newspeak

OS X El Capitan: Working & Not Working Apps | MacRumors Forums.

I’ve been using the dev versions of OS X for over a year now, and El Capitan is offering more whiplash than Yosemite ever did. Stalwart apps, like Adium, JustNotes (uses SimpleNote) and even, on occasion, Chrome dev, crash after short periods of use or even, in the case of Adium, nearly immediately. The precise cause varies, but I think the crashes relate to security provisions introduced by El Capitan. The list compiled here, at MacRumors (a great site), is useful. Does this long list give me pause? Nah. The opposite. It’s actually immensely, uhm, enjoyable to go through the code (that I can) and try to trace the issues. As well, it’s useful to think of El Capitan as a kind of platform for apps—you know, what we used to call programs. (And the genealogy of the term, “app,” is itself of interest, and what it says about the user’s ability to intervene ….)

via Mozilla utilizes open education resources to improve participation | Opensource.com.

Mozilla has long realised the importance of formalised education. So have I–Mark Surman and I even discussed years ago to further formalise open source collaboration…..

via What amateurs can learn from security pros about staying safe online | Ars Technica.

Made with Creative Commons: A book on open business models by Creative Commons — Kickstarter.

I do wish that “sharing” were not used here. I’d much rather replace it with something closer to actuality, like “collaboration,” or even “co-operation.” “Sharing” sounds (and is) lame marketing-speak that has been, uhm, coopted by neoliberals who argue that the individual contractor is just like the entrepreneur and both are radically free to maximise their potential, provided full access to the Web and its wealth of knowledge—a claim, and vision that is, if not frankly cynical, grotesquely naïve.

Yet the CC people are, as far as I know, neither cynical nor grotesquely naive. And they certainly don’t have to deploy gilt marketing words.

Why I won’t be going to OSCON this year. | IMO.

I just scanned Jim’s post. Yes, we’re both in Apache. But that’s irrelevant. His points are good and echo my own sentiments and reasoning. In particular, I increasingly favour conferences like All things open and others that focus on contributors who work outside of code. I am also keen on Hfoss, but that’s a different story.

I just republished this blog post examining the dissolution of OpenStack into echo chambers. What would have caused this failure if it has in fact occurred? Other large and roughly similar consortia, like Eclipse, have not succumbed to this dismemberment death. Perhaps it’s a characteristic of the makeup of the project, both in terms of the code and in terms of the financial, political structure. To me, and I readily admit my knowledge is imperfect, it seems to have gained the anatomy of a make-believe pony, at least after the first year, and has been driven more as a set of fronts for corporate leverage than as a consortium working on a commons. What holds a set of communities together is, I think, that very commons, that which is shared by all stakeholders.

But, perhaps I’m wrong. Yet there have been more and more declamations that OpenStack is ailing, even as it gains more and more corporate mass.

via Goodbye, OpenStack | gigofham.com.

Goodbye, OpenStack | gigofham.com.

At the end of the day, participating in OpenStack was a not enjoyable. It felt more like managing a massive software project at a huge enterprise organization where every “project” was a different department, as opposed to feeling like an open source project where people could make a difference. It was a full time soul-sucking job, and today I resigned. I’m going to miss hanging out with a lot of my OpenStack friends, but the summit early next year is in my home town and I’m looking forward to sharing the joys of Austin with them while they are here. I’m also going to enjoy not having come with with a reason to attend the summit for a full week, and that sign alone meant it was time to go.

Ripping music and films illegal again after High Court overturns new law – BBC Newsbeat.

From the scent of churros to the sound of Mariachi, discover Mexico in Toronto | Toronto Star.