Microsoft controls the user environment top-to-bottom (that is, out-of-the box, which applies to what? Effectively 95% of all users?). Same goes for Apple and OSX. They are integrated, standardized, documented, interface guidelines, etc. Functionality is streamlined and things like API functionality are fairly rigid.
Both companies exert a good amount of control, which really benefits their users by providing consistent UE's with a tighter level of integration.
They also do some product separation. If you sent a home-user home with a fully loaded copy of Windows SBE they'd probably have trouble. Maybe even get frustrated. One-size probably shouldn't fit all.
But because Linux isn't a single company there is a lot of debate/politics/ideas that go into it. Because no company seems willing to enforce standards (which would probably alienate them from most of the Linux community) we end up with a system that does many different things, many things well, but almost none of them consistently.
This is the old model and it's worked well enough that we might not be willing to change it.
First off, I'm not yelling. I'm not a marketer. I simply disagree with a number of your statements. A separate system is a pipe-dream, we have far more pressing issues to fix which I expect will take precedence (ie forged headers/bot-nets/etc) leaving UCE a footnote that might be somewhat address with the rest of it.
You also make the statement that real-world spam is somehow less offensive then email spam. I'll certainly grant you your Viagra point, but this is a matter of judgment I hate all spam, especially real-world junk. None of this changes the fact that *my* mailbox at home is about 80% garbage. Which of course costs *both* the sender and receiver (landfills cost, trash service, etc). Your 911 scam point is particularly funny to me because while I'm sure it is mostly true the *first* time I ever received one it was via the post.
Its *is* definitely a mess. I'll agree with you there. But it would be much less a mess if headers could be relied on, making black-listing or RBLing more dependable, thereby pressuring list managers to use best practices or simply lose *all* that business (you know, the interested parties too). To me that is a much better solution. Do you think those offensive Viagra ads come from a legitate business or pop-through via bot-net (which of course *do* cost money, spam is business).
Your mailbox is never stuffed with advertisements. I bet you've never had someone hang a ad for a poplular pizza joint on your door handle. And of course you'd never find pamphlets on your car window. It would be like...pickpocketing?
I certainly understand your frustration, but bad analogies suck.
And of course you miss the areas where mass mailings *are* legitimate. Ever go to school? Ever taken a course survey?
We certainly get too much and too many we don't want, expect and didn't sign up for. I send mass emails out about once every 2 months. I run a website about music and arts and its a community project so I like to let people know what we've been doing, whats changed and what we have planned (interviews, features, etc) to give them a chance to respond. There are legitimate uses for lists.
Like-wise, I sign up for a number of lists. Some for artists (its hard to keep on top of everyone, so its nice to get news about new work), some for business (Oracle, Centos for patches/updates). It would be a nightmare if I had to poll all this information regularly myself.
And on top of that mass mailing is a fact of life right now. I don't see the harm in having dialog about how to make the impact, from a business perspective, on the recipient less. Thats good business that actually helps me for a change. Its a shame that serious conversations about best-practices typically end in yelling matches. Because there is *a lot* business could learn *and* benefit from.
Gentoo is great. Was it intended to be an enterprise ready OS? C'mon, this whole debate is kind of ridiculous. Red Hat/Suse/et al are great, they costs $$$ but the updates are Q/A'd they work closely with major vendors and they *know* they'll lose market if they don't do their jobs well.
I'm sure its possible to run a farm of Gentoo servers in production without problem. But thats not the point really. Time is money and as you scale up reliability and complexity work against you.
I'm sure there are some amusing stories about systems admins running Gentoo farms, good and bad. But there's a reason you only commonly hear a few players mentioned in this particular market.
FWIW I started out using Debian, but on my personal projects (I test a lot of stuff out on my own production because its much smaller and I'm much more forgiving). One day a simple update broke my PHP configuration. I never looked back.
On the server glamor is out and as close to bullet-proof as you can get is king. Period.
Parking is certainly frustration (as is flat-out speculation, their are some good domain names that I'd love to pickup to at *real* content to that are registered and completely unused).
