There is a fallacy out there, and many are subscribing to it -
Open Source is DANGEROUS
The thinking goes this way -
If things are open sourced, EVERYONE, including
the BAD GUYS, can get it.
And BAD GUYS can use the open sourced stuffs to
do BAD THINGS.
So, to a lot of people -
If open-source is BAD, then
close-source must be GOOD.
Well...
Is close-source GOOD?
The topic about nanotech, about people thinking that secrecy - ala close-sourcing - can cut down on the "dangerous" aspect. At least, they argue, the BAD GUYS won't be able to get those technology.
The question here we should ask is -
IS THAT SO ?
All of us live in the REAL WORLD, and we gotta recognize the REALITY as it is -
As long as you got MONEY,
you can get ANYTHING = almost anything -
you want .
And we all know there are LOTS of BAD GUYS with LOTS OF MONEY - Osama Bin Laden got BILLIONS to spend, for example, - and no matter if the nanotech is open-sourced or close-sourced, if Bin Laden and all his Muslim fanatics want to do BAD THINGS with nanotech, you'd bet that they will GET the technology somehow.
The only thing that sadden me is that so many people in this world are acting like Ostrich - their preferred act is to bury their head in the sand, rather than use the gray matter in the head to THINK.
Close-sourcing is NOT, and will NEVER be, the answer to security.
If we are concern about BAD GUYS, we should TACKLE the BAD GUYS.
If Osama Bin Laden and all his Muslim fanatic assholes are the problem, then we should EXTERMINATE THEM, instead of close-sourcing EVERYTHING.
True reduction of latency will NOT happen as long as the Spinlock problem is still plaguing Linux.
As shown by the chart from the Real-Time Benchmark Result - available at [ http://kpreempt.sourceforge.net/ ] - we can see that the spinlock problem is preventing the pre-emptive kernel to achieve its true potential.
Therefore, is there ANYONE out there doing anything to solve the spinlock problem?
As shown by the chart from the Real-Time Benchmark Result - available at [ http://kpreempt.sourceforge.net/ ] - we can see that the spinlock problem is preventing the pre-emptive kernel to achieve its true potential.
Therefore, is there ANYONE out there doing anything to solve the spinlock problem?
I got to "know" Mr. Corbet thru his participation on a Linux-Biz list, and believe it or not, that was before LWN was LWN as we know it today.
I have seen my share of failure on the online thingy - lots of friends got burnt in the process - and I think one of the main problem is the lack of Cost Management.
What do I mean by it?
Used to be that running a site was a hobby, then someone figure out that running the same site as a BUSINESS may make some bucks. And once the money starts rolling in, people think BIG, and they want MORE, and next thing you know they start to FLY HERE AND THERE, in the name of "gathering information".
Used to be that "news sites" were by a group of good buddies, and when they do "news reporting", they often do it guerilla style - that is, they don't have chauffeured limosines to carry them - and their guests - around town to attend plush dinner/cocktail functions, just to get the "interview" done.
All those fluffy stuffs cost lots of dough.
Used to be that the LARGEST PORTION of the total cost for a news site on the lean is the bandwidth, not any more.
We see "reporters" pulling in six-figured salaries, with stock-options, AND that is not counting what they got from their "allowances".
Please tell me, how can such "news site" survives?
Look at how AP and/or Reuters are running their business, and compare that to the high-tech "news organization" you will see a HUGE discrepancy in cost-structure.
Until the time the "high-tech news organization" practice the news-industry cost conscious way of news gathering, I will say that more and more of the "news site" as we are so fond of will disappear.
Looking at the bad (humiliating) treatment of BSD (specially the way the FreeBSD team has been treated) at the hand of the commercial/for-profit world, may I humbly suggest that perhaps it's time to combine the talent pool of BSDs (Net- / Free- / Open-) and merge their effort to Linux, so that their effort will NOT be wasted, or be humiliated again.
I do understand the underlying philosophical differences existing between the BSD and Linux, but that was _before_ the BSD being so humiliated.
