Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Spolsky, Mandrake, Geography
Update: not everyone agrees on everything. ipoverscsi writes: "SoftwareMarketSolution has a followup interview with Joel Spolsky comprised mainly of rebuttals from the comments section of an older article on Slashdot. A quote I found interesting regarding re-writing software: 'Don't even talk to me about spending money replacing something that works. The only question that is relevant is -- what does it cost to fix it if it doesn't work?'"
'First' seems to be relative. MattJ writes: "A week or two ago, Gavni Menzies' theory about Chinese explorations preceding Columbus were mentioned on Slashdot. He has now made his presentation to the Royal Geographical Society. According to MSNBC, the response from historians who saw it was somewhat muted. They say they need to wait for his book to come out to treat the theory fairly, but right now it looks like a tower of suppositions."
"Or, to vote for 'irresponsible disclosure,' please press No ...". juliao writes: "The IETF has dropped the draft proposal for responsible disclosure of bugs."
Fax early and often. jd142 writes: "A follow up to Friday's CBDTPA story. Electronic petitions and e-mail are unlikely to sway a Senator. Dead trees do. Luckily you can easily have a message faxed to your Senators. Letters are good too, so send both. This is a case where the more paper we can swamp them with, the better chance we have of killing this. And take the time to personalize your faxes and letters."
A matter of phrasing? I mentioned that StarOffice 6.0 was due for retail release in April; Jacques Le Marois from Mandrakesoft (among many others) wrote to point out that "MandrakeClub is the first and only place in the world where you can get StarOffice 6.0 currently!" They've worked out an OEM deal with Sun to let those who've paid for a "Silver" membership to MandrakeClub ($120 annually) download the software.
Exactly which MandrakeClub members were eligible for the payware StarOffice was the cause of some contention. "We also answer to your previous post about the ZDNet controversy. It's an interesting case of mis-information spread."
I've got a better idea. I'll e-mail my senator a picture of me in my backyard wacking trees with my chainsaw!
TLTR*, how about the Too Lazy To Run *nix syndrome?
I was wondering about this the other day. Does it really make a difference to the politicians when you customize some comments for them. I've participated in innumerable fax spamming operations when some controversial bill has been introduced. I'll usually spend some time putting some thoughtful commentary into it, but I wonder whether it's of any value.
I've never received any sort of direct response to any of my customized messages. I've only on rare occasions received a "this is how I stand" form letter form a politician. Do they seriously consider any of the messages? Is it really worth the time I put into it? Anybody out there who had worked for a politician that cares to comment on how such faxes were handled?
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
After reviewing CBDTPA http://cryptome.org/broadbandits.htm I found that the bill makes the following statements:
"13) Consumers receive content such as video or programming in analog form."
First off we all not this is not entirely true for everybody. Maybe this statement means sum content.
"(14) When protected digital content is converted to analog for consumers, it is no longer protected and is subject to conversion into unprotected digital form that can in turn be copied or redistribute illegally."
So now analog should be illegal? I believe audio gurus will still tell you that analog can be better in quality compared to digital. I am not saying digital is bad, as I prefer it, but I know many people who would not want to give up analog audio.
These are just some of the weird things in this bill. And on top of that there are several early statements which contradict this:
"(10) Today, cable and satellite have a competitive advantage over digital television because the closed nature of cable and satellite systems permit encryption, which provides some protection for digital content. " So wait analog is safe?
Of course the entire nature of this bill is wrong, but there are many small things that are wrong with this bill including a lot of contradictions and facts that are not true.
My 2 cents
I suffer from NRTR*....
No Reason To Run *nix
While Windows 2000 doesnt always work, it's reliability is more than enough for me, and the fact that there are many many talented people out there programming good quality programs for windows, which are easier to install and generally are more aesthetically pleasing than their *nix cousins.
Running a *nix system takes a lot of time and effort, because without that, *nix is even worse as far as security than w2k.... however with my system, I run a Router/Firewall, and I'm protected from everything but my own stupidity, and to protect me from that, I use Eudora...
