Why is Linux still locking up? Windows fixed that problem years ago with 2k/XP!
It isn't. In our mid/large company, we have hundreds of Linux workstations, and they've all been working for years without a single hitch, from day one. No permission problems, never had an update causing significant issues, don't even ALLOW users to get a command-line, etc. Vastly easier to debug when there is a problem, and has allowed the company to replace a large group of Windows experts with a small group of Linux experts, and the vastly improved productivity has allowed the company to significantly reduce the number of employees (or rather, just cease to replace them when there is turnover).
Just the other day I noticed the uptime on one of the Linux workstations was over a year at this point. No lockups. The few issues we've had with the systems have been directly traced to hardware problems.
If yours is a true story (which I seriously doubt) you should look at hiring at least one half-way decent Linux SysAdmin at a reasonable salary to fix the pathological issues with the installation which was likely done by minimum-wage idiots without a clue.
I have heard my professors at my school tell us that women score higher on average, but tend to have less very high scores.
This is likely true. Numerous studies have shown that women have a very average distribution of intelligence, while men are alternately either very smart, or very stupid, with far fewer in the middle.
Their reasoning is that women tend to be less aggressive and declarative of their opinions in papers.
Their reasoning is wrong.
Current scientific consensus is that it's attributable to genetic differences. Specifically, men's genetic makeup is one of brinksmanship... They'll either be very good, or a spectacular failure. Hence high rates of men in jails, AND in top executive positions...
Linux is definitely faster and more feature-rich than FreeBSD.
FreeBSD surpasses Linux in performance benchmarks all the time.
"Feature-rich" is a bit too vague to argue, but I have yet to find software which works on Linux and not Linux... Even Linux binaries can be run on FreeBSD. So I'm at a loss to guess what "features" Linux may have, which isn't found in another OS that can do pretty much everything Linux can...
That benchmark is demonstrating only the speed of the respective filesystems... The FreeBSD graphs are actually benchmarks of UFS, not the underlying operating system. The Linux benchmarks are EXT4 filesystem benchmarks (nice to see an unstable file system compared to stable file systems). And the OpenSolaris benchmarks are ZFS tests.
Now, if both FreeBSD and OpenSolaris were benchmarked with ZFS, we might have something useful to look at.
And in any case, a single benchmark doesn't justify the claim that one OS is faster than another. There have been innumerable comparisons of Linux and FreeBSD, both having their chance in the spotlight.
Well I'm glad you're here to finally save the day and free all those big businesses relying heavily on Linux on their servers with no problems from their OS that apparently drops data like a quadriplegic juggler.
I re-read his post, and yet still missed the part where he said anything about Linux dropping data.
He simply said FreeBSD is higher quality, which is of course endlessly debatable, but may well be true. While your snarky response dismisses any question of software quality out-of-hand...
The same approach could be used against Linux just as well:
Well I'm glad you're here to finally save the day and free all those big businesses relying heavily on Windows on their servers with no problems from their OS that apparently drops data like a quadriplegic juggler. Thanks, anonymous Linux fanboy, the world would be a worse place without you.
If a vendor isn't willing to go to 1.0 then why should a customer have confidence?
Because they've done their testing of the software and found it to be highly reliable? Because they've been following development, reading release notes, etc., and know what is and isn't stable, forward compatible, and/or feature complete? Because they're not idiots who base their software decisions on intangible version numbers, rather than any actual knowledge of the product?
1.0 is a milestone.
0.7 is a milestone. 2.0.5 is a milestone. Any special significance 1.0 has TO YOU is just that, an invention of your own mind, irrelevant to the rest of the world, no more significant than rules such as avoiding odd-numbered Star Trek films, your favorite color, etc.
Certainly it has absolutely no technical meaning, but that does not mean it has no meaning at all.
Yes it does.
One buggy piece of junk may be version 9.7.5, while another highly reliable and usable piece of software may be version 0.0.1.
THERE IS NO PENALTY FOR NAMING YOUR BUGGY SOFTWARE VERSION-1.0, NOR ANY TANGIBLE BENEFIT TO INCREASING THE VERSION NUMBER ON STABLE SOFTWARE. THEREFORE, IT MEANS NOTHING AT ALL.
