technology trends

Where Are All the Open Source Billionaires?

open source

Where Are All the Open Source Billionaires?

Hugh MacLeod asks, if open source is so great, where are all the open source billionaires? If Open Source software is free, then why bother spending money on Microsoft Partner stuff? I already know what Microsoft’s detractors will say: “There’s no reason whatsoever. $40 billion per year is

By Jeff Atwood ·
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programming languages

Welcome to Dot-Com Bubble 2.0

The dot-com bubble was a watershed event for software developers. You simply couldn’t work in the field without having something miraculous or catastrophic happen to you. Or both at once. The “dot-com bubble” was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995 — 2001 during which stock markets in Western nations saw

By Jeff Atwood ·
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The Pernicious Issue of Software Patents

programming languages

The Pernicious Issue of Software Patents

A reddit user recently invoked link necromancy on a 1994 Donald Knuth letter to the U.S. Patent Office: When I think of the computer programs I require daily to get my own work done, I cannot help but realize that none of them would exist today if software patents

By Jeff Atwood ·
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EA’s Software Artists

software development

EA’s Software Artists

Electronic Arts is a lumbering corporate megalith today, pumping out yearly game franchise after yearly game franchise. It’s easy to forget that EA was present at the very beginning of the computer game industry, innovating and blazing a trail for everyone to follow. Gamasutra’s article We See Farther:

By Jeff Atwood ·
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Learning on the Battlefield

programming languages

Learning on the Battlefield

I occasionally get emails from people asking how to prepare for a career in software development. Some are students wondering what classes they should take; others have been bitten by the programming bug and are considering their next steps. I always answer with the same advice. There’s no substitute

By Jeff Atwood ·
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What’s Wrong With The Daily WTF

blog

What’s Wrong With The Daily WTF

Alex Papadimoulis originally invited me to be a guest editor at The Daily WTF nearly six months ago. I was honored and accepted immediately. Since then, The Daily WTF has been rechristened Worse Than Failure. I’m a big fan of Alex and WTF; his blog is fantastic, and WTF

By Jeff Atwood ·
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security

Code Access Security and Bitfrost

The One Laptop Per Child operating system features a new security model – Bitfrost. It’s an interesting departure from the traditional UNIX and LINUX security model. The 1971 version of UNIX supported the following security permissions on user files: * non-owner can change file (write) * non-owner can read file * owner can

By Jeff Atwood ·
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Building a Computer the Google Way

hardware

Building a Computer the Google Way

If you’re ever in Silicon Valley, I highly recommend checking out the Computer History Museum. Where else can you see a live demonstration of the only known working PDP-1 in existence, and actually get to play the original Spacewar on it? I did. It was incredible. I got chills.

By Jeff Atwood ·
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Because They All Suck

mac

Because They All Suck

The release of Windows Vista has caused an unfortunate resurgence in that eternal flame of computer religious wars, Mac vs. PC. Everywhere I go, somebody’s explaining in impassioned tones why their pet platform is better than yours. It’s all so tedious. Personally, I had my fill of Mac

By Jeff Atwood ·
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Origami Software and Crease Patterns

origami

Origami Software and Crease Patterns

Robert J. Lang isn’t just a physicist and a software developer – he’s also one of the world’s foremost paper-folding artists: The laser cutter was growling away, scoring one of Lang’s Hanji sheets. He twiddled with his computer. On the screen was a lacy geometric pattern. Lang

By Jeff Atwood ·
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There Are No Design Leaders in the PC World

design

There Are No Design Leaders in the PC World

Robert Cringley’s 1995 documentary Triumph of the Nerds: An Irreverent History of the PC Industry features dozens of fascinating interviews with icons of the software industry. It included a brief interview segment with Steve Jobs, where he said the following: The only problem with Microsoft is they just have

By Jeff Atwood ·
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programming languages

The Problem With C++

MIT’s Technology Review recently interviewed Bjarne Stroustrup in a two-part article (part one, part two). You may know Bjarne as the inventor of the C++ programming language. Indeed, he even maintains a comprehensive C++ FAQ that answers every imaginable C++ question. Here are a few select quotes from the

By Jeff Atwood ·
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