63805209
submission
jammag writes:
A new trend has emerged where tech companies have realized that abusing users pays big. Examples include the highly publicized Comcast harassing service call, Facebook "experiments," Twitter timeline tinkering, rude Korean telecoms — tech is an area where the term "customer service" has an Orwellian slant. Isn't it time customer starting fleeing abusive tech outfits?
58906233
submission
jammag writes:
"Almost as devastating is the blow Heartbleed has dealt to the image of free and open source software (FOSS). In the self-mythology of FOSS, bugs like Heartbleed aren't supposed to happen when the source code is freely available and being worked with daily. As Eric Raymond famously said, 'given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow'...Tired of FOSS's continual claims of superior security, some Windows and OS X users welcome the idea that Heartbleed has punctured FOSS pretensions. But is that what has happened?"
53511525
submission
jammag writes:
"Whether Ubuntu is declining is still debatable. However, in the last couple of months, one thing is clear: internally and externally, its commercial arm Canonical appears to be throwing the idea of community overboard as though it was ballast in a balloon about to crash." So claims a top Linux pundit, pointing out instances of community discontent and apparent ham-handeness on Mark Shuttleworth's part. Yet isn't this just routine kvetching in the open source community?
51161009
submission
jammag writes:
"When the history of free software is written, I am increasingly convinced that this last year will be noted as the start of the decline of Ubuntu," opines Linux pundit Bruce Byfield. After great initial success, Ubuntu and Canonical began to isolate themselves from the mainstream of the free software community. Canonical, he says, has tried to control the open source community, and the company has floundered in many of its initiatives. Really, the mighty Ubuntu, in decline?
46706155
submission
jammag writes:
Free sodas, candy and energy bars can be surprisingly important to developers, says longtime coder Eric Spiegel. They need the perks, not to mention the caffeine boost. More important, free sodas from management are like the canary in the coal mine. If they get cut, then layoffs might be next. “The sodas are just the wake-up call. If the culture changes to be focused more on cost-cutting than on innovation and creativity, then would you still want to work here? I wouldn’t.” Are free perks really that important?
18677058
submission
jammag writes:
A project manager describes facing an upset senior developer who learned that a new hire — a fresh college grad — would be making 30 percent more than him. The reason: the new grad knew a hot emerging technology that a client wanted. Yes, the senior coder was majorly pissed off. But with the constant upheaval in new technology, this situation is almost unavoidable — or is it? And at any rate, is it fair?
10852756
submission
jammag writes:
It was shocking news, or so it seemed: Miguel de Icaza, the Mono creator, was switching his opinion about his life's work — he now seemed to agree with the free software partisans who oppose his Mono work and his Microsoft connections. The story flamed across the Internet and — gasp! — even got picked up on the venerable Slashdot. But Bruce Byfield reports that "De Icaza has not changed his opinions." De Icaza calls the rumors "a storm in a teacup." Tracing the misinformation trail, Byfield concludes that "FOSS community excels at communication. However, in this instance, that ability was used irresponsibly."
9842098
submission
jammag writes:
Open source advocate Bruce Perens tells the inside story of the recently concluded Jacobsen v. Katzer court case, in which an open source developer was awarded $100,000. Perens, an expert witness in the case, details the blow by blow, including how developers need to make sure they're using the correct one for legal protection. The actual court ruling is almost like some kind of Hollywood movie ending for Open Source, with the judge so unequivocally siding with the underfunded open source developer.
7951156
submission
jammag writes:
A veteran developer looks back — in irritation — at those times he had to work late, and his unskilled manager stayed too, just to look over his shoulder and add worry and fret to the process. Now that same developer, lo and behold, is a manager himself — and recently stayed late to ride herd over late-working developers. "And guess what? Yep, I hadnâât coded in years and never in the language he had to work with." Yet now he understood: his own butt was on the line so he was staying put. Still, does it really help developers to have management hovering in late evening, even if the boss handles pizza delivery?
7032330
submission
jammag writes:
Some developers have gone to four-year universities where they've also studied subjects like history and sociology, while other coders go to vocational schools and focus purely on writing great software. So why, asks a longtime developer, is there a stigma attached to not having a four-year degree, when 'blue collar' coders might be better trained? Why does the software industry keep emphasizing this difference — and generally giving better pay to four-year grads? Isn't being a developer about real skill level, not the piece of paper on the wall?
6474241
submission
jammag writes:
Well, c'mon, yes — let's admit it. As a veteran coder discusses as he looks at his career, software development is swelled with the offbeat, the quirky and the downright odd. As he remembers, there was the 'Software Lyrics' guy and the 'Inappropriate Phone Call' programmer, among others. Are unique types drawn to the profession or, are we 'transformed over time by our darkened working environments and exposure to computer screen radiation.'?
