Would it have helped if I said WindowsME instead of Windows2000?;-)
Point is, GNU/Linux is not out-of-date, as the "10 year old" comment implies, any more than Windows NT/2000 is. A lot has changed since the Minix days. In fact, it seems to me that the GNU/Linux OS is used as a testbed for more cutting edge OS theory than many other operating systems. Especially in the file system, security, network, and RTOS areas.
No need to get you dander up about Windows vs. GNU/Linux stuff. My beef was with the misleading comment in the article. My analogy with Windows2000 was simply to illustrate how unfair the comment sounded to me.
-Derek
P.S. Many years ago I helped administer some OpenVMS machines on DEC hardware. Those things were stable as a ROCK! If Cutler had anything to do with that, then hats off to the man!!
"Linux, a 10-year-old clone of the Unix operating system and a competitor to Windows,..."
This misleading comment makes GNU/Linux sound like an ancient and outdated operating system. Although, I guess the same could be said about Windows2000 being 10 year old extension to DOS.:-)
Did you even read the article!?! He mentioned Windows98 numerous times with one mention of a non-RH linux distro. Sheeesh.
On a side note, he made this comment:
The keyboard that I'm using is the Microsoft Internet Keyboard. Yeah, yeah -- it's a M$ product. Whatever.
I'm not one to talk highly of MS software, but their hardware is good quality stuff. From my experience, their mice, keyboards, and joysticks are nothing to be embarassed about. I'd be interested to hear others experiences though...
I once set up ten hotmail accounts to test out some stuff. I used them one once (for my personal test) and I NEVER gave them out to anyone. I also was very careful to uncheck ALL the spam offers when registering the accounts. About three out of those ten accounts immediately started getting spam on the order of about 2-3 pieces per day. None of the account names are dictionary words and they all include numbers.
I don't know what caused it, but I have to echo the suspiscion that MS (either knowingly or unknowingly) is letting some of this information out. It seems to be too frequent of a problem to be anything else.
"You''ll be able to set a price you charge to strangers who want to contact you. You might say that anybody can ring your phone during the day for a dollar, but that after 5 p.m. it?s $5 and after midnight it?s $25. You'll probably charge less to let people leave you voice or e-mail messages--or maybe you won't charge at all."
-Bill Gates (quoted from the link referenced above.
$1.00/call !?!? $25.00/call!?!?!!?!?!!? Ouch! That might be pocket change for Bill Gates, but I wouldn't call anyone if it cost that much. Sheesh, for $150 I could buy a plane ticket and visit them. That's not as invasive as a phone call, is it?
I thought that the "exemption" wasn't on the part of the consumer/taxpayer (we still need to pay use taxes) but on the part of the vendor, by not forcing him to charge sales taxes at the point of purchase. The thought being that it would be too much work for the companies to record sales taxes from all the diferrent states and that it would stifle the growth of eCommerce.
Am I correct in this, or do I need to consult a CPA?
I was curious as to what Morgan that the chances were of the SSSCA (Security System Standards and Certification Act) actually becoming a law?
I know that polticians have a lot on their plates right now and I'm worried that it might slip through with little discussion. As a canadian, I'm not very intimately familiar with the legislative process in the US, but US laws invariable affect me.
Think:
-DMCA
-encryption export laws
-UCITA
-patent law
-....
As for your faith in the legal system as a remedy.
Think:
-MS Antitrust
-2600
-Skylarov
-...
From my rather cynical point of view, things are not looking good. You can bet I'll speak out against this one, but the VAST majority of uneducated (on the issues) voters will see a "security" related bill and get all warm and fuzzy.
...not too long before explosion and CHAR marks all along the back of the enclosure...
Sounds like you were lucky. When my drive blew, I had CHAR, INT, LONG, WORD and DOUBLE WORD marks all over the back of my enclosure. Not to mention all the buffered data that splattered all over the place. Bloody mess, that's what it was.
