¶ Quicksilver Goes Open Source

A Tiny Bit Of Consumerism

I'm continuing my consumerism in a small manner by picking up some sweet new EFF stickers.

Yeah, So I Got A MacBook

Yeah, so I figured after growing up on Windows, spending over three years on Debian (and Ubuntu), it was time to try out Apple's OS X, especially since they do seem to target the UNIX crowd. UNIX under the hood with a whole lot of shiny on top or something. OK, I'll give it a whirl and I can always go install Ubuntu on it if I hate it.

The $150 Paint Job

Since I've got this thing with electronics and the color black, there was no do'ubt that I'd get the black model. It is replacing my tank of a Thinkpad, after all. The one downside is you can get the white version with the same specs as the black one for $150 less. So yes, I paid $150 so my gadgets would match. And I still got a white remote and white cables. Those will be the first things I change either by modifying them or purchasing third party ones. But yeah, I paid $150 for looks instead of buying a 512MB RAM chip from Newegg.

But It Isn't Free With A Capital "F"

Yeah, this isn't Free software, but then again, I was using non-free on Linux. Things such as my video drivers and software such as qmail were non-free software. Debian has no problem with non-free software.

To me, there are three levels of freedom:

1. Free software and open file formats
2. non-free software and open file formats
3. non-free software and proprietary file formats

The first level is ideal, but the second level is OK in that as long as there are open file formats, the Free software can compete on a level playing field with the non-free software. You run into problems when you have proprietary formats which leads to vendor lockin. I'm actually posting this with a Free web browser and I am looking for Free software where ever I can for OS X. If I use proprietary software, I make sure that the file format is open so I do not get locked in.

Yes, I omitted the possibility of using Free software with proprietary file formats. No one would do that willing, the only time it would happen is when a Free software user needed to send something to a non-free software user and they could only accept a proprietary file format. No Free software user would want to use a proprietary file format.

GIMP Bounties

I read a really enlightening story on bounties in GIMP that didn't end as one would hope. However, it seems to be a big learning experience, something the entire community (and not just developers) can learn from. One can also make the parallel here to proprietary software that throwing money at something doesn't fix it. Things could be a lot worse.

Microsoft As "Predatory Evil Bastards"

ESR has posted his reply to Microsoft's attempt to recruit him:

I'd thank you for your offer of employment at Microsoft, except that it indicates that either you or your research team (or both) couldn't get a clue if it were pounded into you with baseball bats. What were you going to do with the rest of your afternoon, offer jobs to Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds? Or were you going to stick to something easier, like talking Pope Benedict into presiding at a Satanist orgy?

If you had bothered to do five seconds of background checking, you might have discovered that I am the guy who responded to Craig Mundie's "Who are you?" with "I'm your worst nightmare", and that I've in fact been something pretty close to your company's worst nightmare since about 1997. You've maybe heard about this "open source" thing? You get one guess who wrote most of the theory and propaganda for it and talked IBM and Wall Street and the Fortune 500 into buying in. But don't think I'm trying to destroy your company. Oh, no; I'd be just as determined to do in any other proprietary-software monopoly, and the community I helped found is well on its way to accomplishing that goal.

On the day *I* go to work for Microsoft, faint oinking sounds will be heard from far overhead, the moon will not merely turn blue but develop polkadots, and hell will freeze over so solid the brimstone will go superconductive.

But I must thank you for dropping a good joke on my afternoon. On that hopefully not too far distant day that I piss on Microsoft's grave, I sincerely hope none of it will splash on you.

Cordially yours,
Eric S. Raymond

I find his update at the bottom rather informative:

I had my serious, constructive converstation with Microsoft last year, when a midlevel exec named Steven Walli took me out to dinner at OSCON 2004 and asked, in so many words, "How can we not be evil?" And I told him - open up your file formats (including Word and multimedia), support open technical standards instead of sabotaging them, license your patents under royalty-free, paperwork-free terms.

I believe Steve Walli went back to his bosses and told them that truth. He is no longer with Microsoft, and what little he'll say about it hints that they canned him for trying to change their culture.

This didn't surprise me. Microsoft's profit margins require a monopoly lock on the market; thus, they're stuck with being predatory evil bastards. The moment they stop being predatory evil bastards, their stock price will tank and their options pyramid will crash and it will be all over.

