Sounds like you were in Queen Isabella's court. "That fool Columbus wants to sail west, when everything in the world is east of us? He'll just fall off the edge of the world, and good riddance!"
Uhhhh - not exactly a NASCAR "fan" - hell, I couldn't name more than three drivers. But, I do watch a race now and then. And, I don't watch to see a wreck. Watching someone drive at high speed is sometimes almost as exhilirating as driving at high speed yourself. I don't have any officially clocked speeds, but I've been over 180 mph on two wheels, over 150 on four wheels, and somewhere between 115 and 120 on 18 wheels.
Actually - Great Britian needs a few replacement laws regarding freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and repealing huge parts of their libel and defamation laws.
Also, a legal trick here in the US might help out over there. If you address an officer of the court (a cop), telling him that he's an asshole, he can file charges against you. However, if you use the prefix, "In my opinion, you're being an asshole!" he can't do anything. It's a matter of stating an opinion, versus phrasing the same thing as a fact.
So, try it out, Brits. Instead of posting, "John is a poof", try, "In my opinion, John is a poof."
Which means most of us probably don't follow sports celebrities.
Some of us don't follow ANY "celebrities". They are all dissappointing, sooner or later. Hell, even John Wayne cashed in his chips some years ago. If the Duke let us down, all the celebs will, eventually.
Elitest nerd bullshit? No - that is real world, real life, pragmatism. Many of you city folk have never been 100 miles from the nearest town, or garage, or service station. But, I have. Not only can I change a tire - I can, and have, changed a tire on an 18-wheeler. Now - you can do the math, if you like. ASSuming that a cell phone would work, I could have called a mechanic, and waited 2 to 4 hours for him to get there. Then, waited for him to change the tire. Then followed him to his garage where I could telephone the boss so that he could pay for the new tire, plus the repair, plus the service call. OR, I could just change the damned tire, and at the end of half an hour, I could drag my hot sweaty arse behind the wheel, and enjoy the air conditioning as I drove on my way.
Oh - we were talking about computers. Same thing, really. I can pay someone hundreds of dollars (let's say Symantec) to keep my computer and/or network secure. And, I may just become the laughingstock of the world when I get hacked (like Sony, let's say). OR, I can make some attempt to understand how my computer and my network actually WORKS - then secure the damned thing.
Remember - security is NOT a product - it is a PROCESS!!! Not even the most naive and ignorant of the US Marines would draw up a security plan, then call it "good enough". Nor would they "outsource" the job. Instead - the Marines constantly evaluate and reconsider all aspects of their security environment. It's a PROCESS.
Oh - funny thing. I just watched the HNN broadcast. Some company logo in the background claims, "Security begins with trust". FFS - if I TRUST people, then there's no need for security, now is there? And, guess what - I don't trust that company, or any other, that much. I'll handle security for myself, thank you very much.
Think about that for a minute. WinXP was an alpha, Vista was a beta, and Win7 is release candidate 1. When they get around to Win10, maybe they'll actually have a legitimate operating system. But, I wouldn't count on it . . .
Why should someone even have to know such commands in the first place?
How about an automotive analogy? If you can't parallel park, you can't claim to know how to drive. If you can't change a flat tire, you shouldn't be licensed to drive. If you can't walk around your vehicle to see if all the parts in the correct places, (lights, tires, bumpers, windows - basic shit like that) then you should be charged with reckless driving when the cop pulls you over for driving on a flat tire, and a broken turn signal.
Just because you can have your car - or your computer - do things for you automagically shouldn't relieve you of the responsibility to UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEM!!
The system simply does NOT work. Your position seems to be similar to Hollywood's position that copyright "entitles" you to a constant income forever, and ever, amen. And, probably ditto with patents.
Neither system was meant to ensure that any author or inventor could sit on his arse for the rest of his life, while his "intellectual properties" generated wealth for him. They were ONLY meant to ensure that if ANYONE were to make a coin from his works, then he should get some of it, for a limited time.
The time limits have been raped unrecognizably, fair use has been treated similarly, and parody the same.
What is a reasonable time limit on copyright? How about 15 years for most forms of print, movies, and other media. And for software, 7 years. If there is money to be made from any copyrightable material, that money should have been made within those time frames. After that - it's public domain. And, I don't give a small rat's ass for any arguments to the contrary.
