As a long-time Debian user myself, I think that it's great that potato has finally gone into release after so many delays, but it looks to me like the exact same thing as last year is happening: slink (debian version 2.1) was released in early march, with the 2.0 kernel, even though the 2.2 kernel had been available for some time.
Considering that the 2.4 kernel should be out in the near future (another month and a half or so) and the freeze is quite likely to last at least that long before a release is made, how long before debian catches up to the newer kernel series?
Will there be an updated potato using 2.4 after the new stable kernel is released, or will we have to wait another year to catch up again?
--Cycon
(Incidentally, I have been using potato as the OS on my primary without any problems for months now, but it's the servers that I have to manage that I'd rather see kept up to date...)
...though it seems that once a hack is employed by one commercial entity against another (at least for potential econimic gain of any sort), the prack aspect suddenly becomes criminal.
I more (or less, depending on your point of view) beneign prank would be a "War of the Worlds" style broadcast...
"We interupt this broadcast to bring you a live broadcast from our new alien overlords..."
Unfortunately, SuSE couldn't get us disks in time for the initial pressing. I believe the first 3000 copies went ut without SuSE 6.3 CDs.
Well on the bright side then, I get the satisfaction of owning one of the first 3000 copies of Quake III for linux... (c:
Like I said, it's not a very big deal for me personally, but it would have been a nice touch to have the latest SuSE in there too (I'm a debian user myself). Just the same, I'd be willing to be that a few people out there who aren't fortunate enough to live in an area with good high-speed access might be significantly more dissapointed..
Will there by any chance be an offer for the first 3000 people who missed out on the SuSE bundling to pick it up later on?
I was rather dissapointed to discover that when I picked up my tin box edition at EB today, it didn't come with SuSE 6.3 included inside, as this article on slashdot originally mentioned.
I guess it isn't all that big of a deal for me (am downloading it right now though the cable modem) but it would have been a much better deal if the CD's for SuSE 6.3 were included. Afterall, the Windows version only cost $39.99, while my Linux edition was another $10 on top of that.
I mean come on now, re-distribution of Linux is free, even if they weren't going to include SuSE (which is admittedly quite a few CD's) they could have released the Redhat 6.1 iso or something like that.
At least that way, any kid whose parents messed up and bought them the wrong version for Xmas would at least have a chance of playing their new game on Christmas morning, and learning something new along the way...
--Steve Castellotti
"You are aware that this is the Linux ver--" "--of course! I wouldn't buy it if it wasn't!" (c:
Re:What use is the Metaverse?
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If the metaverse is about doing the impossible, then it isn't much more than a more advanced blending of video games, RPGs, and movies, I think. Life is hard enough, without retreating into an alternate reality to escape our own when our own is already so rich, so beautiful, so powerful.
This is true, and an important point, but the Metaverse metaphor allows more important things than an escape from reality. The Metaverse would allow people all over the planet to communicate in realtime in as close to a "real" environement as possible. This is especially important to people who couldn't do so otherwise.
How many natural resources (not to mention economic ones) are wasted in flying/bringing together a group of people together for a meeting in the real world? With a tool such as the metaverse, people could comunicate in a visual and physical manner without wasting valuable resources. Granted that nothing will ever replace physical meetings between individuals, sometimes such meetings are either impossible or at least impractical. So the Metaverse concept could be a useful tool for communication and collaboration between people at great distances.
Also, while it is very nice that you would prefer to go through reality and practice rock climbing and rollerblading, if you were physically disables you could do no neither (in many instances). If I was in such a situation I would certainly enjoy being able to at least simulate such an experience!
I agree with you that nothing can substitute for a real-life experience, but as for myself, the idea of experiencing things such as 800 mile-an-hour motorcycle races with danger of injury and virutal combat without actually injuring anyone or thing is rather appealing.
I would consider any technology that could satisfy man's demonstrable thrist for violence and conflict without actually entailing such negative reprocussions would be a Good Thing(tm)
Cheers,
--Steven M. Castellotti
Re:Large amount of artwork? Umm...
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The creation of "large amounts of artwork" (I just have to laugh every time I read that) is far from trivial. Artists like myself like to get paid for their efforts and don't like their work getting passed around, occasionally being "defiled" by some well meaning person with MS Paint (This happens more than you'd think). Even with extra time on their hands (something artists don't have much of), why would we want to do art for Q1?
I understand and appriciate your point, but I do however feel that you are wrong. I would consider a project such as the Metaverse a non-trivial attempt at revolutionizing how people interact in an online environment, and that such at project would have to be largly fueled by the work of Open efforts on not only the software level, but the artistic as well. I am in no way attempting to trivialize work of artists, but I am suggesting that many artists would likely be interesting in participating in such a project, and for largely the same reasons - ego boost and sense of accomplishment.
