Most "big manufacturing houses" (Compaq/DEC, IBM, HP) have their own unix, and therefore, their own unix support group. These groups start out supporting linux until the demand gets big enough to spin linux support into its own group. So your comments may be justified if you're talking about Dell or Gateway, but if you're with Q, IBM, or HP you shouldn't have any problems getting support. Now, they may charge you an arm and a leg once your warranty runs out, but that's another story:) --
If anyone changed their favorite candidate after reading that, they probably changed to Bush from Gore, not the other way around. I know I automatically assume, given a lack of other information, that anything Rob likes must be dumb, and anything he dislikes must be s00per-l33t. --
if you can't give the customer what they want without going out of business, then you should give it up. Instead, the music industry wants legislation to support their antiquated business model, which would either have to adapt to meet consumer demand or perish without that governmental protection... its almost like the monopoly the phone company used to have - before the breakup it was illegal to hook *anything* up to a phone line that wasn't approved by the phone company. Thats why you had lame acoustic couplers for modems, never saw a consumer answering machine, etc. Government protection stifles innovation. --
That type of statement is the reason NASA's budget has been cut so drasticly over the years, which directly led to the high-profile failures of some of the recent Mars missions. We're not looking for anything in particular; the whole point of a mission such as this one would be pure exploration - we don't really know what to look for, so you have to begin somewhere. It's true that there will never be (in our lifetime, at least) any commercial value from the exploration of Pluto, but does that mean we shouldn't go there? If that kind of test were applied to all matters of exploration and research, we'd still be in the dark ages. --
Sure, there are plenty of dropouts working for most companies, I was just over-generalizing. I guess what I really meant was that you won't find people who were not at least capable of finishing college doing enterprise-level unix support, whereas most consumer-level PC support organizations will take anyone who can use a mouse. Occasionally you will find an intelligent, useful person doing consumer-level PC support, but they'll never be there long - as soon as management finds out they have someone competent, they'll move them to a more profitable support group. --
This isn't Dell supporting your new PC with Win98 - you won't have 20-year-old college drop-outs answering the phone. Enterprise Unix support is a big part of the revenue for IBM, Compaq, Sun, HP, Oracle, etc. The people who will be supporting you are professionals, and if they know what's good for them (and their company) they won't play "the blame game" - it just doesn't make business sense at this level. If they try to give you the run around on some critical problem, you will eventually find out (or else your machine will remain down), at which point you'll probably walk to another vendor, taking your fat support contract with you.
Finally! A halfway decent "ask slashdot" question. --
The "fact checking" part is important... most of the questions posted lately have been of the strictly factual type, and could easily be answered by consulting a search engine. Its the subjective questions that are interesting and get the good discussions started. --
Is Unix capable of handling a database of this size?
I don't know which is more pathetic...
1) that the dofus asking the question actually typed that, or
2) that the "editor" didn't actually "read" what he posted.
either way, these ask slashdot questions are getting really lame. Come on, guys, all it takes to raise your "standards" is to hit the "delete" button when you get these brain-dead questions.
It seems he'd be much better off using paypal instead of Amazon to accept "micropayments" - The whole point of internet publishing is to eliminate the middleman, right? Plus, he'd get the $5 bonus for signing up new paypal accounts for about 95% of the buyers, and he gets to keep 100% of the purchase price, instead of giving Amazon a cut. It's gonna take someone big like King to get real micropayment systems (like millicent, if it ever materializes) on the map - I'd hate to see those systems passed up by an Amazon or Barnes & Noble. --
Actually it can be useful - if you know your CPU's expected bogomips, and its way off, it's probably a sign that something is horribly wrong with your system. --
(think of search and seizure laws - evidence can be thrown out of court if acquired illegally).
Slow down there... "search and seizure laws" only apply in criminal cases - this is a civil suit. Big difference - the RIAA isn't able to get a search warrant (though I'm sure they'd love to, so they could send some jackbooted thugs to kick in your door, bludgeon you, and take your computer). --
I dont think it is meant to replace your CD player, but rather to compliment it. You keep the CD player (or get a SA-CD player or whatever) for your "serious" listening, and use the MP3 deck when you download a bunch of 80's crap for a party or whatever, so you don't have to go buy a bunch of music you're only going to play once. --
would it be possible to create a machine that could give the high accuracy in less time?
