Okay, I'm confused. I've also heard this (that RISC chips did less per instruction, but with more instructions/second) and CISC chips did more per instruction, but with fewer. The PPC is a RISC chip through and through, and the x86 and clones are CISC at least at the instruction level. And the new x86 chips have MANY more cycles/second than the PPC's right now. But I've heard it chanted over and over among fans of the PPC that a PPC, at the same Mhz rating is faster than the x86 (although nobody is claiming anymore that current PPC chips are faster than current x86 chips, because of the huge discrepency between clock speeds). How can this follow from the above, if the PPC does less per instruction?
You do realize that once a term is "borrowed" into another toungue (don't ask me why linguists use the term "borrowed" as I've never seen a single word ever returned!) it can and usually does shift in meaning? Much of the English language is "loan words" from other languages and most of those words have different meanings, sometimes strikingly different, than the original term in its native toungue. The situation is the same, for terms borrowed into Japanese from English. "Otaku" will probably never become a widely used English term, simply because very few English speakers care much about otaku, but, in the otaku jargon, it means exactly whatever it is they say it means.
I will answer that. Linux under the PPC has two pieces of software that I need but can't use on Mac OS X, because they are not yet available for Mac OS X. They are: OpenOffice and cdparanoia.
Since these don't exist on Mac OS X but do on Linux, and since Linux is cheap and dual booting is already part of my life what with MacOS 9 and X, might as well add it and use the software I need. There is (apparently, please correct me if I'm wrong) no software in MacOS X to do a !!!reliable!!! rip of a CD to a raw file and of course, no good Office clone which is good at using Microsoft format office files. For example, I have a 14.1 MB spreadsheet file that I use a lot. OpenOffice opens it, and uses it, including every nice feature, perfectly. AppleWorks crashes. If you add MacLink Deluxe to the picture, and translate it to an AppleWorks file, AppleWorks nevertheless can't handle the special features in there such that the file is useful. Also, OpenOffice is MUCH MUCH faster than AppleWorks on long files (under the same hardware but different OS, in this case, SuSE Linux PPC). Microsoft Office of course supports its own formats (for the most part, some older formats don't work correctly) and of course every special feature works fine, so I considered it. But Microsoft Office under X has severe memory leak problems, it opens a security hole up that allows hackers to shut it down remotely (this has been fixed, but people are having a lot of trouble with the fix), and it costs either $350 or $500 depending on the deal!
Forget it!
I will just create a nice new partition to handle the occasional Linux software that I need. Virtual PC is another option, since I need to use this software so rarely, but why not run it natively since it can? In addition to cdparanoia and OpenOffice, every once in a while someone writes a cool piece of software for Linux that I like to play with, for example there's a star chart program for KDE that I have an interest in. I assume that both cdparanoia (or some equivilent) and OpenOffice will both eventually be avaliable for the Mac OS X, at which time I will reclaim that partition for something else. But until then, Linux is one method I can use to get access to the software I need to use on my machine.
My current machine is a G3 500 iMac, my new one will be the new iLamp 800.
While I like the core thinking going on behind this argument, would this not encourage programmers to create software that needs constant modification?
Personally, I think that a system by which those things that the consumer might want (stability, reliability, no need for technical support for software) should be encouraged in the way in which it is sold. For example, if most of the money is made from support, then the company is encouraged to create software with low up-front costs, a lot of "tie-ins" (technological methods to keep you "in their fold" and using their software once you've made the (possibly foolish) decision to buy it) and the need for extensive support.
The libertarian ideal breaks down in a lot of places because it makes the assumption that it is possible for every actor to be perfectly informed (no actor is ever perfectly informed) and that actors with unequal resources can still negotiate on equal ground (false). It also assumes that there can be an arbitrary number of possible sources for each type of good (false).
So what kind of system makes the most sense for software? Being that software is a very, very different kind of product than any products that these various ideologies were intended to handle.
