Zac Bowling’s Blog

It’s been a while since I made a blog post. I’m sorry I couldn’t make the Mono summit. Texas Instruments has me working hard on the next line of calculators we are coming out with and we have to make sure we get our product out for the next school year in time.

I did my political duty this weekend and joined in on a political action party trying to get out the vote in the key election states trying to make sure the democrates beat the republicans in the Congress and Senate and restore true checks and balances in our government. We organized by way of MoveOn.org PAC and about 30 of us attended in our group. Several other groups organized in our town as well all with similar numbers so I’m hopping that we made an impact. I personally talked about over 450 people (mostly in Pennsylvania), and I’m pretty sure Rick Santorum won’t be back. It was a great to meet so many other democrates in Texas in a single location, too.

Anyways, I’m still around.

Just finished reading a thank you letter from a little project I sent a patch to, to help them with their GDI issues on Win32.

I love these little patches I write for all the little projects out there. I manage to shoot off at least two or three a week on average. It’s funny to get some of the reactions I get sometimes to my patches. Some want me to sign something about the origin of the code or to sign over copyrights, some want me to do it over in some other coding standard they use, some take what they can get because they are happy that anyone else even spent the time to look at their code and are willing to share the responsibility for it. Some patches never see the light of day, and some suffer from bit-rot because the person I contribute back to “has other plans” and redesigns the entire concept. It’s nice though. You get your name in someone’s change log, help file, about screen, or sometimes your patch gets lost in the entire mix. It’s nice though because you can go back and google for your name and see all the places you turn up later.

I recommend everyone do it… Oh and ignore those egotistical programmers that rejected your code because they want 100% perstine crap. Don’t let them break your spirit. Stick with what you know too, and know that no application has ever been written without flaws. If everyone thing was perfect, why would we need alpha and beta code and would we ever really need a 2.0 release?

Happy Valentines Day
(I know I’ll be working overtime… it’s one of those big days at Match.com, yah know… :-))

This is fairly funny.
http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/productfeedback/…

Resolved as Not Reproduced by Microsoft on 2004-07-30 at 16:11:56

Unfortunately, because of legal restrictions, we are unable to download and compiler mono source.

If you can give a more reduced test case, we may be able to look at it.

From a few people I know on the inside (who shall remain nameless) tell me that Microsoft won’t allow anyone to even look over any code from most open source projects out there because they are afraid of the trouble they might get in (SCO anyone?). I understand that in a broader perspective.

Mono too has a policy that if you seen the Microsoft Shared Source released code (like shared source version of the .NET runtime, codename Rotor) that we might not be able to accept any contribution that you submit. With the several scary clauses in the shared source license that prevent commercial use and redistribution, who wouldn’t be scared about getting caught with that clause?

However, I really don’t get why Microsoft has a problem with the reverse, by taking a look at Mono’s source code I mean. More specifically, our framework class libraries. All of them are released under MIT X11 based license. I don’t think there exists a more liberal license in wide scale use (Its just like public domain, minus the act of really releasing as public domain). Its even less restrictive then the original BSD license and Microsoft has openly looked at BSD released code in the past without issue.

The source code to the class libraries is literally sitting there, open for the picking. Of course you need a runtime to make use of the libraries and if you don’t care for ours (maybe because you or your company is unnecessarily scared of the LGPL), you can use Microsoft’s or DotGNU’s perfectly good runtime for that part. You could even break out Mainsoft’s C# compiler (check out their grasshoper project), and compile all our C# based libraries to Java byte code instead.

It would be awesome if they could use our class libraries to compare to their own code when bug tracking, or when considering new features for .NET and to use as a base line when they are afraid of making breaking changes. Maybe if all else fails on that front, instead of looking at the source, just test against our binary releases.

Shoot, maybe even someday, I would love to see some microsoft.com email addresses submitting bugs reports in our bugzilla. It would sure would be nice to see someday, since I see our contributors posting bugs to Microsoft’s product feedback all the time.

I don’t know. Just a thought.

(Might be good to point out too that any opinions expressed above are purely mine. The above might not reflect the opinions of Novell, the Mono Project, or any of the other contributing developers, even though I know a few people who feel nearly the same way.)

This blog post is amazingly funny .

