Yes I agree new software suffers from feature enrichment rather than code tightening which many programs need. Some of the most reliable programs I have used have developed from years of bug fixing an code tightening rather than just adding the new fad to it. The best solution I can think of is a filtering approach. Rather than forcefully intergrating new fads into the core system, adding modules to perform new specific tasks would be better. In fact this filtering technique is one unix's core philosophies. Rather than creating a new library or using a library for tarring files, simply have the program run the tar program filter the output through pipes or other IPC stuff. Need to fax a document just filter it through a common fax program and be done with it. This limits the points of failure to just that program. Integrated feature rich programs are just memory hogs and are redundant. Star Office is a criminal example of this!
Microsoft has had some decent things done... DLL files and the Registry are wonderful things...
DLL Dynamic Link Libraries is not a Microsoft only concept! Linux uses Dynamically Linked Libraries, they are just not labeled DLL!
Registry The registry is a huge bastard that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Dot files are definitely better to deal with on the user and programmer side. Think about this: the registry is a huge database with all of your configuration data and other data that is really tough to independantly change, and if it goes bad, it can take down your whole setup. Oh yeah I forgot to mention how it is hard to port the registry from windows machine to windows machine and impossible from one OS to another. To make a long story short dot files are portable,in ASCII format, editable, backupable, its an easy to model to program with, it slices, dices, minces, etc!
Microsoft may have some interesting ideas but the registry is definately not a crowning acheivement.
If you only use command line mp3 players and XEmacs it will mean nothing to you. But if you ever use gtk+ and KDE/qt apps together they will be able to work with each other better, through a more advanced interprocess communication system.
Right on! Gundam Wing is awesome. I am still in awe that the show was created in 1979 it seems too well drawn for that. The plot is awefully sophisticated maybe over the head of kids. I would rather have my kid watch that then most of the garbage on TV. I wish more there were more shows like this on American TV that deal with the philosophy of war, man/machines, and space colonies. Instead we are just bomarded with garbage and cheezey pokemon rip offs more interested in selling toys than enlightening people.
For the PC platform the single driver multiple platform idea is ingenious. I mean just imagine the ultimate efficiency of creating allowing your drivers and hardware to penatrate every market, appliance, etc. If you bring it one step further you can allow your laser printer to say a palm pilot or gameboy. Anyone with common sense can see that this is good for the PC market.
Hardware engineers are up to the task of making universal standards and interfaces for computers. The limiting market I am sorry to say is the software market. Who will be in control of the technology behind the universal drivers? Will it be open or closed. If Microsoft is in control the answer is simple: You won't have universal drivers since all they want you to run is windows! What if Sun is in control? They will want their Java technology to get into the picture.
To make a long story short, as long as these companies are fighting for domination and complete control, smart ideas like univesal drivers will not hit the PC market to a great degree.
Babylon 5 is one of the greatest scifi epics to ever grace TV. Straczynski vision of the future of man was brilliant, and it one of the first TV scifi saga to show that technology does not change people but people change people. I can't wait until september when I can rewatch the amazing saga from the beginning.
The whole reason I came to linux was for the superior performance and its lack of bloatware products. From the looks of it all Sun has done has given product with alot of options for free, but with the bloat to go with it.
The source of the bloat is that they try to do everything in one shot. Star Office is a web browser, word processor, graphics editor, html editor, mail editor, desktop, etc all in one. It sad to say, but they need to seperate all of these applications into seperate programs and give the user options of installing and using whatever they want.
The typical linux user probably has gimp which takes care of almost all graphical needs, a mail client, definitely a desktop of some sort, and a web browser. Why do I need to have all that pop up into my face when I want to use a word processor. A plus for star office is that it definitely has the best word processor in the linux market.
One more critism is that they should use a better looking GUI toolset like GTK+ or QT which would give them the benefit of consistency with other X applications. I have not tried the latest star office but 5.1 looks dull in comparison to my other X applications.
I know Star Office runs on other platforms like windows, but I don't run windows as my main platform so I am not concerned about that version.
Historically the technical, social, and economic elites have not payed too much attention to masses. Just rip open any history textbook and you will see the horrible injustices. We are lucky humanity has made it this far. Kaczynski's argument is a valid one.
