Google doesn't have many options for releasing an OS. They'd face exactly the same problems as Linux, and they'd probably use the Linux kernel at that. Just because they have a large (not monopoly mind you) portion of the search market, they have zero of the OS market.
The problem is, as more and more people are raised with a world of alternatives like iTunes, fewer and fewer will be as attached to the CD. It's like the CRT. Some people still swear by them, but who uses anything but an LCD these days?
Like flash storage? CDs don't have any moving parts anyway. Besides, the human brain has many removable parts, which is what makes it so sturdy. Memory is stored in multiple locations.
Most people don't actually care about the loss. Not only that, but the article claims that CDs are becoming obsolete (as in going down in sales), as opposed to being completely unwanted.
I'm happy you recognized that it's evil, because very few these days would recognize attacking Microsoft as evil, especially since MS can be used as a stepping stone to new heights of monopolies.
Well, Internet radio differs from broadcast radio in the same way that recording tapes from a CD differs from uploading to a P2P network: you can reach thousands more people, and you can get perfect copies of the broadcasts by stream ripping. Hence they use this excuse as a far greater potential revenue loss as compared to regular radio, which offers many less options in terms of distribution.
I don't see what people expect besides a GUI change and some minor new features. If they change too much then people will have to relearn all the new snazzy stuff, and then the OS would do much worse than even now. The other changes, you probably can't see. How many people really know what was changed in the kernel (for instance superior RAM management, even though it takes more RAM)?
I was able to boot into safe mode, log in as root, remount the filesystem as read-write, and try to edit my xorg.conf file. In safe mode, I found that something was wrong with the line terminations when using vi, so I had to use less to view the files and then construct a sed substitution to change the video driver from "nv" to "vesa."
What's wrong with specifying "pages from Canada" or typing "stuff to search site:com site:ca" in the search bar. Not a perfect solution, but it takes away all the co.uk stuff. Or -site:co.uk if those are the only ones bothering you.
If she starts throwing a fit about the toilet, maybe it's just learned past experience. Maybe her parents did that or whatever. Talk to her about it first. Ask her about it, preferably at a time when you didn't just leave the seat up. If she's unreasonable, then consider if the relationship is right for you.
Actually, that's pretty interesting. Even if you're the only guy in the house...you go just to pee about four times a day? That's a lot of water you save by using a urinal instead of a toilet.
Of course, CVS and close cousin Subversion are SO UTTERLY USELESS I didn't even consider them. Seriously, Subversion is like gold-plated shit. Looks nice but it's still shit. Reading people say stuff like "Subversion is awesome" makes me wince. How can something that doesn't have "real" branches, and doesn't have tags OF ANY KIND, be useful for anything?
Subversion is good for smaller projects, at least. Subversion can also be used outside of source code maintenance, for instance, for maintaining a database of data files for a scientific project.
As a matter of fact, a USB plug doesn't have to be bulky! Most of it is just protection for the interface. There are USB plugs just as thin as the card itself. For instance, a Sony product:
FAT is ubiquitous and can be read by nearly all operating systems, so it is hard to displace. However, given such a high capacity, these cards will have many video recording applications and hence something besides FAT is needed because of the 4GB limit. I doubt the format is a problem because you'll be able to just format it to whatever you need.
If I check for the existence of 20 different correlations with a 95% confidence interval, wouldn't I be likely to find one even if none exist?
If you found a correlation then one exists by definition. If you use 95% confidence, that means you define a correlation to be a correlation coefficient to be significantly different than zero with alpha = 0.05. I.e. if you find a correlation you find a correlation. The question is whether it means anything.
Furthermore, if you choose 20 different variables and check the correlation with intelligence (or whatever), it's not as though you'll expect to find 1 significant correlation. However here's an interesting experiment using R:
c0 = 0; x=rnorm(60); for (i in 1:1000) { y = rnorm(60); c0[i] = cor(x,y); }
Then typing sum(abs(c0) > 0.3) gives 18. So even generating two sets of 60 random numbers from N(0,1) from the Mersenne twister algorithm gives an approximate 1.8% chance of a correlation greater that 0.3. Changing the sample size to n=20 gives 19.4% of the random samples having a correlation greater than 0.3.
Yeah, a few will buy cheaper models with Windows to dual boot, a few fanatics (like me) will buy the Ubuntu only version because I don't want to be tainted by Windows, and a few won't care... Linux isn't going to gain significant desktop share overnight. I doubt these new products will be instant best hits.
Linux (and perhaps other OSes) gains ground every day. New people are giving it a try. Some are even using it. This is gradual.
Remember the state of Linux a few years ago? Terrible. I wouldn't even have bothered over Windows 98. Now I run Ubuntu exclusively.
Soon we're going to read about more companies producing open source drivers. One day I'll read Slashdot and discover that...Blizzard will provide Linux executables for all their new games. And as happening now we'll find out about new applications that can easily replace their Windows variants. Hasn't much of this already been happening??
