About nothing (that’s IT after 2009)
I’m in a bad mood, because I’m not satisfied with any of the current operating systems and their (lack of predictible) future (yes, CentOS is the new XP, which means using it is a huge compromise, but all the other distros are absolutely desastrous for one or more reasons, I made a quick passage en revue last night and it made me sick, and no, I don’t like KDE4, I don’t like Windows 7, I don’t like .NET, Mono, AIR, Silverlight, Moonlight and all the modern idiocies, plus I hate all the ERP, CRM and “collaboration tools” because they just don’t work, and the “cloud” is killing me, and yes, I liked FORTRAN, and I liked learning Pascal in front of a VT220 connected to an improved PDP-11 clone named CORAL-4011) to the point I simply hate what they have made of the IT: Linux and BSD are huge, deep, muddy swamps, Windows is dying for lack of a direction; not that Linux/BSD would have a direction…), Mac OS X is a joke (when it’s not a brainwashing tool; I simply can’t use it), OpenSolaris is lacking applications and hardware support; and… what’s left?
I dare to say that, if 1959 was for some people the year everything changed, 2009 is gonna be seen, decades later, as the year that changed the computing. It’s only after 2009 that we’ll see the effects of…
- …Windows 7, as the Vistaesque line of operating systems from Microsoft. This will most likely make people even more stupid than they already are, and most computers practically unusable by people who have used different kinds of operating systems before that. And the NT-2k-XP line is dead, remember?
- …KDE4, as the main desktop for Linux and BSD. This will most likely be “the Vista of the FLOSS”, and will mark the end of an age of reason in open-source.
- …“cloudization” of everything. People will remember that it was with 2009 that productivity applications started to move from their desktop to unknown servers.
- …the lack of a proper desktop OS alternative. With Red Hat still “not focusing” on the desktop despite their excellent financial results (they’re only interested in virtualization), and with no timeline for RHEL6 (which still looks like vaporware), I wonder whether the “traditional Linux distribution” still has a future. Probably not, except for Novell, which could at some point be bought by Microsoft, and except for Ubuntu, whose quality is likely to further decline. Currently, there is no Linux distribution you can trust to have a dependable future. No, Debian can’t be trusted as long as you never know when it will release, so you can’t plan anything.
- …the stupid active content technologies, ranging from AIR to Silverlight, and whatnot.
- …the ever-increasing number of security issues released with every new version of each software product that matters. The frantic guinea pigs that can’t live if they don’t release the latest and greatest shit flavor seem to design and code security bugs instead of useful features. Will computers still be usable 10 years from now? Or will they need to be continuously patched, each and every day?
- …the crisis on the IT industry. There are fewer IT companies already, and recent acquisitions made them even fewer. Is OpenSolaris going to have a future? Will Mandriva survive? Will any of the BSD flavors still be playing a role after the crisis? How about Apple’s mediocrity? Etc.
The future of computing (sneak preview)
Jul 16, 2009 at 15:27
So, what to do? I mean, if we simply don't want to "play that game". Well, hate to think pessimistic and then declare it "realistic", but of course it seems as there would be no way around this "glorious (r)evolution of computing".
I for one am going to study CS (btw, fuck the Bologna process) and then I'll be glad to join your army of reason
Jul 16, 2009 at 16:27
Please don’t go mad. Have you considered Prozac? (and I’m deadly serious!)
Jul 16, 2009 at 16:42
Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Cipralex and Efexor can't make the world less of a shit.
Jul 16, 2009 at 23:42
Currently I'm in the same mood than you…
> "Debian can’t be trusted as long as you never know when it will release, so you can’t plan anything."
Yes but just for Stable, if you use Testing there is no problem like this. Debian and Red Hat (CentOS) are probably currently the only two "correct "distros.
Slackware, maybe a little too…?
Jul 17, 2009 at 02:19
Actually, the drugs mentioned above can help you to color a little the black lens through which you see the world. Because, to be honest with you, the biggest problems of the world are not those that you rant about (KDE4, Windows7, Silverlight, crisis of the IT industry) and I think you know it very well.
And I don’t have to be a psychologist to see that the problem is beyond Linux distributions and the future of IT.
A simple look at the stuff that you brought back from your US trip and reading your blog for the last two years it’s enough to show me that.
