In many cases, a machine with a single more powerful CPU can replace a multiproc machine. Also in many cases, a single more powerful machine can replace many less powerful machines. Moreover, regarding a dual-core CPU as one when it comes to licensing is strange, since it's more or less two CPUs stuck on a single piece of silicon.
A more sensible licensing scheme might take into account actual computing power, networking capacity, etc. Of course, the pricing of replicatable goods is completely arbitrary. It has nothing to do with economics that deals with the distribution of scarce resources.
What? In my experience, the Linux kernel turns DMA on by default, unless you tell it to do otherwise (can be useful on flaky hardware). If Ubuntu is slow it may be because you're running it from the CD.
The issue with KDE is the Qt license. It's pure GPL. That means you can't write a Qt-based application without your entire application having to be under GPL. That isn't always favorable. So the wxWidgets people, wanting to be somewhat looser with their licensing, chose GTK, because it uses the LGPL license.
Funny that people used to bitch and moan about Qt, and hence KDE, not being free software. Now that it is Free as in RMS;) people still complain.
A text box appearing completely out of nowhere, with no indication you were focused on it or even that it existed? God that's intuitive.
I agree this is hideously unintuitive. The text box should be visible from the start, to indicate the possibility of typing text. You might just as well have a blank window that starts to show buttons after you click it a few times, etc.
And I don't even use Gnome (just a simple windowmanager, currently Fluxbox), but some applications use the Gnome libraries so I'm faced with its atrocities like the file selector.
You'd be a fool to let *ANY* PC on the net without at least a firewall.
I've seen an oft-repeated phrase here on/. on the idea that you shouldn't let a firewall do a sysadmin's job, and I agree with that; you should only run services that you need. If a particular server has a vulnerability, then a firewall won't help because the port has to be open anyway. IMHO a firewall only makes sense if you have careless people rampantly installing servers, in which case you have bigger problems.
Home computing has evolved just like personal motoring has.
Seat belts and safety features in cars used to be an addon luxury that not many people had or used, now every car comes with them and airbags and strengthening supports as standard.
This only applies if by 'home computing' you mean 'Windows computing'. A decent operating system doesn't need firewalls or antivirus/antispyware software to make it any more secure.
Me and a few friends say "lin-lin situation" when speaking of mutual gain, even in non-computer contexts, because of the inevitable association between "win" and "loss".
> place the power supply in a zip-lock baggie that was obviously open at the top to allow the cables to go out, but then the lower half was submerged in a pot of water.
Darwinizing xbox fanboys/girls is not the solution.
> Once you've smoked a bit of weed and not gone psycho then suddenly you realize that the "all drugs are evil" line that school/govt/parents tried to tell you is lies. Then you can't trust *anything* they said. And then you'll try anything.
Speaking personally, and of several friends, bullshit. Weed, yes. Hallucinogens and E, possibly. H and coke, no way.
I kind of second this idea... I've learned that there are lots of different drugs, and it's silly to try and generalize about them in the "drugs are bad, mmmkay" style. I mean, look at the legal drugs caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. They have wildly different effects on people, and accordingly they are used in very different situations for very different reasons.
I sort of agree with the parent that hallucinogens are somewhat 'safer' and 'better' than the other kinds of illegal drugs, but even that kind of generalization can be badly misleading.
Illuminatus! did make the list, 19th place. I had expected it to score higher. I was also kind of expecting Godel, Escher, Bach, even though this was strictly about novels.
The ending of the original series was a big let down. Looked like the producers and writers got afraid to take a stand and settled for a "you have to imagine it" ending. I hope that this time they'll fix it and make it plain instead of cheating the audience.
The original ending was put together in a hurry, as the series was cancelled.
I tend to be that way in that I can't understand something without understanding what it is and how it works. I had problems with various things in math because they weren't explained. We were given a tool, like a formula, and expected to use it without understanding. That doesn't work for me, I don't know why. I need to understand it. I was never any good with polynomials with imaginary numbers because it made no sense. The explination for them was just (you can find all roots). It wasn't until university that I finally learned what imaginary numbers are and what an imaginary root is that I got any skill in it.
I think I have the same "problem" with learning in general, but for some reason I don't think in the same way when learning unix. It's probably because I don't expect any "natural laws" within computers, whereas in something like physics (I'm currently doing graduate studies in it) there should always be complete explanations for things you know. On the other hand I've used Linux as my sole desktop OS since 1999 and I already have a pretty good intuition on using it, so I don't have to consciously think about the grand design ideas.
So, once you can read shell scripts, you can follow the whole chain of system startup from there.
I second this; after you learn some of the hows and whats, it's quite straightforward to learn about the whys if you need to. I started to use Linux out of pure geek interest, plus a frustration with Microsoft products, and I rarely think about the grand design philosophies.
I find it interesting that the grandparent asked about the "deep" things in unix, because I've always thought Windows is all about hiding the nuts and bolts of the OS. Conversely, unix is very open about how it works, which does come at the price of reduced beginner-friendliness. But this means that it's straightforward to learn about the profundities of unix just by using it:)
It always puzzles me, how people think, that natural is some indicator for being harmless.
Moreover, it's nigh impossible to define substances as 'natural' and 'unnatural'. IMHO, nature == the universe, and everything that exists is natural -- whether or not manufactured by individuals of a certain species. Things that don't exist are supernatural:)
This may be a little off topic but certainly related:) I'm looking for a way to use custom samples with my keyboard, and I basically have two options. I either need a software sampler, or a way to make Akai S-1000/S-3000 programs, on Linux. Has anyone here faced a similar situation? Any help would be greatly appreciated:)
As long as Linux kernel developers complain that binary-only drivers are "illegal", Linux will have less hardware support.
