Sometimes it is FUD. Sometimes it is real. In any case, improving WINE makes it easier to convince people to go to Lunux, if any 'leftover' applications can run under wine, and they know that they probably won't have to either dual-boot or have a second machine if they come across some windows-only killer app.
The difficulties in translating between languages are many, and are sometimes used to political advantage.
In Canada, the province of Quebec has the moto "Je Me Suivien". The standard definition in english of this is "I remember", but with what little I know of english, I realized that it wasn't quite accurate. One day I asked a graduate student from Quebec for a better explanation, and after a few minutes of talking, I finally clued in...
So, really, a better translation would be "I hold a grudge".
There was a stunned look on his face for a moment, before he finally responded with something like, "yeah, I guess so". Just about every Quebecois that I have mentioned that translation to has had the same reaction.
The difference between the two interpretations is important. It hides, from Canadian anglaphones (and even francaphones), the nature of the remembering that "Je Me Souviens" indicates... and given that it's the moto of an entire province -- and a sepratist province at that -- it's important to know.
It looks like NASA.COM no longer has DNS service (can't get an SOA record). I'm guessing
that the government has contacted the users of the domain name and made the appropriate
threats.
I agree that no default password is best (this is, apparently, what Cisco does).
Serial number as password seems rather problematic, since the serial number can often be guessed. It is still better than the same password for all boxes. At the very least, it would slow down remote script kiddies attacking random boxes.
About the only time I rebooted my powerbook was when the batteries died...
Part of my laptop kit was an extension cord, and a statpower 50 -- (car to 110V inverter).
One of the things it take to prove copyright violaiton is to prove that the person you're accusing probably had access to the original. If a defendant can show that they took precautions to avoid contact with the older code, it becomes harder for the plaintif to prove a violation.
This is part of what occurred in the IBM/Phoenix trial (as I understand it). Phoenix's ability to prove that they'd taken strong measures to avoid contamination raised the bar for IBM and IBM wasn't able to get over it.
If you look at the code, you weaken your defences in the case of a (threatened) lawsuit.
I for one am glad to see (maybe just momentary) a truce.
There's nothing wrong with a healthy sense of competition but the attitude of people in any large group will go the gamut of really laid-back/ moderate to vicious predatory/territorial. It's nice to see that people at the heart of the two groups are being pleasant to each other and recognizing the value that the two projects give each other.
Perhaps this will encourage the more radical elements of both camps to be more pleasant.
I have two accounts that exist because when I started a new job, I couldn't remember my password -- so i started the second account. I recognize the reason for not allowing discussion and votes together and religiously never moderate my own comments.
This thread is as close as I've ever come to violating the spirit of the mod/post rule.
(and I did take a -1/troll hit for making it).
The main reason I now have them both active is that the older account was the almost forgotten for a while, until one day I lost the cookies for the newer account (which had maxed out karma). In trying to get it back, I resurected the older account, and started using it on my secondary machine. I'm now seeing if I can get the second acount to +50 karma)
Of course, the escape velocity of your average firework is going to be in the range of one furlong/fortnight (`units furlong/fortnight mph`) -- unless it's a 3 megaton (conventional explosive) firework...
Excuse me, dear boy, just what are you trying to do with this island?
...Oh, it's a firework! Well, that explains the 'no smoking' signs.
OK: You got your funny moderation, but that only gets it up to it's native '1'. Is someone else willing to add another funny moderation point to this?
(and don't worry, it was moderated with another account).
What do you mean 'without looking at the original source'. Anyone is free to look at the linux kernel source, for any reason.
ANd learn what syscalls are...
With GPL code, you're only free to look at the code if the derivative source is going to be publicly available.
You could, however, look at the linux documentation to figure out how stuff works, ad then do your own implementation (but someone else should be doing the docs for you, then).
You could also look at BSD licensed code that calls the GPL routine to see how it's used. That's legal because you're free to do whatever you want with GPL code. You might, however, run into a technical glitch if it turns out that the BSD code was 'tainted' with GPL code. (this would have the BSD code in probable violation of the GPL license, too - but with less liklihood of a screaming meanie fit on the part of the GPL programmer)
If people were ripping off MS source code, MS lawyers would be knocking on the door, and the MS PR hacks would be gleefully spouting off about it all over the place... because they (like everyone else) has access to the source code.
