It isn't hard... if you're running Debian "sid" (unstable). The vlc package is not currently available for the testing or stable distributions, due to an issue with the FreeType library. I dunno about most Debian users, but I have stable on my servers, testing on my workstations, and unstable on a couple of experimental boxes. Not ideal for using vlc.
To be fair, the lib issue isn't really vlc's fault, and is also a problem for some other Debian packages. They're working to get it resolved, after which it will again become possible to do an aptitude install on it. As long as there are no conflicts with anything else you may have installed.
I've been in the software biz for a long time, and I've come to believe that the salient point is not what the "next big new thing" is in software development methodologies, but that there always is a next big new thing, every few years. To me, this means they haven't found one yet, at least one that works. Oh sure, most of them have contributed some new ideas and some benefits, but all fall short of the elusive goal, and more importantly, of their own promises.
Here's the way I envisioned it: A software manager and a hardware manager are playing golf. The HW manager says, "Man, my shop just started using CAD/CAM/CAE, and our productivity went up by a factor of three, and our error rate went down by the same amount!" The SW manager says, "Man, I gotta get me some of that."
The first time I heard about it, it was called CASE, for Computer-Aided Software Engineering. It had some interesting ideas, but wasn't the silver bullet for software development that CAD/CAM was for hardware.
And with CASE, as with every other silver-bullet attempt they've made since then, a flock of entrepreneurs showed up with products to hawk, promising to fix all the software manager's woes. I can't remember all the products and methodologies that have been foisted onto me by eager but underinformed managers, but they have been legion. Logiscope, CMM, Six Sigma, XP... I've tried to block them from my memory. This Scrum sounds interesting, though as you and others are pointing out, not shockingly novel. But by the time it gets filtered through my company's Bogosity Injector, it'll be an embarrassment.
So why is that? Why haven't software developers gotten the same sort of help from automation and rigorous methodology that hardware designers have gotten? Here's where I lose my score: Because software is hard. It is, in many important ways, more difficult than hardware design. I believe that software design and development is the single most complex and difficult human endeavor ever undertaken. (Of course, as a programmer, I would think that, now wouldn't I?)
Bah, biffed my preview. Was trying to post a link to the Wikipedia page on the loss of the Ariane V's first test flight. The full accident report and analysis is out there somewhere, too, though I couldn't find it in Slashdot-relative time.
I believe what he was referring to was the loss of the very first Ariane V, mostly due to a lack of proper engineering review of re-used software. There are several discussions of it on the web.
I'm not sure how to respond to the "no-brainer" label. My development team just migrated our company's production software development platform from a network of aging HP-UX machines (which served us quite well in their day, don't get me wrong) to a Linux network. The new development tools run 20 times faster (that's the actual figure, not hyperbole), our experience over the past two years is that the Linux network is much more reliable, and the server hardware is simply an increment onto
their existing Windows server lease and support contracts, not a whole separate costly item like the HP's were. I don't know the exact dollar figure it'll save them every year, but I know it's major. For us, the developers, it was definitely a no-brainer.
But management fought us kicking and screaming every step of the way. They weren't really sure what they wanted, they just knew they didn't really want Linux. After repeated patient, detailed explanations of the cost savings and productivity benefits were met with skepticism and outright disbelief, we finally had to create an extensive Six Sigma analysis of the business and technical case for our choice. I can't fault them for wanting that, but once they got it, they seemed rather sorry they'd asked, because it supported every word we'd already said. For them, it was far from a no-brainer.
Now, how they were using their brains, I cannot say. To us, it looked like a child screaming about getting a vital vaccination. But despite their grumbling and repeated shots of the stink-eye our way, they now have their new system in place and it works great. The other developers love what they see.
Of course, our whole team is being laid off and all development is moving to India, but that's beside the point. (That was in the works long before we were even condsidering the migration. Honest!)
Actually, the majority of the country did not choose him. The first time, not even the majority of voters chose him. But even in '04, if you count up the number of voters who selected him, it's nowhere near "the majority of this country."
I suppose it's possible to argue that people who don't vote don't deserve to be considered. I would not so argue.
Keep in mind, that they are not superior competitors. They are simply lower-costs competitors.
