gabriel

I have an older macbook (Intel Core Duo 2 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 93 GB hard drive) and I have similar feelings about my laptop. When I develop, I need linux :)

Ubuntu does install rather well though, so I agree you should give it a try. Just 1) install Mac OS X (leave space for linux, or resize current), 2) install rEFIt, then 3) install Linux (ubuntu for macbooks is recommended). Otherwise virtualize (VMWare Fusion is better than Parallels IMHO, but either suffice).

I'll give you a tip: Every time I move over to Linux on my macbook I miss all of the little things that just work under OS X.

Just came across this myself. You are right. Best piece about the whole OLPC mess I've read, mostly because I feel I understand what is going on with the OLPC, and maybe why everyone is leaving!

I recommend everyone go read the source essay by Ivan Krstić, rather than someone's commentary on it. See here: http://radian.org/notebook/sic-transit-gloria-laptopi

I love learning new metaphors for the desktop, although, all I can think right now is that cognitive dissonance would set in with this a little too easily. Even more quickly than what we have today for a desktop.

I do think it would be interesting to see how this model fits different types of people. Great example of an app that should be usability tested, as in http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html.

And this quote (from a recent thread here) I think applies just as well to desktops as it does to languages: "A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing"

I used to make fun of Gartner (and the like). Then I went to an insurance company and people just didn't get the jokes :)

Naturally, I still told people my true thoughts and if you know how to justify your arguments and have the technical capability to back them up with action you will be absolutely indispensable. (That recent book list had a book related to this subject, go find it!).

Great thing is when you leave (and you will leave) they feel a real loss (not that you intend harm), and all you have is a gain. Welcome to The Industry.

Learn to hack your way through it, or become part of the problem :)

It isn't much of a secret in free softwar :) According to the LWN write-up (http://lwn.net/Articles/281434/) the culprit was a Debian developer Kurt Roeckx, though obviously this patch never swam upstream and he didn't seem to get much help from the OpenSSL developers in assessing the patch in the first place.

See also: http://lwn.net/Articles/281436/

I never liked long lists of books, they tend to freak readers out too much. I think someone should pick one and if that one is any good, then it will lead you to the next, whatever it may be. Repeat as necessary :)

My message is that it's one thing to learn how to hack, but another part of it is learning why hacking is the way it is in order to figure out what to work on today.

Some things change fast, others don't. Most don't take the time to understand this--the best will.

Even though an old and previously posted article, is anyone listening? Or maybe it's a question of beliefs?

Because I think another aspect to look at this article with is that learning how to hack is fine, though start-ups should be focusing on the toughest problems, and ignoring history (how things got to where they are today) won't help anyone.

All of you working on the next social platform better beware of the history.

Stop making yourself feel like you have a duty to spend time on any site. In the end, none of it will give you a meaningful experience.

I loathe apps and sites that make you feel like everything is in your face. Email is like this, so is RSS, same with pretty much all news sites. The list goes on and on.