Posts by Doctor Syntax

KDE Linux and FreeBSD hit alpha and – surprise – fan fave Pop_OS nearly at beta

Re: It's bold, it's innovative, and ...

"KDE has nothing to lose. There are no allies or affiliates to annoy or estrange.

More of this sort of thing, please."

I agree it's a good thing to do. But it seems they're trying to do two things at once. One is produce a KDE showcase, the other is to try out all sorts of more or less experimental system architecture stuff. Both are laudable things but the latter isn't yet mainstream. As a regular KDE user I'd be very reluctant to switch to this as a daily driver; if the underpinnings were more mainstream I might. In that respect I find it difficult to see it as something to offer as a Windows replacement.

OTOH I can see how it would be a Windows replacement for all the wrong reasons. If its far enough off the beaten track it could be set up as a vendor's OEM installation maintained by the vendor's OEM systems and if the vendor then declares EOL there's then no chance of doing an apt distupgrade; it's upgrade by land-fill time.

Re: It's bold, it's innovative, and ...

"I take it from that that the doctor WANTS an easier to use and polished Linux system, but systemd ain't the thing to achieve that."

Exactly. That's why I use Devuan. What plain old, boring Debian would have been if they hadn't drunk the Kool-Aid.

"As I keep saying, ChromeOS is by any measure I can find the most successful desktop Linux by far."

That's by being packaged primarily as an OEM product to run on cheap hardware whilst tying the user in to the Google ecosystem. Google's other Linux OS is also packaged as an OEM product. As, of course, is Windows.

It's the OEM packaging that gets an OS into the mass market but that moves to a situation where the real product is the user who is turned into a consumer of the promoter's services.

What we really need is something that turns a PC back into a Personal Computer.

Re: It's bold, it's innovative, and ...

"Sorry but the sad truth is that that there almost not bold, innovative Linuxes that _aren't_ systemd-based."

I don't want a bold, innovative Linux. I want something that Just Works and does so straightforwardly.

VMware to lose 35 percent of workloads in three years – some to its friends at ‘proper clouds’

Re: The solution is not more vendor lock-in

I was going to make the same point. It is truly amazing how organisations will lock themselves into situations which are not only expensive but where the expense is out of their control rather than make an investment in retraining. They need to take a fresh look at capex vs opex issues. Vendors have successfully trained customers to me capex-averse and are now exploiting the situation.

Experts scrutinized Ofcom's Online Safety Act governance. They're concerned

Saxton and da Souza are both missing the point. Outside their limited remits the internet has become the communications medium on which the modern world depends. Their bans and introduction of "friction" are impractical for the world at large and would be immensely damaging for any country that introduced them unilaterally.

OpenAI reportedly on the hook for $300B Oracle Cloud bill

Re: Why Oracle?

The amounts are so big they have to be spread out so everyone gets a slice of the losses risk.

Re: Looks like the crux is going to happen

"And reality always wins."

I think it cheats. It's the only explanation.

NASA finds best evidence of life on Mars so far

Re: as we don't know it

The simple molecules - the components of RNA, amino acids etc. are known to have been formed by abiotic processes. The nature of life is that assembling them into reliably working enzymes requires protein synthesis directed by RNA and catalysed by enzymes including those that attach specific amino acids to specific t-RNAs. Reliably coping RNA* requires more enzymes. Just working out how that archetypal chicken and egg situation might have come about from the abiotic mix might reasonably lead you to think that it was impossible were it not for the fact that it happened. That it might happen twice seems overwhelmingly unlikely let alone that it would happen twice in neighbouring planets. I can't help feeling that exo-biology is an example of extreme example of observer bias.

One difference between early life and now would be that DNA would have come along later. The business end is handled by RNAs.

Microserfs ordered back to the office, given 10 days to appeal

Re: Work from home bans = idiot management

Hot-desking was invented to stop people complaining that open plan was the worst way to organise an office.

Re: Bullshit created by people like Alan Sugar

"Granted he's made his money but a lot of his products were failures"

I can't actually remember looking at any of them and thinking "I'd like to buy that".

Re: "How we work has forever changed"

This is not marketing bullshit, this is HR bullshit.

Which gives me an idea. As a few have said it does rather show up the products that are supposed to support remote working in a bad light. Would it be possible to stir up a row between marketing and HR?

