Have you got a paypal account where we can send money?
Not for this. But do you mean that publishing those has become dangerous? I've had some that have been generally known.
I got four or five phone calls. 30 or 40 emails. 840 signatures so far.
That phone number is on my web site. Weeks can go by with no calls. Most people don't want to bother me until they have something really interesting to say. They will reply to my slashdot and technocrat postings, and less often email, and even less often phone.
Some think that the tragedy of the commons in Open Source occurs if work on a product stops before the product reaches critical mass. But this may just be natural selection between multiple competing products.
So, I'm coming to the show this year, for the first time in three years. So, do I get on a team? And do I get to improv and make jokes? None of this doing it straight like DiBona did. Too boring.
There isn't really a free-rider problem like on a bus - because there's no cost to making a copy there are an infinite number of "seats". There is a finite number of customers for paid copies, so proprietary software can be displaced by Free Software. That's just progress.
Well, if I had kept running both those projects for 10 or 12 years, this would not have happened. So, it's my fault too. But then again, maybe I would not have a child, and maybe I would not have achieved some of the other important things that I've done. In general, I'm better off for having a life - I was a lot harder to get along with before I had one:-)
Christ, you sound like you're trying to convince Christians to expel the moors from Spain. Microsoft's just a company like any other, making software just like any other. If Microsoft's "an enemy of free and open software" then what is Adobe? Intuit? Apple? Etc? Are any companies *not* enemies of free and open software?
Hi Blakey,
There is a scale of corporate collaborators with the Open Source community. It runs the range of Benefactor, Symbiote, User, Parasite. All companies can be fit somewhere on this scale, sometimes we argue about what label one should get. NASA, back when it sponsored the development of most of the Linux network card drivers, was a benefactor. They didn't really plan to use them for their own operations. Most companies that attempt to be a sincere partner with the community are symbiotes, and they return value to the community in exchange for the value they get for their business, for example by developing more Open Source. Users are folks who just passively use the software without doing anything for the community - but we like to have Users because they give us the artistic gratification of seeing our software used and they sometimes become Symbiotes. Parasites are folks like SCO, that take value from the community in a harmful way.
MS, unfortunately, while they are spewing patent FUD at us, while they are attempting to pervert the standards vote at ISO by creating dozens of new members for a single meeting, Microsoft doesn't belong on the partner scale at all. Apple tries to participate in Open Source, sometimes not successfully as when they took Open Darwin private, sometimes successfully as when they support the CUPS printer management system. Adobe, I don't know enough about their recent activities, but they made some open standards that we use very extensively, like Postscript, Type 1 and PDF. They also have been putting DRM in PDF, etc., which is generally negative.
So, Microsoft is not just like any other company just like you are not like any other person. We have to make judgements based on the way they act.
I think that's pretty optimistic. I wouldn't assume that 99% of people at RedHat or Canonical had their "heart's in the right place". What makes you assume that of Microsoft?
Well, rather than being actively malevolent, a lot of people just don't give a damn. Some know that they can do the right thing but choose not to get involved. Maybe they'll tell you it's "over their pay-grade".
There used to be people who would play "fake Bruce Perens" on Slashdot, a decade before there was a Fake Steve Jobs. Here's a rare, surviving fake bruce, he's currently moderated to -1, good. Please be sure to moderate such folks to oblivion. When this was really bad, it led to me having a signature pointing out that the real Bruce has that four-digit user-id. And then somebody made an Eminem parody song about "The Real Bruce Perens". Oh, the history!
I'm not sure how I can support you in any way in this endeavor but I wish you all the luck in the world.
Thanks! I am conscious that nobody listens to me unless I have the support of folks like you. There are mistakes I've made, that I would take back if I could. I'm trying very hard not to make them this time.
Well, if they would stop doing the patent FUD, and stop stuffing ballot boxes at ISO, and in general stop the dirty fighting, we wouldn't need diplomacy. But I agree that they can make us look bad if we won't come to the table with them. We just have to make sure they don't leave with the table.
