Kids need to learn on the Windows platform. It prepares them for the real world.
No, kids need to learn how to use computers. The differences between Windows and Linux (at least as far as the apps that kids would use) are miniscule. Netscape vs. IE, StarOffice vs. MS-Office... any kid could switch from one to the other in about 30 minutes. The main difference schools would see (IMHO) with Linux would be a sharp decrease in downtime and administrative overhead, since the Linux machines could provide some semblance of stability and security (as opposed to the virus-ridden, self-destructing, endless reinstall hell that is Windows)
Does it occur to anyone that if [schools] wanted [Linux], they can install it anytime they want?
Eh? Been in a school lately? I have, and I can safely say that the number of people there with the technical knowledge and/or self-confidence necessary to install an OS on to a computer is vanishingly small. They literally cannot install Linux (or anything else) if they want to, or if they can, they aren't allowed to because management is too worried about "messing stuff up". That's why support would be the critical piece of Red Hat's proposal... they would need to send out people to help install/convert the computers. Hmm, I wonder if Red Hat could use volunteers for this? I'd do it...
RedHat is a company, they are doing this for themselves, and no one else.
No doubt there is an element of self interest there. On the other hand, giving away a billion dollars of software *and support* for free is a generous offer, considering that Red Hat isn't on the receiving end of any lawsuits and could just as easily do nothing, like every other company.
I personally don't think Red Hat has any expectation of being taken up on this offer, and that they only made it as a way of demonstrating to the public how self-serving MIcrosoft's "settlement" really is.
Plus, what if the schools don't want Linux? Those boxes will be worthless.
This is a potential problem. A solution would be this: Divide up the total money evenly between all the schools, and then for each school demonstrate both Windows and Red Hat systems to the school officials, so that the officials are well informed about the pros and cons of each. Then allow the officials to spend their allotment of money on either type of system (e.g. they can buy 50 Windows workstations or 100 Red Hat workstations with their money).
Or hell, if Microsoft really wants to help the schools, why not make every PC a dual-boot system? Then the schools can decide what to run any time they boot the PC, instead of being forced to make the choice in advance.
This settlement donates between $1.1-$1.7 billion of software.
Wow, that's really swell of them... they've set such a shining example that I'm going to donate another $1.7 billion worth of software myself. Here it is:
10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD!"
There. I usually charge $1.7 billion per copy when I sell that program, but here I'm giving it away free (with source!). Please remember my generosity the next time you catch me breaking the law. Thanks!:^)
Even with all the magic in the world it's mathematically illogical to have millions of numbers with 6 digits.
Silly slashbots, you are assuming monsters (who have varying number of fingers on their hands, or in some cases no hands at all) would use a base 10 number system.
No one put a gun to their heads. They have no energy, are too lazy to revolt and usurp their government.
Ah, I see. Since their government will allow us to exploit them, it is our right... no, our duty to do so. Let's hire a team of dieticians and economists to find out the exact wages at which we can keep them (barely) alive and working 20 hour shifts. This will maximize our profits, to which we have an absolute right, no matter what the human cost.
Browser, editor, server, media player, codecs, drivers, operating systems, etc. How long do you want to wait?
I don't think crash-free software is too much to ask for; it's not that hard to do, if you know what you're doing. (of course, all the APIs and the OS you are using has to be bug-free as well... unfortunately that is not generally the case. But that's no excuse for allowing bugs in your own code!)
Was the world's foremost software designer worried about offending dullards, dunces and dolts? [...] Even if so, you wouldn't think they'd represent Microsoft's target demographic
When M$ first realized that they miscalculated with the internet party and created msn, they would crash netscape browsers
They and just about any other site that tried to do something other than straight text-and-jpg HTML. The fact is that Netscape browsers were buggy pieces of trash. A browser should not crash, no matter how messed up the content it receives. Period.
Unfortunately, natural selection only works when there is competition... not when the web site is owned by the same company that has a monopoly on desktop operating systems.
I suspect this will have an effect very similar to the "Just Say No" campaign:
Television: Kids! Don't download free music off the Internet, it's wrong!
Kid: I can get music for free off the Internet? Cool! (heads off to the computer room)
I want to see this episode; from the write-ups I can't tell if it's propaganda, parody, or something else. So I'm off to the file-sharing service to find a copy...:^)
Why do people always complain when someone decides to write their own OS, or even worse say they should contribute to a more popular project?
Honestly, it's because operating systems are like societies. The more time you spend using or developing for operating system A, the less you'll spend using/developing operating system B. Furthermore, every non-mainstream OS's users want to see it get the "critical mass" of users and developers necessary to push it into the mainstream where they it will enjoy the benefits of additional software and support. When they instead see other OS's being used or promoted, they view them (rightly or wrongly) as competition for their own OS/culture. Hence the criticism; they are trying to protect their own interests by deprecating the "competition".
As far as something new and different... I think EROS-OS might fit that category. It's certainly not like any OS I've encountered before (although I understand it does derive its design from other "secure" OS's).
My question is, what happens if they miss? Ooops, there goes half a residential district!
