Well maybe it needs another try. The problem with a window manager, of course, is that it's *always* running. It's not like gphoto, where I can load up a few pictures and suddenly it takes 24Mbytes. Anything E does, it always does. -russ
Anybody else remember Fred van Kempen and his rewrite of the Linux IP stack? It didn't happen and didn't happen and didn't happen. People called each other names, and finally Alan Cox just sat down and started improving the existing code. -russ
Well, of course this audience is converted. You're supposed to use it as a tool to wallop the infidels.
And of course, I disagree that it's the same argument, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered to write it. For example, tCatB says that peer review produces reliable code. I say that holding back information about your hardware doesn't lead to more success in the marketplace.
Right. Ask the right party for the dox. These days it's usually the chip maker.
Not to dismiss your experience, but in my experience, Ethernet controller documentation is usually complete and accurate enough to write a working driver. Maybe that's because they've had to supply such for many years because no one manufacturer controlled the market. -russ
On the subject of hardware damage, you've got a lot more to fear from random windows crashes than hacker probing. At least with hacker probing you can say "You play, you break, you lose."
On the subject of customer support and inappropriate questions, a developer just has to be disciplined. The 'D' key is your friend. Tech support has to be able to say "We didn't write that driver; we don't support it either." -russ
Who's talking about bootlegged drivers? I'm not asking companies to make *their* driver code public. I'm just asking for enough programming information so that we can write our own drivers. -russ
The manufacturer has control over the new market by virtue of selling the hardware which it's based on. More control doesn't help grow that market, and can only hurt it. -russ
I'm not saying that Open Source drivers are necessary for making money. I'm saying that proprietary information doesn't help you make money. Therefore, you may as well give away information about your hardware, since it might help. -russ
I think I've already addressed your point. You're saying that the company's friends have trouble reverse-engineering. I agree, and further assert based on personal experience that the company's enemies have good reason to do the reverse-engineering and keep it a secret. I've done reverse-engineering when I had lots of free time (student). I made a compilable source of MS-DOS 1.0, COMMAND.COM, and DEBUG.COM. It's just not that hard. And I had to write my own disassembly tools -- you can just go buy them now.
Yes, writing an Ethernet driver isn't that hard, now that documentation is available for them, and now that there's a body of free software to work off of. Go and grep for Crynwr or Nelson in/usr/src/linux/drivers/net/*.[ch] . This is not to diminish Don Becker's work, but merely to point out that his work builds on mine (and others, including the Jay Maynard who is posting here). -russ
Nobody is going to bother to clone your product unless it's clearly the market leader. If it's the market leader, why do you care if someone tries to copy your product? By the time they can, you've out-innovated them. The only time you've got something at risk is when you've got a cash cow that you have no follow-on product for. If that's the case, you've got other problems than just cloners. -russ
I guess I don't write very well -- my whole point is that no assets are at risk. You still own your patents and copyrights. Your enemy already owns your trade secrets, so why not give them to your friends as well? -russ
Thanks for all the comments. Lots of people had good contributions. The revised version of this essay will have a link from my web page (URL above). -russ p.s. yes, I'm preaching to the converted. You're supposed to take this essay and wave it in the faces of people who aren't converted yet.
RMS is lucky that he doesn't have a family; lucky that he doesn't have a mortgage; and lucky that he has an endowment. He's lucky that he has no temptation for compromise his principles at the end of every month. The rest of us are not so pure.
Basically, you completely missed ESR's point. His point is that RMS speaks to us about issues important to us. He is very bad at speaking to non-hackers. Quote: "RMS is a lunatic." -russ
Seems like the audio is working for everyone else, but not for me. All I hear is pause, hisss, pause, hisss, hisss, pause, hisss, where the hisses are where someone would be speaking. I'm using mpg123 on Debian 2.1 on a GUS Ultrasound Max which plays back other audio files just fine. -russ
Laurie Petrycki is looking for more Open Source authors, to publish books in the same manner. If you have a book proposal, or just want to talk about one, send her email.
All Christians aspire
on
RMS Responds
·
· Score: 1
All Christians aspire to be like Christ. Of course that's not possible, but it's still a worthy goal. -russ
Maybe you're just too smart? Software is seen as a typical public good, and public goods have always been considered to be susceptible to the TotC. -russ
Slashdot Mirror
People are not rats, you idiot. Why is it that whenever someone has something indefensible to say, they always hit that logout button??
-russ
Well maybe it needs another try. The problem with a window manager, of course, is that it's *always* running. It's not like gphoto, where I can load up a few pictures and suddenly it takes 24Mbytes.
Anything E does, it always does.
