Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I've always wondered if "Debian" was a person's name, or if it meant something. Mr. Webster doesn't seem to have an answer. Does anyone out there know?
Okay, before another person emails me, check this out:
My office is in Los Angeles, and I called GTE to get DSL. They said they had a special promo where I would get half off my bills if I was already a GTE phone customer. I signed up. I got 384/384 kbs DSL for $45 instead of $90. DSL modem for free as long as I had my service.
I called GTE a month later because the line was down. (Outages were very frequent at first, but have gotten very rare now). The rep I was talking to asked what DSL package I had. I told her I had a half off deal for having GTE phone service. She said she never heard of such a promo. I started sweating because I thought that my 1/2 off deal was a billing mistake or something, but instead my bills are still $45.
I'm guessing that GTE is such a big corporation that one butt cheek doesn't know what the other butt cheek is up to. It's quite possible that the deal is still going on, but that not all departments in GTE DSL are aware of it. The 1/2 off deal that I got might be over, it may be ongoing. I don't know. All I know is that my bills are still $45 and my DSL is still 384kbs.
They've already had their ears scratched off by Linux users, they've already said they're working on getting Linux support up, and now you wanna slashdot them?
If you read the bottom of the article, they said they're working on getting Linux support as soon as they can, so I don't think they're trying to snub Linux users (although, how hard can it be to support Linux?).
I failed to read the fine print, so it was partly my fault. I signed up with Flashcom in November of 98 since they promised me that they could have my DSL up and running in two weeks. Well, February rolled around, and after a dozen phone calls to their office, being put on hold for almost as many hours, and constantly told "it'll only be a couple weeks now" I said screw it. I cancelled my order and went with another service. Whew, glad that was over.
Not quite. My company got an invoice from Flashcom to the tune of $200. WTF! It said it was a "cancellation fee," and that they needed my signature to authorize it! I called them and said yeah right, we never got any service, how can I cancel something I never got? I'm not authorizing any "cancellation fee!" Well, two weeks later we get our credit card statements, and lo and behold, Flashcom charged us. Eventually we went to Mastercard (God bless their golden hearts) to try to resolve this, and Mastercard took the charge off our card and took up the dispute.
We're with GTE now, which began offering DSL to GTE phone customers at half price. I got GTE DSL a week after I ordered it, and am very pleased with it now. They said they only officially support Windows95, but I got it to work fine on a Mac office. I even recommended it to CmdrTaco, but it seems that GTE's DSL coverage is extremely limited, and will not be coming to residential areas any time soon.
Looks like they want someone to provide them with ammo against Linux. Maybe you can go there and tell them they have no hope, but that wouldn't look to good in an interview. =)
Remember when Mindcraft ran their second test and NT still outperformed Linux? Remember when everyone was complaining that it wasn't a fair test because they used Apache on Linux instead of Zeus? Remember everyone saying that Apache is a good, flexible server but not the fastest, and that if they had run the Mindcraft test on Zeus, Linux woulda kicked NT's ass?
Now, Microsoft is praising Apache and saying it's a great webserver. What do you think they're up to?
If closed-source drivers come out that outperform open-source drivers, which one do you think 99% of the gamers out there will use? Now, don't misunderstand, I think OSS is great, but it's a means to an end for the majority of end-users like me. The goal is to produce the greatest software, and I don't care how you get there, OSS or closed, I just want it to be the best.
In the opinion of this non-programmer, Linux is special because of its flexibility and stability, not because of its open-source nature. Of course, open-source is a very cool thing, and I would like to think that source code is available for bug-testing and whatnot, but if you get software that's not open-source, it's nothing to get all huffy-puffy about.
I do recall Torvalds saying in several interviews that Linux users should not get into a debate over open-source vs. closed-source.
That IBM couldn't even package their own operating system, OS/2, with their own computers. I recall a little issue that came up during the Windows Refund protests, that customers couldn't get OS/2 bundled with computers even after persistenly requesting it.
Several companies have been selling "flying car" kits in my Popular Science and Popular Mechanics mags for years... although I've always wondered how they stayed in business because I've never heard of anyone actually buying and building one.
I must say, this new one looks pretty sweet, though.
These were a bunch of kids who thought that having a computer gave them the right to do whatever they could on their computers! Oh, I'm sorry, it wasn't even their computers... it was their parents' computers!