It's easy to pick on MS, especially when they've done all of the things that the *nix community needs to do, and done them better
You may be right, KDE3 and Evolution may be superior to windows, but that is 2 applications... As soon as I can boot up linux, think up something I want to do, search on download.com for a program, and if it's there, click and it works, then I'll permanantly switch... I know apt is getting good, I've used it, but there are still distros that fuck with apt and break that...
Here, a carefully checked that the link was to a different site, clicked on it in IE -- and, POOF! The guy must send out some kind of anti-IE death ray. I'd figured it was something about his face but there's not even a picture of him at the interview.
By the way:
The good news is that a lot of stuff I write about UI is starting to have an impact on the Gnome and KDE people.
Like I said, I'm a fan, but yeesh! Yeah, Joel -- Gnome and KDE are getting better primarily because they've started listening to you. Bill Gates' claim to have enabled open source is probably more valid.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Damn, I had thought the native Americans discovered America.
["Marge, I agree with you - in theory. In theory, communism works. In theory." - Homer]
I remember a story somebody told me once. There use to be this neighborhood with a thousand little shops in a city in England. You could get almost anything you wanted there. Enter the bureaucrats. TheY see squalor and poverty. Enter the bulldozers, the high rise complexes, etc, Now the place really is poor, whereas before most were gainfully employed somehow, etc.
The old situation was aworking living community. The new situation was a death trap.
So the maxim applies to coding, to social policy, and a number of other places.
Sometime the new solutions are far worse than the old problems, despite what marketing says.
Reminds me of a Ferengi proverb somehow.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Because StarOffice includes some closedsource apps, such as a database app.
Their fax machine is screwed now. There's sure to be a decade long queue on Digital Consumer's side, and I wouldn't want to see the paper mess on the senators side.
Slashdot causes a fire hazard! Interns drown in a flood of faxes! News at 11.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
Boy that letter really sucks. See my other post about this. Let me take it point by point:
The Hollings bill will restrict my personal use rights. Congress and the courts have traditionally upheld my right to freely use content that I have legally acquired. But the Hollings bill takes away most of those rights and leaves me with virtually none. Until my fair use rights are ensured, any further encroachment on them must not occur.
Flat out wrong, at least as far as the Senators will see it. The bill in question specifically addresses fair use rights.
The Hollings bill will inevitably prevent innovation because it is the most sweeping regulation of the information technology sector in its history. The bill will give content companies the ability to veto devices like the VCR and the digital Walkman.
This really doesn't say anything, and sounds reactionary.
The Hollings bill is the wrong approach to solving the problem of piracy. A government-mandated standard will never be able to adapt to the rapidly changing digital world. The new "anti-piracy" measures will only harm law-abiding consumers. Every copy protection measure will be defeated by dedicated foreign pirates who sell the stolen goods illicitly. Copy protection will only defeat fair use.
Once again, this sounds reactionary and ill-informed. It might be true in some ways, but it doesn't really address any real issues. The industry knows that they don't have to defeat "foreign pirates", they only have to stop the average consumer.
The content companies said that the DMCA would allow them to deliver great broadband content. Yet four years later, the only outcome of the DMCA has been lawsuits against innovative companies and threats against consumers. We have no reason to believe that the Hollings bill will be any different.
Unfortunately, this is completely irrelevent. The point of this bill is not to provide broadband content, it's to stop piracy.
Once again I have to say: Laws are generally written to solve problems, not just to irritate you. Understand why this law is being written, and attack it based on the fact that the cure will create more problems that it solves. Places to attack: making devices more expensive for law-abiding citizens, privacy (will registration be required for music?), etc.
I particularly liked one of the follow-ups to my original post, where he complained that the music industry is attempting to shift the enforcement of copyright from their own lawyers (where it belongs) to the tech sector. If the music industry wants to attack copyright infringement, then let them go out and start identifying piraters. It's their problem, not the tech industry's problem. I think this would be an excellent point to make in a letter.