In order to get such a project off the ground, a near-trivial amount of artwork would have to be done, at least in the short term. In order to test the interaction between servers, one would merely need a simple player model w/skin, and a simple room with a few objects that can be interacted with. I could whip up the interior of my apartment with a Quake Level Editor in just a few hours, and I believe that there are many others that could do a far better job in far less time. The same goes for a simple player model and skin (and I mean *simple*)
Once a working system could be implemented in which players can meet in one area, travel to other areas, communicate within and across areas, etc. the foundations would be laid for further progress. More attractive models, skins, areas/maps, interactive objects, and communications mechanisms could integrated and expanded upon.
New users to the system would have to be outfitted with a default room, model, and skin, and I would imagine the artist responsible for those items would feel a certain sense of pride when seeing it used frequently. Also, home-made models, skins, and areas would offer other artists oppurtunities to flaunt their artistic skills.
Of course, this is all merely my own opinions. (c:
--Steven M. Castellotti
Re:Is the Metaverse nearing practicality?
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Basically, for the Metaverse to work, you need a massive, distributed, dynamically load-balanced database. You need near-zero latency between servers to handle synchronization. You need to be able to have servers dynamically hand off clients to one another without the user being able to perceive it happening. You need to be able to support the one guy wandering off by him/herself in the "frontiers" of the metaverse.
I may be over-simplifying things here, but I don't see why this should be such a problematic issue. (First of all please see this post for a few ideas as to how I would see something like this happening) If you considered every game of Quake2 being played right now that is registered with a site on GameSpy, you can see which players are on which server, which map is playing, who else is there, what the score is, etc. Why not throw in hooks for a GameSpy-like server for the Metaverse? That way, you could see where all of your friends are, and enter the server that corresponds to their location in the Metaverse.
Quake servers already handle where players are in map coordinates, where they are moving, objects they are "manipulating", and especially, clipping between it all. Say you are using the McKinley Revival map from q2ctf as your building. I've played that map with over 30 players with no problems, and there's quite a bit of territory to it.
You seem to be getting hung up on how to handle scenes like the end-sequence to Snow Crash in which there are 100k people in the same "area" all interacting at the same time. I agree with you that by today's technology that we couldn't handle anything like that, but by the same token, when was the last time you saw 100k people in the same... say... irc chat room? If you really wanted to have a "live" event such as the one in Snow Crash, why not have multiple servers running the same map, which is a stage arena, with a small area for seats. The "performers" pick whichever server they want, and all of the "mirror" servers merely have bots mimicking the same actions for you. In this case you simply remove the audience interaction and you're set.
And as far as the lone person wandering by themselves in the "frontiers" of the metaverse you simply set up some rules in which the "subway" system will move you to a map with a repeating background and wrap-around coordinates (when you walk off one end, you end up at the opposite side, PacMan style).
The key to tying the whole thing together is the "subway" system, in which the length of your "ride" is merely how long it takes you to log into a particular area's server, plus the time it takes you to download the area's map, if you don't have the most recent version.
--Steven M. Castellotti
Re:Is the Metaverse nearing practicality?
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We've seen some Quake mods that tried this sort of interaction out.. but you know what? Fragging people with rocket launchers is alot more fun then having big, blocky, and relatively static (only simple animations are possbile) models get in the way of what is essentially an IRC chat.
This is true, but I see the "metaverse" idea as an integration of current UI and communication technologies. Image that each new "user" of the system is given a home somewhere on the metaverse, which is hosted by their own machine (much like an X-Server) either on the net or not, depending on their need. The current "desktop" metaphor could be extended very simply in this way; you have a desk-object somewhere in your home, and when you walk over to it, you can sit down, and your screen pans down and is replaced by your standard GNOME (or whatever) desktop. The Metaverse engine is backgrounded and you use your comptuer as normal.
Throw in some simple Instant-Messenging technology and a friend of yours who is online notices that you're on the net again. He takes the "subway" to your house and either knocks on the front door, or provides some sort of password and enters. His Metaverse "client" piece becomes a client of your server. Your desktop is minimized, and you can talk to him using lip-synced Speak Freely chat, by connecting to him directly.
The key is that all of the high-end processing is managed on your end, so your home is as complex or as simple as your computer can handle. The only information going out across the net is the same as a standard quake server (actually less, since in this example moving rockets and other such objects do not have to be figured in) plus whatever communication software is running underneath it all.
I am by no means saying that the Quake engine would be the optimal underpinnings for such a system, but merely that we seem to be moving in the direction in which it might be feasible. Assuming that the later Quake Engines are someday gpl'd as well, current models and maps could be imported later on.
I don't know how large gatherings of people (say 50+) would be handled, though if a room/map is relatively simple, then the only thing that would need to be rendered is the actual models, and everything else could be handled by standard IRC protocol.
We have MUDs that work in this way, why not use the Quake engine to bring graphics to those worlds?
PS: I for one can recall quite a few IRC session in which I would have *loved* to have had a rocket launcher handy... (c:
Contents of the Readme included with the Source
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This is the complete source code for winquake, glquake, quakeworld, and glquakeworld.
