OSes exist primarily as the link between hardware and software. OSes that lack good hardware compatibility (independently of their software capabilities) will always have limited use compared to those that have more hardware compatibility (again, independently of their software capabilities).
One of the things that prevent these niche OSes from obtaining some more well-deserved attention is the lack of hardware drivers, which probably stems from the fact that obtaining hardware specs is very difficult.
I believe the development of all OSes (toy or research, niche or not) is, in the end, of a lot of benefit to the community. One is so entrenched in orthodox computing that we need people like these to bring out new computing ways.
I think we need to separate artificial intelligence from artificial-everything-else. The popular AI image has to do with robots acting like humans, but there are many things in this image that go beyong artificial intelligence. Robots trying to express emotions; whether they can have consciousness; or even if they are capable of speech sythesis and recognition; this is not artificial intelligence, at least not directly. That COMPLEMENTS it.
I like to define AI as a program (or robot, whatever) that has the capability to determine HOW to solve a problem (and *PERHAPS* execute the solution) given DATA instead of CODE. Whether there is a bot that can smell, or "recognize the existence of itself", is just icing on the cake.
Suppose there was a company, Abode (note spelling!), who developed a new kind of lock for you to use, say, on all of the doors of your home. It would be so great that for an owner to forget a key inside would be a nightmare.
Then, someone discovers a master key for this allegedly incredibly secure lock.
Should the inventor be jailed "long enough"? What if he didn't come out in public, so as to avoid trouble. Would the world be any safer?
I've been on the computer scene for over 20 years now. I'd like to know how did it came to be that "you should place both arms with the wrist resting in front of the keyboard with four fingers on sdfg and four more on hjkl...blah blah blah" and that you have to purchase "wrist rests" and other items.
The way I type I learned naturally - no silly rigid rules. And how do I type? I only use a finger per hand plus the right tumb for the spacebar. That's about it. And I can type almost as fast as an experienced secretary if I put myself into it. (And I can play FPS games with the keyboard, too). I don't mean to say that you should adopt my style, rather, why should you blindly adopt a particular one? All persons are different.
I have never ever been worried or felt anything regarding my wrists. I began to believe the "unnecessity" of "wrist rests" because my previous employer required them - I couldn't stand the damned thing.
I have been a technician for some years now, and I have interacted with a reasonable amount of users, of all kinds. To be honest, I rarely see people with discomforts on the wrists, and I have never seen a serious case.
I think that the "benefit" of the "rigid sdfg-hjkl typing rules" should be reevaluated. Maybe it's not OK for everyone.
OK, so I agree that perhaps patent laws might use a review. An expiration period of 20 years is probably too long, particularly when it comes to the software field.
But, free means free. If you develop for free, and then start asking for something back from someone who has made money from it, did you really mean free in the first place? That's not free. That's conditional. If you don't like others profiting from your work, don't distribute it freely then. You have the right to provide some sort of licensing mechanism that might say, for example: "Free until you profit from it. Then, you owe me money." Now that phrase was admittedly not very legalese, but you get the point.
I believe that the free software movement exists as a way to counteract heavy money-making machines, and avoid some sort of serious social disbalancing that may come from that. It's nature balancing itself, and that's just great. But if you are not ready to give your work 100% free, then be clear about it.
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OSes exist primarily as the link between hardware and software. OSes that lack good hardware compatibility (independently of their software capabilities) will always have limited use compared to those that have more hardware compatibility (again, independently of their software capabilities).
One of the things that prevent these niche OSes from obtaining some more well-deserved attention is the lack of hardware drivers, which probably stems from the fact that obtaining hardware specs is very difficult.
I believe the development of all OSes (toy or research, niche or not) is, in the end, of a lot of benefit to the community. One is so entrenched in orthodox computing that we need people like these to bring out new computing ways.
But hardware remains the most important piece.
I think we need to separate artificial intelligence from artificial-everything-else. The popular AI image has to do with robots acting like humans, but there are many things in this image that go beyong artificial intelligence. Robots trying to express emotions; whether they can have consciousness; or even if they are capable of speech sythesis and recognition; this is not artificial intelligence, at least not directly. That COMPLEMENTS it.
I like to define AI as a program (or robot, whatever) that has the capability to determine HOW to solve a problem (and *PERHAPS* execute the solution) given DATA instead of CODE. Whether there is a bot that can smell, or "recognize the existence of itself", is just icing on the cake.
Suppose there was a company, Abode (note spelling!), who developed a new kind of lock for you to use, say, on all of the doors of your home. It would be so great that for an owner to forget a key inside would be a nightmare. Then, someone discovers a master key for this allegedly incredibly secure lock. Should the inventor be jailed "long enough"? What if he didn't come out in public, so as to avoid trouble. Would the world be any safer?
I've been on the computer scene for over 20 years now. I'd like to know how did it came to be that "you should place both arms with the wrist resting in front of the keyboard with four fingers on sdfg and four more on hjkl...blah blah blah" and that you have to purchase "wrist rests" and other items.
The way I type I learned naturally - no silly rigid rules. And how do I type? I only use a finger per hand plus the right tumb for the spacebar. That's about it. And I can type almost as fast as an experienced secretary if I put myself into it. (And I can play FPS games with the keyboard, too). I don't mean to say that you should adopt my style, rather, why should you blindly adopt a particular one? All persons are different.
I have never ever been worried or felt anything regarding my wrists. I began to believe the "unnecessity" of "wrist rests" because my previous employer required them - I couldn't stand the damned thing.
I have been a technician for some years now, and I have interacted with a reasonable amount of users, of all kinds. To be honest, I rarely see people with discomforts on the wrists, and I have never seen a serious case.
I think that the "benefit" of the "rigid sdfg-hjkl typing rules" should be reevaluated. Maybe it's not OK for everyone.
OK, so I agree that perhaps patent laws might use a review. An expiration period of 20 years is probably too long, particularly when it comes to the software field.
But, free means free. If you develop for free, and then start asking for something back from someone who has made money from it, did you really mean free in the first place? That's not free. That's conditional. If you don't like others profiting from your work, don't distribute it freely then. You have the right to provide some sort of licensing mechanism that might say, for example: "Free until you profit from it. Then, you owe me money." Now that phrase was admittedly not very legalese, but you get the point.
I believe that the free software movement exists as a way to counteract heavy money-making machines, and avoid some sort of serious social disbalancing that may come from that. It's nature balancing itself, and that's just great. But if you are not ready to give your work 100% free, then be clear about it.