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Extending And Embracing In Portland At OSCON 2003 116
The goods:
Commercial vendor booths have been fork-lifted in and assembled throughout the course of the day in the lowest of three convention floors, but OSCON's company-sponsored exhibit booths are likely to be low-key and informative, not the glitzy schwag dispensaries of LinuxWorld Expo. (Added to which, the exhibits will only be up six hours on each of Wednesday and Thursday.)Tutorials and other information-heavy sessions are the core of OSCON; attendees who have paid (or had their employers pay) more than a thousand dollars to attend a five days of tutorials and conference sessions are understandably serious about actually learning things.
I stopped in on one such serious session this morning, "A Day of Extreme Programming" taught by the Irish team of Marty Pauley, Tony Bowden, Marc Kerr and Karen Pauley. The instructors skipped over justifying the methodology of Extreme Programming, and instead immediately launched into a short, funny demonstration of multi-programmer iterative debugging before splitting the 30-or-so attendees into three programming teams for the rest of the day, each team coordinating its efforts using provided CVS servers to work for a simulated client (Karen Pauley, a manager in real life) with a nethack-style game to improve.
Marty Pauley drew some laughs by pointing out the "high-tech project coordination system" he had purchased in anticipation of the all-day session, which he said had cost about $14 in for the whole group. At this, he pulled out several packs of index cards, a plastic case to house them, and some rings to bind smaller collections of cards. "Forget about Gantt charts, every aspect of the project goes on an index card."
Cheap, not necessarily dirty.
Pauley's Index-cards and CVS make a decent capsule of the whole conference: there's a definite leaning toward the practical, get-things-done-cheap aspect of open software rather than appeals to the importance of sharing emphasized by Richard Stallman's Free Software movement. OSCON features dozens of sessions and tutorials emphasizing the efficiency, standards compliance, and low-cost of source-available software, with just a few sessions touching on underlying philosophy or licensing. In one session yesterday, for instance, Free Software Foundation executive director Bradley Kuhn talked about the GNU General Public License as it applies to managers as well as to coders.This doesn't mean that attendees aren't interested in philosophical underpinnings or changing the world -- more likely it's simply that in summer 2003, most programmers who would show up at an event like this have already wrestled with and come up with their own conclusions about software openness, including what licenses or license types they're comfortable using.
One indicator of the Open-vs-Free pragmatism at OSCON is the prevalence of Apple laptops running Mac OS X; Apple's OS may be the best poster child right now for the pleasing results possible in a mix of open source with proprietary software. One tutorial room I looked in on 22 attendees using Intel laptops, most of which were running graphical desktops on Linux or BSD, and 6 with PowerBooks running OS X. I note a similarly high proportion of OS X machines being used around the conference floor when hundreds of attendees swarm out of conference rooms at each break between sessions.
Changing the world, one press release at a time.
A handful of interesting announcements have come out during the convention so far. Among them: MySQl and PogoLinux have announced a joint project, a turnkey database appliance running MySQL on an Intel based box. ActiveState (makers of well-regarded IDEs for Python and Perl, among other things) will show an alpha release of Komodo 2.5, the latest iteration of their IDE for programming in Perl, Python, PHP, Tcl and XSLT. Many more such announcements are likely after the exhibit hall opens tomorrow morning.Not everything at OSCON is about helping businesses produce more virtual widgets per square inch, though -- the sense of collaboration isn't limited to downtown Portland. Ethan Zuckerman, founder of Tripod, and now founder of Geekcorps, will talk Friday on Geekcorps' efforts to bring digital independence to poor countries; he and several other geek activists took part today in a by-invitation roundtable discussion about spreading good through technology, and will be speaking together in a press conference tomorrow on the various ways computers and other high-tech tools can be used to promote prosperity worldwide.
Viva la revolucion!
