Research shows that most pimps live with their mothers in order to pay the rent. They also fail quickly if they mess with the merchandise. The ghetto worship that leads to this terminology has everything backwards.
Yeah man, but you can not negate the positive impacts of the "Pimp Hat".
Device Driver Basics, which is...well, rather basic. I started the chapter expecting to finish with a detailed understanding of how the Linux kernel processes driver requests and a look into some common drivers
Detailed understanding requires a whole bookshelf, and several years hacking away at a couple of drivers, but here is a good start. http://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/
Disclamer: I am an advocate of F/OSS. I am also an embedded developer.
I gather from your concerns you are not producing said boxes. You buy them and would like to write a smallish program and profit.
Before you completely dismiss the possibility of GPL'd software, You should take some time to bring your understanding of the license up to speed.
First off, there is no incompatability between GPL'd Software and profit motivated software developers.
to quote the fsf:
Does the GPL allow me to sell copies of the program for money?
Yes, the GPL allows everyone to do this. The right to sell copies is part of the definition of free software. Except in one special situation, there is no limit on what price you can charge. (The one exception is the required written offer to provide source code that must accompany binary-only release.)
If your boxes contain GPL code then you must still provide the GPL'd portions source for download or a written offer to supply the code. So your situation becomes, do I allow people to download everything they need to make the box work except "my program". (If you are selling it to them, isn't it really their program?)
What drawbacks do you see to opening your code?
Competition?
You always face competition. If you fancy yourself so clever that it would be impossible for someone else to duplicate your effort, then you are in for a hell of a disappointment. Just ask the fine folks at MS (Office), or the fine folks at Sun (java), or the fine folks at AT&T (Unix).
What are the advantages of opening your code?
The entire GPL'd codebase to tinker with. Every GPL'd library/toolkit/OS. To be tweaked and twisted to serve your specific needs. Don't discount the value of "the community" testers, coders, hosting, the list goes on and on.
Worse case scenario is a competitor uses your code in a similar if not identical product. They are legally obligated to not change the copyright notices that contain your name. The community will bury a violator. Now there are 2 products shipping your code. If the company is large enough they are more likely to approach you as the maintainer of the software than to just take your code. Additional income opportunities come around this way all the time. Check the newhire list at Microsoft and IBM
Finally, the idea of immortality does not often come up in software development but the truth is:
If your application is popular/usefull it lives on even well after you've lost interest. BusyBox, Sendmail, etc..., etc.. , could go on all day. No Bruce does not recieve a dime for the millions of users of busybox, (Common embedded application found in everything from mp3players to routers to Full linux pcs) but at times in his life he has recieved considerable sums of money to tailor its needs for a specific application. Nowadays a wholly different maintainer handles Busybox.
You are trying to build $product and sell that $product. Open or closed you recieve money for every $product sold.
Just food for thought. Its not so bad over here on Light side.
GPL'd Software has been very good to me and I try as hard as I can to be good to it. You're welcome to join as is anyone else. Generally speaking, the more competent people looking at the source, the less bugs there are.
I'd rather not recompile a bunch of drivers after each kernel update, just because they aren't shipped as part of the kernel.
Umm, NVIDIA.
They could easily be included in the kernel, damn near anybody can, but they like it the way it is. They believe thier product is software instead of hardware.
MS does let it's user design the software...That's it problem.
Actually that is what they think they do. They let the Reps (who hold what are essentially Focus Groups, and Opinion polls) dictate needed features.
Actual users are so far away from design as to be insignificant.
Witness the changes from a beta MS product to shipment. All that user feedback what changes, It crashes less, Maybe If you are lucky.
They could learn to really let the users define the software.
They could learn to let go of the marketing department madatory requirements and buzzwords.
But perhaps most importantly, they could learn that the product name has absolutely nothing to do with it's function, but is more of a reflection of the original programmers wit.
When I have to go to the darkside I use Code::Blocks, SharpDevelop, and as absolute last resort VS.Net. I still use SVN, mingw, qt.
And the most important tool of course is a fast internet connection and a speedy browser. Firefox is the current favorite.
This simple setup gives me crossplatform support all the way from Desktop Apps, Through Server Apps, to Embedded Linux.
I've tried eclipse and I bet I could make it as usable, given enough time, but I'm not paid to redevelop my tools, only to produce code.
Rounding out the list is perhaps the most vital component of all, a nearly endless supply of CocaCola. I guess that goes without saying.
Lately I've added VirtualBox or VMware to keep from getting dizzy from switching PCs. ( I keep myself surrounded with a server a Linux Box, a windows box and several embedded devices.)
felt pretty much the same way when I heard his single come on the radio the other night. I was humming along, tapping my feet and generally enjoying myself.
I so love seeing rational human beings re-evaluate their opinions. Comments like these are what keep Linus in my list of Heroes.
RMS is on that list as well for the same reasons. The new version of GPL v3 is far and away better than the earlier drafts.
I think changing the Kernel license to GPLv3 is technically almost an impossible task given the number of contributors. I do believe it is the way to go, I just don't really see it happening.
immediate
1. occurring or accomplished without delay; instant: an immediate reply.
