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The announcement said:

You still own what you've submitted to GameFAQs.

If you've submitted FAQs, codes, reviews, or other content to GameFAQs over the years, it's no more CNET's than it ever was mine to own. You still have the right to remove anything you've submitted to the site, although naturally I'd be more than happy to try and talk you out of it. Your work was not sold to CNET; in fact, it was specifically excluded.

Concerning the cost:

GameFAQs will still be free. We're not cutting off any part of the site and making you pay for any of it. From the FAQs to the Message Boards, everything you see today for no charge on the site will be free tomorrow. While we may someday introduce new features that require payment, nothing you see today is going to be turned into a premium service.

I have to admit that I am a bit skeptical myself, but I have enjoyed Download.com and Computers.com free of charge for a couple of years now. I have benefited a lot from GamFAQs. I'm glad he'll get a paycheck AND a pager-free vacation from time to time.

It seems that they are doing much better since their latest Mandrake 9.1 was very warmly welcomed by users. In addition, their new business model based on Club subscription is certainly the best idea a Free Software company ever had to make money with Linux! On the users' side, the Club is a great tool to get and install - with one click - all the neat stuff that isn't available for free or difficult to find (such as RealPlayer, Flash player, many hardware drivers...).

I installed Mandrake 9.1 on many different machines and it's clear that it's their best distribution so far: I had extremely few glitches, and everything installed and auto-configured very quickly. In addition, their new desktop is very slick, in particular under KDE, with anti-aliasing everywhere, new icons (created by Everaldo, the designer of the new KDE icons) and so on...

I'm warmly recommending Mandrake 9.1 to all my friend and at work, because I found it very much more stable (less bugs) than Red Hat, especially on the desktop side (I found the X Window provided with Red Hat to be particularly unstable). When compared to Debian, it's really the same Free Software world and spirit, with 2 years of advance and a great desktop by default (yes CmdrTaco!!!). And I won't annoy you with supermount and other dynamic desktop options that made my life (and some friends') Microsoft-free for two years now...

By the way (1): it seems that Mandrake is also doing well at Download.com (look in the Linux section for you dudes who aren't under Linux). Much more than Red Hat and Suse actually.

By the way (2): the MandrakeStore has deeply improved since Mandrake 9.0 and I received my Mandrake pack pre-order in time.

Where do these people get their information?

There are millions upon millions of applications for other operating systems, mainly windows. A broad search on download.com will prove my theory.

The slight difference is that Linux distros happen to want to include all of the few hundred applications that are available for Linux all in one, who cares?

The REAL issue here is for the big corporations to adopt and make software for linux, it has nothing to do with the enthousiast who writes a small text editor, that guy should get his facts straight.

The link above is for XP only! If you have a non-XP Windows, search for the version of TweakUI for Win9x (v1.33) at C|Net.

If they have a computer already, this could be a cheap answer

you would need a cheap webcam (less than $35) - this can work on a computer running Win98 or better... prolly need atleast 35 MB Ram

There is a program I've seen called Homewatcher... I found it at download.com it ... using a webcam monitors motion in a room and can sound an alarm... it is intended to be used as a burgler alarm. It watches the video stream and notices changes from one frame to the next and it's sensitivity can be adjusted. It has a free version too that's good enough for what i propose. -The version you payfor allows it to e-mail you pictures of the burglers which isn't needed for this application

Aim the webcam at the eye... if close enough or with zoom lenses applied, it can easily detect the motion of a blinking or moving eye.

Now... here's where it gets good. Many webcams have a little more sensitivity in the near-infrared and infrared portions of the spectrum than the human eye... you may notice this when you adjust it to deal with flurescent or incandescent lighting... depending on the camera of course. You could illuminate the eye with IR (or red) LED's making it bright enough for the camera to detect eye movements / blinking

The software is just configurable enough that you might make this work with a minimal amount of fuss. The only problem may be is that it detects motion, any motion -it may be too sensitive.

Carthis... get informed. It's not that we cannot put our names to any fo the trollings we do... we can. But only two a day now...
the fact is that a lot of the "trolls" who have been modslapped in fact started as posting intelligent, pro-MS and anti-Linux comments. That's their opinion. This is supposed to be a forum for opinions. However, the mods of slashdot attached negative Karma to these views, so now only the pro-Linux, "MICRO$OFT WINSLOWS SUX" comments are visible to the default user. And this is bad.
I know for a fact that many people started trolling in the puerile sense because of this. Some just trolled from the beginning.
Trolls are not the reason slashdot has started to decline in comment quality... the mods and the Janitors are. All we see now is Linux and Open Source centered posts with no real replies from the pro-MS community.
Cmon, don't blame the trolls because JonKatz created a slashdot story about his own book. What the HELL does that have to do with anything?
Taco has run a decent site. But Slashdot was a lot better before... before all this modding bullshit. Cmon, limiting people who have been modslapped to 2 posts a day is ridiculous. By doing this you encourage AC posting, the worst kind.
SO, Carthis... get informed before you bash - karma or trolls. Please.
Mod parent down.
------------ what's up doc?

