"Cringley's highly valid point is that because this likelihood is equal, the cost of the ads should be equal. But Luis is charged hundreds of times more than Amazon for the same efficacy. And I wholeheartedly agree with him that this is unfair. -Kurt"
"Do me a favour! You are suggesting that Bill Gates, the guy who built a technology company that changed the entire planet and based on the success attained a personal fortune that is larger than the GDP of many countries is someone who is "fascinated by technology but doesnt know what to do with it!"."
Yes I am. Exactly that.
Look it's well known that Microsoft makes terrible products. Microsoft is the McDonalds of the software industry. Sure McDonalds probably sells more food than anyone, and they are very wealthy at it. But everyone knows a steady diet of that crap will kill you eventually.
Microsoft's major customers are nerds not geeks and that's why MS is so wealthy, that's why they have been so successful. Their target market is decidedly non-geek. Most geeks use Linux, *BSD, and recently OSX.
If Bill Gates was a geek, Windows would be far more secure and more stable than it is. If Bill Gates were a geek I doubt anyone would have ever heard of the "blue screen of death".
Remember Linus is a hands-on practical kind of man
on
Linus Says No to 'Specs'
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· Score: 1, Insightful
A spec whether specific or general, large or small is in some way rooted in theory...Duh. I know. But it's not as obvious as that or this thread wouldn't exist. It seems to me that real hackers, the ones that I have come to respect over the years, simply sat down and built the tools that they needed, at the moment, based on their practical real world at the moment wants and needs. AKA "they scratched their personal itch." They simply had no time for theory.
Theory, doesn't exist to men like Linus. Or men like Alan Cox either. The root word of "spec" is "speculation". And IMHO if you have to speculate what your needs are, then chances are you probably don't really need it.
Blog people, hackers, coders, geeks, nerds whatever we choose to call ourselves are people that collect, store, and disseminate information electronically. And I dare say that we are just as fascinated and obsessed and as diligent in our efforts concerning computers and digital information as our ancestors were with the printing press. We are kindred spirits. And it's a great shame that a library association president can't figure that out.
I think a clarification is in order. The author states that he monitored the top 60 channels and of those 60 99.9% of that traffic was illegal. "Conclusions Two rather surprising observations can be made from this ad-hoc analysis of the 60 largest IRC channels: Based on those keywords being monitored, 99.9% of IRC traffic to the top 60 channels is "illegal". Norton products are more popular than Microsoft products (perhaps IRC users have more need for virus scanners?)
Which is definitely not the same as saying 99.9% of "all" irc traffic is illegal. Which the story leader tends to imply. As we know there's a whole lot more than 60 channels available and many of them engage in perfectly legal activities.
The/. title & article are accurate. The counterfeiting the article refers to is the counterfeiting of software not money. IANAL but briefly stated the act of software piracy is essentially the act of taking a preexisting retail software product and distributing it as is without license or permission from the author without offering compensation. The act of counterfeiting is the act of duplicating cd's & manuals and any and all related materials and packaging them for sale as though it were the real product as offered by the original vendor. In practical terms, taking an IP protected binary and releasing it to a torrent or ftp site is piracy while taking a binary copying to your cd-rw and packing that in a box with printed material that you made with the aid of your flatbed scanner & printer is the act of counterfeiting.
This concept scares away potential conservative allies - I know that people like the FSF probably don't care since they have a "with-us-or-against-us" sort of attitude that denies the middle ground."
If Conservative Americans are scared of the FSF because of it's extreme views then perhaps they have forgotten their own history, For without such men of extreme views, America might not have extisted. Views like...
"Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
Patrick Henry American revolutionary, freedom fighter and patriot March 23, 1775
I have faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I take His Word on the matter. It is so, because He says it is so. For one who conquers death, nothing is impossible.
"I believe God has kept people from checking out the location"
That's entirely possible.It may be that God doesn't want anyone to find the Ark right now,if at all, but it could also be that God is waiting to reveal the Ark when He's ready, at a moment of His choosing. I hope this is that moment. But if not, so be it. Ultimately,I don't need to actually see an Ark on Mt Ararat to know that God's word is true.I suspect if God does allow the Ark to be found it will be mainly for the benefit of the skeptics and doubters of His Word.
Re:Let the conspiracy theories begin...
on
Make More Mistakes
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· Score: 1
Heh heh. I like you!
