So wait, your saying that even though the super bowl will be traveling through the airwaves and you can get it if you have a TV, so your saying that now the NFL==TV manufacturers? Because in the end that's all that would be harmed from watching the game. I don't get how this is a big deal, its like saying because you have to buy some chips to come over to your friends house to play *insert video game here* the *insert game's maker here* it is suddenly making them lose money because some guy got chips in return! Really, with that logic I can only hope you were trying to get moderated +5 funny.
You totally miss the point of distros. A distro is just the Linux kernel (or BSD if its BSD or Hurd if it is GNU Hurd, ETC) and a collection of software packages. Ubuntu doesn't offer anything really more then Debian your right, however it seems to have one thing that no other distro has and that is ease and customization. For example, Gentoo is very customizable, on the other hand, it can be downright scary if you are new to Linux or computers in general, Ubuntu has an easy-to-use GUI and a graphical install program. The biggest thing though for Ubuntu is hardware detection, for me if my wireless card works or not determines whether or not I have a connection as I don't have close to an easy wired connection, if a distro such as Debian that might be "better" then Ubuntu doesn't detect my wireless card what advantage is that to switch over to Linux when XP works fine? It doesn't help that unless I have a connection I cannot just apt-get *insert package here* to fix my problems nor can I easily post for help, it is truly a make-or-break situation. I like my code to be open-source and free-software, that is one of the main reasons I switched to Linux, however freedom doesn't come before functionality when that functionality is non-trivial, Ubuntu recognizes this and provides restricted drivers that (although it might not be coming from Ubuntu and probably some other developer came up with it) can make the distro easy to use to set up and get going. Also, even though in press releases they don't give credit to everyone (I have yet to see a company that says "yes we made it but *insert software here* did *insert what the software did here*") but their branding is rather slim, about the only noticeable change (to the end-user) from standard Gnome/Debian and Gnome/Ubuntu is that the foot of the Gnome desktop is replaced by a small Ubuntu logo and in a generation that thinks that the GUI==The OS it is necessary to avoid confusion with people thinking that Gnome==Linux==Ubuntu. Really even though Launchpad is proprietary system currently parts of it are open-sourced and I think that after a few code cleanups it will all be released as free software. Overall I think you criticize Ubuntu for being a distribution, something that Debian and Gentoo also are however your criticism is based on how because Ubuntu takes all the packages and unifies them that makes it a bad distro. Ubuntu fills a much needed gap, an easy to use Linux OS that will work with your hardware regardless something that Gentoo and Debian can't exactly claim.
Most people on Slashdot knows MS==Microsoft, just as most know/.==Slashdot, while I don't find MS really proper to use outside the internet but here on/. everyone knows what it is.
How is it that Americans have lost their sense of wonder?
Because it is always government agencies that are doing space exploration and therefore it becomes on the level of boredom as the national budget or government investigations, people always want to have their say and find out the results but the process is too complex/boring for their tastes and not as action-packed as the newest TV show or movie.
Because it is an American company and of course are totally ethical and obey laws just because they are not in *gasp* another country or so they think.
I think this is because MS is an American company and therefore totally ethical and good for the US economy and much better then communist Linux and open-source or say the people who think that Office==word processor and Windows==operating system and don't know how a computer actually works.
Bug reports and feature requests will be submitted chances are, not to mention the IT guys will probably change the code and audit it, so code will be improved.
Ubuntu is nice how I can put it on almost any laptop/desktop and find the Wi-Fi card painlessly, really my only connection is wireless so it is a make or break feature for me.
But you should *never* need a quad-core CPU and 2 Gigs of RAM to make an OS run decently. Linux/OS X are newer than Vista and require far less resources to run decently with more eye-candy even. Sloppy coding/DRM make for a system that requires a $1000 computer to run it. I for one will be just as happy saving $700 on a $300 PC that can run Linux just fine while running XP in a VM for Windows apps.
Exactly, just look at game consoles. Just a few days ago they managed to find a way to run homebrew code on the Wii without a modchip. All DRM is quickly broken if there is enough interest. I still don't get why they do it, if I get a computer, I should be able to run whatever program I want on it, change the OS, overclock it ETC.
