I've had the fun of working with VB6 for years, and VB.Net does some things pretty well compared to former versions of the language. However, when you look around out there, other options are opening up.
The most exciting one I've been following is SharpDevelop + SWT. Throw Mono into the mix and you might see some commercial public programs that are cross-platform in nature. If Longhorn forces a rewrite of all the old code for Windows anyways, this combination looks very potent.
Java and Eclipse is the other end of the spectrum, and again, if SWT actually pays off, you will see a lot of people jump off.
I would *love* to see python + SWT merged together. That would be an absolute hoot.
Vanilla VB6 shielded you from the API unless you actually needed it (and you had to hack around to do anything out of the ordinary) - now that.Net mandates wallowing through its packages, why *not pick up Java? If I've gotten to that level of complexity, I would opt for the cheapest way out - and Java and/or any other free language implementation + GUI will do the trick just fine.
However, since I work at a strict MS shop with a legacy VB6 app we just finished three years ago, it's going to be mild with nice breezes in hell before we move onward.
2005/2006 will be very interesting. Microsoft isn't innovating anything remarkable and Mono + Java have the potential to catch up in feature set. If Microsoft renders all former software broken (or forced through an emulator) AND pushes DRM, Linux might gain a foothold with *corporate* and *small business* support.
I am a VB6 programmer by trade, and it took me learning Python, C#, and VB.Net to undo my habits, plus a healthy dose of unit testing and extreme programming. Methodologies mean more than languages.
... a computer that is a computer? I had a crappy all-in-one Acer PC with the monitor embedded in it, and I couldn't update it for beans. Why do I want it to have a phone, glowing panels, and further enroachment into my workspace?
Do I really want my monitor shell to pulse when I get an email? Are you out of your mind? How is that supposed to make me more productive?
Do I really want Athens throwing a Borg arm out to the rest of my deskspace?
How do I fix this thing if it breaks?
How hard is it to enter a user name and password over a fingerprint?
Just let a device be a device. Let it alone already.
... but didn't they spend a lot of time trying to hack away the command prompt out of Windows at one point? Now they want to possibly base a whole server architecture on it?
Okie-doke. That sounds like innovation to me. Take from Linux/Unix something you derided it for no more than a few years ago.
Duh.
FinBank....
on
Linus on DRM
·
· Score: 0, Flamebait
[parallel universe] [check]
Pay to the order of Linus Torvalds Fifty-thousand dollars and 00/100 cents $50.000
... I find that nothing irritates my parents quite like posting my full name, age, and their credit card number to online retail sites.
It is much more effective than disobeying, and the odds of them finding out about my disruptive behavior are next-to-none... plus I get a major website in trouble!
Sincerely,
Johnson Doe (555-55-5555)
P.S. - Is 555-55-5555 a valid SSN? I hope not. I disavow all knowledge if there is a Johnson Doe with that SSN. You're on/. baby.
In all seriousness, just because something is remotely possible doesn't mean that it can happen or is happening or did happen. It's quite possible it never happened anywhere in universes 1-4.
Microsoft couldn't improve the bathroom of tomorrow? Come on! Where's the innovation?
My ideas....
- Auto-sensor for build up of noxious odors. - Wireless connect in bathroom, naturally. - A scale that keeps track of who is on it so it knows when to lie. - A soap container that doesn't leave a white-yellow wax pond. - An XBox to hold my toothbrush (doubles as a hair dryer). - A medicine cabinet mirror that Photoshop touches up your appearance before you go out. Even better, a mirror that dims to match the ambience of a bar you are going to so that you can see exactly how pretty you are before your true looks are discovered. - Temperature sensing based on biometrics. - Flat panel for pornographic - er - custom content viewing. - Any old style RIAA literature to shit on. - A toilet that doubles as a bidette (sp?) - with override.
I would take the trip to Redmond to see that one.
As it is, I hope they have newspaper on the ground.
If a major motor manufacturer created a product line that lost the brakes when the temperature outside was -10 degrees and on an interstate, they would be liable.
