Scott James Remnant

It turns out that I was entertainingly wrong a while ago, though I persist in claiming that this is an utterly ridiculous idea and I should be forgiven for thinking that Google were sane. The whole thing really still doesn't make sense to me. Worthwhile support of hardware is difficult. I'm going to take it as a given that Google aren't going to claim to support arbitrary hardware. People who would never otherwise try Linux will install it, and the state of many Linux drivers is sufficiently poor that it'd do a great deal to damage their brand. The logical assumption is that it'll be available pre-installed on devices where Google have worked closely with the hardware vendors.

Which concerns me somewhat. History isn't filled with compelling examples of this. Xandros's low-level support for the Eee mostly seemed to consist of a pile of shell scripts made of cheese and failure. The bizarro-Linux on the hilariously dodgy MIPS-based netbook I have is about as functional as my wisdom teeth. The best example of a Linux vendor working with OEMs is probably Canonical, and their enthusiasm for merging hardware support code in their OEM-specific distributions has led to things like touchpad gesture support based on using a known security hole or drivers that reimplement one that's already mainline.

What I'm trying to say here is that pretty much every desktop Linux product based on cooperation between OEMs and an existing Linux vendor has been built on top of a tower of shit. That's partly because it's a hard problem, but it's also because most OEMs produce dreadful Linux code and the Linux vendors don't have the resources to rewrite it in a clean way in the timescale permitted between hardware being finalised and shipping product. I haven't seen Google recruiting a larger than normal number of people with Linux distribution experience lately, so I suspect that the situation may be the same there. This is probably fine if the number of products is relatively small - there's an opportunity to QA them sufficiently to ensure that the rough edges underneath don't accidentally take someone's hand off. But otherwise there is a genuine risk that poor-quality devices will appear with Chrome OS and people will blame Google for the poor user experience.

So it seems like a risk for Google. Either there'll be a small number of devices and the same vague level of discontent that surrounds the fact that the number of shipping Android devices doesn't seem to have reached expectations, or a large number of potentially crappy devices. What's the payoff? It's pretty clear that this is going to be based heavily around Google's web apps, possibly with disconnected operation. That gets Google a lot of lockin. It also neatly sidesteps the entire disaster that has been providing application add-ons and updates for netbook Linux distributions. But it seems that Google could have achieved that by partnering with a distribution that already has experience in this field rather than going it alone.

I remain unconvinced that this is a sensible decision for Google. But then, I've already demonstrated that I don't have the faintest idea what's going on. Which probably puts me in the same field as most of the analysts I was bitching about before. Zounds. The irony.

I'll be running a session on Wednesday at GCDS to find out what desktop developers would like to see from the kernel. There's a lot of interest in making things easier for file indexers, but if anyone has other problems that could be made easier with some level of kernel support then please turn up. No precise time or location yet, but probably around 3PM at the university. More details forthcoming.

One of the strengths of the open source community is that so much happens in the open. It's generally easy to find out what's happening in a project and directly interact with the developers. Code is out in the public. People frown upon closed discussion and implementation. But there's also a cost. Personality conflicts get hidden in the corporate world. We air them in public. And while in some ways that's arguably an advantage, it also results in things like this.

Now, to be fair, I've never been an especially big fan of Sam's work. His journalism generally leans towards lazy sensationalism rather than any attempt to actually understand the issues. He's not especially well versed on the basis of free software (see his assertion that the difference between the cathedral and bazaar development models is about project leadership rather than source code availablity and how people participate). He's managed to mischaracterise my opinions in the past, which means trusting his characterisation of anyone else is somewhat difficult. But that's not the point. Sam's article isn't about facts or analysis. It's about crucifying someone for expressing an opinion that Sam disagreed with.

