And if you have to buy it to find out if it scratches said itch or not, and it doesn't accomplish it, you don't get your money back. You can, of course, continue spending more and more money for bolt-on crap that may make it do what you want, however - they'll gladly keep taking your money.
Amen. Too many people want Linux to be "just like Windows, but cheap/free". Most of them won't admit it, but if you listen to them long enough, you'll quickly discover that's what they really want. I figure, if what you really want is Windows, why use Linux? Use Windows, be happy, and for cripes sake, don't whine to me, because I like Linux on my desktops just fine, thanks.
Debian uses binary packages. (Though you can easily build things from source if you like.) And for hardware autoconfig? How about apt-get install discover hotplug usbutils? That should cover all the major bases. And there's a debconf interface for configuring XFree86 - choose the card, choose the highest resolution your monitor supports, and you're done.
Though its install may be a little harrowing, once you get Debian installed, you pretty much will never have to install it again. I last installed Debian on my home box about three years ago, and I can keep it up to date easily.
You need wireless-tools and the kernel drivers. It's not that tough really.
And who says you need to rebuild your whole kernel to add some modules? I don't, and it never gives me a problem. Don't dramatize, you're starting to sound like JWZ.
These players are still being very actively developed and extended. Saying that "I don't want to have to compile my player to play [obscure format X]" is just lame. I mean, hell, look at the new features that have gone into both Xine and mPlayer lately - they support just about any media format out there now. But it's all very new, and still in flux. If you want the Microsoft way of doing things (this is your media player, this is what you can do, don't expect a new one for awhile), you're looking in the wrong place.
That's almost as bad as saying that because there's a command shell that you can install on classic MacOS, that it's basically DOS or UNIX underneath, while classic MacOS (9.x and before) was most assuredly neither. And here I thought Cringely actually knew something about computers. What's next, we'll find out that George W. Bush doesn't actually know anything about being President?:)
Not yet, but most of them have internal-only FireWire ports, and FireWire boot support (pretty much everything from the Yosemite G3 on, far as I know), so there's nothing stopping it.
You might be right about WiFi, but Bluetooth? Um, Bluetooth is for _extremely_ short range inter-device communication - like, on the 10-20 foot range at the outside. I really can't see how it would be very useful as an alternative to the cellular network.
Try actually learning about what Turing said regarding computational models, please. The only case where he referred to infinite operations is with a theoretically infinite memory. For practical purposes, as soon as you're dealing with things grounded in the _finite_ universe, that goes out the window.
Both mPlayer and Xine are using libwine code to allow Win32 binary codecs for WMP and QuickTime (on IA32 anyway), and RealPlayer for Linux/UNIX binary codecs, to be used for video playback. SVQ3 and QDM2 work just fine with the latest mPlayer and Xine releases, while using those evil binary-only codecs. HTTP streaming works, MMS streaming works (I can use Xine to play WMA streaming audio radio stations, thank-you-much, and I'm guessing the same works in mPlayer), and I think RTSP streaming is at least being worked on.
As far as good GUIs go, at least for Xine, there's gXine (a Gtk2 frontend), Sinek (another Gtk2 frontend), Totem (Gnome2), kXine (KDE), and the standard Xlib-based xine-ui frontend, as well as others, I think.
If you're going to complain about the state of media playback on Linux, at least make sure you have the latest information. Pretty much all the stuff you're complaining about works _right now_. Now we just need a good Mozilla plugin to play the streams embedded in browsers...
Then just go right ahead and use what makes you happy. If you like Windows, or OS X, or whatever, use it. Just because some people like to hack on stuff for the hell of it, doesn't make no nevermind to you, or shouldn't anyway. It doesn't affect your ability to use your platform of choice. So why complain about someone doing this?
We run Linux because we like Linux. I use it as a desktop. I admit it's not right for everyone, but I'm quite happy with it as a desktop, and wouldn't run either Windows or OS X. (And I've used, and come to like quite muchly, PowerPC hardware for running Linux.)