Over some point people will start to realise...hey, M$ doesn't have a monopoly any more. Mainstream support for Linux will increase gradually. Next thing you know in one of my few and far between visits to Future Shop will surprise me because there'll be a Linux PC on the shelf...by that time it'll be running a super stable version of Compiz+Beryl and people will like it.
Even more slowly, peoples perceptions will change. The Synaptic package manager will be a common thing once people get used to it. People sure got used to spyware and virus scanning and my sister who uses OS X and knows next to nothing about computers even knows about registry editing.
Once there's no more monopoly, new lucrative opportunities for OEMs and software developers will exist independent of Microsoft. Suddenly having lots of cheap Ubuntu machines isn't such a crazy idea.
This is just another one of those little events that will make way for the Linux desktop.
Actually, perhaps it's time to totally rethink the internet. Browsers today are bloated partly because websites are bloated.
The majority of websites could do with a simple and less cluttered layout like google's website for instance. Compare it to yahoo and you'll see that yahoo has a bunch of "advanced features" like inpage tabs and whatnot. Lots of this extra junk you'll find around the web is javascript that chooses CSS based on browser and that displays advertisements. Lots of it is just poor use of HTML often from WYSISYG programs. More features in language means more junk on website. More junk on website means more junk in browser.
Google a linux problem and you get geek-speak. And most of it is bad advice. Usually the bad advice...
Don't know where you go to get your advice, but I switched from XP to Ubuntu not too long ago and I've had lots of things I wanted to do with it, and every time I've searched the net for problems I've never once come across bad advice.
Wordpress may have problems in design and whatnot, but unlike Blogger, Wordpress works under Ubuntu Dapper and Firefox.
By `works', I mean it doesn't cause my browser to crawl to a halt, and the CPU fan to speed up. It's not the speed of my computer (3.06Ghz P4), and besides the site works fine in the Mozilla suite browser. There's something about Firefox that makes it extremely slow and unstable on certain websites. I found out that Blogger is one but another is The Weather Network, the most popular weather site in Canada.
Well, there have been very similar articles. And the discussion won't be different, and the discussion is the important part of slashdot right?
Discussion might go something like: web apps are good for intranet applications like a calendar, web apps are sometimes less secure, desktop apps can be used offline (no wait! there's a new feature of Firefox somewhere, RTFA, web apps are useful for this, desktop apps are good for that, and there's a balance. Blah blah blah.
Re:Will anyone gain anything from this?
on
The End is Nigh for XP
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· Score: 4, Insightful
My main reason for thinking this is seeing how little Ubuntu contributes to the rest of the "open-source community".
I don't know how much Ubuntu developers/official people contribute to the community directly (whatever that means), but because there are thousands of people moving to Linux because Ubuntu exists (Ubuntu is what got me to switch), there is a large increase of patches (most software on Ubuntu isn't Ubuntu exclusive), guides + FAQs + community help (which makes Linux and more user-friendly), bug reports, and a greater exposure to Linux in general. How is that a little contribution to the community?
Well, most people who buy games know about minimum system requirements and setting graphical details. When you buy a car, most people know about base model vs. additions. When you go Burger King and see a giant whopper on the menu and get a less that perfect hamburger, no one is surprised.
But when you market an operating system, most people just look at it, and think what they see is the operating system. The user associates the GUI with the OS, not the memory management internals. So MS is exploiting the extreme lack of knowledge of most users, whereas the game companies and BK are exploiting your imagination and desire by showing you something desirable. There's a difference.
Slashdot Mirror
Google doesn't have many options for releasing an OS. They'd face exactly the same problems as Linux, and they'd probably use the Linux kernel at that. Just because they have a large (not monopoly mind you) portion of the search market, they have zero of the OS market.
The problem is, as more and more people are raised with a world of alternatives like iTunes, fewer and fewer will be as attached to the CD. It's like the CRT. Some people still swear by them, but who uses anything but an LCD these days?
Like flash storage? CDs don't have any moving parts anyway. Besides, the human brain has many removable parts, which is what makes it so sturdy. Memory is stored in multiple locations.
Most people don't actually care about the loss. Not only that, but the article claims that CDs are becoming obsolete (as in going down in sales), as opposed to being completely unwanted.
I'm happy you recognized that it's evil, because very few these days would recognize attacking Microsoft as evil, especially since MS can be used as a stepping stone to new heights of monopolies.
Well, Internet radio differs from broadcast radio in the same way that recording tapes from a CD differs from uploading to a P2P network: you can reach thousands more people, and you can get perfect copies of the broadcasts by stream ripping. Hence they use this excuse as a far greater potential revenue loss as compared to regular radio, which offers many less options in terms of distribution.
I don't see what people expect besides a GUI change and some minor new features. If they change too much then people will have to relearn all the new snazzy stuff, and then the OS would do much worse than even now. The other changes, you probably can't see. How many people really know what was changed in the kernel (for instance superior RAM management, even though it takes more RAM)?
Hell no, I'd never put my peripheral in the dishwasher.
"essentially storing everything that passes through RAM."
You know, that's impossible. No one has enough space for that.
