heh...originality is the art of concealing your sources!
Re:It's logical to go to space
on
On to Mars
·
· Score: 1
Are the "children" willing to pay for it? Or are they too busy watching TV?
Umm, where exactly did i say that i wasn't willing to pay for it? I (as does everyone my age) know that it takes money to go to space, and i'd definitely like to see more money go to NASA. However there are two major problems here.
1: To get that kind of money, you have to show you know how to spend it efficiently. In the past decade or two, I don't think NASA has done this. (read: Challenger, Mars polar lander, Where the hell is that space station...it was supposed to be done years ago!). I know they're being cut short, but it seems nowadays that everything NASA/Lockheed Martin touches seems to break. Here in Denver, when a car breaks down, we jokingly say it's LMCO's fault.
2:You ask me if I'm willing to pay to increase funding to help out NASA?? I ask you this. Who decides NASA's budget? Congress! How many people "my" age do you know of in congress? NONE! I think perhaps the baby-boomers of this world had better shut the hell up and stop blaming s#it on their kids!
Re:It's logical to go to space
on
On to Mars
·
· Score: 1
Young and impatient. Indeed! that's how things get done. I'm glad i'm a proponent of instant gratification. But just because quite a few of us are young and impatient doesn't mean we don't know how long something is supposed to take. I know that social reform takes forever because it takes a long time to make those backwards confederate flag flying hillbillies in the south see that the only difference between black and white is melanin.
I know that getting something from thinkgeek.com takes about a week.
But LOOK at what we can do ever so quickly when we put our minds to it. It only took us 8 years to put Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon from the time we decided to do it. Yet it takes us another 30 to break a lander on the surface of mars?? This isn't a matter of "children" wanting something too quickly. This is a matter of "children" wondering exactly how long something like this is supposed to take!
BTW - the article, in my opinion, was extraordinarily well written. I agree with just about everything stated except the practicality of a space station (read: baby steps.) Although i DO think it should have been done years ago.
yah, but why are you telling us this? If your only option is Satelite then this whole conversation is a moot point. I'm talking about people who have a choice but opt for wireless. i think that's a bad decision - as there are many other options that are slightly more, um, robust.
Just make sure if you ever get DSL not to get a connection behind a firewall. the ISP i used to work for said it was for security but we all knew why they had ports 23 and 80 blocked! hehe.
Man, for my money, i'll take Myth2 over starcraft or whatever anyday!
I think the best possible choice for a port right now would be something like Half-Life. Plus, i REALLY want to see TF2 get ported. The original TF (not TFC for those of you who play nothing but half life mods) was, in my opinion, the BEST mod on a game EVER! we need to see more of that for linux.
the history channel is a REALLY good source of information on all kinds of stuff. They seem to be not only interested in reporting history, but recording it as well.
yah, you're right. ISDN is for those people who can't get DSL or cable. it sucks ass but i think you'll get slightly more bang for your buck than satelite. i don't know. perhaps ISDN was just a poor example.
As far as i know, you might do a great deal better by getting one of the more "main stream" high speed connections out there, ala DSL, ISDN and the like. From my work at an ISP I have formed the opinion that, while you're going to get insane bandwidth, the state of the art in satelite tech won't provide this cheap.
While you get the high speed downstream, you still have a REALLY slow upstream via a modem connection and will probably want to ditch that for something faster in the future.
For my money, i'd just get a DSL, ISDN or Cable connection and wait a year or two for the cost of indecently fast connections to get cheaper. You might also look into a T1 frame relay if money isn't an object.
problem though, if we call things like motion and balance senses, then we might need to call other things senses as well: sweet, sour, light, dark, pain, emotion, pheremons especially (this is probably the most likely source of the term known as "sixth sense.") I'm not bashing his post by any means, it was well written and is food for a great deal of thought, but i believe that motion is covered under either touch or more likely, hearing (as the krista is commonly referred to as a part of the inner ear.)
