Disqus - Latest Comments for jeffg

Re: CLEAR WiMAX USB Modem Driver for Mac OS X Available Now

jeffg — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:06:21 -0000

I've been using the CLEAR driver with Mac OS Leopard 10.5.8 since yesterday. Performance has been excellent and I've encountered no problems that are attributable to the driver or hardware. The one issue I have encountered is that the Cisco VPN client does not seem to recognize the WiMAX interface as an active interface with an IP address, so I'm currently unable to use that app when connected only with the CLEAR-branded USBw25100 dongle. That strikes me as a Cisco bug.

Here are screenshots of the CLEAR Connection Manager application:

http://photos.jeffg.org/ima...

And of the Network preferences pane:

http://photos.jeffg.org/ima...

Re: The Most Free(tm) Way to Make Money from Open Source

jeffg — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:15:51 -0000

While waiting for the trackback to verify, here's my response:

http://jeffgehlbach.com/?p=62

Re: The Most Free(tm) Way to Make Money from Open Source

jeffg — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:36:59 -0000

I've been trying to write up a rather long comment, but it keeps getting mangled and then not showing up after I edit it. Will do this via trackback instead I suppose...

Re: The Most Free(tm) Way to Make Money from Open Source

jeffg — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:28:50 -0000

Your last point is orthogonal to your others. It's critical for a company that sponsors an open-source project to defend the good name of the project against damage done by improper use of the name. Trademark law (which is distinct from copyright law in the U.S. [IANAL]) is just a tool for enabling that. Look at the PHP programming language -- it's got a bad rap in many security circles chiefly because it's an easy language to pick up, which leads to lots of unseasoned programmers creating eye-wateringly insecure projects written in PHP and then including "PHP" in the names of those projects. It's quite possible to write secure code in a weakly-typed language like PHP that puts ease of use above almost everything else, just as it's possible to write insecure code in a strongly-typed language like Java that has secure compiler and VM design pretty much nailed.

I especially take issue with the implication (which I could well just be imagining) that lawsuits over improper use of trademarks tend to be lucrative on net. Lawyers are expensive, and I suspect that most infringements of this type end upon receipt of the first cease-and-desist letter.