Databases support transactions. MySQL doesn't support transactions. MySQL isn't a database.
"But wait!" you say. "I know of databases that don't support transactions!" That is because you are completely wrong. You may know of programs that don't support transactions. Maybe they store stuff. And maybe they let you query stuff. But they are not databases. I like to think of them as 'toys.'
Oracle is a database. BerkeleyDB is a database. MySQL isn't.
I agree with the above poster. Furthermore, Microsoft has more resources (and, since they are for-profit and like to get the mad tax deductions) lots of motivation to devote resources to 501.c(3) qualified charities.
I don't think the fact that there are multiple distributions, in and of itself, is the problem.
The problem is the Linux kernel and its libraries.
I am absolutely fascinated that not a single person in this several-hundred strong thread has commented even once on the most significant part of Hollenshead's complaint: that support for Linux is difficult. Yes, sales aren't good, but support is a nightmare. Not just because of multiple distributions, but because of different kernel versions.
I can't begin to tell you how frustrating using linux as a developer is, particularly if you want to do interesting development at a low level. The kernel devteam seems to have no interest whatsoever in foolish, trivial things like maintaining compatibility with previous APIs, using sane version numbers, etc. Each time a new announcement comes out, every developer cringes and waits to see if their work is going to have to be entirely retrofitted to work for the 5% of users that will be running the new kernel, or the new glibc, or the new version of LinuxThreads, or what have you.
In comparison, the FreeBSD developers seem to have a very good understanding that providing a new feature is not an adequate excuse for breaking existing APIs. And they don't seem to have a problem providing new features without breaking APIs. Maybe that's the benefit of having an operating system that is engineered and designed instead of having one assembled through luck.
First off: Thanks for catching my spelling error. I appreciate it.
Second of all: I understand perfectly well what TeX is all about, and you are proving my point for me. 95% of the bigots on Slashdot recommend TeX not because it is a tool well suited to the task at hand (hint: it usually isn't), but because it is a complex, inscrutable, unfriendly, overly complex tool that makes them feel elite.
And, let's take a look at your message to me -- why look, it's elitism in action! I'm a lawyer, therefore I couldn't possibly understand abstraction or what a decent tool does? Wrong. In addition to being a lawyer, I'm a system administrator, systems programmer, and engineer. As such, I'm well aware that there are always two tools for every job: the right one, and all of the wrong ones. For most text processing jobs, TeX is all of the wrong ones.
Do some people need it? Sure! If you're writing your thesis, I will not get on your case for using it. In fact, I won't get on your case for using it at all. What I'll get in your face about is your recommending it to poor innocent civilians who just want to get work done instead of learning yet another obscure language.
I don't agree with your apparent assumption that the worth of a text processing system can be measured in terms of how difficult it is to learn and use. I'm sure TeX and LaTeX are "incredibly easy" once you've done an unreasonable amount of work (such as working though all the examples in the TeXbook). No doubt, raising my own cattle would be "incredibly easy" if I would only spend several years apprenticing on a cattle ranch; but if my goal is to just eat a goddamned steak, then I am better off going to the store and buying one. Complain about MS-Word as much as you like (and I do, often). There are plenty of things wrong with it. But if you want to argue that it is harder to use and get productive work done with than LaTex, don't: you are utterly, completely, and didactically wrong.
Does TeX know more about typography than me? Maybe. And perhaps that's the point. Not everyone needs a typesetter. Hell, I'll go further: so few people in the universe need a typesetter that the number is practically negligable, and frankly those that do need it have more powerful, flexible, and easier-to-use tools than TeX. Recommending TeX as a word processor or page layout tool is akin to recommending a shotgun to someone that needs a butter knife. It won't work, it'll make a big fucking mess, and the person will probably hurt themselves in the process.
You shouldn't pay money to visit the web site with your article.
Fortunately, you don't have to pay money to visit the web site with my article. You click on the link, and then you get to read the whole article, and you pay no money. Just like Slashdot
So what, exactly, is the problem? Are you upset that I wasn't adding more noise into the "signal" that is the slashdot comments page? A community that comes up with brilliant genius ideas like "Hey, guys, let's replace HTML with LaTeX?"
Well, well, well. Go to bed one evening and the world turns upside down. It looks like themestream censored my article and threatened to pull it just because there were a few choice words in it. Of course, they didn't bother to tell me what, specifically, was wrong with it. What does slashdot think? Should I stop writing for them? I have redacted the "offensive" (dear Themestream: You are all a bunch of assraping pigfuckers) article, and added a link to the original, uncensored version there.
