In today's report on the Browser War, Pentagon spokesperson Colonel John L. Bruegghammer announced that following sustained bombing of Mozzillite position during the night, the Softies thought they would simply need to perform a mop-up operation. However, the fighting intensified during the morning, and the Open Reporters quoted a source in the opposition: "We are in high spirit, and even though we lost a lot of ground, we are poised to carry the day".
I think it's not volunteering, rather than paying back in kind.
I use jEdit, for example. I have saved countless hours of productivity using this Free As In Beer software. I feel that I need to repay the "community" because I didn't have to shell out the $295 of $400 or whatever that this program is probably worth. Instead, I do something I can: I evangelize. I install linux, OpenOffice, etc. I tell people to use Apache, Python, etc.
I can't code C worth a shit, so I'm not going to try to submit a patch, but when someone asks me what software solution to look for I say: Open Standards, Open source if possible. Linux if possible.
And you know what? I work at a corporation, and we spend oodles of cash on MS licenses, and people here are asking more pertinent questions, like: Hos much would we save on this... Can we deploy PostgreSQL on Linux rather than spend 20 grand on MS SQL2000 and Win2K Advanced server?
The fact that they're asking the question is already a good sign.
Try to indent properly on paper... Dang. Is that a tab or actual spaces?
When I did those things I would just use tons of extra paper, and then rewrite it all nicely at the end. I didn't care about the format when hashing out the logic, and later just wrote it out nice and pretty. That two step process has worked well for me.
Granted, modern computer programs were not meant to be written on paper. No even printed.
No, it just would not need 200 coders, 200 salespeople and marketing, 50 support staff (HR, Accounting, MIS, Cafeteria), 50,000 square feet of nice office space, and 9 Vice Presidents, etcetera ad nauseam
I would need a 15 man team, 10 coders to add enhancements for future products, do RD, and help in implementations, 2 people to answer the phone, and 3 execs (usually the owners: one for sales, one for Operations, one for finance). Then they subcontract for payroll, etc.
I actually worked at a company (no coding, hardware related). There were 9 people and the company grossed $10,000,000/annually, with profits of about 1 million. After taxes, and expenses, that was about 50K per employee, on average.
But there are a lot of companies in niche industries (finance, AP systems, etc) that do provide open-source software and charge for it.
These are not the get billions rich overnight and take microsoft down type of companies, but rather 1-5 people shops that make good, reliable software, that works.
Why do they have to be open-source? Because of something called business continuity. Actually, Codebase in Escrow. If they tank, all clients get a copy of the source code automatically. Same thing.
If my company makes software, and we are afraid that someone with a technological device (a cd burner) will copy the software and make it available to others, then we have to go after those who have copied the software. How to we enforce that? With a contract, not a patent.
Once the software is out in the wild, how do we get it back? We can't, patent or no patent.
Anyone who wishes to use our software that was "aquired" without coming to us and signing the contract will not have support.
Eventually, enough customers do decide to "purchase" the software because it is easier to have us support them than for them to go look on google for a newsgroup that might have the correct info. (it will just cost less for them to call us than for their programmer to surf the net looking for an answer). No patent needed there.
As far as "loss of revenue" from "unpaid" copies, it is more than adequately offset by "advertising" and "branding" benefits. After all, we are reaching potential customer at no real cost to us when someone downloads the software of the net.
Of course, if the company was poorly managed, or its business model unsound, or the technology inadequate (buggy, features not competitive) then our product either wouldn't sell, or the revenue from the sales would not cover operational cost and investment's expected returns. But that would be true patents or not.
So in reality, you can have a successful company, making real money, offering open-source or closed-source software, without patents, as long as your customers realize the value of getting the software directly from you.
And piracy happens to closed-source projects too, patents or not.
The bit about the dog: Oh well. You think that the cats, rats, and other such rodents that dogs kill don't die a very painful and panicked death?
It's the Circle of Life.
I actually think that one of the biggest reason the instinct of self preservation is so strong is because death is painful and panicked most of the time. And the instinct of self-preservation is really important for the long-term survival and evolution of a specie.
[This post contains language you might find offensive]
Isn't Microsoft entirely in control of selecting the vendor (the translation/locatization company)? Would Microsoft be liable if the translator had said: Fuck you and You Eat Dog Now in the manual? Of course.
Another silly analogy. My VW beetle was assembled in Mexico. Do you think VW says: "Oh, sorry, those damn mexicans screwed up?" when I have a problem with my car? No. They say: "We're sorry, and we'll fix it right away at no charge".
They don't even mention the outsanding factory workers south of our border. They just take it like men and deal with it responsibly.
If I shipped a coffee grinder to grandmas and included a grenade detonator mechanism in the package (by accident of course), but said that there's absolutely no chance of Grandma blowing herself up, I would still be in hot waters for sending grandma a piece of military hardware.
A program that, when taking into consideration all the tests, absences, homework, and extra credit, figures out how many times they can miss the class and still have a chance to get an A (or B, or C) assuming everything else goes well.
I bet you they'll actually want to program that one.
