Sorry to be a bore, but J++ and Java are quite different beasts. If you don't believe that, then develop a non-trivial Java application (with Swing for a user intefrace) with J++ and try to run it on a Solaris machine. I wish you luck.
To give J++ credit, it is a very good IDE. Anders Heijlsberg(sp?) was one of the key designers. Now Borland are starting to look at Linux as a platform they must regret losing him to MS. Maybe we could have a collection and see if he'll come back. MS only offered him 3 million to join, after all.
I'm encouraged. Can you imagine MS doing something like this even a year ago? Putting that page together will have cost them a lot of money. Large organisations produce responses like that by forming a committee, producing drafts, arguing about wording and getting lawyers to check things. If it cost less than $100,000 I'd want to hire the manager.
They are clearly frightened by Linux. If you read it carefully, they attack Linux as a credible enterprise (>4 processor) OS, and they attack in the workstation environment. This is funny. Linux has never tried to be an enterprise OS. We'll get there, but we're not there yet. NT is nowhere near that level either. In the workstation environment, NT has a solid, strong presence. Many Linux devlopers (KDE & Gnome teams ) are working on this.
The real place that Linux is winning is in the workgroup/department sever space. This includes many small / medium sized enterprises. The reason they are scared is that this is the only place that NT Server has any significant presence.
Linux is starting to hurt MS. With a little help from the US DoJ, we'll hurt them badly.
The paragraph on journalled filesystems was probably the funniest. If you don't know why, please email me. Then hit the 'off' switch on your NT box. Then reboot it. If you still don't understand why that's funny then you are too stupid to own a computer.
I use both KDE and Gnome and think they are *both* great.
If they each keep following each other's features, I think we might end up with the programmers implementing 'tick in the box for the reviews' stuff rather than concentrating on what the users are really asking for. We all complain about 'bloatware' when a Certain Company ships yet another 'upgrade'. I hope the programmers working on these projects continue to focus on the stuff that matters. Interoperability matters a lot.
If you think #ifdef is an option, then you've never had the preprocessor bite you hard.
"US Military launches Minuteman II Missile from Vandenburg Range in the general direction of Australia. US claims that the missile was 'modified' to prevent nuclear detonation, and anyway, they shot it down with an ExoAtmospheric 'Kill' Vehicle. Not many hurt."
Story Two:
"US Military Installation in Western California launches attack on Australian Stock Exchange Server. Not many hurt"
Just what have you guys got against the Ozzies anyway? If I were Australian I'd be starting the get paranoid.
Feed The Hungry. Save the Whales. Free the mallocs
Story One: "US Military launches Minuteman II Missile from Vandenburg Range in the general direction of Australia. US claims that the missile was 'modified' to prevent nuclear detonation, and anyway, they shot it down with an ExoAtmospheric 'kill' Vehicle. Not many hurt." Story Two: "US Military Installation in Western California launches attack on Australian Stock Exchange Server. Not many hurt" Just what have you guys got against the Aussies anyway? If I were Australian I'd be starting the get paranoid. Feed The Hungry. Save the Whales. Free the mallocs
It carries a computer that enables it to determine its location by the position of certain stars and then select the target and attack it.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but this sounds very hard to do. Astronavigation requires at least two astronomical bodies (OK, they've got that), reasonably accurate timing (that's easy) and a horizon.
I just think that determining the location of the horizon from this vehicle would be very hard to do. Oh, you've got to know your altitude pretty accurately, too.
I'm not saying they didn't target it using astronav. It's just that GPS would be far easier, cheaper, and more accurate.
What's more likely is that it has star charts on board and looks for 'stars' that shouldn't be there. Then it attacks them. That could be a neat strategy.
It's going to have to be a lor more accurate than Patriot if it's going to be any use, anyway. Cool toy though.
