"stop working every few hours" would be a welcome improvement; there are people at my office that smoke at least 5 minutes out of every hour. They stink up the office, sometimes blocking the door open because, while they are able to carry a pack, lighter, and cell phone, they can't carry keys. They litter (even though there's a butt-receptacle), and I can't open my office window because of the smoke.
Smoking cigarettes is a filthy addiction, and not just because of the health issues. If I went and rolled in a pile of crap for a few minutes every hour or two and then came and stood in your office, you'd have me thrown out, but somehow smokers are "special".
Mercury was orbital after the first two manned flights, which used the same vehicle on top of a smaller rocket. Scaled Composites' work is not something that will apply to orbital flight (unless you want to re-create the space shuttle, and take a long time to get there).
As soon as it is up to juries to set precedent, the small-time software developer is going to quit. I certainly wouldn't release or contribute to any free software that could cause me to get sued; I wouldn't have time or money to pay a lawyer to eventually hopefully get a decision in my favor.
If it was possible to prevent all security holes, this wouldn't be a bad idea. However, it is provably impossible to do so. This would just create a new inurance industry, profiting from others' mistakes. It would really only serve to cut down on development, especially from small companies and individuals that couldn't afford to make a single security mistake (or insurance against lawsuits).
I ordered some special-order sliding patio doors at Home Depot recently, and I'm paying to have them installed (next week). I've worked on over two dozen Habitat for Humanity house building projects, I helped when my parents added on to their house when I was a teen, and I have a good supply of my own tools (some of them handed down from my grandfather, who was a contractor). Why am I paying someone else?
Installing a quality sliding door (especially in the place of a French door that is slightly larger) is a little tricky to get right, and if you don't get a sliding door installed correctly it won't work right. If I installed dozens or hundreds of sliding doors, I'd be able to get it right with ease, but these would have been the only sliding doors I'd ever installed.
These doors are heavy. They are probably more than my father and I (even with a neighbor) could have easily managed. We sit at desks for a living (I carry the occasional server or router, but not that often). Sliding doors are awkward to handle as well.
The installer is a professional tradesman with his crew (probably just one other person for this job). They have specialized skills and knowlege, just like I have specialized skills and knowlege. If they want a website, or need a office network, etc., they'll call someone like me.
As for complaining about self-stick flooring or pre-hung windows, WTF? Does this guy make his own plywood too? Guess what; builders have been using such materials for many years. It is quicker and easier, and in many cases allows for a nicer finished product (because a factory can generate a pre-finished piece that is nicer than even most professionals could fabricate on-site).
It got more than drop tests. It went through dynamic testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for something like a year; that was the first time the entire shuttle stack (orbiter, ET, SRBs) was assembled. Without Enterprise and the extensive testing it underwent, the rest of the shuttle program would not have happened.
Do you think there were only 12 men involved in the Apollo program because they were the only ones to walk on the Moon?
Heh, I saw it on the back of the 747 as it landed in 1978 at the Marshall Space Flight Center for dynamic testing. We got to walk up to it (and an external tank) at the NASA employee picnic right after that.
He's not the only person on the planet throwing knucklers. I played slow-pitch softball with a guy that could throw a knuckle-softball; we'd be tossing a ball to warm up and he'd drop a knuckler in there. Seeing that coming made you just want to jump out of the way (or fire a fastball back at his knees!:) ).
Do you personally trust every single employee of your bank? Your doctor's office and health insurance company? They are all governed by a large number of regulations about data control for privacy. Nobody wants their banking or health records leaked, but they act suprised when companies that handle sensitive data like this by locking down the computers and network.
Basically, it is their network, so their rules. Many companies are required by various regulations to make sure that sensitive and private data does not leave their control (which we all want), and the biggest threat is intentional (disgruntled employees) or unintentional (infected computers) leakage of bulk data across computer networks (sure, you could have a photographic memory and remember all the records you view, but that is limited in quantity and not the big concern). The only way to be (relatively, obviously nothing is perfect) sure of preventing that is to scan all data at the border, which requires nothing encrypted crosses that border.
