All the graphics are saved as jpegs even though they all have large swatches of single color and sharp boundaries between colors. They really should be saved as gifs.
But wasn't there a big hullaboo about.gifs and a Unisys patent (ie., Unisys demanding that web sites using.gifs pay a fee)...   and folks like ESR got involved?   I distinctly recall a "Burn the Gif day" and some strong "encouragement" for folks to drop.gifs in favor of other graphics formats, most notably.png.   Not sure how well a.png would improve the quality but.jpegs can be pretty decent.
Interesting concept.   Based on a quote that they list from Galbraith, I deduce (perhaps incorrectly) that anything goes and there will be no censorship perhaps (I can imagine what some might do to with that site's comic strip)?   Southpark II anyone? (no slam on Southpark fans) -)
Really? What bank? What recipent? I have been told banks get fussy about large cash withdraws, but I don't think that is the case for checks!
I feel myself slowly creeping towards something that's Offtopic... I hate this...;-).   But if you're doing big purchases, like cars, homes, etc., it's obviously no biggie because usually a bank or banks are involved and they're often dealing with sums upwards and beyond US$100,000 (for houses or condos).   But let's say that you want to give a "gift".   In many cases, the banks prefer that you use what they call a "certified" check.   Perhaps that's what you're thinking about and that's what I'm talking about.   For me to write out a "personal" check for $20,000 for say, giving to the Linux Router Project... it might raise some eyebrows (at least it would with the old Corestates chain - now First Union - which is no little fly by night bank).   A certified check (certified by a bank - at a cost, by the way), gives you a little less hassle...   And besides, as previous posters have noted, if you're talking that kind of money, you should seek out or should already have a "financial advisor", who will take care of those pesky little details for ya! -)
While linux is just a kernel, the *BSDs are full operating systems. Maybe you need to do a little research before you post.
Sorry sir, I'm running NetBSD 1.4.1 on my home LAN, so I know exactly what it is.   Define to me a "full operating system" (hopefully you don't mean something akin to windoze, which ties most of its apps into the core kernel).  :-)
My point is that Linux or any Unix or Unix-like distribution (like the *BSDs) *without* the accompanying applications is what?   Just a kernel.   That's what makes them so "modular".
The long and short of it is, unfortunately/. is not really the best place to get financial advise, although I'm sure many different opinions will be shared on where to donate, bottom line, Get professional financial advice along with other guidance, like here at/..
This is good advise, however I'm hoping that anyone who plans to sink a good chunk of change into anything would seek professional advise anyway.   Besides, it's a bit difficult to write out a check for US$20,000 and hand it to someone without your bank and the recipient having a fit (in fact they start bugging out if the check is for US$1,000 or more!).
I interpreted the article as being a request to a pretty diverse and knowledgeable audience (yes, believe it or not,/. isn't just populated with trolls...   hee hee), regarding what's out there other than the "Red Hats" and "VALinuxes" which are all in the news.   As others have commented, there are thousands of small projects out there with no press to pump them up and make them recognizable, even in the "mainstream" computing community....
Actually, I'm risking a "me too" down moderation just to say "I agree" with you.   The folks at Debian could use all the support they can get...   They and those working on the similar HURD project are more the "exception" than my "rule"... -)
I'm thinking more in terms of support for device driver projects (for USB and DVD and printers!!!), game projects, and such things as multimedia projects involving audio/video players that require licensed codecs (which cost $$$$) -or- the project could use the $$$ to design their OWN codecs!
Geez...   there's so much that needs to be done....  :-)
The *nixes and *BSDs are just the OS kernels.   Many are already being supported by commercial entities.
If I had $$$, I would support the application projects that most of the *nixes and *BSDS can run.   Ports are usually pretty simple between distributions and the application and documentation projcts could sure use the money!!!!
You are thinking too three-dimensionally. The Universe according to the Big Bang model is four dimensional -- with time being the fourth dimension.
