I wrote this script to relink a dynamically-linked program with as many equivalent static libraries as possible, with any unavailable static libraries left dynamic.
I use it to ship a static version of libguestfs
Whether static binaries are a good idea, I'll leave that discussion up to others. I would say that dynamic linking should be preferred, but static linking and this
script is quite useful in some circumstances.
Not quite sure why you've chosen to troll about F# here, but OCaml simply does not have the serious technical issues you say, and does have hundreds of libraries.
It's used a lot by some very large companies, and in important
areas like financial trading, aircraft code verification and virtualization.
If it's like Mac OS X then it's still a step backwards because the native OS X apps cannot be run remotely (only X11 ones). That's removing a useful feature for no benefit (despite what people who don't know what they are talking about say, there is no performance penalty to network transparency, because locally it's all using shared memory).
The home page might explain it a bit better, but basically virt tools is a loose collection of tools, and they mostly use libvirt so can manage almost anything, KVM, Xen, VMWare ESX, Linux containers, VirtualBox (I think), OpenVZ...
It was kept a secret so it couldn't benefit humanity (and public key encryption has been an enormous benefit). I don't really care if it was their job, I have really very little time for the silly secrecy around the "security" services anyway. Most of what they do is policework, and the police aren't a state secret above the law.
Thanks for some sense here. However this is still a poor piece of legislation. It makes it illegal for me to show others how to mod DVD players (which I've done) so they can play and rip DVDs from around the world. DVDs and DVD players which they've bought...
I'm a subscriber to the Economist too, but the reason I think it works is their content is not just warmed-over daily news. It's a collection of well-researched, unique and interesting weekly essays. Murdoch is never going to be able to do the same thing with the Times.
Just a suggestion: It might be a treadmill exercise machine. I have one which completely knocked out wifi and ADSL until I isolated it with a expensive choke on the mains lead. Ask your neighbours if they use one between the hours you gave.
This hoping the Supreme Ct will invalidate software patents is clutching at straws anyway. Go and ask your lawmakers to explicitly write a law to exclude software patents.
Most of what you think you know about this case is wrong. Forget about UFOs.
Also, what Gary did
is trivial, barely even worth the term "hacking" (summary: he used an off-the-shelf product
called RemotelyAnywhere to access
completely open internet-connected Windows desktops that had the default password set).
If you want to go back to the source legal materials, this set of articles is particularly interesting:
Patents also used to be beneficial to the public. It used to be that guilds would control trade and monopolize the market effectively with "trade secrets" that would stay in the guild. Patents helped change this because the guild would disclose information while granted a temporary monopoly to use it [...]
The technology for reverse engineering stuff has also moved on greatly since the Middle Ages. It's very hard to keep something a trade secret if you don't physically control it. Which means that as soon as you release a drug, software, or a technical gizmo, someone will start working on reverse engineering it. This is an argument against patents on these things because if they can be easily reverse engineered then there's no public benefit to granting a patent on it.
If it really is "the oldest mainframe on earth", well let's say for the sake of argument from the 1960s or 1970s or 1980s, then it's no longer covered by any patents.
I think the unfortunately difference here is that patents are legal monopolies. You're meant to use them anti-competitively and against the interests of the free market.
Hercules is a nice bit of software, but it's very slow. (Supposedly something like 50x slower than the real thing). There's no way I can see that someone would be using Hercules to run their payroll software, and every reason to think that it's mainly used for interop testing. Which is the reason I occasionally use it, to test Red Hat's software on S/390{x]. Foot, meet gun.
Sounds like Skype after their acquisition by eBay. (I'm sure it's not, but the same thing happened inside Skype, compounded by the stupidity of eBay execs).
Funny, I was always under the impression that Linux can be had cheap but not Red Hat. From what I hear the service is great and all that, but it's hardly the MacDonalds of the server world.
You should probably have a look at CentOS, who recompile the Red Hat sources to make a similar (but not commercially supported) distribution. CentOS is free as in no cost.
Both RHEL and CentOS are free/open source software. If you decide not to renew your RHEL license after the first year, you don't have to
uninstall the software or have the heavies from the BSA coming round -- instead you have the sources and may decide to continue supporting it yourself
or buy in support from another company.
I've just started using a treadmill desk.
Unfortunately I haven't got the level quite right yet, so it's triggering my RSI, but once I get that
fixed it does seem to be a good solution to the exercise problem.
All citizens of a country which isn't exactly liked by its neighbours are placed on a single database. Database leaks. Any future authority which doesn't like Israelis for any reason can now reliably identify them at crossing points, when travelling, after an invasion, etc.
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I wrote this script to relink a dynamically-linked program with as many equivalent static libraries as possible, with any unavailable static libraries left dynamic. I use it to ship a static version of libguestfs
Whether static binaries are a good idea, I'll leave that discussion up to others. I would say that dynamic linking should be preferred, but static linking and this script is quite useful in some circumstances.
Rich.
Not quite sure why you've chosen to troll about F# here, but OCaml simply does not have the serious technical issues you say, and does have hundreds of libraries. It's used a lot by some very large companies, and in important areas like financial trading, aircraft code verification and virtualization.