The spirit of BSD is such that they produce stuffs for the world and EXPECT NOTHING IN RETURN, so much so that they even ALLOW those for-profit entities to RAKE IN TRUCKLOADS OF MULLAH (read: Apple/Sun) but the irony is that the artruistic spirit of the BSD team (while now only confined to the FreeBSD team, it may spread to the Net- and Open- camp as well in the future, who know?) has not only being violated, they are being totally humiliated by being singled out, given pink slips, and shown the door.
The second irony is that the humiliation is happening EXACTLY at the 10th anniversary of Linux's first code appearing to the world - which took place at 5th, October, 1991.
And by the way, HAPPY 10th Birthday, Linux !
I think that it is time to throw away the philosophical differences between the BSD camp and Linux. Merging the talents from both camps would be a plus, since the Linux camp's adherence to the GPL spirit - you ain't gonna exploit my contribution to the world and MAKE MONEY FOR YOURSELF ONLY - may be the ticket to strike back at the humiliation by those hungry for-profit baddies.
But of course, my humble suggestion will forever remain a suggestion. It's up to y'all to decide what to do.
Things that are happening right now is mere part of the roller coaster ride. It's just that in the high-tech arena, the price changes got a bit too exaggerated - that is, either it's too high, or too low.
For those who got extra Greenbacks in their pockets now, there are plenty of bargain to be had.
These rock-bottom priced bargains will one day become high price again.
When everything looks bleak - terrorist attack, lost of lives, liberty, and even FREE SPEECH, and open-source projects either folded (going to close source) or were yanked due to legal pressure and such - this is indeed a good news !
Rather, jobs will be waiting for those who have
REAL talents.
In essence - those complaining about being unemployed, and still think that they have _talents_, usually have none.
I may sound cruel, cold, and ruthless, but we all live in REAL WORLD, and REAL WORLD demands REAL talents, not fake "talents", or tinie punie tricks.
It takes next to no talent to build a database. Whoever brags of his or her "talents" on the basis of building a database ought to take a good look of him/herself in front of a mirror, preferably not the "smokey" type, puhleeees.
While MIT is preoccupied with suing Sony for
allerged intellectual property disputes, MIT
itself got sued by those who originate the
concept of INSTITUTION - in which, the word
INSTITUTE is part of it.
Great and dead Greek philosophers from ancient
time, such as Socrates are among those who
are trying to get back the INSTITUTION idea
from MIT.
If MIT lost the suit, MIT will have to drop
the word "INSTITUTE" from its namesake.
Therefore, it *IS* a possibility that we may
see MT to replace MIT. Or perhaps, MUT -
Massachusette *UNIVERSITY* of Technology.
But then.... the intellectual concept of
UNIVERSITY was not orginated from the campus
of MIT either.
Your statement "Beauty for beauty sake makes crappy software" is rather vague.
What is YOUR definition of "BEAUTY"?
The word "BEAUTY" can mean DIFFERENT THINGS to different people. Beauty can be used to describe scenary, or bimbos.
On the former, when beauty is used to describe a certain scenary, most of the time it means serene, gradeur, or simply pleasant.
For the latter, yeah, it's "beauty" alright. Just that other than that skin-deep beauty, there's NOTHING ELSE.
So... if your definition of "BEAUTY" rests on the BIMBO kind, then, you're right.
Software developers who write beautyful, bimbo-ous software - such as Micro$oft's Windows - will get all the praises from people with a big vacuum in between their ears.
However, the software developers who create beautiful software - in the sense of gradeur, awesome, and/or simply pleasant, need not worry about the "crappiness" of that software.
Complexity is in YOUR own perspective only
on
Software Aesthetics
·
· Score: 1
Simple or complex.
Straight forward or beating around the bush.
Keep It Strictly Simple, or make it as messy as possible.
It's ALL up to you.
I write software for a living.
I can produce speghetti code, if I want to. I can make the software as complex and as difficult to use as possible, if I choose to.
But why should I?
Simple things come easier for me. I am a simple guy, living a simple life. Sometimes I make a mess out of myself, but most of the time, I ain't that messy.
