The frontend is not the entirety of gcc. For example, if Oracle puts out a lot of enhancements to Java, they still have to get the Gnu project to modify gcc components like the parsers and back-end. Now Oracle or Apple could merely accept that performance for compilation and execution under gcc would be slower without optimization. That's where the stagnation was coming. Sure gcc could compile Objective-C but it was never optimized. It was never going to be optimized. So Apple created their own compiler. Oracle also maintains their own Java compiler.

Er what? The Gnu Project has always been the maintainer of gcc. Apple is the maintainer of their version of Objective-C. gcc compiles C++, Objective-C, Fortran, Ada, Java, etc. However, just because someone enhances a language that can be compiled in gcc does not mean the gcc compiler takes advantage of any changes. This is because Apple is not the Gnu project. In the same way, Oracle (or Sun at the time) making changes to Java does not mean the gcc compiler would work well with the changes or optimize the compiler. Objective-C development on gcc was pretty stagnant whereas C++ development was busy. So Apple had 2 real choices: 1) build their own compiler or 2) re-write everything in C++

So when Apple rewrote the engine in WebKit2, it was over "maintenance issues"? That's a little bit of revisionist history. When Apple forked KHTML it was for one reason: control. Apple wanted to make a lot of changes (which they did) and take it in a new direction. They could have stayed with KHTML; however, that meant they would have to rely on KHTML developers to approve and upstream changes. So they forked it which they are allowed to do.

No Apple is interested in getting things to work. If that means open source, that's what they'll do. The positive-sum is not for them but for us.

For Objective-C it was. So Apple either had to switch to C++ or go on their own which is what they did. Now Clangs work on other languages but Apple's focus was always on Objective-C.

Apple prides itself on an integrated system. That does not always mean closed. For example, their music is AAC which is the successor to MP3. This is not a format of their design.

And by adopted do you mean made it the de facto engine for many different web browsers? When Apple forked KHTML, it was not used by Google or Opera etc. If you want to ignore that they created OpenCL, LLVM, Bonjour, etc.

Apple has created a language. And you feel they are not helping the OSS community by giving it to them, right now? That's some sense of entitlement.

No they wanted to stop using GCC because it's GPL v3. Apple generally prefers BSD type licenses and GPL v2 licenses. Add to that the GNU Project wasn't devoting much time or resources to Objective-C.

MS was so desperate to get onto the wagon that they agreed to demands by the copyright holders to cripple squirting. Squirting wasn't a bad idea but needlessly crippled. Add to that, MS does not execute very well.

I think both the Amazon and Zune are examples of good but not good enough. The Zune wasn't a bad MP3 player. It could have been better if all the squirting worked like consumers wanted. But both entered a market way too late. Apple had moved on to the iPhone and the iPod Touch and left the Zune in the dust. The Fire has to compete with Android and Apple.

First of all when is production lowest when consumption is highest? I'm not sure where you get this. Peak hours is normally during 9-5 business day. For solar, that is also peak production. With wind, it is more more variable but the turbines are placed where there is some constant wind. Geothermal is pretty constant as well as hydro.

Maybe but the OP has specifically stated that the plant is likely grid-connected so it will produce power when it can and draw power from the grid when it cannot.

Why would you even think this? Most car manufacturers make cars for their own internal use for factories like cargo vans and pickup trucks. These vehicles are sold to the general public as used after the manufacturer retires them. They are not sold to the public as new. The car manufacturer also sells brand new vehicles to the public of the same model.

It is at the point now where I can comfortably recommend to people that unless they are gaming, they don't need a separate video card whether it is Intel or AMD that they select as their CPU.

Yes there is nothing like MS Access in terms of GUI in Linux. Here's why: MS Access is a joke of a database when it comes to reliability, performance, scalability, etc. A quick comparison between MS Access and MariaDB.

The problem is not a "frontend" as you put it but that you have to rely on a GUI for a database. It's so much easier to use MS Access to throw something together; however, you are stuck with the limitations of VB and the frontend. There is more control and power if another language like Java or C++ is used.

It looks like Intel is making the GPU larger and more powerful with each iteration.

"Fuck it. Boys, we're going to 6K!"

And when the show makes fun of Penny's lack of knowledge, supposed promiscuity, and financial issues (due to her choice of the acting profession), are we laughing at nerds? The show makes fun of the characters more than anything else. Like when Penny was making fun of Leonard for being a cry baby during Toy Story 3. "The toys were holding hands in a furnace!" was his retort. When I went to see it in the theaters, there was audible sobbing during that scene.