Mmmm. Points to you for being "right" - but - you're missing something too. I'm rather computer savvy, I'm aging, and looking at a display of an alarm clock, I would hesitate to press the "+" sign to "add an alarm". It's a generational thing, I would guess. I grew up "setting the alarm". Later, when alarm clocks and/or watches had multiple alarms available, I continued to "set the alarms". Add an alarm? The terminology leads me to think that I'm going to add a new clock, or in this case, add a new interface for another alarm clock. I don't want another alarm clock - I want to know how to "set" the one I see!
I'm partial to Enlightenment - and Sabayon has a nice offering. In fact, it's the only 64 bit distro that offers Enlightenment working out of the box. Others offer E17, but you have to work at making it work.
However - most people who are using Ubuntu came from Windows, and they aren't especially likely to leave Ubuntu for the sake of a more efficient desktop manager. Most of them have little idea where they are on the food chain, and those who do, feel little need to climb any higher.
Alright, I give up, you win. Linux i indeed a server operating system. And, the primary server I'm interested in is the Xserver. It fits beautifully onto my desktop screen, where I can play games, watch flash video in full screen, listen to music, browse the intartubez, do some serious computing, and read geeknewz.
For me, personally? Hmmmm. I refuse to pay anything for home computer games. Oh, I did over the years, because the kids wanted them. But I won't pay for them for myself. On the other hand, I pay Runescape sometimes. I'll pay for two or three months membership, when it runs out, I'll play free for awhile. But, I won't pay for WOW, or Sony, or any of the other big name gaming networks.
I suppose that an individual game really isn't worth much on my scale of things. But, a game ENGINE might be valuable.
However - in the community, there are indeed commercial games from independent developers. Now that I've bothered to look for them, I might even pay for some to see what I think of them. . .
"is considered to be " according to individual states which stand to gain from such a consideration.
Sorry, you'll have to make a better case for internet sales taxes than "The tax collectors in my home state consider the sale to have been made in my home state."
The IRS and it's system certainly has ulterior motives. As do the congress critters who actually pass laws regarding taxes.
I can simplify the tax code without a computer. Just strike all the existing income tax laws, and in their place, pass a law that your gross income times.1 belongs to the government. No deduction, no shelters, no credits, nothing. The same tax rate applies for married, single, youth, elderly, businesses large and small, no matter who you are.
However, the tax system isn't about revenue for the government, so much as it's about politics, so my system would never be adopted. Politicians use the tax system to make a zillion little groups of people feel "special", and to redistribute wealth according to whichever special group has the most political clout.
I don't know that they are "mutually exclusive", but oftentimes, it seems that something similar to that is true. The bottom line, in software is, what is your purpose in making the software?
If, the purpose is, "To make money", then your primary motivation is not in my own best interest.
If the purpose is, "To make something work better, faster, more efficiently", then your interests and my own may coincide.
I know coders need to eat. For that reason, I have sometimes clicked that "please donate" button, and sent the author of some piece of software ten or twenty dollars. I can't support the guy for a year because his software is helpful - but I can buy him a lunch. And, if the software is really good, and a lot of people are using it, he may get enough donations to support himself! If not - well - he can always find another line of work, I guess.
I am afraid that "most" Americans do eat that kind of food. I will, sometimes, when I'm in a real rush. But, I'd rather take the time to sit down to a meat and potato meal, sometimes rice instead of 'taters, with a veggie or two. I'm not much of a salad eater, but I'll put one away, once in awhile. I LOVE desserts - but by the time I've filled my belly with real food, there isn't much room for desserts, so my weight stays pretty stable at a mere 15 pounds over my "optimum" weight".
I will say, fast foods are addicting. The Big Mac, for instance. If I get one, I want two more. That sauce is just out of this world, I want to eat it til I burst. Sonic's french fries are the same - it's hard to stop myself placing another order once I've got the flavor in my mouth. To me, that is reason enough to avoid fast foods!
But, 30 years ago, I was addicted to Mountain Dew, too!
"People who have strong hard right opinions on some issues generally have them on almost all issues, etc..."
California found that to be a lie when Prop 8 was in play. Liberals counted on illegal and legal immigrants, along with black and Latino citizens to sway the vote the way the liberals wanted. Surprise, surprise, surprise!! Those very people that the liberals counted on voted the OTHER way.
There is a lot of truth that right wingers vote the right wing ticket, and left wingers vote the left wing ticket - AMONG MIDDLE CLASS WHITE VOTERS.
