WINDING DOWN
An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week's net, technology and science news
by Alan Lenton
There’s going to be no issue of Winding Down this week (June 21) or next week (June 28).
This week I am tangled up with trying to upgrade my Linux development kit, which, these days, is nearly as complex as trying to upgrade Windows. It used to take an hour or so, but now one has to allow at least a whole weekend for the upgrade, especially if, like me you only upgrade every other version. The issue is compounded by the people at Red Hat Fedora deciding that they know better than me what software components I need on the computer. The result is that I have to take out a load of unwanted stuff, and put a stack of needed stuff they didn’t bother with on to the machine.
Once upon a time you were able to choose what you needed at installation, but now, dahlings, that idea is so passé. You can either have a server build with no graphical interface, or a workstation with all the pretty pictures and toys burning up your processor power. The possibility that you might be developing server apps on a workstation, and therefore need elements of both types of system, is, apparently, beyond their comprehension.
At this rate of degeneration, I estimate that by about 2025, you will be offered the choice between either a digital TV system, or the ability to program by flicking switches on the front of the computer to input zeros and ones...
Acknowledgements
Thanks to readers Barb and Fi for drawing my attention to material for Winding Down.
Please send suggestions for stories to alan@ibgames.com and include the words Winding Down in the subject line, unless you want your deathless prose gobbled up by my voracious Thunderbird spam filter...
Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
21 June 2015
Alan Lenton is an on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist, the order of which depends on what he is currently working on! His web site is at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/index.html.
Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html.
