Maybe not legally, but it *will* be preserved...
on
Software Archaeology
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
One of my favourite bits in 'All Tomorrow's Parties' (If memory serves - it's a while since I read Gibson) is where the computer shop keeper explains that 'real bright people' building computer systems like to buy stuff from our era. He goes on to explain that they use these 'ancient' systems to understand and gain insight into current systems, adding that nothing really changes, just gets added to (and that noone really understands the full system). I believe Gibsons insight will be proven real, and that Software Archaeology is *essential* for the future DMCA or no DMCA. The alternative is stagnation in the evolution of computer systems. This cannot happen, although it might in America;) The part/parts of the World that don't succumb to DMCA fever will become the new tech leaders (and probably a great immigration target for us lot!)
I'm glad you posted this, I was thinking of saying something along these lines myself - seemed a little silly replying to myself though - so thanks;)
Of course from one point of view this is *exactly* the stimulus p2p needs right now - the next p2p app to reach critical mass will of course include strong privacy/anonymity, hopefully along the lines Bruce Schnier outlines in Applied Cryptography.
Let's see them get out of that one! The DMCA will appear lightweight compared to what they'll be lobbying for then...
You're not the only one! I have gone from spending a reasonable chunk on their warez each month to a conscientious objector purely on the strength of their insults. Talk about biting the hands that feed you...
It is simply the chilling effect of the *threat* they are after.
You only need look as far as slashdot to see posts suggesting that kazaa et al usage is declining. Speaking with non-geek users of these services also shows that the threat is slowly being taken seriously.
Of course the **AA are merely playing King Canute as usual, in the long run suing the f*ck out of their customers will not restore their fortunes, merely delay the inevitable.
I used to spend several hundred a month on DVDs & CDs. Now... well I guess I never did like bullies much!
If your reluctance doesn't extend to php, then that may well be your answer.
We've found that in a number of cases, all full migration can be made from Access to a LAMP (or FAMP for us FreeBSD heads!) solution. In others you can get the guts over to MySQL/PostgeSQL and leave Access on the desktop as merely the GUI. To be honest it's quite a good front end on a windows desktop anyway (apart from the *ridiculous* price tag)
The MS Access format is proprietary (and crap). Fortunately, this is irrelevent as it's not how you do it.
You simply migrate the underlying tables over to a MySQL back end, leaving all the queries, forms, reports, macros and other assorted Access s*ite untouched. That way the users can continue using their little Access front-ends while your LAMP team uses the same underlying tables (now in MySQL) to write a superior (and Open Source based) front-end in XHTML and PHP.
You then ask management/bean counters if they'd like to lose the cost of deploying MS Office Professional rather than standard on all the desktops that currently 'require' Access.
Thank you for this. Again your experience appears to be the same - Open Office is *good enough* for most uses. It's interesting what you have said about the 200 page document. In my experience Word ofter struggles with docs this size. Thanks for your insight...
FreeBSD's what I tend to live in (works great on thinkpads!) and, like you, I found mysql/OO integration trivial. I have to say, for balance (and to quell any nascent my Open Source OS is better than yours pissing contests) that it was trivial setting up under Debian too. Don't know about Red Hat, I tend to avoid it as much as possible.
Hey, thanks for the tip - I'll bamf over and check it out when everyones calmed down;)
Secretaries are a *real* conservative bunch and likely to p*ss themselves if you so much as mention csv files. For you and me this is a great thing. For them, if it deviates too far from the current (read MS) way, it's a no-no.
This is why that 'management mandate' is the key that unlocks the next phase of Open Source deployment. We must learn how to speak in ways that convince 'management'.
Absolutely agree, I like the MySQL + openODBC combo too;) As you say, the OO tool is great, I use it plenty myself. It's just that it's not *yet* as simple/easy to use as Access. The day will come however, the day will come...
Actually most translate just fine;) Besides, since when did an upgrade from, say, Office 95 to Office 97 not kill off a few macros and have to be rewritten! A migration is a migration is a migration. All that matters is how you sell it to Management/Bean Counters
We have tried rolling this out at a number of sites. YMMV but this is our experience:
OO is *perfect* for a large range of users, it handles all the bases and it's interoperability with the rest of the world (i.e. MS Office) is 'good enough'.