Note that I didn't say they were superior programmers, but being lower-cost makes them more competitive (in the eyes of management) so they are, in fact, superior competitors in today's environment. Else management wouldn't be using them. Short-sighted our managers may be, and totally lacking in compassion or loyalty except for themselves, but stupid they ain't.
The jobs disappearing from EU were preceeded by US layoffs some time ago. And it is not just IBM, but I think that many here know that already.
You got that right. I work for, um, another large US company, and the day before yesterday, in fact, a full 50% of the developers in my group were laid off. Some have until the end of June (that is, next week), some until the end of October, to pack up their desks. Oh, and while they're still around, their primary job will be to "assist in the transition" of their own jobs to India. The Indians have already sent a contingent who are busy swarming around the lab, calling dibs on the nicer pieces of equipment, big job-eating grins on their faces. My guess is, I won't last past the end of the year--we've already been told that 90% of our development work will be going to India.
And to all those people who think they're protected because their skills are so irreplacable, well, good luck to you. The people who were laid off this week cumulatively represent about 100 years' worth of experience in a very obscure proprietary software system. No way are they going to be replaced. Supplanted, maybe, but not really replaced.
Curious thing happened during the layoff meeting... one of the young HR gals who was there to "answer questions" (even though they seemed to know less about the layoff than we already did) saw one of my buddies packing up his MP3 player, and she just about had a fit. "What's that? Is that a recording device?!" He assured her it was not, but she grilled him for several minutes before letting him go. WTF? We haven't ever been told not to talk about it, so I'm not sure what she was on about.
No, I don't fault the Indians for being superior competitors at this moment in time, at least in the eyes of corporate management. More power to them, I say. But please don't try to tell me not to be somewhat agitated about losing my job, mmkay?
Combine the Internet hunting stand idea with National Geographic's "CritterCam": Allow only live hunters into the area. Trap deer, fit them with something like a steadicam rig that includes a camera and a wifi-controlled gun, release them into the hunting area, and let them shoot back.
Nice thing is that Spike TV shows 2 reruns back to back at 7 each night.
Yeah, I was delighted to find the old CSI re-runs on Spike, but when they started running that stupid "Spike at 9" ad three times between every commercial, I decided I would wait for the DVD box set or something. I find those bottom-of-the-screen animated in-show promos to be an abomination.
But then, I hate it when DJ's talk over the top and bottom of songs, too. I think that officially makes me a Crankylosaurus.
And what magic plan do you have to "come down slowly"? We'd love to hear it.
I have no plan, magic or otherwise, based on current technology. Aerobraking is the way to go these days, as I noted in my original post. But given enough thrust, you can choose your re-entry velocity. We just don't have enough right now, so we aerobrake.
Once you are in orbit, reentry becomes a serious problem because of atmospheric friction.... it would need to be coated with refractory material like the space shuttle, or an ablative shield, like the Apollo, Soyuz and other disposable craft.
Only if one chooses (or is forced) to use aerobraking, like past spacecraft have. If you come down slowly, you could do it in linen and bamboo.
Admittedly, with today's propulsion systems, aerobraking is pretty much the only way to slow down. But the heating (which I think is due more to compression than friction) isn't an automatic part of re-entry. The rest of your comments were spot-on, I'd say.
Glad to see others out there tend to think of the IRTC in conjuction with ray tracing!
One thing we both forgot to mention was that many of the IRTC entries (which now comprise both stills and animations) include the "source code" (scene description files) used to create the images, so it's a great place to learn by example, if that's your bag. I remember once looking at one of the winning entries and being so amazed at it that I was somewhat doubtful that it could be rendered directly in POV-Ray. Luckily, the artist included the complete source, and after a few hours, I was looking at the same image as rendered on my own box. Quite the confirmation, I'd say, and gave me a renewed appreciation for the power of this free tool.
I'd like to thank all the artists who take the step of including their source--it's an immeasurable help to those of us who are trying so hard to stand on their shoulders.
No discussion of the excellent POV-Ray renderer would be complete without a mention of The Internet Ray-Tracing Competition, which is graciously sponsored by a member of the POV-Ray team. While POV-Ray would certainly exist without the IRTC, it is questionable whether the reverse is true.
