I love posts like this because it demonstrates a dramatic (and frequent) misunderstanding. The idea seems to be (and I don't mean to fault anyone for this) that there's a great big general pool of Linux/driver developers that get together and decide what to do. We regularly see suggestions (like the one above) directed at how to make better use of this imaginary pool.
But the truth is much of what gets done in terms of development is done by people like yourself, with interests of their own and probably more frequently then you imagine, on their own time. So while the project might not make sense to every possible user, particularly in the terms of some great imaginary directed labor pool, like many open source projects it's intended to scratch the developers own particular itch. And I don't know about you, but when I sit down to program in my free time I like to do something that I'm personally (preferably even passionately) interested in.
It looks like an interesting experiment. I've been using their DSM-750 for a year or so and although it's missing some of the more advanced features of something like MythTV (no imdb lookups, no cover browsing) it's been a pretty nice way to get away from the computer and enjoy my media without burning everything to coasters.
I agree the design of this thing is terrible (for a piece of functional hardware) but if it does marginally well I'm sure we'll see other vendors take a more tasteful approach in the near-future.
No kidding. And if you really want to play around with cool web server technologies slightly off the beaten path there are plenty of more interesting options like Resin (open source java/php servlet).
Honestly I've got to question anyone who wants to run Windows server for any kind of performance-oriented or scalable solution, which would make this an ad?
Besides, don't you think someone who was as important an visionary as Ghandi would see the importance of providing access to high-quality software not just to the rich but to every living person on the planet? Linus has done much more to bridge the economic and technological divide then I think we sometimes give him (and every other contributor out there) credit for. Software (and the services that provide access to technology) is becoming much more important then a few geeks scratching around in computer labs and gaming. I think sometimes we lose sight of this and because of these major contributions from the open source communities we can afford to forget about them and take them for granted.
Never say never. As computers become increasingly important in both emerging economies and first world economies his initial release of (and ongoing work on) the kernel under not just a free license, but an enforceably/perpetually free license has become a gift that in one way or another effects just about every computer user on the planet. Think about that for a second. It's become possibly one of the widest impacting acts of philanthropy in our history (with an amazing amount of people and companies now involved). This might not be the year of Linux on the Desktop (tm) but none-the-less, it's been a game changing event that has provided the tools necessary to create real technology to...well, everybody.
Of course a lot of people other then Linus deserve credit but as a figure head and a direct contributor of necessary technology his work seems perfectly appropriate to recognize. I'd say it's less a matter of if and more a matter of when (but it would be nice to see it happen in his lifetime).
And I'm sure I sound like a raving software hippie but I work in the IT industry and develop software as a hobby on my own. The ability to have access to the level of quality software we have today, at potentially ZERO cost (I don't need support licenses for my personal projects) allows me to experiment and develop technology that would have been cost prohibitive just a few years ago. Because of the open source movement software licensing doesn't limit technology and I don't think you have to be starry eyed to see how that might benefit...da da da-da...humanity.
So...would you suggest a musician use his laptop speakers during mix down? Replace your studio monitors with a boom box? Not everyone who spends money for more accurate reproduction is full of crap. The farther you go towards reproducing the actual vibrations we interpret the more information you get, the more accurately, and more importantly fully it reproduces the original sound. Like a high resolution image trying to reproduce the visual experience, you notice the loss the more accurate the screen (medium) is, greater fidelity on screen or medium has a big impact.
Besides, as a electronic music listener (dubstep) I've noticed more and more artists are taking advantage of the spectrum and the accuracy of digital music (usually a lot in the low end that will be more vibration then actual sound). There's some neat things you can experience/do with really accurate stereo equipment.
Of course if you just meant the assholes ya, fuck them.:-)
What I'm looking forward to is growing lunch meat. Organ and bone production is a waste of nutrients. Plus it would be cruelty free AND deliciously creepy! Think of the variety of meats we could grow, like human! Bon Appétit!