Everything in this blog post, at one point or another, I could so relate to. Everything up to the second to the last paragraph is right on for me. Its a must read.

Favorite quote: “That’s programming in a nutshell: long arms, good coffee, and a natural aversion to rat fur. ”

I love this app on my windows box. imeem. If you are into social networking software, this is one of the best. They do some absolutly amazing things with GDI+ with SWF on Win32.

They just released their new mac client. It runs on top of Mono and binds to cocoa using a new interface they designed called Dumbarton (released under LGPL). Good work guys!

Now, since you got Todd Berman from (but not limited to) MonoDevelop over there now, I expect a native GTK# interface soon too…

People who use talking points and dumb exit rebuttals should be shunned and slapped from this point on. If you hear one, slap the person who said it. We need to institute a requirement of some original thought and personal research if you wish to have a public opinion. I believe in freedom of speech, but not freedom to spew someone else’s crap just because they said it and you must repeat it. Its cachos. I don’t care what politcal group, goverment, agency, company, team, school, or whatever you are part of. No body should stoop to “talking points”!!

If you are appointed to speak for your group, you should know the material personally and be able to answer on your own. If you are asked for an opinion or to make a judgement call about something you directly don’t know, yield to someone else or just say your not sure. If you have to use prepared statements to speak on behalf of your group and try to debate on that foundation, you should not be speaking.

As another option, if you must, you may speak in the third person repeating someone else’s opinion since you really don’t have one of your own and that way we know its not your own personal opinion or statement (from you, the clueless representative to your group). You may defend the person who said it then based on your own personal experiences. That way we can stop this jumble of misinformation.

On another note, one thing that has been driving me nuts lately is the rebutting of the argument against Bush’s reaction to the most recent disaster in New Orleans saying we are blaming Bush for the weather. The argument is not about Bush could do anything to prevent the weather (which is still much more debatable that he could of helped that), but what is hardly debatable is his horrible appointments to FEMA, his timely response time to the disaster, and his countless bumbling through fixing the issue.

Carlos Mencia says it best: “DUHHH-DUH-DUUUUUHH”.

I guess thats just my personal pet peave or something but seems to make sense.

Got my travel plans in place and I’m starting to get excited. Going to be in LA for Tuesday and Wednesday for the Mono meeting in LA (just a short walk from the Microsoft PDC conference). If you are going to be at the Microsoft PDC conference, I urge you to come on over. Directions and information about the meeting here. It starts at 6 and goes until 9:30 so it should fit into the PDC schedule nicely.

Really amazing pictures but I do warn you to enter at your own risk.

http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/katrina/new_orleans_msi_aug31_2005_dg.jpg

http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/KATRINA0000.HTM

DELL SCREWED ME AND WITHOUT BUYING ANYTHING!

You may remember my last blog post about what was going on so far. [Dell making me mad!]. Well it got even worse. I ordered that machine on May 27th but had been delayed over and over every day up until the 18th of this month. In that period, 3 of my co-workers have ordered and received their laptops of nearly the same exact thing.

Here is the latest:

They figured it was being delayed because the hard drive, but they couldn’t change the order because the order was already in production. Then they said they could after they talked to a few managers. Then they emailed me back and said they couldn’t because only the orginial sales agent only could and she was extended leave. With everything that happened, that was just the iceing on the cake. They said they would have to cancel the order out and re-enter it in order to get the order in. I said that as long as I would get it in less then a week, otherwise I was totally fed up and wanted them to cancel it.

In the time I was waiting for my machine (over 2 months), my company had 2 discounts for this specific Dell totalling $1,500 off and I wanted the discounts. They said they couldn’t.

After re-entering the order, I checked the site and the order wouldn’t get here until mid November and not only that, the order was wrong! It was missing two parts. I emailed back and they said it was because those parts where on delay. I was ferious. I told them to cancel it. They did shortly afterword.

I thought that was it over and was so happy. The next day, on my way to work, I stopped by the gas station to fill up my tank. I stuck in my ATM card, and the machine refused the transaction. I tried again and it still didn’t work. I went inside and they tried it at the desk and still no go.