Re:Let the conspiracy theories begin...
on
Make More Mistakes
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· Score: 1
Here's another...customized versions of PHP scripts
http://www.customizedscripts.com/
Re:Let the conspiracy theories begin...
on
Make More Mistakes
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· Score: 1
"2. MySQL is an open source database. Any company can sell services supporting a customized version of MySQL. A junkyard/autoparts vendor could easily do this."
As a matter of fact a google search for "Customized + MySQL" produces this link...
http://www.dynamicpros.com/
DynamicPros is a company that sells customized versions of MySQl, so they are out there. Making money, believe it or not.
Re:Let the conspiracy theories begin...
on
Make More Mistakes
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· Score: 1
1. If I contract outside my workforce for a company that cleans toilets, then I'd be dealing with a company that had a janitorial business model.
2. MySQL is an open source database. Any company can sell services supporting a customized version of MySQL. A junkyard/autoparts vendor could easily do this.
Re:Let the conspiracy theories begin...
on
Make More Mistakes
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· Score: 1
You didn't hurt my feelings, you insulted your intelligence. Your post was almost entirely purely insults and rants. A poor way to "debate".
"Give me examples of successful companies that make money by developing and selling open source software."
Any Linux distro that earns money such as.. Redhat,Mandrake(Out of bankruptcy now and looking good),Apple,Microsoft(shared source),Oracle,Sun,SGI,SleepyCat Software,VA Linux systems,Penguin Computing,MySQL,RMS( sold customized versions of emacs),Zope,Open Fusion ( http://www.openfusion.com.au/labs/ ), of course Sco aka Caldera counts too, that is they did have a valid business model before they changed course and became a litigation company.
Re:Let the conspiracy theories begin...
on
Make More Mistakes
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· Score: 1
Yes, that's right. Microsoft does utilize open source in their work. It doesn't matter how you use it, if at least a certain portion of your business runs or uses open source,if not entirely then you do have an open source business model. Also see Microsoft's Shared Source plans, IMHO that counts as open source.
The Junkyard model depends heavily on open source, Linux is used for networking, MySQL is uses for the database, Samba is used to communicate with Windows shares, that's all open source, and the owner of the business makes his living with it. It's a valid open source business model.
Re:Let the conspiracy theories begin...
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Make More Mistakes
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· Score: 1
If you suppply, utilize, install, support, open source in any way shape or form, to any degree or variant in your product or service... then you have an open source business model.
Re:Let the conspiracy theories begin...
on
Make More Mistakes
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· Score: 1
"I asked for examples of successful companies that make money by developing and selling open source software."
No you didn't. You asked for nothing of the sort.
You did use a lot of rude terms like "zealots" and "nuts" and referred to Open Source as though we thought it was a religion. Your post was loaded with rudeness and arrogance and you do seem to really get off on calling people names. That's why I called you out as a troll, because you sound exactly like one. Your arguments were purely emotional, as was your response to my post.
I suggest you calm down, perhaps try talking to people and debating with them instead of talking at them and talking down to them.
Re:Let the conspiracy theories begin...
on
Make More Mistakes
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· Score: 1
Fast Parts Inventory system IS the product itself. It's a networked ( Linux! ) database ( MySQL! ) system that links automotive parts vendors together. They can and do accomodate an existing Windows networking environment ( Samba! ).
For the most part everything fast parts supplies runs on Linux.
Re:Let the conspiracy theories begin...
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Make More Mistakes
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· Score: 1
Nice troll, however if your looking for Open Source business models look no further than Doc Searls December article in Linux Journal "Free Business".
http://linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7125
"Take, for example, the junkyard business. Last week, I was talking with my friend, Allan Harrell, in Phoenix, who has ties with body shop, body parts and junkyard businesses, even though his main job is keeping small business networks and computer systems up and running. After telling me how full his plate has become, thanks to all the viruses infecting Windows machines in his care, he mentioned FastParts, Inc. (fastpartsinc.com), the country's second largest supplier of computerized inventory systems for junkyards.
Intrigued, I got Jim Mangham and Wayne Leland on the phone to tell me about it. Jim owns the company, and Wayne is the "lead programmer systems guy". They have a staff of seven and a customer base of 750. Wayne said the company has been using Linux for six or seven years; they like being able to hack the kernel and otherwise customize systems to do what they want.
