The point, however, is that, beyond ethernet cards and a few graphics cards, you arent going to see fast reverse engineering.
Just ask the people trying to reverse engineer the creative drx2. Linux doesn't have many drivers for multimedia products -- and probably never will until there is an actual market for such a thing.
Also, an ethernet card is an ethernet card. No one really gives a ##$# either way. I'm also willing to bet that creating drivers for that type of hardware as such is easy relative to other products. This is probably why drivers have been released for almost every ethernet card there is (not to mention that many use or are derived from the exact same chipsets).
An example of when a company has finally been co-operative and released specs is ATI. They've released specs 6 months ago and the initiative for drivers for their tv product has been moving incredibly slow. May I also mention DVD? How about some types of high end raid? How long has it taken to create drivers for miro cards? Let alone software to even use these specialty products.
Wether it be the amount of time it takes or the fact that no one is willing to put out the effort just yet; The simple fact is that companies are going to try and protect their investment for as long as possible. I think the author is trying to spur some investment in the movement on their part -- since this is often a weekend project for much of the contributing community. Bigger projects just can't be done, and won't be done unless hardware companies release specs and documentation to aid in the development of software and drivers for their products. If the market grows exponentially in the next couple of years, then maybe -- but not now. Not when they have other interests to protect.
Where I work, programmers have couches that turn into beds in their offices. We also have showers, ping pong, pool table, pinball, tv's -- a nice big kitchen and a basketball net outside. If that's not set up for living space, I don't know what is.
@home in redwood city also has a lot of that stuff, but they also have a fun slide too:)
Oh? I'd like to see what creative has to say about that. They still haven't released open source drivers for their sblive.
It's been a while now too -- and we haven't seen any company come out with a very similar product (would likely be diamond).
One example I can give you though is with the Tivo digital VCR thing. I know of a company who has taken looked over their open source drivers and linux distro and included some 'ideas' in their windows computer version of the product -- all made possible by open source:). Lets see, a couple months reverse engineering or 5 minutes reading source code.. I wonder.
He first states that companies should open up their source because there is a larger market -- then threatens that even if they don't, we will reverse engineer your product anyway -- so just give us the goods now.
He also touches upon, but fails to strike down the idea that if everyone has your product specifications, then the competition can clone your cycle even faster.
He makes one good point though. It is that once your device drivers are released in open source, you can expect the community to release bug fixes themselves.
I think the basic question is:
Is the Open Source market large enough for us to even worry about lost customers -- while still worrying about competition cloning our products?
Why segregate yourselves?
on
GEEK Unions?
·
· Score: 1
Just because kids take an interest in computer hardware/networking/programming, doesn't mean that they have to be put apart from others. If you're a geek, and labeled so -- it's because you're not a well rounded person who takes interest in normal teenage pursuits. I myself learned C, perl, php, oracle, sql, sparc and x86 asm, and complex networking in high school. However, that didn't stop me from doing normal things like going on dates, going to movies, listening to music or just hanging out either. Believe me, the american (and other probably) school system leaves so much free time for kids these days you could get a degree in your free time.
I am definitely a geek, and proud to be one. However, it's all in how you present yourself. No one would guess I sometimes code device drivers 19 hours straight over a weekend. If you know you look like one, just change your look.. It can be that simple. New clothes, possibly contacts if you wear glasses, new haircut, even the way you position yourself when you stand can change everyone's view of you.
From there, develop some business skills so that you aren't eventually stuck at the will of those deemed to be "suits". Seriously, all you have to do is look like you're going to succeed and you probably will. I know I've gotten far on that I-know-i've-already-won look.