It's a little bit harder to prove code-stealing without access to the emulation source code, thus the speculative questions.
If they gave general access to their source code, then it'd be pretty easy to prove the question one way or the other (but then they'd also be halfway to being open-source again, too.. grin).
if the quirks aren't there, then there's good reason to believe that the code wasn't stolen. If the quirks are there, then you get to keep looking until you get to the point where you're willing to ask to look at the source code to prove that it isn't stolen.
As it is, they're only claiming to emulate about a dozen system calls, so it should be pretty easy to prove that they're {not,} using stolen code.
Ultimately, it's going to be pretty hard to conclusivly {dis,}prove the use of stolen code without looking at the source code. If you know which compiler they used, you might be able recompile the GPL code with the same compiler and look for comon code sequences, but even that is circumstantial evidence, unless you get an incredible level of similarity.
The QUESTION is completely appropriate. He didn't say that there IS a GPL violation. He hust wondered if there is one.
Stealing GPL code is one way to accomplish Linux compatability quickly and painlessly (until you get found out). Hopefully they didn't do it that way, but some businesses have done worse.
Asking the question may push someone to come up with a way to test the emulation code with reasonable certainty (i.e. testing for a couple of unusual quirks in the GPL code). I think that it's far better to know, one way or the other, than to be wilfully blind to the issue.
The 5 characters/word number is from my typing class. That was MANY years ago (a memory probably older than most of the people reading this). I'll concede the claim -- especially having done a quick wc(1) on the e-text of MLK's "I have a dream" speech it came in at an average of 9 bytes/word. Including the guttenberg
Project Gutenberg prelude... The prelude, itself, comes in at about 6.8 bytes/word.
Yep, yep... I looks about right... I found an article that claimed that 66 WPM was 50 BAUD. This was at 5 bits/ char, with 1 start bit and 2 stop bits == 8 chars/second... The calculations come pretty close to the 300 baud == 300WPM calculation that comes from 6 characters/word. (that 1 WPM/baud rule also strikes a memory cord in my mind).
300 bits per second converts to 30 charachers per second *60 seconds / 5 charecters per (standard) word, that gives 360 word/minute. As I remember it, this is near the world record (and using a modified Dvorak, too, I think).
If you had a clean line, 300 baud could usually go clean (at least it did in Edmonton, where I lived at that time). In fact, if you had a 'good' modem, you could usually do the overclocking equivalent -- and run them at 450 baud, or even 600 (if you were REALLY lucky).
For my part, I can usually do around 30 words per minute...On a good day, I can probably burst around 150 for a minute or two. 360 WPM for anything other than well remembered, often-used phrases is pretty unlikely for most people. I think that I'd have to agree that people who had problems with their computer keeping up with them were probably dealing with things like the, uhm, 'interesting' design of the Apple II keyboard.
On the other hand, I do remember that I could read faster than my 300 baud modem could receive. This got a bit tougher when I upgraded to 1200 baud.
Orwell's dystopia used a nominally socialist society as an example. The lessons to be taken from it can be applied to a Capitalist world just as cleanly. Even Adams (the godfather of Capitalism) pointed out that a large enough corporation is almost indistinguisable from a government, where it comes to market distortions.
The way that I put it is: The biggest difference between socialism (really stalinist communism) and mass-merger capitalism is how obvious it is who holds the reins.
If ever proof was needed that Microsloth didn't give a rat's ass about security,
I think that this event pretty much proves it.
This isn't even an "oops, we mised that overflow in an arcane piece of code I hope
nobody notices it" kind of bug. This is a "hey, Mikie, you got an
aircraft carrier I can test this security hole with?" kind of bug.
Any sort of a security audit. Any securit audit whatsoever would
have resulted in a screaming meanie fit over this bug.