It should be mandatory for all PCs aimed at kids to have at least one programming language installed. My first computer was a BBC Micro. It came with a very good dialect of BASIC and a 6502 assembler as standard. It got me hooked on programming aged 12. Amazing what you could do with 32KB of RAM, some (Up to 20KB) of which was needed for video.
If you give a kid a computer that just does games and net access, how are they ever going to find out how the technology works?
The question is, which language.
ToonTalk (It's not a proper language but it's a lot of fun for younger kids) BASIC - fairly easy to learn, even if it rots your brain. Java - steeper learning curve, but has a lovely library Perl - probably a bit weird for most kids Python - I think Guido is actually pushing Python for this sort of thing Pascal - A really good 'learning' language, but largely brain-dead libraries C++ - don't be silly. C - that's even sillier. SmallTalk - It'd be great for teaching, but nobody uses it any more.
Failing to include a programming language is an insult to the creativity of children.
If you 'install' the 'printer' by going to the 'add printer' icon in the 'printer' window, then you *do* have to install the printer driver on the workstation to make it work.
However, if you have a server with the drivers installed, then all you have to do is locate that server in 'Network Neighbourhood', click in the 'printers' icon to show you the printers on that server, right click on the printer and click 'install' on the pop-up menu that appears. This will let your workstation print to that printer without the drivers installed locally.
Wasn't that easy? Can I have my MCSE now? (until the printer spooling falls over. Why do you think we run NetWare for critical stuff?)
Seriously, until we have the ability to make Linux printing easy we'll keep on fighting the PHBs.
My understanding of patent law is that a patent isn't just for a device, but for a use of that device. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Given that this idea (temporal information in neural networks) has so many really cool possible applications, they'd have a very difficult job patenting all the uses.
I can see this being useful in just about any real-time control system, such as autopilots, assembly lines, controlling the temperature of your shower. Anything involving streaming data really.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more *really* crazy ideas for this I come up with. I've got a problem with automatic garbage collection in a system at the moment where this might help... Oh, dear - they probably can't patent it for that now. Whoops.
Incidentally, are there any regular/. readers who are lawyers? Should we get some?
The last reports I heard seemed to suggest that the blue flash *may* have been due to a chemical explosion. I hope it wasn't Cerenkov radiation. That would indicate a significant nuclear reaction under water.
"this thing may reach critical mass (imminent self-sustaining meltdown) within hours. "
This is tosh. It's *not* a reactor. Meltdown means that a reactor's core becomes molten. I still haven't got all the facts ( and neither has anybody), but what seems to have happened is that a chemical process (probably involving uranium salts in solution) received too much uranium.
This has happened in other countries (including US) before. Somehow, this may or may not have caused a fissile reaction, which may or may not have caused heating which led to an escape of radioactive material.
It may have been caused by a precipitation of a uranium-rich substance. Whatever it was, it needs a moderator to keep a fissile reaction going. Water will do the job, but not very well. This reaction (if there is one - it could have been an entirely chemical reaction) will almost certainly calm down fairly rapidly. I grant that it will leave a nasty mess.
For your information, Japan is got 'geographically isolated'. It's rather close to China and Russia.
At the moment the best information that I have could (charitably) be called 'hearsay and rumour', but here's how I understand it so far:
1) This was a fuel processing facility, so comments like 'meltdown', 'China syndrome' and 'Chernobyl' are ridiculous.
2) It is reported that approx. 5 times the correct amount of Uranium was introduced into a chemical treatment vessel.
3) Two plant workers are 'seriously ill'. 30+ others were 'exposed'
4) Totally unconfirmed reports have been published of workers 'seeing a blue light' and feeling unwell.
5) People have been advised to stay indoors and wash off any rainwater they may have been in contact with.
Point 1: This facility is *not* a nuclear reactor. The worst that is likely to happen is a nasty, rather radioactive, chemical mess that will take a lot of time and effort to clean up. Even if the nuclear reaction (that may or may not have taken place) is still continuing, it will cool down on it's own. It is very difficult to design a reactor to keep a fissile reaction running for any length of time.
