A better point to make would be why would you want to have linux as your base system?
Why not ? At its base (no GUI), Linux is small, fast, dependable, secure and highly configurable. Why start from scratch, when Linux or *BSD can be had for free ?
Why must everyone think linux is something that it isn't,
What do you mean ? Right now, Linux stands as one of the best operating systems available. Of course there also *BSD. Beyond Linux or *BSD, there are not many options.
Because the $1800 iMac is much nicer hardware than the $800 Celeron?
I agree with you on all your points, the problem is most people will not know the difference and will choose the cheaper hardware, especially if the label says 1 Ghz.
Not only will that never, ever happen, but it would be a really bad idea for software written for a Dell to not run on a Gateway.
This is a good point, but on the otherhand, why should Dell care if its software ran on a Gateway or not. More likely it would be the other way around, Dell is too entrenched in the Windows world. Gateway, is scrambling for market share and far more likely to try something like this. HP/Compaq is a possibilty and MicronPC is a profitable privately held company, so there is no board of directors or stockholders to satisfy.
The whole point of this business model is to sell hardware and as long as the user can do basic things like watch DvD/Video, burn CD's, listen to music, surf the web, send/recieve email, instant message, create documents of various types and connect to a Windows based network, probably too much more wouldn't be neccessary or could be dealt with by releasing a free SDK and letting the OSS Hackers do what they do best. As an example, it did not take long to port X Windows to OS X, once that happened Gimp and several other programs followed, Apple got a whole lot of runnable software with little work or cost on thier part. This would be even easier because it is Linux at its core, no real port is neccessary beyond getting X Windows running in rootless mode after that the user installs the proper libraries and virtually every program available under Linux is now usable without changing a line of code. I see no problems here, it seems to me everyone wins.
IMHO, it's the lack of a good desktop (KDE is OK) that's keeping *nix from becoming the premiere desktop and Aqua could help a lot.
I seriously doubt Apple will ever release Aqua, there are too many advantages to keeping it in house, the biggest reason being control. Apple is primarily a hardware company and they, like Sun, use software to sell thier hardware. If Aqua were released to an open source license, it would be ported to other platforms, at which point at least one reason for buying an Apple system is gone. Who would spend $1800 on an iMac when you could get similar functions from a $800 Celeron system.
I personally think we may, in the future see some x86 OEM do something similar with Linux. Have an open source core (command line only), with a proprietary GUI on top (only sold and supported with thier hardware, no retail version), but make it easy to run X Windows concurently in rootless mode, so all the hardcore Linux users can still use thier favorite programs. I suspect someone could sell alot of hardware this way, if done right and done well.
Lycoris.com is a good start, though it looks like they are sold out for the time being. A quick search on Google also yeilded qlilinux.com . They are available, but if you are expecting to get one from one of the top 5 OEM's, Dell etc, you can probably forget it.
...until RIAA sends Guido over to bust Michael Dell's kneecaps.
But you have forgotten about the Dell Ninja Death Squad, which Dell deploys to undermine its competitors and deal with customers who call into Tech Support too often.
Of course it doesn't matter, because the discussion is about Gateway, not Dell.
As it stands right now, Linux is developed by individuals in thier spare time. True, there are some commercial companies involved and they have certainly contributed much, but that does not change the underlaying fact that Microsoft spends a magnatude more on Windows R&D than is spent on Linux. Until more commercial outfits get involved, with more money, the userfriendliness of Linux will always take back seat to stability and security. Why don't more companied invest more money into Linux, simple, why should they ? The Microsoft monopoly eliminates all need for diversity. Perhaps MS hasn't bullied everyone into complying with thier agenda (doubtful), but the very existance of the MS monopoly by itself is enough to keep companies from developing for Linux or any other OS.
Diversity is considered a good thing when talking about genetics, why isn't it a good thing for software ? Right now any virus which targets the Windows platform, which almost all of them do, has the potential to harm 90% of the installed computer base, if we had diversity, virus, security problems and bugs, would effect far fewer people and when these things did occur, the companies involvded would be forced to fix them or risk loosing market share, this is called natural selection, adapt or die. Competition is the single largest driving force behind both genetics and capitalism.