At a conference about extending and embracing proprietary software, the SCO-initiated legal fight over UNIX copyrights is surely on the minds of many attendees, but readers who have grown tired of the ongoing drama will be pleased that there's been little buzz here among attendees about SCO's legal actions. Is it because SCO's suit against IBM is simply irrelevant, or because most people are withholding judgment until SCO actually points out the code the company objects to? SCO is not forgotten, though: tomorrow afternoon, Bradley Kuhn, Chris DiBona, Alan Nugent and Lawrence Rosen will discuss the SCO case in a session called The IP Wars, which ought to get some blood pumping.In the meantime, conference attendees will get to see something more fun and less contentious this evening: status reports on six different open source software projects: Perl (explained by Larry Wall), Python (Guido van Rossum), PHP (Shane Caraveo), MySQL (Monty Widenius and David Axmark), Apache (Greg Stein), and Linux (Theodore Ts'o).
What do you expect? (Score:5, Funny)
Body odor?
"Embracing and Extending Proprietary Software" (Score:3, Funny)
Nice to hear the OSS folks owning up to what their real agenda is.
Re:"Embracing and Extending Proprietary Software" (Score:1)
2) Although unclear, what the parent meant was that this is in the *same spirit* as what microsoft does.. It's a joke. get it? ha. ha. ha.
Instead of closing open protocols, they intend to open closed protocols..
Gooooooood job!
Re:"Embracing and Extending Proprietary Software" (Score:1)
Lunch on M$? (Score:5, Funny)
Obligatory anti-M$ (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Lunch on M$? (Score:2)
Re:Lunch on M$? (Score:3, Funny)
So it's true what they say: "A pint's a pound, the world around."
Re:Lunch on M$? (Score:2)
I'd be generous, too, if I had US$40 billion plus in the bank.
Re:Lunch on M$? (Score:2)
How about a boycott instead? (Score:5, Interesting)
How about an en-masse, real-life, guaranteed-to-be-more-effective, boycott? RSVP(if necessary), but don't show up. Spread the word, and make it clear it's in protest of MS's ties to SCO(they're practically pulling the strings at SCO, right?). DO NOT turn it into a "MS sucks" boycott- the press will (rightly) see that as childish, and the industry will see it as the Linux community not "playing nice with others". If it has a clear purpose and reason, it'll be another matter entirely, so make sure people understand what it's all about- Microsoft's support of SCO and SCO's actions. Wouldn't hurt to include any other companies involved even slightly with SCO, if there are any in attendance.
You won't hurt the caterers or the facility(if it's one thing caterers are good at, it's covering their own asses; up-front payment, contracts, etc). Probably the only downside is that a lot of food might go to waste, although one would hope the food would get donated(a few heads-up calls to local shelters and food pantries along the lines of "there will be considerable amounts of food available on..." might help)
Alternatively (Score:1, Insightful)
But that would assume you had two synapses to rub together and it's clear that you're barely squeaking by with your one neuron.
Re:or even better ... (Score:2)
Especially since the people MS sends to these things tend to be early to mid 20s women.
I'm sure sending these women "pussy" will have quite a huge effect.
Funy thing is, Microsoft doesn't care what you guys think, and certainly the reps they send to put on these deals don't either... its just PR outreach to the windows programmers who are showing up at the convention. They don't really care about the linux geeks.
Try talking to them at one of these things sometime.
Re:How about a boycott instead? (Score:2)
Lunchtime in "Canteen not filled" shocker! (Score:1)
Local area Dinnerlady, Mavis Angolis, 58, exclaimed, "I don't understand it. It was full Monday and Tuesday but today its less than full". Rumors have been flying about the site about the possible explanation for the failure to fill every seat in the small canteen. Some cite a internet post on popular IT News site, slashdot, as the cause. However, others have their own theory
Re:How about a boycott instead? (Score:1, Troll)
Microsoft isn't evil, it is just a corporation. If you can't deal with that maybe you should movie to Russia, you damn hippie -- wait, nevermind, they are capitalist too now. Ok, maybe you should KILL YOURSELF.
