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User: Darkness404

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  1. Re:oh come on on Fresh Air For Windows? · · Score: 1

    Actually though, Ubuntu is a lot more modular then Windows. With Windows I can't really delete IE. With Ubuntu I can sudo apt-get remove firefox and it is gone. In fact I can delete everything but the kernel and BASH and still have a *sorta* working system.

  2. Re:Why Not for Linux? on Fresh Air For Windows? · · Score: 1

    No, most people just want apps that do what they need to do. They don't care whether it's "Linux" or "Windows" or "both" or "neither". They don't even want an app, just to do what they need to do.



    Most Linux users though are not most people. Most leaders of open-source projects are not most people. Most coders are not most people. They care about how well it fits in with the technology they have. While most people will settle for a buggy app that helps them get the job done, most of the people in charge will reject it on the basis that it is buggy.

    Something that just runs Windows apps, because those do what people think they need to do, and does it without the crap that is Windows, but rather a simpler new paradigm, would be welcomed.



    The only thing that does that without either visualization or emulation is WINE, and as I stated in my previous post, the WINE codebase changes too much for it to be included in a default install, let alone base a distro off of it. Because the WINE version depends on how well an application will run, it just doesn't make since to always upgrade, as some applications run better on older versions of WINE. Not to mention the headache of constantly upgrading a 11 MB package on a 56 KB/Second dial-up connection.

  3. Re:oh come on on Fresh Air For Windows? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But... I can run the same thing on Linux in RAM with 512 MB (or less) of RAM and a 700 MB CD. When I install it it takes perhaps 2 GB of HD space for the exact same functionality.

    -A file manager - There is Thunar in Xubuntu, Nautilus in Ubuntu and Konqueror in Kubuntu
    -A web browser - Firefox
    -Multiple filesystem support - Ubuntu can read/write more filesystems then Windows can
    -Most extensive driver library in existence - Except for the fact that on 90% of hardware I can get Ubuntu to get everything to work out-of-the box except for proprietary drivers for ATI/nVidia cards and Ubuntu makes that easy, Windows is a pain to install without like 10 driver CDs or an OEM restore disk
    -Office tools like Mail, WordPad, Calendar, Calculator, Contacts, Paint? - Thunderbird, OOo, a calendar program, a calculator program, various contacts programs and The GIMP
    -Full command line environment (DOS) - Full UNIX shell (BASH) -Complete media architecture in DirectX.. that's DirectSound DirectInput -has Linux equivalents though I can't think of them off the top of my head -DirectDraw.. a LOT of big packages if it was Linux. Also Windows Media Player/Photo Gallery - Totem/Amarok for WMP
    -Graphics APIs and rendering engines -Again, found on Linux
    -Remote desktop - VNC/SSH
    -Labyrinthe configuration utilities and applets -Don't really know what that is, a Wiki search returned nothing -Monster domain features.. detailed ACLs on every resource, complex user permissions, domain controls enforced on clients (integrated securely right into the interface). - UNIX-style permissions, secure by default


    Just about everything you said is included on Linux on a *Buntu default install, or can be added without going over what Vista has installed. Sorry to say, but really Vista is just pure bloat. Lets see what is in a default * Buntu install that Windows doesn't have...

    Full Office Suite - OOo
    Photoshop Replacement - The GIMP
    Various network services - Telnet, SSH, etc
    (*real*)3-D Desktop - Compiz-Fusion
    Multiple Desktops
    PDF Reader
    Various support for files that Windows doesn't have by default (Ogg, FLAC, etc)

    As you can see, Windows just can't compete with Linux when it comes to programs per storage space. In 5 gigs of a Vista install you get just about only the default install, in 5 gigs of a Ubuntu install, you get the default install, plus some of your files, some development tools, some more games, a few more applications, etc.

  4. Re:No on Fresh Air For Windows? · · Score: 1

    But surely MS has the API that various Windows used so they could add in a compatability layer bugs and all.

  5. Re:Problems... on Netgear Launches Open Source-Friendly Wireless Router · · Score: 1

    EEE PC? You mean this EEE PC running Ubuntu right here? It can't do that? Hmmm... Well I better stop altering reality then...



    Well, considering that the stock Ubuntu distro doesn't contain drivers for the Wi-Fi card on the EEE... I would call that part of my "hard to install a different OS" post. It is like saying that you can install OS X on any computer... It just is very hard.

  6. Re:No on Fresh Air For Windows? · · Score: 1

    Why emulation when you can use a compatability layer such as WINE running on Windows to transfer legacy API's to the new Windows 7 API? Emulation usually requires to emulate the CPU and so it will be slower, but a compatability layer will speed up it and make it be more seamless.

  7. Re:Another "Inventor" on Dead At 92, Business Computing Pioneer David Caminer · · Score: 1

    I think I would count the number of extensions that weight down the typical Firefox browser before I began pointing fingers.



    Well lets see... On my Firefox 3.0 install on my EEE... I have one extension, Tiny Menu. As for greasemonkey, I have little need of it, AdBlock Plus? I have a configured /etc/hosts file that takes care of it, as for any other extensions... I just don't use them.

  8. Re:Why Not for Linux? on Fresh Air For Windows? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Because most Linux users want apps made for Linux, not Windows and then emulating the Windows API on top of Windows. WINE is great and has uses but basing a distro around it really isn't a great idea as WINE changes so quickly. Also, most Linux distros that are popular don't even try to act like Windows (Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, Fedora, etc) and the ones that do act like Windows usually fade into obscurity, (Linux XP, etc).

  9. Re:oh come on on Fresh Air For Windows? · · Score: 2, Informative

    But really, being modular should allow for more flexibility and speed. But for Vista... That didn't really happen. Being modular should have allowed for more compact installs, but still Vista takes up 5 gigs of HD space on a basic install.

