European Libraries Counter Google Digitisation 294
headisdead writes "A week after Google substantially improved their UK site, Deutsche-Welle carry the story that the a whole host of large European libraries (with the British Library's tacit support) have joined an EU-based digitisation project as a counter to Google's own library scheme. The project is the brainchild of BNF director Jean-Noel Jeanneney, a sort of mild-mannered Jose Bove for the librarians out there. Divisive pride, or healthy competition?"
Does it really matter? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:2, Insightful)
And perhaps you might have heard of robots exclusion, too.
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:2)
Any header beginning with an "X-" is not required to be honoured by user agents, etc. - it's a "User-defined field", as opposed to an extension (extensions cannot begin with 'X-') - rfc 822 [faqs.org]
You can't trust a US company on that (Score:5, Interesting)
Google already succumbed to China censorship pressures [rfa.org]. Would they resist censorship pressures from the Christian right, inside the US? Yea, right, just like Microsoft did
Don't fool yourself, folks. US companies are no longer a reliable for such a task. If Google is allow t create another de facto monopoly in Library Search, we risk gay books, Evolution volumes or the freaking Harry Potter adventures disappearing anytime now.
Let me ask you, who's going to preserve Western Culture heritage if the US completes it's path towards fascism bushflash.com/14.html? India!? The Chinese!!? Well, apparently it's going to be the French. Good for them.
Re:You can't trust a US company on that (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:You can't trust a US company on that (Score:2)
Er... I must have forgotten how to read English, because that page and the article it links to don't really say anything at all about censorship.
For an alternate view on that issue, see here: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050425-4847 .html [arstechnica.com]
But seriously folks, can we talk about anything here without it degenerating into a "religious nazi" versus "liberal dege
Re:You can't trust a US company on that (Score:5, Insightful)
And your point is?
I want a backup, just in case the U.S. breaks down. France/EU/Congo/Whatever may not be that reliable either, but is good to know that we have fallback positions. The EU is rapidly positioning itself as U.S. backup on many fronts. And that's great news.
Re:Does it really matter?-Carmen Sandiego. (Score:2)
But if it's hidden what good will Googling do?
Agreed. (Score:2)
We may need that french thing (Score:2)
'Republican Alabama lawmaker Gerald Allen says homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle. (...) under his bill, public school libraries could no longer buy new copies of plays or books by gay authors, or about gay characters.' (Alabama Bill targeting Gay Authors) [cbsnews.com]
Yea, I know, its only gays getting humiliated/beaten/banned. They are not going after you anytime soon, right? [forbiddenlibrary.com]
Re:Banned books ... (Score:2)
Oh well, its not like they would understand anything beyond a "graphic novel" anyway.
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:2, Insightful)
"Divisive pride." A "counter to Google's own library scheme." Psh. Way to miss the point, submitter.
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:5, Insightful)
But he added: "The real issue is elsewhere. And it is immense. It is confirmation of the risk of a crushing American domination in the definition of how future generations conceive the world."
Google's plans have rattled the cultural establishment in Paris, raising fears that French language and ideas could be just sidelined on the worldwide web, already dominated by English.
In a stand against a deal struck by five of the world's top libraries and Google to digitize millions of books, 19 European libraries have agreed to back a similar European project to safeguard literature.
European Libraries Fight Google-ization
That last one was the title. So before you dis the submitter, read the fucking article.
It's a French idea to counter American Cultural Imperialism(TM)
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:5, Insightful)
Sometimes people's inability to put things into perspective and understand there is a world outside the good old US of A makes me despair.
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:3, Funny)
The US is the longest running continuous government in the modern world.
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:2)
where did you get that idea? It's not even close to the longest running continuous government. The monarchies of Britain and Denmark have been running for several times the length of America's democrasy, or do you just count the modern world as having started with America's war of independance?
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:5, Informative)
No idea what you mean here or what relevance it has, but you do realise that Britain had a Prime Minister before the start of the US' War of Independence? (1735, Sir Robert Walpole first entered 10 Downing Street)
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:2)
But there was no definiative point when it changed. OK, after our (English) civil war and the monarchy had less power when they returned, but that was 1651. Parliment went from being a temporary body to being a permanent one.
Still predates the US govenment by a long way.
