Re:Dream Job for Linux Sysadmin
on
Dream Jobs of 2004
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· Score: 4, Informative
That's PNNL!
Yes, I know it is pnl.gov. That domain was handed out before it was upgraded to an environmental laboratory. Looking forward to becoming a 'homeland security' laboratory soon (yeah).
I've seen several comments on how 'bullshit' this trend is and bemoaning the lack of choice. To that I can only offer the following:
If you are certain that you are not the only person who wants a vanilla cell phone, then get busy.
1) Write a business plan that outlines your target market, your manufacturing options, how you plan to market your product, and how you would like to finance your venture. 2) Get someone on your team who has had previous experience in the telecommunications industry to join your Board of Directors, or get them to Chair the company. 3) Get your vendors lined up with some good ballpark estimates of your per-unit-costs. This should be done in conjuction with #1, but you will have to constantly negotiate for better prices. 4) Start pitching your business plan to ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN.
That means working hard to get your company off the ground. Don't count on a 40-60 hour week. You will be living this thing for at least five years, pushing 80 hours a week. Things will start getting easier (could be fewer hours, but don't count on it) once the company is running and is selling phones.
Until then, you can only take what your given and like it.
Microsoft Blocks Lindows.com Products in the Netherlands
SAN DIEGO and AMSTERDAM January 30, 2004 -- A judge in the Netherlands today granted Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) a preliminary injunction against desktop Linux vendor Lindows.com Inc., a decision Lindows.com plans to appeal. The ruling will deny the Netherlands the cost-savings that desktop Linux currently offers to approximately 18 million people worldwide, leaving vulnerable and expensive Microsoft software as the only option for computer consumers in the Netherlands.
"It's clear that Microsoft is using their army of hundreds of attorneys and billions of dollars as a battering ram to destroy any company that promotes desktop Linux," said Michael Robertson, chief executive officer of Lindows.com Inc. "They were unsuccessful in the U.S. with this tactic, so now they're resorting to picking countries where they will find a sympathetic court. Today, U.S. customers can purchase computers pre-installed with desktop Linux and are saving millions of dollars when compared with expensive, virus-prone software from Microsoft. This ruling may delay the day when Dutch customers receive those same savings, but I can assure you that we will continue to battle to bring the benefit of choice to the Netherlands. "
Lindows.com will abide by the terms of the ruling, but will appeal the decision that deprives Dutch consumers of the cost-savings that desktop Linux users worldwide have experienced. Lindows.com products have enabled $199 PCs and $699 laptops to be widely available in the United States, where courts twice denied Microsoft's requests for a preliminary injunction against Lindows.com (www.lindows.com/msftdenied). The exclusivity of Microsoft products in the Dutch computer market results in consumers paying inflated prices for vulnerable software.
Despite the March 1, 2004 trial scheduled in the United States, Microsoft has been opening multiple fronts in Europe in an attempt to drain the resources of competitors. The software giant has threatened resellers and brought legal action against Lindows.com in several countries of the European Union, including France, Sweden, and Finland. The moves prompted the launch of ChoicePC, a rallying point for supporters of choice in European countries that was met with overwhelming support (www.lindows.com/choicesuccess).
Details of the continuing litigation between Microsoft and Lindows.com are available at www.lindows.com/opposition. Those interested in attending the March 1, 2004 trial in Seattle, Washington, or in receiving legal updates, should register at www.lindows.com/attend.
Except this power requires the consent of a federal judge, no library records have ever been searched..
Which is why it should be expunged.
If it isn't needed, then why put it in?
The fact remains that our rights were abused far more heinously during the War on Drugs and the term of Janet Reno as AG than they ever were under Ashcroft.
While I agree that the WOD is much more threatening to civil liberties than PATRIOT, why do you support putting more power into the hands of the government when they obviously don't need it (by your own admission, re:librarians)?
Also, the Reno-Ashcroft remark is pure trollbait. I haven't seen Ashcroft sprinting out to repeal any of the WOD provisions, so they stand in full force as they were under Reno. And the laws were passed by the Congress, not the USAG.
If PATRIOT is repealed, it means that that such basic elements as tighter information sharing between federal agencies will be struck down as well.
Good!
Had those protections existed in 2001, the events of September 11 would never have happened.
Your crystal ball is scratched, scuffed, and otherwise translucent.
The fact remains that, despite the passage of PATRIOT, information sharing between agencies remains spotty. And the reason for the lack of exchange is not due to fuzzy-headed liberals blocking the governments efforts. It is due to the time honored tradition of 'empire building' in government agencies.
