Those who do and those who don't

In essence, I'm a simple kind of guy. The deeper meaning of fashion eludes me completely. If it's good this year, it must be good next year. And if it's improved next year, I don't expect the old thing to see again the year after simply because it's "fashionable" or "retro" again.

That's why I always seek out the brands and models that remain unchanged for years, so I can get whatever I need for the next ten years to come. I don't have any trouble buying a pink laptop and a black mouse if the price is right and the specifications are good.

Basically, I don't give a sh*t about what people think. If a pink laptop makes me gay, fine. You're not in my bedroom, I know what's true and your opinion is worth, well, do I have to spell it out?

Since I'm a simple guy, I use simple concepts. In my world there is no room for trying. Either you do or you don't. You either stay on your feet or fall flat on your face. I have no time or need to occupy myself with your inner workings. If you doubt, do it in your own time.

The reason for that is very simple as well. Doubting is an activity and people cannot concentrate on two things at the same time. I'd rather have you concentrate on doing the thing I ask from you than doubting whether you can do it. If you can multitask, fine, but do the thing you're supposed to do.

The very thing that always comes along with not doing things is excuses. I'm always astonished with the creativity people show when inventing excuses. It's simply incredible. If they had used that same creativity to do the things they were supposed to do, we wouldn't have this conversation.

The point is, I'm not interested how you feel. That's not why I hired you. I've hired you to do things. Your feelings are a private affair, they don't interest me. As long as your grand mother hasn't died it shouldn't be a major influence. Fortunately, you have only two grandmothers, so you run out of excuses pretty quickly.

Of course, there always will be children. Children get sick, have sex, experiment with drugs and do all those things you did when you were young. It may be a major concern to you, but still that's not why I hired you. If children constantly prevent you to do the things you're supposed to do, take care of them, but don't lean on my payroll. I didn't conceive them and they're not on my payroll. It's a private matter and consequently your matter.

So because you aren't heard, you turn to these sites where they claim that matriarchy may save the world, but as long as you can't save the project that you're involved with, that is of little concern to me.

Yeah, you may call it "backlash", which means criticism you don't have to respond to. But I tell you this: if you can't address criticism – whatever source it comes from – you ain't worth anything. I can take on your matriarchy claim anytime, because you simply don't deliver. I'm not afraid of you and you can post your fallible comments any time. Gimme what I want. Gimme what I need. There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who do and those who don't.

German firm presents an iPad killer

Usually I don't write posts like this. But because all the information we have right now is in German, I thought it was a good idea to spend a few lines on this new development.

First, relax. The new baby of Neofonie is called "WePad" and it's an Android device. Or, as the developers put it:

The WePad is an open platform and everybody can contribute. It's based on established technologies like Linux, Android and Adobe AIR. Every developer in the world can create applications for this device. And you can also use existing Android applications.

It also features multitasking, a webcam, a 16:9 screen, Flash, two USB ports and can "play anything you throw at it". Some sources claim you can also make phone calls, but I have no confirmation for this. You can find the full specifications here (German).



Prices start at 400 Euros for the 16 GB version and 550 Euros for the 32 GB version.

Update: The "WePad" is only a day old and the first scandal is already there. According to the Austrian website "derStandard.at" there were some problems shortly before the press conference, so Neofonie decided to fake the whole thing:

The authenticity of the tablet computer is questioned. Contrary to the statements of the WePad creators, the tablet computer ran Windows during the press conference - and not Linux - when it was presented in Berlin last Monday. This was confirmed last Tuesday on Facebook by one of the WePad developers, Helmut Hoffer von Ankershoffen.

He wrote that he became the device only shortly before the press conference began, due to delays at the customs. The WePad developers decided to run Microsoft Media Player, which merely showed a video in an endless loop. Neofonie, where Hoffer von Ankershoffen is managing director, was not available for comments.

Last Monday the WePad was shown to the public for the first time. Tore Meyer of 4tiitoo, a touch screen expert from Munich, has also participated in the development of the WePad. The WePad should be in the German shops by July, but last Monday the company was unable to show a functioning prototype.

Putting a viable iPad competitor on the market now seems away further than ever. Hoffer von Ankershoffen had promised that the WePad would offer its users "Openness, fair play and no barriers". The German tablet computer comes with two USB ports, a webcam and slot for European cellphone cards, features not found on the iPad. Hoffer von Ankershoffen stated that the entry model would cost around 450 Euros and a more extensive one 570 Euros.

This report has been confirmed by "Handelsblatt", which also states that Neofonie has confirmed the fake. Furthermore, "Handelblatt" reported that although the WePad features a multitouch display, a cursor could be seen on the screen.

