Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 29th Aug 2012 22:52 UTC
Miguel de Icaza: "To sum up: (a) First dimension: things change too quickly, breaking both open source and proprietary software alike; (b) incompatibility across Linux distributions. This killed the ecosystem for third party developers trying to target Linux on the desktop. You would try once, do your best effort to support the 'top' distro or if you were feeling generous 'the top three' distros. Only to find out that your software no longer worked six months later. Supporting Linux on the desktop became a burden for independent developers." Mac OS X came along to scoop up the Linux defectors.
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Member since:2008-08-19
Someone on another article mentioned that we need a stable kernel API for drivers, so that they can write them once, and know that they will run against future kernel versions for the lifespan of their product.
I would argue that the same needs to be done for applications.
I would argue that the same needs to be done for applications.
For the most part, that's already the case - for example, an app written to Gtk+ 2.0 back in 2002 will still probably compile and run on Gtk+ 2.24 today. It probably uses parts of that API which have long been deprecated, but it will still work. That's over ten years of stability.
For an actual API break, you have to go to Gtk+ 3.0, where they finally cleaned out all of those old deprecated functions. But even then, it's not a problem, because the 2.0 and 3.0 libraries have been designed to co-exist..
RE[2]: Comment by woegjiub
by lucas_maximus on Thu 30th Aug 2012 08:01
in reply to "RE: Comment by woegjiub"
Member since:2009-08-18
For the most part, that's already the case - for example, an app written to Gtk+ 2.0 back in 2002 will still probably compile and run on Gtk+ 2.24 today. It probably uses parts of that API which have long been deprecated, but it will still work. That's over ten years of stability.
The work probably doesn't fill me with Enthusiasm
For an actual API break, you have to go to Gtk+ 3.0, where they finally cleaned out all of those old deprecated functions. But even then, it's not a problem, because the 2.0 and 3.0 libraries have been designed to co-exist..
Yes but GTK is one GUI library out of many that work on the platform.
The difference is with MacOSX/iOS, Windows and Android you have a standard set of APIs that you can expect to be there and expect to work in a certain way.l
This doesn't exist in Linux except for the basic userland.
Member since:2008-11-29
Someone on another article mentioned that we need a stable kernel API for drivers, so that they can write them once, and know that they will run against future kernel versions for the lifespan of their product.
I agree with you on that. Maybe I should add that most users really don't care whether it is open source or not, they just want it to work.
A linux desktop works fine and doesn't need much maintenance, but you need someone that can help you out when an update screws something up. Most readers here will be able to do that, but the average user doesn't know what to do.
Member since:2005-07-06
Someone on another article mentioned that we need a stable kernel API for drivers, so that they can write them once, and know that they will run against future kernel versions for the lifespan of their product.
For the 99,999'th time, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.
I maintain a fairly large (in 100,000's of LOC) in-kernel project that covers everything from files to networking. This code works in Linux, BSD (when required) and used to work in Windows.
The amount of work required to maintain the project between different Linux kernel releases is negligible at best (usually less that 1h per kernel release).
*However*, I dropped the Windows support as undocumented changes between SP releases tended to break both the user-space part of the code and the kernel-space part of the code.
Care to prove me wrong?
- Gilboa
RE[2]: Comment by woegjiub
by lucas_maximus on Thu 30th Aug 2012 08:33
in reply to "RE: Comment by woegjiub"
Member since:2009-08-18
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!More Features »
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Member since:
2008-11-25
Despite completely disagreeing with the Gnome3 direction, I find myself actually agreeing with Mr. de Icaza.
Someone on another article mentioned that we need a stable kernel API for drivers, so that they can write them once, and know that they will run against future kernel versions for the lifespan of their product.
I would argue that the same needs to be done for applications.
Unfortunately, there is never going to be a consensus on things like this, as we can see from the results of the attempt to make all distros use the same package format.
It is a shame that there can not be some sort of consensus reached between the linux foundation, red hat, novell, the debian project (which would bring canonical into line, presumably) and a choice other couple of partners like arch and their ilk.
Edited 2012-08-29 23:44 UTC