What's the deal? Well - it's hard for me to understand, really. But, it's all about catchwords, buzzwords, noise and nonsense. When I was a kid, we had "sports". Kids today won't settle for mere "sports", instead opting for "extreme sports". Or, more accurately, "Xtreme Sports".
We can expect an "Xtreme Windows" soon, I guess. And, I expect that it will be extremely mundane.
That's all so very politically correct, and so all-inclusive - I almost feel like calling for a group hug or something.
Meanwhile, there are tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of computer users who have NEVER had their computers compromised - and perhaps a billion others who have had their computers compromised. There are millions upon millions whose computers are routinely compromised.
Now, I'll admit to something here, that is somewhat embarrassing. I used to belong to the club whose computers were routinely compromised. I was raising sons who demanded to be allowed to play games, and to be on the internet. At the time, many of the current games demanded administrator privileges. It seems that about once per month, I was repairing some infection. That could be an exaggeration - but I definitely spent to much time repairing stupid problems.
I reached a point where enough was enough. I told the boys that all the computers that I own were being locked down tight. All of my computers became Linux boxes, and I simply stopped working on their machines.
Eldest son learned to do his own formatting and reinstallations, and he seems content with the state of things on his machine.
Middle son just uses strictly locked down accounts on my machines, or guest accounts on other people's machines. He doesn't even own his own machine.
Youngest son did the research to learn Windows thoroughly, AND to learn Linux thoroughly. His Windows machine has been compromised a couple times in the past few years, but he was on top of things, and fixed it himself. His Linux machine has never been compromised.
As I see it - my eldest son has his head up his ass, because he deems his gaming as being more important than security. He is quite happy to run an infected machine while doing online banking - as long as it doesn't slow his gaming. At the point where gaming gets difficult, is where he takes an infection seriously.
In the business world, those businesses that insist on Java and Flash are comparable to my eldest son. They have their heads up their asses. Those of you who are understanding and supportive of that position? I guess you're a little like drug pushers. Stop enabling self destructive behaviour. Tell it like it is: Java and Flash are poison to a business environment!!
That may be flamebait. If so, to bad. The DOJ is not the Department of Justice. ICE is not a government body, either - it's the enforcement arm of Corporate Amerika. Screw 'em.
Actionable. I positively detest that word in any context. Quadruple detestation when used by some lard ass, whose only actions seem to be shoveling food to his face.
When the president's daughter does a pie chart, it's innovative.
When some working schmuck figures a way to save the company millions on supplies, processing, and/or distribution - he's just done the job he's paid for. Nothing worth seeing here, just move along folks!
Death nails. Slapping out of the business field. Niche markets.
Sorry, but that reads to much like fanboi talk for me.
Quality product? Not exactly - why don't we revisit WinME and Vista? You are correct with the "secure hold on the desktop market", but there were a lot of questionable ethics involved there.
Your dream world of Microsoft's world dominance is really a nightmare, or at least a dystopia. Enjoy the dream though - if you can. As for me, I'll continue on with Unix-likes, no matter what the world does around me.
Not necessarily. Basically, a guy can build his own version of Windows, and leave out all the cruft, such as Explorer. We don't really need a shell to do installations. Hey, I've got it! Let's reconstitute DosShell!!
Dude - every story about any computer company is re-spun as a desperation move. Apple makes the news - it's a desperation situation. Dell, ditto. Samsung, Sony, doesn't matter who they are. Every story gets re-spun into the company desperately warding of impending doom. If it's not computer related, then there's only a 50/50 chance that the story can be enhanced in the desperation mode.
Now - personally - I would tend to believe that MS has a touch of that desperation atmosphere. They are working hard to remain relevant, and they are pushing that Metro stuff, and at the same time working very hard to get into the phone and tablet market. Yeah - there's some desperation, but not as much as GP wishes to imply.
I don't buy Kraft, I don't shop Penny's. Big companies have unsound reasons for social engineering the masses. You are being manipulated, and you don't even care.
SOME social engineering might actually be good. The cereal companies manipulated the masses to eat grain products and milk for breakfast. You, your parents, and grandparents have been indoctrinated to believe that cereal is the breakfast food. Your GREAT grandparents probably ate beans, and maybe a bit of meat. There were no Frosted Flakes back then. It seems that rich folk thought that poor folk eating beans for breakfast was obnoxious, because the poor folk passed gas all day long. Social engineering at it's finest, ehh?
How are you being socially engineered today? Do some critical thinking, alright?
No, corporations do NOT have some inherent right to spend billions to persuade tools and fools to think in a manner that might be profitable to the corporations.
