Don't sneer at us Mac folks just yet. It's a sure way to alienate the already Linux-impaired.
I have a dual-boot machine running MacOS 8.6 and LinuxPPC 2000. I'm a designer by trade and am a long time Mac user. I use it for print, Web, and video work and honestly have not found any other platform adequate for all my needs.
I use LinuxPPC for my perl and SQL work. I'm not at all what you'd call a real 'programmer' but am slowly making my way in the world of open source and free software. LinuxPPC has been a great help in getting oriented. It's is a joy to work with. The 2000 version installs much easier than Release 4, and BootX (the LILO substitute) protected me from having to root around with the Open Firmware values.
If you're a curious Mac user that reads slashdot, I encourage you to get yourself a copy.
After reading this this morning, I sent an email to Philip Greenspun asking about the logistics of the Distance Ed. part -- How will it work? What kind of time commitment will it require? How large will the 'classes' be? etc..
He responded right away: "Just connect to http://arsdigita.org/university/ in September. We will not provide any support to distance learners beyond the materials."
What the hell?! I spent countless hours trying to get Gimp Perl to work for an industrial application. I needed to batch process and manipulate a ton of images for a print project. It turns out that Perl for Gimp 1.0.x is not terribly supported, while Gimp 1.1.19 was just too damn unstable. After much experimentation, frustration, trial and error: the only conclusion was that as it currently stands... Gimp sucks.
Now I hear about this!! How is it being done? Does the guy have his own custom-hacked version of Gimp? So why aren't the modifications being redistributed under the GPL?
I ended up using ImageMagick. I'd still rather be using the (promised) power and flexibility of Gimp, but ImageMagick actually works without dumping lots of core.
The flip side of the right to not have information collected about you, is access to information collected by public entities. Your privacy and security are guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as is the freedom to express yourself, but there is nothing in the UDHR that guarantees that people have a right to access information collected by their governments and others. This is so key to the spread of collective knowledge as well as accountability and transparency of government and big business. This has implications on patent law as well as the many so-called "state secrets" kept in the name of "national security".
Just think... the boys in the Pentagon, Capital Hill, CIA HQ, and in so many smoke filled corporate boardrooms would have to think twice about some their more heinous acts if the public had the guaranteed right to know what was going on (and not just 25 years after the fact.)
Slashdot Mirror
Don't sneer at us Mac folks just yet. It's a sure way to alienate the already Linux-impaired.
I have a dual-boot machine running MacOS 8.6 and LinuxPPC 2000. I'm a designer by trade and am a long time Mac user. I use it for print, Web, and video work and honestly have not found any other platform adequate for all my needs.
I use LinuxPPC for my perl and SQL work. I'm not at all what you'd call a real 'programmer' but am slowly making my way in the world of open source and free software. LinuxPPC has been a great help in getting oriented. It's is a joy to work with. The 2000 version installs much easier than Release 4, and BootX (the LILO substitute) protected me from having to root around with the Open Firmware values.
If you're a curious Mac user that reads slashdot, I encourage you to get yourself a copy.
After reading this this morning, I sent an email to Philip Greenspun asking about the logistics of the Distance Ed. part -- How will it work? What kind of time commitment will it require? How large will the 'classes' be? etc..
He responded right away:
"Just connect to http://arsdigita.org/university/ in September. We will not provide any support to distance learners beyond the materials."
What the hell?! I spent countless hours trying to get Gimp Perl to work for an industrial application. I needed to batch process and manipulate a ton of images for a print project. It turns out that Perl for Gimp 1.0.x is not terribly supported, while Gimp 1.1.19 was just too damn unstable. After much experimentation, frustration, trial and error: the only conclusion was that as it currently stands... Gimp sucks.
Now I hear about this!! How is it being done? Does the guy have his own custom-hacked version of Gimp? So why aren't the modifications being redistributed under the GPL?
I ended up using ImageMagick. I'd still rather be using the (promised) power and flexibility of Gimp, but ImageMagick actually works without dumping lots of core.
The flip side of the right to not have information collected about you, is access to information collected by public entities. Your privacy and security are guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as is the freedom to express yourself, but there is nothing in the UDHR that guarantees that people have a right to access information collected by their governments and others. This is so key to the spread of collective knowledge as well as accountability and transparency of government and big business. This has implications on patent law as well as the many so-called "state secrets" kept in the name of "national security".
Just think... the boys in the Pentagon, Capital Hill, CIA HQ, and in so many smoke filled corporate boardrooms would have to think twice about some their more heinous acts if the public had the guaranteed right to know what was going on (and not just 25 years after the fact.)