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User: smegmatic

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  1. Re:Be Patient on Where Do I Go Now That Oracle Owns OpenOffice.org? · · Score: 1

    Years ago, back when Java was closed source, Red Hat solved this problem by using gcj for the Java parts. So I don't see why Oracle would be unavoidable now.

  2. Re:Students will complain on Colleges May Start Forcing Switch To eTextbooks · · Score: 1

    Mine tended cost around $50-120 and if you sold it back in mint condition you might get half of that back.

    It sounds like you used the university's book store. Most offer similarly horrible buyback deals. Don't do that. Boycott the campus book store. Buy used online, sell used online. Except for when a new edition just came out, you end up coming pretty close to breaking even.

  3. Re:Aren't fusion plants around the corner? on Economy Puts US Nuclear Reactors Back In Doubt · · Score: 1

    Plenty of journalists have said that. Journalists say lots of silly things. But scientists? Source? We won't even finish building ITER for another 10 years.

  4. Re:the license? really? on Free Software Foundation Turns 25 · · Score: 1

    Would all of those licenses have arisen if the FSF didn't prove it was a feasible strategy with the success of the GPL?

  5. Re:Take it a step further... on Bittorrent To Replace Standard Downloads? · · Score: 1

    Once again, Opera is ahead of the game. Opera Unite came out last year.

  6. Re:I'll Say It Again ... on House Democrats Shelve Net Neutrality Proposal · · Score: 1

    That's a bit of an exaggeration. Net neutrality doesn't protect them from that because net neutrality doesn't currently exist. If net neutrality really was the only thing that prevented that situation from arising, we'd already have those tiered plans now.

  7. Re:And if the information is wrong or fake on "Pre-Crime" Comes To the HR Dept. · · Score: 1

    We have bankruptcy laws for a reason. Companies go bankrupt all the time. It doesn't mean we have to immediately fire all their workers, cancel all their contracts, and burn down their facilities.

  8. Re:Mr. Newell would disagree with you. on Review: Civilization V · · Score: 1

    They they should make some explicit, legally binding agreement like the agreement between KDE and Trolltech that guaranteed Qt would be released under a BSD-type license if Trolltech (or someone who bought Trolltech) ever turned Qt proprietary. This protects against situations like bankruptcy, which might now allow Gabe to do whatever he wants.

  9. Re:Ruby on Security Lessons Learned From the Diaspora Launch · · Score: 1

    "Academics" is a broad category. And "academics" is far removed from "most people". FWIW, in my academic experience (computational biology), none of my labmates use any Microsoft programming languages. Various people at various times have used C, C++, Perl, Python, PHP, and MATLAB. No ruby.

  10. Re:Ubuntu users have more problems on Shuttleworth Answers Ubuntu Linux's Critics · · Score: 1

    I can understand that poor people might be less likely to use Google, thus skewing the results. But I doubt there are large socioeconomic differences between users of various distros like there are between citizens of different countries and members of different religions. The problem is that more people use Ubuntu, so more people have problems with Ubuntu.

  11. Re:Music on 2010 May Be the First Year YouTube Turns a Profit · · Score: 1

    it has a linux version. i've been using it for years. http://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/help/amd.html

    also, some linux media players are integrating the amazon mp3 store directly: http://abock.org/2010/07/13/amazon-mp3-store-in-banshee

  12. Re:Just Hurting Kids and Old People on New Malware Imitates Browser Warning Pages · · Score: 1

    Malware authors are not the first dishonest people to make money off of children and old people. I doubt they care if you think they are "pathetic losers". I doubt they take pride in what they do. I doubt they're doing it for sport. They just want some money.

  13. Re:no worry for facebook on Ping Could Be Apple's Social Networking Backdoor? · · Score: 1

    Look at home many people let google read their emails rather than paying Apple $100 a year.

    Or... Look at home many people let google read their emails rather than paying Apple $100 a year to let Apple read their emails. Seems like an easy decision.

  14. Re:More important issues on Assange Rape Case Reopened · · Score: 1

    For example: Assange claimed for years, Wikileaks contributors are protected by the Swedish law, he even threatened to sue anyone who tried to expose a Wikileaks source.

    Source? I don't remember that, and it's hard to Google for his past opinions on the matter due to recent developments.

  15. Re:I'm not all that worried on 'Free' H.264 a Precursor To WebM Patent War? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It is possible that On2 didn't join MPEG-LA so they could be patent trolls later. If so, it would be ironic that their patents would then be used for good by Google.

    Similarly, it is also possible that On2 didn't join MPEG-LA so that they would be more attractive to being bought be another company who wanted to acquire patents on some part of H.264.

    I have no idea how likely either scenario is, but they don't seem totally implausible.

  16. Re:kids aren't stupid on Steve Furber On Why Kids Are Turned Off To Computing Classes · · Score: 1

    so you make the same salary as her, you you call her pay "crap"? or are you expecting a 55 year old programmer to keep getting guaranteed raises with guaranteed job security just like a 55 year old teacher?

  17. Re:3 people in 2 don't know math. on 2 In 3 Misunderstand Gas Mileage; Here's Why · · Score: 1

    what percentage of the country, given a number in MPG, can convert it to GP100M? even if you give them a calculator, i'd still bet it's pretty damn low. and even if they can convert it, most would never realize that it would be important to consider GP100M rather than MPG. so how is it a red herring?

  18. Re:Follow the correct path for the career on Too Many College Graduates? · · Score: 1

    And what if you correct for some obvious confounding variables, such as IQ or parents' socioeconomic status? I don't have the data, I'm honestly asking... because I would expect that to cover most of the difference.

  19. Re:A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer on Do Children's E-Books Ruin Reading? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    you're citing a fiction book as evidence?

  20. Re:Here is how you do science. on Second Inquiry Exonerates Climatic Research Unit · · Score: 1

    That's kind of already how it's done (not explicitly of course)... And that still doesn't get rid of the incentive to keep your data to yourself. Because then you can publish about the data and the analysis, and get citations for both.

  21. Re:This will be interesting. on NASA Summoned To Fix Prius Problems · · Score: 1

    please look at the data again... yes it is biased towards old people, but it is not exclusively old people.

  22. Re:What is the objective? on Mozilla Foundation Begins Redraft Process For MPL · · Score: 1

    Look at it from the perspective of a developer. Let's say I want to contribute code to Firefox under the GPL. My two options are:

    1. Dual license it under the MPL as well, giving up some freedoms
    2. Fork Firefox

    Because option 2 is not really practical, everyone effectively plays by the rules of option 1.

  23. Re:What is the objective? on Mozilla Foundation Begins Redraft Process For MPL · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The objective is to limit your freedoms more than the GPL, LGPL, and BSD licenses permit. That's always the objective when new licenses are made.

  24. Re:Obsolete on Microsoft Drops Windows 7 E Editions · · Score: 1

    i started using mozilla at version 0.8, which was released february 14, 2001. that was the point at which it was better than IE6 for me. ymmv.

  25. Re:Wont work. on $33 Million In Poker Winnings Seized By US Govt · · Score: 1

    I'll deposit mine in Kinakuta.