I will admit that Windows Media format is really good for audio in comparison to MP3 for holding music for a trip. I started ripping my music to 96Kbit WMA for a while, which let me take around 2-3 hours of music on the go with me whenever I took my iPaq 3135 with a 128M cartridge in it. With a 6-8 hour battery life depending on volume I play things at, the $150 monochrome iPaq was probably one of the best tech purchases I've made. So even though MP3 might not get you 2 hours of music on 128M, this device does give you a chance to play just enough if you use WMA.
WMA for all it's origins, does sound about as good as 128Kbit MP3 audio.
Of course, I'm now debating what to do about my music since I got an iBook that only plays Windows Media one file at a time thanks to MS's player on it. Oh well.
Other than running Windows CE instead of PocketPC (IIRC WinCE 3.0 was the version just before PocketPC 2000) and not appearing to have a stylus, but just having buttons instead, it looks like it has the same or similar guts to most models of iPaq.
Lower screen resolution (160x234 as compared to 320x240 on an iPaq), typical Microsoft codecs for audio compression/decompression, and not much more memory than an iPaq with only another hundred bucks of price... I dunno. I just can't see spending $399/449 on one of these instead of going to $499 or $549 for a nicely loaded iPaq. If this thing had the ability to synchronize with Apple or Linux, it might have some advantages... but it doesn't.
Nice idea, but for what they're offering, the price should drop down to someplace around $199-$250.
Some friends and I just created a parody news site the other day. We're not really complete enough to start advertising, but that won't stop us from mentioning it once in a while, like, say, here.
But what does amuse me is that the line between real journalism and parody has gotten a lot slimmer in the recent years. Ever since The Daily Show, it's almost seemed better to get your news from someplace like that than a traditional boring newscast. The Daily Show seems to give accurate enough basis for the parody stuff they do, just twisted. Of course, the Domination News Network that myself and some friends created is a little more like The Onion, with the user community twist. I'm almost afraid now, that someone will take DNN seriously someday. Particularly since the "basis" for it is global domination by a conspiracy that's decided to go semi-public.
I keep wondering if I should be proud to get on any watch lists with some of the articles we may post someday?:)
24 was definitely the best damn thing on TV last season. I tried to miss none of it.
The last 10 minutes didn't ruin it for me, but MAN did it hurt to see Jack's wife die. I mean, that sucked a lot. An awful lot.
As to Palmer's bitch wife? She got what she deserved. She wasn't stupid, she was manipulative. And I could believe it, from the way her character was portrayed. And she's not going to be a future first lady. Once the Secret Service is called in to keep her away from Palmer? Phbt. She's gone. Palmer might be the first single man to get the Presidency. He sure deserved it anyhow.:)
I dunno about a second season of 24... I fear it won't be as good. It's got a lot to keep up to.
Oh, and whoever posted stuff screwed up the schedule. SG-1 comes on at 9PM Eastern, and Farscape comes on at 10PM Eastern. That -is- 9PM Central, but SG-1 comes on -first-, not after. So remember folks, don't rely on Slashdot for your TV schedule news.
Hrm. Maybe someone in the Open Source community ought to take a cue from this kind of thing and propose a new kind of media playback method. Codec-included video. Considering video files are just friggin' huge, it wouldn't hurt at all to embed 1-200K of codec information at the beginning of every file. Maybe this is the kind of standard that needs to be brought into existence in order to help avoid problems with backwards compatibility in the future as well.
The way I figure it, design a player system that loads codecs from the data file/stream, as well as having the basics included in it. This way you get the flexibility of the player you need, Open Sourced and you can still have proprietary decoding mechanisms that'll play on any system with the player.
Encode it with commercial software, or Open Source if you want, and it'll play on anything.
I've got two boards that're probably designs a year or so old, and neither one of 'em has ISA on them. However, they all have AMR slots... Like that isn't going to be the next thing to go. Dumb idea in the first place.
Sonofabitch... I come up with an idea like that, and then hit the wrong button and fail to make sure the format won't suck. Please forgive the lack of formatting.:) Sigh.
