I take issue with the following quote regarding XML and XML-RPC: It's a bad sign that Microsoft knows more about this than the leaders of the Linux community. They've already incorporated it into a new protocol that they are calling SOAP.
Ok, I'm far from being a "leader" in the Linux community (or any other), but I've been monitoring the XML-RPC and SOAP discussions for a while now. Many of the underlying grammars were clearly written by people who like COM. The data types conveniently mirror COM VT_xxx types. They CAN, however, be implemented in other languages and platforms. (IIRC, Zope implements XML-RPC.)
Personally, I have misgivings about SOAP being used for real cross-platform distributed computing in the future. It just seems to make too many assumptions about data types. XML-RPC seems geared towards replacing CGI -- it specifies port 80 for all communication (which seems a little narrow-minded to me). These may still become de facto standards because they are "good enough" for most cases.
I predict that for the next few years we will see several new XML grammars introduced. In time, we will eventually settle on a few that work best for most people. Maybe SOAP will be one of these, maybe not. Maybe it will be a derivative of SOAP. Maybe it will be something completely different.
Right now, XML-RPC/SODL/XMOP/SOAP have momentum and the backing of Microsoft and a few authors who want to be first on the shelf with "Designing Distributed Applications with SOAP for Dummies" I'm not aware of any alternatives to SOAP right now. Maybe there is no need for one.
If you've gotten this far in my long-winded post, you may want take a look at a few sites relating to XML and distributed computing:
At this point, I've shelved OPML because I don't see any point in competing with the SOAP crowd. If you do take the time to look at it and would like to send suggestions or feedback, my email address is donkpunch@maiermedia.com. I would love to get some input from people who aren't already convinced that SOAP is the best solution. Maybe I gave up on the idea too soon.
"So, like, Heather was all in my face because my coconut radio didn't work. I told her she just needed to chill out. I mean, there's bound to be a boat coming by sooner or later. But she was all, 'No way. We're never getting off this island.' And I was all, 'So? We've got coconuts, bananas, and tons of awesome beach. It's all good, you know?' So then she just, like, hit me. So now we're going to have a vote to see if she needs to leave the island and maybe get some counselling or something."
If the roles were reversed
on
The Cat Cam
·
· Score: 3
I know for a fact that my cat would insert implants in my head with a dull butter knife if it meant he could control the can opener and doorknob.:)
The Fender XII was a solid-body 12-string discontinued in the late 60's. It had two split pickups. Too much guitar trivia knowledge is a sign of a misspent youth.
This weekend only, get a Cornell Nanocaster for only $199,995 in grant money. Yes, you heard right -- an actual Cornell Nanocaster. Not a Squire, not an imitation, the REAL THING.
{Explosion sound)
And get half off our entire line of nano-accessories. Nano cases starting at $79,995. Two-for-one nano strings. Nano picks, nano tuners, nano nano nano, Mork! It's the nano deals of the century! First come, first served. This weekend only and only at
Yes, the post might be considered flamebait, but I'm going to treat it as a thread-starter on the issue of user-friendliness.
I challenge the assumption that "users" are all the computer-clueless. I am certainly a user, but I also write software. For me, "user-friendly" takes on a whole different meaning. A Unix-like environment is most certainly friendly to me. I can go beyond interfaces that are designed to be "intuitive" and use interfaces that are designed to be "productive". Do I have to read a few HOWTOs? Yes.
But the time spent learning (for example) VIM is repaid with gained productivity. I get more done in less time once I've mastered the interface.
It is a natural trend when mastering any technology. You start out wanting to be productive right away. Later, as you master the basics, you look for the shortcuts to make yourself more productive.
It may be a fair criticism to say that Unix concentrates on productivity shortcuts at the expense of immediate productivity. It may also be fair to say that interfaces perceived as "friendly" (like the Mac) concentrate on immediate usability at the expense of long-term productivity.
I look at it this way: A stick shift is not as "friendly" as an automatic transmission. I still prefer a stick because I like having torque on demand. I hate waiting for the RPMs to get high enough for an automatic to downshift when I'm trying to pass a semi. I have more control with the stick.
Comparing Mac to Unix is like comparing automatic to stick. It all depends on what you want to do with your machine. The ultimate interface might combine both, but it might also be so bloated and inconsistent that nobody would want to use it. Can you imagine having both automatic and manual transmissions in your car?
FWIW, I grabbed Jikes a little while ago as soon as I heard about it. If you don't know, Jikes is a Java bytecode compiler, not a virtual machine. It won't make Java run faster on your Linux box (the alphaworks JIT JVM 1.1.8 is what you want for speed, but it's not open-source).