Frigidaire Home Products (not to be confused with the multi-billion dollar Frigidaire, which makes your refrigerator)
I'll hazard that Fastenal meets my criteria - I deal with them, and I've never heard them make an official public statement regarding gay rights, voting rights, immigration, border control, or any other hot topic. And, Fastenal is much larger than the four examples that I've already given.
Businesses small and not so small are going about the business of doing business. A properly run business simply doesn't give a damn about your views on gay rights, voting rights, etc. They want to make money, not change the world.
Uhhhh - no. They don't, actually. There are tens of thousands of companies in the United States that go about the business of business, and don't waste their time or money on social engineering. There are probably one or two in your own hometown. And, they probably fly under YOUR radar.
Corporations are in business to offer products that people want or need, and to skim a profit off of that want or need. Corporations have absolutely NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER promoting any political, ethical, or moral view in public. As for ethics, their only concern should be internal, ie, not hiring known thieves, preventing theft, catching and disciplining thieves, along with the prevention of various types of prejudice. Work ethics are a legitimate concern of corporations - nothing else.
When I see a corporation taking a public stance on any issue, I make a mental note NOT to buy their products.
The one time I want to see a corporation even respond to pressure on a public issue, is in regard to pollution and environmental concerns. Some kid discovers some yucky shit being drained into a creek, it makes the news, I want to see the corporation responsible offering the media access to the plant, as they investigate and clean up the pollutants. That's just about it.
Your point? You'd be out of a job? Poor chump - if you cave in to illegal and unethical demands from your "employer", then you don't have a "job". You're a fucking SLAVE, idiot!
Neither Oklahoma nor Texas has recently had a governor arrested, prosecuted, and found guilty of felony misdemeanors. That's not to say that those states don't have corruption problems, but we can make a damned convincing argument that Illinois might be the most corrupt state.
The problem is, no one has any balls today. People have been brainwashed into believing that "there should be a law". Hence - we have a myriad of nonsense laws to "protect" us. Strange how all those laws designed to "protect" us can be used to hammer us senseless when we come to the attention of law enforcement officials.
Yes, I'm all for an educated public. Unfortunately, the departments of education around the country are largely responsible for the brainwashed condition of the masses.
I've read your post a couple times now - and can't seem to make sense of it.
Can't install Mint on Mint/Debian? I can't imagine that anyone has wanted to. Has anyone tried? And, why?
As for the benefits of the Ubuntu community - I just don't know. I mean, we all realize that Ubuntu is a subsection of the greater Debian community, right? If it works on Debian, it should work on Ubuntu, but not necessarily the opposite. Ubuntu has bastardized Debian for their own purposes, and butchered the desktop. Hordes of Ubuntu users are fleeing that community, and finding refuge with Mint. Mint Debian, for me, which remains true to the real Debian community, and basically has turned it's back on the heretics over at Ubuntu.
Significant issues, for whom, exactly? Windows users are accustomed to downloading binary blobs from any frigging untrusted source they happen to stumble over while randomly browsing porn/phishing/hacking/music/video/MySpace/learnterrorismtheeasyway/betterdesignerdrugs/scamoftheweek sites.
If you find a new Linux convert who gives a small damn about binary blobs, he has probably converted from BSD or something of the sort.
Let's be careful here - I specifically aimed my guns at "rights holders". Ridiculous term, if you ask me. A term that should enrage any and all. I also stated that said "rights holders" have no rights that take precedence over my rights, or yours. Yet, they are singled out as having some special "rights", not granted to a mere commoner.
Now - who ARE these "rights holders"? It gets to be more and more rare that this fictional "rights holder" is an actual artist of any sort. The MPA holds "rights" to almost everything that comes out of Hollywood and it's associated industries. RIAA represents a group of "rights holders" that, like the MPAA, puts the perpetual shaft to actual artists. Book publishers, software publishers, you name it - the "rights holders" are almost always a group which holds monopolistic or near-monopolistic strangleholds on the means of production.
These "rights holders" have no concept of "fair use", or "public domain". They work hard to quash any time limits on copyright, continually moving expiration dates further and further into the future.
The terms "authors", "artists", "songwriters", "scriptwriters", and more, have little in common with the term "rights holders" today. Occasionally, the person is the same in both cases. Only occasionally.
The battle is not between some rich people, and the common man. The battle is between corporate greed, and common sense, ages old agreements between the intelligentsia and the commoners.
The AUTHOR should hold a monopolistic right to his work for a decade or two. An ARTIST should enjoy the same right - whether that artist produces music, paintings, or whatever. CORPORATIONS, on the other hand, should enjoy only whatever rights that artist grants the corporation, FOR THE SAME PERIOD OF TIME!