OSI is generally recognized as the organization that tells you if a license claiming to be Open Source actually is Open Source or if it's in some way giving you less rights than should come with Open Source. Those rights being defined in something I created 10 years ago called the Open Source Definition, which people seem to mostly still agree with. The main function of that board is to interpret those rules and certify licenses.
I think the "high school" nature of this is because the board is self-elected. Otherwise, there would be some formal structure that you could see around the election. The last time I asked Mike Tiemann, the closest definition I got of when the election is was "before the April board meeting", which I think is April 2.
I don't know that MS is a candidate, indeed I have not been told about any candidates. I don't think they'd win, so far. I trust most of the current board not to elect them. I have been on other commitees with Microsoft folks, for example the patent policy board at W3C. Unfortunately, they still like to play dirty. Someone like me can help to balance them.
Unless your contribution consisted only of small, isolated bits, which as I understand it was not the case, even if there is nothing left that is recognizably your original code, BusyBox as a whole is still a derivative work and you therefore retain rights in it, no?
I don't want any money. And regarding settlements, SFLC generally gets money to support its own operations, and I suppose that the plaintiffs want some money to compensate their efforts. They are after all consultants who get paid for their time.
But I am a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing.
I imagine that 99% of the folks at Microsoft have their heart in the right place. Certainly most of the ones I meet do. There are a few who do not at the top, and unfortunately the rest have to take orders sometimes. As we can see from the recent shenagians around the ISO vote, Microsoft has not given up its habit of playing dirty.
I have been on committees with them before, for example the patent policy board at W3C. I know how to deal with it professionally.
Unfortunately, one of those developers tells me that every line of code I wrote in creating Busybox is gone from the code base, and that I have no rights:-( . I am not sure I believe that, but there is no good to be had in further engaging with that developer, I have bigger battles to fight.
I usally respond to Slashdot comments if I see them. But you are also welcome to call me at 510-984-1055, or to email bruce at perens dot com . The phone rings in my office and home, and stops ringing when we would be sleeping.
Hm. Can you still get 10 rods for $5? If I see any that cheap, I'l stock up. If you want to get really fancy, you can get 96 inches of quarter-inch diameter brass round stock for less than $20 here. Harder to bend, but it sounds pretty durable.
Good suggestions. Can you get really long brazing rod? It would be nicer than soldering them end-to-end for this application. I'm also concerned about expense - the price of copper is through the roof of late. Perhaps it's time to buy aluminum rod? It's easy to cut and work but I hear that soldering it is almost impossible and welding it is really difficult too.
Soldering is nice because it gives you a more reliable connection. Loose connections blowing in the wind are going to cause visible problems. An unsoldered connection of oxidized wire can actually act as a diode and create interference problems.
The models are obviously made with wire. You have some leeway on cross-section. Clothes-hangar wire might work:-) Solid copper somewhere between 12 and 18 gauge is easier to work and has the mechanical stiffness you will need.
Regarding your CB tweaking, there are a few things that can make a big change, but it is very easy to decieve yourself, too. Stereo tweakers are notorious for that.
Slashdot Mirror
Not for this. But do you mean that publishing those has become dangerous? I've had some that have been generally known.
I got four or five phone calls. 30 or 40 emails. 840 signatures so far.
That phone number is on my web site. Weeks can go by with no calls. Most people don't want to bother me until they have something really interesting to say. They will reply to my slashdot and technocrat postings, and less often email, and even less often phone.
Thanks
Bruce
Thanks
Bruce
Some think that the tragedy of the commons in Open Source occurs if work on a product stops before the product reaches critical mass. But this may just be natural selection between multiple competing products.
So, I'm coming to the show this year, for the first time in three years. So, do I get on a team? And do I get to improv and make jokes? None of this doing it straight like DiBona did. Too boring.