I am unable to go to the any of these sites.


http://www.cnet.com
http://www.news.com
http://www.com.com
http://www.download.com


Note: All these are CNet sites.


What I AM ABLE to access is

http://msnbc-cnet.com.com/

may be MSNBC has actually bought CNet ;)?

I don't know how reliable the user ratings are at www.download.com are but it is interesting to note that Mozilla 1.0 has a rating of 87% whilst IE 6.0 is at 54%.

While Mozilla may never come out on top it can reduce Internet Explorers browser share, and always competition is a good thing with software because it will encourage Microsoft to make IE more secure.

1. How about the complete dropping of Macintosh related software from their DOWNLOAD.com?

OK, CNET sucks. But in the middle of the Download.com homepage there is a link to this page, where you can find the Mac related software.

If this page is at all correct, MusicCity are lying through their teeth.

Apparently the FastTrack protocol was upgraded a little more than two weeks ago. A grace period of two weeks was given, to allow users to upgrade their clients. Remember what the Morpheus requester said? "Your program is to old to connect the network."

Grokster, the third (and smallest) FastTrack licensee upgraded their client, Morpheus for some unimaginable reason did not.

Apparently this is a question of politics... Kazaa/FastTrack and Morpheus have had some sort of falling out. Morpheus have long been working on their 2.0 version. Gnucleus say that they have felt for some time that Morpheus is moving toward gnutella.

<speculation>
For some reason, Morpheus became pissed of with Kazaa, and to decided to devote a few man-years to constructing a new client + protocol upgrades which would let them move to the gnutella network without the users even noticing. Kazaa pulled a fast one and changed the protocol, without notifying (perhaps even keeping the docs from) Morpheus, and here we are...
</speculation>

For those of you who are interested in where those juicy 3.500.000 users are going, I have followed the IRC at MusicCity. At first, everyone was in a state of complete panic. Seriously, some of the reactions were quite unbelievable... My life is over! My life is over!!! or how about this one The FBI are at my door!!! Delete your files!!! Delete you files ***NOW***!!!!! :-) Then, about half defected to Kazaa/Grokster, while the other half waited for the new version.

The new version arived, 1.500.000 persons installed it. Unfortunately, 95%+ thinked it utterly sucked and most of them are currently seeking desperately for a new system.

Note: numbers are based on dl stats at download.com. Currently 1,998,910 downloads of Kazaa this week, and 1,394,331 for the new Morpheus.

Download.com already autodetects your OS from the browser info string, and sends you to an appropriate webzit. Mac, Windows and Linux.

• Does it allow for variable connectivity and temporary network addresses?
• Does it give nodes at the edges of the network significant autonomy?

Actually, according to download.com, kazaa and morpheus (which are the same program/network, really..) are the top two most downloaded programs.. Which makes me wonder if it's just Kazaa that was ordered to cease and desist, or does musiccity have to comply also? It's the same p2p network, with decentralized servers (I believe? I don't know all that much about their network), unlike napster's centrally controlled server farms.

Very true. Or might I suggest an alternative for the those needlers? Set up your own mail server. Doamin names are cheap to get now, and any type of broadband connection is relatively cheap now as well. I've also found that most DSL providers at least use a static address on the line, including Covad and DirecTV at least they did when I asked about it). So, setup your own server on your own domain and it won't matter anymore.

You can check hotfiles and Download.com and Shareware.com for free software (it does exist). Just look for 'SMTP server' and/or 'POP server'.

If you want to reconsider a professional data recovery choice, try Drivesavers. I've seen them in various computer publications and they seem to be pretty honest, but I have never used their services so I'm not sure.

Searching C|Net Downloads I found Recover98 which seems to be the best package there. It costs $169 to register, which provides access to all features, and support for Windows 2000 dynamic drives(Software RAID arrays), NTFS 5, and it's really small. Again, I haven't tested it, but it looks decent. The trial has save features partly disabled but you can at least see if it looks good, and it is certainly cheaper than a professional data recovery service.

I haven't had the (mis?)fortune of using an IBM hard drive since my 12.5GB one in an older system of mine. Are there any thoughts of a class-action lawsuit based on the drives' failure to perform properly? If new drives are failing this often, there is a definate problem.

JKoebel

First, a plug for my own graphic/text adventure, written about a year ago. It's called "Lunatix: The Insanity Circle" and can be downloaded here (the ZIP file is here). Several screen shots are shown here. It can also be downloaded from www.download.com with info and download here. It's freeware, and I get constant feedback (still) about it (kudos, questions, hint/walkthrough requests, etc).
There is an active usenet community for Interactive Fiction at rec.games.int-fiction, and a HUGE (and very complete) archive of games at the ftp.gmd.de archive. These kinds of games are alive and well!
:::: Mike Snyder

Just a sidenote -- just noticed that this made the "download spotlight" spot on the front page of download.com . guess it aint to big deal...
bemis
-my shadow ran away again!

Host it on either a mainframe, or on your internet server, using unique logins for everyone on the project, assigning proper permissions based on what each person is going to do.