Most of these comments can easily be shifted in the other direction. At first glance you can say Open Source Software is insecure because of the ability for a hacker to see the source and thus exploit it. On the other hand, if a "competent" administrator and/or programmer cannot see the source then they cannot fix the exploit. I guess these "experts" must have assumed that hackers cannot exploit compiled code. Hackers exploited programs for years with and without source code.
At least with the source at hand I have a fighting chance to prevent crackers from entering my system, and if I can't do it maybe someone smarter can!
This article was terribly written and was not even interesting. The author just spurted out comments from various people I have never heard of and then contradicted himself with another expert. Maybe if the experts would give case studies it would be more interesting. It seems that anyone can just say anthing online without worring about the consequences.
Judging from the last 2 main characters in ST:DS9 and ST:VOY (Sisko, and Janeway respectively) I wouldn't want to be in the same sector as either of them. I do not want to start a flame but you cannot possibly compare DS9 and VOY their two completely different shows. I believe the only thing they have in common is the Star Trek name. It seems the more they spin off a show the worse it gets now and days. DS9 was very good in the beginning and pretty good at the end, but VOY was always bad from the get-go. The same will go for the X files' spinoffs.
I have to admit this is a better way of using patents then using them to ensure monopolies. I think patents are good for protecting the rights of an inventor, but like anything they are abused to extreme by misguided business types. Sure many people hate patents, but they also can work in your favor for funding projects. For instance many companies are funding the human GNOME project in return for certain patents on creation of drugs to utilize certain areas of the DNA structure. This may sound bad but without it the GNOME project would not have made the remarkable progress it has made. I guess sometimes you must rob Peter to pay Paul.
Ever hear of statically linking libraries. I could write it using one gui toolkit and statically link the libraries it needs. Thus you can run it as long as your on the same chipset, and as long as you have X. I believe netscape does this. Microsoft can create there own gui toolset and use it for their browser solving that problem. (Note I do not believe they would ever do this).
Multipule user interfaces do not keep video games, cell phones, etc, from being widely accepted. Windows may have a good user interface that even a monkey can use but how efficient is a monkey when it comes a user interface. More choices are better than one choice.
As a Linux user it pains me to agree. IE is fast (being built into 98 helps), functional, pretty (with full screen access), and just better except in the ftp department. I used to love Netscape to death until I saw what IE 4 and 5 could do in the HTML department. IE has terrible FTP which takes time to load and has a clunky interface at best. I somewhat prefer Netscape's mail in comparison to Outlook Express. Its strait to the point and does the job well. We definately need help in the web browser department. Preferably something with truetype font support (if Enlightenment can do it netscape can do it), Webpage rendering, they should steal IE's ability to save the entire webpage intact, and they should chose a better gui tool kit (Netscape does'nt seem to fit in with my other X apps). Mozzilla looks exciting and I can't wait to make that my main browser. KDE is also doing a fantastic job. There are so many beautiful apps in Linux and it is saddens me to see us do so poorly in the HTML environment.
Unzip is not missing because of a mistake they did not put it in because they are gearing users to X only. I also found other useful command line apps missing. I find that silly since X and the command line is joined at the hip. I know if you want it you can still get it yourself, but a good distribution IMHO will balance command line and X since command line is integral to Linux/Unix admistration.
I was ok with the fact that it did not find all of the linux supported hardware on the computer I used. I found corel's contribution to the linux community was rather superficial. It was just a typical Linux distribution with the system logs hidden from the users view. I believe when you hide information does more harm than good. I was hoping the corel bootup screen would have viewable bootup log.
When I had to configure options by hand I had to deal with alot of crap to recompile the kernel and getting things to work my way. The command line was also lacking in comparison to other major distributions. Just because some new users do not want to deal with command line options doesn't mean you should not put them in your distro. Pico was missing for heavens stake! Maybe this is good for newbie users but linux users who want to see how linux works and gain real experience linux should use something else like SuSE, debian, slack, etc.