Actually, I remember the first time that a light bulb flashed in my head about the 4th-dimension (time).   It was something like 10 years ago when I was running a LC analysis in the lab, plotting wavelength vs concentration vs time.   And then I suddenly thought of a point moving in 3-D space, and each movement occured in a time increment - the "slice".   And then all the millions of courses I took finally made sense! -) I do understand it.
There actually is a "smouldering" piece of energy left over from the Big Bang. It's called the Cosmic Background Radiation and apppears in every direction of the sky. This is because the Big Bang itself occurred at every point in the Universe.
Which assumes that the Heisenberg Uncertainty Priciple applies... -)
Outside of this region, there is nothing. Or at least nothing that we can detect.
OR...   everything that is there is at absolute zero, thus no movement, thus no time!
I don't know how this will ever be resolved.   As you all know, when you walk into a store with a large magazine section, you'll see the pr0n all covered up with a brown wrapper - although it is still available.   As was also pointed out, the blocking software often blocks legitimate searches, such as "breast" - for those researching breast cancer, etc.   And the fact that more and more places are blocking at gateways rather than at the PC, that inturn deprives many from their rights to view what they wish.
Our office is looking into implementing "WebNot", similar to Surf Watch.   What the result of this will be is unknown. Expect this debate to go on ad infinitum.
There is a move to try to bring some control to this.   It is called the Linux Standard Base, the goal to create a set of standards for compatibility between distributions as well as encourage more app porting to Linux in general.   The project is being supported by most of the major distros and I recall them having a big get together not too long ago.
Their motto - "Standardizing the Penguin".   Pretty cool and timely.
At one time, most hardware had its own OS specifically optimized for that platform.   I see this as no different.   Linux, as they say, is "just a kernel", one that can be tweeked, streamlined, and made to be optimized for your hardware.   The fact that Linux is actually "GNU/Linux" tells you something - that it was made to be freely available for such tweeking.
When I walk into the cereal aisle in a supermarket in the U.S., I am presented with an obscene choice of brands to choose from.   I don't know about you, but I don't complain about having the ability to pick and choose which to buy.   However, note that not every cereal originally put on the market is still around.   Quality control, marketing, popularity, etc., influenced what sits on the shelf today.   Likewise, we're about to possibly have an explosion by GNU/Linux of the same caliber.   A good rule of thumb is "Caveat Emptor"...   "Let the buyer beware".
I guarantee that time will tell and the wheat will be separated from the chaff.
What is your take on the move towards more and more code embedded in chips and how do you think C++ may need to evolve to meet that trend?
Re:My 2 units of local currency's worth
on
Hackers
·
· Score: 1
Doubt it. This is the whole "nature vs nurture" thing. If you look at animals, the females tend to be more nurturing, the males tend to go out and hunt (generalizing broadly, of course)
Hmmm...   tell that to the entire feline family of animals, where the male sortof sits on his duff and the female (eg., the lioness) does the hunting.
How could we forget sardines? (just had some myself).   You get your zinc and calcium!   No muss, no fuss, no zapping in the microwave.   Just pop open a can and enjoy!
But - why not concede defeat on this terminology battle? I think that hacker is firmly imprinted on the collective retinas of our culture as a bad thing. All the whining in the world from a bunch of fucking phreaks on slashdot won't get people to say "cracker" instead of "hacker".
Very true.
And personally, as a programmer I've always thought of a "hack" as not partucularly good anyway.
And per your above comment, you actually include the term that was always used for those who wrote code - "programmer", which is what folks could go back to using.
