Most technological innovators are continually blindsided by the newest technology which upsets their world view. Just as those who believed that radio was earth-shattering failed to understand why television would supplant radio in the homes of the nation, so do those of prior technologies fail to understand why Open Source, and Linux in particular, subverts the OS paradigm and the dominance of large companies.
There are few Jules Vernes or other such visionaries amongst the current crop of old techies. Just as those who are at the top of the Open Source wave will be blindsided by the next technological revolution, so are those of past revolutions.
The problem is that the current political system is not geek-friendly. As someone who's done politics since I was 13, and been on various Democratic Exec Boards (KCDCC, 42nd, 36th, just moved to 43 (maybe next year)), the system rewards groups willing to put in the hours.
A geek lobby that could work would be to use the/. effect to overwhelm the political process. For example, to game the sytem with geek-friendly delegates by showing up for caucuses which are sparsely attended, with an SSH-enabled web status board to help one figure out how to get the most delegates (of any candidate, it doesn't matter) elected to the next stage.
Or to overwhelm the Exec boards and meetings at which policy is set by having a co-located LUG meeting - then timeshare one or two people to watch the political process for opportunities while everyone else writes code. Let the politicos waste time with speeches and have the key geeks make motions right after ICMing all the geeks in the room to vote on the motion.
I note with interest that the Kylix Kick Start event is NOT open to the public. That is, Inprise/Borland has decided who are eligibled to be the ones who port their application from M$ Windoes to Linux.
So, they should open it to the public so that MSFT can attend? Not a good idea...
What about those small vendors who have interesting applications?
I agree, there should be some way that one could apply to attend, but I don't know about opening it up to all comers. One should be wary of MSFT trying to kill this or at least subvert it, especially at the beginning stages.
Seriously, guys, it looks way cooler and you get way more press coverage when you give costly software away for free. The only way Linux can beat MSFT at this game is when Linux distros give bundled software away for free. Yeah, we all know it's free, but the consumer doesn't.
An example would be Red Hat or Corel giving away Secure Web Server packages away to schools. To get the high cost, you need to bundle in premium support and manuals, but the real cost is pretty cheap, especially if you can get Cobalt or someone to bundle in some Linux Server Appliances. Then give it away for free (which is deductible on their taxes).
Recently, France Telecom (which I used to own shares in, but sold (darn)) announced they were installing Linux at every public school in France. This is what it takes.
1. Unix will not die, although closed source Unix may. Expect open source mixtures of Unix to survive (Linux, BSD), as well as formerly closed source Unix to transmute into partially open Unix (Sun).
2. Unix GUI shells will change, evolve, die, and change as do the colors of the rainbow. Different GUI implementations, both closed and open source (and some both), will evolve to meet the needs of the desktop, the server, and the appliance. Many religious wars will be fought over these; countless flame wars will spread; much emotion will be garnered. The winners will announce that they knew that they would win and were better - this will only occassionally be true, however. Baby Bills will produce GUI shells - some may survive.
3. The future interfaces of technology will be both totally different and much the same. Someone from 2000 will be surprised at how similar things are in 2020, and yet, how different. Exactly what this will look like is anyone's guess, but prognosticators will be paid ridiculous salaries to be mostly wrong about this.
Rick said: Dear MCSEs who are following this story: Watch closely, and you'll notice that you're being given the opportunity to vent your frustration, to give "input", to register your protest voice. That is how the game is played: You're presented with a fait accompli, and then given an opportunity to make futile, powerless gestures all about how annoyed you are.
Yeah, you're right. I'm not an MCSE, just an MCP, and I was considering whether I should consider taking an MCSE for Win2K or to get a RHLE certification for Linux. This was the last straw - I've had to retake certifications with Microsoft three times, as they came out with another release, and lie correctly to pass the test (hint: read the Security questions for their products).
But no more: I'm ditching the whole MSFT skill set at last and leaving the Dark Side forever. Sure, it's a bunch of work, but it's far more rewarding on a monetary basis, and as an intellectual challenge.
The last straw was when SAS announced they're going Linux - color me blue - sayonara, Bill G
Votes are what count to an office holder. It's the best way for an individual to influence a politician.
I agree, forward the news item to your US Senator and US Congressmember. And, please include your name, address, and phone, or their spam-screening software will ignore it.