No, I really don't think they'll stop for PCs. It makes it easier for them to get vendors to agree to the Secure Boot requirement to begin with. I don't believe they could really get HP and Dell to ship computers that were unable to run anything other than Windows 8.
Even if they do, we're no worse off than we would be if Fedora didn't get a key signed (telling users how to disable Secure Boot or trying to get vendors to include a Red Hat key in the UEFI firmware).
Nope, you've got it wrong. To get the Windows 8 "certification", Microsoft is requiring x86 vendors to ship systems with UEFI Secure Boot enable. They are requiring there also be a way for end users to add/remove keys and completely disable Secure Boot as well.
For Windows 8 on ARM, Microsoft is not only requiring Secure Boot, but requiring the exact opposite of x86: that it cannot be disabled or keys modified.
Note that Fedora is not planning on signing the ARM binaries; that would be releasing something that the users can't modify, and they don't think that's right (the answer there is "don't buy Windows tablets and expect to run anything other than Windows on them").
Red Hat Linux started on x86; it was never "only available for the DEC Alpha" (it didn't get ported to Alpha for several years).
They are doing this so that Fedora can be installed without end users having to disable Secure Boot in their UEFI firmware settings. If you want to disable Secure Boot, Fedora will run equally well. Fedora is also going to have signing tools, so you put your own key in the firmware and then sign your own loader and kernel (giving you more control, not less). If you switch to another distribution or OS that doesn't have a signed boot-loader, you'll also have to disable Secure Boot.
This "feature" exists because malware that affects the boot loader and kernel is a real and growing problem, and there isn't really any other technical means to block it. Setting up an independent CA to sign keys for loaders and then trying to get vendors to include the CA key would be highly expensive and would still result in Fedora having a key that you don't have. As long as Microsoft will sign things cheap, it is much better to go that route (if they were to stop signing, then this would obviously change).
The alternative is to tell users that want to run Fedora to not buy hardware that has the Secure Boot functionality, but that is going to become scarce once Windows 8 ships. Here in the real world, I'd like to continue running Fedora on new hardware.
"Nobody actually writes towards Xlib" - so GNOME, KDE, etc. are "nobody"? X clients have used toolkits since almost the beginning; Xt, Xaw, Motif, etc. existed a long time ago.
If nobody uses the original font functionality, then deprecate it and move on. When something is obsolete in the Linux or BSD kernels, the code is retired; they don't throw the whole kernel out and start over.
VNC is completely different from X and inferior in almost every way. For one thing, rather than just run an application on a system and export its display, you have to run a virtual X server (with all of its overhead such as a window manager) and then screen-scrape the virtual screen and export it. It is impossible for VNC to have any of the drag-and-drop or cut-and-paste functionality you criticize in X.
I suggest you go read Linus' original announcement for the Linux kernel. I'm betting you aren't running a single-processor i386 system, and you probably don't have any MFM hard drives. Support evolves over time without replacing the whole thing. The problem with "targeted at modern hardware" is that there's a lot of what you might not consider "modern hardware" still in use.
Okay so I understand the whole desire to toss out X and it's extreme amount of legacy code
Why? What part of "legacy code" automatically means "toss [it] out"? The Linux kernel is over 20 years old, and the core BSD code is older than that. Do you also want to just throw them out and start over from scratch because they're old? Now, I agree with you that something that is less functional than its predecessor should not be adopted as its replacement, but I hate the assumption that "old == replace from scratch" that seems to be common in software development (especially in the open source/free software community).
I have tools in my toolbox that belonged to my grandfather, and my father has tools from his grandfather (100+ years old). We still use them because they work. We have other tools that we've bought to perform other tasks, but the old tools are not replaced just because they are old.
