a copy of cygwin installed on the same USB hard disk) - all with a single click of button.
A good NAT proxy would also be required (to run on windows) to complete the solution.
After install issues, the next pain in managing application is in its configuration.
Sample configurations for specific type of deployment (such as home use, enterprise, high performance etc.) are extremely valuable.
A similar mechanism is very much appreciated - though this also requires active involvements from user community.
-vinod
Which oldest software is still in production?
on
Source Code Escrow
·
· Score: 1
And does it have source code? Is it still compilable? (perhaps those used in space research fit this bill.)
It seems like the task of designing a system that will be live after few decades has become easier now. The key task here is to reduce the number of dependencies on multiple sources. If a major corporation would indeed like to make sure their systems will survive for decades, they could do so:
- Make sure chip and board designs are maintained, and can, at any time, be reproduced. Many design houses can offer this. - Deployable distribution along with specifications and documents. Can be archived for very long time. Dependencies such as highly available storage should be virtualized, and dependency be removed. - The core production software. Direct third party dependency here. But, investing in open source software definitely helps here. - Software enhancements made in-house; can be controlled with planned archiving and reproduction methods.
If this can become a fad, then new solution-oriented companies would emerge with a very high inclination towards open source software.
What is required is a capability to allow document to be "Virtual" i.e. it is picked up from independent editable pages. This is very much like FAQ-O-Matic, but wiki can help in presenting a proper document structure by including different parts of document from different editable pages.
And each editable page may have a section, or couple of sub-sections. It may have owner or may not have owner. But all contributers may have to learn more than typical wiki formatting - to make sure that the document structure remains intact. And if the wiki tools can ensure document structure compliance by users, we should expect the strategy to result in good document.
As a general remark, the patterns for distributed management of shared information have not yet emerged - in contrast to individual communication tools such as email. Discussion boards are too simple to be useful in this regard; information management is key part of information sharing.
And since people tend to share information more easily in one-to-one emails, we require some good directives to be used during email composition, so that the data can be pushed to shared area. (And how you can format so that it can also be managed, is an interesting challenge.)
It is good to be able to use independent directories for applications that are installed at the site (i.e. not part of the distribution.) And RPM can accomodate such independent directories as well. Within the independent tree, the applications should standardize the directory structure just like in unix:./etc etc.
Then, putting symbolic links in various directories is bad idea. Instead, users could explicitly 'subscribe' to the directories. A special, user specific./bin directory can be used to keep the subscriptions to bin directories of subscribed packages.
Bad thing about RPM is that it uses a centralized DB for tracking dependencies, which can't be manupulated by hand. Instead, it could evolve to use 1. open format based on XML 2. Put the dependencies as part of independent directory tree of the package.
In most cases, it is sufficient that dependencies be evaluated dynamically. After all, sysads know what they are doing.
Even if we replace Execute-On-Click with Save-Unzip-And-Then-Execute sequences, it is unlikely to solve the main problem: You don't know what you are executing. I think this is a interesting challenge. Here are my thoughts on
a high level solutions:
Use VMWare like virtual machine to execute the binary. Only thing it will share with main OS is the display. It will be nice to have Linux as VM's OS here - provided we have very strict control of what can be allowed to run. (This is different from using Java because we are assuming full fledged OS support for executables, and controlled net access via bridge etc.)
Develop a P2P network that identifies the executables using the checksum, and before you execute the binary, it will check if any peer has executed it, and found the problems. The idea is to attach the "ownership" with every executable. If you have produced the executable, you have "owned" it. By establishing trust relationships with certificates and all that, you can possibly
be warned.
An easier mechanism to identify and manage outgoing networking connections from your machine, and map them to user actions + applications. The analysis can be done by some AI techniques.
These suggestions could possibly be implemented using some plug-ins. If, instead, new linux distributions include similar solutions as a core feature, GNU/Linux can be very attractive to organizations.
