One thing of note is that this particular acquisition is not DevDiv, it's Azure ML. But Azure ML is, in some ways, even more F/OSS friendly - at least I don't know anyone else in MS running Linux servers in production for user-facing services, and it's where a lot of ex-MSR guys (like, from those labs that were closed) ended up. It's also where all the Python stuff now is.

Then again, after Satya's takeover, there was a strong push from top down to stop treating open source in general and Linux in particular as pariah, in all divisions. In no uncertain language, like "we've been acting stupid about this for a while now and let competitors eat our lunch; time to catch up while we still can". The recent slew of announcements, from .NET Core officially supported on Linux, to most open MS projects migrating to GitHub, is the outcome.

FWIW, I didn't think I'd ever hear a Microsoft lawyer utter the words "GPL is actually kinda cool" while explaining to developers the company's new open source policy in his official capacity. Yet, here we are.

Long and hard? Yes. But this kind of thing makes it worth it (and also shows that, perhaps, it's not quite all that long if you go fast enough).

And Python and R can work together (rpy2), with Python being the glue.

The forked version is still GPL.

There's one other aspect to it that is obvious when you see who the people on MS side talking about this are. It is, effectively, an acquisition by the Azure ML division - the sole purpose of which is to get the "big data" people to come to Azure and pay for burning CPU cycles.

If you do wish to bring that concern forward, do make it against the OP, and then I'll make a modified reply to them once they do so, should I feel it is warranted.

I'm not sure why I would have to. The article stated the government of California which is the only entity that could be by California. This is the context the OP's comment should be examined in. You stated "in California" which is not the same thing but could encompass the same things.

Absent that, I hold them to their words as expressed, which was not engaging in any such differentiation, but simply lambasting California in the stereotypical fashion that would lead to outrage if it were another locale.

No, it is clear from the context of the reply and even just the summery that the GP was talking about the government of California.

Me, I was just highlighting how they didn't make the differentiation, but painted the whole state with a broad brush. I guess you didn't get the point of my words. Please understand, you didn't get my purpose at all, so no, you were not comprehending what I was speaking about. I'm sorry that I didn't make it clear to you.

Ok, you do understand that there is/can be a difference between from or in a geographical area and caused by the leaders of that geographic area right? In other words, I understood your point or purpose but showed how it was not relevant to the situation due to nuances in language. Now if I say go get me some ice cream, and you say why, I would expect any other person wishing to comment to be commenting to your why within regard to my telling you to get me ice cream. It's just how language works. It would be silly for someone to chime in with "Your wrench is the wrong size" as a reply to your "why". In order for their comment to have bearing on the conversation, it would have to apply the presupposition that I told you to get me ice cream in order to be congruent with the conversation. Made "in" is simply not made "by" therefore bringing in the problem.

Which part of what he said is not true? Talking points or not, he did not mention the mass exodus from California so your setting up strawman just to knock down seems like a convoluted ploy to ignore the realities mentioned.

In California and by California are not the same things even though they sound similar.

I'm not supporting the parent's position but please understand that you are not speaking about the same things.

Yes, it is. Which is why the very smart people who wrote the US constitution chartered the country as a republic, not a democracy. And a good thing, too.

Actually, a lot of the state's got rid of the air brake endorsements. I was completely shocked when I was purchasing a class 7 medium duty single axle box truck that came stock with air brakes as it's a non-CDL truck and I was under the old assumption that the air brakes made it a CDL truck because of the endorsement. My state got rid of the requirements and I can no longer find them on the FMCSA website and a search shows a lot of other state's do not bother any more.

I think it has to do with technology that is mandatory now like ABS and self adjusters. But I have no idea why it went away or when it did.

This is the stupidest concept application I have ever heard and you are not the first person to do it. You are likely following the uninformed logic of someone else so I will not fault you directly.

All vehicles will have their fuel mileage impacted by the weight of the vehicles. All larger and heavier vehicles will by default pay more from the simple act of being used. The roads are repaired with taxes collected from fuel sales and either more friction from their foot print (less aerodynamic) or power needed to overcome the extra weight will cause more fuel to be consumed thereby already increasing the amounts they pay by default. There is no way around it.

