Because... lot of programmers may not have much money (or even want it). But they have lots of time to write software, and a good degree of skill. With this skill and time -- they can create software and make a real difference. They would have been writing software anyway -- why not write it for the peace corps:)
Giving 2500 dollars to the peace corps it out of reach for some coders. But writing a piece of software that 250 people would pay ten dollars for might be more possible!
Also, in the end, the people know they will always have the source to the software, and don't have to worry about it fading out of existance.
I agree that it is meaningless -- so I have an alternative idea...
Ransom It For Peace!
#1. Develop a good piece of software. #2. Put a ransom on it. #3. Once enough money has been donated to set your software free -- you open-source it! #4. You give all the money from the ransom to the peace corps.
The nice thing about this system is I could pay for a piece of software I like, while donating to a cause I feel strongly about, and still get the source! It is a win, win, win setup!
#1. Do you want to work on OSS systems and with OSS toolkits (writing a web application in PHP running on Redhat 8.0 and Apache 2.0) or do you want to write OSS code (writing a web application licensed under [BSD | GPL]).
If your goal is to write software licensed under an open-source license, you will have a large uphill battle to find work.
#2. Are you sure your newfound passion is worth giving up your job over in this economy? Better to write windows code during the day, so you can afford to write linux code at night.
Slowly ebbing into linux is a good way to go, it will let you built up an understanding and ensure you are set on this decision.
Recommendations:
If you really want to break into the OSS software development market, you need to bear in mind a few things.
#1. It is like any other market, your network of personal relationships you have developed over the past six years will be your basis, where you start looking. As always the buddy-network is the best possible way to find a job you might actually enjoy.
#2. OSS is often as much about community as software, get involved. The best place to probably get involved is your local LUG. At you LUG you have a chance to meet like minded individuals.
#3. Write some code that has your name on it, so that when asked to produce demos/examples of your work you can show them your (GPL | BSD) licensed code. If you write software that happens to help your local LUG you get a bonus point.
#4. Remember that you might be able to create a new job, rather than fill an existing opening. Converting a company to linux, and developing new systems is a large task for even a small (100-200 employees) business. But a rewarding one.
The BE Lives! Wonderful! Great! Final!
on
The Be Lives!
·
· Score: -1, Troll
Finally I can run that one... umm... "thing" I need to run that does that "stuff"... yeah, and it can only be done on BeOS -- nothing else.
Also, I want a single-user OS... multi-user OSes are for the birds, it isn't like you can connect computers to a big network of other computers or anything.
Finally -- just what I have been waiting for, a new release of BeOS.
Re:Green is not the real color...
on
Green Geeks?
·
· Score: 2
Fair Posting *clap* *clap*, lots of good points.
I think the green party is generally a good thing.. as long as they stick to the real facts...
Enviromentalists right now are the biggest group con-artists and bullshit mongers on earth.
I don't believe that their issue is not valid -- but because they have extremely exaggerated, and flat out lied and twisted stats to make their personal points...
They are just as guilty of FUD as anyone else -- dozens of them said the world would end before the year 2000 (in the 70s).
Please, don't write off enviromentalists, they have a hard battle ahead of them, and they do need a degree of support, but only support those who are honest and truthful..
Let me share a couple of (admittedly hand picked) reviews of the book as posted on Amazon I can personally vouch for many of the claims which Lomborg makes in this paradigm-shattering book. In the first Earth Day in 1970, while in high school, I was taught, among other things, that, within 10 years or so, the human race would be dying off en masse from overpopulation, depletion of resources, and the polluted environment. Here it is 2002 and none of these predictions have come true--not even close. Instead of a population bomb (Ehrlich), we have stabilization of world population. Instead of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, Lomborg points out that such things as food supply and basic sanitation are enjoyed by a larger and larger fraction of the world's population. Thirty years of oil only means that we have found reserves for the next thirty years. It does NOT mean that we will be out of oil thirty years from now! And, far from being some puppet of corporations, Lomborg remains left-of-center politically. A great book!
