Suppose a government defines "seedy activities" as "voting for the opposition." I'd say that's a pretty big blow against both democracy and freedom. And what's the point of living in a democracy (which Soviet Russia TECHNICALLY was) if you have no freedom to associate with people without the government watching your every move?
A good point... But I seem to remember that the Mozilla project has an agreement with Netscape through which Netscape doesn't have to release the source to their browser? And isn't AOL going to use the "Netscape" version of Mozilla? (Despite the fact that, compared to the Mozilla milestones, it sucks)
-RickHunter
Re:Does this potentially kill Debian?
on
An RPM Port Of APT
·
· Score: 2
It won't. Linux-wise, I've used Debian, Red Hat, and Mandrake. Debian just seems a lot cleaner to me. Everything seems to be organized better. There's an overall impression of design, the defaults are well-chosen, and the dependencies are intelligent.
I ment how it doesn't permit the declaration of functions independant of class as C++ does. Its not a major thing, just a minor irritation for me. I have no real problems with Java, other than a feeling that some of the limitations on the language are unnecessary. I prefer C and C++, but I'm willing to use Java for some things. I'm even enjoying using it (some bits have very pleasing syntax) for CS this year.
Yes, there is that... But given that license documentation for software is often not properly shipped or not followed, or that the users go ahead and install unlicensed software anyway, you will still run afoul of legal troubles. The Software Conspiracy has one example of a disgruntled employee installing a bunch of unlicensed software on a company's computers, then tipping off the "authorities," costing the company incredible amounts of money in fines.
With proprietary software, in my experience, its a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.
A good point... I did find that somewhat annoying when using Galleon, that the scrollbars looked and felt different from everything else. However, M18 is kind of different... With the Classic interface, the entire browser takes a lot of cues from my GTK+ theme. Which is nice, as I'm one of those wierd people who cannot use a dark-on-light interface for long periods of time. And the form widgets (independent of theme) now seem to be GTK widgets, or at least feel a lot like them. At first it felt kind of odd, but now I think its a nice touch. Not everything is totally GTK, but the integration seems fairly good.
(Unfortunately, there were a few bugs with the theme integration... Most of which are fixed now, IIRC)
I agree with you that a GNOME web browser would be best, though. If there was a good one, I'd switch to it from Mozilla in a heartbeat. But there (unfortunately) isn't, and I don't have nearly the time or skills needed to write one.:-( Then again, GNOME is still very much an under-development platform, so we can hope...
Well, yeah... And I think that a good deal of AOL users just use the basic browser and don't bother trying to find another. Although is trading a Microsoft-controlled arena for an AOL-controlled one really any better?
Well, for starters, it violates one of the basic tenents of Java: no operator overloading. Ever. Most string handling does, as Strings have a whole load of special rules applied to them. Its not that much of a pain, but I'd love to be able to apply some of those special rules to my own classes every now and then. Operator overloading can be dangerous if overused, but what can't? Used in moderation, it can be very handy indeed.
As a warning, I'm a dedicated OO programmer. It just seems to fit the way I think better than functional programming, for most things. But I do tend to code with a mix of the two, when needed, and I don't really like it how Java forces everything to be OO.
(Yeah, apologies if the terminology in that last paragraph is a bit screwed up. I'm tired)
This happens everywhere. Look at liberals, conservatives, scientists, environmentalists, and fundamentalists of various religions and movements. I know a fair number of people that fit into all of the above categories, and most are sane, reasonable people who just happen to have slightly different beliefs than I do. However, you will rarely see one of them on TV or quoted in a newspaper - the ones who get that dubious honor are the loudmouthed morons who are garunteed to offend someone or everyone and get ratings, follow-ups, etc, etc.
Of course, to this there are exceptions. I'm sure a fair number of Slashdot readers can name most.
3. Microsoft was in the right here, they enforced their licensing clause. Get over it.
The issue wasn't whether the clause was in Microsoft's license, but whether that clause was legal. I'm betting that the group (not a company, I don't think):
Wasn't allowed to see the licenses before they bought the software (post-sale disclosure of terms, this is very illegal)
Did, in fact, own the licenses, but lost them or was never given the paperwork.
Was the victim of selective contract enforcement. (If a fortune 500 company did this, would Microsoft really risk going after them?)
Most software licenses are in complete and total violation of large amounts of contract and consumer laws, and are virtually unenforceable... Read The Software Conspiracy (available from Thinkgeek) sometime. The author explains it in very clear terms. I suspect you'll have no trouble understanding.