That behavior will not end with the expansion or the repeal of PATRIOT.
Now that the courts have ruled that a blanket attack on civil rights is not the best approach for securing safety at home, (not to mention promoting democracy abroad) it is just a matter of time before other portions of the Act come under judicial scrutinty.
I know that isn't fast enough for most folks, but the sad history of US legislative activity shows that laws are generally passed faster than they are repealed (unless money is involved).
if convicted of the charges that they suggest are involved.
Sprague (charged): 1) criminal copyright infringement, and 2) illegal interception of a satellite signal
Caridi (may be charged): 1) contributory copyright infringement
While I'm no fan of breaking copyright law (or any law for that matter), what pisses me off is that these two will be sentenced to terms longer than Bill Janklow (R,SD). That fucker will get 100 days for killing someone AND his record will be expunged.
No wonder people have no faith in the judicial system.
Follow the thread backward from your post and I would hope that you would see that everything I spoke about could happen to you.
The point is, Patriot gives the government intrusion rights for the purposes of fighting terrorism. That same tool could be used to investigate you because your boss is politically connected to someone associated with the Justice Department.
In short, the moral *squishiness* exhibited by these individuals underscores the foresight our Founding Fathers had about how much access we should give our government into our personal lives.
The tools used to smash crime and terrorism can be just as easily wielded to smash dissent.
Furthermore, if the files were left in folders on a shared server and not protected then who is at fault?
Try to use that logic if you took those files and weren't a member of the Senate or a staffer. Let's see how long you can remain free from incarceration.
These files were posted on an internal server and, despite what Miranda claims, were there as part of official government business (otherwise you can't store them on government property [i.e., computers])..
"There appears to have been no hacking, no stealing, and no violation of any Senate rule," Miranda said. "Stealing assumes a property right and there is no property right to a government document. . . . These documents are not covered under the Senate disclosure rule because they are not official business and, to the extent they were disclosed, they were disclosed inadvertently by negligent [Democratic] staff."
Translation: "I didn't do it, but even if I did you couldn't prove I did anything wrong."
Now we see the moral *squishiness* of the individuals involved. If these files had been national security documents (government documents) or salary action documents (also government documents), would Miranda still claim that they were open season for anyone who wanted to read them?
Does anyone still believe that the USA Patriot Act will be used exclusively for criminal investigations?
Re:probably best left on the drawing board...
on
2003 Vaporware Awards
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· Score: 5, Funny
the 1st thing on my list would be Diakatana. *shudder*
I was never lucky enough to have played this particular game. I did a web search for the name and came up with this website.
While I agree that everything that a company can do to protect its proprietary interests in discovery, that is not the point.
Even in civil matters, as you note, there is a presumption of innocense. SCO is the accuser; they are going to be compelled to produce their 'evidence' every time they are subpeonaed. So the 'evidence' eventually becomes public knowledge as more of the 'evidence' is presented in every lawsuit that SCO can afford to bring.
Let SCO continue to play out their fantasy with tinfoil hats firmly mounted. Eventually they will be dead broke and won't be able to afford their own caskets.
Yeah, assuming Therapy == some Prozac, a couple of blunts, a few eight-balls, two dozen tabs of 'E', a couple of viagra to keep the juices flowing, and that's just for tonight's "session."
Yeah, I always take my lessons in morality from record execs......
Yes, they were being wankers about it, but all in all, that's ther job.
You're right. I work around government employees all day and most of them are just trying to do their job. But there is a difference in doing your job and using your position or agency as a tool for vengeance or to drive an agenda.
I consider the use of coersion valid if it is used in the interest of public safety or if the person has demonstrated an unusual level of contempt for civil order. That doesn't mean that the police are free to beat the shit out of anyone they like, nor are civil agents right in taking their pound of flesh for every infraction of a regulation, rule, or law.
I don't know the particulars of this case, but the fact that they wouldn't consider a solution that would generate jobs (i.e., raise revenues) smacks of abuse.
Maybe this is the source of the confusion and current litigation between SCO and the rest of organized humanity.
SCO must think this 'freesco' thing is something that the Linux community stole from them and are now distributing without their permission.
We need to let Darl know that this is a huge misunderstanding and that he should stop this madness before his company's reputation is irreversably damaged!
Poor Darl!