But the hardware is tied to the OS. If you were to get Vista you would probably pick out a new computer with a dual or quad-core processor with 2-3 Gigs of RAM, a nice DRM-compliant video-card for Aero, then of course the average person needs to spend about $300 on anti-virus/spyware, MS office, new versions for programs that MS broke backwards compatibility with, ETC. For a school they can probably get licenses very cheap, however when the student ends up going to college, they can either pay the $1000 setup with Vista, over-the-top hardware, and all the proprietary software Windows needs to patch its flaws or the kid can buy a decent $300 computer with Linux installed because they learned about Linux and all the software is just a click or apt-get away. MS teaches kids to be dependent on one provider (MS) for their software therefore paying excess to third parties for hardware to just run the OS, also because the kid hasn't learned really how a computer works, any chance of a sysadmin job or other high-tech job disappears unless the kid learns a whole lot in college (or there is a giant breakthrough in software) and ends up being dependent. The kid who learns Linux and how the computer actually works can buy cheaper hardware, and can easily become a sysadmin or other high-paying tech job and nearly all software will be free. Now, even with cost not the option, does the school want to teach their students to be dependent or independent?
Exactly, and why does everyone think that it has to be MS to create those concepts? I bet that if you go to a school today most people wouldn't know how applications are launched, or even how simple parts of the computer's OS works, and probably 98% think that the GUI==the OS. Most kids know how a program works by launching it from Start-->All Programs--->Games--->Minesweeper and not how the OS really works. MS always ends up creating new "buzzwords" to make their OS/Program seem new just think of the "ribbon" on Office 2007 (if you are unlucky enough to have used it) or "Shortcuts" rather then links, MS has a way of making anything that seems like a computer concept be totally linked to Windows and totally foreign to Mac or Linux, that's how I am sure they manage to keep market share from people looking at Mac/Linux who panic when they can't see a C drive.
Well, think about the pricing, you could get an expensive (yet easy-to-use) Mac or you could get a cheap PC with DOS that no one really liked but it was there OS. Most businesses and people chose the cheaper route and got a PC, today we have the opposite, with Linux being cheaper yet not as (seemingly) easy to use as the Windows and Mac computers. I expect that because of the price point alone (and easier to use distros, Vista becoming ME II and OS X being popular) Unix/Linux will become the most used platform.
Most people use Windows yes. However with the GUI changing (just look from XP to Vista), training students on an outdated platform of Windows is worse then teaching them *NIX. Because most Linux/Unix GUIs don't need to be new for the sake of being new, most skills acquired on KDE 1 can be transferred to KDE 4 with little problems, and the same with Gnome. Secondly, most basic Windows concepts can be accurately emulated by having a Windows-like WM or theme on the desktop environment of your choosing, I have seen people think that Linux is just like XP whenever an XP theme is installed and therefore can get around in Windows. Most workplaces/schools don't want people to have admin privileges so all the talk about knowing how Windows works and how to admin it is null and void. Also, Linux can be an easy way for students to get into computer programming/repair/systems administrator jobs that require little college training and have relatively high pay, everyone knows Windows however *NIX skills are essential to get beyond a data entry position in trying to get a technical job. Also, many offices are going to mixed OS environments with some OS-X systems, a lot of XP systems, a few Vista test systems and some Linux systems. Schools should not take a risk with MS's products becoming obsolete whenever the students graduate, most Unix skills are here to stay and can save a student a bunch of money (either spend $1000 on a desktop with Vista or spend $400 for a Ubuntu desktop for the same performance not to mention the save on the cost of proprietary applications and anti-virus/spyware) and gives them skills needed. Think back to the old DOS skills and Apple ][ skills, now they are not needed anymore, a few wasted cells in your brain, today if you learned Unix back in the '80s running OS-X or Ubuntu in 2008 will be second nature to you, take someone brought up on Windows 98 and sit them down on a Vista machine, they would be confused because they were learned on 98 and now its Vista and everything looks different! Unix is stable, secure and chances are (with the lack of OS innovations and the rapid adoption of OS-X and Linux) the future platform. MS products are a dead end, they only end up in another $50 MS tax with another $100 for your Office tax not to mention your $150 Anti-virus/spyware tax and your super new top-of-the-line-won't-be-able-to-run-Windows-7 desktop that could cost $600 upwards. Unix/Linux helps you get ahead, with Windows your just another consumer.
I don't really see how this tax is going to work when I can usually get someone else's internet connection for free and generally that's not a big deal however with this tax how will it work? Also, could this harm city-wide wifi? I'm all for this if it comes to the US (the price is a bit steep but if it keeps the RIAA from attacking citizens its a good thing) but how will it work when there are multiple connections per person and one person can use other people's connection.