Just imagine what that story will look like when the new "smart links" technology is released to the world. Combine that with the fact that I will need to use Passport to log on anywhere and pretty soon Microsoft will have me caught in their little.Net.
I've heard good things said about the "rendering" speed of many different browsers but I have NEVER seen any number or benchmarks to support those claims. I get the feeling that phrases like "raw performance" and "speed" and purely subjective. Am I mistaken? Does anyone know of a few good (ie difficult or lengthy sites to render) where I can compare the brower's speed? Given the raw processing power of most modern computers, it seems that connection speed will almost always be the limiting factor.
The summer solstice is today, so there's about 15 hours of daylight to enjoy (in my latitude anyway) - turn off the computer, go outside, get a tan.
WHAT!?!?!?!!? And ruin a perfectly good uptime? I'll go outside, and maybe even tan a bit, but I'm NOT shutting Ol' Reliable down! (Michael, you should know better than to suggest these crazy things.)
If you don't vote, your voice doesn't count. If you don't buy software, you give up your voice on the direction of the software industry. Imagine Zero Knowledge getting 1500 emails tomorrow, only 3 of which come from paying customers. Make any sense?
The "Free Software" and "Open Source" arguments are NOT against paying for software. (Although I admit that the verbage often used by both camps seems to imply this.) Free software is simply about having the freedom to do what ever you want with the software. ("Open source" masqerades as a business friendly front end to roughly the same ideas.)
With that in mind, many GNU/Linux users BUY their distributions, and many of those who don't buy the distributions make contributions in other ways. I think that the FreedomNet people should release the source code for their client under the GPL and let the community start doing the development for them. They could probably get their GNU/Linux client entirely built and supported for the cost of one or two engineers that act as project managers. Much of the GNU/Linux code (if done well) could be ported over to clients on other platforms saving work for the company all the way around. ZK could then concentrate on selling the windows clients, with a certain level of support, to the 90% of their user base who simply wants their windows machine to work and isn't saavy enough to use a tarball.
In short, in a system like the one descibed above, many of the more technical GNU/Linux users will be getting the freedom they desire and they will also likely "pay" for the software by contributing in a non-trivial way to its development. I also expect that this more technically inclined crowd will also help by running a lot of the server nodes. However, the vast majority of people will continue to pay for their software and expect it to be supported in a traditional manner.
*Please* follow up on this story and tell us if the retailer took the software back. To me, that will be a lot more interesting than the idea that someone shipped buggy software. With all the NO RETURN policies that exist, I've always wondered if they are enforceable in cases like this. THANKS!
I suggest not using your approach of "showing the problem in a report."
But imagine how much worse off you would be right now if you had shown the problem by actually breaking in (rather than just reporting it)! Besides, threatening to publish their security holes was NOT the smartest way to apply pressure. In fact, I'll bet that it was that part that got you investigated. There is a very thin line in some peoples minds between what you did and blackmail/extortion. Remember that you are may be working with a "business", but it really just boils down to using some people skills.
Slashdot Mirror
Would it have helped if I said WindowsME instead of Windows2000? ;-)
Point is, GNU/Linux is not out-of-date, as the "10 year old" comment implies, any more than Windows NT/2000 is. A lot has changed since the Minix days. In fact, it seems to me that the GNU/Linux OS is used as a testbed for more cutting edge OS theory than many other operating systems. Especially in the file system, security, network, and RTOS areas.
No need to get you dander up about Windows vs. GNU/Linux stuff. My beef was with the misleading comment in the article. My analogy with Windows2000 was simply to illustrate how unfair the comment sounded to me.
-Derek
P.S. Many years ago I helped administer some OpenVMS machines on DEC hardware. Those things were stable as a ROCK! If Cutler had anything to do with that, then hats off to the man!!
From the article:
:-)
"Linux, a 10-year-old clone of the Unix operating system and a competitor to Windows,..."
This misleading comment makes GNU/Linux sound like an ancient and outdated operating system. Although, I guess the same could be said about Windows2000 being 10 year old extension to DOS.
