I read an article on LinuxToday a while back about XFCE, and decided to try it out.
Previously I was using GNOME 1.0, XFree86 3.6 on a Cyrix 233 with 64Meg and a SiS6326 video card.
At any colour depth greater than 8-bit the machine ran like a pig. Since switching to XFCE the performance has leaped and I can use 16-bit colour without too much trouble (maybe it'll get better still once I can be bothered to get XFree 4.0.1 working). I can still use my old GNOME panels, so the look and feel has not changed for me much.
KDE users may find XFCE very different to what they are used to, but I would recommend XFCE to ANY GNOME user who is finding their system not quite as fast as they'd like.
Not at all. The GPL does not allow this.
Taken from the GPL preamble:-
"If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original authors' reputations."
And later from section 3.
"You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of it... provided that you meet all of these conditions:
a. You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
..."
Not only that, but using the GPL would allow Contentville to sell paper copies of the thesis, and even to sell disks containing it, but they would not be able to stop people from making copies, and selling them on.
Perhaps this is a tad off topic. I heard on the radio this morning that the film cost $50 million to make, and has already taken $40 million at the box office. No doubt it will make a few more million over the next few weeks, especially once it hits screens elsewhere in the world (can't wait fo it to hit the UK). It will easily make several million beyond its cost, as do most movies these days. Based on this why then do the DVD producers get such a bug up their arses about copy protection, encryption, and making reverse engineering illegal? Not to mention making DVDs bought in one country unplayable on a player bought in another country. You've already made more money than anyone needs at the box office. Quit whinging.
MP3 is one of the best promotional tools a band could wish for. Here's a few ideas as to how to use it.
Place all your songs on your own website for people to download for free. In the comment tags of each MP3 place your website address so that those who get it from other sources (eg napster etc) get the address. On the same website announce tour dates, ticket prices, and where to get tickets. Sell merchandise from the website. Sell CDs from the website (the quality is better than MP3 and if the price is right and ordering is easy then those of us stuck in 56kbps land will snatch them up). Without a blood sucking record company you'll find you can sell CDs really cheap, and yet make more money per copy than any of the well known artists.
Other things you may like to try include:- bombarding local and national radio stations with demo tapes and include the website address with the tape including MP3s on your site that contain say 20 seconds of music from each track. That way we get a taster before either downloading the whole thing, or ordering the CD, or deciding that you're the greatest band ever and I'll be at that gig when you play near my town.
I honestly think that we'll find that the new music business will contain many artists who make a good living, rather than the current few who make a fantastic living.
Phil.
It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll! - Bonn Scott 1976
And if all of those products come from the same vendor, you have a fairly good bet that they'll work together.
How about if all those products come from different vendors, but use the same established open standards.
Not only will they work together, but you can change each and every component in the system to a competing product that uses the same standards fairly seamlessly.
Fantastic!! Does this mean I can threaten to sue all the double glazing, kitchen and conservatory telesales people that constantly call while I'm watching Star Trek? Maybe I'll dig around in Scottish law for something similar to your U.S. equivalent.
The fact that this was a VB script highlights a danger in Windows. There is an option to not display file extensions of known file types. Correct me if I'm wrong but is this not enabled by default? The first news report I saw on Alta-Vista on this virus had me confused by saying that the attachment was called "LOVE LETTER FOR YOU.TXT". (Clue for the clueless - a text file cannot contain a virus.) Only when I saw the BBC's report did I realise that whoever wrote the first report I read probably had extensions switched off. The real file name is "LOVE LETTER FOR YOU.TXT.vbs". Clicking on a.txt file you would expect notepad or whatever editor you had configured to launch. But in this case it would run the VB Script.
NASTY - Always leave your file extensions switched on if you're unfortunate to be using Windows.
Any one would think that copying music had only just started. A couple of years ago Phillips (and probably others) produced a "CD-Recorder" and nobody batted an eyelid. For years people have been recording onto cassette from vinyl and from the radio and sharing it. How old are mpeg and avi?
