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They don't sue Ubuntu because those guys are clearly NOT trying to circumvent the spirit of the license.

Excuse me? They're taking stuff that the relevant kernel developers have clearly said is illegal, unworkable and unethical and they're distributing it. They should be shunning these drivers, not proping them up.

And as long as they aren't actually distributing code, they can get away with it.

The only reason they're getting away with it is because the relevant kernel developers are not suing them.

What I do expect will happen, at some point, is someone with standing to sue will initiate a dialogue with them, and they'll remove the drivers.

I dont think that's going to happen. I think we're going to learn to live with it. Then the next time some hardware company sees an advantage in making a closed source driver for Linux, they'll point at the NVIDIA drivers and say "well, they're ok, so we'll be ok." And ya know what? They will be. Then everything will fall apart.

If you don't care about your freedom, you'll lose it.

I'd love to do something about this. I have some ideas about what I could do about this. Maybe some people would like to help me, but the people who are in the best position to do something about this are Greg Kroah-Hartman, Martin Mares, avid Mosberger-Tang, Frederic Potter and Drew Eckhardt. They wrote the code that NVIDIA is illegally linking to. They put that code under the GPL. Was there a point to that?

We've always been on friendly terms Sarah, except when you go spouting fascist crap like this. What does Symantic pay you for anyways? Researching "ethical implications of select technologies" sounds like "making up FUD and scare tactics" to me. How can the author of The Generic Virus Writer accuse anyone of "bad science". Pah-lease. You're a psychologist, your "discipline" invented bad science. When you condem virus writing and try to criminalize it like you constantly do you drive more and more kids to get into it -- call it the "coolness factor". Make it more illegal and it will become more dangerous. What the vx scene needs is compassion and guidance -- leadership if you will. When VLAD was on top we put forward positive responsible leadership. Unlike hacking, writing viruses is about investigating the weaknesses of both insecure and secure systems. What can you do in the bounds of a good security model that is still malicious? Can this help us build better security models? This is research, and maybe if you got out of your closed little commerical lab ("we make scanners!" Big deal) you might be able to see the whole picture.

The aircon in my office is louder than the two pcs I have under my desk (and the other 2 pcs in the room, although the dorky one of my officemates turns his computer off at night). When the aircon turns off at night and the weekends it is really significant. You can turn it back on for two hours buy turning a timer switch but when the aircon actually turns off the pressure change is enough to wake you up (and is therefore pointless). More Office Livin' tips.

Come on! Billy Gates aint that evil.

Like billyg has any worries about his bank balance. Raw unquestionable control is what he wants and he'll do whatever he can to get it except break the law.

Why I prefer Textfiles 2/27/87
- Jason Scott - Written during an illness.

Being the owner of one of the largest Textfile Clearinghouses in the US, I've
been asked a few times why I prefer textfiles over anything else for computers.
So, I decided to put my reasons into a textfile (Wraparound city) and exaplin
to you my reasons:

Textfiles won't erase yer Hard Drive, then print "HeyHey EATME!"

Textfiles don't require a joystick.

Textfiles don't make you rely on your hand-eye coordination at 3:00am.

Textfiles never have to worry about compatibility, or DOS versions.

Textfiles don't feature little green things on the screen named "Glorks".

Textfiles don't become "Old Warez" in 3 days.

You can change one byte in a textfile, and the computer won't crash.

Textfiles don't take up a whole disk every time.

Textfiles don't require 4-color advertising in COMPUTE!

Textfiles don't need programs, but most programs need textfiles.

Textfiles can be drastically changed in a matter of minutes.

Textfiles won't watch you log on, and copy your password to a secret file.

Textfiles are cheap, or free.

Textfiles won't do anything if you're not there.

Textfiles don't need to be compiled.

Textfiles don't can run at any speed you want.

You can tell how good or bad a textfile is, AS you're downloading.

Textfiles don't make sounds in the middle of the night, while your parents
are sleeping in the next room.

If you take your eyes away from a textfile, it won't go "GAME OVER".

Textfiles don't bring out hidden surprises.

You can bring textfiles to school, and the teacher won't accuse you of
being a pirate. [Usually. My old Computer Teacher took away some Blue Box
plans I was printing on the school computer. Fuck him.]

You can read textfiles during a blackout, with a flashlight.

You won't be accused of being a nerd if you have textfiles in your school
notebook [Unless you're Scott B. (Heh)]

Everyone can use a textfile on the first try.

Ahhh.. it takes me back. My small contribution.

sigh.

Aparently Echelon ranks up there with CPRM-like systems for SCSI and DVD-RAM drives. People just don't want to talk about it until it's dumped in their lap.

Vary strange. I wonder what characteristics a (critical) issue has to have in order to be so frequently ignored...

--CTH

--

such short memories we have, or is this a classic case of geek doublethink?

you can read my summary of the day and my own opinions here.