-Derek
Did you even read the article!?! He mentioned Windows98 numerous times with one mention of a non-RH linux distro. Sheeesh.
On a side note, he made this comment:
The keyboard that I'm using is the Microsoft Internet Keyboard. Yeah, yeah -- it's a M$ product. Whatever.
I'm not one to talk highly of MS software, but their hardware is good quality stuff. From my experience, their mice, keyboards, and joysticks are nothing to be embarassed about. I'd be interested to hear others experiences though...
-Derek
My search engine progression over the past years looks like this:
veronica(gopherspace anyone?) -> webcrawler(early 90's) -> altavista(late 90's) -> google(current)
with an occational stop into Ask Jeeves and Northern Lights and Deja News. They were all good during their times.
-Derek
I once set up ten hotmail accounts to test out some stuff. I used them one once (for my personal test) and I NEVER gave them out to anyone. I also was very careful to uncheck ALL the spam offers when registering the accounts. About three out of those ten accounts immediately started getting spam on the order of about 2-3 pieces per day. None of the account names are dictionary words and they all include numbers.
I don't know what caused it, but I have to echo the suspiscion that MS (either knowingly or unknowingly) is letting some of this information out. It seems to be too frequent of a problem to be anything else.
-Derek
"You''ll be able to set a price you charge to strangers who want to contact you. You might say that anybody can ring your phone during the day for a dollar, but that after 5 p.m. it?s $5 and after midnight it?s $25. You'll probably charge less to let people leave you voice or e-mail messages--or maybe you won't charge at all."
-Bill Gates (quoted from the link referenced above.
$1.00/call !?!? $25.00/call!?!?!!?!?!!? Ouch! That might be pocket change for Bill Gates, but I wouldn't call anyone if it cost that much. Sheesh, for $150 I could buy a plane ticket and visit them. That's not as invasive as a phone call, is it?
-Derek
For clarification....
I thought that the "exemption" wasn't on the part of the consumer/taxpayer (we still need to pay use taxes) but on the part of the vendor, by not forcing him to charge sales taxes at the point of purchase. The thought being that it would be too much work for the companies to record sales taxes from all the diferrent states and that it would stifle the growth of eCommerce.
Am I correct in this, or do I need to consult a CPA?
-Derek
I was curious as to what Morgan that the chances were of the SSSCA (Security System Standards and Certification Act) actually becoming a law?
I know that polticians have a lot on their plates right now and I'm worried that it might slip through with little discussion. As a canadian, I'm not very intimately familiar with the legislative process in the US, but US laws invariable affect me.
-Derek
-Derek
Did anyone else notice that this bill was originally called the "Mobilization Against Terrorism Act (MATA)?"
Matar is the spanish verb "to kill". The conjugated form, mata, means he/she/it kills.
Intentional? Conincidence? Horrible irony? I don't know. I wonder if that was the reason the name was changed.
-Derek
I also lack your faith that it won't pass.
Think:
-DMCA
-encryption export laws
-UCITA
-patent law
-....
As for your faith in the legal system as a remedy.
Think:
-MS Antitrust
-2600
-Skylarov
-...
From my rather cynical point of view, things are not looking good. You can bet I'll speak out against this one, but the VAST majority of uneducated (on the issues) voters will see a "security" related bill and get all warm and fuzzy.
Money talks.
-Derek
One lawsuit at a time, thank you.
-Derek
I just used Microsoft FrontPage to create this comment (by exporting the source and copying the text to slashdot's comment box).
FORGET MS AND ITS CRAPPY PRODUCTS!
Go on, sue me for breaking your terms of license! Come on, what are you waiting for? The UCITA?
Here, let me make sure that everything is clear. I hereby disparage Microsoft and all its products and services.
Lousy slimy buggy Word
Lousy slimy buggy Excel
Lousy slimy buggy Frontpage
Lousy slimy buggy unreliable MSN
Lousy slimy buggy Expedia
Lousy slimy censoring MSNBC
Lousy slimy buggy Windows
Lousy slimy buggy DOS
Lousy slimy buggy IE
Lousy slimy buggy Access
Lousy slimy COMPANY
See you in court!
