Check page http://marc.merlins.org/linux/balug9906/ where Linus is paraphrased as saying: About source management, Linus is convinced that CVS is indeed not the right tool, and he is going to give a serious look at Bitkeeper when it comes out (scheduled for July 15th). (Bitkeeper is from Larry McVoy, and you can see my report of his talk at linuxexpo if you'd like more info about it) --
A bad review from Linus could be the kiss of death for a dev tool...
>When's the last time you saw a murder defendent argue he meant to perform "good, clean" murder? Law should limit actions, not intentions.
Murder *is* about intentions. That's why we have various degrees of murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, etc. *Real* bad example there.
Re:Quality product? (buahaha)
on
qt 2.0 released
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· Score: 1
>This assumption is generally done by people who do not know the effects of using bad OO techniques such as templates (just look at what it does to your cache)
What the Sam Hill do templates have to do with your cache? A template in C++ is essentially a super, type-checked macro with the ability of specializations for specific data types. It can and should be compiled to as efficient code as non-templated stuff. (In the variants of Java with templates, the template handling is basically done as a pre-process.) The only cost, if the compiler/linker is competent, is to the programmer in terms of extra link time to eliminate duplicate template function instantiations.
>operator overloading
Can be wonderful. Can also be misused, but so can many other things.
Or at the very least, reviews. This is something I've been thinking about and really missed for open source stuff. Can't code but want to contribute? Think about setting up a reviews site and reviewing what does exist.
Brooks' Law is "Adding programmers to a late software project makes it later." I strongly dispute Eric's claim that open source overcomes Brooks' Law. While open source may have advantages, super-speed in initial development is not one of them. It may be quick to *fix* vital bugs, but that's another matter. How fast is AbiWord being developed? Mozilla? (And how does the latter compare to the "Internet time" upgrades we used to have with browser versions?)
P.S. It was a pleasure working with Dr. Brooks as a grad student.
I've been looking at path finding algorithms as part of my first attempt at some real open source code (in this case, using the X license). In my case, I've been trying to write the algorithms as templated C++ code, to allow it to be used for a variety of situations. I'm not a great web guy, though. Is there anyone out there who would be interested in helping me set up a web site about this? Basically it would be an archive of source code and build files, long-winded explanations, and hopefully you could help create a graphic or two (animated GIF maybe) that visually show the different algorithms in action.
>Netscape is so utterly pathetically behind, it's crazy. How did they fall so far behind with such a head start?
Umm, because Microsoft spent $100 million developing a product they are just giving away? Most open source products don't have that sort of competition. And the open source movement is gaining in momentum, it will be interesting to see what effect it ends up having on proprietary software.
"I can't believe some of the shameful comments by/.ers about spending the money on other projects before spending on technology."
Why is it so shameful to believe that there might be a more effective way to spend money on Africa? Now, according to the article, the cable system may end up saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year. If so, then the project is undoubtedly a winner, since the money will be paid back in short order. Improvements to the phone system may help bring the economic development that is needed in Africa.
However, your characterization of the naysayers is extremely unfair. Their argument is not "Wah, how come they get fast modems before me", it's "perhaps distributing vitamins with folate to pregnant African women would be a better way of spending the money."
85% of African countries have a per capita income of $785/year or less, according to http://www.rrojasdatabank.free-online.co.uk/incafr ic.htm . Given that, I don't think it's ridiculous to question whether $1.6 billion could be more effectively spent on other things.
>Sometimes I wander if its all the PHBs who say that BSD is better cause they get free stuff without rewarding anyone...
With either the GPL or BSD, plenty of people get free stuff without rewarding anyone. The big difference, seems to me, is that the GPL prevents programmers from getting free stuff. And many of those programmers, even if they make a proprietary version, would contribute to the free version to make it easier for them to take advantage of other improvements to the free version.
How many of those web sites that run Apache/Linux contribute? How many of the companies that run Linux fileservers or mailservers contribute? I'd bet it's a darned small fraction.
Re:Linux Driver for Rat?
on
Bionic Rats
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· Score: 1
You forgot the obligatory "Just imagine a Beowulf cluster of these things" -- or would it be a Beomouse?