All modern power generating plants that use fuel (as opposed to hydro, wind, etc.) work basically the same way. They use a fuel to generate heat (burn coal or gas, create nuclear fission), heat water to steam, and use steam to turn turbines. The water is then cooled and returned to its source, usually a river or lake. All such power plants have problems when the incoming water is too warm or they cannot cool it sufficiently before discharging it.
The only difference between a nuclear plant and a coal/gas plant is that a nuclear plant can concentrate more generating capacity at a single location, which then can require more water.
Having replaced a power window motor and (in a different car) repaired the track for a crank window, there isn't a significant difference in weight (maybe a couple of pounds per door). With a crank, you have to have a lever, a bearing, and a gearing mechanism; with a power window, you have a light-weight switch and a small motor (usually sized for direct drive). The rest is pretty much the same.
Air conditioning isn't an option in hot climates if you spend much time in the car, and efficiencies of scale (and resale value) pretty much dictate it be standard across the board. Studies have shown that driving with the windows down increases drag in modern aerodynamic cars, affecting mileage more than the engine load and additional weight of the A/C system (which again isn't all that much, less than one adult passenger by a good bit). Also, my 1977 Honda CVCC Wagon got 30 MPG with an A/C (a dealer add-on which was not designed into the car).
Modern safety features such as air bags, anti-lock brakes, and crumple zones built into the frame add weight, but I'll take that weight. If I'd been hit by a truck in that old Honda, I'd have been dead. Today, in a Honda Fit (a similar sized car), you'd have a good chance of coming out with only minor injuries. The curb weight on the old Honda was around 1900 pounds, while the Fit (with a manual transmission) is 2500. The mileage in the Fit is a little bit better than the 1977 Wagon and has lower emissions.
I expect T-Mobile will still be sold, just not to another major mobile phone provider. I wouldn't be surprised if CenturyLink ends up buying them; they are the largest telecom company without a mobile presence.
There's too many customers and too much spectrum for them to just be shut down. They're even still showing growth, just not as much as AT&T and Verizon (and not as much as Deutsche Telekom would like).
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"stop working every few hours" would be a welcome improvement; there are people at my office that smoke at least 5 minutes out of every hour. They stink up the office, sometimes blocking the door open because, while they are able to carry a pack, lighter, and cell phone, they can't carry keys. They litter (even though there's a butt-receptacle), and I can't open my office window because of the smoke.
Smoking cigarettes is a filthy addiction, and not just because of the health issues. If I went and rolled in a pile of crap for a few minutes every hour or two and then came and stood in your office, you'd have me thrown out, but somehow smokers are "special".
Yes please! Of course, at the rate Alabama road crews build highways, I'd die of old age before it opened (even if they started tomorrow).
Hardly a similar comparison. We know what it takes to get to space.
Mercury was orbital after the first two manned flights, which used the same vehicle on top of a smaller rocket. Scaled Composites' work is not something that will apply to orbital flight (unless you want to re-create the space shuttle, and take a long time to get there).
Funny you should say that, since none of Virgin, Scaled Composites, and XCOR are working on orbital flight.
As soon as it is up to juries to set precedent, the small-time software developer is going to quit. I certainly wouldn't release or contribute to any free software that could cause me to get sued; I wouldn't have time or money to pay a lawyer to eventually hopefully get a decision in my favor.
If it was possible to prevent all security holes, this wouldn't be a bad idea. However, it is provably impossible to do so. This would just create a new inurance industry, profiting from others' mistakes. It would really only serve to cut down on development, especially from small companies and individuals that couldn't afford to make a single security mistake (or insurance against lawsuits).
I ordered some special-order sliding patio doors at Home Depot recently, and I'm paying to have them installed (next week). I've worked on over two dozen Habitat for Humanity house building projects, I helped when my parents added on to their house when I was a teen, and I have a good supply of my own tools (some of them handed down from my grandfather, who was a contractor). Why am I paying someone else?