Does anyone other than me....
on
SCOrched Earth
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· Score: 4, Insightful
feel that PJ would be an asset to any law firm? Who did Boies hire? The C- paralegal?
Just another example of open source producing world-class professionals.
Of course they will not charge users who make floppies for personal use - yet.
This article points out just one more example of how MS creates 'standards' for the sole purpose of generating future cash flow, not for any technically superior performace gain.
"More customers are telling us that they see interesting aspects to Linux . . . but we're seeing a growing problem due to the growing uncertainty of using GPL-based code in embedded development," says Wind Rivers's Schaker according to Downing.
Translation:
"More customers are telling us that they see interesting aspects to Linux . . . but we're seeing a growing problem due to the fact that GPL does not let us take other people's ideas, make money off them, close off the source, and then dump the developers without paying them a penny."
Yep, sounds like a huge problem for the GPL.
What are the options for revising the GPL, if any?
What part of getting screwed with out a reacharound do you prefer?
If you change the GPL to make it easy for people to take without giving, then they won't give back.
Redhat wants us to develop and test fedora for free, turn around sell it to enteprise for big bucks
While they paid their developers a regular salary, Microsoft was constantly testing their product on their client dime. I paid for several versions of DOS only to find that bugs were undocumented (actually, they denied they even existed). Yet when the bugs were eventually fixed in the next release, I had to pay full price AGAIN to get the benefit.
If you are having difficulty making a living on OSS, then I am only going to point to one example where individuals can make a thriving business off of other developers efforts: become the next Microsoft. They have incorporated and then licensed software from BSD developers without paying one red cent.
Great way to run a software business, isn't it?
Now that my sarcasm has worn off, you will probably find more than one person here who might have a more practical method of generating revenue from OSS.
Slashdot Mirror
That's PN N L!
Yes, I know it is pnl.gov. That domain was handed out before it was upgraded to an environmental laboratory. Looking forward to becoming a 'homeland security' laboratory soon (yeah).
Great place to work, though.
The supercomputer is housed in the Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory. The pay is good and the people are friendly.
Did I mention that I work at the Lab?
I've seen several comments on how 'bullshit' this trend is and bemoaning the lack of choice. To that I can only offer the following:
If you are certain that you are not the only person who wants a vanilla cell phone, then get busy.
1) Write a business plan that outlines your target market, your manufacturing options, how you plan to market your product, and how you would like to finance your venture.
2) Get someone on your team who has had previous experience in the telecommunications industry to join your Board of Directors, or get them to Chair the company.
3) Get your vendors lined up with some good ballpark estimates of your per-unit-costs. This should be done in conjuction with #1, but you will have to constantly negotiate for better prices.
4) Start pitching your business plan to ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN.
That means working hard to get your company off the ground. Don't count on a 40-60 hour week. You will be living this thing for at least five years, pushing 80 hours a week. Things will start getting easier (could be fewer hours, but don't count on it) once the company is running and is selling phones.
Until then, you can only take what your given and like it.
Dutch Citizens Denied the Choice of Desktop Linux
Microsoft Blocks Lindows.com Products in the Netherlands
SAN DIEGO and AMSTERDAM January 30, 2004 -- A judge in the Netherlands today granted Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) a preliminary injunction against desktop Linux vendor Lindows.com Inc., a decision Lindows.com plans to appeal. The ruling will deny the Netherlands the cost-savings that desktop Linux currently offers to approximately 18 million people worldwide, leaving vulnerable and expensive Microsoft software as the only option for computer consumers in the Netherlands.
"It's clear that Microsoft is using their army of hundreds of attorneys and billions of dollars as a battering ram to destroy any company that promotes desktop Linux," said Michael Robertson, chief executive officer of Lindows.com Inc. "They were unsuccessful in the U.S. with this tactic, so now they're resorting to picking countries where they will find a sympathetic court. Today, U.S. customers can purchase computers pre-installed with desktop Linux and are saving millions of dollars when compared with expensive, virus-prone software from Microsoft. This ruling may delay the day when Dutch customers receive those same savings, but I can assure you that we will continue to battle to bring the benefit of choice to the Netherlands. "
Lindows.com will abide by the terms of the ruling, but will appeal the decision that deprives Dutch consumers of the cost-savings that desktop Linux users worldwide have experienced. Lindows.com products have enabled $199 PCs and $699 laptops to be widely available in the United States, where courts twice denied Microsoft's requests for a preliminary injunction against Lindows.com (www.lindows.com/msftdenied). The exclusivity of Microsoft products in the Dutch computer market results in consumers paying inflated prices for vulnerable software.
