I didn't find this book "grim." On the contrary, it's quite a hopeful book. Even in the midst of cataclysm and a revolt against learning, a small cadre secretly preserves knowledge and technology they themselves don't understand in the hope that humanity may one day grasp it again. At the end of the book, as man once again stands on the brink of self-destruction, the heirs of those original bookleggers prepare to venture to another planet to preserve both humanity and its body of learning. Religious orders played this role as the Roman Empire declined, and eventually made the Renaissance possible. It's entirely likely that they'll play that role again. It's that faith in humanity (if not in God) that enables us to recover from disaster.
As a (recovering) Roman Catholic I'm fascinated by the doctrinal implications of the end of the book. If the Pope is Christ's Vicar on Earth, what happens when we inhabit another planet? Does someone get to be the Pope of Mars, or will he just be an archbishop? I haven't read the sequel so I don't know if Miller ever addresses those issues. The doctrinal discussions I had with my Benedictine and Holy Cross teachers at the time were very entertaining but we never really came up with a solid answer.
Lasers mounted in the noses of 747s that would fry holes in ICBMs, causing them to plummet back to Earth.
Actually, the Airborne Laser (ABL) is designed to defend against Theater Ballistic Missiles (TBMs), which are by definition not intercontinental. The SCUD is an example of a TBM. So a few (maybe one) ABLs would cruise at altitude above an area with a known TBM threat. This is a lot cheaper than having a whole fleet of them trying to defend against ICBMs, which are now a lot less likely than a TBM launch against deployed forces.
You need to sell the Linux integration by offering new capabilites along with the integration. Simply taking the place or working with NT in not that impressive, even though their costs goes down.
I'd put it more strongly: I don't think any company will go through the time and expense of moving from NT/commercial *NIX to Linux unless you can guarantee some compelling advantage by making the switch. Operating cost/"TCO" (what an overused phrase!) may decrease over several years, but there's still the up-front growing pains of installing a new system.
A better approach, and what Adelstein seems to say in the article, is to go after new opportunities. Rather than trying to get people to switch their webservers (for instance), he goes to companies/schools/other entities that are looking to build a new network or integrate existing systems. Lower up-front costs and lower operating costs can be a compelling advantage in that situation.
On many occasions you've spoken highly of NEXTSTEP. Do you think that technology (which lives on in MacOS X and GNUstep) will gain wider acceptance? How can advocates help push it forward?
1. A society that considers someone who put in practically no effort through 16 years of schooling more "educated" than someone who has learned through the "school of hard knocks." This is, of course, complete and utter bullshit, yet it persists
'Tis BS, true, but look at the scale of the problem that the educational system tries to solve. Potential employers of whatever stripe have to separate the wheat from the chaff quickly and accurately. It's a lot easier to do if they can say "ah, this person has X degree from Y school" rather than having to evaluate more subjective statements ("Well, I read a lot of Descartes a couple of years ago.") We're suffering through the same thing with technical certification right now. "5 years of experience as a Novell sysadmin" doesn't really tell you much. "Certified Network Engineer" allows you to at least assume exposure to a certain range of topics. Having the CNE doesn't make you a good sysadmin, but it does give a prospective employer a way to evaluate you.
The problem is that your new boss won't know how good you really are until it's too late. The guy who's gone to school and has the degree or the certification has at least shown that he's got the discipline and the ability to see something through. That gives the boss a reason to have some faith in you.
I hated some of the required courses I had to take in HS and college, but that didn't cause me to drop out. Sturgeon's law states that "90% of everything is crap," and I believe that applies to school and industry. You never escape the BS...but school inures you to it.
I've always thought that ESR's bazaar metaphor was somewhat imperfect, especially as applied to the Linux kernel. Sure, anybody can submit work and try to participate, but there's a man with a plan running the project. Frankly, that's the way it should be. Good software requires design, and it's difficult to achieve good design by committee. Open source works for large projects, but only if the "coordinator" has a strong vision and adheres to it. Contributors can't challenge the core model of the project, if the project is to flourish.
The article's description of ESR's thesis as "[a] socialist interpretation of software development" really interested me. I've never associated ESR with anything socialist - he's never bothered to disguise his anarcho-capitalist views in his writings. "Having a better/different way" != Marxism. Certainly ESR's view of open source is rosy, but I don't think he ever described a Workers Paradise.
Knife Center of the Internet has them for about US$60. They also carry just about every other edged implement or multi-tool you could ever want.
I've carried a Victorinox "Huntsman" for many years and found it very useful for computer and non-computer tasks. The one thing I really want, that both the Huntsman and Cybertool lack, is a 3/16" hex driver for opening old PC cases and removing bus slot covers. The Phillips slots on those bolts tend to round very easily so I end up hunting for a hex driver.
OSI is on its way to your cube...I suggest you panic and run.
Dunno about AFRL but HQ AMC/SC reads. Well, at least one of his staff weenies does.
