or Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. A classic space invasion story if there ever was one, and you can always count on Niven for very exact science.
I don't think that is important: I pay by the hour for Internet access (in Switserland) but it's only the equivalent of 35 dollarcent per hour (and the ISP is free) so downloading the ISO still is much cheaper than buying the distribution.
In Germany it's more like $2 - $3 per hour for telephone charges alone. At ISDN speeds you're talking about 145 hours (assuming app. 4 GBytes) which costs at least $300. And that's to say nothing of having my bandwidth tied up that long, which even if it weren't expensive, would justify it for me to pay $40 for the full distro with docs, support, etc
Wait a minute. Why can't people flame Linux-One without bringing lynching into the argument?
Well, sure; but emotions are running pretty high about this whole Linuxone scam
I thought it was a fair request.
Maybe coming from you. But not from one of the perpetrators of this scam.
I think his statement was a weak and unfocused attempt at a personal insult directed at both the poster and slashdot/linux va. I think he was correct only in that lyching is racist term. It is much more offensive than words like nigger. Perhaps because I know that so many people have died unjustly, I don't find it acceptable even if used in ignorance of the racial connotation.
Well, you have an argument; However, I still can't accept that the connotation is that racial, considering how many other things have been done to blacks (not to mention many other unfortunate groups) and considering how many other people have been lynched. That being said, I can definitely respect your opinion and feelings on the matter, and believe me, I probably wouldn't have used the term either; but that's more due to my aversion to violence to anyone:-)
Seeing so many posts here which say "he shouldn't have played the race card" saddens me. The fact is that racism is still alive and well in the USA and even if you have not had to deal with it, it would be wise to understand that other people have had to.
Don't you know the story of the boy who cried 'wolf!'? The point is, since it is a serious problem, it is all the worse to cry 'racism' when there is no conatation of any sort of racism whatsoever. IIRC lynching is one of the very traditional methods of dealing with scamming business men who come into the local town trying to pull a fast one; I'm not advocating its use now (hopefully we're a bit beyond that) but the metaphor is perfectly appropriate and is no different from any other 'justice' type execution as regards racism.
That's why it's playing the race card, because it's diverting the argument to an ad hominem attack. Or don't you believe calling someone a racist, who hasn't shown that in any way is a personal insult?
I have 2 real problems with this line of thinking:
And I one a piece for each of yours.
A) There are no soldiers in the line of fire In times of peace, there is no reason to have soldiers in the line of fire.
Really. And did some crystal ball tell you during the cold war (This happened during the cold war, remember) that the soldiers in question were never going to be in the line of fire? Or are you saying that as long as a future enemy learns about something during peacetime they will magically be unable/unwilling to use that against the same or later soldiers?
B) Taxpayers paid for these things, they have a RIGHT to know. Security be damned! They have no right to take my money and not tell me exaxtly what they did with every single dollar of it.
Oh I get it. You're a taxpayer. Congrats, welcome to the club. So you're saying if you are a witness to a mafia crime, and you are put in the witness protection program, then any taxpayer has the right to your address; so they can see exactly what's happening with their money. I'm sure the mafia has some taxpayers:-)
(actually they have no right to take my money in the first place, but I wont argue that one now)
Well, in a democracy, the laws should me made by the people. If the people decide that a law is wrong then it should be repealed.
Fine. Was that a question on the survey? I believe the only questions regarding regulation were whether people think there should be more regulation by the government, not whether the existing laws are wrong. Furthermore, the antitrust laws came from somewhere. True they didn't come directly from the people, but at least to the same extent as most other laws in a representative democracy.
But, once the laws have been passed the popularity of one defendant being tried under those laws is irrelevant. This is especially true when the defendant is helping to gather the information on his popularity.
I'm really sorry, but I'm curious why it has a Score 5 (I'm not bitching, I just want to know why it's so funny:P)
It's very simple. In this case, 3 moderators decided at roughly the same time that the post in questions deserved to be a 'Score:2, Informative', while a fourth decided an instant later that it should be a 'Score:2, funny'; pow: it's a 'Score:5, funny'. Since when you posted, one moderator then wasted another point giving it an overated, so now it's a 4. Hopefully it won't get slash-moderated down to -1 when 5 moderators all decide at once that it's still overated, since I think it really does deserve a 2. But that's life at Slashdot:-|
I didn't see it mentioned yet, but the latest article at CNN about this rash of legal actions by the CCA, and specifically the abduction and questioning of Johansen, appears to be relatively unbiased. They also make it a point to mention that their parent company is involved in the suit.