The only reason why this isn't gonna land Microsoft in court is that anybody
who has the money it would take to rake them over the legal coals and test
their absurd EULA with it would have 15 financial advisers paid to remind them
that there are far better money pits to throw their cash into.
The only way tha Microsoft could save face on this one would be to admit
that they inserted this hole willfully and/or maliciously because -- if
they let a security bug this massive through by accident, there is
no way that we should trust them to write any code in a sane and
secure manner.
reminds me of a sign I put together many years ago... Poster format on 2 11x17 sheets of form-feed line printer paper...
SIGNOFF! The Universe is going down.
Look, NSync is about a million times more popular than that first [.... ] If this CD gets out there and there isn't alot of blowback, it will open the door for more copy protected CDs.
If blowback is needed, then we should make a point of of generating the blowback for them.
Make sure to mention to people around you (especially N'Sync types and their parents) that there are versions of the new album out there that may not be very usable on computer. Warn them that it's russian roulette: they may, or may not, get a usable cd; and -- besides -- there are a lot of better bands out there that are more friendly to their fans than what these people are doing.
It's incredible how powerful word of mouth is -- especially when it's backed up by the internet.
Do not make the mistake of believing that the world cannot be changed by a small group of dedicated individuals -- Indeed, it is the only thing that has.
That quote has been proven many times. The fact that we're here, and I'm typing this on a wonderfully proficient, stable and usable Linux box is proof of that. This is the wedge of an issue that could seriously change our access to both art and information. The best time to hunker down is now -- before that wedge has dug in.
The problem isn't just IT's its all the people who have a default load of windows 2000 at home, Rogers wave and are lucky if they even know about windowsupdate.microsoft.com.
I think that it is very important that zimmerman get a high-profile
retraction from the post because, as the Washington post, it's
a newspaper that many important legislators, and their friends, are
going to be reading for news about the world. If these people think
that the maker of one of the most prominent encryption tools out there
feels guilty about the existence of that tool, they will be more easily
bowed to allow restrictions on encryption.
As to the "he doesn't regret PGP, he must be evil!" arguments,
I don't think he has any more reason to regret PGP than Boeing has
to regret the 767 -- and civil design boeing airframes (like the 767)
have been sold for (sometimes very deadly) Military uses.
BTW: Even though the change is apparently small (the addition of a
single sentence), This makes it no less agregious. I remember one
time whan changing a single word got me into deep trouble.
I was transcribing articles for a minority newspaper. One article,
in question, was by a pro-comunist writer, who was writing about the
events surrounding the US invasion of Grenada. In the article, he
was talking about the group that ended up overthroing Maurice Bishow --
which overthrow led directly to the US invasion.
In one paragraph of his article, he described the group as "a study
group". Unfortunately, he failed to cross the 't' in study, and when I
came to read the article, the only word that I could come up with was
"shady". This seemed rather inconsistent with the general tone of
the article, and my knowledge of his position (we'd had a few brisk
discussions about political issues), but after a second opinion, and
unsucessful attempts to reach him, I wrote what I read. When he got a copy
of the paper, he would have lynched me if he could have. That one word --
two letters, really, had a big shift on the general feel of the article.
A more extreme case of minor changes making a big difference, was a case
where Napoleon was about to release 1000 prisoners of war.. When his
aide came to him for instructions, Napoleon, in the middle of a coughing
fit, didn't hear the query and muttered to himself: "Ah, Ma Sacre Toux"
(my damned cough). His aide heard "Massacrez Tous" (murder
them all), and carried out the grizly (if erroneous) order.
Slashdot Mirror
Sometimes it is FUD. Sometimes it is real. In any case, improving WINE makes it easier to convince people to go to Lunux, if any 'leftover' applications can run under wine, and they know that they probably won't have to either dual-boot or have a second machine if they come across some windows-only killer app.
In Canada, the province of Quebec has the moto "Je Me Suivien". The standard definition in english of this is "I remember", but with what little I know of english, I realized that it wasn't quite accurate. One day I asked a graduate student from Quebec for a better explanation, and after a few minutes of talking, I finally clued in...