On a personal note, I'd like to echo all of the positive comments about POV-Ray. Around 1988, I began writing my own ray-tracer, in Modula-2 of all things. But then I ran across POV-Ray on a BBS, and realized that I'd spend the rest of my life eating their dust and sniffing their butt fumes, so I dropped mine and have never regretted it. POV-Ray stands out among its kin--not perfect by any means, but excellent nevertheless.
Okay, mach 9 or no mach 9, staring at the ass-end of an SUV is boring even at six minutes. That settles it for me--no more long-distance travel until they perfect matter transporters.
I want to hear songs I like more, more often, and songs I like less, less often.
Back when I was a young stoner, some time in the late Cenozoic Era, I envisioned exactly this, implemented in the form of a... player, I guess you'd call it, with "+" and "-" buttons on it. I imagined it in my car, in place of my little Craig radio/cassette player.
Hit the "+" button, and that song's weight would be increased, making it incrementally more likely to be selected in the future. And conversely for "-", though I never did decide whether the "-" button should stop the current song and move on to the next one immediately or not.
And as time went along, of course the interface got more complicated: I realized I'd probably want a "SUCKS!!" button, that essentially said, "If I ever hear this song again, homicide will ensue," and would set the weight to negative infinity. And a "Later" button, that would skip to the next song without decrementing this song's weight, cuz I just ain't in the mood for that particular one right now. Obviously, the "-" and "Later" buttons could be hit in sequence, to create the decrement-and-move-on function I mentioned above, but maybe having that combination in a separate button would be nice. And there'd have to be some sort of limit on the "+" button, for those times when I was really stoned and thought that, say, Weird Al's "Everything You Know is Wrong" is the best goddamned song in the universe and spent its entire playtime wailing on the "+" button, only to realize tomorrow that,
while it's a funny song, it's not that freakin' good. And... but you see where this is going: configuration, which means software.
A few years ago, I actually tried implementing something like it in Tk/Perl, and it sorta worked, but it wasn't quite the thrill I had imagined. Probably wasn't stoned enough, or maybe I biffed the weighted random selection algorithm. Mostly, I think it was because I didn't have enough songs to choose from.
One thing this would require to work as I'd envisioned is access to a huge buttload of songs. But having access to all the world's music there at the dashboard of my car isn't a great leap to make when you're young and stoned. Nowadays, the technology is catching up to my vision, so maybe I'll haul that Perl script back out and whack on it some more.
MS got to be market dominant (which is NOT a true monopoly) by making genuinely good programs.
This whole post is such a load of karkfum that I hardly know where to begin. Let me just address the most egregious point:
Microsoft became a monopoly (yes, they are--check the legal definition) through enforced pre-loads, period. Every single bit of their success has descended from that.
I need to calm down before I can deal with more of your... post.
Re:Wrong state, you insensitive clod!
on
A Babe in Tuxland
·
· Score: 1
On behalf of the entire state of Arkansas, you are cordially invited to bite our shiny razorback asses, you insensitive Show-Me clod!
Few things piss off a herd of geeks like four long prefatory paragraphs intended to prove that "I know whereof I speak."
Unless they're followed by a huge pile of misguided bafflegab, and are embedded in a miasma of condescension and arrogance.
Oh, and FYI... "why else would we be in this game if not to win it at all costs". Here's where you need to go back to school, young fella. We're in this game because we love the game. Winning, yeah, that's cool too. But "at all costs"? Sorry, that's Microsoft's game, and homey don't play dat.
Actually, I have regular (almost daily) conversations with mainland Chinese Esperantists, in Esperanto of course. Not to mention Vietnamese, Koreans, Iranians, and people from other locales whose viewpoints I don't "normally" get to hear about here in the USA.
Now, for all I know, they are all military intelligence officers, monitoring 'net usage. For all I know, they could be working for the U. S. military. But they sure sound like they are legit.
Se oni jam parolas la lingvon, iru al Karelia au alia babilejo en GEIB.
If you don't already speak La Lingvo Internacia, check out any of ELNA, eo.org, UEA, or just Google for "Esperanto". Be prepared for a lot of hits nowadays.
Slashdot Mirror
It isn't hard ... if you're running Debian "sid" (unstable). The vlc package is not currently available for the testing or stable distributions, due to an issue with the FreeType library. I dunno about most Debian users, but I have stable on my servers, testing on my workstations, and unstable on a couple of experimental boxes. Not ideal for using vlc.