One thing that confuses me is your approach to artificial scarcity as a property rights issue. You say you have a strong sense of property rights (fine) and therefore it took some effort to overcome, what I can only assume to be, a natural presumption that idea regulation ("intellectual property rights") is a good thing, because property rights are a good thing. I would argue with this entire basis. Firstly, there is no property at all in an idea. Intellectual property doesn't just represent artificial scarcity, it represents virtual property (artificial property -- property that is created by governmental mandate). Without the intervention of goverment, there was no property to be private!
As a libertarian, I would imagine that the difficult thing to overcome would not be the natural assumption that intellectual property is a universially good thing because property rights are important, but rather that governmental intervention to create this false property is a good thing!
You are still a bit confused, although you are getting.. um... saner...
Both the BSD and the Linux license (the GPL) are "Free as in speech", that is, they are designed to allow the user freedom -- freedom to the source, freedom to distribute, and freedom to modify and distribute the modifications. "Free as in beer" means only that you are allowed to use something for free, for example, "freeware". Freeware may still be closed-source (the source code is not distributed) and therefore not free "as in speech", but still is "free" in the monetary sense of meaning that no money is charged for it.
Is there a way to improve iTunes' ripping performance however? I get skips even when the CD is perfectly new. cdparanoia under Linux and EAC (exact audio copy) under Windows will both do a perfect job, but I prefer the ease of use of iTunes and the fact that it integrates with everything else. If only I could use a cdparanoia "engine" in iTunes it would be perfect...
This article appears to be over a year old! January 11th, 2001 is its date...
My next bump will be a(nother) iMac
on
New iMac Announced
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Ok, I've seen this over and over and over. In response to, "Why don't they throw in 2 Ghz G5's and a 22" LCD in the iMac, along with 4000 expansion ports?", the answer is, "because they aren't for geeks they are for consumers who know nothing".
I disagree. I am a programmer, professionally now, but have been doing it since the age of 8 on an Atari 800 as a hobby (don't worry I've changed machines a few times since then!). At one point I remember hand-assembling machine code and entering it into ATARI BASIC (using a construct something like "USR("[buncha obscure control characters]"). I fit nicely into the geek category I imagine.
And I love my main machine, an iMac 500 CD. It does everything I want it to do, except perhaps play DVD's. Of course, that's what my DVD player is for.
Running on BSD, and PowerPC, and everything just kind of works. What more could I ask for?
In fact the truth seems to be that programmers don't always need to run on the hottest, latest hardware. In fact, I could see a consumer wanting or needing that more than a programmer. If you spend all your time with your computer on games, and applications like DV authoring, you need beefy, expensive hardware. If you spend it instead on programming, I know from experience that an Atari 800 can be made to work. In any case I am very impressed with all the software that Apple includes in with the box (or, in the case of the new machines, "bump", plural, "bumpen"), especially the full-featured programming IDE, the best I've ever seen, which can be downloaded and used by anyone (with a Mac) for free. And this of course is why I don't complain about price either. Sure, I could have gotten a machine with better specs (arguably) on the Intel side. But I get a workable office suite, the equivalent of the pay version of Real Jukebox in iTunes (that goes for about $50 and crashes if you sneeze at it), better digital camera software than any camera comes with normally, and so on and so on... Total package? Even without the "Apple aura", the Apple comes out clearly ahead (as of Mac OS X 10.1) for me. Now I know I can fix just about anything that goes wrong with this thing. What about those times I just don't wanna? I just call Apple. Their support is awesome. They have a nice knowledge base on their support site as well. Anycase, enough ranting. I just don't buy the ubergeek=I bought a big machine, therefore I'm 'leet vs. consumer=bought a small or moderate machine because I don't know what I'm doing. Shouldn't it be, if anything, the other way around?
I work professionally as a GUI developer, and can add one more reason why it's probable that Mosfet is getting so much attention, relative to the other equally worthy programmers out there.
You can see what he's done. It's obvious, it just jumps right out at you, because it's GUI work. For better or worse, GUI programmers have this extra responsibility.
I am trying to get this to compile under Mac OS X. There seem to be some references directly to X in the source code and documentation, but "./configure", "make" didn't seem to work for libao. Has anyone gotten this to compile on the new Mac OS?
I've found this to be approximately true. I'm 29 and have about 9 years of professional experience.