Well researched, well documented, and thoughtful. People who believe there are many environmental problems should look at the history of bad environmental predictions, notably in the 1970's the impending Ice Age and 1980's the horrible problems of Acid Rain. Acid Rain has proven harmless and now environmentalists predict Global Warming not an Ice Age. In another 20 years extreme environmentalists will be back to calling for an Ice Age after Global Warming fails them. Also, there is good reason for scientists to make extreme predictions... $$$$. If everything is okay with the environment nobody will fund studies of the environment. The squeaky wheel gets greased and always will in the case of funding extreme ideas.
This makes pages un-readable for some visual disabled who use text browsers to get to what they need and read it out on a braille-board or via software that simply reads the text out-load to them.
There is software that can work with standard web software (IE & Popups) and there is some that doesn't...
I gave up trying to defend myself from A/Cs long ago (generally I don't even look at 'em, but in this case I had 4 responses... all A/Cs).
I only take time to add some additions to your comments because they are correct.
I thought my "game selection" would generally show that it is something I do to kill a few minutes, not as a die hard hobby. Worms(worms armageddon by team17 for those who care) is _really_ old... but just happens to be a game I enjoy.
There was a question about my videocard... well, on my gaming machines it is a GeForce 3.
There was also a comment in this thread about compile time for developers and the "build time" lag. Generally that has been a _very_ non issue for me because I tend to do under 10 builds a day and have my code properly divided up so that I don't waste my time rebuilding everything for a few changes.
I do resent the implication that I steal software, because as I developer, this is one of the things I feel very strongly about -- if you don't want to pay for software, find an alternative (or write your own!). Theft isn't ok because it is extremely convenient.
I think this is in the best business interests of AMD. I am a software developer by trade, and gamer by hobby. For years I was on the bleeding edge of technology (and paying a hefty sum for the bragging rights). I used to dabble in overclocking/custom cooling and really "pushing the preformance" on my machines. But the truth is, right now, as a software developer (VS.net[C#/C++], Java, Perl, Python) and a gamer (Worms, Warcraft III, Natural Selection), I simply feel no pressing need to upgrade my system.
In the days of 3.06Ghz HT boxes and 64bit processors... my systems are meek by comparison... My primary machine is a Sony Viao Laptop 1.0Ghz (AMD) with 512 + 40gig IDE (15.1 inch screen). My gaming machine is a 1.7Ghz (P4) with 1024 + 120gig WD (Special Edition). Yet despite my primary machine being 1/3rd the fastest(and more so if you count the advantage of HT) in the industry -- I feel no pressing need to upgrade.
The bottom line is, nowadays I don't feel like I am waiting for my system todo what I ask it too-- and until that feeling returns due to more powerful [or more bloated] software, I don't think I will be running out to buy a machine based on CPU.
If AMD is cheaper, cooler and does everything I need to in a smarter way (sound like Transmeta's plan anyone?), they will get my bucks.
The "Genome" project was started by the government in 1990. Of course no private industry would even fund Genome Research (so we were told).
Whoops, wrong, in 1998 Celera Genomics announces that they are going to crack the Genome and much to the shigrin of the the government, they say they are going todo it FIRST.
In 2000, Celera cracked it and decided to share the credit with the government, in exchange for what I don't know (I would guess some favor to be mentioned later for not making the government look like they pissed away LOTS of money).
Government effiency crushed by private industry once again.
----
I could go on to pick apart your medical research point (which I think is wrong).
----
On supercolliders and space -- I give you full credit, as of yet private funding is not there, and these have had benefits to mankind.
I don't think it is the governments responsibility todo "General" research with my money.
If the research represents technology for defense, or security... I am for it, but just pork barrelling our dollars into random research projects, that then get sold into private industry so that I can buy back the result of the research I funded pisses me off.