Many years ago (on November 5th, 1994) I posted a rant to the Elbows list when someone asked whether there was a GUI for LaTeX yet. That rant still holds true today.
A brief excerpt:
"TeX (and it's idiot bastard progeny, LaTeX) are a prime example of all
that is kludgy, evil and stupid about the Unix world. Its vices include:
a poisoned and brain damaged idea of what proper typesetting should be, a
fascist attitude towards letting you (god forbid) do anything actually
useful without throwing your keyboard across the room several times in
disgust, a simply grotesque and repulsive default "typeface," and a
complete mishandling of what writing on a computer is all about."
Every couple of years there are a few people that write me mail telling me why I'm wrong, even though I'm not. Then there are a few people that get the joke, and see that I am handing down divinely-inspired wisdom.
Which are you? Read the whole article and decide for yourself. But remember: every time you recommend that someone use LaTeX instead of HTML, or some other program actually designed to get work done, the baby Jesus cries. Yes, there are a few mathemeticians that actually need to use TeX for its formula support. But you know what? You are not one of them.
From the ends of the earth, this is PeterB, signing off.
Well, I used to work at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (or PSC), and we always used to joke about what would be done with the Crays when their lifetime had expired. One of my friends, moose, had suggested that they auction them off on eBay.
At the time, that was a joke, I think.
They're good folks there, real smart, and have managed to scramble to stay competitive. I've always been thankful that they sent me to really cool conferences in San Jose pretty often. And the networking group was always top notch.
One of the center directors had this great description of a supercomputer being a time machine. All it did was solve certain classes of problems faster than the current computers of the day. Everyone who buys a supercomputer knows that they could just wait 5 years for the microprocessors to catch up -- but presumably, if you're spending that many millions of dollars on something, it is because you need to solve the problem now, and not 5 years from now.
Time machines for sale on eBay. We are living in the future, aren't we?
OK, look, I'd like to set this straight once and for all.
This is not true. Yes, there is a 'real' peterb. Yes, I am he. Yes, the Forum 2000 SOMAD was based on me (or more accurately, on the entire output of my usenet postings and postings to internal CMU bulletin boards over 10 years ago). But that does not accurately reflect who I am, or what I do. The guys at Intelleq thought it would be cute to use my reviews as input to the matrix, and I agreed, but that's about the extent of it.
And while I happen to think Debbie Does Dallas is a fine movie, pornography is certainly not the only thing -- or even the majority of -- the so rts of movies I review.
While on the one hand the notoriety has been great, it's really kind of irritating when the SOMAD acts like a sex pig in public and then I get email from some strange woman wanting to know why I said those awful things to her. Trust me. Notoriety is overrated.
I am not at all in favor of censorship; the difference in content between (for your example) the subtitled and dubbed Sailor Moon movies is absolutely shameful.
That being said, however, it is worth noting that it is not necessarily the case that dubbed anime is less faithful to the original text than subtitled anime. And on that note, please let me again shamelessly whore^H^H^H^H^H^share with the community my take on the dubs versus subtitles controversy.
So far, the best review I've seen of X-Men is the review done by Forum 2000. In it, Zorak and Sigmund Freud reveal that Patrick Stewart was chosen for the role only because his baldness filled a deep need in so many of us soon-to-be-bald geeks. Ouch!
I reviewed X-men also, and you are welcome to read it. My quick summary is that I thought they did a great job of making a fun movie without being either completely unfaithful to the comic book or being slavishly faithful where that would have hurt the movie. I liked that they gave Magneto a good reason to hate normal people.
Re:Learn more about your stance, ignorant enough n
on
Tenchi Muyou 3?
·
· Score: 1
I know I shouldn't respond to flamebait, but this is ridiculous. Anime is many things, but it is NOT pornography. Perhaps you should learn a little more about yourself and about the art before saying things like this?
I absolutely cannot believe I misspelled "know" as "no." Now I have to go kick my own ass.
My only excuse is that I haven't had my coffee yet. Mea culpa. Mea culpa!
Hey, as long as I'm talking about animé (this isn't offtopic! Er, not much.) I watched an animé porno movie the other day and reviewed it. It is called F3: Frantic, Frustrated, and Female. Enjoy.
Tenchi is a fabulous series of series. In many ways, each series is a retelling of the same story: Tenchi, a young boy with a past he doesn't no about, collects around him 6 or 7 women from other planets, all of whom are madly in love with him. The humor and tension in the series comes from the conflicts between Tenchi and the girls, and between the women themselves. (And, of course, there's the occasional standard animé "evil alien comes to destroy us and we must work together to defeat him!" plotlines as well.
