wabson
part three of the ever-exciting adventureArchive for December, 2006
Open source = fast moving
Google’s Chris di Bona on why they use open source throughout the company, and not just in their development stack:
It’s all about flexibility for us. The terrific thing about open-source software is that we don’t have to ask anyone’s permission before we make changes to our operating systems. We don’t have to ask anyone’s permission before we make changes to our databases. We don’t have to pay any per-client licence fees for these things. This is really important, not just from a cost savings point of view, but from a flexibility and speed point of view.
So the lesson? Open Source may be cheaper than proprietary alternatives, but having the freedom to do what you want when you want with your software is more important than saving a few bucks.
Tube geek
Have you ever noticed if you look out of the window on the Piccadilly Line while travelling between Green Park and Hyde Park Corner that the tunnel wall changes briefly from the normal soot-covered lining to beige brickwork and then back again? Behind the bricks is the disused Down Street station, used by Churchill and his War Cabinet as an emergency bunker before the Cabinet War Rooms were completed.
Today I feel mostly like crap. Geek Underground trivia and the O.C. are my way of getting through it.
wabson 