Heck, rather than sell volvo, saturn, and hummer to China, they would be better off rolling them into one company, giving them a CEO from outside of the industry, and then allowing them to compete against others, esp GM itself.
That's almost exactly what Saturn was meant to be from the beginning. It's only in the past few years, after decades of not turning a profit, that it's been brought more in-line with other divisions, and despite their best efforts, the brand still couldn't climb out of the hole...
That's not to say there isn't some good stuff there. External transmission filters that are changed as easily as oil filters is a long overdue idea that sadly still hasn't spread to other cars. Plastic fenders and door panels are also pretty ingenious, at least for areas where corrosion is an issue, and the added insulation may be helpful as well, though it has it's drawbacks as well. The much easier workspace is similarly an innovation that other companies should seriously investigate integrating into their own designs.
Still, these things weren't enough to make Saturn profitable, and your scheme is just bread from ignorance.
No, the major reason is that taxes on diesel are significantly lower than on regular gasoline.
The emissions laws in the US are so stringent that, just a couple years ago, YOU COULDN'T BUY A NEW DIESEL CAR, ANYWHERE, FROM ANYONE, IN THE USA.
You're going to tell me taxes ON A CAR YOU CAN'T BUY is the most significant factor? And you managed to get a couple mods to buy-in on the idiocy as well, congratulations.
But if just 10 years ago, I was saying to you that a government body is going to be created that would tax all nations, you would have claimed I had a screw loose.
I'll tell you, TODAY, you have a frickin' screw loose. Probably several, in fact.
Anyone who is researching our planets climate record and current climate HONESTLY, knew this whole carbon tax thing was a money making scam.
Money-making for who?
the people behind this could care less about our planet
Impossible to know someone's motives, and irrelevant to what they're actually doing, so you've said nothing at all of value here.
You people who believe in this stuff reading this post are stupid sheepeople.
Either that, or the people complaining about it are insane conspiracy theorists... Could be either one....
Once the system is setup, more taxes can then easily be added and now you have a government fully sustained by taxes that reaches world wide.
International treaties have existed forever, and they all carry the same lack of power... Any country can opt out at any time they want, and chose whether to admit it or not. You're no worse off than if you never signed-up to being with.
I won't get into right here because nobody would believe me....
Ping on a cell connection runs around 200 ms, in my experience.
Verizon Rev-A EVDO does a bit better (most of the time) here:
$ ping 4.2.2.6 PING 4.2.2.6 (4.2.2.6) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=1 ttl=46 time=115 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=2 ttl=46 time=106 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=3 ttl=46 time=92.3 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=4 ttl=46 time=111 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=5 ttl=46 time=90.6 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=6 ttl=46 time=94.7 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=7 ttl=46 time=107 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=8 ttl=46 time=124 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=9 ttl=46 time=89.1 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=10 ttl=46 time=118 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=11 ttl=46 time=97.5 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=12 ttl=46 time=177 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=13 ttl=46 time=92.7 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=14 ttl=46 time=91.9 ms 64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=15 ttl=46 time=91.0 ms
--- 4.2.2.6 ping statistics --- 15 packets transmitted, 15 received, 0% packet loss, time 14009ms rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 89.191/106.751/177.634/21.950 ms
Your view on the economy is so lacking I don't have any idea where to begin, so I'll just address a few of the most blatant errors:
Money has to come in from somewhere and anyone can do a service which means the price will be too low to live on.
Money has to come in from somewhere and anyone can work in a factory which means the price will be too low to live on.
And furthermore, there are several countries out there whose economies consist almost entirely of services, so the idea that it's impossible is pretty baseless.
People live off actual products. [...] How many services were involved and how many physical products?
People live off of services, mostly... Electricity, water, trash, phone, sewer, etc.
And no matter how many times I use my toaster, I only pay for it once. When I do initially buy it, I do so also utilizing a service. Meanwhile, every time I use it, I pay for electricity to use it.
The middle class came to exist as a result of the distribution of wealth. Now this is going away.
This may be true, but has nothing to do with the manufacturing base not growing as fast as it once did.
There's at least one person out there who, for whatever reason, wants those chemicals. Banning them would hurt him. The rest of the population can simply not buy food that's poisonous, so banning the chemicals, as opposed to simply requiring them to be labeled, does more harm than good.