When did it become the responsibility of the citizenry to directly profit from and enforce BSA partners copyright? And if we feel it is one's moral obligation why would we exempt our friends and family? Even ourselves often?
I think the ethics of reporting software license violations is contentious, but the ethics of profiting from reporting possible violations when in a position of trust I find more contentious.
This isn't whistle blowing in the classic sense and two wrongs still !== right. I'd be no more likely to hire an employee who knowingly installed unlicensed software but I do expect a level of discretion and maturity about the matter telling on someone simply does not provide.
A call to the BSA is not something you want in your job history and it's not our duty to police and report software licenses.
If your companies asset tracking program is that bad and it makes you that uncomfortable, by all means seek more suitable employment but if I was ever checking a reference and it was inferred that the employee had done something like this I would immediately move them off of my list. If you want to do the right thing explain the problem and if they still don't take interest you can explain this is why you'll be seeking employment elsewhere.
Narcing for money (or revenge or misplace moral 'duty') is about as sleazy as using unlicensed software for business.
If it is a violate they'll remove the code and put the application back up. The same thing that usually happens in a GPL violation, I don't see any reason to treat Microsoft differently.
Battlefield Heroes uses a similar setup and for the most part servers are a nebulous thing the match making servers put you on. Because for the most part real people don't run the servers admins are less common. There's less incentive to rent a servers (through approved resellers) because the communities that usually grow up around more active servers or more skilled players don't really form. My friends might be good but when we join a game it could be just about anywhere, if we even bother to join. One way I could think of to compensate for all this would be strong team/clan tools because they would cause little communities and host servers their players would spend more time on, but honestly I haven't seen any games with something decent since Tribes 2 (invite system, team management, tag controls, even a messaging system!).
I don't love or hate the matchmaking system, but I would like to see them find a way to do it that doesn't impact the gaming community so much. Until then I'll miss my server browser.
But as someone who has spent a MASSIVE amount of time finding and discovering new music I consider community filters like Last.fm to be another useful tool in my toolbox. In fact I wrote a woefully under utilized search engine that combined emusic or amie streets catalog (where I usually buy my drm-free music) with the last.fm api.
As someone who listens to a somewhat eclectic assortment of dubstep/industrial/electronica with smatterings of indie/electronic pop I do find new music from the suggestions (I'm probably my own best user). I can't speak to pandora because I never really started using them, but if you can't find new music using last.fm you're probably losing patience with it.
Naturally if you end up creating something that provides even better artist recommendations I'll be glad to use it too.:-)
MySQL competes with Oracles ability to compete in the space MySQL currently occupies (see Oracle Database 10g Express Edition). The company I worked for happily paid for expensive Oracle licensing for years before becoming comfortable enough with MySQL to begin to transition away from the enterprise licensing (and growth limiting cost). We didn't really need all the features, so we didn't effectively gain much of anything by using their database, but at the time our company started they seemed the best choice from what was available. I'd expect many companies have probably found themselves in similar circumstances and in that way MySQL (PostgreSQL, etc) are effectively cutting Oracles higher cost offerings out of a not so insignificant portion of the available business.
The real question might be could the new Oracle business culture accept the smaller margins offered by supporting a open source database in favor of the more lucrative model they've been accustomed to. And they might be able to do it, or see that they need to whether they like it or not. But this is Oracle we're talking about, common sense need not apply.
RAC licensing has probably helped boost the popularity of MySQL as much as anything. We paid it for years just to have access to more or less basic SQL features.
I realize the article mentioned they used high quality headphones and audio hardware, but for the rest of us audio kit is still the main limiting factor. I recently picked up a set of M-Audio (they make music gear) desktop monitors and gained a new appreciation for much of my existing music (specifically, my FLAC recordings).
Of course 1/3 is also a pretty significant group of people and given more time and a more comfortable setting this number would probably be somewhat higher. Good sound still sounds good and with decent headphones/monitors/etc you can pick out individual sounds much easier and the music gains layers and presence.
