Re: Linux/Mozilla related Short-Term Contract

[Christopher Sekiya <wileyc@example.com>]

On Tue, Oct 03, 2000 at 05:11:42PM +0900, Jonathan Shore wrote:

> That's not very constructive.  What is the purpose here - to accomplish a
> practical objective.  I appreciate open source (having done my share of
> it) - nevertheless, I have a business to run.   I can't wait for the
> respective open-source projects to provide exactly what I need, nor am I
> requesting that the proposed work be folded back into any public
> distribution.

Constructive or not, it is most likely an accurate assessment of the ultimate
outcome of this project given the source material.

Hmmm ... can anyone think of a Japanization project that had its work committed
into the main source tree (I'll stipulate FSF Emacs, but look how long it took
that to happen)?

> Which reminds me:  why is it so *damn* hard to get some things working on
> Linux -- there is so much  chaos.

Define "get things working".  Porting apps from other UNIX flavours to Linux?
Writing apps to run under Linux?  Or making existing apps work the way you
want them to?

The first is the fault of the (g)libc guys (for things that don't live in
kernel space) or Linus (for things that do).

The second problem is not specific to Linux, but rather a general UNIX topic.

The third ... there we start getting into code quality, the importance of
having a workable design _before_ coding begins, and so forth.  CS 350 fodder.
Mozilla is an _excellent_ example of a project that tried to be everything
to everyone, with detrimental results.

> In the mean time I'll accomplish objectives with a more expedient approach.

Trying to do this with mozilla may not provide the result that you desire.

> So please lend something constructive next time.

What would qualify as "constructive"?  "Good luck, you're going to need it"?
I'm not going to apply for this job, so I'm calling it how I see it.

-- Chris