The politicians are not going to do anything about it, not when you can buy favors from them (hint: read Greg Palast's book "The best democracy money can buy")
Anyway, I think that the third world WILL drive Linux on the desktop adoption for some time to come.
Only provided that the government officials are enlightened enough to see the benefits / not corrupt (example: at the moment many of them are selling public companies to various western companies:( / it happen to suit their agenda.
But several Indonesian government initiatives that I've witnessed so far still utilise Microsoft's solutions. So I think it's safe to say that Indonesia will continue to stick to uncle Bill for quite some time.
If this trend continues, Motorola may very well have the PDA killer in its hands. As now, A760 already has a long list of features: digital camera, IR/Bluetooth/USB connection, PDA capability, Internet access, multimedia player, music/video player, Java platform, etc.
Now, imagine if it comes with bigger screen, an integrated keyboard, upgradeable storage (SD/MMC/etc), while still fits in the pocket - I think, Motorola will be able to boast that they've caused the extinction of PDA. And also will cause many to let go of their laptop.
I've evaluated both, and I can testify that Virtual PC just works. It'll run everything that I threw at it so far.
VMware is different story. I keep on getting problems with it. Examples:
You have to install Vmware tools, otherwise the Guest OS won't run at decent speed. And its installation is not always trouble-free. VirtualPC on the other hand simulates S3 Trio 64 for the Guest OS, which is probably the most supported VGA card on the planet. So you get decent VGA performance from any OS straightaway.
VMware has bombed out several times on me, bringing down multiple Guest OS with it - and I'm running it on Linux. VirtualPC never done that, even on my unstable Windows workstation (loaded with various apps and overdue for its OS reinstall).
Various Linux distro has various small (annoying) problems installing on VMware - most notably Lycoris. On the other hand, all Linux distro install flawlessly on Virtual PC.
With VMware, I consistently got error message saying that I need to hack it so to enable it to share the high resolution timer properly among the Guest OSes. Virtual PC just runs.
Yesterday several new RH9 installations on VMware were unable to connect to the network. After much looking around, turned out somehow RH9 failed to detect the VMware's virtual NIC IRQ - although previous installations never had this problem! This never happened with VirtualPC.
And the list goes on.
Imagine my shock when I visited the website to actually buy it, only to found out that Microsoft has bought it.
And of course, several years later, Microsoft will claim that Virtual PC is one of their "innovation".
And now I found out that Microsoft has crippled this excellent piece of software.
I really hope VMware will be able to fix their current shortcomings.
It's still WAY better than Microsoft's offer: US$ 199 for OS and US$ 499 for Office suite.
I know, it's list price, and corporations will get discounts. But let's compare apple with apple, ok.
So corporations will get deep discounts from Sun, there's no doubt about it. When you're buying in bulk, you'll enjoy deep discount - as simple as that.
What counts are the extra customizations that's done to it. It may be small things here-and-there, but overall, it may differentiate a distro significantly than others.
If you aim at Windows desktop, you need to make the transition as painless as possible. The list is long - relevant right-click menus, copy/paste that works across all apps, ability to create shortcuts on desktop easily, consistent drag-and-drop, etc, etc.
Also for corporations, there are other things that counts.
Some companies may already implemented centralized workstations management - ZENworks, MS-SMS, etc. These software enable IT depts to efficiently manage thousands of desktop with minimum number of staff. I've personally used ZENworks and I can say that I haven't found anything similar on Linux - CMIIW. You can kinda centrally manage your workstations by implementing LTSP (and others), but this tops out at 150 workstations per server. When you have 15000 desktop, the last thing you need is additional 100 servers to manage. Also it may prove too bandwidth-intensive for WAN-wide deployment.
Another issue is authentication. For example, for Novell customers, they'll have problems. There are various Novell client for Linux, but they may only work using IPX (IPX is all trouble on WAN), and/or still in beta version, and/or doesn't provide access to printers, etc. Also authenticating to the latest version of ActiveDirectory - I don't know if SAMBA support it, but I don't think so. Etc.
If a company can provide the solution to these kind of issues, especially since Sun is aiming at corporate market (I believe), then they'll have a winner.
Worst, it's indeed aimed to enable a party to patent the idea. (search for " opyright" in the document - don't forget to type the extra space in the beginning)
I agree with various parties, including Linus, that copyright (protection for the expression / the actual code) alone is already enough for software developers. Ideas should never be patentable.
I know that business method and algorithm are non-patentable by the amendment, but:
[#] EU currently forbid software to be patented, and it's doing OK with numerous software houses, big and small alike, flourishing.
