Dotnet provides a consistant abstraction interface for writing software that happens to run on their OPERATING SYSTEM. What would be the point of an operating system if nobody is/can write software for it?
People wrote software for Windows before.NET existed... That's what APIs are for.
What this whole virtual machine thing gets them is the ability to migrate to other processor architectures without a huge disruption. Right now the large codebase of native-compiled applications ties them to the IA-32 and AMD-64 platforms. They could move Windows to other platforms (and, of course, they have) but without binary compatibility, many of the advantages of Windows are simply lost. Building a VM into their operating system gives them flexibility in the future, and gives them a better bargaining position in terms of determining future architectural decisions for the PC platform.
I don't think users benefit from.NET nearly as much as Microsoft benefits from people coming to rely upon it.
Yes. Because you can't sell or market anything with the Internet.
The point is, to be successful at it in a market where you're competing against people who are actually good at it, you need to either be marketing-savvy yourself, or you need to have someone representing you who is, themselves, marketing-savvy. The internet does offer new ways to get people interested in buying your shit - but you still need, somehow, to get them to actually do it.
The internet makes it easier for people to get some exposure on their own - the problem is that there's now millions of other people out there doing exactly the same thing. If I recorded a song and wanted to make money from it via the internet, how would I go about that? How would I get people to come to my website? How would I convince them to buy my song instead of somebody else's? It's not a simple problem. It's not insurmountable, either, but it's a skill set separate from that which I needed to make the song in the first place.
That is the niche "the music industry" (that is, the "middlemen", not the artists) serves: they promote artists, they get their songs played on the radio, and once the artist is in demand, they do their damndest to make sure people don't get the music without paying for it.
I don't think it's the perfectest system there is, but saying these "middlemen" are unnecessary is going a bit too far. It doesn't matter how good a musician is if no one has heard of him. If he's an unknown, his music won't sell.
And that's not needed anymore. I can see their fear of the internet. It is the perfect medium to distribute information. And that's basically the business they're in. If there is a free middle man, like the internet, who would pay one?
Well, the business they're in is to distribute information and extract payment for it. Often skill with producing art does not correlate with skill at marketing it. The internet doesn't actually change this...
So when/. is debating moves against piracy it'll yell "OH NO IT'S NOT THEFT IT'S COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT" but if it's an MS article...
Well, the thing is Slashdot isn't a Hive Mind... It's made up of different people with different opinions... I couldn't tell you whether adeelarshad82 (the submitter of the story) or kdawson (the one who published it here) are guilty of the hypocrisy you describe... Mainly because I don't pay enough attention to either of them to know.:)
But really the same thing occurred to me. The use of the term "theft" seemed a bit misplaced here: I'm mostly in the "copyright violation is not theft" camp. I don't think "theft" is quite the right term for copyright violation personally, rather labeling it's just a way to enforce one idea of how copyright violation should be treated. It's basically an attempt to subvert the entire issue of how copyright infringement should be treated. So its use here isn't something I particularly support.
I once had a pet octopus. It was small about the size of a fist all curled up. It was always moving things around the tank and rebuilding his or her stone "house".
Sodium! Yes, the metal. Kids just don't learn enough about sodium these days...
Or mercury! Show them how much fun it is to roll a ball of mercury around in their hands, as you teach them about how mercury is a metal, and a liquid at room temperature...
I'll agree with you, they work good, when they work. The problem with the official drivers is that they're a binary blob, thus most distributions (none I've ever seen) ship with them enabled. This is an issue if the default nv driver crashes your machine. Because of this, I'm going with ATI next time, I've heard they're way more Linux friendly now.
For what it's worth: I decided to go the ATI route this time around. I mostly use it for running Blender. I've been pretty happy with it overall - but I wouldn't say I've found the drivers to be particularly more or less troublesome than the NVidia ones.
Slashdot Mirror
And the Icom IC-T81A stuck to the hub of the steering wheel has no antenna connected to it,
rendering it useless...
It doesn't need an antenna, he just uses it to send Morse Code on the highway.
Good propagation on the WTF band tonight.
Well, it's a sunspot year after all...
Gee, I have mod points but could not help but notice your modesty - why exclude yourself?
If someone has mod points, please mod us all up!
I have some mod points!!
How is that ironic?
I don't know, I just remember it was in that Alanis Morissette song... "It's like that guy who design Delphi, who also designed C sharp..."
Dotnet provides a consistant abstraction interface for writing software that happens to run on their OPERATING SYSTEM. What would be the point of an operating system if nobody is/can write software for it?
People wrote software for Windows before .NET existed... That's what APIs are for.
What this whole virtual machine thing gets them is the ability to migrate to other processor architectures without a huge disruption. Right now the large codebase of native-compiled applications ties them to the IA-32 and AMD-64 platforms. They could move Windows to other platforms (and, of course, they have) but without binary compatibility, many of the advantages of Windows are simply lost. Building a VM into their operating system gives them flexibility in the future, and gives them a better bargaining position in terms of determining future architectural decisions for the PC platform.
