Mosfet Contributes Code To KDE (Again) 193
davidsmind writes "Former KDE hacker and creator of the much acclaimed Liquid theme, Mosfet(AKA Daniel M. Duley ) is back in the spotlight. The Dot was the first one with the story.
'Many in the KDE community are aware of some rocky history between KDE hacker Mosfet and other KDE developers. Fortunately, it looks like things have taken a great turn for the better: Mosfet wrote in to tell us that "I've decided to donate 20 effects I ported to KDE/Qt for PixiePlus to KDE3." Waldo Bastian promptly added them to CVS.'" The list of effects is long, impressive, and under a BSD-style license. Mosfet has done a lot of the work that makes my desktop pretty, so I'm very happy to hear about this.
Wonderful news (Score:2, Informative)
It would seem that "The Dot" is already fallen under the Slashdot effect.
Re:Wonderful news (Score:2, Informative)
A matter of perspective - my only major gripe with gnome is that its API re-invents the wheel over and over (C is not an object-oriented language, and gtk's attempt at emulating an object oriented language just isn't as good as the real thing, IMO).
It would seem that "The Dot" is already fallen under the Slashdot effect.
Currently working on it... The machine's load was temporarily up at 33.8, it's starting
to enter acceptable values (10.33 ATM) now, after some tweaking.
Re:Wonderful news (Score:1)
-N.
Re:Wonderful news (Score:1)
Object Orientation is a programming style, not a set of language features. Some languages (e.g. C++ and Java) attempt to encourage object-oriented programming, but the world is full of non-object-oriented programs that use this languages.
Using object oriented programming techniques in C is not a sign of delusion, it's an attempt to do more with less.
Re:Wonderful news (Score:2)
You can always do more with less. So why not write your OO program in assember? Just because I can build a house armed with only a screwdriver does not mean that's the way it should be done. I have only myself to blame if my neighbors think me delusional for hammering, sawing and spackling with only a screwdriver, especially when my toolbox includes hammers, saws and putty knives.
There are some OO like things you can do in C easily. But most of them are very difficult. It's not worth the effort when you can do the very same thing, and more, with a real OO language. C++ may not be the perfect OO language, but I would rather hammer in nails with an imperfect hammer than with an elegant screwdriver.
Re:Wonderful news (Score:2)
Exactly. The biggest problem, I think, is that calling a method is done differently depending on whether that method is virtual. If object Z has standard method A and virtual method B, then to invoke A you must say A(Z), but to invoke B you must say Z->B(Z). This disparity is ugly and would be solved by using C++ which they should have done in the first place.
Re:Wonderful news (Score:2)
In the GNU world, yes. But so what? So is fortran, ada, objective C, java, and every other language that gcc supports.
If C++ compilers were standard on all Unix platforms, then it would make sense to write a compiler in C++. But a lot of platforms don't. I don't see how you could bootstrap a C++ compiler written in C++ using only the default C compiler. Compilers aren't written in C because C is better than C++, but rather because C is the lowest common denominator language on Unix.
Why can't you have a nice toolkit written in C that uses a nice clean OO-like interface?
GTK+ is a nice toolkit. But it stretches things quite a bit to call its OO interface "clean".
Re:Wonderful news (Score:1, Funny)
That Just Goes to Show Ya (Score:1, Insightful)
All of us that use and enjoy KDE owe thanks to those that contribute, regardless of whatever went on before they bring code to the table for us to share.
What's the story? (Score:2, Interesting)
For those of us not in the know, what's the rocky history?
dot.kde.org is totally /.'ed.
Re:What's the story? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What's the story? (Score:5, Informative)
He's done some cool stuff for KDE, but from what I heard, he appeared to not work well as a team and could possibly have been a hindrance to KDE's progress. This is mostly what I read from KDE's other developers.
Mosfet took his code and began developing separately from KDE, and KDE developers allegedly began forking his code, sometimes even claiming that mosfet's code was forked.
He then had some trouble with FutureTech [slashdot.org], but that's not directly related to the KDE team at all.
So, that's what I know. Basically some stuff I've read from mosfet, kde developers, and 3rd parties.
Re:What's the story? (Score:1)
Re:What's the story? (Score:2)
Btw, Mosfet's real name is Daniel M. Dudley. Does Daniel sounds like a chick's name?