Yes, indeed. One person does want them, and that person is the one making and selling the item, and simply does not want to have to opt for more expensive alternatives.
The rest of the population can simply not buy food that's poisonous,
Nice. So EVERYONE in the world is expected to be an expert in chemistry, and keep up with the latest in medical science, or otherwise, SCREW THEM! They should have been smart enough not to buy the product that has dioximonopolycytotheosis, in small print, on the label...
And hey! Let's deny them life-saving medical care, too! (your words)
there are normal people who aren't multimillionaires and don't have their fingers over the "fire all sick employees" trigger who support libertarianism
There are, but they're a negligible minority, and pretty damn gullible. So I stand by my previous statement. Nobody in their right minds believes we should have freedom at all costs, no mater how high... Libertarianism is a fraud.
Many companies aren't big enough (or use Windows extensively enough) to get a volume license. And besides that, the significant cost is not the license, but replacing the hardware, and all the man-hours of work getting all the old apps up and working again.
Windows 9x will remain for many years to come, on business PCs with modest needs. And yes, there periodically need to be new programs written, as well as several old programs maintained.
You know that funny currency that is in use in a bigger trading block than the almighty US Dollar.
At the moment, the Euro is regarded as a more valuable currency thant the USD.
Used across a population 170% the size of the US, and yet the Euro is only slightly more valuable than USD.
And the USD remains the dominant world currency. The days of the Euro being looked at as a possibility for long-term investments were very short-lived indeed.
The hum is caused by these giant transformers that step the power from DC to AC and create 110 volts of AC current at whatever amperage is required for normal devices. But there is a lot of wasted energy in doing that.
That may be true in your case, however, there's no reason for AC/DC conversion to be inefficient. Shop around for AC inverters for solar installations and you'll find ~97% efficient units.
The reason this works with large companies has NOTHING to do with efficiency. It's the flexibility to add new servers, one-by-one, without having to upgrade a central UPS, or taking a number of systems offline when a UPS fails. It's the compartmentalization, combined with the unimportance of any one server in a distributed environment, that makes it work.
And what about low technology good such as clothes, furniture, steel, glass, toys, and widgets? Where does the money flow there?
A cotton T-Shirt costs perhaps $1 to produce in China, and ship to the US. US companies buy them for that price, and then sell them to you for much, MUCH more. Just about every other product is in the same situation.
That is the big problem with the global economy. The loss of jobs was supposed to be offset by much cheaper goods, but instead of going to individuals, the difference has instead gone to corporate profits by the brand names, and retailers. Wal-mart in particular is fond of advertising their big $1.14 discounts on an otherwise $15 pack of socks, which actually costs them $2.
The web is a good opportunity to turn this around... Do a quick search, and find the cheapest supplier among many thousands of stores, and you're likely to find one selling with small margins, and without the brand name and retail mark-up.
More recently, I've found that traditional mail-order companies are also dramatically pushing down prices, but the difficulty is that you already had to have some way to know about them in the first place, which most people do not, and advertisers target consumers of the most profitable items, not the cheap stuff.
Eventually, retail will have to drop their prices to match, but it looks like a very long, very slow road before we get there.
Chinese and Taiwanese companies are in a good position to steer the market in their favour
The only thing that's new about China is that it's one large country. Before, instead of "Made in China" on everything, we'd have "Made in Malaysia" on certain products, "Made in Cambodia" on others, etc. They could each individually have made similar policy shifts, and had a similar short-term impact on certain industries.
China has simply become the one-stop shop, which makes it slightly cheaper. Should it show the slightest sign of being less friendly to foreign companies, they would switch back to other Asian countries in a heartbeat, and never take a risk on China again...
If everybody is making minimum wage with no benefits whatsoever, who can afford services?
Wal-Mart is not the be-all, end-all of the service economy. And even if they were, they have a large number of well-paid employees... Managers, IT, etc.
It's overseas companies, but HALF their income is from people in the US, using US-based computers, and credit cards issued by US financial institutions.
Sure, there are a few ways you could get around it, and you might even get away with it if you only ever lose money. But should you have any success, there's one of two possible outcomes.
1) You don't declare it on your income tax returns, the IRS investigates, and you either pay a truckload of money, or go to jail for tax evasion.
