In a world full of fancy development tools and sites, the kernel project’s dependence on email and mailing lists can seem quaintly dated, if not positively prehistoric. But, as Greg Kroah-Hartman pointed out in a Kernel Recipes talk titled “Patches carved into stone tablets”, there are some good reasons for the kernel community’s choices. Rather than being a holdover from an older era, email remains the best way to manage a project as large as the kernel.
A kernel is the first layer of computer, it controls everything on how the computer will work. The Linux Kernel is the most popular kernel in use today, powering over 1.5 billion Android devices, millions of Chromebooks, and millions of devices that are in use everyday (things from wireless routers to smartwatches). This doesn’t include all of the web services we depend on every day that run some version of Linux. You’re probably using something that requires Linux every day.
So what does that have to do with email? With Kernel development which involves thousands of developers around the world, email is the only technology that has proven itself to manage the process of Linux kernel development. Even if email seems old fashion, I like to point out to students that almost every service they use relies on email for account maintenance.
A few years ago, during a media interview for one of my books, my interviewer said something I still ponder often. Ranting about the level of distraction in his open office, he said, “That’s why I have a membership at the coworking space across the street — so I can focus.” While I fully support the backlash…
Can we safely conclude that the cell phone battle between educators and kids is over – and that the kids won? Source: The horse is out of the barn: cell phones – Home – Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog Schools need to research and implement a sane cellphone policy now, before one is forced on them.
Reverse image search is one of the most well-known and easiest digital investigative techniques, with two-click functionality of choosing “Search Google for image” in many web browsers. This method has also seen widespread use in popular culture, perhaps most notably in the MTV show Catfish, which exposes people in online relationships who use stolen photographs…
Can we get real? There are a lot of well-intentioned assignments and projects that frankly have very little LEARNING that goes with them. Create a poster of the solar system. The kid spends a lot of time (and money on supplies) with the outcome that they can (hopefully) identify the 7 planets. This is a DOK…
Parents care deeply about helping their kids build a positive and healthy relationship with technology. Last year, we introduced the Family Link app to help parents stay in the loop with how their children are using Android devices. Laptops also play an important role at home, with just over 50% of kids between 6-12 sharing…
Cloudpets sound like a cool idea. Use a teddy bear as a microphone and speaker to allow children to communicate with loved ones. It’s such a great idea that over 800,000 of the stuffed animals have been sold. How do we know this? Because the company has no clue how to do security. A maker…
