During the start-up of a BIOS you don't even have RAM available. Thus, you don't even have a stack and variables and can't even use software development techniques such as function calls. There are ways to fake function calls which are well known to BIOS programmers and are used in places (with severe limitations). Soon, however, you get out of this mess and can start using proper (more normal) coding practices - still with significant limitations. Much of many ??most?? ??all?? BIOS code is written C with assembler used for some freaky bits.
Sometimes even the assemblers don't do what you really want them to do and you need to do wierd stuff in hex. The last time I did BIOS level code for x86 (actually a WinCE bootloader - not a BIOS) some of the code was written in hex because the freakin assembler would not generate the code that I needed. The resulting code was approx. 1% hex, 10% assembler 89% C. The code was also a mix of 16 and 32 bit (which is what really stumped the assembler).
C++ Is not a good thing for BIOS work because it hides what's going on. In BIOS-land we don't want beautiful layers of abstraction (we're poking values into registers and we know it), so all that OO design has limited benefit. IMHO, C++ is not even a good idea for operating system code for the same reasons. Linus is more articulate on this point than I am http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue32/rubini.html
On your generalisation re BIOS programmers.... point taken. I see people like this in many other areas too. People who like to draw a veil of mystery over what they do and seem to get off on clever trickery etc rather than good coding.
My kids (aged 6 and 10) have no problems with Linux (Gnome and KDE)or W98 (except "dad it crashed again" with the latter). We'll nuke W98 when we can get Magic Schoolbus running under Linux. Maybe I should look into Wine etc a bit more.
I wondered the same thing. I think the idea is that anything done my a person claiming to be an artist may be represented as art. Every time he goes to the bathroom or warms a pizza it's art too.
Of IBM's 300,000 employees how many are R&D? Probably only a few thousand (lets say 10,000). That's 0.3 patents per person year.
How long did Edison's R&D group take to generate their 1000 patents. I don't know, but lets say it was 5 years. That's only 200/year for 10000 people or about 0.02 patents per person year.
Remember too that Edison's folks were chasing patents. Most people only create patents as a side effect of their normal work.
Edison power plants every two city blocks (because DC doesn't transfer over long distances)
DC actually travels very well over long distances and is frequently used at high voltages over long distances between independent power grids. The best things about DC is that it does not suffer VAR losses or phase problems. The problem with DC is converting it down from high voltages used for long distance to the lower voltages suitable for domestic usage. This is easy with AC - just use a transformer. Until recently (20 years ago or so) there was no way to do this efficiently with DC. With modern switchmode electronics, it would be quite simple and cheap to replace the 11kV->220V (or whatever) transformers with a DC equivalent.
I think he's just pissing because it isn't a Palm. Reading another of his columns http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/mailbox-20020328.html
(paraphrased: it's OK that your Palm does not sync don't worry they've fixed it in a more recent model).
Zarius will get accepted by the suits when it runs a killer app not available on WinCE and Palm devices. Let's face it that won't happen for a long time (for suits) - the average suits is happy with a very boring life and needs a calendar/appointment scheduler, stock alerts and not much more.
Mitsubishi Beer Glass Division (MBG) to be sued by mother of social misfit that drank himself to death.
Says Mrs B Sober:"My boy, Larry (37), was such a nice boy. Sure he couldn't talk to people so never went out. When he drank at home I would switch to serving him warm milk after the third glass and send him off to bed. Then MBG came along and he could sit in the corner of the pub and the beer kept coming. The MBG didn't know when to stop, didn't order milk after the third glass or snuggle him into bed. MBG killed my son. MBG is responsible because they should have a warning label that says it can enhance addictive behaviour and won't order milk or put you to bed."
Microsoft could open up all their source and it would not change a damn thing. Give me the source to Win2K and I would not even load it up to check it out.
The issue with MS is not that it has closed source, but its disgusting business practices.
Will going Opensource mean that MS would stop exploiting their molopoly to push badly designed software and bully the software industry? I don't think so.
In fact I'm glad that Ms keeps its source closed. Going open would just expand their control/influence.
RMS has -always- disliked the LPGL. It's a compromise, and he isn't the kind of man who likes compromises.