The projects have been tested with visual C++ 6.0, but masm is also required to build the assembly language files. It is possible to change a #define and build with only C code, but the software rendering versions lose almost half its speed. The OpenGL versions will not be effected very much. The gas2masm tool was created to allow us to use the same source for the dos, linux, and windows versions, but I don't really recommend anyone mess with the asm code.
The original dos version of Quake should also be buildable from these sources, but we didn't bother trying.
The code is all licensed under the terms of the GPL (gnu public license). You should read the entire license, but the gist of it is that you can do anything you want with the code, including sell your new version. The catch is that if you distribute new binary versions, you are required to make the entire source code available for free to everyone.
Our previous code releases have been under licenses that preclude commercial exploitation, but have no clause forcing sharing of source code. There have been some unfortunate losses to the community as a result of mod teams keeping their sources closed (and sometimes losing them). If you are going to publicly release modified versions of this code, you must also make source code available. I would encourage teams to even go a step farther and investigate using public CVS servers for development where possible.
The primary intent of this release is for entertainment and educational purposes, but the GPL does allow commercial exploitation if you obey the full license. If you want to do something commercial and you just can't bear to have your source changes released, we could still negotiate a separate license agreement (for $$$), but I would encourage you to just live with the GPL.
All of the Quake data files remain copyrighted and licensed under the original terms, so you cannot redistribute data from the original game, but if you do a true total conversion, you can create a standalone game based on this code.
I will see about having the license changed on the shareware episode of quake to allow it to be duplicated more freely (for linux distributions, for example), but I can't give a timeframe for it. You can still download one of the original quake demos and use that data with the code, but there are restrictions on the redistribution of the demo data.
If you never actually bought a complete version of Quake, you might want to rummage around in a local software bargain bin for one of the originals, or perhaps find a copy of the "Quake: the offering" boxed set with both mission packs.
Thanks to Dave "Zoid" Kirsh and Robert Duffy for doing the grunt work of building this release.
Actually, Daikatana is based on the Quake2 engine, which has not been released yet. Of course neither has Daikatana, so who knows... (c:
Is the Metaverse nearing practicality?
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I see a lot of people already complaining that iD has only released Quake because it wasn't making them money anymore. I find such comments absolutely rude and uncalled-for, iD is doing the open source communitiy a wonderful favor by releasing their code under the GPL. Why don't we concentrate instead on the possibilities opened by this code release...
Now that a fully 3-D rendering engine, which supports 3-D acceleration is available under the GPL, I can only hope that a few aspiring programmers can take all of that code and begin development on some true Virtual Reality software. With high speed access such as cable and dsl becoming available in more and more areas, such an environment is truly becoming feasible.
The way that I see it, all that really needed is a large amount of artwork and new networking code. Imagine that each MetaQuake server is a node in the metaverse, each server acting as either a room, a building, or an entire city (based on available bandwidth), where people logged into one server can interact with one another directly, but you use a "subway" system to transfer your information *between* servers, allowing you to enter new buildings, cities, etc. If all of the servers were interconnected similar to the way the internet itself is connected, it could work. There could even be sub-programs written into the engine in which you can pick up a virtual pay phone, and video conference with someone on another server (or not logged in at all) via a direct connection.
I think that the Quake codebase would certainly be an excellent start, but it's more likely that Quake2 or even Quake3 would act as a better environment to do such programming in. I know that Quake1 modules had to be written in "QuakeC" whereas Quake2 modules could be written in full-blown C, which in my opionion would be better suited to the "videophone applet" or other such modifications. Also, the original Quake networking code wasn't so hot (hence the need for QuakeWorld) whereas Quake2 was much better about it, and Quake3 was actually *designed* for online-only usage.
Perhaps if a small band of programmers started messing around with this sort of stuff right now, we'd all be ready to take advantage of more advanced engines, such as the Quake2 and Quake3 engines one they become available (which they most likely will, the way that iD has been doing things -- Thanks guys!)
Can anyone speak from experience if/how well models and skins, and/or maps created for Quake1 can be ported into Quake2 or Quake3? Is there anyway that level designs for a "metaverse" could be later re-used should iD be so gracious as to release the source to their more recent engines?
My Nokia 6162, with PCS service from AT&T has it's own e-mail address (my-number@mobile.att.net). Messages sent to this address (up to 150 chars) are then forwarded into the phone as part of their text-messaging service.
It didn't take me very long, but I set up a quick procmail rc file to analyse all of my incoming mail, and if the from line matched the address of someone I knew, it would carbon copy the mail and forward it to my phone's address. Messages over 150 chars are truncated and only the subject line is sent, in case it might be a non-encrypted personal mail.
Every once in a while my phone will make a single beep, and I know that there's new mail from someone I know (spam is filtered because only addresses that i listed in the file get forwarded) waiting for me. I shut off the sound during classes, but it's still pretty cool when I notice a message on the machine.
The next thing that I'm going to do is set up a few perl scripts to download information about the weather or maybe/. headlines or whatever, and forward them to my phone via a cron tab.
Hmmm... maybe "push technology" has it's uses afterall...
