Posts by logical

Why Oracle will win its Java copyright case – and why you'll be glad when it does

Re: Hmmm

Compaq did not release their own API. They released their own implementation of IBM's BIOS API. The cleanroom part was the implementation of the BIOS API's, not the API's themselves. The API was identical to IBM's otherwise the Compaq BIOS would have been useless.

If Google, or anyone else, implements an existing Java API, it must have identical definitions otherwise it won't work. Your argument is silly. You could easily determine the API by simply looking at any Java program which used it. And that program could be under any license, including public domain.

Also, I can certainly create audio CDs without ever purchasing the Red Book. Copyright only protects the book itself, not the knowledge it contains. That knowledge can be gotten legally in any number of ways, including simply reading the source of a program which implements CD audio creation.

Hmmm

I completely fail to see any difference to what Google did with Java/Android and what the clone makers did back in the day with the IBM BIOS. The clone makers copied the BIOS API exactly, and IBM even sued over it and lost. Those clone BIOS's are still being sold to this very day. There is extensive precedence in software for re-implementing API's.

For instance, all command-line tools have a defined API. An Oracle win would mean that you could never replace one tool with a newly written one that accepted the same API. Think what such a scenario would have meant over the years. Complete disaster would be the result and that's just one small area.

It seems to me that the folks who want to prevent re-implementation an an API want to have the protection of a patent under the guise of copyright with the API acting as the claims. If you want a patent, the you should apply for one.

Fedora 21: Linux fans will LOVE it - after the install woes

In all of the anti-systemd ranting and raving that I've seen here and elsewhere, there is always one thing missing: no mention all at all of any alternative means to actually provide the services of systemd. Why is that? I want those services, and others do too.

I've been using Linux in production for ages (>17 years). I've used it to do countless different things that I needed to get done. I was highly skeptical of systemd when it came out and was quite irritated using it in the beginning. However, I did take it upon myself to actually read the documentation for it and use it so that I could give it a fair evaluation instead reading crap like this thread. My verdict: It's not perfect, but it's better than what came before it. It makes my work *easier* and provides benefits that the older init system simply could not. If you don't agree, that's fine. Everyone's work is different.

Criminy, the paranoia (RedHat) and anti-Lennart diatribes here are simply ridiculous. Lennart's an ass. Yep, I think so too. He can be his own worst enemy. However, he's a competent ass and that's more important to me.

I've never understood the hate for Pulse Audio. Never had an issue with it. It solved perfectly the issue of providing audio to numerous x-terminals. The solutions up to that point simply sucked.

Microsoft watches iPads flood into world's offices: Right, remote desktop clients. It's time

@James

I have never understood the "it's not _your_ network, it's the "_the company's_ network" diatribe. Folks who say this _NEVER_ apply the same logic to their own job. Why is that? Do you refer to things that you are responsible for as "yours" or do you always refer to them as "the company's"? The personal pronouns indicate responsibility, not personal ownership.

IT is there to support users, but not just users. There are always constraints like them or not. Sometimes IT must "dictate" in order for things to actually work and be sustainable. Sometimes users want things that simply cannot be done with the resources available.

WD: HDD prices won't fall to pre-flood levels until 2013

Hmmmm

I always thought that if your expenses went up, profits would go down. Doesn't seem to be happening in this case. Profits have gone UP. Obviously, prices have been raised more than expenses.

These folks are a crock.

Redmond campaigns for gay marriage rights

"christian terminology"

"Of course, if you wish to erradicate the concept of christian marriage and morality from society, then it does make sense to take christian terminology and redefine it to mean something completely different"

Marriage is NOT christian terminology. "Christians" do not own it and they do not get to decide for everyone what it means. They are not being persecuted or harassed or having "their" concepts eradicated because other people dare to believe different than they do.

God has not delegated the power to control others lives to any human being AFAIK. Sin is between each individual and God and *no* one else. So many self-professed "christians" want to put themselves in God's place. It's just ridiculous.

Lithium cells take salt to extend life

@illiad

The OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) laptop battery is one of these.