2) You declare your illegal income to the IRS, the FBI investigates, and you go to jail based on the evidence you provided against yourself...
The real fact is, you are not free unless you have the right to fail.
How do chemicals in my food and containers, which cause deformities and may cause even more severe medical issues, possibly make me free?
How does being able to drive without wearing a seatbelt, risking my own life, increasing the burden on first responders, the medical system, etc., make me more free?
The US was never the libertarian ideal you are trying to pretend it was. There were taxes and regulations from the very start. All examples of society lacking regulations have proven miserable failures under their own weight, and libertarianism is just a bullshit curtain for the super-rich to try to weasel out of their social obligations.
Slashdot Mirror
If you have loads of free time to build a house, good for you, but don't knock those who'd rather live in a tent instead.
Ah! False-economy AND false logic at it's finest!
It isn't. In our mid/large company, we have hundreds of Linux workstations, and they've all been working for years without a single hitch, from day one. No permission problems, never had an update causing significant issues, don't even ALLOW users to get a command-line, etc. Vastly easier to debug when there is a problem, and has allowed the company to replace a large group of Windows experts with a small group of Linux experts, and the vastly improved productivity has allowed the company to significantly reduce the number of employees (or rather, just cease to replace them when there is turnover).
Just the other day I noticed the uptime on one of the Linux workstations was over a year at this point. No lockups. The few issues we've had with the systems have been directly traced to hardware problems.
If yours is a true story (which I seriously doubt) you should look at hiring at least one half-way decent Linux SysAdmin at a reasonable salary to fix the pathological issues with the installation which was likely done by minimum-wage idiots without a clue.
Apparently so is the guy who wrote them...
"Both FreeBSD 7.2 and 8.0 had also lower CPU utilization than the two Linux distributions tested"
"FreeBSD 7.2 came in slightly behind FreeBSD 8.0 while Ubuntu 9.10 came in fourth and Fedora 12 took a distant fifth place finish."
"FreeBSD 7.2 was slightly faster than FreeBSD 8.0, but both were faster than Ubuntu/Fedora and OpenSolaris."
"OpenSolaris 2010.02 did the best followed by the two FreeBSD releases. Fedora and Ubuntu were in last for this image-processing task."
"Ubuntu 9.10, then the FreeBSD releases, and then Fedora 12."
I strongly suggest you read it yourself. I also suggest you look at MORE THAN ONE person's benchmarks... there are plenty out there.
This is likely true. Numerous studies have shown that women have a very average distribution of intelligence, while men are alternately either very smart, or very stupid, with far fewer in the middle.
Their reasoning is wrong.
Current scientific consensus is that it's attributable to genetic differences. Specifically, men's genetic makeup is one of brinksmanship... They'll either be very good, or a spectacular failure. Hence high rates of men in jails, AND in top executive positions...
I recomend "Is there anything good about men?"
http://www.psy.fsu.edu/~baumeistertice/goodaboutmen.htm
What the hell are you talking about? If you're referring to just page #7, what I've said applies...
If you're referring to the other benchmarks they performed, FreeBSD significantly surpasses Linux as often as not.
FreeBSD surpasses Linux in performance benchmarks all the time.
"Feature-rich" is a bit too vague to argue, but I have yet to find software which works on Linux and not Linux... Even Linux binaries can be run on FreeBSD. So I'm at a loss to guess what "features" Linux may have, which isn't found in another OS that can do pretty much everything Linux can...
That benchmark is demonstrating only the speed of the respective filesystems... The FreeBSD graphs are actually benchmarks of UFS, not the underlying operating system. The Linux benchmarks are EXT4 filesystem benchmarks (nice to see an unstable file system compared to stable file systems). And the OpenSolaris benchmarks are ZFS tests.
Now, if both FreeBSD and OpenSolaris were benchmarked with ZFS, we might have something useful to look at.
And in any case, a single benchmark doesn't justify the claim that one OS is faster than another. There have been innumerable comparisons of Linux and FreeBSD, both having their chance in the spotlight.
I re-read his post, and yet still missed the part where he said anything about Linux dropping data.
He simply said FreeBSD is higher quality, which is of course endlessly debatable, but may well be true. While your snarky response dismisses any question of software quality out-of-hand...
The same approach could be used against Linux just as well:
Because they've done their testing of the software and found it to be highly reliable?
