Total of positive and negative mods: 0
Total effect on my karma: -2
Hey, that Karma Cap was sure a great idea, huh? And the implementation - now that's just fucking flawless.
Hey Taco, now that you lost all your money that was tied up in VA Burgers stock, maybe you can use some of your leisure time to fix the convoluted abortion that is Slashcode. Just a thought.
His port of the kernel belongs to him. As soon as he GPLed it he took the risk of angering someone enough with his attitude (and he has it in spades) that they may create a fork. Once they create a fork that fork is their baby, and they have abosolutely no need to directly recognize Linus whatsoever (unless there's something in the GPL I missed).
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. But I don't see anyone clamoring to do that, unless you count things like the -ac tree and the like.
This is precedented, of course; a few years ago a certain Theo decided to take his kickball and go home. The result was what I personally think is the best open sourced operating system available for commodity hardware. So far as I can tell, he's the only person who has ever "put his money where his mouth is," so to speak, over something like this.
Yeah, this would be the misplaced sense of entitlement I was talking about. Linux, so far as I can tell, does not belong to everyone. I'm not living in a Stallmanist utopia full of Free Software and magical frogs in funny little hats, but from here in the real world it seems reasonable to me that software belongs to the people that write it.
Linus wrote the kernel.
The kernel belongs to him.
And so he can run it however he wants.
To take this away from the Slashdot Holy Father Linus, I run OpenBSD at home these days. Does that mean I have a right to bitch at Theo and tell him how he ought to be running his project?
If you something to contribute, then attempt, through polite reason and good code, to do so.
I agree. But it seems many people attempt to criticize rather than genuinely attempting to contribute.
Again, I don't run Linux, and frankly, I really don't care all that much. But it amazes me that someone who has put in the sort of hard work and long hours that Linus has could be the subject of so much criticism from his (kernel developmentally speaking) underlings.
Linus seems to dislike it, as usual, source code maintenance tools/organization are for wimps!
This attitude seems pretty common, even to me, and I don't run Linux. Linus takes a lot of flack for his methods of running the kernel development, mostly from people who think that they have a better way.
Try to remember something. It's his baby. It's his kernel. He doesn't owe you a goddamned thing. And if you've got a better way, start your own Unix style OS project.
(Reminds me of the book _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ -- after the Revolution on the moon is complete, then all of the armchair politicos come out of the woodwork to say how it should be. The analogy to the current situation is an exercise left for the reader.)
I work for a university, and we have a special 'technology' fee that is charged to students, intended to be used for focus on new technology of direct benefit to students either in the classroom or related educational/learning activities.
I work for one too. We also charge a technology fee. It goes straight into the general fund, never to be seen by the IT department.
This seems pretty common -- most of the colleges I've heard of use the tech fee as something to raise rather than tuition. There's lot of those; Death of a Thousand Cuts to keep the paper tuition low.
I have an English degree (with a concentration in writing) from a liberal arts college, myself. After I graduated I took a job in a call center doing tech support, and eventually moved to a support position in the IT department at my alma mater.
The nice thing about working for a college is that most offer tuition waivers; which means that, if things continue on the schedule they are right now, I will have a BS in Computer Science in a couple of years and be able to move into a better paying (and more interesting) development role.
Please note that this is probably not the best way to make a lot of money; support jobs are hardly the path to wealth. But if you ask anyone who has worked at a college before, the work environment and low stress are a wonderful benefit.
I'm surprised that you didn't get any responses. One of my (as Scott Adams says) cow-orkers just updated her Monster.com resume...only to be bombarded by phone calls the next couple of days.
I don't know if it still works, but if you haven't already, add "Linux" somewhere on your resume. When I changed "BSD" to "Linux" on mine last year, the offers at least tripled in volume.
put a 64 bit architecture extension in upcoming Pentiums if it turns out the Itanium doesn't take off.
You know, the more I've heard about Intel's exciting new architecture over the last few years, the more I think someone's been embezzling the R and D funds, and they don't have a goddamned thing to show for it.
"Johnson, did you finish designing that processor yet?"
"Johnson's not here, sir. He's on a research trip to Barbados with Jan from marketing."
Linux as a whole evolves VERY differently than windows and its apps
Yeah, especially when there's clueless VC funding all the development. Be interesting to see how the evolution of "desktop linux" copes with the current economic conditions, now that the funding craze has died down.
Oh, and I liked the bit at the beginning of the article about how the "paperless office" is finally here. Wish it was. Then I wouldn't lose so much work time when the goddamned copier broke.
Adelphia has a large problem with spammers and open relays and such, not to mention their mail servers are in serious need of upgrading:/
Their DNS servers here in Buffalo really bite the bag, too. On the up side, I've learned a lot about BSD building my "Adelphia Inadequacy Box" to handle DNS and mail.