As for complaining about self-stick flooring or pre-hung windows, WTF? Does this guy make his own plywood too? Guess what; builders have been using such materials for many years. It is quicker and easier, and in many cases allows for a nicer finished product (because a factory can generate a pre-finished piece that is nicer than even most professionals could fabricate on-site).
It got more than drop tests. It went through dynamic testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for something like a year; that was the first time the entire shuttle stack (orbiter, ET, SRBs) was assembled. Without Enterprise and the extensive testing it underwent, the rest of the shuttle program would not have happened.
Do you think there were only 12 men involved in the Apollo program because they were the only ones to walk on the Moon?
Heh, I saw it on the back of the 747 as it landed in 1978 at the Marshall Space Flight Center for dynamic testing. We got to walk up to it (and an external tank) at the NASA employee picnic right after that.
He's not the only person on the planet throwing knucklers. I played slow-pitch softball with a guy that could throw a knuckle-softball; we'd be tossing a ball to warm up and he'd drop a knuckler in there. Seeing that coming made you just want to jump out of the way (or fire a fastball back at his knees! :) ).
Do you personally trust every single employee of your bank? Your doctor's office and health insurance company? They are all governed by a large number of regulations about data control for privacy. Nobody wants their banking or health records leaked, but they act suprised when companies that handle sensitive data like this by locking down the computers and network.
Basically, it is their network, so their rules. Many companies are required by various regulations to make sure that sensitive and private data does not leave their control (which we all want), and the biggest threat is intentional (disgruntled employees) or unintentional (infected computers) leakage of bulk data across computer networks (sure, you could have a photographic memory and remember all the records you view, but that is limited in quantity and not the big concern). The only way to be (relatively, obviously nothing is perfect) sure of preventing that is to scan all data at the border, which requires nothing encrypted crosses that border.
No, I really don't think they'll stop for PCs. It makes it easier for them to get vendors to agree to the Secure Boot requirement to begin with. I don't believe they could really get HP and Dell to ship computers that were unable to run anything other than Windows 8.
Even if they do, we're no worse off than we would be if Fedora didn't get a key signed (telling users how to disable Secure Boot or trying to get vendors to include a Red Hat key in the UEFI firmware).
Nope, you've got it wrong. To get the Windows 8 "certification", Microsoft is requiring x86 vendors to ship systems with UEFI Secure Boot enable. They are requiring there also be a way for end users to add/remove keys and completely disable Secure Boot as well.
For Windows 8 on ARM, Microsoft is not only requiring Secure Boot, but requiring the exact opposite of x86: that it cannot be disabled or keys modified.
Note that Fedora is not planning on signing the ARM binaries; that would be releasing something that the users can't modify, and they don't think that's right (the answer there is "don't buy Windows tablets and expect to run anything other than Windows on them").
Red Hat Linux started on x86; it was never "only available for the DEC Alpha" (it didn't get ported to Alpha for several years).
They are doing this so that Fedora can be installed without end users having to disable Secure Boot in their UEFI firmware settings. If you want to disable Secure Boot, Fedora will run equally well. Fedora is also going to have signing tools, so you put your own key in the firmware and then sign your own loader and kernel (giving you more control, not less). If you switch to another distribution or OS that doesn't have a signed boot-loader, you'll also have to disable Secure Boot.
This "feature" exists because malware that affects the boot loader and kernel is a real and growing problem, and there isn't really any other technical means to block it. Setting up an independent CA to sign keys for loaders and then trying to get vendors to include the CA key would be highly expensive and would still result in Fedora having a key that you don't have. As long as Microsoft will sign things cheap, it is much better to go that route (if they were to stop signing, then this would obviously change).
The alternative is to tell users that want to run Fedora to not buy hardware that has the Secure Boot functionality, but that is going to become scarce once Windows 8 ships. Here in the real world, I'd like to continue running Fedora on new hardware.