Unions just suck. period. -- that quote coming from my uncle who just got his ba in union negotiations and has to hide it on his resume:)
In conclusion, you have to make your own success. Don't expect it to come to you. All you need is focus and a little *earned* respect.
anyone else have the problem with both ie4 and 5 where you are scrolling a window (usually a long one) and the computer just freezes? I've had this happen over the years on many computers.. heh
I completely agree. A real world example of this is shaw cable in toronto canada. I was a beta tester since early 1996 -- and access started at almost full 10mbps downlink and 768kbps uplink (no kidding). Anyway, the finally opened the network to everyone else, and over a course of the year they changed the pricing scheme to 39.95 canadian per month, and the monthly subscriber rate exploded. This of course ended in speeds that were 5-10x slower than access was previously. Believe me, the customers were not happy. However, the simple fact that they were not happy with 1-3mbps downlink and 250-400kbps uplink for 39.99 a month is the point. Stable speeds are the way to go. I'd be a lot happier with a set 2mbps downlink and 500kbps uplink with a higher tier QOS than having to worry about going on the internet during prime time where speeds are sometimes extremely slow (relatively of course).
This guy, if I'm not mistaken, is targetting business users? If he is, he MUST go for stable speeds. If it's business users you are looking at, the WILL use the speed. The only situation I see where you can completely oversubscribe bandwidth is when you're dealing with an end consumer. They tend to use far less than their line is capable of on average. I myself average less than 5k/s per day and I would consider myself a pretty heavy user.
However, if you think you can keep up with the subscriber rate, go ahead. All you have to do is segment the network at set peak intervals. You have to think like an amateur psychologist though. Giving more, then providing less in the future isn't a very good thing. People don't like less, they continually want more and more. So in conclusion, give them stable rates, and if they REALLY want more, then charge them more money to get a better QOS on a higher tier.
An example of a wireless internet provider who has completely F***** this up, is www.mipps.net in toronto. They sell full 2mbps full duplex wireless connections but their connection to shaw fiberlink internet is a joke. They also give every customer a linux firewall router box instead of a cisco (running an old 2.0 kernel) which I think is a complete joke.
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The point, however, is that, beyond ethernet cards and a few graphics cards, you arent going to see fast reverse engineering.
Just ask the people trying to reverse engineer the creative drx2. Linux doesn't have many drivers for multimedia products -- and probably never will until there is an actual market for such a thing.
Also, an ethernet card is an ethernet card. No one really gives a ##$# either way. I'm also willing to bet that creating drivers for that type of hardware as such is easy relative to other products. This is probably why drivers have been released for almost every ethernet card there is (not to mention that many use or are derived from the exact same chipsets).
An example of when a company has finally been co-operative and released specs is ATI. They've released specs 6 months ago and the initiative for drivers for their tv product has been moving incredibly slow. May I also mention DVD? How about some types of high end raid? How long has it taken to create drivers for miro cards? Let alone software to even use these specialty products.
Wether it be the amount of time it takes or the fact that no one is willing to put out the effort just yet; The simple fact is that companies are going to try and protect their investment for as long as possible. I think the author is trying to spur some investment in the movement on their part -- since this is often a weekend project for much of the contributing community. Bigger projects just can't be done, and won't be done unless hardware companies release specs and documentation to aid in the development of software and drivers for their products. If the market grows exponentially in the next couple of years, then maybe -- but not now. Not when they have other interests to protect.
Where I work, programmers have couches that turn into beds in their offices. We also have showers, ping pong, pool table, pinball, tv's -- a nice big kitchen and a basketball net outside. If that's not set up for living space, I don't know what is.
:)
:)
@home in redwood city also has a lot of that stuff, but they also have a fun slide too
Programmers sleeping under desks no more
Oh? I'd like to see what creative has to say about that. They still haven't released open source drivers for their sblive.
:). Lets see, a couple months reverse engineering or 5 minutes reading source code.. I wonder.
It's been a while now too -- and we haven't seen any company come out with a very similar product (would likely be diamond).
One example I can give you though is with the Tivo digital VCR thing. I know of a company who has taken looked over their open source drivers and linux distro and included some 'ideas' in their windows computer version of the product -- all made possible by open source
Oh yeah, and why the heck is this person preaching that these drivers should be 'certified'?
