Benchmark code like this does not represent how these languages are used in practice
In practice most people don't bother writing super-tight code because reducing development time is often much more important than runtime efficiency. Given unlimited time and developer resources, I could write super-tight Java code, avoiding OO completely, reusing objects left, right, and center to minimise or eliminate garbage collection, and avoiding threads. In parctice, few people have that luxury.
The difference b/w Java and C++ would be dwarfed by the difference b/w Java and Python. Java may be 30-40% more productive than C++, but Python is 1000% more productive than Java.
Rubbish. A skilled Java programmer could write a typical piece of code just as quickly as a skilled python programmer - the difference is that becomming a skilled python programmer is easier.
There's nothing you can do, unless you can afford to buy a politician.
That is a lame excuse for apathy. In the EU people were able to make a difference, they didn't have to buy anyone, they just had to get off their asses and make an effort.
When I covered a bit of patent law in Electronics we were taught that for a patent to not be overturned, you'd need to be able to take reasonably skilled professionals in the industry and state the same problem and requirements.
If only the idealistic optomist who taught you that wasn't dreaming. In reality, we are under assault from the "intellectual property" parasites, they are nothing more than legal tapeworms sucking vitality from the gut of innovation.
You can still do something about it, your only enemy is your apathy. Do Something!
(If you need to be told what to do, you have missed the point)
I used a professional accountant my first year living in the US only for the IRS to send me a letter saying that I had overpaid my taxes by thousands of dollars (in addition to the $600 I paid the accountant)!
The following year I did it myself with TurboTax - I actually found it quite satisfying.
Advanced warning of a cruise missile attack would still allow evacuations and air defense response.
Tomahawks can still be heard and seen, even if not quite as easily as if they had a sonic boom. The fact that a supersonic missile is much faster would make such an early warning much less useful.
Funny, I thought I heard that as of yesterday the batteries on the lander would have been depleted unless the lander had received an order to recharge its batteries.
What kind of idiot would design the lander like that? The lander's transmitter isn't even exposed until the solar panels unfold, so obviously it starts to collect solar power automatically.
We conclude from both the
terms of 512(h) and the overall structure of 512 that, as Verizon contends,
a subpoena may be issued only to an ISP engaged in storing on its servers material that is infringing or the subject of infringing activity.
So, Verizon is responsible for stuff stored on servers which they own but not stuff stored on the computers of their customers.
I know you really hate Microsoft, but even the most zealotous zealot has to admit that they can't be held responsible when a third-party plugin causes IE to crash (it would do the exact same thing to Mozilla).
This feature is a great idea, it means that if, for example, Acrobat Reader is causing IE to crash then at least I know who is to blame and can uninstall or upgrade it.
I'm the one who posted this article this morning, and I'm really bummed that the links quit working well before the article actually made it onto Slashdot
48MB file linked straight from the story - how could you not know that it would last about 0.1 seconds?
Say the zero-install servers get hacked and compromised. Instant virus on millions of computers at once.
And that never happens with Debian or Gentoo... Such hacking is an occupational hazard with *any* installation system, there is nothing about 0Install that makes it particularly vulnerable.
Hello BeOS. This will be nice, but its been done before.
So what?
The future of linux may include these things, but people will sooner care about the new X-server patches with alpha blending and such than they will about this stuff.
Um, no. 99.9% of computer users couldn't care less about such things.
I neglected to mention one of Gnome Storage's beast features, which is that it tries to provide the user with a natural language interface for locating files and other information. Again, this meshes quite nicely with the idea behind Dashboard.
I think a more general question about how Linux is going to topple Microsoft on the desktop is also warrented. The answer has to be innovation, Linux has been playing "catch-up" for too long.
Fortunately, there are a few really interesting technologies that have received surprisingly little attention, but which I believe point the way toward Linux overtaking Microsoft, and perhaps even Apple on the desktop:
Dashboard
This is a wonderful idea where a "dashboard" essentially acts as a memory augmentation tool. It watches what you are doing and presents information it thinks might be relevant. For example, if you are chatting with someone on IRC, it will look for information about that person and present it to you (such as their name, homepage, recent blog entries etc). Applications can support it by sending it "clue packets" to alert it to what it might want to pay attention to.
Zero Install
This software essentially eliminates the process of information by mapping web-servers to the filesystem, and combining this with a fast local cache. If your software relies on another piece of software, it can just refer to its binary or libraries on this "web" filesystem, and the appropriate files will be downloaded transparently. The next time you need them, they will be cached. It is infinitely cooler than DEBs or RPMs, and very flexible indeed.
Gnome Storage
This project blurs the line between filesystems and databases, creating much more flexibility than is possible with more conventional filesystems. This is particularly powerful when combined with Zero Install. Microsoft is also moving in this direction with their WinFS that will be part of Longhorn.
These projects are the future of Linux, they are novel ideas that will allow Linux to leap-frog its non-free competitors on the desktop. It is a shame that they receive so little attention.
This will seal the deal for me, I will never fly from Edinburgh to London again. Already a train journey (5-6 hours door to door) isn't that much longer than a flight (almost 4 hours door to door) and its a hell of a lot more convenient.
Its unfortunate that this is currently only available in one carriage, one would imagine that the expensive bit is the satellite uplink (assuming this is how they do it, although I saw GSM mentioned somewhere), distributing the wireless within the train should be the easy bit.