Therefore, before I start to code ANYTHING, I think, I plan, I scheme. I look at other people's code, I steal ideas from them, I mix and match things that I like, and I incorporate whichever is useful in the program I write.
When all is said and done, what I aim for is to produce something that is simple, and yet powerful.
Clumsy software not only hurts the users, it also hurts the authors too !
Whether or not the export filter (and import filter too!) is available is indeed important, BUT, the thing is available doesn't mean it works !
Take for instant, the Staroffice Export Filter to M$ Powerpoint - yes, it IS available, but it ONLY works if your Powerpoint slides containing graphics AND ASCII.
If you ever put ANY type of NON-ASCII thing out in the file, the StarOffice will NOT save those NON-ASCII thing FOR YOU !
Yep, Staroffice WILL PRETEND that it saved EVERYTHING, with no hint of anything gone wrong... only that, after HOURS of rearranging the layout, and key-in the NON-ASCII texts, and THEN saving the whole thing via Staroffice will you find that NOTHING - except the ASCII and the graphics - is saved.
Boy, I've been bitten by these type of "features" once too many.
The opening sentence I got when I went to the "Berlin Vs X" page [ http://www2.berlin-consortium.org/wiki/html/Berlin/BerlinVsX.htm ] was this ---
"Note for slashdotters...."
.... further down the page I got this ---
"We've had ~3000 (not a typo) times more
stupid deletion attempts than normal since
Berlin showed up on Slashdot."
I am a LONG TIME slashdot user, *please note my #* and I must tell you that I really FEEL ASHAME of the doings of some of my fellow slashdotters.
A note to the all slashdotters -
Please, please be considerate.
Thank you !
Blame it on a SLOW NEWS DAY
on
Lightning Research
·
· Score: -1, Offtopic
I live in a third world country, and what we get from the teevee here is off-seasoned, recycled, and waaaay out of date versions of Discovery and/or National Geography Specials.
Even that, in the Third World Country that I am in, I watched that "lighting research" peace sometimes LAST YEAR !
Either it's a VERY slow news day, or ABC is running out of money hiring high caliber reporters.
The version affected is 4.2 and later, and that means, versions BEFORE 4.2 are (legally) protected under GPL, and whatever "new features" incorporated into version 4.2 can always have it's open-source counterparts.
Product of Artruism Became Backbone for Capitalism
on
NYSE Goes To Linux
·
· Score: 1
Once again, life is more interesting than fiction.
Who would think that a product of collective artruism - Linux - will ever becomes something that oils the machine of Capitalism ?
Geeee... I wish I was the first to thank/. for doing such a good job to kill the Opera browser !
/. used to be browser friendly, that is, whatever type of browser you use, you can get on/. without problem.
Now, if you use Opera, especially the version which runs on Winblows, ye Opera will crash, and I can guarantee it (I have tried exactly 12 times, using exactly 12 machines, which runs various versions of Opera browsers, running on various incarnations of the Winblows OS.)
Thank you again,/., for killing the Opera browser so effectively !
With more and more distros getting loaded with GUI stuffs, the Linux distros are getting easier and easier for the newbies.
Some of the distros don't even require you to re-format (or re-partition) your Winblows harddisk at all !
And if you wanna re-partition anyway, then you can't go wrong on RedHat, or Suse or Mandrake.
But, if your harddisk is pretty much beatup, then, my suggestion is to try Mandrake, for their much powerful (as compared to others, for the time being) disk management software.
Slashdot Mirror
There is a fallacy out there, and many are subscribing to it -
Open Source is DANGEROUS
The thinking goes this way -
If things are open sourced, EVERYONE, including
the BAD GUYS, can get it.
And BAD GUYS can use the open sourced stuffs to
do BAD THINGS.
So, to a lot of people -
If open-source is BAD, then
close-source must be GOOD.
Well...
Is close-source GOOD?
The topic about nanotech, about people thinking that secrecy - ala close-sourcing - can cut down on the "dangerous" aspect. At least, they argue, the BAD GUYS won't be able to get those technology.