Jikes stresses compliance to Sun's published standards. It was kind of interesting to read through the source and find comments where they had run into contradictions in the standard. Beyond that, Jikes also reportedly compiles Java really quickly.
I built Jikes from source on a SuSE 6.0 install with a 2.2.9 kernel. I was pretty impressed with how well they set up the make -- it detected compiler options and built with no problems. Word of warning, though, it took several minutes on my P166 with 64 meg.
All I can say is that IBM is impressing the heck out of me these days. My sincere thanks for releasing such a strong compiler under an open license.
I started showing signs of carpal tunnel a few years ago.
This is my highly dumbed-down understanding of CTS:
There is a narrow area in the rest through which tendons pass (the actual "carpal tunnel"). When the tendons start to swell through overuse, repetitive motion, or incorrect use, they pinch in the tunnel. This causes pain, numbness, etc.
I'm not against surgery per se (in fact, I had a torn pectoralis reattached 3 months ago), but it would probably be a last resort for me with an overuse/misuse injury such as CTS.
What did work for me was to seriously re-engineer my work area. I set my chair/desk height so that there is a straight line from my elbow to my fingertips -- no wrist bending at all. I use a wrist pad in front of the keyboard now.
I also make it a point to exercise the forearm/hand muscles with something other than typing. Overuse injuries happen when people focus too much on one activity -- runners get shin splints, tennis players get elbow pain, computer users get CTS. It sounds like a bunch of "total wellness" yabber, but a little weightlifting and rock climbing did me a lot of good.
I don't think it would crimp the lobster's lifestyle at all. You would end up with a 300-foot tall lobster that would ravage Tokyo. Sounds like an improvement from the lobster's point of view.
XML in place of the current config files would have some advantages. For one thing, it would allow use of a single high-performance parser to parse the files. The days of writing/copying a config file parser for every application would be over. Perhaps we could create a shared library to do this. (If there is any interest in a libxml.so, please let me know. It sounds like a cool project.)
It might reduce version control issues in some cases since new/unknown tags in XML can be ignored (much like unknown HTML tags are ignored). However, a well-written config file parser would do this already.
It would probably speed up the process of creating GUI front-end configurators, since the parser/generators could be reused. An advanced user without a GUI configurator is like a fish without a bicycle, but it would be helpful to newbies and regular desktop users. The "Linux is hard to use" argument would start to go away.
There are some big drawbacks, though. The first is that tons of applications would have to be revised in order to read XML config files. In an open-source world, this means a long painful process where some developers switch to XML immediately and others wait a while. Then there is the pain of converting your customized http.conf/fstab/.profile/etc (bad geek pun intentional) files to XML.
Also, there is the fact that most of the cool tools in Linux are really designed for all of the Unix world. Realistically, the Linux environment can't just switch over to XML config files unless the entire Unix community does.
Maybe future apps should use XML as their config file format. I don't see our well-worn existing tools making a switch anytime soon, however.
Every time slashdot links a Columbine story, we get a minimum of 30% gun arguments. The article didn't even mention gun control -- it only listed the types of weapons they were concealing under their jackets.
Even more annoying is that it looks like some are moderating up the gun arguments that they like.
Slashdot Mirror
The F*ck You F*ck Me link doesn't belong on Slashdot. I mean, this isn't Freshmeat....
Kudos to C gN gN gnews for that. I wonder if RMS thinks its gnice.
Your options so far have been the Caldera and Red Hat Linux distributions....
(reaching for the "inaccurate reporting" EJECT button)
Uh, yeah. Right. Whatever.
I am not knowink who you are talkink about.
I hope we're talking about the same thing....
IIRC, from the book Expert C Programming, the AT&T bug was due to a switch-case statement in which a break statement had been left out.
In the book, it was presented as an illustration of how fall-through in a switch-case statement could really bite you.
It's ESPRESSO, not expresso. Expresso isn't even a real drink. Get it right!
ESPRESSO
ESPRESSO
ESPRESSO
ESPRESSO
ESPRESSO
ESPRESSO!!!
(Hmmm. Maybe I've had one too many cuppacinos....)
Thanks! I'll look at that right away!
I take issue with the following quote regarding XML and XML-RPC:
It's a bad sign that Microsoft knows more about this than the leaders of the Linux community. They've already incorporated it into a new protocol that they are calling SOAP.
Ok, I'm far from being a "leader" in the Linux community (or any other), but I've been monitoring the XML-RPC and SOAP discussions for a while now. Many of the underlying grammars were clearly written by people who like COM. The data types conveniently mirror COM VT_xxx types. They CAN, however, be implemented in other languages and platforms. (IIRC, Zope implements XML-RPC.)