Point 2: It will be some time before we know why too much uranium was allowed into the processing environment. Let's not start blaming anyone until we know the facts.
Point 3: If you are listed as 'seriously ill' after an being involved with an event like this then you will be extremely lucky to live. My thoughts are with these people and their families.
Point 4: I don't know whether to believe this. The blue light sounds like Cerenkov radiation. If you start feeling ill just after seeing this, then you are certainly in the 'seriously ill' category. I doubt you'd be talking to reporters. It may have happened, but I'll wait for more information. You need a *lot* of nuclear activity for Cerenkov radiation to be obvious.
Point 5: Very sensible advice. If it was raining at or soon after the time of the accident, then the rain will absorb a lot of the 'nasties' from the air and wash them to the ground. In these conditions staying inside, closing the windows and avoiding contact with radioactive rain seems to be a good idea. Would you rather get in a car, sit in a traffic jam and wonder how much rain is in the car's ventilation systems? The instinct is to get as far away as possible, but a house is probably safer than a car.
We need to make sure that the Japanese authorities are given every possible assistance in dealing with this. Then we need to find out how it happened. Then we need to put measures in place to stop it from happening again. It has happened before on several occasions, at least once in US, once in UK and once in what was USSR.
White's pawn is significantly further developed. White has a slight problem with the position of the King, but has achieved a very strong threat of a discovered check. I'd say this game is 75% draw, 20% White 5% black. But then I'd be trying to predict the outcome of a Queen endgame, which is daft. Nobody really understands Queen endgames.
They landed 60 miles from the target under heavy air attack and walked across the island, taking their kit with them. The Argentinians (partly trained/ advised by the US military) were caught completely off balance. The British troops were colossally outnumbered and operating 8,000 miles from home. The won *very* convincingly through a combination of outstanding professionalism and creative thinking. In one battle (Goose Green) approx. 300 British troops took a fortified installation defended by 1,500 Argentinians.
The Falklands War is widely acknowledged as one of the major triumphs of British Armed Forces in history.
See the books "I Counted Them All Out And I Counted Them All Back" by Brian Hanrahan and "Don't Cry for me, Sergeant Major" (I'm too lazy to look up the author) for contemporary accounts.
Are these guys for real? I assume they are going after *all* these companies. (Check here for the list). What a terribly sad way to earn a living.
It might be fun to join one of their class action suits. Then, when your claim is rejected on the grounds that you had no interest whatsoever in the action you could sue the balls off Milbergs for raising your hopes. That could be funny.
I'm with Shakespeare (Henry IV) - "The first thing we'll do, let's kill all the lawyers."
Actually, they did, I believe. They had a version of MacOS running on 386 hardware years ago, but they canned the project becuase they thought it would hurt hardware sales.
Once you have read an 'introductory' C++ book (try ACCU for some good reviews). I would recommend that you join ACCU. Their publications are excellent and their subscriptions are very cheap (approx GBP 15.00 per year).
Then read "The C++ Programming Language 3rd Edition" by Bjarne Stroustrup. (ISBN 0-201-88954-4) It's quite challenging and is absolutely essential for professional C++ programmers. I can quote the ISBN because I'm meant to be working on a C++ program at the moment, so the book is on my desk.
Don't underestimate the length of time it takes to become a C++ programmer. It is a huge, rich, sophisticated language, and well worth the effort of learning.
We measure the times between power outages with our NetWare 4.11 server. (The UPS shuts it down after 5 mins without power).
The best our power company has done so far is 197 days. I wasn't happy.
Incidentally, the server is grossly over-specified for the job. It's a Dell PowerEdge 233Mhz box with ~40GB of disk and 384MB RAM. It serves 50 users so fast that they don't know it's there. It's unusual to see processor usage go over 3%. I like NetWare.