But the reality is that parking *is* a business model that can generate real revenue. Obviously it's not suited for everyone (I'd never do it, but I'll probably never make large sums of money on all manner of convoluted principle). The difference here is that if you remove all the buzz-words from the article what you have *is* something moderately interesting. The idea is to make the sites useful. Whether it will work or not remains to be seen (wehow does look a lot like your average parking domain).
But its a new approach to an old business model and sometimes change is good. Besides (largely) the internet is self-correcting. If the sites don't add value the model fails, or the revolution simply fails to come. Read: status quo.
But the best case scenario is worth watching. There are literally hundreds of thousands of such sites. Maybe, if he's smart enough, something useful will emerge from what is essentially monetized trash.
Review the configuration.
-All breaks email forwarding, but I've never seen a default configuration using a fail. Only softfail, or ~All.
Softfail does not break email forwarding, it merely notes that the email isn't coming from the MX server(s)/subnet/etc of record at which point its up to your other software to either use or not use this information (spamassassin can give points so pass/fail or softfail so it helps even this end).
The fact that frustrates me is, well for starters people repeating mantras that are effectively irrelevant and out-dated and that for some reason people tend to think of it as an all or nothing scenario. SPF is one piece of a useful system. It isn't a replacement for RBL lists or spam filtering.
For now I'll stick with SPF and old fashioned spamassassin (milter).
And whats with the anti SPF sentiment? Its not like we've got a lot of more effective alternatives on the market and the only real argument I read is the rejection of real email, when softfail pretty much takes care of that (then leaving it to spamassassin to decide if the mail is legit).
We send an receive a good deal of email and I certainly wish SPF was more common. I'm tired of forged bounces and the *slew* of undeliverable responses 'dumb' servers return to our system every day.
Yet instead of taking any real action we bicker while spammers laugh all the way to the bank. Their is no magic bullet, but from my POV SPF is the closest thing yet (unless my DNS gets hi-jacked, but then I'm fucked anyway).
Re:MySpace suceeds *because* of its shortcomings..
on
Inside MySpace.com
·
· Score: 1
As someone who scorns it and uses it I couldn't agree more.:)
(I don't use it for popularity/dating/etc, but I do a music/arts site, so it becomes something of a necessary evil)
We recently had a problem with a clients website. In Firefox it displayed as expected, but IE(7/6) it didn't. We traced the problem to a piece of javascript code forgetting to close an open object tag.
Now the question is which browser was right? Firefox simply closed the tag and displayed the broken code as it was (originally) intended to be. IE closed the tag and disregarded the remaining code (closing only tags) showing the problem.
Both browsers have their quirks. IE7 is new and figuring out when its doing something wrong and when its simply showing you that *you're* doing something wrong can be tedious. Firefox certainly has its own quirks (moz- properties in css?) and is maybe (from a web developer POV) a little too forgiving.
Between the two and a little WC3 validation I can generally keep myself pretty happy with the results. Sure, it would be easier to simply worry about one or the other. But thats simply not the playing field.
As a side-note it was funny to note that the client, who is not a small company, seemed to be using FF and didn't notice the problem either. Opps!
MySpace suceeds *because* of its shortcomings...
on
Inside MySpace.com
·
· Score: 1
I've seen a lot of community sites come and go. MySpace is a pig. But the very thing that makes it so awful gives its users flexibility and freedom that far exceeds anything that would typically be considered responsible (fishing scandals/css hacks/etc).
Basically its like a slightly structured Geocities only without mommy or daddy for the most part. You get a template, you get a dating service, you get a highschool popularity contest, and you can even plug in music that doesn't belong to you. All that and if you get really excited you can make it look just about as ugly or fancy as you can or like.
Hell, they did *everything* wrong and thats what made it right.
Jokes are one thing. Every profession has its peeves and its inside jokes (in the medical profession see: BUNDY, OAP, I'd read some better one's but I can't find them). I work in the IT industry and sure, when you're kicking around with tech friends its fine to vent a little. I read my BOFH near weekly (lots of laughs).