Speaking of which... have you noticed those little plastic inserts in men's urinals, usually from the Swisher corporation, that say "Just say no to drugs" on them? Don't you find it rather ironic that you can't avoid doing a number 1 on that slogan?
>Just wait a few years until NASA, ESA, and other aerospace agencies start allowing for the launch of floating billboards.
That would be enough to make me a huge supporter of a ground-based missile defense system... Note that mylar balloons can short out high-tension lines and the like. I think the lawsuits would be immense.
>I thought Macintosh had 5 to 10 years of being the only real GUI that was actually used.
The Amiga and the Atari ST both had GUIs in the mid-80's, and there were others (GEM?) as well. The Xerox Star was (I b'leeve) the first commercially available computer with a WIMP interface, although it sold very few machines just like the Lisa. And X Window was born in 1984. But yes, you are correct about a usable (if pretty lame) version of Microsoft Windows not being available until the 90's.
>GUI design: Look, creating dialogs is not going to be an intellectually stimulating programming task.
Ironically, GUI design really shouldn't be done visually at all.
Seriously. A good interface should allow for language differences and user preferences, each of which can screw up your carefully laid out dialogs. The ideal thing is to have the computer lay them out as needed for the user/interface settings, putting the proper spacing, border spacing, etc.
With emacs/XEmacs, can you: Set breakpoints in the source editor? When in a "break", can you query various variables, including members of structures? Get a list of the local variables? Cast pointers to other types and query them? Mouse-select text for copying and pasting? Grab the latest versions of files from source control programs?
Also: Can you add conditions to a break, so it doesn't always trigger? Can you syntax color matching parentheses/brackets?
(Note: I consider the answer yes if it could reasonably be programmed with elisp to do so.)
The first set are things I can do with IDEs like Visual C++, the second are things I can't get them to do. I find the former really useful, and wish I could do the latter.
"The Supreme Court is not doing its job when it allows the federal government to unconstitutionally link areas where they do have authority to other areas where they do not."
IANAL. Note that in this case, it will be the libraries that will be found to be engaging in unconstitutional behavior if they add the filtering, not the Feds. The Loudon County courts ruled that the libraries could not use filtering software. Therefore they cannot use it (at least wherever the courts rule similarly), whether or not there's a carrot from the Feds to do so.
So more bleepin' useless nonsense from the Feds. Seen any flags burned recently? No, yet an anti-flag burning amendment is one of the all-important platform elements of candidate George W. Bush. (And probably several other Republican candidates.)
I am *more* than a sequence of amino acids. So are you. The creation of a unique (or nearly unique strand of DNA) is not the creation of "me." What makes me unique sis that I think, I have (as the bible put it) the knowledge of good and evil, and the ability to choose between the two. That isn't the case for a newly fertilized egg!
Biblicly speaking, human life is "defined" by having a soul. We have no "soulscope" to detect souls. However, we do have a reasonable scientific alternative; yes, brainwaves. The right brainwaves mean we are thinking, we are making those choices. And we don't consider a person to be a different person if they have a heart, or a kidney, or a lung replaced (by a transplant or artificial organ.) We don't consider someone dead if their heart can't beat on its own. We do consider someone dead if there's no evidence of brain activity. A just-conceived egg doesn't have brain activity. So why not be logically consistent and take the evidence of brain activity to be the start of life? *That's* what logic dictates.
>Am I the only one who has a difficult time "getting" this whole theory?
You might prefer thinking of it not as a theory, but as a model. That is, as a way of modeling how ideas spread, predicting when they will stop spreading, and so on. Sometimes that can give us insights we might not otherwise see.
>I was in Eckhard drug store yester day and saw TPM *suntan lotion* and *beach toys*.
Sun tan lotion sounds a bit much, but my little boy had great fun travelling around a swimming pool in an inflatable "landspeeder", pretending to be Luke Skywalker.
Slashdot Mirror
Check page http://marc.merlins.org/linux/balug9906/
where Linus is paraphrased as saying:
About source management, Linus is convinced that CVS is indeed not the right tool, and he is going to give a serious look at Bitkeeper when it comes out (scheduled for July 15th). (Bitkeeper is from Larry McVoy, and you can see my report of his talk at linuxexpo if you'd like more info about it)
--
A bad review from Linus could be the kiss of death for a dev tool...