It is almost certainly possible to build a mechanical device which can do certain, specialized computations faster than the general purpose computers we have now. The real question is "is it practical?" The answer to this is most likey "no." Even if it is, an electronic counterpart to the machine could be built to be even faster than the mechanical device. You may be able to escalate this a for a few more iterations, but the electronics will win out - you'll always be able to move electrons faster than gears, levers, &c. --
What is that, bumps and grooves in the shape simply for bumps and grooves?
I don't know what picture you're looking at, but I don't see any "bumps and grooves" in the pic on the "features" page - every "bump" on there has a specific fuction, and is labeled as such. In fact, they seem to have cut down on the number of bumps by putting the speaker inside the navigator control.
I'd recommend a Psion for those truly interested in ultra-portable Linux.
Based on what? Have you used the iPaq? Or are you dismissing it based on what you thought you saw in a picture?
not to mention that with a palm you can go anywhere, whereas with this calculator setup, you're tethered to a computer. It is neat and clever, I'll give them that, but not very useful. Also, a Palm is about 1/3 the size of a TI-85, and the screen about 2.5x bigger. --
The Proxomitron does exactly that. It also puts a nice [refresh] link in so you can click to the site you would have been redirected to at your leisure, which keeps you from getting fuXX0red when using the back button.
It also can filter cookies, ad banners, javascript (on many different levels) and is highly customizable - you only enable the modules you want. --
Datron Systems announced a while back that they were working on satellite-based net access for cars (sounds dangerous, no?).
Tiger Electronics (maker of the Furby) is planning some cheap wireless communicators. They only have a range of about 50-100 feet right now, so they only communicate with other devices in the area, but they have dial-up capability, so it is possible that you could rig one up as a bridge providing local wireless internet access a la Airport.
How many people who hack linux in their spare time have exclusive access to a 16 or 32 way $500k server? Thats why you are better off running commercial unix, after all it was designed specifically for that hardware.
Actually, Compaq already has linux running on these beasts. There are a lot of modifications needed due to the unusual hardware, but it won't be long before it's released. They have people working on it. --
It would be nice if you guys could do an interview with someone where you get to ask you questions, like this one, and in addition you have user-submitted questions. If I were you I'd ask your questions first, which would let you get the obvious stuff out of the way, and would also give us a chance to ask questions based on the interviewee's answers.
Slashdot Mirror
Atlanta Linux Showcase is coming up in October. It's not as big as LinuxWorld, but its still not a bad show.
--
Most "big manufacturing houses" (Compaq/DEC, IBM, HP) have their own unix, and therefore, their own unix support group. These groups start out supporting linux until the demand gets big enough to spin linux support into its own group. So your comments may be justified if you're talking about Dell or Gateway, but if you're with Q, IBM, or HP you shouldn't have any problems getting support. Now, they may charge you an arm and a leg once your warranty runs out, but that's another story :)
--
It's called sarcasm... and also, you should note the "given a lack of other information" part.
:)
Lighten up
--
If anyone changed their favorite candidate after reading that, they probably changed to Bush from Gore, not the other way around. I know I automatically assume, given a lack of other information, that anything Rob likes must be dumb, and anything he dislikes must be s00per-l33t.
--
if you can't give the customer what they want without going out of business, then you should give it up. Instead, the music industry wants legislation to support their antiquated business model, which would either have to adapt to meet consumer demand or perish without that governmental protection... its almost like the monopoly the phone company used to have - before the breakup it was illegal to hook *anything* up to a phone line that wasn't approved by the phone company. Thats why you had lame acoustic couplers for modems, never saw a consumer answering machine, etc. Government protection stifles innovation.
--
That type of statement is the reason NASA's budget has been cut so drasticly over the years, which directly led to the high-profile failures of some of the recent Mars missions. We're not looking for anything in particular; the whole point of a mission such as this one would be pure exploration - we don't really know what to look for, so you have to begin somewhere. It's true that there will never be (in our lifetime, at least) any commercial value from the exploration of Pluto, but does that mean we shouldn't go there? If that kind of test were applied to all matters of exploration and research, we'd still be in the dark ages.
--
Sure, there are plenty of dropouts working for most companies, I was just over-generalizing. I guess what I really meant was that you won't find people who were not at least capable of finishing college doing enterprise-level unix support, whereas most consumer-level PC support organizations will take anyone who can use a mouse. Occasionally you will find an intelligent, useful person doing consumer-level PC support, but they'll never be there long - as soon as management finds out they have someone competent, they'll move them to a more profitable support group.
