i don't think these 'physical' demonstrations are efficient. You can't make people think just by standing around and proclaiming something. Shut half of the net down and it would have a much greater effect because it would adversely effect many one's lifes...
Write to faz.net, zeit.de, google.de etc. and ask them to take part in the demonstration -- either by taking their sites down or, in the case of Google, to change their Google logo accordingly...:-)))
Yeah, people always say such things... painting the devil at the wall...:-))
If you look closely at the legislation process for software patents in the EU, you may notice that one of the largest enemies against software patents is the Linux/OS community itself because of its extreme position to not have any software patents at all! In a democracy, you won't get that through. There are solutions with which we ALL will be able to live quite well. And to me, it looks like we have already some sort of a convergence in the EU.
I don't think so. It may be a bit of work to circumvent patented "tricks", but if it hurts the Linux and open-source community that bad, it would also hurt the whole industry. And then there would be a GREAT effort to undo some of the legislation. But, at the moment, it rather looks like Bill Gates and his companions have more problems with their patent regulation than we have. They are under pressure. They must turn investments into return. _WE_ have time. Plenty thereof. And most of us even have fun in finding alternate solutions.
When looking at the whole picture, all these things are truly unimportant in the world of Linux and open-source. Modems? GIF? FAT? MP3? We don't need any of them. There are much better alternatives there, now. Well except, maybe, for JPEG. But PNG just uses a little more space and that is no concern any more. So, effectively, not one single point matters any more. We have won the war through many small battles and showed them that we can do without patents. And now, Microsoft wants regulators to take back some patent regulations... if that is not a sign that we have won the war, what else? Most of us not even have noticed it...
That's another thing. Linux was never as popular in America as it was in Europe. That's probably because in the US there are much more citzizens brainlessly loving a rigorous capitalism. And Linux does not play quite well along with that. But it is still there. Because a free open-source project does much less depend on single patents than every other OS or piece of software. Look at ogg. Look at ReiserFS/Reiser4/XFS etc. etc. etc.
And not only for PDF files. Just put a transparent layer on top of every page and let the user write his comments on it, make some sketches etc. and save it along with the commented file to some other person, eg. the author...
Agreed. All these discussions assume that we are a Linux corporation which needs to compete on the commercial market. That is plain nonsense. I'm a Linux user. Why should I care if Grandma uses Mac? How does it affect my own life???
... just to tell them that a slow but steady progress in the open-source sector will render their business useless somewhen?
The markt evolves. Microsoft doesn't adapt. That's the problem. Why don't they just ask RedHat? Embracing open-source solutions in their Windows OS would just speed up their own death. They have to shift their paradigm of operation towards actual services... selling the same sh** over and over just cannot work out in the long run.
Wasn't that one of Microsoft's methods until they gained total market dominance and locked their Windows licenses to the user's hardware?
Re:OK, make me a pound of gold.
on
Fab
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· Score: 1
No one says that we will be able to produce everything out of nothing. That's plain nonsense. At that point, you are pretty right.
But look at industrial production: machines get produced by machines... and the human part in it is constantly decreasing.
For example, imagine an unmanned mission to Mars: put a robot and some material into a rocket. Then the robot could construct mining machines on Mars and thereby raise a whole industrial complex there. I see no reason why that should not be possible. It just affords some more human intelligence.
And even producing gold may come into sight -- even at costs considerably below the current price of gold.
Slashdot Mirror
Thinking of LaGrange points as of points is somewhat stupid. They are actually orbital _tracks_. So conquering them is a bit complicated... :-))))
gain in using the BSD license instead of the GPL one?
i don't think these 'physical' demonstrations are efficient. You can't make people think just by standing around and proclaiming something. Shut half of the net down and it would have a much greater effect because it would adversely effect many one's lifes...
