PC Games on the other hand are just 'cool' since about the release of "Doom", or even rather "Quake II". How long was that ago, just 5 years.
Man.. I'v been HOOKED onto PC games since like forever.. Maniac Mansion, Kings Quest, Loom, Sim City, ports of Double Dragon, Digger.. you have no idea:) [actually I know that you do, but I want to rub it in a bit.. Since Quake II.. where ARE your senses, Jorg:) I had atleast expected you to say Thombraider instead;)]
Anyway.. as far as video games are concerned, the atari and commodore machines and the first pocket games were the first to spread among teenagers like a virus. Sadly I never owned one of those, but I guess I made up for it afterwards..:) PC games are currently booming because of the hardware video cards that are breaking every speed and transistor desnity record there is currently. I'm not sure it's gonna last though.. those console systems are really starting to eat away some marketshare, and it's not like there wasn't any competition on that market to begin with..
Yep, c/c++ is flexible, but the syntax is obscure to say the least. All the principles c/c++ advocate with nasty syntax can be used in Java in much the same way, but this time it's readable, clear and simple. And as opposed to what you might think, the learning curve is very very flat. Second year computer science students (who know allready one Wirthian OOP language, namely Oberon-2) can pick up the basics in 4,5 weeks, whereas they need at least one semester and a half to write c++ code in a decent way. I bet you don't believe this, but I'll come back to it in a minute..
You mentioned special purpouse hacks in Java, and you go on saying that C++ has templates which Java lacks. Ok, I'll explain why that looks rather ironic:). First of all, template classes are dreadfull to code. If you look at the way the iostream hierarchy is set up, it's hard to read from the code how it works. Second, some compilers don't fully support them as they should. They require code to be included in the header, or they convert inline code to be static code alltogether. Thirdly, and this is a minor thing, the name "template" is quite awkwardly chosen. Ok fine, you'll say, but we need the concept of template classes, otherwise, how can we construct generic object behaviour. Well, Java solves this by treating everything as an Object (implicitly due to inheritance), and by allowing upcasting and downcasting of references to any kind of class-type, as long as inheritance permits it. This makes it possible to pass on various different kinds of objects of various extended class-types to a procedure, while the procedure parmeter list contains a base class-type reference. E.g. if I have a class Vector in Java which holds references to instances of the mother class-type of which any class is automatically derived, namely Object, I can assign to that kind of reference any other reference type that points to any kind of class instance, as long as it's derived from Object (which they all automatically are).. so you see, if you play it smart, you don't need template classes at all. Inheritance and the automatic Object hierarchy in Java do it for you. This is just one example of how the Java language has been build ingeniously, to accomodate all sorts of programming situations. C++, on the other hand, has has to drag in a great bunch of weird syntax to deal with this problem, and quite frankly it looks horrible. STL is ofcourse a very nice concept, but once you understand how Java goes about it and accomplisches the same thing, you'll start thinking differently about it. The only thing Java lacks, is operators and operator overloading. Well.. thankgod really.
Ok, back to what I was saying earlier. I think you're confusing the Java language with the Java API. The former is the syntactic and the semantic contruction of valid Java sentences, and that takes 10, maybe 20 hours of teaching (to people who understand the concept of OOP). The latter is indeed the huge number of sub-api's that together form the JDK and that indeed is a huge download. But all they contain are pre-made classes with functionality that you can use without even thinking about how you'd implement that stuff yourself. Once you know the Java language, you can use any API instantly. You only need to explore them and search for something you need. C++ offers you the quite limitted standard stuff and comes with.so's or libs that contain what's in header xxxx.h. It's much the same thing, but the JDK offers much much more than what you'll find in the c++ libs. Sure, programming can seem to be not nearly as fun as you don't jave to re-invent everything from scratch, but that's only an impression. The reality is that you now get time to do real funky stuff with your code without having to go over every byte in your program and think whether it's correct or not. That's why universities are so fond of it. Our physics department has completely migrated to Java, because you can build and extend software easy and quickly, and it behaves as expected. Sure, c++ is build towards the same code-reuse principles, but you'll find that Java's restrictions towards memory usage, timing, naming conventions etc.. can be quite beneficial to your productivity, especially in larger projects.
Yes, I remember when it was about programming, not money. But you'd definitely have to pay me to write in Java. I might still try to find a use for it, though, despite its designers and an API. I'll let you know if I find a good place where it shines. But apparently you've made up your mind already.
Hahaha.. yah.. money.. to be honest, I love coding, so I like to code in c++ more than in Java, because of the challenge c++ offers me time and time again. Sort of a fight against yourself, to keep concentrated and make as little mistakes as possible while on the job. I was very sceptical to Java at first, too, but I decided I should try it out for myself before taking a stand, and appart from performance, the language really shines on various points, you'll find them in any introductory course book. The performance factor is steadily decreasing as computers get faster anyway, then there's jit compilation which introduces a whole new set of possible optimalisation issues, and finally, contrary to what many people think, Java CAN be realtime(this being just one set of examples).
Sp yes, I've certainly made up my mind, and I hope the linux community will look towards Java as another reason why people may want to use linux. SUN is bringing out JDK's for Linux for a reason, IBM's effortless backing of Linux and Java are remarkable, Corel, Imprise and Borland are all on the same frequency regarding Linux and Java development, even MS is aknowledging SUN's distributed network paradigm (embodied by Java) as the way of the future, and created c# and.NET.. but as the article said.. the linux community consists for 90% out of people that spend their time hacking c/c++ and perl scripts. MS and SUN have been fighting a bitter war over the 2 languages, but that doesn't mean linux users should be anti-Java a priori.
Wow, it seems I was kinda ranting here:).. Ok, it might seem this way, but it's certainly not my intention to push you or anyone else towards Java, you should taste it for yourself and draw your own conclusions, but it's really a wonderfull language, and when someone takes a stand against it with poor arguments, I want to show them the other side of the road, so it get's a fair chance. That said, I whish you a lot of fun with c++, too:)
Ok, I`m stunned. I really can`t believe what you`re saying.
Java has annoying keywords ? Have you looked at c++, c# and basicly everything else MS has recently created (and face it, apart from MS and SUN, no one else is really pushing thE languages here).. Java, quite on the contrary has very simple, very clear keywords, with solid meanings, and little or no confusing language constructions.
Further more, Java is the result of integration of many many modern and new programming paradigma`s and patterns, meaning that it`s tailored to what programmers will wnat to do NOW. It`s the first language that really pushes code reusability to it`s limits while still being easy to use.
Macro`s are a way to BREAK code, because it means you create additional dependencies across sourcefiles, generating the need for additional compile stages (basicly, making a precompiler a requirement). Further more, they`re totally obsolete if you can code properly in Java.
"Using the GUI tool to create horrific code." yes. Why don`t you take a look at visual c++. You can be happy that the Jbuilder GUI actually INTERPRETES your code so there is a 1-1 relationship between your code and the GUI. Ok, it has flaws, but thanks to JavaBeans, this is possible. You obviously don`t even have aclue what beans are about.. Agreed, IBM`s GUI is a rather awkward way to use sources if you`re used to visual studio crap, but once you got it going, you`ll be able to work much faster within your project team on one source. That`s why it`s so tightly constrained to certain methods. IBM is far from being the only GUI out there, so I suggest you do some research first before dissing Java.
I plainly don`t understand your point about the getters and setters. What point would there be in having private getters and setters. As to your problem with naming conventions, I understand some people have a more open view for new angles on a concept than others.