First there was 1984, Orwell's vision is rapidly approaching. Next there was Jurassic Park (read: cloning sheep). Now it appears that the Matrix is coming to pass. Oh well, the only thing this seems to prove is that technophiles are no more intelligent than the rest of the lemming-like public, the public is just more blatantly stupid.
The public may make the world a crappy place, but you know what's going to kill us? Scientific fuckups! The A-bomb, Cloning, Cyborgs (read:this month's wired). The scientists in this world are like little fucking autistic children. Sure, they can split an atom like a mother-fucker, but they never stop to ponder if they should.
Go read cat's cradle, then swallow some fucking ice-nine and be done with it!
The reason motion is not a sense is because it is just part of your nervous system. it's like calling pain a sense. Humans feel motion by the stimulation of the krista (sp?). A mushroom looking structure that moves in a gellatenous fluid. when the krista moves, and in turn, the fluid. it stimulates the nerves around that area stimulating certain impulses in the brain, AKA movement.
The above blurb, however, brings up some very important questions about manipulating the senses via external stimuli (read:cochlear implants). I'm not sure this is alltogether good. An article in the Feb. 2000 issue of Wired features a gentleman who will be implanting a transceiver in his arm to stimulate his nervous system (if a success, the experiment should be able to generate muscle movement via outside sources. this could possibly even lead to an electronic soma. If you were feeling blue, you could just send happy waves via computer to your own brain).
While i, for one, am a HUGE advocate of the modernization of the world, including new technology and such...where exactly do we draw the line?? Just something to think about the next time you see a blind person plug an optic nerve emulator into the back of his head, ala the matrix. (think that sounds a little outlandish? so did I, untill i saw a documentary about it on the history channel.)
Although not actually invented in the twentieth century, i have to say that the internal combustion engine has shaped the way the world has grown. In many cases, the design of cities has been shaped by the consideration of automobile traffic. Parking lots, the unimaginable geographic spread of the population. My vote is for the engine.
wellllllllllll, i think slashdot may be slightly biased against MS. but definitely less so than any other news source out there. I've only been reading slashdot religiously for about 3 months now, but i definitely think it's the best news source on the net
Erm... How is he going to read your questions without using a computer ? Do you want to put him back in jail or something;-)
Doesn't that just show you how far we've come. The best ideas are still jotted on a legal pad IMHO.
If Kevin is interviewed. I would be most interested in hearing his views on the legal system and the state of criminal law dealing with computers. Mitnick is not an UberHacker like some would have us believe - he's just a guy who got caught breaking very arcane laws. What makes this case interesting is the precedents it sets for all the other people who get caught doing anything "illegal" on the net. Where does it go from here? I'm sure Kevin has an opinion on that one.
Agreed. Although the US has been a superpower for quite a long time. Back in the 20's we were a superpower with about 1/2 the population we currently have today. I think we became a superpower because of our work ethic. Only in the past 30 years or so has the American work ethic started to slide (due - in my mind - to the self absorbtion of the middle class baby boomers.)
it's just that they generally have a rather insular world view that makes them see the rest of the world as either unimiportant or inferior
I don't necessarily think that a little national egotism is an inherently bad thing. Americans do think they're in the best country in the world. The irony is that the US is becoming extremely polarized in it's views of itself. Half of the US thinks that this country is a toilet, with the way the other half talk about it, you'd think it was the fatherland. All in all, it seems to balance out.
I think you're confusing laziness with intuitiveness. I (being a lazy person with years of lazy experience) know that it sucks having to edit a.conf file for just about everything. I love the mouse. it's a wonderful tool that allows me to almost double my productivity. but when i need to change the way a program acts, I always know where to look.
I know some very smart people, and they can't get over how they have to edit stupid files to get connected to the internet.
Don't blame linux because your smart friends are too frickin lazy to manually edit a file. This has NOTHING to do with how intuitive the OS is.
You mean to tell me this is the first time anyone has ever trash-talked M$. The news is that it's Novell, a "heavy" hitter, but this is politics as usual for these guys.