Initially I didn't envision actual mineral mining with this. What came to my mind was the idea of data mining Open Source code for segments of code that could be used to help construct applications. After I've given it a little thought, I think it might be worth looking at for someone with the resources and technical know-how to see if there is a way to set up sort of a "source code search engine".
Set up a database specifically geared to holding source code files, sorted by function type (if this is possible to code in a search engine environment) and application type. This way, people could not only use Open Source code to modify the application as a whole, but it could make it much easier to use chunks of code from seperate projects to combine with original code and create new software. Why rewrite the same kind of function from program to program if it's possible to use it from another source?
The biggest drawback to this that I can see would be keeping track of contributed code by owner. And I'm sure there could be a pretty hearty debate about whether or not this idea would cause the overall quality of code to improve or not, but I have suspicions that the benefits that might come from a source code search system could be a pretty good resource.
As I envision it, there're a few things that a source code search process would need for basic functionality.
It would need to track who contributed to which projects in the search database.
It would need to list which code trees are available in a browsable fashion.
Another touch that I feel would be needed, would be a way for users of the system to record which code pieces they're using. It would be very good to have a way a user could log into the system to search, then have an automatically generated page showing the authors/projects of code they could mark as used in whatever project they're working on themselves.
This idea would also require a fairly well maintained revision control system. As the code trees would be almost constantly updated, the engine would need to be able to handle older versions (at least to a point) and manage keeping itself updated on a near continual basis.
My suggestion would start with the idea of using only submitted source in the database, to help verify that code incorporated into the system met GPL standards.
The more I think about it, the more I think an database like this could be an excellent addition to SourceForge's offerings both commercial and publically accessible.
I'd really like to hear what people think about this, because honestly this is the best place I know of to propose such an idea. And I don't know how many people are going to read this thread.
My old school deteriorated even further than that. Last year's "Student of the Year" who hardly ever attended classes, was caught using website cut and paste (without referencing) to supply almost all the material for his final report. Other students did the cut and paste thing all year. Some were caught.
Nobody was disciplined. None. It didn't make me feel all that much pride in my degree to know my school handed them out that indiscriminately.
I like my Apex AD-660. Flashed it a few months ago, no more macrovision and no more region issues. AND it fixed the bug my player had with turning subtitles on every time I put in a disc. Quite nice.
The next generation of mail storage should definitely work on taking optimal advantage of compression technologies. Preferably in a way that compresses the data from end to end, not just in the recieving mailbox. As to managing the kind of data sent, I'd suggest using a twofold approach. Save binary attachments in the natural state in a subfolder linked to the message itself, which would be kept in a compressed database format.
As to the database format itself, I'd like to see a form of redundancy in the structure of it. Give the design some self-healing ability in case flaws develop as the information gets shuffled around. Media isn't perfect, but mail stability should try and be as good as it can get.
If you want to speed searches, index the data in a seperate file and use that. Just keep the actual data storage as simple and reliable as possible, anything like searching or sorting is just a bonus.
Re:The original Doom/ Doom II were scary
on
E3 Doom III Preview
·
· Score: 5, Funny
I dunno, I think I beat Flashback FM for coolness while playing last night. Thanks to GTA3 PC's ability to play MP3's if you place shortcuts in a directory, I took a directory of my MP3's that only included one-shots, stuff where I only had one song from an artist, and wound up with some very odd gaming moments.
Taking a hooker to the pier for a little "health inrease mambo" to Paradise by the Dashboard Light. (And then killing her to get my money back)
Driving away from an exploding warehouse with Paul Simon's "You can call me Al"
Simply cruising the streets with not -only- the Top Gun theme, but followed immediately by the Peter Gunn theme, the Theme from Shaft, and the James Bond theme to top it off.
Today's GTA3 music... Devo!
All it really needs now is the ability to skip back or ahead a track on the MP3 channel.
