>"I'm very disappointed," Ylonnen said after the meeting. "What will I do next? Consult my lawyers."
That's sad.
Does that mean that we really cannot live without these paras^H^H^H^Hlawyers?
How come that such a simple, reasonable request, clothed in polite terms, was rejected?
Next will come the lawyers. They'll loose, of course (IANAL, so actual milage may vary), but it'll cost money and nervces, ultimately only feeding the vultures.
Personally, that doesn't make the sun shine on my day. I thought this kind of thing only happened with large companies, not the OS community...
(PS: No, I'm not affiliated. No, ultimately I don't care. I just don't like seeing lawyers whereever I turn)
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Yes, but what's the main reason for actually *using* MS Office? Primarily, it's MS Word.
Not because it's better, but because everybody uses it.
I've tried several times, at different companies, to move away from using MS Word as 'standard'. It doesn't work: I keep hearing the argument "All clients are sending us Word docs, and expect Word docs".
And no, Star Office doesn't make a perfect job of reading/creating clean Word docs.
Until they do, we do not have a replacement office:(
>* Backoffice. This is a big advantage remaining. No open source product can stand against SQL Server or Analysis Services. But joe random user don't care.
Yes and no. Joe random luser gets upset if his database is slooow. And Interbase v6 is Open Source, and works great (we're currently switching over to it and loving it:)
>* Visual Basic. Another advantage, cause it is the de-facto development standard on windows. They integrate it in every app, to make it ubiquitous.
Alternative: Kylix. Delphi for Linux, available mid-year as a free (!) download, allowing you only to produce GPL (!!) code.
Amazing system - Delphi was my reason to switch to 'doze from DOS, and seeing it on Linux, producing native code, makes my heart sing.
Also keep in mind that VB (crappy that it is, and trust me, I know) is only a 'development standard' in the US. Europe has a rather larger percentage of Delphi users (old-world quality standards, I guess >:).
>* Third party apps. Mostly DirectX games (see around yourself people that use computers. What are the apps they use that have absolutely no free counterparts ? Recent games. Most lusers I know that run windows at home uses IE/OutlookExpress/Word and 5 or 6 games). Be sure that the x-box strategy is the to re-inforce that.
True. Currently, most games only run on Windoze, although that is changing.
Ciao,
Klaus ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
I think this is a Very Bad Idea.
Right now, there are a lot of sailing ships around. I've lived on one of these things for 5 years, and you always live with the spectre of a hige metal wall suddenly looming over you.
Commercial shipping is dangerous enough already - high-speed boats would make sailing yachts impossible.
Case in point: on the north sea, high-speed ferries are in operation. Sailors are absolutely terrified.
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Okay, so I'm sprouting off unfounded and arrogant opinions again, but exactly why should we care if yahoo becomes a 'walled garden'?
After all, the concept does not apply to us. And the more morons are trapped in these gardens (maybe we should call them 'Sheeple Zoos'), the better for the rest of us.
In this way, AOL and MSN are Very Useful, as they tend to keep the rabble out...
We can always find another useful collection of links for whatever interests us...
Ciao,
Klaus ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Yes, I'm going to sound like an arrogant bastard (and mayhap I am), but I personally don't want a union.
I can see right here, in Germany, what they do: mainly suck money out of your pocket. See, they are paid wether you have a job or not.
They also try to force you not to work during a strike, which is simply ridiculous.
I'm a programmer. Have been since '81. Always will be. Nobody tells me not to work, thank you.
Only people with poor skills are treated badly. The others walk into (even) higher-paying jobs. Recession or no, this will never change: real good programming requires intelligence, always a rare resource. Therefore, an upper-echelon programmer will always find well-paid work.
And hey, what better job in the whole wide world than being paid well for your hobby;)
Ciao,
Klaus ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Re:HAL should never be created - why not?
on
Son of HAL For Sale
·
· Score: 1
So?
Say suddenly AI becomes a reality. I'm sure that - even given the raw material limitations - the computer/bot population will go through the roof.
So why should they cause *us* any grief? Do we compete for the same living space? Heck, AI can live anywhere - primarily in space, but floating in the jupiter clouds comes to mind, too. The moons' surface. The oort cloud (although energy might be a problem).
Out There, raw materials are easier to come by, processing is easier, power collection is simple, and living space is effectively infinite.
Why does everybody immediately see real AI as a threat? I personally believe that humans won't be around very much longer (heck, we've only been here for about 500,000 years, and we're definitely not making another 500,000), and thus the AIs will be our mental children.
We won't go to the stars, but they will. And that's a nice thought.