The Java language is a product that resulted from earlier language research, related to Eiffel and other fully OO languages. It includes a few c++ constructs in it`s syntax, to make transition from that other OO language easier, but it was never based on it to begin with! It is indeed under constant pressure from the enterprise world to foresee as many platforms, api`s, bridges and functionality as possible, while still maintaining a slim core-set of classes. That`s why it`s constanly changing. I`d rather use a language which is being updated with a strong attention to today`s needs of programmers, than some language which claims to be updated but which is stuck in the mud. To be honest, MS did a good job revamping j++ into c#. We`ll finally be able to get rid of the tiresome include hassles. But there`s just one hilarious thing.. I don`t know if you`ve ever counted the new keywords in c#, but they are many. Your point about managers being afraid to bet their projects on Java is a valid one though. But I think it`s more a problem of older people that stem from a COBOL period. I know many young entrepreneurs that are betting their game on Java and who are successfully building their future on that. Fast. Much faster than could ever be achieved in c++. The time to market for a Java project is about 1/4th the time of a c++ project of the same size, if you disregard some of the JDK version transition problems we`ve known in the past.
Yes, Java and c# will certainly increase demand for those programmers who have a good insight in modern OO concepts and programming techniques ( and consequently, program in the languages that incorporated them).
I think the article in general is quite biassed. It starts proclaiming Java isn`t free. Well I don`t know if the writer has ever been to the javasoft site but that`s a plain lie. It`s as free as Linux. You click and you download. End.
It also goes on saying that university world is pretty fond of Linux, and, while that being the case, it is also true that Java is one of the many things that universities have thankfully embraced. It fits their needs to do fast research perfectly. I can understand that the GPL factor plays big within the linux community, but surely common sense will teach us that languages are not a product on their own, and therefor are controlled by those who create them. Visual Studio`s c++ is far from being standard compliant. SUN is planning on making portions of Java OpenSource, and distributes Java with Sun`s own license, which is fairly open. I don`t see what the real difference would be if you`d put GPL on top. I think it`s a non-issue.
The article goes on comparing the JVM`s performance to real-time applications. If you take any java in a nutschell, the first few pages will clearly stress that Java isn`t suited for that. Ofcourse, the linux community would like to hear that Java brings them real-time performance, but Java is a language that simply sets different priorities. Maybe in that sense, Java indeed isn`t going to be accepted by Linux users fast, but if you`d ask me, development in Java is quick as hell, and it runs everywhere. I think that is a strong point for Linux developpers that are aware of the fact that their sources and makefiles might be too much of a burden for the regular newbie desktop user. Passing on class files might be a good alternative, and guess what, it runs as expected. Everywhere.
Anyway, I hope I have touched enough points to clarify that even though the article names good reasons why the linux community should not look into Java soon, it`s not all blakc and white. Java is a terrific language once you get to know it, and being a c++ hardcore coder for over 10 years, I know what I`m talking about.
Actually I consider criminals and broderliners as the watchdogs of our society. They`ll constantly remind us what`s wrong with this world. We could declare Antartica as a dumpyard for criminals, that would rid us of all our problems, but look what happenned to Australia when the English dumped their criminals over there:) (sorry, sick joke) The bottom line is.. does it help society by simply removing trouble from society ? Does that teach us anything ?
Maybe it`s because I have an inmense faith in humanity alltogether, but imho in most cases, criminal acts are simply the final stage of a series of unaddressed social difficulties. Now, what`s really so catching with this story is that this guy is pulling society`s legs in a smarter way that most other people would, and deep down you probably have the same sort of wanting for that kind of an adventurous life. That`s pretty human, too.
Is it therefore sad to have that kind of a twist in your soul ? I`m not so sure.. In any casse, I agree it`s wrong what the man did, and I want justice just as well, but I also want to learn from his experiences. If people are sensible, even as victim, they can see that getting the story out makes people aware of the potential dangers.. in many cases, that`s exactly what earlier victims want: to tell their story, and to seek justice.
Writing a romanticising novel about it isn`t going to hurt anyone.. it might both inspire and warn us. It`ll hopefully make our social structures more protected against abuses, and deal with the more fundamental issues that gave way to the criminal behaviour in the first place.
Yep. The many draws in this game also support your statement. It isn`t likt Kasparov was slaughtered here.. they`re both on quite the same frequency. I expect him to return or at least play a pretty prominent role in world chess championship tournaments.
And in some strange way, his defeat might not feel like a defeat at all, now that his own apprentice has rightfully clamed the throne.
The PSX2 has an impressive feature set, but this time,
sony isn`t betting on games alone. The games that are
allready out there are specifically tailored to psx2,
and ho would expect otherwise, yes. But this also means
there is little more room left for gradually stepping
up the game quality of the next series of games.
When the first psx came out, developers still had to
find out how it worked from scratch, this time things
are different. Some preferred Japanese teams have direct
support while other companies need to go out and pay for
'obscure' documentation, and then hope they can make the
best of it. Some of the games out now allready make very
heavy use of the new dedicated hardware. This also means
the lifespan of interest in the psx2 will not last as
long, and that is why Sony absolutely needs to turn the
psx2 into a fullblown homecomputer.
Betting your game development on psx2 NOW is tedious.
Chances of standing out with your game on a technical
perspective are slim. PSX2 is allready past it`s hype
while xbox still has to appear, and it won`t be until
people experience the hard framerates that the hype
around it will subdue.
On the other hand, you have the xbox. Here, too, there
are issues. Microsoft allready bought Bungie and knows
how to create games on the pc platform. This time, they
control the hardware, andthe software, which makes you
wonder about their api`s and the REAL openness.
So, while they say their api`s are open, the reality
learns us that they are charging money for it. Still
the chances that you can score on xbox are
potentially higher because the platform is not out
yet, and there`s room for follow-ups in case the
game should proove to be enhanceable.
On a sidenote, it`s interesting to see that while Oni
(by bungie) was due to be released earlier this year,
it`s obvious that Bungie will want to publish the title
on xbox first. Clearly, Microsoft wants to enter the
fight with a major kick-off.
So if I had to choose now, I`d choose the xbox. It`s
PC related, and the games you write for xbox are
portable to the PC, making sure they address a
microsoft accustomed crowd.
Well as you know a trip to mars, shortest possible distance (which we just passed some time ago), takes 6 months. That`s not a problem, because we have some experience with that. Mir, home of many species, has been the habitat of some astronauts that spend multiple months up there. The only problem is.. you don`t get to land on an airstrip this time. Hell, chances of ever returning home are below zero, period.
I think it still is too early for manned spaceflight, taken into consideration that we can`t even land robots safely on target with accuracies of and about a 100 km. A rather huge number of orbital MARS missions have failed, and whilst being one of our favourite planets to study and possibly the one we know most about, we should atleast make sure we have some sort of territory mapped out with robotic instruments that can prep up for a more or less failsafe manned mission. In the meantime, send the droids.
Aside from the poor quality, I think what has been the problem, is that it got replaced by better tuned technologies like FLASH & co, beause they are not specifically targetted at interactive 3d content only, but rather at interactive 2d content with additional 3d animations. Moreover, they`re easy to program, while there are not many good vrml editors around..
People want content in that model.. 3d all on it`s own is not enough, and never will be of the quality a FLASH animation can provide, or a more specificly targetted program like CAD/CAM puts out..
Imo, that`s what vrml came short of.. interactive 2d content, within a richer 3d world.
And just when unofficial selfwritten SB specs popped up by people that bugged C.L. for years trying to pressure them to release at least _some_ usefull documentation (which they never got), C.L. turned around, coldly dropped their older SB technology where it was, and is now completely into Wavetable synthesis, a technology which was introduced by Gravis. Unfortunately, Gravis, back then, was slaughtered by C.L. as C.L. agressively bought undisclosed and self-engeneered hardware support wherever they could (games/os/..)using proprietry api's, meanwhile leaving the Gravis cards as a second best option (at best) and additional support for other soundcards at the mercy and woes of the programming teams.