Bruce
Bruce
Well said. I should be pointing that out.
The parent post is a fake. The real Bruce Perens has user-id 3872, not one of those six-digit ones.
Yes. But I thought it was better to just walk away from the silly argument. And in any case he's had time enough to remove those lines deliberately.
There is a scale of corporate collaborators with the Open Source community. It runs the range of Benefactor, Symbiote, User, Parasite. All companies can be fit somewhere on this scale, sometimes we argue about what label one should get. NASA, back when it sponsored the development of most of the Linux network card drivers, was a benefactor. They didn't really plan to use them for their own operations. Most companies that attempt to be a sincere partner with the community are symbiotes, and they return value to the community in exchange for the value they get for their business, for example by developing more Open Source. Users are folks who just passively use the software without doing anything for the community - but we like to have Users because they give us the artistic gratification of seeing our software used and they sometimes become Symbiotes. Parasites are folks like SCO, that take value from the community in a harmful way.
MS, unfortunately, while they are spewing patent FUD at us, while they are attempting to pervert the standards vote at ISO by creating dozens of new members for a single meeting, Microsoft doesn't belong on the partner scale at all. Apple tries to participate in Open Source, sometimes not successfully as when they took Open Darwin private, sometimes successfully as when they support the CUPS printer management system. Adobe, I don't know enough about their recent activities, but they made some open standards that we use very extensively, like Postscript, Type 1 and PDF. They also have been putting DRM in PDF, etc., which is generally negative.
So, Microsoft is not just like any other company just like you are not like any other person. We have to make judgements based on the way they act.
Bruce
Well, rather than being actively malevolent, a lot of people just don't give a damn. Some know that they can do the right thing but choose not to get involved. Maybe they'll tell you it's "over their pay-grade".
There used to be people who would play "fake Bruce Perens" on Slashdot, a decade before there was a Fake Steve Jobs. Here's a rare, surviving fake bruce, he's currently moderated to -1, good. Please be sure to moderate such folks to oblivion. When this was really bad, it led to me having a signature pointing out that the real Bruce has that four-digit user-id. And then somebody made an Eminem parody song about "The Real Bruce Perens". Oh, the history!
Thanks! I am conscious that nobody listens to me unless I have the support of folks like you. There are mistakes I've made, that I would take back if I could. I'm trying very hard not to make them this time.
Thanks
Bruce
Bruce
I think the "high school" nature of this is because the board is self-elected. Otherwise, there would be some formal structure that you could see around the election. The last time I asked Mike Tiemann, the closest definition I got of when the election is was "before the April board meeting", which I think is April 2.
I don't know that MS is a candidate, indeed I have not been told about any candidates. I don't think they'd win, so far. I trust most of the current board not to elect them. I have been on other commitees with Microsoft folks, for example the patent policy board at W3C. Unfortunately, they still like to play dirty. Someone like me can help to balance them.
Bruce
I don't want any money. And regarding settlements, SFLC generally gets money to support its own operations, and I suppose that the plaintiffs want some money to compensate their efforts. They are after all consultants who get paid for their time.
But I am a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing.
Bruce
I'm already married :-)
I have been on committees with them before, for example the patent policy board at W3C. I know how to deal with it professionally.
Thanks
Bruce
Thanks
Bruce
Bruce
Bruce
Thanks
Bruce
Hm. Can you still get 10 rods for $5? If I see any that cheap, I'l stock up. If you want to get really fancy, you can get 96 inches of quarter-inch diameter brass round stock for less than $20 here. Harder to bend, but it sounds pretty durable.
Bruce
The models are obviously made with wire. You have some leeway on cross-section. Clothes-hangar wire might work :-) Solid copper somewhere between 12 and 18 gauge is easier to work and has the mechanical stiffness you will need.
Regarding your CB tweaking, there are a few things that can make a big change, but it is very easy to decieve yourself, too. Stereo tweakers are notorious for that.
Bruce