Despite the March 1, 2004 trial scheduled in the United States, Microsoft has been opening multiple fronts in Europe in an attempt to drain the resources of competitors. The software giant has threatened resellers and brought legal action against Lindows.com in several countries of the European Union, including France, Sweden, and Finland. The moves prompted the launch of ChoicePC, a rallying point for supporters of choice in European countries that was met with overwhelming support (www.lindows.com/choicesuccess).
Details of the continuing litigation between Microsoft and Lindows.com are available at www.lindows.com/opposition. Those interested in attending the March 1, 2004 trial in Seattle, Washington, or in receiving legal updates, should register at www.lindows.com/attend.
Spoken so poorly.
Criticism like this from an AC is laughable.
Like a typical PC/Linsux/Windoze user.
Actually, my first computer was a TRS-80.
Which camp does that put me in now?
Come on, geomon, give a Mac a try.
The first computer I used in an office setting was a Mac. I like Macs.
I used to be like you...
The only way you could have *been* like me is if you are writing from the grave.
I am an adult.
Is it me, or is Apple's advertising copy getting worse?
Hardly on the same level as the 1984 Apple ad.
...if your 'business' partners had any suspicion that you had offered information to the authorities.
Except this power requires the consent of a federal judge, no library records have ever been searched..
Which is why it should be expunged.
If it isn't needed, then why put it in?
The fact remains that our rights were abused far more heinously during the War on Drugs and the term of Janet Reno as AG than they ever were under Ashcroft.
While I agree that the WOD is much more threatening to civil liberties than PATRIOT, why do you support putting more power into the hands of the government when they obviously don't need it (by your own admission, re:librarians)?
Also, the Reno-Ashcroft remark is pure trollbait. I haven't seen Ashcroft sprinting out to repeal any of the WOD provisions, so they stand in full force as they were under Reno. And the laws were passed by the Congress, not the USAG.
If PATRIOT is repealed, it means that that such basic elements as tighter information sharing between federal agencies will be struck down as well.
Good!
Had those protections existed in 2001, the events of September 11 would never have happened.
Your crystal ball is scratched, scuffed, and otherwise translucent.
The fact remains that, despite the passage of PATRIOT, information sharing between agencies remains spotty. And the reason for the lack of exchange is not due to fuzzy-headed liberals blocking the governments efforts. It is due to the time honored tradition of 'empire building' in government agencies.
That behavior will not end with the expansion or the repeal of PATRIOT.
One step at a time.
Now that the courts have ruled that a blanket attack on civil rights is not the best approach for securing safety at home, (not to mention promoting democracy abroad) it is just a matter of time before other portions of the Act come under judicial scrutinty.
I know that isn't fast enough for most folks, but the sad history of US legislative activity shows that laws are generally passed faster than they are repealed (unless money is involved).
The terms and conditions (aka, terms of service) state that you can quit orkut at any time, for any reason just by emailing admin@orkut.com.
Show 'em who's boss: Quit before you're invited!
if convicted of the charges that they suggest are involved.
Sprague (charged):
1) criminal copyright infringement, and
2) illegal interception of a satellite signal
Caridi (may be charged):
1) contributory copyright infringement
While I'm no fan of breaking copyright law (or any law for that matter), what pisses me off is that these two will be sentenced to terms longer than Bill Janklow (R,SD). That fucker will get 100 days for killing someone AND his record will be expunged.
No wonder people have no faith in the judicial system.
My comment was only that the excuse has been used before.
True. And the comment was made by a member of the party opposite of the one in office.
I can't imagine why I read more into that than was implied.
Deja Vu?
Oh, I get it!
Because the Democrats did it, that makes is okay for Republicans to do it.
Of course, that rationalization doesn't mean shit to me. I'm a Libertarian.
Ploink!
Follow the thread backward from your post and I would hope that you would see that everything I spoke about could happen to you.
The point is, Patriot gives the government intrusion rights for the purposes of fighting terrorism. That same tool could be used to investigate you because your boss is politically connected to someone associated with the Justice Department.
In short, the moral *squishiness* exhibited by these individuals underscores the foresight our Founding Fathers had about how much access we should give our government into our personal lives.
The tools used to smash crime and terrorism can be just as easily wielded to smash dissent.
Furthermore, if the files were left in folders on a shared server and not protected then who is at fault?
Try to use that logic if you took those files and weren't a member of the Senate or a staffer. Let's see how long you can remain free from incarceration.