If it's not ready and causes a large portion of the users to complain or have problems it's nice features don't matter so much. It's probably also worth mentioning reputation, in that a audio server which causes problems might unfairly garner a reputation that will outlast many of it's earlier stage hick-ups.
We bash Microsoft all the time for releasing beta-quality software as retail, but here we are.
It seems like an interesting project that got stuffed into production distributions before it was ready.
I hate to promote an EA game, but a few months ago after deciding it was time for a new game I could play casually I stumbled across Battlefield Heroes which is a free, micro-transaction/ad-driven, browser-based (the launcher) shooter.
The advertising originally consisted of mock ads based on in-game art and themes (humorous) but more recently began to use real ads in a pretty non-disruptive way (launch screen/load screen). The micro-transactions can give players a indirect advantage by allowing them to gain XP faster (2X) or something they call VP faster (currency you use to buy health and other basics). So far the balance makes playing without XP or VP accelerators not feel like a disadvantage and the most noticeable difference between free and paying players would be custom clothing and other cosmetic extras (some of these items can be paid for using VP too, so free players are able to do some customizing too).
Players who don't have the extra income or aren't interested in paying for these non-essential extras really aren't at much of a disadvantage. Highly skilled players from either set (paying or non-paying) can compete evenly with other players of the same level.
The idea seems to work and judging from the amount of blinged out players people don't seem to mind paying for a little vanity (or humor/or fun) to enjoy a past-time.
I for one look forward to seeing more examples of balanced micro-transaction/in-game advertising based gaming overlords.
As one of you old farts myself let me just say: the more things change the more thing stay the same. Music is still good and people are about as smart as they've ever been and many new albums are good start to finish, but people are exposed to MUCH more music then they have ever been before and digital distribution has absolutely de-emphasized the importance of the concept of album and either of these things might have something to do with the finicky, song-based approach many listeners take today.
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I love posts like this because it demonstrates a dramatic (and frequent) misunderstanding. The idea seems to be (and I don't mean to fault anyone for this) that there's a great big general pool of Linux/driver developers that get together and decide what to do. We regularly see suggestions (like the one above) directed at how to make better use of this imaginary pool.
But the truth is much of what gets done in terms of development is done by people like yourself, with interests of their own and probably more frequently then you imagine, on their own time. So while the project might not make sense to every possible user, particularly in the terms of some great imaginary directed labor pool, like many open source projects it's intended to scratch the developers own particular itch. And I don't know about you, but when I sit down to program in my free time I like to do something that I'm personally (preferably even passionately) interested in.
It looks like an interesting experiment. I've been using their DSM-750 for a year or so and although it's missing some of the more advanced features of something like MythTV (no imdb lookups, no cover browsing) it's been a pretty nice way to get away from the computer and enjoy my media without burning everything to coasters. I agree the design of this thing is terrible (for a piece of functional hardware) but if it does marginally well I'm sure we'll see other vendors take a more tasteful approach in the near-future.
No kidding. And if you really want to play around with cool web server technologies slightly off the beaten path there are plenty of more interesting options like Resin (open source java/php servlet).
Honestly I've got to question anyone who wants to run Windows server for any kind of performance-oriented or scalable solution, which would make this an ad?
Besides, don't you think someone who was as important an visionary as Ghandi would see the importance of providing access to high-quality software not just to the rich but to every living person on the planet? Linus has done much more to bridge the economic and technological divide then I think we sometimes give him (and every other contributor out there) credit for. Software (and the services that provide access to technology) is becoming much more important then a few geeks scratching around in computer labs and gaming. I think sometimes we lose sight of this and because of these major contributions from the open source communities we can afford to forget about them and take them for granted.
Never say never. As computers become increasingly important in both emerging economies and first world economies his initial release of (and ongoing work on) the kernel under not just a free license, but an enforceably/perpetually free license has become a gift that in one way or another effects just about every computer user on the planet. Think about that for a second. It's become possibly one of the widest impacting acts of philanthropy in our history (with an amazing amount of people and companies now involved). This might not be the year of Linux on the Desktop (tm) but none-the-less, it's been a game changing event that has provided the tools necessary to create real technology to...well, everybody.