"What management structures/tools are helpful?"

Visit http://www.download.com and download a schedule program. There are a bunch of other little progs that can help you keep everything going. Also get a text replacer program that does find/replace over a whole directory or more.

"At minimum we'll need a source-code repository and a mailinglist/newsgroup, right?"

Absoloootly. Depending on how limited your budget is, you can host a repository by opening an ftp from your cable-based home pc. I use g6 server, which you can also get from download.com. You can burn off the source code in a dated directory and allow access to your coders so they can download fresh copies.

Each time you compile your code, you can then post updated (and approved) copies to the ftp, so coders can grab them.

"Anything else considered critical?" A web page is pretty critical, or at least you should have a scheduler program running where people can look up what's going on in your project. You can do this using a web format, or you could go all out and code up an ASP web page where users login, set their .plan files (or work logs) and also list what files are in play, and what objective exist upon each file.

"What are some effective control stuctures?"

Schedules are important, email lists will help control things and so will ICQ if you can get people to use it.

You can go really fancy on the SQL or ASP functions if you want, making the whole project keep tabs on everyone. IF you have people upload their work logs or answer questions BEFORE downloading the recent code source, you can force people to do things your way, and collect data from them as you go. It doesn't take too long to do this either, and it can be done in any size shop.

"Who should determine what makes it into an official release?

Beta testers. If you want certain things in, you can say they go, but if you get any serious resistance, you should really focus on clearing the path with revisions.

On early releases, it is the lead coder's decision, but after that, I would reccomend either private or public beta testing to determine what is really necessary.

"Who should be able to add code to the tree?

No one should be able to write to the source. I would have everyone write new code modules and then have one person splice them all together with the old code. IF you have to cut out old stuff, you may just want to go in and decide what goes, and then comment it out for your tests. If it passes, I would still keep the old commented code and list where your changes are in each case.

Only after 'point O' releases, should you be using cleaned out code. ie: keep your backups but move the project to new fresh code bases after you clear bugs and add 1.0 or 2.0...etc features.

"What kinds of resources do we need to commit to this project to make it effective?"

When you have time, you need no money.

"In short, what advice do you have on the mechanics and management of open source projects?"

Stay on top of organization and keep your objectives clear. TOE charts are the best for this, in any language.

Form and function are important, yet function should be the highest on your list.

Keep it simple. Do not do anything you don't have to.

Sometimes it's better to have a clunky program that works than a really fast one that is broken and keeps crashing... but I prefer the latter. :P

You can always fix bugs, but you can't speed up a dead mule in a day.

/d

Look before you leap! Check this out for Apache for Mac.

In fact, I can run about every net service that a Linux box can on MacOS 9. I have even written a Telnet server for mac that makes the machine appear to Un*x-like when a user connects.

P.S. If you can't find Mac Software, just head over to Download Dot Com and search. It shouldn't take long to find what you want.

BeOS 5 Personal Edition can be downloaded from Download.com. I was the first person to download it from there based on the download counter.

Hotline not only supports filesharing (TIP: Search ALL online servers for files at http://www.hotlinehq.com/), but also chat, messaging and news boards (like ICQ Active Lists in fact). If you are into warez, hotline also has it advantages which I won't talk about here ;). I get most of my stuff from Hotline servers nowadays.

The sad news is that Hotline is only for Mac OS and Win32. Haven't tried it with WINE though.

My school (Tufts University) blocked Napster way back in November when it first started getting popular. I just started using CuteMX as a replacement (which I found at download.com), but unfortunately, it doesn't have as many users.

The new Napster beta circumvents the obstacles our network administrators put up, so they went and blocked access to the Napster website completely! Well, using our good friend the Anonymizer we have managed to download the new version anyway and spread it around campus. What will the network folk come up with next? Suspensions for all Napster users?

Anyway, the whole trial and tribulation has been documented on our online underground newspaper . You should read it - it's rather funny.


-----------------

I learned some java in college, and I was somewhat impressed with the language in general. It appears to be very versatile (much like C++) and the whole idea of JIT compiling brings a new dimension to portability. I found a version of Napster on www.download.com that was written in Java but I haven't compiled it yet. What performance benefits are there in Java versus C++ or Perl??

Ironically, C|Net, who usually seems to be a major player in net freedom, has succumbed to the pressure and stopped mirroring the file. They deleted all records off of shareware.com and download.com. A site wide search points to this site which simply returns the message "The program you've requested, "DeCSS", is not available for download at this time. You might try searching for this title at a later date, or use the search box to look for a similar program now. "

This can be viewed two ways: one, a major international organization is making a step in a productive manner that could, hopefully, get other countries to move in that direction, and two, they made a law to charge you for something that was already free. To my knowledge, it has always been free to rip music from CDs for your personal use, granted that you own the CD as well. There is a whole website devoted to mp3s that promotes a product, MusicMatch, that is available at www.download.com.

And som has KDE. Wonder what more Linux stuff they have hidden there...

saw it on there...a link from cnet's linux page (although a bit outdated..lists v1.0.2).

-----
If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed...

KDE is already there too. complete.