The question here we should ask is -
IS THAT SO ?
All of us live in the REAL WORLD, and we gotta recognize the REALITY as it is -
As long as you got MONEY,
you can get ANYTHING = almost anything -
you want .
And we all know there are LOTS of BAD GUYS with LOTS OF MONEY - Osama Bin Laden got BILLIONS to spend, for example, - and no matter if the nanotech is open-sourced or close-sourced, if Bin Laden and all his Muslim fanatics want to do BAD THINGS with nanotech, you'd bet that they will GET the technology somehow.
The only thing that sadden me is that so many people in this world are acting like Ostrich - their preferred act is to bury their head in the sand, rather than use the gray matter in the head to THINK.
Close-sourcing is NOT, and will NEVER be, the answer to security.
If we are concern about BAD GUYS, we should TACKLE the BAD GUYS.
If Osama Bin Laden and all his Muslim fanatic assholes are the problem, then we should EXTERMINATE THEM, instead of close-sourcing EVERYTHING.
Sigh !
How I wish I know German. That way, I can help do the German ---> English translation !!
True reduction of latency will NOT happen as long as the Spinlock problem is still plaguing Linux.
As shown by the chart from the Real-Time Benchmark Result - available at [ http://kpreempt.sourceforge.net/ ] - we can see that the spinlock problem is preventing the pre-emptive kernel to achieve its true potential.
Therefore, is there ANYONE out there doing anything to solve the spinlock problem?
As shown by the chart from the Real-Time Benchmark Result - available at [ http://kpreempt.sourceforge.net/ ] - we can see that the spinlock problem is preventing the pre-emptive kernel to achieve its true potential.
Therefore, is there ANYONE out there doing anything to solve the spinlock problem?
Am not trying to spread rumors here, but there are reports that M$ has received anthrax-laced snail-mail which was sent from a Moslem country.
Can anyone from M$ confirm this?
I read LWN ever since it was a popular site.
I got to "know" Mr. Corbet thru his participation on a Linux-Biz list, and believe it or not, that was before LWN was LWN as we know it today.
I have seen my share of failure on the online thingy - lots of friends got burnt in the process - and I think one of the main problem is the lack of Cost Management.
What do I mean by it?
Used to be that running a site was a hobby, then someone figure out that running the same site as a BUSINESS may make some bucks. And once the money starts rolling in, people think BIG, and they want MORE, and next thing you know they start to FLY HERE AND THERE, in the name of "gathering information".
Used to be that "news sites" were by a group of good buddies, and when they do "news reporting", they often do it guerilla style - that is, they don't have chauffeured limosines to carry them - and their guests - around town to attend plush dinner/cocktail functions, just to get the "interview" done.
All those fluffy stuffs cost lots of dough.
Used to be that the LARGEST PORTION of the total cost for a news site on the lean is the bandwidth, not any more.
We see "reporters" pulling in six-figured salaries, with stock-options, AND that is not counting what they got from their "allowances".
Please tell me, how can such "news site" survives?
Look at how AP and/or Reuters are running their business, and compare that to the high-tech "news organization" you will see a HUGE discrepancy in cost-structure.
Until the time the "high-tech news organization" practice the news-industry cost conscious way of news gathering, I will say that more and more of the "news site" as we are so fond of will disappear.
Oh well.... But I digress.
Looking at the bad (humiliating) treatment of BSD (specially the way the FreeBSD team has been treated) at the hand of the commercial/for-profit world, may I humbly suggest that perhaps it's time to combine the talent pool of BSDs (Net- / Free- / Open-) and merge their effort to Linux, so that their effort will NOT be wasted, or be humiliated again.
I do understand the underlying philosophical differences existing between the BSD and Linux, but that was _before_ the BSD being so humiliated.
The spirit of BSD is such that they produce stuffs for the world and EXPECT NOTHING IN RETURN, so much so that they even ALLOW those for-profit entities to RAKE IN TRUCKLOADS OF MULLAH (read: Apple/Sun) but the irony is that the artruistic spirit of the BSD team (while now only confined to the FreeBSD team, it may spread to the Net- and Open- camp as well in the future, who know?) has not only being violated, they are being totally humiliated by being singled out, given pink slips, and shown the door.