I agree with you, there is no clear successor to Windows, but why does there have to be ? Why can't we have 3 or 4 successors ? I personally like having a choice as to what car to buy, why shouldn't I have a choice of Operating Systems too ? Why shouldn't I be able to choose the correct tool for the job at hand ?
You're damn right, I really would be surprised. Why didn't that happen earlier? Why doesn't it happen right now? Linux still isn't ready for consumers
This is an easy question to answer and should be obvious to you. Microsoft has been convicted of being an monopoly. While it had a strangle hold on the industry, it has stifled and strong armed companies from investing in the R&D required. These are the reasons they were convicted.
Every hardware-manufacturer would have to write new drivers, and they are not going to do that until a new market-leader has been established. And without drivers, who would that be?
Or perhaps in the absences of the Microsoft Monopoly, these companies would be free to develope drivers and software as they see fit, instead of according to Microsofts agenda. They could and would develope accross plateforms in attemps to get as big a piece of the pie as possible.
Also, this is about the software. All those tiny little programs you use every day. They all would have to ported to another OS.
The problem with your theory, is it functions on the assumption, that if Windows ceased to be developed by Microsoft, that all copies of Windows would cease to work. The software companies would have time to port thier programs, before Windows became so obsolete as to be unusable. What little programs are you talking about ? We are not talking about programs developed in house, by various companies, they would have plenty of time to develope, test and deploy new software before it became an issue. We are talking about those little programs that make our day to day computing lives easier. Which ones either don't already have a Linux equivilent or couldn't be ported by a competent staff, in a few weeks ?
One author thinks OS/2 will be the new "OS for the Masses". Another will port his stuff to Linux. And you will end up with less applications for your new OS, regardless what OS you will be using.
You are wrong, these times would go down in history as some of the most exciting in the history of Computers. There would be a boom in innovation, creativity and competition ( all long suppressed by Microsofts monopoly), as all these companies would no longer be hampered by the Microsoft agenda and would be FREE to port thier software and develope the killer applications for any plateform they wanted. This means more R&D money, more programers hired, more diverse computing environment. I see no problem here.
Linux - forget it. Fine for techies, unusable for computer illiterates.
If Windows ceased to exist, you'd be very suprised at how fast Linux would become usable by the masses. Remember neccessity is the mother of invention. I'd bet overnight, RedHat would be a billion dollar company, within a week, every Dell would ship with Linux and within a month IBM would be fielding a new version of OS/2. There would be no shortage of companies rushing to fill the void and of all the alterentive OS's, Linux is the closest to being viable on the desktop.
lots of venomous creatures, nasty non-venomous creatures, aliens, secret government projects and a handful of radioactive yokels
Sadly, you just described my 20 year high school reunion.
Re:Need to do more than complain
on
CFP 2002 Wrapup
·
· Score: 2
If we want to complain about the media industries taking away our freedoms then we have to have an alternative business plan that will assure John and Joanna Doe that we are not destroying their livlihood in the name of our freedom.
Look at the Porno industry, they've made billions of dollars a year from the internet since the beginning. Heck there were BBS's making money on porno in the 80's. Thier secret is very simple, are you ready, here it is;
"Provide a good service or product for a fair price!"
I have to say though, it is not my job to come up with new and inovative ways for the media giants to make money. That is why all those CEO's make the big bucks. As we use to say in the Army "Lead, follow or get out of the way!". These people need to adapt to new technology, either by coming up with new ways to use it, or by copying another successful model. If they can't do this, then they don't deserve thier 7 figure income and if the Board of Directors keeps CEO's like this around, then the comapny deserves to die. This the nature of capitalism.
That doesn't mean that if your box dies on Monday that a guy will be out there to fix it Tuesday.