Remember, they work for you, and this whole patent mess is their job to fix.
If you would have read the article, you would have noticed that it wasn't about whether the government would or would not tax Internet commerce. It was about if it should or not...notice the difference.
As JPelorat pointed out, my main point is that it will, so the whole should debate is a waste of time.
But, as an aside, what you are saying, in effect, is that it's OK for rich white technogeeks not to pay for local and state services, while taxing the heck out of poor people or groups that aren't on the Net. Which is OK if that's what you believe, but not a good thing for society. And that is what happens when we don't tax the Net.
Note I don't mean ISPs or Net services - I mean the selling of goods and services through the medium of the Net. And I don't think they should be taxed more, and maybe even less, but I don't think they should get a free ride.
The reality is that there are many things that the Net is being used for - such as BlueNile.com selling diamonds - that are heavily taxed in non-Net sales. And cars. And yachts. And sails for your sailboat. And Palm Pilots.
The way to measure this is to look at the money drops in local and state collections, compared to total sales. From this we can extrapolate that up to 25% of current non-Net sales are on the Net now.
The reality is that this will be taxed. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not this century - but when 2001 rolls around, expect those tax collectors to start auditing, and people to start going to prison for avoiding taxation.
What's next, an article saying that death will be avoided by using the Net?
As long as there are politicians, someone will be taxed. And most likely based on the higher of the delivery address or billing address tax levels.
Because they're hoping that no consumer input will actually occur. After all, it's not [irony on] like anyone's using those unused frequencies, such as pirate radio. [irony off]
And, after all, this should all go to the highest bidder, which will be the large corporations that currently dominate the media.
[offtopic on] When I posted this same article this morning, it was rejected. [offtopic off]
I've had it to here with the lack of privacy rights in the US. Why not secede our online persons to the EU, where we could have the rights that Europeans take for granted?
The Land of the Free - yeah, sure, unless you're a US citizen... your average European has so many more rights than your average American ever will.
Give me Liberty or Give me Death! Don't spam till you see the headers of their email! I regret that I have but one virtual life to give for my country (at least until I become an AC)!
Didn't the surveyor, which was running after the lander crashed, find these already?
I remember get Space News online and going to the NASA site when they thought they may have had a chance at communicating with the crashed lander. And there was some info on this back then.
Solutions for Last Century's Technology
on
R.I.P. Iridium
·
· Score: 3
1. What becomes of the satellites?
Well, my bet is the NSA will "borrow" them. Or else the military wing will use them as "hot rocks" for space defense. Sadly, due to Bill G's and Paul A's holdings, they won't be used to bombard Redmond...
2. Ham Radio use.
Nah
3. Who owns them?
The country that the company resides in. AKA The United States of America. But if truly abandoned and noted as such, you could get salvage rights. My bet is the govt agency that takes them will file under the Black Budget restrictions, so you won't know they own them.
4. Can we pirate them? (bonus question)
Yes. Satellites keep working even after the ground crews stop them. Just give them the power up signal and reprogram them. This will show up in the next Bond movie "The Spy Who Spied On Me", when the evil Bill Sateg tries to rule the world, forgetting that he already owns it.
Borland was not renamed Delphi. It was renamed Inprise.
Umm. That's what I meant to say. Sorry, should have Previewed.
So, to restate, Borland was rename Inprise by a lame CEO. They axed him and renamed the software arm Borland.com before selling out to Corel, who are Canucks.
Delphi is the Inprise/Borland software. People like it for RAD. People also like C++ Builder for RAD. RAD people are very numerous, and would flock to Linux if their RAD was ported to Linux. Once that happens, they will port their RAD's Windows apps to Linux. Bill Gates will hate this. Linux will grow and take over the world. Canucks will own major chunks of this.
End Result: Bad Day for Bill Gates. Good Day for Linux. More cheese for all.
As a shareholder of Inprise/Borland (INPR), I know you're incorrect when you say:
You mean products like Delphi, which is made by Borland (now owned by Correl, a merge resulting in renaming them Inprise).
Borland was renamed Delphi by it's last CEO, a total idiot who didn't understand excellence and though paying millions to rebrand a quality brand was a good investment. Then the software side was named back to Borland (e.g. borland.com) when he got handed his platinum parachute. Finally, Corel came along and did a buy out, which should be finalized one of these days.