ObArticle: [...]associated with military activities[...]
This is pretty vague. I don't necessarily read *.mil here. It could be MITRE, or RAND, or a DoD host. I suspect that somebody (maybe an Aussie) broke into the host to perform the attack. If we were really trying to mess up ASX, I assume we'd do it through a front. At least, I hope so.
Next article: Host associated with US Military Posts to Slashdot
Slashdot Mirror
I didn't find this book "grim." On the contrary, it's quite a hopeful book. Even in the midst of cataclysm and a revolt against learning, a small cadre secretly preserves knowledge and technology they themselves don't understand in the hope that humanity may one day grasp it again. At the end of the book, as man once again stands on the brink of self-destruction, the heirs of those original bookleggers prepare to venture to another planet to preserve both humanity and its body of learning. Religious orders played this role as the Roman Empire declined, and eventually made the Renaissance possible. It's entirely likely that they'll play that role again. It's that faith in humanity (if not in God) that enables us to recover from disaster.
As a (recovering) Roman Catholic I'm fascinated by the doctrinal implications of the end of the book. If the Pope is Christ's Vicar on Earth, what happens when we inhabit another planet? Does someone get to be the Pope of Mars, or will he just be an archbishop? I haven't read the sequel so I don't know if Miller ever addresses those issues. The doctrinal discussions I had with my Benedictine and Holy Cross teachers at the time were very entertaining but we never really came up with a solid answer.
Neutron
Actually, the Airborne Laser (ABL) is designed to defend against Theater Ballistic Missiles (TBMs), which are by definition not intercontinental. The SCUD is an example of a TBM. So a few (maybe one) ABLs would cruise at altitude above an area with a known TBM threat. This is a lot cheaper than having a whole fleet of them trying to defend against ICBMs, which are now a lot less likely than a TBM launch against deployed forces.
ABL's laser module recently completed testing, see this Air Force News article.
Neutron
I'd put it more strongly: I don't think any company will go through the time and expense of moving from NT/commercial *NIX to Linux unless you can guarantee some compelling advantage by making the switch. Operating cost/"TCO" (what an overused phrase!) may decrease over several years, but there's still the up-front growing pains of installing a new system.
A better approach, and what Adelstein seems to say in the article, is to go after new opportunities. Rather than trying to get people to switch their webservers (for instance), he goes to companies/schools/other entities that are looking to build a new network or integrate existing systems. Lower up-front costs and lower operating costs can be a compelling advantage in that situation.
Neutron
Neutron
On many occasions you've spoken highly of NEXTSTEP. Do you think that technology (which lives on in MacOS X and GNUstep) will gain wider acceptance? How can advocates help push it forward?
Neutron
'Tis BS, true, but look at the scale of the problem that the educational system tries to solve. Potential employers of whatever stripe have to separate the wheat from the chaff quickly and accurately. It's a lot easier to do if they can say "ah, this person has X degree from Y school" rather than having to evaluate more subjective statements ("Well, I read a lot of Descartes a couple of years ago.") We're suffering through the same thing with technical certification right now. "5 years of experience as a Novell sysadmin" doesn't really tell you much. "Certified Network Engineer" allows you to at least assume exposure to a certain range of topics. Having the CNE doesn't make you a good sysadmin, but it does give a prospective employer a way to evaluate you.
The problem is that your new boss won't know how good you really are until it's too late. The guy who's gone to school and has the degree or the certification has at least shown that he's got the discipline and the ability to see something through. That gives the boss a reason to have some faith in you.
I hated some of the required courses I had to take in HS and college, but that didn't cause me to drop out. Sturgeon's law states that "90% of everything is crap," and I believe that applies to school and industry. You never escape the BS...but school inures you to it.
Neutron
The article's description of ESR's thesis as "[a] socialist interpretation of software development" really interested me. I've never associated ESR with anything socialist - he's never bothered to disguise his anarcho-capitalist views in his writings. "Having a better/different way" != Marxism. Certainly ESR's view of open source is rosy, but I don't think he ever described a Workers Paradise.
Neutron
I've carried a Victorinox "Huntsman" for many years and found it very useful for computer and non-computer tasks. The one thing I really want, that both the Huntsman and Cybertool lack, is a 3/16" hex driver for opening old PC cases and removing bus slot covers. The Phillips slots on those bolts tend to round very easily so I end up hunting for a hex driver.
Neutron
OSI is on its way to your cube...I suggest you panic and run.
Dunno about AFRL but HQ AMC/SC reads. Well, at least one of his staff weenies does.
ObArticle: [...]associated with military activities[...]
This is pretty vague. I don't necessarily read *.mil here. It could be MITRE, or RAND, or a DoD host. I suspect that somebody (maybe an Aussie) broke into the host to perform the attack. If we were really trying to mess up ASX, I assume we'd do it through a front. At least, I hope so.
Next article: Host associated with US Military Posts to Slashdot
Neutron