-Derek
...not too long before explosion and CHAR marks all along the back of the enclosure...
Sounds like you were lucky. When my drive blew, I had CHAR, INT, LONG, WORD and DOUBLE WORD marks all over the back of my enclosure. Not to mention all the buffered data that splattered all over the place. Bloody mess, that's what it was.
-Derek
A shoebox? You're lucky.
Our boss works us 25 hours a day, feeds us raw gravel and when we finally die, he dances around on our graves.... (or something like that)
WTF is this!?!!?
http://www.slashdot.org/java.sun.com
...as long as it still has Natalie Portman in it! :-)
-Derek
Just imagine what that story will look like when the new "smart links" technology is released to the world. Combine that with the fact that I will need to use Passport to log on anywhere and pretty soon Microsoft will have me caught in their little .Net.
-Derek
I've heard good things said about the "rendering" speed of many different browsers but I have NEVER seen any number or benchmarks to support those claims. I get the feeling that phrases like "raw performance" and "speed" and purely subjective. Am I mistaken? Does anyone know of a few good (ie difficult or lengthy sites to render) where I can compare the brower's speed? Given the raw processing power of most modern computers, it seems that connection speed will almost always be the limiting factor.
-Derek
The summer solstice is today, so there's about 15 hours of daylight to enjoy (in my latitude anyway) - turn off the computer, go outside, get a tan.
WHAT!?!?!?!!? And ruin a perfectly good uptime? I'll go outside, and maybe even tan a bit, but I'm NOT shutting Ol' Reliable down! (Michael, you should know better than to suggest these crazy things.)
-Derek
Could someone who has a few extra minutes please give me a summary of what "bonobo" is and what the "bonobo-conf versus gconf" war was about?
Thanks,
Derek
If you don't vote, your voice doesn't count. If you don't buy software, you give up your voice on the direction of the software industry. Imagine Zero Knowledge getting 1500 emails tomorrow, only 3 of which come from paying customers. Make any sense?
The "Free Software" and "Open Source" arguments are NOT against paying for software. (Although I admit that the verbage often used by both camps seems to imply this.) Free software is simply about having the freedom to do what ever you want with the software. ("Open source" masqerades as a business friendly front end to roughly the same ideas.)
With that in mind, many GNU/Linux users BUY their distributions, and many of those who don't buy the distributions make contributions in other ways. I think that the FreedomNet people should release the source code for their client under the GPL and let the community start doing the development for them. They could probably get their GNU/Linux client entirely built and supported for the cost of one or two engineers that act as project managers. Much of the GNU/Linux code (if done well) could be ported over to clients on other platforms saving work for the company all the way around. ZK could then concentrate on selling the windows clients, with a certain level of support, to the 90% of their user base who simply wants their windows machine to work and isn't saavy enough to use a tarball.
In short, in a system like the one descibed above, many of the more technical GNU/Linux users will be getting the freedom they desire and they will also likely "pay" for the software by contributing in a non-trivial way to its development. I also expect that this more technically inclined crowd will also help by running a lot of the server nodes. However, the vast majority of people will continue to pay for their software and expect it to be supported in a traditional manner.
-Derek
You must have had some of the same teachers I did. :-(
*Please* follow up on this story and tell us if the retailer took the software back. To me, that will be a lot more interesting than the idea that someone shipped buggy software. With all the NO RETURN policies that exist, I've always wondered if they are enforceable in cases like this. THANKS!
-Derek
I suggest not using your approach of "showing the problem in a report."
But imagine how much worse off you would be right now if you had shown the problem by actually breaking in (rather than just reporting it)! Besides, threatening to publish their security holes was NOT the smartest way to apply pressure. In fact, I'll bet that it was that part that got you investigated. There is a very thin line in some peoples minds between what you did and blackmail/extortion. Remember that you are may be working with a "business", but it really just boils down to using some people skills.
-Derek