This suggests that despite all the impressive morphing technology, most companies only want a low power x86.
Most hardware companies want to sell their products. Starting with compatibility to such a widespread architecture means a solid base of code for several operating systems which will run out of the box with devices running Crusoe.
I'm sure Transmeta don't really care as long as a sale's a sale, but it just seems a bit of a waste.
They mentioned specifically that this is only the tip of the iceburg. It sounds like a solid strategy: build up some trust and reputation in the industry as well as get some return on their investments (a couple hundred million IIRC); meanwhile they can refine more innovative things to do with the chip. It sounds like they've left a lot of room to improve.
I think my village would rather have basic necessities met first, such as food, shelter, medicine, etc.
Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish...
Why do think such things are lacking? Knowledge is the key to fixing these things, and as long as the finite number of agricultural experts, civil engineers, doctors, etc have to travel to each location to help the people, they are limited severely. But transporting such devices to the villages in question so that villagers from several villages can consult with the appropriate expert all at the same time, or look up references to such information when an expert is not available...
Its amazing how people will find problems to apply technology to, when in fact, they should be trying to find technology to solve problems.
I realize that information is not the same as knowledge, but knowledge can be transmitted through information, and any technology which lowers the barriers to doing this is a very significant part of the solution to such problems.
It's amazing how people who want to help other people are so often not capable of seeing the forest for the trees...
well, let me just say it is too early in the morning for me to fully imagine what the figurine at the top of the trophy should look like, and what it will be doing;-)
A two-faced figure bending over backward to kiss Tux's ass?
Why not, instead of investing 5+ years and tons of money etc... solving the problem for only the "mobile computing" market, solve the problem for every battery user in existance by making a better battery?
What do you think companies have been trying to do for years now? Progress has been made, sure, but longer battery life can be achieved at 2 sides of the equation:
1. More power 2. Less power-consumption
Now if you're a processor designer and you've got a team of engineers who specialize in processors, which side are you going to focus on? Furthermore, they benefit immediately from the side-effects:
1. Less heat (I like the idea of not having a lap-warmer in summer) 2. Less noise (no fan? or at least a quieter one?) 3. Less weight
Leave the battery design to people who specialize in that sort of thing.
Finally, I have to admit, saving power appeals to me much more than packing more and more power (a.k.a. heat-emission) into a device; think green:-)
But, you're probably the only one who didn't notice that those patents have been discussed, analyzed, rehashed, etc. for months in just about every technical publication on the web, as well as the subject of several Slashdot articles:-)
Somebody moderate Linus up a couple of karma points. It's an interesting and informative piece.
Are you kidding? If Linux ever decided to post personally on Slashdot (comments as opposed to this article posted by proxy) he could probably do nothing but troll all day long, and
1. Have his automatic +1 bonus within a couple of hours, surpassing Signal 11 by the end of the day; and
2. Prevent any other people from getting marked up; and
3. Probably even prevent trolls from getting marked down, with the exception of trolls responding to him;-)
That reminds me of Sun's claim that their "hotspot" egine (which they aquired) would be as fast or faster than C++ applications?
Poor analogy. Sun's claim translates to: 'Our stuff will be faster than their stuff' SGI and Nvidia are saying: 'Our stuff on this platform will be as fast or faster than our stuff on that other platform.'
See the difference? There's a lot less motivation to lie; Though of course, by default, any press release at least exaggerates;-)
Remember when Voodoo owners looked upon owners of the Riva 128 with scorn? Remember when it looked like there was no way Nvidia would ever knock 3dfx from its throne?
Nvidia is the current leader in gaming 3d cards, and it looks like their chances are pretty good to stay that way; But, it's still a very dynamic market, so I don't think they're going to be scoring any death-blows to their competitors yet.