Add in the statement from your first post: "Pretty much.... people are voting the issues, and in a reasonably well thought out way."
One might conclude that non-white middle class voters tend to vote more responsibly? Hmmmm - food for thought. Of course, with the huge Mexican vote influencing elections, taking a look at the current situation in Mexico makes things pretty scary.
In the Linux community, he generally becomes trusted by opening his code up to review, accepting input, being part of an updating process, and generally not being an asshat by saying "It's MINE, if you want to use it, PAY ME!" Peer review, basically.
Proprietary vendors, on the other hand, build trust over a number of years, like ATI, nVidia, and a myriad of others.
While, yet another avenue exists for proprietary shops, shown by vendors such as Open Sound System. Their latest and greatest most up-to-date software is proprietary, but their older versions are open sourced. Again, peer review, albeit restricted somewhat.
Joe Blow doesn't gain trust and recognition overnight, just because he has the best idea since sliced bread. Participation in the community gets that for him. If he doesn't want to give something to the community - be it time, code, money, or other resources, his sliced bread will never be seen or heard of. OR - he can spend a zillion dollars on marketing, like most proprietary concerns do. Apple and Microsoft come readily to mind - but Joe Blow can't compete with their marketing budget, even if his "invention" could blow them out of the water.
My point was, Windows users routinely run as Admin and grant Admin rights to anything that asks. Few Linux users run as root, and those seem to be a little more careful about the things they install and run.
"trusted source" in my distro of Linux means that the repository itself has a signed key, which I trust. With three exceptions, my machine does indeed have "signed" code. The exceptions came from sources that I've learned to trust over the years.
Slashdot Mirror
Sounds like you were in Queen Isabella's court. "That fool Columbus wants to sail west, when everything in the world is east of us? He'll just fall off the edge of the world, and good riddance!"
Ditto what icebraining says.
[citation needed]
Uhhhh - not exactly a NASCAR "fan" - hell, I couldn't name more than three drivers. But, I do watch a race now and then. And, I don't watch to see a wreck. Watching someone drive at high speed is sometimes almost as exhilirating as driving at high speed yourself. I don't have any officially clocked speeds, but I've been over 180 mph on two wheels, over 150 on four wheels, and somewhere between 115 and 120 on 18 wheels.
I'm not crazy (I hope) but sometimes,
I FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED!!!
Looks like we need a replacement for twitter.
Actually - Great Britian needs a few replacement laws regarding freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and repealing huge parts of their libel and defamation laws.
Also, a legal trick here in the US might help out over there. If you address an officer of the court (a cop), telling him that he's an asshole, he can file charges against you. However, if you use the prefix, "In my opinion, you're being an asshole!" he can't do anything. It's a matter of stating an opinion, versus phrasing the same thing as a fact.
So, try it out, Brits. Instead of posting, "John is a poof", try, "In my opinion, John is a poof."
Which means most of us probably don't follow sports celebrities.
Some of us don't follow ANY "celebrities". They are all dissappointing, sooner or later. Hell, even John Wayne cashed in his chips some years ago. If the Duke let us down, all the celebs will, eventually.
Elitest nerd bullshit? No - that is real world, real life, pragmatism. Many of you city folk have never been 100 miles from the nearest town, or garage, or service station. But, I have. Not only can I change a tire - I can, and have, changed a tire on an 18-wheeler. Now - you can do the math, if you like. ASSuming that a cell phone would work, I could have called a mechanic, and waited 2 to 4 hours for him to get there. Then, waited for him to change the tire. Then followed him to his garage where I could telephone the boss so that he could pay for the new tire, plus the repair, plus the service call. OR, I could just change the damned tire, and at the end of half an hour, I could drag my hot sweaty arse behind the wheel, and enjoy the air conditioning as I drove on my way.
Oh - we were talking about computers. Same thing, really. I can pay someone hundreds of dollars (let's say Symantec) to keep my computer and/or network secure. And, I may just become the laughingstock of the world when I get hacked (like Sony, let's say). OR, I can make some attempt to understand how my computer and my network actually WORKS - then secure the damned thing.
Remember - security is NOT a product - it is a PROCESS!!! Not even the most naive and ignorant of the US Marines would draw up a security plan, then call it "good enough". Nor would they "outsource" the job. Instead - the Marines constantly evaluate and reconsider all aspects of their security environment. It's a PROCESS.