This zen is a common misconception in human factors. Bruce Togniziky (the Guy Apple had doing most of their mac design) put expirenced uses in front of a comptuer, and had them select text with the keyboard, and then do the same thing again with the mouse. The users reported the keyboard was faster, but his stop watch reported the mouse was faster!
This experience occurs for the exact reason that I tend to drive on backroads on my way home from work when there is a great deal of traffic. Even though taking the 25 mph road actually takes longer (I know because I've timed it) than just sitting through the traffic on the highway, I prefer to keep moving instead of constant stop-and-go motion -- It keeps my subconscious occupied and gives the rest of my mind a chance to zone out and think about other things.
Anyone who has driven great distances alone could probably tell you the same thing. I drove 4,000 alone last Spring Break and only travelled during non-peak traffic hours. I keep a digital recorder handy for sudden inspirations this zen state drives out of me. I've figured out quite a few problems and have have thought up many new features for various programs while driving at 2 am through a new city or state...
It's kinda funny, at least to me anyway. When I got my first computer in 1992, I picked up a copy of WordPerfect 5.x for Windows 3.1, which was put out by the Wordperfect Corporation (as I recall).
I later upgraded to version 6.0, which had Novell written all over disks - Wordperfect Corp. had been bought out.
Later, when I upgraded to to Windows 95, I picked up Wordperfect 7, which had "Corel" printed all over the CD-ROM.
Next, I switched over to Linux and now have Wordperfect 8 installed on it.
And now maybe when I get Wordperfect 2000 (or whatever) it may be from RedHat's download site?
How times change...
--Cycon
"The Human Genome Project: Open Sourcing the Human Race since 1990" --Steve Castellotti
Unlike conclusions of law, a judge's findings of fact in a federal antitrust case are not generally considered admissible as evidence in private suits. But Jackson'sfindings agreed so strongly with the case presented bythe Justice Department and 19 states that antitrust experts say his final verdict, expected early next year,will almost surely find that Microsoft is a monopolythat violated the law.
and:
"This is the start of the race to get to the courthouse," observed Stephen Axinn, apartner in Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider who is anantitrust litigator.
It would appear that these fellows are attempting to be the first in line with open hands demanding compensations. The only problem with their case is that they're relying on the judge's finding of fact, and simply assuming that the final decision will open the flood gates for suits similar to theirs.
It's a bit of a gamble, but as they say, the early bird gets the worm
I apologize if this has already been asked and answered, but:
Does anyone know why KDE is not included as part of the debian distribution? I know that there are some licensing issues with QT 1.x, but are these not resolved in QT 2.x?
Furthermore, when I check dselect's list of available packages, QT *is* available, in the non-free section. Why isn't KDE available in the non-free section therefore as well?
PS: Yes, I am aware that deb packages are available directly from KDE, I just want to know why they're not included in the distibution by default.
I've been itching to get my hands on BeOS for over a year now, but I'm a little apprehensive about shelling out $$$ for pay software that's hung at it's current version level for so long.
Does anyone have any information as to when the next release for BeOS might be expected? I'd just hate to have shelled out $60-$90 for a new OS to play around with just before a new major release renders it old tech.
Already I'm seeing comments posted to the effect of "who cares" or that this issue is "ridiculous."
I personally believe that this topic will only gain importance in the years to come, as our society more towards a more net-centric one. Hackers/Crackers everywhere were crying out when they heard that Kevin Mitnick would be forbidden computer access in any format whatsoever after his release. If we don't make the internet and computers in general more accessible to the disabled, we are condemning them to the same future as abhor for Mitnick.
As the web and other visual interfaces become superflous, a growing percentage of the population is being left behind. I'm not sure that sueing AOL is the best way to bring about a solution, but I feel it is important to bring more attention to this subject.
The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it. -- E. Hubbard
The reason many "rich" countries are having less babies is largely due to birth control and better family planning, in my opinion. It isn't exactely that these countries are suddenly having less babies, they are simply having less *unplanned* babies. By crossing multiple birth control devices (such as spermicidically lubricated condums and the pill) unplanned pregnancies can be avoided (in 99% of cases), assuming that they are used correctly and effectively. The correlation between these devices and the rich countries is obvoius - the pill is expensive.
"Additionally, applications that work on Monterey - IBM's upcoming 64-bit Unix for Intel servers - will also run on Linux boxes."
Does anyone have any more information on IBM's new Unix OS? Does Monterey use ELF binaries? Does this also mean that Monterey binaries will run on Linux?
Have you considered giving Wine a shot? When I started forgetting some of the passwords I had stored inside CuteFTP I was able to run it under Linux, while sniffing my outgoing connection and determine what they were. You might want to at least *try* it under Wine, it may work well enough so that you can keep your GoZilla!
PS: The Wine site has a database for tested applications, but GoZilla wasn't listed, so I can't tell you what to expect.
ESR has posted his responce to Nikolai Bezroukov's criticism. ESR states that he "welcomes such criticism" but that Nikolai "adds almost nothing useful to the debate."
