Hamilton Pool, Software Soliloquy
We realized in CA that we had really got into a rut in TX. We decided we'd try to go out and do things more often. It'll be a bit harder than when we were in CA due to grad school not paying as well as NASA, but we're off to a pretty good start. On Saturday we went to the Austin farmer's market. We got there only an hour or two after it started and the meat and dairy vendors were already sold out of the things we wanted. We got some nice, unprocessed honey and some shaved ice. There was a goofy band playing that was fun to watch and reasonably pleasant to listen to.
We watched Hot Fuzz on some movie-on-demand channel, and I liked it a lot. We rented the guy's other movie, Shaun of the Dead, and liked it as well, though not nearly as much as Shaun of the Dead. We also rented the second Futurama movie, which was a bit disappointing. It seemed more like a regular-ass episode of the series stretched out into movie length than an actual movie. In fact, it probably would've been a lot more enjoyable if it'd been compressed to 30 minutes. Hopefully the third movie will be better.
I didn't realize that I had Monday off for Labor Day until Sunday night, so it was sort of a pleasant surprise, heh. We decided to go to Hamilton Pool (30 minutes or so outside Austin). Due to the holiday it was totally packed; we had to wait in line for about 30 minutes to park. (The other time we went there were like 4 other people at the park.) Nevertheless we had a good time enjoying the scenery and shooting pictures. Natalie likes to hog the camera, which is OK by me--she usually gets some nice shots.
I uploaded the pictures using Picasa, a service Google bought not too long ago. I really like the program, though I hit a snag the first time I tried uploading pictures. It turns out you've got to have IE7, though it doesn't ever tell you that. Anyway, here's one photo Natalie took that I like:
The rest are in my new Picasa photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/hawkins.brian/HamiltonPool09012008.
I really like free/open source software (Picasa isn't--it just reminded me). I like that so many computer folks cooperate with each other to create something and share it with the world. I've been using open source software (when convenient) for years now. GNU/Linux has come a long way in recent years. I find it pretty remarkable that an open source operating system is at all comparable with Windows. I dual-boot Ubuntu and am pretty happy with it. I like the interface better than Windows' and the OS is much more customizable. I also use a ton of open source applications, like Firefox for web browsing, GIMP for photo editing, LaTeX and/or Open Office for documents, and a whole host of code development tools/libraries.
I don't really know if GNU/Linux will evolve to become a mainstream OS. As it stands now, I'd say it's a good choice for two groups of people, (1) computer newbies who just need to check email, browse basic web pages, and maybe do some Office-type work; and (2) computer gurus who are comfortable performing the software equivalent of coronary bypass surgery. Both groups can probably do whatever they want in GNU/Linux.
However, I think most computer users fall into a third group--people who want to enjoy multimedia applications and content and/or want to customize their OS to some extent but don't have the time, inclination, or ability to mess with system-level problems. These users probably have had unpleasant experiences in Windows, but I reckon they'd be even unhappier using GNU/Linux.
First, more people use Windows than GNU/Linux. This means that there's a lot of incentive to develop applications for Windows and resolve problems people have in Windows. It also means that when people share data that's not in a OS neutral format, it's most likely some Windows format. All this says nothing to the quality of GNU/Linux, but it definitely affects the ultimate ease of use of an OS and presents a Catch-22 to greater adoption.
Second, the great collaboration to which GNU/Linux owes its existence also presents its greatest weakness. There's no single entity (like Microsoft) that sets standards, controls quality, or is responsible for problems. Of these three, I'd say the standards problem is the most severe. Just as an example, there's not even a single "Linux" that everybody runs. Similarly, there's usually a handful of ways/methods to accomplish any given task. That means every application comes with a litany of dependencies that may need to be installed, configured, debugged, etc. Usually that's all done for you, but folks in the third group will inevitably want to do something that requires finagling due to this problem.
Who knows, people are increasingly dissatisfied with Windows, becoming more computer literate, and GNU/Linux is advancing at an astonishing rate, so maybe these obstacles will evaporate in the time. I could definitely see the Apple/Mac OSX thing taking off (OSX is essentially modern OS built atop a variation of UNIX, similar to GNU/Linux).
As an aside, I wish the open source community wasn't so in love with Richard Stallman. Until the world's economic system loses relevance (is global Communism possible?), the vilification of proprietary software is completely unfounded and destructive. Just on a personal level, Stallman is such a nutbar I can't believe his philosophy has gained so much traction. I think viral licenses (i.e. GPL) are a bad idea and stymie the open source movement. Licenses like LGPL and BSD make a lot more sense to me. If somebody extends an open source code in a useful way, they should be able to make money off their contribution.
