Open Source Software really here to stay!

Yeah I know, I'm just another blogger late to the table, stating the obvious. Seriously, It just hit me today. I made a comment on a /. thread about Google including images in with the search results.

For the record: THIS IS A BAD IDEA Google. Please consider carefully what you are doing.

Google is about simple, fast and accurate. The minute they start trying to be all things to everyone, they begin to lose the core values that put them where they are. The image button works well. Adding a button to do both, or letting users choose works and is true to the Google way we have seen to date.

Ok, back to the topic at hand, namely OSS actually being here to stay. My comment was about page thumbnails. I would love this feature because it would add a useful visual to the search results. Not sure it should be part of the default search, but useful if made an option of some kind.

In typical Slashdot style, I got a quick reply letting me know that a Firefox extension has been able to do this for a while now. I MISSED A BROWSER PLUG IN? WTF !?!

And there's my point. OSS is big now. Big enough that it is very difficult to actually know the state of it anymore and that's very cool. Long ago, or at least it seems long ago, reading Linux Today, Slash, Lwn and a few others brought a person current. Chatting with a few friends took care of the loose ends and all was good. Today, that works for a segment of OSS only, and that can be tough.

Thanks everyone for working to build something so very cool. If you don't feel appreciated, drop me a line and I will make it so because you are appreciated by at least one geek!