swampwiz wrote:

It seems that the provider of the open source product releases it with some embedded bugs that take a while to manifest.

I find this suspiciously similar to the old accusation that antivirus vendors employ virus developers to help promote their products, and I seriously doubt it for the same reason: there's absolutely no point going through the trouble and risk (their reputation would be destroyed if they ever got caught) when there's already so much business to go around. Software development is hard — surely that's not news for anyone around here. Any sizable project will, regardless of its programmers efforts, have a few dozen bugs. I can totally see the likes of Oracle dragging their feet to address "free" bug reports while being more responsive for their paying customers, but there's absolutely no need for them to create bugs on their products, when we seemingly can't get rid of the damn things no matter how hard we try.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

Yes, I run the docker container locally in detached mode, with the base directory of my project mapped into it, and use `docker exec` to send it commands. This is all automated / abstracted away by [Luffer](https://github.com/xperroni/luffer), the tool I mentioned earlier.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

I use Docker to create encapsulated, versioned development environments for my projects. That way I can have different package versions installed side by side, and can easily rollback environment changes. See my [Luffer](https://github.com/xperroni/luffer) project for details.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

Nat Friedman has launched a new program called AI Grant, which is offering ten grants of $5,000 each to anyone who wants to do open source work in AI. AI Grant is funding existing AI projects, as well as new projects that haven’t started yet. For more information, and to apply, see the announcement: [http://aigrant.org/\](http://aigrant.org/) Here are the basics: - Offering ten grants of $5,000 each to any project in AI which is contributed to open source. - Anyone can apply (individuals or teams) - Deadline is April 30th - Open-minded about what qualifies as an AI project: large or small, code or data, etc.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

I have used NetBeans a couple times over the last few years and have no complaints. Personally I like it better than Eclipse, which in my experience is prone to obscure configuration mess-ups that can take anything from a full rebuild to a fresh install to fix. I hope the move to Apache ensures it will remain maintained for the foreseeable future – I know it didn't quite work out that well for OpenOffice, but in that case I think its decline has more to do with LibreOffice stealing its momentum.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

That's it. Enter 3.14 instead of 180.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

I do wonder what part of the license took him 43 revisions to get right, though.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

pwasser wrote:

Open Source?

Arduino is open-source hardware: the Arduino hardware reference designs are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5 license and are available on the Arduino Web site. Layout and production files for some versions of the Arduino hardware are also available. The source code for the IDE is available and released under the GNU General Public License, version 2. [^] So yes, Open Source. In the article you linked Massimo does refer to "royalties", but I guess those refer to the Arduino brand. That means you are free to assemble and even sell your own boards based on the published designs, so long you don't call them "Arduino" – if you want to, then license the brand. If we are to believe Massimo's account, Gianluca cheated to get exclusive control of the brand in Italy, and is now trying to assert his company as the "true" steward of the platform. Those are legal and political issues, but they don't change the terms of whatever work has been already published.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

Dan Neely wrote:

Is a fondleslab *ever* really usable for anything beyond watching the latest kitteh on CatTube?

I don't own a fondleslab myself, but my wife, parents and in-laws do, and for them it's a very convenient device. Some of the things they do with it are:

• Internet browsing (not just cat videos)
• Reading e-books
• Play games (my mother-in-law just got addicted on a Bejewelled clone)
• Video calls over the Internet
• Drawing (my wife is a professional designer)

Arguably, you could do all that on a notebook; but in my experience the tablet form-factor, it's always-on operation, and the touch UI all contribute to give non-techies less of a hard time. So it may not be for everyone, but tablets do have a target audience that seems to be well served by them.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

KP Lee wrote:

So, you are looking forward to the day that robots will be trying to exterminate humans?

No, not "trying", much like the Homo Sapiens wasn't "trying" to get rid of the Neanderthal.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

Maybe not all, but sarcasm is a common feature not only of programmers but also of most engineers. I'd guess it's the end result of having to deal on a daily basis with unreasonable expectations, unrecognized efforts, and the unforgiving nature of the Universe. Myself, I take solace in the fact that one day Skynet will come.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

Bergholt Stuttley Johnson wrote:

Is there any programming language that hasn't had this program written?

So many programming languages have been created over the years, it's difficult to say for sure. It's possible of course, but it does look unlikely. We might as well ask, what kind of language couldn't have a "Hello World" program written for it? Given that the purpose of the program is to display the words "Hello World" on the screen, the only possibility I can think of is a language that worked exclusively on devices that didn't have a screen or other text-capable output device – some sort of programming language for industrial robots, perhaps? Though even the Processing language used in the Arduino platform has one.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

pandu web dev wrote:

In stackoverflow, if a new one asks a simple question, then the top users starts down voting, ranting. If someone don't have knowledge on particular topic or another then the regular users start insulting them. They call themselves as experts.