I went home and called the bank. I had (negative) -$1100 avaliable funds but they said I had all money in there (>$7,000). I asked her why all of a sudden I didn’t have anything avaliable. My last deposit was well over a month ago and it cleared. She said that Dell had recent had activity on the account. She did some more searching and found that Dell had put in a transaction for $3,950 (the price of the machine) 3 times and then reversed it sortly afterword but the funds where locked out because thats what happens just like a deposit and I would have to wait till it cleared again. For 3 1/2 days I was without any cash of any kind because those ding bats at DELL.

Its all a joke. They made me, someone who is extremely nice and easy to work, absolutley angry and ready to start a personal campain against them.

I got the job at Match.com. I’m officialy working for Telligent Systems now, the company I mentioned in my earlier blogs but I’m will spend my time contracted out to Match.com International. I’m so excited. I’m going to be helping the Match.com International team bring everything up to date with the main Match.com site. From the looks of it I’m going the starting on tomorrow morning. That means I’ve got today to get a ton of stuff done and ready. Its just to much fun.

This is from any email I sent explaining my side on the best operating system to program on. I though it was interesting enough as it hashes up a bunch of feelings I know friends of mine have. Might sound a little bit more evangelistic (if thats the right word for it) that I orginally intented but I think its still a good read. Enjoy.

“Honestly, I really don’t have a side. I have what I want on ether system now days to program efficently and I can make anything do anything I want on ether system so it really doesn’t effect me as much as it does the with the advocates of the operating systems might make out.

The main foundation of the reason I work on top of GTK+, glib, and Mono is that I believe in it because its platform independent, and I’m not on the side of the OS vendor but the side of the programmers who I don’t want to see taking part in the OS deciding battle as most are forced to that use technologies only provided by a single OS. I really don’t care about my customers not using open source operating systems (although I do like the security it provides to me as I can patch holes myself on my own systems), but I love the fact that the library I use for porting from system to system is open source (but not open source as in GPL because that is really to restrictive but open source as in public domain, X11, BSD, and LGPL) because it means that another company I can’t control can’t get its hands in where my software I’m writing can go or can’t go or what it can or can’t do.

It gives me the ability to let my customers choose the OS they want and if they don’t want to use Windows or FreeBSD or Solaris later they can switch without loosing my software which is better for me and my customers. It also gives me the ability to package as closed source for anything I want but retain that freedom as well. Also one of the greatest advantages is that if it doesn’t do what I want it to do in the library or its broken in some way, I can change it or reuse its code somewhere else that I come up with, unlike Java or many other libraries in the same catagory. Who can’t see the benefit in that? “

Check this out. This kid was kicked out of his dorm until he wrote this huge essay on sexual harrasment and appologies to his “victums”. He got kicked out because he made up posters that showed a fit woman in a workout leotard and said:

“Nine out of 10 freshman girls gain 10 to 15 pounds. But there is something you can do about it. If you live below the sixth floor, take the stairs. Not only will you feel better about yourself, but you will also be saving us time and won’t be sore on the eyes.”

Read more here:
TheChamplainChannel.com - WNNE - UNH Student Evicted From Dorm; Told Fat Girls To Exercise

microsoft.com/freedomtoinnovate

… wtf … [rant] microsoft’s looking for sympathy. The bad layout and repeating text, hundreds of misspellings, bad gif images, and likes to remind you to vote are Microsoft’s way of looking like they are just little guys being put down by “the man”. Oh please. Go cry me a river, so I can go swimming, Microsoft. You knew that this was coming. People tend to sue big huge evil anti-competetive beasts such as yourself. [/rant]

Looks like Microsoft’s version of the site that SCO will be putting up to combat presure from Groklaw

I watched the presidental debates over again. I can’t stand Bush anymore. Kerry doesn’t seem sneaky and scary. I feel like he isn’t up to anything. He isn’t influenced by major corporations like Bush looks like he has been, in almost every single decision he has made. The tax cuts, the war, health care, homeland security, out sourcing tax cuts on our jobs, the huge spending that Bush has done by spending more then 4 times the amount of money we had in our biggest surplus ever. No more Bush. I live in Texas and I loved when he was governer. I though he would do a great job as president. Now I feel he is too scary to have in office. I don’t believe him and I don’t know where we will go with him. Kerry seems a like he is a change. He might have his own agenda but I don’t feel him starting any new wars. Any reason he would want to take us to war, will be after someone else says it first. He seems like a clear headed person. I’m voting for Kerry.