Monday, December 21, 2009

Taking Some Time Off

In case you hadn't noticed, there hasn't been any news out of the ol' DW skunkworks. I haven't really had the desire to do much of anything with BeOS or Haiku the last couple of months, but, frankly, I'm not sure why. Some of it just seems absolutely futile--a chasing after the wind, to quote the book of Ecclesiastes. The thought of writing code almost leaves a bad taste in my mouth... that so much time and thought is poured into something which works well for a time, but also requires maintenance to keep running properly: a total lack of desire or motivation.

I've been here before. The last time I felt this way, it was burnout. There is a distinct possibility that this is the case again, but it feels different this time even though I can't quite put my finger on it.To put it succinctly, I'm puzzled. This may be just a pause in the journey, but only time will tell.

Thought for the day: when you're at the bottom of a well, don't forget to look up. :-)

2 comments:

  1. Another thought: Today is the first day of the rest of your life :-)

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  2. It's all a matter of focus and vision. But your foundation (in this case, Haiku) needs the same thing.

    Haiku has far more potential than it's devs are currently realizing. On it's current path, it will simply be a significantly BETTER BeOS than BeOS was. But is that enough? In 2010, should it not be MORE... VASTLY more? And how is that achieved?

    One must look beyond the limits of conventional wisdom. To try things that others think are a waste of time or "reinventing the wheel". To believe that "good enough" is NOT good enough. "Good enough" is par for the course... it's sitting on one's laurels... it's letting others dictate how far you can imagine and what you will dare to try or do.

    I am currently messing around with NetOptimist. Yeah, THAT old attempt at a NetPositive clone that is 7 years stagnant. I want to create a new web browser for Haiku...

    "But we already have FireFox and Aurora...", you say. Par for the course, remember? Just because others have already done something, does not mean you shouldn't try to do it differently. "Necessity is the mother of invention" (i think I got that right). Who knows what reason YOU have for doing something.

    Take Paladin, for example. We already HAD BeIDE. But you had a reason for creating Paladin... the "next generation" of BeIDE.

    If you don't have focus and a goal, you cannot remain energized towards an end, if you do not know what (or where) the end is.

    I have vision, but I do not have skills. Do you have skills, but not vision? See where pieces of a puzzle fit together and work towards the image that unfolds, therein.

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