The real problem isn't that discrimination is the only factor, but that it might be a factor at all. Is it fair to be fired, even for behavior which one could legitimately imagine being fired for (being late for work for example) if others are also equally late for work, but, for example, not as young, and are not fired? In fact I agree, discrimination as the _only_ factor in a employee/employer conflict is extremely rare, but what I see all the time is people getting much less toleration than others for the same problem because of their youth, advanced age, religion/culture and so on. There are good employees, there are poorer ones, but there's no such thing as a perfect employee (or employer!) True toleration means equal toleration. I've seen all kinds, my brother's company will fire you for extraordinarily little cause (being slightly late, not meeting expectations or performance requirements (which are set VERY high) even once, and so on) but they seem to apply the same rules to everyone.
Another point I'd like to make is this. If a young person comes for an interview, and the interviewees see that the person is fairly young, and they hire them anyway, the occasional immature behavior, as long as it's not an truly big problem, should be corrected without resort to extremes (eg. firing).
Now that they economy is cooling a bit, it's even more important to realize that most workers have some dependence on their jobs. Firing someone should be seen as a fairly extreme measure, and should have a fairly extreme cause. It's no longer the case (and won't be for another year or so) that it's "Oh well, s/he'll get another job..." Most problems can be handled internally by a good manager, and doing it this way is usually cheaper and more humane than hiring new recruits.
I've got an iMac (500Mhz) and I'm generally happy with it. I would also like to build my own PC, I've had both PC's and Mac's in the past. But one thing that's been holding me off is that issue of noise. I like my little apartment and I like it quiet. I live in an apartment which has (apparently) absolutely sound proof walls and windows (downtown Honolulu apartments are built like this typically) and I love it. I REFUSE to put something that sounds like a vacuum cleaner in my living space. On most days I can just open all my windows and listen to birds, I'm far enough up where even cars and bus noises are fairly minimal.
My current machine makes no noise except for the harddrive, which shuts off after 5 minutes of non-use. I bought 1GB of memory (maxxed out my iMac) when prices were low enough so that it would rely more heavily on cache, and I pre-launch all my favorite applications to keep it from hitting the harddrive after boot up too often. All I really want now is a solid state mass storage device, like perhaps a flash harddrive so that I can get rid of the noise that's left.
Of course, the attitude towards noise is different in the PC world. Generally, people seem to care a lot more about Mhz than noise, looks, elegance, getting things done, or even the actual performance of the machine. This has created dual purpose machines that could be used for computation, or for heating a small house in southern Argentina. And enough noise to WAKE THE GODDAMN DEAD to keep it cool!
On the other hand I can't get my iMac to run QNX, so some kind of sacrifice must be made. What's holding me back now is the lack of a full and deep understanding on how to build the PC I want. Rule one, no noise.
In answer to your question, Be is an outstanding operating system, with great technical proficiency. Almost every (recent) os multitasks and SMP's, but Be does it with mind-boggling smoothness and low-latency. Even on old hardware, it was possible to, for example, run several quicktime movies without dropping frames on any of them. Also it had a noteworthy filesystem, with a powerful ability to extend any file with arbitrary tags and so on. Also it was a 64-bit journaling filesystem. It was originally designed to handle complex multi-media tasks which might require large files, and extremely fast response times.
It was proprietary and ran on the PowerPC (and eventually both PowerPC and Intel chips).
I wonder how many times this has been repeated. But I'll repeat it again.
McDonalds hamburgers and Chrystlers (even '86 Chrystlers) are different than software, or any media.
If your dad did decide to go to the factory and steal a few cars then Chrystler would be out a few cars. If your dad instead decided to break copyright law by copying software (assuming that he had no intent to buy it), the software manufacturer would not be out any copies.
This is the difference.
Think about apples. If I had an apple, and you steal it, then two things have changed. First, you have an apple, and secondly, I don't.
If I have software, and you don't, and you copy it, only one thing has changed. You now have software. I still have the same software I started with. It's quite possible (which is why I don't trust the statistics quoted in the story) that you wouldn't even know about my gain. Certainly, you've lost nothing.
