Via slashdot, I came across this GROKLAW article that explains in detail how there is no way you can be forced to open the source to a proprietary program that has been linked with GPLed code. FSF’s Eben Moglen is quoted in the article:
The claim that a GPL violation could lead to the forcing open of proprietary code that has wrongfully included GPL’d components is simply wrong. There is no provision in the Copyright Act to require distribution of infringing work on altered terms. What copyright plaintiffs are entitled to, under the Act, are damages, injunctions to prevent infringing distribution, and–where appropriate–attorneys’ fees. A defendant found to have wrongfully included GPL’d code in its own proprietary work can be mulcted in damages for the distribution that has already occurred, and prevented from distributing its product further. That’s a sufficient disincentive to make wrongful use of GPL’d program code. And it is all that the Copyright Act permits.
Software Development
Robert X. Cringley, Why The Best Voting Technology May Be No Technology At All:
To vote, you write an “X” with a pencil in a one centimeter circle beside the candidate’s name, fold the ballot up and stuff it into a box. Later, the scrutineers AND ANY VOTER WHO WANTS TO WATCH all sit at a table for about half an hour and count every ballot, keeping a tally for each candidate. If the counts agree at the end of the process, the results are phoned-in and everyone goes home. If they don’t, you do it again. Fairness is achieved by balanced self-interest, not by technology.
This is a well-reasoned article with a simple solution to the voting problem. I’m a tech guy, so I tend to think of tech solutions. But, I must admit, that what he’s proposing does sound likely to reduce the chance of tampering. Even if getting results takes a little longer and costs a little more (which Cringley seems to think is not the case), I’m in favor of results that are more tamper proof.
Politics
Via Dave, I discovered that Ward Cunningham is going to Microsoft. There’s a page of Tips For Ward At Microsoft on his Wiki, of course. From what I have read, Ward is very big on openness (Wiki) and extreme programming (the original XP), so it will be interesting to see how that goes. The comments on the linked page are also rather interesting.
Software Development
Red Herring brings us Umair Haque’s Music Industry: Stop Shirking, which makes the argument that the music industry’s job is to sort through all the music and find what people want. I think that’s basically true. The article then goes on to say:
Many people were more happy to spend time searching for new music on the Net and compiling their own collections - a service previously performed by recording companies - than they were simply buying the goods the industry selected and promoted by the record labels.
I don’t think that’s quite true. If you look at what’s most popular on Kazaa, it’s the same stuff that’s popular elsewhere. Sure, there’s a wider variety of things being exchanged, but the files that appear most are the ones that people are listening to on the radio (and, in some cases, even buying on CD!)
Music
JavaScrypt: Browser-Based Cryptography Tools actually seems like a useful project. I’ve been looking for a convenient, cross-platform encryption system to encrypt my silly website password list. (I had been using a Windows-based system, but I spend a lot of time using a Mac now). This seems handy, because I’ll always have a browser available… and I should be able to only save the encrypted file to disk.
Technology
I admit it. I was a fan of All Your Base Are Belong To Us. But, that didn’t have the same heart that Yatta! does. All I can say is “wow”.
Random
Yahoo! News - Saddam Captured Hiding in Hole Near Tikrit
U.S. troops seized Saddam Hussein hiding in a filthy hole near his hometown of Tikrit in a coup for Washington’s beleaguered occupation force in Iraq
This is certainly good news for the people of Iraq who have suffered under this dictator for a long time. This is not, in my opinion, a reason to keep Bush in office, and I do hope that the Democrats run a powerful campaign in the 11 months that remain.
Politics
Joshua Marinacci writes the first of three parts in Make Your Swing App Go Native, which looks like it’s going to be a fabulous tutorial on giving Java applications the polish they need to really win over users.
Software Development
Bush has $110 million, which he plans to spend:
Although Bush has no primary opponents, Republican advisers said he is preparing to unleash his war chest early next year, most likely against Dean. They described the former Vermont governor as the probable Democratic nominee and vulnerable to attack as liberal and inexperienced in security policy.
It’s worth pointing out that Bush, as governor of Texas, was inexperienced in security policy, though Cheney did have experience coming into the VP office. I’d argue that Bush’s experience since then has not been wholly successful. It is still possible for Dean to take the nomination and Clark to end up the VP candidate, which would certainly solve the security experience issue.
Politics
Hop on over and pick it up! Groovy : a powerful dynamically typed language for the JVM is now available in the 1.0b1 release! The Eclipse plugin hasn’t had a release yet, unfortunately, but it’s still great to see Groovy coming out of the kiln.
Software Development