I don't know Anirudh. From his website, he sounds like a pretty typical young hacker. He's contributing to a project that interests him. He's self taught. He holds strong opinions. And, last week, he published a rant on a topic he cared about - specifically his feeling that the patent concerns about Mono shouldn't prevent people from developing in it, and that RMS's statements about not using Mono harm the free software community more than they help it. I don't agree with all of his arguments. I don't think it was a hugely well structured rant. And, shockingly, telling RMS to fuck off isn't going to achieve a great deal.

But the point wasn't to change the world. People like voicing their opinions. I've done so several times on several occasions on a wide range of topics. People have disagreed with me. People have voiced concerns about the way I've expressed myself. People have flat out told me to stop being a cock. But nobody has attempted to tell me that I haven't earned the right to express that opinion. Nobody has expended four pages to tear me apart for daring to criticise another member of the community. Nobody has dared to call me a coward for deciding that I'd gone too far and modifying or retracting something I've written.

Yet that is precisely what Sam Varghese has done here. And let's be clear here - the use of the word "fuck" is a red herring. Sam is publically humiliating someone because he has his own agenda. He's picking on someone smaller than him because he can. He's explicitly stating that anyone arguing in favour of Mono can expect to be thoroughly abused in front of a large audience. In Sam's world I don't get to criticise the shockingly distasteful sexist remarks RMS made during his GCDS keynote because I didn't write emacs. I don't get to point out that ESR's understanding of racial genetics and natural selection are fundamentally flawed because I don't maintain the jargon file. I don't get to say that I think Ted Tso was wrong about ext4's semantic changes because I've never written a filesystem. And if I do any of these things, I can expect Sam to pop up and do his best to destroy my reputation.

Of course, he won't. Because in Sam's world, it's not actually about whether anyone has achieved great things. It's about whether the targets of his vitriol will be able to stand up for themselves or not. And while the truth is that nobody in the community is above criticism and nobody needs to earn their right to disagree, I doubt that Sam is ever going to show the courage that Anirudh did and publish a public retraction of his astonishing attack.

Shame on you, Sam Varghese.

Here are some photos of the gallery: http://www.gorge.org/images/gallery

Come on down! 877 High Road Leytonstone (next to Star of India), E11 1HR.

We are open on Thursdays from 11am - 3pm and again from 5pm - 9pm, on Fridays from 3pm - 7pm, and all day Saturday from 10am - 6pm. Also by appointment if you fancy a chat and a drink.

I invigilate on Thursdays from 11-3 and 5-6, and will be there from 10-whenever Imogen turns up on Saturdays 11 and 18 July.

Last day is Saturday 18 July!

Local press: http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/wfnewsinbrief/4467319.LEYTONSTONE__Art_trail_begins/

Warning: Contains photo of me, and I'm even looking happy.

Poll #1423467 If I made a podcast, would you listen?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

What length would you prefer?

I would appreciate it if you could pick the nearest option to your preference.

Also if you have any comments regarding frequency, format, or anything else, please leave them!

I shall be in Cambyshire on or around the 16th. Still unknown how long I shall be staying. Anybody want a pint?

