Why do people buy iPhones? If you have one... you paid for that piece of equipment. It's yours. It belongs to you. And someone else gets to dictate what you install on it? I would have thought most Slashdot readers would be totally against something like that and yet so many seem to be Apple fanboys. I just don't get it!
Having used Linux and a great deal of open source software that goes with it on the Desktop since 1998 I'm not sure I'd be happy to see more contributions from "Enterprise IT" and whatever companies fall under that umbrella. As buisiness usage of Linux has grown it seems like it has eclipsed other usage in developer's priorities.
While it now runs great on a large expensive mainframe performing huge database functions it seems like it is less efficient running ordinary Desktop apps on ordinary Desktop hardware. Unfortunately, I don't get the impression that Desktop users even have a chance to counterbalance this with their own contributions. Remember the CK patchset?
Likewise, in some ways I believe that the ease of use has gone down. Remember Supermount?
As more large coorporations with deep pockets get involved I am afraid all that is gained is louder, squeekier wheels who aren't squeeking for the things which benefit the rest of us.
True, those are both valid points and I am sure there are other situations where a fully functional 911 could be the thing which saves my life.
Still..
I know I got by just fine before I had a trackable communications device with 3-click access to an emergency operator strapped to my belt 24x7. I'm really not sure I want to even try to be prepared for every possible situation. Someday, yes, I am going to die.
Actually, I'm kind of reminded of the old "I've fallen and I can't get up" TV commercials. This stuff used to be reserved for the old and impaired.
It seems like the arguments against this can be put in 3 categories. 911, battery life and coverage.
I would think that if you are viewing this as a "cell"phone replacement then it would obviously fail on all 3.
I remember being able to live without a cellphone. In fact, I miss it. I find it very annoying that in our cellphone enamoured society my friends and relatives feel "entitled" to talk to me whenever, wherever I might be. I don't want to talk to someone as I go through the checkout line in the grocery store. I find it annoying to try to understand someone who will not speak up when I am driving my Jeep. It's loud in there. Let alone the safety issues! I'd rather call people back when it's convenient for me. Just like I would have with an answering machine and a landline about 12 years ago. Does this make me old? I am only 29.
That in mind I too have considered what the author is asking though I would use a more portable form, some sort of PDA rather than a netbook.
I would keep separate power adapters in my office at work, one at home and a third in my car. Most of the time I would be in one of those places and could plug it in. Don't want to be tethered to the plug? Use bluetooth! If I don't get a signal in my car then oh-well. I know how to change a tire! That about takes care of the power problem. It just doesn't have to be on every moment I am not in one of those places. If I need to make a call, that's when I would turn it on and use the battery.
As for coverage... wifi at home and work are easy. Your mileage will vary at work but I doubt many on this site don't have it at home. Anywhere else it works... that's just a bonus.
Think you have too much of a social life to not be always connected? Do you think you will miss too much because you're out? I think not... you are on Slashdot! Seriously though, I was a college student with one of the busiest lives I knew just before I got my first cellphone. Missing calls didn't stop me, if I missed it then I was already busy! If I missed too many calls then maybe I would have ended up at home, but then I wouldn't miss the next call. See how that works?!
Now, 911. This issue has been brought up against every form of VoIP since the begining. I have to ask... does it really matter that much? Honestly, I don't know the answer to this but don't the 911 operators have the ability to transfer to one another quickly? If not then this is a problem the public should be crying to see addressed! What if a call was coming in via radio or some other third party method where the person making the call is not in the same local as the emergency. Hasn't there always been a need for 911 calls to be transfered?
Is it really necessary to kiss that much butt? I think just telling him you will do things as he wishes and asking what he would like you to do with the spool, crimpers & ends now that you know "homemade" cables are out at that company would suffice.
If the boss isn't the kind that welcomes alternative opinions from his employees you want to just go with it and not argue the case but if you have to actually tell him you agree with him (clearly he knows you don't since you already obtained the spool) then only do so as long as it takes to find a new job. Your boss is a deuche and your time at that company will be short, miserable or both no matter what you do.
Besides, there actually are some bosses who don't respect a but kisser.
To those who have bothered to run TDR tests or any other test requiring specialized equipment on their "homemade" cables and compare them to commercial ones...
Did you try just using it? Did you see how much data you could push through the one vs the other? I admit I have never worked with gigabit however when it comes to 10/100 I have seen all sorts of Jankey runs which used the wrong kind of cable, way too long runs, inches of outer insulation stripped off and the pairs untwisted at the ends, etc...