But customer service, if I want to move forward in my profession (and I do), is fine. Just because someone doesn't share my particular expertise doesn't give me the right to ridcule them outright. In fact it doesn't make me a better person or any such thing. Its can simpmly be frustrating sometimes. I give the best service I can. In fact I take pride in it. L users aren't a fact, just an expression. They are just people trying to get things done. Sometimes they need a little help and deserve the most respect and care you can give them.
Of course I work a little farther up the food-chain then help-desk, so I probably don't see some of the worse, but there's still no real excuse.
And frankly, my tier 1 experiences with just about any industry are about the same. IT isn't falling behind (if you ever have got IT support where they immediately solve the problem you probably realise there's almost a better chance of getting good support within our industry, but YMMV).
If there is a point to this story it should be that customer service is falling across the board. Thats a fact and eventually its going to start biting companies in the ass. And it should.
This could give a whole new meaning to you're childhood memories. Anatomically correct toys! Don't even get me started on how this could impact the porn industry.
I've seen them here in San Diego (Vons). It made me laugh. They look corny and the whole idea of having a movie dispensed like a soda can kind of turns me off. If the speed is alright (I'm sure its kind of tedious now) it might fly, but they will definately have to do better product/marketing wise. I feel cheap just looking at the thing.
OUTFOXED. If you haven't seen it, do. You might not agree 100% and the bias may not invalidate *everything* they have to say, but its an interesting foray into the world and power of one of America's most influential (non-governmental) organizations.
I'm sure the current crop of WebOS solutions are silly or novel (or both). But I do see potential for things to move in this direction. Assuming hardware can be considered essentially an appliance (you don't seriously think custom, clunky, incompatible rigs are going to be gold standard forever?) whats really important? Your environment, your applications and your data.
But aside from laptops (which you have to lug around, break, etc) as far as the average person is concerned their data is tied to their hardware.
Now periodically I see the whole thin-client argument revisited and maybe that is how it will be played, but at the very least I see a possible market for true network-based OS's that will allow you to access your *real* systems from just about any piece of hardware you have access to. Airplanes, pay phones, hotels, friends houses, etc.
I mean bandwidth aside, is there really any reason I can't have my systems run across a multitude of hardware and provide me with *my* working environment?
Wow. An interesting response without the "me too"/.ism.:)
And critical to the pseudo elitism to boot! Too bad real discussion is becoming less frequent here. I appreciate your counter-points. The whole F you attitude seems to be kind of back in vogue and I'm guessing its probably more of new generation who haven't really been watching this whole thing unfold (and repeat itself!) over the past decade.
The fact that you should even know/etc/network/interfaces exists is a flaw. We rely on our old (comfortable) ways so late in the game and act like users are simple too stupid to understand what a great free OS we are offering them.
Traditional Linux systems (say, everyone on the market?) are servers. Work great as servers and have a GUI cobbled together and clamped into place.
I think the problems can't/shouldn't be placed at the feet of the users (clue: it won't fly). The problems is idealogical almost as much as it is functional at this point. Linux is a patchwork. It works like a patch work. Thats a functional flaw for its use as a mainstream desktop.
Microsofts offerings are also 'good enough'. Its what your family and friends use so sharing systems are data is relatively simple between systems. Its a big mostly monolithic piece of software that can provide a (nearly) seamless environment for people to do basic work in. And being pre-installed (so seemingly, free), easy to use, well supported with a huge user and software base (we talk frequently about quality/quantity of games for new consoles being the make/break point, why would this be different for an OS?).
Ease of installation is certainly a component, but one of many. Its been years since I've had much trouble, maybe just my good fortune (not to say server installations are the same, with sloppy hard/soft raid chips with no support being something that regularly creeps up). I think Linux has come far enough though that focusing on the big picture is were its at now. But that might not be something we really want to do. Our patchworks desktop systems provide choice and choice is something many of us relish.