We have had monarchy and parliment for a long time, and power has gradually gone from one to the other. At what point do you draw the line?
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:3, Insightful)
The US is the longest running continuous government in the modern world.
Only if you define "longest running continuous government" is such a way as to exclude all the other governments that have been around for a longer time. This is a non-argument, and requires you to ignore changes to the USA government but rule any changes to other governments to be a change of government type.
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:3, Informative)
Also, the Brits might disagree, since their parliament history goes back to before the "new world" was discovered.
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:2)
The simple fact is that the US is NOT the "longest-running continuous government in the world" no matter how you slice it. As I pointed out, the Brits have a parliament that goes back to LONG before North America was even discovered.
No, but your current government is doing a nasty end-run around it. Maybe you should rewrite it to prevent such abuses in the future, instead of trying to get
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:2)
The problem with the US constitution isn't that it's poorly written, it is that it's being poorly interpreted. No amount of rewriting is going to remedy that.
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:2)
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:2)
Re:this only hurts their descendents (Score:5, Interesting)
The only European countries that speaks English are Britain and Ireland. France isn't in a "sea of English", it's part of Europe, it's in a sea of French, German, Spanish, Italian and a whole load more.
According to french.about.com 113 million people speak it fluently on a regular basis. It is the second most widely taught second language after English.
It is the official language of France; Bénin; Burkina Faso; Central African Republic; Congo (Democratic Republic of); Congo (Republic of); Côte d'Ivoire; Gabon; Guinea; Luxembourg; Mali; Monaco; Niger; Sénégal; Togo; the Canadian province of Québec; and the Swiss districts of Vaud, Neuchâtel, Genève; Jura; French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion; French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, French southern and Antarctic lands.
It's the co-official language of Belgium, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti (the two official languages are French and French Creole), Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Switzerland, and Vanuatu.
I'm not French, but I certainly respect a country for trying to keep their own cultural identity. Sometimes that get a bit carried away with the language thing, but it doesn't seem to be hurting them. Remember, English is taught in their schools from a young age, and lots of French people speak really good English.
Disappearing languages and cultures (Score:2)
Think of the poor French or German unable to appreciate Monty Python or Shakespeare in the text. What are they missing ! Now the converse is also true. Reading Kant in the text is quite an experience, so is Rousseau or Voltaire. The same is true of Cervantes or Garcia Marques in Spanish, and of all other languages, past or present.
I recommend trying to read even small passages of The Illiad in ancient Greek. There are resources on the Web
Re:Disappearing languages and cultures (Score:2)
They are trying to stop the spread of Americansim into France to hold onto their own language and culture. To help this they want to preserve their written works and make them available, so people don't just have lots of stuff in English available.
So in fact the effort is to do both.
So you want them to surrender? (Score:2)
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:2)
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:5, Insightful)
This project is about making sure that books from non-english, European cultures are also available on the Internet and ones' choice of electronic libraries is not limited to an American/English-language selection, which is what Google is currently limiting itself to. It's "well, if they're doing it, maybe we should too!", not, "oh god we can't let them beat us to this".
Diversity of culture is indisputably a good thing and all they're trying to do is maintain and encourage that. Any suggestion of "fighting" or "competition" is simply an angle someone dreamed up to make this seem more "sensationally" newsworthy.
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:2)
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a free market people. The Internet is just like any other marketplace and people are free to do whatever they like however they like. Google is just another player. Granted they are an enormously huge one, but they are a player nonetheless. They don't (yet) have a restrictive monopoly on searches, and there are no laws that say "Thou shalt not impinge on Google's turf".
It's not divisive pride. These people decided to do their own thing. Maybe they can even - shock horror - do it better than Google. I for one wish them the best of luck.
Remember, Google doesn't own the patent on innovation.
That's because... (Score:4, Funny)
The USPTO is already reviewing Microsoft's patent application on innovation as we speak...
Re:That's because... (Score:2, Funny)
Agreed. (Score:4, Insightful)
Sure (Score:2)
As long as the access remains open, sure, it's great. For once, nationalistic (or regionalistic) pride does something good.
If anything, it's sad that an American company has to scare them into doing something good rather than doing it on their own.
Valuable backup (Score:2)
So different libraries in different places under different jurisdictions are good.