Maybe its reasons like this that the State of Massachusetts is requiring open standards. No one wants to be tied to a, as ESR calls them, predatory evil bastard. And its not like theres nothing on the history books of Microsoft being a dick or getting pissy over domain names.

Microsoft Can't Handle Competition

It seems Steve Ballmer got a little hot under the collar when he found out that an employee was leaving to go work for Google:

He also threw a chair across the room. Wow.

And in other news, OpenOffice.org, now being released under the LGPL, is part of the second Boston Tea Party. The Secretary of Administration & Finance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts said:

Desktop software that supports OpenDocument and PDF in the future is acceptable; Microsoft's proprietary XML formats are not.

Hey, there we go, vendor lock-in is bad. Way to go Massachusetts! Microsoft is unhappy about the state switching to open standards. Its starting to look like competition is just something that pisses Microsoft off to no end. Imagine if your local pizzeria had this attitude towards the Pizz Hut across town?

Jumping On The Windows Comparison Bandwagon

Robert Scoble's mud-slinging seems to have pissed a few people off. When I first read the original post, I wasn't going to mention anything. If I made a post everytime I read something I disagreed with on the internet, I wouldn't be able to have a job. However, I think I'm not alone on this.

Firstly, Robert Scoble ignores the meat of the argument, that Microsoft is touting new features that Apple has already been shipping. Then he goes on to throw in half a dozen red herrings:

I didn't realize there's a Tablet Mac already shipping (is there a Mac that you can carry around and use a pen with?). Ours is already shipping, don't need to wait for Vista.

Sorry, but Microsoft doesn't make any tablet PCs, as much as you love them, so asking Apple where is their tablet PC has nothing to do with their operating system or yours. Secondly, you keep harping on this tablet PC thing but you fail to realize what may be great for you andeven another 25% of the entire world isn't the best thing for everyone. Some of us don't want a tablet PC simply because it doesn't suit our needs.

I didn't realize there's a Media Center Mac already shipping (is there a Mac with a TV tuner built in so you can do Tivo-like stuff?). Ours is already shipping, don't need to wait for Vista.

I didn't realize that a TV Tuner came with Windows XP Media Edition, last I checked it was nothing but software. And actually, get a Mac Mini, toss some MythTV on there and you've got pretty much what Microsoft doesn't have.

I didn't realize that there's a Mac phone that integrates with the Mac OS already shipping (is there a Mac SmartPhone phone equivilent already shipping?). Ours is already shipping, no need to wait for Vista.

I didn't know there was a Microsoft phone either. I'm glad I don't run Windows on my phone, with my luck, it would BSOD on me during the middle of a call, people would hack it and run up huge long distance charges.

I didn't realize that there's a Mac shipping that runs on Intel (there will be soon, yes, but I didn't realize it was shipping already!).

I didn't realize that there's a version of Windows that runs on PowerPC. And sadly, this is where the Linux and BSD guys have you beat. Last time I checked Windows supported less then a quarter of the hardware the BSDs and Linux variants run on.

I didn't realize that there's a Mac shipping that'll integrate with the Xbox. Ours is already shipping, no need to wait for Vista.

Actually, I've got an Xbox. I run Linux on it, simply because your operating system (not that your Xbox runs Windows) isn't about freedom. And for what it's worth, it intergrates nicely over the network with my other Linux machines.

I didn't realize that there's a Mac shipping that has integration with MSN Direct Watches. Ours is already shipping, no need to wait for Vista.

My bluetooth cellphone intergrated seamlessly with my friend's Mac and with the installation of 4 packages under Linux, but required a Service Pack for Windows. And yes, it does tell the time. And yes, I get weather, stock information and traffic on most any cell phone. (Another note, you guys don't make watches either, if you did I'm not sure I'd want one, I like my watches to be accurate.)

Alwin: I think the easiest response to Scoble's challenge is, "Does Apple make an operating system and applications that aren't the targets of every malware author in the world, malware so burdensome and odious that people will toss their old machines and buy new ones rather than try to fix them?" Ouch. Touche! But you're talking about our four-year-old OS, Windows XP, right? Have you looked at Windows Server 2003? It's a HUGE amount better in this department. So, we're heading the right way here.

Your OS says Copyright 1985-2001. To me that makes it 20 years old. Last I checked, Windows 2003 wasn't exactly geared towards the home user either.

I think Robert Scoble has become a politician. Lots of smoke and mirrors, big on avoiding the question, I think we've got the next Karl Rove.