--
This isn't Dell supporting your new PC with Win98 - you won't have 20-year-old college drop-outs answering the phone. Enterprise Unix support is a big part of the revenue for IBM, Compaq, Sun, HP, Oracle, etc. The people who will be supporting you are professionals, and if they know what's good for them (and their company) they won't play "the blame game" - it just doesn't make business sense at this level. If they try to give you the run around on some critical problem, you will eventually find out (or else your machine will remain down), at which point you'll probably walk to another vendor, taking your fat support contract with you.
Finally! A halfway decent "ask slashdot" question.
--
The "fact checking" part is important... most of the questions posted lately have been of the strictly factual type, and could easily be answered by consulting a search engine. Its the subjective questions that are interesting and get the good discussions started.
--
I don't know which is more pathetic...
1) that the dofus asking the question actually typed that, or
2) that the "editor" didn't actually "read" what he posted.
either way, these ask slashdot questions are getting really lame. Come on, guys, all it takes to raise your "standards" is to hit the "delete" button when you get these brain-dead questions.
(-1 Redundant)
--
It seems he'd be much better off using paypal instead of Amazon to accept "micropayments" - The whole point of internet publishing is to eliminate the middleman, right? Plus, he'd get the $5 bonus for signing up new paypal accounts for about 95% of the buyers, and he gets to keep 100% of the purchase price, instead of giving Amazon a cut. It's gonna take someone big like King to get real micropayment systems (like millicent, if it ever materializes) on the map - I'd hate to see those systems passed up by an Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
--
100 MB isnt that much for the whole operating system, in fact I'd say that is pretty light. Tru64 5.0 base source is about 270 MB.
--
Actually it can be useful - if you know your CPU's expected bogomips, and its way off, it's probably a sign that something is horribly wrong with your system.
--
Slow down there... "search and seizure laws" only apply in criminal cases - this is a civil suit. Big difference - the RIAA isn't able to get a search warrant (though I'm sure they'd love to, so they could send some jackbooted thugs to kick in your door, bludgeon you, and take your computer).
--
I dont think it is meant to replace your CD player, but rather to compliment it. You keep the CD player (or get a SA-CD player or whatever) for your "serious" listening, and use the MP3 deck when you download a bunch of 80's crap for a party or whatever, so you don't have to go buy a bunch of music you're only going to play once.
--
The question is about computers - if there is no processing, there is no computation, hence it isn't a computer.
But a good example.
--
It is almost certainly possible to build a mechanical device which can do certain, specialized computations faster than the general purpose computers we have now. The real question is "is it practical?" The answer to this is most likey "no." Even if it is, an electronic counterpart to the machine could be built to be even faster than the mechanical device. You may be able to escalate this a for a few more iterations, but the electronics will win out - you'll always be able to move electrons faster than gears, levers, &c.
--
I don't know what picture you're looking at, but I don't see any "bumps and grooves" in the pic on the "features" page - every "bump" on there has a specific fuction, and is labeled as such. In fact, they seem to have cut down on the number of bumps by putting the speaker inside the navigator control.
I'd recommend a Psion for those truly interested in ultra-portable Linux.
Based on what? Have you used the iPaq? Or are you dismissing it based on what you thought you saw in a picture?
--
not to mention that with a palm you can go anywhere, whereas with this calculator setup, you're tethered to a computer. It is neat and clever, I'll give them that, but not very useful. Also, a Palm is about 1/3 the size of a TI-85, and the screen about 2.5x bigger.
--
http://www.whatis.com/bigendia.htm
that was the first hit I got on google searching for "big endian little endian".
At least you didnt submit it to "ask slashdot".
--
It also can filter cookies, ad banners, javascript (on many different levels) and is highly customizable - you only enable the modules you want.
--
Just because you can't read a 500 word, 15 clause sentence doesn't mean it's grammatically incorrect :)
--
Tiger Electronics (maker of the Furby) is planning some cheap wireless communicators. They only have a range of about 50-100 feet right now, so they only communicate with other devices in the area, but they have dial-up capability, so it is possible that you could rig one up as a bridge providing local wireless internet access a la Airport.
--
Actually, Compaq already has linux running on these beasts. There are a lot of modifications needed due to the unusual hardware, but it won't be long before it's released. They have people working on it.
--
It would be nice if you guys could do an interview with someone where you get to ask you questions, like this one, and in addition you have user-submitted questions. If I were you I'd ask your questions first, which would let you get the obvious stuff out of the way, and would also give us a chance to ask questions based on the interviewee's answers.
--