TDD is BS?

[Nick Sabalausky]

On Wed, 26 Jun 2013 13:58:18 -0700
"H. S. Teoh" <hsteoh at quickfur.ath.cx> wrote:
> > 
> > Actually, my first introduction to programming was the interactive
> > tutorial disks that came with the Apple IIc. I sometimes find it
> > kind of depressing that instruction isn't even *that* far along
> > anymore, let alone any further advanced.
> 
> Yeah, no kidding! In the Good Ole Days (gosh I'm old :-P

Heh. I admit I have little right to be talking about "getting old", but
one thing I have learned: Hearing things I still think of as "normal"
be referred to by people as "retro" or "ancient" or before their time
certainly doesn't help one feel young ;)  I've even seen N64/PS1 stuff
called "retro"! That just seems so wrong - they supported *true 3D*! I
don't think I'll ever get used to anything from 1990-2005 being
"old" (90's==old? That just ain't right!), and I sympathize with anyone
who feels that way about the 80's. You know there are *adults* now who
never lived through any part of the 80's? Again, that just doesn't seem
right! I can't legitimately say I'm getting old yet, but it sure as
hell feels like it!

> the Apple
> PCs used to come with *full listings of the ROM code*, schematic
> diagrams of PC internals, and voltage/amperage levels and pin
> diagrams along with suggestions of how to hook it up to homemade
> electronics. A far cry from today's blackboxed lawyer-guarded device
> rentals. Sigh.
> 

Yea. I had heard somewhere that at one point electronic devices often
came with their own schematics, and the demise of that was part of what
put Stallman down the path leading to the FSF. (Although I can kinda
understand why the Core i7, etc, don't come with printed schematics -
would there even be enough paper in the world? ;) ) 

Luckily, there's at least a good fight being put up against
orwell-computing, even if it is an uphill battle.  The thing I find
most encouraging thing (although this is software-side) is gog.com -
there's a good article on it here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/05/30/good-old-games-gog-com-and-the-drm-free-revolution/

There's also some encouraging things happening on the game hardware
front: The old guard of the Nintendo/MS/Sony ivory towers will soon
have some extra competition from the Nvidia's Shield, and Valve's
SteamBox. Not really *entirely* open systems, granted, as neither of
them compare to, for example gog.com. And they're certainly not going
to kill anything from Nintendo/MS/Sony anytime soon (maybe even never,
if I'm being pessimistic). But nonetheless, Shield and SteamBox are a
huge increase in openness for "primarily gaming devices" - a category
of devices which have barely seen a shred of openness since the 2600
(and that was open only because Atari hadn't anticipated anything like
Activision happening).