How Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done (Lifehacker) [LWN.net]

How Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done (Lifehacker)

Posted Apr 24, 2009 3:43 UTC (Fri) by jordanb (guest, #45668) [Link] (12 responses)

I thought that press release from yesterday was foul, but Lifehacker? about Steve Wozniak?

Please don't turn LWN into a Slashdot. It's not Linux news that The Great Woz said something kind about Linux. This isn't a cult of personality. And also please never post anything ever again from Lifehacker. That place produces just about the purest high-grade Blog drivel on the internet. It puts even such drivel kingpins as 37 Folders or Techcrunch to shame.

Please don't post anything from those sites either.

No, you leave

Posted Apr 24, 2009 4:06 UTC (Fri) by pr1268 (guest, #24648) [Link] (6 responses)

Please don't turn LWN into a Slashdot.

LWN's editors work hard enough to control the quality and semantics of the articles here at LWN. It hasn't become nearly as bad (or as good) as Slashdot, not by a long shot.

And also please never post anything ever again from Lifehacker.

It's up to LWN's editors to decide what to put on their site; as far as I've been able to tell (for the past four years I've been a subscriber), they've done a pretty good job. If you don't like the content of LWN, then don't bother subscribing. There are other places online to get your Linux/Open-Source news.

I read the Lifehacker interview and found the one paragraph about Woz's Linux experiences (or lack thereof) to be relevant to this site. At least he acknowledges the existence of Linux, unlike Steve Jobs.

No, you leave

Posted Apr 24, 2009 4:23 UTC (Fri) by jordanb (guest, #45668) [Link] (5 responses)

What value did you get out of this article? It is typical Lifehacker drivel: fawning over the personality of an Internet Famous person attached to Apple. He made one reference to Linux that wasn't even remotely enlightening or informative. And moreover, who cares if he's "better" or worse than Steve Jobs? Should I care that Mao was "Better" than Joseph Stalin?

I used the comment system to say that articles such as this (of which there've been a string lately) are not the reason why I subscribe to LWN. If you feel differently.. well, good for you. I'd rather not see this stuff. The editors of the site are free to take it in whatever direction they want, and they're more than free to ignore my complaint. But that's how I feel.

No, you leave

Posted Apr 24, 2009 8:30 UTC (Fri) by Janne (guest, #40891) [Link] (4 responses)

Why do you whine about this thing so much? I mean, I occasionally run in to articles on LWN that I do not care about that much, for one reason or another. What do I do? I simply choose not to read those articles. What I do NOT do is to start complaining about them.

"I used the comment system to say that articles such as this (of which there've been a string lately) are not the reason why I subscribe to LWN."

Yes, I guess the LWN-editors should start to pander to your personal wants and demands... Do you think that just because you subscribe to LWN, you can now expect only articles that are interesting to you?

"I'd rather not see this stuff."

Why not just glance at the article, decide "I'm not interested in that", and move on? How much time have you now wasted complaining about this?

I for one find the article interesting. Wozniak IS one of the great people of computing. Yes, he comes from the "other side", but that doesn't mean that his comments and opinions are not interesting or valid. I for one AM interested in his views about Linux.

No, you leave

Posted Apr 24, 2009 8:58 UTC (Fri) by MisterIO (guest, #36192) [Link] (3 responses)

When you're not interested in an article, you skip it. Instead when he doesn't like it, or he thinks the article is of poor quality, he writes a comment about it. So what? When I pay for something, I like to be able to say if I like or not what I'm paying for. Expressing opinions is exactly what comments are here for. Sure, the "ignore it" method is the most useless in any case. Feedback is at the base of everything that works in reality.

No, you leave

Posted Apr 24, 2009 9:40 UTC (Fri) by Janne (guest, #40891) [Link] (2 responses)

He did not pay for this particular article (which is available for free in any case), he paid for subscribing to LWN, which gives him many benefits over non-subscribers (like early access to the weekly editions).

Should we all constantly voice our opinions about whether we like or dislike some particular article? The comments would then quickly degenerate in to arguiming that is the article interesting or not, as opposed to actually discussing the contents of the article.

And in this case, the "article" is basically just a link to the interview, and a short blurb from it. So what's the harm here? this article didn't take any resources from the editors, so is this a case of aesthetics or something? That the person does not want to read about Steve Wozniak, so everything related to Woz should not appear in LWN?

what I get from his comment is a sense of entitlement. "I'm a subscriber and I demand that you stop publishing articles like this!". The easy solution is to simply not read the article in question. No-one is required to read everything that LWN publishes, we ARE free to pick and choose the articles that interest us. Demanding that LWN only publishes "interesting" articles is dumb, since every single LWN-reader has a different idea as to what is "interesting" and what is not. You can't please everyone. The easy solution is to simply skip the articles that do not interest you, instead of throwing a hissy-fit about it.

No, you leave

Posted Apr 24, 2009 10:10 UTC (Fri) by Los__D (guest, #15263) [Link] (1 responses)

I wholeheartedly agree.