To be fair, the lib issue isn't really vlc's fault, and is also a problem for some other Debian packages. They're working to get it resolved, after which it will again become possible to do an aptitude install on it. As long as there are no conflicts with anything else you may have installed.
I've been in the software biz for a long time, and I've come to believe that the salient point is not what the "next big new thing" is in software development methodologies, but that there always is a next big new thing, every few years. To me, this means they haven't found one yet, at least one that works. Oh sure, most of them have contributed some new ideas and some benefits, but all fall short of the elusive goal, and more importantly, of their own promises.
Here's the way I envisioned it: A software manager and a hardware manager are playing golf. The HW manager says, "Man, my shop just started using CAD/CAM/CAE, and our productivity went up by a factor of three, and our error rate went down by the same amount!" The SW manager says, "Man, I gotta get me some of that."
The first time I heard about it, it was called CASE, for Computer-Aided Software Engineering. It had some interesting ideas, but wasn't the silver bullet for software development that CAD/CAM was for hardware.
And with CASE, as with every other silver-bullet attempt they've made since then, a flock of entrepreneurs showed up with products to hawk, promising to fix all the software manager's woes. I can't remember all the products and methodologies that have been foisted onto me by eager but underinformed managers, but they have been legion. Logiscope, CMM, Six Sigma, XP ... I've tried to block them from my memory. This Scrum sounds interesting, though as you and others are pointing out, not shockingly novel. But by the time it gets filtered through my company's Bogosity Injector, it'll be an embarrassment.
So why is that? Why haven't software developers gotten the same sort of help from automation and rigorous methodology that hardware designers have gotten? Here's where I lose my score: Because software is hard. It is, in many important ways, more difficult than hardware design. I believe that software design and development is the single most complex and difficult human endeavor ever undertaken. (Of course, as a programmer, I would think that, now wouldn't I?)
Let the flames begin!
Bah, biffed my preview. Was trying to post a link to the Wikipedia page on the loss of the Ariane V's first test flight. The full accident report and analysis is out there somewhere, too, though I couldn't find it in Slashdot-relative time.
I believe what he was referring to was the loss of the very first Ariane V, mostly due to a lack of proper engineering review of re-used software. There are several discussions of it on the web.
I'm not sure how to respond to the "no-brainer" label. My development team just migrated our company's production software development platform from a network of aging HP-UX machines (which served us quite well in their day, don't get me wrong) to a Linux network. The new development tools run 20 times faster (that's the actual figure, not hyperbole), our experience over the past two years is that the Linux network is much more reliable, and the server hardware is simply an increment onto their existing Windows server lease and support contracts, not a whole separate costly item like the HP's were. I don't know the exact dollar figure it'll save them every year, but I know it's major. For us, the developers, it was definitely a no-brainer.
But management fought us kicking and screaming every step of the way. They weren't really sure what they wanted, they just knew they didn't really want Linux. After repeated patient, detailed explanations of the cost savings and productivity benefits were met with skepticism and outright disbelief, we finally had to create an extensive Six Sigma analysis of the business and technical case for our choice. I can't fault them for wanting that, but once they got it, they seemed rather sorry they'd asked, because it supported every word we'd already said. For them, it was far from a no-brainer.
Now, how they were using their brains, I cannot say. To us, it looked like a child screaming about getting a vital vaccination. But despite their grumbling and repeated shots of the stink-eye our way, they now have their new system in place and it works great. The other developers love what they see.
Of course, our whole team is being laid off and all development is moving to India, but that's beside the point. (That was in the works long before we were even condsidering the migration. Honest!)
The majority of this country chose [Bush] ...
Actually, the majority of the country did not choose him. The first time, not even the majority of voters chose him. But even in '04, if you count up the number of voters who selected him, it's nowhere near "the majority of this country."
I suppose it's possible to argue that people who don't vote don't deserve to be considered. I would not so argue.
If Bush gets his 2 replacements, we could be fucked.
We could be fucked? Um, I guess that pain already emanating from my backside is just a particularly severe case of 'roids, eh?
Keep in mind, that they are not superior competitors. They are simply lower-costs competitors.
Note that I didn't say they were superior programmers, but being lower-cost makes them more competitive (in the eyes of management) so they are, in fact, superior competitors in today's environment. Else management wouldn't be using them. Short-sighted our managers may be, and totally lacking in compassion or loyalty except for themselves, but stupid they ain't.