There are also 3 Tenchi movies. In English, they are called Tenchi Muyo in Love, Tenchi Muyo 2: The Daughters of Darkness, and Tenchi Forever. They are all good, but my personal favorite was Tenchi Forever, since it was in my opinion the one that dealt with issues of love and sexuality in the most mature fashion.
The women of Tenchi are each worth a book in themselves, and it would take too long to list them here, but I'll put in a plug for my favorite, Ryoko the silver-haired asskicking space pirate.
Both the dubbed and subtitled versions of the Tenchi material is good (although I don't like the English actor who does Tenchi's voice.) The American actor who dubs Ryoko is fabulous. On this topic, by the way, I have written an article discussing why I prefer dubs to subtitled animé movies when the dubs are good quality. If you take a look, please let me know what you think!
I am impressed with the way that Sega has been playing things lately. I think this shows that they are continuing to think ahead, and not just get into the nintendo/monopolist mindset. In some ways, this is a reflection of the power of open standards.
I think one of the reasons the Dreamcast is doing so well (in the US and Europe, at least) is because it is so (relatively) easy to program for. By licensing the technology, Sega will increase the incentive of developers to write to their standard.
I wish them luck. Now I have to get back to playing "Space Channel 5" and "Gauntlet Legends".
Actually, I think it is kind of fascinating. I see a number of links -- and not "hot news" links, either -- that show up on memepool and then later mysteriously appear, uncredited, on slashdot. There have been at least two (or perhaps three, depending on how you count) this week alone.
I think we can all agree that information that is freely shared is good for everyone. It would be nice if the slashdot editors made at least a cursory effort to be aware of whether the links submitted to them are on another weblog. For the record, I personally don't think there's anything wrong with using the link, as long as appropriate credit is given.
Also for the record, I am a contributor to memepool, and I have found it to take nearly no effort at all to check if leads I am given are currently appearing on another site. If we as members of the slashdot community expect the same level of responsibility from the slashdot editors, I have no doubt they will be able to rise to our expectations.
IPv6 just provides a larger address space and adds support for IPSec (which can also be supported on IPv4.) It has got nothing to do with the problems you named. And ping and traceroute are the least sophisticated tools possible.
No, no, no, it's Stallman that can go fuck himself.:-) Sorry. I couldn't resist. At least we should be glad that he didn't start singing "The Free Software Song" (gee, "thanks," Jamie Zawinski) in the middle of the interview.
Re:What's improved in the thread libraries?
on
FreeBSD 4.0 Released
·
· Score: 1
Nat was asking whether FreeBSD supported kernel threads. You told him it has user threads. I think he already new that. You could have just said "no."
I know the HKS guys. They're friends of mine. And it's pretty fucking irritating to hear an anonymous coward calling them "crooks." Hey, Einstein, if this is such a trivial thing to do, then I expect to see your implementation take over the world in a month or so. But I'm not holding my breath. Feel free to hold yours, though. -Peter Berger Network Dilettante.
In regards to SubtleNuances' plea to "leave the IT department the hell alone!"
Anyone ignorant enough to think that an IT department does the same thing at, say, an insurance company versus a heavy manufacturing firm deserves to have live weasels shoved up their ass.
Slashdot Mirror
Databases support transactions. MySQL doesn't support transactions. MySQL isn't a database.
"But wait!" you say. "I know of databases that don't support transactions!" That is because you are completely wrong. You may know of programs that don't support transactions. Maybe they store stuff. And maybe they let you query stuff. But they are not databases. I like to think of them as 'toys.'
Oracle is a database. BerkeleyDB is a database. MySQL isn't.
Oh, Wait.
Sometimes I have strange dreams.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
I agree with the above poster. Furthermore, Microsoft has more resources (and, since they are for-profit and like to get the mad tax deductions) lots of motivation to devote resources to 501.c(3) qualified charities.
The problem is the Linux kernel and its libraries.
I am absolutely fascinated that not a single person in this several-hundred strong thread has commented even once on the most significant part of Hollenshead's complaint: that support for Linux is difficult. Yes, sales aren't good, but support is a nightmare. Not just because of multiple distributions, but because of different kernel versions.
I can't begin to tell you how frustrating using linux as a developer is, particularly if you want to do interesting development at a low level. The kernel devteam seems to have no interest whatsoever in foolish, trivial things like maintaining compatibility with previous APIs, using sane version numbers, etc. Each time a new announcement comes out, every developer cringes and waits to see if their work is going to have to be entirely retrofitted to work for the 5% of users that will be running the new kernel, or the new glibc, or the new version of LinuxThreads, or what have you.