And that subject pretty much sums it up. What Stallman is fighting for is brand awareness, to get the word out to people that it's the GNU project, which he holds perhaps -too- near and dear to his heart, that did in the long run make it all possible. Unfortunately, he's allowed this matter to get so tightly wound up in his psyche that he's failing to see how this can be turned to his own benefit. The GNU project tools and contributions can be turned into a "brand name" with or without forcing people to refer to it as GNU/Linux or anything else. That's a really bad precedent to set. If Microsoft were doing it with Visual Studio, we'd all be screaming and wanting to nail Bill Gates with a pie, or worse. As it is, we see ".net" being used as marketing hype in itself.
What Stallman should do, in my not-so-humble-before-lunch opinion is start a campaign of GNU brand awareness. Put together a low-zealotry webpage explaining what GNU has contributed, without being self-congratulatory. Add a link to this page someplace in the documents for GNU project software. Ask - don't demand - that Linux distributions help and promote the GNU project's contributions. I'm sure that almost all the major distributions will bend over backward to help GNU become more recognized as long as they aren't forced. One major thing is that by trying to tack GNU onto Linux is that recognition of anything GNU does that isn't Linux-related will plummet. That's just how people work.
What's been happening now is simply counter productive. I know more about RMS through these Linux / GNU/Linux debates than I ever did through his actions in writing software. Linux has been dubbed Linux by the media, and if -anyone- thinks they can get all the media outlets to refer to it as GNU/Linux they're sorely mistaken. Linux by itself has become a recognized word in everyday life, even my parents know it. Fighting something like that is just going to get you frustrated because it can't be changed by force.
Take the long view, Richard. Make GNU a symbiotic lifeform with Linux in a way beyond the code, but don't try and force yourself on it like the borg. That's who we're fighting against.
IDT Telecommunications in rural, depressing Calais, Maine. Right on North Street across from the police station. Telemarketers abound there, but beware! The place is a known druggie hangout and had a problem with needles in the trash a while ago. So if you go in there, make like it's vampires you're gunning for because you don't want to get any infections.
And don't worry about the police station, we've got like five cops.
As usual, it's all a matter of what your price point is. The ATI Radeon 8500 is a very nice card, and the image quality is really stunning. However, the $199 price is a bit more than you can pay for a slightly-slower and comparable in quality GeForce 3 Ti 200. I got one of these for $119 at Best Buy (Bah), after a rebate.
As to the drivers, I don't see drivers that actually get support from the manufacturer as a problem in the slightest. As long as the Linux drivers are being updated and enhanced like the Windows ones would be, I'm perfectly happy. Now, if nVidia were to discontinue driver support when they retire the current line of chipsets, and keep them closed... Then I'd be rather upset.
Wow. You should have kept waiting. I found out last week that GTA3 for the PC has a release date of 5/20. I'm saving my pennies and got a GeForce 3 Ti 200 for $119 at Best Buy in anticipation.
As the only person to have worked in the IT department at my technical college (graduation Friday, whoo) that had any experience with non-Microsoft platforms, I saw an awful lot of pro-Microsoft bias from not only the faculty and staff but many of the students. There were an awful lot of people that made fun of me when I got an iBook, just like I'd made fun of a guy with a PowerBook a year earlier. The main problem is that people will use what they know until forced otherwise. Right now, Microsoft is the king of the Monster Education Discount. For our 190 FTE's, we had access to everything on the above list for under $5000 a year. That's pretty damn good no matter how you slice it, considering that's how many machines with Windows 2000 Professional we had on them.
It was pretty much irrelevant to the school that they got a copy of Office v.X and earlier versions for Macintosh because not a single user on campus had one. With prices that low, nobody even complained about getting something they didn't want to pay for, and I'd think that any place that had more than 20 Mac machines that qualified for that agreement might want it even if Office v.X was all they wanted.
Now, on the other hand I still think this is -excellent- material for an antitrust suit from Apple on the grounds of "dumping" product under costs, but from a "what can I take advantage of?" standpoint this is pretty good. So no matter what your bias, you can benefit from this.
And Office v.X is an absolutely incredible product. All I can say is that despite the main thrust of Microsoft itself, the Macintosh Business Unit kicks some serious ass. Hats off to you guys, if anyone's reading this from there.
