And that of course, is only the start of the madness such a policy would bring.
Bottom line, if you blanked out the words "Open Source" from this proposal, you'd see it for what it truly is - an effort by a special interest to get the government to tax its competitors and feed the revenues back to them. Blech!
Finally, I mentioned to the board that the Linux Kernel development team has the greatest amount of programmer talent on the planet... Greater than Microsoft,SCO,SUN,Apple,IBM and Silicon Graphics combined. AS well as a peer review system that is impossible to impliment in any corperate setting, therefore all of SCO's claims are unfounded and should be ignored until they reveal any proof, letalone proof that THEY did not steal the code in the first place.
And you didn't get laughed out of the room? Must be a pretty clueless board. Your first comparison regarding programming talent is absurdly stupid, and whether or not the Linux peer review system could be implemented in a corporate setting is irrelevant. Linus's argument is that the development team shouldn't worry about patent violation, and to a large extent that makes sense. The ones who should worry, however, are those companies that wish to make money by distributing and implementing Linux code that could potentially violate patents. They are the parties open to liability.
The silly part in all of this is the grandstanding by press release. I just want this thing to get to court ASAP so the facts can be laid bare for all to see. Until that day comes, 99% of what we're seeing is raw hype...
The point here is not so much Linus' failure to enforce patents, but really the commercial enterprises that distribute and market Linux (of which IBM is the biggest fish). The onus would be on them to verify that what they're selling doesn't infringe on patents or copyrights...
Well fortunately, they do sleep at the same time. Once they're all down for the count, picking up the toys takes maybe 2-3 minutes. But after a day at work and the hectic dinner/playtime/cribtime cycle, the last thing I want to do is sling a vacuum cleaner around the house...
Re:Those who can, do. Those who can't . . .
on
Robots Without a Cause
·
· Score: 4, Funny
For the record, that's twins (3/4/2002) and a little brother (3/28/2003), and yes, that is one hell of a woman!
Re:Those who can, do. Those who can't . . .
on
Robots Without a Cause
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
The author seems not to have much perspective as to how different people might view particular gadgets. A robotic vaccuum cleaner sounds great to me, since I've got 3 kids under the age of 16 months and hence a titanic workload just to keep the house under control.
The question for all of these gadgets is whether or not enough people find them useful and affordable to make the R&D investment worthwhile. This is inherently a risky proposition, so there will tremendous hits (DVD) and flops (Iridium)...
Problem is, there isn't any mechanism to ensure that "cheap" would become any part of the equation. Within a pretty broad range, items like DVD's aren't really price sensitive. It's not like you're going to go to the store to buy Harry Potter and instead change your mind to buy The Dark Crystal because it's a buck cheaper. This initiative, and the others like it, are merely about protecting top-line sales.
While this may be a bit overstated, it does seem like MS is paying more attention to customer feedback these days. Note the changes made to mollify small and medium-sized businesses related to software licenses, and the recent price cuts made to Office and SQL Server's Developer Edition. The recent controversy about the extreme measures they are taking to compete with Linux in the enterprise also points to a company that is feeling pressure to preserve its customer base. That's an entirely different posture than boldly taking on new areas and expanding market share. The next couple years (as the economy strengthens and IT spending resumes) should prove very interesting indeed...
I don't suppose you've ever made ice cream, then? I hadn't either until I moved to Indiana a few years ago - while it takes some patience, the result is far better than anything you'll buy. And of course you have the option of making whatever kind of ice cream you like...
Exactly - no matter how this ultimately works out, this is bound to be a landmark case that could have an effect on the next 10-20 years of both open source and corporate software development.
and let's be honest here, folks, the government won't make this push without popular support. I just don't see a widespread feeling that space exploration is that important. People would rather get tax cuts above all else, seemingly...
In a way, this is the opposite of Schumpeter's Creative Destruction. Under Schumpeter, new technologies and companies grow and wipe out the older generation in the process. In this case, we have an increasingly irrelevant loser of a company that's trying to set off an IP Doomsday Device to wipe out that part of the IT world that is new and ascending (Linux in the enterprise).
Even more important, many operators use laptops and online marketplaces to line up backhaul opportunities, to minimize their downtime and reduce the number of times they drive around with the trailer empty (thus not making $$$).
The only thing distressing about it is that they already have every opportunity to reply in public forums. Why should I have to provide the resources to accept the reply, verify that it actually came from the offended party, and post it on my site?
It's a big Internet, folks, there's more than enough room out there...
Slashdot Mirror
And that of course, is only the start of the madness such a policy would bring.
Bottom line, if you blanked out the words "Open Source" from this proposal, you'd see it for what it truly is - an effort by a special interest to get the government to tax its competitors and feed the revenues back to them. Blech!
Oh, you're just saying that because your question got answered and the rest of ours didn't... ;)
That's why I said the answers rocked. Although, it was pretty neat to get my question included (a first).
