I'm a big AMD fan. But I'd be really upset to loose the nForce line of chipsets. In my opinion, it's a must for any AMD user. And I think it would be very difficult to come up with a good replacement.
I also worry that chipsets for AMD based motherboards will not work so well with my nVidia video card. Not an ATI fan at all.
I'm going to be watching these guys very closely. This would sway me away from AMD.
As a developer, I am constantly associating myself with two distinctly different types of communities. Those which are project-centric (like Sourceforge), and those which are language-specific (like perlmonks).
The first is necessary to allow for coordination of all your developers. It needs to have an easy bug reporting and maintenence structure. It should have a CVS, discussion area, announcement area, and a documentation area. As I mentioned already, Sourceforge is the best example that I can think of that addresses this type of community.
The second, the language-specific community, is necessary as a suppliment. You need a place where you can turn to discuss a possible solution with the GURUs of that particular language or even just to show your thoughts to a fresh set of eyes. When I coded Perl, perlmonks was unrivaled in this aspect. As a PHP coder (now), I regret that the PHP community doesn't have anything that rivals perlmonks. At least there's php.net.
A really well designed community would have both. But this would be limiting in application scope. You might have a web development community with three or four language-centric sub-communities. But you won't be able to effectively support more than a few languages without the risk of being too broad.
There is absolutely no reason why you should put foam IN the ducts. Especially open-cell foam like that stuff. It will decrease airflow. And the last thing you want to do is decrease the cooling efficiency in the case.
Before I started spending my spare cash on building computers, I used to compete in the automotive stereo scene. But now that I am into building computers AND I am into making music on those computers, I am very surprised at how many people don't look to the car stereo scene for advice. I'm guessing that the average geek doesn't think outside fo the PC-mod world. But just because something isn't marketed for computers, that doesn't mean it isn't usable.
Dynamat and Killer Blue. Dynamat is thin, very dense, and it does wonders for sound dampening. Killer Blue is a spray-foam that works for areas where a sheet of rubbery stuff won't work. While dynamat does make a "PC" kit, the regular automotive stuff is cheaper and better. Dynamat also comes in several grades and thicknesses. You'll want a couple different types for different applications. Don't forget to put some between your fans and the case and between your power supply and the case. As for the Killer Blue, you won't need much of it. Some cases, you won't even need any. In my case, there's a plastic front and there's a lot of space between it and the case. I sprayed some of it in there - careful not to block any airflow around the fans. There are also some crevices at the corners where the Killer Blue was more appropriate as well.
But the important thing about sound-proofing any case (especially aluminum cases) is the fact that you will increase heat in the case itself. Make sure you ventilate it properly. Use larger fans when possible. For that matter...start with a good case.
Speed was never the issue for me. I sure as hell can type 10x faster than I can write (especially on a PDA with the 'grafiti' script). I can probably at least rival it with a tiny keyboard (like the Blackberries). But my problem is that I want something that is a decent size and I don't want to loose any screen real-estate to a keyboard. That's why I've always like the PALM systems.
Within the next four years, I might have to stock up on spare PDAs just so that I have them to last for years to come.
I agree with you. I think it might have been better to show two hardware setups...a lesser machine and a more modern machine.
However: I think it is important to know how these filesystems will run on a slower machine. One of the major appeals that Linux has is that you can compile your kernel to run on slower machines. It would not be entirely unlikely that someone has linux installed on their slower machine. In my personal setup, my lesser powered machine is the linux box. It is a firewall, e-mail and caching name server. These tests are very useful in picking the filesystem. I have a slow machine, it rarely needs to write 1gb files, and frequently needs to write small files in large quantities.
So...while it would've been nice to see a more modern machine - it wouldn't be right to take the slower machine entirely out of the picture.
Funny you should say that. This article launched me into a debate with a co-worker, who happens to be English. He tells me that over in Britain, they refer to that daft system we American's use as the 'American System'. I was raised to call it the 'English System'.
Can anyone verify this? Are we (americans) really THAT stubborn?
now, if that's the case, the quandary for slashdotters: do you hate red hat more or do you want linux desktops everywhere more?
