RomeoTBravo @RomeoTBravo@qoto.org

@freemo Point taken regarding GPL and freedom.

However, the GPL guys are pretty clear it is the freedom of the user they have in mind. As long as there is a route back to a proprietary product -- which BSD does leave open -- then the freedom of the user to use and inspect the code cannot be preserved.

I am an open source guy at a proprietary software company. I've gotten to see the various licenses in action and how they are used, abused, understood and misunderstood. I tend to see them this way.

GPL or "share-alike": when the biggest threat is "embrace, extend, extinguish," this is the only way to go. It forces all players to stay on common ground -- or not play at all. It seems to work particularly well for large infrastructure projects, but if your project doesn't have the size and clout of, say, the Linux kernel, then the benefits may not be so obvious. At least nobody can extend your code and not share their own.

BSD or BSD-like: The ultimate free in a libertarian sense and "business friendly" because businesses can extend it and bill. But nothing forces the businesses to give back or stay on the common ground, so it is harder to preserve the common. Still, if you want to be the default choice of a business, this is a safe choice.

Proprietary: guarantees salaries are paid as long as the sales team is successful, but otherwise it has very little going for it.

Freemo, this may seem to make your point about freedom, but it depends on what freedom you are trying to preserve. Sometimes to preserve one freedom in a complex world with lots of players -- to preserve, let's say, the user's ability to use and inspect the code -- you have to infringe another, the coder's right to do whatever they want with the code including hiding what they add to an existing code base.

@masterofthetiger

@SecondJon Just based on a few of your posts, I thought you'd find this article interesting, especially the last two paragraphs: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/republicans-and-democrats-dont-understand-each-other/592324/

The image of the black hole itself from <https://eventhorizontelescope.org>, a large-ish JPEG.

The image is up! An earth-sized radio telescope gives us the first "direct image" of the event horizon around the black hole at the center of M87: <https://eventhorizontelescope.org/>

Woohoo! I was sad because I didn't make the cut for my own instance's profile directory. You have to have 10 followers. I had 7.

I scoured the list of people @SecondJon follows, followed a bunch of them and got a few follows back. Now I'm on the directory!

Thanks to @SecondJon for the list of fascinating folks to follow. Thanks to those who followed back.

And pardon the laziness that has me doing anything to get followers except ... well ... you know ... actually posting something interesting. ;)

Who knew measuring grip strength could be so depressing?

Short version: grip strength is a reliable, if somewhat quirky, measurement of well-being. In one generation it has decreased measurably.

End of civilization? Or civilization destroying humanity?

Surely not that bad, but fun article: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/raising-the-american-weakling

(Ignore the click-bait title. It's unworthy of the article.)

"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art." That's how I justify refurbishing my little netbook running Xubuntu when I have at least three other faster systems with more resources.

Replaced the HDD with SSD. Upgraded from 1 GB to the maximum 2 GB RAM. (Woohoo!) New battery on the way.

I should be so much more creative now. Who needs a Core i7 and NVIDIA graphics when you've got a screaming Atom processor from 5 years ago?

@freemo I didn't understand your attachment to fountain pens. Then I encountered "how the ballpoint pen killed cursive" -- along with comparisons to fountain pens.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-ballpoint-pen-killed-cursive-1025018394

"A lifetime writing with the ballpoint and minor variations on the concept (gel pens, rollerballs) left me unprepared for how completely different a fountain pen would feel."

Old joke that @peterdrake reminded me of with his riff on "That's Amore":

Linguistics Prof: "In some languages a double negative is a positive. In others it only indicates emphasis. But in no language is a double positive a negative."

Smart aleck in the back row: "Yeah, right."