2. following or preceding without a lapse of time: the immediate future.
3. having no object or space intervening; nearest or next: in the immediate vicinity.
4. of or pertaining to the present time or moment: our immediate plans.
5. without intervening medium or agent; direct: an immediate cause.
6. having a direct bearing: immediate consideration.
7. very close in relationship: my immediate family.
8. Philosophy. directly intuited.
Couldn't they just used the words "Microsoft has said it has no plans to sue after alleging patent infringements by open-source vendors."
See also Triumph of the Nerds:
Vern Raburn
President, The Paul Allen Group
I ended up spending Memorial Day Weekend with him out at his grandmother's house on Hood Canal. She turned everything in to a game. It was a very very very competitive environment, and if you spent the weekend there, you were part of the competition, and it didn't matter whether it was hearts or pickleball or swimming to the dock. And you know and there was always a reward for winning and there was always a penalty for losing.
Adobe have a massive user base for the Flash plugin (perhaps one of the highest user bases for any software in the world? (barring MS paint).. interesting question)
Umm, my linux boxes don't have MSPaint installed but they all have a Flash Plugin, So I guess the edge goes to Flash Plugin.
release Linux-native versions of their development environments for Flex development, including a free or community version like Microsoft's "Express" developer products for dotNET.
FTA:
Developers can use the Flex SDK to freely develop and deploy Flex applications using either Adobe Flex Builder or an IDE of their choice.
dot.net Express runs on linux natively, I had no MS had come around that far./sarcasm
What is available are linux native IDEs that support dotNET (MonoDevelop). And so it shall be for ADOBE's FLEX. Eclipse or Kate or even Kdevelop, though if YOU want to really score points with the FLOSS community YOU should only use emacs. or vi.
Since he was reelected though, it's like he misplaced his... humanity or something. He doesn't stand for what he did the first term, he doesn't stand for freedom or justice, he doesn't even seem to stand for the conservative principals that got him elected in the first place.
Lemme fix that for you...
Since he was reelected though, it's like he doesn't care what the voters think/believe/expect of him.
That's the rub about a president's second term, he has no incentive to keep the people happy or content, No reason to listen to critics.
All of the seeds of discontent were there in the first term. Disregard for disparate views, Policy crafted by corporations, Media blaming. Incompetent appointments, Fiscal Insanity. Myopic Foreign Policy, (I could go on for 3 yrs) They were just ignored, Republicans would rather betray their own ideals then vote against a republican for president.
Fortunately, we only have 648 days left. Ugggghhhh that is forever and another war away.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah man, but you can not negate the positive impacts of the "Pimp Hat".
Detailed understanding requires a whole bookshelf, and several years hacking away at a couple of drivers, but here is a good start.
http://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/
It's not arbitrary at all.
Once, it is offtopic,
twice, still offtopic,
thrice is trolling pure and simple.
Home.
I gather from your concerns you are not producing said boxes. You buy them and would like to write a smallish program and profit.
Before you completely dismiss the possibility of GPL'd software, You should take some time to bring your understanding of the license up to speed. First off, there is no incompatability between GPL'd Software and profit motivated software developers. to quote the fsf:
Does the GPL allow me to sell copies of the program for money?
Yes, the GPL allows everyone to do this. The right to sell copies is part of the definition of free software. Except in one special situation, there is no limit on what price you can charge. (The one exception is the required written offer to provide source code that must accompany binary-only release.)
If your boxes contain GPL code then you must still provide the GPL'd portions source for download or a written offer to supply the code. So your situation becomes, do I allow people to download everything they need to make the box work except "my program". (If you are selling it to them, isn't it really their program?)
What drawbacks do you see to opening your code?
Competition?
You always face competition. If you fancy yourself so clever that it would be impossible for someone else to duplicate your effort, then you are in for a hell of a disappointment. Just ask the fine folks at MS (Office), or the fine folks at Sun (java), or the fine folks at AT&T (Unix).
What are the advantages of opening your code?
The entire GPL'd codebase to tinker with. Every GPL'd library/toolkit/OS. To be tweaked and twisted to serve your specific needs. Don't discount the value of "the community" testers, coders, hosting, the list goes on and on.
Worse case scenario is a competitor uses your code in a similar if not identical product. They are legally obligated to not change the copyright notices that contain your name. The community will bury a violator. Now there are 2 products shipping your code. If the company is large enough they are more likely to approach you as the maintainer of the software than to just take your code. Additional income opportunities come around this way all the time. Check the newhire list at Microsoft and IBM
Finally, the idea of immortality does not often come up in software development but the truth is: If your application is popular/usefull it lives on even well after you've lost interest. BusyBox, Sendmail, etc..., etc.. , could go on all day. No Bruce does not recieve a dime for the millions of users of busybox, (Common embedded application found in everything from mp3players to routers to Full linux pcs) but at times in his life he has recieved considerable sums of money to tailor its needs for a specific application. Nowadays a wholly different maintainer handles Busybox.