How can you compete by porting something that's already out for Windows, if most of your user base can already dual-boot into Windows and sees little reason to wait for the Linux version to come out? Not a good business plan, unfortunately.
...And when the people who run Linux and can't dual boot into Windows (ie LinuxPPC or AlphaLinux users) can't use your product, it really doesn't help.
Even something as simple as releasing a PPC compilation of a few products couldn't have hurt. Hell, make it a download for reg'd users or something to skip the whole CD press / box print thing.
But that's not the point. Microsoft was not content to win on the technical merits of their software. The point is that they leveraged their monopoly position in OS to strong-arm the distribution channel into locking Netscape out
Not necessarily. As a Mac user, ie someone whose OS is not a Microsoft product, I know that Netscape sucks ass compared to IE. Sorry, but its the truth. Both are installed by default.
This is not the whole market, I realize, but one a level playing field Netscape gets beaten like a wayward stepchild. Communicator is just _not_ a good product.
(Oh, for the record, I'm posting this from OmniWeb in OS X, which is flagging both Netscape and Microsoft as misspellings. Hee hee hee.)
It is funny that you should mentiont he word whore, and contract employment in the same breathe. The main reason to hire contract employees, is for just that reason, the ease of letting them go at a moments notice. Companies pay a premium for this ability.
Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I apologize -- the fault is entirely mine.
One type of "contract" employee is one who is hired to work on a particular project due to arcane coding talents, impressive credentials, or a really impressive pair of those black framed glasses all the Dreamweaver jockeys are wearing these days. Were I that kind, I wouldn't be complaining.
The other type is, like I was myself, a tech support drone with no job security, paid at well under Parent Company wages and bitchslapped occasionally to keep the chances of "uppity-ness" down. That's what I'm complaining about; a job that made me feel at the end of the day like I was walking away from my corner, counting the money in my garter belt.
Speaking as a former "contract employee" for the good people of Verizon, it's a lot like being the world's most low-class whore. You get passed around from job to job like a dirty sock, and eventually booted out onto the street with a keyboard print on your forehead from spending so long bent over your desk.
Darn, and I so enjoyed slashing the living shit out of my hands on the insides of those old Vectras. Too bad we can't preserve that experience for the next generation, eh? Physical pain coupled with a poorly performing computer; now there's a corporate legacy.
You know, one of the main reasons I like the *BSD operating systems so much is the port / package systems that make this sort of updating so simple.
I've tried Debian, but I don't know if it was the weird hardware (Using the m68k build) or just my newbieness (more likely) that made me dislike it so much.
This Sorceror distro, on the other hand, sounds like all the ease of maintenance of the FreeBSD "make buildworld" setup with the greater driver base of Linux. Win / win. I might just have to check this out.
I actually saw something like this when we were evaluating furniture last time I changed offices. It was designed for music studios and the like; a desk with a standard 2-shallow-and-a-deep drawer setup on one side and then a standard rack on the other. Supposed to be for audio gear, but I know a couple people who'd happily throw their server machines into something like that.
FLAME BAIT
I have to say this, has the viewing audience of Slashdot gone so mainstream that it is to this level where "Ask Slashdot" posts are about very very basic hardware and software questions? Whats next? "Where is the Any key" Or "I don't have any memory left in my computer"? "How do I delete files"? "Why does my Windows keep crashing?". FLAME BAIT
No, though I suppose it has gotten so "mainstream" that you can't be bothered to read the fucking question. To wit, he writes:
Problem: I'm out of 5.25" bays in my Dell, so I can't just put in one of those handy combo 3.5"/5.25" drives.
To which you respond:
Get a dual 3.5/5.25 unit
Amazing. Not even an article to link to, the whole thing is right here, and yet you _still_ manage to both not read it properly and then bitch about how stupid people are becoming here on Slashdot.
Hey, have you met my good friend the kettle? Y'all the same color, you see.
Slashdot Mirror
Moderation Totals: Flamebait=1, Insightful=2, Interesting=1, Overrated=2, Total=6.
Total of positive and negative mods: 0
Total effect on my karma: -2
Hey, that Karma Cap was sure a great idea, huh? And the implementation - now that's just fucking flawless.
Hey Taco, now that you lost all your money that was tied up in VA Burgers stock, maybe you can use some of your leisure time to fix the convoluted abortion that is Slashcode. Just a thought.
--saint
His port of the kernel belongs to him. As soon as he GPLed it he took the risk of angering someone enough with his attitude (and he has it in spades) that they may create a fork. Once they create a fork that fork is their baby, and they have abosolutely no need to directly recognize Linus whatsoever (unless there's something in the GPL I missed).