Someone show me a company that doesn't spread FUD about others in its industry - now that's what I call news.
Yes, i agree with you totally. Computers are a tool to get what you want and need out of the internet or email. consider this:
A) AOL provides no telnet access. Actually any port you use on the net has to be specifically enabled on one of AOL's blue server. Some users get really annoyed when they find out
B) AOL provides extremely poor browsing. They actually use an IE shell inside of the AOL application. (You can use IE externally but most people aren't curious enough to figure this out.)
C) AOL isn't nearly as fast as any of it's competitors. You want fast i-net access, i can reccomend a dozen ISP's with faster access and fewer busy signals (yes, this is still a problem.) You want chat? how about Mplayer or IRC. Instant messaging? ICQ is without a doubt the best on the market (not an AOL product, only just bought by AOL.)
AOL is not the most popular because it's the best around...it's the most popular for the same reason that M$ Windows is...Steve Case and Bill Gates are marketing geniuses. They know what buttons to push and when to push em.
(I'll tell you this is flamebait before i begin.) The comment that linux is less intuitive than windows is a VERY naieve argument. All it tells me about you is that you've never really used unix (i'm talking over a period of months-years for about 9hrs a day.) Agreed: linux has a much more shallow learning curve but you've got to be a fuck not to see how counter intuitive windows is - it's just that windows is the only OS you've probably ever REALLY used.
Example: i'm in Outlook Exsuck and i want to edit some email information. maybe i got to edit->preferences?? NOPE! what about options? NOPE! i have to go to TOOLS->ACCOUNTS->Mail, then hilite the email account i want (which is impossible for most people to figure out without help) and then click properties. YOU CALL THIS FSCKING INTUITIVE???
People bitch about Linux because they are required to learn how to use it. BOO-FSCKING-HOO. if you buy a car, you're expected to have a license and know how to drive the thing.
The major difference between windows and linux is that everyone is practically forced to use windows so they think that's the paradigm. If all i'd ever owned was a Honda Civic, and someone gave me a Kawasaki Ninja, i really wouldn't have the right to bitch that the motorcycle was so much less intuitive now would i??
-FluX No offense bud, but what do you code in anyway?? VBA????
One final note: for you non linux people out there, here's the run down:
/etc/ - config files for various applications (ppp, ssh, mounted items, etc.)
/usr - just like it looks. user items, everyday stuff
/usr/local - items that won't be erased on an upgrade, games, specail apps, source code for apps, etc.
/sbin - programs that only root should really be using
/bin,/usr/bin,/usr/local/bin - oh my god, could it be, BINARY files?
/opt - this'll blow your mind...OPTIONAL FILES! optional packages, programs, etc go here
as you can see, linux is not comprised of just two folders to put shit in: c:\my briefcase, and c:\windows\progra~1.
They may be breakable, but not within the life of the universe.
ahhhhh, but you must be thinking of this under current technology. What happens in a year or two when quantum computers are on the market??? technology will always be playing catch up with crypto, but it's very naieve to believe an algorithm will be made that cannot be broken in a reasonable amount of time. the Weizmann box proves this, as does the inherent imperfection of human made algorithms.
-FluX
"That vulnerability is completely theoretical." -- Microsoft L0pht, Making the theoretical practical since 1992.
umm...i pray to the non-existant god in the heavens every night that Linux never turns out to be like windows. KDE and GNOME are all ok for linux newbies i suppose (i learned on FVWM myself), but personally i prefer E.
What most people fail to keep in mind when getting heavily involved in the digressionary threads is the simple fact that linux was not designed for mass consumption, it just appears to be moving in that direction. Linux was bred as a hackers OS. It was written for people who like to break stuff and then fix it better than it was when they first had it. I personally enjoy getting elbow deep in source at 3:00 AM. Unfortunately, most people don't.