I don't 'hate' red hat. But I do have some frustration with the company. My frustration has to do with the fact that they seem to release relatively unstable distros. RedHat 9 crashed once a day on me -- even Windows XP didn't do that. And I was running vanilla no-frills software. That's when I switched to Gentoo and Debian.
I don't think the average slashdotter hates Redhat. I think they realize the value of having a company like that on your side. However, I think many people feel that the company is being shady sometimes -- maybe less noble -- as compared to other distributions. Each has it's own philosophy. Gentoo -- performance. Debian -- stability. Mandrake -- ease of use. For Redhat, it appears as though their driving force is money, and only money.
On one hand, Wal-mart condemns violent and explicit language. They have been quoted as saying that such language promotes violence and aggression (in so many words, this was a long time ago).
On the other hand, they sell guns.
So I'm just confused as to how language condones violence while guns do not.
As if I didn't have enough reasons to avoid Wal-mart, here's another. Granted, I must clarify that i'm not worried about what Wal-mart might do with the RFID tags. Especially since I can throw the packaging away. However, what side-effects will come of this? What will the geek community make of this? When will we see the RFID HOWTO?
I don't understand this store. They censor CDs that have explicit lyrics without any on-the-package indication. Yet, they sell guns? Seems like two sets of values to me.
I think the biggest advancement in the Linux Scene over the past couple of years is the installation process. It's funny to think of it that way, since it's such a minor issue. But most people will get frustrated enough on the installation process alone to dismiss Linux as a viable competitor on the desktop wars. A good portion of his article focused on the installation. All his hardware was detected on install, and that left him very little to 'hack' into place later on. And that's all thanks to the installation process.
On the other hand, I have to agree that most other resources in linux havn't changed. Gnome still looks and acts relatively the same. KDE hasn't changed much, just gotten more applications that do the same essential things. Even redhat's bluecurve hasn't done much to the desktop. There are some notable things, however. Ximian has done wonderful things for Gnome. And the mozilla project is finally mature enough for most people (non-geek) standards.
It's the small subtle details that get noticed. For those of us who have been using Linux for a while, it's not a big deal. If we installed it before, we can install it now. But for Joe-Net-Browser, it's now a viable option. Cheaper, too.
I'm sure it seems silly to anyone that knows computers, maybe even Apple for that matter. But that's not the name of the game. Keep in mind, Apple is not necessarily a friend to the RIAA, but it has to work with the (corrupt) organization. So if the limitation of 10 burns seems silly, it's just a way to keep the RIAA happy. Its a compromise in which I'm sure the RIAA doesn't realize what's truly possible.
Too bad for them. Yay for Apple -- and us.
The other replies are 100% correct. But I thought I should throw in the fact that this 10 time limit for a playlist, while it might seem silly, is actually quite justified. It was a requirement put forth on Apple. The idea is that it prevents you from downloading an album, and burning it billions of times and selling those albums. Yes, there is a way around it, but it's a hassle, and that's all that Apple had to do to keep RIAA happy.
I've been working a lot lately with PHP, and I realize that my stuff isn't nearly as scalable as it could be. But I don't consider myself not understanding the language...jsut not as much experience.
My point is, however, that the ease-of-use directly affects scalability. Assuming that both Java and PHP were equally scalable....the issue then falls to how easy it is to get there. Does it become an education thing? Or does it become an ease-of-use thing?
I'll admit, I know nothing of Java. Never tried. So I can't honestly say that one language is easier than the other. Maybe Java is easier than PHP? If so....maybe that's why Java seems more scalable.
It was very nice to see how humble Linus truly is. That letter he wrote to the writer, mocking himself all the while, was quite interesting. While he might think he's boreing...he's anything but. He doesn't seem to have a big head at all, and he surely doesn't seem to have the arrogance that is expected of any big name in the tech industries. When was the last time you read an interview with Gates, Case or Jobs where they forgot to take out the trash, or they forgot that their kids would be home alone? I guess I just get the feeling that Linus is that much more human than anyone else that well known in the tech field.
But maybe that's the nature of the community. After all, I get the same vibe (though not nearly as strong) from Alan Cox.