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. But I don't see anyone clamoring to do that, unless you count things like the -ac tree and the like.
This is precedented, of course; a few years ago a certain Theo decided to take his kickball and go home. The result was what I personally think is the best open sourced operating system available for commodity hardware. So far as I can tell, he's the only person who has ever "put his money where his mouth is," so to speak, over something like this.
--saint
I thought Linux belonged to everyone.
Yeah, this would be the misplaced sense of entitlement I was talking about. Linux, so far as I can tell, does not belong to everyone. I'm not living in a Stallmanist utopia full of Free Software and magical frogs in funny little hats, but from here in the real world it seems reasonable to me that software belongs to the people that write it.
Linus wrote the kernel.
The kernel belongs to him.
And so he can run it however he wants.
To take this away from the Slashdot Holy Father Linus, I run OpenBSD at home these days. Does that mean I have a right to bitch at Theo and tell him how he ought to be running his project?
--saint
If you something to contribute, then attempt, through polite reason and good code, to do so.
I agree. But it seems many people attempt to criticize rather than genuinely attempting to contribute.
Again, I don't run Linux, and frankly, I really don't care all that much. But it amazes me that someone who has put in the sort of hard work and long hours that Linus has could be the subject of so much criticism from his (kernel developmentally speaking) underlings.
--saint
Linus seems to dislike it, as usual, source code maintenance tools/organization are for wimps!
This attitude seems pretty common, even to me, and I don't run Linux. Linus takes a lot of flack for his methods of running the kernel development, mostly from people who think that they have a better way.
Try to remember something. It's his baby. It's his kernel. He doesn't owe you a goddamned thing. And if you've got a better way, start your own Unix style OS project.
(Reminds me of the book _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ -- after the Revolution on the moon is complete, then all of the armchair politicos come out of the woodwork to say how it should be. The analogy to the current situation is an exercise left for the reader.)
--saint
I work for a university, and we have a special 'technology' fee that is charged to students, intended to be used for focus on new technology of direct benefit to students either in the classroom or related educational/learning activities.
I work for one too. We also charge a technology fee. It goes straight into the general fund, never to be seen by the IT department.
This seems pretty common -- most of the colleges I've heard of use the tech fee as something to raise rather than tuition. There's lot of those; Death of a Thousand Cuts to keep the paper tuition low.
--saint
I'm sure it will work just as well as Verizon's cell service does now.
Yeah, and when you combine that with the high reliability of their DSL offerings, how can the customer lose?
--saint
I have an English degree (with a concentration in writing) from a liberal arts college, myself. After I graduated I took a job in a call center doing tech support, and eventually moved to a support position in the IT department at my alma mater.
The nice thing about working for a college is that most offer tuition waivers; which means that, if things continue on the schedule they are right now, I will have a BS in Computer Science in a couple of years and be able to move into a better paying (and more interesting) development role.
Please note that this is probably not the best way to make a lot of money; support jobs are hardly the path to wealth. But if you ask anyone who has worked at a college before, the work environment and low stress are a wonderful benefit.
--saint
I'm surprised that you didn't get any responses. One of my (as Scott Adams says) cow-orkers just updated her Monster.com resume...only to be bombarded by phone calls the next couple of days.
I don't know if it still works, but if you haven't already, add "Linux" somewhere on your resume. When I changed "BSD" to "Linux" on mine last year, the offers at least tripled in volume.
I wonder if BSD is dying...
--saint
put a 64 bit architecture extension in upcoming Pentiums if it turns out the Itanium doesn't take off.
You know, the more I've heard about Intel's exciting new architecture over the last few years, the more I think someone's been embezzling the R and D funds, and they don't have a goddamned thing to show for it.
"Johnson, did you finish designing that processor yet?"
"Johnson's not here, sir. He's on a research trip to Barbados with Jan from marketing."
--saint
Linux as a whole evolves VERY differently than windows and its apps
Yeah, especially when there's clueless VC funding all the development. Be interesting to see how the evolution of "desktop linux" copes with the current economic conditions, now that the funding craze has died down.
Oh, and I liked the bit at the beginning of the article about how the "paperless office" is finally here. Wish it was. Then I wouldn't lose so much work time when the goddamned copier broke.
--saint
Adelphia has a large problem with spammers and open relays and such, not to mention their mail servers are in serious need of upgrading:/
Their DNS servers here in Buffalo really bite the bag, too. On the up side, I've learned a lot about BSD building my "Adelphia Inadequacy Box" to handle DNS and mail.
--saint
Somebody soon is going to produce a distro that will be "the crossover distro" that will propel Linux into the mainstream.
Yggdrasil?