I am not a programmer or hacker or coder.   I prefer the networking and adminstering side of things.   But I will say this - folks who go into any techy field are often labeled by the non-techs as "geeks" or "nerds" in the negative sense, invoking images of someone with taped up glasses and pocket protectors and high-water pants and such.   BUT...   look at the rapid change of the term "geek" and "nerd"?   As I noted previously, those terms were considered and portrayed (again in the media - particularly TV, movies) as negative, social outcasts, blah.   NOW, the terms "geek" and "nerd" are considered cool - and you can thank media outlets like Wired for that.   So if the term "hacker" (which I think was an attempt to get away from the stereotype that had formed around the term "programmer" as non-social outcast) was a term that programmers used for themselves to get rid of the negative image, and then the media twisted it around (almost like a one for one trade by giving up on nerd/geek and now focussing negativism on hacker), so too can hacker be reversed back to its original meaning.   But again, it'll take some time.
After trying to digest Schrodingers 3-dimensional time-independent Wave Equation, linux firewalling is easy-peasy!
AHHHahahahahaha...   hee hee hee.   snicker.   Oh...   that is so damn true.   As a chemistry major in college, I think I had one semester where I was taking multivariable calculus, physical chemistry, and elementary particle physics - all at the same time (what a fool I was), and at some point during the semester, ALL 3 covered the topic of the Schrodinger equation.   My head was spinning because each discipline puts their own spin (no pun intended) on the subject!   I always liked to quote it on the Star Trek lists when discussing warp theory and such.   It would inevitably trigger a whole side thread on sub-atomic theory vs. gravitational theory, etc.
Re:cracker, the pejorative
on
Hackers
·
· Score: 1
Of course, what they really want is a buzzword, so looks like it'll have to be "cybercracker".
The media seems to like anything with the world "cyber" in it - eg., cyberpunk.   Maybe "cybercracker" would be the best moniker to push for.
Re:windoze box, *nix box, Mac box, or Be box
on
Hackers
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· Score: 0
Be box a loo la, she's my baby. Be box a loo la, and I don't mean maybe.
And I'm waitin' for my free Be to release.   Any day now.
I'm not a complete klutz honest;-)! I have experience with AIX and DRS/NX under my belt - its just that they were a long time ago.
I believe you.   Honest. -).   I just know them thar/.ers hee hee.
After what you said about a dual RH61 server I think I'll stick to Linux for that box (im running a patched RH6) - but I have a P133 so I think I'll go mosey to CheapBytes and get some *BSD's!
My RH 6.1 box has dual P-200s.   Works slick.   TurboLinux also works with SMP and if you do their server install, one of their install questions asks whether you want to install SMP.
The media happens to the easiest way to inform people, but if people can truly understand the differece through other means, hopefully they would ignore the media's depiction of hackers or form their own opinions of hackers, or even stick it to the media themselves.
What you say is what we would all wish for but unfortuantely, it would only occur under idealized circumstances - and we don't live in an idealized world.   When Joe Q. Public goes to the movies, he wants to be entertained.   He doesn't care whether what he watches is accurate or not as long as there's action and adventure and maybe some suprises along the way.   And until some Walter Cronkite clone (ie., someone who is inherently trust worthy to the public at large) clearly describes the difference between a hacker and a cracker and makes it clear to Joe Q., then nothing will change.   Only a very tiny percent of the world population (it can't be no more than maybe 10%, but I don't have the exact figures to back it up), are technologically-oriented and/or trained.   The rest use that technology and mainly only care about getting done what they need to get done with it.   We as techies are preaching to each other in a forum such as this but we don't have the means or the power to reach the masses.   We, having access to the web as a media form, tend to become spoiled by our ability to spread our points of view around the world, but in reality, few (except at work or in libraries, schools, etc.) have access to this alternative form of media where the message can be heard.   That's where the general media (ie., newspapers, radio, TV, cable, Satellite, etc.) come in.   And even among the media, few will buck the trend.   It will take time.
Re:The Hacker figure is much older than Hollywood
on
Hackers
·
· Score: 1
The Indians of the American Southwest called him Coyote
As in "Wiley E.", where you would see that same behavior.