I use a tracking (music writing) program called Impulse Tracker, which is a DOS based program. It required me to hack Windows XP to run it. Ironically, if you update your XP with Service Pack 1, it won't work anymore.
I also have a computer dedicated to running oldskool demos. It's a 486dx4-100mhz motherboard with 5 ISA slots and 2 PCI slots. Not only does it have an original Soundblaster 16 sound card, but it also has a Gravis Ultrasound PNP (one of the very first RED expansion cards) and an unknown (but usable) ISA NIC. But believe me, it's worth it to keep this thing running for the nostalgia of running an old demo.
On a similar note, there is a warning sticker on older Bobcats (Skid Steer or Loaders) that has a picture of a guy under a falling Bobcat. The caption is simply "Avoid Death!" Nothing else.
I agree. White noise from the highway does put me to sleep rather quickly. Of course, that's the only advantage I see to my humble abode underneith the I-95 bridge in Philly. Guess it's time to find a new job.
It seems silly...but having number portability really will allow more competition among companies. And competition is always good -- it keeps companies honest.
As I said, it seems like a silly concept. But think back. If you havn't said it yourself, I'm sure you might know someone that said "I'd change carriers...but then I'll have to track everyone down and tell them my new number". The same sorta holds true for e-mail/ISPs as well. It's a big pain in the ass to change phone numbers...if we didn't have to worry about it, we wouldn't have any problem switching carriers if their service sucked.
Google has a corner on the market. Yeah? Big deal! If you're Yahoo or Lycos or AOL, I could imagine why you'd be upset.
But a bunch of portal sites organized with the Chinese Government?
What benefit do they have? What are they afraid of? I could understand if they wanted to have a Chinese-only search-bot. But even still, there's little point in that. That limits your resources drastically.
Sadly, the case of free software development is that there's too much pride. Mind you, Pride isn't a bad thing, except when the person leading a project either a) isn't working on the project for whatever reason or b) won't listen to feedback because he thinks he knows exactly what everyone wants.
In the first case, I've seen a lot of good projects fail. A lot of these projects are very similar to each other. If the project leaders would swallow their pride, more often then not they'd have plenty of resources to share. Shared resources means a better product.
The second case is pretty cut-and-dry. No one wants to use a product that doesn't have a community. Communities grow when the end-user feels (s)he can contribute something. If the developer ignores the end-user and does things that he wants without any feedback, the community never grows. Again, swallow the pride, listen to the users.
You might be implementing features you never though of -- whether you like it or not. But if it results in a stronger community with more people using your product...that makes it worth it. No one develops an open-source project 100% for themselves. If that were the case, they wouldn't tell anyone.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm a big AMD fan. But I'd be really upset to loose the nForce line of chipsets. In my opinion, it's a must for any AMD user. And I think it would be very difficult to come up with a good replacement.
I also worry that chipsets for AMD based motherboards will not work so well with my nVidia video card. Not an ATI fan at all.
I'm going to be watching these guys very closely. This would sway me away from AMD.
We already have Windows XP with skins.
The first is necessary to allow for coordination of all your developers. It needs to have an easy bug reporting and maintenence structure. It should have a CVS, discussion area, announcement area, and a documentation area. As I mentioned already, Sourceforge is the best example that I can think of that addresses this type of community.
The second, the language-specific community, is necessary as a suppliment. You need a place where you can turn to discuss a possible solution with the GURUs of that particular language or even just to show your thoughts to a fresh set of eyes. When I coded Perl, perlmonks was unrivaled in this aspect. As a PHP coder (now), I regret that the PHP community doesn't have anything that rivals perlmonks. At least there's php.net.
A really well designed community would have both. But this would be limiting in application scope. You might have a web development community with three or four language-centric sub-communities. But you won't be able to effectively support more than a few languages without the risk of being too broad.
There is absolutely no reason why you should put foam IN the ducts. Especially open-cell foam like that stuff. It will decrease airflow. And the last thing you want to do is decrease the cooling efficiency in the case.