These files were posted on an internal server and, despite what Miranda claims, were there as part of official government business ( otherwise you can't store them on government property [i.e., computers])..
"There appears to have been no hacking, no stealing, and no violation of any Senate rule," Miranda said. "Stealing assumes a property right and there is no property right to a government document. . . . These documents are not covered under the Senate disclosure rule because they are not official business and, to the extent they were disclosed, they were disclosed inadvertently by negligent [Democratic] staff."
Translation: "I didn't do it, but even if I did you couldn't prove I did anything wrong."
Now we see the moral *squishiness* of the individuals involved. If these files had been national security documents (government documents) or salary action documents (also government documents), would Miranda still claim that they were open season for anyone who wanted to read them?
Does anyone still believe that the USA Patriot Act will be used exclusively for criminal investigations?
the 1st thing on my list would be Diakatana. *shudder*
I was never lucky enough to have played this particular game. I did a web search for the name and came up with this website.
Truly frightning.
While I agree that everything that a company can do to protect its proprietary interests in discovery, that is not the point.
Even in civil matters, as you note, there is a presumption of innocense. SCO is the accuser; they are going to be compelled to produce their 'evidence' every time they are subpeonaed. So the 'evidence' eventually becomes public knowledge as more of the 'evidence' is presented in every lawsuit that SCO can afford to bring.
Let SCO continue to play out their fantasy with tinfoil hats firmly mounted. Eventually they will be dead broke and won't be able to afford their own caskets.
Yeah, assuming Therapy == some Prozac, a couple of blunts, a few eight-balls, two dozen tabs of 'E', a couple of viagra to keep the juices flowing, and that's just for tonight's "session."
Yeah, I always take my lessons in morality from record execs......
Yes, they were being wankers about it, but all in all, that's ther job.
You're right. I work around government employees all day and most of them are just trying to do their job. But there is a difference in doing your job and using your position or agency as a tool for vengeance or to drive an agenda.
I consider the use of coersion valid if it is used in the interest of public safety or if the person has demonstrated an unusual level of contempt for civil order. That doesn't mean that the police are free to beat the shit out of anyone they like, nor are civil agents right in taking their pound of flesh for every infraction of a regulation, rule, or law.
I don't know the particulars of this case, but the fact that they wouldn't consider a solution that would generate jobs (i.e., raise revenues) smacks of abuse.
Reject the dominant paradigm.
Where do I collect my fifty cents?
Maybe this is the source of the confusion and current litigation between SCO and the rest of organized humanity.
SCO must think this 'freesco' thing is something that the Linux community stole from them and are now distributing without their permission.
We need to let Darl know that this is a huge misunderstanding and that he should stop this madness before his company's reputation is irreversably damaged!
Poor Darl!
feel that PJ would be an asset to any law firm? Who did Boies hire? The C- paralegal?
Just another example of open source producing world-class professionals.
Of course they will not charge users who make floppies for personal use - yet.
This article points out just one more example of how MS creates 'standards' for the sole purpose of generating future cash flow, not for any technically superior performace gain.
Do you understand?
"More customers are telling us that they see interesting aspects to Linux . . . but we're seeing a growing problem due to the growing uncertainty of using GPL-based code in embedded development," says Wind Rivers's Schaker according to Downing.
Translation:
"More customers are telling us that they see interesting aspects to Linux . . . but we're seeing a growing problem due to the fact that GPL does not let us take other people's ideas, make money off them, close off the source, and then dump the developers without paying them a penny."
Yep, sounds like a huge problem for the GPL.
What are the options for revising the GPL, if any?
What part of getting screwed with out a reacharound do you prefer?
If you change the GPL to make it easy for people to take without giving, then they won't give back.
Redhat wants us to develop and test fedora for free, turn around sell it to enteprise for big bucks
While they paid their developers a regular salary, Microsoft was constantly testing their product on their client dime. I paid for several versions of DOS only to find that bugs were undocumented (actually, they denied they even existed). Yet when the bugs were eventually fixed in the next release, I had to pay full price AGAIN to get the benefit.
If you are having difficulty making a living on OSS, then I am only going to point to one example where individuals can make a thriving business off of other developers efforts: become the next Microsoft. They have incorporated and then licensed software from BSD developers without paying one red cent.
Great way to run a software business, isn't it?
Now that my sarcasm has worn off, you will probably find more than one person here who might have a more practical method of generating revenue from OSS.