I can only think of once where I actually saw it make a difference. That was on a really long run, we solved it by crawling in the attic, cutting it about the 1/2 way point, crimping on our own connectors and inserting an old hub. (should be as good as a switch when there is only 1 network path going through it)
Now, I wouldn't condone being sloppy just because I've seen it work and those connectors where the outer insulation isn't in the crimp do seem to fail sooner. But why bother with expensive cables and TDR tests?
Maybe with Gigabit?
Also, people keep commenting about patch cables. The original poster said he needs "to run cable from the ISP's box to our server room". This doesn't sound like a patch cable to me it sounds like a room to room run. What's the quality of a commercial cable which has been fished through a wall with the connector attached? I suspect much worse than a hand-made one which was fished and then crimped... unless he is really lucky to have nice fat empty conduits to run through with no existing wires or sharp turns. Yah, we all have that huh...
But, hey, what the boss says the boss gets. If they never allow self-made cables in the building maybe they will give him the spool to take home??
Not too original as it's already in the article but it's the coffee shop for me. The office is too quiet, home is too distracting. Coffee shop is just right. It takes some good code to make a profit though with all those overpriced treats around.
How many people's yards, barns, houses, etc... will have to get chopped up to make room for the rails? Maybe that's not an issue, maybe there are enough existing lines (perhaps a decade or two out of use) which could just be repaired and put back into use. Even reactivating an old abandoned line still could cause some people issues though I suppose. How about property values for adjacent homes? I don't usually go for that argument but having just bought my first home I can kind of relate better. It would really suck to end up upside down on your mortgage because a new train line was put in.
I'm not saying it's a bad idea, just some more issues to consider.
We had a passenger rail system. I suppose we still do but barely. They've been losing money and shrinking for decades. Is this going to be different? Or will it wither up and die once the tax money stops flowing because Americans don't really want to use it? I took a train from Boston to Toledo once. It was ok for the first hour or so then the sun went down and the scenery went away. So boring... I said I would never do that again, it wasn't worth the price difference between that and flying. Getting a ticket in a sleeper car might have been ok but then it really wouldn't have been cheaper than flying. But, that was years ago, flying is more expensive. Maybe train's time have come again? I guess like everyone else I will just have to wait and see just how fast these things are and how much they cost to ride. If it happens I sure hope it does succeed because we tax payers are buying it either way.
I agree that Microsoft should not be funding non-microsoft training. But why is a state government involved? Supposedly this is a capatalist society and in such a society it's competition for capital that drives companies to do things which benefit the rest of us. When state or federal governments get involved they are skewing the playing field towards one company. I'm sure Gov. Christine Gregoire and the state/local governments which are participating think they are just doing a good thing by helping educate people but they should not be getting into bed with any particular company to do so. Microsoft on the otherhand, if they want to donate free training regardless of if it is to help out the community or just to push their own product should be free to give out all the vouchers it wants without state help. They certainly have the resources to do so!
50 to 60 years ago the US had tons of small auto makers. Over time the big 3 either bought them or put them out of business. The little guys never could produce a car that came close to being as affordable as the mass produced ones from the big 3. The emergence of the big 3 did benefit consumers by making cars affordable.
Now, today, maybe they have forgotten how to compete. Maybe a return of the small auto makers will help. Maybe Tesla will even make it to the point where they can produce an affordable car. Who knows? I hope they do.
Still, if the big 3 fall whose paying for our parents' and grandparents' retirements? Medical care is expensive, especially as one gets older. I love my family and do not want to lose them early to a treatable symptom of old age just to get a better car. I also think someone who puts in 25-30 years working for the same company does deserve to be cared for in return.
I don't know how much bailout money giving to greedy executives is going to help the situation though. It would be much better to use the cash to buy cars, maybe give them to poor people or something. That way the auto company gets money but they are forced to spend it on actually making cars and employing people.
Maybe emperor Obama (who seems to have decided to keep the position Bush created) could put in an order for a million EV1s and give them to needy families. I think GM would consider reopening the line for that. Of course, some of those cars could be ordered from Tesla too, perhaps proportionally to their current ability to actually fill the order. If that happened I hope they would make the recipients at least prove they are using it to get to work or look for work or something like that. No worries though since it will never happen and all we are getting is failed employers and richer executives.