They're planting nanomechanical bugs all over the place, in people, around places, it's a total conspiracy, I swear to GOD! The resistance told me all about it when I stumbled onto some stuff onl...
Oops, my bad. That was just the two months of Majestic I played.
The entire push to make Linux a corporate desktop system is still too fragmented and too much like a battle of wills. On one side, people lament that there's no Photoshop or Premiere or MS Office, or insert-needed-app-here. On the other, people complain that the open source equivalents are good enough and just use those and stop whining.
You're both right, now shut the hell up and do what you can to make it all come together. Until people -feel- that open source equivalents to the commercial software are better, they won't settle for them unless they're forced to by ideology or economy. What will it take to make people feel the open source projects are better or even equal? I can't answer that, but watch the press. When the pundits start changing tune, then you'll be on the right track. For now, encourage and embrace the commercial applications. They'll do nothing but increase open source market and mind shares in the long run.
If you can code, do what you can for the project of your choice. If not, and there are some of us out here that can't, just keep an open mind and take the long view. Be patient, and maybe give the can-do's a kick in the pants once in a while.
Well, the main goal of my idea was to allow code snippets within other copyrighted works to be copyrighted individually, if that's legal at all, and to make the legal status of a snippet clear where it might otherwise be considered nebulous depending on the medium. My idea of calling it 'EGPL' was simply because that's the name that stuck in my head at 3AM.:) If anyone thinks it can work and can put credibility and use behind it, I wouldn't care if it was called the Bill Gates Can Kiss My A** License.
Slashdot Mirror
The DRM devil stopped bothering me once I unclicked the 'Use Digital Rights Management?' in the configuration settings.
Of course, the cross-platform incompatibility demon still kicks my iBook's ass.
I will admit that Windows Media format is really good for audio in comparison to MP3 for holding music for a trip. I started ripping my music to 96Kbit WMA for a while, which let me take around 2-3 hours of music on the go with me whenever I took my iPaq 3135 with a 128M cartridge in it. With a 6-8 hour battery life depending on volume I play things at, the $150 monochrome iPaq was probably one of the best tech purchases I've made. So even though MP3 might not get you 2 hours of music on 128M, this device does give you a chance to play just enough if you use WMA.
WMA for all it's origins, does sound about as good as 128Kbit MP3 audio.
Of course, I'm now debating what to do about my music since I got an iBook that only plays Windows Media one file at a time thanks to MS's player on it. Oh well.
Other than running Windows CE instead of PocketPC (IIRC WinCE 3.0 was the version just before PocketPC 2000) and not appearing to have a stylus, but just having buttons instead, it looks like it has the same or similar guts to most models of iPaq.
Lower screen resolution (160x234 as compared to 320x240 on an iPaq), typical Microsoft codecs for audio compression/decompression, and not much more memory than an iPaq with only another hundred bucks of price... I dunno. I just can't see spending $399/449 on one of these instead of going to $499 or $549 for a nicely loaded iPaq. If this thing had the ability to synchronize with Apple or Linux, it might have some advantages... but it doesn't.
Nice idea, but for what they're offering, the price should drop down to someplace around $199-$250.
Some friends and I just created a parody news site the other day. We're not really complete enough to start advertising, but that won't stop us from mentioning it once in a while, like, say, here.
:)
:)
But what does amuse me is that the line between real journalism and parody has gotten a lot slimmer in the recent years. Ever since The Daily Show, it's almost seemed better to get your news from someplace like that than a traditional boring newscast. The Daily Show seems to give accurate enough basis for the parody stuff they do, just twisted. Of course, the Domination News Network that myself and some friends created is a little more like The Onion, with the user community twist. I'm almost afraid now, that someone will take DNN seriously someday. Particularly since the "basis" for it is global domination by a conspiracy that's decided to go semi-public.
I keep wondering if I should be proud to get on any watch lists with some of the articles we may post someday?
Domination News Network
Suggestions for site improvement are always accepted, by the way. And submissions for content just as much so.