Today, Gravis, one of the finest soundcard manufacturers of the early nineties and pushing the limits in soundtechnology, makes joysticks and gamepads. C.L. was never interested in making hot new technology, or great soundcards for everybody to enjoy. It was only interested in protecting it's virtual standard-monopoly across the PC platform. Whenever people got too close, they were either forced out of the market, bought, or discouraged by surprisngly fastly upgrading their key technology.
This would probably be the point where you'd see a black cat miaauw, twice.
You`re forgetting one thing. You the clean and legitimate user, are forced to hack and crack into resources that you don`t own. This is called computercrime in most countries.
Don`t get me wrong about this, I hate the senseless legal nametagging that`s currently going on as much as the next guy, and I`m all for positive chaos which is what IP really stands for. I`d just hate to see FBI vans messing up the front yard every now and then because it`s supposed to help big companies improve on security when I`m hacking into corporate servers.
You do have a point, but juridical systems suck, too. Probably harder even.
This is gonna sound odd, but have you ever wondered why the birds in your town/city don't fly away anymore when you approach them ? When I work late, I can usually hear birds singing.. at 2 am in the morning..
I don't think these things are normal. I have a pretty educated guess as to why these things are happening, but I 'll never be able to proove them. I can only observe and finally write down what happens, including a certainty factor that relates the 2 observations.
The stress human civilisation puts on the rest of the species must be inmense, and we can only connect e.g. the death of a wildlife species with unproven causes that are discovered during or after the process is completed. It is indeed virtually impossible to proove that the stress factors that are constantly injected into our environments are harmfull, because there are too much variables. We probably will never be able to put it black on white with equations and unbiased or complete statistics. We can only place educated guesses.
You don't have to be convinced. You don't have to believe anything scientists say. Just in your own mind, reason what happens when you see the fumes of petrol of your neighbours car colouring up the evening skylines.. Lit another cigarette, and dismiss the thoughts of finally be released from that damn bad cough you have in the morning. These things are as unprooven as everything else, because here science has to penetrate what I call the infinitely dense model that life is.
In the end, the melting ice will have some effect, and at the moment we see a few other things happening that are odd. Fisheries close, coastal flora diminishes, some animal species grow thin or much denser than usual. At the same time, human greed destroys natural resources that untill up to that point was serving other tasks in life. Do we have to suppose they are interrelated ? No. But we, as a species, can at least try to make sure we do everything we can to prevent nature to go to waste.
Call me a sentimental ecologist, or anything else, but I just like that tiny blue planet, and I would like to tell my kids I fought for it, rather than be the cynical sob and tell them: well kids, here's the pile of dirt, enjoy yoursleves..
I don't mean to annoy you but even though they don't exactly care about him as a person, Datamining is exactly the art of classifying people as detailed as possible, while still maintaining a high level of efficiency in information retrieval afterwards.
Basicly, if he's odd, they'll put him in his own new category (wheeee!). If he's not, then he'll allready be categorized. The point is, even if they don't know the guy personally, they still know exactly what he likes or dislikes, in what sort of suburbs he lives, how much miles he drives to work and back, how many condoms he buys every friday, how long he has been married..
So you're "average consumer" is actually a pretty detailed picture.
Not to say you're wrong ofcourse, as you're often not wrong about many things... some condoms are more sensitive than others I guess;)
And I seriously wonder HOW they will do it. I mean.. Writing portable code from day one is ok for most applications, but porting native windows code, with OLE and COM and heavily registry dependant applciations ? Winapi 32 functions typically are not cross platform. If they write some sort of VM-simulation software underneith to make things work, it could end up like Mac Office in it's early days: slow and unrelieable. And then there will be no-one to batter on the table and ask for updates by means of a court settlement.
Hmm.. I'm not totally convinced that you can say they will be slower. Essentially what happens is that most logic is doubled up in parallel to what is allready there. However, this only works for 0 or 1 operand instructions. More operands imply dependencies and then things get tricky. But processors with 64bit instructions will take advantage of the longer instruction words to cram in even more arguments, and thus be able to do more complex tasks with them. In that regard, the instruction procesing might be slower, but the task completed will essentially also require more instructions on a 32bit processor, because the 64bit chip now has dedicated hardware which typically will take less cycles to complete.
But you allready hinted for my next question: How long will it take before hardware manufacturers switch over to 64bit as well?
Hmm yes, linux is resource heavy in it's fullest glory, but at least you can customize the load. Ok, if you really know what you're doing, you can also customize the load of NT, but unless you order 10 manuals first and have a permanent hotline straight into Gates kingdom, chances are you are going to long for a pinguin again soon.
One thing I must give you though. Motherboards are a kill factor. Slot A, Socket 7, Socket 1, Socket A, Slot 7.. can they please make up their fucking mind!! Chip cache is finally on-die. Yes! Rambus is allmost gone, and DDR SDRAM is stronger than ever. Finally! AGP is probably the next source of trouble for the next generations of motherboards, as current nVidia's have a bandwith problem. Fuck! The AMD's and Intel's are frequency locked, and so are supporting boards. You must allmost be a soldering electro cowboy if you want to overclock your stuff. In a way, it is cool to do stuff like that, get your hands dirty again just like in the old days (if you don't screw up your board ofcourse) but it also kinda sucks. Luckily, there's this haven in hardware land called www.tomshardware.com, which kicks major ass time and time again. Worth a peek, if you didn't allreally do so.
Actually, regarding motherboards, things have somewhat stabilized right now, which is scary because 64bit processors are just round the corner and will no-doubt require a whole new set of wheels to go. But in the end the consumer is usually fucked anyway, without even knowing it. The industry has allready set out it's roadmaps. God knows how they will really play it.
As for 3D cards.. you don't NEED a 3D card. It's just like with soundcards. They're all over the place, but you don't NEED them. I don't know why everybody keeps talking about getting their throat smacked up with a 3D board, because it's crap. Get a low-end Matrox board and shut up.
For instance, I didn't get a soundcard untill the very moment that I realised that I could make music with it myself (and I still do). Meanwhile just about everybody was allready enjoying Sounblaster 16's in stereo. So I bought me a wavetable card, because I thought it was a smarter design (and it was, if you added enough RAM on top to store the tables). But the point was that, unless I NEED to work with it, I don't buy it. And I think that goes for every fan, wire or led I have in this little grey and quite sexy box I have here:)
But anyway. You are right. It's hard assembling a lasting and upgradable configuration these days. The strategy I use is to just buy very high-end at one time and then hold my breath and see what happens. If you don't bet on the bad horses, that usually works quite ok.
Well, there are some people here at slashdot who firmly believe that linux should not be used for gaming, but for 'textual numbercrunching' only. They really think improved gaming for linux will not be beneficial to the platform and it's userbase but rather harmfull to their reputation as power users.
Allthough I can understand what they want, it really makes no sense (let aside the wonderfully colorfull language they use to try and make it clear to me). Here's what one of them replied to my post. When you read this it looks like there is resistance within the linux usere crowd against gaming, and that's at least something the windows platform never had to deal with.
As for games not getting through on linux, well, as long as the boxes in the stores are going to read "95/98/NT required", things won't change. Publishers needs to switch over to linux and fund NEW! killer titles first before something will actually happen. And if any software company should be backed up for this, it's either going to be ID or Loki, as they are both capable of doing it fast and with a relatively low ramping cost.
Yes. Splendid. I'm the stupid quake gamer. Right. Can you also come up with some good arguments for the stupid quake gamer why gaming does not belong on a linux platform, if it is nevertheless quite possible to do so?
I mean, it's not like we're tapping into your cpu cycles or anything.. Why are you so scared by drivers that might come with a standard distribution that happen to cover the leading 2D/3D graphics board in consumer pc's, and that users can choose not to use. I'm sorry but this doesn't make any sense. Keeping windows alongside should in the end not be a necessity, but you make it sound like it should be.