He first states that companies should open up their source because there is a larger market -- then threatens that even if they don't, we will reverse engineer your product anyway -- so just give us the goods now.
He also touches upon, but fails to strike down the idea that if everyone has your product specifications, then the competition can clone your cycle even faster.
He makes one good point though. It is that once your device drivers are released in open source, you can expect the community to release bug fixes themselves.
I think the basic question is:
Is the Open Source market large enough for us to even worry about lost customers -- while still worrying about competition cloning our products?
Just because kids take an interest in computer hardware/networking/programming, doesn't mean that they have to be put apart from others. If you're a geek, and labeled so -- it's because you're not a well rounded person who takes interest in normal teenage pursuits. I myself learned C, perl, php, oracle, sql, sparc and x86 asm, and complex networking in high school. However, that didn't stop me from doing normal things like going on dates, going to movies, listening to music or just hanging out either. Believe me, the american (and other probably) school system leaves so much free time for kids these days you could get a degree in your free time.
:)
I am definitely a geek, and proud to be one. However, it's all in how you present yourself. No one would guess I sometimes code device drivers 19 hours straight over a weekend. If you know you look like one, just change your look.. It can be that simple. New clothes, possibly contacts if you wear glasses, new haircut, even the way you position yourself when you stand can change everyone's view of you.
From there, develop some business skills so that you aren't eventually stuck at the will of those deemed to be "suits". Seriously, all you have to do is look like you're going to succeed and you probably will. I know I've gotten far on that I-know-i've-already-won look.
Unions just suck. period. -- that quote coming from my uncle who just got his ba in union negotiations and has to hide it on his resume
In conclusion, you have to make your own success. Don't expect it to come to you. All you need is focus and a little *earned* respect.
anyone else have the problem with both ie4 and 5 where you are scrolling a window (usually a long one) and the computer just freezes? I've had this happen over the years on many computers.. heh
I completely agree. A real world example of this is shaw cable in toronto canada. I was a beta tester since early 1996 -- and access started at almost full 10mbps downlink and 768kbps uplink (no kidding). Anyway, the finally opened the network to everyone else, and over a course of the year they changed the pricing scheme to 39.95 canadian per month, and the monthly subscriber rate exploded. This of course ended in speeds that were 5-10x slower than access was previously. Believe me, the customers were not happy. However, the simple fact that they were not happy with 1-3mbps downlink and 250-400kbps uplink for 39.99 a month is the point. Stable speeds are the way to go. I'd be a lot happier with a set 2mbps downlink and 500kbps uplink with a higher tier QOS than having to worry about going on the internet during prime time where speeds are sometimes extremely slow (relatively of course).
This guy, if I'm not mistaken, is targetting business users? If he is, he MUST go for stable speeds. If it's business users you are looking at, the WILL use the speed. The only situation I see where you can completely oversubscribe bandwidth is when you're dealing with an end consumer. They tend to use far less than their line is capable of on average. I myself average less than 5k/s per day and I would consider myself a pretty heavy user.
However, if you think you can keep up with the subscriber rate, go ahead. All you have to do is segment the network at set peak intervals. You have to think like an amateur psychologist though. Giving more, then providing less in the future isn't a very good thing. People don't like less, they continually want more and more. So in conclusion, give them stable rates, and if they REALLY want more, then charge them more money to get a better QOS on a higher tier.
An example of a wireless internet provider who has completely F***** this up, is www.mipps.net in toronto. They sell full 2mbps full duplex wireless connections but their connection to shaw fiberlink internet is a joke. They also give every customer a linux firewall router box instead of a cisco (running an old 2.0 kernel) which I think is a complete joke.
Whomever says they got it working is a liar.. Vmware forces the use of kernel modules which FreeBSD can't emulate.
:). (Well that and creative labs only released binary sblive drivers)
That's why I'm still using linux on my workstation computer