Anti-Tivoization is once again rearing its ugly head in the OpenSource world. I have never understood the mindset of busting other people’s things then expecting them to fix the things under warranty. I guess you could call this an extension of my post on SOVERSION and tiny x86 minds. People don’t understand just how many projects LGPL V3 and later are killing off. What really stuns me are the people who still believe one should … Anti-TivoizationRead more
opensource
Posted inExperience / Information Technology / Thank You Sir May I Have Another
Checking return values
Yes, I had to post one more, hopefully shorter, rant on logger.c. This has to do with “checking return values” in OpenSource code. #ifndef MSG_NOSIGNAL # define MSG_NOSIGNAL 0 #endif if (sendmsg(ctl->fd, &message, MSG_NOSIGNAL) < 0) { logger_reopen(ctl); if (sendmsg(ctl->fd, &message, MSG_NOSIGNAL) < 0) warn(_(“send message failed”)); } Code like this is rampant in OpenSource. It passes the quick and dirty teen age “code review” but it is not production quality. If Linux and the … Checking return valuesRead more
Posted inExperience / Information Technology / Thank You Sir May I Have Another
It’s okay to hate the 12 year old boys who write the bulk of OpenSource code
Even if their biological clock states they are north of 40, they never got past 12 when it comes to coding. In case you can’t see the featured image, the source file came from here. And since they will _hopefully_ sweep that up, here is the first snippet. /* this creates a timestamp based on current time according to the * fine rules of RFC3164, most importantly it ensures in a portable * way that … It’s okay to hate the 12 year old boys who write the bulk of OpenSource codeRead more
Posted inExperience / Information Technology
Question From a Reader
The following question came in from a reader who happened to catch one of my posts on a programming email list. ==== As usual, I quite enjoy your detailed analysis coupled with historical contexts, since I learned my trade through those days (Sun SPARC workstations, VAX minicomputers running VMS, etc.). They are always entertaining, usually edifying, and sometimes nostalgic for me. :) I’m curious, though, about one particular point you made: Windows isn’t even going … Question From a ReaderRead more
Posted inExperience / Information Technology / Thank You Sir May I Have Another
The getkey Trap
This topic came up on my Jed mailing list the other day and, once again, I got in touch with my inner Bill. Your inner Bill? Yes, that cranky old man who isn’t putting up with the world around him and wants it to be his way. The older you get the easier it is to find your “inner Bill.” In this case it fits because I have lived this death at least a hundred … The getkey TrapRead more