Microsoft makes Office 2003 format public: If this results in a truly open XML spec for Word that ANYONE can use, FOR FREE, then this could be very, very cool. It might even be cool enough to encourage people who might normally not upgrade to do so.
USB/IP Project: Share USB devices over TCP/IP. I don’t suppose there is any work being done to come up with some sort standard for this? It would be very cool to have Un*x style USB device server with Windows clients.
Applying CSS to forms: Make more attractive looking forms.
Apple Investor Relations: I kept saying right after Apple released iTunes for Windows, I better go buy some Apple stock because this is going to be big. Did I do it? No. And now look, uggg, what could have been.
Yahoo! Employee Blogs: This goes along with their list of Google Employee Blog. Presumably none of these people have been fired for blogging yet. (via Jeremy)
Many times over the years many in the Open Source community have accused Microsoft of spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about the Open Source community and projects. To at least some extent this is certainly true, Microsoft has tried to discredit others (not just Open Source projects) in an effort to make theirs look better. This tactic is hardly limited to large multi-national corporations, individuals do it all the time. In this case it is Joe Barr with his Why I love the GPL article on NewsForge.
Before I go on, the standard disclaimer goes here. In general I prefer the BSD license instead of the GPL license, not in all cases, but in general. I’m also a bigger fan of FreeBSD and Mac OS X than I am of <insert your distro here> Linux. None of these stances has prevented me from using GPL software or Linux distributions. And try I to do my best not let these preferences lower me to the level of name calling and FUD.
The Linux community (and the greater Open Source community for that matter) have a lot to be proud of, they’ve made some incredible advances over the years. No matter how you look at Open Source has made a huge contribution computing. The Internet certainly would not be what it is today without projects like Bind and Apache. So when I read Joe’s article on why he loves the GPL, I was disappointed to see him devote so much of hit to FUD against other licenses and Microsoft. It is always disheartening to watch someone sink to tactics they belittle others for using.
I’m not sure an article on supporting a specific license has to use adjectives like: greedy, gaping gaws, software pirates, BSD-bigots, fascist, bozos, kneecap-busting, air-supply cutting, baby-knifing, hollow-men, impotent, noxious and insane towards others. Instead this makes Joe’s article feel like a mean spirited attack on everyone who doesn’t agree with his views. In describing the “magic” of the GPL he says:
“If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you are probably never going to “get it” as far as the GPL, or Linux, is concerned.”
Instead of keeping to reasons why he favors the GPL, his states that you’ll never get it. After making personal attacks against Gates and Ballmer, he complains about the approach of attacking Richard Stallman as a substitute for attacking the GPL. I guess it is okay for Joe to make personal attacks, but not others. That certainly brings his credibility down a notch. I’m sure that Joe meant well by his article, but I think he would have been more convincing if it didn’t sound so angry.
I’m not a big Microsoft fan, but articles like this are not only not helpful, I believe they damage to the Open Source community. If you are going to write an article like this, here are a few things to keep in mind:
The Open Source community has a lot going for it and I want to see it continue to flourish.
(Disclaimer: I can’t stand the term “meme”)
Blame it on Alex. Who blames it on Scott. Who blames it on Simon. Who blames it on boncey.org.
Here are the top 10:
Interesting that I’m only subscribed to one of these already, I wouldn’t have expected that.
I’ve been a fan of Information Society for years (late 80s ?) and still enjoy their fun techno beat every now and then. But I can’t remember when the first time was that I heard them, or even what song it was (although it was probably What’s On Your Mind/Pure Energy from their self titled CD). So I’ve always like my original history with listening to them was some how lost in some section of mind that no longer wants to be actively used. At some point I got around to purchasing their self titled CD (back then I bought on tape first) and their next two CDs, Hack and Peace and Love, Inc. and enjoyed them both immensely. I enjoy listening to music (though Sarah is the real music buff in the family, she knows everything about 80s music), I was just always drawn to Information Society (InSoc), something about that catchy techno-pop style.
I never got to see them in concert (heck, I’ve only been to one major music concert and that was for the B-52′s), which was a shame. I need get to see a few bits of a couple of videos on MTV and most of the appearance on MTV’s dance show (what was that called, Club MTV or something like that?), so that was my only InSoc fix beyond just listening to their music.
Fast forward to the mid to late 90s, during which time the InSoc that I remembered was no longer together. But I did discover their “official” website eventually and got to read through all of the little history bits that I never knew about. Most of it was from when they were still more of a “local band” and weren’t known well outside of the areas they played in. Kurt did release more work under the InSoc name, but it was very different than their previous work and I never really got into it. There’s even still an active InSoc news group which gets interesting posts from time to time.
This brings us up to the last year or so. VH-1 has a show Sarah likes to watch called Bands Reunited which tries to reunite old broken up bands to bring the members back together and play one last show. Usually their are successful, but not always. So rumor has it that Bands Reunited is going an InSoc episode, but the feeling is that Kurt would never go for it. A few months later I come up home one night and Sarah tells me that they had InSoc on Bands Reunited that night, but that they Kurt didn’t show so the band didn’t play at the end of the show. I was bummed that I missed it and of course they haven’t re-shown that episode since. So if you’ve got a copy of it some where leave comment, I’d like to see it.
So tonight I started thinking about all of this again, and came across a detailed report from Kurt’s point of view on the Bands Reunited InSoc episode. As much as I’d like to see InSoc play again, I can respect Kurt’s decision not to.
Ahhh how I miss the days when the old InSoc was making new stuff.
Mouseposé: This will definitely be handy for presentations.
Ultimate Boot CD: When you want every disk/system tool under one roof.
Enormous databases in PostgreSQL: The PostgreSQL databases I work with are generally pretty small, but I’d sure like to work with largish size databases at some point.
Adword API official: Does make you wonder what people will come up with now that this is available.
Host Grapher II: Pretty graphs for load, memory usage, etc.
PBS FrontLine Episodes: Cool, there are lots of FrontLine episodes available for viewing online.
Blogosphere subscription trends: I’d suppose that Bloglines is doing this kind of analysis all the time, but does it mean anything? (via Jeremy).
OpenSolaris.org: So will Linux and BSD camps be able to make use (import) of “opened” Solaris code?
Don’t build web apps that only work in IE: Amen, Simon hits the nail on the head.
FavIcon from Pics: Cool, I need to get around to making a FavIcon (via Alex).
1+ million songs per day via iTunes: More than 11 songs per second, amazing.
CSS Rounded Box Generator: Pretty rounded corners.
General Bits is back: GB is a great resource for useful PostgreSQL tips, good to have it back.
The Flickr Song: Ok, I’ve finally started using my Flickr account, but a song? Go figure (via Simon).
The Sacramento Bee website will soon require registration to access their content. It is hard to believe that they’ve thought this through when question #16 in their FAQ looks like this:
16. How do I subscribe or unsubscribe to a newsletter?
You can sign up for any of the sacbee.com or SacTicket.com newsletters by selecting the appropriate fields during the registration process. Or sign up by visiting GT THIS URL FROM KEVIN. You can unsubscribe from any newsletter by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter.
I wonder if they’ll be watching bugmenot.com for sacbee.com accounts (there is already one account listed). When will news sites learn that they’ll need to provide greater motivation for user accounts than just access to their content.
UPDATE 3:15pm 25 Jan 2005: Looks like the Modesto Bee has also started down the registration road. Both papers are owned by the same folks as far as I know. A quick peak at Netcraft indicates that the sites are being hosted on FreeBSD (cool!) systems at Nando Media.