Apple scowls at you, ready to attack -- looks like they would wipe the floor with you!
Better not get on the wrong side of them. The cube may have been more or less finished (and getting people drooling probably _helped_ Apple more than anything else) but an NDA is an NDA and breaking one pleases no company:)
We've seen this before. A certain company has a loyal following that keeps them in business, but they're still not satisfied, and decide to turn round and screw those who supported them. Reminds me of Metallica, and now Apple basically seem to be doing the same thing.
Surely they're hurting themselves rather than helping? The behaviour disgusts me personally, and any chances they had of my custom are out of the window...
And I live about an hour or two away! Guess I wouldn't be worthy to go anyway (I sometimes use Windows as well as Linux so I'd probably be lynched on sight)
I want some of what that guy is on. He's utterly bonkers! But seriously, how does he think all this weird stuff (probably straight out of a sci-fi novel) will take place? "You won't be connected to a computer, you will be connected to information," he says - or words to that effect. Errr... where might this information be? Does it float around in space? Methinks it would need to be stored on a computer. Gimme a break! And why does he sit around bitching that nobody is doing all this - why doesn't he get off his lazy arse and try for himself? Perhaps then he will wake up and relise it just isn't going to happen this millennium:) *Shakes head* completely nuts.
I'm not religious, but I think I know what you mean:) I'm with the people who think that a bit of help from some larger companies is just what Linux needs right now. Certain things like, say, 3D cards are still very fiddly to set up - the controversial newbies who are starting to use Linux find it very difficult installing the various libsvga, 3dfx, glide packages etc and configuring them - whereas in Winblows, you plug the card in, autoboot a CD and sit back... The traditional Linux programmer things making it that simple is pointless - after all, it's very easy for *them* to set up, so why? The answer to that question is money. Basic economics principles - money = motivation. Other things motivate as well, such as the desire for praise which is what I think most free program authors go for. But it only goes so far - besides, once people start whining that their programs or libraries are too hard to use, they get pissed off and stop working. This is where the companies come in - they use money to motivate the programmer to make his program usable by newbies. It's not exactly the prettiest type of motivation, but it's the way the world works. Of course, if Linux is to stay a geek-only OS then my points are invalid. But personally I'd rather see Linux become the mainstream OS - it's got so much potential compared with Windows.
Whilst it's true there are kernel patches around for those features (in fact Mandrake already has USB, but not STD as far as I'm aware), I've found patches somewhat harder to install as a Linux newbie than if they were already in a distro. Of course some people argue that lazy newbies should never use Linux, but if it's to move forward in the world then they have to:) Also, the USB support I tried was very flaky on my system - might have been something I did, but I suspect it still needs more work. Pretty poor examples I guess, but there are many more things that need tweaking when it comes to Linux with laptops. A bit of financial motivation from a company can be good IMHO:)
If Mandrake were to merge with Compaq, a major laptop company, we could finally see some good features in Linux for laptops (hibernation is a nice thought, as is USB). This is of course all speculation, but it's a nice thought. With IBM making a Linux thinkpad recently, things may be moving forward in portable computing at last:)
I noticed a few people have mentioned the storyline (comma lack of) in the Doom series. Well whilst that's true for the game, there were 4 books brought out (fanfics if you like) that brought a storyline into Doom. They are by Dafydd Ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver, and are really good storylines - with the exception of the third book, which IMHO is utterly boring. They even give the main character a name (gasp!) - Flynn "Fly" Taggart. My only complaint is they tried to turn it into a religion-pushing thing - they mention the religious standing of almost every character that ever appears in the series:) You are still left with a gripping story if you ignore all that though. Oh, and there was the useless ending. Huh, useless endings seem to be the 'in' thing at the moment with authors! Maybe with Doom III, they will finally answer the last words "The End...?" with a new book:)
I have mixed feelings on this issue. Sure, it's good that Microsoft will no longer be a huge empire that completely take over the PC market - but let's look at the facts. Microsoft have done a LOT for the PC market. Plug and Play is a good example - some people still think it's a bad idea, but I really don't think that's the case. It's nice to be able to plug a device into your USB or PCMCIA slot and have it automatically set up straight away. Try doing that before Microsoft invented PnP! There is no denying that the majority (like 98%) of home PC users use Windows. This is a Good Thing. What would happen to games if people used 5 different operating systems? There would be 5 different versions of the game to support everyone, and it would be 5 times the price. No thanks! I know - use a playstation 2. But the same can be applied to applications. Back on the other hand again, this split-up is at least done fairly sensibly. "Microsoft 1" makes the OS, whilst "Microsoft 2" makes the apps. That way, we won't be forced to use a certain browser, but we still get a single operating system. Good! Problem solved. As long as they don't change it, I think it's generally a good decision.
