I don't think they were referring to free software as temporary, just the intense media attention it is getting lately.
There will always be free software. People will produce it because of varying reasons, philosophical beliefs, just for fun, they wrote it but don't want to support it, etc, but there may not always be the "buzz" associated with it that there is now.
...if I want to paste a URL into Netscape, selecting the current URL blows away the new URL I just copied. It ought to be possible to select text without clobbering the contents of the clipboard. I also frequently want to use the contents of the clipboard several times, and I would like it to stay there until I am done with it.
AMEN!
That drives me nuts as well. I'm not sure, but I think that is a function of the window manager (selection), isn't it?
It should be possible to change how selection works at the window manager level, it would be nice if some of the WM developers would give us the choice between implicit selection (like we have now) and explicit selection.
If you've got an Xlib programming manual handy, check out chapter 12.4.
Who knows, maybe I'll try to hack explicit selection into a window manager this weekend...
Heheh, I don't know what else they've got on that site, but my companies firewall won't let me get it...
"Forbidden By Ratings Check" - what a hoot!
Next, good ol' slashdot won't be on the approved site list. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my company has sold it's soul to Microsoft.
Seems to me Eric is proposing to require much more of Microsoft than he did of Apple when he blessed the APSL.
He decries any release of Windows source that "won't build into functioning, usable software", but isn't that essentially what Apple did with the APSL? He also states that "a license that exposes source but denies outside developers full rights to modify, re-use and re-distribute without legal hindrance" would be a sham, but isn't that exactly what the APSL does?
This attitude of embracing anything a competetor of Microsoft's does, regardless of how bad an idea it really is, and then donning the holy robes of free software when dealing with Microsoft's proposal reeks of hypocrisy.
Either it is ok by the "open source" definition to release partial, incomplete software with extreme restrictions, or it isn't. By raising the bar just because this time it is Microsoft diminishes OSI's reputation.
Its been said many times, but Nested mode == Rules!
The little [X] boxes at the top of the side boxes (whatever the heck they are called) to instantly turn one off, well, it's a great thing.
Now, if I could set up multiple user configs under my same account, so at the click of a button, I can change from my work settings to my home settings, to my x-terminal settings, to my lynx settings...
You are correct, quality does matter, and while Woods article attacks the quality of Katz writings (sometimes erroneously, see the thread above about the origin of the term geek), many complainers about him here on slashdot refer to him "not belonging", rather than lack of research or depth of thought.
Yes, there have been many times I've read an editorial by him and wondered where the fresh idea was hiding, but he does occasionally pose interesting questions. So, if the Katz debate move from one of "does he fit in" to one of "does he have anything interesting to say", then that is a good thing.
The fact that he writes on a Mac, can't install Linux, and blamed it on a dog eating his motherboard, well, none of that really matters. As you said, what does count is the quality of what he posts.
You are correct, quality does matter, and while Woods article attacks the quality of Katz writings (sometimes erroneously, see the thread above about the origin of the term geek), many complainers about him here on slashdot refer to him "not belonging", rather than lack of research or depth of thought. Yes, there have been many times I've read an editorial by him and wondered where the fresh idea was hiding, but he does occasionally pose interesting questions. So, if the Katz debate move from one of "does he fit in" to one of "does he have anything interesting to say", then that is a good thing. The fact that he writes on a Mac, can't install Linux, and blamed it on a dog eating his motherboard, well, none of that really matters. As you said, what does count is the quality of what he posts.
Actually, Ozzy initially bit the head off a dove in a meeting at a record company.
They promptly threw him out of the building, but kept him signed to a contract.
Then, in concerts, he would bite the heads off rubber bats as part of the show. Then, one night someone threw a real, unconcious bat on stage, Ozzy thought it was rubber, and bit it's head off.
A rigourous round of rabies shots followed, and the Ozzy/freakshow-geek mythology took off.
If slashdot is to be known as more than just a hangout for free software fanatics, we need people like Katz to round out the slashdot universe.
Remember in college, they made you take literature classes, art classes, even gym classes, all in hopes of broadening your horizons, and making you a richer human being.