If 90% of the population used that product line and people were getting hijacked by their own transportion, there would be hell to pay.
Now suppose that they say, "Hey! We released a recall two months ago? Didn't you take your car in to fix it? We made a post to our service centers, but you never saw it at the place you take your car? If you were running our brake-warming device (aka anti-virus software), you wouldn't have had this problem... if you were on a local road instead of an interstate, you never would have had this happen to you. Please buy more of our products. "
I know its outlandish, but there should be some responsibility here on the part of the vendor. There is economic damage from not patching stuff, but if the patch usually breaks your car, who's left to hold the bag?
Unless you are a mechanic and own a kit-car (aka Linux), you're tied in. That's not good.
... get a Windows PC for a commercial/slick/monitored/RIAA-enforced multimedia experience.... or help a project out...... or watch a DVD on something other than a computer...... or just seek professional help for nonspecific combativeness.
Slashdot Mirror
"Wait until the fall when we'll go into more detail at the Professional Developers Conference."
:-)
Well, gee, that's a great comeback. What are they going to have? How much can change? How much can a one corporate entity innovate?
Can we go into the R, G, & B values for those fancy colors?
T.
I've had the fun of working with VB6 for years, and VB.Net does some things pretty well compared to former versions of the language. However, when you look around out there, other options are opening up.
.Net mandates wallowing through its packages, why *not pick up Java? If I've gotten to that level of complexity, I would opt for the cheapest way out - and Java and/or any other free language implementation + GUI will do the trick just fine.
The most exciting one I've been following is SharpDevelop + SWT. Throw Mono into the mix and you might see some commercial public programs that are cross-platform in nature. If Longhorn forces a rewrite of all the old code for Windows anyways, this combination looks very potent.
Java and Eclipse is the other end of the spectrum, and again, if SWT actually pays off, you will see a lot of people jump off.
I would *love* to see python + SWT merged together. That would be an absolute hoot.
Vanilla VB6 shielded you from the API unless you actually needed it (and you had to hack around to do anything out of the ordinary) - now that
However, since I work at a strict MS shop with a legacy VB6 app we just finished three years ago, it's going to be mild with nice breezes in hell before we move onward.
2005/2006 will be very interesting. Microsoft isn't innovating anything remarkable and Mono + Java have the potential to catch up in feature set. If Microsoft renders all former software broken (or forced through an emulator) AND pushes DRM, Linux might gain a foothold with *corporate* and *small business* support.
I am a VB6 programmer by trade, and it took me learning Python, C#, and VB.Net to undo my habits, plus a healthy dose of unit testing and extreme programming. Methodologies mean more than languages.
The wife picks up the shiny gadgets before I do. :-)
:-)
Actually, I hate cell phones, too, because if I'm not at home, I probably don't want anyone calling me.
But that's my personal opinion and choice as a consumer to *not* buy anything.
... a computer that is a computer? I had a crappy all-in-one Acer PC with the monitor embedded in it, and I couldn't update it for beans. Why do I want it to have a phone, glowing panels, and further enroachment into my workspace?
Do I really want my monitor shell to pulse when I get an email? Are you out of your mind? How is that supposed to make me more productive?
Do I really want Athens throwing a Borg arm out to the rest of my deskspace?
How do I fix this thing if it breaks?
How hard is it to enter a user name and password over a fingerprint?
Just let a device be a device. Let it alone already.
T.
Considering the file system will render all pre-Longhorn windows applications obsolete, why not knock the tires on the API's as well?
Maybe it's to frustrate Mono some more... who knows....
This goes to show you that software development is alive and well!
... but didn't they spend a lot of time trying to hack away the command prompt out of Windows at one point? Now they want to possibly base a whole server architecture on it?
Okie-doke. That sounds like innovation to me. Take from Linux/Unix something you derided it for no more than a few years ago.
Duh.
[parallel universe]
[check]
Pay to the order of Linus Torvalds
Fifty-thousand dollars and 00/100 cents $50.000
Memo: DRM Good! (Hush) Hilary Rosen
[/check]
[/parallel universe]
Mod this comment up as +1 Informative.