But that whiny letter is worse than useless. I recommend against using it.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
There are other issues about rewritting software, such as considering what is up and down stream from it. A sort program may work perfectly well, but may be wholy unusable as a filter.
Another reason that software may need to be looked at is that they no longer conform with the way people do things. Consider the multitude of program exits that existed before the CUA became widespread.
This is not dissimilar to redesigning peices of machinery to work with other elsewise incompatible machines.
OS/2 - because choice is a terrible thing to waste.
> SMS: Another interesting point was raised in reference to bloatware... Do you ...The WWW is bloatware. Finding things is impossible because there's so .00000000001% of the world ever reads. Since the vast majority of
> think a product like Microsoft Word would benefit by having every feature that is
> used by 1% or less of the installed base removed from the product?
>
> Joel:
> much stuff out there. Think how much hard drive space is wasted on all kinds of web
> pages that only
> people only go to Yahoo, Ebay, and MSN, wouldn't the WWW be better if it only had
> Yahoo, Ebay, and MSN? It would be much more "optimized."
With Joel from Microsoft at the helm the entire contents of the Internet would reside on a single loooooong web page.
The oposite of MS-Bloatware (TM) is not lack of features. The opposite is UN*X's lean tool approach. Use tools for one function or a small set of tightly related functions. Create a screwdriver to screw screws, a hammer to nail nails. You do not create a Rube Goldberg machine with a flight simulator.
---
Anonymity is freedom!
Deja vu?
When will people get it through their thick skulls that petitions dont work.
Lets look at DMCA, did petitions stop it? Hell no.
Lets look at Napster, did petitions save Napster? Hell no.
Why isnt marijuana legal? People have been petitioning for it by the millions for 20 years or more now.
Face it, Petitions have never solved a thing.
Tabacco was made Legal because people didnt obey the laws, civil disobedience by the millions, and there arent enough jails to enforce it, alcohol? Alcohol was illegal once, it took the mafia and illegal activities, corruption and control of the government through the mafia, essentially terrorism tactics to make alcohol legal.
SSSCA, you arent going to stop this unless you fight, you dont have to be violent to fight, you can fight with your intelligence, programmers should write unstopable programs like freenet, rich people should support lobby groups on our side, people who are good writers should write books, articles, editorials, and give as much media attention as possible to this, public speakers should host rallies along with musicians at local colleges where other intelligent people are. Contact churches, libaries, civil rights groups, and convince them how important it is to protect our rights. Contact patriotic groups, anti government groups, and anarchist groups and explain to them how the government is trying to control them not just offline but online as well.
Contact the elderly, contact teachers, and highschool students, explain to all of these groups whats going on, hang posters in front of highschools, near libraries, near sam goody and HMV, Blockbuster and other stores which tell people about the SSSCA, use clever images, such as comparing the SSSCA to Nazism, Explain how unfair it is, use images of jail and rich CEOs, show images of locks on their computer.
If all of the people reading this did this in their towns seperately, meaning true activism on a LARGE scale, Well its simple to break it down into parts.
INFORM --- Tell the public what the SSSCA is!
Explain ---- Tell the public whats wrong with the SSSCA
Results ---- Tell them what will happen if the SSSCA passes, and what kinda society it will lead to if the trend continues
Solution ---- Tell them how to stop the SSSCA, tell them a msg similar to what I'm telling you, explain to them not to just stop the SSSCA, but to promote absolute freedom of speech online, meaning no one can control what you do with your computer, if the RIAA and MPAA does not want us to pirate stuff, they should make it impossible to pirate or undesirable to do so, if this means lowering the price so its not worth buying a CD or DVD burner, or if this means locking the DVD up, they have options, what they shouldnt do is take away our freedoms, its like saying you cant use your hands to draw a copy of a picture you like.
And PLEASE post this on slashback to replace that other lame msg.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
Flat out wrong, at least as far as the Senators will see it. The bill in question specifically addresses fair use rights.
No it doesn't. It provides a maximum penalty of $2,500 per work for prohibiting fair use. As I wrote in my letter, that's pocket change to Hollywood, and a more appropriate solution would be to put any work whose encoding prohibits fair use into the public domain.