What's wrong with specifying "pages from Canada" or typing "stuff to search site:com site:ca" in the search bar. Not a perfect solution, but it takes away all the co.uk stuff. Or -site:co.uk if those are the only ones bothering you.
If she starts throwing a fit about the toilet, maybe it's just learned past experience. Maybe her parents did that or whatever. Talk to her about it first. Ask her about it, preferably at a time when you didn't just leave the seat up. If she's unreasonable, then consider if the relationship is right for you.
Actually, that's pretty interesting. Even if you're the only guy in the house...you go just to pee about four times a day? That's a lot of water you save by using a urinal instead of a toilet.
As a matter of fact, a USB plug doesn't have to be bulky! Most of it is just protection for the interface. There are USB plugs just as thin as the card itself. For instance, a Sony product:
/ 250/c/2634
http://www.superwarehouse.com/Sony_mini_storage/b
FAT is ubiquitous and can be read by nearly all operating systems, so it is hard to displace. However, given such a high capacity, these cards will have many video recording applications and hence something besides FAT is needed because of the 4GB limit. I doubt the format is a problem because you'll be able to just format it to whatever you need.
Yeah, a few will buy cheaper models with Windows to dual boot, a few fanatics (like me) will buy the Ubuntu only version because I don't want to be tainted by Windows, and a few won't care... Linux isn't going to gain significant desktop share overnight. I doubt these new products will be instant best hits. Linux (and perhaps other OSes) gains ground every day. New people are giving it a try. Some are even using it. This is gradual. Remember the state of Linux a few years ago? Terrible. I wouldn't even have bothered over Windows 98. Now I run Ubuntu exclusively. Soon we're going to read about more companies producing open source drivers. One day I'll read Slashdot and discover that...Blizzard will provide Linux executables for all their new games. And as happening now we'll find out about new applications that can easily replace their Windows variants. Hasn't much of this already been happening?? Over some point people will start to realise...hey, M$ doesn't have a monopoly any more. Mainstream support for Linux will increase gradually. Next thing you know in one of my few and far between visits to Future Shop will surprise me because there'll be a Linux PC on the shelf...by that time it'll be running a super stable version of Compiz+Beryl and people will like it. Even more slowly, peoples perceptions will change. The Synaptic package manager will be a common thing once people get used to it. People sure got used to spyware and virus scanning and my sister who uses OS X and knows next to nothing about computers even knows about registry editing. Once there's no more monopoly, new lucrative opportunities for OEMs and software developers will exist independent of Microsoft. Suddenly having lots of cheap Ubuntu machines isn't such a crazy idea. This is just another one of those little events that will make way for the Linux desktop.
Actually, perhaps it's time to totally rethink the internet. Browsers today are bloated partly because websites are bloated.
The majority of websites could do with a simple and less cluttered layout like google's website for instance. Compare it to yahoo and you'll see that yahoo has a bunch of "advanced features" like inpage tabs and whatnot. Lots of this extra junk you'll find around the web is javascript that chooses CSS based on browser and that displays advertisements. Lots of it is just poor use of HTML often from WYSISYG programs. More features in language means more junk on website. More junk on website means more junk in browser.
Wordpress may have problems in design and whatnot, but unlike Blogger, Wordpress works under Ubuntu Dapper and Firefox.
By `works', I mean it doesn't cause my browser to crawl to a halt, and the CPU fan to speed up. It's not the speed of my computer (3.06Ghz P4), and besides the site works fine in the Mozilla suite browser. There's something about Firefox that makes it extremely slow and unstable on certain websites. I found out that Blogger is one but another is The Weather Network, the most popular weather site in Canada.
Well, there have been very similar articles. And the discussion won't be different, and the discussion is the important part of slashdot right?
Discussion might go something like: web apps are good for intranet applications like a calendar, web apps are sometimes less secure, desktop apps can be used offline (no wait! there's a new feature of Firefox somewhere, RTFA, web apps are useful for this, desktop apps are good for that, and there's a balance. Blah blah blah.
Why Desktop Email Still Trumps Webmail
People Don't Hate to Make Desktop Apps, Do They?
Google Apps Premier Edition Launches
I don't know how much Ubuntu developers/official people contribute to the community directly (whatever that means), but because there are thousands of people moving to Linux because Ubuntu exists (Ubuntu is what got me to switch), there is a large increase of patches (most software on Ubuntu isn't Ubuntu exclusive), guides + FAQs + community help (which makes Linux and more user-friendly), bug reports, and a greater exposure to Linux in general. How is that a little contribution to the community?
Web applications for collaboration are like SVN + LaTeX for the masses.
Well, most people who buy games know about minimum system requirements and setting graphical details. When you buy a car, most people know about base model vs. additions. When you go Burger King and see a giant whopper on the menu and get a less that perfect hamburger, no one is surprised.
But when you market an operating system, most people just look at it, and think what they see is the operating system. The user associates the GUI with the OS, not the memory management internals. So MS is exploiting the extreme lack of knowledge of most users, whereas the game companies and BK are exploiting your imagination and desire by showing you something desirable. There's a difference.