This is exactly the reason I don't buy my equipment over the internet or phone. I shop locally, at a Ma & Pop store. Sure I pay more, but I have a personal relationship with these people, they know me and even sent my wife flowers when she was in the hospital. When I have a problem with a warrantied item, I take it in and the next day I pick it up, easy as that. Once when I was having problems with a Sound Blaster Live card, the owner of the shop took my machine home with him and worked on it all night, so he could have it for me the next day. It turned out to be a compatibility issue between the MSI motherboard and the SBL card, both worked fine without the other. They swapped my motherboard for another brand and it has worked like a champ ever since. You can NOT get this kind of service from Dell, Alienware or any of the other big boys. If I shopped at Dell, I'd just be a drop in thier bucket, but at this shop, I am one of thier best customers and they treat me well.
Re:Please explain
on
XP, Phone Home
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Google logs my search terms when I search, along with my IP address!
The difference is, Google is a good company with a solid privacy policy, and they have never given me a reason not to trust them. Microsoft on the otherhand, is a convicted monopolist, has had way too many security problems(they can't protect thier own data, what makes me think they can or will protect mine ?) and has repeatedly shown that it can not be trusted.
"They seem satisfied to try to attack it in the press rather than trying to make it work," said Sen. Hollings spokesman Andy Davis.
I'd be satisfied too, so far it looks to have been a pretty effective strategy. Let's hope it is successful enough to get this malignant bill killed at the earliest possible opportunity.
This was my favorte quote too. What was lost on Andy Davis, is that WE don't want it to work, not even a little, WE want the CBDTPA to go way completely and never come back. The only way to do that was to get the word out to the voters.
I will buy a new computer before it goes into effect
Heck, I just earmarked $2000 to buy 3 maybe 4 computers (no monitors, no Windows). My current systems should last another 2-3 years and if each of the new ones gives me at least 3-5 years each, then another 3-5 years through cannablized parts, I should be good for about 20 years. Hopfully by then the "War on Freedom" will be over and we will have better times.
A digital rights management operating system protects rights-managed data, such as downloaded content, from access by untrusted programs while the data is loaded into memory or on a page file as a result of the execution of a trusted application that accesses the memory. To protect the rights-managed data resident in memory, the digital rights management operating system refuses to load an untrusted program into memory while the trusted application is executing or removes the data from memory before loading the untrusted program. If the untrusted program executes at the operating system level, such as a debugger, the digital rights management operating system renounces a trusted identity created for it by the computer processor when the computer was booted. To protect the rights-managed data on the page file, the digital rights management operating system prohibits raw access to the page file, or erases the data from the page file before allowing such access. Alternatively, the digital rights management operating system can encrypt the rights-managed data prior to writing it to the page file. The digital rights management operating system also limits the functions the user can perform on the rights-managed data and the trusted application, and can provide a trusted clock used in place of the standard computer clock.
I have deep concerns with the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA) which is being introduced by the Senate Commerce chairman Fritz Hollings (D-South Carolina). Hollings and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), are co-sponsoring this bill which would require computer and device makers to install a government-approved anti-copying technology intended to thwart piracy of digital works. This may sound good on the surface, but it has two flaws.
First it places the reponsibility for policing copyright infrignment on the makers of computers, instead of the copyright holders as it should rightly be. This means we, the consumer must pay higher prices for systems which are less useful to us. This act would reduce our freedom to choose Operating Systems. Many of us purchase systems, myself included, to run Linux (an alternative to Microsofts Windows XP), but because this proposed anti-copying technology will be a closed standard, the companies which distribute Linux will not be able to duplicate it without breaking the Digital Millenium Copyright Act(DMCA). Further, Microsoft owns the patent on Digital Rights Managment(DRM) Operating Systems, the software part of this technology, so companies, such as Apple and RedHat, who are in direct compitetion, would have to license this patent from Microsoft. Microsoft has been found guilty of building an illegal monopoly, so the chances of them cooperating with competitors is non existent, even for the betterment of society. This also means these smaller companies will be put out of business, because Microsoft will have an unfair advantage.