I'm no great fan of Delphi, but a lot of people like it, so one looks forward to Delphi ports over to Linux from Delphi/Win. C++ Builder is what we use here, and we're thrilled by the port to Linux - this news doubled the number of people where I work who wanted to code for Linux.
To start with, let's not use the MSFT approach. I've been involved on alpha Test Releases, as well as internal betas, and it mostly boiled down to "If it has an error message, it's ok.
That is not the way to go.
What we need is a: cheap (in terms of programmer resources) fast (in terms of time taken) better (in terms of ROI) method for improving the User Interface.
My suggestion is that an Open Source project should have a Test Group that is: A. unfamiliar with the application B. has not seen the code C. just uses and tests the releases.
These would work best as two-person groups - one to use the app, one to record the problem areas. Their job is only to document User Interface problem areas and pass these on to wish list and bug list queues.
We also need document testing groups - which try to use the docs - some to proofread, some to suggest problem areas to be rewritten (remember, it's better not just to complain but to offer an improvement), some to write docs for areas that weren't intuitive.
But don't try to solve everything. Let people work on what they do best.
Ah, you've discovered the inner truth of what lawyers spend most of their time doing. They present an interpretation of the law, which favors their position, as if it were fact. It may be, it may not.
If there were a trial, each set of lawyers would present their arguments, attempt to poke holes in the other side's presentation, and a judge would rule based upon which presentation most closely matched the law. Some judges will interpret the same presentation in a different way - there are many conflicting preceding rulings and many conflicting laws.
The Recording Act is not fully tested by the Supreme Court, it has had certain portions tested in District Courts and the Court of Appeals.
OK, so someone moderated my comment as a Troll. But seriously, on the Slashdot Purity test, there are two questions you can't check the box on if you aren't a lawyer. Which is a fact.
Not that I mind, but there are questions you only get to check if you're a Slashdot Editor or a specific person.
A good purity test is acheivable by all. Thus, a position as an editor is a reasonable requirement, as one can aspire to such things through/., but it takes years to become a lawyer, years that could be better spent coding and submitting for GPL projects. Thus, this is an unreasonable requirement.
Another alternative would be:
You have spent time involved in legal suits defending the GPL or Open Source.
Which is something anyone could do, as a witness or as a lawyer. A further followup question would be:
You have appeared in the media defending Open Source.
Note that I would qualify for both, but am not a lawyer. Although my brother and my uncle are lawyers.
Oh, wait, maybe you're right. Seriously, I could care less about a 1GHz CPU, what I want is on-board 1.44 ADSL with a monster cache and scalable super-cache CPUs (say 500MHz). Now that would rock!
I've noticed a dearth of good Linux games being written for Windows 2000 and I was wondering when you were planning on porting games like LinCity to Windows 2000. Most of my old Win games don't work, and if you start porting games from Linux to Windows 2000, you might be able to save the OS from extinction. Do you have any firm plans in this area?
Also, could you make the explosions in this game really loud so I can taunt my boss with the sounds of my having fun? And maybe a Linux OS boss mode, so when he comes around the corner, I can toggle to a good Enlightenment screen so he'll think I'm working on something useful.
The future of Linux depends on this: when will we get:
A. a port of The Sims (Maxis); B. a port of Warcraft and Starcraft games (Blizzard); C. a port of SimCity 3000 (Maxis); D. (bonus question) Simultaneous releases of games for Linux.
The biggest question is really when you'll be part of the rollout cycle for new games, as opposed to existing games. So long as it's still Windows and Mac versions only, it's painful for me to tell my son we're not buying StarCraft right now. I've bought three releases from you guys, but I really want The Sims and I may have to install a DOS/Win partition just so I can play it.
Even rough release dates are cool, but are you guys going to be part of the new game cycle anytime soon?
Slashdot Mirror
Most technological innovators are continually blindsided by the newest technology which upsets their world view. Just as those who believed that radio was earth-shattering failed to understand why television would supplant radio in the homes of the nation, so do those of prior technologies fail to understand why Open Source, and Linux in particular, subverts the OS paradigm and the dominance of large companies.