Personally, I have misgivings about SOAP being used for real cross-platform distributed computing in the future. It just seems to make too many assumptions about data types. XML-RPC seems geared towards replacing CGI -- it specifies port 80 for all communication (which seems a little narrow-minded to me). These may still become de facto standards because they are "good enough" for most cases.
I predict that for the next few years we will see several new XML grammars introduced. In time, we will eventually settle on a few that work best for most people. Maybe SOAP will be one of these, maybe not. Maybe it will be a derivative of SOAP. Maybe it will be something completely different.
Right now, XML-RPC/SODL/XMOP/SOAP have momentum and the backing of Microsoft and a few authors who want to be first on the shelf with "Designing Distributed Applications with SOAP for Dummies" I'm not aware of any alternatives to SOAP right now. Maybe there is no need for one.
If you've gotten this far in my long-winded post, you may want take a look at a few sites relating to XML and distributed computing:
http://discuss.develop.com -- SOAP discussion board.
http://www.xml-rpc.com -- XML-RPC specs and discussion.
My own shameless plugs:
http://www.maiermedia.com/lab/xml/opml.t xt -- My OPML proposal for object persistence in XML. It's crude, but I think it has less platform affinity than SODL.
http://www.maiermedia.com/lab/xml/ opmlsample.txt -- A sample of objects serialized in OPML.
At this point, I've shelved OPML because I don't see any point in competing with the SOAP crowd. If you do take the time to look at it and would like to send suggestions or feedback, my email address is donkpunch@maiermedia.com. I would love to get some input from people who aren't already convinced that SOAP is the best solution. Maybe I gave up on the idea too soon.
Thanks.
Did you see that one show where they almost got off the island?
"Gilligan's Island" meets "The Real World".
"So, like, Heather was all in my face because my coconut radio didn't work. I told her she just needed to chill out. I mean, there's bound to be a boat coming by sooner or later. But she was all, 'No way. We're never getting off this island.' And I was all, 'So? We've got coconuts, bananas, and tons of awesome beach. It's all good, you know?' So then she just, like, hit me. So now we're going to have a vote to see if she needs to leave the island and maybe get some counselling or something."
I know for a fact that my cat would insert implants in my head with a dull butter knife if it meant he could control the can opener and doorknob. :)
The Fender XII was a solid-body 12-string discontinued in the late 60's. It had two split pickups. Too much guitar trivia knowledge is a sign of a misspent youth.
.html#elec12
http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fender2
(Begin annoying Guitar Center commercial voice)
This weekend only, get a Cornell Nanocaster for only $199,995 in grant money. Yes, you heard right -- an actual Cornell Nanocaster. Not a Squire, not an imitation, the REAL THING.
{Explosion sound)
And get half off our entire line of nano-accessories. Nano cases starting at $79,995. Two-for-one nano strings. Nano picks, nano tuners, nano nano nano, Mork! It's the nano deals of the century! First come, first served. This weekend only and only at
Nano Guitar Center
I've been growing human tissue by myself for years now.... :)
I've NEVER had Lynx crash when viewing a page with Java. As far as Java is concerned, Lynx is the most stable browser ever!
(This was humor)
We'll switch over to the Euro at the same time! :)
*duck*
What, exactly, would be the intermediate steps to reversing my optic nerve? I want to have the most optimum system I possibly can....
Well, I'm still working on my own project -- The Blue Steel Distribution. It is a relicensed distribution of FreeBSD targeted at gun owners.
:)
Some features:
root user can set the "safety" mode. This disables rm and a few other commands famous for borking up files.
Contains support for 15-processor SMP. Due to federal restrictions, though, civilians can only get 10-processor support.
"kill" had been replaced by "shoot". You always "shoot" to "kill".
"Revolver" login mode. If you don't get your password right after 6 tries, you have to reboot.
Mouse pointer replaced by crosshairs.
Once you order the Blue Steel Distribution, you must pass a background check and wait five days before you can install it.
Blue Steel Distribution may not be available in all states. You may need a license to carry a laptop loaded with the Blue Steel Distribution.
Note: this post is neither pro-gun nor anti-gun. I don't care if I get flamed, because I had fun writing it. So there.
Yes, the post might be considered flamebait, but I'm going to treat it as a thread-starter on the issue of user-friendliness.
I challenge the assumption that "users" are all the computer-clueless. I am certainly a user, but I also write software. For me, "user-friendly" takes on a whole different meaning. A Unix-like environment is most certainly friendly to me. I can go beyond interfaces that are designed to be "intuitive" and use interfaces that are designed to be "productive". Do I have to read a few HOWTOs? Yes.