You think setting up illegal conference calls on someone else's network for hundreds of thousands of dollars is defensible? Oh, and when you get search-and-seizure, you vent your frustration by downing the FBI website? Real mature! Damn, it's like you give a baby a hammer, and everything looks like a nail to him! These kids have to be taught that you can't get around life doing whatever the hell you feel like. The internet had a bad enough rap after the Colorado shootings, this doesn't help any.
Microsoft started development of Office98 for Macintosh when Apple was at a low point in 1997.
Quake 3 Arena is coming out on Macs and Windows concurrently. (Linux too)
What about Netscape? Mozilla's already been ported to Mac OSX. What about Adobe's whole slew of image-editing and video-editing software? What about Macromedia? What about Final Cut Pro? It was originally being developed by Macromedia for Mac and Windows, until Apple bought it. What about Dragon? They're porting their speech software. What about Norton? Oh right, there's no Norton2000 for Mac. Oh wait, that's because Mac's don't have enough Y2K problems to justify making a whole product! And I'm only naming the major software houses.
I mean, if you said that two years ago, I might've agreed with you.
Now, I know Microsoft is paying off companies and employees because I know people who were offered checks from Microsoft reps. Get your facts straight. Several development houses have already instituted stipulations where no employee is allowed to accept any money from other companies that the company is doing business with. They're concerned that Microsoft will influence decisions to be concerned with MS's software sales instead of development quality.
Well, the Microsoft's strategy with Macintosh is like this:
Plan A: Make money by moving Mac users to Windows. Plan B: If Plan A doesn't work, make sure you still make money off Mac users.
MS is playing both fronts against the Mac users. On one hand, they invest in companies and "persuade" them to stop developing on or for the Macintosh. On the other hand, they develop MS Office for the Mac platform. Microsoft is placing bets on the Mac platform failing and also on the Mac platform succeeding. If Macs continue to thrive, they make money on Mac Office. If Macs wither away, they make money on Windows. Either way, they make money, those damn geniuses. Consider that Microsoft makes about as much money from Office sales as they do from Windows sales. (Of course, running Office on Windows would be even better, but they know there's a lot of die-hard Mac fans out there)
For now here is Jerremy's (owner of snes9x.com) comment on the situation:
'I just wanted to let everybody know what has happend to Snes9X.COM. According to my host they have shutdown the site because it has illegal content, after contacting my host, they have answered that they have taken offline my site because they have gotten an email from nintendo stating that emulators are illegal.
They are not allowing me access to the site, so until a new host is found, the site is offline ! What Nintendo has mailed to my host is unknown. The only thing I know is that Nintendo was referring to the following page: http://www.nintendo.com/corp/faqs/legal.html. Where they clearly state that their policy is that emulators are illegal, and thus Snes9x is illegal. They probably won't sue me directly since I live in The Netherlands and chances are that they would never be able to win the case !
This has nothing to do with who has the better multitasking, who has more stability, or who can throughput more data. It's all about politics and money. Already Microsoft hands huge grips of cash to many render-farms to switch away from Macs and SGI's to NT. Already Microsoft spreads propaganda to IT's about NT's server performance.
Can't be bought? Maybe all you Linux fans can't, but the MIS or IT who has to decide between doing work on Linux or getting a fat check from Microsoft for switching to NT can be. I can already name several game developers who've been offered six-figure "developer assistance" to switch their development away from Macs and SGI machines.
Re:This Powerbook DID survive a tornado, indeed.
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Rugged Laptops
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· Score: 1
Well, the interesting thing was that the Powerbook in question is a PB 1400, a very common mid-range model. All durability features that allowed it to operate while were/are standard across the board. The Itronix laptop is a peculiarity among PC laptops, available through special channels.
And BTW, the Itronix laptop was moved 20 feet, not 20 miles. And it was inside a Ford van, not flying around on its own.
This Powerbook DID survive a tornado
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Rugged Laptops
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· Score: 4
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Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I've always wondered if "Debian" was a person's name, or if it meant something. Mr. Webster doesn't seem to have an answer. Does anyone out there know?