The jobs disappearing from EU were preceeded by US layoffs some time ago. And it is not just IBM, but I think that many here know that already.
You got that right. I work for, um, another large US company, and the day before yesterday, in fact, a full 50% of the developers in my group were laid off. Some have until the end of June (that is, next week), some until the end of October, to pack up their desks. Oh, and while they're still around, their primary job will be to "assist in the transition" of their own jobs to India. The Indians have already sent a contingent who are busy swarming around the lab, calling dibs on the nicer pieces of equipment, big job-eating grins on their faces. My guess is, I won't last past the end of the year--we've already been told that 90% of our development work will be going to India.
And to all those people who think they're protected because their skills are so irreplacable, well, good luck to you. The people who were laid off this week cumulatively represent about 100 years' worth of experience in a very obscure proprietary software system. No way are they going to be replaced. Supplanted, maybe, but not really replaced.
Curious thing happened during the layoff meeting ... one of the young HR gals who was there to "answer questions" (even though they seemed to know less about the layoff than we already did) saw one of my buddies packing up his MP3 player, and she just about had a fit. "What's that? Is that a recording device?!" He assured her it was not, but she grilled him for several minutes before letting him go. WTF? We haven't ever been told not to talk about it, so I'm not sure what she was on about.
No, I don't fault the Indians for being superior competitors at this moment in time, at least in the eyes of corporate management. More power to them, I say. But please don't try to tell me not to be somewhat agitated about losing my job, mmkay?
Let's turn this on its head.
Combine the Internet hunting stand idea with National Geographic's "CritterCam": Allow only live hunters into the area. Trap deer, fit them with something like a steadicam rig that includes a camera and a wifi-controlled gun, release them into the hunting area, and let them shoot back.
Now that would be sporting!
Nice thing is that Spike TV shows 2 reruns back to back at 7 each night.
Yeah, I was delighted to find the old CSI re-runs on Spike, but when they started running that stupid "Spike at 9" ad three times between every commercial, I decided I would wait for the DVD box set or something. I find those bottom-of-the-screen animated in-show promos to be an abomination.
But then, I hate it when DJ's talk over the top and bottom of songs, too. I think that officially makes me a Crankylosaurus.
And what magic plan do you have to "come down slowly"? We'd love to hear it.
I have no plan, magic or otherwise, based on current technology. Aerobraking is the way to go these days, as I noted in my original post. But given enough thrust, you can choose your re-entry velocity. We just don't have enough right now, so we aerobrake.
Once you are in orbit, reentry becomes a serious problem because of atmospheric friction. ... it would need to be coated with refractory material like the space shuttle, or an ablative shield, like the Apollo, Soyuz and other disposable craft.
Only if one chooses (or is forced) to use aerobraking, like past spacecraft have. If you come down slowly, you could do it in linen and bamboo.
Admittedly, with today's propulsion systems, aerobraking is pretty much the only way to slow down. But the heating (which I think is due more to compression than friction) isn't an automatic part of re-entry. The rest of your comments were spot-on, I'd say.
Glad to see others out there tend to think of the IRTC in conjuction with ray tracing!
One thing we both forgot to mention was that many of the IRTC entries (which now comprise both stills and animations) include the "source code" (scene description files) used to create the images, so it's a great place to learn by example, if that's your bag. I remember once looking at one of the winning entries and being so amazed at it that I was somewhat doubtful that it could be rendered directly in POV-Ray. Luckily, the artist included the complete source, and after a few hours, I was looking at the same image as rendered on my own box. Quite the confirmation, I'd say, and gave me a renewed appreciation for the power of this free tool.
I'd like to thank all the artists who take the step of including their source--it's an immeasurable help to those of us who are trying so hard to stand on their shoulders.
No discussion of the excellent POV-Ray renderer would be complete without a mention of The Internet Ray-Tracing Competition, which is graciously sponsored by a member of the POV-Ray team. While POV-Ray would certainly exist without the IRTC, it is questionable whether the reverse is true.