I can get by fine in my business life using RH6.1 and a copy of StarOffice but maybe that's just me. I guess if you want graphics, hardcore spreadsheet productivity, hard core games, and incredibly advanced Windows connectivity....I guess you better get yerself a copy of windows. The brutal truth is that %75 of the people using linux are either wannabe hackers or high-school hipsters looking for a chic alternative to the only OS they've ever had experience with.
I have to agree with most of this. Steve Case, in his history with AOL, can do no wrong. This acquisition is going to be a huge boon to that company.
I think your ideas on MS and IBM are a little off though. Right now, microsoft is the 500lb. gorilla. The anti-trust actions may cause a breakup of the "Evil Empire" but this is highly unlikely, especially with Gates' resignation as CEO. In keeping with his marketing genius, Bill has taken the hood ornament off the car. Many people think of MS and Bill synonymously(sp?), and by his resignation, it makes MS look a little more impotent. This was an EXCELLENT marketing ploy by Bill.
As far as IBM goes - you're looking in the wrong business. IBM does manufacture boxes which would be in keeping with AOL's new line of computer parts (check your local K-mart for the goods), But IBM really makes an insane amount of money off other products and services. Currently they outsource more internal IT support than any other company in the world.
Now that i'm done with my over-analysis of the situation, i'll step down. One last note, AOL will fall one day. Just as DOS fell to windows, and modems fell to DSL and cable, one day too, AOL will fall to a better, cheaper, more easy-to-use competitor.
woah there homey! I give you the GIMP, i give you PPPD, i give you an unparalelled server platform (especially compared to NT), i give you KDE (if you're into that) I give you XMMS. About the only thing that linux doesn't have that M$ Windows does is Free Cell; and that's downloadable from FreshMeat.
If ease of use is what you're looking for in an OS, then get KDE or Gnome - they both remind me of Win3.1 for DOS. Unfortunately, most of your pornographic needs will still have to be satisfied on Usenet (unless, that is, you're using @home - hehehee).
Slashdot Mirror
Umm...you've been smoking the crack under dad's bed again haven't you!?
This isn't a conversation about proportional distance sunshine!
-FluX
Would you like to post a comment with your sarcasm?
heh...originality is the art of concealing your sources!
Are the "children" willing to pay for it? Or are they too busy watching TV?
Umm, where exactly did i say that i wasn't willing to pay for it? I (as does everyone my age) know that it takes money to go to space, and i'd definitely like to see more money go to NASA. However there are two major problems here.
1: To get that kind of money, you have to show you know how to spend it efficiently. In the past decade or two, I don't think NASA has done this. (read: Challenger, Mars polar lander, Where the hell is that space station...it was supposed to be done years ago!). I know they're being cut short, but it seems nowadays that everything NASA/Lockheed Martin touches seems to break. Here in Denver, when a car breaks down, we jokingly say it's LMCO's fault.
2:You ask me if I'm willing to pay to increase funding to help out NASA?? I ask you this. Who decides NASA's budget? Congress! How many people "my" age do you know of in congress? NONE! I think perhaps the baby-boomers of this world had better shut the hell up and stop blaming s#it on their kids!
Young and impatient. Indeed! that's how things get done. I'm glad i'm a proponent of instant gratification. But just because quite a few of us are young and impatient doesn't mean we don't know how long something is supposed to take. I know that social reform takes forever because it takes a long time to make those backwards confederate flag flying hillbillies in the south see that the only difference between black and white is melanin.
I know that getting something from thinkgeek.com takes about a week.
But LOOK at what we can do ever so quickly when we put our minds to it. It only took us 8 years to put Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon from the time we decided to do it. Yet it takes us another 30 to break a lander on the surface of mars?? This isn't a matter of "children" wanting something too quickly. This is a matter of "children" wondering exactly how long something like this is supposed to take!
BTW - the article, in my opinion, was extraordinarily well written. I agree with just about everything stated except the practicality of a space station (read: baby steps.) Although i DO think it should have been done years ago.
yah, but why are you telling us this? If your only option is Satelite then this whole conversation is a moot point. I'm talking about people who have a choice but opt for wireless. i think that's a bad decision - as there are many other options that are slightly more, um, robust.