Okay, before another person emails me, check this out:
My office is in Los Angeles, and I called GTE to get DSL. They said they had a special promo where I would get half off my bills if I was already a GTE phone customer. I signed up. I got 384/384 kbs DSL for $45 instead of $90. DSL modem for free as long as I had my service.
I called GTE a month later because the line was down. (Outages were very frequent at first, but have gotten very rare now). The rep I was talking to asked what DSL package I had. I told her I had a half off deal for having GTE phone service. She said she never heard of such a promo. I started sweating because I thought that my 1/2 off deal was a billing mistake or something, but instead my bills are still $45.
I'm guessing that GTE is such a big corporation that one butt cheek doesn't know what the other butt cheek is up to. It's quite possible that the deal is still going on, but that not all departments in GTE DSL are aware of it. The 1/2 off deal that I got might be over, it may be ongoing. I don't know. All I know is that my bills are still $45 and my DSL is still 384kbs.
They've already had their ears scratched off by Linux users, they've already said they're working on getting Linux support up, and now you wanna slashdot them?
If you read the bottom of the article, they said they're working on getting Linux support as soon as they can, so I don't think they're trying to snub Linux users (although, how hard can it be to support Linux?).
I talked to GTE directly, and they're giving away the service to GTE phone customers for half off! I'm paying $45/mo for 384/384!
I failed to read the fine print, so it was partly my fault. I signed up with Flashcom in November of 98 since they promised me that they could have my DSL up and running in two weeks. Well, February rolled around, and after a dozen phone calls to their office, being put on hold for almost as many hours, and constantly told "it'll only be a couple weeks now" I said screw it. I cancelled my order and went with another service. Whew, glad that was over.
Not quite. My company got an invoice from Flashcom to the tune of $200. WTF! It said it was a "cancellation fee," and that they needed my signature to authorize it! I called them and said yeah right, we never got any service, how can I cancel something I never got? I'm not authorizing any "cancellation fee!" Well, two weeks later we get our credit card statements, and lo and behold, Flashcom charged us. Eventually we went to Mastercard (God bless their golden hearts) to try to resolve this, and Mastercard took the charge off our card and took up the dispute.
We're with GTE now, which began offering DSL to GTE phone customers at half price. I got GTE DSL a week after I ordered it, and am very pleased with it now. They said they only officially support Windows95, but I got it to work fine on a Mac office. I even recommended it to CmdrTaco, but it seems that GTE's DSL coverage is extremely limited, and will not be coming to residential areas any time soon.
Looks like they want someone to provide them with ammo against Linux. Maybe you can go there and tell them they have no hope, but that wouldn't look to good in an interview. =)
"Cracker" can be mistaken for a racial slur.
Remember when Mindcraft ran their second test and NT still outperformed Linux? Remember when everyone was complaining that it wasn't a fair test because they used Apache on Linux instead of Zeus? Remember everyone saying that Apache is a good, flexible server but not the fastest, and that if they had run the Mindcraft test on Zeus, Linux woulda kicked NT's ass?
Now, Microsoft is praising Apache and saying it's a great webserver. What do you think they're up to?
And if OSS produces the best driver, I'll use that too. I'm not arguing with that.
If closed-source drivers come out that outperform open-source drivers, which one do you think 99% of the gamers out there will use? Now, don't misunderstand, I think OSS is great, but it's a means to an end for the majority of end-users like me. The goal is to produce the greatest software, and I don't care how you get there, OSS or closed, I just want it to be the best.
In the opinion of this non-programmer, Linux is special because of its flexibility and stability, not because of its open-source nature. Of course, open-source is a very cool thing, and I would like to think that source code is available for bug-testing and whatnot, but if you get software that's not open-source, it's nothing to get all huffy-puffy about.
I do recall Torvalds saying in several interviews that Linux users should not get into a debate over open-source vs. closed-source.
That IBM couldn't even package their own operating system, OS/2, with their own computers. I recall a little issue that came up during the Windows Refund protests, that customers couldn't get OS/2 bundled with computers even after persistenly requesting it.
Several companies have been selling "flying car" kits in my Popular Science and Popular Mechanics mags for years... although I've always wondered how they stayed in business because I've never heard of anyone actually buying and building one.
I must say, this new one looks pretty sweet, though.
These were a bunch of kids who thought that having a computer gave them the right to do whatever they could on their computers! Oh, I'm sorry, it wasn't even their computers... it was their parents' computers!
