Quoting the article, "...companies have turned to Linux and other open-source software programs, seeing them as cheap but adequate alternatives." I think that this quote paints only a half-truth, and I also think that this quote does not do justice to a lot of the open source developers out there. Some companies may view certain pieces of open source software as "cheap but adequate," but I think many view them as technically superior. As a user, I turned to Linux because it allowed me to do many things that Windows did not. And as a developer, I don't try to produce only "adequate" software. I try to produce the best software possible.:-)
How cowardly of SCO to go after the little guys. I say we show our support by starting up a modest (but sincere) IBM defense fund. I'm willing to put in 5-10 dollars.
For those who do not know about the Poincare Conjecture, copied from http://www.claymath.org/Millennium_Prize_Problems/ Poincare_Conjecture/
If we stretch a rubber band around the surface of an apple, then we can shrink it down to a point by moving it slowly, without tearing it and without allowing it to leave the surface. On the other hand, if we imagine that the same rubber band has somehow been stretched in the appropriate direction around a doughnut, then there is no way of shrinking it to a point without breaking either the rubber band or the doughnut. We say the surface of the apple is "simply connected," but that the surface of the doughnut is not. Poincaré, almost a hundred years ago, knew that a two dimensional sphere is essentially characterized by this property of simple connectivity, and asked the corresponding question for the three dimensional sphere (the set of points in four dimensional space at unit distance from the origin). This question turned out to be extraordinarily difficult, and mathematicians have been struggling with it ever since.
Paraphrased from the FAQ on beowulf.org, a beowulf cluster is a "kind of high-performance massively parallel computer built primarily out of commodity hardware components, running a free-software operating system like Linux or FreeBSD, interconnected by a private high-speed network." These 32 processor machines are single machines, and not nodes connected by a network. Definitionally, these machines are not Beowulf clusters.
First of all, these stats that you cite were generated only from a sample that uses the Alexa Toolbar. This may not be a truly representative sample. Secondly, this battle between Yahoo and Google is regarding internet searches, not email, online games, chat, etc. Yahoo offers all of these extra services, and Google offers none. Much of the traffic which puts Yahoo at #1 on this list could be for these extra services.
If Yahoo succeeds in its goal, Google will finally have some real competition, for the first time. This will only mean better search engines for us. Good luck to Yahoo.
And good luck to Google.:-)
I respect that our loosely-knit community supports the efforts of newbies, but personally (as a developer), I have nothing to say to the author of this article. I develop as a hobby. I write programs that I could use. If you can use my code, it makes me happy. But if my code for any reason does not meet your requirements, I request that you move along.
I do not get paid for my work. And I have no obligation to meet your needs, or to even share my code.
I think that technology is a rather amoral/aphilosophical topic. Having said that, technology is very good at testing your moral/philosophical standing, by obscuring very basic issues like:
1) What is information? 2) What is property? 3) What is ownership?
Good answers to these questions will require no modification, no matter how technology advances. Bad answers (like the US government's answers) are dated, because they are based on a concept (specifically, ownership of material things) which can grow obsolete, as technology marches on.
Slashdot Mirror
Quoting the article, "...companies have turned to Linux and other open-source software programs, seeing them as cheap but adequate alternatives." I think that this quote paints only a half-truth, and I also think that this quote does not do justice to a lot of the open source developers out there. Some companies may view certain pieces of open source software as "cheap but adequate," but I think many view them as technically superior. As a user, I turned to Linux because it allowed me to do many things that Windows did not. And as a developer, I don't try to produce only "adequate" software. I try to produce the best software possible. :-)
How cowardly of SCO to go after the little guys. I say we show our support by starting up a modest (but sincere) IBM defense fund. I'm willing to put in 5-10 dollars.
what a bloated piece of crap Mosaic would sadly become, they might have abandoned the project as well. Microsoft stole Mosaic.
Apples (Fruits, Not Computers) Versus Orangutangs: Which Makes The Better Webserver?
For those who do not know about the Poincare Conjecture, copied from http://www.claymath.org/Millennium_Prize_Problems/ Poincare_Conjecture/
If we stretch a rubber band around the surface of an apple, then we can shrink it down to a point by moving it slowly, without tearing it and without allowing it to leave the surface. On the other hand, if we imagine that the same rubber band has somehow been stretched in the appropriate direction around a doughnut, then there is no way of shrinking it to a point without breaking either the rubber band or the doughnut. We say the surface of the apple is "simply connected," but that the surface of the doughnut is not. Poincaré, almost a hundred years ago, knew that a two dimensional sphere is essentially characterized by this property of simple connectivity, and asked the corresponding question for the three dimensional sphere (the set of points in four dimensional space at unit distance from the origin). This question turned out to be extraordinarily difficult, and mathematicians have been struggling with it ever since.
No joke. At least those damn AOL floppies could be overwritten and put to use. AOL could have the decency to spam with CD-RW discs.
Paraphrased from the FAQ on beowulf.org, a beowulf cluster is a "kind of high-performance massively parallel computer built primarily out of commodity hardware components, running a free-software operating system like Linux or FreeBSD, interconnected by a private high-speed network." These 32 processor machines are single machines, and not nodes connected by a network. Definitionally, these machines are not Beowulf clusters.
First of all, these stats that you cite were generated only from a sample that uses the Alexa Toolbar. This may not be a truly representative sample. Secondly, this battle between Yahoo and Google is regarding internet searches, not email, online games, chat, etc. Yahoo offers all of these extra services, and Google offers none. Much of the traffic which puts Yahoo at #1 on this list could be for these extra services.
If Yahoo succeeds in its goal, Google will finally have some real competition, for the first time. This will only mean better search engines for us. Good luck to Yahoo. And good luck to Google. :-)
Paraphrased from opensource.org:
When MICROS~1 brings you flowers, they're likely to end up decorating your grave.
I respect that our loosely-knit community supports the efforts of newbies, but personally (as a developer), I have nothing to say to the author of this article. I develop as a hobby. I write programs that I could use. If you can use my code, it makes me happy. But if my code for any reason does not meet your requirements, I request that you move along.
I do not get paid for my work. And I have no obligation to meet your needs, or to even share my code.
I think that technology is a rather amoral/aphilosophical topic. Having said that, technology is very good at testing your moral/philosophical standing, by obscuring very basic issues like:
1) What is information?
2) What is property?
3) What is ownership?
Good answers to these questions will require no modification, no matter how technology advances. Bad answers (like the US government's answers) are dated, because they are based on a concept (specifically, ownership of material things) which can grow obsolete, as technology marches on.
Just a recommendation to keep in mind.