No, IT departments have to choose the best solution for the best price. Most users likely want unfirewalled internet access, the ability to run E-Mail attachments, and various things like that. Unfortunately, many things users want often compromise system security.
-RickHunter
Re:Programmers Make Computers Slower Year by Year
on
Netscape 6 Vs. 4.7x
·
· Score: 2
Lets put it this way: not only has the barrier to entry of programming lowered, allowing those who don't know enough to care about the quality of their code to get jobs, accountability for software companies has also dropped. And will keep dropping if the UCITA becomes more widespread. So not only do you wind up with bloated, cruddy software, but (in some cases) its bloated cruddy software that could do serious damage (maybe even kill someone) without accountability.
Yeah, but this is a business machine. And business desktops is one area where Microsoft has a nice, strong stranglehold on the market. As twenty years ago, no-one got fired for buying IBM, now Microsoft is the "safe" choice, loved by PHBs everywhere.
Umm... Mozilla is most definitely not a "hobby." I'm running it right now (M18), and aside from a few very minor problems (most related to the (admittedly odd) theme I'm using), its fine. I've got a good number of plugins installed, more than I've ever had under any Windows browser, and there's very few sites that I come across that render improperly... And most do odd things in other browsers too.
Yes, Internet Explorer is going to remain the browser of choice for a while... Because most computer users aren't knowledgeable enough to consider that there's something out there that might work better. That'll hopefully change eventually.
Ummm... Why? I happen to like the way Debian works. I like the tools, I like the config stuff, I just find it logical. I know some people that feel the same thing about Red Hat, or Slack, or whatever. It means that you can (in all likelyhood) find a variant of Linux that works the way you want it to.
Yes, it may look "fragmented". But is fragmentation seriously a bad thing, in this case?
Remember that IBM got nailed hard with an antitrust lawsuit a few years back. Ever since, they've had to be very, very careful about their behavior (since they're still a very large company) to avoid a repeat.
Yeah... Wouldn't they at least record the number of votes for and against? To do otherwise seems to mock the concept of a republic, that the government is somehow accountable to the people...
Then again, this is America we're talking about. The government there seems to have slowly made itself less and less accountable, until it can now blatantly violate every limitation on its power and no-one can even find the details... If they cared. (Most don't seem to)
The reason the DMCA hasn't been struck down is twofold: Kaplan didn't really have the power to (although there were options he could take in that direction), and the MPAA and RIAA have just plain paid the right people too much money for it to die easily. From what I heard, it was passed by a near-unanimous vote in Congress, and signed by the president almost immediately.
I seriously doubt Mozilla does anything like this. Given that its source code is available, I suspect that if it did, it would be very quickly altered so it didn't.
Netscape and Mozilla are now, for all intents and purposes, seperate programs. Please don't lump them together.
Yeah, but the legal system (unfortunately) seems to, at least here in NA. And if it didn't, you can be the big news media (which just happens to be owned by the same people) would scream until it did.
-RickHunter
Re:This is why Linux is so slow moving to the desk
on
Linux Sin Demo
·
· Score: 1
A) You don't keep your system up to date to begin with. If none of the drivers on your system are older than 30 days, you'll be a happy man in Windows-land.
I keep my Windows system as up-to-date as can be expected for a university student whose primary OS is Linux. None of my drivers are older than thirty days, except for maybe the SoundBlaster driver. Without an autoupdate (like, oh say, apt?) or scanning the developers' websites every week, you can't expect much more.
B) You play crappy games and/or on crappy hardware. If anything from ATI is on your system, or your game developer's name has Sierra anywhere on it, please do us all a favor and try some decent games/hardware before complaining. My hardware is Dell conservative: Intel, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Altec-Lansing, Creative Labs. The most oddball thing I have on my system is Linksys. If you buy anything with less than 50% market share (or a nice relationship with MS) then you deserve any problems you get. (Sad, but true.) To tell the truth, Linux is hard to install no matter WHAT hardware you use. Futzing is just something that has to be done.
The Windows install on this thing was a total and complete pain, as it kept committing suicide because of something it didn't like with the (standard) powersaver features or something else on the motherboard. Linux installed fine first time, with considerably fewer problems than Windows. Yes, I still had to download 3D and audio card drivers, but as you said: you've got to do the same in Windows.
