yef

http://www.osalt.com/ includes Mac, thanks dchest.

Nice list, but this really needs to be dumped into a Reddit implementation so we can vote and comment.

Side project, anyone?

I agree with you, but the reason is because the managers see four of the iterations as wastes of resources.

Move. Treat the next place as an investment in your productivity and happiness.

This appears to be a popular thread, and I don't have time to read all the comments, but let me throw in this quick recommendation: How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie. Try putting the basic techniques into practice along with developing your skill for finding others interesting.

The real questions are: 1) how much do open-plan offices save and 2) what is the increased rate of illness (ie, how much productivity is lost?). Anyone have any data?

"Why? They're all competing desktop Operating Systems."

Exactly. The fact that Ubuntu Linux can compete with operating systems that you have to pay for is an amazing testament to the skill, determination, and efficiency of all the people behind Ubuntu, Debian, Linux, GNU, etc. Especially when you consider they're not strictly organized under a company with strong leadership, such as Apple under Jobs or Microsoft under Gates.

Mouse tracking: the acceleration is different than what I expect; slow moves don't seem to get me anywhere, quick ones make me overshoot. I've played with settings and downloaded third-party fixes, nothing seems to make it work the way it does in Ubuntu or Windows.

Installing applications: they usually come on a disk image, which you mount, open, and then find the program. Natural inclination is to double click the program and run it. That's great until you unmount the disk image. What you really have to do is drag it to the applications folder. This is never explained, nor do average users know what a disk image is. Windows install wizards are pretty nice; Debian/Ubuntu's package manager is also super nice.

Background color: try setting your OSX background to black. When I tried it, I found that I couldn't. I had to get a purely black image, and then stretch it. Not a problem with Ubuntu or with Windows.

Terminal: by default, the terminal program is not part of the dock, it's buried in the Applications folder. Given that "it's BSD! you have a terminal!" was part of the hype around OSX, I was terribly confused the first time I went on an OSX machine to actually run it. Not a problem with Ubuntu. Moot in Windows, you download Cygwin if you have to.

Let's get one thing out of the way, first: the simple fact that you can compare Ubuntu (cost: $0) with OSX ($120 + custom hardware) and Windows ($117) is utterly amazing.

You make a valid point that certain things break and take coaxing and searching message boards to work. That's definitely bad.

The point I would question is that of the UI. There are many aspects of OSX that are weird -- the mouse tracking, installing applications, setting a background color for your desktop, bringing up a terminal. Other issues exist for Windows. I can see how it's hard to detach yourself from something you're used to, though.

Those are going to be the two main issues in getting Ubuntu off the ground with average users. Having shit not break, and being close enough to users' existing habits to make the switch easy.

My hunch is that things are pretty close to where they'll end up. Linux will be an attractive alternative among techies, hobbyists, and average folks with spare/old machines. Microsoft and Apple will respond by cutting prices, and in the end, won't lose a substantial share of the market to Linux on the desktop, but suffer decreased margins. The user wins.

Most people who fly a lot do so for work, so they tend to use that otherwise lost time to work rather than sit back and watch movies. Something that's good for typing is better for work, namely a laptop or blackberry.

I'm also very skeptical about the battery life lasting long enough. Every Apple portable device I've had has sucked battery much too fast to last on long trips.

Joel is right. Software is a great industry and programmers, as a fundamental part of that industry, enjoy great benefits as a result. Professional, clean, safe work environment, good salaries, benefits, smart peers, growth opportunities.

But it's everyone responsibility, including programmers, to take ownership of their career. They need to work on their craft, grow in their roles, learn other parts of the business, and take responsibilities that are aligned with their long-term goals. My gut feeling is that the people who feel stuck in "sucky jobs" are treating their jobs as just that -- jobs, rather than opportunities to grow, learn, and eventually be better than their boss is. The latter requires significantly more time, of course, far beyond the average 9-5'ers habits.