The industry knows that they don't have to defeat "foreign pirates", they only have to stop the average consumer.
I fixed that, noting that the industry likes to brand fair users as "casual pirates."
The point of this bill is not to provide broadband content, it's to stop piracy.
I think I ought to post my version of the letter. Just wait 2 minutes.
Will I retire or break 10K?
They say that the purpose is to combat piracy. I don't see any evidence that this is true, however.
The bill does not appear to be designed to combat piracy, it seems to be designed to control what is available to choose from. And we are likely to be caught in the side spill. It appears really quite vile, and essentially ignores the constitutional justifications (i.e., enabling provisions) for copyright. I really doubt that the lawyers who support it are unaware of this. I think that they just don't care. It's more a matter of "we can force you to live with this" than "this is just".
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
from http://www.openoffice.org/FAQs/mostfaqs.html#7 :
The source code available at OpenOffice.org does not consist of all of the StarOffice code. Usually, the reason for this is that Sun pays to license third party code to include in StarOffice that which it does not have permission to make available in OpenOffice.org. Those things which are or will be present in StarOffice but are not available on OpenOffice.org include:
- Certain fonts (including, especially, Asian language fonts)
- The database component (Adabas D)
- Some templates
- Extensive Clip Art Gallery
- Some sorting functionality (Asian versions)
- Certain file filters
OTOH, I agree with you if you wanted to imply that OO will probably, for most home users, do a good job and have quite the same functionality, I know it does for me.
The official Chinese history, taught in schools, show that the Ming Dynasty's fleets did reach Southeast and South Asia, Arabia and East Africa, but that was as far as they went. There is no doubt that the Ming had the technology to go to West Africa or even "discovered" Western Europe for China, but going across an ocean like the Pacific or the Atlantic may be questionable. (Note the Ming routes were mainly along coasts known to the Chinese people)
See http://www.chinapage.com/zhenghe.html (near the middle of the page) for a map of the Ming voyage based on China's historical records.
It would be great that China discovered America, but the Chinese people do not claim something that cannot be supported. And remember, it is a Englishman, not a Chinese, who makes this claim.
Free Software: the software by the people, of the people and for the people. Develop! Share! Enhance! Enjoy!
*nix is even worse as far as security than w2k....
A few Linux distributions may have a few security holes now and then - but other *nix's don't. Check out OpenBSD.org if you want true security that MS Windows can only deam of.
good quality programs for windows, which are easier to install
Now that's not true. Most unix and linux distribitions have easy to use programes that will fetch, configure and install software for you automatically.
With FreeBSD to install Mozilla:
type 'whereis mozilla'
the computer will respond with a directory - change into that directory and type 'make install.' Wait for a few moments and your done.
With Windows to install Mozilla:
Use your browser to go to Mizilla.org
Find the donwload section and choose.
Download and palce the file somewhere.
Execute it.
Ansewer a bunch of installer questions.
Next-Next-Next-Finish.
As you can see. Some (if not most) Unix systems are easier to install software on than Windows. You could do the same for KOffice in FreeBSD - and I won't go into detail on the difficulty of installing MS Office on MS Windows - in Windows you even have to reboot!
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Your dubious convenience pays for extermination of choice for people that actually come up with ideas. Whose design do you think, will Microsoft rip off few years from now? Where do you think, Microsoft takes money to to this to us? Right, from what you have paid them for "convenience" of not knowing how to configure a desktop on a unixlike system.
Now don't blame me for hating you, and better think, what will happen when you, and people like you, will give Microsoft enough money to take over everything that has been left in computer science and industry. It's not that much time, considering how willing you and your likes were to sponsor this before.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
I am writing to urge you to reject the Hollings copy protection bill, also known as
the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA). I
strongly oppose the bill for the following reason:
Every technical measure that "protects" a piece of data from some uses (such as
illegal copying) but not from others (such as legal viewing) must do so by making
the data accessible only to some programs and not to others. But as there is no
technical way to determine the intentions of a computer program, the decision
must be made by some controlling human authority (the DVD-CCA being an
example of such an authority). Moreover, since that authority cannot be present
at every computer in the world, it must somehow "sign" or "authorize" the devices
which it has chosen to grant access. Furthermore, that signature or authorization
must be somehow rendered secret so that malicious or simply curious people are
not able to duplicate the authorization on unauthorized devices.