He's been central for a very long time. He's coined terms you and I take for granted (Open Source?) and been involved in the fight much longer then most of us. Sure, he may be largely a pundit but dismissing him seems foolish and short-sighted. He's been a pivotal part (The Cathedral and the Bazaar) of this legacy we've picked up and he's been a surprisingly even-handed one (OSS certainly would have had a much more up-hill fight without a little moderation by the likes of ESR and, I don't know...say, Linus).
Anyway I've been reading more and more comments on/. lately that show a surprising A) disregard or B) ignorance regarding the actual figures behind the movement we fallen into. I wish people would take the time to actually read about the events. Linus Torvalds biography (Just For Fun) should be considered required reading for anyone who wants to pontificate on the subject. I read the Cathedral and the Bazaar on a trip to SF about 6 years ago (on my old Franklin eBook!). Hell, watch some of the documentaries like Revolution OS or The Code.
Seeing these people speak has definitely helped me understand their motives and inspiration. I've gained respect for people who started a fight for ideas long before it was trendy or smartly debatable. Deriding them now seems kind of sad.
If ESR has something to say I'll listen to it. He's proven himself already. I don't have to agree (although I do tend to) but I will respect it. He's worked for most all of us long before we even existed.
Whats the saying? Evil begets evil? We have systems that would be much better used, or repaired, that could probably accomplish more with less. Say a more transparent legal system or accounability (and legal prosecution) for legislators, politicians and people of public office.
But then you'd run into the same problems you'd have with the people tending the animals. People are selfish, egotistical, ignorant, idealistic and single-minded. We are unaware of our own motives as we search for place, meaning and identity. We create confusion, divisiveness and we seek out comfort and distraction.
We are imperfect and yet so easily tempted to ignore this and brand the world with our own limited point of view.
We are coddled, comfortable creatures easily mistaking anger for conviction.
Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft controls the user environment top-to-bottom (that is, out-of-the box, which applies to what? Effectively 95% of all users?). Same goes for Apple and OSX. They are integrated, standardized, documented, interface guidelines, etc. Functionality is streamlined and things like API functionality are fairly rigid.
Both companies exert a good amount of control, which really benefits their users by providing consistent UE's with a tighter level of integration.
They also do some product separation. If you sent a home-user home with a fully loaded copy of Windows SBE they'd probably have trouble. Maybe even get frustrated. One-size probably shouldn't fit all.
But because Linux isn't a single company there is a lot of debate/politics/ideas that go into it. Because no company seems willing to enforce standards (which would probably alienate them from most of the Linux community) we end up with a system that does many different things, many things well, but almost none of them consistently.
This is the old model and it's worked well enough that we might not be willing to change it.
First off, I'm not yelling. I'm not a marketer. I simply disagree with a number of your statements. A separate system is a pipe-dream, we have far more pressing issues to fix which I expect will take precedence (ie forged headers/bot-nets/etc) leaving UCE a footnote that might be somewhat address with the rest of it.
You also make the statement that real-world spam is somehow less offensive then email spam. I'll certainly grant you your Viagra point, but this is a matter of judgment I hate all spam, especially real-world junk. None of this changes the fact that *my* mailbox at home is about 80% garbage. Which of course costs *both* the sender and receiver (landfills cost, trash service, etc). Your 911 scam point is particularly funny to me because while I'm sure it is mostly true the *first* time I ever received one it was via the post.
Its *is* definitely a mess. I'll agree with you there. But it would be much less a mess if headers could be relied on, making black-listing or RBLing more dependable, thereby pressuring list managers to use best practices or simply lose *all* that business (you know, the interested parties too). To me that is a much better solution. Do you think those offensive Viagra ads come from a legitate business or pop-through via bot-net (which of course *do* cost money, spam is business).
Your mailbox is never stuffed with advertisements. I bet you've never had someone hang a ad for a poplular pizza joint on your door handle. And of course you'd never find pamphlets on your car window. It would be like...pickpocketing?
