Older blog entries for movement (starting at number 103)

5 Nov 2003 (updated 5 Nov 2003 at 13:37 UTC) »

Oh, look, the usual, tedious, poorly-considered XML flamewar. One for the fanboys though, as this one features Linus struggling to come to grips with the basics of why XML exists and why it's actually useful sometimes.

(And no, mrd, I did mean Linus. Read the thread.)

The benefits of adding some unit tests for the OProfile code pay off quickly - some portability issue or latent problem tends to get uncovered almost immediately. There's no way of telling how many future bugs are getting trapped by them, but it's been extremely useful so far.

Regression testing is somewhat more difficult, since naturally the results are statistical in nature, and dependent on the binaries on the system. One possibility might be UML, but it's hard to see how to make any runs deterministic.

I still need to finish off the OProfile internals manual, but it's pretty tedious to write, since I'm so familiar with how things work. And I'd much rather have somebody new to OProfile write it, as they'd be more likely to cover things clearly.

The certification bizarreness continues; I can certify a Master no problem, but multiple certs of Apprentice by several Masters is still completely ignored. Looks utterly b0rked to me.

funrecords: I saw your reply, and I was very pleased to hear some of your comments.

Storage looks very exciting, and I really hope that things take off in this direction; it has a lot of potential to fix some of the worst parts of the current WIMP desktops. A GNOME without file selectors, done well, would be fantastic. It's important not to rely too much on menus, though, of course. The "file manager" (for want of a better term) should become the central point at which actions are taken by the user.

Now, if only I were to manage to convince you to get rid of overlapping windows and virtual desktops too, it would be perfect ... (for anybody who's missed me warbling on about it so far, the idea would be "one virtual desktop per sovereign application's document" with drag and drop as the primary inter-document method.)

mx: that's exactly how LyX (and LaTeX for that matter) works: you create a class file that provides domain-specific semantic markup such as "Table of ingredients", and that appears as the actual object you create in the editor. Even MS Word allows you to create styles with semantic naming etc.

Sure, LyX is clunky in places (and the continued lack of character styling is embarrassing) but the point is your suggestions are far from a new idea. The tools just need improvement, that is all.

And by the way, LyX has been Qt-ified and Aqua-fied for quite some time.

mx: I'm somewhat confused as to how your ideas differ from existing structured document editors such as LyX or Conglomerate, or even the features present in recent version of Word and OpenOffice.

That is, they all have the "semantic markup" toolboxes as a basic feature.

What's up with certification these days ? I used to be able to certify someone with a single cert, but nowadays, three certs from Masters isn't good enough to make somebody an Apprentice. Seems a bit fishy to me.

Of course most of the existing certs are complete bunk anyway, but ...

Finally got round to setting up Wondershaper. Works a treat, now I can easily read my email (over an ssh connection to a remote box) whilst uploading and downloading loads of stuff. Nice.

Random list of the day: Firebird suggestions after typing " in the google search box, an anthology :

  • "I could crush a grape"
  • "C3PO with pubes and hair"
  • "charles bronson" swastika hostage
  • "khendon's law"
  • "pikey spackers"
  • "who fulfilled predicate P"
  • "I started to dance" wearing seatbelt
elanthis: I don't know why you're persisting, STL solved this problem a long time ago in combination with Boost Lambda in a standards-compliant way without need for extensions. A little googling would have shown you that.

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