Ohyeah, FYI (probably not), only Quake I and Unreal run acceptably on my PPro 180 Banshee (that's right, I don't even *have* an nVidia card) System. Gnome, KDE & Enlightment however are a totally different set of tears, and that's just static bitmaps!
I think basicly any linux app still has a long way to go before they become usable on the desktop. And while applications are what make OS'es work or not, Games considerably help push the numbers up in a steady pace, both in hardware and software.
What harm will it do to finally have some drivers you can choose to install ? If there is a (large) demand for such things, and the people even get what they want, for free, then why does the much celebrated linux diehard guru has to have a problem with gaming all of a suddden?
Man, I don't mean to be rude, but Linux is slowly changing shape if you hadn't noticed. Linux strives to compare with (and surpass) windows. Well, it better cover every inch of the playing field (read: market), not just that of the skilled & savvy power users, or someone is going to pull the plugg on his development cycle. Does this mean my aunty has to able to run linux ? maybe.. does that mean power users will have to button-click ? I hope not.. should we all be free to do as we like ?
...ah.. this trick question, I'll leave to you, the power user.
Look, it has nothing to do with capitalism vs. communism. And it's actually very simple. Your 'generally accepted' capitalism has led to a situation where universities are forced to be sponsored heavily by government and/or other big capitalists. Both are eventually looking for a return on investment, ideologically or technically. Now, there is no such thing as 'a university', if you are not talking about people that work in it.. and those people are well aware of what's happening outside the alledged 'sacred university walls'.
If companies succesfully can make technological practical and profitable advancements in their field, fast, and with lots of manpower in R&D, Universities are lost. And companies will do this, because what happens when something new is discovered ? As soon as the publication is written down, someone takes a hike and files for a patent, whether he lives in or outside the university walls.. so companies will go to great lengths to try and get to the wholy grail first. In the end it is simply a race for proffit, a race to be able to survive the next battle easier or better.
What I mean to say is that universities should work with the industry, and try to piggy-back on the funds of this industry, while it can up to a certain extend deliver the quality guarantee that the industry needs. Rather than seeing your research department lag behind so terribly that you wonder how your department can go on without at least consulting the industry. With the Human Genone project fresh in memory, I'm sure this isn't too difficult to understand.
There is, of course, cost to pay: you loose the absolute scientific independance you, as a university, are so fond of, but on the other hand, you can stay on top of the cutting edge, which is where universities belong. If they do not cut it anymore, then why don't we send our kids to super modern company trainingcenters instead. But since we want everybody to have a decent chance at education we do not want to end in that lane, do we. Now, talk to me again about that silly capitalsim vs. communism rant.
So yes, you are right about letting research find it's own way to a new discovery, as long as folks don't get hurt in the process. The point of having research is science, knowledge, education, and ultimately civilisation. It's the primary fuel that helps us reach to the stars and back. It's also a never-sufficiently-helping-cure for our untameable curiosity. But as you put it brilliantly, these people must eat, too.
There is one aspect that I think is scary about this evolution. Who controls the ideologic buttons to grant use or abuse of new discoveries in a certain way ? Take GSM or high voltage electricity wires, or satellites, nuclear factories and transports, etc.. They just happen, and it takes a small miracle to get people aware of risks and dangers (usually when harm is allready done). I don't want to imply that universities will allways be straight on these issues, but at least they do not have pure dollar signs weaving before their eyes every single day. Then again, most things are only learned after first making lots and lots of mistakes, so maybe this, in a way, is research too. But that doesn't make it any less scary.
>br>
Anyway.. my cents..
One thing is clear though. Linux is gaining ground in the game area, and, after all these years of hacking kernels and nifty unix clone tools, it is in fact a surprise that it's beginning to happen only just now. Maya will certainly boost game development under linux, but let's not get over-excited here.
The big question will be whether this comes a bit too late or not. Microsoft practically converted the PC into a game console with it's X-BOX specifications, and though I think that was a most remarkeable, if not hilarious marketing push (one wonders why MS should reserve the rights to be the only one to build X-boxes), they're betting on a safe horse that's even an easy target for most game companies.
But then the even bigger question is: who will buy an X-box, which is in fact an overly expensive functionally degraded PC with multimedia cards on steroids ? How long-lived is the X-box concept, given that the step-up factor of hardware in general is very high ? Will it perhaps freeze the general consumer markets chip evolutions as we see them today ? Or can I stay with my linux/nt box instead and have close to the same perfromance ?
Maya as a tool is cool. Giving it breathing space on a linux platform is a logical thing to do. Whether it can give games and multimedia an extra push remains to be seen, and how linux benefits from this, other than receiving a bit more aknowledgement for it's valuable features, is an intirely different question.
Nevertheless, this is some impressive new player on the linux horizon!
the fact people are thought stuff in school is not because the teacher happens to be an all knowing god with perfect knowledge of whatever he mumbles.
I'd have expected a little more nuanced view from a scientist like you. You know as good as the next guy that someday someone is going to ask 'why' and 'how' in some area, he tries to understand it, builds a new theory, and then maybe things move on, even if your first idea is way off-target. Don't forget that science is in no way whatsoever a mechanical straight into the new goal. It's a big excursion with questions and idea's floating around.
I was told at school that allmost any cell in c can allways regenerate, but due to specific factors, some are more apt then others. It had to do with the environment in which a cell resides, evolution of certain hormones, etc.. but I'm no biologist, so I'm not going to burn my fingers here:)
maybe the neuroscientists were dead wrong, yes, but hey, it took, what, 13 centuries to notice the earth not being flat at all ?
Yeah, don`t eat there. I never ever did, but there seem to be more of them every time I look.
From most of the reactions, and aside form this Jose Bove`s actions, I learn that this issue is really a matter of culture. Most people here argue that 'those european or french people shouldn`t get upset about what america is selling them' and just simply adapt, use free markets to battle etc..
While I can certainly understand the concerns about europeans turning into maddening murderers and pillagers all the time (like some seem to suggest), I don`t think it`s fair to react like this at all.
The issue at hand is not McDonnalds, and it`s not this peasant going bankrupt because he don`t farm like US farmers do. It`s about people being concerned about their quality and trying to fight for their bread on the shelve when their government doesn`t do enough of it for them . Sadly, they go about doing it the wrong way, but that doesn`t make the message any less important.
And yes, it`s about quality. The thing that matters when you eat. Europe happens to be very conservative when it comes to that, because we`re very proud of our food (or at least we used to be). Just like our paysants shouldn`t go and burn McDonnalds`es when they feel like it, you have to respect our choices to disallow manipulated food.
To change the train of thought for a minute: I thought everybody was so concerned with software quality here, so concerned, in fact, that even big companies should opensource their entire software pack. Ditch the capitalistic minded market, all for better quality. But when a rather large part of the world is concerned with the quality of food, hey, please adapt and accept our cheap and ultra efficiently grown capitalist alternatives ? That`s plain hypocritical.
No, health quality and economic wealth are opposite interests. If a paysant destroys property, he`s simply a criminal, and should be punished ? Yes! Arguing that europe should therefore just buy american to prevent thier citizens from protesting against american multinationals ? No! damnit.
Maybe Europe at least cares about it`s quality of food. Reading much of the reactions here, it seems Europeans should just shut-up, close our eyes and buy american.
Naah..
Let me know next time you want to go eat in a nice restaurant in Paris again.
Slashdot Mirror
PC Games on the other hand are just 'cool' since about the release of "Doom", or even rather "Quake II". How long was that ago, just 5 years.