Just make sure if you ever get DSL not to get a connection behind a firewall. the ISP i used to work for said it was for security but we all knew why they had ports 23 and 80 blocked! hehe.
Man, for my money, i'll take Myth2 over starcraft or whatever anyday!
I think the best possible choice for a port right now would be something like Half-Life. Plus, i REALLY want to see TF2 get ported. The original TF (not TFC for those of you who play nothing but half life mods) was, in my opinion, the BEST mod on a game EVER! we need to see more of that for linux.
-FluX
the history channel is a REALLY good source of information on all kinds of stuff. They seem to be not only interested in reporting history, but recording it as well.
-FluX
yah, you're right. ISDN is for those people who can't get DSL or cable. it sucks ass but i think you'll get slightly more bang for your buck than satelite. i don't know. perhaps ISDN was just a poor example.
-FluX
As far as i know, you might do a great deal better by getting one of the more "main stream" high speed connections out there, ala DSL, ISDN and the like. From my work at an ISP I have formed the opinion that, while you're going to get insane bandwidth, the state of the art in satelite tech won't provide this cheap.
While you get the high speed downstream, you still have a REALLY slow upstream via a modem connection and will probably want to ditch that for something faster in the future.
For my money, i'd just get a DSL, ISDN or Cable connection and wait a year or two for the cost of indecently fast connections to get cheaper. You might also look into a T1 frame relay if money isn't an object.
-FluX
problem though, if we call things like motion and balance senses, then we might need to call other things senses as well: sweet, sour, light, dark, pain, emotion, pheremons especially (this is probably the most likely source of the term known as "sixth sense.") I'm not bashing his post by any means, it was well written and is food for a great deal of thought, but i believe that motion is covered under either touch or more likely, hearing (as the krista is commonly referred to as a part of the inner ear.)
FluX
Did anyone see the matrix???
First there was 1984, Orwell's vision is rapidly approaching. Next there was Jurassic Park (read: cloning sheep). Now it appears that the Matrix is coming to pass. Oh well, the only thing this seems to prove is that technophiles are no more intelligent than the rest of the lemming-like public, the public is just more blatantly stupid.
The public may make the world a crappy place, but you know what's going to kill us? Scientific fuckups! The A-bomb, Cloning, Cyborgs (read:this month's wired). The scientists in this world are like little fucking autistic children. Sure, they can split an atom like a mother-fucker, but they never stop to ponder if they should.
Go read cat's cradle, then swallow some fucking ice-nine and be done with it!
The reason motion is not a sense is because it is just part of your nervous system. it's like calling pain a sense. Humans feel motion by the stimulation of the krista (sp?). A mushroom looking structure that moves in a gellatenous fluid. when the krista moves, and in turn, the fluid. it stimulates the nerves around that area stimulating certain impulses in the brain, AKA movement.
The above blurb, however, brings up some very important questions about manipulating the senses via external stimuli (read:cochlear implants). I'm not sure this is alltogether good. An article in the Feb. 2000 issue of Wired features a gentleman who will be implanting a transceiver in his arm to stimulate his nervous system (if a success, the experiment should be able to generate muscle movement via outside sources. this could possibly even lead to an electronic soma. If you were feeling blue, you could just send happy waves via computer to your own brain).
While i, for one, am a HUGE advocate of the modernization of the world, including new technology and such...where exactly do we draw the line?? Just something to think about the next time you see a blind person plug an optic nerve emulator into the back of his head, ala the matrix. (think that sounds a little outlandish? so did I, untill i saw a documentary about it on the history channel.)
-FluX
Although not actually invented in the twentieth century, i have to say that the internal combustion engine has shaped the way the world has grown. In many cases, the design of cities has been shaped by the consideration of automobile traffic. Parking lots, the unimaginable geographic spread of the population. My vote is for the engine.
wellllllllllll,
i think slashdot may be slightly biased against MS. but definitely less so than any other news source out there. I've only been reading slashdot religiously for about 3 months now, but i definitely think it's the best news source on the net
btw, for something funny click me
Erm... How is he going to read your questions without using a computer ? Do you want to put him back in jail or something ;-)
Doesn't that just show you how far we've come. The best ideas are still jotted on a legal pad IMHO.