Before I started spending my spare cash on building computers, I used to compete in the automotive stereo scene. But now that I am into building computers AND I am into making music on those computers, I am very surprised at how many people don't look to the car stereo scene for advice. I'm guessing that the average geek doesn't think outside fo the PC-mod world. But just because something isn't marketed for computers, that doesn't mean it isn't usable. Dynamat and Killer Blue. Dynamat is thin, very dense, and it does wonders for sound dampening. Killer Blue is a spray-foam that works for areas where a sheet of rubbery stuff won't work. While dynamat does make a "PC" kit, the regular automotive stuff is cheaper and better. Dynamat also comes in several grades and thicknesses. You'll want a couple different types for different applications. Don't forget to put some between your fans and the case and between your power supply and the case. As for the Killer Blue, you won't need much of it. Some cases, you won't even need any. In my case, there's a plastic front and there's a lot of space between it and the case. I sprayed some of it in there - careful not to block any airflow around the fans. There are also some crevices at the corners where the Killer Blue was more appropriate as well. But the important thing about sound-proofing any case (especially aluminum cases) is the fact that you will increase heat in the case itself. Make sure you ventilate it properly. Use larger fans when possible. For that matter...start with a good case.
Speed was never the issue for me. I sure as hell can type 10x faster than I can write (especially on a PDA with the 'grafiti' script). I can probably at least rival it with a tiny keyboard (like the Blackberries). But my problem is that I want something that is a decent size and I don't want to loose any screen real-estate to a keyboard. That's why I've always like the PALM systems.
Within the next four years, I might have to stock up on spare PDAs just so that I have them to last for years to come.
I agree with you. I think it might have been better to show two hardware setups...a lesser machine and a more modern machine. However: I think it is important to know how these filesystems will run on a slower machine. One of the major appeals that Linux has is that you can compile your kernel to run on slower machines. It would not be entirely unlikely that someone has linux installed on their slower machine. In my personal setup, my lesser powered machine is the linux box. It is a firewall, e-mail and caching name server. These tests are very useful in picking the filesystem. I have a slow machine, it rarely needs to write 1gb files, and frequently needs to write small files in large quantities. So...while it would've been nice to see a more modern machine - it wouldn't be right to take the slower machine entirely out of the picture.
Funny you should say that. This article launched me into a debate with a co-worker, who happens to be English. He tells me that over in Britain, they refer to that daft system we American's use as the 'American System'. I was raised to call it the 'English System'. Can anyone verify this? Are we (americans) really THAT stubborn?
I don't 'hate' red hat. But I do have some frustration with the company. My frustration has to do with the fact that they seem to release relatively unstable distros. RedHat 9 crashed once a day on me -- even Windows XP didn't do that. And I was running vanilla no-frills software. That's when I switched to Gentoo and Debian.
I don't think the average slashdotter hates Redhat. I think they realize the value of having a company like that on your side. However, I think many people feel that the company is being shady sometimes -- maybe less noble -- as compared to other distributions. Each has it's own philosophy. Gentoo -- performance. Debian -- stability. Mandrake -- ease of use. For Redhat, it appears as though their driving force is money, and only money.
On one hand, Wal-mart condemns violent and explicit language. They have been quoted as saying that such language promotes violence and aggression (in so many words, this was a long time ago). On the other hand, they sell guns. So I'm just confused as to how language condones violence while guns do not.
I don't understand this store. They censor CDs that have explicit lyrics without any on-the-package indication. Yet, they sell guns? Seems like two sets of values to me.
I hate Walmart
I think the biggest advancement in the Linux Scene over the past couple of years is the installation process. It's funny to think of it that way, since it's such a minor issue. But most people will get frustrated enough on the installation process alone to dismiss Linux as a viable competitor on the desktop wars. A good portion of his article focused on the installation. All his hardware was detected on install, and that left him very little to 'hack' into place later on. And that's all thanks to the installation process.
On the other hand, I have to agree that most other resources in linux havn't changed. Gnome still looks and acts relatively the same. KDE hasn't changed much, just gotten more applications that do the same essential things. Even redhat's bluecurve hasn't done much to the desktop. There are some notable things, however. Ximian has done wonderful things for Gnome. And the mozilla project is finally mature enough for most people (non-geek) standards.