Interesting how Mr. Stephenson's research includes comments about past mythological "evil" figures, although in reality, they are not necessarily evil but more mischievous.   In that case, you can go even further back and take a look at the various mythos of the "ancient world" - the "Pan" figure from Greek and Roman mythology and the "Set" figure from Egypt, although Set was not necessarily a trickster but became more inherently evil along the lines of what came later in the Cain and Abel story...   but I digress...
So while I would like to go to OpenBSD I can't (AFAIK). What is FreeBSD like in that respect? Educate me!!!
Before anyone out there hurls a "RFM" at you, try going to FreeBSD's site.   It's a real cool website with some really informative FAQs.   I was almost ready to install it myself but decided to opt for something different.   But since it is the most used of the "open source" BSDs out there, you'll have plenty of support for it.   Yahoo, Microsoft's Hotmail (hee hee), Apache, etc., use it.
And by the way, I have a Red Hat 6.1 server at work running SMP just fine thank you.
So, do not blame holywood for now, It is the mass media that needs a beating over the head with a cluestick. With the nails left in.
You forget one of the earliest movies - "War Games".
Even though movies like "Matrix" and "The Net" show generally well meaning "hackers", the plot still has a negative overlay.
Seems that the "mad/evil scientist" plot line has been played out enough for the time being (literally over the past 100 years of movie making), and so now you have the "mad/evil hacker" to take its place.
Mind you, that was before Mandrake and Corel Linux and prob. even before Caldera hit the market (although I'm not sure about the last one).
Very true.   Caldera however, has been out for a little while, although their focus on the graphical, "idiot proof" install is a recent animal with their LIZARD (as opposed to their older LISA) installer.   In fact, seems that in 1999, a number of the Linux distros (eg., Red Hat and the others mentioned previously), decided to go full steam ahead into the "desktop" market.   It's just that due to the IPOs and media attention, those distros got the jump on Stampede.   Even SuSE (which I have on one of my machines) re-did their YaST installer to grab some desktop share.
Slashdot Mirror
All the graphics are saved as jpegs even though they all have large swatches of single color and sharp boundaries between colors. They really should be saved as gifs.
.gifs and a Unisys patent (ie., Unisys demanding that web sites using .gifs pay a fee)...   and folks like ESR got involved?   I distinctly recall a "Burn the Gif day" and some strong "encouragement" for folks to drop .gifs in favor of other graphics formats, most notably .png.   Not sure how well a .png would improve the quality but .jpegs can be pretty decent.
But wasn't there a big hullaboo about
Interesting concept.   Based on a quote that they list from Galbraith, I deduce (perhaps incorrectly) that anything goes and there will be no censorship perhaps (I can imagine what some might do to with that site's comic strip)?   Southpark II anyone? (no slam on Southpark fans)   ;-)
Really? What bank? What recipent? I have been told banks get fussy about large cash withdraws, but I don't think that is the case for checks!
;-).   But if you're doing big purchases, like cars, homes, etc., it's obviously no biggie because usually a bank or banks are involved and they're often dealing with sums upwards and beyond US$100,000 (for houses or condos).   But let's say that you want to give a "gift".   In many cases, the banks prefer that you use what they call a "certified" check.   Perhaps that's what you're thinking about and that's what I'm talking about.   For me to write out a "personal" check for $20,000 for say, giving to the Linux Router Project... it might raise some eyebrows (at least it would with the old Corestates chain - now First Union - which is no little fly by night bank).   A certified check (certified by a bank - at a cost, by the way), gives you a little less hassle...   And besides, as previous posters have noted, if you're talking that kind of money, you should seek out or should already have a "financial advisor", who will take care of those pesky little details for ya!   ;-)
I feel myself slowly creeping towards something that's Offtopic... I hate this...
While linux is just a kernel, the *BSDs are full operating systems. Maybe you need to do a little research before you post.
:-)
Sorry sir, I'm running NetBSD 1.4.1 on my home LAN, so I know exactly what it is.   Define to me a "full operating system" (hopefully you don't mean something akin to windoze, which ties most of its apps into the core kernel).  
