"Linux people do what they do because they hate Microsoft."
It's always helpful to set up up a strawman representing somebody else's motivation for doing something and then criticize it. Sweeping assertions of this kind are best.
I wonder if it's possible to duplicate this with an open solution. If this is really as revolutionary as they say then they've earned their patents. Could free/open hackers can come up with something that delivers the same results but is unencumbered?
Perhaps an added benefit of this refocusing is appearing to focus more on the Free and Open Source software side of things. (Never mind their Windows books) They are getting a little publicity from this. They look good to freaks like me because they are abandoning a Windows product and Windows users don't care.
I have to kick myself for thinking that way though. Free/Open Source software isn't about beating MS or anybody else. It's about providing software for the public good.
I work with SQL 7. We ran into some severe performance problems when we cranked a lot of transactions at it over ODBC. We found it to be slower than SQL Server 6.5, although some backwards compatibility prevented us from doing a real "apples to apples" comparison.
Also, our app runs a lot of CPU intensive transactions. SQL Server 7 is self tuning so we provided REAL slow service to our customers for a day or so while SQL 7 figured out what we were doing to it. We knew where the hot spots were, but were powerless to fix the problem because SQL Server 7 is more "user friendly".
Maybe MS did better with 2000? I don't care to find out. When PostgreSQL in a fault tolerant cluster starts to become more mainstream, I'm going to start looking at moving that direction.
I got expert mouse to work properly with XFree86 3.3.6 on Debian potato, just this weekend. From my past setups, I completely understand the "Marble Madness" thing. I use vitual desktops and edge flipping. Try going 3 or 4 screens with one massive swipe of the mouse hand!:-D
But then, I used the debian server config program, and SHOCK!!!! I got the upper left button to be mouse button 2, AND high resolution movement. YEARS I worked on that. YEARS, do you hear me? YEARS!!!
Here is my working mouse config from/etc/X11/XF86Config:
Apparently the ThinkingMousePS/2 thing works on my box. I'm sure I must have tried that in the past. But maybe not? I ran XFree86 4 for awhile but I didn't ever try this exact config with it. Maybe it will work.
Under this configuration the the lower mouse buttons are left and right, and the upper left is mouse button 2. I'm not sure about the upper right mouse button. Configured as a four button mouse, that button may or may not work as button 4. YMMV.
I left in Emulate3Buttons becuase I already have "chording" habits. No need to torture myself.
Also, FWIW, I'm using the "old" S3 Virge server. Yeah, I'm a real miser.
I've long thought that ideas such as XML RPC need to be somehow connected with the CORBA world.
At first glance, it seems like CORBA is the better technology. IIOP is at least a little bit lighter on the network. An application built on a capable ORB can be switched to different local and remote transports with little or no modification. That can get useful.
But, I think that some bridge should exist between GIOP and XML RPC and it's http relatives. GIOP over XML RPC? An IIOP to (XML)IOP bridge daemon?
I've had situations where I had to contact MS SQL Server 7 from Linux. (Way to many) Easysoft gets the job done, but not in the way I want. I'd be happier if some CORBA/XMLRPC bridge existed.
When I need to grab and process data I could write a simple cgi on a webserver running on NT. It would parse the XMLRPC REQUEST and grab a bunch of data for me and spit it out into XMLRPC. As needed I could rewrite these things as ISAPI dlls, NT Apache/mod_perl programs or even ASP scripts, depending on performance needs.
Ultimately I could have written an NT network service that was dedicated to just my data, and used plain IIOP. My app on linux would need no modifications.
Anothe way to look at the benefits is that you have CORBA when you want network transparency and XML RPC when you are willing to fiddle with the bits but are too lazy to implement IIOP and friends yourself.
Now I will say SOAP. There I said it. SOAP SOAP SOAP. I got chewed out one time on the ORBit mailing list. The guy accused me of being obsessed with buzzwords but I think it's really because I said SOAP.
I found it interesting that the writer said no knights, golems, etc. I'm personally sick of all the "blackness" in role playing games. I thought, "cool."
When I read the writer's list of what "may" be included vs. knights etc. I was sickened. I wished I hadn't read it. I'm going to be a dad soon. I'd love for games to exist that are intellectually stimulating. I like the rpg genre but I hate the games that exist anymore. I don't think my opinion is in the majority, I hesitate to post. What is all this vice and occultism adding to gameplay?
Hopefully it's good quality. If so, there will finally be a RAD enviornment for Linux that can do nice DB stuff.
Borland has been suffering under MS dominance for way too long. Delphi for Windows is good software. If Kylix is as good, and the db libraries to free rdbms's are truly free, we all stand to benefit from their work. Contgrats to Borland (Inprise? I forget which now.) I hope they make the billions they deserve.