Slashdot Mirror
As a long-time Debian user myself, I think that it's great that potato has finally gone into release after so many delays, but it looks to me like the exact same thing as last year is happening: slink (debian version 2.1) was released in early march, with the 2.0 kernel, even though the 2.2 kernel had been available for some time.
Considering that the 2.4 kernel should be out in the near future (another month and a half or so) and the freeze is quite likely to last at least that long before a release is made, how long before debian catches up to the newer kernel series?
Will there be an updated potato using 2.4 after the new stable kernel is released, or will we have to wait another year to catch up again?
--Cycon
(Incidentally, I have been using potato as the OS on my primary without any problems for months now, but it's the servers that I have to manage that I'd rather see kept up to date...)
...though it seems that once a hack is employed by one commercial entity against another (at least for potential econimic gain of any sort), the prack aspect suddenly becomes criminal.
I more (or less, depending on your point of view) beneign prank would be a "War of the Worlds" style broadcast...
"We interupt this broadcast to bring you a live broadcast from our new alien overlords..."
(c:
This is great news to my ears, as I have been looking for a free ISP client/solution that would work under Linux.
Does anybody know of any other such ISP's out there that either work under linux or at least would work under WINE?
--Steve Castellotti
Unfortunately, SuSE couldn't get us disks in time for the initial pressing. I believe the first 3000 copies went ut without SuSE 6.3 CDs.
Well on the bright side then, I get the satisfaction of owning one of the first 3000 copies of Quake III for linux... (c:
Like I said, it's not a very big deal for me personally, but it would have been a nice touch to have the latest SuSE in there too (I'm a debian user myself). Just the same, I'd be willing to be that a few people out there who aren't fortunate enough to live in an area with good high-speed access might be significantly more dissapointed..
Will there by any chance be an offer for the first 3000 people who missed out on the SuSE bundling to pick it up later on?
--Steve Castellotti
I was rather dissapointed to discover that when I picked up my tin box edition at EB today, it didn't come with SuSE 6.3 included inside, as this article on slashdot originally mentioned.
I guess it isn't all that big of a deal for me (am downloading it right now though the cable modem) but it would have been a much better deal if the CD's for SuSE 6.3 were included. Afterall, the Windows version only cost $39.99, while my Linux edition was another $10 on top of that.
I mean come on now, re-distribution of Linux is free, even if they weren't going to include SuSE (which is admittedly quite a few CD's) they could have released the Redhat 6.1 iso or something like that.
At least that way, any kid whose parents messed up and bought them the wrong version for Xmas would at least have a chance of playing their new game on Christmas morning, and learning something new along the way...
--Steve Castellotti
"You are aware that this is the Linux ver--"
"--of course! I wouldn't buy it if it wasn't!"
(c:
If the metaverse is about doing the impossible, then it isn't much more than a more advanced blending of video games, RPGs, and movies, I think. Life is hard enough, without retreating into an alternate reality to escape our own when our own is already so rich, so beautiful, so powerful.
This is true, and an important point, but the Metaverse metaphor allows more important things than an escape from reality. The Metaverse would allow people all over the planet to communicate in realtime in as close to a "real" environement as possible. This is especially important to people who couldn't do so otherwise.
How many natural resources (not to mention economic ones) are wasted in flying/bringing together a group of people together for a meeting in the real world? With a tool such as the metaverse, people could comunicate in a visual and physical manner without wasting valuable resources. Granted that nothing will ever replace physical meetings between individuals, sometimes such meetings are either impossible or at least impractical. So the Metaverse concept could be a useful tool for communication and collaboration between people at great distances.
Also, while it is very nice that you would prefer to go through reality and practice rock climbing and rollerblading, if you were physically disables you could do no neither (in many instances). If I was in such a situation I would certainly enjoy being able to at least simulate such an experience!
I agree with you that nothing can substitute for a real-life experience, but as for myself, the idea of experiencing things such as 800 mile-an-hour motorcycle races with danger of injury and virutal combat without actually injuring anyone or thing is rather appealing.
I would consider any technology that could satisfy man's demonstrable thrist for violence and conflict without actually entailing such negative reprocussions would be a Good Thing(tm)
Cheers,
--Steven M. Castellotti
The creation of "large amounts of artwork" (I just have to laugh every time I read that) is far from trivial. Artists like myself like to get paid for their efforts and don't like their work getting passed around, occasionally being "defiled" by some well meaning person with MS Paint (This happens more than you'd think). Even with extra time on their hands (something artists don't have much of), why would we want to do art for Q1?
I understand and appriciate your point, but I do however feel that you are wrong. I would consider a project such as the Metaverse a non-trivial attempt at revolutionizing how people interact in an online environment, and that such at project would have to be largly fueled by the work of Open efforts on not only the software level, but the artistic as well. I am in no way attempting to trivialize work of artists, but I am suggesting that many artists would likely be interesting in participating in such a project, and for largely the same reasons - ego boost and sense of accomplishment.