In comparison, the FreeBSD developers seem to have a very good understanding that providing a new feature is not an adequate excuse for breaking existing APIs. And they don't seem to have a problem providing new features without breaking APIs. Maybe that's the benefit of having an operating system that is engineered and designed instead of having one assembled through luck.
Please do not engage in any of these forbidden activities. Thank you.
Second of all: I understand perfectly well what TeX is all about, and you are proving my point for me. 95% of the bigots on Slashdot recommend TeX not because it is a tool well suited to the task at hand (hint: it usually isn't), but because it is a complex, inscrutable, unfriendly, overly complex tool that makes them feel elite.
And, let's take a look at your message to me -- why look, it's elitism in action! I'm a lawyer, therefore I couldn't possibly understand abstraction or what a decent tool does? Wrong. In addition to being a lawyer, I'm a system administrator, systems programmer, and engineer. As such, I'm well aware that there are always two tools for every job: the right one, and all of the wrong ones. For most text processing jobs, TeX is all of the wrong ones.
Do some people need it? Sure! If you're writing your thesis, I will not get on your case for using it. In fact, I won't get on your case for using it at all. What I'll get in your face about is your recommending it to poor innocent civilians who just want to get work done instead of learning yet another obscure language.
I don't agree with your apparent assumption that the worth of a text processing system can be measured in terms of how difficult it is to learn and use. I'm sure TeX and LaTeX are "incredibly easy" once you've done an unreasonable amount of work (such as working though all the examples in the TeXbook). No doubt, raising my own cattle would be "incredibly easy" if I would only spend several years apprenticing on a cattle ranch; but if my goal is to just eat a goddamned steak, then I am better off going to the store and buying one. Complain about MS-Word as much as you like (and I do, often). There are plenty of things wrong with it. But if you want to argue that it is harder to use and get productive work done with than LaTex, don't: you are utterly, completely, and didactically wrong.
Does TeX know more about typography than me? Maybe. And perhaps that's the point. Not everyone needs a typesetter. Hell, I'll go further: so few people in the universe need a typesetter that the number is practically negligable, and frankly those that do need it have more powerful, flexible, and easier-to-use tools than TeX. Recommending TeX as a word processor or page layout tool is akin to recommending a shotgun to someone that needs a butter knife. It won't work, it'll make a big fucking mess, and the person will probably hurt themselves in the process.
Fortunately, you don't have to pay money to visit the web site with my article. You click on the link, and then you get to read the whole article, and you pay no money. Just like Slashdot
So what, exactly, is the problem? Are you upset that I wasn't adding more noise into the "signal" that is the slashdot comments page? A community that comes up with brilliant genius ideas like "Hey, guys, let's replace HTML with LaTeX?"
Well, well, well. Go to bed one evening and the world turns upside down. It looks like themestream censored my article and threatened to pull it just because there were a few choice words in it. Of course, they didn't bother to tell me what, specifically, was wrong with it. What does slashdot think? Should I stop writing for them? I have redacted the "offensive" (dear Themestream: You are all a bunch of assraping pigfuckers) article, and added a link to the original, uncensored version there.
A brief excerpt:
"TeX (and it's idiot bastard progeny, LaTeX) are a prime example of all that is kludgy, evil and stupid about the Unix world. Its vices include: a poisoned and brain damaged idea of what proper typesetting should be, a fascist attitude towards letting you (god forbid) do anything actually useful without throwing your keyboard across the room several times in disgust, a simply grotesque and repulsive default "typeface," and a complete mishandling of what writing on a computer is all about."
Every couple of years there are a few people that write me mail telling me why I'm wrong, even though I'm not. Then there are a few people that get the joke, and see that I am handing down divinely-inspired wisdom.
Which are you? Read the whole article and decide for yourself. But remember: every time you recommend that someone use LaTeX instead of HTML, or some other program actually designed to get work done, the baby Jesus cries. Yes, there are a few mathemeticians that actually need to use TeX for its formula support. But you know what? You are not one of them.
From the ends of the earth, this is PeterB, signing off.
Executive summary: nice movie, but the glacial pacing was a major mistake. 3.5 stars out of 5.
At the time, that was a joke, I think.
They're good folks there, real smart, and have managed to scramble to stay competitive. I've always been thankful that they sent me to really cool conferences in San Jose pretty often. And the networking group was always top notch.
One of the center directors had this great description of a supercomputer being a time machine. All it did was solve certain classes of problems faster than the current computers of the day. Everyone who buys a supercomputer knows that they could just wait 5 years for the microprocessors to catch up -- but presumably, if you're spending that many millions of dollars on something, it is because you need to solve the problem now, and not 5 years from now.
Time machines for sale on eBay. We are living in the future, aren't we?