So you attack mp3. How about attacking radio stations. How about attacking tdk. How about attacking manufacturers of stereo cassette recorders. How about attacking the postal service for carrying copied tapes.
The words of Graham Chapman in Monty Python's "And Now For Something Completly Different" spring to mind:- "Stop it, this is silly."
MP3 is not the problem. Over priced music is the problem. Personally I love MP3. As an amateur musician and song writer I've finally found an outlet for my music that does not involve playing in dingy bars or sending demos to countless radio stations. On the off chance I become popular (ah we can dream) I won't be signing a record deal. Oh no, I'll use MP3 to sell music far cheaper than a record company would, but at a price that rewards me more than a record companies royalties would. I might even give them away to entice people to come see me gig and earn the pennies that way.
BT won't be having the monopoly on ADSL. Well, not completely even though I believe that BT will be carrying the service ADSL is currently being tried by BT, Freeserve and Demon, and I'm sure others will get on the band wagon eventually. Hopefully we'll also soon see parallel/serial ADSL modems (one can but dream).
Yes, Yes and thrice yes. Redhat is a great distribution, and one of the definate movers and shakers in the Linux world. Also one of the first companies to get Linux accepted in the mainstream. However, this petition is not a "let's have a go at RedHat". This petition is not a "we hate Redhat". This petition is about getting people to see that Redhat is not the only distribution out there, and trying to get them to produce hardware/software that is compatible with ALL distributions.
If a company made knitted steering wheel covers for Oldsmobiles would it mean that you hated Oldsmobiles if you asked them to make covers for all different makes of cars?
Bob Young (Redhat CEO) is a clued in guy, who I'm sure won't take this petition the wrong way. In fact he'll probably support it. There is already a Bob Young from Rayleigh North Carolina on the petition. Whether or not it's authentic I'll leave for some resourceful/.er to research and let us know.
Darn Right it's insane. If the providers are held responsible, then does this mean that the posters are not? So the poor innocent ISP get's a legal flamethrower where the sun don't shine, and the REAL pirate get's off scott free. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE JAVA IDIOTIC LEGAL DROIDS.
So Microsoft may be looking to get into Linux eh? All I can say is "It's about time!" Having the kind of financial muscle that Microsoft have funding open source development can only be a good thing. People hate Microsoft for a number of reasons, but I think the two main ones are: 1. The software is unstable. 2. Monopolistic Megalomania. Open Source removes both of these. Those of us who have read (and believe in) Eric Raymond's essay "The Magic Cauldron" ( http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr ) believe that the old way of selling software as secret bits is on it's way out, and that software companies will be making their money by giving away open source software, and then offering an incentive to send in a registration fee. Red Hat are already making a lot of money by letting anyone copy their Linux distribution, but only offering support, and exclusive ftp access to registered paid-up users. If Microsoft are to survive this upheaval then they are going to have to move with the times and restructure their business model. If they have seen the light and are changing from a manufacturing company to a service company and joining the Open Source revolution then (even though I have spat much anti-Microsoft bile in the past) I say "Welcome aboard!" Also, if Microsoft join Open Source then perhaps many other software vendors will as well. It may even encourage hardware vendors to open up their drivers, or at least write Linux drivers. Phil Ward.
Slashdot Mirror
I read an article on LinuxToday a while back about XFCE, and decided to try it out.
Previously I was using GNOME 1.0, XFree86 3.6 on a Cyrix 233 with 64Meg and a SiS6326 video card.
At any colour depth greater than 8-bit the machine ran like a pig. Since switching to XFCE the performance has leaped and I can use 16-bit colour without too much trouble (maybe it'll get better still once I can be bothered to get XFree 4.0.1 working). I can still use my old GNOME panels, so the look and feel has not changed for me much.