Binary drivers are illegal because of the choice to license Linux under the GPL. There's little point in trying to change this fact; it's been GPL'd for 14 years and it's worked great so far. If you don't like GPL, don't use GPL'd software.
When you use Linux, it's a good idea to do your homework prior to buying hardware. You don't buy a Mac and expect it to run Windows perfectly either. On the other hand, you don't need to get specially Linux-certified hardware as long as you do some basic checking.
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You're safe from keyloggers if you use Dasher.
A more sensible licensing scheme might take into account actual computing power, networking capacity, etc. Of course, the pricing of replicatable goods is completely arbitrary. It has nothing to do with economics that deals with the distribution of scarce resources.
What? In my experience, the Linux kernel turns DMA on by default, unless you tell it to do otherwise (can be useful on flaky hardware). If Ubuntu is slow it may be because you're running it from the CD.
I've experienced 2 and 4 in the past year or so. IMHO, open source has brought back the fun of computing as I remember it from the 80s.
Standard xboxdvdfs, from the makers of Microsoft Works!-)
Funny that people used to bitch and moan about Qt, and hence KDE, not being free software. Now that it is Free as in RMS ;) people still complain.
I agree this is hideously unintuitive. The text box should be visible from the start, to indicate the possibility of typing text. You might just as well have a blank window that starts to show buttons after you click it a few times, etc.
And I don't even use Gnome (just a simple windowmanager, currently Fluxbox), but some applications use the Gnome libraries so I'm faced with its atrocities like the file selector.
Not that it's the first one though.
It might even increase global swarming.
I've seen an oft-repeated phrase here on /. on the idea that you shouldn't let a firewall do a sysadmin's job, and I agree with that; you should only run services that you need. If a particular server has a vulnerability, then a firewall won't help because the port has to be open anyway. IMHO a firewall only makes sense if you have careless people rampantly installing servers, in which case you have bigger problems.
Seat belts and safety features in cars used to be an addon luxury that not many people had or used, now every car comes with them and airbags and strengthening supports as standard.
This only applies if by 'home computing' you mean 'Windows computing'. A decent operating system doesn't need firewalls or antivirus/antispyware software to make it any more secure.
IMHO, the way to resign professionally is to get shanghaied into Portmeirion Village. Now tell me, why did you resign?
...in Soviet Russia!
Me and a few friends say "lin-lin situation" when speaking of mutual gain, even in non-computer contexts, because of the inevitable association between "win" and "loss".
Darwinizing xbox fanboys/girls is not the solution.
At least it's an aqueous solution.
Speaking personally, and of several friends, bullshit. Weed, yes. Hallucinogens and E, possibly. H and coke, no way.
I kind of second this idea... I've learned that there are lots of different drugs, and it's silly to try and generalize about them in the "drugs are bad, mmmkay" style. I mean, look at the legal drugs caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. They have wildly different effects on people, and accordingly they are used in very different situations for very different reasons.
I sort of agree with the parent that hallucinogens are somewhat 'safer' and 'better' than the other kinds of illegal drugs, but even that kind of generalization can be badly misleading.
Illuminatus! did make the list, 19th place. I had expected it to score higher. I was also kind of expecting Godel, Escher, Bach, even though this was strictly about novels.
The original ending was put together in a hurry, as the series was cancelled.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_Out_(The_Prisone r)
I think I have the same "problem" with learning in general, but for some reason I don't think in the same way when learning unix. It's probably because I don't expect any "natural laws" within computers, whereas in something like physics (I'm currently doing graduate studies in it) there should always be complete explanations for things you know. On the other hand I've used Linux as my sole desktop OS since 1999 and I already have a pretty good intuition on using it, so I don't have to consciously think about the grand design ideas.
I second this; after you learn some of the hows and whats, it's quite straightforward to learn about the whys if you need to. I started to use Linux out of pure geek interest, plus a frustration with Microsoft products, and I rarely think about the grand design philosophies.
I find it interesting that the grandparent asked about the "deep" things in unix, because I've always thought Windows is all about hiding the nuts and bolts of the OS. Conversely, unix is very open about how it works, which does come at the price of reduced beginner-friendliness. But this means that it's straightforward to learn about the profundities of unix just by using it :)
Besides, 23 is such an important number for conspiracy geeks that it's an instant hit :D
It always puzzles me, how people think, that natural is some indicator for being harmless.
Moreover, it's nigh impossible to define substances as 'natural' and 'unnatural'. IMHO, nature == the universe, and everything that exists is natural -- whether or not manufactured by individuals of a certain species. Things that don't exist are supernatural :)
This may be a little off topic but certainly related :) I'm looking for a way to use custom samples with my keyboard, and I basically have two options. I either need a software sampler, or a way to make Akai S-1000/S-3000 programs, on Linux. Has anyone here faced a similar situation? Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
I didn't do any of these things. Perhaps you're mistaking me for someone else.
> You don't buy a Mac and expect it to run Windows perfectly either.
Macs don't run Windowsm they run OS/X. And, the programs they run, run well. One can even run the Mac version of Office without problems.
My point was that you shouldn't complain when you buy machine that's advertised as a Windows box, and it fails to run Linux perfectly.
Binary drivers are illegal because of the choice to license Linux under the GPL. There's little point in trying to change this fact; it's been GPL'd for 14 years and it's worked great so far. If you don't like GPL, don't use GPL'd software.
When you use Linux, it's a good idea to do your homework prior to buying hardware. You don't buy a Mac and expect it to run Windows perfectly either. On the other hand, you don't need to get specially Linux-certified hardware as long as you do some basic checking.