I was watching tv in the company break room (lunch hour) the other day, when a program on MSNBC (I think) was showing Steve Balmer talking about Microsoft.
He said something to the effect of '... my parents said give us a good reason why we need a computer...' . Almost instantly, 3 people in the room said 'Where else would you install anti-virus software'.
Microsoft has a serious image problem right now, and it does not look like its going to get better any time soon.
Not trying to troll or anything, but if coding your apps to the LSB does not gaurantee portability (across distros), what good is the LSB at all? I thought that the central idea behind the LSB was to promote a kind of 'write once, run on any (lsb compliant) distro' idea. But if it is not living upto that standard, how does it expect to garner any repect from app developers?
Is this a problem with the LSB per se., or in the way in which distros are implementing it?
Note, I am asking this simply out of my ignorance about the LSB, that anything else.
Whats wrong with that? Would you rather they make you pay before you download?
For starters they are not insisting that you use their distro, and last I checked Open Source Software is Free as in speech, not free as in beer. Surely you agree that they deserve to be paid for all the efforts that they put into making such a great distro.
Honestly, I think we should be happy in that they let you try their distro before they ask to be paid. I tried the distro one time, but I decided to go with RH instead, hence I did not buy the club membership, but it was good to know that I did not have to buy a membership to find that out.
If you think this is bad you should see the stunts Real uses when you try to download their free player. This is really really tame in comparison.
I used to enjoy working in this profession. Learning new things everyday, dabbling with cutting edge technology.... you all know what I'm talking about.
Now, I am happy I have a job, and thats where it ends. I dont enjoy what I'm doing in my current job, but I know the pickings are rather slim if I leave here, my town not being a IT hub does not help either (and I really dont want to move)
If that's not enough, in the back of my mind, I'm always worried about the next down-sizing, and whether I'm on the radar for that or not.
I am sure this profile is fairly typical for most people working in IT.
I have also read elsewhere that the general impression now is that outsourcing (for software development shops) works best for jobs such as support and QA, and other routine type work, but is not so hot for new development work.
The company I work for is in the process of outsourcing support and QA for older codelines, and those developers are being moved into new development. That way the company saves millions, and they have also protected the area of their core competency... creating software.
I would bet that this describes a rather common mentality among those who advocate file sharing as a "solution" to this problem.
Nowhere in my post did I mention any justification for file sharing, and btw, I dont (and never have) done it.
What I am saying is that suing 14 and 15 year olds is not going to solve the problem, do you think it is? File sharing is wrong period; but price gouging by record labels is only making things worse.
Music labels need to understand that the only way for them to discourage file (copyrighted music) sharing in a meaningful way is to offer people better, legitimate alternatives, not some half assed gimmick like this.
Apple has demonstrated that when you give people the choice to buy music in the form they want, and at a reasonable way, people will buy. There are no gimmicks in their offering, and you simply pay for what you want.
Today, when I walk into a record store and look at the prices of CDs, I usually end up not buying anything at all, not because I cannot afford them, but because I do not think I am getting value for my money. 18 dollar CDs with 2 or 3 songs that I really want, is not a good deal in my book.
Honestly, I dont know that it is time to celebrate yet. This is purely a change in the contract between SCO and their investor, and a very sensible one for the investor.
The only good news I could garner from this all was that the bank has made this investment only to hedge their bets, i.e. they do not have the ulterior motives that a MS or Sun would have. Hopefully it also implies that they may not be willing to pour in more money without a reasonable possibility to recoup their investment.
My guess is that the SCO circus will be in town for a while. Such legal proceedings I imagine, have the potential to drag on forever, and especially so given that it is in SCOs best interest to keep dragging it for as long as they possibly can.
I really appreciate Linus standing up to SCO & company and all that, but honestly, I dont know if it is even worth his time (or anyones time really) to rebut anything coming from that camp.
It is blanantly obvious that SCO is only doing this to make Darl and his buddies as much money as they can, before this issue is finally put to rest (pump and dump anyone?). And there is little or no merit to their claims chatsoever. So given that, is there any merit to grace their blathering with rebuttals?
I appreciate IBM's stance in this whole affair. They have their lawyers do the talking (in the courtrooms), and outside of that they dont bother to comment on it, thereby not providing any more fodder to the scumbags that is SCO.
Over the years, I have really become a Redhat fan, not so much in terms of their products, given that I have not really used their Enterprise Suite, but more in terms of the company itself. Here's why...
They seem to truly believe in the Open Source model. Many companies have paid lip service, tried dial licensing, and so on, but Redhat has stuck to their guns.
They portray a very respectable image for Open Source to the rest of the world.
