...should have been a better title for the article.
The article focused upon Office as much as it did with Linux, with good reason, as they carry equal weight in the context of usefulness in the business world.
From the article: Microsoft Office is currently the de facto standard for office programs, because competitors have done more to imitate it than to develop an improved solution.
This is bunk. Pure bunk. Regardless of what people, including myself, think of MS, the Office suite is an extremely useful tool, and is very well integrated. That is why Office is sitting atop the productivity pig-pile.
I will not argue that Office is becoming overly feature-laden (bloated), it certainly is.
The reason why companies make Office clones is because Office is what people are accustomed to.
If I were to build a radio, I certainly wouldn't make it look like anything other than a radio. For God's sake, it is a Productivity Tool . Therefore, it has to provide maximum utility with minimal obscurity/interference.
In an effort to curb the usage of LucasArts (tm) intellectual property, the following payment scheme will be enforced for Star Wars: Galaxies:
writing the word: lightsaber 0.10 writing the words: Use the Force 0.25 using the force: 2.00 acquiriing an At-At: 0.50 using the word: Lucas 0.05 using the words: Lucas sucks 15.95 creating a Character named -
Hans 5.95
Luke 10.95
Leia 11.95
Lei-me 25.95
Puke 25.95
LucasSucks 89.95
StarBalz 1,000,000.00
KillMeImJarJar 0.02
'The Living Robots have one goal, to obtain enough energy to survive and breed. The prey find their food from light sensors within the arena, while the predators feed off prey by stalking and chasing them before sucking away their power.'
ugg...must feed from flourescent lighting....
must not let pointy-haired boss get me....
That is, What happens if I use a "thumbnail" sized image that is the real image, just specified to appear in a small area?
I can use a 1MB JPG image, and specify the html image size to be a 10x10 pixel image.
It appears as 10x10, but, in fact, the full image has been replicated.
I cannot believe that such an eggregious logical flaw exists in this slashdot article. What they are putting forth on the table is not the "heart" of the net, but the hype. That is, the buzzword of the day. In 1969, the heart of the internet were the scientists who put it together. Also, they were the big topic (i.e. hype).
The core of the internet was the scientific community. It remained that way for many years.
The "heart" of the internet, the pulse, always has been, and always will be, the flow of information.
In the early-mid 1990's, more people became exposed to the information flow that was the internet, utilizing it for their own purposes. There was nothing really "new", just more of it. Instead of sharing physics concepts, research information, and the like, people talked about sports, hobbies, etc.
The "dot-commerce" groups tried to build a business infrastructure on top of, and a business model centered upon, the internet.
The "hacker" group was exciting, but they were really no different than the physicists, engineers and scientists that used it in the first place. Their work just had a larger target audience.
The "Napsterization" of the internet added entertainment (music, movies, etc.) as a type of intformation exchange.
What will be the next big hype? Probably integration: merging entertainment, communication, productivity, and work all together.
If RH is acquired, then you better believe that AOL/TW would drive RH to become a company that supported the AOL/TW initiative (i.e. world domination by AOL/TW).
AOL/TW is an 800lb gorilla.
MS is an 800lb gorilla.
The RH acquisition would be like giving one of them a dart-gun: while it may hurt, it would stil only be a little weapon.
As a consequence, RH's gameplan would change from Red Hat Domination via Linux to AOL/TW world domination. Linux is dropped from the big picture, and only becomes a little piece of the puzzle.
Having Alan leave for a company that would support the World Domination thru Linux initiative (like Mandrake or SuSe, or Debian) would be a good thing for Linux.
The fact that Alan Cox would leave RH if bought by AOL/TW is not a big deal. RH != Linux. That is, he wouldn't leave the kernel project altogether to pursue a life as a skydiver or the like.
A good question is: who would pick him up?
I could definitely see IBM bending over backwards to get Alan, but would he work IBM, given IBM's overwhelming Linux support?
Mandrake might be a good fit, seeing as their distro is similar to RH. Then again, the fact that they have centralized their development out of France might not be a good deal for him...
