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The Trouble with MMORPGs
jasoncart writes "The trouble with MMORPGs is a humorous account of one gamer's struggle to find and assume his place in the rapidly evolving societies which form a part of the online RPG explosion. Ultimately, it is also a lament for the loss of direction that is the scourge of the genre."
WASHINGTON-- Linux is not the best choice for every IT need. That's according to one speaker at a Linux enterprise conference here.
Linux and other open source software products in many cases may not offer the highest-quality choice available to enterprises, and proprietary software isn't evil, said Jonathan Eunice, president and principal analyst at Illuminata, an IT research and consultancy group based in Nashua, New Hampshire.
But enterprises looking to tweak the code of the software they run and avoid "entanglement costs" associated with vendors who may not listen to their needs may want to consider deploying some open source software, he added, speaking at the Enterprise Linux Forum in Washington, D.C., Thursday.
Eunice urged the attendees at the conference--mostly IT managers interested in open source software--to make decisions about using Linux and other open source software based on what's best for their businesses, not on the near-religious arguments that have dominated the open source versus proprietary debate. But he also countered critiques by companies such as Microsoft, saying he finds no basis for the claims that open source stifles innovation.
No Secrets
Successful open source users realize they are not "entering into a communist plot," said Eunice, speaking to an audience of about 50 here.
"There is no need to go and learn a secret handshake or learn a hymn book to adopt Linux and open source," he said. "There is no vow of obedience and fidelity. You can mix and match, and no one should be angry at you for doing so. It does not require joining a commune; it does not require drinking the Kool-Aid."
Despite claims from some in the open source community, open source development isn't a magic way to create software, Eunice added. "It's not some miracle in software construction that is going to accelerate software development by a factor of 100," he said. "In the early days of open source, many claims were made that bugs would be fixed instantly or new functionality would be added at miraculous speeds. I don't think it's happening."
More Secure?
Linux also isn't a "miraculous cure" for security problems that have plagued Windows, Eunice added. Linux can help enterprises avoid viruses and worms targeting Microsoft products, but open source software projects do issue bug fixes of their own.
While Linux may not be appropriate for every enterprise IT need--Eunice gave the example of desktops and very large databases as places where many enterprises may want to choose other options when pressed by the audience--he listed several places where Linux and other open source software will do the job for enterprises. Among them: network servers and gateways, dynamic data centers, computer clusters, and grids.
While Linux doesn't "scale up" well to large computers running multiple processors, that debate is becoming less and less important as "scale-out" approaches, as clusters and grids, take over many large-scale computing needs, he said.
Ready for the Desktop?
An audience member argued that open source software on the desktop is valuable for people who want to control the computer code and make applications run the way they want, and Eunice agreed. But he questioned whether Linux was ready yet for most home or business desktops.
"I do not believe that Linux and the [open source] ecosystem has produced a complete desktop I would feel comfortable putting my mother or my business office in front of," Eunice said. "I think on the consumer side, there should never be a time for concerns about device drivers or concerns about kernels. My mother will not permit me to have that discussion with her."
Some enterprises with limited desktop needs may be able to run Linux, he said, but most will be more comfortable with a mix of open source and proprietary software. Eunice showed the audience the software running on his laptop: a PowerPoint presentation running on Windows XP , with open source software including
The last time I saw that hot little dark-haired minx, she was on NBC hosting some sub-par tech show.
I wonder whom she had sleep with to end up with the current post...
they take (often buy force, & farce) EVERYTHING, & in return, leave the planet/population in ruin.
get ready to see the light.
Offtopic, and a total of four words including the subject... Such a fascinating post. What a delightfully intelligent use of the word 'mofo'. Oh, sorry my mistake, that isn't a word. /. never decide to ban posting by ACs. It would surely be everyone's loss, if we missed out on Wilde-esque gems of this quality.
I really hope
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Soluzar
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Why oh why did Trent Reznor not produce anything worth listening after the Head like a Hole?
"By the time the afternoon lessons began, there was no hiding what they had done."
man that's such a flamebait response
NPR has the story. He was found dead in his apartment of a self inflicted stab wound to the chest. He's best remembered for his Oscar nomination for the song "Miss Misery" featured in the film Goodwill Hunting. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon."
IMO, my response was a flame, not flamebait. There's a huge difference. Plus that was such a dumb post. I have attempted to get FP on a couple of occasions, but I would always try to actually have something to say in my comment rather than just write "first post, eat it".
-- Soluzar
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yeah, but it's still my fp, mofo.