I believe that Linus is on holiday (bablfish says "vacation") following feature freeze on 2.3.
It's just not nice to do this to a chap while he's taking a break.
There must be some 'open-source' lawyers who read/. Is it time for people who are legally qualified to start contributing by opposing this sort of thing?
I know it seems terribly corporate, but if we are going to continue with our successes in the corporate arena, would it hurt to have a few lawyers on our side?
This is sad. Of course, the people who go will contain a higher than representative proportion of their best people (the ones who are probably already being headhunted/looking elsewhere). When things get better for SGI (and I truly hope things do get better - they have some stunning products), they'll have a very difficult job hiring those good people back.
My sympathy is with the people who are going to get laid off.
They've got some good/influential people attending. The UK government has made a bish of it's policy on this, and some powerful groups (Confederation of British Industry etc) have pointed this out in no uncertain terms. The idea of holding someone in contempt of court (and possibly jailing them) because they are unable to prove that they do not have a certain key is ridiculous.
Governments like to control things.
Companies like to make money and not be disturbed while they do it.
Individuals want to get on with their lives in peace and quiet with as much privacy as possible.
The interesting thing is that governments and companies are composed solely of individuals.
I am certain that the needs, if not the desires, of all three groups can be met. All that is needed is for the individuals in government to remember that they are individuals, Companies to accept that they are accountable to the law, and individuals to behave responsibly.
I suspect the chances of all three happening are slim. We'll probably end up with only the criminals prospering fully from the benefits of strong encryption. But I'm a cynic.
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Sorry to be a bore, but J++ and Java are quite different beasts. If you don't believe that, then develop a non-trivial Java application (with Swing for a user intefrace) with J++ and try to run it on a Solaris machine. I wish you luck.
To give J++ credit, it is a very good IDE. Anders Heijlsberg(sp?) was one of the key designers. Now Borland are starting to look at Linux as a platform they must regret losing him to MS. Maybe we could have a collection and see if he'll come back. MS only offered him 3 million to join, after all.
Real Java programmers do it with vi and jdb.
I'm encouraged. Can you imagine MS doing something like this even a year ago? Putting that page together will have cost them a lot of money. Large organisations produce responses like that by forming a committee, producing drafts, arguing about wording and getting lawyers to check things. If it cost less than $100,000 I'd want to hire the manager.
They are clearly frightened by Linux. If you read it carefully, they attack Linux as a credible enterprise (>4 processor) OS, and they attack in the workstation environment. This is funny. Linux has never tried to be an enterprise OS. We'll get there, but we're not there yet. NT is nowhere near that level either. In the workstation environment, NT has a solid, strong presence. Many Linux devlopers (KDE & Gnome teams ) are working on this.
The real place that Linux is winning is in the workgroup/department sever space. This includes many small / medium sized enterprises. The reason they are scared is that this is the only place that NT Server has any significant presence.
Linux is starting to hurt MS. With a little help from the US DoJ, we'll hurt them badly.
The paragraph on journalled filesystems was probably the funniest. If you don't know why, please email me. Then hit the 'off' switch on your NT box. Then reboot it. If you still don't understand why that's funny then you are too stupid to own a computer.
I use both KDE and Gnome and think they are *both* great.
If they each keep following each other's features, I think we might end up with the programmers implementing 'tick in the box for the reviews' stuff rather than concentrating on what the users are really asking for. We all complain about 'bloatware' when a Certain Company ships yet another 'upgrade'. I hope the programmers working on these projects continue to focus on the stuff that matters. Interoperability matters a lot.
If you think #ifdef is an option, then you've never had the preprocessor bite you hard.
Story One:
"US Military launches Minuteman II Missile from Vandenburg Range in the general direction of Australia. US claims that the missile was 'modified' to prevent nuclear detonation, and anyway, they shot it down with an ExoAtmospheric 'Kill' Vehicle. Not many hurt."