Matrox, ATI, and 3dfx are all quite worthy competitors, so I wouldn't get to worried about Nvidia achieving any kind of Microsoft-like dominance in this market. Furthermore, when you buy a new 3d card, there isn't any downwards compatibility problem like with most software. When I upgraded from my Riva 128 to a TNT, I didn't for a moment think 'Oh, I'd better stay with Nvidia to remain compatible'.
what's the use of a multiuser handheld, a handheld or other small device looking like it running linux?:)
Imagine a future where, when 'the server' goes down, the technician pulls a spare server out of his briefcase plugs it in, and you're rolling...
Imagine having a permanently running file/mail/web/etc. server in your pocket with a permanent wireless connection (is that an oxymoron;-) to the Internet... remote administration? Who needs it, I've got my server with me.
And yes, I know this is an extreme example, and I know that it wouldn't be like I represented it, but you just have to look at the last 30 years of development in computer/electronics technology, and it doesn't look all that far-fetched.
The fact of the matter is, we can't really imagine exactly what it will be like in another decade or so, but there are no actual disadvantages to having the same computing power: -in a smaller package, -consuming less power, thus -generating less heat, thus -making less noise
regardless of whether you carry it with you or not. I'd be overjoyed if my personal server (a Pentium 166, sitting on top the cupboards in my kitchen, whirring/humming away) could sit next to my paperbacks on my bookshelf.
My speculation for 1/18/2000 -- Transmeta showcases a PalmPad-like device that will run PalmOS, WindowsCE, Linux *and* MacOS, all in their own maximizable window. Just a guess.:)
Slashdot Mirror
or Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. A classic space invasion story if there ever was one, and you can always count on Niven for very exact science.
Chris
I don't think that is important: I pay by the hour for Internet access (in Switserland) but it's only the equivalent of 35 dollarcent per hour (and the ISP is free) so downloading the ISO still is much cheaper than buying the distribution.
In Germany it's more like $2 - $3 per hour for telephone charges alone. At ISDN speeds you're talking about 145 hours (assuming app. 4 GBytes) which costs at least $300. And that's to say nothing of having my bandwidth tied up that long, which even if it weren't expensive, would justify it for me to pay $40 for the full distro with docs, support, etc
Chris
Wait a minute. Why can't people flame Linux-One without bringing lynching into the argument?
:-)
Well, sure; but emotions are running pretty high about this whole Linuxone scam
I thought it was a fair request.
Maybe coming from you. But not from one of the perpetrators of this scam.
I think his statement was a weak and unfocused attempt at a personal insult directed at both the poster and slashdot/linux va. I think he was correct only in that lyching is racist term. It is much more offensive than words like nigger. Perhaps because I know that so many people have died unjustly, I don't find it acceptable even if used in ignorance of the racial connotation.
Well, you have an argument; However, I still can't accept that the connotation is that racial, considering how many other things have been done to blacks (not to mention many other unfortunate groups) and considering how many other people have been lynched. That being said, I can definitely respect your opinion and feelings on the matter, and believe me, I probably wouldn't have used the term either; but that's more due to my aversion to violence to anyone
Chris
Seeing so many posts here which say "he shouldn't have played the race card" saddens me. The fact is that racism is still alive and well in the USA and even if you have not had to deal with it, it would be wise to understand that other people have had to.
Don't you know the story of the boy who cried 'wolf!'? The point is, since it is a serious problem, it is all the worse to cry 'racism' when there is no conatation of any sort of racism whatsoever. IIRC lynching is one of the very traditional methods of dealing with scamming business men who come into the local town trying to pull a fast one; I'm not advocating its use now (hopefully we're a bit beyond that) but the metaphor is perfectly appropriate and is no different from any other 'justice' type execution as regards racism.
That's why it's playing the race card, because it's diverting the argument to an ad hominem attack. Or don't you believe calling someone a racist, who hasn't shown that in any way is a personal insult?
Chris
I have 2 real problems with this line of thinking:
:-)
And I one a piece for each of yours.
A) There are no soldiers in the line of fire
In times of peace, there is no reason to have soldiers in the line of fire.
Really. And did some crystal ball tell you during the cold war (This happened during the cold war, remember) that the soldiers in question were never going to be in the line of fire? Or are you saying that as long as a future enemy learns about something during peacetime they will magically be unable/unwilling to use that against the same or later soldiers?