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:2)
Now maybe them people can get their learn on?
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:5, Insightful)
I thought nerds were supposed to pride themselves on objectivity and logical thought? This kind of blind support for a company or website seems to be the direct opposite of what we should be promoting. It's a pity the editors don't seem to care -- they just keep adding inconsequential stories to the ever crappier frontpage, while IP banning anyone who speaks out against it.
Re:Does it really matter? (Score:2)
Is there really a question? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Is there really a question? (Score:2)
> be bad?
I don't think so. The first thing I thought partway through reading the slashdot summary was "uhoh. these euro libraries are going to sue google". hearing that they were going to put effort into making their own service is a refreshing change to this cynical reader.
Re:Is there really a question? (Score:5, Insightful)
Creating fake controversy... it's a case of Slashdot pretending to be a 24-hour cable news network.
Re:Is there really a question? (Score:3, Funny)
News that's fair. Stuff that's balanced.
"Accessible" ? (Score:5, Insightful)
Try just about any book search on Google, even about old ones. Try Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Try Hobbes' Leviathan. Whatever. Google Print will point you to a modern, copyrighted edition of the book. You will only be able to browse a few pages.
Contrast with the Gallica project [gallica.bnf.fr] at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France: thousands of digitised books, freely accessible from beginning to end, most in scanned image format, but many in full ASCII text. And Gallica is much older than Google Print (in Internet time it's about one or two generations older), though not as old as the Gutenberg project.
Judging from his language, the French dude seems to think that Google Print is a scaled-up, English-language Gallica. It isn't. But if European libraries get their act together and start a project to make literally millions of books freely accessible for all in all European languages, hey, I'm all for it !
Thomas-
Re:"Accessible" ? (Score:3, Interesting)
The thing is Google will not digitize all the books in the world, but only those found in a few US libraries. What european librarians fear is that this will result is a biased view of the world, where anglo-saxon culture is the only one represented, and everything else disappears into oblivion. As more and more people rely almost exclusively on Google to find information, if it's not indexed by Google, it's like it does not exist.
Read again what Jeanneney says in
Neither pride nor competition (Score:4, Insightful)
Building more libraries is COMMUNISM! (Score:2, Funny)
I get enough manufactured controversy ignoring the commercials for my evening news.
duh (Score:2, Insightful)
HOLD ON A MINUTE (Score:5, Insightful)
If public libraries use their funds to assist each other in digitally making available all public information without regard to what is possible, then we have a GREAT thing, but when the sum total of that body of knowledge and history is governed by someone trying to make money, we, as a society, WILL lose in the end.
Its NOT about how you get the information or how it is stored... its about WHO is in charge of that information and what their motives are...
Sadly, capitalism is not good for everything...
Re:HOLD ON A MINUTE (Score:2, Funny)
Re:HOLD ON A MINUTE (Score:3, Insightful)
I am willing to pay for this through the normal taxes.
Why is this "Counter-google"? (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems that a lot of people around here want google to have a monopoly since it's good(tm) and microsoft is a bad(tm) monopoly. (Not that I'm a fan of MS).
All monopolies are bad, and there should be a free and open market. For all you know, this could be better than google's interface.
Re:Why is this "Counter-google"? (Score:2)
Re:Why is this "Counter-google"? (Score:2)
This project is considered counter-google by the people doing it. They figure that if a US company is distributing books from US libraries, it must be a plot make US books more prevalent than European books. It's pretty dumb, but it's how some people think.
Once their site is up, Google will serve up links to it like everything else. The European libraries will quietly forget that they started the project because they expected the opposite from Google, and we'll get more books on the Internet.
The article has it right (Score:4, Insightful)
Competetion (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Competetion (Score:2)
Captitalism is about squashing competition to create a monopoly.
The cool thing (Score:3, Insightful)
This isn't a war (Score:3, Insightful)
It's not even like there's anything to compete about really, it's being done for the good of humanity.
Re:This isn't a war (Score:2, Insightful)
(snort)
Seriously, even with the best of motives, Google's going to have to prioritize somehow - the project will take years even in the early stages, and eventually decades if brought to
Re:This isn't a war (Score:3, Insightful)
It is the same as maps.google.com. They first build their service for the United States, later they extend it for other countries.