Works produced by men and women who died decades ago are still held by "rights holders", who will never permit those works to enter the public domain. If those "rights holders" can't profit from the works, then the works will simply die off, and be forgotten.
A person or organization that will threaten to file suit if little children sing a "Happy Birthday" song ranks with the lowest of the lowest scum you might find in a hardened prison population. Such people are unfit to participate in society.
The fix? TFS suggests that there is a fix. I say there is no fix. When blind fools abdicate their rights, there is no fix. For generations to come, in NZ, Australia, the UK, the US, Canada, and other nations that sign our ridiculous fucking treaties, people are going to be oppressed by the likes of RIAA.
Screw that. No "rights holder" holds any rights that take priority over our right to download information, or to entertain ourselves with a bunch of binary digits.
We've all got our heads up our asses, or those "rights holders" couldn't have bought up all the politicians who have made these laws possible.
The "unwitting Democrat" was bought and paid for. Are you really that naive? Do you believe that your Dummycrats are any more honest than the other party? FFS, look at NAFTA. It has destroyed the economies of TWO nations, and it was pushed through by a Democratic administration.
Uhhhhhmmmmmm - just to let you know, I didn't grow up in the Deep South. I had an extension cord running from the house, to my parking spot. On cold nights, I plugged in either a block heater, which heated and circulated the coolant, or an oil pan heater. Depending on which was installed, or which I invested in after purchasing the vehicle. Trick question? Yes, maybe it is. Just testing to see whether you believe 8 to 12 hours of electricity is less expensive than 8 to 12 hours of idling your engine.;)
And, yes, it probably is a trick question in another sense, as well. If the car is in the garage, it probably isn't -30 degrees, either.
I know, hackers always get insurance before they embark on their activities. My local insurance agents all offer "Hacking Insurance". It even comes bundled with my homeowner's insurance, at State Farm!!
Slashdot Mirror
What's the deal? Well - it's hard for me to understand, really. But, it's all about catchwords, buzzwords, noise and nonsense. When I was a kid, we had "sports". Kids today won't settle for mere "sports", instead opting for "extreme sports". Or, more accurately, "Xtreme Sports".
We can expect an "Xtreme Windows" soon, I guess. And, I expect that it will be extremely mundane.
That's all so very politically correct, and so all-inclusive - I almost feel like calling for a group hug or something.
Meanwhile, there are tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of computer users who have NEVER had their computers compromised - and perhaps a billion others who have had their computers compromised. There are millions upon millions whose computers are routinely compromised.
Now, I'll admit to something here, that is somewhat embarrassing. I used to belong to the club whose computers were routinely compromised. I was raising sons who demanded to be allowed to play games, and to be on the internet. At the time, many of the current games demanded administrator privileges. It seems that about once per month, I was repairing some infection. That could be an exaggeration - but I definitely spent to much time repairing stupid problems.
I reached a point where enough was enough. I told the boys that all the computers that I own were being locked down tight. All of my computers became Linux boxes, and I simply stopped working on their machines.
Eldest son learned to do his own formatting and reinstallations, and he seems content with the state of things on his machine.
Middle son just uses strictly locked down accounts on my machines, or guest accounts on other people's machines. He doesn't even own his own machine.
Youngest son did the research to learn Windows thoroughly, AND to learn Linux thoroughly. His Windows machine has been compromised a couple times in the past few years, but he was on top of things, and fixed it himself. His Linux machine has never been compromised.
As I see it - my eldest son has his head up his ass, because he deems his gaming as being more important than security. He is quite happy to run an infected machine while doing online banking - as long as it doesn't slow his gaming. At the point where gaming gets difficult, is where he takes an infection seriously.
In the business world, those businesses that insist on Java and Flash are comparable to my eldest son. They have their heads up their asses. Those of you who are understanding and supportive of that position? I guess you're a little like drug pushers. Stop enabling self destructive behaviour. Tell it like it is: Java and Flash are poison to a business environment!!
Protip, your ass.
The real protip? If your bank requires you to enable java or flash to use their site, you're banking in the wrong place.
Now, pull your head out of your ass, and thing "security" instead of "convenience".
That may be flamebait. If so, to bad. The DOJ is not the Department of Justice. ICE is not a government body, either - it's the enforcement arm of Corporate Amerika. Screw 'em.
AND, I'm an American.
Actionable. I positively detest that word in any context. Quadruple detestation when used by some lard ass, whose only actions seem to be shoveling food to his face.
When the president's daughter does a pie chart, it's innovative.