WLANs and Bluetooth together have potential of providing a capability of phone-to-phone connectivity much the way we have cellular phone infrastructure today. I could walk into a room with a bluetooth enabled mobile, and use a unit connected to ethernet LAN of the building, and place a call. The building owner can get a small payment which will be automatically credited to him by the phone companies.
What technologies need to be enabled for this to happen?
Bluetooth should become ubiquiotous
Wireless LANs would be required when multiple
people would like to connect - say in airport
lounge
IP telephony services will become distributed
Centralized directory (Phone to IP) will be
deployed
and couple of companies are working in all these
technologies. And we can actually dream of great bandwidths on our handhelds.
Communication infrastructures are the very core of society and civilization.
For example, can you imagine paying for following the traffic signals and use of specific colors for the direction indicators? The file formats are no different from these. If I have to communicate with others, especially when it is public communication (i.e. not one-to-one), the public have to agree to follow some standards. And government has every right to impose such standards. Of course, it has to be XML based standard, clearly separating the style and content issues.
I am trying to understand what aspect of capitalism allows monopolies over public standards. I am also trying to undestand why this was not an issue in the antitrust case against Microsoft.
Isn't there anybody who is interested in accessing their configuration files over the net? Rather than require that most applications use XML parsers and input from XML files, we should have a common, internet wide, infrastructure which will:
1. Allow you to store all your configuration files in a common store accessible over the internet (and with appropriate access controls)
2. Be able to use each others configuration files as example templates
3. Provide a uniform mechanism for a user interface programs (such as linuxconf) to manipulate the configuration.
4. Allow all linux clients on a network to use common configuration information from central server.
XML will obviously be a candidate for holding the configuration information (the HOW part of it) and LDAP will be appropriate for WHERE part of this infrastructure. I would make my configurations accessible using my own LDAP server; and allow myself to use my configurations from other systems on internet.
We could have a freshmeat-like repository for this purpose, and allow people to upload their configurations (as templates) when appropriate. (Examples of such templates are configuration files for packages such as mutt,.bashrc aliases and so on.)
The package specific offline tools can be created independently by each package owner (who will also decide the DTD).
Could someone point to any efforts related to addition of snapshot backup capabilities for the ext2 (or ext3) filesystems, like the one that Veritas offers?
For a moment, think about oxygen (yes, the air etc.) without which we wouldn't exist. And luckily no one has exploited us to cash on this dependency. I remember a (futuristic) movie, in which single person controls the oxygen supply in Mars (when humans have established themselves there... etc.).
On the same lines, eventually the software would be like oxygen, and we should not have to be controlled by anyone for this dependency. But it is not a binary switch - that we can remove this dependency in one go. Nothing works like that. It is a big continuum, in which many different ideas arise, many people share their views, there will be many differences and so on. It is important to be aware of the final goals. But expecting a switch (especially by indirect mental force) is a wrong idea. Let the continuum be there, and let many different people contribute in different directions. Eventually it is individual decision. The leadership should provide only the material; not the decisions for the 'followers' (i.e. the programmers who would want to contribute to the movement.) It takes many years for one to become mature and understand full implications of the decisions.
My personal view is that ideals are of no use. Ideals only serve as boundaries, and reality doesn't exist at boundary. The fun of life is not in the end, but in the means to an end. How you chart out your path in rough weather is of most importance. ESR is doing precisely this.
The world is really big and wide, and supports everything. But it doesn't support the idea of supporting the same thing for everyone. It allows everyone to select whatever role they want to play and provides the raw materials for that.
I live in Pune, India - a pretty big city. I was surprised to find that Redhat CD's were 2nd best selling CD's from the list prepared by a leading CD selling store.
I am not talking of Software CD's, but CD's such as IBM Encyclopedia (topper), many games etc. i.e. the ones which are sold to general public.
The list is compiled by a leading Music House which also sells CD's. (And they don't give away free:-)
With opening of ISP's there is a big debate in India that Linux should be used for ISP. You can search for stories in http://www.rediff.com/computer/comphome.htm, a Indian portal site.