My point is that Linux or any Unix or Unix-like distribution (like the *BSDs) *without* the accompanying applications is what?   Just a kernel.   That's what makes them so "modular".
The long and short of it is, unfortunately /. is not really the best place to get financial advise, although I'm sure many different opinions will be shared on where to donate, bottom line, Get professional financial advice along with other guidance, like here at /..
/. isn't just populated with trolls...   hee hee), regarding what's out there other than the "Red Hats" and "VALinuxes" which are all in the news.   As others have commented, there are thousands of small projects out there with no press to pump them up and make them recognizable, even in the "mainstream" computing community....
This is good advise, however I'm hoping that anyone who plans to sink a good chunk of change into anything would seek professional advise anyway.   Besides, it's a bit difficult to write out a check for US$20,000 and hand it to someone without your bank and the recipient having a fit (in fact they start bugging out if the check is for US$1,000 or more!).
I interpreted the article as being a request to a pretty diverse and knowledgeable audience (yes, believe it or not,
Actually, I'm risking a "me too" down moderation just to say "I agree" with you.   The folks at Debian could use all the support they can get...   They and those working on the similar HURD project are more the "exception" than my "rule"...   ;-)
:-)
I'm thinking more in terms of support for device driver projects (for USB and DVD and printers!!!), game projects, and such things as multimedia projects involving audio/video players that require licensed codecs (which cost $$$$) -or- the project could use the $$$ to design their OWN codecs!
Geez...   there's so much that needs to be done....  
The *nixes and *BSDs are just the OS kernels.   Many are already being supported by commercial entities.
If I had $$$, I would support the application projects that most of the *nixes and *BSDS can run.   Ports are usually pretty simple between distributions and the application and documentation projcts could sure use the money!!!!
. JMHO.
You are thinking too three-dimensionally. The Universe according to the Big Bang model is four dimensional -- with time being the fourth dimension.
;-) I do understand it.
;-)
Actually, I remember the first time that a light bulb flashed in my head about the 4th-dimension (time).   It was something like 10 years ago when I was running a LC analysis in the lab, plotting wavelength vs concentration vs time.   And then I suddenly thought of a point moving in 3-D space, and each movement occured in a time increment - the "slice".   And then all the millions of courses I took finally made sense!  
There actually is a "smouldering" piece of energy left over from the Big Bang. It's called the Cosmic Background Radiation and apppears in every direction of the sky. This is because the Big Bang itself occurred at every point in the Universe.
Which assumes that the Heisenberg Uncertainty Priciple applies...  
Outside of this region, there is nothing. Or at least nothing that we can detect.
OR...   everything that is there is at absolute zero, thus no movement, thus no time!
I don't know how this will ever be resolved.   As you all know, when you walk into a store with a large magazine section, you'll see the pr0n all covered up with a brown wrapper - although it is still available.   As was also pointed out, the blocking software often blocks legitimate searches, such as "breast" - for those researching breast cancer, etc.   And the fact that more and more places are blocking at gateways rather than at the PC, that inturn deprives many from their rights to view what they wish.
Our office is looking into implementing "WebNot", similar to Surf Watch.   What the result of this will be is unknown. Expect this debate to go on ad infinitum.
There is a move to try to bring some control to this.   It is called the Linux Standard Base, the goal to create a set of standards for compatibility between distributions as well as encourage more app porting to Linux in general.   The project is being supported by most of the major distros and I recall them having a big get together not too long ago.
Their motto - "Standardizing the Penguin".   Pretty cool and timely.
At one time, most hardware had its own OS specifically optimized for that platform.   I see this as no different.   Linux, as they say, is "just a kernel", one that can be tweeked, streamlined, and made to be optimized for your hardware.   The fact that Linux is actually "GNU/Linux" tells you something - that it was made to be freely available for such tweeking.