Re:How about a boycott instead? (Score:2)
Simply referring to tin foil hats does not make you point; instead it points out your extreme right-wing bias.
Companies do not have the same rights as individuals, and telling people who assert their rights over companies to 'move to Russia, you damn hippie' will not further your narrow-minded argument.
In the real world, the wishes of corporations should be balanced with the rights of individuals. If you don't like it, move the the Whitehouse so we can take you all out in one
Re:How about a boycott instead? (Score:2)
Companied do have the same rights as individuals, for companies are nothing more than a collection of individuals.
Attempting to deny human rights to people just because they work for, or run, a company is still denying human rights. Trying to pretend that companies are some sort of other entity not made up of humans (with human rights) is just the socia, er, liberal attempt to justify opposition to human rights.
Thus there is no "balance" that needs to be reached between the "Wishes of [individuals]" and
Re:How about a boycott instead? (Score:2)
Companies are not collections of people. They are collections of capital. They act without conscience. They behave in a distinctly anti-social manner.
I am not trying to force people to act the way I 'approve'. I am trying to force companies, which are collections of money, to act with conscience in situations in which they would otherise not - ie most situations.
And the bit about endorsing slavery. WTF? I would think that your position would be closer to endorsing slavery than mine.
I assert again:
Re:How about a boycott instead? (Score:2)
That's funny, I have a big pile of capital in my wallet and it hasnt' chosen to incorporate!
You complain about companies being "anti-social"... how can capital be anti-social ? Its not human, it can't have social interaction.... only humans can be anti-social.
Furthermore, how can a company-- which by definition is a collection of people who are working together-- be anti social? After all the purpose of a company is to employ people and to make products or offer services that people want.
IF the company
Re:How about a boycott instead? (Score:2)
Re:How about a boycott instead? (Score:2)
I take that as concession of my points.
You guys have such whacked out notions of how the world works... and it's sad, because all you have to do is look around you.
Re:How about a boycott instead? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:How about a boycott instead? (Score:1)
There's no such thing as a Free lunch.
Beware of Geeks bearing gifts.
And on a lighter note, I wish I was there. It sounds like fun.
M$ would get credit for feeding homeless (Score:2)
Why? Well for one thing, if we do as you suggest and boycott, then Microsoft will just have the lunches distributed to the homeless up and down the street near the Hotel and so they'll get credit for feeding the homeless and it'll be on the local news tomorrow night: "Microsoft comes to Portland to feed the homeless! Isn't Bill Gates wonderful? Film at 11."
Also, I think I can take the free lunch an
TANSTAAFL, Dude... (Score:3, Insightful)
There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
...Especially when Microsoft's offering it.
Schwab
So, what do you think MS provided to drink? (Score:2)
(Introducing BPOD - The Blue Punch of Death.)
no thanks (Score:5, Funny)
The real question is: (Score:2, Interesting)
SCO vs. IBM reference within the article. (Score:3, Insightful)
I am sick of that groundless case causing fear within the community. Anyone with lingering doubts please see the OSI Position Paper on The SCO-vs-IBM Complaint [opensource.org]
I'd love it if that stupid fiasco didn't have to spill over into anything that has to do with OSS.
Lunch (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Lunch (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Lunch (Score:2)
Additional text added to defeat the lameness filter which is obviously not up on its classic internet humor.
Lunch EULA (Score:5, Funny)
Lunch is on us, however, you may not publish in any form anything that could ever possibly be constued to be a review, without our express written consent, or you'll get no desert!
Re:Lunch EULA (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Lunch EULA (Score:2)
I know Microsoft is rich, but did they really plan to be giving out real estate?
Re:Lunch EULA (Score:2)
Lunch is on us, however, you may not publish in any form anything that could ever possibly be constued to be a review, without our express written consent, or you'll get no desert!