Leslie L. Vadasz, Executive Vice President of Intel Corporation said,
"Any attempt to inject a regulatory process into the design of our products will irreparably damage the high tech industry, It will substantially retard innovation, investment in new technologies, and will reduce the usefulness of our products to consumers."
The second flaw is it will not work, the big time pirates have the money and the incentive to circumvent any technology put into place. It is also just as likely the technology will be reverse engineered by a lone programmer, as was the case with DvD copy protection.
Again Leslie L. Vadasz says,
" It is important for the Committee to understand that content, once captured in "unprotected" form, can never be put back in the "bottle" and protected against copying on the Internet. This is because this unprotected media looks no different to digital devices than a home movie that you would send to a relative or friend. There is no watermark, chip device, or screening system that will ever effectively put an end to this problem."
The only people this will effect are those people who wish to use their machines for "Fair Use" copying of content. Fair Use allows me to make backup copies of movies I have purchased, record TV programs and lend them to friends. It allows me to record music CD to another format, such as cassette tape, so I can listen to it in my car or MP3 so my wife can play the music on her portable MP3 player. All of these uses are fair and are by no means copyright infringment. If the SSSCA passes, I will be forced to purchase a seperate licence for each of my several desktop computers, my laptop, my wifes MP3 player, as well as my stereo and one each for my two cars. Additionally, punishment for these new crimes are very unreasonable, stealing a CD from a store is considered petty theft, yet downloading the same content from the internet in the post SSSCA will be a federal offense punishable by time in prison and/or a fine of up to $500,000. This hardly seems to be punishment which fits the crime.
To Senator Hollings, this may be about preventing copyright infrigment, but to me it is about preventing fair use. To me this is about taking away my freedom to play content I have legally purchased on devices I have legally purchased. The RIAA and the MPAA member companies have business models rooted in the 19th century and they are trying to apply those models to the 21st century, this of course is failing, instead of changing with the times, they want the Government to intervene and protect thier 19th century business model
To quote Robert Heinlein's very first story Life-Line:
"There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute or common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back."
I hope you will oppose the SSSCA, it is bad for the Tech industry and it is bad for the consumer. At the very least, please do not let this bill pass without public debate, as did the DMCA, which was later used by the same organizations sponoring the SSSCA, to stifle Free Speech (Felton v. RIAA), Freedom of Press (MPAA v. 2600) and Fair Use(DOJ v. Dmitry Sklyarov). If I personally must make choice between Titanic being available on the internet or retaining my current rights under Fair Use and retaining the personal control over my computer, I will take the latter, every single time.
I hadn't gamed since 1996, until I came across the HackMaster Player Handbook. The cover emulates that of the 1st Ed AD&D PHB and it brought back alot of old memories. Kenzer Co. licensed the AD&D 1st ed rules from TSR/WoTC/Hasbro and put thier own spin on it. Coolest new spell is "Nuclear Winter Fireball". I highly recomend it.
No where in my statement did I say a nuclear strike would be good or bad, I was simply stating my opinion as to why supposed secret information may have been leaked to the press. My personal politics was not important to the statement.
This is absolutly correct. Iraq is our next target in the "War on Terrorism" and GW wants to make it clear to Hussien that use of Chemical/Biological weapons against US Troops will be meant with a nuclear strike, or at the very least the possiblity of a nuclear strike. It seems to me, we are turning back the clock, returning to the Cold War era. Suggested reading to see where this MIGHT be going, read "Russian Spring" by Norman Spinrad.
Slashdot Mirror
A better point to make would be why would you want to have linux as your base system?
Why not ? At its base (no GUI), Linux is small, fast, dependable, secure and highly configurable. Why start from scratch, when Linux or *BSD can be had for free ?
Why must everyone think linux is something that it isn't,
What do you mean ? Right now, Linux stands as one of the best operating systems available. Of course there also *BSD. Beyond Linux or *BSD, there are not many options.
great that is.
No doubt, Linux is great.
Because the $1800 iMac is much nicer hardware than the $800 Celeron?