I am in the middle of Northridge, CA, 900 feet from California State University in Northridge. That's in the middle of the San Fernando Valley. I was told I could not get DSL. Imagine that. There's 1.3 million people in the valley, 2 airports, 40 Billion+ corps, and 90% of the world's porn industry. I KNOW there has to be DSL somewhere. Yet Pacbell (SBC really) says no, so sorry.
Granted, I can get high speed cable. But why can't I get DSL too?
I like the idea mentioned above of the slashdot.txt file in the root. But that would be open to abuse.
What there could be is an xml-rpc interface at slashdot and sites that are getting bombarded would simply notify/. that the link should be noted as such, or the pointer to the google cache shown.
As far as tracking the clicks, I think it would be too heavy for/. too.
Maybe the sites should make a subset of their log files where the referer was/. and make that available as slashdotlog.txt, for the long term examination of the slashdot effect.
Yes, play the warp sequence in 2001 space odyssey over and over... with the sound of the SETI recording playing very loud in the 8 speaker system... Geek!
When a person collect $75,000 a year to write stuff, you certainly don't expect them to belittle their own company, or that company's parent company, or any of the parent company's subsidiaries, trading partners, employees, political efforts, advertising efforts, so-called community-building efforts, or the communities in which they operate, in any of the countries they operate in or have clients in. Basically, expect mild stories about the West Bank, terrorists, and the occasional celebrity hookup/marriage/breakup. Oh, and the World Cup.
Now, a blogger with integrity and cojones, on the other hand, well, that's something to behold!
I wonder who's going to come up with the idea of making a cover for a 40 in plasma screen that simulates a window and have a stationary webcam hooked up to it... That way, the office lights on the 17th floor turn on to follow the janitors. And no need to break out the jigsaw when another buiding goes up.
Slashdot Mirror
or both,
Because in fact, a site not designed according to the standards is poorly designed.
Like Lenno: "Flame all you want, we'll make more..."
In today's report on the Browser War, Pentagon spokesperson Colonel John L. Bruegghammer announced that following sustained bombing of Mozzillite position during the night, the Softies thought they would simply need to perform a mop-up operation. However, the fighting intensified during the morning, and the Open Reporters quoted a source in the opposition: "We are in high spirit, and even though we lost a lot of ground, we are poised to carry the day".
Step 2: Sell something which benefits from the wide availability of the item in step 1
(Could be preprinted checks, like Quicken, could be PERL CGI development expertise, could be backup tapes, whatever)
I think it's not volunteering, rather than paying back in kind.
I use jEdit, for example. I have saved countless hours of productivity using this Free As In Beer software. I feel that I need to repay the "community" because I didn't have to shell out the $295 of $400 or whatever that this program is probably worth. Instead, I do something I can: I evangelize. I install linux, OpenOffice, etc. I tell people to use Apache, Python, etc.
I can't code C worth a shit, so I'm not going to try to submit a patch, but when someone asks me what software solution to look for I say: Open Standards, Open source if possible. Linux if possible.
And you know what? I work at a corporation, and we spend oodles of cash on MS licenses, and people here are asking more pertinent questions, like: Hos much would we save on this... Can we deploy PostgreSQL on Linux rather than spend 20 grand on MS SQL2000 and Win2K Advanced server?
The fact that they're asking the question is already a good sign.
I would reply with some wit, but since it's posted by an anonymous coward, I won't.
Try to indent properly on paper... Dang. Is that a tab or actual spaces?
When I did those things I would just use tons of extra paper, and then rewrite it all nicely at the end. I didn't care about the format when hashing out the logic, and later just wrote it out nice and pretty. That two step process has worked well for me.
Granted, modern computer programs were not meant to be written on paper. No even printed.
No, it just would not need 200 coders, 200 salespeople and marketing, 50 support staff (HR, Accounting, MIS, Cafeteria), 50,000 square feet of nice office space, and 9 Vice Presidents, etcetera ad nauseam
I would need a 15 man team, 10 coders to add enhancements for future products, do RD, and help in implementations, 2 people to answer the phone, and 3 execs (usually the owners: one for sales, one for Operations, one for finance). Then they subcontract for payroll, etc.
I actually worked at a company (no coding, hardware related). There were 9 people and the company grossed $10,000,000/annually, with profits of about 1 million. After taxes, and expenses, that was about 50K per employee, on average.
That is what a small business is.
Not on a mass scale.
But there are a lot of companies in niche industries (finance, AP systems, etc) that do provide open-source software and charge for it.
These are not the get billions rich overnight and take microsoft down type of companies, but rather 1-5 people shops that make good, reliable software, that works.
Why do they have to be open-source? Because of something called business continuity. Actually, Codebase in Escrow. If they tank, all clients get a copy of the source code automatically. Same thing.
Or, if your wife is Japanese like mine, Rindows.
Open source software does not mean free software.
If my company makes software, and we are afraid that someone with a technological device (a cd burner) will copy the software and make it available to others, then we have to go after those who have copied the software. How to we enforce that? With a contract, not a patent.
Once the software is out in the wild, how do we get it back? We can't, patent or no patent.
