I must say that I was shocked to be lumped in with virus writers simply because I believe in Linux and open source. I am even more shocked that the BBC, an organization I've respected for years, would stoop to such inaccuracies. I, for one, would very much like to see these virus writers jailed for their destructive actions. Linking someone like myself, who has spent a large amount of time fighting and removing viruses to these criminals if equivalent to linking all reporters to Jayson Blair. I'm sure you would not be happy with the comparison.
If I may note, in order to write and distribute the MyDoom virus, the virus author would have to use Windows. Neither the programming language, nor the method of delivery the virus uses, will work on a linux system.
I would like an apology for this factual error. It defames me, and a large number of good and innocent people in the linux community.
I keep a fairly large list of people on my phone, but there is no way for me to back it up. If I could connect the phone to my PC via USB to copy off all the information, I wouldn't consider that an added feature, I'd consider it just part of having an addressbook.
As a former ISP manager, I know that by the time a lawsuit would have come about our DHCP assignment logs would have been rotated out of storage. Any reasonable sized ISP would have far too much data to keep on hand to store something like that.
Even discounting work-time (8 hours of internet per day, 5 days per week), I spend 5.5 hours per weekday and about 8 per weekend day. That makes 27.5 + 16= 43.5 hours!
of Antarctica, an old and very clunky Java Yahoo-like engine (sorta). It used a map of Antarctica to drill down into categories and subcategories before putting the user in a 3D world interface at the lowest level. When I interviewed with them, the interviewer did an excellent job of turning me off the technology, explaining that the 3D interface would allow 'billboard and other advertisements' along with the search results formatted in a 'mall or street' of entries.
Would you, for a second, trust either side's data and observations and conclusions excplitly? They both have a $$-interest in their own conclusions. The only thing I believe here is that the industrialist have a larger $$-interest.
All of the reasons mentioned above play a part, but I feel like they all miss
the point slightly.
At the start of any project, I'm programming primarily to please myself. (The
two chief virtues in a programmer are laziness and impatience.) After a while
somebody looks over my shoulder and says, "That's neat. It'd be neater if it
did such-and-so." So the thing gets neater. Pretty soon (a year or two) I
have an rn, a warp, a patch, or a perl. One of these years I'll have a
metaconfig.
I then say to myself, "I don't want my life's work to die when this computer
is scrapped, so I should let some other people use this. If I ask my
company to sell this, it'll never see the light of day, and nobody would pay
much for it anyway. If I sell it myself, I'll be in trouble with my company,
to whom I signed my life away when I was hired. If I give it away, I can
pretend it was worthless in the first place, so my company won't care.
In any event, it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission."
So a freely distributable program is born.
At this point I'm no longer working for a company that makes me sign my life
away, but by now I'm in the habit. Besides, I still harbor the deep-down
suspicion that nobody would pay money for what I write, since most of it
just helps you do something better that you could already do some other way.
How much money would you personally pay to upgrade from readnews to rn?
How much money would you pay for the patch program? As for warp, it's a mere
game. And anything you can do with perl you can eventually do with an amazing
and totally unreadable conglomeration of awk, sed, sh and C.
It's not so much that people don't value the programs after they have them--they
do value them. But they're not the sort of thing that would ever catch on
if they had to overcome the marketing barrier. (I don't yet know if perl will
catch on at all--I'm worried enough about it that I specifically included an
awk-to-perl translator just to help it catch on.) Maybe it's all just an
inferiority complex. Or maybe I don't like to be mercenary.
So I guess I'd say that the reason some software comes free is that the
mechanism for selling it is missing, either from the work environment, or
from the heart of the programmer.
What programmers like me need is a benefactor, like the old composers and
artists used to have. Anybody want to support me while I make beautiful things?
My hope is that some billionaire who reads the net for pleasure(?) will
someday say "I'd like to pay you for all the people who have used rn over
the years..." and drop $1,000,000 or so on me so I could live off the interest
and finish the new rn.:-)
Thanks for the PDF link in your sig. Once again I am dumbfounded that so many Americans had their voting right removed and so many other Americans don't care.