When some working schmuck figures a way to save the company millions on supplies, processing, and/or distribution - he's just done the job he's paid for. Nothing worth seeing here, just move along folks!
Death nails. Slapping out of the business field. Niche markets.
Sorry, but that reads to much like fanboi talk for me.
Quality product? Not exactly - why don't we revisit WinME and Vista? You are correct with the "secure hold on the desktop market", but there were a lot of questionable ethics involved there.
Your dream world of Microsoft's world dominance is really a nightmare, or at least a dystopia. Enjoy the dream though - if you can. As for me, I'll continue on with Unix-likes, no matter what the world does around me.
Not necessarily. Basically, a guy can build his own version of Windows, and leave out all the cruft, such as Explorer. We don't really need a shell to do installations. Hey, I've got it! Let's reconstitute DosShell!!
http://www.nliteos.com/download.html
Dude - every story about any computer company is re-spun as a desperation move. Apple makes the news - it's a desperation situation. Dell, ditto. Samsung, Sony, doesn't matter who they are. Every story gets re-spun into the company desperately warding of impending doom. If it's not computer related, then there's only a 50/50 chance that the story can be enhanced in the desperation mode.
Now - personally - I would tend to believe that MS has a touch of that desperation atmosphere. They are working hard to remain relevant, and they are pushing that Metro stuff, and at the same time working very hard to get into the phone and tablet market. Yeah - there's some desperation, but not as much as GP wishes to imply.
I almost never eat McDonald's, either. Remember Snoopy, from Peanuts? Not eating at Mickey D's merits a "Happy Dance" if you ask me!!
I don't buy Kraft, I don't shop Penny's. Big companies have unsound reasons for social engineering the masses. You are being manipulated, and you don't even care.
SOME social engineering might actually be good. The cereal companies manipulated the masses to eat grain products and milk for breakfast. You, your parents, and grandparents have been indoctrinated to believe that cereal is the breakfast food. Your GREAT grandparents probably ate beans, and maybe a bit of meat. There were no Frosted Flakes back then. It seems that rich folk thought that poor folk eating beans for breakfast was obnoxious, because the poor folk passed gas all day long. Social engineering at it's finest, ehh?
How are you being socially engineered today? Do some critical thinking, alright?
No, corporations do NOT have some inherent right to spend billions to persuade tools and fools to think in a manner that might be profitable to the corporations.
Powersports Extreme Powdercoating
Engineered Products, Inc
Foreman Cement
Frigidaire Home Products (not to be confused with the multi-billion dollar Frigidaire, which makes your refrigerator)
I'll hazard that Fastenal meets my criteria - I deal with them, and I've never heard them make an official public statement regarding gay rights, voting rights, immigration, border control, or any other hot topic. And, Fastenal is much larger than the four examples that I've already given.
Businesses small and not so small are going about the business of doing business. A properly run business simply doesn't give a damn about your views on gay rights, voting rights, etc. They want to make money, not change the world.
Uhhhh - no. They don't, actually. There are tens of thousands of companies in the United States that go about the business of business, and don't waste their time or money on social engineering. There are probably one or two in your own hometown. And, they probably fly under YOUR radar.
Wow - a rational view, it seems.
Corporations are in business to offer products that people want or need, and to skim a profit off of that want or need. Corporations have absolutely NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER promoting any political, ethical, or moral view in public. As for ethics, their only concern should be internal, ie, not hiring known thieves, preventing theft, catching and disciplining thieves, along with the prevention of various types of prejudice. Work ethics are a legitimate concern of corporations - nothing else.
When I see a corporation taking a public stance on any issue, I make a mental note NOT to buy their products.
The one time I want to see a corporation even respond to pressure on a public issue, is in regard to pollution and environmental concerns. Some kid discovers some yucky shit being drained into a creek, it makes the news, I want to see the corporation responsible offering the media access to the plant, as they investigate and clean up the pollutants. That's just about it.
In other words, STFU, and get on with business!
Your point? You'd be out of a job? Poor chump - if you cave in to illegal and unethical demands from your "employer", then you don't have a "job". You're a fucking SLAVE, idiot!
Neither Oklahoma nor Texas has recently had a governor arrested, prosecuted, and found guilty of felony misdemeanors. That's not to say that those states don't have corruption problems, but we can make a damned convincing argument that Illinois might be the most corrupt state.
The problem is, no one has any balls today. People have been brainwashed into believing that "there should be a law". Hence - we have a myriad of nonsense laws to "protect" us. Strange how all those laws designed to "protect" us can be used to hammer us senseless when we come to the attention of law enforcement officials.