>When's the last time you saw a murder defendent argue he meant to perform "good, clean" murder? Law should limit actions, not intentions.
Murder *is* about intentions. That's why we have various degrees of murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, etc. *Real* bad example there.
>This assumption is generally done by people who do not know the effects of using bad OO techniques such as templates (just look at what it does to your cache)
What the Sam Hill do templates have to do with your cache? A template in C++ is essentially a super, type-checked macro with the ability of specializations for specific data types. It can and should be compiled to as efficient code as non-templated stuff. (In the variants of Java with templates, the template handling is basically done as a pre-process.) The only cost, if the compiler/linker is competent, is to the programmer in terms of extra link time to eliminate duplicate template function instantiations.
>operator overloading
Can be wonderful. Can also be misused, but so can many other things.
>Freshmeat needs MODERATION.
Or at the very least, reviews. This is something I've been thinking about and really missed for open source stuff. Can't code but want to contribute? Think about setting up a reviews site and reviewing what does exist.
Brooks' Law is "Adding programmers to a late software project makes it later." I strongly dispute Eric's claim that open source overcomes Brooks' Law. While open source may have advantages, super-speed in initial development is not one of them. It may be quick to *fix* vital bugs, but that's another matter. How fast is AbiWord being developed? Mozilla? (And how does the latter compare to the "Internet time" upgrades we used to have with browser versions?)
P.S. It was a pleasure working with Dr. Brooks as a grad student.
I've been looking at path finding algorithms as part of my first attempt at some real open source code (in this case, using the X license). In my case, I've been trying to write the algorithms as templated C++ code, to allow it to be used for a variety of situations. I'm not a great web guy, though. Is there anyone out there who would be interested in helping me set up a web site about this? Basically it would be an archive of source code and build files, long-winded explanations, and hopefully you could help create a graphic or two (animated GIF maybe) that visually show the different algorithms in action.
>Netscape is so utterly pathetically behind, it's crazy. How did they fall so far behind with such a head start?
Umm, because Microsoft spent $100 million developing a product they are just giving away? Most open source products don't have that sort of competition. And the open source movement is gaining in momentum, it will be interesting to see what effect it ends up having on proprietary software.
Maybe if you refrained from the f word, you wouldn't get moderated to -1?
"I can't believe some of the shameful comments by /.ers about spending the money on other projects before spending on technology."
r ic.htm . Given that, I don't think it's ridiculous to question whether $1.6 billion could be more effectively spent on other things.
Why is it so shameful to believe that there might be a more effective way to spend money on Africa? Now, according to the article, the cable system may end up saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year. If so, then the project is undoubtedly a winner, since the money will be paid back in short order. Improvements to the phone system may help bring the economic development that is needed in Africa.
However, your characterization of the naysayers is extremely unfair. Their argument is not "Wah, how come they get fast modems before me", it's "perhaps distributing vitamins with folate to pregnant African women would be a better way of spending the money."
85% of African countries have a per capita income of $785/year or less, according to http://www.rrojasdatabank.free-online.co.uk/incaf
>Sometimes I wander if its all the PHBs who say that BSD is better cause they get free stuff without rewarding anyone...
With either the GPL or BSD, plenty of people get free stuff without rewarding anyone. The big difference, seems to me, is that the GPL prevents programmers from getting free stuff. And many of those programmers, even if they make a proprietary version, would contribute to the free version to make it easier for them to take advantage of other improvements to the free version.
How many of those web sites that run Apache/Linux contribute? How many of the companies that run Linux fileservers or mailservers contribute? I'd bet it's a darned small fraction.
You forgot the obligatory "Just imagine a Beowulf cluster of these things" -- or would it be a Beomouse?
Speaking of which... have you noticed those little plastic inserts in men's urinals, usually from the Swisher corporation, that say "Just say no to drugs" on them? Don't you find it rather ironic that you can't avoid doing a number 1 on that slogan?
>Just wait a few years until NASA, ESA, and other aerospace agencies start allowing for the launch of floating billboards.
That would be enough to make me a huge supporter of a ground-based missile defense system... Note that mylar balloons can short out high-tension lines and the like. I think the lawsuits would be immense.
>CP/M used a C> prompt...
Shouldn't it have been an A> prompt? The C> prompt only came to be because most hard drives were C, after two (A and B) floppy drives.