  10. Re:Another "Inventor" on Dead At 92, Business Computing Pioneer David Caminer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Super-size your internet, drive-thru downloads, I'm lovin' it.



    Didn't MS already do that? I mean your browser has to look rather super-sized with all those spyware toolbars, and drie-thru downloads are a lot like the drive-by downloads that IE has....

  11. Re:remember the OLD IBM? on MS To Become Open Source Friendly Post Gates · · Score: 1

    IBM though, has adapted. First with punch-cards then mainframes then to the PC. From being a MS ally to siding with the F/OSS people. MS has had 0 adaptation. They embrace the early '80s method of software development of closed-source programs that only get half the job done. MS has shown 0 innovation and 0 adaptation. If an organism can't adapt to a changing environment it dies, if MS can't adapt quickly, it will die. I think that MS is on the fast-track to destruction.

  12. Re:$99 just to play around with on IRobot Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot Review · · Score: 1

    But most of us reading /. aren't most of the world. Most of us have nice $500 computers that are 2-3 years old max along with a small collection of older computers sometimes acting like a server or etc. Most of our phones are smartphones, we have high-speed internet, some of us even own Macs. Just about the only thing us /.ers don't like paying money for is crappy software.

  13. Problems... on Netgear Launches Open Source-Friendly Wireless Router · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It always seems that whenever a company releases something open-source they have to make at least one component proprietary. As this allows Open-WRT to be installed on it perhaps it is really open, but just about every device that uses something open-source has something that makes it hard to install something new on it or they don't use a 100% open source OS (examples, N800, EEE PC, TiVo, etc)

  14. Well Yah... on Thinking of Security Vulnerabilities As Defects · · Score: 1

    Well of course vulnerabilities should be considered defects. Even more so, DRM should be seen as defects as that is even in the program's planning. A security hole is a small cut, something that should be patched, DRM is like a gaping wound that will never be patched.

  15. Re:Not that bad... on MPAA Scores First P2P Jury Conviction · · Score: 2, Insightful

    you wouldn't cut somebody slack for not realizing that, say, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit is illegal, would you? Or that going 105 MPH in a 55 MPH zone was illegal?



    Both of those though are inherently dangerous. Would I cut someone some slack if they were say, jaywalking? Yes. What about not having a penny needed to buy something if you have a penny on you. Yes. What about a guy who comes back for another free sample? Yes. Downloading things illegally is much like my situations I just gave, it isn't harming anyone really and therefore shouldn't be tried in criminal court and really, all the *AA's fines are excessive, $1 per song max. Any more and it should be considered excessive.

  16. Re:Not that bad... on MPAA Scores First P2P Jury Conviction · · Score: 1

    I'm an average person who was a member of the uploader team



    Then you aren't average. You were admin. My post was about the average people who download Limewire or hunt on TPB and download warez not the creators of Limewire or the admins of TPB.

  17. Not that bad... on MPAA Scores First P2P Jury Conviction · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Despite how bad it may sound, this is more or less not a big deal for the average person. It is like video game companies going after people who host ROMs of copyrighted games... Not that bad. Now if they won for a downloader or innocent uploader... That would be different.

  18. Re:A handshake. on Gates' Last Day At Microsoft · · Score: 1

    But it would have. Remember, MS didn't create DOS, and Unix was before DOS. So rather then struggling with computers we might be able to use them.

  19. Re:I would get him. . . on Gates' Last Day At Microsoft · · Score: 1

    MS has good programmers. They have bad project leaders though. It is very hard to fix something that was broken code-wise such as Windows, even with the greatest programmers. Taking DOS which was bought, and advancing it to Windows and then NT while maintaining native compatability is very hard even with great coders.

  20. Re:Retirement Gift on Gates' Last Day At Microsoft · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well lets see... Not much technologically but...

    Managed to fool Altair to pay them for a non-existent software at that time. Managed to buy DOS and sell it to IBM, managed to get out of an anti-trust lawsuit, managed to recover from disasters such as MS Bob, ME, etc. Basically, Gates couldn't compete with code, so he competed with a business.

  21. Re:From TFA on North Pole Ice On Track To Melt By September? · · Score: 1

    The fear that other tropical plagues might become common inside the US mainland is very real.



    But the same thing was said about, Bird Flu, Anthrax, Iraqi WMDs but those were just fears too. This is much like them.

  22. Re:Tell us in September on North Pole Ice On Track To Melt By September? · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It does contain news - the news that the current melting rate of the polar ice is the highest recorded.



    Yah the highest recorded in what? The 100 years max we have been keeping tabs on melting polar ice?

  23. Re:You know who I feel sorry for? on North Pole Ice On Track To Melt By September? · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Hmmm... Well considering that last winter was one of the coldest on record... And it snowed just about every other day... I think it will still be a sport. Global warming does not exist. Local warming does. All global warming is, is taken out of proportion local warming.

  24. Re:The real story is the clueless teacher on WTF? NC Offers to Replace 10,000 License Plates · · Score: 1

    You could say that about just about anything. Will knowing Windows help you do that? No. Does learning Linux help you do that? Not really. Does knowing how to print help you do that? Not exactly. So are you saying we shouldn't have computers with OSes on them and teach them in schools because it won't land them a high paying job or get into college? No. But I agree that Internet abbreviations shouldn't be taught because of multiple meanings (think of IHY which in some instances can mean "I hate you" or "I heart you")

  25. Re:Java never mattered....? on Does an Open Java Really Matter? · · Score: 1

    Well yah... But I was hoping to be modded funny... Didn't happen though