Let’s just say he wanted to use a hash to do lock-in, it should be sent in an HTTP POST variable. That would be standards compliant. But no, he creates a new header which is completely out of spec. If someone did that to RSS 2.0 he would shit a brick.

To me there is no ethical difference between running OPML Editor in the background and running a Python script in the background to download AP/AFP photos. Only the first method takes 20% of my CPU and gobs of memory. The second takes 1-3% while it’s downloading photos and nothing at all during the other 99% of the time.

There’s no way I’m going to run his scripting environment for any length of time. It’s probably the single worst OS X application I have ever seen. It’s beyond laughable.

If Google partnered with the AP to do a screensaver and pulled something like this, DW would probably talk about boycotting Google. Hell, if Apple automatically updated all of its users to a new version that included more lock in he would boycott Apple and write a letter to Steve Jobs. (It doesn’t give you a choice, your OPML editor updates itself every hour from his server.)

Do you honestly believe that Dave would be okay with this sort of behavior if it was Google doing the blocking?

Locking down the feed is hardly hypocritical either: when did Dave ever complain about that?

And he wants API into data that users enter into systems, which doesn’t qualify for these FlickrFan feeds.

If we need something to grouse about, how about wondering how Dave ever qualifies for “press” passes?

It’s also an incredibly inept technical solution. There are plenty of ways to move pictures from a server to a desktop client without exposing them in an RSS feed.

There also are ways to put data in an RSS feed while limiting the readers that can access it. I guess this laughable hack means that Dave still doesn’t have HTTPS support in his software.

The behavior is also entirely consistent with a software programmer that emrged from the 80′s.

Dave’s commitment to Open Source with Frontier was, IMHO, an exercise in getting his platform expanded to more systems without having to fund the ports. It didn’t work and the few people that track the project are long-time users of Frontier that enjoy the reduced financial restrictions on continuing to use the software. It’s a small but somewhat active group of Frontier folks.

I love working through Dave’s actions and this one is vintage Winery. His entire life’s work is bound in that platform and his current passions are producing interesting media hacks based upon that functionality. He’s NOT interested in seeing competitive software that takes his infrastructure and delivers similar or extended functionality.

Dave WANTS everyone to give him API’s (Google, Yahoo, Twitter, Flickr) but he is NOT interested in creating API’s for others to hack. His works are all gifts but he’s NOT giving away the technology that make them tick.

Thanks for the writing prompt.

PS> How did the rest of you feell about the Lakoff interview. I LOVED the information. It explains the current campaigns in ways that make everything a lot more clear. I loved hearing someone say what I have felt for months:

People want assistance with healthcare: insurance is NOT healthcare it’s a control point that injures the care giver and the patient in ways that are at the heart of the problem. I’d love to hear someone say that w.r.t. Universal Heathcare: insurance IS the problem even for those that have it.