The simple implication, then, is that every electronic device, or at least some piece
of software on every electronic device, must be secret from its user. In effect,
knowing how a computer works must be made impossible or illegal or both in order
to implement the provisions of this bill.
The would effectively destroy the general-purpose computer by making all of its
means of input, storage, and output subject to such protected secrecy. If
implemented at the hardware level, it would render illegal the development of
electronic devices by amateurs and hobbyists; if implemented at the software level
it would render illegal all amateur or collaborative software development.
Additionally, since the majority of copyright "piracy" takes place outside of the
United States and thus beyond the reach of this or any other law, the measure
would be of little actual help to the media companies which have lobbied for this
measure.
It would be an understatement to say that this would harm the technology industry.
It would destroy the technology industry in the United States, while drastically
expanding the industry in technology-friendly nations like India and China. It would
compromise the mainstay of the US economy and at the same time doing
irreparable damage to our global leadership and national security. Already,
prominent software developers are declining to visit the United States for fear that
the software they have written might run afoul of the existing Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA); the CBDTPA will exacerbate this problem exponentially.
As a software engineer, I have seen co-workers making preparations to emigrate
or seek expatriate assignments if this bill is enacted. "I will need to consult a lawyer
every time I write a line of code," quipped one of my co-workers; the remark is not
far from the truth.
If you really wish to protect American media companies from revenues lost to
copyright violations, I urge you to support stronger enforcement of the well-tested,
well-understood, and legally and constitutionally sound laws already on the books.
Contrary to the language of many supporters of digital content control, copyright
infringement is already illegal, and needs no additional laws to make it more so.
The proposed measure, like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) before it,
takes a "shotgun" approach to a small and well-defined crime, and will cause
tremendous injury to American technological leadership and one of the fastest-
growing segments of our economy for very little compensating benefit.
I am severely disappointed in your support of the Hollings bill, and respectfully
request that you remove yourself as a co-sponsor.
Helpful links:
(An identical letter was sent to Sen. John Kerry.)
If you say "I'll probably get modded down for this..." then I will mod you down.
Do you understand what rights are?
This is just fucking censorship, I dont care what you say, no government, or group of people no matter who they are, has the right to control how you use what you own.
This is just wrong, what next? Microsoft going to the government claiming "Outlaw open source, its preventing us from making money on our closed source products, all programmers should have licenses so we can properly CONTROL them and we can maintain our monopoly"
You stupid fuck, cant you see? The MPAA and RIAA wants to maintain their monopoly, this is NOT and I mean NOT going to promote broadband, in fact the only reason broadband is being used at the moment is file sharing, what they are trying to do is convince the government to do a War on Sharing lik e the War on drugs.
The War on drugs, i dont agree with it, but it makes sense, you have to prevent the population from becoming a bunch of druggies, but the government isnt arresting people for using drugs, they arrest you for selling it.
I think people who copy and sell programs should go to jail, but people who share programs should have that right. If you dont profit from it, then its not stealing, if you sell something to someone that indicates they would have purchased it from the MPAA or RIAA and that is stealing.
"This really doesn't say anything, and sounds reactionary."
Look, when the leaders of the old system, purposely kill the new system by outlawing it, (Microsoft does it, the RIAA does it, the MPAA does it) It prevents innovation.
Technology is leading us in one direction, the MPAA is trying to fight the technology, Napster, peer to peer, file sharing, its innovation, it could have easily been profitable, the only diffrence is the profits wouldnt be for the RIAA and MPAA, people would still go to the movies to see movies when they first come out, people would STILL go to concerts, people would have to buy CDs to hear them they day they come out, not to mention they could have just released higher quality sound.