You think setting up illegal conference calls on someone else's network for hundreds of thousands of dollars is defensible? Oh, and when you get search-and-seizure, you vent your frustration by downing the FBI website? Real mature! Damn, it's like you give a baby a hammer, and everything looks like a nail to him! These kids have to be taught that you can't get around life doing whatever the hell you feel like. The internet had a bad enough rap after the Colorado shootings, this doesn't help any.
What do you expect when you bring 80,000 guys together to talk about Star Wars? Besides, this thread is mostly here so we can toss around a few jokes.
Microsoft started development of Office98 for Macintosh when Apple was at a low point in 1997.
Quake 3 Arena is coming out on Macs and Windows concurrently. (Linux too)
What about Netscape? Mozilla's already been ported to Mac OSX. What about Adobe's whole slew of image-editing and video-editing software? What about Macromedia? What about Final Cut Pro? It was originally being developed by Macromedia for Mac and Windows, until Apple bought it. What about Dragon? They're porting their speech software. What about Norton? Oh right, there's no Norton2000 for Mac. Oh wait, that's because Mac's don't have enough Y2K problems to justify making a whole product! And I'm only naming the major software houses.
I mean, if you said that two years ago, I might've agreed with you.
Now, I know Microsoft is paying off companies and employees because I know people who were offered checks from Microsoft reps. Get your facts straight. Several development houses have already instituted stipulations where no employee is allowed to accept any money from other companies that the company is doing business with. They're concerned that Microsoft will influence decisions to be concerned with MS's software sales instead of development quality.
I wish more companies could come up with cool little competitions like this, kinda keeps them from being cold and distant.
Well, the Microsoft's strategy with Macintosh is like this:
Plan A: Make money by moving Mac users to Windows.
Plan B: If Plan A doesn't work, make sure you still make money off Mac users.
MS is playing both fronts against the Mac users. On one hand, they invest in companies and "persuade" them to stop developing on or for the Macintosh. On the other hand, they develop MS Office for the Mac platform. Microsoft is placing bets on the Mac platform failing and also on the Mac platform succeeding. If Macs continue to thrive, they make money on Mac Office. If Macs wither away, they make money on Windows. Either way, they make money, those damn geniuses. Consider that Microsoft makes about as much money from Office sales as they do from Windows sales. (Of course, running Office on Windows would be even better, but they know there's a lot of die-hard Mac fans out there)
Now, what are they going to do about Linux?
For now here is Jerremy's (owner of snes9x.com) comment on the situation:
'I just wanted to let everybody know what has happend to Snes9X.COM. According to my host they have shutdown the site because it has illegal content, after contacting my host, they have answered that they have taken offline my site because they have gotten an email from nintendo stating that emulators are illegal.
They are not allowing me access to the site, so until a new host is found, the site is offline ! What Nintendo has mailed to my host is unknown. The only thing I know is that Nintendo was referring to the following page: http://www.nintendo.com/corp/faqs/legal.html. Where they clearly state that their policy is that emulators are illegal, and thus Snes9x is illegal. They probably won't sue me directly since I live in The Netherlands and chances are that they would never be able to win the case !
Jerremy Koot'
This has nothing to do with who has the better multitasking, who has more stability, or who can throughput more data. It's all about politics and money. Already Microsoft hands huge grips of cash to many render-farms to switch away from Macs and SGI's to NT. Already Microsoft spreads propaganda to IT's about NT's server performance.
Can't be bought? Maybe all you Linux fans can't, but the MIS or IT who has to decide between doing work on Linux or getting a fat check from Microsoft for switching to NT can be. I can already name several game developers who've been offered six-figure "developer assistance" to switch their development away from Macs and SGI machines.
Well, the interesting thing was that the Powerbook in question is a PB 1400, a very common mid-range model. All durability features that allowed it to operate while were/are standard across the board. The Itronix laptop is a peculiarity among PC laptops, available through special channels.
And BTW, the Itronix laptop was moved 20 feet, not 20 miles. And it was inside a Ford van, not flying around on its own.
The article's over at Ogrady's.
Too bad they didn't mention this one in the NY Times article.
It's a plugin.
Maybe on Linux. I think the Mac and Windows versions had java memory leaks because they'd always crash on me after being open for a certain time.