This is not true. Yes, there is a 'real' peterb. Yes, I am he. Yes, the Forum 2000 SOMAD was based on me (or more accurately, on the entire output of my usenet postings and postings to internal CMU bulletin boards over 10 years ago). But that does not accurately reflect who I am, or what I do. The guys at Intelleq thought it would be cute to use my reviews as input to the matrix, and I agreed, but that's about the extent of it.
And while I happen to think Debbie Does Dallas is a fine movie, pornography is certainly not the only thing -- or even the majority of -- the so rts of movies I review.
While on the one hand the notoriety has been great, it's really kind of irritating when the SOMAD acts like a sex pig in public and then I get email from some strange woman wanting to know why I said those awful things to her. Trust me. Notoriety is overrated.
That being said, however, it is worth noting that it is not necessarily the case that dubbed anime is less faithful to the original text than subtitled anime. And on that note, please let me again shamelessly whore^H^H^H^H^H^share with the community my take on the dubs versus subtitles controversy.
So far, the best review I've seen of X-Men is the review done by Forum 2000. In it, Zorak and Sigmund Freud reveal that Patrick Stewart was chosen for the role only because his baldness filled a deep need in so many of us soon-to-be-bald geeks. Ouch!
I reviewed X-men also, and you are welcome to read it. My quick summary is that I thought they did a great job of making a fun movie without being either completely unfaithful to the comic book or being slavishly faithful where that would have hurt the movie. I liked that they gave Magneto a good reason to hate normal people.
I know I shouldn't respond to flamebait, but this is ridiculous. Anime is many things, but it is NOT pornography. Perhaps you should learn a little more about yourself and about the art before saying things like this?
My only excuse is that I haven't had my coffee yet. Mea culpa. Mea culpa!
Hey, as long as I'm talking about animé (this isn't offtopic! Er, not much.) I watched an animé porno movie the other day and reviewed it. It is called F3: Frantic, Frustrated, and Female. Enjoy.
There are also 3 Tenchi movies. In English, they are called Tenchi Muyo in Love, Tenchi Muyo 2: The Daughters of Darkness, and Tenchi Forever. They are all good, but my personal favorite was Tenchi Forever, since it was in my opinion the one that dealt with issues of love and sexuality in the most mature fashion.
The women of Tenchi are each worth a book in themselves, and it would take too long to list them here, but I'll put in a plug for my favorite, Ryoko the silver-haired asskicking space pirate.
Both the dubbed and subtitled versions of the Tenchi material is good (although I don't like the English actor who does Tenchi's voice.) The American actor who dubs Ryoko is fabulous. On this topic, by the way, I have written an article discussing why I prefer dubs to subtitled animé movies when the dubs are good quality. If you take a look, please let me know what you think!
I think one of the reasons the Dreamcast is doing so well (in the US and Europe, at least) is because it is so (relatively) easy to program for. By licensing the technology, Sega will increase the incentive of developers to write to their standard.
I wish them luck. Now I have to get back to playing "Space Channel 5" and "Gauntlet Legends".
I think we can all agree that information that is freely shared is good for everyone. It would be nice if the slashdot editors made at least a cursory effort to be aware of whether the links submitted to them are on another weblog. For the record, I personally don't think there's anything wrong with using the link, as long as appropriate credit is given.
Also for the record, I am a contributor to memepool, and I have found it to take nearly no effort at all to check if leads I am given are currently appearing on another site. If we as members of the slashdot community expect the same level of responsibility from the slashdot editors, I have no doubt they will be able to rise to our expectations.
IPv6 just provides a larger address space and adds support for IPSec (which can also be supported on IPv4.) It has got nothing to do with the problems you named. And ping and traceroute are the least sophisticated tools possible.
No, no, no, it's Stallman that can go fuck himself. :-) Sorry. I couldn't resist. At least we should be glad that he didn't start singing "The Free Software Song" (gee, "thanks," Jamie Zawinski) in the middle of the interview.
Nat was asking whether FreeBSD supported kernel threads. You told him it has user threads. I think he already new that. You could have just said "no."
I know the HKS guys. They're friends of mine. And it's pretty fucking irritating to hear an anonymous coward calling them "crooks." Hey, Einstein, if this is such a trivial thing to do, then I expect to see your implementation take over the world in a month or so. But I'm not holding my breath. Feel free to hold yours, though. -Peter Berger Network Dilettante.
Anyone ignorant enough to think that an IT department does the same thing at, say, an insurance company versus a heavy manufacturing firm deserves to have live weasels shoved up their ass.
Peter Berger - in defense of dubbing in Anime.