Face it, they dont want the consumer, the musician, and the programmer to be empowered, they want control, its all about control, its not about $$, its about control.
Oil companies want control, we could have cars running on air, water, electricity, which can run perfectly fast.
Speaking of cars, lets talk about cars, should cars be restricted to moving at 50mph by forcing all car makers to make slower cars? You'll say hell no. Should guns be made illegal because people can kill with them? No you say?
Should we order people to vote by forcing them too? Think about where this is going,
When we keep passing these laws which "CONTROL" us and remove our rights, we become exactly what we have faught against, remember the war against communism the fight for freedom, fight against nazism, etc, guess what, we are about to turn into that society.
No more libraries, say goodbye to radio, vcr, everything, all electronics will be modified, and eventually all products, books will become electronic, so no more libraries, college students wont be able to share books anymore, so rich students will have a huge advantage.The government will tell you what programs you can and cannot right, you'll need a license to write programs, no more freedom on your computer.
You'll be told what you can and cant read.
You'll be told what you can and cant listen to.
Forget about having parties with loud music, soon all speakers will be outlawed to prevent sharing of sound, so prepare for headphones.
"I particularly liked one of the follow-ups to my original post, where he complained that the music industry is attempting to shift the enforcement of copyright from their own lawyers (where it belongs) to the tech sector. If the music industry wants to attack copyright infringement, then let them go out and start identifying piraters. It's their problem, not the tech industry's problem. I think this would be an excellent point to make in a letter."
Copyright infringement should be stopped only when
it actually causes harm. People sharing music is not causing anyone to lose money, people copying CDs and selling them IS stealing.
Stealing money which could be going to the RIAA.
While i dont agree with selling something you dont own the rights to sell, I think its our right as humans to be able to share anything we have the ability to copy, its the RIAAs job to make it impossible for us to copy if they dont want us sharing it.
Thats like saying you cant share knowledge, yeah you know, you read a book on C programming and then you write a tutorial, should the creators of C sue you for copyright infringement because you are illegally sharing information?
I mean damn, its getting to the point where I can believe that could happen, which means its gone too far.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
b) There's a hell of a difference between just bumping into something and actually making use of it. Columbus and the Spanish get the credit they do because, regardless of whether the Chinese or Martians or whoever had already been round, no one established a permanent colony that's lasted through the ages until the Spanish did.
I'm sure you meant to say "no one but people with dark skin and hair established a permanent colony that's lasted through the ages..."
No, this just means that everyone will have to buy a new TV as making HDTV->Analog converters will be illegal.
All those 2 million HDTV sets sold will have to be replaced, as they won't support the new DRM system.
It's the Consumers Buying DRM Televisions Popularizing Act.
> It is an accepted historical fact that the Vikings settled Greenland, and then parts of eastern Canada as an outlying region from that.
Perhaps most interesting from the POV of the current discussion, is that although it is an accepted historical fact, it hasn't been so for more than a few decades. The story was common, but at least among school teachers and the like it had Roswell-grade credibility.
OK, to my "few decades" I suppose I must add whatever lag before knowledge of the archaelogical support trickles down to the schoolteacher level. But the point remains, that this kind of "knowledge" is still improving, so we may be in for some more surprises.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
at least have the good sense to do something other than just copy and paste the exact same letter that's offered on Digital Consumer. I mean really, at least try to be original or creative. Personally, I deleted the entire body and wrote in my own letter (Senators and Reps know when thy're getting spam faxes, and while it may have some sway on their impression of public opinion, nothing packs the punch of an original letter).
Then again, the moderators bought your blatent copy and paste job as +4 Insightful, so what do I know, huh?
If I could only live my life with my threshold at 4...
Except it is the same politicians who don't trust you to own a gun that also don't want you to own an unrestricted computer. Once you notice that it all makes perfect sense.
Any politician who doesn't believe you have the right to defend your own life against a criminal is the sort of mental defective who will slide down the slippery slope until he thinks you ARE the criminal.