Re:What's the story? (Score:1)
-N.
I propose a Mosfet section on Slashdot (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I propose a Mosfet section on Slashdot (Score:2)
And the weird thing is, the dude's got m4d skillzZz, but he claims he likes these images!
Re:I propose a Mosfet section on Slashdot (Score:2)
Is this what Mosfet looks like? Is this him in drag? Who is that in the picture!?
I mean, if Mosfet wants to dress in drag, that is cool I don't care (heck, I live in San Francisco). I just want to find out what the deal is!
Is this just something the is into? Men dressing like crazy aggressive women?
There are some more pictures in his PixiePlus screenshots [mosfet.org].
Anyway...
Kevin
Mosfet is a woman? :) (Score:1)
I heard on a numerous occations that Mosfet actually is a woman, so if that is true, no it isn't mosfet in "drag".
.. Or someone might be pulling my leg or something.
Re:Mosfet is a woman? :) (Score:2, Funny)
From the Mosfet's homepage [mosfet.org]: "My name is Daniel M. Duley. I'm a 26 yr/old application developer and system admin living in Indiana, USA."... And I who just loves geekgirls... Damn!
Re:I propose a Mosfet section on Slashdot (Score:3, Funny)
Yes, that's him.
There are some more pictures in his PixiePlus screenshots.
The pictures of the blonde woman in a dress? That's his girlfriend, IIRC. So if you single guys out there were wondering what you're doing wrong, you might want to consider long green hair, green lipstick and periodic feuding with the core KDE developers. Apparently there's more to know than just what's in Eric Raymond's sex tips HOWTO...
Not just a large contribution (Score:5, Informative)
One of the biggest things to happen to KDE in last year has been the rewrite of KDE's printing support [slashdot.org], by Michael Goffioul. No-one goes around proclaiming Michael as a coding god, because he just got on with it and produced something very impressive (and that has got even more impressive in KDE 3).
Similarly for the developer(s) [kde.org] of Kate [sourceforge.net], KDE's text editor. Or the developers of Konqueror [konqueror.org], who have equalled Mozilla with a twentieth of the personnel and a thousandth of the money.
Similarly for all the people that don't code, but instead translate KDE into 15 million languages.
KDE is a true team effort and can do without coding primadonnas.
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:1)
Would you care to explain how I select an alternate stylesheet using http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/ as an example?
Konqueror is not more stable than Mozilla. It wasn't as stable up until around 0.9.3, but it's now at 0.9.7 and it's a damn site more stable than Konqueror.
And finally, do you know how many people work on the core Gecko engine? No, I didn't think so.
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:2, Flamebait)
Without belittling Konqueror, as it is truly an excellent browser, it is not in the same league as Mozilla.
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:1)
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:2)
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, that's curious. Konqueror renders twice the pages correctly in half the time that Mozilla does. And loads faster. And has a more appealing default interface. And browses the web, as opposed to reading mail and news, providing an IRC client, and making my morning coffee.
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:1)
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:1, Insightful)
try looking at the offcial PNG transparency test page using Konqueror:
http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/pngs.html [libpng.org]
You can't really compare Konqueror and Galeon because they have different scopes. Konqueror is a file manager that doubles as a web browser. Konqueror, Nautilus, and Internet Explorer have the same scope (although Nautilus's web functions are a bit weak).
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:2)
Try loading up chrome://navigator/content/navigator.xul in Galeon some day.
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:1)
Twice the pages? Really? Do you have any examples? Else this is probably mostly wish-thinking, as every other person I've met will testify that Mozilla renders more pages correctly. Nothing personal against Konqueror, it's just that the Mozilla people have had more time to spend developing their engine.
And browses the web, as opposed to reading mail and news, providing an IRC client, and making my morning coffee.
I hope you know that you don't have to install those parts if you do not want to.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:2)
Thank goodness I discovered ROX-Filer.
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:2)
Why have I been moderated as flamebait not just once, but twice? Konqueror is an excellent browser (KDE is my default desktop and Konqueror is my normal web browser) but I'm not naive enough to believe it's achieving the same scope as Mozilla.
Is this more proof that the anti-anti-KDE league is now much more vocal than the anti-KDE league? Both of them seem to be more vocal than the pro-KDE league! It seems they're flaming the people who support KDE (eg, myself) for daring to be objective!
