Re: [9fans] ddc

[Dan Cross <cross@math.psu.edu>]

> If you want applications, port X to run under rio - voila! most of the 13
> thousand apps included on the Debian distro will be available instantly!
> (including the 369 or so tetrisii, 17 dozen minesweeper clones, etc)

Well, then what would Choate have to whine about?  He'd have the Linux
clone he evidentally wants.

I've noticed that there are two kinds of people involved in ``Open
Source Projects.''  Those that write code, and those that are the
self-styled project coordinator and cheerleader types.  The latter are
the people who make the bombastic claims about the social impact of a
particular piece of software (not to say that such things might not
happen), who set up 40 billion mailing lists to discuss and dissect the
most minute details of their favorite project du jour, who make wild
statements about the ``rights of the -user- community,'' and who argue
endlessly about the details of license agreements.  I suspect that
Choate is in this latter camp.

Now, don't get me wrong: I think that user groups are fine, some amount
of cheerleading is good, and certainly there is overlap between the
cheerleading and coding camps.  But open source projects tend to get
polarized, and the normal pressures that would prevent people who can't
otherwise contribute from joining the project don't exist (like, they
don't have an interview to get past, since no one is hiring them).
Enter people like Choate (...and probably people such as myself, as
well; hey, I'll guilty of some of this stuff too!  Just like writing
this letter).  What's always confused me, however, is why these guys
make such dramatic claims but then never follow through on them.

Case in point: Choate and his Hangar 18 group's ``core code split''
(whatever that means).  Okay, where is it?  If he's so fed up with
9fans, the existing Plan 9 community, etc, why not take the code that's
out there now and run with it?  The license isn't perfect, but it's the
same as the 3rd Edition license, and it's sufficiently liberal as to
allow this.  When is this ``split'' going to happen?  I'm still
waiting.  I've been hearing about Hangar 18 for a year or so now
through Choate's misspelled, grammatically incorrect spam (in multiple
languages, no less), but have yet to see it actually produce anything
in terms of code, documentation, or, well, anything other than
misspelled, grammatically incorrect spam.  Personally, I don't think it
will.  I think it's just the pet project of a guy who doesn't
understand the technology and is frustrated at his own lack of ability,
and who projects that frustration out at a larger community he
admires.

Wow, that's kind of sad, isn't it.  Maybe as sad as me posting this
letter.

	- Dan C.