I agree with you on all your points, the problem is most people will not know the difference and will choose the cheaper hardware, especially if the label says 1 Ghz.
Not only will that never, ever happen, but it would be a really bad idea for software written for a Dell to not run on a Gateway.
This is a good point, but on the otherhand, why should Dell care if its software ran on a Gateway or not. More likely it would be the other way around, Dell is too entrenched in the Windows world. Gateway, is scrambling for market share and far more likely to try something like this. HP/Compaq is a possibilty and MicronPC is a profitable privately held company, so there is no board of directors or stockholders to satisfy.
The whole point of this business model is to sell hardware and as long as the user can do basic things like watch DvD/Video, burn CD's, listen to music, surf the web, send/recieve email, instant message, create documents of various types and connect to a Windows based network, probably too much more wouldn't be neccessary or could be dealt with by releasing a free SDK and letting the OSS Hackers do what they do best. As an example, it did not take long to port X Windows to OS X, once that happened Gimp and several other programs followed, Apple got a whole lot of runnable software with little work or cost on thier part. This would be even easier because it is Linux at its core, no real port is neccessary beyond getting X Windows running in rootless mode after that the user installs the proper libraries and virtually every program available under Linux is now usable without changing a line of code. I see no problems here, it seems to me everyone wins.
IMHO, it's the lack of a good desktop (KDE is OK) that's keeping *nix from becoming the premiere desktop and Aqua could help a lot.
I seriously doubt Apple will ever release Aqua, there are too many advantages to keeping it in house, the biggest reason being control. Apple is primarily a hardware company and they, like Sun, use software to sell thier hardware. If Aqua were released to an open source license, it would be ported to other platforms, at which point at least one reason for buying an Apple system is gone. Who would spend $1800 on an iMac when you could get similar functions from a $800 Celeron system.
I personally think we may, in the future see some x86 OEM do something similar with Linux. Have an open source core (command line only), with a proprietary GUI on top (only sold and supported with thier hardware, no retail version), but make it easy to run X Windows concurently in rootless mode, so all the hardcore Linux users can still use thier favorite programs. I suspect someone could sell alot of hardware this way, if done right and done well.
You wonder just how much under the table money did Ellison pay to the Clinton Administration to expedite the US v. Microsoft case, too.
I also wonder how much under the table money Gates paid to the Bush Administration to bury the US v. Microsoft case.
Anybody have any tips for me?
Lycoris.com is a good start, though it looks like they are sold out for the time being. A quick search on Google also yeilded qlilinux.com . They are available, but if you are expecting to get one from one of the top 5 OEM's, Dell etc, you can probably forget it.
But you have forgotten about the Dell Ninja Death Squad, which Dell deploys to undermine its competitors and deal with customers who call into Tech Support too often.
Of course it doesn't matter, because the discussion is about Gateway, not Dell.
As it stands right now, Linux is developed by individuals in thier spare time. True, there are some commercial companies involved and they have certainly contributed much, but that does not change the underlaying fact that Microsoft spends a magnatude more on Windows R&D than is spent on Linux. Until more commercial outfits get involved, with more money, the userfriendliness of Linux will always take back seat to stability and security. Why don't more companied invest more money into Linux, simple, why should they ? The Microsoft monopoly eliminates all need for diversity. Perhaps MS hasn't bullied everyone into complying with thier agenda (doubtful), but the very existance of the MS monopoly by itself is enough to keep companies from developing for Linux or any other OS.
Diversity is considered a good thing when talking about genetics, why isn't it a good thing for software ? Right now any virus which targets the Windows platform, which almost all of them do, has the potential to harm 90% of the installed computer base, if we had diversity, virus, security problems and bugs, would effect far fewer people and when these things did occur, the companies involvded would be forced to fix them or risk loosing market share, this is called natural selection, adapt or die. Competition is the single largest driving force behind both genetics and capitalism.