One of the interesting things that was discussed was software development. Basically, the only "company" that was producing software was the US government.
Why?
Because software became so pervasive in society, many laws were written which regulated the process of software production. Compliance became such a process that the only 'company' that could still afford to make software was the US Government.
The current trend is to produce more and more legislation for software (security holes, hacking, DMCA, etc. etc.) production and usage.
Consequently, the cost of software production becomes higher and higher.
What happens when a company, in a market, creates barriers to entry which are insurmountably high? They are identified as a monopoly and are summarily beaten down (MS aside).
What happens when those barriers have been introduced by federal regulations? The government steps in and either assimilates it or regulates it with an iron fist (or a greased pocket).
If the Government funds a groups of starving PhD's to develop an interface to the US Govt's Spy satellite network, would you advocate it being open-sourced?
Of course not.
There is a lot more to the problem than public $$ == public code.
Ask any Economics 101 student and he will tell you that a free, open service market will eventually become closed, and the barriers to entry then raised insurmountably high. At this point, you need the government to step in and free up the market.
If I run a steel corporation and corner the steel market, what do I do next? In order to have my company continue to flourish, it must need to grow. If I have closed out a market, I need to expand to other markets....like utilizing that steel...
My next move would be to get involved in steel construction...then automotive and shipbuilding, each time utilizing my corporation's vastly deep pockets to outperform my competitors in my new market....
That is a great question!! What the hell happened to that? TF is a great game, and the thought of adding real voice to the game seemed like a sure-thing. Now, years later, I haven't heard squat.
Reading the TF2 site, I noticed that it was given a "Game of the Year" award...in 1998!
Vapor award for vaporware!
Seems to me that you would like to see OOP, really more OOAD for that matter, manage to solve equations or systems of equations.
What you are asking is analagous to asking if you could use an assembly line to tighten a loose nut.
It can't be done. It doesn't work that way.
OO is a technique for handling and solving more general problems than that of solving a system of equations for optimizing a dampening coefficient (pick your favorite problem).
OOP allows engineers and programmers to create systems/simulations/programs/etc. that are less prone to error, and easier to adapt and modify.
The common mistake many engineers and programmers make is to think of computer programs as entirely either a little whipped-up something that can get you the answer to a particular problem, or as a system that is put together to solve every problem under the sun (or to be capable of being easily modified to do so). Programs come in many flavors, really.
OOAD (OOP) allows people to create solid designs of solutions to engineering problems. For example, let's say you are creating a simulation for determining the signal quality for an output from a particular circuit. Basically, you model the circuit, then monte carlo over some noisy variants in the system, average your results, and Viola!: there's your answer.
That's all great and swell until you start getting fun things, like feature creep (aka "Make it do this, too",... "What happens when we swap this part that has a 3db loss?", etc.) This is an example of where OOP can help. Basically, OOAD can help people to design solutions that may better relfect real-world systems, or will be easier to modify.
OOP is not a panacea.
Where do you see the software service industry in 10 years? Let me narrow this down a bit, so that it is something that does not require a tome for a response.
What do you forsee as "essential services" to be provided by software for the home in 10 years? For the private sector in 10 years? What kind of market would support those services, and how will (or would) it be regulated?
Slashdot Mirror
Why my Kung Pao chicken looks like it's older than my grandmother...
But England finally has a valid argument why the US should give the colonies back.
-Dennis
The scientists forgot that Spiderman is very good friends with Kevin Bacon .
This brings the Marvel Universe's clustering factor to ~300x that of reality, making the Marvel Universe into surreality...
The next episode of Marvel Universe is slated to have John Malkovich play every character
-D
...should have been a better title for the article.
The article focused upon Office as much as it did with Linux, with good reason, as they carry equal weight in the context of usefulness in the business world.
From the article:
Microsoft Office is currently the de facto standard for office programs, because competitors have done more to imitate it than to develop an improved solution.