Because they've been following development, reading release notes, etc., and know what is and isn't stable, forward compatible, and/or feature complete?
Because they're not idiots who base their software decisions on intangible version numbers, rather than any actual knowledge of the product?
0.7 is a milestone. 2.0.5 is a milestone. Any special significance 1.0 has TO YOU is just that, an invention of your own mind, irrelevant to the rest of the world, no more significant than rules such as avoiding odd-numbered Star Trek films, your favorite color, etc.
Yes it does.
One buggy piece of junk may be version 9.7.5, while another highly reliable and usable piece of software may be version 0.0.1.
THERE IS NO PENALTY FOR NAMING YOUR BUGGY SOFTWARE VERSION-1.0, NOR ANY TANGIBLE BENEFIT TO INCREASING THE VERSION NUMBER ON STABLE SOFTWARE. THEREFORE, IT MEANS NOTHING AT ALL.
That's almost exactly what Saturn was meant to be from the beginning. It's only in the past few years, after decades of not turning a profit, that it's been brought more in-line with other divisions, and despite their best efforts, the brand still couldn't climb out of the hole...
That's not to say there isn't some good stuff there. External transmission filters that are changed as easily as oil filters is a long overdue idea that sadly still hasn't spread to other cars. Plastic fenders and door panels are also pretty ingenious, at least for areas where corrosion is an issue, and the added insulation may be helpful as well, though it has it's drawbacks as well. The much easier workspace is similarly an innovation that other companies should seriously investigate integrating into their own designs.
Still, these things weren't enough to make Saturn profitable, and your scheme is just bread from ignorance.
The emissions laws in the US are so stringent that, just a couple years ago, YOU COULDN'T BUY A NEW DIESEL CAR, ANYWHERE, FROM ANYONE, IN THE USA.
You're going to tell me taxes ON A CAR YOU CAN'T BUY is the most significant factor? And you managed to get a couple mods to buy-in on the idiocy as well, congratulations.
I'll tell you, TODAY, you have a frickin' screw loose. Probably several, in fact.
Money-making for who?
Impossible to know someone's motives, and irrelevant to what they're actually doing, so you've said nothing at all of value here.
Either that, or the people complaining about it are insane conspiracy theorists... Could be either one....
International treaties have existed forever, and they all carry the same lack of power... Any country can opt out at any time they want, and chose whether to admit it or not. You're no worse off than if you never signed-up to being with.
Good to see we agree on something!
Yes, you certainly are...
Verizon Rev-A EVDO does a bit better (most of the time) here:
$ ping 4.2.2.6
PING 4.2.2.6 (4.2.2.6) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=1 ttl=46 time=115 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=2 ttl=46 time=106 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=3 ttl=46 time=92.3 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=4 ttl=46 time=111 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=5 ttl=46 time=90.6 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=6 ttl=46 time=94.7 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=7 ttl=46 time=107 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=8 ttl=46 time=124 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=9 ttl=46 time=89.1 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=10 ttl=46 time=118 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=11 ttl=46 time=97.5 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=12 ttl=46 time=177 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=13 ttl=46 time=92.7 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=14 ttl=46 time=91.9 ms
64 bytes from 4.2.2.6: icmp_seq=15 ttl=46 time=91.0 ms
--- 4.2.2.6 ping statistics ---
15 packets transmitted, 15 received, 0% packet loss, time 14009ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 89.191/106.751/177.634/21.950 ms
Your view on the economy is so lacking I don't have any idea where to begin, so I'll just address a few of the most blatant errors:
Money has to come in from somewhere and anyone can work in a factory which means the price will be too low to live on.
And furthermore, there are several countries out there whose economies consist almost entirely of services, so the idea that it's impossible is pretty baseless.
People live off of services, mostly... Electricity, water, trash, phone, sewer, etc.
And no matter how many times I use my toaster, I only pay for it once. When I do initially buy it, I do so also utilizing a service. Meanwhile, every time I use it, I pay for electricity to use it.
This may be true, but has nothing to do with the manufacturing base not growing as fast as it once did.
Yes, indeed. One person does want them, and that person is the one making and selling the item, and simply does not want to have to opt for more expensive alternatives.