So, really, a better translation would be "I hold a grudge".
There was a stunned look on his face for a moment, before he finally responded with something like, "yeah, I guess so". Just about every Quebecois that I have mentioned that translation to has had the same reaction.
The difference between the two interpretations is important. It hides, from Canadian anglaphones (and even francaphones), the nature of the remembering that "Je Me Souviens" indicates... and given that it's the moto of an entire province -- and a sepratist province at that -- it's important to know.
It looks like NASA.COM no longer has DNS service (can't get an SOA record). I'm guessing that the government has contacted the users of the domain name and made the appropriate threats.
I agree that no default password is best (this is, apparently, what Cisco does).
Serial number as password seems rather problematic, since the serial number can often be guessed. It is still better than the same password for all boxes. At the very least, it would slow down remote script kiddies attacking random boxes.
About the only time I rebooted my powerbook was when the batteries died...
Part of my laptop kit was an extension cord, and a statpower 50 -- (car to 110V inverter).
This is part of what occurred in the IBM/Phoenix trial (as I understand it). Phoenix's ability to prove that they'd taken strong measures to avoid contamination raised the bar for IBM and IBM wasn't able to get over it.
If you look at the code, you weaken your defences in the case of a (threatened) lawsuit.
There's nothing wrong with a healthy sense of competition but the attitude of people in any large group will go the gamut of really laid-back/ moderate to vicious predatory/territorial. It's nice to see that people at the heart of the two groups are being pleasant to each other and recognizing the value that the two projects give each other.
Perhaps this will encourage the more radical elements of both camps to be more pleasant.
This thread is as close as I've ever come to violating the spirit of the mod/post rule. (and I did take a -1/troll hit for making it).
The main reason I now have them both active is that the older account was the almost forgotten for a while, until one day I lost the cookies for the newer account (which had maxed out karma). In trying to get it back, I resurected the older account, and started using it on my secondary machine. I'm now seeing if I can get the second acount to +50 karma)
(and don't worry, it was moderated with another account).
This is a job for metamod
With GPL code, you're only free to look at the code if the derivative source is going to be publicly available. You could, however, look at the linux documentation to figure out how stuff works, ad then do your own implementation (but someone else should be doing the docs for you, then).
You could also look at BSD licensed code that calls the GPL routine to see how it's used. That's legal because you're free to do whatever you want with GPL code. You might, however, run into a technical glitch if it turns out that the BSD code was 'tainted' with GPL code. (this would have the BSD code in probable violation of the GPL license, too - but with less liklihood of a screaming meanie fit on the part of the GPL programmer)
It's a little bit harder to prove code-stealing without access to the emulation source code, thus the speculative questions.
If they gave general access to their source code, then it'd be pretty easy to prove the question one way or the other (but then they'd also be halfway to being open-source again, too .. grin).
As it is, they're only claiming to emulate about a dozen system calls, so it should be pretty easy to prove that they're {not,} using stolen code.
Ultimately, it's going to be pretty hard to conclusivly {dis,}prove the use of stolen code without looking at the source code. If you know which compiler they used, you might be able recompile the GPL code with the same compiler and look for comon code sequences, but even that is circumstantial evidence, unless you get an incredible level of similarity.
Stealing GPL code is one way to accomplish Linux compatability quickly and painlessly (until you get found out). Hopefully they didn't do it that way, but some businesses have done worse.
Asking the question may push someone to come up with a way to test the emulation code with reasonable certainty (i.e. testing for a couple of unusual quirks in the GPL code). I think that it's far better to know, one way or the other, than to be wilfully blind to the issue.
Bingo ... Thank you. Estoppel is the word I was thinking of.
Yep, yep... I looks about right... I found an article that claimed that 66 WPM was 50 BAUD. This was at 5 bits/ char, with 1 start bit and 2 stop bits == 8 chars/second... The calculations come pretty close to the 300 baud == 300WPM calculation that comes from 6 characters/word. (that 1 WPM/baud rule also strikes a memory cord in my mind).
