Tom Caudron in May of 2004

Lists are all the rage

Posted on 2004-05-31 at 08:01

And so I, too, will join in the fray with my List of Things Linux Needs Now (patent pending):

Money Management Engine: Gnome needs to standardize on a back end financial management engine that other apps can call upon it for data. Ideally, that back end would also feed iCal files to the Evolution back end so we could show a financial calendar in Evolution as needed. Why shouldn't my calendar also show me stuff like "Pay The Light Bill" or "Rent is Due"?
Music Engine: Gnome needs to standardize on a server back end for multimedia. I know that gStreamer is fixing to fill the spot with solid back end playback, but I mean multimedia management. There should be a standard call to show music files, stored video, etc, that other apps can use without reinventing the wheel. I recommend following Rhythmbox's lead. Let them move to a SQLLite back end for storing the data, let other frint ends attach (like Muine or XMMS) and then expand it to include multimedia beyand just music. Very cool. Frankly, why doesn't every Gnome desktop have a back end shoutcast-like service (perhaps something based on the great jReceiver app)?
Supplyline integration with the entertainment industry: I said it recently, but it's true. The world is moving to e-delivery of all your multimedia content. No one is really looking to set standards, and Gnome could really give it a go. Make it and advertise it as an open standard for multimedia e-commerce. Who needs 15 different proprietary interfaces for buying music and video online?
Better SDL/OpenGL APIs: Games designers ain't gonna write for Linux unless we make it as easy as they do in Windows. SDL is a good start. OpenGL needs to update itself and the SDL API needs to make it easy to access.
Better Hardware Integration: I know it's in the works, but it bears saying anyway. We need to know that when we plug a device into the system, that the Kernel will react by telling Gnome what's happened, and Gnome needs to react by telling the user what's going on. Ideally, it'll be nothing more than a notice that a new device is now attached and ready for use. Little or no user intervention is key to this!
First-Timer Wizards: Gnome needs to ask the user the first time they log in if they want a Gnome-like, Mac-like, or Windows-like experience and adjust the default preferences accordingly. Maybe even do it on a sliding scale from Windows to Gnome and where on the scale the user sets the defaults, determines the level of Gnomeness that is present in the defaults. That'd be kinda cool.
Hot chicks: Linux needs more hot chicks. There is a distinct paucity of hot chicks in linux. ;-)

Burning of the Houses of Parliament

Posted on 2004-05-29 at 08:03

Fires rise bringing smoke to fearful and
darkening skies which scream through choking smog
felling the highest gods in heaven with
the distorted flames of their reckless fury.
      The stone bridge watches yet never judges.

Crowds pulsate in throbbing abandon of
principles of kindness. The blood red beard
of conflagration and terror rages
the collective pulsing heart of spiteful
and petty men seeking liberation
amidst Chthonic storms. "Freedom," they cry,
while red tears wash away decades of filth
and oppression. Together at last for
chaos errands and pitfall dreams; their years
of preaching love left them solitary.
      The stone bridge watches yet never judges.

Yellow, orange, and bluish grays gild the
sky while sad and desperate men float on
hopes with dowsing droplets which the flames drink
haughtily. Paucities of faith and hope
and love are glaringly betrayed in the
crimson shade of an earthly apocalypse.
No trumpets blare now; only the clanging
and banging of screaming bells sound sharply
to the deaf ears of a panicked throng of
satyrs. Guilt still falls from a forgotten
firmament onto the heads of every
ordinary man among them. Drinking
from a goblet of insanity in
a feast of culpability hosted
by Mammon the dead hearted, they cry, "More!"
      The stone bridge watches yet never judges.

Who among them would betray the frantic
anarchy of disaster while buzzards
of revolution brought low the glory
of ancient houses, elder families,
and ruling scepters? Who among them would
resist quitting substance for pure shadow
when the shadow seemed to promise so much?
The din of alarm is slowly replaced
by the expanding moan of funeral
chorus rising from the damned mouths of men,
supplanting the screams for more with cries
of pity, regret, and indistinct shame.
After the fires, new houses are carved
from greater stones with greater craftsmanship
for greater glory. Elder families
resurface and smoke merely mates with clouds.
      The stone bridge watches yet never judges.

   -Tom Caudron
   -Inspired by the painting of the same name by Joseph Mallord William Turner

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