Ciao,
Klaus ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
This could cause MS to turn to Open Source...
on
Microsoft Cracked
·
· Score: 1
...especially as all the work is already outsourced >:) ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
The argument "it's ergonomically better on a desk, and then I might as well tether it" is a good one, although I know several people who prefere to type with their feet up and the keyboard in their lap.
(No, they're obviously not mouse users)
However, there's a serious argument against wireless [keyboards|mice|gamepads]: Battery Time
I've used a wireless mouse myself some time ago. Initially I loved it, although it was a bit heavy. Then I got irritated, because the battery gave out after only 10 hours of nonstop use.
Seeing that I often code for about 30 hours solid, I simply cannot use a device that cannot remain powered up for that amount of time.
So, yes, as usual there will be specialized applications where it might be useful. For us nutters^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hcoders it's less handy.
(And can you imagine getting a hotline call along the lines of "I can't find my keyboard!"? Ugh!)
Klaus ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
...no, not MIR. The weirdo fungus it's infested with will die on reentry! Hey, it's AFAIK the only space-borne fungus we have, and we're heartlessly going to kill it?
Join the SPWSF now! The Society for the Protection of Weird Space Fungi needs your help!
Klaus ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
What? Me, the ultimate technophile, not impressed by smooth curves, individual lightning and A/C?
That's because I think this is simply the deluxe-version of the stupid little computer-tables we find in the corner of computershops.
You know, the ones where you have your PC, Printer, Keyboard, Paper and Mouse jammed into a tiny little space without any real desktop space at all.
I find this rather important: you cannot have enough desktop space. It's cute if you can rotate your workarea to follow (avoid?) the sun, but where do I place my books, papers, notes, disks, CDs, magazines, lunch?
I'm currently designing The Ultimate PC Desk with a good friend (a carpenter in Germany), and the main thing so far is to have a truly massive workspace (yes, when it's done we'll put up a site and I'll tell you all about it).
Thinking of these Poetic Technology (hey, nice name) desks, I imagine a huge, open room, full of these things, with people sitting edge to edge to edge to edge...worse than cubicles, ugh.
Klaus ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
The pondscum^H^Hlawyers know a cashcow when they see it. This whole shebang will cause vast amounts of money to flow - all of it into lawyers pockets.
Me? Bitter? Naaaahh... ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
...because its a simple follow-up to their original threat.
They haven't answered at all, simple.
Simply ignore them, they don't have a legal leg to stand on (INNDTIANAL (I need no disclaimer that I am not a lawyer)). ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
I'm a programmer. Used to work near San Francisco (aaah, California) on a TN-1 visa (I'm a canadian citizen).
Renewed the visa in November at the border (yes, I drove my '68 Mustang all the way up to the Canadian border, because I couldn't do it at the Mexican one). No problems.
Found a new job in January. Wanted to renew again. This time I (got paid) flew to Vancouver for the renewal.
Which was refused.
I was also refused entry.
Thus I stood on the streets of Vancouver (which I didn't know at all) with just the clothes on my back. All my stuff - computer, apartment, books, car, entire life - in California, with no way of accessing it.
Happy end: I found have a very nice job in Munich. The Germans are less xenophobic about dearly-needed high-tech workers, and I'm not leaving here again.
Also lost to the US: my brother (an american) who wanted to come as well. My friend Fefe (german), who would have come, too. Both said that they're not prepared to work in an environment run by xenophobic fools, and I concur.
Bye. ---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Forgive me if I seem somewhat jaded, but I really do not believe that this will work. I keep thinking of all the 'user-friendly' idioticies in, for example, Word, where the program tries to out-guess me. No, I really don't want this as a numbered list. No, I do *not* want a capital letter here. Leave my headings alone, you moron! I shudder to think what that new idea will do when it tries to second-guess me as I sit on my PC. Seeing Micro$ofts track record at second-guessing their users, I can see some MajorChaos (tm) on the horizon... --- "What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Hmmm, you bought the compiler with a magazine? Borland is in the habit of creating [free|cheap] school versions. They allow you to use the compiler to your hearts content, but not sell the final EXE. Looks like you got one of these versions. I don't know if they do, but it could be easy to police, too: simply insert a flag in every EXE created... >:) --- "What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Well, this post sure has been taken apart;) There's another thing here though, which makes this *really* bad advice:
If you fake confidence, you will only attract other fakes. See, confident people (real ones) can smell a fake a mile off - and will steer clear.
Thus what'll happen is that the woman stupid enough to take that advice will meet, and ultimately marry, a fake.
In marriage, you can't really fake things. Thus, after a couple of years at the latest, she's going to get disillusioned, get divorced, and cry her heart out to her best (female) friend that all men are fakes.