Thanks!
... I find that nothing irritates my parents quite like posting my full name, age, and their credit card number to online retail sites.
/. baby.
It is much more effective than disobeying, and the odds of them finding out about my disruptive behavior are next-to-none... plus I get a major website in trouble!
Sincerely,
Johnson Doe (555-55-5555)
P.S. - Is 555-55-5555 a valid SSN? I hope not. I disavow all knowledge if there is a Johnson Doe with that SSN. You're on
These are so nerdy I not only don't remember them, but I don't think I want to navigate beyond the thumbnails.
Ugh....
Remind me not to stand behind you going through a metal detector.
I'll know you by the muffled jingle-jangle in your step.
... am I me anywhere else?
In all seriousness, just because something is remotely possible doesn't mean that it can happen or is happening or did happen. It's quite possible it never happened anywhere in universes 1-4.
That's where universe #5 comes in.
1. Take existing video standard.
2. Propietarize it.
3. Deliver software to view it on 90% of user computers on the planet.
4. Package software to movie theatre company monopoly.
5. ?????
6. Profit!
*ka-ching!*
"Excuse me miss... what's today?"
"February 2nd - Groundhog's Day!"
"It's still just once a year?"
I thought it said, "perogies"... 99 Bottles in Polish? It had to have been done before.
[evil bash]
Well, if you have demonic minions of the Beast working overtime working psionic circuitry, a daily build seems anything but impossible.
[end evil bash]
... (wait) until a terrorist network uses threedegrees... we'll see how long that lasts.
Then MS would be unpatriotic.
... anyone care to tell me what they see
on this one?
Paladium will set us free. And Microsoft will gladly collect that data for you.
Oh wait - you're not a megacorporation. You're a consumer.
Sorry. Tough shit. Give me your 7% or I'll sit on your head.
J.
Microsoft couldn't improve the bathroom of tomorrow? Come on! Where's the innovation?
My ideas....
- Auto-sensor for build up of noxious odors.
- Wireless connect in bathroom, naturally.
- A scale that keeps track of who is on it so it knows when to lie.
- A soap container that doesn't leave a white-yellow wax pond.
- An XBox to hold my toothbrush (doubles as a hair dryer).
- A medicine cabinet mirror that Photoshop touches up your appearance before you go out. Even better, a mirror that dims to match the ambience of a bar you are going to so that you can see exactly how pretty you are before your true looks are discovered.
- Temperature sensing based on biometrics.
- Flat panel for pornographic - er - custom content viewing.
- Any old style RIAA literature to shit on.
- A toilet that doubles as a bidette (sp?) - with override.
I would take the trip to Redmond to see that one.
As it is, I hope they have newspaper on the ground.
T.
Well, I made it up sitting at my desk and I was adding stuff like ticky-tape, so, that's what you get.
:-)
I find myself programming the same way half the time.
Point well taken... so is it like cigarette addiction? Does MS send out a bad product that I can sue them for?
Extreme Programming was eating Taco Bell and coding at the same time. /rimshot
Let's take it to a new level...
If a major motor manufacturer created a product line that lost the brakes when the temperature outside was -10 degrees and on an interstate, they would be liable.
If 90% of the population used that product line and people were getting hijacked by their own transportion, there would be hell to pay.
Now suppose that they say, "Hey! We released a recall two months ago? Didn't you take your car in to fix it? We made a post to our service centers, but you never saw it at the place you take your car? If you were running our brake-warming device (aka anti-virus software), you wouldn't have had this problem... if you were on a local road instead of an interstate, you never would have had this happen to you. Please buy more of our products. "
I know its outlandish, but there should be some responsibility here on the part of the vendor. There is economic damage from not patching stuff, but if the patch usually breaks your car, who's left to hold the bag?
Unless you are a mechanic and own a kit-car (aka Linux), you're tied in. That's not good.
T.
... get a Windows PC for a commercial/slick/monitored/RIAA-enforced multimedia experience. ... or help a project out... ... or watch a DVD on something other than a computer... ... or just seek professional help for nonspecific combativeness.