A significant proportion of users like it better than "the real thing" - heh, heh
When a user comes down to the IT department asking for a copy of 'Office' for home it is the perfect opportunity for evangelism ("We can't let you have office, it's £500, but you can have this for free - it's almost as good, so you won't even see much difference").
Management/Bean Counters *love* it - if you can lose £200-£500 *per desktop* every 3 years they'll think you can walk on water - especially if you've just lost them a few £100k off the cost of their back-end systems;)
HOWEVER...
Much a I have unbridled enthusiasm for OO, and I believe it is an essential part of Open Source's killer nature, it is *not yet* a no brainer for the enterprise.
Try giving it to a secretary. Worse yet, give it to a whole department of them. You will not get our ALIVE.
OO needs much stronger mailmerge capabilities. Then it will be awesome from the secretarial point of view. Until then they would rather die than give up MS Office.
OO, or a seperate project also needs a replacement for 'Access'. Yes I know we should be moving them to LAMP (and in fact we do a lot of this ourselves), but the honest truth is there are sh*t loads of companies out there with hundreds of little access applications. This is our market too.
Anyway, as I said, YMMV
Team up with, or create a, consultancy
on
Funding Open Source?
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· Score: 3, Interesting
Crossing the chasm, whilst it's intended audience is proprietory IT firms, makes the point that consultancy is often *the* cash generator in the early market.
A viable Open Source project will almost *always* require consultancy at the firms who choose to use it. If there's a better marriage between the commercial sector and Open Source projects I couldn't think of it. The challenge is to make sure there are 'no strings' and that each side thinks the share is fair. It strikes me that the 'best' Open Source projects are alread doing this (think MySQL, apache, etc).
As a further example, the company I work for sets aside a percentage of its turnover for project funding, our most recent being joining the FSF corporate sponsor programme (try and encourage your own companies to do this - they need waaaaaaaaaaay more than they've picked up so far - companies who use Open Souce *should* fund it!).
Implementors in the 'trenches' at Open Souce 'early adopters' should make the ideal funding partners for coders who, let's face it, made all this possible in the first place...
Just my £0.02
Re:The key is if it's better than current detectio
on
Swiping Out Cancer
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· Score: 1
Dude, I'm sorry - I was 38 when it happened to me and it still felt like I was waaaay too young to lose my dad - I can't imagine what it would be like at 14... Best regards, Mark
The key is if it's better than current detection
on
Swiping Out Cancer
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
As someone who has seen, at first hand, the horrors of undetected cancer, this could just the ticket. My Father died from cancer last year. He had a secondary tumor removed a year before, but the specialists who saw him could apparently not detect a primary. It was clear to us that there was one (he was degenerating), but current detection techniques, apparently, couldn't find it. An autopsy was conducted when he died, at which point extensive cancer was located. Part of the cure for cancer must surely be early, and accurate, detection. Let's hope this is part of it!
Takes about half an hour to install. Security patches are a breeze, Debian's the best, and yes, apt is your friend. Yes there are lists, but a simple deb http://security.debian.org stable/updates main contrib non-free in your sources.list (assuming you're running stable - which you _will_ be on a server) will be all you need to stay within about 24 hours of the latest updates!
If you're serious about moving, mail me off list and I'll help you through...
You're considering the issue ONLY from your perspective as a desktop user! Take a look at how much businesses spend on their server-side compared with the desktop and you'll see that the server is where it's at! The spend on the desktop is going to go WAYYYYYYYYYYY down and GNU/Linux will play its part in this. You are correct that Debian has proved itself on servers, that is why there will always be a place for it whilst it sticks to its heritage. If you really like portage that much you should try FreeBSD btw, it kicks your portage into touch;)
I fully concur, and I'd like to back your experience with my own. We've been deploying GNU/Linux and Open Source in the UK for over 5 years now and I hear your story time and time again! always from strong technical people, always from people solving REAL business problems. You're right, Debian isn't going to be marginalized any time soon.
Slashdot Mirror
One of my favourite bits in 'All Tomorrow's Parties' (If memory serves - it's a while since I read Gibson) is where the computer shop keeper explains that 'real bright people' building computer systems like to buy stuff from our era. ;)
He goes on to explain that they use these 'ancient' systems to understand and gain insight into current systems, adding that nothing really changes, just gets added to (and that noone really understands the full system).