I believe that new distributions should contribute to linux as a whole. Sure Corel is quick to install but there are many others that are quick to install. The lack of network install is also a large problem I notice. If you want to get linux workstations setup you need a CDROM to install. I would rather be able to download or install linux via ftp. Given Corel's background as a graphics company I expected more multimedia apps and a prettier presentation. If your a seasoned Linux user avoid this like the plague, and if you are a newbie who wants to learn linux avoid this because it will not help you learn it. If you are a user that needs a quick workstation and don't care about how your system works or the open source movement use Win NT if you have the money. I recommend SuSE instead which is easy to install, has tons of apps, and is more organised.
Note this is only my review for the FREE edition you can download as an ISO image.
Now buggy video cards/drivers can crap out that enterprise-level server OS
I had thought about that problem and yes a crappy driver can bring down an enterprise server. Any crappy driver can bring down any server. I could probably create bad drivers to send bad signals to my network card or hard drive which can crash linux, bsd, or whatever. There have been rare times when X would send bad signals to my video card and freeze the system, extremely rare but it does happen. Running in user space gives a false sense of security.
Just because I make video drivers to run in kernel space does not mean that console mode would be impossible. Just because I have drivers for my sound card does not mean I have to use my sound card. Also it does not make Linux sound card dependent.
4. If you wanted to use the XFree drivers in your mythical X replacement system, go right ahead! XFree is licensed under a modified BSD license, so you can just use the drivers. You would have to also borrow the module loading mechanism and use the API for communicating with the drivers, but at this point, you might as well just fork the XFree tree, and chop out the pieces you don't like. Which you are perfectly able to do, but it seems much more reasonable not to.
The drivers are not extremely portable since they are made to work specifically with X. A universal standard would save developers time and open the opportunity for other non X, graphically intense apps to be created.
Seperate driver development also breeds unreliablitly. One driver can work perfectly while another can be crappy. Universal video standards can have developers focus on a problem and fix it at a central location.
What is the point of all of this complaining?
on
Apocalypse Not
·
· Score: 2
Why can we not be satisfied by any outcome of Y2K. Businesses spent billions to fix the problem. The problem was fixed and everything is going on perfectly.
Now that there are no major problems many complain of the Y2K problem being over-hyped, a waste of money, etc. If there was a Y2K catastrophe, people would complain you could have done more, spent more, etc. Give me a break your damned if you do, and your damned if you don't.
There is no point in complaining about this trivial issue, since there are more important issues to complain about.
I know this may sound silly, but I think they should take the video drivers out of X and make them run in kernel space! The creation of universal video drivers will help speed the developement of X and non X programs. X clients are not designed for speed in terms of multimedia and games (although it is not too bad at doing them). Also many home uses may not need the network transpancy layer. Yes I do know one of X's jobs is to handle the video card. That should change in the future!
Why should console apps act differently than X apps when it comes to 2D/3D graphics acceleration?
If I wanted to create a GUI system independant of X I would not get the benefits of X's video card drivers. I would have to reinvent the wheel. I find that extremely limiting as more and more companies come on to the Linux/Unix bandwagon.
I'm glad to see hackers talk about the hardware side of hacking. I'm no expert in the field of HW hacking but a problem that L0pht did not state was the problem with the expense of hardware programming tools.
VHDL software for coding FPGAs are expensive and could and probably does impede HW hacking. The skill level needed for HW hacking is high and with the convolution of many chips and complicated hardware code it could only get higher. On the positive side the high barrier of entry (in terms of skill level) does keep out the script kiddies.
I am also glad to see L0pht address the problem of many CS majors when it comes to hardware. I can't wait to see when my watch and toaster starts crashing because of poorly written code.
My schools IS department used to be run by the students and because of their laziness the admistration decided to hire consultants. The consultants decided to revamp the whole system to a Win NT system. The way I look at it NT is like a virus. At first we had 100% unix (solaris), next a couple of NT boxen made there way in. Then before you know it there was 99% NT.
Although, there is a Linux server running samba to manage the NT networks. We even lost access to shell accounts. Sorry to say but students need to pirate stuff to get there CS homework done. Yesterday I was doing an EE project and a floored my friend when I logged in to my Linux box in my dorm, wrote a truth table program for (A NAND based Data Latch) in 5 minutes over telnet. He was so suprised because Microsoft site license restrictions prevent the computers we were using to use VC++ in the lab we were in. With UNIX/LINUX use telnet, login, get work done, and its all good.