In order to get such a project off the ground, a near-trivial amount of artwork would have to be done, at least in the short term. In order to test the interaction between servers, one would merely need a simple player model w/skin, and a simple room with a few objects that can be interacted with. I could whip up the interior of my apartment with a Quake Level Editor in just a few hours, and I believe that there are many others that could do a far better job in far less time. The same goes for a simple player model and skin (and I mean *simple*)
Once a working system could be implemented in which players can meet in one area, travel to other areas, communicate within and across areas, etc. the foundations would be laid for further progress. More attractive models, skins, areas/maps, interactive objects, and communications mechanisms could integrated and expanded upon.
New users to the system would have to be outfitted with a default room, model, and skin, and I would imagine the artist responsible for those items would feel a certain sense of pride when seeing it used frequently. Also, home-made models, skins, and areas would offer other artists oppurtunities to flaunt their artistic skills.
Of course, this is all merely my own opinions. (c:
--Steven M. Castellotti
Basically, for the Metaverse to work, you need a massive, distributed, dynamically load-balanced database. You need near-zero latency between servers to handle synchronization. You need to be able to have servers dynamically hand off clients to one another without the user being able to perceive it happening. You need to be able to support the one guy wandering off by him/herself in the "frontiers" of the metaverse.
... say ... irc chat room? If you really wanted to have a "live" event such as the one in Snow Crash, why not have multiple servers running the same map, which is a stage arena, with a small area for seats. The "performers" pick whichever server they want, and all of the "mirror" servers merely have bots mimicking the same actions for you. In this case you simply remove the audience interaction and you're set.
I may be over-simplifying things here, but I don't see why this should be such a problematic issue. (First of all please see this post for a few ideas as to how I would see something like this happening) If you considered every game of Quake2 being played right now that is registered with a site on GameSpy, you can see which players are on which server, which map is playing, who else is there, what the score is, etc. Why not throw in hooks for a GameSpy-like server for the Metaverse? That way, you could see where all of your friends are, and enter the server that corresponds to their location in the Metaverse.
Quake servers already handle where players are in map coordinates, where they are moving, objects they are "manipulating", and especially, clipping between it all. Say you are using the McKinley Revival map from q2ctf as your building. I've played that map with over 30 players with no problems, and there's quite a bit of territory to it.
You seem to be getting hung up on how to handle scenes like the end-sequence to Snow Crash in which there are 100k people in the same "area" all interacting at the same time. I agree with you that by today's technology that we couldn't handle anything like that, but by the same token, when was the last time you saw 100k people in the same
And as far as the lone person wandering by themselves in the "frontiers" of the metaverse you simply set up some rules in which the "subway" system will move you to a map with a repeating background and wrap-around coordinates (when you walk off one end, you end up at the opposite side, PacMan style).
The key to tying the whole thing together is the "subway" system, in which the length of your "ride" is merely how long it takes you to log into a particular area's server, plus the time it takes you to download the area's map, if you don't have the most recent version.
--Steven M. Castellotti
We've seen some Quake mods that tried this sort of interaction out.. but you know what? Fragging people with rocket launchers is alot more fun then having big, blocky, and relatively static (only simple animations are possbile) models get in the way of what is essentially an IRC chat.
This is true, but I see the "metaverse" idea as an integration of current UI and communication technologies. Image that each new "user" of the system is given a home somewhere on the metaverse, which is hosted by their own machine (much like an X-Server) either on the net or not, depending on their need. The current "desktop" metaphor could be extended very simply in this way; you have a desk-object somewhere in your home, and when you walk over to it, you can sit down, and your screen pans down and is replaced by your standard GNOME (or whatever) desktop. The Metaverse engine is backgrounded and you use your comptuer as normal.
Throw in some simple Instant-Messenging technology and a friend of yours who is online notices that you're on the net again. He takes the "subway" to your house and either knocks on the front door, or provides some sort of password and enters. His Metaverse "client" piece becomes a client of your server. Your desktop is minimized, and you can talk to him using lip-synced Speak Freely chat, by connecting to him directly.
The key is that all of the high-end processing is managed on your end, so your home is as complex or as simple as your computer can handle. The only information going out across the net is the same as a standard quake server (actually less, since in this example moving rockets and other such objects do not have to be figured in) plus whatever communication software is running underneath it all.
I am by no means saying that the Quake engine would be the optimal underpinnings for such a system, but merely that we seem to be moving in the direction in which it might be feasible. Assuming that the later Quake Engines are someday gpl'd as well, current models and maps could be imported later on.
I don't know how large gatherings of people (say 50+) would be handled, though if a room/map is relatively simple, then the only thing that would need to be rendered is the actual models, and everything else could be handled by standard IRC protocol.
We have MUDs that work in this way, why not use the Quake engine to bring graphics to those worlds?
PS: I for one can recall quite a few IRC session in which I would have *loved* to have had a rocket launcher handy... (c:
This is the complete source code for winquake, glquake, quakeworld, and
glquakeworld.
The projects have been tested with visual C++ 6.0, but masm is also required
to build the assembly language files. It is possible to change a #define and
build with only C code, but the software rendering versions lose almost half
its speed. The OpenGL versions will not be effected very much. The
gas2masm tool was created to allow us to use the same source for the dos,
linux, and windows versions, but I don't really recommend anyone mess
with the asm code.