It is indeed difficult for govt organizations to get software personnel, because most go to US, or join private companies. Govt can't pay at the levels that Industry pays.
So the question is: Is industry geared for our own software development? Yes, if lot of companies who export software can divert some of their investments for local market.
Slashdot Mirror
With enough bandwidth, we could have cheap call centers take care of driving :)
coLinux (http://www.colinux.org/) should be integrated with the said solution: You should then have clean interfaces from IE, Windows Explorer (using WebDAV), X windows (with a copy of cygwin installed on the same USB hard disk) - all with a single click of button.
A good NAT proxy would also be required (to run on windows) to complete the solution.
-v
After install issues, the next pain in managing application is in its configuration.
Sample configurations for specific type of deployment (such as home use, enterprise, high performance etc.) are extremely valuable.
A similar mechanism is very much appreciated - though this also requires active involvements from user community.
-vinod
And does it have source code? Is it still compilable? (perhaps those used in space research fit this bill.)
It seems like the task of designing a system that will be live after few decades has become easier now. The key task here is to reduce the number of dependencies on multiple sources. If a major corporation would indeed like to make sure their systems will survive for decades, they could do so:
- Make sure chip and board designs are maintained, and can, at any time, be reproduced. Many design houses can offer this.
- Deployable distribution along with specifications and documents. Can be archived for very long time. Dependencies such as highly available storage should be virtualized, and dependency be removed.
- The core production software. Direct third party dependency here. But, investing in open source software definitely helps here.
- Software enhancements made in-house; can be controlled with planned archiving and reproduction methods.
If this can become a fad, then new solution-oriented companies would emerge with a very high inclination towards open source software.
-Vinod
What is required is a capability to allow document to be "Virtual" i.e. it is picked up from independent editable pages. This is very much like FAQ-O-Matic, but wiki can help in presenting a proper document structure by including different parts of document from different editable pages.
And each editable page may have a section, or couple of sub-sections. It may have owner or may not have owner. But all contributers may have to learn more than typical wiki formatting - to make sure that the document structure remains intact. And if the wiki tools can ensure document structure compliance by users, we should expect the strategy to result in good document.
As a general remark, the patterns for distributed management of shared information have not yet emerged - in contrast to individual communication tools such as email. Discussion boards are too simple to be useful in this regard; information management is key part of information sharing.
And since people tend to share information more easily in one-to-one emails, we require some good directives to be used during email composition, so that the data can be pushed to shared area. (And how you can format so that it can also be managed, is an interesting challenge.)
-vgk
It is good to be able to use independent directories for applications that are installed at the site (i.e. not part of the distribution.) And RPM can accomodate such independent directories as well. Within the independent tree, the applications should standardize the directory structure just like in unix: ./etc etc.
./bin directory can be used to keep the subscriptions to bin directories of subscribed packages.
Then, putting symbolic links in various directories is bad idea. Instead, users could explicitly 'subscribe' to the directories. A special, user specific
Bad thing about RPM is that it uses a centralized DB for tracking dependencies, which can't be manupulated by hand. Instead, it could evolve to use 1. open format based on XML 2. Put the dependencies as part of independent directory tree of the package.
In most cases, it is sufficient that dependencies be evaluated dynamically. After all, sysads know what they are doing.
-vgk
a high level solutions:
be warned.
These suggestions could possibly be implemented using some plug-ins. If, instead, new linux distributions include similar solutions as a core feature, GNU/Linux can be very attractive to organizations.
-Vinod
WLANs and Bluetooth together have potential of providing a capability of phone-to-phone connectivity much the way we have cellular phone infrastructure today. I could walk into a room with a bluetooth enabled mobile, and use a unit connected to ethernet LAN of the building, and place a call. The building owner can get a small payment which will be automatically credited to him by the phone companies.
What technologies need to be enabled for this to happen?
and couple of companies are working in all these technologies. And we can actually dream of great bandwidths on our handhelds.