As for hardware... Ok, Windows is good... If you buy from the small fraction of hardware that has both a 50%+ market share and whose manufacturer has a good relationship with MS. Doesn't start sounding much different than Linux with its hardware compatbility lists and such, does it?
As for what games I play, they include: Independence War (had the least problems with it of anything), Deus Ex, Homeworld, and Baldur's Gate.
C) Install programs can and do satisfy gamers. People don't cralize that gamers aren't into tweeking, they're into playing. They CAN tweek, but don't want to.
Every gamer I know tweaks obsessively. Optimum 3D card driver config, optimum control layout, optimum level of patching, optimum windows config... The only reason they don't do more is because (gasp!) Windows won't let them.
You shouldn't have to tweek to play a game. In Windows, you generally don't have to. I get the MaximumPC disc that comes full of demos every month. I can tell you that at least a dozen games go on and off my harddrive in the space of a few days. I have yet to have to futz to install any of them. Install patches yes, but unless the developers are monkeys, installing them takes 5 minutes (on a DSL line;) Plus, patches are part of the experience on all non-console OSs. (Which is another reason why a harddrive is such a dumb idea for a console.)
No, I generally don't have to tweak. However, if I want to get anything even starting to approach optimal performance out of my hardware, I do have to tweak. As for patches, part of the non-console gaming experience they may be, but unless you define "not tweaking" as "something not everyone does", they are still tweaking things to work better.
-RickHunter
Re:This is why Linux is so slow moving to the desk
on
Linux Sin Demo
·
· Score: 1
Yes, I do. Having been the one in my family back in the days of DOS who wound up having to piece together configuration files... BTW, I think you'll find that many hardcore gamers now were hardcore gamers back in the Days of DOS. So they can't be THAT adverse to tinkering with things.
Here's my view: As a North American (both Canada and the USA do this), I'm paying a tax to the MPAA, RIAA, et al. when I buy a CD burner or blank CD. Therefor, I no longer have any moral obligation or good financial reason to NOT copy material with this burner. In fact, they seem to be encouraging that behavior. Any law that says differently is contradicting their statements of what they want you to do. I'm being punished for breaking a law I haven't actually broken, so I might as well get something out of it.
Yes, I know this wouldn't work as a defense in court. And I am aware of the posts that say German copyright law works differently. But it needs to be said, to point out that these groups have lost whatever moral high ground they may once have held.
Slashdot Mirror
Suppose a government defines "seedy activities" as "voting for the opposition." I'd say that's a pretty big blow against both democracy and freedom. And what's the point of living in a democracy (which Soviet Russia TECHNICALLY was) if you have no freedom to associate with people without the government watching your every move?
-RickHunter
A good point... But I seem to remember that the Mozilla project has an agreement with Netscape through which Netscape doesn't have to release the source to their browser? And isn't AOL going to use the "Netscape" version of Mozilla? (Despite the fact that, compared to the Mozilla milestones, it sucks)
-RickHunter
It won't. Linux-wise, I've used Debian, Red Hat, and Mandrake. Debian just seems a lot cleaner to me. Everything seems to be organized better. There's an overall impression of design, the defaults are well-chosen, and the dependencies are intelligent.
-RickHunter
I ment how it doesn't permit the declaration of functions independant of class as C++ does. Its not a major thing, just a minor irritation for me. I have no real problems with Java, other than a feeling that some of the limitations on the language are unnecessary. I prefer C and C++, but I'm willing to use Java for some things. I'm even enjoying using it (some bits have very pleasing syntax) for CS this year.
-RickHunter
Yes, there is that... But given that license documentation for software is often not properly shipped or not followed, or that the users go ahead and install unlicensed software anyway, you will still run afoul of legal troubles. The Software Conspiracy has one example of a disgruntled employee installing a bunch of unlicensed software on a company's computers, then tipping off the "authorities," costing the company incredible amounts of money in fines.
With proprietary software, in my experience, its a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.
-RickHunter
A good point... I did find that somewhat annoying when using Galleon, that the scrollbars looked and felt different from everything else. However, M18 is kind of different... With the Classic interface, the entire browser takes a lot of cues from my GTK+ theme. Which is nice, as I'm one of those wierd people who cannot use a dark-on-light interface for long periods of time. And the form widgets (independent of theme) now seem to be GTK widgets, or at least feel a lot like them. At first it felt kind of odd, but now I think its a nice touch. Not everything is totally GTK, but the integration seems fairly good.