Not me - I desperately want a Powerbook G3 Pismo, but I do _not_ want OS X. I'd much rather run Linux, and run OS 9/X in a window via MoL if I need them. I like Apple hardware, but like at least a few other posters here, I'm still not that thrilled with Apple's OS, even with the advent of OS X.
Wine is 100% fundamentally different. It's a reimplementation of the Win32 API as a huge library, with a custom debugger and an LE/PE binary loader strapped onto it. What these guys are doing is implementing a kernel-space binary loader, and using native libraries and binaries to do the rest. It will run OS X WindowServer and everything else. All they have to do is load and run Mach-O binaries with the interfaces they expect. It's like running Solaris/SPARC binaries on UltraLinux, which has worked pretty well (from what I understand - I don't own SPARC hardware myself, so I only know what I hear) for some time now.
According to what their webserver said the last-modified date is, the page was last changed _yesterday_. I'm sure that the author is just doing what I've done so many times - writing the number of the previous year, because it's become burned into his brain.
Truth is, kids don't learn profanity from TV or movies, they learn it at school.
What crack are you smoking? I learned profanity from my parents, thank you very much. (Not that they didn't tell my brother and I not to use those words, but hypocrisy being what it is...)
Others have mentioned the thought that if they're basing too heavily on blinky technology, and not enough on solid gameplay, the game will always be outdated - and IMO those people are right. Maybe that's part of the problem with DNF? Too much shiny technology, not enough meat?
Regardless, I think the old adage about "shit or get off the pot" applies here. Either get it done, or just call it dead. No sense in dragging it out for another 5 year stretch. As I said, not having to rush a project is a good thing, and I won't argue that point - but either it's going to get done or it's not. Others have pointed out what happened with Daikatana - a concept with a lot of potential that took way too long, and ended up being really lousy when it finally made its appearance. Chances are that's what'll happen with DNF, and it's too bad, but that's what happens when these projects drag on and on.
And the rating system for games as it stands today is at least as thorough as that for movies. And it operates in the same way as the rating system for movies - i.e., those who sell/rent/otherwise provide them are expected to comply with the attached ratings. You'll note there's no legal force behind MPAA movie ratings, and yet they seem to, in general, work alright.
Who said ratings are censorship? I think _rating_ games is fine, as long as (as other people have pointed out) consenting people of sufficient age (like, say, me) aren't denied the choice to purchase and play the games or (if they're parents, unlike me) to purchase them for their kids, if they've informed themselves about what the game contains and have made a CONSCIOUS CHOICE that what the game contains is okay for their kids. Making these games difficult or impossible for those who should be able to buy them, however, is plain ridiculous, and should be dismissed out of hand. Just because some people can't parent, why should we who like to play games be forced to give them up? Take care of the problem, not the symptom
While that may be the case, that just means those retailers need to get their shit together. The movie ratings that the MPAA uses aren't enforced by law either, as you pointed out - but places that sell and rent movies, and movie theaters, follow the agreed-upon system. If game retailers would do the same, that wouldn't even be an issue.
Of course, if some parents would actually take the time to be parents, and pay attention to what their kids are doing, this might not be such an issue either.
They didn't claim those would appear before 2003 though. I haven't heard anything to indicate the dates on them have slipped. And it's a good thing, too - I need a reason to go see a movie (other than the new Lord of the Rings movie, IMO the movie selection in the theaters has been weak).
Not having to rush unnecessarily is all fine and good, but having to completely start over at least twice? That seems to be pushing toward the realm of the ridiculous, if you ask me. How many years in the making has DNF been, anyway? 5 years? More? They have to eventually either finish it, or say "sorry folks, but it's just not going to happen."
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And if you have to buy it to find out if it scratches said itch or not, and it doesn't accomplish it, you don't get your money back. You can, of course, continue spending more and more money for bolt-on crap that may make it do what you want, however - they'll gladly keep taking your money.