Re: "How we work has forever changed"

More likely denying that productivity is heading south otherwise they might be expected to do something about it.

Re: "How we work has forever changed"

The question would have to be asked with well-simulated or even genuine puzzlement without a hint that it was even recognised as an intended joke; it was a serious comment that wasn't understood.

Re: Teams not fit for purpose?

They are indeed fit for purpose. All their customers have now been suckered into renting them as bundles of services and will find it hard to escape. That brings in the money and is their sole purpose. Now they need to justify the office space they weren't quick enough to unload in 2020.

Re: Bullshit created by people like Alan Sugar

I don't think my daughter's firm even invested that much in property in the first place. As a result they're not tied to their home country (Ireland) and can and do recruit specialists world-wide.

Re: "Importantly, this update is not about reducing headcount,"

It's just sounds. They don't have any meaning.

Re: Creeps

"in the meantime cut out the unnecessary expenditure"

There's the problem. The cost of commuting is a big and theoretically unnecessary expenditure.

Re: Seizing the moment

"I'd imagine that MS and other large employers would 'change the nature of work' again when the business cycle repeats and creates a shortage of employees."

Those who mandate RTO for those who didn't want to will have offices full of disgruntled employees whose motivation to leave is more than just looking for an employer who offers WFH. They'll also be looking for an employer who isn't their current one. Simply re-offering WFH isn't going to meet that.

Commuting dates from the invention of mass transport - the horse-drawn omnibus, the suburban rail network and especially the creation of the first London underground. Prior to that the industrial revolution started with people living within walking distance of the factories. It should be an idea whose time has gone.

Re: "How we work has forever changed"

Of course the example you give of where the work has to be performed at a specific location are those which least resemble office work. Office work is the most easily adapted to remote working. The businesses that have realised that are able to take advantage of a world-wide talent pool. That just has to be a long term competitive advantage. To be confident of mandating RTO a business has to have convinced itself that it has no competition or is just too stupid to think things through. Of course convincing itself that it it immune from competition can also be stupid.

My guess is that somewhere out someone will have an idea that will make the Big IT model obsolete, will be able to recruit the best from that big talent pool and will knock the inflexible Microsofts and Googles of this world off their perches.

Re: Work from home bans = idiot management

The rather smaller bodyshop I once worked for managed the same on a smaller scale by putting money behind the bar of a pub on the Strand once a month.

Re: More commuters equals more co2 pump in the air

Any government (obviously not the US) that's serious about net zero would tax businesses based on their employees' commute times. In fact, given that Reeves is looking for ways to raise more taxes without touching income tax and VAT, that would be quite a good move for her.

Please folks, realise this is extremely reasonable. After all look at what Microsoft produces. An operating system that reaches from super-computers through servers, desktops and laptops to handhelds (erm - are there any supercomputers or handhelds on Windows these days?) along with major platform elements such as RDBMS engines and also user spplications such as an office suite.

You couldn't possibly do that and expect the result to be of high quality if you didn't have everyone under one roof, could you?

Re: Creeps

"The smirk when someone trapped in the office has no choice but to look up and smile back."

You obviously never learned to frighten them off.

Re: Seizing the moment

"This adds to reduced compensation (lower rewards) and increased competition among colleagues due to low attrition, and increased workloads as though MS is a startup."

And to a company up shit creek when the jobs market picks up again.

Re: "How we work has forever changed"

crack some awkward dad-joke that forces you to fake a laugh

The correct rsponse to that is "Sorry, I didn't understand that. Could you explain it?"

"Recent evidence also shows RTO mandates can discourage staff."

And discouraging staff so that they leave of their own accord is cheaper than paying redundancy.

AI can't be woke and regulators should be asleep, Senator Cruz says

"President Trump has restored a spirit of confidence in our innovation enterprise with the Golden Age vision"

Golden Age vision? Surely that was his hair getting in front of his eyes.

Mega-and-MAGA deals position Oracle's Larry Ellison to overtake Elon

Re: All that money

I doubt either of them want one.

Cybercrooks ripped the wheels off at Jaguar Land Rover. Here's how not to get taken for a ride

No, no. Sophisticated attackers. It's always sophisticated attackers.

Get paid like a prime minister to tame Home Office IT chaos

Re: Sounds like a job for...

Or Amber Rudd.