The original dos version of Quake should also be buildable from these
sources, but we didn't bother trying.
The code is all licensed under the terms of the GPL (gnu public license).
You should read the entire license, but the gist of it is that you can do
anything you want with the code, including sell your new version. The catch
is that if you distribute new binary versions, you are required to make the
entire source code available for free to everyone.
Our previous code releases have been under licenses that preclude
commercial exploitation, but have no clause forcing sharing of source code.
There have been some unfortunate losses to the community as a result of
mod teams keeping their sources closed (and sometimes losing them). If
you are going to publicly release modified versions of this code, you must
also make source code available. I would encourage teams to even go a step
farther and investigate using public CVS servers for development where
possible.
The primary intent of this release is for entertainment and educational
purposes, but the GPL does allow commercial exploitation if you obey the
full license. If you want to do something commercial and you just can't bear
to have your source changes released, we could still negotiate a separate
license agreement (for $$$), but I would encourage you to just live with the
GPL.
All of the Quake data files remain copyrighted and licensed under the
original terms, so you cannot redistribute data from the original game, but if
you do a true total conversion, you can create a standalone game based on
this code.
I will see about having the license changed on the shareware episode of
quake to allow it to be duplicated more freely (for linux distributions, for
example), but I can't give a timeframe for it. You can still download one of
the original quake demos and use that data with the code, but there are
restrictions on the redistribution of the demo data.
If you never actually bought a complete version of Quake, you might want
to rummage around in a local software bargain bin for one of the originals,
or perhaps find a copy of the "Quake: the offering" boxed set with both
mission packs.
Thanks to Dave "Zoid" Kirsh and Robert Duffy for doing the grunt work of
building this release.
John Carmack
Id Software
Actually, Daikatana is based on the Quake2 engine, which has not been released yet. Of course neither has Daikatana, so who knows... (c:
I see a lot of people already complaining that iD has only released Quake because it wasn't making them money anymore. I find such comments absolutely rude and uncalled-for, iD is doing the open source communitiy a wonderful favor by releasing their code under the GPL. Why don't we concentrate instead on the possibilities opened by this code release...
Now that a fully 3-D rendering engine, which supports 3-D acceleration is available under the GPL, I can only hope that a few aspiring programmers can take all of that code and begin development on some true Virtual Reality software. With high speed access such as cable and dsl becoming available in more and more areas, such an environment is truly becoming feasible.
The way that I see it, all that really needed is a large amount of artwork and new networking code. Imagine that each MetaQuake server is a node in the metaverse, each server acting as either a room, a building, or an entire city (based on available bandwidth), where people logged into one server can interact with one another directly, but you use a "subway" system to transfer your information *between* servers, allowing you to enter new buildings, cities, etc. If all of the servers were interconnected similar to the way the internet itself is connected, it could work. There could even be sub-programs written into the engine in which you can pick up a virtual pay phone, and video conference with someone on another server (or not logged in at all) via a direct connection.
I think that the Quake codebase would certainly be an excellent start, but it's more likely that Quake2 or even Quake3 would act as a better environment to do such programming in. I know that Quake1 modules had to be written in "QuakeC" whereas Quake2 modules could be written in full-blown C, which in my opionion would be better suited to the "videophone applet" or other such modifications. Also, the original Quake networking code wasn't so hot (hence the need for QuakeWorld) whereas Quake2 was much better about it, and Quake3 was actually *designed* for online-only usage.
Perhaps if a small band of programmers started messing around with this sort of stuff right now, we'd all be ready to take advantage of more advanced engines, such as the Quake2 and Quake3 engines one they become available (which they most likely will, the way that iD has been doing things -- Thanks guys!)
Can anyone speak from experience if/how well models and skins, and/or maps created for Quake1 can be ported into Quake2 or Quake3? Is there anyway that level designs for a "metaverse" could be later re-used should iD be so gracious as to release the source to their more recent engines?
--Steven M. Castellotti
His name is Duncan Idahoe.
...and I'm sorry to inform him, but House Attreides is going to make around 10,000 clones of him over the next few years and...
... oh yeah, right. nevermind.
My Nokia 6162, with PCS service from AT&T has it's own e-mail address (my-number@mobile.att.net). Messages sent to this address (up to 150 chars) are then forwarded into the phone as part of their text-messaging service.
/. headlines or whatever, and forward them to my phone via a cron tab.
It didn't take me very long, but I set up a quick procmail rc file to analyse all of my incoming mail, and if the from line matched the address of someone I knew, it would carbon copy the mail and forward it to my phone's address. Messages over 150 chars are truncated and only the subject line is sent, in case it might be a non-encrypted personal mail.
Every once in a while my phone will make a single beep, and I know that there's new mail from someone I know (spam is filtered because only addresses that i listed in the file get forwarded) waiting for me. I shut off the sound during classes, but it's still pretty cool when I notice a message on the machine.