Oh yeah, and I love Natalie a lot.
We watched Hot Fuzz on some movie-on-demand channel, and I liked it a lot. We rented the guy's other movie, Shaun of the Dead, and liked it as well, though not nearly as much as Shaun of the Dead. We also rented the second Futurama movie, which was a bit disappointing. It seemed more like a regular-ass episode of the series stretched out into movie length than an actual movie. In fact, it probably would've been a lot more enjoyable if it'd been compressed to 30 minutes. Hopefully the third movie will be better.
I didn't realize that I had Monday off for Labor Day until Sunday night, so it was sort of a pleasant surprise, heh. We decided to go to Hamilton Pool (30 minutes or so outside Austin). Due to the holiday it was totally packed; we had to wait in line for about 30 minutes to park. (The other time we went there were like 4 other people at the park.) Nevertheless we had a good time enjoying the scenery and shooting pictures. Natalie likes to hog the camera, which is OK by me--she usually gets some nice shots.
I uploaded the pictures using Picasa, a service Google bought not too long ago. I really like the program, though I hit a snag the first time I tried uploading pictures. It turns out you've got to have IE7, though it doesn't ever tell you that. Anyway, here's one photo Natalie took that I like:
The rest are in my new Picasa photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/hawkins.brian/HamiltonPool09012008.
I really like free/open source software (Picasa isn't--it just reminded me). I like that so many computer folks cooperate with each other to create something and share it with the world. I've been using open source software (when convenient) for years now. GNU/Linux has come a long way in recent years. I find it pretty remarkable that an open source operating system is at all comparable with Windows. I dual-boot Ubuntu and am pretty happy with it. I like the interface better than Windows' and the OS is much more customizable. I also use a ton of open source applications, like Firefox for web browsing, GIMP for photo editing, LaTeX and/or Open Office for documents, and a whole host of code development tools/libraries.
I don't really know if GNU/Linux will evolve to become a mainstream OS. As it stands now, I'd say it's a good choice for two groups of people, (1) computer newbies who just need to check email, browse basic web pages, and maybe do some Office-type work; and (2) computer gurus who are comfortable performing the software equivalent of coronary bypass surgery. Both groups can probably do whatever they want in GNU/Linux.
However, I think most computer users fall into a third group--people who want to enjoy multimedia applications and content and/or want to customize their OS to some extent but don't have the time, inclination, or ability to mess with system-level problems. These users probably have had unpleasant experiences in Windows, but I reckon they'd be even unhappier using GNU/Linux.
First, more people use Windows than GNU/Linux. This means that there's a lot of incentive to develop applications for Windows and resolve problems people have in Windows. It also means that when people share data that's not in a OS neutral format, it's most likely some Windows format. All this says nothing to the quality of GNU/Linux, but it definitely affects the ultimate ease of use of an OS and presents a Catch-22 to greater adoption.
Second, the great collaboration to which GNU/Linux owes its existence also presents its greatest weakness. There's no single entity (like Microsoft) that sets standards, controls quality, or is responsible for problems. Of these three, I'd say the standards problem is the most severe. Just as an example, there's not even a single "Linux" that everybody runs. Similarly, there's usually a handful of ways/methods to accomplish any given task. That means every application comes with a litany of dependencies that may need to be installed, configured, debugged, etc. Usually that's all done for you, but folks in the third group will inevitably want to do something that requires finagling due to this problem.
Who knows, people are increasingly dissatisfied with Windows, becoming more computer literate, and GNU/Linux is advancing at an astonishing rate, so maybe these obstacles will evaporate in the time. I could definitely see the Apple/Mac OSX thing taking off (OSX is essentially modern OS built atop a variation of UNIX, similar to GNU/Linux).
As an aside, I wish the open source community wasn't so in love with Richard Stallman. Until the world's economic system loses relevance (is global Communism possible?), the vilification of proprietary software is completely unfounded and destructive. Just on a personal level, Stallman is such a nutbar I can't believe his philosophy has gained so much traction. I think viral licenses (i.e. GPL) are a bad idea and stymie the open source movement. Licenses like LGPL and BSD make a lot more sense to me. If somebody extends an open source code in a useful way, they should be able to make money off their contribution.
Oh yeah, and I love Natalie a lot.