I'm Canadian (married to an American) and I'm still ashamed.
Serious Microsoft investment in RedHat by the third quarter of next year. I hate to be a conspiracy theorist (ok, that's a lie), but really this whole rush job smells like the visible front to a backroom deal.
Slashdot Mirror
of the NT and Win2k source code to me? :)
do we have grounds for a class action defamation suit?
I must say that I was shocked to be lumped in with virus writers simply because I believe in Linux and open source. I am even more shocked that the BBC, an organization I've respected for years, would stoop to such inaccuracies. I, for one, would very much like to see these virus writers jailed for their destructive actions. Linking someone like myself, who has spent a large amount of time fighting and removing viruses to these criminals if equivalent to linking all reporters to Jayson Blair. I'm sure you would not be happy with the comparison.
If I may note, in order to write and distribute the MyDoom virus, the virus author would have to use Windows. Neither the programming language, nor the method of delivery the virus uses, will work on a linux system.
I would like an apology for this factual error. It defames me, and a large number of good and innocent people in the linux community.
Greg Webster
...but I want to have the ability to back it up.
I keep a fairly large list of people on my phone, but there is no way for me to back it up. If I could connect the phone to my PC via USB to copy off all the information, I wouldn't consider that an added feature, I'd consider it just part of having an addressbook.
As a former ISP manager, I know that by the time a lawsuit would have come about our DHCP assignment logs would have been rotated out of storage. Any reasonable sized ISP would have far too much data to keep on hand to store something like that.
Even discounting work-time (8 hours of internet per day, 5 days per week), I spend 5.5 hours per weekday and about 8 per weekend day. That makes 27.5 + 16= 43.5 hours!
Keerist I'm a geek. I need to get out more.
Someone's thinking is screwy.
KS
Gawd I hate those. I don't understand why Google isn't doing that sort of filtering already.
of Antarctica, an old and very clunky Java Yahoo-like engine (sorta). It used a map of Antarctica to drill down into categories and subcategories before putting the user in a 3D world interface at the lowest level. When I interviewed with them, the interviewer did an excellent job of turning me off the technology, explaining that the 3D interface would allow 'billboard and other advertisements' along with the search results formatted in a 'mall or street' of entries.
Gah.
...until I can regexp my searches. It would make a whole lot of difference.
Removing democracy from the voters is about as bad as it gets.
You're saying I don't? :) -
I'm assuming the person who gave it to me isn't expecting me to fly anywhere after Christmas :)
It's been left for far too long.
Would you, for a second, trust either side's data and observations and conclusions excplitly? They both have a $$-interest in their own conclusions. The only thing I believe here is that the industrialist have a larger $$-interest.
There should be a word for the act of using pithy quotes to sound like you are wise. - Kickstart70
Dude...5 years?
If I did anything for 5 years I'd be A) sick to death of it and B) pretty much giving up on any chance of selling it.
Not meaning to disillusion you, but geez...get it moving or just leave it in the basement.
I dunno. Hummers always get me moving pretty damned quick.
Please mod this off-topic.
Last night I put the finishing touches on the first playtestable version of my board game :)
KS
(the bold was added by me)
here
As shown in other posts, there is a levy of "21 cents on a regular CDR or 77 cents on an audio CDR" info here
Before you talk out your butt and accuse others, check your facts.
Thanks for the PDF link in your sig. Once again I am dumbfounded that so many Americans had their voting right removed and so many other Americans don't care.
I'm Canadian (married to an American) and I'm still ashamed.
Simple:
Open source the search ENGINE.
Do not open source the search ALGORITHM.
10 hours after BG announced anti-spam protection in Windows something like this comes up. Now they can claim spam reduction just by patching their own crappy software.
Serious Microsoft investment in RedHat by the third quarter of next year. I hate to be a conspiracy theorist (ok, that's a lie), but really this whole rush job smells like the visible front to a backroom deal.