>I thought Macintosh had 5 to 10 years of being the only real GUI that was actually used.
The Amiga and the Atari ST both had GUIs in the mid-80's, and there were others (GEM?) as well. The Xerox Star was (I b'leeve) the first commercially available computer with a WIMP interface, although it sold very few machines just like the Lisa. And X Window was born in 1984. But yes, you are correct about a usable (if pretty lame) version of Microsoft Windows not being available until the 90's.
>GUI design: Look, creating dialogs is not going to be an intellectually stimulating programming task.
Ironically, GUI design really shouldn't be done visually at all.
Seriously. A good interface should allow for language differences and user preferences, each of which can screw up your carefully laid out dialogs. The ideal thing is to have the computer lay them out as needed for the user/interface settings, putting the proper spacing, border spacing, etc.
Honest questions here.
With emacs/XEmacs, can you:
Set breakpoints in the source editor?
When in a "break", can you query various variables, including members of structures? Get a list of the local variables? Cast pointers to other types and query them?
Mouse-select text for copying and pasting?
Grab the latest versions of files from source control programs?
Also:
Can you add conditions to a break, so it doesn't always trigger?
Can you syntax color matching parentheses/brackets?
(Note: I consider the answer yes if it could reasonably be programmed with elisp to do so.)
The first set are things I can do with IDEs like Visual C++, the second are things I can't get them to do. I find the former really useful, and wish I could do the latter.
"The Supreme Court is not doing its job when it allows the federal government to unconstitutionally link areas where they do have authority to other areas where they do not."
IANAL. Note that in this case, it will be the libraries that will be found to be engaging in unconstitutional behavior if they add the filtering, not the Feds. The Loudon County courts ruled that the libraries could not use filtering software. Therefore they cannot use it (at least wherever the courts rule similarly), whether or not there's a carrot from the Feds to do so.
So more bleepin' useless nonsense from the Feds. Seen any flags burned recently? No, yet an anti-flag burning amendment is one of the all-important platform elements of candidate George W. Bush. (And probably several other Republican candidates.)
>I don't particularly want a precocious 8 year old mixing ammonia and bleach in his elementary school
On the other hand, I'd rather have 8 years know that mixing ammonia and bleach is dangerous...
I am *more* than a sequence of amino acids. So are you. The creation of a unique (or nearly unique strand of DNA) is not the creation of "me." What makes me unique sis that I think, I have (as the bible put it) the knowledge of good and evil, and the ability to choose between the two. That isn't the case for a newly fertilized egg!
Biblicly speaking, human life is "defined" by having a soul. We have no "soulscope" to detect souls. However, we do have a reasonable scientific alternative; yes, brainwaves. The right brainwaves mean we are thinking, we are making those choices. And we don't consider a person to be a different person if they have a heart, or a kidney, or a lung replaced (by a transplant or artificial organ.) We don't consider someone dead if their heart can't beat on its own. We do consider someone dead if there's no evidence of brain activity. A just-conceived egg doesn't have brain activity. So why not be logically consistent and take the evidence of brain activity to be the start of life? *That's* what logic dictates.
>Too bad there are not a US orginization, international law is a myth that exists only when everyone wants it to.
:-(
IANAL, but if they have any U.S. assets or associations, you could probably go after those.
As for international law being a myth, heck, Russian law is largely mythical these days, unfortunately.
>Am I the only one who has a difficult time "getting" this whole theory?
You might prefer thinking of it not as a theory, but as a model. That is, as a way of modeling how ideas spread, predicting when they will stop spreading, and so on. Sometimes that can give us insights we might not otherwise see.
>I was in Eckhard drug store yester day and saw TPM *suntan lotion* and *beach toys*.
Sun tan lotion sounds a bit much, but my little boy had great fun travelling around a swimming pool in an inflatable "landspeeder", pretending to be Luke Skywalker.
>OK, kiddies -- place it
Princess Leia in her message to Obi-Wan Kenobi, in the holomessage she placed in R2-D2.
>Just look at darth maul in that scene. Do you -really- want to know why he's upset?
Ah, but I know.
He played too much Doom and Quake as a kid. If you look carefully, you can even tell that he's actually wearing a black trenchcoat...