How many employees does Sun have? If there is anywhere near enough and if they want to have jobs in a year they better get together and buy it themselves. Java hasn't taken over the world like it was meant to. The position it could have held unfortunately is slowly being eroded away by.NET on the application end and things like Flash/Air on the web side. MySQL is everywhere but proprietary ownership is not working well for it and it will go off on it's own opensource way soon. Actually, if it can somehow manage to be relevant in the long-term it would not be surprising to see Java do the same. Solaris... what's the point today?? Really!! Who needs a proprietary Unix distro and for what? Perhaps for some proud geek to wear as a badge.. see, it's not Linux.. I'm a non-conformist
Whoever buys Sun is going to do it as a shortcut to make their competition go away. Competition that was going to go away albeit much slower anyway. They will be sliced and diced right from the start and any remaining pieces will be left to rot like AOL's purchase of Netscape.
If they want long term employment Sun's employees had better buy it out and then go straight into a creative binge to find a new direction.
But how is it not obvious? I mean, do people like having to restart? Since the begining of software updates when was the first time someone thought.. hey it'd be nice if I didn't have to restart when this is done? And how many other people had the same thought shortly afterward? Why should Apple get exclusive use of this concept and/or money from anyone who does use it just b/c they filed a piece of paper first. It's rediculous, such patents should not be allowed at all and companies or individuals that file them should be fined to help pay for the hours they waste at the patent office.
"I guess you hadn't heard that Russia is now a major petroleum exporter.
"
I was just posting a comment on Slashdot. I'm not supposed to actually know what I am writing about for that am I? Yes, I was aware things are going better over there. I have/had no idea how much better though.
Why do they have separate toilets, excercise equipment to begin with? Space on board is very valuable and equipment is heavy! Throw one countries toilet and the other's excercise equipment out the airlock already! Everyone uses what's left for the cost of having contributed parts to the thing in the first place! The reclaimed space can be used to house more experiments!
Ok, for 6 people two toilets might be nice... but for 6 astro/cosmonauts trained and expecting to live together in a cramped environment I bet they can manage to share one. Even if they have to have two... they could have been made by one country in one factory at the same time for less money no doubt. Then they could be installed in the same area of the station, perhaps with some sort of privacy divider between them... I suppose there might even be words for this, like bathroom and stall perhaps?
I do have a little sympathy for the Russians though... they have been looking under every rock they can turn for money to keep their space program going. They shouldn't feel bad though... the US seems to have taken a vow of poverty and is donating all it's money to the poor underfed bankers and executives. No doubt NASA will be flipping rocks soon too!
Someone suggested getting partners, at least an Electrical Engineer and a salesperson. I couldn't agree more. If you have a good idea and can handle the software side then great, thats your contribution to your new company but you need more.
I would suggest finding an EE student at a local university with an interest in self-employment. As for sending your idea to China to get prototyped... take a look on Ebay for chinese iPhone clones. Do you really want to send your idea there?
I realize that you probably dream of being the one and only #1 of your own company since you aren't already looking for partners but consider this... starting out your resources will be limitted. Cheap help will give you exactly what you pay for.. cheap product. That is, If they don't just run off with your idea. Good help will probably be out of reach for a while. Partners don't get paid in money. They are paid with a share in your company which at this point costs you nothing to give as it is only an idea. Ideas are a dime a dozen. It's the work and dedication of someone truly committed to making the idea real that will make or break you. New business take more commitment than babies to keep them alive it's only a partner who will have that kind of motivation. While you may think you lose out in the end by giving them a part of your company/idea you will also be gaining a part of the ideas, skills and work they put in which means you come out ahead. Your partners will be motivated to see you succede as their own success is tied to yours.
"At 20% of 18 months, that's almost 4 months of solid labour"
Is that how the 20% projects worked? Or could individual employees be involved in any number of 20% projects? If so then they could have spend considerably less than 4 months on it.
Not to mention that even if they where all on it 20% of each day that means that they were working on it in short bursts. Likely working on a project this way will take longer because employees are spending a higher percent of their time just figuring out where they left off, loading programs, booting up/etc... vs time actually working.
Slashdot Mirror
Ahhh! That explains The Governator! South Dakota must be following the example of California.
Why do people buy iPhones? If you have one... you paid for that piece of equipment. It's yours. It belongs to you. And someone else gets to dictate what you install on it? I would have thought most Slashdot readers would be totally against something like that and yet so many seem to be Apple fanboys. I just don't get it!