KDE users may find XFCE very different to what they are used to, but I would recommend XFCE to ANY GNOME user who is finding their system not quite as fast as they'd like.
Phil.
If it ever gets to the point where they try to shut down the internet we'll get MPAA, RIAA, Sony, EMI etc vs Microsoft, Sun, Oracle, IBM, AOL etc.
Those old comics with "Future Wars" where corporations instead of nations took to arms against each other loom menacingly.
I for one hope we get decent space travel first, because I want to be off this planet when the war starts.
Phil.
Not at all. The GPL does not allow this.
... provided that you meet all of these conditions:
Taken from the GPL preamble:-
"If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original authors' reputations."
And later from section 3.
"You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of it
a. You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
..."
Not only that, but using the GPL would allow Contentville to sell paper copies of the thesis, and even to sell disks containing it, but they would not be able to stop people from making copies, and selling them on.
Phil.
Perhaps this is a tad off topic. I heard on the radio this morning that the film cost $50 million to make, and has already taken $40 million at the box office.
No doubt it will make a few more million over the next few weeks, especially once it hits screens elsewhere in the world (can't wait fo it to hit the UK). It will easily make several million beyond its cost, as do most movies these days.
Based on this why then do the DVD producers get such a bug up their arses about copy protection, encryption, and making reverse engineering illegal? Not to mention making DVDs bought in one country unplayable on a player bought in another country.
You've already made more money than anyone needs at the box office. Quit whinging.
Backups? We don' need no steenkin' backups!
Could it be because they are a bunch of has beens who no longer get any airplay, and have declining album sales?
They now have a bit more attention than they would otherwise have.
Phil.
It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll! - Bonn Scott 1976
MP3 is one of the best promotional tools a band could wish for. Here's a few ideas as to how to use it.
Place all your songs on your own website for people to download for free.
In the comment tags of each MP3 place your website address so that those who get it from other sources (eg napster etc) get the address.
On the same website announce tour dates, ticket prices, and where to get tickets.
Sell merchandise from the website.
Sell CDs from the website (the quality is better than MP3 and if the price is right and ordering is easy then those of us stuck in 56kbps land will snatch them up). Without a blood sucking record company you'll find you can sell CDs really cheap, and yet make more money per copy than any of the well known artists.
Other things you may like to try include:-
bombarding local and national radio stations with demo tapes and include the website address with the tape
including MP3s on your site that contain say 20 seconds of music from each track. That way we get a taster before either downloading the whole thing, or ordering the CD, or deciding that you're the greatest band ever and I'll be at that gig when you play near my town.
I honestly think that we'll find that the new music business will contain many artists who make a good living, rather than the current few who make a fantastic living.
Phil.
It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll! - Bonn Scott 1976
And if all of those products come from the same vendor, you have a fairly good bet that they'll work together.
How about if all those products come from different vendors, but use the same established open standards.
Not only will they work together, but you can change each and every component in the system to a competing product that uses the same standards fairly seamlessly.
Sig blocks? We don' need no steenkin sig blocks!
Fantastic!! Does this mean I can threaten to sue all the double glazing, kitchen and conservatory telesales people that constantly call while I'm watching Star Trek?
Maybe I'll dig around in Scottish law for something similar to your U.S. equivalent.
Phil.
You want a sig? Gimme pen and paper.
The fact that this was a VB script highlights a danger in Windows. There is an option to not display file extensions of known file types. .txt file you would expect notepad or whatever editor you had configured to launch. But in this case it would run the VB Script.
Correct me if I'm wrong but is this not enabled by default?
The first news report I saw on Alta-Vista on this virus had me confused by saying that the attachment was called "LOVE LETTER FOR YOU.TXT". (Clue for the clueless - a text file cannot contain a virus.)
Only when I saw the BBC's report did I realise that whoever wrote the first report I read probably had extensions switched off.
The real file name is "LOVE LETTER FOR YOU.TXT.vbs".