Agreed.
http://www.zeit.de/software/patente/index
Write to faz.net, zeit.de, google.de etc. and ask them to take part in the demonstration -- either by taking their sites down or, in the case of Google, to change their Google logo accordingly... :-)))
Just think Google being down only ONE hour... *g*
http://omnibus.uni-freiburg.de/~stierm/
There is a script so you can do so, too.
... such an objection?
... and what makes Apple notebooks (!) so special that flash drives only fit into that brand?
Linux/OS does not need to support every bit of crappy hardware. It doesn't now and it probably never will.
Yeah, people always say such things... painting the devil at the wall... :-))
If you look closely at the legislation process for software patents in the EU, you may notice that one of the largest enemies against software patents is the Linux/OS community itself because of its extreme position to not have any software patents at all! In a democracy, you won't get that through. There are solutions with which we ALL will be able to live quite well. And to me, it looks like we have already some sort of a convergence in the EU.
I don't think so. It may be a bit of work to circumvent patented "tricks", but if it hurts the Linux and open-source community that bad, it would also hurt the whole industry. And then there would be a GREAT effort to undo some of the legislation. But, at the moment, it rather looks like Bill Gates and his companions have more problems with their patent regulation than we have. They are under pressure. They must turn investments into return. _WE_ have time. Plenty thereof. And most of us even have fun in finding alternate solutions.
When looking at the whole picture, all these things are truly unimportant in the world of Linux and open-source. Modems? GIF? FAT? MP3? We don't need any of them. There are much better alternatives there, now. Well except, maybe, for JPEG. But PNG just uses a little more space and that is no concern any more. So, effectively, not one single point matters any more. We have won the war through many small battles and showed them that we can do without patents. And now, Microsoft wants regulators to take back some patent regulations... if that is not a sign that we have won the war, what else? Most of us not even have noticed it...
That's another thing. Linux was never as popular in America as it was in Europe. That's probably because in the US there are much more citzizens brainlessly loving a rigorous capitalism. And Linux does not play quite well along with that. But it is still there. Because a free open-source project does much less depend on single patents than every other OS or piece of software. Look at ogg. Look at ReiserFS/Reiser4/XFS etc. etc. etc.
If the US patent regulation is so bad and constitutes a threat to Linux:
could please someone tell me what has happened to Linux in the US since then? Why is it still there?
And not only for PDF files. Just put a transparent layer on top of every page and let the user write his comments on it, make some sketches etc. and save it along with the commented file to some other person, eg. the author...
Agreed. All these discussions assume that we are a Linux corporation which needs to compete on the commercial market. That is plain nonsense. I'm a Linux user. Why should I care if Grandma uses Mac? How does it affect my own life???
Answer THAT or stop it.
Imagine all open-source developers NOT logging in... :-)))
but that is actually THE reason why the EU actions are there!
Have Slashdot's brains been slashed by Microsoft lately, or what?
... just to tell them that a slow but steady progress in the open-source sector will render their business useless somewhen?
The markt evolves. Microsoft doesn't adapt. That's the problem. Why don't they just ask RedHat? Embracing open-source solutions in their Windows OS would just speed up their own death. They have to shift their paradigm of operation towards actual services... selling the same sh** over and over just cannot work out in the long run.
No no no. It is an illegal "release". There won't be serious complaints.
Wasn't that one of Microsoft's methods until they gained total market dominance and locked their Windows licenses to the user's hardware?
No one says that we will be able to produce everything out of nothing. That's plain nonsense. At that point, you are pretty right.
But look at industrial production: machines get produced by machines... and the human part in it is constantly decreasing.
For example, imagine an unmanned mission to Mars: put a robot and some material into a rocket. Then the robot could construct mining machines on Mars and thereby raise a whole industrial complex there. I see no reason why that should not be possible. It just affords some more human intelligence.
And even producing gold may come into sight -- even at costs considerably below the current price of gold.
... and not comments! Btw, who thinks that commenting comments is actually more useful than rating stories?
Thx /.! Thx a LOT! Have all /.ers turned into trolls recently???