On the open source implications of Dell's rodent abuse

Radio Reg Does Dell making hamsters cry have anything at all to do with open source software? Not really. Still, the Open Season crew gathered for Episode 11 to draw any connection between Dell, rodent torture and open source code that we could.

Matt Asay, Dave Rosenberg and yours truly hit on those hamsters, Sun's purchase of innotek, XenSource's progress under Citrix and Bruce Perens' thoughts on the open source definition.

We also found time to rag on the Microsoft and Yahoo! deal and to grumble about the economic woes gripping the worldwide economy. We're all doomed! Doomed! But, hey, we've got a pie recipe down below to make you feel better.

Some of you will have noticed that we were missing in action for bit. That's thanks to an episode that had to be aborted because of audio issues. Anyway, those issues have been resolved, and we hope you enjoy the show. As always, click on my name above to send feedback.

Open Season - Episode 11

The faithful can grab the Ogg Vorbis file here, those plagued by low-bandwidth can catch a smaller, crappier quality show here and those of you with macho-sized bandwidth can get the big daddy here.

You can subscribe to the show on iTunes here or grab the Arse feed here.

Show Notes

• Sun buys innotek, which makes VirtualBox. You're an idiot if you don't know how awesome the software is
• XenSource's open source love in continues but shipment slows
• Lots of free soda at Microsoft
• Mike Olson of Sleepycat fame leaves Oracle
• Danger! Danger! Microsoft gets mobile Java on
• Microsoft eating Yahoo!. Lower the price!

Doom and Barometer

• IT analysts lower IT spending forecasts
• Bruce Perens ten years into the open source definition - talk about meaningless and irrelevant
• MacBook Air review - battery is a pain, laptop is comfy - problem is that you have to mount it to make it useful - but that's okay because Dave will mount anything
• Chris Blizzard and Mozilla's independence
• Dave battles open source lies on Intel's web site
• Alfresco issues new IT barometer survey results

When Hamsters Cry

• Dell makes hamster cry
• Matt's family ski trip

Thanks for your ears. ®

Bootnote - Matt's Pie of the Week

Maple Cream Pie (aka "Pancake Pie")

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (preferably unbleached) 1 cup granulated maple sugar (I use 1/4 cup pure maple syrup + 3/4 cup packed brown sugar as it's hard to find granulated maple sugar) 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups heavy (whipping) cream 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the flour with the sugar and salt and spread over the bottom of the pie shell (I brush the chilled shell first with egg whites to keep it from becoming soggy). Pour in the cream and pull a spoon or spatula a few times through the sugar mixture to stir it with the cream. Cut the butter all over the top. Cover the rim of the pastry with aluminum foil.

Bake until the filling is set to the touch and beginning to turn golden brown. The original (James MacNair) recipe indicates this will be about 45 minutes, but where I live and in my oven I have to let it go 55 minutes, and then I remove the foil and let it cook an additional 5 minutes (1 hour total).

Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool.

As for the pie crust I use for this kind of pie:

3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 sticks of unsalted butter 2/3 cup of cold water 2 egg yolks

Mix the dry ingredients together and then cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk the yolks into the water and then mix the liquid into the dry mixture with a fork. Scrunch it together into a ball and then roll flat on a clean, floured surface.