The next thing that I'm going to do is set up a few perl scripts to download information about the weather or maybe
Hmmm... maybe "push technology" has it's uses afterall...
--Cycon
This zen is a common misconception in human factors. Bruce Togniziky (the Guy Apple had doing most of their mac design) put expirenced uses in front of a comptuer, and had them select text with the keyboard, and then do the same thing again with the mouse. The users reported the keyboard was faster, but his stop watch reported the mouse was faster!
This experience occurs for the exact reason that I tend to drive on backroads on my way home from work when there is a great deal of traffic. Even though taking the 25 mph road actually takes longer (I know because I've timed it) than just sitting through the traffic on the highway, I prefer to keep moving instead of constant stop-and-go motion -- It keeps my subconscious occupied and gives the rest of my mind a chance to zone out and think about other things.
Anyone who has driven great distances alone could probably tell you the same thing. I drove 4,000 alone last Spring Break and only travelled during non-peak traffic hours. I keep a digital recorder handy for sudden inspirations this zen state drives out of me. I've figured out quite a few problems and have have thought up many new features for various programs while driving at 2 am through a new city or state...
-Cycon
It's kinda funny, at least to me anyway. When I got my first computer in 1992, I picked up a copy of WordPerfect 5.x for Windows 3.1, which was put out by the Wordperfect Corporation (as I recall).
I later upgraded to version 6.0, which had Novell written all over disks - Wordperfect Corp. had been bought out.
Later, when I upgraded to to Windows 95, I picked up Wordperfect 7, which had "Corel" printed all over the CD-ROM.
Next, I switched over to Linux and now have Wordperfect 8 installed on it.
And now maybe when I get Wordperfect 2000 (or whatever) it may be from RedHat's download site?
How times change...
--Cycon
"The Human Genome Project: Open Sourcing the Human Race since 1990" --Steve Castellotti
Taken from the article:
Unlike conclusions of law, a judge's findings of fact in a federal antitrust case are not generally considered admissible as evidence in private suits. But Jackson'sfindings agreed so strongly with the case presented bythe Justice Department and 19 states that antitrust experts say his final verdict, expected early next year,will almost surely find that Microsoft is a monopolythat violated the law.
and:
"This is the start of the race to get to the courthouse," observed Stephen Axinn, apartner in Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider who is anantitrust litigator.
It would appear that these fellows are attempting to be the first in line with open hands demanding compensations. The only problem with their case is that they're relying on the judge's finding of fact, and simply assuming that the final decision will open the flood gates for suits similar to theirs.
It's a bit of a gamble, but as they say, the early bird gets the worm
--Cycon
(of course, the second rat gets the cheese...)
I apologize if this has already been asked and answered, but:
Does anyone know why KDE is not included as part of the debian distribution? I know that there are some licensing issues with QT 1.x, but are these not resolved in QT 2.x?
Furthermore, when I check dselect's list of available packages, QT *is* available, in the non-free section. Why isn't KDE available in the non-free section therefore as well?
PS: Yes, I am aware that deb packages are available directly from KDE, I just want to know why they're not included in the distibution by default.
I've been itching to get my hands on BeOS for over a year now, but I'm a little apprehensive about shelling out $$$ for pay software that's hung at it's current version level for so long.
Does anyone have any information as to when the next release for BeOS might be expected? I'd just hate to have shelled out $60-$90 for a new OS to play around with just before a new major release renders it old tech.
PS: All apologies if this is seen as off topic.
Already I'm seeing comments posted to the effect of "who cares" or that this issue is "ridiculous."
I personally believe that this topic will only gain importance in the years to come, as our society more towards a more net-centric one. Hackers/Crackers everywhere were crying out when they heard that Kevin Mitnick would be forbidden computer access in any format whatsoever after his release. If we don't make the internet and computers in general more accessible to the disabled, we are condemning them to the same future as abhor for Mitnick.
As the web and other visual interfaces become superflous, a growing percentage of the population is being left behind. I'm not sure that sueing AOL is the best way to bring about a solution, but I feel it is important to bring more attention to this subject.
The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.
-- E. Hubbard
...I don't use a cell phone.
I have Digital PCS. (c:
He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet.
The reason many "rich" countries are having less babies is largely due to birth control and better family planning, in my opinion. It isn't exactely that these countries are suddenly having less babies, they are simply having less *unplanned* babies. By crossing multiple birth control devices (such as spermicidically lubricated condums and the pill) unplanned pregnancies can be avoided (in 99% of cases), assuming that they are used correctly and effectively. The correlation between these devices and the rich countries is obvoius - the pill is expensive.
Does anyone have any more information on IBM's new Unix OS? Does Monterey use ELF binaries? Does this also mean that Monterey binaries will run on Linux?
PS: The Wine site has a database for tested applications, but GoZilla wasn't listed, so I can't tell you what to expect.
ESR has posted his responce to Nikolai Bezroukov's criticism. ESR states that he "welcomes such criticism" but that Nikolai "adds almost nothing useful to the debate."