FastParts sells a service that's delivered with a turnkey system in a white box. Customers view and operate it in a terminal window on whatever system (usually Windows) they happen to be using, including dumb terminals (Wyse, Sherwood) that FastParts is happy to provide.
FastParts is a personal service business, delivering and installing the systems themselves, including the modem phone connection that lets the company dial into a machine, do diagnostics and fix problems. Customers also call in through the system to look for car parts on FastParts' central system. "Many of our customers are too far out in the sticks to get a high-speed Internet connection", Wayne says. "We have one guy on the road full-time, just installing."
How do they compete? "Reliability, pricing and support", Wayne says. "Out of all our competitors, where we get 'em is with support. Most of the other ones have modern telephone systems with all these menu choices you have to go through, and most of our customers do not like that. They want to get a real person when the phone rings. With us they get that."
Open Source in business can work and it does work, it simply depends on how it's applied. Also something to keep in mind the main reason Abiword couldn't find funding was investors probably wern't too keen on the idea of competing with the 9000 pound gorilla, Microsoft.
Slashdot Mirror
-Kurt"
I wholeheartedly agree.
"Do me a favour! You are suggesting that Bill Gates, the guy who built a technology company that changed the entire planet and based on the success attained a personal fortune that is larger than the GDP of many countries is someone who is "fascinated by technology but doesnt know what to do with it!"." Yes I am. Exactly that. Look it's well known that Microsoft makes terrible products. Microsoft is the McDonalds of the software industry. Sure McDonalds probably sells more food than anyone, and they are very wealthy at it. But everyone knows a steady diet of that crap will kill you eventually. Microsoft's major customers are nerds not geeks and that's why MS is so wealthy, that's why they have been so successful. Their target market is decidedly non-geek. Most geeks use Linux, *BSD, and recently OSX. If Bill Gates was a geek, Windows would be far more secure and more stable than it is. If Bill Gates were a geek I doubt anyone would have ever heard of the "blue screen of death".
Agreed.
There's an old saying I picked up years ago that fits here...
"Nerds are people that are fascinated by technology. Geeks are people that are fascinated by technology, but know what to do with it."
Case in point, Bill Gates is a nerd. Linus Torvalds is a geek. IMHO.
Mod parent up!!!
Theory, doesn't exist to men like Linus. Or men like Alan Cox either. The root word of "spec" is "speculation". And IMHO if you have to speculate what your needs are, then chances are you probably don't really need it.
http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/2005/06/16.html#a 10419
Blog people, hackers, coders, geeks, nerds whatever we choose to call ourselves are people that collect, store, and disseminate information electronically. And I dare say that we are just as fascinated and obsessed and as diligent in our efforts concerning computers and digital information as our ancestors were with the printing press. We are kindred spirits. And it's a great shame that a library association president can't figure that out.
under irony it says "see irony."
I think a clarification is in order. The author states that he monitored the top 60 channels and of those 60 99.9% of that traffic was illegal.
"Conclusions Two rather surprising observations can be made from this ad-hoc analysis of the 60 largest IRC channels: Based on those keywords being monitored, 99.9% of IRC traffic to the top 60 channels is "illegal". Norton products are more popular than Microsoft products (perhaps IRC users have more need for virus scanners?)
Which is definitely not the same as saying 99.9% of "all" irc traffic is illegal. Which the story leader tends to imply. As we know there's a whole lot more than 60 channels available and many of them engage in perfectly legal activities.
The /. title & article are accurate. The counterfeiting the article refers to is the counterfeiting of software not money. IANAL but briefly stated the act of software piracy is essentially the act of taking a preexisting retail software product and distributing it as is without license or permission from the author without offering compensation. The act of counterfeiting is the act of duplicating cd's & manuals and any and all related materials and packaging them for sale as though it were the real product as offered by the original vendor. In practical terms, taking an IP protected binary and releasing it to a torrent or ftp site is piracy while taking a binary copying to your cd-rw and packing that in a box with printed material that you made with the aid of your flatbed scanner & printer is the act of counterfeiting.
Welcome to slashdot.
If Conservative Americans are scared of the FSF because of it's extreme views then perhaps they have forgotten their own history, For without such men of extreme views, America might not have extisted. Views like...
"Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
Patrick Henry American revolutionary, freedom fighter and patriot March 23, 1775
I have faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I take His Word on the matter. It is so, because He says it is so. For one who conquers death, nothing is impossible.