(Unfortunately, there were a few bugs with the theme integration... Most of which are fixed now, IIRC)
I agree with you that a GNOME web browser would be best, though. If there was a good one, I'd switch to it from Mozilla in a heartbeat. But there (unfortunately) isn't, and I don't have nearly the time or skills needed to write one. :-( Then again, GNOME is still very much an under-development platform, so we can hope...
-RickHunter
Well, yeah... And I think that a good deal of AOL users just use the basic browser and don't bother trying to find another. Although is trading a Microsoft-controlled arena for an AOL-controlled one really any better?
-RickHunter
Well, for starters, it violates one of the basic tenents of Java: no operator overloading. Ever. Most string handling does, as Strings have a whole load of special rules applied to them. Its not that much of a pain, but I'd love to be able to apply some of those special rules to my own classes every now and then. Operator overloading can be dangerous if overused, but what can't? Used in moderation, it can be very handy indeed.
As a warning, I'm a dedicated OO programmer. It just seems to fit the way I think better than functional programming, for most things. But I do tend to code with a mix of the two, when needed, and I don't really like it how Java forces everything to be OO.
(Yeah, apologies if the terminology in that last paragraph is a bit screwed up. I'm tired)
-RickHunter
This happens everywhere. Look at liberals, conservatives, scientists, environmentalists, and fundamentalists of various religions and movements. I know a fair number of people that fit into all of the above categories, and most are sane, reasonable people who just happen to have slightly different beliefs than I do. However, you will rarely see one of them on TV or quoted in a newspaper - the ones who get that dubious honor are the loudmouthed morons who are garunteed to offend someone or everyone and get ratings, follow-ups, etc, etc.
Of course, to this there are exceptions. I'm sure a fair number of Slashdot readers can name most.
-RickHunter
3. Microsoft was in the right here, they enforced their licensing clause. Get over it.
The issue wasn't whether the clause was in Microsoft's license, but whether that clause was legal. I'm betting that the group (not a company, I don't think):
Most software licenses are in complete and total violation of large amounts of contract and consumer laws, and are virtually unenforceable... Read The Software Conspiracy (available from Thinkgeek) sometime. The author explains it in very clear terms. I suspect you'll have no trouble understanding.
-RickHunter
No, IT departments have to choose the best solution for the best price. Most users likely want unfirewalled internet access, the ability to run E-Mail attachments, and various things like that. Unfortunately, many things users want often compromise system security.
-RickHunter
Lets put it this way: not only has the barrier to entry of programming lowered, allowing those who don't know enough to care about the quality of their code to get jobs, accountability for software companies has also dropped. And will keep dropping if the UCITA becomes more widespread. So not only do you wind up with bloated, cruddy software, but (in some cases) its bloated cruddy software that could do serious damage (maybe even kill someone) without accountability.
-RickHunter
For a web browser, check out Galeon. Its based around the Mozilla engine, but has a totally GTK+ interface. There's GNOME office projects too, IIRC.
-RickHunter
Yeah, but this is a business machine. And business desktops is one area where Microsoft has a nice, strong stranglehold on the market. As twenty years ago, no-one got fired for buying IBM, now Microsoft is the "safe" choice, loved by PHBs everywhere.
-RickHunter
Umm... Mozilla is most definitely not a "hobby." I'm running it right now (M18), and aside from a few very minor problems (most related to the (admittedly odd) theme I'm using), its fine. I've got a good number of plugins installed, more than I've ever had under any Windows browser, and there's very few sites that I come across that render improperly... And most do odd things in other browsers too.
Yes, Internet Explorer is going to remain the browser of choice for a while... Because most computer users aren't knowledgeable enough to consider that there's something out there that might work better. That'll hopefully change eventually.
-RickHunter
Ummm... Why? I happen to like the way Debian works. I like the tools, I like the config stuff, I just find it logical. I know some people that feel the same thing about Red Hat, or Slack, or whatever. It means that you can (in all likelyhood) find a variant of Linux that works the way you want it to.
Yes, it may look "fragmented". But is fragmentation seriously a bad thing, in this case?
-RickHunter
Remember that IBM got nailed hard with an antitrust lawsuit a few years back. Ever since, they've had to be very, very careful about their behavior (since they're still a very large company) to avoid a repeat.
-RickHunter
Yeah... Wouldn't they at least record the number of votes for and against? To do otherwise seems to mock the concept of a republic, that the government is somehow accountable to the people...