I’m in no position to judge anybody and I don’t claim that I can help (I’m pretty useless in helping myself), but what I can do is to ask you to wake-the-fuck-up. I mean, really, wtf? I’m using the same linux distribution for the last three years (I’m not saying which one, cause I don’t want to start a flame war or anything) with no major problems, Windows is putting behind the horible days of Millenium and W7 is pretty snappy, there are tons of application for any imaginable task etc etc
And why the fuck are you so concerned about the future of the operating systems, anyway? And “the cloud” should be your last concern. Probably the next generation will look at “the cloud”the way we look at WC. Somebody invented it and the rest of the population is using it…
“Killing” and “hate” shouldn’t be your boldface words in a post about nothing. I guess =)
Jul 17, 2009 at 08:53
I am concerned about the "cloud" and the other idiocies in the IT for the mere (but crucial) fact that I make a living in the IT field. So when they screw the future of the IT, they screw *my* future. And today's screwed society makes it that you *must* work in IT (if you're not in the position to work in business/finance), otherwise you're just a loser. But again, it looks like being a loser is the only option nowadays…
You're using the same distro… That's because you're using the same hardware! Just buy new hardware. Depending on your choice of hardware and your choice of software, you might revise your opinions. It's kinda Russian roulette, you never know if and when it's gonna hit you… or not!
As for those antidepressants: they're not OTC and I hate the medical profession. I don't need to be robbed by everyone: the government, the doctors, the pharma manufacturers, etc.
Jul 17, 2009 at 11:18
You’re very kind to call me a “loser” (it appears to me that only a small percentage of the world population is working in IT/business/finance which puts me on the side of majority - for me, a strange position to be in).
You’d be surprised, but I change the hardware ridiculously often (almost once a year, and I’m talking about major changes) while using the same linux distribution.
I can understand that you have your reasons to hate the medical profession, but this is wrong on so many levels. I can’t imagine the world today without the modern medicine (but maybe this is my limitation).
Jul 17, 2009 at 11:58
…and I forgot to mention that, even though there are only 3 *major* video card makers (Nvidia, ATi, Intel), X.Org is constantly having *broken* drivers, and they even break them when they work (Intel, just broken in 2009, and EXA is dropped in favor of UXA, which is unfinished).
How's that about what we're heading to?
Jul 17, 2009 at 13:25
Béranger i agree with you.. we are lost… in many ways…rs
Sorry for bad english… brazilian portuguese is my native language anyway…
Jul 17, 2009 at 13:48
About Mono, a perhaps interesting opinion is here: http://michaeldehaan.net/2009/07/07/before-you-congratulate-mono/ I don't know if you know it and/or if you already mentioned it somewhere in this blog, I'm sorry but this time I did not do some research
Also read the comments, there is even one from Miguel…
Jul 17, 2009 at 17:48
Why not bring back VMS, I still have my Pro-350, POS was Ok, My PDP-11/03 had a nice version of RT. I'd love a world of REAL Programmers. Wussy Pascal Wimps, Macro-11 all the way!
Jul 18, 2009 at 05:54
the computers are fad appliances now.
the manufacturers of hardwares and softwares keep pushing product releases in order to create income stream.
that's the simple fact.
eye-candies and hypes are for marketing gimmicks. they tap in to the world of consumerism.
it's a 'buy our product or be square' concept.
Jul 21, 2009 at 10:31
"2009 is gonna be seen, decades later, as the year that changed the computing." : I think that changes in the way computers are used will come later than 2009 for two reasons :
a) laws like the Hadopi make people distrust the internet, as they can be traced (even if they do not download anything illegal, some just hate being traced) . Especially for wifi (it seems very easy to have ones neighbors using ones wifi). Using the internet to do something which can be done locally is illogical, anyway, as failures may happen. This distrust seems to occur even before the Save_the_French_Kult_hure law is voted.
Perhaps it is restricted to France, but I suppose elsewhere, the Culture (and its gobetweens) are deeply suffering from illegal downloads (else , how could I trust my country's authorities?) and, if this law is a good idea, it will be copied…. leading to the same reactions (crypted mails, sharing usbsticks rather than downloading).
b) there will be a social crisis (the consequences of the financial, then economical crisis are not yet fully seen) and I do not understand why people (if they / their neighbors are threatened by uneployment) could buy HW with funny functionalities while their old HW is still working (or as they could live without it for a long time) : except for showing they are rich…