There are few Jules Vernes or other such visionaries amongst the current crop of old techies. Just as those who are at the top of the Open Source wave will be blindsided by the next technological revolution, so are those of past revolutions.
The problem is that the current political system is not geek-friendly. As someone who's done politics since I was 13, and been on various Democratic Exec Boards (KCDCC, 42nd, 36th, just moved to 43 (maybe next year)), the system rewards groups willing to put in the hours.
/. effect to overwhelm the political process. For example, to game the sytem with geek-friendly delegates by showing up for caucuses which are sparsely attended, with an SSH-enabled web status board to help one figure out how to get the most delegates (of any candidate, it doesn't matter) elected to the next stage.
A geek lobby that could work would be to use the
Or to overwhelm the Exec boards and meetings at which policy is set by having a co-located LUG meeting - then timeshare one or two people to watch the political process for opportunities while everyone else writes code. Let the politicos waste time with speeches and have the key geeks make motions right after ICMing all the geeks in the room to vote on the motion.
It's not that hard, really.
I note with interest that the Kylix Kick Start event is NOT open to the public. That is, Inprise/Borland has decided who are eligibled to be the ones who port their application from M$ Windoes to Linux.
...
So, they should open it to the public so that MSFT can attend? Not a good idea
What about those small vendors who have interesting applications?
I agree, there should be some way that one could apply to attend, but I don't know about opening it up to all comers. One should be wary of MSFT trying to kill this or at least subvert it, especially at the beginning stages.
Seriously, guys, it looks way cooler and you get way more press coverage when you give costly software away for free. The only way Linux can beat MSFT at this game is when Linux distros give bundled software away for free. Yeah, we all know it's free, but the consumer doesn't.
An example would be Red Hat or Corel giving away Secure Web Server packages away to schools. To get the high cost, you need to bundle in premium support and manuals, but the real cost is pretty cheap, especially if you can get Cobalt or someone to bundle in some Linux Server Appliances. Then give it away for free (which is deductible on their taxes).
Recently, France Telecom (which I used to own shares in, but sold (darn)) announced they were installing Linux at every public school in France. This is what it takes.
In short, the following will occur:
1. Unix will not die, although closed source Unix may. Expect open source mixtures of Unix to survive (Linux, BSD), as well as formerly closed source Unix to transmute into partially open Unix (Sun).
2. Unix GUI shells will change, evolve, die, and change as do the colors of the rainbow. Different GUI implementations, both closed and open source (and some both), will evolve to meet the needs of the desktop, the server, and the appliance. Many religious wars will be fought over these; countless flame wars will spread; much emotion will be garnered. The winners will announce that they knew that they would win and were better - this will only occassionally be true, however. Baby Bills will produce GUI shells - some may survive.
3. The future interfaces of technology will be both totally different and much the same. Someone from 2000 will be surprised at how similar things are in 2020, and yet, how different. Exactly what this will look like is anyone's guess, but prognosticators will be paid ridiculous salaries to be mostly wrong about this.
Rick said: Dear MCSEs who are following this story: Watch closely, and you'll notice that you're being given the opportunity to vent your frustration, to give "input", to register your protest voice. That is how the game is played: You're presented with a fait accompli, and then given an opportunity to make futile, powerless gestures all about how annoyed you are.
Yeah, you're right. I'm not an MCSE, just an MCP, and I was considering whether I should consider taking an MCSE for Win2K or to get a RHLE certification for Linux. This was the last straw - I've had to retake certifications with Microsoft three times, as they came out with another release, and lie correctly to pass the test (hint: read the Security questions for their products).
But no more: I'm ditching the whole MSFT skill set at last and leaving the Dark Side forever. Sure, it's a bunch of work, but it's far more rewarding on a monetary basis, and as an intellectual challenge.
The last straw was when SAS announced they're going Linux - color me blue - sayonara, Bill G
Votes are what count to an office holder. It's the best way for an individual to influence a politician.
I agree, forward the news item to your US Senator and US Congressmember. And, please include your name, address, and phone, or their spam-screening software will ignore it.
Remember, they work for you, and this whole patent mess is their job to fix.
If you would have read the article, you would have noticed that it wasn't about whether the government would or would not tax Internet commerce. It was about if it should or not...notice the difference.