24 was definitely the best damn thing on TV last season. I tried to miss none of it.
:)
;)
The last 10 minutes didn't ruin it for me, but MAN did it hurt to see Jack's wife die. I mean, that sucked a lot. An awful lot.
As to Palmer's bitch wife? She got what she deserved. She wasn't stupid, she was manipulative. And I could believe it, from the way her character was portrayed. And she's not going to be a future first lady. Once the Secret Service is called in to keep her away from Palmer? Phbt. She's gone. Palmer might be the first single man to get the Presidency. He sure deserved it anyhow.
I dunno about a second season of 24... I fear it won't be as good. It's got a lot to keep up to.
Oh, and whoever posted stuff screwed up the schedule. SG-1 comes on at 9PM Eastern, and Farscape comes on at 10PM Eastern. That -is- 9PM Central, but SG-1 comes on -first-, not after. So remember folks, don't rely on Slashdot for your TV schedule news.
Doublecheck me, too. Just in case.
Hrm. Maybe someone in the Open Source community ought to take a cue from this kind of thing and propose a new kind of media playback method. Codec-included video. Considering video files are just friggin' huge, it wouldn't hurt at all to embed 1-200K of codec information at the beginning of every file. Maybe this is the kind of standard that needs to be brought into existence in order to help avoid problems with backwards compatibility in the future as well.
The way I figure it, design a player system that loads codecs from the data file/stream, as well as having the basics included in it. This way you get the flexibility of the player you need, Open Sourced and you can still have proprietary decoding mechanisms that'll play on any system with the player.
Encode it with commercial software, or Open Source if you want, and it'll play on anything.
Sounds logical to me.
I've got two boards that're probably designs a year or so old, and neither one of 'em has ISA on them. However, they all have AMR slots... Like that isn't going to be the next thing to go. Dumb idea in the first place.
Damn it's nice to see Commodore text these days. Brings me back yo the old days. Sigh. :) Now if only my Amiga 1000 was as cool as a C64.
I never should have sold my C-128D.
Sonofabitch... I come up with an idea like that, and then hit the wrong button and fail to make sure the format won't suck. Please forgive the lack of formatting. :) Sigh.
Initially I didn't envision actual mineral mining with this. What came to my mind was the idea of data mining Open Source code for segments of code that could be used to help construct applications. After I've given it a little thought, I think it might be worth looking at for someone with the resources and technical know-how to see if there is a way to set up sort of a "source code search engine". Set up a database specifically geared to holding source code files, sorted by function type (if this is possible to code in a search engine environment) and application type. This way, people could not only use Open Source code to modify the application as a whole, but it could make it much easier to use chunks of code from seperate projects to combine with original code and create new software. Why rewrite the same kind of function from program to program if it's possible to use it from another source? The biggest drawback to this that I can see would be keeping track of contributed code by owner. And I'm sure there could be a pretty hearty debate about whether or not this idea would cause the overall quality of code to improve or not, but I have suspicions that the benefits that might come from a source code search system could be a pretty good resource. As I envision it, there're a few things that a source code search process would need for basic functionality. It would need to track who contributed to which projects in the search database. It would need to list which code trees are available in a browsable fashion. Another touch that I feel would be needed, would be a way for users of the system to record which code pieces they're using. It would be very good to have a way a user could log into the system to search, then have an automatically generated page showing the authors/projects of code they could mark as used in whatever project they're working on themselves. This idea would also require a fairly well maintained revision control system. As the code trees would be almost constantly updated, the engine would need to be able to handle older versions (at least to a point) and manage keeping itself updated on a near continual basis. My suggestion would start with the idea of using only submitted source in the database, to help verify that code incorporated into the system met GPL standards. The more I think about it, the more I think an database like this could be an excellent addition to SourceForge's offerings both commercial and publically accessible. I'd really like to hear what people think about this, because honestly this is the best place I know of to propose such an idea. And I don't know how many people are going to read this thread.
I dunno, depends on how expensive the Xeon motherboard is.