Not that I've tried it, but I want to: http://images.google.com/images?q=treadmill%20desk

All quite debatable. Excel, for example, is one of the single best pieces of software I've ever used. As another example, I find Itunes clunky and hard to use.

Don't get me wrong, I still hate Bill Gates the monopolist. What I don't like is the knee-jerk reaction that anything he or Microsoft does is evil, and anything that Apple/Google/etc. does is good. We can still learn from him as a businessman, and we can also admire his philanthropic contributions.

The front page of Digg is worth traffic, and therefore money. If you control access to the front page, that too is worth money.

Well, you don't really know that, do you? Perhaps another monopolist would have come along. Perhaps he would have been in the style of Steve Jobs, who is not at all known for philanthropy.

Leave your biases at the door, please.

People piled on because they don't like the idea of a teacher being ignorant and forcing a backwards view on their kids. Frankly, I don't blame them, and I don't think the guy or his reaction was off-base. Ranting in your blog is kind of geeky, but whatever.

If anything, it just points to a lack of civility among both people involved. Couldn't the teacher have said, "Hey, what are those disks you're giving out?" Couldn't the guy have said, "Ha! No, this is definitely legal. Here, let me show you what cool stuff we have for free..."

That's a pessimistic and limiting attitude, sir. Software is a great business because it's easy to copy; analogously, so is the web because of its scale. Most of the work goes into developing, setting up the system. The rest of the work goes into watching and maintaining it while you either build the next thing or sit on a beach. If the latter can be monetized, that's arguably a valid way of generating passive income.

wow, I'm exhausted after watching that. good video.

One of the original viral videos, passed around as a .mov file in the mid-90's, eventually got the attention of Hollywood and got turned into South Park.

Since you seem to be an accomplished writer with a lot of ideas, perhaps you should write a parody of Apple done right by your estimation. With the well-connected folks who read this site, I bet it could be produced into a short online video. Who knows, maybe it could be the next Spirit of Christmas.

The Simpsons isn't what it used to be, that's for sure. I'd bet the old team of writers could have done a better sendup.

But the fact that this parody is immensely popular makes you and your screed look humorless, inflexible, and not exactly open to alternate points of view. The Simpsons writers have accurately identified that Apple, with it's funny product names, sterile stores, new-agey-ness, nice packaging and so on, make people feel good. And they're profiting greatly because of it. From that perspective, I find that the parody was fairly well done.

You're happy that you got a new battery for a laptop you can't use? I don't get it.

I have gotten good service at Apple stores, and (as in life) it pays to be nice to the person you're dealing with. Overall, however, I find them fairly confusing; hard to find stuff, don't know where to pay, etc.

Exceeding what I was guesstimating over here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=338862

While 3 years old, this article says Apple spend $287 million in advertising in 2005, and that was part of an upward trend. http://news.cnet.com/iPod-ads-cost-Apple-a-bundle/2100-1047_...

In comparison, the Vista campaign is reported at $300 million today.

I think we can say that Apple spends comparable money on advertising as Microsoft.

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, but it does make this particular commercial annoying and misleading; a big disappointment from the clever ones that began this ad campaign.

Link?

Because we all miss Calvin and Hobbes. So it makes us feel nice to see Calvin again, even if it's not the "real" one.

Why is that?

So he "read all the books" but didn't interview, look at a resume, or check references? Huh? I feel for the author, and it's a good story and all, but he made some extremely basic mistakes.

Classic Apple apologism.

If Microsoft did this, there would be a swarm of complaints, and rightly so.

I'll stick with the Amazon music store, which is not only cheaper, has no confusing DRM files to deal with, and is fully on the web, meaning I can link to music, buy it on any web-enabled computer, etc.

There are plenty of reasons to like Apple, but their music store seems backward and anti-competitive to me.

Yup. Being the capital of ideas isn't terribly interesting. Ideas aren't worthless but they are worth less than the vetting, refining, and execution of ideas.