Apple's 'Awe Droppings' fall close to the tree

"this value proposition needs to be communicated more effectively to reinforce user trust and adoption."

Translation: existing phones are at least as good as customers need so we're going to have to work harder shifting this one because there's no actual reason to buy it.

""We are thrilled to introduce the impossibly thin iPhone Air"

If it's impossibly thin does that mean they're not able to make it?

Flu jab email mishap exposes hundreds of students' personal data

"put measures in place to ensure this doesn't happen again."

AKA closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. Obviously no measures were in place to ensure it didn't happen at all.

Effective measures are those put in place proactively.

Microsoft inks AI infra deal with Yandex cofounder's biz for nearly $20B

If Trump instructed MS to pull the plug on the EU would the EU retaliate by telling Yandex to pull the plug on MS?

Linus has had enough of links that point to 'stupid useless garbage'

There seems to be a fair number of responses online to what would happen to Linux if Linux got hit by a bus.

The short answer (his) is that he wouldn't care.

The longer answer hinges on the fact that there are, in fact, a number of maintainers for various aspects of the kernel so it's not the one-man band people seem to envisage and there are a few in a position to step up.

Everyone needs an AI phone. No, don't hang up, it's true

He may be betting smart money but is he betting real money?

UK Home Office dangles £1.3M prize for algorithm that guesses your age

Re: The mind boggles

Look at it this way.

HMG keeps coming up with ideas we know are impractical and expecting industry to implement them at industry's own expense or else. HO are prime offenders at this. I keep saying they should provide a proof of concept first.

They're now actually trying this an their (i.e. our) expense. We all know it's going to fail any rigorous trial but AFAIKS such a failure is the only chance of them learning about the reality of what they keep demanding of others. If it works (i.e. if the HO actually learn) then it's a Good Thing.

Accurate but with what precision?

Just answering 50 ± 50 for everyone isn't likely to make many mistakes.

Intel shuffles executive deckchairs, tosses 30-year veteran chief overboard

"Throughout her incredible career, Michelle has transformed major businesses, built high-performing teams and worked to delight our customers," - but this is not how we wish to continue operating.

UK tech minister booted out in weekend cabinet reshuffle

Re: Come invest in the UK! Give us your keys too.

Do you consider yourself a worthy person? Do you think public office needs worthy people? If your answer to bot is "yes" then surely you should stand and become an exception to what you consider the rule.

Re: Meh

As far as I can tell be actually reading some of the reports over the weekend she went to legal advisors. If you look elsewhere in these comments somebody has already mentioned the fact that she was under a court order not to disclose details and had to get that order lifted, an order intended to protect her son. That alone would have needed professional advice. As far as I can remember from the reports she is said to have gone to two legal advisors about this..

Re: how do such imbeciles get put in charge?

It's not really that bigger pool from which to select. If you're good at the sorts of things that governments have to decide about you should be able to make a living in the private sector and possibly a better one than MPs' or even Ministers' salaries. You know that even if you go into politics, however good your intentions, you're going to be immediately bad-mouthed by multitudes who know nothing about you, can't be bothered to find out and immediately assume the worst,* and you're going to find that unless you're very lucky, most of your constituents disagree with your politics** and are against you for that reason. The consequence is that too many of those who do decide on politics are the people least suitable for office.

TL;DR If you're capable of running a whelk stall you'll probably choose doing that over politics.

* For which reason if for no other we get the politicians we deserve.

** Even amongst those who support your party will decide you're on the wrong wing of it.

Re: "cabinet reshuffle"

I think that all too often the reason is that few of them show any sign that they'll learn how to do their job properly.

Re: Meh

I rather suspect that having gone to several advisors to ask for specialist advice and been told "Here's or advice but you need to ask for specialist advice" that the reality would be that any further advisor would have much the same response and that you really weren't going to get any further.

Re: "join up public services"

Yes, because you don't know them. It introduces a little randomness into the tracking statistics.

UK toughens Online Safety Act with ban on self-harm content

Re: Sticking Plaster

s/pre/pro/

"requires platform providers to take proactive measures to prevent its publication."

I take it HMG has a working proof of concept to show that this can be done and how.

As Xi and Putin chase immortality, let's talk about digital presidents-for-life

So given reinforcing his Spanish army as an alternative, he chose to invade Russia.

Re: Assuming it's actually possible

They're good at politics. They're just not good at running countries.