Maybe I just follow the wrong threads? Because that (and other comments in the same vein from replies to your post) doesn't at all look like the StackOverflow I know. I have been an SO user for years now. It's great. Most of the times I have a question, it's already been asked and answered there a number of times, so I can even pick the solution that best fits my case. In the rare cases that I've had to ask a question myself, even when I didn't get a complete answer right away, or even any answer at all (though that was a very niche question[^]), people always tried to be helpful. Same thing with the occasional answers I gave – even when they were "edited" the changes were reasonable and duly explained, with space given for me to plead my case. I'm not saying you're lying, but SO is a really large site, and some topics seem to invite more trolls than others. As with most things, your mileage may vary[^]. But in general I think StackExchange nailed the format for a question-and-answer site, not only in StackOverflow but also in the other sites[^] of their network.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

Marc Clifton wrote:

Oh, and have I said before how I loathe Eclipse? Indeed I have. Unfortunately, the Eclipse IDE just adds to the annoyance of working in C++.

I'd suggest you take a look at Code::Blocks. It's my favorite C++ IDE, it's multiplatform and really easy to use.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

I'm curious though: when you say "amazing breakthroughs", what do you have in mind? If you mean human-like computer minds, then yes, we are still some ways off (though we might be closer than you think [^]); but that's a little like saying there's been no breakthroughs in space exploration since the Sputnik because we don't yet have colonies outside the Earth. That is the goal and we're working on it: but the target problem is so mind-bogglingly hard, the progress we have made so far is remarkable even if we still don't look too close to solving it. And in some ways the AI challenge is even harder than space exploration. For one, the vision ("people living in space, the Moon and other planets") and requirements (propulsion, life support, radiation shielding etc.) of space exploration are easy enough to agree on; in contrast, see if you can get any three people to agree on what "intelligence" is. Most believe they know it when they see it – they don't [^], and even if they did, this would hardly be enough basis to steer research. With a thousand definitions to pursue, and a thousand strategies to implement each one, it's difficult to even know where "there" is, and much more so to get there. And yet the AI field has produced many successes over these 60-odd years. LISP has revolutionized the way we look at programming languages. Optimizing compilers produce assembly code of performance comparable (often better) than the output of human experts. Scheduling systems effectively run many industrial plants – the humans are nominally in charge, but in fact all they do is take the orders and nod. Automated VLSI design tools have progressed to a point nobody fully understands the architecture of modern microchips anymore. Automated translation, while still a bit trite, has become good enough for everyday use (I use Google Translate to read messages in Japanese everyday: I know the language well enough to tell if a translation is accurate, but my reading is still too slow, and being able to get an "Engrish" translation at the click of a button is priceless). Of course, it's often the case that when something works and starts seeing widespread use, it loses the "AI" moniker; sometimes it even becomes its own field. I guess that

See link. [^] Don't you all just love when business people and PR mouthpieces use words like "excited" to refer to write-offs? "Why, I'm so excited that we could ditch this dead weight for a third of the price we paid for it, I can barely hold on to my pants!" If one morning I woke up and realized I took a decision that flopped to the tune of $6 billion, I guess I'd be many things, but excited wouldn't be one of them. Must be nice to be obscenely rich...

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

Let the future tell the truth and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine. Indeed.

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

I dimly remember some news from a few years back, to the effect that Intel wanted to create a general-purpose app store thing. If I remember correctly the idea was to bring the app store concept to platforms other than smartphones, including of course the PC. But as the captain of the Hindenburg might have said, things didn't quite pan out the way they wanted. "Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

Mike Hankey wrote:

And Dot Com was a homely woman, large of breast, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.

Er... "Amazon" refers to a small-breasted woman. Therefore your post is broken, anything past that point makes no sense, and the joke is unfunny. Now go wallow in frustration that someone didn't like the text you didn't even write yourself. Or something. "Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/

Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

Has anyone else noticed a decrease in their mental abilities due to relying on technology?

Much on the contrary: I feel that technology has allowed me to leverage what mental abilities I do have, while compensating for those I lack (rote learning, mostly). It's just like Dr. Kusanagi [^] said: "The machines (...) are the hands and we are the head. Only together do we make humanity."

"Whereas smaller computer languages have features designed into them, C++ is unusual in having a whole swathe of functionality discovered, like a tract of 19th century Africa." -- Verity Stob http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/cplusplus\_cli/