Also this stupid idea that "success" is some kind of binary thing where you either work really hard all the time and make a lot of money, and thus are successful, or you are a failure, not worth mention. If you don't have the right kind of job in the right field that pays the right amount of money and has the right kind of prestige then you just suck, your life sucks, and you are useless.

I think that is an exceedingly unhealthy and narrow minded outlook. This, really overtly material attitude at its core where success is equated to jobs that pay a lot. I think it is much healthier to worry about what makes you happy. Stop comparing your life to others, stop worrying about how much you make so long as what you make is enough to let you have a good life. Work to live, don't live to work.

Companies do this all the time.
In some ways it is around to fix a broken system, where there is too many patents for silly things, that really shouldn't be patented.
But also it is just an affordable way to partner with a company with a mutual befitting self interests.
Samsung (A really large device manufacture) and Google (Maker of the OS which these devices run off of), have a common competitor of Apple. So now they have in essence increased their R&D without having to pay more for it.

He released more then just the phone metadata stuff, he did release stuff that has not yet been deemed illegal too. Also we need to show if their was an official/legal channels he could have blown the whistle, then the way he did it?

Was this really the last resort? or just the most cinematic way he could think of doing this, so he looks like the little guy doing big things, against the evil government.

I mean let's see what's in the thread right now: An energizer bunny joke about the US mars rovers, someone saying good luck to the Chinese and how this transcends politics, someone saying Jade Rabbit is awesome, someone who hopes they resolve the problem, someone correcting the use of shi-fu, and then this.

So basically, he's making shit up. The higher rated comments are nearly all encouragement, and the one referencing the US rovers is a joke. This moron wants there to be a bunch of US nationalism for him to hate on, but there's not, so he just pretends like there is anyhow. He's making up reasons for US hate/China strong.

Also there's the stupid crap of trying to make the US look bad because "Your country is the biggest melting pot of foreign scientists and researchers in the world." As though the US is so stupid and has to import foreigners to do any work. No, quite the opposite actually: American universities are still some of the very best research institutions in the world, despite all the cuts and problems, and people come from around the world to work at them and do research. The US is a melting pot precisely because of the excellence of its research institutions, and in allowing people from all over to come, it helps to continue that excellence and enrich the world's knowledge.

The grandparent is just a jackass. He really wants this to be some kind of China hate thread so he can hate on that to try and deflect things from the rover's problem. Instead it is a thread largely of people saying "Good luck China, we hope you fix the problem and your rover continues to work."

GPL could possibly be abused in a "rent everything" situation. So, you are required to distribute the source code of a GPL'd program if you distribute the binaries. The first must come with the second. However, distribution is when it is required. If you modify GPL code and use it internally, no distribution is needed since you aren't distributing binaries.

So, go all "cloud" on that shit. Use and modify GPL'd software, but run it only on your servers. Everyone of your users interacts with it, but they don't get to have a copy, and they have to pay you monthly.

There you go, GPL avoided n' abused.

Wouldn't happen where I work (a state university). We don't "just sign it and scan it." You send us a contract, it goes over to contracting. If it is one they recognize, they change it, initial it, and sign it on behalf of the Regents. If not, it goes over to the general council's office and they work with contracting on it. Either way, it is getting changed and sent back to you to sign.

That copyright assignment thing? Right out. They'd agree to GPL, probably, but never to copyright assignment. All work by the university is copyright to the board of regents (and by extension the state).

For that matter the US government wouldn't be able to sign it. While they don't copyright their work that's the issue: Work by the federal government is public domain. They can't go and assign the copyright. Doesn't matter that it would be something "open", for them "open" means "public domain".

Most people who love to post these high speedtest numbers are people who's provider runs a speedtest server. Ok, so you can get that speed to their central office. Big deal, I get those speeds to our speedtest server at work... because it is down the hall from me.

A real speed test involves going off network and a good distance away. I generally test to FastServ Networks in California because they have a solid network on their test server, it is off my ISP (at home and at work) and in a different state. If my speed is good to them, I can confidently say my Internet connection is fast: I have a good uplink all the way to the outside world, off my network.

Also there is the question of congestion, or rather lack of it. I can't imagine Google is doing point-to-point fiber. It is probably GPON. That means the more subscribers in an area, the less speed.

