Comments on: Interview with Jim Gettys - VP of Software Engineering - OLPC http://howsoftwareisbuilt.com/2008/04/21/interview-with-jim-gettys-vp-of-software-engineering-olpc/ Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:34:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Nicholas Bodley http://howsoftwareisbuilt.com/2008/04/21/interview-with-jim-gettys-vp-of-software-engineering-olpc/#comment-1907 Nicholas Bodley Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:43 +0000 http://howsoftwareisbuilt.com/2008/04/21/interview-with-jim-gettys-vp-of-software-engineering-olpc/#comment-1907 Hard to believe that there aren't more comments! Jim is a VIP in software. I'm a volunteer for OLPC, although getting seriously involved is still in the future. Jim's interview helped me considerably to better understand the machine's software; machine overviews are not so easy to find, imho. I'm still encountering pleasant surprises as I learn more. I sub'd to Walter Bender's Community News some months ago, and can't help but be impressed with the amount of work that went into enhancing [suspend] and [resume]. (Jim's now writing it.) Point I want to make (and hope I'm correct!) is that the XO (brief name for the OLPC machine) saves (apparently a lot of) power by suspending as soon as it can, and also resumes very quickly. (Afaik, both are in the low 100s of ms range.) Goal is apparently to make S & R essentially unnoticeable to the user. S & R, as I now understand it, happen while an activity is open and running (such as during pauses in keying)as well as when the machine is temporarily being unused. Musing: Will S & R ever be so fast that the machine will suspend between keystrokes while typing at a good clip? "Jim: Other than worrying about power management and suspended resume in a serious..." I think there was a minor transcription error, there, and Jim, quite understandably, probably didn't realize at that moment that S & R is not something a reader of this interview would necessarily realize the significance of. (20080625) Best regards, nb Hard to believe that there aren’t more comments! Jim is a VIP in software.

I’m a volunteer for OLPC, although getting seriously involved is still in the future. Jim’s interview helped me considerably to better understand the machine’s software; machine overviews are not so easy to find, imho. I’m still encountering pleasant surprises as I learn more.

I sub’d to Walter Bender’s Community News some months ago, and can’t help but be impressed with the amount of work that went into enhancing [suspend] and [resume]. (Jim’s now writing it.)

Point I want to make (and hope I’m correct!) is that the XO (brief name for the OLPC machine) saves (apparently a lot of) power by suspending as soon as it can, and also resumes very quickly. (Afaik, both are in the low 100s of ms range.) Goal is apparently to make S & R essentially unnoticeable to the user. S & R, as I now understand it, happen while an activity is open and running (such as during pauses in keying)as well as when the machine is temporarily being unused.

Musing: Will S & R ever be so fast that the machine will suspend between keystrokes while typing at a good clip?

“Jim: Other than worrying about power management and suspended resume in a serious…”

I think there was a minor transcription error, there, and Jim, quite understandably, probably didn’t realize at that moment that S & R is not something a reader of this interview would necessarily realize the significance of.

(20080625)

Best regards,
nb

]]> By: Nicholas Bodley http://howsoftwareisbuilt.com/2008/04/21/interview-with-jim-gettys-vp-of-software-engineering-olpc/#comment-1906 Nicholas Bodley Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:06:15 +0000 http://howsoftwareisbuilt.com/2008/04/21/interview-with-jim-gettys-vp-of-software-engineering-olpc/#comment-1906 Sorry for a duplicate comment; slow contact bounce in my left mouse button? Sorry for a duplicate comment; slow contact bounce in my left mouse button?

]]> By: Nicholas Bodley http://howsoftwareisbuilt.com/2008/04/21/interview-with-jim-gettys-vp-of-software-engineering-olpc/#comment-1905 Nicholas Bodley Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:04:57 +0000 http://howsoftwareisbuilt.com/2008/04/21/interview-with-jim-gettys-vp-of-software-engineering-olpc/#comment-1905 In your list of people interviewed, there's a bizarre misspelling that must have gone unnoticed for a while; see "Ereknkrantz". That extra "k" is a dilly. Just what this implies about how we read and general literacy, I'm not sure. Regards, nb (No need to post this, btw.) In your list of people interviewed, there’s a bizarre misspelling that must have gone unnoticed for a while; see “Ereknkrantz”. That extra “k” is a dilly.
Just what this implies about how we read and general literacy, I’m not sure.

Regards,
nb

(No need to post this, btw.)

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