Story Two:
"US Military Installation in Western California launches attack on Australian Stock Exchange Server. Not many hurt"
Just what have you guys got against the Ozzies anyway? If I were Australian I'd be starting the get paranoid.
Feed The Hungry. Save the Whales. Free the mallocs
Story One: "US Military launches Minuteman II Missile from Vandenburg Range in the general direction of Australia. US claims that the missile was 'modified' to prevent nuclear detonation, and anyway, they shot it down with an ExoAtmospheric 'kill' Vehicle. Not many hurt." Story Two: "US Military Installation in Western California launches attack on Australian Stock Exchange Server. Not many hurt" Just what have you guys got against the Aussies anyway? If I were Australian I'd be starting the get paranoid. Feed The Hungry. Save the Whales. Free the mallocs
It carries a computer that enables it to determine its location by the position of certain stars and then select the target and attack it.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but this sounds very hard to do. Astronavigation requires at least two astronomical bodies (OK, they've got that), reasonably accurate timing (that's easy) and a horizon.
I just think that determining the location of the horizon from this vehicle would be very hard to do. Oh, you've got to know your altitude pretty accurately, too.
I'm not saying they didn't target it using astronav. It's just that GPS would be far easier, cheaper, and more accurate.
What's more likely is that it has star charts on board and looks for 'stars' that shouldn't be there. Then it attacks them. That could be a neat strategy.
It's going to have to be a lor more accurate than Patriot if it's going to be any use, anyway. Cool toy though.
It should be mandatory for all PCs aimed at kids to have at least one programming language installed. My first computer was a BBC Micro. It came with a very good dialect of BASIC and a 6502 assembler as standard. It got me hooked on programming aged 12. Amazing what you could do with 32KB of RAM, some (Up to 20KB) of which was needed for video.
If you give a kid a computer that just does games and net access, how are they ever going to find out how the technology works?
The question is, which language.
ToonTalk (It's not a proper language but it's a lot of fun for younger kids)
BASIC - fairly easy to learn, even if it rots your brain.
Java - steeper learning curve, but has a lovely library
Perl - probably a bit weird for most kids
Python - I think Guido is actually pushing Python for this sort of thing
Pascal - A really good 'learning' language, but largely brain-dead libraries
C++ - don't be silly.
C - that's even sillier.
SmallTalk - It'd be great for teaching, but nobody uses it any more.
Failing to include a programming language is an insult to the creativity of children.
I hate to say that NT does this right but...
If you 'install' the 'printer' by going to the 'add printer' icon in the 'printer' window, then you *do* have to install the printer driver on the workstation to make it work.
However, if you have a server with the drivers installed, then all you have to do is locate that server in 'Network Neighbourhood', click in the 'printers' icon to show you the printers on that server, right click on the printer and click 'install' on the pop-up menu that appears. This will let your workstation print to that printer without the drivers installed locally.
Wasn't that easy? Can I have my MCSE now? (until the printer spooling falls over. Why do you think we run NetWare for critical stuff?)
Seriously, until we have the ability to make Linux printing easy we'll keep on fighting the PHBs.
I am not a lawyer but...
/. readers who are lawyers? Should we get some?
My understanding of patent law is that a patent isn't just for a device, but for a use of that device. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Given that this idea (temporal information in neural networks) has so many really cool possible applications, they'd have a very difficult job patenting all the uses.
I can see this being useful in just about any real-time control system, such as autopilots, assembly lines, controlling the temperature of your shower. Anything involving streaming data really.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more *really* crazy ideas for this I come up with. I've got a problem with automatic garbage collection in a system at the moment where this might help... Oh, dear - they probably can't patent it for that now. Whoops.
Incidentally, are there any regular
The last reports I heard seemed to suggest that the blue flash *may* have been due to a chemical explosion. I hope it wasn't Cerenkov radiation. That would indicate a significant nuclear reaction under water.