You are trying to build $product and sell that $product. Open or closed you recieve money for every $product sold.
Just food for thought. Its not so bad over here on Light side.
GPL'd Software has been very good to me and I try as hard as I can to be good to it. You're welcome to join as is anyone else. Generally speaking, the more competent people looking at the source, the less bugs there are.
Umm, NVIDIA.
They could easily be included in the kernel, damn near anybody can, but they like it the way it is. They believe thier product is software instead of hardware.
Actually that is what they think they do. They let the Reps (who hold what are essentially Focus Groups, and Opinion polls) dictate needed features. Actual users are so far away from design as to be insignificant.
Witness the changes from a beta MS product to shipment. All that user feedback what changes, It crashes less, Maybe If you are lucky.
They respond to "Trends" not users.
They could learn to really let the users define the software.
They could learn to let go of the marketing department madatory requirements and buzzwords.
But perhaps most importantly, they could learn that the product name has absolutely nothing to do with it's function, but is more of a reflection of the original programmers wit.
OK maybe not so seriously.
Finding out that my PC has been Zombified, Or the FBi informing me they found my PC zombified.
When I have to go to the darkside I use Code::Blocks, SharpDevelop, and as absolute last resort VS.Net. I still use SVN, mingw, qt.
And the most important tool of course is a fast internet connection and a speedy browser. Firefox is the current favorite.
This simple setup gives me crossplatform support all the way from Desktop Apps, Through Server Apps, to Embedded Linux.
I've tried eclipse and I bet I could make it as usable, given enough time, but I'm not paid to redevelop my tools, only to produce code.
Rounding out the list is perhaps the most vital component of all, a nearly endless supply of CocaCola. I guess that goes without saying. Lately I've added VirtualBox or VMware to keep from getting dizzy from switching PCs. ( I keep myself surrounded with a server a Linux Box, a windows box and several embedded devices.)
The aforementioned single.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTNXrkBSp_o
RMS is on that list as well for the same reasons. The new version of GPL v3 is far and away better than the earlier drafts.
I think changing the Kernel license to GPLv3 is technically almost an impossible task given the number of contributors. I do believe it is the way to go, I just don't really see it happening.
Ok, You are an idiot.
1. occurring or accomplished without delay; instant: an immediate reply.
2. following or preceding without a lapse of time: the immediate future.
3. having no object or space intervening; nearest or next: in the immediate vicinity.
4. of or pertaining to the present time or moment: our immediate plans.
5. without intervening medium or agent; direct: an immediate cause.
6. having a direct bearing: immediate consideration.
7. very close in relationship: my immediate family.
8. Philosophy. directly intuited.
Couldn't they just used the words "Microsoft has said it has no plans to sue after alleging patent infringements by open-source vendors."
How about you guys just license these specific patents to OIN, http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051110-5553 .html , Oh I remember its that whole sharing thing Bill never understood. I personally lay the blame with his grandmother. http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2000/pulpit_200 01123_000672.html
See also Triumph of the Nerds:
Vern Raburn President, The Paul Allen Group I ended up spending Memorial Day Weekend with him out at his grandmother's house on Hood Canal. She turned everything in to a game. It was a very very very competitive environment, and if you spent the weekend there, you were part of the competition, and it didn't matter whether it was hearts or pickleball or swimming to the dock. And you know and there was always a reward for winning and there was always a penalty for losing.
-- Linux® is a Registered Trademark of Linus Torvalds Dammit.
Better?
Alex Kidd?
Your Mom and Gaming
Two Things I did Last Night. Hi-O.
mnmnmmmthat's good satire.
Umm, my linux boxes don't have MSPaint installed but they all have a Flash Plugin, So I guess the edge goes to Flash Plugin.
FTA:
Developers can use the Flex SDK to freely develop and deploy Flex applications using either Adobe Flex Builder or an IDE of their choice.
dot.net Express runs on linux natively, I had no MS had come around that far./sarcasm
What is available are linux native IDEs that support dotNET (MonoDevelop). And so it shall be for ADOBE's FLEX. Eclipse or Kate or even Kdevelop, though if YOU want to really score points with the FLOSS community YOU should only use emacs. or vi.
Who do you think you are, asking a question like that?
Lemme fix that for you...
Since he was reelected though, it's like he doesn't care what the voters think/believe/expect of him.
That's the rub about a president's second term, he has no incentive to keep the people happy or content, No reason to listen to critics.
All of the seeds of discontent were there in the first term. Disregard for disparate views, Policy crafted by corporations, Media blaming. Incompetent appointments, Fiscal Insanity. Myopic Foreign Policy, (I could go on for 3 yrs) They were just ignored, Republicans would rather betray their own ideals then vote against a republican for president. Fortunately, we only have 648 days left. Ugggghhhh that is forever and another war away.
Your concerns are understandable but...
During Spring Break I let the 17 & 18 yr old keep their own hours as long as they are home by 11pm they can spend all night fraggin in the garage.
I think you are forgetting these hackers.
http://icculus.org/pyddr/
http://www.stepmania.com/
Hacker cred abound.