On a personal note, I'd like to echo all of the positive comments about POV-Ray. Around 1988, I began writing my own ray-tracer, in Modula-2 of all things. But then I ran across POV-Ray on a BBS, and realized that I'd spend the rest of my life eating their dust and sniffing their butt fumes, so I dropped mine and have never regretted it. POV-Ray stands out among its kin--not perfect by any means, but excellent nevertheless.
I saw that freakin' gecko doing the robot on TV the other day. Little bastid seems to be everywhere these days, let him fix the Hubble.
Okay, mach 9 or no mach 9, staring at the ass-end of an SUV is boring even at six minutes. That settles it for me--no more long-distance travel until they perfect matter transporters.
I want to hear songs I like more, more often, and songs I like less, less often.
Back when I was a young stoner, some time in the late Cenozoic Era, I envisioned exactly this, implemented in the form of a ... player, I guess you'd call it, with "+" and "-" buttons on it. I imagined it in my car, in place of my little Craig radio/cassette player.
Hit the "+" button, and that song's weight would be increased, making it incrementally more likely to be selected in the future. And conversely for "-", though I never did decide whether the "-" button should stop the current song and move on to the next one immediately or not.
And as time went along, of course the interface got more complicated: I realized I'd probably want a "SUCKS!!" button, that essentially said, "If I ever hear this song again, homicide will ensue," and would set the weight to negative infinity. And a "Later" button, that would skip to the next song without decrementing this song's weight, cuz I just ain't in the mood for that particular one right now. Obviously, the "-" and "Later" buttons could be hit in sequence, to create the decrement-and-move-on function I mentioned above, but maybe having that combination in a separate button would be nice. And there'd have to be some sort of limit on the "+" button, for those times when I was really stoned and thought that, say, Weird Al's "Everything You Know is Wrong" is the best goddamned song in the universe and spent its entire playtime wailing on the "+" button, only to realize tomorrow that, while it's a funny song, it's not that freakin' good. And ... but you see where this is going: configuration, which means software.
A few years ago, I actually tried implementing something like it in Tk/Perl, and it sorta worked, but it wasn't quite the thrill I had imagined. Probably wasn't stoned enough, or maybe I biffed the weighted random selection algorithm. Mostly, I think it was because I didn't have enough songs to choose from.
One thing this would require to work as I'd envisioned is access to a huge buttload of songs. But having access to all the world's music there at the dashboard of my car isn't a great leap to make when you're young and stoned. Nowadays, the technology is catching up to my vision, so maybe I'll haul that Perl script back out and whack on it some more.
MS got to be market dominant (which is NOT a true monopoly) by making genuinely good programs.
This whole post is such a load of karkfum that I hardly know where to begin. Let me just address the most egregious point:
Microsoft became a monopoly (yes, they are--check the legal definition) through enforced pre-loads, period. Every single bit of their success has descended from that.
I need to calm down before I can deal with more of your ... post.
On behalf of the entire state of Arkansas, you are cordially invited to bite our shiny razorback asses, you insensitive Show-Me clod!
Few things piss off a herd of geeks like four long prefatory paragraphs intended to prove that "I know whereof I speak."
Unless they're followed by a huge pile of misguided bafflegab, and are embedded in a miasma of condescension and arrogance.
Oh, and FYI ... "why else would we be in this game if not to win it at all costs". Here's where you need to go back to school, young fella. We're in this game because we love the game. Winning, yeah, that's cool too. But "at all costs"? Sorry, that's Microsoft's game, and homey don't play dat.
Too cold in Alaska...risk of hyopthermia too high.
And don't forget about bird flu. So Montana is right out as well.
We debated this for 5 minutes, no fooling.
Only five minutes? Clearly the weed was better back in the 80's, if nothing else.
I guess Hunter S. Thompson was right after all: When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Actually, I have regular (almost daily) conversations with mainland Chinese Esperantists, in Esperanto of course. Not to mention Vietnamese, Koreans, Iranians, and people from other locales whose viewpoints I don't "normally" get to hear about here in the USA.
Now, for all I know, they are all military intelligence officers, monitoring 'net usage. For all I know, they could be working for the U. S. military. But they sure sound like they are legit.
Se oni jam parolas la lingvon, iru al Karelia au alia babilejo en GEIB.
If you don't already speak La Lingvo Internacia, check out any of ELNA, eo.org, UEA, or just Google for "Esperanto". Be prepared for a lot of hits nowadays.