The second irony is that the humiliation is happening EXACTLY at the 10th anniversary of Linux's first code appearing to the world - which took place at 5th, October, 1991.
And by the way, HAPPY 10th Birthday, Linux !
I think that it is time to throw away the philosophical differences between the BSD camp and Linux. Merging the talents from both camps would be a plus, since the Linux camp's adherence to the GPL spirit - you ain't gonna exploit my contribution to the world and MAKE MONEY FOR YOURSELF ONLY - may be the ticket to strike back at the humiliation by those hungry for-profit baddies.
But of course, my humble suggestion will forever remain a suggestion. It's up to y'all to decide what to do.
Thank y'all for reading.
I am a Linux user for many years, and I have to admit that I do not put much emphasis on the security matter.
In light of the NSA's seLinux, I want know if there are OTHER secure (and/or ultra-secure) version of Linux distros out there?
Is there a portal somewhere dedicated to give users a taste of what is available out there?
Any comments will be very much appreciated.
Thank you.
Things that are happening right now is mere part of the roller coaster ride. It's just that in the high-tech arena, the price changes got a bit too exaggerated - that is, either it's too high, or too low.
For those who got extra Greenbacks in their pockets now, there are plenty of bargain to be had.
These rock-bottom priced bargains will one day become high price again.
Count on it.
When everything looks bleak - terrorist attack, lost of lives, liberty, and even FREE SPEECH, and open-source projects either folded (going to close source) or were yanked due to legal pressure and such - this is indeed a good news !
Thanks !
Those who REAL talents will not wait for jobs.
Rather, jobs will be waiting for those who have
REAL talents.
In essence - those complaining about being unemployed, and still think that they have _talents_, usually have none.
I may sound cruel, cold, and ruthless, but we all live in REAL WORLD, and REAL WORLD demands REAL talents, not fake "talents", or tinie punie tricks.
It takes next to no talent to build a database. Whoever brags of his or her "talents" on the basis of building a database ought to take a good look of him/herself in front of a mirror, preferably not the "smokey" type, puhleeees.
You were overheard of saying the following:
"People don't base their language choice on
speed anymore."
If that is the case, sir, then, why don't we see people stampeding to port all their code to LOGO, huh?!
Talk about a gigantic sucker.
Oh boy !
Newsflash:
While MIT is preoccupied with suing Sony for
allerged intellectual property disputes, MIT
itself got sued by those who originate the
concept of INSTITUTION - in which, the word
INSTITUTE is part of it.
Great and dead Greek philosophers from ancient
time, such as Socrates are among those who
are trying to get back the INSTITUTION idea
from MIT.
If MIT lost the suit, MIT will have to drop
the word "INSTITUTE" from its namesake.
Therefore, it *IS* a possibility that we may
see MT to replace MIT. Or perhaps, MUT -
Massachusette *UNIVERSITY* of Technology.
But then.... the intellectual concept of
UNIVERSITY was not orginated from the campus
of MIT either.
Ah
Stay tuned for the result !
Your statement "Beauty for beauty sake makes crappy software" is rather vague.
What is YOUR definition of "BEAUTY"?
The word "BEAUTY" can mean DIFFERENT THINGS to different people. Beauty can be used to describe scenary, or bimbos.
On the former, when beauty is used to describe a certain scenary, most of the time it means serene, gradeur, or simply pleasant.
For the latter, yeah, it's "beauty" alright. Just that other than that skin-deep beauty, there's NOTHING ELSE.
So... if your definition of "BEAUTY" rests on the BIMBO kind, then, you're right.
Software developers who write beautyful, bimbo-ous software - such as Micro$oft's Windows - will get all the praises from people with a big vacuum in between their ears.
However, the software developers who create beautiful software - in the sense of gradeur, awesome, and/or simply pleasant, need not worry about the "crappiness" of that software.