Katz has a place here. Don't be afraid of people with different ideas, and don't be afraid to have your beliefs challanged. Slashdot shouldn't become such an exclusive club that all we do is sit around and talk about how great Linux is, patting each other on the backs and berating all who don't think just like we do.
He see's things just a little differently than we do. And for that, I thank him.
I lost a huge amount of respect for ESR when he showed up dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi for Windows refund day.
This "tattletale" attitude about Bruce only reinforces the prevailing view of Eric Raymond as childish.
And what's with all the politics lately? I fell in love with Linux because it did it's job and stayed out of my way. When it didn't, I could fix it. I guess it's like anything else, success and publicity bring power, and there are those who lust after power as much as others lust after money.
The problem here is that all the sane, decent people (like Linus and Alan Cox) don't care about the power, leaving a void to be filled by folks like ESR.
The sun was rising over 50th Street. Its rays reflecting red and orange light against the glass-plated towers and gray streets that were slowly coming back to life...
Man, this sounds like the drivel a second year English major submits for a creative writing class.
GACK!
A classic case of a writer falling in love with their own words.
If this is the quality of the writing we can expect, I'll pass...
"Research workers are supposed to discover or invent new things...
The greatest danger to good computer science research today may be excessive relevance.... Another danger is that commercial pressure of one sort or another will divert the attention of the best thinkers from rel innovation to exploitation of the current fad, from prospecting to mining a known lode" --- Dennis Ritchie, CACM, August 1984.
That's what these government grants are for. Not for mining a known lode, like most open source projects are doing, but exploring new technologies, new ideas, unproven, radical concepts, without the undue pressure that funding from private sources often brings.
These grants aren't about developing some application. I keep seeing comments about "government funded applications must be open source". This is about ideas that transcend simply a single application, operating system, compiler. Ideas that revolutionize everything.
So, this isn't about Linux, or Gnu, but about those things none of us have dreamed of yet...
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think they were referring to free software as temporary, just the intense media attention it is getting lately.
There will always be free software. People will produce it because of varying reasons, philosophical beliefs, just for fun, they wrote it but don't want to support it, etc, but there may not always be the "buzz" associated with it that there is now.
AMEN!
That drives me nuts as well. I'm not sure, but I think that is a function of the window manager (selection), isn't it?
It should be possible to change how selection works at the window manager level, it would be nice if some of the WM developers would give us the choice between implicit selection (like we have now) and explicit selection.
If you've got an Xlib programming manual handy, check out chapter 12.4.
Who knows, maybe I'll try to hack explicit selection into a window manager this weekend...
Heheh, I don't know what else they've got on that site, but my companies firewall won't let me get it...
"Forbidden By Ratings Check" - what a hoot!
Next, good ol' slashdot won't be on the approved site list. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my company has sold it's soul to Microsoft.
Seems to me Eric is proposing to require much more of Microsoft than he did of Apple when he blessed the APSL.
He decries any release of Windows source that "won't build into functioning, usable software" , but isn't that essentially what Apple did with the APSL? He also states that "a license that exposes source but denies outside developers full rights to modify, re-use and re-distribute without legal hindrance" would be a sham, but isn't that exactly what the APSL does?
This attitude of embracing anything a competetor of Microsoft's does, regardless of how bad an idea it really is, and then donning the holy robes of free software when dealing with Microsoft's proposal reeks of hypocrisy.
Either it is ok by the "open source" definition to release partial, incomplete software with extreme restrictions, or it isn't. By raising the bar just because this time it is Microsoft diminishes OSI's reputation.
Oh, you're one of those people...
*grin*
Seriously, some of us don't load images, especially since adfu seems to be the major slashdot bottleneck now.
This old, and an April fools joke (last I checked April fools was a day not a month).
Even Sengen knows it's a joke, see the "april-one-nineteen-ninety-nine dept" line...
Come on guys, it was funny for about an hour, but even 04/01 has to end sometime.
Then again, maybe I'm just getting old and crotchety...
Its been said many times, but
Nested mode == Rules!
The little [X] boxes at the top of the side boxes (whatever the heck they are called) to instantly turn one off, well, it's a great thing.
Now, if I could set up multiple user configs under my same account, so at the click of a button, I can change from my work settings to my home settings, to my x-terminal settings, to my lynx settings...