Spending in the US is completely out of control. We need someone to clamp down on this insane tax and spend matra... both parties are guilty of pushing forth the agenda to help their own pet projects.
Another note about PeachTree. You might be able to get peachtree working properly in "Wine". Not sure, but again, it might be worth looking into, I can't recommend this account package enough.
I agree with the above post. PeachTree is an awesome package and unless you plan on doing hundreds of thousands of line-items, you will not hit the limits of the PeachTree System, it is also easy to use.
Now, the interesting bit is peachtree has a "pure online" version of its software (http://www.peachtree.com/epeachtree/) but it says you need to use "IE" to work on it. I don't know if this is a true limit, or just a limit on what they are willing to support, but it may be worth looking into.
Re:Are you kidding?
on
Halloween VII
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
This is a troll -- but I will bite.
First of all, what is the total cost of the software you run?
If you built your own PC out of parts, you have to purchase your operating system, office, development tools, etc. Lets do a ballpark on just those 3 things (from Microsoft.com). Microsoft Windows 2000 Pro (319), Microsoft Office XP Pro (579), Microsoft.Net Pro Studio (1079). Now assuming you don't do anything else, you just spent 2 grand on software.
You could probably easily spend another 5 grand on other useful tools (depending on your trade) such as Oracle, ESRI, and much much more...
Do you steal software? That is illegal, and to some people that is unacceptable, so they use linux, rather than simply stealing what they want.
The interesting thing is that "Warez" is probably helping Microsoft by adding to network effect. If everyone had to purchase all the software they used their would be a much faster migration to linux (I believe).
Despite your personal beliefs, I think that linux is becoming a contender on the business desktop. For an array of reasons. The most important of these reasons is cost. Google(run on linux) for information about successful linux deployments, lots of big companies are starting todo it.
I think intelligent combination is the future..
on
As Languages Evolve...
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I think the hard tie to a single langauge for a project is slowly going away. I think you are going to see more and more projects done in 3+ langauges. You built your first revision in a scripting langauge (python), and have it calling your database (PL-SQL), then once most everything is working you will go in and check how it preforms. You profile the slow bits and port them over to a quicker langauge (C++) using a tool to help you tie it all together (SWIG).
I could have written this little made up example using (perl), (xslt+xml), (C), (h2xs) or one of a dozen other combos.
The power of using a scripting langauge as a major component of your project is you get rapid prototyping, and easy extendability. The advantage of using a lower level langauge is speed and "access" to APIs of hardware you might need. Why anyone would feel the need to limit themselves to one group is beyond me.
Wouldn't this imply that if the hardware vender died and sold off all of its IP (to help pay off those debts) that if your hardware died, your data would in-effect be gone forever, or you would have to illegally violate DMCA to get to it?
I don't know about the ball shaped keyboard you are looking for, but in my personal experience the best keyboard in the world is the Kinesis Contour.
It has depth setup keys (indented in a Sphere shape), non-angled keypaths, hardware based key-mappings, better placement of important keys, easy way to flip access to number keys with you right hand, and an array of other features.
It takes about two weeks to get used to it (with real practice), but once you get used to it, you will ensure one is always with you. It totally elminates pain from typing and makes it enjoyable once again for even people that have had bad wrist pain.
I personally would recommend using a Wiki. It does all the jazz about connecting resources without contaniers and natural linking information. It does it more naturally as well. I am guessing that someone could write a plugin for any wiki system todo the pointless little map of information with little lines on it -- but I am not sure what purpose it would serve. I don't see what little GUI tool adds that a hyperlink (as a wiki would do it) wouldn't?
WINE and Windows Compatibility are a way to win the battle and loose the war, it is a short-sighted "Fix it now" solution that will cause more harm that good. All it will do is ensure that developers never develop for linux.
