Having read TFA, this collaboration appears to be partly about build compatibility. So far, it sounds like LLVM/Clang has been imitating GCC options. But what happens when one or the other of them adds a new option or feature? That might break builds designed for the other one. So, it sounds like the two groups would like to start communicating and coordinating so that both systems can be compatible at a build level in the future. Implicit in this is that both would continue to exist as independent entities and that build compatibility would be a primary goal for both. Perhaps some deeper form of technical collaboration might even be possible in the future.

Then again, I may have that all wrong. I know nothing about it except what I learned from reading TFA. If that causes a problem, I'll try not to do it again.

I see that my parent post got marked as a Troll. If trying to further the discussion here on Slashdot with some interesting (I thought) points that others have subsequently elected to respond to in an interesting way constitutes Trolling, then I'm guilty as charged. Please forgive me. I think I'll take next week off from commenting as penance to pay for my Trolling sins here.

If Slashdot really has no commercial value, I guess anything the "audience" says doesn't actually matter. Anyway, if the boycott actually happens next week, at least it will eliminate all of the f* beta posts, and the value of Slashdot suddenly will climb back up to zero.

You make some good points, but the thing I don't understand about this idea that Dice is intentionally repurposing Slashdot is that if they do so, they lose almost all the value of the existing site, leaving only a well known domain name and some sort of "brand". The former is easy to come by, and the latter is of no value if all its previous "audience" becomes disillusioned with it. So, can someone please explain to me why the deliberate destruction of Slashdot would be in Dice's business interest? Also, if that's what they wanted to do, why bother with a transition to a new format at all? Why not just pull the plug on the old site if you don't care about alienating the existing "audience" because you'll be doing something completely different with the domain?

It seems far more logical to me that they would try to retain the current "audience" as much as possible, which is where most of the value of the site is. If we assume they're losing money with the current format, it might be logical to for them to change formats, though there's a significant risk of alienating the current "audience" if they change it too much too fast, or otherwise handle the transition badly - as they've clearly done. As the old saying goes, "Don't ascribe to conspiracy what can be explained by incompetence."

So, personally, I think they want to restore profitability via a change in format (which may or may not work - probably not), while somehow retaining as much of the current "audience" as they can. That may be an impossible task, but if we assume they're currently losing money on Slashdot, they don't have much to lose by trying. At the very worst, they could make it break even by just shutting it down, then make a modest profit by selling the domain name for $100K or whatever.

There once was a geezer from Kent
Who reeked of an unpleasant scent
With records of rectum
The cops could inspect 'im
His backdoor, they learned, was the vent

One practical example that I know of is Simulink, which can be used to generate code from diagrams. I did some testing years ago on Simulink-generated source code, and the code itself was awful looking but always worked correctly. Not a lot of fun to test when you had to dig into it, though. Also, testing seemed superfluous after never finding any bugs in it. All the bugs we ever found were in the original Simulink diagrams that the humans had drawn.

If Slashdot ultimately implodes, maybe somebody could start an open-source alternative. For example, how about a moderation module for one of the popular CMS's that acts like Slashdot's system? The skills are certainly here.

OTOH, my experience in trying to build a "community" is that it's much easier said than done. I think it would be pretty hard to get this gaggle of geese to flock together anywhere else. And anyone who subsequently irritated them would wish they were at least getting paid for the privilege.

Looks like he finally found a way to stop her from eating the dogfood.

That's actually been my concern: Slashdot becomes so polluted with "f* beta" that nobody wants to read or contribute to it anymore. We keep hearing that the main value of the site is its interesting/insightful/funny comments (true enough), yet most of the comments from yesterday were none of the above.

Yes, the bees are angry. You know it, I know it, the beekeepers know it. So let's all go back to making honey and see how they sort out the hive problem. Otherwise, without honey, the colony won't make it through the winter.

(Sorry for carrying the beehive metaphor a bit too far. ;-)

You make some good points. I don't totally disagree, but I just think they've been spanked enough for the time being. I don't think any sort of "owning it" is going to happen anytime soon, but I'd still just like to see things get back to normal now. Fortunately, we seem to be headed in that direction today.

Personally, I'd like to not see Slashdot destroyed, but if they ultimately foist a UI on us that's unacceptable and then remove the option to use the current (and better) one, we can just all go away if we have to. I keep hoping they'll be rational enough to realize that, but if not, that's their loss. Then again, if they're losing money on Slashdot in its present form, its destruction might be part of the business plan.

When you stir up a colony of bees, they buzz around angrily and try to sting you. On the surface, they appear mad, but I think some of them secretly enjoy it. Otherwise, they'd probably go back to the business of making honey as soon as they could.

Just like you would on Usenet. ;-)

Wasn't that a Twilight Zone episode? Maybe Rod Serling will come in at the end with a little narration to tie it all together for us.

Bitching about the beta actually still serves a useful purpose. It demonstrates that the primary use of the moderation system here is to push personal agendas rather than to objectively rate comments. Objectively speaking, your comment either should be left alone, because your point is obvious, or it should be promoted to +1, because it's valid. However, in terms of the prevailing agenda, your comment actually deserves its demotion from 0 to -1.

Moderators, thanks demonstrating the enforcement of Slashorthodoxy. I'm not sure whether or not my own comment is orthodox, but if you disagree with me that moderators here push their own agenda, feel free to demote it.