If we compare two identical drives made at 100 miles a day, 5 days a week. and a hybrid car gets 45 mpg average of fuel use and a 1/2 ton pickup truck uses 20 mpg (both a low end combined city/highway average for the vehicle types), we will see how much of a difference there is. Let's take California's fuel tax for comparison sake. California has a 35.3 cents per gallon state fuel tax and an18.4 cents per gallon federal tax obligation (most of which they get back in highway trust fund projects). So the hybrid drives 500 miles a week at 45 MPG and uses 11.11 gallons of gas. The Pickup truck drives 500 miles a week and uses 25 gallons of fuel. In a weeks time, the hybrid pays $3.92 in state gas taxes and $2.40 in federal gas taxes. This is $6.32 a week in total or $328.64 for the year. The truck pays $8.82 a week in state and $4.60 in federal gas taxes. Combined, this is $13.42 a week in gas taxes or $697.84 a year in gas taxes for the same amount of driving.

Notice how the heavier pickup is more than double what the lighter hybrid pays? This is compounded even more when larger trucks are in the mix and more fuel is used. And this is before the various sales taxes which can be different county to county are applied but those increase with volume also.

You can purchase an 18 wheeler for private personal use and drive it as a camper. The problem is the federal law designates anything with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds as a commercial vehicle or if the vehicle is designed to seat more than 16 people including the driver. There are exceptions for private non-commercial uses. Some 3/4 ton pickup trucks and almost all 1 ton or better pickup trucks fall within this category. The state however does the licensing and can be a little loose with these definitions pertaining to cuts in highway trust money from the feds. But they don't have much wiggle room and it's easier to just include everything. This is the reasons for the pickup truck license issue and it is likely the same in most states.

What I find interesting is that many of these people, and probably most of the people upset over the laws and rules trying to be enforced, are the same people who think businesses need strict regulation and so on. Most of these people got what they wanted and are now realizing how much what they wanted sucks. People like me who hold that this excessive regulation makes it harder to competition to start and compete, that think this excessive regulation benefits not hurts the established businesses, who think less regulations but more proper and enforced or effective regulation would be the best solution, are called racist conservative libertarian kooks who know nothing. And even when those who do the calling get ensnared in their own traps, they will not admit they were wrong or even the opposing views were the slightest bit right. It's just the man putting their boots on their necks with little to no lessons learned.

But there are a number of times where explicit copy/paste is much nicer.

I don't know what DE you're using, but in KDE, both modes work, and they go into different buffers. So if you feel the need to do the explicit copy/paste with Ctrl-C/V, it works fine, and you can even highlight something else afterwards, then paste the two separately with middle-click and Ctrl-V.

No, having one buffer is not better in any way. It's stupid in fact. Better is KDE's Klipper, which keeps a history for this buffer and lets me choose things I previously highlighted or copied.

Yes. For people who use real computers, middle button = "paste selected text".

Yep, that's exactly what I use it for too. I make very frequent use of this function.

However, I have no problem just pressing on my mouse's scroll wheel to do this. I'm using a Dell laser mouse I picked up on Ebay for $6 and it works just fine this way. My previous Logitech G5 worked fine this way too (unfortunately I had to stop using it because the laser part stopped working for some reason).

IMO, the *real* reason for commercial licenses was the concept that commercial drivers are driving much larger vehicles that require special training/skills to operate safely on the roadways. (Your average licensed driver can't just hop into an 18-wheeler and operate it.

Exactly. That's the same reason people should be required to have commercial licenses to drive pickup trucks. They're much larger vehicles than regular cars, and need more training to drive properly. From what I've seen of most pickup truck drivers, they obviously lack the necessary training and skills for driving 6000-pound vehicles, especially ones with dual rear wheels.

A vehicle anyone buys at a regular car dealership and uses as a "daily driver" for things like commuting or trips to the grocery store should NOT require a commercial license.

Yes, it should, if it's a large vehicle. If someone buys a Kenworth and uses it for grocery runs, should they not be required to get a commercial license? It's no different for a Hummer. If you want a vehicle for getting groceries and commuting, get a 4-door sedan like everyone else.