WINE is a nice way to play catch-up forever. Think about it from a a developer point of view. If I know that my app will be developed for the massive market that is windows -- and get the linux market for free (since they are playing catch-up and compatibility) what possible motivation would I have for creating a native linux product. I would have ZERO motivation.
This is what killed OS/2 -- they had a windows compatibility mode that was so good -- no one developed for OS/2, what possible motivation would there be to? Program to windows -- sell on windows and OS/2.
Beyond all that -- the unified desktop (QT+GTK) will enhance the user experience. Widgets should look and act the same, you shouldn't have to train your eye to a new widget set for each application you use. You shouldn't select an application because it fits "with your desktop" -- you should select it because it is the best application -- the article makes the point very clearly and I whole-heartedly agree.
The above post is clueful and correct -- read it -- also -- the firm that gave you a ballpark quote for 20 million should be able to give you a breakdown and information on vendors and such -- it should be very possible to track down the prices they are getting the product for -- and how much they are marking it up.
I don't think that how "Easy it is to turn off" matters much -- the real change will happen if the people who distribute XP on new PCs start bundling different apps for the defaults.. ie: mozilla as the browser -- Real as the media player -- Winamp to play mp3s/oggs... etc.
The real best way is to target management, create a toolkit that enables managment to micro-manage everyone of the coders behaviors -- and great report generation abilities. Don't worry so much about how useful it is to the programmer, that isn't the important part..
Market this directly to management so that they will buy it without even consulting the developers and help them create new "company policy" that makes it the only allowed development enviroment/tool-kit.
Now, the developers will rise up against this, but do not fear, in this economy they are a dime a dozen... management can just buy some new ones, and measure their success with brightly colored graphs.:)
(yes, I know I have an evil mind)
please post mirrors under this thread....
on
Tenebrae Quake
·
· Score: 2, Redundant
Seems that this site is already slashdotted, if anyone has a mirror location please post it under here.
Slashdot Mirror
Laugh ... if I had not already written a comment I would have modded you up :)
Because... lot of programmers may not have much money (or even want it). But they have lots of time to write software, and a good degree of skill. With this skill and time -- they can create software and make a real difference. They would have been writing software anyway -- why not write it for the peace corps :)
Giving 2500 dollars to the peace corps it out of reach for some coders. But writing a piece of software that 250 people would pay ten dollars for might be more possible!
Also, in the end, the people know they will always have the source to the software, and don't have to worry about it fading out of existance.
I agree that it is meaningless -- so I have an alternative idea...
Ransom It For Peace!
#1. Develop a good piece of software.
#2. Put a ransom on it.
#3. Once enough money has been donated to set your software free -- you open-source it!
#4. You give all the money from the ransom to the peace corps.
The nice thing about this system is I could pay for a piece of software I like, while donating to a cause I feel strongly about, and still get the source! It is a win, win, win setup!
Questions:
#1. Do you want to work on OSS systems and with OSS toolkits (writing a web application in PHP running on Redhat 8.0 and Apache 2.0) or do you want to write OSS code (writing a web application licensed under [BSD | GPL]).
If your goal is to write software licensed under an open-source license, you will have a large uphill battle to find work.
#2. Are you sure your newfound passion is worth giving up your job over in this economy? Better to write windows code during the day, so you can afford to write linux code at night.
Slowly ebbing into linux is a good way to go, it will let you built up an understanding and ensure you are set on this decision.
Recommendations:
If you really want to break into the OSS software development market, you need to bear in mind a few things.
#1. It is like any other market, your network of personal relationships you have developed over the past six years will be your basis, where you start looking. As always the buddy-network is the best possible way to find a job you might actually enjoy.
#2. OSS is often as much about community as software, get involved. The best place to probably get involved is your local LUG. At you LUG you have a chance to meet like minded individuals.
#3. Write some code that has your name on it, so that when asked to produce demos/examples of your work you can show them your (GPL | BSD) licensed code. If you write software that happens to help your local LUG you get a bonus point.
