Open source Java months away? bl8n8r writes "A Sun Microsystems Inc. executive said Tuesday said the company is 'months' away from releasing its trademark Java programming language under an open-source license. Simon Phipps, chief open-source officer for Sun, said the company is ruminating over two major issues: how to keep Java compatible and ensure no particular company uses market forces as muscle for its own implementation, a move that would threaten Java's 'write once, run anywhere' mantra."
I'll believe it when I see it. Sun has gotten cold feet and reneged on other similar announcements before.
Google has a video of Hans Reiser talking about his vision of the Holy Grail of file systems, rather similar to what Microsoft has been promising. The difference is that he's moving toward it in baby steps (Reiser1, 2, 3, 4) and releasing those steps as he goes.
I wonder if there are any major piece of agricultural equipment that can be set up to "run from the grid" in a sense. Like big batteries on tractors that recharge every day?
You've never slogged through the mud on a farm, have ya? Farm implements don't glide on smooth roads; they dig through dirt and slash their way through tall crops during the harvest. Electric cars struggle after they've been stripped of all remotely extraneous weight, so I don't think an electric tractor is going to be workable.
Also, if patents were only valid up until the point where the inventor had recouped their documented R&D costs, that would alleviate most of the problems.
I agree with your theory, but the practice would make accountants the new lawyers. Enron would look like an arithmetic error in comparison.
Hmm, ideally you could do some really nifty stuff by sorting packets dynamically onto different (firewalled) networks based on MAC address. Keep a list of trusted desktops (which go onto the "real" network), semi-trusted laptops (which go onto a special firewalled network). Anything else gets locked down so all they can access is a webserver with contact details for the net admin.:-) (Wouldn't surprise me if there was an off-the-shelf solution that did this, actually, but if so I haven't heard of it.)
Universities are beginning to do this on their residence hall networks. The residents initially come up in a sandbox with only a webserver that provides any required (site-licensed) anti-virus software and security patches. Once it is proven (by way of the AV server or some sort of patch detection program) that the machine is compliant, only then is it allowed onto the full campus network.
I can't help but wonder if the Mac angle is that they hope to be able to port their Apple apps again instead of writing them from scratch. I suffered through the horror of Office 6 for the Mac and wouldn't make that mistake again!
In my company every network jack that does not have a direct attached device on it is plugged into a bank of switches that are seperated from my network by a pixfirewall. The firewall has rules that allow basis e-mail, web and specific application data to go accross. Most traffic is denied. If anyone plugs a laptop in they are able to do those things but are unable to do Windows file share, domain login etc... If they need to use those I have to be given control of the box and it does not leave the building.
And when they're not impressed with your rules they don't just unplug a PC and plug the laptop in there instead?
IBM were founding members of TCG and the first to sell TPM-restricted PCs. Do you really think Apple had to go to Intel to get Fritzed?
If they rolled out a new platform that broke compatability with all the old stuff, and the only thing that really changed was the addition of TPM, don't you think the media would latch on to the real reason Apple's doing this? "So how do we distract them?... Oh yeah, with 64-bit Powerbooks!*"
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* i.e., that actually have a battery life and don't light the user's capri pants on fire
And there's your problem. All this stuff is being given out for free, which doesn't impress suits or investors much. I've been feeling like we need to come up with a new method for funding research (both in computing and pharmaceuticals), but I haven't a clue what to do instead.
Basically he wanted the professors to hold his hand through the process of learning how to code. Not just do a better job at explaining Java, C++, etc., but rather teach time and again the basics of actually reading instructions and writing a program that implements them.
[...]
The problem, I think, is that so many American kids want to have it all spoonfed to them.
Expect this situation to get worse as our nation's schools are being blackmailed into forgoing creativity, reasoning and critical thinking. That would take precious time away from hammering rote-memorized "essential elements" enough times that even little Johnny, whose mama drank and smoked crack while she was pregnant with him and dropped him on his head twice, can pass the test. Because everyone knows that the most important skill in life is being able to color in the right bubble!
There ought to be a simple law that states that "any software installer must clearly label the buttons and other control areas in their installer, such that there can be no confusion or deception as to the function of each control, whereas a user could be tricked into allowing the installation without his consent."
Repeat after me: The law is not the problem. Enforcing the law is the problem.
Slashdot Mirror
After they change the online copies, of course, won't you be able to diff them with the Wayback Machine?
Then we'll be living on Google Earth, right? [ducks]
Google has a video of Hans Reiser talking about his vision of the Holy Grail of file systems, rather similar to what Microsoft has been promising. The difference is that he's moving toward it in baby steps (Reiser1, 2, 3, 4) and releasing those steps as he goes.
Nice. But don't make the new IT section that putrid brown.
I can't help but wonder if the Mac angle is that they hope to be able to port their Apple apps again instead of writing them from scratch. I suffered through the horror of Office 6 for the Mac and wouldn't make that mistake again!
This is Oregon, land of potheads, we're talking about.
(Cue the M$FT-bashing trolls...)
Isn't this about as much machine as what Vista will need to be functional?
Apple has added a rolling acupressure point to their foot pedal to massage your aching feet!
Come on, somebody had to say it...!
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* i.e., that actually have a battery life and don't light the user's capri pants on fire
Oh, wait... not that kind of manhole.
Is that nearer to Tokyo or Osaka?