I’m an Obama supporter, but I’m also that guy who wants to put a knife in someone’s eye when he receives an unsolicited political call. Especially, ESPECIALLY, when it is an unsolicited unprofessional political call. So, now…. … I’m really not sure what to say about this. Introducing, the Barack Obama call center! They are inviting me and you and any other would-be supporter to go ahead and start calling to voice our support. Who would you be calling? Your friends? Oh no, they will supply you with scripts to read to the complete strangers whose names and numbers are being provided! … Great …
Senator Tim Johnson
I had neglected to shower that day. What was the point? I wasn’t looking to impress anyone, so far as I knew we were to spend yet another day in D.C. perusing the vastness of the Smithsonian. Who in their right mind wants to waste time on a shower when their locomotive of a fourteen year old mind thinks it may be spending another dozen hours in the Air and Space Museum?
Visiting the halls of the capitol building and congressional offices was awe inspiring. So much so that said mind, once so focused on all things scientific, was derailed into a spiral of tumult over the state of affairs within our nation and without. Ten years and seven seasons of The West Wing later…
While the scope of the most pressing issues facing our nation is often daunting, events of the last year seem to have forced a new clarity of perception. Yet without this picture following from one locale to the next. Occasionally surfacing as some odd component or gizmo was fished from some box or another, politics would have in all likelihood been less than an afterthought throughout my life. Full well knowing that this very phrase has likely been emblazoned on hundreds or thousands of other pictures signed by this very same man, it has somehow emboldened me every time I have come across it. It has forced me to choke back the bile I taste when presented with a viewpoint on health care, education or any other swelteringly hot topic when significantly divergent from my own point of view.
Whether our chosen representatives realize or not, it is the little things they do that really change lives, not just the votes they cast. Thank you Tim, from the bottom of my heart, for even though we have never met, you have helped to expand my horizons.
OpenBSD’s financial situation
In typical form, Theo is once again ranting about for-profit corporations not living up to his personal ethical standards. Wait, wait, wait.. WHAT? Right, exactly, let me spell it out for those of you that missed it. For-profit corporations typically do not, nor should they in general operate under the guidance of some high and mighty code of ethics. That’s just not what they do! If you expect them to, you are a lunatic, profit margins are everything. Granted, there are some that do and kudos to them.
Theo, your pet OpenBSD is in some ways pushing the envelope to the extreme when compared to other open source operating systems. OpenSSH/SSL, bgpd, pf to name a few. You’re a bright guy Theo, I know you are, get with your guys and figure out how to monetize those good bits. Selling CD’s and DVD’s isn’t the way. Selling support services is a step in the right direction, but isn’t going to get you too far. Offer custom development services, for customization, etc? Ok, ok, sure, not bad. But you can do better than that, it all depends on how far you want to take it. Oh wait, there’s a thought. $10,000/year subscription service that gets your corporation fed security patches 72 hours before everyone else? How about a $30/year subscription service for individuals that gets you a login to download new releases 2 weeks before everyone else? Oh, right, but then one guy would grab it and setup a torrent or something. Think about it this way, though. At least then you’ll have something legitimate to rant about.