Great idea. Really. --- "What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Slashdot Mirror
>"I'm very disappointed," Ylonnen said after the meeting. "What will I do next? Consult my lawyers." That's sad. Does that mean that we really cannot live without these paras^H^H^H^Hlawyers? How come that such a simple, reasonable request, clothed in polite terms, was rejected? Next will come the lawyers. They'll loose, of course (IANAL, so actual milage may vary), but it'll cost money and nervces, ultimately only feeding the vultures. Personally, that doesn't make the sun shine on my day. I thought this kind of thing only happened with large companies, not the OS community... (PS: No, I'm not affiliated. No, ultimately I don't care. I just don't like seeing lawyers whereever I turn)
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
...that was quick.
Any real connection between WindRiver and MS?
Or am I just being paranoid again?
Ciao,
Klaus
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
>* Office. Office clones exists.
:(
:)
Yes, but what's the main reason for actually *using* MS Office? Primarily, it's MS Word.
Not because it's better, but because everybody uses it.
I've tried several times, at different companies, to move away from using MS Word as 'standard'. It doesn't work: I keep hearing the argument "All clients are sending us Word docs, and expect Word docs".
And no, Star Office doesn't make a perfect job of reading/creating clean Word docs.
Until they do, we do not have a replacement office
>* Backoffice. This is a big advantage remaining. No open source product can stand against SQL Server or Analysis Services. But joe random user don't care.
Yes and no. Joe random luser gets upset if his database is slooow. And Interbase v6 is Open Source, and works great (we're currently switching over to it and loving it
>* Visual Basic. Another advantage, cause it is the de-facto development standard on windows. They integrate it in every app, to make it ubiquitous.
Alternative: Kylix. Delphi for Linux, available mid-year as a free (!) download, allowing you only to produce GPL (!!) code.
Amazing system - Delphi was my reason to switch to 'doze from DOS, and seeing it on Linux, producing native code, makes my heart sing.
Also keep in mind that VB (crappy that it is, and trust me, I know) is only a 'development standard' in the US. Europe has a rather larger percentage of Delphi users (old-world quality standards, I guess >:).
>* Third party apps. Mostly DirectX games (see around yourself people that use computers. What are the apps they use that have absolutely no free counterparts ? Recent games. Most lusers I know that run windows at home uses IE/OutlookExpress/Word and 5 or 6 games). Be sure that the x-box strategy is the to re-inforce that.
True. Currently, most games only run on Windoze, although that is changing.
Ciao,
Klaus
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Hi!
I think this is a Very Bad Idea.
Right now, there are a lot of sailing ships around. I've lived on one of these things for 5 years, and you always live with the spectre of a hige metal wall suddenly looming over you.
Commercial shipping is dangerous enough already - high-speed boats would make sailing yachts impossible.
Case in point: on the north sea, high-speed ferries are in operation. Sailors are absolutely terrified.
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Three words: Midnight Lawn Party.
Ouch.
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Hi everybody!
Okay, so I'm sprouting off unfounded and arrogant opinions again, but exactly why should we care if yahoo becomes a 'walled garden'?
After all, the concept does not apply to us. And the more morons are trapped in these gardens (maybe we should call them 'Sheeple Zoos'), the better for the rest of us.
In this way, AOL and MSN are Very Useful, as they tend to keep the rabble out...
We can always find another useful collection of links for whatever interests us...
Ciao,
Klaus
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Hi everybody!
;)
Yes, I'm going to sound like an arrogant bastard (and mayhap I am), but I personally don't want a union.
I can see right here, in Germany, what they do: mainly suck money out of your pocket. See, they are paid wether you have a job or not.
They also try to force you not to work during a strike, which is simply ridiculous.
I'm a programmer. Have been since '81. Always will be. Nobody tells me not to work, thank you.
Only people with poor skills are treated badly. The others walk into (even) higher-paying jobs. Recession or no, this will never change: real good programming requires intelligence, always a rare resource. Therefore, an upper-echelon programmer will always find well-paid work.
And hey, what better job in the whole wide world than being paid well for your hobby
Ciao,
Klaus
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
So?
Say suddenly AI becomes a reality. I'm sure that - even given the raw material limitations - the computer/bot population will go through the roof.
So why should they cause *us* any grief? Do we compete for the same living space? Heck, AI can live anywhere - primarily in space, but floating in the jupiter clouds comes to mind, too. The moons' surface. The oort cloud (although energy might be a problem).
Out There, raw materials are easier to come by, processing is easier, power collection is simple, and living space is effectively infinite.
Why does everybody immediately see real AI as a threat? I personally believe that humans won't be around very much longer (heck, we've only been here for about 500,000 years, and we're definitely not making another 500,000), and thus the AIs will be our mental children.
We won't go to the stars, but they will. And that's a nice thought.