Latest info (at 1212 UT) can be read in this BBC report
They seem to have drained of the water (where to?) which should stop any further nuclear rection.
Unfortunately, it seems as if more people than previously thought have been contaminated, including rescue workers.
The early reports of 'a blue flash' now sound more like a chemical (?hydrogen?) explosion.
"this thing may reach critical mass
(imminent self-sustaining meltdown) within hours. "
This is tosh. It's *not* a reactor. Meltdown means that a reactor's core becomes molten. I still haven't got all the facts ( and neither has anybody), but what seems to have happened is that a chemical process (probably involving uranium salts in solution) received too much uranium.
This has happened in other countries (including US) before. Somehow, this may or may not have caused a fissile reaction, which may or may not have caused heating which led to an escape of radioactive material.
It may have been caused by a precipitation of a uranium-rich substance. Whatever it was, it needs a moderator to keep a fissile reaction going. Water will do the job, but not very well. This reaction (if there is one - it could have been an entirely chemical reaction) will almost certainly calm down fairly rapidly. I grant that it will leave a nasty mess.
For your information, Japan is got 'geographically isolated'. It's rather close to China and Russia.
At the moment the best information that I have could (charitably) be called 'hearsay and rumour', but here's how I understand it so far:
1) This was a fuel processing facility, so comments like 'meltdown', 'China syndrome' and 'Chernobyl' are ridiculous.
2) It is reported that approx. 5 times the correct amount of Uranium was introduced into a chemical treatment vessel.
3) Two plant workers are 'seriously ill'. 30+ others were 'exposed'
4) Totally unconfirmed reports have been published of workers 'seeing a blue light' and feeling unwell.
5) People have been advised to stay indoors and wash off any rainwater they may have been in contact with.
Point 1: This facility is *not* a nuclear reactor. The worst that is likely to happen is a nasty, rather radioactive, chemical mess that will take a lot of time and effort to clean up. Even if the nuclear reaction (that may or may not have taken place) is still continuing, it will cool down on it's own. It is very difficult to design a reactor to keep a fissile reaction running for any length of time.
Point 2: It will be some time before we know why too much uranium was allowed into the processing environment. Let's not start blaming anyone until we know the facts.
Point 3: If you are listed as 'seriously ill' after an being involved with an event like this then you will be extremely lucky to live. My thoughts are with these people and their families.
Point 4: I don't know whether to believe this. The blue light sounds like Cerenkov radiation. If you start feeling ill just after seeing this, then you are certainly in the 'seriously ill' category. I doubt you'd be talking to reporters. It may have happened, but I'll wait for more information. You need a *lot* of nuclear activity for Cerenkov radiation to be obvious.
Point 5: Very sensible advice. If it was raining at or soon after the time of the accident, then the rain will absorb a lot of the 'nasties' from the air and wash them to the ground. In these conditions staying inside, closing the windows and avoiding contact with radioactive rain seems to be a good idea. Would you rather get in a car, sit in a traffic jam and wonder how much rain is in the car's ventilation systems? The instinct is to get as far away as possible, but a house is probably safer than a car.
We need to make sure that the Japanese authorities are given every possible assistance in dealing with this. Then we need to find out how it happened. Then we need to put measures in place to stop it from happening again. It has happened before on several occasions, at least once in US, once in UK and once in what was USSR.
White's pawn is significantly further developed. White has a slight problem with the position of the King, but has achieved a very strong threat of a discovered check. I'd say this game is 75% draw, 20% White 5% black. But then I'd be trying to predict the outcome of a Queen endgame, which is daft. Nobody really understands Queen endgames.
Offtopic, but for the record...
They landed 60 miles from the target under heavy air attack and walked across the island, taking their kit with them. The Argentinians (partly trained/ advised by the US military) were caught completely off balance. The British troops were colossally outnumbered and operating 8,000 miles from home. The won *very* convincingly through a combination of outstanding professionalism and creative thinking. In one battle (Goose Green) approx. 300 British troops took a fortified installation defended by 1,500 Argentinians.
