With Google being in the spotlight with its announcement of the Google Chrome OS, and what this could possibly mean for Microsoft, something almost slipped us by: apparently, Microsoft has a big announcement coming next Monday during its Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans - and it's related to Chrome OS. Let the speculation begin!
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Developers, developers, developers, developers... are sick hearing this.
But it is so true.
It is increasingly more true than ever before.
It is increasingly relevant also in the FOSS community now that the amount of developers has diminished in relation to the increased, largely non-contributing, end-user base.
Edited 2009-07-09 07:41 UTC
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Yes and no.
It is the explicit goal of the relatively recent "world domination" -ideology, sure.
But no. The vitality of any FOSS project essentially depends on the "health" of the development community around it. There has always been an implicit assumption that some portion of the user base will eventually become part of the development community or contribute otherwise directly in terms of code. My thesis was that this has changed; there is an increasing end-user base that will never make the step towards development. Thus, the mantra of "developers, developers, developers" is increasingly important in the new situation where we see user-consumers instead of user-contributors, so to speak.
The idea of "largest possible user base" as a primary (and only?) goal of FOSS projects is relatively recent, partially addressable to things like Ubuntu. My bet would be that other factors are (were?) more dominant (e.g. technical superiority, "scratching an itch", open source development model, ideology, and so forth).
Edited 2009-07-09 10:23 UTC
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I was specifically talking about 'desktop' FOSS projects and I don't think the ideology of projects like Gnome has changed recently - more like they got closer to the maturity and completeness they sought from the beginning.
A desktop project like Haiku is overwhelmingly fuelled by interest and enthusiasm of the developer base, but when the end-user community grows, you can't say the project will have changed direction or ideology.
In fact, I think some of the highest profile desktop FOSS projects do a much better job of attracting users than developers. I'm not an insider, but the Gimp is often mentioned as an example where numbers are skewed too much in favour of the user-base. OpenOffice is another, but for different reasons. We'll probably end up arguing semantics, but I think we both agree that a successful project needs a balance of both (Firefox, yet again, being the poster child)
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It is increasingly more true than ever before.
It is increasingly relevant also in the FOSS community now that the amount of developers has diminished in relation to the increased, largely non-contributing, end-user base.
Some projects are facing this reality and are creating interfaces which intermediate level users can release their own extensions to further enhance a given project. Where as many projects core still rely on relatively low level languages - many enhancements can be accomplished using web based languages or scripting languages where a person can hack together a neat widget to address a need.
Firefox is the best example of where the focus for most end users are on the extensions which are available; a browser is a browser but what makes Firefox different than most is the ability for users to link in and propagate their own enhancements by lowering the bar to developing them.
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Live Mesh (and nothing else except maybe a taskbar and a few pre-installed plugins like Silverlight, Flash, and Acrobat) running on Windows 7 embedded. All apps delivered by Live Mesh or accessed via a web browser embedded in Live Mesh online desktop thing.
Future versions would involve Gazelle and even later, Midori.
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There may be some side dishes like a new Plus Pack or a new name and release for one of their existing, but under-performing products ( see Bing & the anti virus thing). But I can almost feel the disappointment of the announcement now. But you have to cheer for your own side. If you were Microsoft, you'd talk up 7 as best as you could, describing it as "revolutionary", "Faster and more secure than ever".
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I think it could be something related to Microsoft's Gazelle browser http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10280270-56.html?tag=newsEditorsP...
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I want to hear something new and exciting in computing.
New operating system based on a browser? Boring. New browser being released? Boring. Programs to run in the browser? Boring. New netbook operating system? Boring.
Where's the cool new tech? Where's the artificial intelligence that makes my computer smart enough to run my life or anticipate my needs? What about a truly original new UI?
No. Instead, we're treated to the same announcements that we were hearing in 1997. Next you'll be embedding MIDI files on the site and putting up animated GIFs of the dancing baby. I'm not criticising OSnews, I'm criticising the IT industry - let's have some real improvements, not just farting around with web browsers and a bunch of netbooks with identical specifications!
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New operating system based on a browser? Boring. New browser being released? Boring. Programs to run in the browser? Boring. New netbook operating system? Boring.
Where's the cool new tech? Where's the artificial intelligence that makes my computer smart enough to run my life or anticipate my needs? What about a truly original new UI?
No. Instead, we're treated to the same announcements that we were hearing in 1997. Next you'll be embedding MIDI files on the site and putting up animated GIFs of the dancing baby. I'm not criticising OSnews, I'm criticising the IT industry - let's have some real improvements, not just farting around with web browsers and a bunch of netbooks with identical specifications!
Google is always working on it. You can never expect Microsoft to lead in these matters. They have always been followers! (Yet, crying innovation from the rooftops at every chance they get!)
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I second that. Without this netbook hype (which will fade soon when those little kids will find that netbooks are quite useless), IT industry would be in crisis.
However, that's not fault of IT people themselves. Since end of 70s, innovations in hardware led to better softwares. Now there aren't true innovations in H/W, only upgrades to make stuff more powerful, less energy-hungry and so on.
Until we will meet some true H/W innovation (or some other technology will become affordable... think to multi-touch screens...), I don't think software will be able to bring many surprises.
Only thing that could bring some new air is faster and more-widespread Internet connections at low or no cost at all. That would make possibile to develop new kind of software.
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They have had a sneak preview of Tmax Window (http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Tmax-1013937.html) and now realize they are completely screwed.
Ballimer will commit hari-kari live on stage.
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If it's something big and related to Chrome OS, it could only be something related to OS. Probably, an announcement related to next Windows version. I'll let my imagination go wild:
Windows 7 will be free of charge.
Windows 7 will be free of charge and its sources released under BSD-type license.
Windows 8 will be open source.
Windows 8 will be free, but closed sourced.
Windows 8 will be based on Linux and thanks to WINE project, will have a XP/Vista/7 Legacy mode built-in.
Microsoft will develop a Linux distro.
Now, if I'm right, what prize will I receive from OSNews? 
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I'll follow zdnet on this one, I'd like to see the meshification (mesh.live.com)of windows, but it will most likely be office online which has been announced a while back and is most likely ready for show off. Competition in the the way we manage our computer data cloud is always welcome from google though !
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It turns out that Bing stands for Bob Is Not Gone. Our friend will be back to guide us through our searches. It will be implemented as an ActiveX plugin for IE. A Mac version will be released a few month later, "Bob for Apples". The Linux version is still in development, and will be known as Gnob.
Is it Friday yet?
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