As a casual observer, following the story for some months, I think you are onto something here. Although, I don't agree that it is SCO that has GPL'd code in their proprietary software. I believe SCO is being used as a pawn to test the GPL to see if it handles legal action. Since a lot of GPL code is really good stuff, either 1) someone is already using it in proprietary software (M$?), or 2) someone wants to.
If the GPL were to become the heart of the case, and declared invalid, how many new products proprietary products would be on the store shelves in the following weeks?
I was a student at Case from 93-97 and lived in the dorms. At that time they had both Single-mode and Multi-mode fiber running to every room (2 drops of each for doubles). I think it was '96 when we switched to ATM over multi-mode fiber.
To get that increase in bandwidth they must have updated the switches and run everyone on the more expensive (unused) single mode cables.
I am sure it is not new fiber. It's the stuff that has been installed for a decade.
I agree that theory and practical experience go hand in hand but your quote, "Academic CS is to practical CS what physics is to architecture..." is not entirely correct. I think Alan Cox (on the Linux Kernel Mailing List) said something like...People built perfectly good brick walls before they knew how or why mortar worked. Which is definately true.
Without the theory, however, you just keep building the same brick walls. Until you know how to make them stronger or support more weight you are limited to how high you can build them. Innovation and technological advances come from knowledge and problem solving that is gained from both experience and that broad educational background that you get with a BS, BA, or advanced degree. For example if Biological research had not been done - artifical neural networks probably wouldn't be where they are today.
A degree is important, because it shows a sustained concentration and broad background in problem solving and critical thinking. You don't have to have a specialization in CS, but you do have to recognize that perpetual motion is, currently, impossible.
I wouldn't think Amazon to be desperate. I am sure they have done their research and decided that the cut in new book sales will be minimal compared to the continued revenues from reselling the same book that someone INITIALLY bought from them new.
I believe it is like the car industry: Dealers make much more (on a per car basis) from used cars than they do from new cars, because their investment is a smaller percentage of the selling price.
From this info, it sounds like the problem is with the CGI decoding script, not the database. Unless someone proves that the encoding is not covered under IP (even though it is elementary) upcdatabase.com may have to comply.
However, if everyone downloaded the decoding driver to their local machines and and sent the already decoded output to upcdatabase.com then there is nothing DC could do about it.
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As a casual observer, following the story for some months, I think you are onto something here. Although, I don't agree that it is SCO that has GPL'd code in their proprietary software. I believe SCO is being used as a pawn to test the GPL to see if it handles legal action. Since a lot of GPL code is really good stuff, either 1) someone is already using it in proprietary software (M$?), or 2) someone wants to.
If the GPL were to become the heart of the case, and declared invalid, how many new products proprietary products would be on the store shelves in the following weeks?
I was a student at Case from 93-97 and lived in the dorms. At that time they had both Single-mode and Multi-mode fiber running to every room (2 drops of each for doubles). I think it was '96 when we switched to ATM over multi-mode fiber.
To get that increase in bandwidth they must have updated the switches and run everyone on the more expensive (unused) single mode cables.
I am sure it is not new fiber. It's the stuff that has been installed for a decade.
I agree that theory and practical experience go hand in hand but your quote, "Academic CS is to practical CS what physics is to architecture..." is not entirely correct. I think Alan Cox (on the Linux Kernel Mailing List) said something like ...People built perfectly good brick walls before they knew how or why mortar worked. Which is definately true.
Without the theory, however, you just keep building the same brick walls. Until you know how to make them stronger or support more weight you are limited to how high you can build them. Innovation and technological advances come from knowledge and problem solving that is gained from both experience and that broad educational background that you get with a BS, BA, or advanced degree. For example if Biological research had not been done - artifical neural networks probably wouldn't be where they are today.
A degree is important, because it shows a sustained concentration and broad background in problem solving and critical thinking. You don't have to have a specialization in CS, but you do have to recognize that perpetual motion is, currently, impossible.
I wouldn't think Amazon to be desperate. I am sure they have done their research and decided that the cut in new book sales will be minimal compared to the continued revenues from reselling the same book that someone INITIALLY bought from them new. I believe it is like the car industry: Dealers make much more (on a per car basis) from used cars than they do from new cars, because their investment is a smaller percentage of the selling price.
From this info, it sounds like the problem is with the CGI decoding script, not the database. Unless someone proves that the encoding is not covered under IP (even though it is elementary) upcdatabase.com may have to comply. However, if everyone downloaded the decoding driver to their local machines and and sent the already decoded output to upcdatabase.com then there is nothing DC could do about it.