forca

Linux has become simply the invisible platform upon which so much runs. This is true by virtue of not only Android, but other stuff. Take notice, though, that more and more businesses are shunning Linux in favour of BSD. PS4, most routers, switches, increasing numbers of embedded chips now run NetBSD and OpenBSD (esp. in wi-fi security space). Businesses are also increasingly wary of the GPL and using maximally free licenses like the BSD/ISC/MIT. I'm considering this myself.

Pulseaudio took way too long to get ironed out, IMHO. ALSA was bad in a lot of ways, but was workable. I agree moving forward is good, but the issue with alot of OSS software is it's used a replacement for working software when it's not quite ready. PA was not ready for primetime when it was initially released. Everyone knows this. It works fine now after many fixes and considerable time. systemd is the same. A lot of people dislike change and systemd is a radical shift from the init that was. While I still prefer the old init, I'm not shying away from using Debian because of it. What I don't like is the hooks that systemd places into software it has no business touching, like Gnome. Userland software should not be touched by this. Full stop. An init system should do one thing well. Userland software shoudl do what it does well. In too many growing instances, systemd is a requirement for userland software and this should never be.

I agree somewhat with Lennart. The Libre/OSS community is full of egotistical asshats -- generally western and in their 30s and 40s. What's funny, though, is that not all camps in the community are that bad. The Linux camp has deteriorated in recent years -- I've noticed it myself on several occasions. The BSD camps don't suffer near as much from the nonsense that occurs on the Linux side. I think there are several reasons for this. One I have notice in person working on both sides is that the BSD crews tend to be more professional overall. They love UNIX and the goal has always been to create the best UNIX-like OS around. The BSD license is arguably better IMO as well. Quite a few Linux devs, both kernel and userland, are grossly immature and tend to be vocal closed-source opponents for the sake of being vocal. The world cannot be all closed source or all open source. There is room for everyone. Most of the issues with people I have had over the three decades I've been in IT have been with Linux-based devs and users. Without exception all BSD guys and girls have been the pinnacle of professionalism. I think this speaks volumes and is quite telling. This is not observation from one workplace -- this is over many, many years in different work spaces, different cultures, states, whatnot.

All things considered, I have been seriously thinking of moving my core infrastructure over to FreeBSD/OpenBSD to avoid the coming (well, here already) continued balkanisation of Linux. The code quality of Linux has deteriorated of late as well. I've noticed it. My BSD test boxes running the same software suffer nary a hitch. Debian seems to be sane still, as does Slackware, but for how long. This ridiculous systemd battle is bonkers.

I long ago started blocking all ads because they are one of the largest vectors for malware. I don't like being tracked and my data sold without my permission. This is an old argument, but it's widely agreed upon that there is no implicit agreement that I view ads online, even on a site funded in full by such ads. I record my TV shows and FF thru all commercials as well. I already pay to access the WWW, I will not pay with my privacy.

I use Adblock + with no ads allowed, plus Disconnect, plus I ban DOM storage, shunt LSOs to /dev/null, and filter some of my Internet use thru an offsite proxy server. In addition, I disallow HTTP/S referrer, CSS history, ban sites from seeing my font collection, disable media peerconnect, and a number of other things. I am, for all intents and purposes an enemy of most marketing companies.

Tim,

Thank you for replying. I suppose "yes" and "yes" is the best answer to your questions.

Like you, I discovered Linux in 1998 and have personally used it exclusively since. I get as many people off the MS and Apple treadmill and onto Libre/OSS as I can, especially in SOHO settings. I've yet to not be able to do something I needed done in Linux, even if it did take a bit more time or effort initially.

Good on you, and I mean that nicely. My insurance monthly is 1/3 of my salary after taxes. Blue Cross through my employer. I tried to fall back on something from the ACA Web site, but because my employer offers insurance, I don't qualify for the better rates. Stupid rules.

Wow. Simple, yet profoundly true.

I voted you up. What you say is disturbing and true. American medicine treats the symptoms and intentionally strings people along rather than cure the underlying cause. There is no profit in curing cancer -- only in the treatments. I'm convinced of this after having a few people I dearly loved die in the American medical system. We need more of a system whereby our taxes are used solely for the good of the people -- to improve our lives. It's sad, really. As much money as the US has, we could have the highest standard of living on the planet, but we're nowhere near that because of greed on the parts of tax-dodging corporations, greedy capitalists, and a whole host of other reasons.