This is bunk. Pure bunk. Regardless of what people, including myself, think of MS, the Office suite is an extremely useful tool, and is very well integrated.
That is why Office is sitting atop the productivity pig-pile.
I will not argue that Office is becoming overly feature-laden (bloated), it certainly is.
The reason why companies make Office clones is because Office is what people are accustomed to.
If I were to build a radio, I certainly wouldn't make it look like anything other than a radio.
For God's sake, it is a Productivity Tool . Therefore, it has to provide maximum utility with minimal obscurity/interference.
... was a fossilized picture of Camryn Manheim.
...Naked!
Just a joke, kid. Nuttin serious.
Jar-Jars! Just bouncing around aimlessly on their home planet.
Who wouldn't help Vader build the Death Star to nuke the shit out of that planet?
That is the reason why this will be the most successful game ever.
In an effort to curb the usage of LucasArts (tm) intellectual property, the following payment scheme will be enforced for Star Wars: Galaxies:
writing the word: lightsaber 0.10
writing the words: Use the Force 0.25
using the force: 2.00
acquiriing an At-At: 0.50
using the word: Lucas 0.05
using the words: Lucas sucks 15.95
creating a Character named -
Hans 5.95
Luke 10.95
Leia 11.95
Lei-me 25.95
Puke 25.95
LucasSucks 89.95
StarBalz 1,000,000.00
KillMeImJarJar 0.02
A date with the Frick-meister!
'The Living Robots have one goal, to obtain enough energy to survive and breed. The prey find their food from light sensors within the arena, while the predators feed off prey by stalking and chasing them before sucking away their power.'
ugg...must feed from flourescent lighting....
must not let pointy-haired boss get me....
That is, What happens if I use a "thumbnail" sized image that is the real image, just specified to appear in a small area?
I can use a 1MB JPG image, and specify the html image size to be a 10x10 pixel image.
It appears as 10x10, but, in fact, the full image has been replicated.
How would the court's ruling stand against this?
I cannot believe that such an eggregious logical flaw exists in this slashdot article. What they are putting forth on the table is not the "heart" of the net, but the hype. That is, the buzzword of the day. In 1969, the heart of the internet were the scientists who put it together. Also, they were the big topic (i.e. hype).
The core of the internet was the scientific community. It remained that way for many years.
The "heart" of the internet, the pulse, always has been, and always will be, the flow of information.
In the early-mid 1990's, more people became exposed to the information flow that was the internet, utilizing it for their own purposes. There was nothing really "new", just more of it. Instead of sharing physics concepts, research information, and the like, people talked about sports, hobbies, etc.
The "dot-commerce" groups tried to build a business infrastructure on top of, and a business model centered upon, the internet.
The "hacker" group was exciting, but they were really no different than the physicists, engineers and scientists that used it in the first place. Their work just had a larger target audience.
The "Napsterization" of the internet added entertainment (music, movies, etc.) as a type of intformation exchange.
What will be the next big hype? Probably integration: merging entertainment, communication, productivity, and work all together.
Number of Maintainer Patches Dropped By Linus in 2.5.3:
5
10
30
69
CowboyNeal!
If RH is acquired, then you better believe that AOL/TW would drive RH to become a company that supported the AOL/TW initiative (i.e. world domination by AOL/TW).
AOL/TW is an 800lb gorilla.
MS is an 800lb gorilla.
The RH acquisition would be like giving one of them a dart-gun: while it may hurt, it would stil only be a little weapon.
As a consequence, RH's gameplan would change from Red Hat Domination via Linux to AOL/TW world domination. Linux is dropped from the big picture, and only becomes a little piece of the puzzle.
Having Alan leave for a company that would support the World Domination thru Linux initiative (like Mandrake or SuSe, or Debian) would be a good thing for Linux.
The fact that Alan Cox would leave RH if bought by AOL/TW is not a big deal. RH != Linux. That is, he wouldn't leave the kernel project altogether to pursue a life as a skydiver or the like.
A good question is: who would pick him up?