The Falklands War is widely acknowledged as one of the major triumphs of British Armed Forces in history.
See the books "I Counted Them All Out And I Counted Them All Back" by Brian Hanrahan and "Don't Cry for me, Sergeant Major" (I'm too lazy to look up the author) for contemporary accounts.
Are these guys for real? I assume they are going after *all* these companies. (Check here for the list). What a terribly sad way to earn a living.
It might be fun to join one of their class action suits. Then, when your claim is rejected on the grounds that you had no interest whatsoever in the action you could sue the balls off Milbergs for raising your hopes. That could be funny.
I'm with Shakespeare (Henry IV) - "The first thing we'll do, let's kill all the lawyers."
Please specify East or West with you longitude, and North or South with latitude. Failure do do so in these circumstances could spoil your whole day.
Feed he hungry. Save the whales. Free the mallocs.
The real argument for BSD is the mascot. The daemon is *way* cooler than the penguin. Figuratively.
Actually, they did, I believe. They had a version of MacOS running on 386 hardware years ago, but they canned the project becuase they thought it would hurt hardware sales.
Once you have read an 'introductory' C++ book (try ACCU for some good reviews). I would recommend that you join ACCU. Their publications are excellent and their subscriptions are very cheap (approx GBP 15.00 per year).
Then read "The C++ Programming Language 3rd Edition" by Bjarne Stroustrup. (ISBN 0-201-88954-4) It's quite challenging and is absolutely essential for professional C++ programmers. I can quote the ISBN because I'm meant to be working on a C++ program at the moment, so the book is on my desk.
Don't underestimate the length of time it takes to become a C++ programmer. It is a huge, rich, sophisticated language, and well worth the effort of learning.
We measure the times between power outages with our NetWare 4.11 server. (The UPS shuts it down after 5 mins without power).
The best our power company has done so far is 197 days. I wasn't happy.
Incidentally, the server is grossly over-specified for the job. It's a Dell PowerEdge 233Mhz box with ~40GB of disk and 384MB RAM. It serves 50 users so fast that they don't know it's there. It's unusual to see processor usage go over 3%. I like NetWare.
I have been told that a Korean company holds the Korean trademark for UNIX. They make household appliances I think.
Not sure, correct me if I'm wrong.
I believe that Linus is on holiday (bablfish says "vacation") following feature freeze on 2.3.
/. Is it time for people who are legally qualified to start contributing by opposing this sort of thing?
It's just not nice to do this to a chap while he's taking a break.
There must be some 'open-source' lawyers who read
I know it seems terribly corporate, but if we are going to continue with our successes in the corporate arena, would it hurt to have a few lawyers on our side?
This is sad. Of course, the people who go will contain a higher than representative proportion of their best people (the ones who are probably already being headhunted/looking elsewhere). When things get better for SGI (and I truly hope things do get better - they have some stunning products), they'll have a very difficult job hiring those good people back.
My sympathy is with the people who are going to get laid off.
They've got some good/influential people attending. The UK government has made a bish of it's policy on this, and some powerful groups (Confederation of British Industry etc) have pointed this out in no uncertain terms. The idea of holding someone in contempt of court (and possibly jailing them) because they are unable to prove that they do not have a certain key is ridiculous.
Governments like to control things.
Companies like to make money and not be disturbed while they do it.
Individuals want to get on with their lives in peace and quiet with as much privacy as possible.
The interesting thing is that governments and companies are composed solely of individuals.
I am certain that the needs, if not the desires, of all three groups can be met. All that is needed is for the individuals in government to remember that they are individuals, Companies to accept that they are accountable to the law, and individuals to behave responsibly.
I suspect the chances of all three happening are slim. We'll probably end up with only the criminals prospering fully from the benefits of strong encryption. But I'm a cynic.