Anyone who wishes to use our software that was "aquired" without coming to us and signing the contract will not have support.
Eventually, enough customers do decide to "purchase" the software because it is easier to have us support them than for them to go look on google for a newsgroup that might have the correct info. (it will just cost less for them to call us than for their programmer to surf the net looking for an answer). No patent needed there.
As far as "loss of revenue" from "unpaid" copies, it is more than adequately offset by "advertising" and "branding" benefits. After all, we are reaching potential customer at no real cost to us when someone downloads the software of the net.
Of course, if the company was poorly managed, or its business model unsound, or the technology inadequate (buggy, features not competitive) then our product either wouldn't sell, or the revenue from the sales would not cover operational cost and investment's expected returns. But that would be true patents or not.
So in reality, you can have a successful company, making real money, offering open-source or closed-source software, without patents, as long as your customers realize the value of getting the software directly from you.
And piracy happens to closed-source projects too, patents or not.
Oh, I know, that's why I put it there.
They also fornicate, as far as I can tell.
The bit about the dog: Oh well. You think that the cats, rats, and other such rodents that dogs kill don't die a very painful and panicked death?
It's the Circle of Life.
I actually think that one of the biggest reason the instinct of self preservation is so strong is because death is painful and panicked most of the time. And the instinct of self-preservation is really important for the long-term survival and evolution of a specie.
How did I get so off-topic so fast?
About as useless as a conversation between a bunch of drinkers at a bar/pub.
And yet, that's why people go to pubs...
Mmmm...
Anyway. As they say in journalism: Leave no stone unturned in the quest for truth/profits.
But MSFT did do a check of the "package" before they shipped it off. So they should have caught it.
It's not that hard to say: scan all, including compressed files.
[This post contains language you might find offensive]
Isn't Microsoft entirely in control of selecting the vendor (the translation/locatization company)?
Would Microsoft be liable if the translator had said: Fuck you and You Eat Dog Now in the manual? Of course.
Another silly analogy. My VW beetle was assembled in Mexico. Do you think VW says: "Oh, sorry, those damn mexicans screwed up?" when I have a problem with my car? No. They say: "We're sorry, and we'll fix it right away at no charge".
They don't even mention the outsanding factory workers south of our border. They just take it like men and deal with it responsibly.
That's why I prefer VW service over Microsoft's.
Actually it could be:
We're so confident our product is secure, we're including this free virus for you to test with.
JK of course. Doh.
I'm not sure he's so offbase.
If I shipped a coffee grinder to grandmas and included a grenade detonator mechanism in the package (by accident of course), but said that there's absolutely no chance of Grandma blowing herself up, I would still be in hot waters for sending grandma a piece of military hardware.
Dontcha think?
And that's where wireless neighborhood networks come in. No need to go to the data center. Just beam roof-to-roof all your favorite episodes.
It would have to have smart forward and load balancing, but that's for us hackers to figure out, not for the BigCo to shove down our throat.
A program that, when taking into consideration all the tests, absences, homework, and extra credit, figures out how many times they can miss the class and still have a chance to get an A (or B, or C) assuming everything else goes well.
I bet you they'll actually want to program that one.
The French tax everything anyway, so I'm not horriblement surprised at their position.
It just reminds me one more time why I left that corruption-riddled cant-even-beat-Senegal-in-soccer former colonial empire...
Thanks, that was my plan anyway...
I am in the middle of Northridge, CA, 900 feet from California State University in Northridge. That's in the middle of the San Fernando Valley. I was told I could not get DSL. Imagine that. There's 1.3 million people in the valley, 2 airports, 40 Billion+ corps, and 90% of the world's porn industry. I KNOW there has to be DSL somewhere. Yet Pacbell (SBC really) says no, so sorry.
Granted, I can get high speed cable. But why can't I get DSL too?
I like the idea mentioned above of the slashdot.txt file in the root. But that would be open to abuse.
/. that the link should be noted as such, or the pointer to the google cache shown.
/. too.
/. and make that available as slashdotlog.txt, for the long term examination of the slashdot effect.
What there could be is an xml-rpc interface at slashdot and sites that are getting bombarded would simply notify
As far as tracking the clicks, I think it would be too heavy for
Maybe the sites should make a subset of their log files where the referer was
Yes, play the warp sequence in 2001 space odyssey over and over... with the sound of the SETI recording playing very loud in the 8 speaker system... Geek!
When a person collect $75,000 a year to write stuff, you certainly don't expect them to belittle their own company, or that company's parent company, or any of the parent company's subsidiaries, trading partners, employees, political efforts, advertising efforts, so-called community-building efforts, or the communities in which they operate, in any of the countries they operate in or have clients in. Basically, expect mild stories about the West Bank, terrorists, and the occasional celebrity hookup/marriage/breakup. Oh, and the World Cup.
Now, a blogger with integrity and cojones, on the other hand, well, that's something to behold!
I wonder who's going to come up with the idea of making a cover for a 40 in plasma screen that simulates a window and have a stationary webcam hooked up to it... That way, the office lights on the 17th floor turn on to follow the janitors.
And no need to break out the jigsaw when another buiding goes up.