To make a long story longer, if we do not expose people to the LINUX/UNIX enviornment when they are studying become professional engineers/scientists they may never see it and it may cause them to fear it. Projects that would cost almost nothing on a free OS may be too expensive for people in a Microsoft environment increasing the barrier of entry for young engineers/scientists. If you are concerned about you school becoming more and more, Microsoft like GET INVOLVED before it is too late. Trust me there are others who feel the same way.
On a positive note I hear there are plans for an underground LINUX/UNIX movement for students to get access to shell accounts. Free software will never die!!!
Microsoft is obviously going to lie about having a backdoor if it is a back door. There is a problem though why would the NSA need Microsoft to backdoor their product. Windows security is legendary in terms of openness (sarcasm). This does not seem the style of the NSA (well I don't know the style of the NSA), but this is silly. It is so silly I lean towards believeing the NSA has nothing to do with it.
Now if they would end the series with a 'bang' (a Worthy End)... My Idea of a worthy end:
We find out that Cancer Man is actually the queen alien named Nam Recnac who uses the "cancer stick" as a life support device.
We find out that the Fox is actually Cancer Man's illegit. child.
We find out that Scully in reality is Fox's sister, who is also another illegit child from Cancer Man's past.
On one of the Monster of the Week episodes we find that big foot is actually the crown prince of the royal imperial nation of people who like to gauge their eyes out. For some conveluted reason he does not like his mother who is Cancer Man, so he strikes a deal with race of shape shifters who can only die by having a needle poked in there neck to kidnap Fox and Scully.
The oil aliens who do not seem to serve any logical purpose hears about this conveluted plot and decide to assassinate Bigfoot. Cancer Man believes the humans are responsible for this and blow up the earth ID4 style. Fox and Scully escape somehow and find themselves on the mothership where Cancer Man reveals his true self.
Fox and Scully finally get married and give birth to the antichrist! (sorry wrong show)
You must admit that anything is believable after last season! ^_^
Slashdot Mirror
Yes I agree new software suffers from feature enrichment rather than code tightening which many programs need. Some of the most reliable programs I have used have developed from years of bug fixing an code tightening rather than just adding the new fad to it. The best solution I can think of is a filtering approach. Rather than forcefully intergrating new fads into the core system, adding modules to perform new specific tasks would be better. In fact this filtering technique is one unix's core philosophies. Rather than creating a new library or using a library for tarring files, simply have the program run the tar program filter the output through pipes or other IPC stuff. Need to fax a document just filter it through a common fax program and be done with it. This limits the points of failure to just that program. Integrated feature rich programs are just memory hogs and are redundant. Star Office is a criminal example of this!
Microsoft has had some decent things done... DLL files and the Registry are wonderful things...
DLL Dynamic Link Libraries is not a Microsoft only concept! Linux uses Dynamically Linked Libraries, they are just not labeled DLL!
Registry The registry is a huge bastard that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Dot files are definitely better to deal with on the user and programmer side. Think about this: the registry is a huge database with all of your configuration data and other data that is really tough to independantly change, and if it goes bad, it can take down your whole setup. Oh yeah I forgot to mention how it is hard to port the registry from windows machine to windows machine and impossible from one OS to another. To make a long story short dot files are portable,in ASCII format, editable, backupable, its an easy to model to program with, it slices, dices, minces, etc!
Microsoft may have some interesting ideas but the registry is definately not a crowning acheivement.
If you only use command line mp3 players and XEmacs it will mean nothing to you. But if you ever use gtk+ and KDE/qt apps together they will be able to work with each other better, through a more advanced interprocess communication system.
I think blood is the difference at 5:30PM there is no blood to satisfy parents, at 12:00 its raw.
Right on!
Gundam Wing is awesome. I am still in awe that the show was created in 1979 it seems too well drawn for that. The plot is awefully sophisticated maybe over the head of kids. I would rather have my kid watch that then most of the garbage on TV. I wish more there were more shows like this on American TV that deal with the philosophy of war, man/machines, and space colonies. Instead we are just bomarded with garbage and cheezey pokemon rip offs more interested in selling toys than enlightening people.
- Thats my 2 cents.