If Kevin is interviewed. I would be most interested in hearing his views on the legal system and the state of criminal law dealing with computers. Mitnick is not an UberHacker like some would have us believe - he's just a guy who got caught breaking very arcane laws. What makes this case interesting is the precedents it sets for all the other people who get caught doing anything "illegal" on the net. Where does it go from here? I'm sure Kevin has an opinion on that one.
thanks for clearing that up for me. i was in fact mistaken. however, i do maintain that the UDP is a fair means of erradicating a SPAM problem.
Agreed. Although the US has been a superpower for quite a long time. Back in the 20's we were a superpower with about 1/2 the population we currently have today. I think we became a superpower because of our work ethic. Only in the past 30 years or so has the American work ethic started to slide (due - in my mind - to the self absorbtion of the middle class baby boomers.)
it's just that they generally have a rather insular world view that makes them see the rest of the world as either unimiportant or inferior
I don't necessarily think that a little national egotism is an inherently bad thing. Americans do think they're in the best country in the world. The irony is that the US is becoming extremely polarized in it's views of itself. Half of the US thinks that this country is a toilet, with the way the other half talk about it, you'd think it was the fatherland. All in all, it seems to balance out.
I think you're confusing laziness with intuitiveness. I (being a lazy person with years of lazy experience) know that it sucks having to edit a .conf file for just about everything. I love the mouse. it's a wonderful tool that allows me to almost double my productivity. but when i need to change the way a program acts, I always know where to look.
I know some very smart people, and they can't get over how they have to edit stupid files to get connected to the internet.
Don't blame linux because your smart friends are too frickin lazy to manually edit a file. This has NOTHING to do with how intuitive the OS is.
You mean to tell me this is the first time anyone has ever trash-talked M$. The news is that it's Novell, a "heavy" hitter, but this is politics as usual for these guys.
Someone show me a company that doesn't spread FUD about others in its industry - now that's what I call news.
-flux=rad
Yes, i agree with you totally. Computers are a tool to get what you want and need out of the internet or email. consider this:
A) AOL provides no telnet access. Actually any port you use on the net has to be specifically enabled on one of AOL's blue server. Some users get really annoyed when they find out
B) AOL provides extremely poor browsing. They actually use an IE shell inside of the AOL application. (You can use IE externally but most people aren't curious enough to figure this out.)
C) AOL isn't nearly as fast as any of it's competitors. You want fast i-net access, i can reccomend a dozen ISP's with faster access and fewer busy signals (yes, this is still a problem.) You want chat? how about Mplayer or IRC. Instant messaging? ICQ is without a doubt the best on the market (not an AOL product, only just bought by AOL.)
AOL is not the most popular because it's the best around...it's the most popular for the same reason that M$ Windows is...Steve Case and Bill Gates are marketing geniuses. They know what buttons to push and when to push em.
-FluX
(I'll tell you this is flamebait before i begin.) The comment that linux is less intuitive than windows is a VERY naieve argument. All it tells me about you is that you've never really used unix (i'm talking over a period of months-years for about 9hrs a day.) Agreed: linux has a much more shallow learning curve but you've got to be a fuck not to see how counter intuitive windows is - it's just that windows is the only OS you've probably ever REALLY used.
/etc/ - config files for various applications (ppp, ssh, mounted items, etc.)
/usr - just like it looks. user items, everyday stuff
/usr/local - items that won't be erased on an upgrade, games, specail apps, source code for apps, etc.
/sbin - programs that only root should really be using
/bin, /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin - oh my god, could it be, BINARY files?