As JPelorat pointed out, my main point is that it will, so the whole should debate is a waste of time.
But, as an aside, what you are saying, in effect, is that it's OK for rich white technogeeks not to pay for local and state services, while taxing the heck out of poor people or groups that aren't on the Net. Which is OK if that's what you believe, but not a good thing for society. And that is what happens when we don't tax the Net.
Note I don't mean ISPs or Net services - I mean the selling of goods and services through the medium of the Net. And I don't think they should be taxed more, and maybe even less, but I don't think they should get a free ride.
RTFM ... ;-)
...
You could have clicked on the User Info link for the post
try www.affleck.com for more direct communication.
Oh, get real.
The reality is that there are many things that the Net is being used for - such as BlueNile.com selling diamonds - that are heavily taxed in non-Net sales. And cars. And yachts. And sails for your sailboat. And Palm Pilots.
The way to measure this is to look at the money drops in local and state collections, compared to total sales. From this we can extrapolate that up to 25% of current non-Net sales are on the Net now.
The reality is that this will be taxed. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not this century - but when 2001 rolls around, expect those tax collectors to start auditing, and people to start going to prison for avoiding taxation.
What's next, an article saying that death will be avoided by using the Net?
As long as there are politicians, someone will be taxed. And most likely based on the higher of the delivery address or billing address tax levels.
...now everyone can use that bandwidth for Napster
Only if you've got millions of dollars to pay for it. Didn't think so.
Face it, it's a frequency grab, to kill off pirate radio.
Because they're hoping that no consumer input will actually occur. After all, it's not [irony on] like anyone's using those unused frequencies, such as pirate radio. [irony off]
And, after all, this should all go to the highest bidder, which will be the large corporations that currently dominate the media.
[offtopic on] When I posted this same article this morning, it was rejected. [offtopic off]
I've had it to here with the lack of privacy rights in the US. Why not secede our online persons to the EU, where we could have the rights that Europeans take for granted?
... your average European has so many more rights than your average American ever will.
The Land of the Free - yeah, sure, unless you're a US citizen
Give me Liberty or Give me Death! Don't spam till you see the headers of their email! I regret that I have but one virtual life to give for my country (at least until I become an AC)!
Didn't the surveyor, which was running after the lander crashed, find these already?
I remember get Space News online and going to the NASA site when they thought they may have had a chance at communicating with the crashed lander. And there was some info on this back then.
1. What becomes of the satellites?
...
Well, my bet is the NSA will "borrow" them. Or else the military wing will use them as "hot rocks" for space defense. Sadly, due to Bill G's and Paul A's holdings, they won't be used to bombard Redmond
2. Ham Radio use.
Nah
3. Who owns them?
The country that the company resides in. AKA The United States of America. But if truly abandoned and noted as such, you could get salvage rights. My bet is the govt agency that takes them will file under the Black Budget restrictions, so you won't know they own them.
4. Can we pirate them? (bonus question)
Yes. Satellites keep working even after the ground crews stop them. Just give them the power up signal and reprogram them. This will show up in the next Bond movie "The Spy Who Spied On Me", when the evil Bill Sateg tries to rule the world, forgetting that he already owns it.
Borland was not renamed Delphi. It was renamed Inprise.
Umm. That's what I meant to say. Sorry, should have Previewed.
So, to restate, Borland was rename Inprise by a lame CEO. They axed him and renamed the software arm Borland.com before selling out to Corel, who are Canucks.
Delphi is the Inprise/Borland software. People like it for RAD. People also like C++ Builder for RAD. RAD people are very numerous, and would flock to Linux if their RAD was ported to Linux. Once that happens, they will port their RAD's Windows apps to Linux. Bill Gates will hate this. Linux will grow and take over the world. Canucks will own major chunks of this.
End Result: Bad Day for Bill Gates. Good Day for Linux. More cheese for all.
As a shareholder of Inprise/Borland (INPR), I know you're incorrect when you say:
You mean products like Delphi, which is made by Borland (now owned by Correl, a merge resulting in renaming them Inprise).
Borland was renamed Delphi by it's last CEO, a total idiot who didn't understand excellence and though paying millions to rebrand a quality brand was a good investment. Then the software side was named back to Borland (e.g. borland.com) when he got handed his platinum parachute. Finally, Corel came along and did a buy out, which should be finalized one of these days.
