Knuth did a nice job of articulating why he wants to look at the history of things at the beginning of the video. Those reasons might not resonate with you but he does have definite reasons for wanting technical histories (not social histories which pander to "the stupid") to be written.

Best post of the year!!

The reason he gives for wanting to switch is interesting. It's not for any technical reason (bzr still works); it's to attempt to stay relevant. I think it's odd that the relevance discussion is centered around the SCM tool used to keep the source in and not emacs itself. Others have made the point that efficiently using multiple SCM systems is a pain, so perhaps there's something there. "In practice, I judge that sticking with bzr would have social and signaling effects damaging to Emacs's prospects." I agree with the change but the fundamental reason is odd to me and has a little PHB feel to it.

Credit cards have certain properties that are desirable if you're using plastic (much less impact if your card is stolen, etc.). However, people tend to spend more using credit cards than when using cash and debit cards fall in the middle. For that reason, I prefer using debit cards if using plastic.

I'm not sure I agree with you. I don't get the sense that they're outsourcing hacking (it's really more dev than QA but not really either). They're both crowdsourcing it and attempting to incentive the finders to report it to them vs. organizations who will use that information to create exploits, etc. I don't believe they've given up on investing their employees in attempting to create secure software, I think they're supplementing those efforts this way (and other ways as well).

I think the burglar posts are focusing on the rational, logical burglars. There are other types out there. The reality is that even if they're caught, they'll be back on the street committing burglaries pretty quickly. Property crimes don't seem to get the attention they deserve, bails are low, continuing to offend (even while being prosecuted for current crimes) seems to be the norm. The downside for these crimes seems to be pretty minimal - is even more minimal if you actually show up for court dates and to serve your time.

You have to remember that the alternative is bringing a real computer or documents (etc.) with them with data that isn't approved for release the risk of those items being lost or stolen. There are risks both ways - physically stolen vs. fairly elaborate hardware hacks. This also isn't for classified data, but FOUO, CUI, etc. There is no perfect security but simply risk mitigation.

Phones home... to the gov't? The intent for this distro is to get to gov't sites to start with (which, once you get there, I can assure you, they are indeed watching). If you wanted to use it for something else, then that's a risk. If you aren't willing to accept that risk, then roll your own.

Got it - thanks!!!

For aikiplayer01 at gmail. Thanks!!!

When I get stuck (kinda often sometimes):

1. Find something really easy, quick, simple to do. Builds momentum. (At the end of the day, I like to leave myself something easy for the next day to get started on).

2. Find somebody to discuss the project with. That alone will often get me going.

3. Get more sleep. This is more of a personal thing, but I find I'm able to concentrate less effectively when not getting enough sleep.

--D

Honestly, part of the problem is simply losing perspective. Take some time off (yes, seems impossible when you're the only guy) or more regular breaks will help YOU not freak out over other people being jerks. Also, work with folks when they don't have a problem to help them understand how to get the best service from you. Reality is, you're an extremely limited resource and when they have a problem, it is in their best interests to understand how to get the most out of you. So, do some training with them, have small meetings, etc. explaining that you're one guy, actually NOT out to ruin their life (it does help if this is a true statement), and want to help them (again...), and this is the best way to make it all work.

TFA is a complete waste of electrons and the time to consume it. Press releases have more content in them. If you're going to post something, link to something worthwhile.