For the PC platform the single driver multiple platform idea is ingenious. I mean just imagine the ultimate efficiency of creating allowing your drivers and hardware to penatrate every market, appliance, etc. If you bring it one step further you can allow your laser printer to say a palm pilot or gameboy. Anyone with common sense can see that this is good for the PC market.
Hardware engineers are up to the task of making universal standards and interfaces for computers. The limiting market I am sorry to say is the software market. Who will be in control of the technology behind the universal drivers? Will it be open or closed. If Microsoft is in control the answer is simple: You won't have universal drivers since all they want you to run is windows! What if Sun is in control? They will want their Java technology to get into the picture.
To make a long story short, as long as these companies are fighting for domination and complete control, smart ideas like univesal drivers will not hit the PC market to a great degree.
Babylon 5 is one of the greatest scifi epics to ever grace TV. Straczynski vision of the future of man was brilliant, and it one of the first TV scifi saga to show that technology does not change people but people change people. I can't wait until september when I can rewatch the amazing saga from the beginning.
- Mark
The whole reason I came to linux was for the superior performance and its lack of bloatware products. From the looks of it all Sun has done has given product with alot of options for free, but with the bloat to go with it.
The source of the bloat is that they try to do everything in one shot. Star Office is a web browser, word processor, graphics editor, html editor, mail editor, desktop, etc all in one. It sad to say, but they need to seperate all of these applications into seperate programs and give the user options of installing and using whatever they want.
The typical linux user probably has gimp which takes care of almost all graphical needs, a mail client, definitely a desktop of some sort, and a web browser. Why do I need to have all that pop up into my face when I want to use a word processor. A plus for star office is that it definitely has the best word processor in the linux market.
One more critism is that they should use a better looking GUI toolset like GTK+ or QT which would give them the benefit of consistency with other X applications. I have not tried the latest star office but 5.1 looks dull in comparison to my other X applications.
I know Star Office runs on other platforms like windows, but I don't run windows as my main platform so I am not concerned about that version.
Historically the technical, social, and economic elites have not payed too much attention to masses. Just rip open any history textbook and you will see the horrible injustices. We are lucky humanity has made it this far. Kaczynski's argument is a valid one.
Most of these comments can easily be shifted in the other direction. At first glance you can say Open Source Software is insecure because of the ability for a hacker to see the source and thus exploit it. On the other hand, if a "competent" administrator and/or programmer cannot see the source then they cannot fix the exploit. I guess these "experts" must have assumed that hackers cannot exploit compiled code. Hackers exploited programs for years with and without source code.
At least with the source at hand I have a fighting chance to prevent crackers from entering my system, and if I can't do it maybe someone smarter can!
This article was terribly written and was not even interesting. The author just spurted out comments from various people I have never heard of and then contradicted himself with another expert. Maybe if the experts would give case studies it would be more interesting. It seems that anyone can just say anthing online without worring about the consequences.
Judging from the last 2 main characters in ST:DS9 and ST:VOY (Sisko, and Janeway respectively) I wouldn't want to be in the same sector as either of them.
I do not want to start a flame but you cannot possibly compare DS9 and VOY their two completely different shows. I believe the only thing they have in common is the Star Trek name. It seems the more they spin off a show the worse it gets now and days. DS9 was very good in the beginning and pretty good at the end, but VOY was always bad from the get-go. The same will go for the X files' spinoffs.
I have to admit this is a better way of using patents then using them to ensure monopolies. I think patents are good for protecting the rights of an inventor, but like anything they are abused to extreme by misguided business types. Sure many people hate patents, but they also can work in your favor for funding projects. For instance many companies are funding the human GNOME project in return for certain patents on creation of drugs to utilize certain areas of the DNA structure. This may sound bad but without it the GNOME project would not have made the remarkable progress it has made. I guess sometimes you must rob Peter to pay Paul.
Ever hear of statically linking libraries. I could write it using one gui toolkit and statically link the libraries it needs. Thus you can run it as long as your on the same chipset, and as long as you have X. I believe netscape does this. Microsoft can create there own gui toolset and use it for their browser solving that problem. (Note I do not believe they would ever do this).
Multipule user interfaces do not keep video games, cell phones, etc, from being widely accepted. Windows may have a good user interface that even a monkey can use but how efficient is a monkey when it comes a user interface. More choices are better than one choice.