Because, you know, the keyboard, that's not a sensible input device. Who'd want to use that, anyway? It's all about the mouse. :)
Amen. Too many people want Linux to be "just like Windows, but cheap/free". Most of them won't admit it, but if you listen to them long enough, you'll quickly discover that's what they really want. I figure, if what you really want is Windows, why use Linux? Use Windows, be happy, and for cripes sake, don't whine to me, because I like Linux on my desktops just fine, thanks.
Debian uses binary packages. (Though you can easily build things from source if you like.) And for hardware autoconfig? How about apt-get install discover hotplug usbutils? That should cover all the major bases. And there's a debconf interface for configuring XFree86 - choose the card, choose the highest resolution your monitor supports, and you're done.
Though its install may be a little harrowing, once you get Debian installed, you pretty much will never have to install it again. I last installed Debian on my home box about three years ago, and I can keep it up to date easily.
You need wireless-tools and the kernel drivers. It's not that tough really.
And who says you need to rebuild your whole kernel to add some modules? I don't, and it never gives me a problem. Don't dramatize, you're starting to sound like JWZ.
These players are still being very actively developed and extended. Saying that "I don't want to have to compile my player to play [obscure format X]" is just lame. I mean, hell, look at the new features that have gone into both Xine and mPlayer lately - they support just about any media format out there now. But it's all very new, and still in flux. If you want the Microsoft way of doing things (this is your media player, this is what you can do, don't expect a new one for awhile), you're looking in the wrong place.
That's almost as bad as saying that because there's a command shell that you can install on classic MacOS, that it's basically DOS or UNIX underneath, while classic MacOS (9.x and before) was most assuredly neither. And here I thought Cringely actually knew something about computers. What's next, we'll find out that George W. Bush doesn't actually know anything about being President? :)
Or you could just use Xine or mPlayer, and you wouldn't have to spend a dime. :)
Not yet, but most of them have internal-only FireWire ports, and FireWire boot support (pretty much everything from the Yosemite G3 on, far as I know), so there's nothing stopping it.
You might be right about WiFi, but Bluetooth? Um, Bluetooth is for _extremely_ short range inter-device communication - like, on the 10-20 foot range at the outside. I really can't see how it would be very useful as an alternative to the cellular network.
It's always connected, and tracking your every move. Bill keeps track of his sheep^Wcustomers.
Try actually learning about what Turing said regarding computational models, please. The only case where he referred to infinite operations is with a theoretically infinite memory. For practical purposes, as soon as you're dealing with things grounded in the _finite_ universe, that goes out the window.
Hm. Microsoft tried to make their own set top box. It failed. Perhaps you've heard of it. It was called UltimateTV?
Both mPlayer and Xine are using libwine code to allow Win32 binary codecs for WMP and QuickTime (on IA32 anyway), and RealPlayer for Linux/UNIX binary codecs, to be used for video playback. SVQ3 and QDM2 work just fine with the latest mPlayer and Xine releases, while using those evil binary-only codecs. HTTP streaming works, MMS streaming works (I can use Xine to play WMA streaming audio radio stations, thank-you-much, and I'm guessing the same works in mPlayer), and I think RTSP streaming is at least being worked on.
As far as good GUIs go, at least for Xine, there's gXine (a Gtk2 frontend), Sinek (another Gtk2 frontend), Totem (Gnome2), kXine (KDE), and the standard Xlib-based xine-ui frontend, as well as others, I think.
If you're going to complain about the state of media playback on Linux, at least make sure you have the latest information. Pretty much all the stuff you're complaining about works _right now_. Now we just need a good Mozilla plugin to play the streams embedded in browsers...
Then just go right ahead and use what makes you happy. If you like Windows, or OS X, or whatever, use it. Just because some people like to hack on stuff for the hell of it, doesn't make no nevermind to you, or shouldn't anyway. It doesn't affect your ability to use your platform of choice. So why complain about someone doing this?
