- Stuff...
- Not much to report...I'm almost over the 'flu I had last week. COFFEE is coming on nicely and I'm hoping to press on a bit faster, now I feel vaguely human again.
- SCO vs. Everyone Else
- This whole thing is so hugely depressing. I wasn't going to write about it, but then I was totally boggled by ESR's open letter to Darl McBride. IMO some of ESR's writing can be very emotive, to the point of being quite irrational. This latest open letter seems to be a new archetype. I can't believe that this missive will do much good, and I'm not sure I feel comfortable that ESR claims to speak for me.
- M$ in Uni's
- No surprise that I'd be interested in the recent MSNBC article
on using M$ products in education. The argument presented in the copy is a bit misleading, I think. The author says that the problem with using M$ products is that it breeds a generation of graduates who will create or perpetuate an M$ monopoly. That's true enough, but it's also true if Uni's only using Linux, or anything else. Heterogeneity is a Good Thing(tm), but I still feel that the real issue here is spending gigantic amounts of public money
on M$ licenses, when it might well be cheaper to shell out for customer support services for Libre Software. Of course, those Uni's that get huge donations from M$ won't care, but but the point is that this is an issue that pervades the public services: education is just the tip of the iceburg.
As for the issue of research autonomy, I think I agree with Rob Pike.
Despite all that, it's the last paragraph that is the most spine-chilling:
At a question-and-answer session between the academics and Gates, one professor asked the Microsoft founder about his views about the study of information technology, a part of computer science that emphasizes on how documents, spreadsheets and other data should be handled. What kinds of technologies should students majoring in this subject be taught?
Gates replied quickly and with a smile: ``Microsoft Office.''
- Certs
- Thanks to everyone who's certified me!