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:5, Insightful)
You can see what he's done. It's obvious, it just jumps right out at you, because it's GUI work. For better or worse, GUI programmers have this extra responsibility.
Erik
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:4, Insightful)
Are you saying that he used Open-Source code in an Open-Source project? *gasp*
If he didn't credit the source that's understandable, but if this is brought to his attention and he fixes it, it could be a mistake (although since I'm sure you've never made any, you wouldn't understand).
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:1)
Re:Not just a large contribution (Score:4, Insightful)
All preferences asside, both are fantastic browsers, however, saying konq has equaled mozilla is like saying a pear has equaled an orange because they are both fruit. Konq has a goal of being a fantastic browser for kde. This it has done. Mozilla has a goal of being a fantastic CROSS-PLATFORM browser. This it has done. It's quite accurate to say that they arn't in the same league, so long as you realize the leagues you're talking about are the NBA and the NFL, for example
konqureor != mozilla. (Score:1)
Konqueror's biggest fault is 0 javascript. I have made really clean javascript code that spans from ns 3.0-mozilla 0.9.7, and it doesn't even start to run on konqueror.
If you really don't like the bloat in mozilla, check out skipstone, it's like galeon, but it actually delivers.
No, it cannot (Score:5, Insightful)
"KDE can do without coding primadonnas".
Sorry, I think I disagree.
Primadonnas are a pain in the ass, ok.
But in the final count, you must kneel and ask them to come back on stage (hear the fine music about primadonnas from Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera").
Some primaddonnas have a contribution, a good contribution for that matter -- and *we* cannot afford being egocentric -- even and mainly if they are!
In the famous Lee Iacocca autobiographic book, he tells about having colleagues who complained about hardtimes with other people. He used to say, jokingly I guess, "Too bad, this company doesn't hire monkeys, or gorillas or tigers, we just got people!"
And that's it, to put it simply.
KDE is not just about technology. Ok, it is a very advanced project and what I like in the Linux world is that we progress faster than most other alternatives, be it commercial or not.
But KDE _is_ about people, too. Don't throw away competent people. Instead, put some buffer around their idiosyncrasies.
Heck, keep them in an asylum if you need, but don't disregard their work. We lost too many geniuses because they were gay, and now we regret it.
So, get two people, the primadonna and someone who can interface him/her to the world.
Now, to Mosfet and Rasterman, you can sing very well -- but what is a singer without an audience.
Have patience with those who must have patience with you.
From a friend.
Mosfet vs Rasterman! (Score:1)
Re:No, it cannot (Score:2)
Re:No, it cannot (Score:1)
Off topic but interesting:
The one of the largest contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary was locked away in an asylum.
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1358.htm [uh.edu]
Re:No, it cannot (Score:2)
"KDE can do without coding primadonnas".
Sorry, I think I disagree.
Primadonnas are a pain in the ass, ok.
They are not only a pain in the ass but if you've been in open projects for any amount of time you know that they're huge time wasters as well. They're contributions are mitigated by the fact that they're such high maintenance and they eat up other ppl's valuable time.
In the famous Lee Iacocca autobiographic book, he tells about having colleagues who complained about hardtimes with other people. He used to say, jokingly I guess, "Too bad, this company doesn't hire monkeys, or gorillas or tigers, we just got people!"
And that's it, to put it simply.
That quote you're using... It was Iocacca arguing why prima donnas aren't tolerated. He also goes on to say that if the prima dona is sufficiently talented he might be tolerated for a time but eventually their inability to get along with people will do them in. I don't understand your use of the quote as it just undermines your position.
But KDE _is_ about people, too. Don't throw away competent people. Instead, put some buffer around their idiosyncrasies.
Heck, keep them in an asylum if you need, but don't disregard their work. We lost too many geniuses because they were gay, and now we regret it.
Ummm... Being gay and being a prima donna are two very different things. Its a fatally flawed analogy.
So, get two people, the primadonna and someone who can interface him/her to the world.
You mean get them a babysitter? Good luck finding one willing to babysit egos during their free time. =)
That said it appears that Mosfet is playing nicely with everyone in the sandbox now. =)
Re:No, it cannot (Score:2)
There's a difference between being gay and being an insufferable asshole. If you need Primadonnas, use them. But their usefulness should not be used to rationalize derogatory behavior toward others.