I'm not saying that copyright violations are right, or justified. But cars and burgers are NOT the same thing, and the analogy is poor.
Hear hear! I have been a Linux user since 1.3 and exclusively (except for work) since 2.2. The Mac and BSD have wooed me, however, and are now my main platform at home. The interface is beautiful, I no longer believe that there is a mutually exclusive continuum between beauty and power. In fact, a well-designed interface can have both, and does in the new Mac. Would never touch a Mac (again, except for work) before Mac OS X 10.1 however.
"The kids face up to five years -- of course since they aren't in the U.S., they might actually be punished."
What kind of stupid statement is that??? The U.S. shares the honor of being a country which will execute people for crimes committed in childhood with only one other country in the world -- Libya. Great company there.
Your statement implies that our government is soft on the law-breaking young -- HARDLY! Rather, it's attitude towards (non-white, anyway) children is nothing short of bloodthirst.
I like OmniWeb (on Mac OS X), though I know it isn't open source (too bad! I wish it were..) It's fast, very IE compatible, and just plain good. Lots of nice options like no popup's on load, that kind of thing. It costs money but they let you use it for free hoping that guilt will convince you to pay for it, as it did for me. Also the integration is very, very good on Mac OS X. Much, much, much faster than Mozilla and even faster than IE.
Hear hear, some of these posts, MODDED UP (don't ask my why) are telling this guy that bash is backward compatible to sh, when it shows an example RIGHT IN THE STORY HEADER of how this isn't so (an incompatibility that I've run into myself, actually). Luckily, I use "question exchange", NOT ask slashdot, if I have a hard question I can't answer, because my question goes to the right people (not every lifeless "I think I know everything" on the face of the planet) and gets answered correctly more than half the time. Usually with insights and angles I didn't even consider.
Slashdot Mirror
Okay, I'm confused. I've also heard this (that RISC chips did less per instruction, but with more instructions/second) and CISC chips did more per instruction, but with fewer. The PPC is a RISC chip through and through, and the x86 and clones are CISC at least at the instruction level. And the new x86 chips have MANY more cycles/second than the PPC's right now. But I've heard it chanted over and over among fans of the PPC that a PPC, at the same Mhz rating is faster than the x86 (although nobody is claiming anymore that current PPC chips are faster than current x86 chips, because of the huge discrepency between clock speeds). How can this follow from the above, if the PPC does less per instruction?
Erik
You do realize that once a term is "borrowed" into another toungue (don't ask me why linguists use the term "borrowed" as I've never seen a single word ever returned!) it can and usually does shift in meaning? Much of the English language is "loan words" from other languages and most of those words have different meanings, sometimes strikingly different, than the original term in its native toungue. The situation is the same, for terms borrowed into Japanese from English.
"Otaku" will probably never become a widely used English term, simply because very few English speakers care much about otaku, but, in the otaku jargon, it means exactly whatever it is they say it means.
Erik
I will answer that. Linux under the PPC has two pieces of software that I need but can't use on Mac OS X, because they are not yet available for Mac OS X. They are: OpenOffice and cdparanoia.
Since these don't exist on Mac OS X but do on Linux, and since Linux is cheap and dual booting is already part of my life what with MacOS 9 and X, might as well add it and use the software I need. There is (apparently, please correct me if I'm wrong) no software in MacOS X to do a !!!reliable!!! rip of a CD to a raw file and of course, no good Office clone which is good at using Microsoft format office files. For example, I have a 14.1 MB spreadsheet file that I use a lot. OpenOffice opens it, and uses it, including every nice feature, perfectly. AppleWorks crashes. If you add MacLink Deluxe to the picture, and translate it to an AppleWorks file, AppleWorks nevertheless can't handle the special features in there such that the file is useful. Also, OpenOffice is MUCH MUCH faster than AppleWorks on long files (under the same hardware but different OS, in this case, SuSE Linux PPC). Microsoft Office of course supports its own formats (for the most part, some older formats don't work correctly) and of course every special feature works fine, so I considered it. But Microsoft Office under X has severe memory leak problems, it opens a security hole up that allows hackers to shut it down remotely (this has been fixed, but people are having a lot of trouble with the fix), and it costs either $350 or $500 depending on the deal!