:) [actually I know that you do, but I want to rub it in a bit.. Since Quake II.. where ARE your senses, Jorg :) I had atleast expected you to say Thombraider instead ;)]
:) PC games are currently booming because of the hardware video cards that are breaking every speed and transistor desnity record there is currently. I'm not sure it's gonna last though.. those console systems are really starting to eat away some marketshare, and it's not like there wasn't any competition on that market to begin with..
Man.. I'v been HOOKED onto PC games since like forever.. Maniac Mansion, Kings Quest, Loom, Sim City, ports of Double Dragon, Digger.. you have no idea
Anyway.. as far as video games are concerned, the atari and commodore machines and the first pocket games were the first to spread among teenagers like a virus. Sadly I never owned one of those, but I guess I made up for it afterwards..
Yep, c/c++ is flexible, but the syntax is obscure to say the least. All the principles c/c++ advocate with nasty syntax can be used in Java in much the same way, but this time it's readable, clear and simple. And as opposed to what you might think, the learning curve is very very flat. Second year computer science students (who know allready one Wirthian OOP language, namely Oberon-2) can pick up the basics in 4,5 weeks, whereas they need at least one semester and a half to write c++ code in a decent way. I bet you don't believe this, but I'll come back to it in a minute..
:). First of all, template classes are dreadfull to code. If you look at the way the iostream hierarchy is set up, it's hard to read from the code how it works. Second, some compilers don't fully support them as they should. They require code to be included in the header, or they convert inline code to be static code alltogether. Thirdly, and this is a minor thing, the name "template" is quite awkwardly chosen. Ok fine, you'll say, but we need the concept of template classes, otherwise, how can we construct generic object behaviour. Well, Java solves this by treating everything as an Object (implicitly due to inheritance), and by allowing upcasting and downcasting of references to any kind of class-type, as long as inheritance permits it. This makes it possible to pass on various different kinds of objects of various extended class-types to a procedure, while the procedure parmeter list contains a base class-type reference. E.g. if I have a class Vector in Java which holds references to instances of the mother class-type of which any class is automatically derived, namely Object, I can assign to that kind of reference any other reference type that points to any kind of class instance, as long as it's derived from Object (which they all automatically are).. so you see, if you play it smart, you don't need template classes at all. Inheritance and the automatic Object hierarchy in Java do it for you. This is just one example of how the Java language has been build ingeniously, to accomodate all sorts of programming situations. C++, on the other hand, has has to drag in a great bunch of weird syntax to deal with this problem, and quite frankly it looks horrible. STL is ofcourse a very nice concept, but once you understand how Java goes about it and accomplisches the same thing, you'll start thinking differently about it. The only thing Java lacks, is operators and operator overloading. Well.. thankgod really.
.so's or libs that contain what's in header xxxx.h. It's much the same thing, but the JDK offers much much more than what you'll find in the c++ libs. Sure, programming can seem to be not nearly as fun as you don't jave to re-invent everything from scratch, but that's only an impression. The reality is that you now get time to do real funky stuff with your code without having to go over every byte in your program and think whether it's correct or not. That's why universities are so fond of it. Our physics department has completely migrated to Java, because you can build and extend software easy and quickly, and it behaves as expected. Sure, c++ is build towards the same code-reuse principles, but you'll find that Java's restrictions towards memory usage, timing, naming conventions etc.. can be quite beneficial to your productivity, especially in larger projects.
.NET.. but as the article said.. the linux community consists for 90% out of people that spend their time hacking c/c++ and perl scripts. MS and SUN have been fighting a bitter war over the 2 languages, but that doesn't mean linux users should be anti-Java a priori.
:).. Ok, it might seem this way, but it's certainly not my intention to push you or anyone else towards Java, you should taste it for yourself and draw your own conclusions, but it's really a wonderfull language, and when someone takes a stand against it with poor arguments, I want to show them the other side of the road, so it get's a fair chance. That said, I whish you a lot of fun with c++, too :)
You mentioned special purpouse hacks in Java, and you go on saying that C++ has templates which Java lacks. Ok, I'll explain why that looks rather ironic
Ok, back to what I was saying earlier. I think you're confusing the Java language with the Java API. The former is the syntactic and the semantic contruction of valid Java sentences, and that takes 10, maybe 20 hours of teaching (to people who understand the concept of OOP). The latter is indeed the huge number of sub-api's that together form the JDK and that indeed is a huge download. But all they contain are pre-made classes with functionality that you can use without even thinking about how you'd implement that stuff yourself. Once you know the Java language, you can use any API instantly. You only need to explore them and search for something you need. C++ offers you the quite limitted standard stuff and comes with
Yes, I remember when it was about programming, not money. But you'd definitely have to pay me to write in Java. I might still try to find a use for it, though, despite its designers and an API. I'll let you know if I find a good place where it shines. But apparently you've made up your mind already.
Hahaha.. yah.. money.. to be honest, I love coding, so I like to code in c++ more than in Java, because of the challenge c++ offers me time and time again. Sort of a fight against yourself, to keep concentrated and make as little mistakes as possible while on the job. I was very sceptical to Java at first, too, but I decided I should try it out for myself before taking a stand, and appart from performance, the language really shines on various points, you'll find them in any introductory course book. The performance factor is steadily decreasing as computers get faster anyway, then there's jit compilation which introduces a whole new set of possible optimalisation issues, and finally, contrary to what many people think, Java CAN be realtime(this being just one set of examples).
Sp yes, I've certainly made up my mind, and I hope the linux community will look towards Java as another reason why people may want to use linux. SUN is bringing out JDK's for Linux for a reason, IBM's effortless backing of Linux and Java are remarkable, Corel, Imprise and Borland are all on the same frequency regarding Linux and Java development, even MS is aknowledging SUN's distributed network paradigm (embodied by Java) as the way of the future, and created c# and
Wow, it seems I was kinda ranting here
Best regards,
Ignace.
Ok, I`m stunned. I really can`t believe what you`re saying.
Java has annoying keywords ? Have you looked at c++, c# and basicly everything else MS has recently created (and face it, apart from MS and SUN, no one else is really pushing thE languages here).. Java, quite on the contrary has very simple, very clear keywords, with solid meanings, and little or no confusing language constructions.
Further more, Java is the result of integration of many many modern and new programming paradigma`s and patterns, meaning that it`s tailored to what programmers will wnat to do NOW. It`s the first language that really pushes code reusability to it`s limits while still being easy to use.
Macro`s are a way to BREAK code, because it means you create additional dependencies across sourcefiles, generating the need for additional compile stages (basicly, making a precompiler a requirement). Further more, they`re totally obsolete if you can code properly in Java.
"Using the GUI tool to create horrific code." yes. Why don`t you take a look at visual c++. You can be happy that the Jbuilder GUI actually INTERPRETES your code so there is a 1-1 relationship between your code and the GUI. Ok, it has flaws, but thanks to JavaBeans, this is possible. You obviously don`t even have aclue what beans are about.. Agreed, IBM`s GUI is a rather awkward way to use sources if you`re used to visual studio crap, but once you got it going, you`ll be able to work much faster within your project team on one source. That`s why it`s so tightly constrained to certain methods. IBM is far from being the only GUI out there, so I suggest you do some research first before dissing Java.
I plainly don`t understand your point about the getters and setters. What point would there be in having private getters and setters. As to your problem with naming conventions, I understand some people have a more open view for new angles on a concept than others.