Simple or complex.
Straight forward or beating around the bush.
Keep It Strictly Simple, or make it as messy as possible.
It's ALL up to you.
I write software for a living.
I can produce speghetti code, if I want to. I can make the software as complex and as difficult to use as possible, if I choose to.
But why should I?
Simple things come easier for me. I am a simple guy, living a simple life. Sometimes I make a mess out of myself, but most of the time, I ain't that messy.
Therefore, before I start to code ANYTHING, I think, I plan, I scheme. I look at other people's code, I steal ideas from them, I mix and match things that I like, and I incorporate whichever is useful in the program I write.
When all is said and done, what I aim for is to produce something that is simple, and yet powerful.
Clumsy software not only hurts the users, it also hurts the authors too !
Whether or not the export filter (and import filter too!) is available is indeed important, BUT, the thing is available doesn't mean it works !
Take for instant, the Staroffice Export Filter to M$ Powerpoint - yes, it IS available, but it ONLY works if your Powerpoint slides containing graphics AND ASCII.
If you ever put ANY type of NON-ASCII thing out in the file, the StarOffice will NOT save those NON-ASCII thing FOR YOU !
Yep, Staroffice WILL PRETEND that it saved EVERYTHING, with no hint of anything gone wrong... only that, after HOURS of rearranging the layout, and key-in the NON-ASCII texts, and THEN saving the whole thing via Staroffice will you find that NOTHING - except the ASCII and the graphics - is saved.
Boy, I've been bitten by these type of "features" once too many.
The opening sentence I got when I went to the "Berlin Vs X" page [ http://www2.berlin-consortium.org/wiki/html/Berli
"Note for slashdotters
.... further down the page I got this ---
"We've had ~3000 (not a typo) times more
stupid deletion attempts than normal since
Berlin showed up on Slashdot."
I am a LONG TIME slashdot user, *please note my #* and I must tell you that I really FEEL ASHAME of the doings of some of my fellow slashdotters.
A note to the all slashdotters -
Please, please be considerate.
Thank you !
I live in a third world country, and what we get from the teevee here is off-seasoned, recycled, and waaaay out of date versions of Discovery and/or National Geography Specials.
Even that, in the Third World Country that I am in, I watched that "lighting research" peace sometimes LAST YEAR !
Either it's a VERY slow news day, or ABC is running out of money hiring high caliber reporters.
The version affected is 4.2 and later, and that means, versions BEFORE 4.2 are (legally) protected under GPL, and whatever "new features" incorporated into version 4.2 can always have it's open-source counterparts.
Once again, life is more interesting than fiction.
Who would think that a product of collective artruism - Linux - will ever becomes something that oils the machine of Capitalism ?
Geeee... I wish I was the first to thank
/. used to be browser friendly, that is, whatever type of browser you use, you can get on
Now, if you use Opera, especially the version which runs on Winblows, ye Opera will crash, and I can guarantee it (I have tried exactly 12 times, using exactly 12 machines, which runs various versions of Opera browsers, running on various incarnations of the Winblows OS.)
Thank you again,
If ever there is any nano inspiration, then there would be the combination of Neumann Machines with Nanotechnology.
With more and more distros getting loaded with GUI stuffs, the Linux distros are getting easier and easier for the newbies.
Some of the distros don't even require you to re-format (or re-partition) your Winblows harddisk at all !
And if you wanna re-partition anyway, then you can't go wrong on RedHat, or Suse or Mandrake.
But, if your harddisk is pretty much beatup, then, my suggestion is to try Mandrake, for their much powerful (as compared to others, for the time being) disk management software.
There are several Linux distros for beginners.
Several of them do not even require you to re-format (or re-partition) your Winblows partition.
And if you want to re-partition your harddisk anyway, there are several to choose from.
Nowadays, with the GUI and all other things in ample supply, it's a tose-up between RedHat, Suse and Mandrake.
However, if your harddisk is pretty much beatup, I'd advice you to go with Mandrake because of their powerful disk management software.
This is just my two cents, and YMMV.