That's no big loss. I live in New Mexico, and seeing as it's 93F as I write this at night, I'll tell you that getting "no desert" is not such a bad thing. :)
Uh oh (Score:3, Interesting)
If I were M$ I would be very afraid to let people see my code; as it were its never been really impressived when small snippets get released.
Re:Uh oh (Score:4, Informative)
CLI is a set of specs that describe the components at the heart of Microsoft's
Drayton is going to talk at Oscon about what Rotor is, why Microsoft did it and what people have been doing with it. While it is aimed at the academic and research sectors, "there is a fairly high overlap between people interested in research and people interested in open source," Drayton said.
"So, part of Rotor's core audience has an intersection or overlap with the kind of people who attend Oscon. With Rotor we were really going after the people doing virtual machine and programming language research," he said.
Current projects using Rotor range from technology research to teaching people how to work on distributed systems, Drayton said.
Looks like the folks who ponied up their $1000 get to see what it is. Maybe they'll share with the class.
Re:Uh oh (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Uh oh (Score:3, Interesting)
Portland? (Score:2)
Re:Portland? (Score:2)
Re:Portland? (Score:2)
Journalists in or near Maine, you mean? I don't think anyone else is wondering. It's Portland, Oregon.
Re:Portland? (Score:1)
But, Huzzah! to you for sticking up for the true Portland!
Re:Portland? (Score:2)
Let's recap: Portland, Maine was around way longer, is actually a Port town, and the "other" Portland was named after it as the result of a coin toss. And as far as population goes, I would guess (although I may be wrong) that more p
Re:Portland? (Score:1)
When you select your time zone on the Mac OS, it asks you to choose a city in your time zone. One of the options in "Portland, USA". I bet that pisses off people in Maine.
wireless in portland (Score:1)
J
Re:wireless in portland (Score:1)
Many coffee shops here in Portland, Oregon do have internet access, and you pretty much can't throw a rock without hitting either a coffee shop or a microbrew pub here.
MS Lunch should be GPL (Score:3, Funny)
In short, this is an example of Microsoft using the Open Source community for testing its iLoo
rude (Score:2)
I went to a Linux show recently where MS was attending, and there was a rather negative atmosphere surrounding the MS booth. They really had no interest in anything but telling anyone who would listen that their products were better.
I don't understand, what are
Re:rude (Score:2, Insightful)
No ruder than... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No ruder than... (Score:2)
Furthermore, sometimes the shoe fits...
Re:rude (Score:3, Interesting)
most text reused from my earlier post [slashdot.org]
headline: Open Source eats Microsoft's lunch? (Score:1)
Open Source movers do need to persuade the large numbers of people who believe themselves to be dependent on the model Microsoft are most associated with advancing for a living, that they are actually not so dependent.
This includes those within Microsoft.
Even though the Microsofties who are sent to such a meeting may not be the most likely to undergo a change of mind, it is an opportuni
Details? (Score:4, Funny)
Lunch is on Microsoft? (Score:2)
Microsoft at an OS conference? (Score:1)
oh wait...
Menue For Free MS Lunch (Score:1)
Wireless problems (Score:1)
I can confirm that the Wi-Fi problems have been fixed. Yesterday I could barely surf for pr0n in the bar on the Restaurant level. Goatse would take at least 1 minute to load, fer Chrissakes.
Today I can offend in seconds. Hats off to the Oreilly techs for their quick work.
If I down one more pint, I'll be educating the masses with the help of the autopr0n guy...
No Free Lunch (Score:2)
There are no such thing.. (Score:1)
Ill get my money back from those bastards.. (Score:1)
The Hidden Phrase (Score:1)
Im attending OSCON and eating microsoft's lunch ;) (Score:2)
It's kind of like getting drinks from gay guys at bars, let them buy you drinks all night, but at the end of the day, you ain't going home with them. :-)
sri
Lunch is cheap for Bill & Company (Score:1)