And we are now there. You are ASSUMED to be a pirate, so they plan to give you a 'safe computer' to prevent you from acting on your base instincts to 'steal' Disney's precious mouse.
You got two choices: 1)be a sheep. Say Baaah. 2)Live Free or Die.
Our forefathers pledged their Lives, Fortunes and Sacred Honor to the cause of establishing our former Republic. Most of the people who signed the Declaration of Independence died or were financially ruined during the War. What price are you willing to pay to reclaim it?
Letters to Congress are a good start, but we had better be thinking of how far we are willing to go to defend the 1st Amendment. Hopefully farther than the NRA went defending #2. So how far are YOU willing to go to defend your 'inalienable rights' against an out of control government who sees itself your Master?
Will you paint up a sign and show up at a local protest?
Will you carry that sign all the way to Washington DC and raise hell for the CNN cameras? Knowing what that sort of record will probably do to your future? (especially if you lose in the end?)
Will you donate till it hurts to organizations like the EFF?
Will you organize and work to unelect politicians who vote for this atrocity? Really work against them, even if they are of the same party as you? Can you really make the cause of liberty your 'single issue' in an election?
Will you commit acts of civil disobedience? Remember how much it sucked to be in the Civil Rights movement all those years before they won? Are you ready to follow in their footsteps for years of getting kicked around by the Powers that Be?
And failing all other attempts to petition our corrupt rulers for redress of our just grievances, will you actually have the stones to lay it all on the line, grab the 'sporting goods' and head to DC to get ugly? This is the big one. If it is obvious that enough folks ARE mad enough to defend their Rights then we will probably win a lot sooner and with a lot less bother. The Brits would never have oppressed the colonies to the degree they did had they entertained for a moment we would actually start shooting and keep it up through the long dark years when it appeared they had no chance of winning. Miscalculating the odds is the cause of most wars.
Democrat delenda est
It will automatically download it and automatically download and install all dependencies.
*POP*
Sure sure... "privacy", but I don't want my letter to Congress to be private. :-)
i ce s.htm
http://www.usps.gov/common/category/online_serv
-l
Help cure AIDS, cancer, and more. Donate your unused computer time to worldcommunitygrid.org. Join Team Slashdot!
The key things to include are YOUR name and address.
Send something to YOUR representatives. A blast-faxed generic letter to someone you cannot vote for is NOT taken seriously AT ALL.
If you can't remember who represents you, you can double-check using the geographical search tool on House of Representatives web site.
It will have MORE weight if you also customize it by articulating why YOU think XYZ, the impact it will have on YOU and your family/friends/neighbors, and if you are both polite and not patronizing.
BTW, for great examples of the negative impact of some Digital Rights Management technologies on ordinary non-techie people, check out Joe Kraus's very funny testimony about his parents' use of technology. This was presented before the Senate Judiciary committee a couple of weeks ago.
Liza
These opinions are my own. My employer is not aware of them, does not endorse them, and is not responsible for them.
your solution with mozilla works fine, as long as mozilla is on the system... otherwise you'd be in the same mess....
I should have been more specific - whan you type 'make install' - FreeBSD and OpenBSD go out on the internet and fetch Mozilla for you. They also fetch any and all dependencys.
I recognize it's power and security, but for someone who doesnt want to look for SSH patches, make sure red-hat didn't install bind,
Please don't assume that your experince with the 'install-everything' Red Hat distribution of Linux is indicitive of all *nix distrubutions. Check out OpenBSD if you want security. Red Hat, and Windows both are great behind a secure firewall - and I humbly suguest OpenBSD.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
This is what I wrote, based on the template provided.
MacOS, Windows, BeOS, GNOME, KDE: they're all just Xerox copies
" It's like waking up with your cut off penis in your mouth; you don't know how it got there but at least you still have your testicles intact."
More like, it's like waking up with your cut off penis in your mouth; you don't know how it got there, and are in incredible pain....
...but you still can't resist the temptation to give yourself a blow job.
graspee