When I walk into the cereal aisle in a supermarket in the U.S., I am presented with an obscene choice of brands to choose from.   I don't know about you, but I don't complain about having the ability to pick and choose which to buy.   However, note that not every cereal originally put on the market is still around.   Quality control, marketing, popularity, etc., influenced what sits on the shelf today.   Likewise, we're about to possibly have an explosion by GNU/Linux of the same caliber.   A good rule of thumb is "Caveat Emptor"...   "Let the buyer beware".
I guarantee that time will tell and the wheat will be separated from the chaff.
What is your take on the move towards more and more code embedded in chips and how do you think C++ may need to evolve to meet that trend?
Doubt it. This is the whole "nature vs nurture" thing. If you look at animals, the females tend to be more nurturing, the males tend to go out and hunt (generalizing broadly, of course)
;-)
Hmmm...   tell that to the entire feline family of animals, where the male sortof sits on his duff and the female (eg., the lioness) does the hunting.
'Nuff said.  
Fourier synthesis, where Maple V is the only way to fly...
ACK!   Which reminds me of Fourier Transform, which reminds me of FTIR, which reminds me of advanced inorganic chem-misery...
;-)
How could we forget sardines? (just had some myself).   You get your zinc and calcium!   No muss, no fuss, no zapping in the microwave.   Just pop open a can and enjoy!
OK, I'll take on serious flamage for this.
No flamage necessary.
But - why not concede defeat on this terminology battle? I think that hacker is firmly imprinted on the collective retinas of our culture as a bad thing. All the whining in the world from a bunch of fucking phreaks on slashdot won't get people to say "cracker" instead of "hacker".
Very true.
And personally, as a programmer I've always thought of a "hack" as not partucularly good anyway.
And per your above comment, you actually include the term that was always used for those who wrote code - "programmer", which is what folks could go back to using.
I am not a programmer or hacker or coder.   I prefer the networking and adminstering side of things.   But I will say this - folks who go into any techy field are often labeled by the non-techs as "geeks" or "nerds" in the negative sense, invoking images of someone with taped up glasses and pocket protectors and high-water pants and such.   BUT...   look at the rapid change of the term "geek" and "nerd"?   As I noted previously, those terms were considered and portrayed (again in the media - particularly TV, movies) as negative, social outcasts, blah.   NOW, the terms "geek" and "nerd" are considered cool - and you can thank media outlets like Wired for that.   So if the term "hacker" (which I think was an attempt to get away from the stereotype that had formed around the term "programmer" as non-social outcast) was a term that programmers used for themselves to get rid of the negative image, and then the media twisted it around (almost like a one for one trade by giving up on nerd/geek and now focussing negativism on hacker), so too can hacker be reversed back to its original meaning.   But again, it'll take some time.
I guess we're kinda going offtopic here but...
After trying to digest Schrodingers 3-dimensional time-independent Wave Equation, linux firewalling is easy-peasy!
AHHHahahahahaha...   hee hee hee.   snicker.   Oh...   that is so damn true.   As a chemistry major in college, I think I had one semester where I was taking multivariable calculus, physical chemistry, and elementary particle physics - all at the same time (what a fool I was), and at some point during the semester, ALL 3 covered the topic of the Schrodinger equation.   My head was spinning because each discipline puts their own spin (no pun intended) on the subject!   I always liked to quote it on the Star Trek lists when discussing warp theory and such.   It would inevitably trigger a whole side thread on sub-atomic theory vs. gravitational theory, etc.
Of course, what they really want is a buzzword, so looks like it'll have to be "cybercracker".
The media seems to like anything with the world "cyber" in it - eg., cyberpunk.   Maybe "cybercracker" would be the best moniker to push for.
Be box a loo la, she's my baby.
Be box a loo la, and I don't mean maybe.
And I'm waitin' for my free Be to release.   Any day now.
I'm not a complete klutz honest ;-)! I have experience with AIX and DRS/NX under my belt - its just that they were a long time ago.