The Java language is a product that resulted from earlier language research, related to Eiffel and other fully OO languages. It includes a few c++ constructs in it`s syntax, to make transition from that other OO language easier, but it was never based on it to begin with! It is indeed under constant pressure from the enterprise world to foresee as many platforms, api`s, bridges and functionality as possible, while still maintaining a slim core-set of classes. That`s why it`s constanly changing. I`d rather use a language which is being updated with a strong attention to today`s needs of programmers, than some language which claims to be updated but which is stuck in the mud. To be honest, MS did a good job revamping j++ into c#. We`ll finally be able to get rid of the tiresome include hassles. But there`s just one hilarious thing.. I don`t know if you`ve ever counted the new keywords in c#, but they are many. Your point about managers being afraid to bet their projects on Java is a valid one though. But I think it`s more a problem of older people that stem from a COBOL period. I know many young entrepreneurs that are betting their game on Java and who are successfully building their future on that. Fast. Much faster than could ever be achieved in c++. The time to market for a Java project is about 1/4th the time of a c++ project of the same size, if you disregard some of the JDK version transition problems we`ve known in the past.
Yes, Java and c# will certainly increase demand for those programmers who have a good insight in modern OO concepts and programming techniques ( and consequently, program in the languages that incorporated them).
I think the article in general is quite biassed. It starts proclaiming Java isn`t free. Well I don`t know if the writer has ever been to the javasoft site but that`s a plain lie. It`s as free as Linux. You click and you download. End.
It also goes on saying that university world is pretty fond of Linux, and, while that being the case, it is also true that Java is one of the many things that universities have thankfully embraced. It fits their needs to do fast research perfectly. I can understand that the GPL factor plays big within the linux community, but surely common sense will teach us that languages are not a product on their own, and therefor are controlled by those who create them. Visual Studio`s c++ is far from being standard compliant. SUN is planning on making portions of Java OpenSource, and distributes Java with Sun`s own license, which is fairly open. I don`t see what the real difference would be if you`d put GPL on top. I think it`s a non-issue.
The article goes on comparing the JVM`s performance to real-time applications. If you take any java in a nutschell, the first few pages will clearly stress that Java isn`t suited for that. Ofcourse, the linux community would like to hear that Java brings them real-time performance, but Java is a language that simply sets different priorities. Maybe in that sense, Java indeed isn`t going to be accepted by Linux users fast, but if you`d ask me, development in Java is quick as hell, and it runs everywhere. I think that is a strong point for Linux developpers that are aware of the fact that their sources and makefiles might be too much of a burden for the regular newbie desktop user. Passing on class files might be a good alternative, and guess what, it runs as expected. Everywhere.
Anyway, I hope I have touched enough points to clarify that even though the article names good reasons why the linux community should not look into Java soon, it`s not all blakc and white. Java is a terrific language once you get to know it, and being a c++ hardcore coder for over 10 years, I know what I`m talking about.
Ignace Saenen
University of Antwerp
Hmm you make it sound like criminals are aliens..
:) (sorry, sick joke) The bottom line is.. does it help society by simply removing trouble from society ? Does that teach us anything ?
Actually I consider criminals and broderliners as the watchdogs of our society. They`ll constantly remind us what`s wrong with this world. We could declare Antartica as a dumpyard for criminals, that would rid us of all our problems, but look what happenned to Australia when the English dumped their criminals over there
Maybe it`s because I have an inmense faith in humanity alltogether, but imho in most cases, criminal acts are simply the final stage of a series of unaddressed social difficulties. Now, what`s really so catching with this story is that this guy is pulling society`s legs in a smarter way that most other people would, and deep down you probably have the same sort of wanting for that kind of an adventurous life. That`s pretty human, too.
Is it therefore sad to have that kind of a twist in your soul ? I`m not so sure.. In any casse, I agree it`s wrong what the man did, and I want justice just as well, but I also want to learn from his experiences. If people are sensible, even as victim, they can see that getting the story out makes people aware of the potential dangers.. in many cases, that`s exactly what earlier victims want: to tell their story, and to seek justice.
Writing a romanticising novel about it isn`t going to hurt anyone.. it might both inspire and warn us. It`ll hopefully make our social structures more protected against abuses, and deal with the more fundamental issues that gave way to the criminal behaviour in the first place.
Yep. The many draws in this game also support your statement. It isn`t likt Kasparov was slaughtered here.. they`re both on quite the same frequency. I expect him to return or at least play a pretty prominent role in world chess championship tournaments.
And in some strange way, his defeat might not feel like a defeat at all, now that his own apprentice has rightfully clamed the throne.
It`s a nice way to be defeated.
And oh, I just found this interesting article on the dailyradar regarding the xbox and ps2
Have fun!
Here`s why you`d develop for the xbox:
The PSX2 has an impressive feature set, but this time,
sony isn`t betting on games alone. The games that are
allready out there are specifically tailored to psx2,
and ho would expect otherwise, yes. But this also means
there is little more room left for gradually stepping
up the game quality of the next series of games.
When the first psx came out, developers still had to
find out how it worked from scratch, this time things
are different. Some preferred Japanese teams have direct
support while other companies need to go out and pay for
'obscure' documentation, and then hope they can make the
best of it. Some of the games out now allready make very
heavy use of the new dedicated hardware. This also means
the lifespan of interest in the psx2 will not last as
long, and that is why Sony absolutely needs to turn the
psx2 into a fullblown homecomputer.
Betting your game development on psx2 NOW is tedious.
Chances of standing out with your game on a technical
perspective are slim. PSX2 is allready past it`s hype
while xbox still has to appear, and it won`t be until
people experience the hard framerates that the hype
around it will subdue.
On the other hand, you have the xbox. Here, too, there
are issues. Microsoft allready bought Bungie and knows
how to create games on the pc platform. This time, they
control the hardware, andthe software, which makes you
wonder about their api`s and the REAL openness.
So, while they say their api`s are open, the reality
learns us that they are charging money for it. Still
the chances that you can score on xbox are
potentially higher because the platform is not out
yet, and there`s room for follow-ups in case the
game should proove to be enhanceable.
On a sidenote, it`s interesting to see that while Oni
(by bungie) was due to be released earlier this year,
it`s obvious that Bungie will want to publish the title
on xbox first. Clearly, Microsoft wants to enter the
fight with a major kick-off.
So if I had to choose now, I`d choose the xbox. It`s
PC related, and the games you write for xbox are
portable to the PC, making sure they address a
microsoft accustomed crowd.
what do you think ?
Well as you know a trip to mars, shortest possible distance (which we just passed some time ago), takes 6 months. That`s not a problem, because we have some experience with that. Mir, home of many species, has been the habitat of some astronauts that spend multiple months up there. The only problem is.. you don`t get to land on an airstrip this time. Hell, chances of ever returning home are below zero, period.
I think it still is too early for manned spaceflight, taken into consideration that we can`t even land robots safely on target with accuracies of and about a 100 km. A rather huge number of orbital MARS missions have failed, and whilst being one of our favourite planets to study and possibly the one we know most about, we should atleast make sure we have some sort of territory mapped out with robotic instruments that can prep up for a more or less failsafe manned mission. In the meantime, send the droids.
Aside from the poor quality, I think what has been the problem, is that it got replaced by better tuned technologies like FLASH & co, beause they are not specifically targetted at interactive 3d content only, but rather at interactive 2d content with additional 3d animations. Moreover, they`re easy to program, while there are not many good vrml editors around..
People want content in that model.. 3d all on it`s own is not enough, and never will be of the quality a FLASH animation can provide, or a more specificly targetted program like CAD/CAM puts out..
Imo, that`s what vrml came short of.. interactive 2d content, within a richer 3d world.
a0a
And just when unofficial selfwritten SB specs popped up by people that bugged C.L. for years trying to pressure them to release at least _some_ usefull documentation (which they never got), C.L. turned around, coldly dropped their older SB technology where it was, and is now completely into Wavetable synthesis, a technology which was introduced by Gravis. Unfortunately, Gravis, back then, was slaughtered by C.L. as C.L. agressively bought undisclosed and self-engeneered hardware support wherever they could (games/os/..)using proprietry api's, meanwhile leaving the Gravis cards as a second best option (at best) and additional support for other soundcards at the mercy and woes of the programming teams.
