Posted by csrins on April 25, 2008
The second Long-Term Release (LTS) of Canonical’s GNU/Linux distribution is officially released. You can learn more about it here.
This version will receive updates for 3 years.
Ubuntu follows a regular 6-monthly release cycle.
The next release is scheduled for October 2008.
Posted in Desktop, Distros, GNU/Linux, Quick Takes, Ubuntu | Leave a Comment »
Posted by csrins on April 14, 2008
Dramatic title?
Perhaps so, but KDE 4 development seems to be following this paradigm to the fullest — enough to make Stephen King proud!
KDE 4 has a laudable goal of revitalizing the internals, making the underlying framework robust and extensible. This is a reworking of function, perfectly acceptably and a valid developmental goal. KDE 4 also went the bling-bling way of oooh– shiny new interface at the same time.
The result?
It’s a dog’s lunch at the moment, stretching developer resources and skewing schedules. Notwithstanding a grand launch of KDE 4.0 which is ready yet not ready for general consumption (go figure!). After all, we’re real software developers and not language lawyers!
This is not a commentary on the state of KDE 4, but rather on the simultaneous reworking of form and function which resulted in neither being complete for a general use… yet.
Of course, the oft-repeated refrain is… KDE 4 will rock with release 4.1!
Yeah. Right!
Replace KDE 4 in the above commentary with Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows or any but-it’s-going-to-change-computing-forever software system… the end-result is the same!
Posted in Desktop, GNU/Linux, Human Interface Guidelines, KDE, KDE 4.0, Opinion, Pop Culture, Quick Takes | Leave a Comment »
Posted by csrins on April 5, 2008
Testimonials galore!
Testimonials for software are wildly rampant. They range from endorsements to scathing rants about operating systems, compilers, web browsers, games to productivity suites.
And they’re no different from the various gimmicks marketed on tele-shopping networks.
Rational logic seems to head out to lunch when “expert” opinions come forth at dizzying rates, when the distinction between belief, opinion, extrapolation and fact gets blurred, where the writers resort to “neat” tricks that show off their “mastery”.
However, it’s not just software. We are now sifting through more mis-information than ever, where “research” and “reporting” seem to be pulling numbers and statements out of your most-favorite-anatomical-organ.
Posted in Education, General, Innovation, Opinion, Pop Culture, Quick Takes, Software Engineering, Student Notes | Leave a Comment »