I certainly understand your frustration, but bad analogies suck.
And of course you miss the areas where mass mailings *are* legitimate. Ever go to school? Ever taken a course survey?
We certainly get too much and too many we don't want, expect and didn't sign up for. I send mass emails out about once every 2 months. I run a website about music and arts and its a community project so I like to let people know what we've been doing, whats changed and what we have planned (interviews, features, etc) to give them a chance to respond. There are legitimate uses for lists.
Like-wise, I sign up for a number of lists. Some for artists (its hard to keep on top of everyone, so its nice to get news about new work), some for business (Oracle, Centos for patches/updates). It would be a nightmare if I had to poll all this information regularly myself.
And on top of that mass mailing is a fact of life right now. I don't see the harm in having dialog about how to make the impact, from a business perspective, on the recipient less. Thats good business that actually helps me for a change. Its a shame that serious conversations about best-practices typically end in yelling matches. Because there is *a lot* business could learn *and* benefit from.
Gentoo is great. Was it intended to be an enterprise ready OS? C'mon, this whole debate is kind of ridiculous. Red Hat/Suse/et al are great, they costs $$$ but the updates are Q/A'd they work closely with major vendors and they *know* they'll lose market if they don't do their jobs well.
I'm sure its possible to run a farm of Gentoo servers in production without problem. But thats not the point really. Time is money and as you scale up reliability and complexity work against you.
I'm sure there are some amusing stories about systems admins running Gentoo farms, good and bad. But there's a reason you only commonly hear a few players mentioned in this particular market.
FWIW I started out using Debian, but on my personal projects (I test a lot of stuff out on my own production because its much smaller and I'm much more forgiving). One day a simple update broke my PHP configuration. I never looked back.
On the server glamor is out and as close to bullet-proof as you can get is king. Period.
Its my job.
Parking is certainly frustration (as is flat-out speculation, their are some good domain names that I'd love to pickup to at *real* content to that are registered and completely unused).
But the reality is that parking *is* a business model that can generate real revenue. Obviously it's not suited for everyone (I'd never do it, but I'll probably never make large sums of money on all manner of convoluted principle). The difference here is that if you remove all the buzz-words from the article what you have *is* something moderately interesting. The idea is to make the sites useful. Whether it will work or not remains to be seen (wehow does look a lot like your average parking domain).
But its a new approach to an old business model and sometimes change is good. Besides (largely) the internet is self-correcting. If the sites don't add value the model fails, or the revolution simply fails to come. Read: status quo.
But the best case scenario is worth watching. There are literally hundreds of thousands of such sites. Maybe, if he's smart enough, something useful will emerge from what is essentially monetized trash.
Time will tell.
Review the configuration. -All breaks email forwarding, but I've never seen a default configuration using a fail. Only softfail, or ~All. Softfail does not break email forwarding, it merely notes that the email isn't coming from the MX server(s)/subnet/etc of record at which point its up to your other software to either use or not use this information (spamassassin can give points so pass/fail or softfail so it helps even this end). The fact that frustrates me is, well for starters people repeating mantras that are effectively irrelevant and out-dated and that for some reason people tend to think of it as an all or nothing scenario. SPF is one piece of a useful system. It isn't a replacement for RBL lists or spam filtering.
For now I'll stick with SPF and old fashioned spamassassin (milter).
And whats with the anti SPF sentiment? Its not like we've got a lot of more effective alternatives on the market and the only real argument I read is the rejection of real email, when softfail pretty much takes care of that (then leaving it to spamassassin to decide if the mail is legit).
We send an receive a good deal of email and I certainly wish SPF was more common. I'm tired of forged bounces and the *slew* of undeliverable responses 'dumb' servers return to our system every day.
Yet instead of taking any real action we bicker while spammers laugh all the way to the bank. Their is no magic bullet, but from my POV SPF is the closest thing yet (unless my DNS gets hi-jacked, but then I'm fucked anyway).