I can't recall an interview that came back with such well thought out answers. Major kudos!
A conference in Dublin live on the web??? Only if they can provide a virtual Guinness...
Finally, I mentioned to the board that the Linux Kernel development team has the greatest amount of programmer talent on the planet... Greater than Microsoft,SCO,SUN,Apple,IBM and Silicon Graphics combined. AS well as a peer review system that is impossible to impliment in any corperate setting, therefore all of SCO's claims are unfounded and should be ignored until they reveal any proof, letalone proof that THEY did not steal the code in the first place.
And you didn't get laughed out of the room? Must be a pretty clueless board. Your first comparison regarding programming talent is absurdly stupid, and whether or not the Linux peer review system could be implemented in a corporate setting is irrelevant. Linus's argument is that the development team shouldn't worry about patent violation, and to a large extent that makes sense. The ones who should worry, however, are those companies that wish to make money by distributing and implementing Linux code that could potentially violate patents. They are the parties open to liability.
The silly part in all of this is the grandstanding by press release. I just want this thing to get to court ASAP so the facts can be laid bare for all to see. Until that day comes, 99% of what we're seeing is raw hype...
The point here is not so much Linus' failure to enforce patents, but really the commercial enterprises that distribute and market Linux (of which IBM is the biggest fish). The onus would be on them to verify that what they're selling doesn't infringe on patents or copyrights...
that works great on the kids, but lousy on the carpet...
Why can't he be bought, just like the other nuts & screwballs on Capitol Hill???
Well, it was IVF in the first case, and as for the second, astounding good luck!
Well fortunately, they do sleep at the same time. Once they're all down for the count, picking up the toys takes maybe 2-3 minutes. But after a day at work and the hectic dinner/playtime/cribtime cycle, the last thing I want to do is sling a vacuum cleaner around the house...
For the record, that's twins (3/4/2002) and a little brother (3/28/2003), and yes, that is one hell of a woman!
The author seems not to have much perspective as to how different people might view particular gadgets. A robotic vaccuum cleaner sounds great to me, since I've got 3 kids under the age of 16 months and hence a titanic workload just to keep the house under control.
The question for all of these gadgets is whether or not enough people find them useful and affordable to make the R&D investment worthwhile. This is inherently a risky proposition, so there will tremendous hits (DVD) and flops (Iridium)...
Problem is, there isn't any mechanism to ensure that "cheap" would become any part of the equation. Within a pretty broad range, items like DVD's aren't really price sensitive. It's not like you're going to go to the store to buy Harry Potter and instead change your mind to buy The Dark Crystal because it's a buck cheaper. This initiative, and the others like it, are merely about protecting top-line sales.
While this may be a bit overstated, it does seem like MS is paying more attention to customer feedback these days. Note the changes made to mollify small and medium-sized businesses related to software licenses, and the recent price cuts made to Office and SQL Server's Developer Edition. The recent controversy about the extreme measures they are taking to compete with Linux in the enterprise also points to a company that is feeling pressure to preserve its customer base. That's an entirely different posture than boldly taking on new areas and expanding market share. The next couple years (as the economy strengthens and IT spending resumes) should prove very interesting indeed...
And pretty soon this will venture into the realm of imaginary numbers.
"Today IBM successfully convinced the judge to amend the claim to $3 i Billion, to reflect the imaginary validity of SCO's case"
I don't suppose you've ever made ice cream, then? I hadn't either until I moved to Indiana a few years ago - while it takes some patience, the result is far better than anything you'll buy. And of course you have the option of making whatever kind of ice cream you like...
Mmmmm... Chocolate Cod surprise - yummy!
Exactly - no matter how this ultimately works out, this is bound to be a landmark case that could have an effect on the next 10-20 years of both open source and corporate software development.
Then we all know what must be done...
One of us here will have to carry Darl McBride and cast him into the fiery chasm from whence he came. (someone else can provide the goatse.cx link)
and let's be honest here, folks, the government won't make this push without popular support. I just don't see a widespread feeling that space exploration is that important. People would rather get tax cuts above all else, seemingly...
In a way, this is the opposite of Schumpeter's Creative Destruction. Under Schumpeter, new technologies and companies grow and wipe out the older generation in the process. In this case, we have an increasingly irrelevant loser of a company that's trying to set off an IP Doomsday Device to wipe out that part of the IT world that is new and ascending (Linux in the enterprise).
problem is, they'll be hungry again about an hour after they've eaten...
Even more important, many operators use laptops and online marketplaces to line up backhaul opportunities, to minimize their downtime and reduce the number of times they drive around with the trailer empty (thus not making $$$).
Since most are already used to catching virii at truck stops, I don't think it will be that big a change...
Try here... It's just called Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter.
The only thing distressing about it is that they already have every opportunity to reply in public forums. Why should I have to provide the resources to accept the reply, verify that it actually came from the offended party, and post it on my site?
It's a big Internet, folks, there's more than enough room out there...