Of course a lot of people other then Linus deserve credit but as a figure head and a direct contributor of necessary technology his work seems perfectly appropriate to recognize. I'd say it's less a matter of if and more a matter of when (but it would be nice to see it happen in his lifetime).
And I'm sure I sound like a raving software hippie but I work in the IT industry and develop software as a hobby on my own. The ability to have access to the level of quality software we have today, at potentially ZERO cost (I don't need support licenses for my personal projects) allows me to experiment and develop technology that would have been cost prohibitive just a few years ago. Because of the open source movement software licensing doesn't limit technology and I don't think you have to be starry eyed to see how that might benefit...da da da-da...humanity.
Because idle is a failed concept still looking for a justification.
So...would you suggest a musician use his laptop speakers during mix down? Replace your studio monitors with a boom box? Not everyone who spends money for more accurate reproduction is full of crap. The farther you go towards reproducing the actual vibrations we interpret the more information you get, the more accurately, and more importantly fully it reproduces the original sound. Like a high resolution image trying to reproduce the visual experience, you notice the loss the more accurate the screen (medium) is, greater fidelity on screen or medium has a big impact.
:-)
Besides, as a electronic music listener (dubstep) I've noticed more and more artists are taking advantage of the spectrum and the accuracy of digital music (usually a lot in the low end that will be more vibration then actual sound). There's some neat things you can experience/do with really accurate stereo equipment.
Of course if you just meant the assholes ya, fuck them.
Worked for the cows!
What I'm looking forward to is growing lunch meat. Organ and bone production is a waste of nutrients. Plus it would be cruelty free AND deliciously creepy! Think of the variety of meats we could grow, like human! Bon Appétit!
When did it become the responsibility of the citizenry to directly profit from and enforce BSA partners copyright? And if we feel it is one's moral obligation why would we exempt our friends and family? Even ourselves often?
I think the ethics of reporting software license violations is contentious, but the ethics of profiting from reporting possible violations when in a position of trust I find more contentious.
This isn't whistle blowing in the classic sense and two wrongs still !== right. I'd be no more likely to hire an employee who knowingly installed unlicensed software but I do expect a level of discretion and maturity about the matter telling on someone simply does not provide.
A call to the BSA is not something you want in your job history and it's not our duty to police and report software licenses.
If your companies asset tracking program is that bad and it makes you that uncomfortable, by all means seek more suitable employment but if I was ever checking a reference and it was inferred that the employee had done something like this I would immediately move them off of my list. If you want to do the right thing explain the problem and if they still don't take interest you can explain this is why you'll be seeking employment elsewhere.
Narcing for money (or revenge or misplace moral 'duty') is about as sleazy as using unlicensed software for business.
If it is a violate they'll remove the code and put the application back up. The same thing that usually happens in a GPL violation, I don't see any reason to treat Microsoft differently.
Well, if it became a problem they could have someone sign an NDA and allow them to review the code. But it probably won't need to come to that.
The older I get the less I am to assume this.
Battlefield Heroes uses a similar setup and for the most part servers are a nebulous thing the match making servers put you on. Because for the most part real people don't run the servers admins are less common. There's less incentive to rent a servers (through approved resellers) because the communities that usually grow up around more active servers or more skilled players don't really form. My friends might be good but when we join a game it could be just about anywhere, if we even bother to join. One way I could think of to compensate for all this would be strong team/clan tools because they would cause little communities and host servers their players would spend more time on, but honestly I haven't seen any games with something decent since Tribes 2 (invite system, team management, tag controls, even a messaging system!).
I don't love or hate the matchmaking system, but I would like to see them find a way to do it that doesn't impact the gaming community so much. Until then I'll miss my server browser.
But as someone who has spent a MASSIVE amount of time finding and discovering new music I consider community filters like Last.fm to be another useful tool in my toolbox. In fact I wrote a woefully under utilized search engine that combined emusic or amie streets catalog (where I usually buy my drm-free music) with the last.fm api.