Ahhh, now that would be cool...
You are correct, quality does matter, and while Woods article attacks the quality of Katz writings (sometimes erroneously, see the thread above about the origin of the term geek), many complainers about him here on slashdot refer to him "not belonging", rather than lack of research or depth of thought.
Yes, there have been many times I've read an editorial by him and wondered where the fresh idea was hiding, but he does occasionally pose interesting questions. So, if the Katz debate move from one of "does he fit in" to one of "does he have anything interesting to say", then that is a good thing.
The fact that he writes on a Mac, can't install Linux, and blamed it on a dog eating his motherboard, well, none of that really matters. As you said, what does count is the quality of what he posts.
You are correct, quality does matter, and while Woods article attacks the quality of Katz writings (sometimes erroneously, see the thread above about the origin of the term geek), many complainers about him here on slashdot refer to him "not belonging", rather than lack of research or depth of thought. Yes, there have been many times I've read an editorial by him and wondered where the fresh idea was hiding, but he does occasionally pose interesting questions. So, if the Katz debate move from one of "does he fit in" to one of "does he have anything interesting to say", then that is a good thing. The fact that he writes on a Mac, can't install Linux, and blamed it on a dog eating his motherboard, well, none of that really matters. As you said, what does count is the quality of what he posts.
Actually, Ozzy initially bit the head off a dove in a meeting at a record company.
They promptly threw him out of the building, but kept him signed to a contract.
Then, in concerts, he would bite the heads off rubber bats as part of the show. Then, one night someone threw a real, unconcious bat on stage, Ozzy thought it was rubber, and bit it's head off.
A rigourous round of rabies shots followed, and the Ozzy/freakshow-geek mythology took off.
Geek mythology... hey, there's an idea!
If slashdot is to be known as more than just a hangout for free software fanatics, we need people like Katz to round out the slashdot universe.
Remember in college, they made you take literature classes, art classes, even gym classes, all in hopes of broadening your horizons, and making you a richer human being.
Katz has a place here. Don't be afraid of people with different ideas, and don't be afraid to have your beliefs challanged. Slashdot shouldn't become such an exclusive club that all we do is sit around and talk about how great Linux is, patting each other on the backs and berating all who don't think just like we do.
He see's things just a little differently than we do. And for that, I thank him.
I think anybody who actively seeks to be a moderator should be immediately and irrevocably disqualified.
Same goes for Presidential candidates, but that's off topic.
Just seems to me that seeking such a thing demonstrates a significant character flaw; the lust for power.
I lost a huge amount of respect for ESR when he showed up dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi for Windows refund day.
This "tattletale" attitude about Bruce only reinforces the prevailing view of Eric Raymond as childish.
And what's with all the politics lately? I fell in love with Linux because it did it's job and stayed out of my way. When it didn't, I could fix it. I guess it's like anything else, success and publicity bring power, and there are those who lust after power as much as others lust after money.
The problem here is that all the sane, decent people (like Linus and Alan Cox) don't care about the power, leaving a void to be filled by folks like ESR.
The sun was rising over 50th Street. Its rays reflecting red and orange light against the glass-plated towers and gray streets that were slowly coming back to life...
Man, this sounds like the drivel a second year English major submits for a creative writing class.
GACK!
A classic case of a writer falling in love with their own words.
If this is the quality of the writing we can expect, I'll pass...
I'm not anonymous, and this isn't a flame, but I agree, that "First Post" stuff is childish.
"Research workers are supposed to discover or invent new things...
The greatest danger to good computer science research today may be excessive relevance.... Another danger is that commercial pressure of one sort or another will divert the attention of the best thinkers from rel innovation to exploitation of the current fad, from prospecting to mining a known lode" --- Dennis Ritchie, CACM, August 1984.
That's what these government grants are for. Not for mining a known lode, like most open source projects are doing, but exploring new technologies, new ideas, unproven, radical concepts, without the undue pressure that funding from private sources often brings.
These grants aren't about developing some application. I keep seeing comments about "government funded applications must be open source". This is about ideas that transcend simply a single application, operating system, compiler. Ideas that revolutionize everything.
So, this isn't about Linux, or Gnu, but about those things none of us have dreamed of yet...