Forget it!
I will just create a nice new partition to handle the occasional Linux software that I need. Virtual PC is another option, since I need to use this software so rarely, but why not run it natively since it can? In addition to cdparanoia and OpenOffice, every once in a while someone writes a cool piece of software for Linux that I like to play with, for example there's a star chart program for KDE that I have an interest in. I assume that both cdparanoia (or some equivilent) and OpenOffice will both eventually be avaliable for the Mac OS X, at which time I will reclaim that partition for something else. But until then, Linux is one method I can use to get access to the software I need to use on my machine.
My current machine is a G3 500 iMac, my new one will be the new iLamp 800.
Erik
While I like the core thinking going on behind this argument, would this not encourage programmers to create software that needs constant modification?
Personally, I think that a system by which those things that the consumer might want (stability, reliability, no need for technical support for software) should be encouraged in the way in which it is sold. For example, if most of the money is made from support, then the company is encouraged to create software with low up-front costs, a lot of "tie-ins" (technological methods to keep you "in their fold" and using their software once you've made the (possibly foolish) decision to buy it) and the need for extensive support.
The libertarian ideal breaks down in a lot of places because it makes the assumption that it is possible for every actor to be perfectly informed (no actor is ever perfectly informed) and that actors with unequal resources can still negotiate on equal ground (false). It also assumes that there can be an arbitrary number of possible sources for each type of good (false).
So what kind of system makes the most sense for software? Being that software is a very, very different kind of product than any products that these various ideologies were intended to handle.
One thing that confuses me is your approach to artificial scarcity as a property rights issue. You say you have a strong sense of property rights (fine) and therefore it took some effort to overcome, what I can only assume to be, a natural presumption that idea regulation ("intellectual property rights") is a good thing, because property rights are a good thing. I would argue with this entire basis. Firstly, there is no property at all in an idea. Intellectual property doesn't just represent artificial scarcity, it represents virtual property (artificial property -- property that is created by governmental mandate). Without the intervention of goverment, there was no property to be private!
As a libertarian, I would imagine that the difficult thing to overcome would not be the natural assumption that intellectual property is a universially good thing because property rights are important, but rather that governmental intervention to create this false property is a good thing!
Erik
You are still a bit confused, although you are getting.. um... saner...
Both the BSD and the Linux license (the GPL) are "Free as in speech", that is, they are designed to allow the user freedom -- freedom to the source, freedom to distribute, and freedom to modify and distribute the modifications. "Free as in beer" means only that you are allowed to use something for free, for example, "freeware". Freeware may still be closed-source (the source code is not distributed) and therefore not free "as in speech", but still is "free" in the monetary sense of meaning that no money is charged for it.
Erik
Is there a way to improve iTunes' ripping performance however? I get skips even when the CD is perfectly new. cdparanoia under Linux and EAC (exact audio copy) under Windows will both do a perfect job, but I prefer the ease of use of iTunes and the fact that it integrates with everything else. If only I could use a cdparanoia "engine" in iTunes it would be perfect...
This article appears to be over a year old! January 11th, 2001 is its date...
Ok, I've seen this over and over and over. In response to, "Why don't they throw in 2 Ghz G5's and a 22" LCD in the iMac, along with 4000 expansion ports?", the answer is, "because they aren't for geeks they are for consumers who know nothing".
I disagree. I am a programmer, professionally now, but have been doing it since the age of 8 on an Atari 800 as a hobby (don't worry I've changed machines a few times since then!). At one point I remember hand-assembling machine code and entering it into ATARI BASIC (using a construct something like "USR("[buncha obscure control characters]"). I fit nicely into the geek category I imagine.
And I love my main machine, an iMac 500 CD. It does everything I want it to do, except perhaps play DVD's. Of course, that's what my DVD player is for.
Running on BSD, and PowerPC, and everything just kind of works. What more could I ask for?