Rich.
OCaml is used for all sorts of things in many companies and is very much ready for primetime.
F# is fine if you're using .Net (ie. Windows). For those who want native
code, use OCaml.
Rich.
If it's like Mac OS X then it's still a step backwards because the native OS X apps cannot be run remotely (only X11 ones). That's removing a useful feature for no benefit (despite what people who don't know what they are talking about say, there is no performance penalty to network transparency, because locally it's all using shared memory).
Rich.
KVM beats Xen on performance nowadays. Take a closer look at a recent version.
The home page might explain it a bit better, but basically virt tools is a loose collection of tools, and they mostly use libvirt so can manage almost anything, KVM, Xen, VMWare ESX, Linux containers, VirtualBox (I think), OpenVZ ...
I've been writing a lot of documentation for Linux virt-tools here.
Rich.
Maybe he should pay back all the US tax dollars it cost to get him there in the first place? Then we can talk about publicity rights ...
Rich.
It was kept a secret so it couldn't benefit humanity (and public key encryption has been an enormous benefit). I don't really care if it was their job, I have really very little time for the silly secrecy around the "security" services anyway. Most of what they do is policework, and the police aren't a state secret above the law.
Rich.
That would be quite a feat, as stealing ideas is just not possible.
It is if I use my patented brain eraser on you!
Thanks for some sense here. However this is still a poor piece of legislation. It makes it illegal for me to show others how to mod DVD players (which I've done) so they can play and rip DVDs from around the world. DVDs and DVD players which they've bought ...
Rich.
I'm a subscriber to the Economist too, but the reason I think it works is their content is not just warmed-over daily news. It's a collection of well-researched, unique and interesting weekly essays. Murdoch is never going to be able to do the same thing with the Times.
Rich.
"Mr Jones? Sure, I'll just go and get him." [leave the phone under the sofa cushion]
And you're right, they blacklist your number after you do this, so it works out well.
Rich.
Just a suggestion: It might be a treadmill exercise machine. I have one which completely knocked out wifi and ADSL until I isolated it with a expensive choke on the mains lead. Ask your neighbours if they use one between the hours you gave.
This hoping the Supreme Ct will invalidate software patents is clutching at straws anyway. Go and ask your lawmakers to explicitly write a law to exclude software patents.
Rich.
Most of what you think you know about this case is wrong. Forget about UFOs.
Also, what Gary did is trivial, barely even worth the term "hacking" (summary: he used an off-the-shelf product called RemotelyAnywhere to access completely open internet-connected Windows desktops that had the default password set).
If you want to go back to the source legal materials, this set of articles is particularly interesting:
Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3
There is a final part coming too.
Patents also used to be beneficial to the public. It used to be that guilds would control trade and monopolize the market effectively with "trade secrets" that would stay in the guild. Patents helped change this because the guild would disclose information while granted a temporary monopoly to use it [...]
The technology for reverse engineering stuff has also moved on greatly since the Middle Ages. It's very hard to keep something a trade secret if you don't physically control it. Which means that as soon as you release a drug, software, or a technical gizmo, someone will start working on reverse engineering it. This is an argument against patents on these things because if they can be easily reverse engineered then there's no public benefit to granting a patent on it.
Rich.
If it really is "the oldest mainframe on earth", well let's say for the sake of argument from the 1960s or 1970s or 1980s, then it's no longer covered by any patents.
Rich.
I think the unfortunately difference here is that patents are legal monopolies. You're meant to use them anti-competitively and against the interests of the free market.
Rich.
Hercules is a nice bit of software, but it's very slow. (Supposedly something like 50x slower than the real thing). There's no way I can see that someone would be using Hercules to run their payroll software, and every reason to think that it's mainly used for interop testing. Which is the reason I occasionally use it, to test Red Hat's software on S/390{x]. Foot, meet gun.
Rich.
Sounds like Skype after their acquisition by eBay. (I'm sure it's not, but the same thing happened inside Skype, compounded by the stupidity of eBay execs).
I reckon the person with the handgun would win ...
Funny, I was always under the impression that Linux can be had cheap but not Red Hat. From what I hear the service is great and all that, but it's hardly the MacDonalds of the server world.
You should probably have a look at CentOS, who recompile the Red Hat sources to make a similar (but not commercially supported) distribution. CentOS is free as in no cost.
Both RHEL and CentOS are free/open source software. If you decide not to renew your RHEL license after the first year, you don't have to uninstall the software or have the heavies from the BSA coming round -- instead you have the sources and may decide to continue supporting it yourself or buy in support from another company.
Rich.
I've just started using a treadmill desk. Unfortunately I haven't got the level quite right yet, so it's triggering my RSI, but once I get that fixed it does seem to be a good solution to the exercise problem.
I've learned a lot about radio frequency interference from cheap treadmills too ...
Rich.
All citizens of a country which isn't exactly liked by its neighbours are placed on a single database. Database leaks. Any future authority which doesn't like Israelis for any reason can now reliably identify them at crossing points, when travelling, after an invasion, etc.