Today, Gravis, one of the finest soundcard manufacturers of the early nineties and pushing the limits in soundtechnology, makes joysticks and gamepads. C.L. was never interested in making hot new technology, or great soundcards for everybody to enjoy. It was only interested in protecting it's virtual standard-monopoly across the PC platform. Whenever people got too close, they were either forced out of the market, bought, or discouraged by surprisngly fastly upgrading their key technology.
This would probably be the point where you'd see a black cat miaauw, twice.
You`re forgetting one thing. You the clean and legitimate user, are forced to hack and crack into resources that you don`t own. This is called computercrime in most countries.
Don`t get me wrong about this, I hate the senseless legal nametagging that`s currently going on as much as the next guy, and I`m all for positive chaos which is what IP really stands for. I`d just hate to see FBI vans messing up the front yard every now and then because it`s supposed to help big companies improve on security when I`m hacking into corporate servers.
You do have a point, but juridical systems suck, too. Probably harder even.
This is gonna sound odd, but have you ever wondered why the birds in your town/city don't fly away anymore when you approach them ? When I work late, I can usually hear birds singing.. at 2 am in the morning..
I don't think these things are normal. I have a pretty educated guess as to why these things are happening, but I 'll never be able to proove them. I can only observe and finally write down what happens, including a certainty factor that relates the 2 observations.
The stress human civilisation puts on the rest of the species must be inmense, and we can only connect e.g. the death of a wildlife species with unproven causes that are discovered during or after the process is completed. It is indeed virtually impossible to proove that the stress factors that are constantly injected into our environments are harmfull, because there are too much variables. We probably will never be able to put it black on white with equations and unbiased or complete statistics. We can only place educated guesses.
You don't have to be convinced. You don't have to believe anything scientists say. Just in your own mind, reason what happens when you see the fumes of petrol of your neighbours car colouring up the evening skylines.. Lit another cigarette, and dismiss the thoughts of finally be released from that damn bad cough you have in the morning. These things are as unprooven as everything else, because here science has to penetrate what I call the infinitely dense model that life is.
In the end, the melting ice will have some effect, and at the moment we see a few other things happening that are odd. Fisheries close, coastal flora diminishes, some animal species grow thin or much denser than usual. At the same time, human greed destroys natural resources that untill up to that point was serving other tasks in life. Do we have to suppose they are interrelated ? No. But we, as a species, can at least try to make sure we do everything we can to prevent nature to go to waste.
Call me a sentimental ecologist, or anything else, but I just like that tiny blue planet, and I would like to tell my kids I fought for it, rather than be the cynical sob and tell them: well kids, here's the pile of dirt, enjoy yoursleves..
Hi there Jawsy boy :)
;)
I don't mean to annoy you but even though they don't exactly care about him as a person, Datamining is exactly the art of classifying people as detailed as possible, while still maintaining a high level of efficiency in information retrieval afterwards.
Basicly, if he's odd, they'll put him in his own new category (wheeee!). If he's not, then he'll allready be categorized. The point is, even if they don't know the guy personally, they still know exactly what he likes or dislikes, in what sort of suburbs he lives, how much miles he drives to work and back, how many condoms he buys every friday, how long he has been married..
So you're "average consumer" is actually a pretty detailed picture.
Not to say you're wrong ofcourse, as you're often not wrong about many things... some condoms are more sensitive than others I guess
And I seriously wonder HOW they will do it. I mean.. Writing portable code from day one is ok for most applications, but porting native windows code, with OLE and COM and heavily registry dependant applciations ? Winapi 32 functions typically are not cross platform. If they write some sort of VM-simulation software underneith to make things work, it could end up like Mac Office in it's early days: slow and unrelieable. And then there will be no-one to batter on the table and ask for updates by means of a court settlement.
Hmm.. I'm not totally convinced that you can say they will be slower. Essentially what happens is that most logic is doubled up in parallel to what is allready there. However, this only works for 0 or 1 operand instructions. More operands imply dependencies and then things get tricky. But processors with 64bit instructions will take advantage of the longer instruction words to cram in even more arguments, and thus be able to do more complex tasks with them. In that regard, the instruction procesing might be slower, but the task completed will essentially also require more instructions on a 32bit processor, because the 64bit chip now has dedicated hardware which typically will take less cycles to complete.
But you allready hinted for my next question: How long will it take before hardware manufacturers switch over to 64bit as well?
Cheers..
Hi Sips,
:)
Hmm yes, linux is resource heavy in it's fullest glory, but at least you can customize the load. Ok, if you really know what you're doing, you can also customize the load of NT, but unless you order 10 manuals first and have a permanent hotline straight into Gates kingdom, chances are you are going to long for a pinguin again soon.
One thing I must give you though. Motherboards are a kill factor. Slot A, Socket 7, Socket 1, Socket A, Slot 7.. can they please make up their fucking mind!! Chip cache is finally on-die. Yes! Rambus is allmost gone, and DDR SDRAM is stronger than ever. Finally! AGP is probably the next source of trouble for the next generations of motherboards, as current nVidia's have a bandwith problem. Fuck! The AMD's and Intel's are frequency locked, and so are supporting boards. You must allmost be a soldering electro cowboy if you want to overclock your stuff. In a way, it is cool to do stuff like that, get your hands dirty again just like in the old days (if you don't screw up your board ofcourse) but it also kinda sucks. Luckily, there's this haven in hardware land called www.tomshardware.com, which kicks major ass time and time again. Worth a peek, if you didn't allreally do so.
Actually, regarding motherboards, things have somewhat stabilized right now, which is scary because 64bit processors are just round the corner and will no-doubt require a whole new set of wheels to go. But in the end the consumer is usually fucked anyway, without even knowing it. The industry has allready set out it's roadmaps. God knows how they will really play it.
As for 3D cards.. you don't NEED a 3D card. It's just like with soundcards. They're all over the place, but you don't NEED them. I don't know why everybody keeps talking about getting their throat smacked up with a 3D board, because it's crap. Get a low-end Matrox board and shut up.
For instance, I didn't get a soundcard untill the very moment that I realised that I could make music with it myself (and I still do). Meanwhile just about everybody was allready enjoying Sounblaster 16's in stereo. So I bought me a wavetable card, because I thought it was a smarter design (and it was, if you added enough RAM on top to store the tables). But the point was that, unless I NEED to work with it, I don't buy it. And I think that goes for every fan, wire or led I have in this little grey and quite sexy box I have here
But anyway. You are right. It's hard assembling a lasting and upgradable configuration these days. The strategy I use is to just buy very high-end at one time and then hold my breath and see what happens. If you don't bet on the bad horses, that usually works quite ok.
my 0.02 euro.
Well, there are some people here at slashdot who firmly believe that linux should not be used for gaming, but for 'textual numbercrunching' only. They really think improved gaming for linux will not be beneficial to the platform and it's userbase but rather harmfull to their reputation as power users.
Allthough I can understand what they want, it really makes no sense (let aside the wonderfully colorfull language they use to try and make it clear to me). Here's what one of them replied to my post. When you read this it looks like there is resistance within the linux usere crowd against gaming, and that's at least something the windows platform never had to deal with.
As for games not getting through on linux, well, as long as the boxes in the stores are going to read "95/98/NT required", things won't change. Publishers needs to switch over to linux and fund NEW! killer titles first before something will actually happen. And if any software company should be backed up for this, it's either going to be ID or Loki, as they are both capable of doing it fast and with a relatively low ramping cost.
Ah well..
Yes. Splendid. I'm the stupid quake gamer. Right. Can you also come up with some good arguments for the stupid quake gamer why gaming does not belong on a linux platform, if it is nevertheless quite possible to do so?