If you had a clean line, 300 baud could usually go clean (at least it did in Edmonton, where I lived at that time). In fact, if you had a 'good' modem, you could usually do the overclocking equivalent -- and run them at 450 baud, or even 600 (if you were REALLY lucky).
For my part, I can usually do around 30 words per minute...On a good day, I can probably burst around 150 for a minute or two. 360 WPM for anything other than well remembered, often-used phrases is pretty unlikely for most people. I think that I'd have to agree that people who had problems with their computer keeping up with them were probably dealing with things like the, uhm, 'interesting' design of the Apple II keyboard.
On the other hand, I do remember that I could read faster than my 300 baud modem could receive. This got a bit tougher when I upgraded to 1200 baud.
The way that I put it is:
The biggest difference between socialism (really stalinist communism) and mass-merger capitalism is how obvious it is who holds the reins.
There are always two sides to a PR war. I was wondering why the MAPS URL wasn't in the original article...
Any sort of a security audit. Any securit audit whatsoever would have resulted in a screaming meanie fit over this bug.
The only reason why this isn't gonna land Microsoft in court is that anybody who has the money it would take to rake them over the legal coals and test their absurd EULA with it would have 15 financial advisers paid to remind them that there are far better money pits to throw their cash into.
The only way tha Microsoft could save face on this one would be to admit that they inserted this hole willfully and/or maliciously because -- if they let a security bug this massive through by accident, there is no way that we should trust them to write any code in a sane and secure manner.
FLAME OFF
(that feels much better)
I wonder what someone's rationale would be for that:"Oh this won't hurt anyone, and saving that extra 'OK' click will be great!".
This is a Microsoft product, and a security issue. What does rationale have to do with it?
reminds me of a sign I put together many years ago... Poster format on 2 11x17 sheets of form-feed line printer paper...
SIGNOFF! The Universe is going down.
If blowback is needed, then we should make a point of of generating the blowback for them. Make sure to mention to people around you (especially N'Sync types and their parents) that there are versions of the new album out there that may not be very usable on computer. Warn them that it's russian roulette: they may, or may not, get a usable cd; and -- besides -- there are a lot of better bands out there that are more friendly to their fans than what these people are doing.
It's incredible how powerful word of mouth is -- especially when it's backed up by the internet.
That quote has been proven many times. The fact that we're here, and I'm typing this on a wonderfully proficient, stable and usable Linux box is proof of that. This is the wedge of an issue that could seriously change our access to both art and information. The best time to hunker down is now -- before that wedge has dug in.The problem isn't just IT's its all the people who have a default load of windows 2000 at home, Rogers wave and are lucky if they even know about windowsupdate.microsoft.com.
As to the "he doesn't regret PGP, he must be evil!" arguments, I don't think he has any more reason to regret PGP than Boeing has to regret the 767 -- and civil design boeing airframes (like the 767) have been sold for (sometimes very deadly) Military uses.
BTW: Even though the change is apparently small (the addition of a single sentence), This makes it no less agregious. I remember one time whan changing a single word got me into deep trouble. I was transcribing articles for a minority newspaper. One article, in question, was by a pro-comunist writer, who was writing about the events surrounding the US invasion of Grenada. In the article, he was talking about the group that ended up overthroing Maurice Bishow -- which overthrow led directly to the US invasion.
In one paragraph of his article, he described the group as "a study group". Unfortunately, he failed to cross the 't' in study, and when I came to read the article, the only word that I could come up with was "shady". This seemed rather inconsistent with the general tone of the article, and my knowledge of his position (we'd had a few brisk discussions about political issues), but after a second opinion, and unsucessful attempts to reach him, I wrote what I read. When he got a copy of the paper, he would have lynched me if he could have. That one word -- two letters, really, had a big shift on the general feel of the article.
A more extreme case of minor changes making a big difference, was a case where Napoleon was about to release 1000 prisoners of war.. When his aide came to him for instructions, Napoleon, in the middle of a coughing fit, didn't hear the query and muttered to himself: "Ah, Ma Sacre Toux" (my damned cough). His aide heard "Massacrez Tous" (murder them all), and carried out the grizly (if erroneous) order.