BT seems to be making a very big, proud song and dance about this. However, they are keeping very quiet about the roll-out plans. 50% coverage of the home&business population by mid 2001 really isn't that impressive. This is basically major cities only. Then we get to 70% coverage by the end of 2001. They don't mention the rest, but if I remember right the old FAQ said around 90% will be covered by the end of 2002. In other words, people who live in London are happy. But the rest of us are still struggling along with modem or ISDN, and will be for a *long* time yet. I'm in a part of the country that is locally called "the last 1%" (we can forget the idea of cable or digital terrestrial TV). I don't expect to see ADSL in my area for at least 5 years.
Now there's some good news:) The 1024 cylinder limit has been bugging me for a while, along with other people who already have Windows installed. For those who like to try Linux but still use Windows (like me) - resizing your Windows partition to fit Linux on the system is all very well, but nowadays it still tends to hog the first 1024 cyls. It's possible to move all the data "down" 10MB for a/boot partition, but it takes quite some time! All the hackers I've spoken to have said it simply wasn't possible to break the 1024 limit... My congrats to the coders. Now take up space travel and break the speed of light:P
Microsoft looking for FreeBSD experts and Intel using FreeBSD. Smells fishy to me! Thinking: Windows 2005 - Based on FreeBSD technology, and teamed up with Intel to help dominate the PC market and stomp out Linux...
Slashdot Mirror
Apple scowls at you, ready to attack -- looks like they would wipe the floor with you! Better not get on the wrong side of them. The cube may have been more or less finished (and getting people drooling probably _helped_ Apple more than anything else) but an NDA is an NDA and breaking one pleases no company :)
We've seen this before. A certain company has a loyal following that keeps them in business, but they're still not satisfied, and decide to turn round and screw those who supported them. Reminds me of Metallica, and now Apple basically seem to be doing the same thing. Surely they're hurting themselves rather than helping? The behaviour disgusts me personally, and any chances they had of my custom are out of the window...
And I live about an hour or two away! Guess I wouldn't be worthy to go anyway (I sometimes use Windows as well as Linux so I'd probably be lynched on sight)
I want some of what that guy is on. He's utterly bonkers! :)
But seriously, how does he think all this weird stuff (probably straight out of a sci-fi novel) will take place? "You won't be connected to a computer, you will be connected to information," he says - or words to that effect. Errr... where might this information be? Does it float around in space? Methinks it would need to be stored on a computer. Gimme a break!
And why does he sit around bitching that nobody is doing all this - why doesn't he get off his lazy arse and try for himself? Perhaps then he will wake up and relise it just isn't going to happen this millennium
*Shakes head* completely nuts.
I'm not religious, but I think I know what you mean :) I'm with the people who think that a bit of help from some larger companies is just what Linux needs right now. Certain things like, say, 3D cards are still very fiddly to set up - the controversial newbies who are starting to use Linux find it very difficult installing the various libsvga, 3dfx, glide packages etc and configuring them - whereas in Winblows, you plug the card in, autoboot a CD and sit back... The traditional Linux programmer things making it that simple is pointless - after all, it's very easy for *them* to set up, so why? The answer to that question is money. Basic economics principles - money = motivation. Other things motivate as well, such as the desire for praise which is what I think most free program authors go for. But it only goes so far - besides, once people start whining that their programs or libraries are too hard to use, they get pissed off and stop working. This is where the companies come in - they use money to motivate the programmer to make his program usable by newbies. It's not exactly the prettiest type of motivation, but it's the way the world works. Of course, if Linux is to stay a geek-only OS then my points are invalid. But personally I'd rather see Linux become the mainstream OS - it's got so much potential compared with Windows.