#4. Remember that you might be able to create a new job, rather than fill an existing opening. Converting a company to linux, and developing new systems is a large task for even a small (100-200 employees) business. But a rewarding one.
Finally I can run that one... umm... "thing" I need to run that does that "stuff"... yeah, and it can only be done on BeOS -- nothing else.
Also, I want a single-user OS... multi-user OSes are for the birds, it isn't like you can connect computers to a big network of other computers or anything.
Finally -- just what I have been waiting for, a new release of BeOS.
Fair Posting *clap* *clap*, lots of good points.
... $$$$. If everything is okay with the environment nobody will fund studies of the environment. The squeaky wheel gets greased and always will in the case of funding extreme ideas.
I think the green party is generally a good thing.. as long as they stick to the real facts...
Enviromentalists right now are the biggest group con-artists and bullshit mongers on earth.
I don't believe that their issue is not valid -- but because they have extremely exaggerated, and flat out lied and twisted stats to make their personal points...
They are just as guilty of FUD as anyone else -- dozens of them said the world would end before the year 2000 (in the 70s).
Please, don't write off enviromentalists, they have a hard battle ahead of them, and they do need a degree of support, but only support those who are honest and truthful..
Check out The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World and please look up his facts and draw your OWN conclusions...
Let me share a couple of (admittedly hand picked) reviews of the book as posted on Amazon
I can personally vouch for many of the claims which Lomborg makes in this paradigm-shattering book. In the first Earth Day in 1970, while in high school, I was taught, among other things, that, within 10 years or so, the human race would be dying off en masse from overpopulation, depletion of resources, and the polluted environment. Here it is 2002 and none of these predictions have come true--not even close. Instead of a population bomb (Ehrlich), we have stabilization of world population. Instead of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, Lomborg points out that such things as food supply and basic sanitation are enjoyed by a larger and larger fraction of the world's population. Thirty years of oil only means that we have found reserves for the next thirty years. It does NOT mean that we will be out of oil thirty years from now! And, far from being some puppet of corporations, Lomborg remains left-of-center politically. A great book!
Well researched, well documented, and thoughtful. People who believe there are many environmental problems should look at the history of bad environmental predictions, notably in the 1970's the impending Ice Age and 1980's the horrible problems of Acid Rain. Acid Rain has proven harmless and now environmentalists predict Global Warming not an Ice Age. In another 20 years extreme environmentalists will be back to calling for an Ice Age after Global Warming fails them. Also, there is good reason for scientists to make extreme predictions
This makes pages un-readable for some visual disabled who use text browsers to get to what they need and read it out on a braille-board or via software that simply reads the text out-load to them.
There is software that can work with standard web software (IE & Popups) and there is some that doesn't...
"Special Interested Groups" ---ATTACK---
I gave up trying to defend myself from A/Cs long ago (generally I don't even look at 'em, but in this case I had 4 responses... all A/Cs).
I only take time to add some additions to your comments because they are correct.
I thought my "game selection" would generally show that it is something I do to kill a few minutes, not as a die hard hobby. Worms(worms armageddon by team17 for those who care) is _really_ old... but just happens to be a game I enjoy.
There was a question about my videocard... well, on my gaming machines it is a GeForce 3.
There was also a comment in this thread about compile time for developers and the "build time" lag. Generally that has been a _very_ non issue for me because I tend to do under 10 builds a day and have my code properly divided up so that I don't waste my time rebuilding everything for a few changes.
I do resent the implication that I steal software, because as I developer, this is one of the things I feel very strongly about -- if you don't want to pay for software, find an alternative (or write your own!). Theft isn't ok because it is extremely convenient.