Oh - funny thing. I just watched the HNN broadcast. Some company logo in the background claims, "Security begins with trust". FFS - if I TRUST people, then there's no need for security, now is there? And, guess what - I don't trust that company, or any other, that much. I'll handle security for myself, thank you very much.
Think about that for a minute. WinXP was an alpha, Vista was a beta, and Win7 is release candidate 1. When they get around to Win10, maybe they'll actually have a legitimate operating system. But, I wouldn't count on it . . .
Why should someone even have to know such commands in the first place?
How about an automotive analogy? If you can't parallel park, you can't claim to know how to drive. If you can't change a flat tire, you shouldn't be licensed to drive. If you can't walk around your vehicle to see if all the parts in the correct places, (lights, tires, bumpers, windows - basic shit like that) then you should be charged with reckless driving when the cop pulls you over for driving on a flat tire, and a broken turn signal.
Just because you can have your car - or your computer - do things for you automagically shouldn't relieve you of the responsibility to UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEM!!
The system simply does NOT work. Your position seems to be similar to Hollywood's position that copyright "entitles" you to a constant income forever, and ever, amen. And, probably ditto with patents.
Neither system was meant to ensure that any author or inventor could sit on his arse for the rest of his life, while his "intellectual properties" generated wealth for him. They were ONLY meant to ensure that if ANYONE were to make a coin from his works, then he should get some of it, for a limited time.
The time limits have been raped unrecognizably, fair use has been treated similarly, and parody the same.
What is a reasonable time limit on copyright? How about 15 years for most forms of print, movies, and other media. And for software, 7 years. If there is money to be made from any copyrightable material, that money should have been made within those time frames. After that - it's public domain. And, I don't give a small rat's ass for any arguments to the contrary.
Man, that's a bit amateurish on the side of the phishers.
Well - what would you expect? It doesn't require a professional to "hack" into Sony's networks!
Mmmm. Points to you for being "right" - but - you're missing something too. I'm rather computer savvy, I'm aging, and looking at a display of an alarm clock, I would hesitate to press the "+" sign to "add an alarm". It's a generational thing, I would guess. I grew up "setting the alarm". Later, when alarm clocks and/or watches had multiple alarms available, I continued to "set the alarms". Add an alarm? The terminology leads me to think that I'm going to add a new clock, or in this case, add a new interface for another alarm clock. I don't want another alarm clock - I want to know how to "set" the one I see!
I'm partial to Enlightenment - and Sabayon has a nice offering. In fact, it's the only 64 bit distro that offers Enlightenment working out of the box. Others offer E17, but you have to work at making it work.
However - most people who are using Ubuntu came from Windows, and they aren't especially likely to leave Ubuntu for the sake of a more efficient desktop manager. Most of them have little idea where they are on the food chain, and those who do, feel little need to climb any higher.
Alright, I give up, you win. Linux i indeed a server operating system. And, the primary server I'm interested in is the Xserver. It fits beautifully onto my desktop screen, where I can play games, watch flash video in full screen, listen to music, browse the intartubez, do some serious computing, and read geeknewz.
WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! LINUX IS A SERVER OS!!!
For me, personally? Hmmmm. I refuse to pay anything for home computer games. Oh, I did over the years, because the kids wanted them. But I won't pay for them for myself. On the other hand, I pay Runescape sometimes. I'll pay for two or three months membership, when it runs out, I'll play free for awhile. But, I won't pay for WOW, or Sony, or any of the other big name gaming networks.
I suppose that an individual game really isn't worth much on my scale of things. But, a game ENGINE might be valuable.
However - in the community, there are indeed commercial games from independent developers. Now that I've bothered to look for them, I might even pay for some to see what I think of them. . .
Anyway - you might find answers to your questions if you read about, and maybe talk to some of the indies:
http://bloc.eurion.net/archives/2011/a-list-of-some-commercial-gnulinux-games/
http://www.humblebundle.com/
Maybe those links will give you some ideas for search terms or something.
"is considered to be " according to individual states which stand to gain from such a consideration.
Sorry, you'll have to make a better case for internet sales taxes than "The tax collectors in my home state consider the sale to have been made in my home state."
The IRS and it's system certainly has ulterior motives. As do the congress critters who actually pass laws regarding taxes.
I can simplify the tax code without a computer. Just strike all the existing income tax laws, and in their place, pass a law that your gross income times .1 belongs to the government. No deduction, no shelters, no credits, nothing. The same tax rate applies for married, single, youth, elderly, businesses large and small, no matter who you are.