It's the small subtle details that get noticed. For those of us who have been using Linux for a while, it's not a big deal. If we installed it before, we can install it now. But for Joe-Net-Browser, it's now a viable option. Cheaper, too.
What's the collective logo for PHP? I'm a long time Perl Hacker, and I'm fairly new to PHP. So what should I tack after my penguin and my camel?
I'm sure it seems silly to anyone that knows computers, maybe even Apple for that matter. But that's not the name of the game. Keep in mind, Apple is not necessarily a friend to the RIAA, but it has to work with the (corrupt) organization. So if the limitation of 10 burns seems silly, it's just a way to keep the RIAA happy. Its a compromise in which I'm sure the RIAA doesn't realize what's truly possible. Too bad for them. Yay for Apple -- and us.
The other replies are 100% correct. But I thought I should throw in the fact that this 10 time limit for a playlist, while it might seem silly, is actually quite justified. It was a requirement put forth on Apple. The idea is that it prevents you from downloading an album, and burning it billions of times and selling those albums. Yes, there is a way around it, but it's a hassle, and that's all that Apple had to do to keep RIAA happy.
My point is, however, that the ease-of-use directly affects scalability. Assuming that both Java and PHP were equally scalable....the issue then falls to how easy it is to get there. Does it become an education thing? Or does it become an ease-of-use thing?
I'll admit, I know nothing of Java. Never tried. So I can't honestly say that one language is easier than the other. Maybe Java is easier than PHP? If so....maybe that's why Java seems more scalable.
It was very nice to see how humble Linus truly is. That letter he wrote to the writer, mocking himself all the while, was quite interesting. While he might think he's boreing...he's anything but. He doesn't seem to have a big head at all, and he surely doesn't seem to have the arrogance that is expected of any big name in the tech industries. When was the last time you read an interview with Gates, Case or Jobs where they forgot to take out the trash, or they forgot that their kids would be home alone? I guess I just get the feeling that Linus is that much more human than anyone else that well known in the tech field.
But maybe that's the nature of the community. After all, I get the same vibe (though not nearly as strong) from Alan Cox.
I also have a computer dedicated to running oldskool demos. It's a 486dx4-100mhz motherboard with 5 ISA slots and 2 PCI slots. Not only does it have an original Soundblaster 16 sound card, but it also has a Gravis Ultrasound PNP (one of the very first RED expansion cards) and an unknown (but usable) ISA NIC. But believe me, it's worth it to keep this thing running for the nostalgia of running an old demo.
Since then, I have always kept that in mind.
I agree. White noise from the highway does put me to sleep rather quickly. Of course, that's the only advantage I see to my humble abode underneith the I-95 bridge in Philly. Guess it's time to find a new job.
Lives to be 100 smoking cigars and drinking martinis like water. I want to be just like him (except I don't like martinis).
As I said, it seems like a silly concept. But think back. If you havn't said it yourself, I'm sure you might know someone that said "I'd change carriers...but then I'll have to track everyone down and tell them my new number". The same sorta holds true for e-mail/ISPs as well. It's a big pain in the ass to change phone numbers...if we didn't have to worry about it, we wouldn't have any problem switching carriers if their service sucked.
But a bunch of portal sites organized with the Chinese Government?
What benefit do they have? What are they afraid of? I could understand if they wanted to have a Chinese-only search-bot. But even still, there's little point in that. That limits your resources drastically.
In the first case, I've seen a lot of good projects fail. A lot of these projects are very similar to each other. If the project leaders would swallow their pride, more often then not they'd have plenty of resources to share. Shared resources means a better product.
The second case is pretty cut-and-dry. No one wants to use a product that doesn't have a community. Communities grow when the end-user feels (s)he can contribute something. If the developer ignores the end-user and does things that he wants without any feedback, the community never grows. Again, swallow the pride, listen to the users.
You might be implementing features you never though of -- whether you like it or not. But if it results in a stronger community with more people using your product...that makes it worth it. No one develops an open-source project 100% for themselves. If that were the case, they wouldn't tell anyone.
I just have to laugh at that comment. I now know that you're a true 100% geek. Who else would ask to get their porn on slashdot.