[#] So there's lack of justifiable case for this legislation to exist at all. A software-patent legislation means making a small opening, which may lead to currently unseen consequences in the future.
[#] This software-patent legislation should not exist at all. We should aim for its cancellation, not its amendment.
But as revealed by a lobbyist (Ciaran?) some time ago in Slashdot, MEPs doesn't like the idea of rejecting a legislation proposal; since they view it as a waste of EU resources. So this definitely is not going to be easy. But I think we have to aim that high, for our own future.
I've also written another comment that may be relevant here.
Anyway, I'd like to write/fax (not email/other virtual means of communication) to my representative in EU parliament. But so far I've failed to find out how. Can anyone enlighten me please ?
Thats nice, but it is unlikely (Or at least, less likely) to work in the EU. Here, the looser generally pays court costs. Which means that a big bully corporation with no leg to stand on can't just throw acusations in an attempt to kill the small guy in the court systems.
This can still be circumvented with good (read: mighty expensive) lawyers - something that big corporations definitely can afford.
"Then the small guy should just use a good lawyer as well" - well, he's fine if he wins.
But since the court can be like lottery sometimes, what IF he lose? No way me (for example) will be able to pay several hundred grant for lawyer's fee.
The law should be leaning heavily towards the small guy, and this is a chance for us to realise it on the topic that we all care about - IT.
"...(online) petition can make a difference" ? I won't be too sure about that, not when many MEP doesn't (have time to) browse Internet regularly. (read Tom Chance's story about his lobbying efforts)
It STILL allows software to be patented.
Although with many restrictions, including declaring that business method/algorithm to be non-patentable.
BUT we have witnessed cases where corporations are able to twist interpretations, and challenge everyone who questioned to go to court. Small companies/individuals, which can not afford the cost, will simply admit defeat and comply to whatever the big corporations are demanding them to.
So personally, I think we still need to do a lot of real (not virtual) lobbying to ensure that software are not patentable. EU have no software-patent legislation now, and to my knowledge, there are no CLEAR cases that justifies this (feel free to enlighten me though)
Backups. Consumer level PC need a VERY GOOD inexpensive method of backing up stuff... I'm talking the whole hard drive in a manner of minutes. Cheap. Often.
I have years of personal data/files in my hard drive, and it still doesn't fill a CD. So I just use my CD-writer here and then to back it up. Simple and cheap.
Backing up the whole hard drive is, in my opinion, pointless. With most computers, they came with those "restore CD". Insert CD, reboot - voila, brand new computer. Now insert your data backup CD, copy everything to hard drive - and that's it.
"Many people died" Yeah, it's awful. A while back I was reading about more than a dozen people dying of summer heat about twenty miles from where I live in the UK. _In the 1840s_. This is nothing new: the only reason people think it's new is because it's something _they_ haven't experienced before.
You're missing the point.
The points are:
We can expect more of this regularly happening in the future. It's not an event every 50 years or something.
UK -never- experienced a summer reaching 100 degree before. (at least not since they started recording temperatures, which is about 500 years ago)
Various locations in Europe also break records as well - Germany reached 40.4 degree celcius at that day (their new record).
Again - we can expect this happening regularly from now on, and even hotter everytime.
"Even tar on the road melted because of the heat" You mean you've never noticed tar melting before because of the heat? I remember it happening regularly in the summer when I was a kid walking to school: maybe people should try walking sometime, they might actually notice these things.
I live in Indonesia when I was a kid, which should be hotter most of the time than UK. Strangely, I never noticed it happening. Probably they're using different sort of tar over there ? *shrugs*
"This is to avoid the overheated rail tracks to bend and causing the trains to crash." Again, that's because British railways suck and are designed to only run at 3pm one Thursday in March each year while being out of spec the rest of the time, it's no evidence of Global Warming(tm).
I never said that the overheated tracks are the sign of Global Warming.
The user hasn't got any Internet account. So IE "offered" him/her to sign up with MSN
User sign up with MSN
User immediately presented with his/her own mailbox in Hotmail.
After 4 weeks of being spammed, suddenly user was offered help from Microsoft "to be spam-free" (among others) "by signing up to the Hotmail premium service"
User very happy at the help offer, and sign up instantly
Don't think so. All they are doing is trying to move people to Hotmail, AFAIK the basic version of Hotmail is free and if the "email" icon on the Desktop of the default Windows install leads to a personalised Hotmail account based on th info in your MSN Messenger account then I am willing to bet that people will use it...and not go hunting for a third-party app.