As someone who scorns it and uses it I couldn't agree more. :)
(I don't use it for popularity/dating/etc, but I do a music/arts site, so it becomes something of a necessary evil)
We recently had a problem with a clients website. In Firefox it displayed as expected, but IE(7/6) it didn't. We traced the problem to a piece of javascript code forgetting to close an open object tag.
Now the question is which browser was right? Firefox simply closed the tag and displayed the broken code as it was (originally) intended to be. IE closed the tag and disregarded the remaining code (closing only tags) showing the problem.
Both browsers have their quirks. IE7 is new and figuring out when its doing something wrong and when its simply showing you that *you're* doing something wrong can be tedious. Firefox certainly has its own quirks (moz- properties in css?) and is maybe (from a web developer POV) a little too forgiving.
Between the two and a little WC3 validation I can generally keep myself pretty happy with the results. Sure, it would be easier to simply worry about one or the other. But thats simply not the playing field.
As a side-note it was funny to note that the client, who is not a small company, seemed to be using FF and didn't notice the problem either. Opps!
I've seen a lot of community sites come and go. MySpace is a pig. But the very thing that makes it so awful gives its users flexibility and freedom that far exceeds anything that would typically be considered responsible (fishing scandals/css hacks/etc).
Basically its like a slightly structured Geocities only without mommy or daddy for the most part. You get a template, you get a dating service, you get a highschool popularity contest, and you can even plug in music that doesn't belong to you. All that and if you get really excited you can make it look just about as ugly or fancy as you can or like.
Hell, they did *everything* wrong and thats what made it right.
Jokes are one thing. Every profession has its peeves and its inside jokes (in the medical profession see: BUNDY, OAP, I'd read some better one's but I can't find them). I work in the IT industry and sure, when you're kicking around with tech friends its fine to vent a little. I read my BOFH near weekly (lots of laughs).
But customer service, if I want to move forward in my profession (and I do), is fine. Just because someone doesn't share my particular expertise doesn't give me the right to ridcule them outright. In fact it doesn't make me a better person or any such thing. Its can simpmly be frustrating sometimes. I give the best service I can. In fact I take pride in it. L users aren't a fact, just an expression. They are just people trying to get things done. Sometimes they need a little help and deserve the most respect and care you can give them.
Of course I work a little farther up the food-chain then help-desk, so I probably don't see some of the worse, but there's still no real excuse.
And frankly, my tier 1 experiences with just about any industry are about the same. IT isn't falling behind (if you ever have got IT support where they immediately solve the problem you probably realise there's almost a better chance of getting good support within our industry, but YMMV).
If there is a point to this story it should be that customer service is falling across the board. Thats a fact and eventually its going to start biting companies in the ass. And it should.
This could give a whole new meaning to you're childhood memories. Anatomically correct toys! Don't even get me started on how this could impact the porn industry.
To keep corporations playing on the (more or less) straight and narrow.
I've seen them here in San Diego (Vons). It made me laugh. They look corny and the whole idea of having a movie dispensed like a soda can kind of turns me off. If the speed is alright (I'm sure its kind of tedious now) it might fly, but they will definately have to do better product/marketing wise. I feel cheap just looking at the thing.
OUTFOXED. If you haven't seen it, do. You might not agree 100% and the bias may not invalidate *everything* they have to say, but its an interesting foray into the world and power of one of America's most influential (non-governmental) organizations.
I'm sure the current crop of WebOS solutions are silly or novel (or both). But I do see potential for things to move in this direction. Assuming hardware can be considered essentially an appliance (you don't seriously think custom, clunky, incompatible rigs are going to be gold standard forever?) whats really important? Your environment, your applications and your data.
But aside from laptops (which you have to lug around, break, etc) as far as the average person is concerned their data is tied to their hardware.
Now periodically I see the whole thin-client argument revisited and maybe that is how it will be played, but at the very least I see a possible market for true network-based OS's that will allow you to access your *real* systems from just about any piece of hardware you have access to. Airplanes, pay phones, hotels, friends houses, etc.