I could definitely see IBM bending over backwards to get Alan, but would he work IBM, given IBM's overwhelming Linux support?
Mandrake might be a good fit, seeing as their distro is similar to RH. Then again, the fact that they have centralized their development out of France might not be a good deal for him...
This is intended to stir up a little discussion:
When do you think X-Files jumped the shark?
I say it was toast once Mulder left.
?
The book...
One of the interesting things that was discussed was software development. Basically, the only "company" that was producing software was the US government.
Why?
Because software became so pervasive in society, many laws were written which regulated the process of software production. Compliance became such a process that the only 'company' that could still afford to make software was the US Government.
The current trend is to produce more and more legislation for software (security holes, hacking, DMCA, etc. etc.) production and usage.
Consequently, the cost of software production becomes higher and higher.
What happens when a company, in a market, creates barriers to entry which are insurmountably high? They are identified as a monopoly and are summarily beaten down (MS aside).
What happens when those barriers have been introduced by federal regulations? The government steps in and either assimilates it or regulates it with an iron fist (or a greased pocket).
-Dennis
If the Government funds a groups of starving PhD's to develop an interface to the US Govt's Spy satellite network, would you advocate it being open-sourced?
Of course not.
There is a lot more to the problem than public $$ == public code.
Wow! Wayyy OT.
Ask any Economics 101 student and he will tell you that a free, open service market will eventually become closed, and the barriers to entry then raised insurmountably high. At this point, you need the government to step in and free up the market.
If I run a steel corporation and corner the steel market, what do I do next? In order to have my company continue to flourish, it must need to grow. If I have closed out a market, I need to expand to other markets....like utilizing that steel...
My next move would be to get involved in steel construction...then automotive and shipbuilding, each time utilizing my corporation's vastly deep pockets to outperform my competitors in my new market....
#4 Team Fortress 2.
That is a great question!! What the hell happened to that? TF is a great game, and the thought of adding real voice to the game seemed like a sure-thing. Now, years later, I haven't heard squat.
Reading the TF2 site, I noticed that it was given a "Game of the Year" award...in 1998!
Vapor award for vaporware!
Go figure!
That's all I can offer up right now.
Everyone now, say it together:
Fuck you, RIAA!
Feel better now? I do.
if( face.has_hat == TRUE && face.hat == TURBAN)
{
face.is_terrorist = TRUE;
police.arrest(face.parent);
police.beat(face.parent);
police.eatDonuts();
}
The last mile is the
ONLY
mile between you and your CO.
Seems to me that you would like to see OOP, really more OOAD for that matter, manage to solve equations or systems of equations.
... "What happens when we swap this part that has a 3db loss?", etc.) This is an example of where OOP can help. Basically, OOAD can help people to design solutions that may better relfect real-world systems, or will be easier to modify.
What you are asking is analagous to asking if you could use an assembly line to tighten a loose nut.
It can't be done. It doesn't work that way.
OO is a technique for handling and solving more general problems than that of solving a system of equations for optimizing a dampening coefficient (pick your favorite problem).
OOP allows engineers and programmers to create systems/simulations/programs/etc. that are less prone to error, and easier to adapt and modify.
The common mistake many engineers and programmers make is to think of computer programs as entirely either a little whipped-up something that can get you the answer to a particular problem, or as a system that is put together to solve every problem under the sun (or to be capable of being easily modified to do so). Programs come in many flavors, really.
OOAD (OOP) allows people to create solid designs of solutions to engineering problems. For example, let's say you are creating a simulation for determining the signal quality for an output from a particular circuit. Basically, you model the circuit, then monte carlo over some noisy variants in the system, average your results, and Viola!: there's your answer.
That's all great and swell until you start getting fun things, like feature creep (aka "Make it do this, too",
OOP is not a panacea.
Where do you see the software service industry in 10 years? Let me narrow this down a bit, so that it is something that does not require a tome for a response.
What do you forsee as "essential services" to be provided by software for the home in 10 years? For the private sector in 10 years? What kind of market would support those services, and how will (or would) it be regulated?