The same with the libraries. Google starts with libraries from the US. I'm pretty sure they will extend their service to other libraries when they are done with the libraries inside the US. But, this takes a lot of time. The European libraries don't want to wait this long, so they build up their own project.
In my opinion, it is possibl
This is Good... (Score:4, Insightful)
"The leaders of the undersigned national libraries wish to support the initiative of Europe's leaders aimed at a large and organized digitization of the works belonging to our continent's heritage," a statement said. "Such a move needs a tight coordination of national ambitions at EU level to decide on the selection of works," it added.
later
But he added: "The real issue is elsewhere. And it is immense. It is confirmation of the risk of a crushing American domination in the definition of how future generations conceive the world."
This is good even if it did arise from nationalistic pride. (Yah I know, Europe's a continent, not a country.)
It is better to not have one exclusive source of important information like this. This way we (humanity) are not storing all of our eggs in one basket. Plus Europe gets to put in more books without worrying about copyright. (Damn you Bono.) What would be best is if Google just gave the Europeans a copy of its library archives and the Europeans did likewise.
Project dates back to at least 1993 (Score:5, Informative)
Good soundbite, but not at all true. The origins of this project are more than a decade old, and I was involved with it in 1993.
The company I worked for at the time did data capture. We won the contract to digitis French National Library - custom scanning software was written, pagination checking, QA software...the lot. This was when you needed custom graphics cards to store an largish group 4-compressed TIFF, and a lot of work went into optimising the deskewing sfotware etc.
Back then the project was called EPBF, European Biblioteqe de Francais (or Every P*ssing Book In France as one scanner operator had it), though the name later changed to just BNF (Bilbioteqe National de Francais). We were always trying to get the British Library interested too, but the dragged their heals and it's not surprising to me that it's taken them twelve years to finally get to the table.
I rather doubt this is anything to do with Google as such. It's just making better use of what they've had for years already, at least in France.
Cheers,
Ian
Re:Sonny tasteless jokes. (Score:2)
Bono, Bono, Bono of the Ski slopes
WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!!
When they found Sonny Bono, he was wearing a Douglas fir.
What does the deaths of Farley, Bono & Kennedy have in common?
A white powdery substance.
Who really killed Michael Kennedy and Sonny Bono?
Tree Harvey Oswald!
How do we know Sonny was a politician at heart?
At the very end, he was stumping.
Why is Al Gore going to Sonny's funeral?
For all we know, he's the tree Sonny ran into.
What preceded Sonny Bono's
Read or Die (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Read or Die (Score:2)
Could you explain your sig? I don't understand it.
an emphatic "so what?" ! (Score:2, Interesting)
European Operating System Counter MS Longhorn (Score:3, Insightful)
from the library-wars dept.
hisheadisdead writes "Two days after Microsoft marginally improved [slashdot.org] their next Operating System, Deutsche-Welle carry the story that the a whole host of large community of European developpers (with Richard Stallman's tacit support) have joined an EU-based operating system project as a counter to Microsoft's own operating system project. The project is the brainchild of OSDL employee Linus Torvalds, a sort of mild-mannered Jose Bove for the developpers out there. Divisive pride, or healthy competition?"
This could be bigger than Google's effort... (Score:4, Interesting)
Still, I'm wondering, wouldn't it have been easier to join Google rather than fight them? Or did they think of that, and did Google not want to play along?
Re:This could be bigger than Google's effort... (Score:5, Interesting)
Where did you get this crazy notion ?
In France, the rights go for 75 years after death of the author (previously 50, previously 25), plus war periods, plus 25 years if the author died for France.
So, as a sample, The little Prince, by St Exupery (who died in 1943, as a pilot) should have been protected at the time until 1993 (25 + died for France). But then, we had 2 extentions (50 then 75 years). Then there was Indochine war (the mess that became Vietnam war). Then there was Algery. As a side note, Algery is legally a war only since a few years (at most 5), but then, by virtue of a law intented to help ex-fighter in what was before a police operation, all copyrights (even if copyright does not exist as such in french law) where extended for 8 years. And I don't speak about England, where recently, a law declared that the copyright to Peter Pan (which was donated to an hospital) is to be perpetual.
So European copyrights are not so short, and the situation is much more complicated than that.