I mean bandwidth aside, is there really any reason I can't have my systems run across a multitude of hardware and provide me with *my* working environment?
Wow. An interesting response without the "me too" /.ism. :)
/etc/network/interfaces exists is a flaw. We rely on our old (comfortable) ways so late in the game and act like users are simple too stupid to understand what a great free OS we are offering them.
And critical to the pseudo elitism to boot! Too bad real discussion is becoming less frequent here. I appreciate your counter-points. The whole F you attitude seems to be kind of back in vogue and I'm guessing its probably more of new generation who haven't really been watching this whole thing unfold (and repeat itself!) over the past decade.
The fact that you should even know
Traditional Linux systems (say, everyone on the market?) are servers. Work great as servers and have a GUI cobbled together and clamped into place.
I think the problems can't/shouldn't be placed at the feet of the users (clue: it won't fly). The problems is idealogical almost as much as it is functional at this point. Linux is a patchwork. It works like a patch work. Thats a functional flaw for its use as a mainstream desktop.
Microsofts offerings are also 'good enough'. Its what your family and friends use so sharing systems are data is relatively simple between systems. Its a big mostly monolithic piece of software that can provide a (nearly) seamless environment for people to do basic work in. And being pre-installed (so seemingly, free), easy to use, well supported with a huge user and software base (we talk frequently about quality/quantity of games for new consoles being the make/break point, why would this be different for an OS?).
Ease of installation is certainly a component, but one of many. Its been years since I've had much trouble, maybe just my good fortune (not to say server installations are the same, with sloppy hard/soft raid chips with no support being something that regularly creeps up). I think Linux has come far enough though that focusing on the big picture is were its at now. But that might not be something we really want to do. Our patchworks desktop systems provide choice and choice is something many of us relish.
Geezus. Rinse, repeat.
He's been central for a very long time. He's coined terms you and I take for granted (Open Source?) and been involved in the fight much longer then most of us. Sure, he may be largely a pundit but dismissing him seems foolish and short-sighted. He's been a pivotal part (The Cathedral and the Bazaar) of this legacy we've picked up and he's been a surprisingly even-handed one (OSS certainly would have had a much more up-hill fight without a little moderation by the likes of ESR and, I don't know...say, Linus).
/. lately that show a surprising A) disregard or B) ignorance regarding the actual figures behind the movement we fallen into. I wish people would take the time to actually read about the events. Linus Torvalds biography (Just For Fun) should be considered required reading for anyone who wants to pontificate on the subject. I read the Cathedral and the Bazaar on a trip to SF about 6 years ago (on my old Franklin eBook!). Hell, watch some of the documentaries like Revolution OS or The Code.
Anyway I've been reading more and more comments on
Seeing these people speak has definitely helped me understand their motives and inspiration. I've gained respect for people who started a fight for ideas long before it was trendy or smartly debatable. Deriding them now seems kind of sad.
If ESR has something to say I'll listen to it. He's proven himself already. I don't have to agree (although I do tend to) but I will respect it. He's worked for most all of us long before we even existed.
Whats the saying? Evil begets evil? We have systems that would be much better used, or repaired, that could probably accomplish more with less. Say a more transparent legal system or accounability (and legal prosecution) for legislators, politicians and people of public office.
But then you'd run into the same problems you'd have with the people tending the animals. People are selfish, egotistical, ignorant, idealistic and single-minded. We are unaware of our own motives as we search for place, meaning and identity. We create confusion, divisiveness and we seek out comfort and distraction.
We are imperfect and yet so easily tempted to ignore this and brand the world with our own limited point of view.
We are coddled, comfortable creatures easily mistaking anger for conviction.
But out of curiosity I read: "Dubai is unusual in that its population is comprised mainly of expatriates". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai#Demographics Interesting.
Or perhaps it simply wouldn't be suited for them. But I'm sure if there was a good reason to use this there are good solutions we could come up with.
It's still up, who's paying the bills! :P
...and they have...boobies (not 12 year old girls of course, except if you're a 12 year old boy!).