I just question his gushing a bit because at work, I have "gigabit" speeds. I'm on a gig link, to a 10gig building link to our central systems. I'm not sure what our total off campus speed is, it's around 2gig to the Internet, 10gig to I2, but I haven't looked. Speedtests to FastServ show about 400mbits up and down generally during the work day. Downloads are nice and zippy, a Linux torrent just screams, and we have Akamai cache engines on the network so things like Windows updates are almost wire speed.

However for all that, I don't notice much difference over my home network, which is about 30mbit. I do for big downloads, of course, but not for general browsing. The speed of page loads seems to be limited mostly by rendering all the javascript and DHTML they use these days, not by the line, and I can stream whatever I like with no issues.

If there is a dead link, there is usually a reason why it went dead.
Sure we get the odd server down. But we also have cases where we have a deliberate take down of information, due to legal, or personal reasons.
Heck they just may no longer be in business anymore, and doesn't want people to think they are.

Also the Last Page, may not be a good page to point to, as it may have been a victim of an attack and have harmful information on it.
404 means the page is dead, we should deal with that. Also, there are some web services that use the http error messages to send information across, having the browser say otherwise can prevent debugging.
Also it can create lazy companies, why bother hosting your stuff, when you got someone else to do it for you, and you just have it up for some time and take it off. No more hosting for you.

The part of Software freedom, is using software to do things with it that the original author may not agree with.
The GPL 2 had enough loopholes in it to allow for companies to make money off of it, where they will normally contribute back. The GPL 3 put screws on the company, because in RMS land the only way you can make money off of software is the following...
1. Redistribution - this is a dying market as the need to ship and package distributions is reduced.
2. Consulting/Training services - this work just as long as your application is complex enough to need such. If you have an easy to use app who needs to hire a consultant to use it.
3. Maintenance/Support - This assumes your software is so mission critical that it will need maintenance and support.
4. Fame - Your project is so popular you are famous for making it.
5. Cross License - You have an other license for your benefit.

Now there are projects that are free for just being free, built as a hobby, or a side affect of an other project you are working on. Those are all fine and good, however those are difficult to keep up to date.

Now the BSD is even more open initially, you as the developer just kinda puts it out there. And yes companies and take and profit from your work... However they become dependent on it and it is their best interests to keep the project running, and will work with the main group to keep it things up to date.

Don't forget Debian/Ubuntu Apt-Get. It is a very similar concept. The only difference is you can add a repository in a config file, but for the most part, Debian and Ubuntu users stick to what is in Apt-Get before they go out of the default box.

You did need to boot a formatted disk so you could save the program. Those 5 1/4 at the time were around a dollar a floppy (Well the cheap ones were 50 cents. but they lead to a lot of bad sectors). and I am sure the Apple IIe wasn't free either. So it cost you bit more than a Dime.

In particular, not everyone agrees with his rather narrow definition of "freedom". Some developers like the whole BSD thing, which gives more freedom to the person who uses and implements the software, rather than the original developer. It is akin to the CC-BY license, where you want to have your stuff acknowledged as a source, but you welcome people to do with it as they please.

I have no problem with the GPL, but the zealots that seem to think it is the only way EVAR that is ok and that people who want a less restrictive license like BSD are bad get on my nerves.

Doesn't matter which party, for stunts like this. It really breaks both sides philosophy on the economy.

The Conservatives/Free market folks, don't like this, because it is manipulating the Market to get cheaper workers, and falsify the Demand for the workers.
The Liberals/Controlled Market folks, don't like this as this manipulating of the market is happening in back doors without the correct oversight.

Especially for elementary students, and even for doctorate students. Libraries need to be a place to help guide people in research, help filter out the Crap from the gems, offer access to stuff that people usually need to pay via a paywall to get access to. Peer reviewed Journals, New Paper sites that have a PayWall for archives...
Shared Bookmarks with other libraries to build a source of good information. Wikipedia is good starting point, but it isn't good research, as it can be altered and bias. Show people how to find and going threw the sources would be valuable.

Labor cost is always the issue.

Lets say it takes them 8 hours to rig up your home, they will need 2 people. Include 0.5 hour travel time, and 3 hours of administration 20 Man hours, they will probably be at say $50 an hour Pay and benefits. That is $1,000. You are also assuming that the number of workers will grow faster then the demand for solar panels. I doubt that will be the case, the demand for panels will probably be higher then the number of workers, thus their rates would go up. Efficiency in installation will be absorbed in increase demand.