There are other ways of getting legal music other then downloading it in DRMed Propriatary format with ads, although you may have to pay a bit more for them and there is radio. I wasn't trying to get into a debate about ethics only that free music with ads is simply a backwards step twards radio which is why we got MP3 players in the first place.
or a better question is why buy them in a drmed proprietary format from a company that can't let in a little competition? why is it that apple still receives praise when they've proven that they're even worse than the big bad wolf microsoft?
Isn't free ad-supported music called radio? Even if this lets you pick your own songs, why download them in DRMed, proprietary and ad-supported files? Isn't that why everyone moved to CD players and MP3 players to have all your own music with no ads?
How is it cheaper? Usually on a CD there is only 1-3 songs that I really want, with a CD I pay anywhere from $10-20 for that CD with around 15 songs, compare that with $.99 per song and I spend around $1-3 rather then $15, so no its not cheaper. On around a 1 MB per second connection downloading an average 4 MB song takes me around 4-10 seconds, unless you live right next to a store it is not faster. When it is an open format such as MP3 and can be played on almost any device, DRM free, it can be played on a Linux/Windows/Mac/BSD computer, a generic MP3 player, burnt to a CD, or whatever, so it isn't easier. As for contributing to the local economy, just go to local concerts and support local bands.
Given that most (well, all) devices have limited functionality (not even Steve Jobs' iPod can do his taxes for him)
The hardware problem isn't as big as the software one. Sure Steve Jobs' iPod can't do his taxes with stock firmware, however with a different OS I am sure that it could be done. It used to be that speech recognition would become a reality when your processor was fast enough, now we have quad-core CPUs running at 3 GHZ and it still hasn't been done reliably.
Linux software though gets free publicity from websites such as Slashdot and from the many Linux magazines out there. There is a decent enough market for Linux software because of the success of the $200 Everex PC which runs a modified Ubuntu OS. On a 4 GB DVD, there would be plenty of room to add Linux along with Windows and Mac, because the company owns the source, adding Linux would be only a benefit that would come at little to no cost. If companies would have Linux software, I would imagine they would be quite successful if it was already used largely on Mac/Windows.
Slashdot Mirror
So wait, your saying that even though the super bowl will be traveling through the airwaves and you can get it if you have a TV, so your saying that now the NFL==TV manufacturers? Because in the end that's all that would be harmed from watching the game. I don't get how this is a big deal, its like saying because you have to buy some chips to come over to your friends house to play *insert video game here* the *insert game's maker here* it is suddenly making them lose money because some guy got chips in return! Really, with that logic I can only hope you were trying to get moderated +5 funny.
You totally miss the point of distros. A distro is just the Linux kernel (or BSD if its BSD or Hurd if it is GNU Hurd, ETC) and a collection of software packages. Ubuntu doesn't offer anything really more then Debian your right, however it seems to have one thing that no other distro has and that is ease and customization. For example, Gentoo is very customizable, on the other hand, it can be downright scary if you are new to Linux or computers in general, Ubuntu has an easy-to-use GUI and a graphical install program. The biggest thing though for Ubuntu is hardware detection, for me if my wireless card works or not determines whether or not I have a connection as I don't have close to an easy wired connection, if a distro such as Debian that might be "better" then Ubuntu doesn't detect my wireless card what advantage is that to switch over to Linux when XP works fine? It doesn't help that unless I have a connection I cannot just apt-get *insert package here* to fix my problems nor can I easily post for help, it is truly a make-or-break situation. I like my code to be open-source and free-software, that is one of the main reasons I switched to Linux, however freedom doesn't come before functionality when that functionality is non-trivial, Ubuntu recognizes this and provides restricted drivers that (although it might not be coming from Ubuntu and probably some other developer came up with it) can make the distro easy to use to set up and get going. Also, even though in press releases they don't give credit to everyone (I have yet to see a company that says "yes we made it but *insert software here* did *insert what the software did here*") but their branding is rather slim, about the only noticeable change (to the end-user) from standard Gnome/Debian and Gnome/Ubuntu is that the foot of the Gnome desktop is replaced by a small Ubuntu logo and in a generation that thinks that the GUI==The OS it is necessary to avoid confusion with people thinking that Gnome==Linux==Ubuntu. Really even though Launchpad is proprietary system currently parts of it are open-sourced and I think that after a few code cleanups it will all be released as free software. Overall I think you criticize Ubuntu for being a distribution, something that Debian and Gentoo also are however your criticism is based on how because Ubuntu takes all the packages and unifies them that makes it a bad distro. Ubuntu fills a much needed gap, an easy to use Linux OS that will work with your hardware regardless something that Gentoo and Debian can't exactly claim.
