Hi. I'm jon.404, a Unix/Linux/Database/Openstack/Kubernetes Administrator, AWS/GCP/Azure Engineer, mathematics enthusiast, and amateur philosopher. This is where I rant about that which upsets me, laugh about that which amuses me, and jabber about that which holds my interest most: *nix.
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The "doh!" recursion
I believe it was Winston Churchill who said "I'm always ready to learn but I dislike being taught"
(not an exact quote)Posted 12-02-2009 at 06:05 PM by lwasserm 
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The "doh!" recursion
++ i learned most things on my own mistakes =)
i can say it was great. but, yes, painful.Posted 12-02-2009 at 03:13 PM by Web31337
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i know, rocket357, i wasn't actually referring to all opensource =) many opensource products failed for that reasons.
++ i'm thinking just the same way as you do.Posted 11-28-2009 at 12:10 AM by Web31337
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Web31337, I wouldn't say *opensource* fails...keep in mind that projects like the OpenBSD project exist and don't take well to the user-friendliness/glitz crusade that Linux appears to have fallen victim to (OpenBSD just recently got unencumbered direct rendering for certain video cards)...and even beyond that not *all* Linux-oriented projects are glitz/glam projects.
I will *always* be an advocate of open source software...I would rather put my tender parts in a blender than have to use closed-source operating systems exclusively...but when glitter and pizzazz are the most important aspect of a project, I wander off to find projects that match my needs better.Posted 11-27-2009 at 07:30 PM by rocket357
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pwned! nice post!
yes opensource fails last time... i don't want this to happen and the only way we can do it is to code for stability, for security, code for it to be awesome, but not just beautiful. we don't need a pretty images without a code of same beauty. i won't give into examples right now, i think you can find them yourself easily taking a quick look over currently active opensource projects on the net.
it's same for a real life. if we want to stop a global ecological disaster we just stop dumping everywhere. start from ourselves.Posted 11-26-2009 at 12:33 AM by Web31337
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EXACTLY! That waiter comparison is perfect...Posted 11-25-2009 at 11:26 PM by rocket357
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My apologies for the delayed response.
I can understand your perspective. I also wonder about the direction of Open Source projects when I see them place their primary priority on dumbing things down or trying to play catch-up with the glamor of OSX. Granted, the average user today doesn't care much about the nuts & bolts of the system, and you could make an argument that such a user shouldn't be made a priority. Of course, you can also argue that without the average user you no longer have a customer base, but that's a different discussion.
I've heard it said that the difference between a Canadian/American waiter (food service) and a French waiter is this: The Canadian tries to get you whatever you want; the Frenchman tries to educate you on how to choose properly. Kinda sums up a sad attitude overall about Canada/America. People tend to be lazy and just want their way, often without realising the end cost.Posted 11-25-2009 at 03:43 PM by ofaring
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My biggest beef (note: **MY** biggest beef...I don't claim to say this is important to everyone...just me) with Linus' mentality on this topic is that I really don't give a rats about an OS that can glitz me to death on the desktop but stands to be rooted by the first script kiddie that wanders by. Sure, I'm exaggerating some, but let's be realistic here. When a non-security bug is triggered, an application crashes, or (worse) the OS crashes, or somesuch. When a security-related bug is triggered, another intelligent being has potentially gained access to my machine, and all of the data I've placed therein. I don't know if you've ever been the victim of identity theft, ofaring, but I can assure you it is not a fun game. I care very deeply about the security of my machines, and as such my machines run an OS where security is a byproduct of the OS's development cycle, not one where security is a bolt-on after thought.Quote:Originally Posted by ofaring
To me, his biggest error in this is saying that he despises "black-and-white" people.Posted 11-04-2009 at 10:50 PM by rocket357
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The Mythical Desktop Percentage Point
Indeed. Proof that great minds think alike =D
...
Now that I've gotten the BS out of the way, I'll just agree that it's quite ironic that we agree on 3 of 4 topics, given that we're both very opinionated.
Oh, and I never said that user-friendliness destroying the expectation of users accomplishing tasks on their own was a bad thing...I simply stated that it wasn't MY thing.Posted 11-04-2009 at 10:29 PM by rocket357
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The Mythical Desktop Percentage Point
Oh yeah. I especially like the mention of bailouts. true true true. I've now read through all the posts of personal interest to me, and I've only disagreed once. Impressive, given that I am also a strongly-opinioned ranter. (Which of course means that we must be smarter than everyone else...ummm, yeah... :P)Posted 11-04-2009 at 08:50 PM by ofaring
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The loss of an office
That's awesome. I like the ingenuity and the fact that your wife let you put a server cabinet in the living room. You sound like someone after my own heart.Posted 11-04-2009 at 08:42 PM by ofaring
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Thoughts on problem solving for new Linux users
Very nicely put.Posted 11-04-2009 at 08:35 PM by ofaring
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I like the post overall. Good thoughts and perception. However, I don't agree with your final analysis. I suggest reading this article to see what I mean.
Especially notice the last few paragraphs. It's easy for us to get caught in counter-productive zealousness when dealing with open-source related issues, particularly when you and I are involved for idealistic reasons to begin with.
Linus made a mistake, but overall he isn't what is being depicted. To me, his biggest error in this is saying that he despises "black-and-white" people. That's a personality difference he failed to acknowledge or understand, even though they have as much right to breath as he. Not seeing the good those individual also bring about through their intensity is the greater mistake.
It's a good post. Keep 'em coming.
ofaringPosted 11-04-2009 at 08:21 PM by ofaring
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24 divided by 4 is not an integer power of 2! (WTF Microsoft?)
Sure, we use PostgreSQL and MySQL all the time...but this particular product of ours relies on SQL Server. See, years ago someone made the decision to use SQL Server as a backend for one of our web-based products, and it's now on it's 4th major version revision. The code is a mixed mess of SQL and html/javascript/php. Converting it to PostgreSQL or MySQL would take about as much effort as rewriting the entire project from scratch, so when planning began for the 5.0 revision, a bunch of my FOSS-friendly co-workers and I made the effort to make a presentation to the execs about switching to FOSS.
The 5.0 revision (currently in Beta) is pure FOSS, and all of the database backends are Linux or BSD and PostgreSQL. I can't wait for everyone to upgrade so I can dump Microsoft.Posted 10-28-2009 at 09:26 AM by rocket357
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24 divided by 4 is not an integer power of 2! (WTF Microsoft?)
why didnt you use a FOSS SQL server?Posted 10-28-2009 at 02:33 AM by smeezekitty
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Posted 02-03-2009 at 03:07 PM by SrDorothy