My old school deteriorated even further than that. Last year's "Student of the Year" who hardly ever attended classes, was caught using website cut and paste (without referencing) to supply almost all the material for his final report. Other students did the cut and paste thing all year. Some were caught.
Nobody was disciplined. None. It didn't make me feel all that much pride in my degree to know my school handed them out that indiscriminately.
One of those micro-sized Pen-cams or something along those lines. Just perfect for breaking into the professors offices and snapping shots of tests.
I like my Apex AD-660. Flashed it a few months ago, no more macrovision and no more region issues. AND it fixed the bug my player had with turning subtitles on every time I put in a disc. Quite nice.
The next generation of mail storage should definitely work on taking optimal advantage of compression technologies. Preferably in a way that compresses the data from end to end, not just in the recieving mailbox. As to managing the kind of data sent, I'd suggest using a twofold approach. Save binary attachments in the natural state in a subfolder linked to the message itself, which would be kept in a compressed database format.
As to the database format itself, I'd like to see a form of redundancy in the structure of it. Give the design some self-healing ability in case flaws develop as the information gets shuffled around. Media isn't perfect, but mail stability should try and be as good as it can get.
If you want to speed searches, index the data in a seperate file and use that. Just keep the actual data storage as simple and reliable as possible, anything like searching or sorting is just a bonus.
*stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp*
RAAAAAGRH!
*whoosh whoosh*
*BOOM*
Now THOSE were the sounds of fear. Nothing has surpassed the original cyberdemon for me.
Except maybe my first panicked headcrab assault.
I dunno, I think I beat Flashback FM for coolness while playing last night. Thanks to GTA3 PC's ability to play MP3's if you place shortcuts in a directory, I took a directory of my MP3's that only included one-shots, stuff where I only had one song from an artist, and wound up with some very odd gaming moments.
Taking a hooker to the pier for a little "health inrease mambo" to Paradise by the Dashboard Light. (And then killing her to get my money back)
Driving away from an exploding warehouse with Paul Simon's "You can call me Al"
Simply cruising the streets with not -only- the Top Gun theme, but followed immediately by the Peter Gunn theme, the Theme from Shaft, and the James Bond theme to top it off.
Today's GTA3 music... Devo!
All it really needs now is the ability to skip back or ahead a track on the MP3 channel.
And that subject pretty much sums it up. What Stallman is fighting for is brand awareness, to get the word out to people that it's the GNU project, which he holds perhaps -too- near and dear to his heart, that did in the long run make it all possible. Unfortunately, he's allowed this matter to get so tightly wound up in his psyche that he's failing to see how this can be turned to his own benefit. The GNU project tools and contributions can be turned into a "brand name" with or without forcing people to refer to it as GNU/Linux or anything else. That's a really bad precedent to set. If Microsoft were doing it with Visual Studio, we'd all be screaming and wanting to nail Bill Gates with a pie, or worse. As it is, we see ".net" being used as marketing hype in itself.
What Stallman should do, in my not-so-humble-before-lunch opinion is start a campaign of GNU brand awareness. Put together a low-zealotry webpage explaining what GNU has contributed, without being self-congratulatory. Add a link to this page someplace in the documents for GNU project software. Ask - don't demand - that Linux distributions help and promote the GNU project's contributions. I'm sure that almost all the major distributions will bend over backward to help GNU become more recognized as long as they aren't forced. One major thing is that by trying to tack GNU onto Linux is that recognition of anything GNU does that isn't Linux-related will plummet. That's just how people work.
What's been happening now is simply counter productive. I know more about RMS through these Linux / GNU/Linux debates than I ever did through his actions in writing software. Linux has been dubbed Linux by the media, and if -anyone- thinks they can get all the media outlets to refer to it as GNU/Linux they're sorely mistaken. Linux by itself has become a recognized word in everyday life, even my parents know it. Fighting something like that is just going to get you frustrated because it can't be changed by force.
Take the long view, Richard. Make GNU a symbiotic lifeform with Linux in a way beyond the code, but don't try and force yourself on it like the borg. That's who we're fighting against.