I think this is in the best business interests of AMD. I am a software developer by trade, and gamer by hobby. For years I was on the bleeding edge of technology (and paying a hefty sum for the bragging rights). I used to dabble in overclocking/custom cooling and really "pushing the preformance" on my machines. But the truth is, right now, as a software developer (VS.net[C#/C++], Java, Perl, Python) and a gamer (Worms, Warcraft III, Natural Selection), I simply feel no pressing need to upgrade my system.
In the days of 3.06Ghz HT boxes and 64bit processors... my systems are meek by comparison... My primary machine is a Sony Viao Laptop 1.0Ghz (AMD) with 512 + 40gig IDE (15.1 inch screen). My gaming machine is a 1.7Ghz (P4) with 1024 + 120gig WD (Special Edition). Yet despite my primary machine being 1/3rd the fastest(and more so if you count the advantage of HT) in the industry -- I feel no pressing need to upgrade.
The bottom line is, nowadays I don't feel like I am waiting for my system todo what I ask it too-- and until that feeling returns due to more powerful [or more bloated] software, I don't think I will be running out to buy a machine based on CPU.
If AMD is cheaper, cooler and does everything I need to in a smarter way (sound like Transmeta's plan anyone?), they will get my bucks.
One of your points is a good example..
The "Genome" project was started by the government in 1990. Of course no private industry would even fund Genome Research (so we were told).
Whoops, wrong, in 1998 Celera Genomics announces that they are going to crack the Genome and much to the shigrin of the the government, they say they are going todo it FIRST.
In 2000, Celera cracked it and decided to share the credit with the government, in exchange for what I don't know (I would guess some favor to be mentioned later for not making the government look like they pissed away LOTS of money).
Government effiency crushed by private industry once again.
----
I could go on to pick apart your medical research point (which I think is wrong).
----
On supercolliders and space -- I give you full credit, as of yet private funding is not there, and these have had benefits to mankind.
I don't think it is the governments responsibility todo "General" research with my money.
... both parties are guilty of pushing forth the agenda to help their own pet projects.
If the research represents technology for defense, or security... I am for it, but just pork barrelling our dollars into random research projects, that then get sold into private industry so that I can buy back the result of the research I funded pisses me off.
Spending in the US is completely out of control. We need someone to clamp down on this insane tax and spend matra
Another note about PeachTree. You might be able to get peachtree working properly in "Wine". Not sure, but again, it might be worth looking into, I can't recommend this account package enough.
I agree with the above post. PeachTree is an awesome package and unless you plan on doing hundreds of thousands of line-items, you will not hit the limits of the PeachTree System, it is also easy to use.
Now, the interesting bit is peachtree has a "pure online" version of its software (http://www.peachtree.com/epeachtree/) but it says you need to use "IE" to work on it. I don't know if this is a true limit, or just a limit on what they are willing to support, but it may be worth looking into.
Wow -- at least someone knew what I meant. Thanks
This is a troll -- but I will bite.
.Net Pro Studio (1079). Now assuming you don't do anything else, you just spent 2 grand on software.
First of all, what is the total cost of the software you run?
If you built your own PC out of parts, you have to purchase your operating system, office, development tools, etc. Lets do a ballpark on just those 3 things (from Microsoft.com). Microsoft Windows 2000 Pro (319), Microsoft Office XP Pro (579), Microsoft
You could probably easily spend another 5 grand on other useful tools (depending on your trade) such as Oracle, ESRI, and much much more...
Do you steal software? That is illegal, and to some people that is unacceptable, so they use linux, rather than simply stealing what they want.
The interesting thing is that "Warez" is probably helping Microsoft by adding to network effect. If everyone had to purchase all the software they used their would be a much faster migration to linux (I believe).
Despite your personal beliefs, I think that linux is becoming a contender on the business desktop. For an array of reasons. The most important of these reasons is cost. Google(run on linux) for information about successful linux deployments, lots of big companies are starting todo it.