I agree with you, there is no clear successor to Windows, but why does there have to be ? Why can't we have 3 or 4 successors ? I personally like having a choice as to what car to buy, why shouldn't I have a choice of Operating Systems too ? Why shouldn't I be able to choose the correct tool for the job at hand ?
You're damn right, I really would be surprised. Why didn't that happen earlier? Why doesn't it happen right now? Linux still isn't ready for consumers
This is an easy question to answer and should be obvious to you. Microsoft has been convicted of being an monopoly. While it had a strangle hold on the industry, it has stifled and strong armed companies from investing in the R&D required. These are the reasons they were convicted.
Every hardware-manufacturer would have to write new drivers, and they are not going to do that until a new market-leader has been established. And without drivers, who would that be?
Or perhaps in the absences of the Microsoft Monopoly, these companies would be free to develope drivers and software as they see fit, instead of according to Microsofts agenda. They could and would develope accross plateforms in attemps to get as big a piece of the pie as possible.
Also, this is about the software. All those tiny little programs you use every day. They all would have to ported to another OS.
The problem with your theory, is it functions on the assumption, that if Windows ceased to be developed by Microsoft, that all copies of Windows would cease to work. The software companies would have time to port thier programs, before Windows became so obsolete as to be unusable. What little programs are you talking about ? We are not talking about programs developed in house, by various companies, they would have plenty of time to develope, test and deploy new software before it became an issue. We are talking about those little programs that make our day to day computing lives easier. Which ones either don't already have a Linux equivilent or couldn't be ported by a competent staff, in a few weeks ?
One author thinks OS/2 will be the new "OS for the Masses". Another will port his stuff to Linux. And you will end up with less applications for your new OS, regardless what OS you will be using.
You are wrong, these times would go down in history as some of the most exciting in the history of Computers. There would be a boom in innovation, creativity and competition ( all long suppressed by Microsofts monopoly), as all these companies would no longer be hampered by the Microsoft agenda and would be FREE to port thier software and develope the killer applications for any plateform they wanted. This means more R&D money, more programers hired, more diverse computing environment. I see no problem here.
Linux - forget it. Fine for techies, unusable for computer illiterates.
If Windows ceased to exist, you'd be very suprised at how fast Linux would become usable by the masses. Remember neccessity is the mother of invention. I'd bet overnight, RedHat would be a billion dollar company, within a week, every Dell would ship with Linux and within a month IBM would be fielding a new version of OS/2. There would be no shortage of companies rushing to fill the void and of all the alterentive OS's, Linux is the closest to being viable on the desktop.
lots of venomous creatures, nasty non-venomous creatures, aliens, secret government projects and a handful of radioactive yokels
Sadly, you just described my 20 year high school reunion.
If we want to complain about the media industries taking away our freedoms then we have to have an alternative business plan that will assure John and Joanna Doe that we are not destroying their livlihood in the name of our freedom.
Look at the Porno industry, they've made billions of dollars a year from the internet since the beginning. Heck there were BBS's making money on porno in the 80's. Thier secret is very simple, are you ready, here it is;
"Provide a good service or product for a fair price!"
I have to say though, it is not my job to come up with new and inovative ways for the media giants to make money. That is why all those CEO's make the big bucks. As we use to say in the Army "Lead, follow or get out of the way!". These people need to adapt to new technology, either by coming up with new ways to use it, or by copying another successful model. If they can't do this, then they don't deserve thier 7 figure income and if the Board of Directors keeps CEO's like this around, then the comapny deserves to die. This the nature of capitalism.
That doesn't mean that if your box dies on Monday that a guy will be out there to fix it Tuesday.
This is exactly the reason I don't buy my equipment over the internet or phone. I shop locally, at a Ma & Pop store. Sure I pay more, but I have a personal relationship with these people, they know me and even sent my wife flowers when she was in the hospital. When I have a problem with a warrantied item, I take it in and the next day I pick it up, easy as that. Once when I was having problems with a Sound Blaster Live card, the owner of the shop took my machine home with him and worked on it all night, so he could have it for me the next day. It turned out to be a compatibility issue between the MSI motherboard and the SBL card, both worked fine without the other. They swapped my motherboard for another brand and it has worked like a champ ever since. You can NOT get this kind of service from Dell, Alienware or any of the other big boys. If I shopped at Dell, I'd just be a drop in thier bucket, but at this shop, I am one of thier best customers and they treat me well.