Then again, this is America we're talking about. The government there seems to have slowly made itself less and less accountable, until it can now blatantly violate every limitation on its power and no-one can even find the details... If they cared. (Most don't seem to)
-RickHunter
The reason the DMCA hasn't been struck down is twofold: Kaplan didn't really have the power to (although there were options he could take in that direction), and the MPAA and RIAA have just plain paid the right people too much money for it to die easily. From what I heard, it was passed by a near-unanimous vote in Congress, and signed by the president almost immediately.
-RickHunter
I seriously doubt Mozilla does anything like this. Given that its source code is available, I suspect that if it did, it would be very quickly altered so it didn't.
Netscape and Mozilla are now, for all intents and purposes, seperate programs. Please don't lump them together.
-RickHunter
Currently, what drew a good number of the Linux users I know was the ability to customize the look and feel of everything.
-RickHunter
Yeah, but the legal system (unfortunately) seems to, at least here in NA. And if it didn't, you can be the big news media (which just happens to be owned by the same people) would scream until it did.
-RickHunter
A) You don't keep your system up to date to begin with. If none of the drivers on your system are older than 30 days, you'll be a happy man in Windows-land.
I keep my Windows system as up-to-date as can be expected for a university student whose primary OS is Linux. None of my drivers are older than thirty days, except for maybe the SoundBlaster driver. Without an autoupdate (like, oh say, apt?) or scanning the developers' websites every week, you can't expect much more.
B) You play crappy games and/or on crappy hardware. If anything from ATI is on your system, or your game developer's name has Sierra anywhere on it, please do us all a favor and try some decent games/hardware before complaining. My hardware is Dell conservative: Intel, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Altec-Lansing, Creative Labs. The most oddball thing I have on my system is Linksys. If you buy anything with less than 50% market share (or a nice relationship with MS) then you deserve any problems you get. (Sad, but true.) To tell the truth, Linux is hard to install no matter WHAT hardware you use. Futzing is just something that has to be done.
The Windows install on this thing was a total and complete pain, as it kept committing suicide because of something it didn't like with the (standard) powersaver features or something else on the motherboard. Linux installed fine first time, with considerably fewer problems than Windows. Yes, I still had to download 3D and audio card drivers, but as you said: you've got to do the same in Windows.
As for hardware... Ok, Windows is good... If you buy from the small fraction of hardware that has both a 50%+ market share and whose manufacturer has a good relationship with MS. Doesn't start sounding much different than Linux with its hardware compatbility lists and such, does it?
As for what games I play, they include: Independence War (had the least problems with it of anything), Deus Ex, Homeworld, and Baldur's Gate.
C) Install programs can and do satisfy gamers. People don't cralize that gamers aren't into tweeking, they're into playing. They CAN tweek, but don't want to.
Every gamer I know tweaks obsessively. Optimum 3D card driver config, optimum control layout, optimum level of patching, optimum windows config... The only reason they don't do more is because (gasp!) Windows won't let them.
You shouldn't have to tweek to play a game. In Windows, you generally don't have to. I get the MaximumPC disc that comes full of demos every month. I can tell you that at least a dozen games go on and off my harddrive in the space of a few days. I have yet to have to futz to install any of them. Install patches yes, but unless the developers are monkeys, installing them takes 5 minutes (on a DSL line ;) Plus, patches are part of the experience on all non-console OSs. (Which is another reason why a harddrive is such a dumb idea for a console.)
No, I generally don't have to tweak. However, if I want to get anything even starting to approach optimal performance out of my hardware, I do have to tweak. As for patches, part of the non-console gaming experience they may be, but unless you define "not tweaking" as "something not everyone does", they are still tweaking things to work better.
-RickHunter
Yes, I do. Having been the one in my family back in the days of DOS who wound up having to piece together configuration files... BTW, I think you'll find that many hardcore gamers now were hardcore gamers back in the Days of DOS. So they can't be THAT adverse to tinkering with things.
-RickHunter
Here's my view: As a North American (both Canada and the USA do this), I'm paying a tax to the MPAA, RIAA, et al. when I buy a CD burner or blank CD. Therefor, I no longer have any moral obligation or good financial reason to NOT copy material with this burner. In fact, they seem to be encouraging that behavior. Any law that says differently is contradicting their statements of what they want you to do. I'm being punished for breaking a law I haven't actually broken, so I might as well get something out of it.
Yes, I know this wouldn't work as a defense in court. And I am aware of the posts that say German copyright law works differently. But it needs to be said, to point out that these groups have lost whatever moral high ground they may once have held.
-RickHunter