;-).   I just know them thar /.ers hee hee.
;-)
I believe you.   Honest.  
After what you said about a dual RH61 server I think I'll stick to Linux for that box (im running a patched RH6) - but I have a P133 so I think I'll go mosey to CheapBytes and get some *BSD's!
My RH 6.1 box has dual P-200s.   Works slick.   TurboLinux also works with SMP and if you do their server install, one of their install questions asks whether you want to install SMP.
Upgrade now to Schrodingers Dog...
Are you a Schrodinger's equation fan?  
The media happens to the easiest way to inform people, but if people can truly understand the differece through other means, hopefully they would ignore the media's depiction of hackers or form their own opinions of hackers, or even stick it to the media themselves.
What you say is what we would all wish for but unfortuantely, it would only occur under idealized circumstances - and we don't live in an idealized world.   When Joe Q. Public goes to the movies, he wants to be entertained.   He doesn't care whether what he watches is accurate or not as long as there's action and adventure and maybe some suprises along the way.   And until some Walter Cronkite clone (ie., someone who is inherently trust worthy to the public at large) clearly describes the difference between a hacker and a cracker and makes it clear to Joe Q., then nothing will change.   Only a very tiny percent of the world population (it can't be no more than maybe 10%, but I don't have the exact figures to back it up), are technologically-oriented and/or trained.   The rest use that technology and mainly only care about getting done what they need to get done with it.   We as techies are preaching to each other in a forum such as this but we don't have the means or the power to reach the masses.   We, having access to the web as a media form, tend to become spoiled by our ability to spread our points of view around the world, but in reality, few (except at work or in libraries, schools, etc.) have access to this alternative form of media where the message can be heard.   That's where the general media (ie., newspapers, radio, TV, cable, Satellite, etc.) come in.   And even among the media, few will buck the trend.   It will take time.
The Indians of the American Southwest called him Coyote
As in "Wiley E.", where you would see that same behavior.
Interesting how Mr. Stephenson's research includes comments about past mythological "evil" figures, although in reality, they are not necessarily evil but more mischievous.   In that case, you can go even further back and take a look at the various mythos of the "ancient world" - the "Pan" figure from Greek and Roman mythology and the "Set" figure from Egypt, although Set was not necessarily a trickster but became more inherently evil along the lines of what came later in the Cain and Abel story...   but I digress...
So while I would like to go to OpenBSD I can't (AFAIK). What is FreeBSD like in that respect? Educate me!!!
;-)
Before anyone out there hurls a "RFM" at you, try going to FreeBSD's site.   It's a real cool website with some really informative FAQs.   I was almost ready to install it myself but decided to opt for something different.   But since it is the most used of the "open source" BSDs out there, you'll have plenty of support for it.   Yahoo, Microsoft's Hotmail (hee hee), Apache, etc., use it.
And by the way, I have a Red Hat 6.1 server at work running SMP just fine thank you.
So, do not blame holywood for now, It is the mass media that needs a beating over the head with a cluestick. With the nails left in.
You forget one of the earliest movies - "War Games".
Even though movies like "Matrix" and "The Net" show generally well meaning "hackers", the plot still has a negative overlay.
Seems that the "mad/evil scientist" plot line has been played out enough for the time being (literally over the past 100 years of movie making), and so now you have the "mad/evil hacker" to take its place.
Mind you, that was before Mandrake and Corel Linux and prob. even before Caldera hit the market (although I'm not sure about the last one).
Very true.   Caldera however, has been out for a little while, although their focus on the graphical, "idiot proof" install is a recent animal with their LIZARD (as opposed to their older LISA) installer.   In fact, seems that in 1999, a number of the Linux distros (eg., Red Hat and the others mentioned previously), decided to go full steam ahead into the "desktop" market.   It's just that due to the IPOs and media attention, those distros got the jump on Stampede.   Even SuSE (which I have on one of my machines) re-did their YaST installer to grab some desktop share.