They have proven beyond a doubt that it is possible to create and run a profitable company with the Open Source model.
I think this company has a great potential, and I hope their culture and values as a company do not change as they grow.
Balmer (to Google): Google, we'd like to buy you
Google: Well thanks, but we're not interested.
Balmer: Think about it, there will be consequences!
Google: Thought about it... still no.
Balmer (to SCO): Darl
Darl (bowing): Yes Master
Balmer: You know what to do, dont you?
Darl (salivating): Yes Master... Yes Yes Yes..... fade
If I were you I'd be more worried about the potential for Identity Theft.
Here's what I would do...
Order a 3 in 1 credit report and check if fraudulent accounts have been opened in her name.
Put a credit alert on her SSN with all 3 credit reporting agencies, make it that much harder for fraudulent accounts to appear on this account.
Sign up for one of those services that notify you whenever there is any change to your credit file. (I use Credit Secure from Amex).
And please people, if you dont shred personal information before you toss it into the garbage, there is no sense it complaining about unethical businesses. Hell, I even shred credit card offers that come in the mail that I did not fill out, call me paranoid.
I was rather exited reading this article until I ran into this paragraph...
Although Brooks considered and even tried to use several open-source alternatives, including GIMP, or GNU Image Manipulation Program (see related story), and Cinepaint (formerly FilmGimp), he said he ran into performance issues with the two programs. Artists also found the open-source programs less intuitive to use than Photoshop.
On the whole I still believe that this is a major win for the Open Source community, and for the Linux and Wine projects in particular, but the above text did leave me pondering. It looks like Linux is getting fairly established as a stable OS, and also as a viable alternative to Microsoft's OSs', but until we have viable replacements to programs in the user space, a part of any Linux adoption policy will always be hostage to Microsoft and its tactics.
Having a team of people telecommuting is not the same as having a team off-shore.
Imagine you have a team of 100 developers working on a fairly large, fairly complex project. Would you have an easier time managing them all in one place, or would you rather each of them tele-commute from a different place, potentially, in all from several different time zones.
I am not claiming that a successful outcome would not be possible with the team telecommuting, (nor am I saying it is), but it is a no-brainer than having your entire team working in one physical location is a lot easier to manage than not.
By outsourcing software development companies are taking a chance, but keep in mind that these companies are amply rewarded in terms of cost savings by doing so. I am sure that there have been more that the occasional failed project from off-shore development, but by and large it is a matter of process, and as more work is sent overseas, the more the development and delivery process is refined, and will soon approach the point where the risk inherent is no more than that of a project being done on-site.
Playing games (i.e. laying foundations for more legislation)
I agree that piracy is a crime and folks who are engaging in it are making it harder for the rest of us, but honestly does the RIAA/MPAA expect that the people engaged in this are going to reform by looking at 30 second commercials?
If these trivial non-issues are the best the MSN team can come up with in terms of an attack on google's search algorithms, I think that the google team really deserves a pact on the back, and confirms that they may have nothing to fear about from MSN's foray into their turf.
Slashdot Mirror
He said something to the effect of ' ... my parents said give us a good reason why we need a computer ...' . Almost instantly, 3 people in the room said 'Where else would you install anti-virus software' .
Microsoft has a serious image problem right now, and it does not look like its going to get better any time soon.
Is this a problem with the LSB per se., or in the way in which distros are implementing it?
Note, I am asking this simply out of my ignorance about the LSB, that anything else.
I have not read the FA, but I do hope they port applications to the LSB rather than just to their distro.
A lot of posters claim to read Slashdot sitting on the can. I imagine that explains the general quality of posts ... chuckles
Hopefully those are the only ones he'll get
http://biz.yahoo.com/fool/040610/1086881820_2.html
For starters they are not insisting that you use their distro, and last I checked Open Source Software is Free as in speech, not free as in beer. Surely you agree that they deserve to be paid for all the efforts that they put into making such a great distro.
Honestly, I think we should be happy in that they let you try their distro before they ask to be paid. I tried the distro one time, but I decided to go with RH instead, hence I did not buy the club membership, but it was good to know that I did not have to buy a membership to find that out.
If you think this is bad you should see the stunts Real uses when you try to download their free player. This is really really tame in comparison.
Now, I am happy I have a job, and thats where it ends. I dont enjoy what I'm doing in my current job, but I know the pickings are rather slim if I leave here, my town not being a IT hub does not help either (and I really dont want to move)
If that's not enough, in the back of my mind, I'm always worried about the next down-sizing, and whether I'm on the radar for that or not.
I am sure this profile is fairly typical for most people working in IT.
9 months later ...
"Mars needs diapers!"