However, the tax system isn't about revenue for the government, so much as it's about politics, so my system would never be adopted. Politicians use the tax system to make a zillion little groups of people feel "special", and to redistribute wealth according to whichever special group has the most political clout.
I don't know that they are "mutually exclusive", but oftentimes, it seems that something similar to that is true. The bottom line, in software is, what is your purpose in making the software?
If, the purpose is, "To make money", then your primary motivation is not in my own best interest.
If the purpose is, "To make something work better, faster, more efficiently", then your interests and my own may coincide.
I know coders need to eat. For that reason, I have sometimes clicked that "please donate" button, and sent the author of some piece of software ten or twenty dollars. I can't support the guy for a year because his software is helpful - but I can buy him a lunch. And, if the software is really good, and a lot of people are using it, he may get enough donations to support himself! If not - well - he can always find another line of work, I guess.
Obviously, you haven't met the lead engineer's sister . . .
I am afraid that "most" Americans do eat that kind of food. I will, sometimes, when I'm in a real rush. But, I'd rather take the time to sit down to a meat and potato meal, sometimes rice instead of 'taters, with a veggie or two. I'm not much of a salad eater, but I'll put one away, once in awhile. I LOVE desserts - but by the time I've filled my belly with real food, there isn't much room for desserts, so my weight stays pretty stable at a mere 15 pounds over my "optimum" weight".
I will say, fast foods are addicting. The Big Mac, for instance. If I get one, I want two more. That sauce is just out of this world, I want to eat it til I burst. Sonic's french fries are the same - it's hard to stop myself placing another order once I've got the flavor in my mouth. To me, that is reason enough to avoid fast foods!
But, 30 years ago, I was addicted to Mountain Dew, too!
"People who have strong hard right opinions on some issues generally have them on almost all issues, etc..."
California found that to be a lie when Prop 8 was in play. Liberals counted on illegal and legal immigrants, along with black and Latino citizens to sway the vote the way the liberals wanted. Surprise, surprise, surprise!! Those very people that the liberals counted on voted the OTHER way.
There is a lot of truth that right wingers vote the right wing ticket, and left wingers vote the left wing ticket - AMONG MIDDLE CLASS WHITE VOTERS.
Add in the statement from your first post: "Pretty much.... people are voting the issues, and in a reasonably well thought out way."
One might conclude that non-white middle class voters tend to vote more responsibly? Hmmmm - food for thought. Of course, with the huge Mexican vote influencing elections, taking a look at the current situation in Mexico makes things pretty scary.
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/
Indians using proper Microsoft Certified development tools.
Did you write that with a straight face? Enjoy spending Microsoft's money, you pathetic shill!
WTF is a pastafarian? Pasta glued to a hat? Never mind, I don't really want to know. But, what wedding?
What does Schrödinger have to say about people pulling his cat's tail? The next thing we'll see on the intartubes, is people slapping monkeys . . .
In the Linux community, he generally becomes trusted by opening his code up to review, accepting input, being part of an updating process, and generally not being an asshat by saying "It's MINE, if you want to use it, PAY ME!" Peer review, basically.
Proprietary vendors, on the other hand, build trust over a number of years, like ATI, nVidia, and a myriad of others.
While, yet another avenue exists for proprietary shops, shown by vendors such as Open Sound System. Their latest and greatest most up-to-date software is proprietary, but their older versions are open sourced. Again, peer review, albeit restricted somewhat.
Joe Blow doesn't gain trust and recognition overnight, just because he has the best idea since sliced bread. Participation in the community gets that for him. If he doesn't want to give something to the community - be it time, code, money, or other resources, his sliced bread will never be seen or heard of. OR - he can spend a zillion dollars on marketing, like most proprietary concerns do. Apple and Microsoft come readily to mind - but Joe Blow can't compete with their marketing budget, even if his "invention" could blow them out of the water.
My point was, Windows users routinely run as Admin and grant Admin rights to anything that asks. Few Linux users run as root, and those seem to be a little more careful about the things they install and run.
"trusted source" in my distro of Linux means that the repository itself has a signed key, which I trust. With three exceptions, my machine does indeed have "signed" code. The exceptions came from sources that I've learned to trust over the years.
Random example here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/add-apt-repository
As you can see, that particular version of Ubuntu is more than 1 1/2 years old. So - we've had "signing" for a little while now . . .