In fact the truth seems to be that programmers don't always need to run on the hottest, latest hardware. In fact, I could see a consumer wanting or needing that more than a programmer. If you spend all your time with your computer on games, and applications like DV authoring, you need beefy, expensive hardware. If you spend it instead on programming, I know from experience that an Atari 800 can be made to work. In any case I am very impressed with all the software that Apple includes in with the box (or, in the case of the new machines, "bump", plural, "bumpen"), especially the full-featured programming IDE, the best I've ever seen, which can be downloaded and used by anyone (with a Mac) for free. And this of course is why I don't complain about price either. Sure, I could have gotten a machine with better specs (arguably) on the Intel side. But I get a workable office suite, the equivalent of the pay version of Real Jukebox in iTunes (that goes for about $50 and crashes if you sneeze at it), better digital camera software than any camera comes with normally, and so on and so on... Total package? Even without the "Apple aura", the Apple comes out clearly ahead (as of Mac OS X 10.1) for me. Now I know I can fix just about anything that goes wrong with this thing. What about those times I just don't wanna? I just call Apple. Their support is awesome. They have a nice knowledge base on their support site as well. Anycase, enough ranting. I just don't buy the ubergeek=I bought a big machine, therefore I'm 'leet vs. consumer=bought a small or moderate machine because I don't know what I'm doing. Shouldn't it be, if anything, the other way around?
Erik
Looks like a laptop that melted in the sun? No, I imagine that it was inspired by one of those prototype AMD laptop's apple has been working on :)
Hm, it had a nice picture of a 1.0GB compact flash, but on the list of available products, it only listed up to 512MB.
Does anyone know if this applies to Mac versions of Limewire?
I work professionally as a GUI developer, and can add one more reason why it's probable that Mosfet is getting so much attention, relative to the other equally worthy programmers out there.
You can see what he's done. It's obvious, it just jumps right out at you, because it's GUI work. For better or worse, GUI programmers have this extra responsibility.
Erik
I am trying to get this to compile under Mac OS X. There seem to be some references directly to X in the source code and documentation, but "./configure", "make" didn't seem to work for libao. Has anyone gotten this to compile on the new Mac OS?
Erik
And #5, above all, stay optimistic! :)
I've found this to be approximately true. I'm 29 and have about 9 years of professional experience.
The real problem isn't that discrimination is the only factor, but that it might be a factor at all. Is it fair to be fired, even for behavior which one could legitimately imagine being fired for (being late for work for example) if others are also equally late for work, but, for example, not as young, and are not fired? In fact I agree, discrimination as the _only_ factor in a employee/employer conflict is extremely rare, but what I see all the time is people getting much less toleration than others for the same problem because of their youth, advanced age, religion/culture and so on. There are good employees, there are poorer ones, but there's no such thing as a perfect employee (or employer!) True toleration means equal toleration. I've seen all kinds, my brother's company will fire you for extraordinarily little cause (being slightly late, not meeting expectations or performance requirements (which are set VERY high) even once, and so on) but they seem to apply the same rules to everyone.
Another point I'd like to make is this. If a young person comes for an interview, and the interviewees see that the person is fairly young, and they hire them anyway, the occasional immature behavior, as long as it's not an truly big problem, should be corrected without resort to extremes (eg. firing).
Now that they economy is cooling a bit, it's even more important to realize that most workers have some dependence on their jobs. Firing someone should be seen as a fairly extreme measure, and should have a fairly extreme cause. It's no longer the case (and won't be for another year or so) that it's "Oh well, s/he'll get another job..." Most problems can be handled internally by a good manager, and doing it this way is usually cheaper and more humane than hiring new recruits.
Erik
I've got an iMac (500Mhz) and I'm generally happy with it. I would also like to build my own PC, I've had both PC's and Mac's in the past. But one thing that's been holding me off is that issue of noise. I like my little apartment and I like it quiet. I live in an apartment which has (apparently) absolutely sound proof walls and windows (downtown Honolulu apartments are built like this typically) and I love it. I REFUSE to put something that sounds like a vacuum cleaner in my living space. On most days I can just open all my windows and listen to birds, I'm far enough up where even cars and bus noises are fairly minimal.