IDT Telecommunications in rural, depressing Calais, Maine. Right on North Street across from the police station. Telemarketers abound there, but beware! The place is a known druggie hangout and had a problem with needles in the trash a while ago. So if you go in there, make like it's vampires you're gunning for because you don't want to get any infections.
And don't worry about the police station, we've got like five cops.
As usual, it's all a matter of what your price point is. The ATI Radeon 8500 is a very nice card, and the image quality is really stunning. However, the $199 price is a bit more than you can pay for a slightly-slower and comparable in quality GeForce 3 Ti 200. I got one of these for $119 at Best Buy (Bah), after a rebate.
As to the drivers, I don't see drivers that actually get support from the manufacturer as a problem in the slightest. As long as the Linux drivers are being updated and enhanced like the Windows ones would be, I'm perfectly happy. Now, if nVidia were to discontinue driver support when they retire the current line of chipsets, and keep them closed... Then I'd be rather upset.
Wow. You should have kept waiting. I found out last week that GTA3 for the PC has a release date of 5/20. I'm saving my pennies and got a GeForce 3 Ti 200 for $119 at Best Buy in anticipation.
As the only person to have worked in the IT department at my technical college (graduation Friday, whoo) that had any experience with non-Microsoft platforms, I saw an awful lot of pro-Microsoft bias from not only the faculty and staff but many of the students. There were an awful lot of people that made fun of me when I got an iBook, just like I'd made fun of a guy with a PowerBook a year earlier. The main problem is that people will use what they know until forced otherwise. Right now, Microsoft is the king of the Monster Education Discount. For our 190 FTE's, we had access to everything on the above list for under $5000 a year. That's pretty damn good no matter how you slice it, considering that's how many machines with Windows 2000 Professional we had on them.
It was pretty much irrelevant to the school that they got a copy of Office v.X and earlier versions for Macintosh because not a single user on campus had one. With prices that low, nobody even complained about getting something they didn't want to pay for, and I'd think that any place that had more than 20 Mac machines that qualified for that agreement might want it even if Office v.X was all they wanted.
Now, on the other hand I still think this is -excellent- material for an antitrust suit from Apple on the grounds of "dumping" product under costs, but from a "what can I take advantage of?" standpoint this is pretty good. So no matter what your bias, you can benefit from this.
And Office v.X is an absolutely incredible product. All I can say is that despite the main thrust of Microsoft itself, the Macintosh Business Unit kicks some serious ass. Hats off to you guys, if anyone's reading this from there.
They're planting nanomechanical bugs all over the place, in people, around places, it's a total conspiracy, I swear to GOD! The resistance told me all about it when I stumbled onto some stuff onl...
Oops, my bad. That was just the two months of Majestic I played.
... Or was it?
The entire push to make Linux a corporate desktop system is still too fragmented and too much like a battle of wills. On one side, people lament that there's no Photoshop or Premiere or MS Office, or insert-needed-app-here. On the other, people complain that the open source equivalents are good enough and just use those and stop whining.
You're both right, now shut the hell up and do what you can to make it all come together. Until people -feel- that open source equivalents to the commercial software are better, they won't settle for them unless they're forced to by ideology or economy. What will it take to make people feel the open source projects are better or even equal? I can't answer that, but watch the press. When the pundits start changing tune, then you'll be on the right track. For now, encourage and embrace the commercial applications. They'll do nothing but increase open source market and mind shares in the long run.
If you can code, do what you can for the project of your choice. If not, and there are some of us out here that can't, just keep an open mind and take the long view. Be patient, and maybe give the can-do's a kick in the pants once in a while.
*kick*
Well, the main goal of my idea was to allow code snippets within other copyrighted works to be copyrighted individually, if that's legal at all, and to make the legal status of a snippet clear where it might otherwise be considered nebulous depending on the medium. My idea of calling it 'EGPL' was simply because that's the name that stuck in my head at 3AM. :) If anyone thinks it can work and can put credibility and use behind it, I wouldn't care if it was called the Bill Gates Can Kiss My A** License.