Worked on NT4/SP6 with IE 6.0
Google logs my search terms when I search, along with my IP address!
The difference is, Google is a good company with a solid privacy policy, and they have never given me a reason not to trust them. Microsoft on the otherhand, is a convicted monopolist, has had way too many security problems(they can't protect thier own data, what makes me think they can or will protect mine ?) and has repeatedly shown that it can not be trusted.
fox news in fair and balanced. You are just used to the news leaning towards the left that anything in the middle is right to you.
Or Fox New is biased towards the right, but because you are also on the right, to you, it appears to be "Fair and Balanced".
"They seem satisfied to try to attack it in the press rather than trying to make it work," said Sen. Hollings spokesman Andy Davis.
I'd be satisfied too, so far it looks to have been a pretty effective strategy. Let's hope it is successful enough to get this malignant bill killed at the earliest possible opportunity.
This was my favorte quote too. What was lost on Andy Davis, is that WE don't want it to work, not even a little, WE want the CBDTPA to go way completely and never come back. The only way to do that was to get the word out to the voters.
. I've got a 120 GB drive in my desktop at work, 80 GB at home and 30 GB in my notebook, what would I need 20 MB for?
Lets not forget my MP3 player doubles as a 6Gb USB hard drive, supported by Mac OS 9/X, Linux and even any version of Windows that supports USB.
I will buy a new computer before it goes into effect
Heck, I just earmarked $2000 to buy 3 maybe 4 computers (no monitors, no Windows). My current systems should last another 2-3 years and if each of the new ones gives me at least 3-5 years each, then another 3-5 years through cannablized parts, I should be good for about 20 years. Hopfully by then the "War on Freedom" will be over and we will have better times.
Seems to me they have it covered.
United States Patent #6,330,670
Digital rights management operating system
Abstract
A digital rights management operating system protects rights-managed data, such as downloaded content, from access by untrusted programs while the data is loaded into memory or on a page file as a result of the execution of a trusted application that accesses the memory. To protect the rights-managed data resident in memory, the digital rights management operating system refuses to load an untrusted program into memory while the trusted application is executing or removes the data from memory before loading the untrusted program. If the untrusted program executes at the operating system level, such as a debugger, the digital rights management operating system renounces a trusted identity created for it by the computer processor when the computer was booted. To protect the rights-managed data on the page file, the digital rights management operating system prohibits raw access to the page file, or erases the data from the page file before allowing such access. Alternatively, the digital rights management operating system can encrypt the rights-managed data prior to writing it to the page file. The digital rights management operating system also limits the functions the user can perform on the rights-managed data and the trusted application, and can provide a trusted clock used in place of the standard computer clock.
I have deep concerns with the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA) which is being introduced by the Senate Commerce chairman Fritz Hollings (D-South Carolina). Hollings and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), are co-sponsoring this bill which would require computer and device makers to install a government-approved anti-copying technology intended to thwart piracy of digital works. This may sound good on the surface, but it has two flaws.
First it places the reponsibility for policing copyright infrignment on the makers of computers, instead of the copyright holders as it should rightly be. This means we, the consumer must pay higher prices for systems which are less useful to us. This act would reduce our freedom to choose Operating Systems. Many of us purchase systems, myself included, to run Linux (an alternative to Microsofts Windows XP), but because this proposed anti-copying technology will be a closed standard, the companies which distribute Linux will not be able to duplicate it without breaking the Digital Millenium Copyright Act(DMCA). Further, Microsoft owns the patent on Digital Rights Managment(DRM) Operating Systems, the software part of this technology, so companies, such as Apple and RedHat, who are in direct compitetion, would have to license this patent from Microsoft. Microsoft has been found guilty of building an illegal monopoly, so the chances of them cooperating with competitors is non existent, even for the betterment of society. This also means these smaller companies will be put out of business, because Microsoft will have an unfair advantage.