My current machine makes no noise except for the harddrive, which shuts off after 5 minutes of non-use. I bought 1GB of memory (maxxed out my iMac) when prices were low enough so that it would rely more heavily on cache, and I pre-launch all my favorite applications to keep it from hitting the harddrive after boot up too often. All I really want now is a solid state mass storage device, like perhaps a flash harddrive so that I can get rid of the noise that's left.
Of course, the attitude towards noise is different in the PC world. Generally, people seem to care a lot more about Mhz than noise, looks, elegance, getting things done, or even the actual performance of the machine. This has created dual purpose machines that could be used for computation, or for heating a small house in southern Argentina. And enough noise to WAKE THE GODDAMN DEAD to keep it cool!
On the other hand I can't get my iMac to run QNX, so some kind of sacrifice must be made. What's holding me back now is the lack of a full and deep understanding on how to build the PC I want. Rule one, no noise.
Erik
In answer to your question, Be is an outstanding operating system, with great technical proficiency. Almost every (recent) os multitasks and SMP's, but Be does it with mind-boggling smoothness and low-latency. Even on old hardware, it was possible to, for example, run several quicktime movies without dropping frames on any of them. Also it had a noteworthy filesystem, with a powerful ability to extend any file with arbitrary tags and so on. Also it was a 64-bit journaling filesystem. It was originally designed to handle complex multi-media tasks which might require large files, and extremely fast response times.
It was proprietary and ran on the PowerPC (and eventually both PowerPC and Intel chips).
Erik
I wonder how many times this has been repeated. But I'll repeat it again.
McDonalds hamburgers and Chrystlers (even '86 Chrystlers) are different than software, or any media.
If your dad did decide to go to the factory and steal a few cars then Chrystler would be out a few cars. If your dad instead decided to break copyright law by copying software (assuming that he had no intent to buy it), the software manufacturer would not be out any copies.
This is the difference.
Think about apples. If I had an apple, and you steal it, then two things have changed. First, you have an apple, and secondly, I don't.
If I have software, and you don't, and you copy it, only one thing has changed. You now have software. I still have the same software I started with. It's quite possible (which is why I don't trust the statistics quoted in the story) that you wouldn't even know about my gain. Certainly, you've lost nothing.
I'm not saying that copyright violations are right, or justified. But cars and burgers are NOT the same thing, and the analogy is poor.
Erik
I live in Hawaii, (Honolulu), how do I get this? Is it through Oceanic?
Erik
Hear hear! I have been a Linux user since 1.3 and exclusively (except for work) since 2.2. The Mac and BSD have wooed me, however, and are now my main platform at home. The interface is beautiful, I no longer believe that there is a mutually exclusive continuum between beauty and power. In fact, a well-designed interface can have both, and does in the new Mac. Would never touch a Mac (again, except for work) before Mac OS X 10.1 however.
Erik
"The kids face up to five years -- of course since they aren't in the U.S., they might actually be punished."
What kind of stupid statement is that??? The U.S. shares the honor of being a country which will execute people for crimes committed in childhood with only one other country in the world -- Libya. Great company there.
Your statement implies that our government is soft on the law-breaking young -- HARDLY! Rather, it's attitude towards (non-white, anyway) children is nothing short of bloodthirst.
That's because, in Australia, the word "censored" has been classified.
I like OmniWeb (on Mac OS X), though I know it isn't open source (too bad! I wish it were..) It's fast, very IE compatible, and just plain good. Lots of nice options like no popup's on load, that kind of thing. It costs money but they let you use it for free hoping that guilt will convince you to pay for it, as it did for me. Also the integration is very, very good on Mac OS X. Much, much, much faster than Mozilla and even faster than IE.
Erik
Hear hear, some of these posts, MODDED UP (don't ask my why) are telling this guy that bash is backward compatible to sh, when it shows an example RIGHT IN THE STORY HEADER of how this isn't so (an incompatibility that I've run into myself, actually). Luckily, I use "question exchange", NOT ask slashdot, if I have a hard question I can't answer, because my question goes to the right people (not every lifeless "I think I know everything" on the face of the planet) and gets answered correctly more than half the time. Usually with insights and angles I didn't even consider.
Erik