Clicking on a
NASTY - Always leave your file extensions switched on if you're unfortunate to be using Windows.
Phil.
Any one would think that copying music had only just started.
A couple of years ago Phillips (and probably others) produced a "CD-Recorder" and nobody batted an eyelid.
For years people have been recording onto cassette from vinyl and from the radio and sharing it.
How old are mpeg and avi?
So you attack mp3. How about attacking radio stations. How about attacking tdk. How about attacking manufacturers of stereo cassette recorders. How about attacking the postal service for carrying copied tapes.
The words of Graham Chapman in Monty Python's "And Now For Something Completly Different" spring to mind:- "Stop it, this is silly."
MP3 is not the problem. Over priced music is the problem.
Personally I love MP3. As an amateur musician and song writer I've finally found an outlet for my music that does not involve playing in dingy bars or sending demos to countless radio stations.
On the off chance I become popular (ah we can dream) I won't be signing a record deal. Oh no, I'll use MP3 to sell music far cheaper than a record company would, but at a price that rewards me more than a record companies royalties would.
I might even give them away to entice people to come see me gig and earn the pennies that way.
Long live MP3.
Phil.
Let's hope that our judges in the UK can show as much sense as their American cousins in future.
He DID spell it Raleigh. It's me that's the foreign jerk who can't spell American towns.
Phil.
BT won't be having the monopoly on ADSL. Well, not completely even though I believe that BT will be carrying the service ADSL is currently being tried by BT, Freeserve and Demon, and I'm sure others will get on the band wagon eventually. Hopefully we'll also soon see parallel/serial ADSL modems (one can but dream).
Yes, Yes and thrice yes. Redhat is a great distribution, and one of the definate movers and shakers in the Linux world. Also one of the first companies to get Linux accepted in the mainstream. However, this petition is not a "let's have a go at RedHat". This petition is not a "we hate Redhat". This petition is about getting people to see that Redhat is not the only distribution out there, and trying to get them to produce hardware/software that is compatible with ALL distributions.
/.er to research and let us know.
If a company made knitted steering wheel covers for Oldsmobiles would it mean that you hated Oldsmobiles if you asked them to make covers for all different makes of cars?
Bob Young (Redhat CEO) is a clued in guy, who I'm sure won't take this petition the wrong way. In fact he'll probably support it. There is already a Bob Young from Rayleigh North Carolina on the petition. Whether or not it's authentic I'll leave for some resourceful
Phil
Any other old time Judge Dredd readers remember Mechanismo? Things are getting scary.
Darn Right it's insane. If the providers are held responsible, then does this mean that the posters are not? So the poor innocent ISP get's a legal flamethrower where the sun don't shine, and the REAL pirate get's off scott free. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE JAVA IDIOTIC LEGAL DROIDS.
So Microsoft may be looking to get into Linux eh? All I can say is "It's about time!" Having the kind of financial muscle that Microsoft have funding open source development can only be a good thing. People hate Microsoft for a number of reasons, but I think the two main ones are: 1. The software is unstable. 2. Monopolistic Megalomania. Open Source removes both of these. Those of us who have read (and believe in) Eric Raymond's essay "The Magic Cauldron" ( http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr ) believe that the old way of selling software as secret bits is on it's way out, and that software companies will be making their money by giving away open source software, and then offering an incentive to send in a registration fee. Red Hat are already making a lot of money by letting anyone copy their Linux distribution, but only offering support, and exclusive ftp access to registered paid-up users. If Microsoft are to survive this upheaval then they are going to have to move with the times and restructure their business model. If they have seen the light and are changing from a manufacturing company to a service company and joining the Open Source revolution then (even though I have spat much anti-Microsoft bile in the past) I say "Welcome aboard!" Also, if Microsoft join Open Source then perhaps many other software vendors will as well. It may even encourage hardware vendors to open up their drivers, or at least write Linux drivers. Phil Ward.