Spot on.
And then they'll be so frustrated with the spam, they'll sign up for the paid service. Microsoft is indeed VERY clever.
I shudder though at the very thought of people flocking to pay Microsoft for SUCH inferior service. I'd recommend Fastmail every single time over Hotmail. Spam-free, lightning-quick access, very flexible and robust, and priced fairly.
But hey, Microsoft have been doing it for years now, so I guess they're pretty good at it.:(
Oh yeah it was pretty awful... 100 degree fahrenheit at some places. Many people died, including one child left in the car by his parents (they should be removed from the gene pool for that:(
People just fainted on supermarket, and other places, because of the heat. One kid burned himself pretty badly on the beach.
Even tar on the road melted because of the heat:) I read in a news that this guy was jogging (in that heat ? wow) and the tar just stuck onto his shoes.
To top it off, the trains were ordered to go at very slow speeds. This is to avoid the overheated rail tracks to bend and causing the trains to crash. I can just imagine how hot it is to be stuck for hours on the train, while there's almost no wind around to fend off the heat.
And they said that it won't be the last.
Looking forward to it (not!) Come on USA, sign the Kyoto treaty already ! Stop terrorizing the rest of us !
..."Because the ice cap is already in the water when it is melting, you are not adding any mass. Only precipitation, discharge from rivers and the melting of glaciers can cause the water to rise" he said. The bigger the ocean is, the more CO2 it will be able to absorb," Johannessen said.
call me crazy but if the melting doesn't cause the ocean mass to expand.. then how is it going to cause the ocean to be bigger?
The ice in the sea is less dense than seawater itself. That's why it floats (as many posters here already said).
So those icebergs WON'T cause the sea level to expand.
BUT ice on land (antarctic, etc) will cause increase in sea level if they melt into water. Also read the line from that article: Only precipitation, discharge from rivers and the melting of glaciers can cause the water to rise
...Dogs can hear much lower frequency sounds than humans and so would have a significant advantage at detecting imminent earthquakes. Farm animals (such as detected the China quake) can be readily shown to be aware of chanegs in a wide variety of situations: Earth's magnetic field fluctuations, gravitational disturbances, minute environmental chemical changes
Why can't we develop a device that detects these as well ?
So we can get a more reliable warning of an incoming quake.
SCO don't care about GCC support of their OS, they do not are a software company anymore but a litigation company.
Stripping SCO support from GCC will only harm SCO's old customers who don't have anything to do with SCO evil.
Well, they can always use previous versions of GCC instead.
Or perhaps I'm missing something here?
Anyway, I fully agree if support for SCO Unix is to be removed from GCC, it can only be good. (no support for platforms that try to disrupt open-source community, slice off a bit of bloat from GCC, and so on)
Slashdot Mirror
Also don't forget that while we (the working class) are being worked to death to feed our family AND taxed until we bleed, the rich instead get tax refund !2 157,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,68
The politicians are not going to do anything about it, not when you can buy favors from them (hint: read Greg Palast's book "The best democracy money can buy")
The mind boggles.
Please do not forget how/who started it all.
Only provided that the government officials are enlightened enough to see the benefits / not corrupt (example: at the moment many of them are selling public companies to various western companies
But several Indonesian government initiatives that I've witnessed so far still utilise Microsoft's solutions. So I think it's safe to say that Indonesia will continue to stick to uncle Bill for quite some time.
If this trend continues, Motorola may very well have the PDA killer in its hands.
As now, A760 already has a long list of features: digital camera, IR/Bluetooth/USB connection, PDA capability, Internet access, multimedia player, music/video player, Java platform, etc.
Now, imagine if it comes with bigger screen, an integrated keyboard, upgradeable storage (SD/MMC/etc), while still fits in the pocket - I think, Motorola will be able to boast that they've caused the extinction of PDA. And also will cause many to let go of their laptop.
Do you agree? Then head over to PetitionOnline.com, and sign the petition to convince Motorola that this is the way forward.
Uh, VMware is capable of running multiple Guest OSes **simultaneously** at any time.
So when it crashes, so does those Guest OSes.
Make no mistake, I like the concept, I like the product, and their Sales even offered me support for the product (a first).
But it's not just there, yet.
Fingers crossed that they'll fix the remaining quirks very soon.
I've evaluated both, and I can testify that Virtual PC just works. It'll run everything that I threw at it so far.
