The Linux v Tanenbaum debate reminds me of the debates I hear at work between those who understand that software is a commercial kludge between conflicting/changing requirements, the limitations of time and abilities of support engineers etc., and those who want to do everything "right", often blowing development budgets, and producing unusable, over-optimised, hard-to-maintain code. I exaggerate the distinction for effect, of course.
Linux has built a system, it works and it's used everywhere. Microkernels are all niche, and the benefits are debatable compared to the ubiquity and support for monolithic kernels.
That said, I think Tanenbaum is funamentally right. But then I've had to train myself to be more like Linux than Tanenbaum to actually get things done.
"While it's true I'm a fan of Star Wars so my opinion might be biased, I've never found anyone who's outright hated it. "
I hated it. Although I'm 30 I first watched IV in the cinema in the late nineties. I was bored by the barely-existent plot, the generally poor acting.
Only Ford and Guinness made it worth watching. I would have walked out otherwise.
Trying to eat healthy while on holiday in the US is a real struggle. We tried to cook a spaghetti bolognaise. There was no organic beef, the pasta was horrible and the tomatoes tasteless. It was appalling - it's a wonder Americans get any nutrition at all.
Eating out was little better - huge portions of crap tasteless food, riddled with monosodium glutomate and sugar. Bit like the telly.
The only saving grace was the plentiful and cheap fruit available everywhere, in New York at least.
Conversation between me and an Indian developer: "Do you know FTP?" "Yes." "OK, well, ftp the zip file over to the server." "Ah, I'm sorry, I have studied FTP, I have never used it! Can you show me?"
The above got marked as insightful? Jeez. I wish I could write functional websites in plain old HTML. It would make my life a lot easier. But it's rather like saying: "Why do we bother having event loops? What's wrong with simple old single-threaded programming?"
"And so I slowly started to realize that mathematics were the underlying principle to everything. Maybe you've seen the motion picture Pi and remember the part where the main character has a revelation that everything can be described by math. In my opinion, he was dead right."
As I recall, part of the point of the film pi was that he was dead WRONG, and that not everything can be described by math. Hence he goes mad.
Of course everything can be represented by mathematics, but that's not the same as described, in my view, and it's certainly not the same as saying it's the "underlying principle to everything". It's like saying a building is "described" by its architectural drawings. Of course, it is described by it, but not completely.
And before you, they understood every transistor, then every valve, then the innards of every valve, then the mathematics behind the theoretical Babbage machine...
I believe you can make copies for private backup purposes only.
Which leads me to ask: if I copy a CD I have legally purchased, am I entitled to sell that CD? Or do I have to destroy my backup copy?
OK, who marked the (amusing) parent as troll?? People, please, examine the context. This is exactly what's wrong with peer moderation - it's only as good as the population moderating.
My mad old grandmother was right. Democracy is overrated.
Re:I will help YOU get a JOB! (Programming puzzles
on
Programming Puzzles
·
· Score: 1
You can write that and you can't get indenting!?;-)
It's already a ridiculously artificial question if you can't use loops, so why not hard-code?
I'd give extra credit for not creating a knee-jerk baroque and superfluous object hierarchy to solve a simple problem, as most people I interview seem to these days.
I'd also give extra credit for doing the simple thing. Sometimes that's the best way.
You've got to distinguish between *art appreciation*, and the *art market*. The art market puffs up . Art appreciation shouldn't care about whether it's "really" the original or not. If the two are indisinguishable, then they have the same value. The art market requires authenticity to retain exchange value.
Many artists and art students aren't that bothered about going to museums to look at work except for research purposes. It's people who are in thrall to the market who go on about the object, or "seeing the original" for that transcendental moment in front of the work. Museums are modern churches where sacred objects are worshipped. And worship value = monetary value. And monetary value is based on authenticity.
Having said all that, it seems to me that the idea of copying an artist's style by computer is as ridiculous as the idea of a computer writing a novel.
If a forger could create even a fairly convincing copy of a famous work for a minute fraction of the price, then I'd be all over that. The fun you could have inventing a story about the provenance to tell guests...!
Slashdot Mirror
Politicians sometimes lie to get your vote, the Pope goes to church, and bicycles have two wheels. Seriously, is this article news to anyone?