I don't think users benefit from .NET nearly as much as Microsoft benefits from people coming to rely upon it.
The internet doesn't actually change this...
Yes. Because you can't sell or market anything with the Internet.
The point is, to be successful at it in a market where you're competing against people who are actually good at it, you need to either be marketing-savvy yourself, or you need to have someone representing you who is, themselves, marketing-savvy. The internet does offer new ways to get people interested in buying your shit - but you still need, somehow, to get them to actually do it.
The internet makes it easier for people to get some exposure on their own - the problem is that there's now millions of other people out there doing exactly the same thing. If I recorded a song and wanted to make money from it via the internet, how would I go about that? How would I get people to come to my website? How would I convince them to buy my song instead of somebody else's? It's not a simple problem. It's not insurmountable, either, but it's a skill set separate from that which I needed to make the song in the first place.
That is the niche "the music industry" (that is, the "middlemen", not the artists) serves: they promote artists, they get their songs played on the radio, and once the artist is in demand, they do their damndest to make sure people don't get the music without paying for it.
I don't think it's the perfectest system there is, but saying these "middlemen" are unnecessary is going a bit too far. It doesn't matter how good a musician is if no one has heard of him. If he's an unknown, his music won't sell.
I wonder how many times he used the foster girls without their permission.
Well, I think his line of defense there has been that the girls laughed at his penis: therefore the entire act falls into the "parody" category.
ASCAP - Yes, this is the moffia
"moffia"?
And that's not needed anymore. I can see their fear of the internet. It is the perfect medium to distribute information. And that's basically the business they're in. If there is a free middle man, like the internet, who would pay one?
Well, the business they're in is to distribute information and extract payment for it. Often skill with producing art does not correlate with skill at marketing it. The internet doesn't actually change this...
Well, the thing is Slashdot isn't a Hive Mind... It's made up of different people with different opinions...
And yet, long-time readers like myself have learnt to recognise the same basic comments being made *and modded to +5* on articles time and time again.
Another popular one (at least in recent years) has been pointing out logical flaws in arguments: over-reliance on anecdotal evidence, for instance...
Most people would simply deliver a baby through a vagina...
So when /. is debating moves against piracy it'll yell "OH NO IT'S NOT THEFT IT'S COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT" but if it's an MS article...
Well, the thing is Slashdot isn't a Hive Mind... It's made up of different people with different opinions... I couldn't tell you whether adeelarshad82 (the submitter of the story) or kdawson (the one who published it here) are guilty of the hypocrisy you describe... Mainly because I don't pay enough attention to either of them to know. :)
But really the same thing occurred to me. The use of the term "theft" seemed a bit misplaced here: I'm mostly in the "copyright violation is not theft" camp. I don't think "theft" is quite the right term for copyright violation personally, rather labeling it's just a way to enforce one idea of how copyright violation should be treated. It's basically an attempt to subvert the entire issue of how copyright infringement should be treated. So its use here isn't something I particularly support.
Honestly, won't anyone think of the Childs?
I once had a pet octopus. It was small about the size of a fist all curled up. It was always moving things around the tank and rebuilding his or her stone "house".
Aw, that's cute... Just like bunnies!
Is it an African or a European octopus?
You've got two empty 'alves of an octopus and you're bangin' em together!
If you're dealing with the Nook and you power cycle without properly shutting down, you can expect a visit from Mr. Resetti... Those are never fun.
You're right, I did get the movies mixed up... How embarrassing...
Sodium! Yes, the metal. Kids just don't learn enough about sodium these days...
Or mercury! Show them how much fun it is to roll a ball of mercury around in their hands, as you teach them about how mercury is a metal, and a liquid at room temperature...
"My youngest knew Neil deGrasse Tyson's name at age 4."
Well, don't leave me hanging, what was it?
why am i thinking the optimal shape for a spacecraft using this rotatey-particley
wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey?
Man, the Stargate-Universe folks really need to control their script leaks.
Unfortunately, when a plot is full of holes, the script is bound to leak...
Oh, and ask him how that GRAF shield is coming while you're at it...
Sadly, this news is a little to late for Christopher Reeve...
Yes, but it'll be ready just in time for Worf's spinal injury...
I'll agree with you, they work good, when they work. The problem with the official drivers is that they're a binary blob, thus most distributions (none I've ever seen) ship with them enabled. This is an issue if the default nv driver crashes your machine. Because of this, I'm going with ATI next time, I've heard they're way more Linux friendly now.
For what it's worth: I decided to go the ATI route this time around. I mostly use it for running Blender. I've been pretty happy with it overall - but I wouldn't say I've found the drivers to be particularly more or less troublesome than the NVidia ones.
Free as in freedom jackass.
Freedom isn't free!