Well, as I recall from the last go-around of this topic on slashdot, the collector array would contain a small, directional transmitter that the satellite would look for. If the satellite didn't "see" the transmitter in the center of its target area, then it would cut power. This technique would keep the system fail-safe.
The other safety measure was that the beam would be unfocused enough that by the time it reached earth its footprint would be fairly large, and hence the power would be diffuse enough not to cause fires or instant death (tm) to anyone who happened to be under it. It wouldn't be pleasant, but it wouldn't be dangerous either.
The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that, for the recipient, junk mail is free. It may not be wanted, but I don't have to pay $20+ for the privledge to download it.
You do have to pay to dispose of it though (one way or another), and eventually you'll have to pay for the environmental costs incurred by the creation and transport of so much useless paper. You also spend a certain amount of time every day sorting the "real" mail from the "junk" mail; inasmuch as time is money, that is a cost for you. Given all that, I prefer spam to junk mail (at least I can set up an automatic spam filter for my email)
I think it would be safe to say that risk of contracting anthrax from your mail was negligible, and is now larger than it was. What the public doesn't know is how much larger that risk is now; that depends on how many mad anthrax-spreaders there are out there, and how skillful/clever/evil they are. Given that, I think a certain amount of concern is reasonable.
Every one of your criticisms is valid with respect to what they are currently (trying to) sell under the name "e-book". The concept of an electronic display replacing paper is a good one though, and I think you can expect in the future to see models which address all of those problems. (I'm specifically imagining a solid state device that has a high-quality electronic-paper display, some static RAM, a wireless internet connection, and an HTML renderer)
Well, I keep trying to think up reasons why someone couldn't do a mass-mailing of anthrax, and I can't think of any. Businesses do mass-mailings all the time, what would stop someone evil from adding a few spores in with the spam? The toughest obstacle would be the production of that much anthrax, AFAICT.
The problem that has plagued hydrogen engines for a very long time is the issue of carrying the hydrogen around in the car in a matter that can survive a collision. It' nasty stuff. It goes *BOOM* very easily. Solve *this* problem and there's a whole row of hydrogen engines already ready to produce . . .
Well, okay... haven't these guys solved exactly that problem?
Neato military gadgets are all well and good, but I'm more interested in long term solutions to the poverty, degradation, and oppression that leads the world to war in the first place.
In particular, I'm interested in clean, sustainable energy sources and delivery systems that would give the energy-hungry USA the luxury of acting according to its democratic principles in the international arena, instead of its all-too-common current tendencies to do whatever it has to to keep cheap oil flowing in.
9) Repeat steps 5 through 8 until they understand that sometimes it is necessary to punch back.
Your allegory is flawed. What the pacifists are really against is someone who got punched just getting mad and punching random people (or people who look like his attacker, or people who live in the attacker's neighborhood). Obviously self-defense is sometimes necessary, but it only works if you know who your attacker is, and retaliate against only the people responsible. Hopefully that is what we are doing...
Perhaps someone knowledgable can comment on whether Millenium Cell'shydrogen on demand system might be potentially useful in aircraft? According to their web site, the hydrogen stored using this system is safely non-flammable.
I'm also interested in reasons why this system might be practical or not practical in automobiles, if anyone feels like going a bit off topic;^)
Slashdot Mirror
No, kids need to learn how to use computers. The differences between Windows and Linux (at least as far as the apps that kids would use) are miniscule. Netscape vs. IE, StarOffice vs. MS-Office... any kid could switch from one to the other in about 30 minutes. The main difference schools would see (IMHO) with Linux would be a sharp decrease in downtime and administrative overhead, since the Linux machines could provide some semblance of stability and security (as opposed to the virus-ridden, self-destructing, endless reinstall hell that is Windows)
Jeremy
Eh? Been in a school lately? I have, and I can safely say that the number of people there with the technical knowledge and/or self-confidence necessary to install an OS on to a computer is vanishingly small. They literally cannot install Linux (or anything else) if they want to, or if they can, they aren't allowed to because management is too worried about "messing stuff up". That's why support would be the critical piece of Red Hat's proposal... they would need to send out people to help install/convert the computers. Hmm, I wonder if Red Hat could use volunteers for this? I'd do it...
No doubt there is an element of self interest there. On the other hand, giving away a billion dollars of software *and support* for free is a generous offer, considering that Red Hat isn't on the receiving end of any lawsuits and could just as easily do nothing, like every other company.
I personally don't think Red Hat has any expectation of being taken up on this offer, and that they only made it as a way of demonstrating to the public how self-serving MIcrosoft's "settlement" really is.
Plus, what if the schools don't want Linux? Those boxes will be worthless.
This is a potential problem. A solution would be this: Divide up the total money evenly between all the schools, and then for each school demonstrate both Windows and Red Hat systems to the school officials, so that the officials are well informed about the pros and cons of each. Then allow the officials to spend their allotment of money on either type of system (e.g. they can buy 50 Windows workstations or 100 Red Hat workstations with their money).
Or hell, if Microsoft really wants to help the schools, why not make every PC a dual-boot system? Then the schools can decide what to run any time they boot the PC, instead of being forced to make the choice in advance.