Yeah, completely irreplaceable.
I think you're a little late. Nobody expects the Industrial Revolution!
"Nobody actually writes towards Xlib" - so GNOME, KDE, etc. are "nobody"? X clients have used toolkits since almost the beginning; Xt, Xaw, Motif, etc. existed a long time ago.
If nobody uses the original font functionality, then deprecate it and move on. When something is obsolete in the Linux or BSD kernels, the code is retired; they don't throw the whole kernel out and start over.
VNC is completely different from X and inferior in almost every way. For one thing, rather than just run an application on a system and export its display, you have to run a virtual X server (with all of its overhead such as a window manager) and then screen-scrape the virtual screen and export it. It is impossible for VNC to have any of the drag-and-drop or cut-and-paste functionality you criticize in X.
I suggest you go read Linus' original announcement for the Linux kernel. I'm betting you aren't running a single-processor i386 system, and you probably don't have any MFM hard drives. Support evolves over time without replacing the whole thing. The problem with "targeted at modern hardware" is that there's a lot of what you might not consider "modern hardware" still in use.
Okay so I understand the whole desire to toss out X and it's extreme amount of legacy code
Why? What part of "legacy code" automatically means "toss [it] out"? The Linux kernel is over 20 years old, and the core BSD code is older than that. Do you also want to just throw them out and start over from scratch because they're old? Now, I agree with you that something that is less functional than its predecessor should not be adopted as its replacement, but I hate the assumption that "old == replace from scratch" that seems to be common in software development (especially in the open source/free software community).
I have tools in my toolbox that belonged to my grandfather, and my father has tools from his grandfather (100+ years old). We still use them because they work. We have other tools that we've bought to perform other tasks, but the old tools are not replaced just because they are old.
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow.
All modern power generating plants that use fuel (as opposed to hydro, wind, etc.) work basically the same way. They use a fuel to generate heat (burn coal or gas, create nuclear fission), heat water to steam, and use steam to turn turbines. The water is then cooled and returned to its source, usually a river or lake. All such power plants have problems when the incoming water is too warm or they cannot cool it sufficiently before discharging it.
The only difference between a nuclear plant and a coal/gas plant is that a nuclear plant can concentrate more generating capacity at a single location, which then can require more water.
Having replaced a power window motor and (in a different car) repaired the track for a crank window, there isn't a significant difference in weight (maybe a couple of pounds per door). With a crank, you have to have a lever, a bearing, and a gearing mechanism; with a power window, you have a light-weight switch and a small motor (usually sized for direct drive). The rest is pretty much the same.
Air conditioning isn't an option in hot climates if you spend much time in the car, and efficiencies of scale (and resale value) pretty much dictate it be standard across the board. Studies have shown that driving with the windows down increases drag in modern aerodynamic cars, affecting mileage more than the engine load and additional weight of the A/C system (which again isn't all that much, less than one adult passenger by a good bit). Also, my 1977 Honda CVCC Wagon got 30 MPG with an A/C (a dealer add-on which was not designed into the car).
Modern safety features such as air bags, anti-lock brakes, and crumple zones built into the frame add weight, but I'll take that weight. If I'd been hit by a truck in that old Honda, I'd have been dead. Today, in a Honda Fit (a similar sized car), you'd have a good chance of coming out with only minor injuries. The curb weight on the old Honda was around 1900 pounds, while the Fit (with a manual transmission) is 2500. The mileage in the Fit is a little bit better than the 1977 Wagon and has lower emissions.
I expect T-Mobile will still be sold, just not to another major mobile phone provider. I wouldn't be surprised if CenturyLink ends up buying them; they are the largest telecom company without a mobile presence.
There's too many customers and too much spectrum for them to just be shut down. They're even still showing growth, just not as much as AT&T and Verizon (and not as much as Deutsche Telekom would like).
Don't you mean box?