Tag Archives: Programming

Why bother with Frontier again?

Programming, Userland, Weblog, , , ,

I’ve asked myself the question “Why bother with Frontier?” many times in the last month.  I spent some time talking to people on the Frontier Kernel mailing list about getting involved with the project again.  I learned many things, including the fact that I’m not qualified to help in a meaningful way right now.  Sometimes knowing your limits is as important as knowing your strengths.  In my case, I would need to learn 10 years of C coding to catch up to the complicated environment that is the Frontier kernel.

I think instead I’ll spend my time building the software that I want instead of trying to fix the issues with the existing project.  There are many things about the Frontier coding environment that are appealing:

  1. Editing code in an outliner
  2. Scripting applications to automate tasks
  3. Building applications that work on more than one platform

That said, I think that I can build my own software while addressing my shortcomings.  I have the books and the tools to learn C, compile programs and run them under MacOS X and Windows.  I have the motivation to learn and some spare time.

So, why bother with Frontier again?  Why indeed.

January 2009 Updates

Weblog, ,

I like my weblog, but I don’t write much any more. It’s not just here, but most places like Twitter or Facebook get very little attention. I have friends who post often and it pulls me back to the keyboard. I guess I don’t write because I realize that I have hardly the time to read what others write. Plus, at the end of the day, I spend my work time in front of a keyboard so I guess that makes it hard to write here.

Job Stuff:

I don’t talk about my job on my weblog except to say that I have one and it’s going well. I like my workgroup and the drive back and forth to Branson is actually relaxing. Call me if you want to know more–all of it good.

House Stuff:

If you read [Tammy’s weblog](http://tammykirks.com) then you’ll get a good idea of our latest news, but I’ll write a digest here in a separate post.

Programming Stuff:

I used my Pragmatic Programmer’s 35% off coupon for a book on developing for the iPhone. That means I’ve got three books headed my way in the spring (when they are published on paper) but early access to the “beta” versions as a PDF files.

Professional Stuff:

I have to complete or renew 7 professional certifications before the end of March. That means my head will be in a book for several hours each weekend a couple of evenings during the week.