I just posted the latest LinuxQuestions.org Podcast. In it I give the URL to the site I was talking about here. You should listen to the Podcasts 
Don't worry though, I'll also give the URL here. Inspired by sites such as del.icio.us and de.lirio.us, this new site will allow you to not only share, tag and annotate the Linux and Open Source sites you frequent, but see what everyone else is sharing, tagging and annotating. Sort of a random stream of consciousness or instant snapshot of what is important to the community, right now. Thanks goes to Ricardo SIGNES who wrote Rubric, which powers the site. Please keep in mind that the site is beta. Feel free to test away and give as as much feedback as you can. Your feedback will improve the site. Without further ado: bookmarks.linuxquestions.org.
–jeremy
Archive for June, 2005
Doc is right. Even though Google probably has the largest Linux backend in the world, they're a Windows company. Despite the benefits Linux gives them, not a single one of their apps (Desktop search, the Toolbar, Picasa and now Google Earth) run on a non-Windows platform. The ironic part, of course, is that Microsoft is one of their biggest competitors. Now, of course, Windows has the vast majority of desktop machines – but it's Google's Linux infrastructure that allows them to offer these apps in the first place. I'd really like to see them commit to running apps on Linux (and Mac, ideally). As Doc says, “Yes, I know that it only makes sense to make client software first for the platform with nine out of the ten slices in the market's pie. But it's that tenth slice that keeps the company making the other nine from enjoying a monopoly. At fighting Microsoft's client monopoly, Google isn't helping much. Quite the contrary, in fact.“. I wonder what Chris would say about this.
–jeremy
Update: I've met Chris a couple of times before (and ate dinner with him at the LWE .org Google party last year – thanks Google!), so I figured I'd ask him what he thought, instead of wondering. If he responds, I'll post an update.
Jeremy's My Web 2.0: Social Search post couldn't have come at a more appropriate time for LQ. We are almost ready to release something that allows you to “bookmark, annotate, tag, and share”. He puts why that is important better than I could have, though. While the Yahoo! release is a general purpose tool, the LQ one will of course be squarely targeted at Linux and Open Source. You'll be able to not only share, tag and annotate what you have, but see what everyone else is sharing, tagging and annotating. Sort of a random stream of consciousness or instant snapshot of what is important to the community right now. I'll post more as soon as we have something working available, but I thought I'd give everyone a sneak peak at what you can expect next from us.
–jeremy
By now, I'm sure you've heard about the Grokster decision (PDF). While I was extremely disappointed at first, upon further inspection it may not be quite as bad as some of the original stories made it out to be. While it's still disappointing, I guess it could have been worse. Basically, “one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties.”
The problem is going to be that litigious bastards will do everything in their power to say that some very legitimate apps, such as bittorrent, are being promoted this way. I wonder if Bram Cohen is worried? I haven't seen him publicly comment. I can say that we use bittorrent for 100% legitimate purposes – namely distributing content for LQ Radio. I can also say that it saves us a considerable amount of bandwidth. Thanks Bram! It was great to read that Podcasts were actually used as an example of legitimate non-infringing use for P2P apps.
Another problem I see here is that companies always err on the side of caution when it comes to potential litigation. That means that this case will almost definitely have a negative impact on innovation, which is a real shame. Here's was Scoble and Doc had to say on the issue. As Mark Cuban points out, there was no response from Wall Street on this news, which would seem to indicate that they don't think illegal P2P downloads have any impact on the bottom line of companies like Warner Media Group. I couldn't agree more (and the numbers surely seem to support this). I think Mark sums it up extremely well when he says “The MGM Grokster decision won't help the content business make more money. It wont help artists make more money. This deal gave something to both sides, but it gave the most to lawyers and lobbyists.“. Like the lawyers and lobbyists need more…
–jeremy
Update (06/29/05): Ouch – Maybe Bram does have something to worry about. Goes to show that you never know what comment will come back to bite you four years later (even if your opinion since then has changed).
It's no secret that I like Firefox (and Mozilla, actually). Every time I talk to Asa, I like it a little more. He gets Open Source and you can tell he really cares about users. He also knows how to market Open Source to a “mainstream” audience. During our chat at Gnomedex the subject of Linux came up and it was with great interest that I listened to his complaints. He's clearly not someone that doesn't like or doesn't get OSS, so I listened closely to his criticisms and took them as constructive. I have to admit that most of the conferences I attend are Linux or Open Source related, so it was good for me to get a different perspective on a lot of things in Seattle. You can read some of Asa's issues here, but he had some other issues that I think are more important. I think sometimes as a community we can end up being a little defensive (mainly because we are often put on the defense by continual FUD) and IMHO it's extremely important to listen when we are getting valid criticisms by people who want to see us succeed. I'll likely be picking Asa's brain for a little while to get a clear understanding and then try to pass a summary on to some people that can actually make a difference. …and that's one of the great things about Linux – it's continually improving and anyone can make a difference. We've come a long long way, but it's important for us to realize that we still have a long way to go. I'm just glad to be able to be part of the fantastic ride.
–jeremy
The keystone by Dean Hachamovitch of Microsoft is just wrapping up. Once again it's clear that there really are some people at Microsoft that “get it”. We got the first public preview of IE7 here at Gnomedex and RSS integration looks to be very tightly integrated into Longhorn. Some great ideas on the horizon here and I look forward to some of them making there way into my Linux desktop. Dean seemed to be a bit defensive in his talk though. Someone asked why Microsoft was once again doing their own thing and not getting input from the community and working with the community. The question wasn't answered at all. Later on, someone commented that this really seems like good old “embrace and extend” lite. That also wasn't really addressed fully. It's clear that Microsoft is changing (for the better) and kudos to them for releasing this under CC by-sa, but it seems that the change is still happening on an individual level and not yet a company level. More information about what was talked about here should be available here at about noon Gnomedex time.
Gnomedex
–jeremy
Update: Here's the noon update.
Sitting in the Cove (as of now, there are eight of us) and the conference just started. The Google sponsored party last night was great. Met a bunch of people and the discussion was fantastic (and the Heineken was on Google). I can say that Web 2.0 is here and a bunch of companies have some *awesome* things on the way. Much of the discussion was “off the record”, and I am going to respect that, but very cool things are happening behind the scenes. Web applications are maturing and a couple of things I heard were really exciting. I'll update this blog as the day progresses.
Gnomedex
–jeremy
I have arrived in Seattle and am already checked into my hotel. The connection here is nice and fast. I can see the conference center where Gnomedex is being held from my room, which is a bonus. Looking forward to the show.
–jeremy
Just got pointed to the full text of the Commencement that Steve Jobs gave at Stanford. I have no idea how /. spun this in a negative way. Three Stories…that's it. Read it twice.
–jeremy
Good Morning Silicon Valley has an interesting interview with Linus. The interview is mostly about what Linus thinks of Microsoft and the future of proprietary software models. Linus brings up some good points. Unlike what some people think, Microsoft is not going anywhere any time soon. Nor will they be irrelevant any time soon. They have too much market share, are willing to do almost anything to keep that market share and just as importantly really understand their markets (and how to exploit their dominance in those markets). Linus also says that he doesn't see proprietary vendors going away, just moving up the stack as the lower part commoditizes. Here's a good quote from the article:
I do not believe that anything can “replace” Microsoft in the market that MS is right now. Instead, what I think happens is that markets mature, and as they mature and become commoditized, the kind of dominant player like MS just doesn't happen any more. You don't have another dominant player coming in and taking its place — to find a new dominant player you actually have to start looking at a totally different market altogether.
The interview is definitely worth a read.
–jeremy
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