/opt - this'll blow your mind...OPTIONAL FILES! optional packages, programs, etc go here
Example: i'm in Outlook Exsuck and i want to edit some email information. maybe i got to edit->preferences?? NOPE! what about options? NOPE! i have to go to TOOLS->ACCOUNTS->Mail, then hilite the email account i want (which is impossible for most people to figure out without help) and then click properties. YOU CALL THIS FSCKING INTUITIVE???
People bitch about Linux because they are required to learn how to use it. BOO-FSCKING-HOO. if you buy a car, you're expected to have a license and know how to drive the thing.
The major difference between windows and linux is that everyone is practically forced to use windows so they think that's the paradigm. If all i'd ever owned was a Honda Civic, and someone gave me a Kawasaki Ninja, i really wouldn't have the right to bitch that the motorcycle was so much less intuitive now would i??
-FluX
No offense bud, but what do you code in anyway?? VBA????
One final note: for you non linux people out there, here's the run down:
as you can see, linux is not comprised of just two folders to put shit in: c:\my briefcase, and c:\windows\progra~1.
They may be breakable, but not within the life of the universe.
ahhhhh, but you must be thinking of this under current technology. What happens in a year or two when quantum computers are on the market??? technology will always be playing catch up with crypto, but it's very naieve to believe an algorithm will be made that cannot be broken in a reasonable amount of time. the Weizmann box proves this, as does the inherent imperfection of human made algorithms.
-FluX
"That vulnerability is completely theoretical." -- Microsoft
L0pht, Making the theoretical practical since 1992.
umm...i pray to the non-existant god in the heavens every night that Linux never turns out to be like windows. KDE and GNOME are all ok for linux newbies i suppose (i learned on FVWM myself), but personally i prefer E.
What most people fail to keep in mind when getting heavily involved in the digressionary threads is the simple fact that linux was not designed for mass consumption, it just appears to be moving in that direction. Linux was bred as a hackers OS. It was written for people who like to break stuff and then fix it better than it was when they first had it. I personally enjoy getting elbow deep in source at 3:00 AM. Unfortunately, most people don't.
I can get by fine in my business life using RH6.1 and a copy of StarOffice but maybe that's just me. I guess if you want graphics, hardcore spreadsheet productivity, hard core games, and incredibly advanced Windows connectivity....I guess you better get yerself a copy of windows. The brutal truth is that %75 of the people using linux are either wannabe hackers or high-school hipsters looking for a chic alternative to the only OS they've ever had experience with.
-FluX
I have to agree with most of this. Steve Case, in his history with AOL, can do no wrong. This acquisition is going to be a huge boon to that company.
I think your ideas on MS and IBM are a little off though. Right now, microsoft is the 500lb. gorilla. The anti-trust actions may cause a breakup of the "Evil Empire" but this is highly unlikely, especially with Gates' resignation as CEO. In keeping with his marketing genius, Bill has taken the hood ornament off the car. Many people think of MS and Bill synonymously(sp?), and by his resignation, it makes MS look a little more impotent. This was an EXCELLENT marketing ploy by Bill.
As far as IBM goes - you're looking in the wrong business. IBM does manufacture boxes which would be in keeping with AOL's new line of computer parts (check your local K-mart for the goods), But IBM really makes an insane amount of money off other products and services. Currently they outsource more internal IT support than any other company in the world.
Now that i'm done with my over-analysis of the situation, i'll step down. One last note, AOL will fall one day. Just as DOS fell to windows, and modems fell to DSL and cable, one day too, AOL will fall to a better, cheaper, more easy-to-use competitor.
--FluX
woah there homey! I give you the GIMP, i give you PPPD, i give you an unparalelled server platform (especially compared to NT), i give you KDE (if you're into that) I give you XMMS. About the only thing that linux doesn't have that M$ Windows does is Free Cell; and that's downloadable from FreshMeat.
If ease of use is what you're looking for in an OS, then get KDE or Gnome - they both remind me of Win3.1 for DOS. Unfortunately, most of your pornographic needs will still have to be satisfied on Usenet (unless, that is, you're using @home - hehehee).
--FluX