Who told you that YOU are eye candy?? Sry, couldn't resist, go ahead and mod me down!
Oh, great, so we can have a whole mass of girls with hygene issues out there. I'm glad I already found my wife. J/K... mostly
Having used Linux and a great deal of open source software that goes with it on the Desktop since 1998 I'm not sure I'd be happy to see more contributions from "Enterprise IT" and whatever companies fall under that umbrella. As buisiness usage of Linux has grown it seems like it has eclipsed other usage in developer's priorities.
While it now runs great on a large expensive mainframe performing huge database functions it seems like it is less efficient running ordinary Desktop apps on ordinary Desktop hardware. Unfortunately, I don't get the impression that Desktop users even have a chance to counterbalance this with their own contributions. Remember the CK patchset?
Likewise, in some ways I believe that the ease of use has gone down. Remember Supermount?
As more large coorporations with deep pockets get involved I am afraid all that is gained is louder, squeekier wheels who aren't squeeking for the things which benefit the rest of us.
True, those are both valid points and I am sure there are other situations where a fully functional 911 could be the thing which saves my life. Still.. I know I got by just fine before I had a trackable communications device with 3-click access to an emergency operator strapped to my belt 24x7. I'm really not sure I want to even try to be prepared for every possible situation. Someday, yes, I am going to die. Actually, I'm kind of reminded of the old "I've fallen and I can't get up" TV commercials. This stuff used to be reserved for the old and impaired.
It seems like the arguments against this can be put in 3 categories. 911, battery life and coverage.
I would think that if you are viewing this as a "cell"phone replacement then it would obviously fail on all 3.
I remember being able to live without a cellphone. In fact, I miss it. I find it very annoying that in our cellphone enamoured society my friends and relatives feel "entitled" to talk to me whenever, wherever I might be. I don't want to talk to someone as I go through the checkout line in the grocery store. I find it annoying to try to understand someone who will not speak up when I am driving my Jeep. It's loud in there. Let alone the safety issues! I'd rather call people back when it's convenient for me. Just like I would have with an answering machine and a landline about 12 years ago. Does this make me old? I am only 29.
That in mind I too have considered what the author is asking though I would use a more portable form, some sort of PDA rather than a netbook.
I would keep separate power adapters in my office at work, one at home and a third in my car. Most of the time I would be in one of those places and could plug it in. Don't want to be tethered to the plug? Use bluetooth! If I don't get a signal in my car then oh-well. I know how to change a tire! That about takes care of the power problem. It just doesn't have to be on every moment I am not in one of those places. If I need to make a call, that's when I would turn it on and use the battery.
As for coverage... wifi at home and work are easy. Your mileage will vary at work but I doubt many on this site don't have it at home. Anywhere else it works... that's just a bonus.
Think you have too much of a social life to not be always connected? Do you think you will miss too much because you're out? I think not... you are on Slashdot! Seriously though, I was a college student with one of the busiest lives I knew just before I got my first cellphone. Missing calls didn't stop me, if I missed it then I was already busy! If I missed too many calls then maybe I would have ended up at home, but then I wouldn't miss the next call. See how that works?!
Now, 911. This issue has been brought up against every form of VoIP since the begining. I have to ask... does it really matter that much? Honestly, I don't know the answer to this but don't the 911 operators have the ability to transfer to one another quickly? If not then this is a problem the public should be crying to see addressed! What if a call was coming in via radio or some other third party method where the person making the call is not in the same local as the emergency. Hasn't there always been a need for 911 calls to be transfered?
Is it really necessary to kiss that much butt? I think just telling him you will do things as he wishes and asking what he would like you to do with the spool, crimpers & ends now that you know "homemade" cables are out at that company would suffice. If the boss isn't the kind that welcomes alternative opinions from his employees you want to just go with it and not argue the case but if you have to actually tell him you agree with him (clearly he knows you don't since you already obtained the spool) then only do so as long as it takes to find a new job. Your boss is a deuche and your time at that company will be short, miserable or both no matter what you do. Besides, there actually are some bosses who don't respect a but kisser.
