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KDE 3.2.0 Released
Quique writes "KDE 3.2 has just been released. The official announcement is available at the KDE site and the source tarballs are being replicated to the mirrors. There are already binary packages for a few distributions. Besides the usual bugfixes and new features, this release has been highly optimized and runs way faster than previous versions. This is a good opportunity for Windows users to migrate to a free desktop."
RMS should take a shower. That is all.
STATEMENT OF FRANK ZAPPA
.", and Senator Gore's wife talks about "Bondage!" and "oral sex at gunpoint," on the CBS Evening News, people in high places work on a tax bill that is so ridiculous, the only way to sneak it through is to keep the public's mind on something else: 'Porn rock'.
These are my personal observations and opinions. They are addressed to the PMRC as well as this committee. I speak on behalf of no group or professional organization.
The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years, dealing with the interpretational and enforcemental problems inherent in the proposal's design.
It is my understanding that, in law, First Amendment Issues are decided with a preference for the least restrictive alternative. In this context, the PMRC's demands are the equivalent of treating dandruff by decapitation.
No one has forced Mrs. Baker or Mrs. Gore to bring Prince or Sheena Easton into their homes. Thanks to the Constitution, they are free to buy other forms of music for their children. Apparently, they insist on purchasing the works of contemporary recording artists in order to support a personal illusion of aerobic sophistication. Ladies, please be advised: The $8.98 purchase price does not entitle you to a kiss on the foot from the composer or performer in exchange for a spin on the family Victrola. Taken as a whole, the complete list of PMRC demands reads like an instruction manual for some sinister kind of "toilet training program" to house-break all composers and performers because of the lyrics of a few. Ladies, how dare you?
The ladies' shame must be shared by the bosses at the major labels who, through the RIAA, chose to bargain away the rights of composers, performers, and retailers in order to pass H.R. 2911, The Blank Tape Tax: A private tax levied by an industry on consumers for the benefit of a select group within that industry. Is this a "consumer issue"? You bet it is. PMRC spokesperson, Kandy Stroud, announced to millions of fascinated viewers on last Friday's ABC Nightline debate that Senator Gore, a man she described as "A friend of the music industry," is co-sponsor of something she referred to as "anti-piracy legislation". Is this the same tax bill with a nicer name?
The major record labels need to have H.R. 2911 whiz through a few committees before anybody smells a rat. One of them is chaired by Senator Thurmond. Is it a coincidence that Mrs. Thurmond is affiliated with the PMRC? I cannot say she's a member, because the PMRC has no members. Their secretary told me on the phone last Friday that the PMRC has no members . . . only founders. I asked how many other D.C. wives are nonmembers of an organization that raises money by mail, has a tax-exempt status, and seems intent on running the Constitution of the United States through the family paper-shredder. I asked her if it was a cult. Finally, she said she couldn't give me an answer and that she had to call their lawyer.
While the wife of the Secretary of the Treasury recites "Gonna drive my love inside you . .
The PMRC practices a curious double standard with these fervent recitations. Thanks to them, helpless young children all over America get to hear about oral sex at gunpoint on network TV several nights a week. Is there a secret FCC dispensation here? What sort of end justifies THESE means? PTA parents should keep an eye on these ladies if that's their idea of 'good taste'.
Is the basic issue morality? Is it mental health? Is it an issue at all? The PMRC has created a lot of confusion with improper comparisons between song lyrics, videos, record packaging, radio broadcasting, and live performances. These are all different mediums, and the people who work in them have the right to conduct their business without trade-restraining legislation, whipped up like an instant pudding by
Cato er letteid!!! 8-)
and frosty first.
Yesterday a friend of mine told me:
Hey, I saw mac os X the other day... and it looks like linux
He is not computer savvy; just a joe who has seen linux screenshots.
UnrealTournament2003 runs better on linux than in windows. Same machine. Ditto NeverwinterNights.
- works out of the box (possibly given a visit to Windows Update),
- autodetects all your hardware (some Linux distros do this yes, but not nearly as well),
- does NOT get you rooted because the security is there if you know how to use it (and not use IE/Outlook),
- does play all the latest games and software which I need (the alternatives suck, try comparing Photoshop with GIMP),
- does have free and competent technical support available which does not have "STFU NOOB" in its vocabulary,
- does not require me to devote a significant amount of my free time just to get it installed and working semi-well.
Linux is a Fine OS(TM) but it is NOT ready for Mr Non-Hax0r unless he/she has a real hax0r around to take care of all the problems that inevitably show up. Being the practically-minded type myself, I use what works, silly ideologies aside. I don't have the patience to bother with Linux, so I don't use it, simple as that. People who think everyone can and should switch today are idiots and don't deserve a +5 moderation.Quality, performance, value; you get only two, and you don't always get to pick.
I think I'm going to be fired.
The only problem, I'd say, is that it's not obvious to most people which distro to use, and picking the wrong one is sure to end in, as you say "a HUGE waste of time" for first time users. This is unfortunate, but it doesn't really equal "Linux is unusable for everyone who isn't a programmer".
That is indeed a problem (though I can't agree with you that it's the only) but I will argue that the large amount of time it takes to get [some distro of] Linux up and running can make Linux unusable. There is a treshold; any user, no matter how committed, will stop trying to get Linux working after N hours of trying and failing, where N varies with the individual. I think my N is pretty high, but still not high enough, apparently. That, or I was just unlucky. My point is, Joe Home User has an abysmally small value for N. So Linux can and will be unusable to him because of that.
I do find it interesting that someone working in tech support at a major university condones piracy, but I'm not going to deny that you have a point there.
It wasn't my intention to condone piracy - I'm merely speaking from real experience, not saying the way it is is the way it _should_ be. In tech support (the hands-on kind), you get to see the hard drives of MANY people's computers. Even the non-savvy run Kazaa, DC and BitTorrent and stockpile gigs of warez, porn and movies on their fragile little laptops.
OTOH, non technical users seldom have the knowledge to locate pirated copies of the software they'd need (if they even know the software exists!)
See above. While at the university where I work, most people are pretty tech-savvy, there are also a huge number of people who are not. They're using warezed software all the same, having gotten it from their (savvier) friends. When everyone's on 100Mbit (11Mb on the WLAN) there's nothing stopping the warez from propagating. Though, for people who aren't tech-savvy themselves and don't have too many l33t h4x0rz in their social circles, you've got a point.
Quality, performance, value; you get only two, and you don't always get to pick.