As a Linux user it pains me to agree. IE is fast (being built into 98 helps), functional, pretty (with full screen access), and just better except in the ftp department. I used to love Netscape to death until I saw what IE 4 and 5 could do in the HTML department. IE has terrible FTP which takes time to load and has a clunky interface at best. I somewhat prefer Netscape's mail in comparison to Outlook Express. Its strait to the point and does the job well. We definately need help in the web browser department. Preferably something with truetype font support (if Enlightenment can do it netscape can do it), Webpage rendering, they should steal IE's ability to save the entire webpage intact, and they should chose a better gui tool kit (Netscape does'nt seem to fit in with my other X apps). Mozzilla looks exciting and I can't wait to make that my main browser. KDE is also doing a fantastic job. There are so many beautiful apps in Linux and it is saddens me to see us do so poorly in the HTML environment.
Unzip is not missing because of a mistake they did not put it in because they are gearing users to X only. I also found other useful command line apps missing. I find that silly since X and the command line is joined at the hip. I know if you want it you can still get it yourself, but a good distribution IMHO will balance command line and X since command line is integral to Linux/Unix admistration.
I was ok with the fact that it did not find all of the linux supported hardware on the computer I used. I found corel's contribution to the linux community was rather superficial. It was just a typical Linux distribution with the system logs hidden from the users view. I believe when you hide information does more harm than good. I was hoping the corel bootup screen would have viewable bootup log.
When I had to configure options by hand I had to deal with alot of crap to recompile the kernel and getting things to work my way. The command line was also lacking in comparison to other major distributions. Just because some new users do not want to deal with command line options doesn't mean you should not put them in your distro. Pico was missing for heavens stake! Maybe this is good for newbie users but linux users who want to see how linux works and gain real experience linux should use something else like SuSE, debian, slack, etc.
I believe that new distributions should contribute to linux as a whole. Sure Corel is quick to install but there are many others that are quick to install. The lack of network install is also a large problem I notice. If you want to get linux workstations setup you need a CDROM to install. I would rather be able to download or install linux via ftp. Given Corel's background as a graphics company I expected more multimedia apps and a prettier presentation. If your a seasoned Linux user avoid this like the plague, and if you are a newbie who wants to learn linux avoid this because it will not help you learn it. If you are a user that needs a quick workstation and don't care about how your system works or the open source movement use Win NT if you have the money. I recommend SuSE instead which is easy to install, has tons of apps, and is more organised.
Note this is only my review for the FREE edition you can download as an ISO image.
Now buggy video cards/drivers can crap out that enterprise-level server OS
I had thought about that problem and yes a crappy driver can bring down an enterprise server. Any crappy driver can bring down any server. I could probably create bad drivers to send bad signals to my network card or hard drive which can crash linux, bsd, or whatever. There have been rare times when X would send bad signals to my video card and freeze the system, extremely rare but it does happen. Running in user space gives a false sense of security.
Just because I make video drivers to run in kernel space does not mean that console mode would be impossible. Just because I have drivers for my sound card does not mean I have to use my sound card. Also it does not make Linux sound card dependent.
4. If you wanted to use the XFree drivers in your mythical X replacement system, go right ahead! XFree is licensed under a modified BSD license, so you can just use the drivers. You would have to also borrow the module loading mechanism and use the API for communicating with the drivers, but at this point, you might as well just fork the XFree tree, and chop out the pieces you don't like. Which you are perfectly able to do, but it seems much more reasonable not to.
The drivers are not extremely portable since they are made to work specifically with X. A universal standard would save developers time and open the opportunity for other non X, graphically intense apps to be created.
Seperate driver development also breeds unreliablitly. One driver can work perfectly while another can be crappy. Universal video standards can have developers focus on a problem and fix it at a central location.
Why can we not be satisfied by any outcome of Y2K. Businesses spent billions to fix the problem. The problem was fixed and everything is going on perfectly.
Now that there are no major problems many complain of the Y2K problem being over-hyped, a waste of money, etc. If there was a Y2K catastrophe, people would complain you could have done more, spent more, etc. Give me a break your damned if you do, and your damned if you don't.
There is no point in complaining about this trivial issue, since there are more important issues to complain about.