• 21:59 FUCKING FUCKING FUCKING FUCK!!!!! #ipod #ubuntu #
• 22:29 @jungle_expat @Puddytatpurr *cries* in theory it's plug and go... in practice, 8 frigging hours!!! #
• 22:57 @jungle_expat aaah, google, it'll show how many ppl (and solutions) there are! In theory ipod shuffle should plug/play! TheoryFail #
• 23:10 @jungle_expat that might just mean that v few ppl have prolems. prob worth running it from a CD rather than full install first! #
• 11:39 woke to find 7 very lively kittens... yes, 7... apparently 1 got out overnight, no idea where the crap it is yet!! Guess my 1st job!? #
• 11:50 @PoBK you'd think... she thinks i'm Mum2 though, so she tends to mew at me to find them! (plus she can't count...) #
• 12:10 @Puddytatpurr not yet... about to trawl the house on hands and knees!! #
• 13:13 Found missing kitten! apparently my junior hacksaw is "snuggly" ! (still in its packet, so no sharp edges!!) #
• 13:16 @Puddytatpurr thankfully all doors/windows shut (MELTING!), it had crawled into my shelves, next to my hacksaw...! #
• 13:24 @Puddytatpurr tell me about it!! Was readying myself to scour house... #
• 13:28 Kittens currently going crazy, and on cam for once! woot! #
• 13:33 obviously the moment I tweet that they're on cam, they all decide to go to sleep... #
• 13:35 @Puddytatpurr most are now under the blue blanket, 2 are under my desk pretending they're not eating my slippers... #
• 14:59 "stop chewing the hacksaw!" and "mummy isn't a play thing" 2 sentences I never imagined I'd need... #
• 15:04 @caspararemi they are different as far as my account goes, gmail is 'real' stuff, googlemail is for 'probable spam'. filters, see? #
• 15:05 2 sleeping kittens just got pounced on by @Grabbity... she's now playing on her own, off screen naturally! #
• 15:06 @Puddytatpurr just like kids, they seem to do the opposite of what i want!! #
• 15:07 'new' pics on KittenBlog (oldish piccs, new to blog) bit.ly/IKUyb #
• 15:10 @Puddytatpurr lol, wanna borrow 8 for 3-4 weeks??? ;) #
• 15:11 @scottbert I live in hope.... #
• 15:12 @Puddytatpurr yeah, climbing legs is something @Grabbity likes to do... we're trying to convince her it's not fun! Along with mouse wires... #
• 15:13 @PoBK hur, @owenblacker keeps asking if he can attach captions to them... #
• 15:16 @Puddytatpurr haha, she'd be covered! They're about the same size as her!! :D #
• 15:34 i'm not convinced that a gothic tribute to the smashing pumpkins and a tropical tribute to the beatles go together, but hey, lets try! #

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• 15:06 @LeeBinding @thomaswilliams I don't get Calvin & Hobbes either... #
• 15:16 @pinkpebs @flamebornbeads thanks :D #
• 15:16 @Suw I do sometimes lose several hours just staring at them... specially if 1 falls asleep in my arms! #

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Can I have some sympathy please? On Friday I somehow injured my shin and it really hurts! The lump has gone down now, though.



E2A: nou agrees it looks much worse in the flesh than in the photo. Ow!

• 20:29 The kittens REALLY don't appreciate my singing... tsk #
• 21:12 @caspararemi have had both response to repair before now. temp phone is usually old, REALLY old though! borrow one, much better! #
• 00:02 @Knittress I'm about to do the same... yarn arrives tomorrow! Been making teeny things (mostly dishcloths) for 3-4 months... doh! #
• 00:12 @Tay_98 wow, you're just a spiteful nasty person aren't you? You're also quite dumb, it's a live stream, not a video, hence sometimes empty #
• 17:24 @katebevan thunder/lightening just hit in East London :D #
• 17:33 List of things kittens "DO NOT LIKE!!!": Hoovering; thunder #
• 17:53 <girl question>is the storm likely to be effecting my LAN?! Or should I restart the router? </> *missing @DeekUK* #
• 17:57 @keybuk you keeping the sofas this time? These need replacing now... ;p #

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Judith can now change the active tab in my web browser (if the mouse pointer happens to be somewhere over the tab bar anyway). I suppose I needed quick reactions anyway while sitting with her at my desk, especially since she likes to make the occasional grab for my coffee cup ...

Art exhibition private view went very well! Happy.

Mike was a rock (again! as ever! I am so lucky!)

After our show closed we went to Leytonstone Arts Trail opening party at the Pick 'n' Mix show, which was in the Independent today.

My only regret is that I wasn't able to spend much time with my friends who came - even at Pick 'n' Mix I was talking to local artists / musicians / councillors etc. which meant I didn't chat long with those who had come specially to see me and my work.

More at some point soon - tired and need my bed.