In any case, the video below clearly shows that one of the creators does not allow journalists to operate the device, nor does he want to demonstrate it any further.



Further proof comes from "Androidpads.com" showing a screenshot with an allegedly Windows message box:



Update: Well, it is official now! It was a fake. Neofonie has now promised to organize a small meeting on April 26 where selected journalists and members of the Android community can test a real WePad - with Linux.

Update: Several sources (including LXer contributors) have uttered serious doubts concerning the WePads Atom processor. The website "TecZilla" shares those concerns. Overheating, overpowered and a low battery life are a few of them.

In the meanwhile, Neofonie has released a video that should prove the WePad is for real. Well, see for yourself:



"n.tv", a German language CNN-like news channel, has offered to test the devices (if any are available) before another disastrous press conference is thrown. The next one is scheduled for April 26..

Update: Neofonie's WePad tablet was shown to German journalists on the 26th of April and seems legit at first sight. However, it appears to be a bit underpowered as some commenters on LX-er already expected.

If there are any further developments, I will add them to this post.

Free Software is a democracy, NOT!

My own project, although not a big one, has been around for over fifteen years and a small community has been built around it. Numerous improvements have been made and when I look back and contemplate what I actually wanted to make, this is quite a different beast.

As a developer you want your product to be useful, not only to yourself, but also to your community. It may be a vanity thing, but that's how it works. It is one of these things where a human character flaw works out just fine. Suggestions became features, bad extensions became fundamental changes, experiments became main branch.

But these were also feature requests that were not implemented, not that that were too outrageous or too time consuming, but because I didn't like the direction where they would take the project. You can fire away anything you like, but let's be clear: there is only one man who calls the shots here. Me.

Ok, your feature request got turned down. Big deal. Flame away, stalk me, start marching by my window, I don't care. It's my project, my software and I decide what I'm gonna do with it. And BTW, it's a waste of energy. You'd better use that energy for something more useful. It's simple. Fork!

I think - or better said: sincerely hope - that my community doesn't recognize the image I've projected in these last few lines. Because that's not the way I want to work. As a matter of fact, there were users that wanted to take the project in a different direction and consequently I designed a framework which made it easy to fork and merge. Because they were not unreasonable and neither am I. But that's just me.

When I slowly constructed my project and my community I delved deeply into the way FOSS works. I learned a lot from Linus and the way he makes his kernel tick. He doesn't know where the project is going. He doesn't care about deadlines. It's finished when it's finished. On the other hand, if he doesn't like something, it doesn't get in. He is the benevolent dictator.

That's why I don't understand why InaTux gets so upset. FOSS is not and never will be a democracy in the sense he (or she?) understands democracy. Design decisions are not made by simply voting them off - and certainly not by its users. If you don't like where a project is going, start your own or vote with your feet. Lots of people whine about the number of distributions, well, now you know why that is a good thing.

If you don't like where Ubuntu is going, install another distribution. Nobody is saying that you should stick with it. It's easy. Fire up your favorite browser, surf a little, pose a few questions here and there, push a download button and you're done. And changing distributions is a heck of a lot easier than changing Operating Systems.

If too many people start doing that, Mark Shuttleworth has two options. Either he creates the perfect distribution for Mark Shuttleworth or he starts asking himself the right questions. A customer lost takes twice the effort to reel in than a new one. He's making money with that, I suppose. I'm not. I only got my vanity to consider..

InaTux is just beating around the bush without hitting anything. Linus listens - but sometimes not. He created the kernel - and anyone can fork it. Like Mark Shuttleworth. And due to the license he can take Ubuntu in every direction he wants to. Even if it doesn't boot at all on any computer. It says nowhere in the license he has to listen to anyone. Not to me, not to you, not to InaTux. Like it or not. "I'm root, I can do anything".

Those are the facts of FOSS life and that is the bottom line. The rest is merely academic babbling. I didn't like where KDE 4.x was going - and with me a lot of other people. The KDE developers listened - and sometimes they did not. Fact is, I'm still working with KDE 3.5.x and I still have no plans to upgrade. When I have to install a new version of OpenSuSE, I'll probably give it a try - and if I don't like it I'll take my business somewhere else. If that happens, I'll probably state publicly why I didn't like it. Aaron J. Seigo can dispute that, but he can't make me move. Hey, I'm not working with Microsoft products here which are chained together with a whole line of subtle dependencies. I got a choice. It's a big bazaar out there.

So next time, InaTux, I want to read how you moved to another distribution and why. Or I want to read why you stuck with Ubuntu. That will be a whole lot more interesting than your endless and fundamentally flawed whining.