Whilst it's true there are kernel patches around for those features (in fact Mandrake already has USB, but not STD as far as I'm aware), I've found patches somewhat harder to install as a Linux newbie than if they were already in a distro. Of course some people argue that lazy newbies should never use Linux, but if it's to move forward in the world then they have to :) Also, the USB support I tried was very flaky on my system - might have been something I did, but I suspect it still needs more work. Pretty poor examples I guess, but there are many more things that need tweaking when it comes to Linux with laptops. A bit of financial motivation from a company can be good IMHO :)
If Mandrake were to merge with Compaq, a major laptop company, we could finally see some good features in Linux for laptops (hibernation is a nice thought, as is USB). This is of course all speculation, but it's a nice thought. With IBM making a Linux thinkpad recently, things may be moving forward in portable computing at last :)
I noticed a few people have mentioned the storyline (comma lack of) in the Doom series. Well whilst that's true for the game, there were 4 books brought out (fanfics if you like) that brought a storyline into Doom. They are by Dafydd Ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver, and are really good storylines - with the exception of the third book, which IMHO is utterly boring. They even give the main character a name (gasp!) - Flynn "Fly" Taggart. My only complaint is they tried to turn it into a religion-pushing thing - they mention the religious standing of almost every character that ever appears in the series :) You are still left with a gripping story if you ignore all that though. Oh, and there was the useless ending. Huh, useless endings seem to be the 'in' thing at the moment with authors! Maybe with Doom III, they will finally answer the last words "The End...?" with a new book :)
I have mixed feelings on this issue. Sure, it's good that Microsoft will no longer be a huge empire that completely take over the PC market - but let's look at the facts. Microsoft have done a LOT for the PC market. Plug and Play is a good example - some people still think it's a bad idea, but I really don't think that's the case. It's nice to be able to plug a device into your USB or PCMCIA slot and have it automatically set up straight away. Try doing that before Microsoft invented PnP! There is no denying that the majority (like 98%) of home PC users use Windows. This is a Good Thing. What would happen to games if people used 5 different operating systems? There would be 5 different versions of the game to support everyone, and it would be 5 times the price. No thanks! I know - use a playstation 2. But the same can be applied to applications. Back on the other hand again, this split-up is at least done fairly sensibly. "Microsoft 1" makes the OS, whilst "Microsoft 2" makes the apps. That way, we won't be forced to use a certain browser, but we still get a single operating system. Good! Problem solved. As long as they don't change it, I think it's generally a good decision.
BT seems to be making a very big, proud song and dance about this. However, they are keeping very quiet about the roll-out plans.
50% coverage of the home&business population by mid 2001 really isn't that impressive. This is basically major cities only. Then we get to 70% coverage by the end of 2001. They don't mention the rest, but if I remember right the old FAQ said around 90% will be covered by the end of 2002. In other words, people who live in London are happy. But the rest of us are still struggling along with modem or ISDN, and will be for a *long* time yet. I'm in a part of the country that is locally called "the last 1%" (we can forget the idea of cable or digital terrestrial TV). I don't expect to see ADSL in my area for at least 5 years.
Now there's some good news :) The 1024 cylinder limit has been bugging me for a while, along with other people who already have Windows installed. For those who like to try Linux but still use Windows (like me) - resizing your Windows partition to fit Linux on the system is all very well, but nowadays it still tends to hog the first 1024 cyls. It's possible to move all the data "down" 10MB for a /boot partition, but it takes quite some time! All the hackers I've spoken to have said it simply wasn't possible to break the 1024 limit... My congrats to the coders. Now take up space travel and break the speed of light :P
Microsoft looking for FreeBSD experts and Intel using FreeBSD. Smells fishy to me! Thinking: Windows 2005 - Based on FreeBSD technology, and teamed up with Intel to help dominate the PC market and stomp out Linux...