To those who have bothered to run TDR tests or any other test requiring specialized equipment on their "homemade" cables and compare them to commercial ones... Did you try just using it? Did you see how much data you could push through the one vs the other? I admit I have never worked with gigabit however when it comes to 10/100 I have seen all sorts of Jankey runs which used the wrong kind of cable, way too long runs, inches of outer insulation stripped off and the pairs untwisted at the ends, etc... I can only think of once where I actually saw it make a difference. That was on a really long run, we solved it by crawling in the attic, cutting it about the 1/2 way point, crimping on our own connectors and inserting an old hub. (should be as good as a switch when there is only 1 network path going through it) Now, I wouldn't condone being sloppy just because I've seen it work and those connectors where the outer insulation isn't in the crimp do seem to fail sooner. But why bother with expensive cables and TDR tests? Maybe with Gigabit? Also, people keep commenting about patch cables. The original poster said he needs "to run cable from the ISP's box to our server room". This doesn't sound like a patch cable to me it sounds like a room to room run. What's the quality of a commercial cable which has been fished through a wall with the connector attached? I suspect much worse than a hand-made one which was fished and then crimped... unless he is really lucky to have nice fat empty conduits to run through with no existing wires or sharp turns. Yah, we all have that huh... But, hey, what the boss says the boss gets. If they never allow self-made cables in the building maybe they will give him the spool to take home??
I only need one application - Fdisk!
But what will they do for power when the sun goes around to the other side of the earth for the night?
Not too original as it's already in the article but it's the coffee shop for me. The office is too quiet, home is too distracting. Coffee shop is just right. It takes some good code to make a profit though with all those overpriced treats around.
Please pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...
How many people's yards, barns, houses, etc... will have to get chopped up to make room for the rails? Maybe that's not an issue, maybe there are enough existing lines (perhaps a decade or two out of use) which could just be repaired and put back into use. Even reactivating an old abandoned line still could cause some people issues though I suppose. How about property values for adjacent homes? I don't usually go for that argument but having just bought my first home I can kind of relate better. It would really suck to end up upside down on your mortgage because a new train line was put in. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, just some more issues to consider.
We had a passenger rail system. I suppose we still do but barely. They've been losing money and shrinking for decades. Is this going to be different? Or will it wither up and die once the tax money stops flowing because Americans don't really want to use it? I took a train from Boston to Toledo once. It was ok for the first hour or so then the sun went down and the scenery went away. So boring... I said I would never do that again, it wasn't worth the price difference between that and flying. Getting a ticket in a sleeper car might have been ok but then it really wouldn't have been cheaper than flying. But, that was years ago, flying is more expensive. Maybe train's time have come again? I guess like everyone else I will just have to wait and see just how fast these things are and how much they cost to ride. If it happens I sure hope it does succeed because we tax payers are buying it either way.
I agree that Microsoft should not be funding non-microsoft training. But why is a state government involved? Supposedly this is a capatalist society and in such a society it's competition for capital that drives companies to do things which benefit the rest of us. When state or federal governments get involved they are skewing the playing field towards one company. I'm sure Gov. Christine Gregoire and the state/local governments which are participating think they are just doing a good thing by helping educate people but they should not be getting into bed with any particular company to do so. Microsoft on the otherhand, if they want to donate free training regardless of if it is to help out the community or just to push their own product should be free to give out all the vouchers it wants without state help. They certainly have the resources to do so!
50 to 60 years ago the US had tons of small auto makers. Over time the big 3 either bought them or put them out of business. The little guys never could produce a car that came close to being as affordable as the mass produced ones from the big 3. The emergence of the big 3 did benefit consumers by making cars affordable. Now, today, maybe they have forgotten how to compete. Maybe a return of the small auto makers will help. Maybe Tesla will even make it to the point where they can produce an affordable car. Who knows? I hope they do. Still, if the big 3 fall whose paying for our parents' and grandparents' retirements? Medical care is expensive, especially as one gets older. I love my family and do not want to lose them early to a treatable symptom of old age just to get a better car. I also think someone who puts in 25-30 years working for the same company does deserve to be cared for in return. I don't know how much bailout money giving to greedy executives is going to help the situation though. It would be much better to use the cash to buy cars, maybe give them to poor people or something. That way the auto company gets money but they are forced to spend it on actually making cars and employing people. Maybe emperor Obama (who seems to have decided to keep the position Bush created) could put in an order for a million EV1s and give them to needy families. I think GM would consider reopening the line for that. Of course, some of those cars could be ordered from Tesla too, perhaps proportionally to their current ability to actually fill the order. If that happened I hope they would make the recipients at least prove they are using it to get to work or look for work or something like that. No worries though since it will never happen and all we are getting is failed employers and richer executives.