We run Linux because we like Linux. I use it as a desktop. I admit it's not right for everyone, but I'm quite happy with it as a desktop, and wouldn't run either Windows or OS X. (And I've used, and come to like quite muchly, PowerPC hardware for running Linux.)
Not me - I desperately want a Powerbook G3 Pismo, but I do _not_ want OS X. I'd much rather run Linux, and run OS 9/X in a window via MoL if I need them. I like Apple hardware, but like at least a few other posters here, I'm still not that thrilled with Apple's OS, even with the advent of OS X.
Wine is 100% fundamentally different. It's a reimplementation of the Win32 API as a huge library, with a custom debugger and an LE/PE binary loader strapped onto it. What these guys are doing is implementing a kernel-space binary loader, and using native libraries and binaries to do the rest. It will run OS X WindowServer and everything else. All they have to do is load and run Mach-O binaries with the interfaces they expect. It's like running Solaris/SPARC binaries on UltraLinux, which has worked pretty well (from what I understand - I don't own SPARC hardware myself, so I only know what I hear) for some time now.
According to what their webserver said the last-modified date is, the page was last changed _yesterday_. I'm sure that the author is just doing what I've done so many times - writing the number of the previous year, because it's become burned into his brain.
Truth is, kids don't learn profanity from TV or movies, they learn it at school.
What crack are you smoking? I learned profanity from my parents, thank you very much. (Not that they didn't tell my brother and I not to use those words, but hypocrisy being what it is...)
Others have mentioned the thought that if they're basing too heavily on blinky technology, and not enough on solid gameplay, the game will always be outdated - and IMO those people are right. Maybe that's part of the problem with DNF? Too much shiny technology, not enough meat?
Regardless, I think the old adage about "shit or get off the pot" applies here. Either get it done, or just call it dead. No sense in dragging it out for another 5 year stretch. As I said, not having to rush a project is a good thing, and I won't argue that point - but either it's going to get done or it's not. Others have pointed out what happened with Daikatana - a concept with a lot of potential that took way too long, and ended up being really lousy when it finally made its appearance. Chances are that's what'll happen with DNF, and it's too bad, but that's what happens when these projects drag on and on.
And the rating system for games as it stands today is at least as thorough as that for movies. And it operates in the same way as the rating system for movies - i.e., those who sell/rent/otherwise provide them are expected to comply with the attached ratings. You'll note there's no legal force behind MPAA movie ratings, and yet they seem to, in general, work alright.
Who said ratings are censorship? I think _rating_ games is fine, as long as (as other people have pointed out) consenting people of sufficient age (like, say, me) aren't denied the choice to purchase and play the games or (if they're parents, unlike me) to purchase them for their kids, if they've informed themselves about what the game contains and have made a CONSCIOUS CHOICE that what the game contains is okay for their kids. Making these games difficult or impossible for those who should be able to buy them, however, is plain ridiculous, and should be dismissed out of hand. Just because some people can't parent, why should we who like to play games be forced to give them up? Take care of the problem, not the symptom
While that may be the case, that just means those retailers need to get their shit together. The movie ratings that the MPAA uses aren't enforced by law either, as you pointed out - but places that sell and rent movies, and movie theaters, follow the agreed-upon system. If game retailers would do the same, that wouldn't even be an issue.
Of course, if some parents would actually take the time to be parents, and pay attention to what their kids are doing, this might not be such an issue either.
They didn't claim those would appear before 2003 though. I haven't heard anything to indicate the dates on them have slipped. And it's a good thing, too - I need a reason to go see a movie (other than the new Lord of the Rings movie, IMO the movie selection in the theaters has been weak).
Not having to rush unnecessarily is all fine and good, but having to completely start over at least twice? That seems to be pushing toward the realm of the ridiculous, if you ask me. How many years in the making has DNF been, anyway? 5 years? More? They have to eventually either finish it, or say "sorry folks, but it's just not going to happen."