-russ
Anybody else remember Fred van Kempen and his rewrite of the Linux IP stack? It didn't happen and didn't happen and didn't happen. People called each other names, and finally Alan Cox just sat down and started improving the existing code.
-russ
Well, of course this audience is converted. You're supposed to use it as a tool to wallop the infidels.
And of course, I disagree that it's the same argument, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered to write it. For example, tCatB says that peer review produces reliable code. I say that holding back information about your hardware doesn't lead to more success in the marketplace.
Do you think I'm wrong?
-russ
Could you point out just one of them?
-russ
Right. Ask the right party for the dox. These days it's usually the chip maker.
Not to dismiss your experience, but in my experience, Ethernet controller documentation is usually complete and accurate enough to write a working driver. Maybe that's because they've had to supply such for many years because no one manufacturer controlled the market.
-russ
On the subject of hardware damage, you've got a lot more to fear from random windows crashes than hacker probing. At least with hacker probing you can say "You play, you break, you lose."
On the subject of customer support and inappropriate questions, a developer just has to be disciplined. The 'D' key is your friend. Tech support has to be able to say "We didn't write that driver; we don't support it either."
-russ
Who's talking about bootlegged drivers? I'm not asking companies to make *their* driver code public. I'm just asking for enough programming information so that we can write our own drivers.
-russ
The manufacturer has control over the new market by virtue of selling the hardware which it's based on. More control doesn't help grow that market, and can only hurt it.
-russ
I'm not saying that Open Source drivers are necessary for making money. I'm saying that proprietary information doesn't help you make money. Therefore, you may as well give away information about your hardware, since it might help.
-russ
I think I've already addressed your point. You're saying that the company's friends have trouble reverse-engineering. I agree, and further assert based on personal experience that the company's enemies have good reason to do the reverse-engineering and keep it a secret. I've done reverse-engineering when I had lots of free time (student). I made a compilable source of MS-DOS 1.0, COMMAND.COM, and DEBUG.COM. It's just not that hard. And I had to write my own disassembly tools -- you can just go buy them now.
/usr/src/linux/drivers/net/*.[ch] . This is not to diminish Don Becker's work, but merely to point out that his work builds on mine (and others, including the Jay Maynard who is posting here).
Yes, writing an Ethernet driver isn't that hard, now that documentation is available for them, and now that there's a body of free software to work off of. Go and grep for Crynwr or Nelson in
-russ
Nobody is going to bother to clone your product unless it's clearly the market leader. If it's the market leader, why do you care if someone tries to copy your product? By the time they can, you've out-innovated them. The only time you've got something at risk is when you've got a cash cow that you have no follow-on product for. If that's the case, you've got other problems than just cloners.
-russ
I guess I don't write very well -- my whole point is that no assets are at risk. You still own your patents and copyrights. Your enemy already owns your trade secrets, so why not give them to your friends as well?
-russ
Thanks for all the comments. Lots of people had good contributions. The revised version of this essay will have a link from my web page (URL above).
-russ
p.s. yes, I'm preaching to the converted. You're supposed to take this essay and wave it in the faces of people who aren't converted yet.
- What did ESR do?
Sell to suits. Something RMS is incapable of doing.RMS is lucky that he doesn't have a family; lucky that he doesn't have a mortgage; and lucky that he has an endowment. He's lucky that he has no temptation for compromise his principles at the end of every month. The rest of us are not so pure.
Basically, you completely missed ESR's point. His point is that RMS speaks to us about issues important to us. He is very bad at speaking to non-hackers. Quote: "RMS is a lunatic."
-russ
Seems like the audio is working for everyone else, but not for me. All I hear is pause, hisss, pause, hisss, hisss, pause, hisss, where the hisses are where someone would be speaking. I'm using mpg123 on Debian 2.1 on a GUS Ultrasound Max which plays back other audio files just fine.
-russ
Laurie Petrycki is looking for more Open Source authors, to publish books in the same manner. If you have a book proposal, or just want to talk about one, send her email.
All Christians aspire to be like Christ. Of course that's not possible, but it's still a worthy goal.
-russ
As long as you call them idiots, they'll stick with Billg, who loves them.
-russ
tcp makes the bulk data packets much larger than the ack packets. Bandwidth use is nearly always very asymmetric -- most comes down.
-russ
Wait until the hardware vendors figure out that they don't have to choose -- that whenever they ship NT, they can *also* ship Linux.
Windows will die.
Like a bug.
-russ
Maybe that's done on purpose? The ways of Weird Al are many and subtle.
-russ
Can Xanim play any of these file formats?
-russ
Maybe you're just too smart? Software is seen as a typical public good, and public goods have always been considered to be susceptible to the TotC.
-russ