Re:This could be bigger than Google's effort... (Score:3, Informative)
Umm. The copyright to Peter Pan expired a while ago. What you are talking about is that there is mandatory licensing of Peter Pan ad infinitum imposed by the government. This is outside of copyright, but is effectively the same. The resultant monies go to a children's hospital, the Great Ormond Street, which is one of the best in the world, apparently. I hardly see that paying a pittance towards curing children of cancer and so on is that terrible a thing.
There is, however, a perpetual copyright in the Uni
Re:This could be bigger than Google's effort... (Score:2)
Pride is clouding their vision (Score:2, Insightful)
They are lacking the vision to see the purpose of Google's efforts, and the purpose of libraries like themselves in general.
The purpose of a traditional library is to collect, catalog, and preserve the writings of humanity for the benefit of ourselves and our children to come.
The purpose of digitization projects like Google's is to bring this into a new era. The purpose is not to turn each individual library into an electronic form of its current self - the very idea of disparate libraries was merely a c
Re:Pride is clouding their vision (Score:3, Insightful)
Nothing in the article suggests each library will keep their digital versions separate. If they were, there wouldn't be much need of the different libraries to cooperate.
These libraries are going to do the same thing as Google but with their works, work that Google had no current plans to digitise. It's already going to take the 10 years to do the stuff they are planning.
So the choices are, Google digitises some works and put them on line, or Google digitises some works and puts them on line, and the Eu
may make sense, depending (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, it is possible (I don't know) that when Google works with libraries, the libraries get copies of the images as if they had scanned the books themselves. In that case, when Google offers to work with a library, it makes sense to accept the offer.
But if Google doesn't actually offer to work with a particular library, or if they aren't interested in the same books as the library, or if there are restrictions on the use of the scanned images that are stricter than if the library scanned the documents themselves, then it makes sense for that library to scan the books themselves.
What happens when libraries lend ebooks? (Score:2, Interesting)
It's about funding (Score:5, Interesting)
There's a group through the Czech national library that's been putting stuff up, and is exploring offerring it on a subscription basis (merely 3000 Euro/year, and institutions only need apply).
For me, the best online digitization of a library currently available is already the BNF [slashdot.org], and that project has poor quality control (unreadable scans), shaky connection qualities and bad links galore (an essential reference dictionary for my field is missing the volumes containing the letters A-C, and S-Z).
Without doubt, the EU consortium is using anti-americanism and anti-corporatism to justify the tons of government payouts needed to fund this; without doubt the documents won't be as easy to access as Google's project. But hell, if it puts more books online, I'm all for it. And unlike Google, many of these libraries have been around for centuries; one would hope that in a few centuries, they'll still be here. Google may be doing great, but will it be here in ten years?
Neither (Score:5, Insightful)
Neither, you idiot. They are not competing! They are not dividing! They are doing something Google is not -- digitising European works. For Christ's sake, that's like saying by building a library in a small town, you are trying to take a jab at a library in a neighboring town!
Why bother? (Score:2, Offtopic)
There is digitalization, and "digitalization"... (Score:5, Insightful)
Mod me down if you wish, but I have to say that I found Google Print nice, but not too useful. Sure, it's a nice thing that you can search through paper books, but in most cases you can't actually read them; you have to buy them, and this even goes for classics such as "20,000 leagues under the sea" which are already digitized by Project Gutenberg [gutenberg.org] or similar organizations: Google digitizes newer, copyrighted editions even when there are older, public domain editions available. Thus, in my eyes Google Print is little more than a marketing door for on-line bookstores.
On the other hand, French digitalization project Gallica [gallica.bnf.fr], though sometimes mocked on Slashdot, not only digitizes books, but gives the scans away freely (as in speech), so everyone can read the books in entirety or use them as they please. Both Distributed Proofreaders [pgdp.net] and Distributed Proofreaders Europe [rastko.net] already use Gallica scans to produce completely digitized and free e-books which you can search, read, datamine, or do with them anything that suits you. If Slashdot readers are supporters of free software, this too is something they should revere.
I hope that Europeans will not compete with Google. I hope that they will make bigger, better, and more diverse Gallica.
Director of a parsing grammar (Score:2, Funny)
At first read, I wondered why Backus-Naur Form needed a director.