I believe Gibsons insight will be proven real, and that Software Archaeology is *essential* for the future DMCA or no DMCA.
The alternative is stagnation in the evolution of computer systems. This cannot happen, although it might in America
The part/parts of the World that don't succumb to DMCA fever will become the new tech leaders (and probably a great immigration target for us lot!)
I'm glad you posted this, I was thinking of saying something along these lines myself - seemed a little silly replying to myself though - so thanks ;)
Of course from one point of view this is *exactly* the stimulus p2p needs right now - the next p2p app to reach critical mass will of course include strong privacy/anonymity, hopefully along the lines Bruce Schnier outlines in Applied Cryptography.
Let's see them get out of that one! The DMCA will appear lightweight compared to what they'll be lobbying for then...
You're not the only one!
I have gone from spending a reasonable chunk on their warez each month to a conscientious objector purely on the strength of their insults. Talk about biting the hands that feed you...
It is simply the chilling effect of the *threat* they are after.
You only need look as far as slashdot to see posts suggesting that kazaa et al usage is declining. Speaking with non-geek users of these services also shows that the threat is slowly being taken seriously.
Of course the **AA are merely playing King Canute as usual, in the long run suing the f*ck out of their customers will not restore their fortunes, merely delay the inevitable.
I used to spend several hundred a month on DVDs & CDs. Now... well I guess I never did like bullies much!
Universal translator anyone?
Er, aging geek embarrasing self again, mutter...
If your reluctance doesn't extend to php, then that may well be your answer.
We've found that in a number of cases, all full migration can be made from Access to a LAMP (or FAMP for us FreeBSD heads!) solution. In others you can get the guts over to MySQL/PostgeSQL and leave Access on the desktop as merely the GUI. To be honest it's quite a good front end on a windows desktop anyway (apart from the *ridiculous* price tag)
Hmm, interesting.
Thanks!, added to my list of projects to keep an eye on...
The MS Access format is proprietary (and crap). Fortunately, this is irrelevent as it's not how you do it.
You simply migrate the underlying tables over to a MySQL back end, leaving all the queries, forms, reports, macros and other assorted Access s*ite untouched. That way the users can continue using their little Access front-ends while your LAMP team uses the same underlying tables (now in MySQL) to write a superior (and Open Source based) front-end in XHTML and PHP.
You then ask management/bean counters if they'd like to lose the cost of deploying MS Office Professional rather than standard on all the desktops that currently 'require' Access.
Problem solved...
That looks nice. Thanks for the tip, I'll add that to my list of projects to keep my eye on.
Thanks for that.
How scalable? - Will it work for several thousand names?
Can it take the fields from a database rather than a spreadsheet?
Thank you for this. Again your experience appears to be the same - Open Office is *good enough* for most uses.
It's interesting what you have said about the 200 page document. In my experience Word ofter struggles with docs this size.
Thanks for your insight...
Hey, I *LOVE* MySQL!
FreeBSD's what I tend to live in (works great on thinkpads!) and, like you, I found mysql/OO integration trivial. I have to say, for balance (and to quell any nascent my Open Source OS is better than yours pissing contests) that it was trivial setting up under Debian too. Don't know about Red Hat, I tend to avoid it as much as possible.
Hey, thanks for the tip - I'll bamf over and check it out when everyones calmed down ;)
Secretaries are a *real* conservative bunch and likely to p*ss themselves if you so much as mention csv files. For you and me this is a great thing. For them, if it deviates too far from the current (read MS) way, it's a no-no.
Thanks again for the tip, I'll look into it.
Exactly. I couldn't agree more.
This is why that 'management mandate' is the key that unlocks the next phase of Open Source deployment. We must learn how to speak in ways that convince 'management'.
Absolutely agree, I like the MySQL + openODBC combo too ;)
As you say, the OO tool is great, I use it plenty myself. It's just that it's not *yet* as simple/easy to use as Access. The day will come however, the day will come...
Great idea!
I've just started doing a monthly column for LinuxUser & Developer magazine in the UK. I think this would make a fantastic case study.
I'll speak to some clients who've done this and see if we can put one together...
Thanks!
btw - the short answer is yes, migration works and £s saved in licenses DO measure up.