I'm no great fan of Delphi, but a lot of people like it, so one looks forward to Delphi ports over to Linux from Delphi/Win. C++ Builder is what we use here, and we're thrilled by the port to Linux - this news doubled the number of people where I work who wanted to code for Linux.
To start with, let's not use the MSFT approach. I've been involved on alpha Test Releases, as well as internal betas, and it mostly boiled down to "If it has an error message, it's ok.
That is not the way to go.
What we need is a:
cheap (in terms of programmer resources)
fast (in terms of time taken)
better (in terms of ROI)
method for improving the User Interface.
My suggestion is that an Open Source project should have a Test Group that is:
A. unfamiliar with the application
B. has not seen the code
C. just uses and tests the releases.
These would work best as two-person groups - one to use the app, one to record the problem areas. Their job is only to document User Interface problem areas and pass these on to wish list and bug list queues.
We also need document testing groups - which try to use the docs - some to proofread, some to suggest problem areas to be rewritten (remember, it's better not just to complain but to offer an improvement), some to write docs for areas that weren't intuitive.
But don't try to solve everything. Let people work on what they do best.
Ah, you've discovered the inner truth of what lawyers spend most of their time doing. They present an interpretation of the law, which favors their position, as if it were fact. It may be, it may not.
If there were a trial, each set of lawyers would present their arguments, attempt to poke holes in the other side's presentation, and a judge would rule based upon which presentation most closely matched the law. Some judges will interpret the same presentation in a different way - there are many conflicting preceding rulings and many conflicting laws.
The Recording Act is not fully tested by the Supreme Court, it has had certain portions tested in District Courts and the Court of Appeals.
So take what the RIIA says with a grain of salt.
OK, so someone moderated my comment as a Troll. But seriously, on the Slashdot Purity test, there are two questions you can't check the box on if you aren't a lawyer. Which is a fact.
/., but it takes years to become a lawyer, years that could be better spent coding and submitting for GPL projects. Thus, this is an unreasonable requirement.
Not that I mind, but there are questions you only get to check if you're a Slashdot Editor or a specific person.
A good purity test is acheivable by all. Thus, a position as an editor is a reasonable requirement, as one can aspire to such things through
Another alternative would be:
You have spent time involved in legal suits defending the GPL or Open Source.
Which is something anyone could do, as a witness or as a lawyer. A further followup question would be:
You have appeared in the media defending Open Source.
Note that I would qualify for both, but am not a lawyer. Although my brother and my uncle are lawyers.
Oh, wait, maybe you're right. Seriously, I could care less about a 1GHz CPU, what I want is on-board 1.44 ADSL with a monster cache and scalable super-cache CPUs (say 500MHz). Now that would rock!
So, what you're saying is:
You must be a lawyer to get a perfect score.
Hmmm? No, that should be:
You must think you're smarter than a lawyer to get a perfect score.
Just think, now you've got some nice CDs to give to your friends - or you can give them a nice NIC and get them to try out Linux at the same time.
Bonus!
Plus, I can use more for my costume for Burning Man...
I've noticed a dearth of good Linux games being written for Windows 2000 and I was wondering when you were planning on porting games like LinCity to Windows 2000. Most of my old Win games don't work, and if you start porting games from Linux to Windows 2000, you might be able to save the OS from extinction. Do you have any firm plans in this area?
Also, could you make the explosions in this game really loud so I can taunt my boss with the sounds of my having fun? And maybe a Linux OS boss mode, so when he comes around the corner, I can toggle to a good Enlightenment screen so he'll think I'm working on something useful.
Thanks!
The future of Linux depends on this: when will we get:
A. a port of The Sims (Maxis);
B. a port of Warcraft and Starcraft games (Blizzard);
C. a port of SimCity 3000 (Maxis);
D. (bonus question) Simultaneous releases of games for Linux.
The biggest question is really when you'll be part of the rollout cycle for new games, as opposed to existing games. So long as it's still Windows and Mac versions only, it's painful for me to tell my son we're not buying StarCraft right now. I've bought three releases from you guys, but I really want The Sims and I may have to install a DOS/Win partition just so I can play it.
Even rough release dates are cool, but are you guys going to be part of the new game cycle anytime soon?