Let me correct you Scott -
please.....(and answer some allegations)
Let me correct you Scott -
please.....(and answer some allegations)
03/08/2004 11:26 PM
Seems like Scott Fallin
really likes UNIX, thinks he's God and writes software that all of us
care about (not sure what that is.)
Here's his 'opinion' of me (my reply follows):
The Obtuse Nature of GUI Fanatics
I find esr’s post about the difficulty of configuring CUPS
(Common UNIX Printer System) to be very amusing. While I’m not
CUPS guru, I have set it up a time or two and found it to be simple
and straightforward. It can be configured via a web browser, after
all. UNIX and its ilk is about tinkering, experimenting and getting
things done in a powerful way. If people want software handed to them,
they know where to go. Redmond and Cupertino make decent enough UIs.
The luser can be spared the foray into the bowels operating system
itself, should that be their wish. In his post, esr has a fictional
Aunt Tillie “getting the idea that this software was written by
geeks without clue.” No, esr. The software was written by geeks
who don’t give a damn about Aunt Tillie and her need to print and
you know that. These geeks have a significant clue. It is simply not
the clue you wish them to have. I respect your abilities as a
programmer. Fetchmail has made my life easier for years. But you are
wrong. Microsoft is still in business because of trade alliances it
has formed with consumers, hardware vendors and resellers. It is still
in business because it has the lion’s share of the market and
that market’s data is stored in proprietary formats. Bringing
Linux to Aunt Tillie’s desktop and making it easy on her will not
slay this Goliath. You of all people should know this. In all
likelihood, Aunt Tillie would be happy with WebTV. Let her have
it.
Marching further into the opinionated front, we find Marc Canter,
would be impresario. Marc states, in Open Source
UIs his belief that open source software programmers should
somehow decided upon a standardized set of hooks so that those who
specialize in UI design can easily plug their UI in.
Why would anyone even attempt to organize such a project? There is
a single common interface across UNIX-like operating systems. It is
called the shell, Marc. UNIX is not a beauty contest. UNIX is a vast
tool. This tool works best when all the point-and-drool UI cosmetics
fall away.
The fact is, Marc wants ease of use and pretty UI on top of open
source so he can better leverage it against his commerce driven ideas.
Mark wants this because the masses want this. Why he thinks open
source should give it too him is beyond my grasp.
Why do I suddenly feel the need to alter the GPL so that I can
release my code under the proviso that Marc Canter or anyone sharing
his genetic material cannot use it.
Then again, I could just make it too hard for folks like him to
figure out. [sh.ortb.us]
Scott seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed (the day
he wrote this.) But since I love clarifying people who don't get
what I say - I feel compelled to reply:
1. I'm not altering anybody's GPL - or anything as coniving
as "commerce related" doodley squat. Great compelling Uis
certainly have more to do with making Aunt Tillie's experience better
- no matter how obnoxious, arogant or misunderstanding you UNIX guys
portend to come off.
In fact I have to admit I've heard fo folks like Scott before - I
just never have had the pleasure of running into them. Which
leads me to ask......
2. What is it that you write that we (I) care about?
When I say UIs - I mean jukeboxes, video players, phto albums,
blogging tools, editing systems, topic libraries, knowledge management
and digital ifestyle aggregation systems. What is it that you do
- Scott?
3. Rather than think of UI APIs as generic - I think Scott
needss to think of them as VERY specific. To build
inter-changeable (sometimes known as skins) UIs, it takes very very
detailed data model objects, nomenclature, guidelines and what we used
to say "Interface Police" rules.
This Microsoft and Apple's bread and butter. But anybody
who's used Gnome, worked at Apple or Microsoft or 100 other companies
- knows this stuff in their sleep. It's time we all just banded
together.
4. Which leads me to Scott's rather rude allegations that I
have some sort of evil goals in mind. That doing something with
'commerce' in mind can ONLY mean - BAD things. I gotta say I'm
disappointed in Scott.
The trick is how to do something free and open and STILL win at the
bank. If I (or anybody associated with me) can pull that off - it
won't be for ripping off, taking advantage of or acting like an
asshole to the world. It'll be because we're bettering the world,
bringing value added features and functionality to the world of open
source and if anything - brgining in a little professionalism that my
25+ years in this business has taught me.
If you got a problem with that - then:
- make your software is better than ours. We don't GET
anything from open source, we GIVE to open source.
- make sure to support or promulgate lots of open standards (like
we are)
- and we'll meet at the shootout at the Slashdot Corral. May
the better man win.
- and hey, along the way - you could contribute ideas to the world
too - like I do.
- what's wrong with that? If you don't like um - ignore me -
please
If you got a problem with that - sorry. But certainly don't
accuse me of shit that's completely false, ranging on libelous.
And oh yah - keep making your stuff difficult to understand and
figure out. Brilliant strategy dude. Go for it. I'm sure
you'll get LOTS of powerful, sophisticated customers - just like
you.
This is a GrokNews Entry: (what is grok?)
Geez, talk about sucking all the fun out of life.