B) Taxpayers paid for these things, they have a
RIGHT to know. Security be damned! They have no right to take my money and not tell me exaxtly what they did with every single dollar of it.
Oh I get it. You're a taxpayer. Congrats, welcome to the club. So you're saying if you are a witness to a mafia crime, and you are put in the witness protection program, then any taxpayer has the right to your address; so they can see exactly what's happening with their money. I'm sure the mafia has some taxpayers
(actually they have no right to take my money in the first place, but I wont argue that one now)
Good.
Chris
Unless of course you believe Slashdot readers are incapable of forming their own opinion.
And what is your opinion on this survey? Did you read the questions? I don't see you taking an actual position on whether the survey is biased or not.
Chris
Well, in a democracy, the laws should me made by the people. If the people decide that a law is wrong then it should be repealed.
Fine. Was that a question on the survey? I believe the only questions regarding regulation were whether people think there should be more regulation by the government, not whether the existing laws are wrong. Furthermore, the antitrust laws came from somewhere. True they didn't come directly from the people, but at least to the same extent as most other laws in a representative democracy.
But, once the laws have been passed the popularity of one defendant being tried under those laws is irrelevant. This is especially true when the defendant is helping to gather the information on his popularity.
Chris
I'm really sorry, but I'm curious why it has a Score 5 (I'm not bitching, I just want to know why it's so funny :P)
:-|
It's very simple. In this case, 3 moderators decided at roughly the same time that the post in questions deserved to be a 'Score:2, Informative', while a fourth decided an instant later that it should be a 'Score:2, funny'; pow: it's a 'Score:5, funny'. Since when you posted, one moderator then wasted another point giving it an overated, so now it's a 4. Hopefully it won't get slash-moderated down to -1 when 5 moderators all decide at once that it's still overated, since I think it really does deserve a 2. But that's life at Slashdot
Chris
I didn't see it mentioned yet, but the latest article at CNN about this rash of legal actions by the CCA, and specifically the abduction and questioning of Johansen, appears to be relatively unbiased. They also make it a point to mention that their parent company is involved in the suit.
Chris
This suggests that despite all the impressive morphing technology, most companies only want a low power x86.
Most hardware companies want to sell their products. Starting with compatibility to such a widespread architecture means a solid base of code for several operating systems which will run out of the box with devices running Crusoe.
I'm sure Transmeta don't really care as long as a sale's a sale, but it just seems a bit of a waste.
They mentioned specifically that this is only the tip of the iceburg. It sounds like a solid strategy: build up some trust and reputation in the industry as well as get some return on their investments (a couple hundred million IIRC); meanwhile they can refine more innovative things to do with the chip. It sounds like they've left a lot of room to improve.
Chris
I think my village would rather have basic necessities met first, such as food, shelter, medicine, etc.
Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish...
Why do think such things are lacking? Knowledge is the key to fixing these things, and as long as the finite number of agricultural experts, civil engineers, doctors, etc have to travel to each location to help the people, they are limited severely. But transporting such devices to the villages in question so that villagers from several villages can consult with the appropriate expert all at the same time, or look up references to such information when an expert is not available...
Its amazing how people will find problems to apply technology to, when in fact, they should be trying to find technology to solve problems.
I realize that information is not the same as knowledge, but knowledge can be transmitted through information, and any technology which lowers the barriers to doing this is a very significant part of the solution to such problems.
It's amazing how people who want to help other people are so often not capable of seeing the forest for the trees...
Chris
well, let me just say it is too early in the morning for me to fully imagine what the figurine at the top of the trophy should look like, and what it will be doing ;-)
A two-faced figure bending over backward to kiss Tux's ass?
Chris
Hey! He's right.
Chris
Why not, instead of investing 5+ years and tons of money etc... solving the problem for only the "mobile computing" market, solve the problem for every battery user in existance by making a better battery?
:-)
What do you think companies have been trying to do for years now? Progress has been made, sure, but longer battery life can be achieved at 2 sides of the equation:
1. More power
2. Less power-consumption
Now if you're a processor designer and you've got a team of engineers who specialize in processors, which side are you going to focus on? Furthermore, they benefit immediately from the side-effects:
1. Less heat (I like the idea of not having a lap-warmer in summer)
2. Less noise (no fan? or at least a quieter one?)
3. Less weight
Leave the battery design to people who specialize in that sort of thing.