--saint
How can you compete by porting something that's already out for Windows, if most of your user base can already dual-boot into Windows and sees little reason to wait for the Linux version to come out? Not a good business plan, unfortunately.
...And when the people who run Linux and can't dual boot into Windows (ie LinuxPPC or AlphaLinux users) can't use your product, it really doesn't help.
Even something as simple as releasing a PPC compilation of a few products couldn't have hurt. Hell, make it a download for reg'd users or something to skip the whole CD press / box print thing.
--saint
Mostly, what this book suggests is the end of CyberBS. And good riddance.
Well, gee, I for one will certainly miss your trenchant commentary here in the post Columbine era.
--saint
I think a whole lotta /.ers are gonna have to turn street samurai...
Yeah, that'll work real well.
"It's drafty in this cardboard box. Where's my inhaler? Hey, someone drank all my Mountain Dew!"
--saint
But that's not the point. Microsoft was not content to win on the technical merits of their software. The point is that they leveraged their monopoly position in OS to strong-arm the distribution channel into locking Netscape out
Not necessarily. As a Mac user, ie someone whose OS is not a Microsoft product, I know that Netscape sucks ass compared to IE. Sorry, but its the truth. Both are installed by default.
This is not the whole market, I realize, but one a level playing field Netscape gets beaten like a wayward stepchild. Communicator is just _not_ a good product.
(Oh, for the record, I'm posting this from OmniWeb in OS X, which is flagging both Netscape and Microsoft as misspellings. Hee hee hee.)
--saint
It is funny that you should mentiont he word whore, and contract employment in the same breathe. The main reason to hire contract employees, is for just that reason, the ease of letting them go at a moments notice. Companies pay a premium for this ability.
Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I apologize -- the fault is entirely mine.
One type of "contract" employee is one who is hired to work on a particular project due to arcane coding talents, impressive credentials, or a really impressive pair of those black framed glasses all the Dreamweaver jockeys are wearing these days. Were I that kind, I wouldn't be complaining.
The other type is, like I was myself, a tech support drone with no job security, paid at well under Parent Company wages and bitchslapped occasionally to keep the chances of "uppity-ness" down. That's what I'm complaining about; a job that made me feel at the end of the day like I was walking away from my corner, counting the money in my garter belt.
Sorry for any confusion.
--saint
Speaking as a former "contract employee" for the good people of Verizon, it's a lot like being the world's most low-class whore. You get passed around from job to job like a dirty sock, and eventually booted out onto the street with a keyboard print on your forehead from spending so long bent over your desk.
On the up side, at least I'm not bitter.
--saint
Darn, and I so enjoyed slashing the living shit out of my hands on the insides of those old Vectras. Too bad we can't preserve that experience for the next generation, eh? Physical pain coupled with a poorly performing computer; now there's a corporate legacy.
--saint
You know, one of the main reasons I like the *BSD operating systems so much is the port / package systems that make this sort of updating so simple.
I've tried Debian, but I don't know if it was the weird hardware (Using the m68k build) or just my newbieness (more likely) that made me dislike it so much.
This Sorceror distro, on the other hand, sounds like all the ease of maintenance of the FreeBSD "make buildworld" setup with the greater driver base of Linux. Win / win. I might just have to check this out.
--saint
he cult TV classic, "The X-Files," shall be no longer after this season
It's still on the air?
--saint
Can MS function without its fearless leader?
Can the Linux movement?
I'm sorry, the GNU/Linux movement. For now. Statistically, RMS will probably die first. Then we can circumcise the name.
--saint
hell make a desk with a rach built in.
I actually saw something like this when we were evaluating furniture last time I changed offices. It was designed for music studios and the like; a desk with a standard 2-shallow-and-a-deep drawer setup on one side and then a standard rack on the other. Supposed to be for audio gear, but I know a couple people who'd happily throw their server machines into something like that.
--saint
FLAME BAIT
I have to say this, has the viewing audience of Slashdot gone so mainstream that it is to this level where "Ask Slashdot" posts are about very very basic hardware and software questions? Whats next? "Where is the Any key" Or "I don't have any memory left in my computer"? "How do I delete files"? "Why does my Windows keep crashing?". FLAME BAIT
No, though I suppose it has gotten so "mainstream" that you can't be bothered to read the fucking question. To wit, he writes:
Problem: I'm out of 5.25" bays in my Dell, so I can't just put in one of those handy combo 3.5"/5.25" drives.
To which you respond:
Get a dual 3.5/5.25 unit
Amazing. Not even an article to link to, the whole thing is right here, and yet you _still_ manage to both not read it properly and then bitch about how stupid people are becoming here on Slashdot.
Hey, have you met my good friend the kettle? Y'all the same color, you see.
--saint