A very astute observation. The problem is that all engineering is a compromise. The whole world is a compromise. Pi isn't a neat number like 3.
In embedded systems there's always been a lot of sharing, however there has always been a need for proprietary code too. Unfortunately there's typically also been a need to link these code bodies together (ie need LGPL), but the code then needs to be linked to is often GPL.
Surely the ultimate freedom is being allowed to be different. My main concern wrt FSF is that they're saying you have to be free their way (which isn't really much of a freedom is it). It gets to be a sort of perverse closed community based on open source. If the software was truely free then surely I'd be allowed to do what the hell I like with it (including link it closed source). The limitations of the GPL signifcantly take the free out of FSF.
Recently, FSF (or RMS) have said that they would like to do away with the LGPL which does allow linking with closed source.
The open source movement's greatest achievement has got to be Linux ( a fact not lost by those people who get their egos enhanced by calling it GNU/Linux). Linus' copying licence says it is OK to hook up prorietary modules/drivers to the kernel [which would not be ok under GPL]. RMS has challenged this stance.
While GPL everything might make sense in desktop/server scenarios, there are many places in the embedded environment [where I am active] where it does not make sense. In particular, it is important to be able to hook up proprietary algorithms in drivers. Under the Linus licencing model I can - under GPL I can't.
Many organisations get into open source by degrees. GPL almost forces an all or nothing approach. This will be a barrier to the uptake of open software. ie. The GPL is ultimately limiting the scope and horizons of free software.
Yup, it is possible for people to think less of M$. Most non-techies are happy with the crap products they get from MS and are not motivated to dislike MS.
What the Sony move might do is give a reason for a whole bunch of new people to dislike MS.
Exhibit A: Look at that CIA/Spy exhibit somewhere on the www. See the cool passive cavity resonator transmitter the USSR planted in the US embassy that the USA could not figure out
Exhibit B: Read USSR academic papers from the 1970s. World leaders in many kinds of materials research etc.
Sure they didn't make commercial products worth jack, nor did they develop a Disney culture, but that does not mean their science was bad.
The basic business concepts in dot.comming is not new, witness Amway and other get rich quick schemes. The only real difference is that improved communications infrastructures caused the fire to ignite faster, burn hotter and burn out quicker.
Slashdot Mirror
Sometimes even the assemblers don't do what you really want them to do and you need to do wierd stuff in hex. The last time I did BIOS level code for x86 (actually a WinCE bootloader - not a BIOS) some of the code was written in hex because the freakin assembler would not generate the code that I needed. The resulting code was approx. 1% hex, 10% assembler 89% C. The code was also a mix of 16 and 32 bit (which is what really stumped the assembler).
C++ Is not a good thing for BIOS work because it hides what's going on. In BIOS-land we don't want beautiful layers of abstraction (we're poking values into registers and we know it), so all that OO design has limited benefit. IMHO, C++ is not even a good idea for operating system code for the same reasons. Linus is more articulate on this point than I am http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue32/rubini.html
On your generalisation re BIOS programmers.... point taken. I see people like this in many other areas too. People who like to draw a veil of mystery over what they do and seem to get off on clever trickery etc rather than good coding.
Let me flame myself... That should read "two true" moron!
To true. I don't think I've ever seen more arrogantly posted rubbish before.
Hear: You hear the cars honking.
The horns honk, not the cars :-).
My kids (aged 6 and 10) have no problems with Linux (Gnome and KDE)or W98 (except "dad it crashed again" with the latter). We'll nuke W98 when we can get Magic Schoolbus running under Linux. Maybe I should look into Wine etc a bit more.
Talk is cheap. If people really had the money I bet far fewer would actually follow through with the doallars.
However, this does not alter the main point made here (though made in ignorance). The user can generally not upgrade an embedded kernel willy-nilly.
I wondered the same thing. I think the idea is that anything done my a person claiming to be an artist may be represented as art. Every time he goes to the bathroom or warms a pizza it's art too.
Of IBM's 300,000 employees how many are R&D? Probably only a few thousand (lets say 10,000). That's 0.3 patents per person year.
How long did Edison's R&D group take to generate their 1000 patents. I don't know, but lets say it was 5 years. That's only 200/year for 10000 people or about 0.02 patents per person year.