Free as it ought to be -- payed for out of yours and everyone's taxes. Parking should have been free, to be honest. Nothing I hate more than seeing basic services turned into money-making opportunities for the shady.

Interesting, but I want, in my lifetime, to see a more or less tax-based system that means I see my GP and pay nothing save what I'm taxed in my pay packet every fortnight. There needs to be caps on costs. Costs determined by government, not for-profit entities. In essence, health care is a basic human right. I don't mind a slight ~10% uptick in my taxes to pay for it. That 10% is still orders of magnitude less than I pay annually for health insurance, which is sinfully expensive. I'm praying Hillary Clinton, when she gets elected, will finish what she started.

Great read. This just show how evil for-profit medicine really is. The fact that the pay is so high in the west is disturbing. I really pray we see a single-payer socialised system in our lifetime in the US. Growing up with socialised medicine has shown me the truth. No doctor, no matter how talented, needs to make what they do. All of this should be government run as a non-profit. Government should mandate and force all pharmaceutical companies into non-profit status as well for the good of mankind.

I'm sick to death of not being able to go to hospital here in the US, even with insurance, because what with the co-pays and deductibles, it costs a fortune. I just don't go, and I am in need of surgery that I cannot afford.

QUESTION:

Would an Indian facility in India treat me for a relatively small amount of money? Even after the flights, it would still be cheaper than the $22k I've been quoted here by multiple sources.

I don't believe so. I once worked for a startup that offered not only coffee, but allowed beer as well. On the weekends at night, engineers would be having beers and smoking. Productivity was OK, and the owners meant well, but the culture sucked because they hired anyone who could do the job, rather than tailor their workforce. No one clicked. I left a year later to work for a major company.

No. Full stop.

Being tracked is never good. It's the thin edge of a wedge, which, if left unchecked in the name of "convenience", will lead to total tracking of everyone in the names of "safety" and "convenience".

"They" will say it's "for the children", as they always do, and the politicos will pass legislation.

This is like drugs: just say no.

I agree with this.

Peronsally, I try and keep my own well from being poisoned by using well-written OSS/Libre software. My entire working world is based on open source software. I use almost nothing that is not open source anymore. At work I will not buy or recommend anything to my boss that is not open source. This works great and I'm fortunate to work for a non-profit that gives me great latitude in this regard.

Set your own agenda and use what works for you. The SV echo chamber is BS, pure and simple. Have the garage mentality that started so many great companies. Good luck!

Should that the US have such a great work culture as the Finns enjoy. Sadly, the right wing in the country hate anything that smacks of the evil of "socialism". I grew up in Europe, so what the Finns have is default for my way of thinking.

One of the issues here is the American "left" is still too business friendly to get anything done.

MS wants so desperately to be recognized as having great software and great experience. First step:

- Stop allowing OEMs to bundle third-party crapware with Windows OS. This will go a long way to building a better view of Windows. Charge license fee from them to make up the difference. They can afford it. How much profit do you really need?

- Don't change the name, make it better. You'll only confuse the people for whom the big, blue E is the Internet. Yes, I have people I know who think the E is the Internet. (How do they dress themselves in the morning?)

- Incorporate a sandbox in IE to help protect the idiots who are too ignornat to not surf the Internet as administrator. (Better yet, also suggest a non-admin account for daily use during first launch.)

- 90%+ of all malware getting on computers is a direct result of people surfing with admin rights. Once this is taken care of, the dropoff rate for infections is amazing.

Cannot and will not ever trust Google with my data or that of any employer for which I am affiliated. Full stop. I dislike associating my data with a company whose sole job is making money from ads. I dislike their business model, their history of trust, their tax evasion offshore company shell games, their digging through data to serve ads. No, thank you.

There will come a day, mark my words, when there will be a breach of epic proportions due to trusting cloud providers when instead, we should host our own data.

I don't think the average person really understands IT and what's involved. If I'm at a dinner party and I'm asked what I do, and mention what I do, peoples' eyes immediately glass over. They don't want to understand.

The average non-IT end user is a sheep. Full stop. They don't want to wrap their head around how something works -- they want it all the be transparent unicorns and glitter.