Ciao,
Klaus
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
...especially as all the work is already outsourced >:)
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
The argument "it's ergonomically better on a desk, and then I might as well tether it" is a good one, although I know several people who prefere to type with their feet up and the keyboard in their lap.
(No, they're obviously not mouse users)
However, there's a serious argument against wireless [keyboards|mice|gamepads]: Battery Time
I've used a wireless mouse myself some time ago. Initially I loved it, although it was a bit heavy. Then I got irritated, because the battery gave out after only 10 hours of nonstop use.
Seeing that I often code for about 30 hours solid, I simply cannot use a device that cannot remain powered up for that amount of time.
So, yes, as usual there will be specialized applications where it might be useful. For us nutters^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hcoders it's less handy.
Klaus(And can you imagine getting a hotline call along the lines of "I can't find my keyboard!"? Ugh!)
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
...no, not MIR. The weirdo fungus it's infested with will die on reentry! Hey, it's AFAIK the only space-borne fungus we have, and we're heartlessly going to kill it?
Join the SPWSF now! The Society for the Protection of Weird Space Fungi needs your help!
Klaus---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
What? Me, the ultimate technophile, not impressed by smooth curves, individual lightning and A/C?
That's because I think this is simply the deluxe-version of the stupid little computer-tables we find in the corner of computershops.
You know, the ones where you have your PC, Printer, Keyboard, Paper and Mouse jammed into a tiny little space without any real desktop space at all.
I find this rather important: you cannot have enough desktop space. It's cute if you can rotate your workarea to follow (avoid?) the sun, but where do I place my books, papers, notes, disks, CDs, magazines, lunch?
I'm currently designing The Ultimate PC Desk with a good friend (a carpenter in Germany), and the main thing so far is to have a truly massive workspace (yes, when it's done we'll put up a site and I'll tell you all about it).
Thinking of these Poetic Technology (hey, nice name) desks, I imagine a huge, open room, full of these things, with people sitting edge to edge to edge to edge...worse than cubicles, ugh.
Klaus---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
The pondscum^H^Hlawyers know a cashcow when they see it. This whole shebang will cause vast amounts of money to flow - all of it into lawyers pockets.
Me? Bitter? Naaaahh...
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
...because its a simple follow-up to their original threat.
They haven't answered at all, simple.
Simply ignore them, they don't have a legal leg to stand on (INNDTIANAL (I need no disclaimer that I am not a lawyer)).
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
I'm a programmer. Used to work near San Francisco (aaah, California) on a TN-1 visa (I'm a canadian citizen).
Renewed the visa in November at the border (yes, I drove my '68 Mustang all the way up to the Canadian border, because I couldn't do it at the Mexican one). No problems.
Found a new job in January. Wanted to renew again. This time I (got paid) flew to Vancouver for the renewal.
Which was refused.
I was also refused entry.
Thus I stood on the streets of Vancouver (which I didn't know at all) with just the clothes on my back. All my stuff - computer, apartment, books, car, entire life - in California, with no way of accessing it.
Happy end: I found have a very nice job in Munich. The Germans are less xenophobic about dearly-needed high-tech workers, and I'm not leaving here again.
Also lost to the US: my brother (an american) who wanted to come as well. My friend Fefe (german), who would have come, too. Both said that they're not prepared to work in an environment run by xenophobic fools, and I concur.
Bye.
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Forgive me if I seem somewhat jaded, but I really do not believe that this will work. I keep thinking of all the 'user-friendly' idioticies in, for example, Word, where the program tries to out-guess me. No, I really don't want this as a numbered list. No, I do *not* want a capital letter here. Leave my headings alone, you moron! I shudder to think what that new idea will do when it tries to second-guess me as I sit on my PC. Seeing Micro$ofts track record at second-guessing their users, I can see some MajorChaos (tm) on the horizon...
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Hmmm, you bought the compiler with a magazine? Borland is in the habit of creating [free|cheap] school versions. They allow you to use the compiler to your hearts content, but not sell the final EXE. Looks like you got one of these versions. I don't know if they do, but it could be easy to police, too: simply insert a flag in every EXE created... >:)
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin
Well, this post sure has been taken apart ;)
There's another thing here though, which makes this *really* bad advice:
If you fake confidence, you will only attract other fakes. See, confident people (real ones) can smell a fake a mile off - and will steer clear.
Thus what'll happen is that the woman stupid enough to take that advice will meet, and ultimately marry, a fake.
In marriage, you can't really fake things.
Thus, after a couple of years at the latest, she's going to get disillusioned, get divorced, and cry her heart out to her best (female) friend that all men are fakes.
Great idea.
Really.
---
"What, I need a *reason* for everything?" -- Calvin