^_^
Oh great... (Score:5, Interesting)
Who was the President of that fiasco? Jeanneney, the same guy who is now trying to 'counter Google' or something. I suspect this so-called 'European' project is a scam to obtain more money for his own aggrandizement.
Re:Oh great... (Score:2)
At least at the gallica site [gallica.bnf.fr] you can search, browse and read what has already been digitized, for Free (as in speech). They have sunk millions and made mistakes, fine. Perhaps they'll make fewer mistakes in the future.
No one can deny the project is important.
There's more to it (Score:2, Interesting)
1. Selection. Digitisation implicates selection of the materials you are going to digitize. Even Google can't digitise every book in the world. A lot of people feel that the selection of several North-American university libraries doesn't reflect world culture but just North-American culture.
Now, I'm a bit pragmatic on the issue: the selection of the works isn't language-based or geography-located. So I suppose a gr
16 syllable 5 word headline (Score:2)
European Libraries Counter Google Digitisation
European Libraries Counter Google Digitisation
European Libraries Counter Google Digitisation
European Libraries Counter Google Digitisation
European Libraries Counter Google Digitisation
samzenpus gets the HSDHL award for April (High Sylabbic Density HeadLine).
He also gets props for spelling Digitisation correctly. You looked at it funny. Admit it.
No question of fight/nationalism or other wafling (Score:2, Interesting)
(Some) folks: forget about the nationalistic/risk/fight tone of TFA. This is sensationalism to get the article through. This does not help. It misses the point. It mis-reports the essential.
Folks, just think technically. Q: What gets to be used by a majority ? A: The most exposed stuff. Discussion: There should be no convincing work needed there (I hope.) That's the basic of advertisement. This is independent of nation/subject/topic/culture.
Getting English literature digitalised is fantastic. This will
More Books = Good (Score:5, Insightful)
Who cares? If it means more literature is digitally preserved then its all good.
if the outcome is good, don't complain too much (Score:2)
It's a part of our heritage (Score:5, Insightful)
Isn't Bodleian in Oxford a European library? (Score:2)
Did Google ask any other European library to participate? Did the French library ask Google to be included in the project?
BNF? (Score:2)
British Nutrition Foundation?
British National Formulary
La Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Don't be lazy. Please introduce TLA's properly to make it easier for the reader. It's annoying having to go searching just to understand one paragraph.
The project is the brainchild of La Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) director Jean-Noel Jeanneney
P.S. Just to destroy the irony of my comment (or not to appear as a hypocrit): TLA = three letter abbreviation.
Re:Europeans Always Fail IT (Score:5, Funny)
I apologize to be the small european insect I am.
Please continue to show me the way to the True-Way-Of-Life.
How to make war to the rest of the world.
How to destroy the eco-system as much as possible.
How to elect stupid arrogant bastards.
How to venere our Lord the Market.
How to refute silly theory like Darwinism, etc. and be true biggots.
How to give weapons to our child so they can be mass murderers.
And, most of all, how to give lessons to everyone without the slightest doubt.
Amen.
Et, tant que t'y est , VTDLC, gros bouffon.
Re:Europeans Always Fail IT (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm a Brit, and I think what you say is broadly correct.
However, the US also "Always Fail IT" as it tends to react against, or try to ignore, or reinvent as its own, Non-US innovations.
What you say about the British Library is correct however.
I have been constantly frustrated by the lack of access to works in the BL. Of course, many of these tomes are priceless, so you can't have every Tom, Dick and Harry thumbin
Re:French Language-Not popular (Score:2, Insightful)
So what's the big deal with language anyhow ? It is the main way of comunication, and this is about all.
It also used to be the vector of a culture. The simple point that in french a 'cadeau' (gift) does not come from the verb 'donner' (to give) means a lot. Every language is linked to a culture, and every culture expresses itself in a language better. So every couple culture+language should be saved.
Or we go straight to "plus plus
Re:Good (Score:2)
I agree with this sentiment.
Monocultures are bad. Bad in the natural world, and bad in the IT world.
In the natural world, lack of diversity in agriculture causes plagues of pests; in the corporate world, lack of diversity in the IT world (95% of the world uses the same Operating System / Email reader / Office suite) causes massive security vulnerabilities.
At a stretch, I can imagine the same could be tru