So, a guy waits months after reporting security problems to Apple, and the/. crowd lambast him as a self-publicist, while posting rediculous (and incorrect) comments about how it isn't a bug, its a feature.
Interesting to see how people respond when its Microsoft that has been given no notice about an exploit.
I am getting sick and tired of the Apple fanboys, remember back when/. advocated use of free software? Oh for the good old days...
With the Brits off the Internet, who are we going to rely on to correct our grammar? Who is going to tell us that every plot of every US scifi show was done in the 70's by Dr Who? Who is going translate Alan Cox' Welsh weblog for the rest of us? Who will fight the other side of the "Who invented the first computer?" debate?
This really is a great loss for the Slashdot community.
So, instead of calling wondering which desktop is which, you can break down your desktops into logical tasks -- have eclipse and a few xterms on your compiling desktop, your email program and calendar on your time management, and your pr0n and IRC windows on your *ahem* desktop
Most people's desktops aren't so easily categorized. Face it, Expose is simply a better solution.
And here we see a perfect example of the attitude that is holding back Linux on the desktop: "Why would anyone need X, I can do that with Y" where X is an easy-to-use feature, and Y is a complicated way to achieve the same thing that most desktop users would never adopt.
The average desktop user barely understands the concept of files and folders - do you honestly expect them to be organized enough to arrange their programs into virtual desktops as you have done?
This project is exactly what Linux should be doing - assimilating the best features from its competitors on the desktop. I just wish that Linux was also innovating on the desktop, rather than just following in the footsteps of others (and no, themability is not an innovation so far as usability is concerned).
People will tell you that you can't make a difference, that democracy is for the rich, that the elections are fixed and the candidates are identical, so voting is moot anyway.
Indeed. It always makes me sick when I see the apathy-peddlers decry the mess we are in when it is their cynicism and apathy that sustains those that created the mess in the first place.
Sit back and bitch about the failings of the political process, and you will get the government you deserve. Actively participate in the political process and you might just get the government you want.
Kazaa affiliate Altnet seem to be going down the abusive patent path. I just posted a story on this subject to K5, here is the opening paragraph:
Altnet, the company that brought us spyware, recently acquired a patent which allows easy identification of files on a P2P network. In the words of Derek Broes, Altnet's executive vice president of worldwide operations, Altnet will "...focus on protecting and commercializing our patented technology and realizing the potential it offers content owners by commercializing peer-to-peer networks". Just another day in the world of little-league software companies you think. Not so.
Slashdot Mirror
...well, actually an acronym - SWT.
You can still do something about it, your only enemy is your apathy. Do Something!
(If you need to be told what to do, you have missed the point)
The following year I did it myself with TurboTax - I actually found it quite satisfying.
This feature is a great idea, it means that if, for example, Acrobat Reader is causing IE to crash then at least I know who is to blame and can uninstall or upgrade it.
I neglected to mention one of Gnome Storage's beast features, which is that it tries to provide the user with a natural language interface for locating files and other information. Again, this meshes quite nicely with the idea behind Dashboard.
Fortunately, there are a few really interesting technologies that have received surprisingly little attention, but which I believe point the way toward Linux overtaking Microsoft, and perhaps even Apple on the desktop:
- Dashboard
- Zero Install
- Gnome Storage
These projects are the future of Linux, they are novel ideas that will allow Linux to leap-frog its non-free competitors on the desktop. It is a shame that they receive so little attention.This is a wonderful idea where a "dashboard" essentially acts as a memory augmentation tool. It watches what you are doing and presents information it thinks might be relevant. For example, if you are chatting with someone on IRC, it will look for information about that person and present it to you (such as their name, homepage, recent blog entries etc). Applications can support it by sending it "clue packets" to alert it to what it might want to pay attention to.
This software essentially eliminates the process of information by mapping web-servers to the filesystem, and combining this with a fast local cache. If your software relies on another piece of software, it can just refer to its binary or libraries on this "web" filesystem, and the appropriate files will be downloaded transparently. The next time you need them, they will be cached. It is infinitely cooler than DEBs or RPMs, and very flexible indeed.
This project blurs the line between filesystems and databases, creating much more flexibility than is possible with more conventional filesystems. This is particularly powerful when combined with Zero Install. Microsoft is also moving in this direction with their WinFS that will be part of Longhorn.
I can't believe that even needs to be explained.
Its unfortunate that this is currently only available in one carriage, one would imagine that the expensive bit is the satellite uplink (assuming this is how they do it, although I saw GSM mentioned somewhere), distributing the wireless within the train should be the easy bit.
Interesting to see how people respond when its Microsoft that has been given no notice about an exploit.
I am getting sick and tired of the Apple fanboys, remember back when /. advocated use of free software? Oh for the good old days...
This really is a great loss for the Slashdot community.
The average desktop user barely understands the concept of files and folders - do you honestly expect them to be organized enough to arrange their programs into virtual desktops as you have done?
This project is exactly what Linux should be doing - assimilating the best features from its competitors on the desktop. I just wish that Linux was also innovating on the desktop, rather than just following in the footsteps of others (and no, themability is not an innovation so far as usability is concerned).
Sit back and bitch about the failings of the political process, and you will get the government you deserve. Actively participate in the political process and you might just get the government you want.
Oh, and as soon as Freenet gets N.G Routing working nicely, BitTorrent will be obsolete [/flamebait] ;-)