I read it. Obviously they are going to say it would do more harm than good. I'm sure MS would say the same thing about removing DRM support from Windows.
We can speculate about the secondary bad effects opening their search algorithm might cause, but we know the primary effect would be more competition in search. That's Google's key reason for keeping it closed.
"The Geek holds a full time job, gets paid above the national average, has a decent car and a house... Heck they are even married and have a good family life."
You're right to a point. But keep your eye on the clock. When the clock strikes 50, your job might turn back into a pumpkin.
"If we really want "'cool' nerds" we need to eliminate any idea that someone else is going to earn/provide a living for us."
I guess you're confusing football players with "nerds". I don't think I'd be going too far out on a limb to claim that "I deserve it" is a mantra much more adopted by athletes than CS and IT folks.
If being "cool" is about working hard and making the extra effort, I'd say we're pretty cool already.
"It's easier to give them $3000 in entertainment gifts per year (you know.... ipod, xbox, games, car, etc) than to take the effort to try to influence their priorities."
What fantasy world are you living in? Sounds suspiciously like straw parents taken right from the right-wing playbook.
If you want to blame parents, fine, but at least make your anecdotes believable.
"Seriously, is somebody taking seriously the 1 to 10 ratio of the story?"
Yet the assertion that programmer productivity varies with a 1 to 10 (or even 1 to 100) ratio is accepted without a blink of an eye or the firing of a single neuron.
"Basically my rule of thumb is that any industry that does not use Mac's exclusively for their computing infrastructure is not a serious industry."
There must not be very many "serious" industries out there given the Mac's market share. It's OK though, those "non-serious" industries still make some "serious" dough.
Actually, I haven't seen any objective and authoritative explanation of a monopoly on Slashdot.
Mostly I just see posts that claim that Apple can do anything it wants and MS can't wipe it's ass without permission of the government because of "special monopoly rules" that nobody has defined or provided any documentation for.
"Microsoft is a convicted monopolist. They have lots of power (90% of computers) that triggers a group of laws that limits what they can do. Are you getting this in your brain?"
The limits on MS aren't nearly as broad as Slashdotters believe or desire. I doubt that there are any specific laws reserved for abusive monopolies but rather the courts have more leeway in interfering with their behavior.
Well, there is some evidence that Nixon forgot about the taping (otherwise, why would he have said such incriminating things) and prior to the Watergate hearings very few people were aware that taping was taking place.
Then there was the 10 min gap in the tape that supposedly was erased by accident.
Finally, destroying evidence was a rather minor crime as compared to all the other stuff Nixon did.
It may just be that the "lackeys" knew that it was wrong to destroy the emails and so they got rid of them only to the extent that an average executive (or below average president) would understand.
Perhaps you'd prefer "Microsoft lies about being responsible for code theft".
They are taking responsibility for hiring a contractor who stole code. Blaming the person or entity that actually committed the offense isn't exactly a novel concept.
The problem in the US is that it's very rare that an employer offers such a contract. So your choice is to accept the job without a contract or have no job at all.
Slashdot Mirror
"The basic problem, Cook explains, is that extreme programmer productivity may not be obvious."
The basic problem is that extreme programmer productivity is a myth.
Sounds like doublespeak to me.
"Why do we hold Google to a higher standard?"
Because they keep telling us how holy they are and how we can become more holy too.
I read it. Obviously they are going to say it would do more harm than good. I'm sure MS would say the same thing about removing DRM support from Windows.
We can speculate about the secondary bad effects opening their search algorithm might cause, but we know the primary effect would be more competition in search. That's Google's key reason for keeping it closed.
"The Geek holds a full time job, gets paid above the national average, has a decent car and a house... Heck they are even married and have a good family life."
You're right to a point. But keep your eye on the clock. When the clock strikes 50, your job might turn back into a pumpkin.
"If we really want "'cool' nerds" we need to eliminate any idea that someone else is going to earn/provide a living for us."
I guess you're confusing football players with "nerds". I don't think I'd be going too far out on a limb to claim that "I deserve it" is a mantra much more adopted by athletes than CS and IT folks.
If being "cool" is about working hard and making the extra effort, I'd say we're pretty cool already.
"It's easier to give them $3000 in entertainment gifts per year (you know .... ipod, xbox, games, car, etc) than to take the effort to try to influence their priorities."
What fantasy world are you living in? Sounds suspiciously like straw parents taken right from the right-wing playbook.
If you want to blame parents, fine, but at least make your anecdotes believable.
"Seriously, is somebody taking seriously the 1 to 10 ratio of the story?"
Yet the assertion that programmer productivity varies with a 1 to 10 (or even 1 to 100) ratio is accepted without a blink of an eye or the firing of a single neuron.
Yes, perhaps he could. Except for that money thing.
who buys all kinds of crap without knowing what he's going to do with it.
Yes, because in this "Web 2.0+ Age", plain ASCII just isn't bloated enough.
Don't get me wrong, ASCII was plenty bloated when the web was young.
I have no such expectations, but I was responding to a post that suggested that it had been explained on Slashdot "about 10000 times".
What has been "explained" is typically what people here like to believe.
"Basically my rule of thumb is that any industry that does not use Mac's exclusively for their computing infrastructure is not a serious industry."
There must not be very many "serious" industries out there given the Mac's market share. It's OK though, those "non-serious" industries still make some "serious" dough.
Yes, I should have said "its ass".
Actually, I haven't seen any objective and authoritative explanation of a monopoly on Slashdot.
Mostly I just see posts that claim that Apple can do anything it wants and MS can't wipe it's ass without permission of the government because of "special monopoly rules" that nobody has defined or provided any documentation for.
"Microsoft is a convicted monopolist. They have lots of power (90% of computers) that triggers a group of laws that limits what they can do. Are you getting this in your brain?"
The limits on MS aren't nearly as broad as Slashdotters believe or desire. I doubt that there are any specific laws reserved for abusive monopolies but rather the courts have more leeway in interfering with their behavior.
There has been no "convicted" monopolist in the US in my lifetime.
Well, there is some evidence that Nixon forgot about the taping (otherwise, why would he have said such incriminating things) and prior to the Watergate hearings very few people were aware that taping was taking place.
Then there was the 10 min gap in the tape that supposedly was erased by accident.
Finally, destroying evidence was a rather minor crime as compared to all the other stuff Nixon did.
It may just be that the "lackeys" knew that it was wrong to destroy the emails and so they got rid of them only to the extent that an average executive (or below average president) would understand.
Stac never claimed that MS used their source code - they claimed that they violated their patent.
"When I was a child there were penalties for breaking rules. Come to think of it, there still are, unless you're a giant corporation it seems."
They've admitted that the code was copied and took down the site. What rule didn't they follow?
The idea that "copying isn't theft" only applies when you copy music or movies. It doesn't apply to MS because .. ugh.. because it's MS.
Perhaps you'd prefer "Microsoft lies about being responsible for code theft".
They are taking responsibility for hiring a contractor who stole code. Blaming the person or entity that actually committed the offense isn't exactly a novel concept.
The problem in the US is that it's very rare that an employer offers such a contract. So your choice is to accept the job without a contract or have no job at all.
But the fact is that employers "abandon" employees a lot more often than the other way around. I haven't quit a job in 15 years.