What other technology pieces are important?
-Vinod
Communication infrastructures are the very core of society and civilization.
For example, can you imagine paying for following the traffic signals and use of specific colors for the direction indicators? The file formats are no different from these. If I have to communicate with others, especially when it is public communication (i.e. not one-to-one), the public have to agree to follow some standards. And government has every right to impose such standards. Of course, it has to be XML based standard, clearly separating the style and content issues.
I am trying to understand what aspect of capitalism allows monopolies over public standards. I am also trying to undestand why this
was not an issue in the antitrust case against Microsoft.
Any comments?
Isn't there anybody who is interested in accessing their configuration files over the net? Rather than require that most applications use XML parsers and input from XML files, we should have a common, internet wide, infrastructure which will:
.bashrc aliases and so on.)
1. Allow you to store all your configuration files in a common store accessible over the internet (and with appropriate access controls)
2. Be able to use each others configuration files as example templates
3. Provide a uniform mechanism for a user interface programs (such as linuxconf) to manipulate the configuration.
4. Allow all linux clients on a network to use
common configuration information from central server.
XML will obviously be a candidate for holding the configuration information (the HOW part of it) and LDAP will be appropriate for WHERE part of this infrastructure. I would make my configurations accessible using my own LDAP server; and allow myself to use my configurations from other systems on internet.
We could have a freshmeat-like repository for this purpose, and allow people to upload their configurations (as templates) when appropriate. (Examples of such templates are configuration files for packages such as mutt,
The package specific offline tools can be created independently by each package owner (who will also decide the DTD).
-Vinod
Could someone point to any efforts related to addition of snapshot backup capabilities for the ext2 (or ext3) filesystems, like the one that Veritas offers?
For a moment, think about oxygen (yes, the air etc.) without which we wouldn't exist. And luckily no one has exploited us to cash on this dependency. I remember a (futuristic) movie, in which single person controls the oxygen supply in Mars (when humans have established themselves there ... etc.).
On the same lines, eventually the software would be like oxygen, and we should not have to be controlled by anyone for this dependency. But it is not a binary switch - that we can remove this dependency in one go. Nothing works like that. It is a big continuum, in which many different ideas arise, many people share their views, there will be many differences and so on. It is important to be aware of the final goals. But expecting a switch (especially by indirect mental force) is a wrong idea. Let the continuum be there, and let many different people contribute in different directions. Eventually it is individual decision. The leadership should provide only the material; not the decisions for the 'followers' (i.e. the programmers who would want to contribute to the movement.) It takes many years for one to become mature and understand full implications of the decisions.
My personal view is that ideals are of no use. Ideals only serve as boundaries, and reality doesn't exist at boundary. The fun of life is not in the end, but in the means to an end. How you chart out your path in rough weather is of most importance. ESR is doing precisely this.
The world is really big and wide, and supports everything. But it doesn't support the idea of supporting the same thing for everyone. It allows everyone to select whatever role they want to play and provides the raw materials for that.
-Vinod
I live in Pune, India - a pretty big city. I was surprised to find that Redhat CD's were 2nd best selling CD's from the list prepared by a leading CD selling store.
:-)
I am not talking of Software CD's, but CD's such as IBM Encyclopedia (topper), many games etc. i.e. the ones which are sold to general public.
The list is compiled by a leading Music House which also sells CD's. (And they don't give away free
With opening of ISP's there is a big debate in India that Linux should be used for ISP. You can search for stories in http://www.rediff.com/computer/comphome.htm, a Indian portal site.
Why did you single out one dept? Most of the
depts are running linux from 1994! (And in CS,
from 1992.)
It is indeed difficult for govt organizations to get software personnel, because most go to US, or join private companies.
Govt can't pay at the levels that Industry pays.
So the question is: Is industry geared for our own software
development? Yes, if lot of companies who export software
can divert some of their investments for local market.
vinod