I really dislike fellowship with non-IT people anymore because it seems like I cannot have a decent conversation that requires more than a few brain cells. Honestly, and I'm not being mean, but the average person out there that is not in a STEM-related field really does not grok much beyond basic life. Sad really.

I have to explain what I do, unfortunately, to the higher ups far too often. These people, collectively, seem like they don't have the cerebral chemical processes to power a lightning bug's ass.

You sound like a Nazi...

I pray you never experience a major medical issue whereby you are "useless" to society.

Easy. Set limits on salaries. All medical schools become government owned and run. Doctors graduate with no debt and they agree to serve the system for 10 years. If you bail before 10, you pay the debt of schooling you. Salaries would be reasonable and capped. You don't become a doctor to become wealthy -- you do so to serve.

Have for-profit clinics for stupid things like breast implants and other things that insurance should never be paying for -- like optional stuff.

I don't see the big deal, to be honest. Spain has successfully pulled this off a number of times. Fact is, all governments should force, by law, open standards for all governmental communications: software, formats, you name it. MS is sadly the de facto business standard and the files MS Office generate are much larger than the same content under .ods or .odt or other open formats. All that proprietary algorithm cruft underneath. Government should only be allowed to use Free/Libre software to prevent proprietary lock in. To do so would free up vast sums from the evil that is software licensing. Software for government should be free as in beer and free as in freedom. Full stop. Nothing else is acceptable to remain above board.

Spain has done this, so we know the effort has been successful. Government should force open standards. Period. There should be third-party government workers ensuring there is no corruption with software vendors and/or someone getting kickbacks.

The goal is zero profit in health care.

Medical debt rankles me like nothing else. The US, supposedly the most advanced nation on Earth has the worst notion of all: health care for profit. Simply evil. Health care is a basic human right. Full stop. Health care should never be based on one's ability to pay. Never.

I pray I see socialised medicine in the US in my lifetime. If Hilary Clinton gets elected, the push for this will be stronger than the thin edge of a wedge President Obama has managed. We need a full single-payer tax-based system.

I pay the ridiculous sum of $700 US dollars a month for my family's health insurance. If we raise taxes by 10% for every American, we could have awesome health care. I'd gladly take the 10% tax over $8400 a year I pay now. Sick, capitalist theft. I feel I've been politely robbed every pay period.

Sounds great, and I hope you succeed with your new venture. I'm with you on not wanting VC money. Nothing says "I don't have control" like a company in debt or beholden to those who control the purse strings.

Texas is... OK, but has no real culture to speak of. The tax relief in Texas is not as great as you might be led to believe. Great for businesses (sometimes), not for people. Texas has some of the highest property taxes in the country despite cheaper housing. Texas is hot 9 months of the year, has no real seasons, has hideous politics (even in "Let's keep it weird" Austin"), low-grade food choices, laughable night life (6th Street. Really?), immigration nightmares, cannot walk anywhere, must have a car, a largely uneducated populace, rednecks galore, the notion of brisket as real food and not dog fodder, did I mention the heat?

There are far better options for just as little money that offer culture, more fun, safer living, you name it.

London is the financial capital, not the cultural capital. London long ago lost its lustre as a place of fun and sanity. You get taxed driving into the city centre, not so NYC, the cost of living in NYC is far less than London. A year-long NYC subway pass is dirt cheap compared to the 7,000 pound a year British Rail pass.

Again, well said. I agree with you. I, too, have some good friends who live out there (cannot fathom why).

I like the raw energy of NYC, something no place in CA has, not even LA, and I lived out there for almost 4 years. NYC trumps any large US city for pure energy and things to do. I can be in Europe in a few hours, Canada in no time, the food is second to none, the weather is decent, as you tend to get four seasons instead of warm and cooler.

I've lived in Europe, Asia, and 7 US states. NYC is by far my favourite place in the US to visit, and perhaps one day, live. NYC is walkable, something few US cities can boast. Not even Chicago comes close to NYC in amenities -- and Chicago cannot seem to get a grip on their gun violence problem, something NYC has all but stamped out.

Let's not even mention the plethora of museums, restaurants, theatre choices, educational institutions, and more that NYC has going for it. No other US city can compare.

Well said. I couldn't agree more.

I have always loathed California. It all seems so fake and far reaching, while NYC, as you say, is brutally honest in what it presents: lead, follow, or get out of the way.