raph was talking about using Vorbis compression in VoIP. Vorbis is not a low-latency codec, though, so would probably introduce unacceptable delays in a conversation. http://www.vorbis.com/faq.psp#speech discusses this issue and provides pointers.

A mail to the OpenOffice guys:

Hello, folks.

I've just attempted to install OO 641d on Linux and have noticed problems which in my opinion should be considered release-critical.

• setup -net should be the default when logged in as root.
  Instead, setup -net is an undocumented feature! The setup binaries do not respond to -h or -?, the command line option summary request convention, and there is no installation guide. I eventually found it by browsing the discussion list archives.
• setup binary does not respond to -h or -? with a list of command-line options
• user setup should occur automatically upon first run of a common binary (soffice), and user files should be placed in ~/.openoffice.org<build>

Problems I do not consider release-critical:

• Local user files should not include complete dictionaries, et al - only personal customizations

I do not understand why OO still doesn't behave as an application on a multi-user system should. I had hoped that this would have been fixed since SO 5.x, but it has not. There has been enough time to fix it, so I can only presume this is done deliberately.

I am also disappointed by the unavailability of issuezilla to anonymous browsing, which I also do not understand.

Yours forlornly,
-- Chris Whip

Please tell me someone's trawling through patent archives for the .NET-related patents that Microsoft is counting on to kill off Mono. Please.

According to The Register, Microsoft will be uni ting its various server data stores into one database based on the SQL Server engine. The engine will be enhanced to support the more flexible operations of the Exchange/Active Directory store, and those products will be moved over. And NTFS will be run on top of SQL Server, rather than the other way around.

This is a profound change. I think it will make life easier for users. But AFAICT it means database drivers in the kernel. This is an intimidating thought for anyone, but especially someone who wants to strip down the OS for embedded work.

Why are Microsoft doing all the cool stuff lately?

Because they're not just trying to make a better Unix, like Sun, or Linus. I'm beginning to think they have less philosophical baggage. They know their current stuff kinda blows. We're too busy hacking on drivers.

Are projects like this just too big for us?

Joined the EFF. (First time it's come up and I've had the money.)