The company I work for is in the process of outsourcing support and QA for older codelines, and those developers are being moved into new development. That way the company saves millions, and they have also protected the area of their core competency ... creating software.
Nowhere in my post did I mention any justification for file sharing, and btw, I dont (and never have) done it.
What I am saying is that suing 14 and 15 year olds is not going to solve the problem, do you think it is? File sharing is wrong period; but price gouging by record labels is only making things worse.
Apple has demonstrated that when you give people the choice to buy music in the form they want, and at a reasonable way, people will buy. There are no gimmicks in their offering, and you simply pay for what you want.
Today, when I walk into a record store and look at the prices of CDs, I usually end up not buying anything at all, not because I cannot afford them, but because I do not think I am getting value for my money. 18 dollar CDs with 2 or 3 songs that I really want, is not a good deal in my book.
I wonder if they'll ever figure it out ... sigh
The only good news I could garner from this all was that the bank has made this investment only to hedge their bets, i.e. they do not have the ulterior motives that a MS or Sun would have. Hopefully it also implies that they may not be willing to pour in more money without a reasonable possibility to recoup their investment.
My guess is that the SCO circus will be in town for a while. Such legal proceedings I imagine, have the potential to drag on forever, and especially so given that it is in SCOs best interest to keep dragging it for as long as they possibly can.
It is blanantly obvious that SCO is only doing this to make Darl and his buddies as much money as they can, before this issue is finally put to rest (pump and dump anyone?). And there is little or no merit to their claims chatsoever. So given that, is there any merit to grace their blathering with rebuttals?
I appreciate IBM's stance in this whole affair. They have their lawyers do the talking (in the courtrooms), and outside of that they dont bother to comment on it, thereby not providing any more fodder to the scumbags that is SCO.
I think this company has a great potential, and I hope their culture and values as a company do not change as they grow.
President Bush To Call For Return To Moon
I agree, he should really return to the moon ... and stay there for gods sake.
Google: Well thanks, but we're not interested.
Balmer: Think about it, there will be consequences!
Google: Thought about it
Balmer (to SCO): Darl ... Yes Yes Yes ..... fade
Darl (bowing): Yes Master
Balmer: You know what to do, dont you?
Darl (salivating): Yes Master
Here's what I would do ...
- Order a 3 in 1 credit report and check if fraudulent accounts have been opened in her name.
- Put a credit alert on her SSN with all 3 credit reporting agencies, make it that much harder for fraudulent accounts to appear on this account.
- Sign up for one of those services that notify you whenever there is any change to your credit file. (I use Credit Secure from Amex).
And please people, if you dont shred personal information before you toss it into the garbage, there is no sense it complaining about unethical businesses. Hell, I even shred credit card offers that come in the mail that I did not fill out, call me paranoid.Well, my 2c worth.
I suppose this is the Embrace part of the Embrace and Extend campaign.
First SCO, now this? Makes me wonder what's special about this place!!!
Although Brooks considered and even tried to use several open-source alternatives, including GIMP, or GNU Image Manipulation Program (see related story), and Cinepaint (formerly FilmGimp), he said he ran into performance issues with the two programs. Artists also found the open-source programs less intuitive to use than Photoshop.
On the whole I still believe that this is a major win for the Open Source community, and for the Linux and Wine projects in particular, but the above text did leave me pondering. It looks like Linux is getting fairly established as a stable OS, and also as a viable alternative to Microsoft's OSs', but until we have viable replacements to programs in the user space, a part of any Linux adoption policy will always be hostage to Microsoft and its tactics.Imagine you have a team of 100 developers working on a fairly large, fairly complex project. Would you have an easier time managing them all in one place, or would you rather each of them tele-commute from a different place, potentially, in all from several different time zones.
I am not claiming that a successful outcome would not be possible with the team telecommuting, (nor am I saying it is), but it is a no-brainer than having your entire team working in one physical location is a lot easier to manage than not.
By outsourcing software development companies are taking a chance, but keep in mind that these companies are amply rewarded in terms of cost savings by doing so. I am sure that there have been more that the occasional failed project from off-shore development, but by and large it is a matter of process, and as more work is sent overseas, the more the development and delivery process is refined, and will soon approach the point where the risk inherent is no more than that of a project being done on-site.
- Just not getting it
- Delusional
- Playing games (i.e. laying foundations for more legislation)
I agree that piracy is a crime and folks who are engaging in it are making it harder for the rest of us, but honestly does the RIAA/MPAA expect that the people engaged in this are going to reform by looking at 30 second commercials?If these trivial non-issues are the best the MSN team can come up with in terms of an attack on google's search algorithms, I think that the google team really deserves a pact on the back, and confirms that they may have nothing to fear about from MSN's foray into their turf.