Actually most translate just fine ;)
Besides, since when did an upgrade from, say, Office 95 to Office 97 not kill off a few macros and have to be rewritten!
A migration is a migration is a migration. All that matters is how you sell it to Management/Bean Counters
We have tried rolling this out at a number of sites. YMMV but this is our experience:
;)
OO is *perfect* for a large range of users, it handles all the bases and it's interoperability with the rest of the world (i.e. MS Office) is 'good enough'.
A significant proportion of users like it better than "the real thing" - heh, heh
When a user comes down to the IT department asking for a copy of 'Office' for home it is the perfect opportunity for evangelism ("We can't let you have office, it's £500, but you can have this for free - it's almost as good, so you won't even see much difference").
Management/Bean Counters *love* it - if you can lose £200-£500 *per desktop* every 3 years they'll think you can walk on water - especially if you've just lost them a few £100k off the cost of their back-end systems
HOWEVER...
Much a I have unbridled enthusiasm for OO, and I believe it is an essential part of Open Source's killer nature, it is *not yet* a no brainer for the enterprise.
Try giving it to a secretary. Worse yet, give it to a whole department of them. You will not get our ALIVE.
OO needs much stronger mailmerge capabilities. Then it will be awesome from the secretarial point of view. Until then they would rather die than give up MS Office.
OO, or a seperate project also needs a replacement for 'Access'. Yes I know we should be moving them to LAMP (and in fact we do a lot of this ourselves), but the honest truth is there are sh*t loads of companies out there with hundreds of little access applications. This is our market too.
Anyway, as I said, YMMV
Crossing the chasm, whilst it's intended audience is proprietory IT firms, makes the point that consultancy is often *the* cash generator in the early market.
A viable Open Source project will almost *always* require consultancy at the firms who choose to use it. If there's a better marriage between the commercial sector and Open Source projects I couldn't think of it. The challenge is to make sure there are 'no strings' and that each side thinks the share is fair. It strikes me that the 'best' Open Source projects are alread doing this (think MySQL, apache, etc).
As a further example, the company I work for sets aside a percentage of its turnover for project funding, our most recent being joining the FSF corporate sponsor programme (try and encourage your own companies to do this - they need waaaaaaaaaaay more than they've picked up so far - companies who use Open Souce *should* fund it!).
Implementors in the 'trenches' at Open Souce 'early adopters' should make the ideal funding partners for coders who, let's face it, made all this possible in the first place...
Just my £0.02
Dude, I'm sorry - I was 38 when it happened to me and it still felt like I was waaaay too young to lose my dad - I can't imagine what it would be like at 14...
Best regards,
Mark
As someone who has seen, at first hand, the horrors of undetected cancer, this could just the ticket.
My Father died from cancer last year. He had a secondary tumor removed a year before, but the specialists who saw him could apparently not detect a primary. It was clear to us that there was one (he was degenerating), but current detection techniques, apparently, couldn't find it. An autopsy was conducted when he died, at which point extensive cancer was located.
Part of the cure for cancer must surely be early, and accurate, detection. Let's hope this is part of it!
Dude, with you on that one ;)
It's always a good time to switch to Debian ;)
Takes about half an hour to install.
Security patches are a breeze, Debian's the best, and yes, apt is your friend.
Yes there are lists, but a simple
deb http://security.debian.org stable/updates main contrib non-free
in your sources.list (assuming you're running stable - which you _will_ be on a server) will be all you need to stay within about 24 hours of the latest updates!
If you're serious about moving, mail me off list and I'll help you through...
You're considering the issue ONLY from your perspective as a desktop user! Take a look at how much businesses spend on their server-side compared with the desktop and you'll see that the server is where it's at! The spend on the desktop is going to go WAYYYYYYYYYYY down and GNU/Linux will play its part in this. ;)
You are correct that Debian has proved itself on servers, that is why there will always be a place for it whilst it sticks to its heritage.
If you really like portage that much you should try FreeBSD btw, it kicks your portage into touch
I fully concur, and I'd like to back your experience with my own. We've been deploying GNU/Linux and Open Source in the UK for over 5 years now and I hear your story time and time again! always from strong technical people, always from people solving REAL business problems.
You're right, Debian isn't going to be marginalized any time soon.