How many employees does Sun have? If there is anywhere near enough and if they want to have jobs in a year they better get together and buy it themselves. Java hasn't taken over the world like it was meant to. The position it could have held unfortunately is slowly being eroded away by .NET on the application end and things like Flash/Air on the web side. MySQL is everywhere but proprietary ownership is not working well for it and it will go off on it's own opensource way soon. Actually, if it can somehow manage to be relevant in the long-term it would not be surprising to see Java do the same. Solaris... what's the point today?? Really!! Who needs a proprietary Unix distro and for what? Perhaps for some proud geek to wear as a badge.. see, it's not Linux.. I'm a non-conformist
Whoever buys Sun is going to do it as a shortcut to make their competition go away. Competition that was going to go away albeit much slower anyway. They will be sliced and diced right from the start and any remaining pieces will be left to rot like AOL's purchase of Netscape.
If they want long term employment Sun's employees had better buy it out and then go straight into a creative binge to find a new direction.
You forgot step 4 Insert RIAA cronies into newly vacated positions. Exactly what positive thing are you hoping to come from Obama's DOJ?
But how is it not obvious? I mean, do people like having to restart? Since the begining of software updates when was the first time someone thought.. hey it'd be nice if I didn't have to restart when this is done? And how many other people had the same thought shortly afterward? Why should Apple get exclusive use of this concept and/or money from anyone who does use it just b/c they filed a piece of paper first. It's rediculous, such patents should not be allowed at all and companies or individuals that file them should be fined to help pay for the hours they waste at the patent office.
"I guess you hadn't heard that Russia is now a major petroleum exporter. " I was just posting a comment on Slashdot. I'm not supposed to actually know what I am writing about for that am I? Yes, I was aware things are going better over there. I have/had no idea how much better though.
Why do they have separate toilets, excercise equipment to begin with? Space on board is very valuable and equipment is heavy! Throw one countries toilet and the other's excercise equipment out the airlock already! Everyone uses what's left for the cost of having contributed parts to the thing in the first place! The reclaimed space can be used to house more experiments! Ok, for 6 people two toilets might be nice... but for 6 astro/cosmonauts trained and expecting to live together in a cramped environment I bet they can manage to share one. Even if they have to have two... they could have been made by one country in one factory at the same time for less money no doubt. Then they could be installed in the same area of the station, perhaps with some sort of privacy divider between them... I suppose there might even be words for this, like bathroom and stall perhaps? I do have a little sympathy for the Russians though... they have been looking under every rock they can turn for money to keep their space program going. They shouldn't feel bad though... the US seems to have taken a vow of poverty and is donating all it's money to the poor underfed bankers and executives. No doubt NASA will be flipping rocks soon too!
Someone suggested getting partners, at least an Electrical Engineer and a salesperson. I couldn't agree more. If you have a good idea and can handle the software side then great, thats your contribution to your new company but you need more. I would suggest finding an EE student at a local university with an interest in self-employment. As for sending your idea to China to get prototyped... take a look on Ebay for chinese iPhone clones. Do you really want to send your idea there? I realize that you probably dream of being the one and only #1 of your own company since you aren't already looking for partners but consider this... starting out your resources will be limitted. Cheap help will give you exactly what you pay for.. cheap product. That is, If they don't just run off with your idea. Good help will probably be out of reach for a while. Partners don't get paid in money. They are paid with a share in your company which at this point costs you nothing to give as it is only an idea. Ideas are a dime a dozen. It's the work and dedication of someone truly committed to making the idea real that will make or break you. New business take more commitment than babies to keep them alive it's only a partner who will have that kind of motivation. While you may think you lose out in the end by giving them a part of your company/idea you will also be gaining a part of the ideas, skills and work they put in which means you come out ahead. Your partners will be motivated to see you succede as their own success is tied to yours.
Sid! It's You!
"At 20% of 18 months, that's almost 4 months of solid labour" Is that how the 20% projects worked? Or could individual employees be involved in any number of 20% projects? If so then they could have spend considerably less than 4 months on it. Not to mention that even if they where all on it 20% of each day that means that they were working on it in short bursts. Likely working on a project this way will take longer because employees are spending a higher percent of their time just figuring out where they left off, loading programs, booting up/etc... vs time actually working.