I think the hard tie to a single langauge for a project is slowly going away. I think you are going to see more and more projects done in 3+ langauges. You built your first revision in a scripting langauge (python), and have it calling your database (PL-SQL), then once most everything is working you will go in and check how it preforms. You profile the slow bits and port them over to a quicker langauge (C++) using a tool to help you tie it all together (SWIG).
I could have written this little made up example using (perl), (xslt+xml), (C), (h2xs) or one of a dozen other combos.
The power of using a scripting langauge as a major component of your project is you get rapid prototyping, and easy extendability. The advantage of using a lower level langauge is speed and "access" to APIs of hardware you might need. Why anyone would feel the need to limit themselves to one group is beyond me.
Wouldn't this imply that if the hardware vender died and sold off all of its IP (to help pay off those debts) that if your hardware died, your data would in-effect be gone forever, or you would have to illegally violate DMCA to get to it?
http://www.worklink.net/products/kinesis.html
I don't know about the ball shaped keyboard you are looking for, but in my personal experience the best keyboard in the world is the Kinesis Contour.
It has depth setup keys (indented in a Sphere shape), non-angled keypaths, hardware based key-mappings, better placement of important keys, easy way to flip access to number keys with you right hand, and an array of other features.
It takes about two weeks to get used to it (with real practice), but once you get used to it, you will ensure one is always with you. It totally elminates pain from typing and makes it enjoyable once again for even people that have had bad wrist pain.
I personally would recommend using a Wiki. It does all the jazz about connecting resources without contaniers and natural linking information. It does it more naturally as well. I am guessing that someone could write a plugin for any wiki system todo the pointless little map of information with little lines on it -- but I am not sure what purpose it would serve. I don't see what little GUI tool adds that a hyperlink (as a wiki would do it) wouldn't?
That is my recommendation. www.openwiki.com
WINE and Windows Compatibility are a way to win the battle and loose the war, it is a short-sighted "Fix it now" solution that will cause more harm that good. All it will do is ensure that developers never develop for linux.
WINE is a nice way to play catch-up forever. Think about it from a a developer point of view. If I know that my app will be developed for the massive market that is windows -- and get the linux market for free (since they are playing catch-up and compatibility) what possible motivation would I have for creating a native linux product. I would have ZERO motivation.
This is what killed OS/2 -- they had a windows compatibility mode that was so good -- no one developed for OS/2, what possible motivation would there be to? Program to windows -- sell on windows and OS/2.
Beyond all that -- the unified desktop (QT+GTK) will enhance the user experience. Widgets should look and act the same, you shouldn't have to train your eye to a new widget set for each application you use. You shouldn't select an application because it fits "with your desktop" -- you should select it because it is the best application -- the article makes the point very clearly and I whole-heartedly agree.
The above post is clueful and correct -- read it -- also -- the firm that gave you a ballpark quote for 20 million should be able to give you a breakdown and information on vendors and such -- it should be very possible to track down the prices they are getting the product for -- and how much they are marking it up.
They have to make a living too ya know.
I don't think that how "Easy it is to turn off" matters much -- the real change will happen if the people who distribute XP on new PCs start bundling different apps for the defaults.. ie: mozilla as the browser -- Real as the media player -- Winamp to play mp3s/oggs... etc.
That is who this new feature really targets.
The real best way is to target management, create a toolkit that enables managment to micro-manage everyone of the coders behaviors -- and great report generation abilities. Don't worry so much about how useful it is to the programmer, that isn't the important part..
:)
Market this directly to management so that they will buy it without even consulting the developers and help them create new "company policy" that makes it the only allowed development enviroment/tool-kit.
Now, the developers will rise up against this, but do not fear, in this economy they are a dime a dozen... management can just buy some new ones, and measure their success with brightly colored graphs.
(yes, I know I have an evil mind)
Seems that this site is already slashdotted, if anyone has a mirror location please post it under here.
Thanks in advance.
I gotta say that I enjoyed this little post -- I thought it was a fun easy read -- and very interesting, fun to explore and tweak.