Remember too that Edison's folks were chasing patents. Most people only create patents as a side effect of their normal work.
DC actually travels very well over long distances and is frequently used at high voltages over long distances between independent power grids. The best things about DC is that it does not suffer VAR losses or phase problems. The problem with DC is converting it down from high voltages used for long distance to the lower voltages suitable for domestic usage. This is easy with AC - just use a transformer. Until recently (20 years ago or so) there was no way to do this efficiently with DC. With modern switchmode electronics, it would be quite simple and cheap to replace the 11kV->220V (or whatever) transformers with a DC equivalent.
1000 patents out of 10,000 R&D staff is nothing to crow about. I'd expect something closer to 20,000 patents.
Ford was also a ruthless shithead in the way he dealt with competition and employees.
then come back and comment how there was no water/towel to wash your hands. Should keep the touchers away...
Zarius will get accepted by the suits when it runs a killer app not available on WinCE and Palm devices. Let's face it that won't happen for a long time (for suits) - the average suits is happy with a very boring life and needs a calendar/appointment scheduler, stock alerts and not much more.
Maybe if you sucked the beer, rather than letting it suck you, you would appreciate it more.
Says Mrs B Sober:"My boy, Larry (37), was such a nice boy. Sure he couldn't talk to people so never went out. When he drank at home I would switch to serving him warm milk after the third glass and send him off to bed. Then MBG came along and he could sit in the corner of the pub and the beer kept coming. The MBG didn't know when to stop, didn't order milk after the third glass or snuggle him into bed. MBG killed my son. MBG is responsible because they should have a warning label that says it can enhance addictive behaviour and won't order milk or put you to bed."
this would probably get handled ok by Winshit(ie. just crash the program, not the OS).
Reformatting the partition would probably be a bit more effective.
This could also be a neat way of distributing a Trojan.
The issue with MS is not that it has closed source, but its disgusting business practices.
Will going Opensource mean that MS would stop exploiting their molopoly to push badly designed software and bully the software industry? I don't think so.
In fact I'm glad that Ms keeps its source closed. Going open would just expand their control/influence.
No eggs for him here in NZ! http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,3762-1264572,00.html
A very astute observation. The problem is that all engineering is a compromise. The whole world is a compromise. Pi isn't a neat number like 3.
In embedded systems there's always been a lot of sharing, however there has always been a need for proprietary code too. Unfortunately there's typically also been a need to link these code bodies together (ie need LGPL), but the code then needs to be linked to is often GPL.
Recently, FSF (or RMS) have said that they would like to do away with the LGPL which does allow linking with closed source.
The open source movement's greatest achievement has got to be Linux ( a fact not lost by those people who get their egos enhanced by calling it GNU/Linux). Linus' copying licence says it is OK to hook up prorietary modules/drivers to the kernel [which would not be ok under GPL]. RMS has challenged this stance.
While GPL everything might make sense in desktop/server scenarios, there are many places in the embedded environment [where I am active] where it does not make sense. In particular, it is important to be able to hook up proprietary algorithms in drivers. Under the Linus licencing model I can - under GPL I can't.
Many organisations get into open source by degrees. GPL almost forces an all or nothing approach. This will be a barrier to the uptake of open software. ie. The GPL is ultimately limiting the scope and horizons of free software.
What the Sony move might do is give a reason for a whole bunch of new people to dislike MS.
To get this speed with an SH4 you need a 64-bit data bus (big). It gets hot (ie needs very good cooling and chews up batteries).
Thus,I doubt though you'll see any SH4-based PDAs (or if they are ever made I don't see them running anywhere near top performance)
Exhibit A: Look at that CIA/Spy exhibit somewhere on the www. See the cool passive cavity resonator transmitter the USSR planted in the US embassy that the USA could not figure out
Exhibit B: Read USSR academic papers from the 1970s. World leaders in many kinds of materials research etc.
Sure they didn't make commercial products worth jack, nor did they develop a Disney culture, but that does not mean their science was bad.
The basic business concepts in dot.comming is not new, witness Amway and other get rich quick schemes. The only real difference is that improved communications infrastructures caused the fire to ignite faster, burn hotter and burn out quicker.