I mean, it's not like we're tapping into your cpu cycles or anything.. Why are you so scared by drivers that might come with a standard distribution that happen to cover the leading 2D/3D graphics board in consumer pc's, and that users can choose not to use. I'm sorry but this doesn't make any sense. Keeping windows alongside should in the end not be a necessity, but you make it sound like it should be.
Ohyeah, FYI (probably not), only Quake I and Unreal run acceptably on my PPro 180 Banshee (that's right, I don't even *have* an nVidia card) System. Gnome, KDE & Enlightment however are a totally different set of tears, and that's just static bitmaps!
Over to you, Frank.
Crap.
...ah.. this trick question, I'll leave to you, the power user.
I think basicly any linux app still has a long way to go before they become usable on the desktop. And while applications are what make OS'es work or not, Games considerably help push the numbers up in a steady pace, both in hardware and software.
What harm will it do to finally have some drivers you can choose to install ? If there is a (large) demand for such things, and the people even get what they want, for free, then why does the much celebrated linux diehard guru has to have a problem with gaming all of a suddden?
Man, I don't mean to be rude, but Linux is slowly changing shape if you hadn't noticed. Linux strives to compare with (and surpass) windows. Well, it better cover every inch of the playing field (read: market), not just that of the skilled & savvy power users, or someone is going to pull the plugg on his development cycle. Does this mean my aunty has to able to run linux ? maybe.. does that mean power users will have to button-click ? I hope not.. should we all be free to do as we like ?
Look, it has nothing to do with capitalism vs. communism. And it's actually very simple. Your 'generally accepted' capitalism has led to a situation where universities are forced to be sponsored heavily by government and/or other big capitalists. Both are eventually looking for a return on investment, ideologically or technically. Now, there is no such thing as 'a university', if you are not talking about people that work in it.. and those people are well aware of what's happening outside the alledged 'sacred university walls'.
If companies succesfully can make technological practical and profitable advancements in their field, fast, and with lots of manpower in R&D, Universities are lost. And companies will do this, because what happens when something new is discovered ? As soon as the publication is written down, someone takes a hike and files for a patent, whether he lives in or outside the university walls.. so companies will go to great lengths to try and get to the wholy grail first. In the end it is simply a race for proffit, a race to be able to survive the next battle easier or better.
What I mean to say is that universities should work with the industry, and try to piggy-back on the funds of this industry, while it can up to a certain extend deliver the quality guarantee that the industry needs. Rather than seeing your research department lag behind so terribly that you wonder how your department can go on without at least consulting the industry. With the Human Genone project fresh in memory, I'm sure this isn't too difficult to understand.
There is, of course, cost to pay: you loose the absolute scientific independance you, as a university, are so fond of, but on the other hand, you can stay on top of the cutting edge, which is where universities belong. If they do not cut it anymore, then why don't we send our kids to super modern company trainingcenters instead. But since we want everybody to have a decent chance at education we do not want to end in that lane, do we. Now, talk to me again about that silly capitalsim vs. communism rant.
So yes, you are right about letting research find it's own way to a new discovery, as long as folks don't get hurt in the process. The point of having research is science, knowledge, education, and ultimately civilisation. It's the primary fuel that helps us reach to the stars and back. It's also a never-sufficiently-helping-cure for our untameable curiosity. But as you put it brilliantly, these people must eat, too.
There is one aspect that I think is scary about this evolution. Who controls the ideologic buttons to grant use or abuse of new discoveries in a certain way ? Take GSM or high voltage electricity wires, or satellites, nuclear factories and transports, etc.. They just happen , and it takes a small miracle to get people aware of risks and dangers (usually when harm is allready done). I don't want to imply that universities will allways be straight on these issues, but at least they do not have pure dollar signs weaving before their eyes every single day. Then again, most things are only learned after first making lots and lots of mistakes, so maybe this, in a way, is research too. But that doesn't make it any less scary.
>br> Anyway.. my cents..
.. then there are some other steps to overcome.
One thing is clear though. Linux is gaining ground in the game area, and, after all these years of hacking kernels and nifty unix clone tools, it is in fact a surprise that it's beginning to happen only just now. Maya will certainly boost game development under linux, but let's not get over-excited here.
The big question will be whether this comes a bit too late or not. Microsoft practically converted the PC into a game console with it's X-BOX specifications, and though I think that was a most remarkeable, if not hilarious marketing push (one wonders why MS should reserve the rights to be the only one to build X-boxes), they're betting on a safe horse that's even an easy target for most game companies.
But then the even bigger question is: who will buy an X-box, which is in fact an overly expensive functionally degraded PC with multimedia cards on steroids ? How long-lived is the X-box concept, given that the step-up factor of hardware in general is very high ? Will it perhaps freeze the general consumer markets chip evolutions as we see them today ? Or can I stay with my linux/nt box instead and have close to the same perfromance ?
Maya as a tool is cool. Giving it breathing space on a linux platform is a logical thing to do. Whether it can give games and multimedia an extra push remains to be seen, and how linux benefits from this, other than receiving a bit more aknowledgement for it's valuable features, is an intirely different question.
Nevertheless, this is some impressive new player on the linux horizon!
aw come on, that's not fair.
:)
the fact people are thought stuff in school is not because the teacher happens to be an all knowing god with perfect knowledge of whatever he mumbles.
I'd have expected a little more nuanced view from a scientist like you. You know as good as the next guy that someday someone is going to ask 'why' and 'how' in some area, he tries to understand it, builds a new theory, and then maybe things move on, even if your first idea is way off-target. Don't forget that science is in no way whatsoever a mechanical straight into the new goal. It's a big excursion with questions and idea's floating around.
I was told at school that allmost any cell in c can allways regenerate, but due to specific factors, some are more apt then others. It had to do with the environment in which a cell resides, evolution of certain hormones, etc.. but I'm no biologist, so I'm not going to burn my fingers here
maybe the neuroscientists were dead wrong, yes, but hey, it took, what, 13 centuries to notice the earth not being flat at all ?
Yeah, don`t eat there. I never ever did, but there seem to be more of them every time I look.
From most of the reactions, and aside form this Jose Bove`s actions, I learn that this issue is really a matter of culture. Most people here argue that 'those european or french people shouldn`t get upset about what america is selling them' and just simply adapt, use free markets to battle etc..
While I can certainly understand the concerns about europeans turning into maddening murderers and pillagers all the time (like some seem to suggest), I don`t think it`s fair to react like this at all.
The issue at hand is not McDonnalds, and it`s not this peasant going bankrupt because he don`t farm like US farmers do. It`s about people being concerned about their quality and trying to fight for their bread on the shelve when their government doesn`t do enough of it for them . Sadly, they go about doing it the wrong way, but that doesn`t make the message any less important.
And yes, it`s about quality. The thing that matters when you eat. Europe happens to be very conservative when it comes to that, because we`re very proud of our food (or at least we used to be). Just like our paysants shouldn`t go and burn McDonnalds`es when they feel like it, you have to respect our choices to disallow manipulated food.
To change the train of thought for a minute: I thought everybody was so concerned with software quality here, so concerned, in fact, that even big companies should opensource their entire software pack. Ditch the capitalistic minded market, all for better quality. But when a rather large part of the world is concerned with the quality of food, hey, please adapt and accept our cheap and ultra efficiently grown capitalist alternatives ? That`s plain hypocritical.
No, health quality and economic wealth are opposite interests. If a paysant destroys property, he`s simply a criminal, and should be punished ? Yes! Arguing that europe should therefore just buy american to prevent thier citizens from protesting against american multinationals ? No! damnit.
Maybe Europe at least cares about it`s quality of food. Reading much of the reactions here, it seems Europeans should just shut-up, close our eyes and buy american.
Naah..
Let me know next time you want to go eat in a nice restaurant in Paris again.
how sweet : blatantly fattening ignorance.