Yes, I'm all for an educated public. Unfortunately, the departments of education around the country are largely responsible for the brainwashed condition of the masses.
I've read your post a couple times now - and can't seem to make sense of it.
Can't install Mint on Mint/Debian? I can't imagine that anyone has wanted to. Has anyone tried? And, why?
As for the benefits of the Ubuntu community - I just don't know. I mean, we all realize that Ubuntu is a subsection of the greater Debian community, right? If it works on Debian, it should work on Ubuntu, but not necessarily the opposite. Ubuntu has bastardized Debian for their own purposes, and butchered the desktop. Hordes of Ubuntu users are fleeing that community, and finding refuge with Mint. Mint Debian, for me, which remains true to the real Debian community, and basically has turned it's back on the heretics over at Ubuntu.
Significant issues, for whom, exactly? Windows users are accustomed to downloading binary blobs from any frigging untrusted source they happen to stumble over while randomly browsing porn/phishing/hacking/music/video/MySpace/learnterrorismtheeasyway/betterdesignerdrugs/scamoftheweek sites.
If you find a new Linux convert who gives a small damn about binary blobs, he has probably converted from BSD or something of the sort.
Let's be careful here - I specifically aimed my guns at "rights holders". Ridiculous term, if you ask me. A term that should enrage any and all. I also stated that said "rights holders" have no rights that take precedence over my rights, or yours. Yet, they are singled out as having some special "rights", not granted to a mere commoner.
Now - who ARE these "rights holders"? It gets to be more and more rare that this fictional "rights holder" is an actual artist of any sort. The MPA holds "rights" to almost everything that comes out of Hollywood and it's associated industries. RIAA represents a group of "rights holders" that, like the MPAA, puts the perpetual shaft to actual artists. Book publishers, software publishers, you name it - the "rights holders" are almost always a group which holds monopolistic or near-monopolistic strangleholds on the means of production.
These "rights holders" have no concept of "fair use", or "public domain". They work hard to quash any time limits on copyright, continually moving expiration dates further and further into the future.
The terms "authors", "artists", "songwriters", "scriptwriters", and more, have little in common with the term "rights holders" today. Occasionally, the person is the same in both cases. Only occasionally.
The battle is not between some rich people, and the common man. The battle is between corporate greed, and common sense, ages old agreements between the intelligentsia and the commoners.
The AUTHOR should hold a monopolistic right to his work for a decade or two. An ARTIST should enjoy the same right - whether that artist produces music, paintings, or whatever. CORPORATIONS, on the other hand, should enjoy only whatever rights that artist grants the corporation, FOR THE SAME PERIOD OF TIME!
Works produced by men and women who died decades ago are still held by "rights holders", who will never permit those works to enter the public domain. If those "rights holders" can't profit from the works, then the works will simply die off, and be forgotten.
A person or organization that will threaten to file suit if little children sing a "Happy Birthday" song ranks with the lowest of the lowest scum you might find in a hardened prison population. Such people are unfit to participate in society.
The fix? TFS suggests that there is a fix. I say there is no fix. When blind fools abdicate their rights, there is no fix. For generations to come, in NZ, Australia, the UK, the US, Canada, and other nations that sign our ridiculous fucking treaties, people are going to be oppressed by the likes of RIAA.
Screw that. No "rights holder" holds any rights that take priority over our right to download information, or to entertain ourselves with a bunch of binary digits.
We've all got our heads up our asses, or those "rights holders" couldn't have bought up all the politicians who have made these laws possible.
The "unwitting Democrat" was bought and paid for. Are you really that naive? Do you believe that your Dummycrats are any more honest than the other party? FFS, look at NAFTA. It has destroyed the economies of TWO nations, and it was pushed through by a Democratic administration.
Wake up and smell the horse shit, dude!!
GP is probably on a crusade to stamp out religion and war. Your definitions will have zero impact on his views.
Uhhhhhmmmmmm - just to let you know, I didn't grow up in the Deep South. I had an extension cord running from the house, to my parking spot. On cold nights, I plugged in either a block heater, which heated and circulated the coolant, or an oil pan heater. Depending on which was installed, or which I invested in after purchasing the vehicle. Trick question? Yes, maybe it is. Just testing to see whether you believe 8 to 12 hours of electricity is less expensive than 8 to 12 hours of idling your engine. ;)
And, yes, it probably is a trick question in another sense, as well. If the car is in the garage, it probably isn't -30 degrees, either.
I know, hackers always get insurance before they embark on their activities. My local insurance agents all offer "Hacking Insurance". It even comes bundled with my homeowner's insurance, at State Farm!!