Leslie L. Vadasz, Executive Vice President of Intel Corporation said,
"Any attempt to inject a regulatory process into the design of our products will irreparably damage the high tech industry, It will substantially retard innovation, investment in new technologies, and will reduce the usefulness of our products to consumers."
The second flaw is it will not work, the big time pirates have the money and the incentive to circumvent any technology put into place. It is also just as likely the technology will be reverse engineered by a lone programmer, as was the case with DvD copy protection.
Again Leslie L. Vadasz says,
" It is important for the Committee to understand that content, once captured in "unprotected" form, can never be put back in the "bottle" and protected against copying on the Internet. This is because this unprotected media looks no different to digital devices than a home movie that you would send to a relative or friend. There is no watermark, chip device, or screening system that will ever effectively put an end to this problem."
The only people this will effect are those people who wish to use their machines for "Fair Use" copying of content. Fair Use allows me to make backup copies of movies I have purchased, record TV programs and lend them to friends. It allows me to record music CD to another format, such as cassette tape, so I can listen to it in my car or MP3 so my wife can play the music on her portable MP3 player. All of these uses are fair and are by no means copyright infringment. If the SSSCA passes, I will be forced to purchase a seperate licence for each of my several desktop computers, my laptop, my wifes MP3 player, as well as my stereo and one each for my two cars. Additionally, punishment for these new crimes are very unreasonable, stealing a CD from a store is considered petty theft, yet downloading the same content from the internet in the post SSSCA will be a federal offense punishable by time in prison and/or a fine of up to $500,000. This hardly seems to be punishment which fits the crime.
To Senator Hollings, this may be about preventing copyright infrigment, but to me it is about preventing fair use. To me this is about taking away my freedom to play content I have legally purchased on devices I have legally purchased. The RIAA and the MPAA member companies have business models rooted in the 19th century and they are trying to apply those models to the 21st century, this of course is failing, instead of changing with the times, they want the Government to intervene and protect thier 19th century business model
To quote Robert Heinlein's very first story Life-Line:
"There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute or common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back."
I hope you will oppose the SSSCA, it is bad for the Tech industry and it is bad for the consumer. At the very least, please do not let this bill pass without public debate, as did the DMCA, which was later used by the same organizations sponoring the SSSCA, to stifle Free Speech (Felton v. RIAA), Freedom of Press (MPAA v. 2600) and Fair Use(DOJ v. Dmitry Sklyarov). If I personally must make choice between Titanic being available on the internet or retaining my current rights under Fair Use and retaining the personal control over my computer, I will take the latter, every single time.
Thank you for your time
It's why I bought HackMaster.
I hadn't gamed since 1996, until I came across the HackMaster Player Handbook. The cover emulates that of the 1st Ed AD&D PHB and it brought back alot of old memories. Kenzer Co. licensed the AD&D 1st ed rules from TSR/WoTC/Hasbro and put thier own spin on it. Coolest new spell is "Nuclear Winter Fireball". I highly recomend it.
(You know, the Communists had it all wrong. The best way to manage society is through central planning of Consumption!)
This is possibly the most insight I've seen in a Slashdot post in a long time. Perhaps this can be the basis for "The Communist Manifesto XP".
No where in my statement did I say a nuclear strike would be good or bad, I was simply stating my opinion as to why supposed secret information may have been leaked to the press. My personal politics was not important to the statement.
Simple. It's an intentional leak.
This is absolutly correct. Iraq is our next target in the "War on Terrorism" and GW wants to make it clear to Hussien that use of Chemical/Biological weapons against US Troops will be meant with a nuclear strike, or at the very least the possiblity of a nuclear strike. It seems to me, we are turning back the clock, returning to the Cold War era. Suggested reading to see where this MIGHT be going, read "Russian Spring" by Norman Spinrad.