:-)
As someone who listens to a somewhat eclectic assortment of dubstep/industrial/electronica with smatterings of indie/electronic pop I do find new music from the suggestions (I'm probably my own best user). I can't speak to pandora because I never really started using them, but if you can't find new music using last.fm you're probably losing patience with it.
Naturally if you end up creating something that provides even better artist recommendations I'll be glad to use it too.
MySQL competes with Oracles ability to compete in the space MySQL currently occupies (see Oracle Database 10g Express Edition). The company I worked for happily paid for expensive Oracle licensing for years before becoming comfortable enough with MySQL to begin to transition away from the enterprise licensing (and growth limiting cost). We didn't really need all the features, so we didn't effectively gain much of anything by using their database, but at the time our company started they seemed the best choice from what was available. I'd expect many companies have probably found themselves in similar circumstances and in that way MySQL (PostgreSQL, etc) are effectively cutting Oracles higher cost offerings out of a not so insignificant portion of the available business.
The real question might be could the new Oracle business culture accept the smaller margins offered by supporting a open source database in favor of the more lucrative model they've been accustomed to. And they might be able to do it, or see that they need to whether they like it or not. But this is Oracle we're talking about, common sense need not apply.
RAC licensing has probably helped boost the popularity of MySQL as much as anything. We paid it for years just to have access to more or less basic SQL features.
Pffft! Linux guys don't kill people! (unless they work on file systems)
He'll be safe.
I realize the article mentioned they used high quality headphones and audio hardware, but for the rest of us audio kit is still the main limiting factor. I recently picked up a set of M-Audio (they make music gear) desktop monitors and gained a new appreciation for much of my existing music (specifically, my FLAC recordings).
Of course 1/3 is also a pretty significant group of people and given more time and a more comfortable setting this number would probably be somewhat higher. Good sound still sounds good and with decent headphones/monitors/etc you can pick out individual sounds much easier and the music gains layers and presence.
If it's not ready and causes a large portion of the users to complain or have problems it's nice features don't matter so much. It's probably also worth mentioning reputation, in that a audio server which causes problems might unfairly garner a reputation that will outlast many of it's earlier stage hick-ups.
We bash Microsoft all the time for releasing beta-quality software as retail, but here we are.
It seems like an interesting project that got stuffed into production distributions before it was ready.
Ah, the BB data package. I often use mine with wifi and thought that might be what you meant.
LogicMail. Open source loves you (it's a great program)!
I hate to promote an EA game, but a few months ago after deciding it was time for a new game I could play casually I stumbled across Battlefield Heroes which is a free, micro-transaction/ad-driven, browser-based (the launcher) shooter.
The advertising originally consisted of mock ads based on in-game art and themes (humorous) but more recently began to use real ads in a pretty non-disruptive way (launch screen/load screen). The micro-transactions can give players a indirect advantage by allowing them to gain XP faster (2X) or something they call VP faster (currency you use to buy health and other basics). So far the balance makes playing without XP or VP accelerators not feel like a disadvantage and the most noticeable difference between free and paying players would be custom clothing and other cosmetic extras (some of these items can be paid for using VP too, so free players are able to do some customizing too).
Players who don't have the extra income or aren't interested in paying for these non-essential extras really aren't at much of a disadvantage. Highly skilled players from either set (paying or non-paying) can compete evenly with other players of the same level. The idea seems to work and judging from the amount of blinged out players people don't seem to mind paying for a little vanity (or humor/or fun) to enjoy a past-time. I for one look forward to seeing more examples of balanced micro-transaction/in-game advertising based gaming overlords.
As one of you old farts myself let me just say: the more things change the more thing stay the same. Music is still good and people are about as smart as they've ever been and many new albums are good start to finish, but people are exposed to MUCH more music then they have ever been before and digital distribution has absolutely de-emphasized the importance of the concept of album and either of these things might have something to do with the finicky, song-based approach many listeners take today.