Most people on Slashdot knows MS==Microsoft, just as most know /.==Slashdot, while I don't find MS really proper to use outside the internet but here on /. everyone knows what it is.
How is it that Americans have lost their sense of wonder?
Because it is always government agencies that are doing space exploration and therefore it becomes on the level of boredom as the national budget or government investigations, people always want to have their say and find out the results but the process is too complex/boring for their tastes and not as action-packed as the newest TV show or movie.
Gives a new meaning of Blue Screen of Death then, when it crashes you die!
Because it is an American company and of course are totally ethical and obey laws just because they are not in *gasp* another country or so they think.
I think this is because MS is an American company and therefore totally ethical and good for the US economy and much better then communist Linux and open-source or say the people who think that Office==word processor and Windows==operating system and don't know how a computer actually works.
Bug reports and feature requests will be submitted chances are, not to mention the IT guys will probably change the code and audit it, so code will be improved.
Ubuntu is nice how I can put it on almost any laptop/desktop and find the Wi-Fi card painlessly, really my only connection is wireless so it is a make or break feature for me.
But you should *never* need a quad-core CPU and 2 Gigs of RAM to make an OS run decently. Linux/OS X are newer than Vista and require far less resources to run decently with more eye-candy even. Sloppy coding/DRM make for a system that requires a $1000 computer to run it. I for one will be just as happy saving $700 on a $300 PC that can run Linux just fine while running XP in a VM for Windows apps.
And would make the coders look like they flunked English a few times, really, it would be unprofessional to do that.
Exactly, just look at game consoles. Just a few days ago they managed to find a way to run homebrew code on the Wii without a modchip. All DRM is quickly broken if there is enough interest. I still don't get why they do it, if I get a computer, I should be able to run whatever program I want on it, change the OS, overclock it ETC.
But the hardware is tied to the OS. If you were to get Vista you would probably pick out a new computer with a dual or quad-core processor with 2-3 Gigs of RAM, a nice DRM-compliant video-card for Aero, then of course the average person needs to spend about $300 on anti-virus/spyware, MS office, new versions for programs that MS broke backwards compatibility with, ETC. For a school they can probably get licenses very cheap, however when the student ends up going to college, they can either pay the $1000 setup with Vista, over-the-top hardware, and all the proprietary software Windows needs to patch its flaws or the kid can buy a decent $300 computer with Linux installed because they learned about Linux and all the software is just a click or apt-get away. MS teaches kids to be dependent on one provider (MS) for their software therefore paying excess to third parties for hardware to just run the OS, also because the kid hasn't learned really how a computer works, any chance of a sysadmin job or other high-tech job disappears unless the kid learns a whole lot in college (or there is a giant breakthrough in software) and ends up being dependent. The kid who learns Linux and how the computer actually works can buy cheaper hardware, and can easily become a sysadmin or other high-paying tech job and nearly all software will be free. Now, even with cost not the option, does the school want to teach their students to be dependent or independent?
Exactly, and why does everyone think that it has to be MS to create those concepts? I bet that if you go to a school today most people wouldn't know how applications are launched, or even how simple parts of the computer's OS works, and probably 98% think that the GUI==the OS. Most kids know how a program works by launching it from Start-->All Programs--->Games--->Minesweeper and not how the OS really works. MS always ends up creating new "buzzwords" to make their OS/Program seem new just think of the "ribbon" on Office 2007 (if you are unlucky enough to have used it) or "Shortcuts" rather then links, MS has a way of making anything that seems like a computer concept be totally linked to Windows and totally foreign to Mac or Linux, that's how I am sure they manage to keep market share from people looking at Mac/Linux who panic when they can't see a C drive.
Well, think about the pricing, you could get an expensive (yet easy-to-use) Mac or you could get a cheap PC with DOS that no one really liked but it was there OS. Most businesses and people chose the cheaper route and got a PC, today we have the opposite, with Linux being cheaper yet not as (seemingly) easy to use as the Windows and Mac computers. I expect that because of the price point alone (and easier to use distros, Vista becoming ME II and OS X being popular) Unix/Linux will become the most used platform.