Nice. So EVERYONE in the world is expected to be an expert in chemistry, and keep up with the latest in medical science, or otherwise, SCREW THEM! They should have been smart enough not to buy the product that has dioximonopolycytotheosis, in small print, on the label...
And hey! Let's deny them life-saving medical care, too! (your words)
There are, but they're a negligible minority, and pretty damn gullible. So I stand by my previous statement. Nobody in their right minds believes we should have freedom at all costs, no mater how high... Libertarianism is a fraud.
I did mention one high margin product, yes.
I must reiterate my previous question:
Where did I say that high-margin products make up 100% of Walmart's sales?
Many companies aren't big enough (or use Windows extensively enough) to get a volume license. And besides that, the significant cost is not the license, but replacing the hardware, and all the man-hours of work getting all the old apps up and working again.
Windows 9x will remain for many years to come, on business PCs with modest needs. And yes, there periodically need to be new programs written, as well as several old programs maintained.
*Ahem*
Where did I say that high-margin products make up 100% of Walmart's sales?
Used across a population 170% the size of the US, and yet the Euro is only slightly more valuable than USD.
And the USD remains the dominant world currency. The days of the Euro being looked at as a possibility for long-term investments were very short-lived indeed.
That may be true in your case, however, there's no reason for AC/DC conversion to be inefficient. Shop around for AC inverters for solar installations and you'll find ~97% efficient units.
APC did a study on the efficiency of AC vs. DC as well, which shows a bare minimum of extra efficiency to be had:
http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/SADE-5TNRLG_R5_EN.pdf
The reason this works with large companies has NOTHING to do with efficiency. It's the flexibility to add new servers, one-by-one, without having to upgrade a central UPS, or taking a number of systems offline when a UPS fails. It's the compartmentalization, combined with the unimportance of any one server in a distributed environment, that makes it work.
A cotton T-Shirt costs perhaps $1 to produce in China, and ship to the US. US companies buy them for that price, and then sell them to you for much, MUCH more. Just about every other product is in the same situation.
That is the big problem with the global economy. The loss of jobs was supposed to be offset by much cheaper goods, but instead of going to individuals, the difference has instead gone to corporate profits by the brand names, and retailers. Wal-mart in particular is fond of advertising their big $1.14 discounts on an otherwise $15 pack of socks, which actually costs them $2.
The web is a good opportunity to turn this around... Do a quick search, and find the cheapest supplier among many thousands of stores, and you're likely to find one selling with small margins, and without the brand name and retail mark-up.
More recently, I've found that traditional mail-order companies are also dramatically pushing down prices, but the difficulty is that you already had to have some way to know about them in the first place, which most people do not, and advertisers target consumers of the most profitable items, not the cheap stuff.
Eventually, retail will have to drop their prices to match, but it looks like a very long, very slow road before we get there.
The only thing that's new about China is that it's one large country. Before, instead of "Made in China" on everything, we'd have "Made in Malaysia" on certain products, "Made in Cambodia" on others, etc. They could each individually have made similar policy shifts, and had a similar short-term impact on certain industries.
China has simply become the one-stop shop, which makes it slightly cheaper. Should it show the slightest sign of being less friendly to foreign companies, they would switch back to other Asian countries in a heartbeat, and never take a risk on China again...
Wal-Mart is not the be-all, end-all of the service economy. And even if they were, they have a large number of well-paid employees... Managers, IT, etc.
It's overseas companies, but HALF their income is from people in the US, using US-based computers, and credit cards issued by US financial institutions.
Sure, there are a few ways you could get around it, and you might even get away with it if you only ever lose money. But should you have any success, there's one of two possible outcomes.
1) You don't declare it on your income tax returns, the IRS investigates, and you either pay a truckload of money, or go to jail for tax evasion.
2) You declare your illegal income to the IRS, the FBI investigates, and you go to jail based on the evidence you provided against yourself...
How do chemicals in my food and containers, which cause deformities and may cause even more severe medical issues, possibly make me free?
How does being able to drive without wearing a seatbelt, risking my own life, increasing the burden on first responders, the medical system, etc., make me more free?
The US was never the libertarian ideal you are trying to pretend it was. There were taxes and regulations from the very start. All examples of society lacking regulations have proven miserable failures under their own weight, and libertarianism is just a bullshit curtain for the super-rich to try to weasel out of their social obligations.