And no, I am not referring to Mosfet. I know nothing about him or the Mosfet/KDE thing.
please? (Score:2)
thanks!
Re:please? dot front page mirror (Score:1)
The Odd Thing About Open Source (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The Odd Thing About Open Source (Score:1)
Daniel is a male name, Danielle is female. Why do you think Mosfet is a woman? (Besides the weird image banners)
Let us not forget ... (Score:4, Funny)
They too have played a big role in making KDE what it is today.
They forgot to mention his brother (Score:1)
Re:Let us not forget ... (Score:1)
Sorry, had to be done.
Alex
Hurrah! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hurrah! (Score:1)
Right. Let's also not ignore the fact that it's a clear clone of Apple's "Aqua" theme, right down to the (IMNSHO annoying) horizontal line pattern in window backgrounds.
karma whore (Score:1)
[Graphics and Art] Posted by Dre on Monday December 31, @08:34AM
from the one-big-happy-family dept.
Many in the KDE community are aware of some rocky history between KDE hacker Mosfet and other KDE developers. Fortunately, it looks like things have taken a great turn for the better: Mosfet wrote in to tell us that "I've decided to donate 20 effects I ported to KDE/Qt for PixiePlus to KDE3". Waldo Bastian promptly added them to CVS. The new effects include normalize, equalize, solarize, threshold, emboss, despeckle, charcoal, rotate, sample, addNoise, blur, edge, implode, oil paint, sharpen, spread, shade, swirl, wave, and contrastHSV. All will be available under a BSD-type license in the KImageEffect class in kdelibs. According to Mosfet, these effects will be useful not only for image viewers and editors, but also for things like style engines. Except for the simple rotate, Mosfet ported the effects from ImageMagick to work directly on QImages and Qt scanlines. Nice job, Mosfet! (For those who have not yet heard the news, PixiePlus is the successor to Pixie; more information is available here.)
My Opinion.. (Score:2, Interesting)
BSD/GPL License Conflicts (Score:2)
Did I get something wrong there?
Re:Nope, you're wrong (Score:2)
Feel free to point out where it says you may not modify or delete the existing copyright notices in a GPLed program.
Re:Nope, you're wrong (Score:1)
1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program.
and
2. b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.
Re:Nope, you're wrong (Score:2)
'1.' only applies to those wishing to distribute the source without making modifications, so doesn't apply to this discussion.
Re:BSD/GPL License Conflicts (Score:2)
I wish we could get the questions... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I wish we could get the questions... (Score:1)
Yeah, if Sendmail would not be somewhat hard to configure, I'd use it instead of Postfix. Then I'd have less software in the computer written by those straight people... at least they should wash hands before coding - every time I send E-mail from my own machine I momentarily think of cars and beer and TV and bowling and stuff. Ack! Don't force me to use software that makes me lose Kinsey points! I never know when they come back!
Well, seriously - who cares. =) I don't pick my programs based on author's sexual orientation - I have more important things to worry about when making that decision.
Mandrake RPM packages? (Score:1)
Ciryon
Re:oh boy! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:oh boy! (Score:1)
Miller's Crossing?
Re:oh boy! (Score:2, Insightful)
'kwin' is actually a fairly lightweight window manager. Or do you not know the difference between a window manager and a desktop environment?
Re:oh boy! (Score:1)
Both KDE and Gnome (and XFCE) are desktop environments, and include within them a window manager (kwin for KDE, sawfish for GNOME, xfce's built in windowmanager for XFCE).
Both the KDE and Gnome environments work perfectly well using different window managers (a lot of people used to run KDE with the Blackbox window manager, as with Gnome and a window manager called Enlightenment).
Re:another advancement (Score:1)
I think you'll find that Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 all did it too.
Simon
Oh no they didn't (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Oh no they didn't (Score:1)
Windows XP doesn't show an icon; and the original description indicated that what you have described is not what KDE does; c.f.:
KDE added a small icon to the mouse pointer that animated whenever an app was launching.
It certainly sounds like KDE does what Windows does from that description.
Re:KDE is Kluttered (Score:1)
Re:Pretty? (Score:1)
But Aqua is lickable! (Score:1)
Once you're a minor celebrity, news sites continue reporting things about you even though you may not matter anymore.
Re:Liquid? Aqua? (Score:1)