VMware is different story. I keep on getting problems with it. Examples:
You have to install Vmware tools, otherwise the Guest OS won't run at decent speed. And its installation is not always trouble-free.
VirtualPC on the other hand simulates S3 Trio 64 for the Guest OS, which is probably the most supported VGA card on the planet. So you get decent VGA performance from any OS straightaway.
VMware has bombed out several times on me, bringing down multiple Guest OS with it - and I'm running it on Linux.
VirtualPC never done that, even on my unstable Windows workstation (loaded with various apps and overdue for its OS reinstall).
Various Linux distro has various small (annoying) problems installing on VMware - most notably Lycoris.
On the other hand, all Linux distro install flawlessly on Virtual PC.
With VMware, I consistently got error message saying that I need to hack it so to enable it to share the high resolution timer properly among the Guest OSes.
Virtual PC just runs.
Yesterday several new RH9 installations on VMware were unable to connect to the network. After much looking around, turned out somehow RH9 failed to detect the VMware's virtual NIC IRQ - although previous installations never had this problem!
This never happened with VirtualPC.
And the list goes on.
Imagine my shock when I visited the website to actually buy it, only to found out that Microsoft has bought it.
And of course, several years later, Microsoft will claim that Virtual PC is one of their "innovation".
And now I found out that Microsoft has crippled this excellent piece of software.
I really hope VMware will be able to fix their current shortcomings.
It's still WAY better than Microsoft's offer: US$ 199 for OS and US$ 499 for Office suite.
I know, it's list price, and corporations will get discounts. But let's compare apple with apple, ok.
So corporations will get deep discounts from Sun, there's no doubt about it. When you're buying in bulk, you'll enjoy deep discount - as simple as that.
What counts are the extra customizations that's done to it. It may be small things here-and-there, but overall, it may differentiate a distro significantly than others.
If you aim at Windows desktop, you need to make the transition as painless as possible.
The list is long - relevant right-click menus, copy/paste that works across all apps, ability to create shortcuts on desktop easily, consistent drag-and-drop, etc, etc.
Also for corporations, there are other things that counts.
Some companies may already implemented centralized workstations management - ZENworks, MS-SMS, etc. These software enable IT depts to efficiently manage thousands of desktop with minimum number of staff.
I've personally used ZENworks and I can say that I haven't found anything similar on Linux - CMIIW.
You can kinda centrally manage your workstations by implementing LTSP (and others), but this tops out at 150 workstations per server. When you have 15000 desktop, the last thing you need is additional 100 servers to manage.
Also it may prove too bandwidth-intensive for WAN-wide deployment.
Another issue is authentication.
For example, for Novell customers, they'll have problems. There are various Novell client for Linux, but they may only work using IPX (IPX is all trouble on WAN), and/or still in beta version, and/or doesn't provide access to printers, etc.
Also authenticating to the latest version of ActiveDirectory - I don't know if SAMBA support it, but I don't think so.
Etc.
If a company can provide the solution to these kind of issues, especially since Sun is aiming at corporate market (I believe), then they'll have a winner.
This article confirms my suspicion, that the amendment will still allow software to be patented:
Why Amazon One Click Shopping is Patentable under the Proposed EU Directive
And thanks to Elektroschock, which informed me that the amendment is actually proposed by the proponent of software patent.
FFII and other parties are currently lobbying against it
So for everyone who lives in EU and care about IT - let's start doing something about it.
This is the McCarthy-Juri amendment proposal we fight against. This is what we protest against
That's a relief.... thanks for the information.
I'm still looking for ways to reach my MEP via snail mail/fax though, and will write him/her about my thought on the issue.
The amendments still allows software patent.
Worst, it's indeed aimed to enable a party to patent the idea.
(search for " opyright" in the document - don't forget to type the extra space in the beginning)
I agree with various parties, including Linus, that copyright (protection for the expression / the actual code) alone is already enough for software developers.
Ideas should never be patentable.
I know that business method and algorithm are non-patentable by the amendment, but:
[#] EU currently forbid software to be patented, and it's doing OK with numerous software houses, big and small alike, flourishing.
[#] So there's lack of justifiable case for this legislation to exist at all.
A software-patent legislation means making a small opening, which may lead to currently unseen consequences in the future.
[#] This software-patent legislation should not exist at all.
We should aim for its cancellation, not its amendment.
But as revealed by a lobbyist (Ciaran?) some time ago in Slashdot, MEPs doesn't like the idea of rejecting a legislation proposal; since they view it as a waste of EU resources.