Finally, I have to admit, saving power appeals to me much more than packing more and more power (a.k.a. heat-emission) into a device; think green
Chris
No.
:-)
But, you're probably the only one who didn't notice that those patents have been discussed, analyzed, rehashed, etc. for months in just about every technical publication on the web, as well as the subject of several Slashdot articles
Chris
Yes, I believe so. Unless you send a surfing force of thousands out onto the net every day there's no way you can really keep your name safe.
And, of course, hardly any of the millions of avid Linux users ever surf the web looking for Linux stuff...
Chris
Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! I even previewed :-(
More coffee!
Chris
Somebody moderate Linus up a couple of karma points. It's an interesting and informative piece.
;-)
Are you kidding? If Linux ever decided to post personally on Slashdot (comments as opposed to this article posted by proxy) he could probably do nothing but troll all day long, and
1. Have his automatic +1 bonus within a couple of hours, surpassing Signal 11 by the end of the day; and
2. Prevent any other people from getting marked up; and
3. Probably even prevent trolls from getting marked down, with the exception of trolls responding to him
Chris
Well, I'll let a friend of mine use my car, but I certainly wouldn't let you use my car.
Am I a hypocrite?
Chris
That reminds me of Sun's claim that their "hotspot" egine (which they aquired) would be as fast or faster than C++ applications?
;-)
Poor analogy.
Sun's claim translates to: 'Our stuff will be faster than their stuff'
SGI and Nvidia are saying: 'Our stuff on this platform will be as fast or faster than our stuff on that other platform.'
See the difference? There's a lot less motivation to lie; Though of course, by default, any press release at least exaggerates
Chris
Remember when Voodoo owners looked upon owners of the Riva 128 with scorn? Remember when it looked like there was no way Nvidia would ever knock 3dfx from its throne?
Nvidia is the current leader in gaming 3d cards, and it looks like their chances are pretty good to stay that way; But, it's still a very dynamic market, so I don't think they're going to be scoring any death-blows to their competitors yet.
Matrox, ATI, and 3dfx are all quite worthy competitors, so I wouldn't get to worried about Nvidia achieving any kind of Microsoft-like dominance in this market. Furthermore, when you buy a new 3d card, there isn't any downwards compatibility problem like with most software. When I upgraded from my Riva 128 to a TNT, I didn't for a moment think 'Oh, I'd better stay with Nvidia to remain compatible'.
Chris
I'm sure the Voodoo 10 will end up with an internal-combustion driven generator.
Brings a whole new meaning to turbo speed graphics!
'Aw shit, out of gas. Quick fill 'er up, before someone frags me!'
Chris
what's the use of a multiuser handheld, a handheld or other small device looking like it running linux? :)
;-) to the Internet... remote administration? Who needs it, I've got my server with me.
Imagine a future where, when 'the server' goes down, the technician pulls a spare server out of his briefcase plugs it in, and you're rolling...
Imagine having a permanently running file/mail/web/etc. server in your pocket with a permanent wireless connection (is that an oxymoron
And yes, I know this is an extreme example, and I know that it wouldn't be like I represented it, but you just have to look at the last 30 years of development in computer/electronics technology, and it doesn't look all that far-fetched.
The fact of the matter is, we can't really imagine exactly what it will be like in another decade or so, but there are no actual disadvantages to having the same computing power:
-in a smaller package,
-consuming less power, thus
-generating less heat, thus
-making less noise
regardless of whether you carry it with you or not. I'd be overjoyed if my personal server (a Pentium 166, sitting on top the cupboards in my kitchen, whirring/humming away) could sit next to my paperbacks on my bookshelf.
Chris
My speculation for 1/18/2000 -- Transmeta showcases a PalmPad-like device that will run PalmOS, WindowsCE, Linux *and* MacOS, all in their own maximizable window. Just a guess. :)
;-)
And wouldn't that piss VMware off
Chris
This looks very encouraging! I can't wait to see the prices, but the specifity of support might be enough to win me over in any case.
Chris