if i had more free time, i would watch the majority (close to all actually) of the netcasts on dr. dobb’s technetcast site.
hehe, the sku11s…
Redmond (AP) — The software industry was rocked today by the revelation that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had been secretly sheltering persecuted Free Software programmers within the company’s various business divisions. Ballmer, with the help of a sympathetic aide, had kept a list of programmers he knew to be writing code for open source operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD, and had sought to place them in obscure positions in the company where they could work unmolested.
One midlevel executive, who asked not to be identified, said “We’re all shocked. Apparently Steve was placing workers in divisions he knew we’d pay little attention to — places like Quality Control, the Macintosh Products Division — those sorts of places.” It is now believed that between 1994 and 1997, Ballmer had attempted to place most free software workers within the Internet Explorer division. With most of Microsoft concentrated on the Microsoft Network (MSN), the release of IE as a freely downloadable program was to be merely a prelude to the release of the IE source code itself.
However, others executives including Gates became suspicious of Ballmer’s motives, and in 1998 a new policy was implemented for Internet Explorer. From then on, IE was to become part of the Windows 98 operating system itself, and many of Ballmer’s workers were scattered to other divisions.
Ballmer’s motivations and his scheme were exposed last week, when during a board meeting he proposed opening the source code to Windows 2000 as a means of placating the Justice Department in its lawsuit against Microsoft. It is now believed that the promotion of Ballmer to CEO was engineered by Gates to lure him out into the open. Microsoft’s other board members yesterday voted unanimously for Ballmer’s removal as CEO of the corporation.
As he left the Redmond campus this morning, a weeping Ballmer expressed regret that he did not do more. Pointing to his Rolex watch, a teary-eyed Ballmer said “You see this! This could have paid for a few more device drivers!” Referring to his Porsche sports car, he said “And this! This could have paid for a whole new window manager!”
Reaction within the free software community has been one of shock. Reached at his Cambridge, Massachussetts home, open source advocate Richard M. Stallman expressed gratitude that Ballmer had sheltered Free Software programmers within Microsoft, but still held reservations about his prominent role within the corporation. Nevertheless, on Monday, Stallman will propose changing the GNU Public License to declare Ballmer a “Righteous Closed Source Worker”, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon someone who is not Free Software programmer.
for those who missed the /. post earlier this morning (hmm, like 3am, in swedish chef talk):non-consensual http user tracking using caches
here’s an interesting cnn article about typos in emails / online. you will note of course, that i’m one of those non-capitalizing people. (via ooine)
l33t.freshmeat.net is just plain hilarious
“itz juzt kewl,” said phr34k0r, one of the l33t.freshmeat.net beta testers, “2 th1nk 1’ll be d0wnl04d1ng WaR3z frm the same s1t3 uzed bY p30pl3 wh0 n0 h0w 2 c0de in C.”
In addition to hosting warez and the latest exploits, l33t.freshmeat.net will provide tutorials to help visitors sharpen essential skript kiddie skills. Works in progress include “Best arguments to give to tar when unpacking your r00t kit”, “Which DOS commands will work on the Unix server you’ve 0wn3d”, and “Why seeing a wall that includes your name, address, and phone number is a bad thing”.
check out the awesome new mentalplex feature at google.
tim’s visit to mp3.com hq is certainly interesting. who knew they used mysql.
mp3.com’s interst in xml, building an api, and forward thinking makes me think that maybe they are the right ones to take some huge steps in the music industry (re: previous post).
i’ve been thinking recently about how messed up the whole napster thing is. the record industry really brought it on themselves, but as usual the artists are getting screwed. i think that the ideal solution would be to create a large account system where samples could be listened to (or the whole song even) and then purchased with one click (f u amazon), hooked up to a micropayment system. the details like price, pricing system, etc. would still have to be nailed out.
i for one would be more than willing to shell out 25-50 cents to d/l a song and have a copy on the server as well as access to all the song info etc. also, even if it was available streamed for free, i would pay a fee to be able to create my own libraries / playlists, and stream them from anywhere a la the mp3.com’s beam-it service. hook this kind of thing to your wireless device (in addition to the pc) and i think you’d have a killer app that would more than make up for money lost from freebees (and also result in a more equitable system for both artists and listeners).