So this definitely is not going to be easy. But I think we have to aim that high, for our own future.
I've also written another comment that may be relevant here.
Anyway, I'd like to write/fax (not email/other virtual means of communication) to my representative in EU parliament. But so far I've failed to find out how.
Can anyone enlighten me please ?
Thanks.
This can still be circumvented with good (read: mighty expensive) lawyers - something that big corporations definitely can afford.
"Then the small guy should just use a good lawyer as well" - well, he's fine if he wins.
But since the court can be like lottery sometimes, what IF he lose?
No way me (for example) will be able to pay several hundred grant for lawyer's fee.
The law should be leaning heavily towards the small guy, and this is a chance for us to realise it on the topic that we all care about - IT.
I won't be too sure about that, not when many MEP doesn't (have time to) browse Internet regularly.
(read Tom Chance's story about his lobbying efforts)
Small companies/individuals, which can not afford the cost, will simply admit defeat and comply to whatever the big corporations are demanding them to.
EU have no software-patent legislation now, and to my knowledge, there are no CLEAR cases that justifies this (feel free to enlighten me though)
Just my 2 pence on the topic.
Previously their market were attacked by 3Dfx. :)
We know how it ended up
Looks like they'll come through as the winner again this time.
Well done ATI.
I'm really curious on how they managed to survive in this truly ferocious business.. it'd make a really interesting book I think.
I have years of personal data/files in my hard drive, and it still doesn't fill a CD.
So I just use my CD-writer here and then to back it up. Simple and cheap.
Backing up the whole hard drive is, in my opinion, pointless.
With most computers, they came with those "restore CD". Insert CD, reboot - voila, brand new computer.
Now insert your data backup CD, copy everything to hard drive - and that's it.
People implementing LTSP are having serious problems with GDM. Most of them just change to another one.
Let's hope that they'll fix it.
Oh yeah, the website is being slashdotted to death right now. Can't check it right now.
You're missing the point.
The points are:
It's not an event every 50 years or something.
(at least not since they started recording temperatures, which is about 500 years ago)
I live in Indonesia when I was a kid, which should be hotter most of the time than UK. Strangely, I never noticed it happening.
Probably they're using different sort of tar over there ? *shrugs*
I never said that the overheated tracks are the sign of Global Warming.
My guess is something like this:
Scary.
Spot on.
And then they'll be so frustrated with the spam, they'll sign up for the paid service.
Microsoft is indeed VERY clever.
I shudder though at the very thought of people flocking to pay Microsoft for SUCH inferior service.
I'd recommend Fastmail every single time over Hotmail. Spam-free, lightning-quick access, very flexible and robust, and priced fairly.
But hey, Microsoft have been doing it for years now, so I guess they're pretty good at it.
"too clueless to even create it in the first place" ? Surely you meant "too clueless not to send HTML email in the first place".
OE send HTML-formatted email by default. It's been the curse of good netizens for years.
Where have you been?
Oh wait, you're new here, aren't you ?
Uhm.. NT/2000/XP utilise microkernel architecture as well.
I guess that just shows how sucky Microsoft is
Oh yeah it was pretty awful... 100 degree fahrenheit at some places. Many people died, including one child left in the car by his parents (they should be removed from the gene pool for that :(
:) I read in a news that this guy was jogging (in that heat ? wow) and the tar just stuck onto his shoes.
People just fainted on supermarket, and other places, because of the heat.
One kid burned himself pretty badly on the beach.
Even tar on the road melted because of the heat
To top it off, the trains were ordered to go at very slow speeds. This is to avoid the overheated rail tracks to bend and causing the trains to crash. I can just imagine how hot it is to be stuck for hours on the train, while there's almost no wind around to fend off the heat.
And they said that it won't be the last.
Looking forward to it (not!)
Come on USA, sign the Kyoto treaty already ! Stop terrorizing the rest of us !
The ice in the sea is less dense than seawater itself. That's why it floats (as many posters here already said).
So those icebergs WON'T cause the sea level to expand.
BUT ice on land (antarctic, etc) will cause increase in sea level if they melt into water.
Also read the line from that article:
Only precipitation, discharge from rivers and the melting of glaciers can cause the water to rise
Why can't we develop a device that detects these as well ? So we can get a more reliable warning of an incoming quake.
Or is it being developed already?
Or perhaps I'm missing something here?
Anyway, I fully agree if support for SCO Unix is to be removed from GCC, it can only be good. (no support for platforms that try to disrupt open-source community, slice off a bit of bloat from GCC, and so on)