I know this may sound silly, but I think they should take the video drivers out of X and make them run in kernel space! The creation of universal video drivers will help speed the developement of X and non X programs. X clients are not designed for speed in terms of multimedia and games (although it is not too bad at doing them). Also many home uses may not need the network transpancy layer. Yes I do know one of X's jobs is to handle the video card. That should change in the future!
Why should console apps act differently than X apps when it comes to 2D/3D graphics acceleration?
If I wanted to create a GUI system independant of X I would not get the benefits of X's video card drivers. I would have to reinvent the wheel. I find that extremely limiting as more and more companies come on to the Linux/Unix bandwagon.
BTW this will never happen but one can dream.
I don't think the CPU to CPU problem matters much since different architectures have different video standards.
I don't think my TNT2 works on a mac so coding for one architecture in that case is not a problem.
I'm glad to see hackers talk about the hardware side of hacking. I'm no expert in the field of HW hacking but a problem that L0pht did not state was the problem with the expense of hardware programming tools.
VHDL software for coding FPGAs are expensive and could and probably does impede HW hacking. The skill level needed for HW hacking is high and with the convolution of many chips and complicated hardware code it could only get higher. On the positive side the high barrier of entry (in terms of skill level) does keep out the script kiddies.
I am also glad to see L0pht address the problem of many CS majors when it comes to hardware. I can't wait to see when my watch and toaster starts crashing because of poorly written code.
From what I understand, IE 5 is the shell for windows. If the IE5 crashes, the windows shell crashes thus "hosing" the OS.
My schools IS department used to be run by the students and because of their laziness the admistration decided to hire consultants. The consultants decided to revamp the whole system to a Win NT system. The way I look at it NT is like a virus. At first we had 100% unix (solaris), next a couple of NT boxen made there way in. Then before you know it there was 99% NT.
Although, there is a Linux server running samba to manage the NT networks. We even lost access to shell accounts. Sorry to say but students need to pirate stuff to get there CS homework done. Yesterday I was doing an EE project and a floored my friend when I logged in to my Linux box in my dorm, wrote a truth table program for (A NAND based Data Latch) in 5 minutes over telnet. He was so suprised because Microsoft site license restrictions prevent the computers we were using to use VC++ in the lab we were in. With UNIX/LINUX use telnet, login, get work done, and its all good.
To make a long story longer, if we do not expose people to the LINUX/UNIX enviornment when they are studying become professional engineers/scientists they may never see it and it may cause them to fear it. Projects that would cost almost nothing on a free OS may be too expensive for people in a Microsoft environment increasing the barrier of entry for young engineers/scientists. If you are concerned about you school becoming more and more, Microsoft like GET INVOLVED before it is too late. Trust me there are others who feel the same way.
On a positive note I hear there are plans for an underground LINUX/UNIX movement for students to get access to shell accounts. Free software will never die!!!
Microsoft is obviously going to lie about having a backdoor if it is a back door. There is a problem though why would the NSA need Microsoft to backdoor their product. Windows security is legendary in terms of openness (sarcasm). This does not seem the style of the NSA (well I don't know the style of the NSA), but this is silly. It is so silly I lean towards believeing the NSA has nothing to do with it.
Now if they would end the series with a 'bang' (a Worthy End)...
My Idea of a worthy end:
We find out that Cancer Man is actually the queen alien named Nam Recnac who uses the "cancer stick" as a life support device.
We find out that the Fox is actually Cancer Man's illegit. child.
We find out that Scully in reality is Fox's sister, who is also another illegit child from Cancer Man's past.
On one of the Monster of the Week episodes we find that big foot is actually the crown prince of the royal imperial nation of people who like to gauge their eyes out. For some conveluted reason he does not like his mother who is Cancer Man, so he strikes a deal with race of shape shifters who can only die by having a needle poked in there neck to kidnap Fox and Scully.
The oil aliens who do not seem to serve any logical purpose hears about this conveluted plot and decide to assassinate Bigfoot. Cancer Man believes the humans are responsible for this and blow up the earth ID4 style. Fox and Scully escape somehow and find themselves on the mothership where Cancer Man reveals his true self.
Fox and Scully finally get married and give birth to the antichrist! (sorry wrong show)
You must admit that anything is believable after last season! ^_^