The Linux v Tanenbaum debate reminds me of the debates I hear at work between those who understand that software is a commercial kludge between conflicting/changing requirements, the limitations of time and abilities of support engineers etc., and those who want to do everything "right", often blowing development budgets, and producing unusable, over-optimised, hard-to-maintain code. I exaggerate the distinction for effect, of course. Linux has built a system, it works and it's used everywhere. Microkernels are all niche, and the benefits are debatable compared to the ubiquity and support for monolithic kernels. That said, I think Tanenbaum is funamentally right. But then I've had to train myself to be more like Linux than Tanenbaum to actually get things done.
Ford
How very dare you! My PhD was in existential motifs in Dukes of Hazzard sub-plots. Those Duke boys never did mean no harm.
"While it's true I'm a fan of Star Wars so my opinion might be biased, I've never found anyone who's outright hated it. " I hated it. Although I'm 30 I first watched IV in the cinema in the late nineties. I was bored by the barely-existent plot, the generally poor acting. Only Ford and Guinness made it worth watching. I would have walked out otherwise.
Trying to eat healthy while on holiday in the US is a real struggle. We tried to cook a spaghetti bolognaise. There was no organic beef, the pasta was horrible and the tomatoes tasteless. It was appalling - it's a wonder Americans get any nutrition at all.
Eating out was little better - huge portions of crap tasteless food, riddled with monosodium glutomate and sugar. Bit like the telly.
The only saving grace was the plentiful and cheap fruit available everywhere, in New York at least.
Conversation between me and an Indian developer: "Do you know FTP?" "Yes." "OK, well, ftp the zip file over to the server." "Ah, I'm sorry, I have studied FTP, I have never used it! Can you show me?"
The above got marked as insightful? Jeez. I wish I could write functional websites in plain old HTML. It would make my life a lot easier. But it's rather like saying: "Why do we bother having event loops? What's wrong with simple old single-threaded programming?"
All those are dependent on AJAX? Wow, I must be really clever, cos I reckon I could do them without.
Erm... that's the past too... have you not studied history?
Why does software take so long to build? I mean, how hard can it be?
"And so I slowly started to realize that mathematics were the underlying principle to everything. Maybe you've seen the motion picture Pi and remember the part where the main character has a revelation that everything can be described by math. In my opinion, he was dead right." As I recall, part of the point of the film pi was that he was dead WRONG, and that not everything can be described by math. Hence he goes mad. Of course everything can be represented by mathematics, but that's not the same as described, in my view, and it's certainly not the same as saying it's the "underlying principle to everything". It's like saying a building is "described" by its architectural drawings. Of course, it is described by it, but not completely.
Didn't Freeman Dyson have a similar idea?
As opposed to the spoken taboo?
He impressed me before I'd even heard of humous, let alone eaten it.
And before you, they understood every transistor, then every valve, then the innards of every valve, then the mathematics behind the theoretical Babbage machine...
I believe you can make copies for private backup purposes only. Which leads me to ask: if I copy a CD I have legally purchased, am I entitled to sell that CD? Or do I have to destroy my backup copy?
Pah! 20000 a nanosecond is medium in my head. And my penis is far bigger than yours, too!
I find I spend most of my days telling graduates to "be stupid".
"Stupid code is good. Stupid code works."
Servers only ever go down because of high traffic? I'm *very* interested in the technology you use.
My mad old grandmother was right. Democracy is overrated.
You can write that and you can't get indenting!? ;-)
It's already a ridiculously artificial question if you can't use loops, so why not hard-code?
I'd give extra credit for not creating a knee-jerk baroque and superfluous object hierarchy to solve a simple problem, as most people I interview seem to these days.
I'd also give extra credit for doing the simple thing. Sometimes that's the best way.
Many artists and art students aren't that bothered about going to museums to look at work except for research purposes. It's people who are in thrall to the market who go on about the object, or "seeing the original" for that transcendental moment in front of the work. Museums are modern churches where sacred objects are worshipped. And worship value = monetary value. And monetary value is based on authenticity.
Having said all that, it seems to me that the idea of copying an artist's style by computer is as ridiculous as the idea of a computer writing a novel.
If a forger could create even a fairly convincing copy of a famous work for a minute fraction of the price, then I'd be all over that. The fun you could have inventing a story about the provenance to tell guests...!