Most people use Windows yes. However with the GUI changing (just look from XP to Vista), training students on an outdated platform of Windows is worse then teaching them *NIX. Because most Linux/Unix GUIs don't need to be new for the sake of being new, most skills acquired on KDE 1 can be transferred to KDE 4 with little problems, and the same with Gnome. Secondly, most basic Windows concepts can be accurately emulated by having a Windows-like WM or theme on the desktop environment of your choosing, I have seen people think that Linux is just like XP whenever an XP theme is installed and therefore can get around in Windows. Most workplaces/schools don't want people to have admin privileges so all the talk about knowing how Windows works and how to admin it is null and void. Also, Linux can be an easy way for students to get into computer programming/repair/systems administrator jobs that require little college training and have relatively high pay, everyone knows Windows however *NIX skills are essential to get beyond a data entry position in trying to get a technical job. Also, many offices are going to mixed OS environments with some OS-X systems, a lot of XP systems, a few Vista test systems and some Linux systems. Schools should not take a risk with MS's products becoming obsolete whenever the students graduate, most Unix skills are here to stay and can save a student a bunch of money (either spend $1000 on a desktop with Vista or spend $400 for a Ubuntu desktop for the same performance not to mention the save on the cost of proprietary applications and anti-virus/spyware) and gives them skills needed. Think back to the old DOS skills and Apple ][ skills, now they are not needed anymore, a few wasted cells in your brain, today if you learned Unix back in the '80s running OS-X or Ubuntu in 2008 will be second nature to you, take someone brought up on Windows 98 and sit them down on a Vista machine, they would be confused because they were learned on 98 and now its Vista and everything looks different! Unix is stable, secure and chances are (with the lack of OS innovations and the rapid adoption of OS-X and Linux) the future platform. MS products are a dead end, they only end up in another $50 MS tax with another $100 for your Office tax not to mention your $150 Anti-virus/spyware tax and your super new top-of-the-line-won't-be-able-to-run-Windows-7 desktop that could cost $600 upwards. Unix/Linux helps you get ahead, with Windows your just another consumer.
I don't really see how this tax is going to work when I can usually get someone else's internet connection for free and generally that's not a big deal however with this tax how will it work? Also, could this harm city-wide wifi? I'm all for this if it comes to the US (the price is a bit steep but if it keeps the RIAA from attacking citizens its a good thing) but how will it work when there are multiple connections per person and one person can use other people's connection.
The 32-bit version is what you usually get from the OEM and most people won't bother to change the OS or worse spend the $100 to change it.
I am sure Mr. Ballmer will throw that seat at someone.
I was merely quoting part of the post before me, I belive exactly what you are saying but the guy above me (which I replied to) did not.
There are other ways of getting legal music other then downloading it in DRMed Propriatary format with ads, although you may have to pay a bit more for them and there is radio. I wasn't trying to get into a debate about ethics only that free music with ads is simply a backwards step twards radio which is why we got MP3 players in the first place.
or a better question is why buy them in a drmed proprietary format from a company that can't let in a little competition? why is it that apple still receives praise when they've proven that they're even worse than the big bad wolf microsoft?
Where in my post did I praise Apple?
Isn't free ad-supported music called radio? Even if this lets you pick your own songs, why download them in DRMed, proprietary and ad-supported files? Isn't that why everyone moved to CD players and MP3 players to have all your own music with no ads?
How is it cheaper? Usually on a CD there is only 1-3 songs that I really want, with a CD I pay anywhere from $10-20 for that CD with around 15 songs, compare that with $.99 per song and I spend around $1-3 rather then $15, so no its not cheaper. On around a 1 MB per second connection downloading an average 4 MB song takes me around 4-10 seconds, unless you live right next to a store it is not faster. When it is an open format such as MP3 and can be played on almost any device, DRM free, it can be played on a Linux/Windows/Mac/BSD computer, a generic MP3 player, burnt to a CD, or whatever, so it isn't easier. As for contributing to the local economy, just go to local concerts and support local bands.
Given that most (well, all) devices have limited functionality (not even Steve Jobs' iPod can do his taxes for him)
The hardware problem isn't as big as the software one. Sure Steve Jobs' iPod can't do his taxes with stock firmware, however with a different OS I am sure that it could be done. It used to be that speech recognition would become a reality when your processor was fast enough, now we have quad-core CPUs running at 3 GHZ and it still hasn't been done reliably.
Linux software though gets free publicity from websites such as Slashdot and from the many Linux magazines out there. There is a decent enough market for Linux software because of the success of the $200 Everex PC which runs a modified Ubuntu OS. On a 4 GB DVD, there would be plenty of room to add Linux along with Windows and Mac, because the company owns the source, adding Linux would be only a benefit that would come at little to no cost. If companies would have Linux software, I would imagine they would be quite successful if it was already used largely on Mac/Windows.