Slashdot Mirror
I'd watch it. Maybe it will be available over streaming Theora.
It's always helpful to set up up a strawman representing somebody else's motivation for doing something and then criticize it. Sweeping assertions of this kind are best.
First Bitkeeper, now Mac, what next? A Pocket PC? It's a slippery slope. ;-)
I wonder if it's possible to duplicate this with an open solution. If this is really as revolutionary as they say then they've earned their patents. Could free/open hackers can come up with something that delivers the same results but is unencumbered?
Perhaps an added benefit of this refocusing is appearing to focus more on the Free and Open Source software side of things. (Never mind their Windows books) They are getting a little publicity from this. They look good to freaks like me because they are abandoning a Windows product and Windows users don't care.
I have to kick myself for thinking that way though. Free/Open Source software isn't about beating MS or anybody else. It's about providing software for the public good.
I work with SQL 7. We ran into some severe performance problems when we cranked a lot of transactions at it over ODBC. We found it to be slower than SQL Server 6.5, although some backwards compatibility prevented us from doing a real "apples to apples" comparison.
Also, our app runs a lot of CPU intensive transactions. SQL Server 7 is self tuning so we provided REAL slow service to our customers for a day or so while SQL 7 figured out what we were doing to it. We knew where the hot spots were, but were powerless to fix the problem because SQL Server 7 is more "user friendly".
Maybe MS did better with 2000? I don't care to find out. When PostgreSQL in a fault tolerant cluster starts to become more mainstream, I'm going to start looking at moving that direction.
I got expert mouse to work properly with XFree86 3.3.6 on Debian potato, just this weekend. From my past setups, I completely understand the "Marble Madness" thing. I use vitual desktops and edge flipping. Try going 3 or 4 screens with one massive swipe of the mouse hand! :-D
/etc/X11/XF86Config:
But then, I used the debian server config program, and SHOCK!!!! I got the upper left button to be mouse button 2, AND high resolution movement. YEARS I worked on that. YEARS, do you hear me? YEARS!!!
Here is my working mouse config from
Section "Pointer"
Protocol "ThinkingMousePS/2"
Device "/dev/mouse"
Emulate3Timeout 50
Resolution 200
Buttons 3
Emulate3Buttons
EndSection
Apparently the ThinkingMousePS/2 thing works on my box. I'm sure I must have tried that in the past. But maybe not? I ran XFree86 4 for awhile but I didn't ever try this exact config with it. Maybe it will work.
Under this configuration the the lower mouse buttons are left and right, and the upper left is mouse button 2. I'm not sure about the upper right mouse button. Configured as a four button mouse, that button may or may not work as button 4. YMMV.
I left in Emulate3Buttons becuase I already have "chording" habits. No need to torture myself.
Also, FWIW, I'm using the "old" S3 Virge server. Yeah, I'm a real miser.
At first glance, it seems like CORBA is the better technology. IIOP is at least a little bit lighter on the network. An application built on a capable ORB can be switched to different local and remote transports with little or no modification. That can get useful.
But, I think that some bridge should exist between GIOP and XML RPC and it's http relatives. GIOP over XML RPC? An IIOP to (XML)IOP bridge daemon?
I've had situations where I had to contact MS SQL Server 7 from Linux. (Way to many) Easysoft gets the job done, but not in the way I want. I'd be happier if some CORBA/XMLRPC bridge existed.
When I need to grab and process data I could write a simple cgi on a webserver running on NT. It would parse the XMLRPC REQUEST and grab a bunch of data for me and spit it out into XMLRPC. As needed I could rewrite these things as ISAPI dlls, NT Apache/mod_perl programs or even ASP scripts, depending on performance needs.
Ultimately I could have written an NT network service that was dedicated to just my data, and used plain IIOP. My app on linux would need no modifications.
Anothe way to look at the benefits is that you have CORBA when you want network transparency and XML RPC when you are willing to fiddle with the bits but are too lazy to implement IIOP and friends yourself.
Now I will say SOAP. There I said it. SOAP SOAP SOAP. I got chewed out one time on the ORBit mailing list. The guy accused me of being obsessed with buzzwords but I think it's really because I said SOAP.
When I read the writer's list of what "may" be included vs. knights etc. I was sickened. I wished I hadn't read it. I'm going to be a dad soon. I'd love for games to exist that are intellectually stimulating. I like the rpg genre but I hate the games that exist anymore. I don't think my opinion is in the majority, I hesitate to post. What is all this vice and occultism adding to gameplay?
I think little.
Borland has been suffering under MS dominance for way too long. Delphi for Windows is good software. If Kylix is as good, and the db libraries to free rdbms's are truly free, we all stand to benefit from their work. Contgrats to Borland (Inprise? I forget which now.) I hope they make the billions they deserve.