Satellite-Imagery
More...
Here's some historical background on the Ark and how it relates to Iraq which should concern us today... Iraq and Noah's Ark
Get into God's Word people, you won't regret it.
That's entirely possible.It may be that God doesn't want anyone to find the Ark right now,if at all, but it could also be that God is waiting to reveal the Ark when He's ready, at a moment of His choosing. I hope this is that moment. But if not, so be it. Ultimately,I don't need to actually see an Ark on Mt Ararat to know that God's word is true.I suspect if God does allow the Ark to be found it will be mainly for the benefit of the skeptics and doubters of His Word.
Heh heh. I like you!
http://www.customizedscripts.com/
As a matter of fact a google search for "Customized + MySQL" produces this link ...
http://www.dynamicpros.com/
DynamicPros is a company that sells customized versions of MySQl, so they are out there. Making money, believe it or not.
2. MySQL is an open source database. Any company can sell services supporting a customized version of MySQL. A junkyard/autoparts vendor could easily do this.
"Give me examples of successful companies that make money by developing and selling open source software."
Any Linux distro that earns money such as.. Redhat,Mandrake(Out of bankruptcy now and looking good),Apple,Microsoft(shared source),Oracle,Sun,SGI,SleepyCat Software,VA Linux systems,Penguin Computing,MySQL,RMS( sold customized versions of emacs),Zope,Open Fusion ( http://www.openfusion.com.au/labs/ ), of course Sco aka Caldera counts too, that is they did have a valid business model before they changed course and became a litigation company.
The Junkyard model depends heavily on open source, Linux is used for networking, MySQL is uses for the database, Samba is used to communicate with Windows shares, that's all open source, and the owner of the business makes his living with it. It's a valid open source business model.
If you suppply, utilize, install, support, open source in any way shape or form, to any degree or variant in your product or service ... then you have an open source business model.
No you didn't. You asked for nothing of the sort.
You did use a lot of rude terms like "zealots" and "nuts" and referred to Open Source as though we thought it was a religion. Your post was loaded with rudeness and arrogance and you do seem to really get off on calling people names. That's why I called you out as a troll, because you sound exactly like one. Your arguments were purely emotional, as was your response to my post.
I suggest you calm down, perhaps try talking to people and debating with them instead of talking at them and talking down to them.
Fast Parts Inventory system IS the product itself. It's a networked ( Linux! ) database ( MySQL! ) system that links automotive parts vendors together. They can and do accomodate an existing Windows networking environment ( Samba! ). For the most part everything fast parts supplies runs on Linux.
http://linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7125
"Take, for example, the junkyard business. Last week, I was talking with my friend, Allan Harrell, in Phoenix, who has ties with body shop, body parts and junkyard businesses, even though his main job is keeping small business networks and computer systems up and running. After telling me how full his plate has become, thanks to all the viruses infecting Windows machines in his care, he mentioned FastParts, Inc. (fastpartsinc.com), the country's second largest supplier of computerized inventory systems for junkyards.
Intrigued, I got Jim Mangham and Wayne Leland on the phone to tell me about it. Jim owns the company, and Wayne is the "lead programmer systems guy". They have a staff of seven and a customer base of 750. Wayne said the company has been using Linux for six or seven years; they like being able to hack the kernel and otherwise customize systems to do what they want.
FastParts sells a service that's delivered with a turnkey system in a white box. Customers view and operate it in a terminal window on whatever system (usually Windows) they happen to be using, including dumb terminals (Wyse, Sherwood) that FastParts is happy to provide.
FastParts is a personal service business, delivering and installing the systems themselves, including the modem phone connection that lets the company dial into a machine, do diagnostics and fix problems. Customers also call in through the system to look for car parts on FastParts' central system. "Many of our customers are too far out in the sticks to get a high-speed Internet connection", Wayne says. "We have one guy on the road full-time, just installing."
How do they compete? "Reliability, pricing and support", Wayne says. "Out of all our competitors, where we get 'em is with support. Most of the other ones have modern telephone systems with all these menu choices you have to go through, and most of our customers do not like that. They want to get a real person when the phone rings. With us they get that."
Open Source in business can work and it does work, it simply depends on how it's applied. Also something to keep in mind the main reason Abiword couldn't find funding was investors probably wern't too keen on the idea of competing with the 9000 pound gorilla, Microsoft.