But the time spent learning (for example) VIM is repaid with gained productivity. I get more done in less time once I've mastered the interface.
It is a natural trend when mastering any technology. You start out wanting to be productive right away. Later, as you master the basics, you look for the shortcuts to make yourself more productive.
It may be a fair criticism to say that Unix concentrates on productivity shortcuts at the expense of immediate productivity. It may also be fair to say that interfaces perceived as "friendly" (like the Mac) concentrate on immediate usability at the expense of long-term productivity.
I look at it this way:
A stick shift is not as "friendly" as an automatic transmission. I still prefer a stick because I like having torque on demand. I hate waiting for the RPMs to get high enough for an automatic to downshift when I'm trying to pass a semi. I have more control with the stick.
Comparing Mac to Unix is like comparing automatic to stick. It all depends on what you want to do with your machine. The ultimate interface might combine both, but it might also be so bloated and inconsistent that nobody would want to use it. Can you imagine having both automatic and manual transmissions in your car?
FWIW, I grabbed Jikes a little while ago as soon as I heard about it. If you don't know, Jikes is a Java bytecode compiler, not a virtual machine. It won't make Java run faster on your Linux box (the alphaworks JIT JVM 1.1.8 is what you want for speed, but it's not open-source).
Jikes stresses compliance to Sun's published standards. It was kind of interesting to read through the source and find comments where they had run into contradictions in the standard. Beyond that, Jikes also reportedly compiles Java really quickly.
I built Jikes from source on a SuSE 6.0 install with a 2.2.9 kernel. I was pretty impressed with how well they set up the make -- it detected compiler options and built with no problems. Word of warning, though, it took several minutes on my P166 with 64 meg.
All I can say is that IBM is impressing the heck out of me these days. My sincere thanks for releasing such a strong compiler under an open license.
I started showing signs of carpal tunnel a few years ago.
This is my highly dumbed-down understanding of CTS:
There is a narrow area in the rest through which tendons pass (the actual "carpal tunnel"). When the tendons start to swell through overuse, repetitive motion, or incorrect use, they pinch in the tunnel. This causes pain, numbness, etc.
I'm not against surgery per se (in fact, I had a torn pectoralis reattached 3 months ago), but it would probably be a last resort for me with an overuse/misuse injury such as CTS.
What did work for me was to seriously re-engineer my work area. I set my chair/desk height so that there is a straight line from my elbow to my fingertips -- no wrist bending at all. I use a wrist pad in front of the keyboard now.
I also make it a point to exercise the forearm/hand muscles with something other than typing. Overuse injuries happen when people focus too much on one activity -- runners get shin splints, tennis players get elbow pain, computer users get CTS. It sounds like a bunch of "total wellness" yabber, but a little weightlifting and rock climbing did me a lot of good.
I don't think it would crimp the lobster's lifestyle at all. You would end up with a 300-foot tall lobster that would ravage Tokyo. Sounds like an improvement from the lobster's point of view.
(Or didn't you watch Godzilla movies?)
and there I was getting all excited about starting a cool project -- fame, fortune, free coffee mugs.... :)
Thanks for the tip.
XML in place of the current config files would have some advantages. For one thing, it would allow use of a single high-performance parser to parse the files. The days of writing/copying a config file parser for every application would be over. Perhaps we could create a shared library to do this. (If there is any interest in a libxml.so, please let me know. It sounds like a cool project.)
It might reduce version control issues in some cases since new/unknown tags in XML can be ignored (much like unknown HTML tags are ignored). However, a well-written config file parser would do this already.
It would probably speed up the process of creating GUI front-end configurators, since the parser/generators could be reused. An advanced user without a GUI configurator is like a fish without a bicycle, but it would be helpful to newbies and regular desktop users. The "Linux is hard to use" argument would start to go away.
There are some big drawbacks, though. The first is that tons of applications would have to be revised in order to read XML config files. In an open-source world, this means a long painful process where some developers switch to XML immediately and others wait a while. Then there is the pain of converting your customized http.conf/fstab/.profile/etc (bad geek pun intentional) files to XML.
Also, there is the fact that most of the cool tools in Linux are really designed for all of the Unix world. Realistically, the Linux environment can't just switch over to XML config files unless the entire Unix community does.
Maybe future apps should use XML as their config file format. I don't see our well-worn existing tools making a switch anytime soon, however.
Just my 2 cents.
Every time slashdot links a Columbine story, we get a minimum of 30% gun arguments. The article didn't even mention gun control -- it only listed the types of weapons they were concealing under their jackets.
Even more annoying is that it looks like some are moderating up the gun arguments that they like.