Wow, that's really swell of them... they've set such a shining example that I'm going to donate another $1.7 billion worth of software myself. Here it is:
10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD!"
There. I usually charge $1.7 billion per copy when I sell that program, but here I'm giving it away free (with source!). Please remember my generosity the next time you catch me breaking the law. Thanks!
Silly slashbots, you are assuming monsters (who have varying number of fingers on their hands, or in some cases no hands at all) would use a base 10 number system.
Ah, I see. Since their government will allow us to exploit them, it is our right... no, our duty to do so. Let's hire a team of dieticians and economists to find out the exact wages at which we can keep them (barely) alive and working 20 hour shifts. This will maximize our profits, to which we have an absolute right, no matter what the human cost.
I sure do miss ethics...
So their options are either (a) work 20 hour shifts, or (b) die. I'm glad to hear they have a choice in the matter.
Ask yourself: If you were in the above situation, would you feel that you were being treated fairly? Be honest.
Well, duh.
Browser, editor, server, media player, codecs, drivers, operating systems, etc. How long do you want to wait?
I don't think crash-free software is too much to ask for; it's not that hard to do, if you know what you're doing. (of course, all the APIs and the OS you are using has to be bug-free as well... unfortunately that is not generally the case. But that's no excuse for allowing bugs in your own code!)
Actually, that sounds about right...
They and just about any other site that tried to do something other than straight text-and-jpg HTML. The fact is that Netscape browsers were buggy pieces of trash. A browser should not crash, no matter how messed up the content it receives. Period.
Unfortunately, natural selection only works when there is competition... not when the web site is owned by the same company that has a monopoly on desktop operating systems.
Television: Kids! Don't download free music off the Internet, it's wrong!
Kid: I can get music for free off the Internet? Cool! (heads off to the computer room)
I want to see this episode; from the write-ups I can't tell if it's propaganda, parody, or something else. So I'm off to the file-sharing service to find a copy...
Honestly, it's because operating systems are like societies. The more time you spend using or developing for operating system A, the less you'll spend using/developing operating system B. Furthermore, every non-mainstream OS's users want to see it get the "critical mass" of users and developers necessary to push it into the mainstream where they it will enjoy the benefits of additional software and support. When they instead see other OS's being used or promoted, they view them (rightly or wrongly) as competition for their own OS/culture. Hence the criticism; they are trying to protect their own interests by deprecating the "competition".
As far as something new and different... I think EROS-OS might fit that category. It's certainly not like any OS I've encountered before (although I understand it does derive its design from other "secure" OS's).
Well, as I recall from the last go-around of this topic on slashdot, the collector array would contain a small, directional transmitter that the satellite would look for. If the satellite didn't "see" the transmitter in the center of its target area, then it would cut power. This technique would keep the system fail-safe.
The other safety measure was that the beam would be unfocused enough that by the time it reached earth its footprint would be fairly large, and hence the power would be diffuse enough not to cause fires or instant death (tm) to anyone who happened to be under it. It wouldn't be pleasant, but it wouldn't be dangerous either.
Perhaps you should check out Trolltech's site then. All the source code to Qt is available for download there, for free.
You do have to pay to dispose of it though (one way or another), and eventually you'll have to pay for the environmental costs incurred by the creation and transport of so much useless paper. You also spend a certain amount of time every day sorting the "real" mail from the "junk" mail; inasmuch as time is money, that is a cost for you. Given all that, I prefer spam to junk mail (at least I can set up an automatic spam filter for my email)
I think it would be safe to say that risk of contracting anthrax from your mail was negligible, and is now larger than it was. What the public doesn't know is how much larger that risk is now; that depends on how many mad anthrax-spreaders there are out there, and how skillful/clever/evil they are. Given that, I think a certain amount of concern is reasonable.
Every one of your criticisms is valid with respect to what they are currently (trying to) sell under the name "e-book". The concept of an electronic display replacing paper is a good one though, and I think you can expect in the future to see models which address all of those problems. (I'm specifically imagining a solid state device that has a high-quality electronic-paper display, some static RAM, a wireless internet connection, and an HTML renderer)
Well, I keep trying to think up reasons why someone couldn't do a mass-mailing of anthrax, and I can't think of any. Businesses do mass-mailings all the time, what would stop someone evil from adding a few spores in with the spam? The toughest obstacle would be the production of that much anthrax, AFAICT.
Well, okay... haven't these guys solved exactly that problem?
In particular, I'm interested in clean, sustainable energy sources and delivery systems that would give the energy-hungry USA the luxury of acting according to its democratic principles in the international arena, instead of its all-too-common current tendencies to do whatever it has to to keep cheap oil flowing in.
Your allegory is flawed. What the pacifists are really against is someone who got punched just getting mad and punching random people (or people who look like his attacker, or people who live in the attacker's neighborhood). Obviously self-defense is sometimes necessary, but it only works if you know who your attacker is, and retaliate against only the people responsible. Hopefully that is what we are doing...
I'm not saying it has happened, just that it can happen (once people realize where there money actually goes, vs where it should be going)
I'm also interested in reasons why this system might be practical or not practical in automobiles, if anyone feels like going a bit off topic