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User: JDOHERTY

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Comments · 15

  1. The social contract is that they complete their studies and publish unrestricted research and provide free intellectual property in return for subsidized education. Therefore they are in violation of this contract. So force them to complete their studies and provide their labor free-of-charge, from jail or any handy gulag if necessary. To all according to their needs, from all according to their abilities.
    We can not allow self interest to stand in the way of society.

  2. AI Promises to use Human Intelligence Responsibly on Tech Companies Pledge To Use Artificial Intelligence Responsibly (axios.com) · · Score: 2

    First they came for my neighbor - who was a PHP programmer, and we said nothing (he's not really a programmer tho' is he?)
    Then they came for my other neighbor - who was a Java programmer, and I said nothing (should have learned C++, I mean really)
    Then they came for me ....

  3. Your employer implicitly assumes the risk of your on Ask Slashdot: Should Developers Fix Bugs They Cause On Their Own Time? · · Score: 1

    Your work is amplified through the action of the corporation. This isn't just true of software developers but even repetitive manual labor on an assembly line is amplified through the co-operation of the group or corporation. Your compensation for this behavior is reduced risk, that is to say the corporation assumes the risk around your quality of work. So they basically pay you or someone else to fix problems you create.
    A carpenter, brick-layer, whoever doing a one-off job is doing that job under the assumption that they bear the risk of quality work directly, and they do typically charge more for it. Maybe a good example is: if you've used a plumbing company with many plumber employees you'll find the plumbers are paid a wage rather than per job. That wage is typically less that the plumbers might be able to earn working on their own but the company offers some guarantees to it's employees, and the difference in wages is acceptable to the employee because they get reduced uncertainty of income and the work quality risk is assumed by the company - essentially shared among the other employees (somewhat) and shareholders (mostly).

  4. What is ZFS and why should I care? on OpenZFS Project Launches, Uniting ZFS Developers · · Score: 0

    It would be nice if the posted article or even the OpenZFS project home page provided some sort of summary of the benefits and objectives of this effort.

  5. Heretic or Apostate on GNU Grep and Sed Maintainer Quits: RMS and FSF Harming GNU Project · · Score: 1

    "The author is quick to note that he has no philosophical disagreements with GNU or the FSF." - oh so he's a heretic not apostate, thank Linus! But get the pyre going anyway.

  6. Just start working in the field you're interested on Ask Slashdot: Best Second Major For a Mechanical Engineer? · · Score: 1

    No one knows what they really need to learn to do a job until they've done it for a while. Go out and get a job as close to what you want as possible. Then in 18months think about college again.
    Premature optimization is the root of all evil.
    J.

  7. Climate change scientists funded by solar co.s! on Climate Skeptic Funded By Oil and Coal Companies · · Score: 1

    Climate scientists are funded by the money they scare up, I mean, solicit for their own expertise to fight the process they are experts in. And yet we don't apply the same standards of conflict of interest to them because they are on the 'right side'?

  8. Won in what terms? on Bashing MS 'Like Kicking a Puppy,' Says Jim Zemlin · · Score: 1

    In money terms M$ is winning, isn't it? Linux has helped other firms (Oracle-Sun etc.) maintain their relevance. How much revenue they would actually ascribe to it is, probably artificially low but still not M$ amounts. Maybe that's the problem since it's free it's not recorded how much value it is supporting? Another angle is how many programmers earn their living writing for M$ v's Linux?

  9. Slashdot readability. on New VP8 Codec SDK Release Improves Performance · · Score: 1

    Couldn't this post have started "Google releases improved video codec ..." or whatever a PNSR improved VP8 is? Really, just a hint at the topic in the first sentence would improve slashdot 'readability'.

  10. Duh! on The Risks of Entering Programming Contests · · Score: 1

    Ehh ... this wasn't obvious? Why do you think they hold a competition? Because it's cheaper than funding the effort directly.

  11. Can you print the data? on Need Help Salvaging Data From an Old Xenix System · · Score: 1

    Random suggestion: Can you print the data out in text format and then OCR it into a new machine?

  12. Why are headline so extereme? on Herschel Space Observatory Finds Precursors of Life In Orion · · Score: 1

    Why is astronomy layman reporting (and global warming, and meteor science) all about the extreme case? Only so many characters in the headline field? Too much character in the headline writer? Thing is you're wearing out the reader - in a few more generations the only way for this story to get noticed will be "Aliens From Orion On Their Way To Eat You".

  13. Re:ISSv2? on Huge ISS Science Report Released · · Score: 1

    Well, seeing as the most exciting or at least slashdot worthy scientific result posted here was about microbes being possibly more virulent in space my guess is ISSv2 isn't exactly a high priority. See this month's Scientific American magazine. Couldn't the money be given to orphans or Google or someone instead?

  14. To the editors on The Philanthropic Arm of Google · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How and when did Slashdot become a press release spot for Google? Is this a technology story? The poster nor editor make any mention of other companies efforts in this area. Can we do something with 'Goole-giving' right now? Have they innovated the process? Do you think they'll have a 'Google-stock-picker' next, after all we're all need a little help?

  15. Mostly true on Custom Software vs. COTS Products · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Even dedicated car mechanics rarely try to make their own parts.

    Of , that said there are lots of patient talented folk who do.

    Custom written software is more specific, often nicely tailored to the job and alot more difficult to support in a large integrated environment. Programmers don't hang around an old job site forever any more than construction crews do and wheather it's back to Bombay or San Fran getting it fixed 2 years down the line is alot easier when it comes with a dedicated external support team.

    The future of software engineering is the same as that of any other industry - make hay while the sun shines and get used to it.