I have no idea why people wants to impose a "only my interests" limitation on this wonderful news service, then we would need to have a gazillion mini-lwn's, each with like 4 readers.

No, you leave

Posted Apr 24, 2009 10:50 UTC (Fri) by hppnq (guest, #14462) [Link]

In just a few comments this escalated from a simple observation, although obviously written without support from the legal department, to a Slashdot-worthy skirmish. Thank God nobody mentioned the nazis.

Count me among those who feel that some articles (especially most linking to blog posts) are filler, and therefore bring down the LWN value.

How Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done (Lifehacker)

Posted Apr 24, 2009 6:50 UTC (Fri) by job (guest, #670) [Link] (3 responses)

I also prefer LWN to publish few but high quality articles. The opposible, a deluge of questionable quality, is somewhat of an already occupied niche on the web.

How Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done (Lifehacker)

Posted Apr 24, 2009 12:41 UTC (Fri) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (1 responses)

Actually, I thought LWN *did* just publish a few, high-quality, articles.

But that's not enough to fill the site, so as an extra benefit, it provides LINKS to other articles that the editor feels may be interesting.

Maybe subscribers should have an option of a front page that shows ONLY the "pay for" articles. I think that should satisfy the people who don't want any "dross".

Cheers,
Wol

How Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done (Lifehacker)

Posted Apr 24, 2009 13:10 UTC (Fri) by njd27 (subscriber, #5770) [Link]

I long for a return to the days when LWN had just a few, but high quality, *comments*.

How Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done (Lifehacker)

Posted May 6, 2009 13:11 UTC (Wed) by jschrod (subscriber, #1646) [Link]

Then I would recommed to go to your account's preference page and turn off the category "Linux in the news" because that is never any original LWN.net content.

See, your wish is already fulfilled, no need to waste other reader's time with your complaints.

How Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done (Lifehacker)

Posted Apr 24, 2009 14:45 UTC (Fri) by tjc (guest, #137) [Link]

> Please don't turn LWN into a Slashdot.

You know, if we keep this up someday someone will be saying "Please don't turn XYZ into LWN."

I didn't read the article; it doesn't interest me. But the chance that someone else may find it interesting doesn't bother me.

Customizing application...

Posted Apr 24, 2009 5:58 UTC (Fri) by aleXXX (subscriber, #2742) [Link] (3 responses)

From the article:
"I've wondered why they didn't just have a standard API that lets you
script anything from the menu bar into a button. Why isn't it just built
into the operating system?"

For most KDE applications this is possible since KDE 2.0. Then kxmlgui
was introduced, which means you have a xml-file which describes which
actions go into the menu, which go into the toolbar etc.
You can modify them to your liking and so get anything you want in your
toolbars.

Alex

Customizing application...

Posted Apr 24, 2009 13:33 UTC (Fri) by leomilano (guest, #32220) [Link] (2 responses)

Right, and fundamentally, I think it shows this guy has no idea how free software works. There is no "they" as he is thinking. He shoud probably start by reading "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" ;-)

Customizing application...

Posted Apr 24, 2009 15:18 UTC (Fri) by klossner (subscriber, #30046) [Link] (1 responses)

Woz has a better handle on free software than you think. The comment about a menu bar customization API was directed at MacOS, not KDE.

Customizing application...

Posted Apr 24, 2009 15:47 UTC (Fri) by leomilano (guest, #32220) [Link]

Oops, you are right, thanks for the clarification, my bad!

How Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done (Lifehacker)

Posted Apr 25, 2009 18:09 UTC (Sat) by ofeeley (guest, #36105) [Link] (1 responses)

He bemoans the lack of Eudora and I wonder has he given Penelope[1][2] a try.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelope_(e-mail_client)
2. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Penelope

How Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done (Lifehacker)

Posted Apr 30, 2009 17:42 UTC (Thu) by bkoz (guest, #4027) [Link]

An Apple mail hater! Loved it, and commentary on email and phone usage. Maybe they should auction off fly-on-the-wall views when he discovers linux desktop email clients, particularly sylpheed or claws-mail. Maybe Katarina Smirnoff can help him? Hmmm?

The real money quote though:

"When we first started with Apple computers, it was my dream that everyone would learn to program, and that was how they'd use their computer. But, obviously, that's not the way it turned out. That's where I think we see the advantages of open-source software. I think it's a great thing, and a lot of companies are using mySQL, open-source software, and, well, Linux, too, to make the software work exactly the way they need it to. That kind of hacking is the center of my heart, that's who I am."

How Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done (Lifehacker)

Posted Apr 26, 2009 3:53 UTC (Sun) by MattPerry (guest, #46341) [Link]

I don't understand the appeal of this guy. I see interviews with him all of the time and I don't know why people are doing it. Maybe someone can explain it to me. He created the Apple I and II and that's it. I could understand it if the interviews were about his hardware designs and how the Apple I and II were designed and built. At least then there would be some interesting historical information. Instead we get questions about what email and web clients he uses. It's so inane it's mind-numbing. Are people interested in him because of his association with the Apple cult of personality?