Speaking of which, how does that compare to employing people to install HVAC, paying for electricity and insulated windows, i.e., providing heat for employees?
OK, it's become a joke now, but seriously, if we get our act together, we can have a viable replacement for XP for people who just want to browse, email, skype, google, play music, and the like. That's 90% of what people do.
Yeah, line-of-business apps. Except that people don't run those at home.
Even though I like Unity (the LTS version, not the braindead initial versions), I'd have to say a classic Mint desktop is likely to be more familiar to an XP refugee.
Anyways, in other countries the "last mile" problem is solved by things like tuk-tuks, auto-rikshaws and the like (small vehicles designed to hold 6 or so people).
Most busybody city governments don't like that, though.
In NYC, there are informal (illegal) minivans that pick up passengers for a few dollars and drop them off where they want to go.
If cities allowed that kind of thing, the problem would be solved.
>There is no corporate marketing entity behind Linux, so there is no prime director behind the brand name or promotional aspects of it.
Hey, isn't that what the Linux Foundation was supposed to be for? So IBM, HP, Fujitsu, Redhat, Oracle et alia don't have to shoulder the marketing burden all by themselves.
>Did you know that NY sends more money to the Feds than it gets back? About 30% more. The feds give that money to the red states...
Those statistics don't really mean what you're implying.
I'd agree with you if it was just a matter "You're a red state--here have some free money." But it all depends on the definition of "give to a (red/blue) state". E.g., payments to everybody or any entity in a state is counted as giving money to a state.
Many older people move to hotter climates. Their pensions (if retired from the government or military) are counted. So is Social Security, which is a program that doesn't differentiate based on state.
Military spending is also counted, I don't think it means anything because that's not a subsidy to a state per se. Naval bases have to be located on the coasts (many of which are blue, and a good deal of which are red from Texas to Virginia), and missile silos are located in flyover country (red). Many large bases are in red states simply because red states usually have more space (crowded Eastern states don't).
Remember, it's Apple we're talking about here, the company that thinks they have a Royal Patent to exclusively use the phrase App Store for their application store.
Now that we're seeing a modicum of sanity from the USPTO, I guess we can look forward to a more humble Apple.
The link talks about Aaron selling his website (meaning the IPR of the code and domain of Reddit.com) to Conde Naste, and so that means Aaron's a hypocrite. Also, a letter to the editor of the New Yorker says that he (the letter writer) was a journalist, depending on copyright for his salary.
Let me break it down: We (taxpayers, students/parents) pay people (professors) for the express purpose of thinking and writing (i.e., professing). That's the source of their salary, not from publishing in journals, which don't pay anything anyway. So Aaron's copying of journal articles did not mean that professor's lost their salary, that's so stupid.
Secondly, society did not pay Aaron and the gang to develop Reddit. They did so privately, and hence are entitled to private gain. Again contrast with professors. They are paid by the public, and don't deserve anything extra for publication (which is what they're paid to do anyway).
-The ability to always be able to switch away from an errant application. That imples... -Not allowing apps to hog all input without an exit key (Alt+Tab or whatever). -Keep a kill switch (XKill). -The ability to restart the X (or whatever) system without killing all apps. Why can't the apps keep running and allow you to restart the graphics system (if required)? -That implies keeping (or allowing) Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to restart the graphics system. -Easy and fast network desktop access, if desired. This isn't just for people working at National Laboratories, but also just for accessing Grandma's computer and so forth.
Here's the way I imagine society works: Some among us produce food. Later, some start producing stuff (as in industry). Then we all notice we need knowledge to keep the economy going. So we set up higher education, and pay people (professors) so they can focus just on education, and leave the moneymaking to the rest of us.
So why is that that we have people still trying to make money off of education, when we're already paying for it anyway?!
When the taxpayers have already funded research, what's the justification for not having that research available to anybody and everybody?
All of this is compelling, but what about where you need high-performance disk? Up until virtualization, DB admins went crazy on various physical ways to optimize database disk access (spreading out on physical spindles, etc.). Now, you just get a virtual drive, what does that do to performance?
[Before anybody gives a response about Internet freedom, that's well and all, but for certain applications, you only need to have employees access a few websites--like say a corp HQ information system.]
There are many routers that have a way to blacklist certain sites and keywords, though that's basically useless (a few mL vs the ocean?).
Whitelisting would be much more handy, but most routers don't support it.
Not only that, but custom Linux router firmware doesn't (easily) support it. Not DDWrt or Tomato. OpenWrt: you're looking at compiling a lot of stuff yourself. Gargoyle does, but you're giving up a lot of OpenWrt features.
Not only that, but custom Linux router distros (meant for running on x86) like ClearOS and the like don't offer an easy whitelist solution, either. Easy would be something like offering an HTML setup page for the whitelist, and optionally, showing a "This page isn't allowed. 1) OK, 2) Request adding to whitelist" when someone requests an non-whitelisted page, and then the admin can easily click through the whitelist requests.
NOT easy: users having to call you up and then you have to vi the squid file.
Would this be the right place to complain about evil modeswitching USB modems?
Used to be when you got a piece of hardware, you'd get a CD with the drivers on it. Later on, somebody got the idea to include USB modem drivers right on the device itself, since it's USB anyway.
The way they implement this is to make the device into a USB Storage Device upon bootup. Then, depending on circumstances, it switches the mode to a USB modem.
This is evil because the protocol isn't totally well defined, and it usually works well only on a particular version of Windows.
Linux tries to cope, but it doesn't always work.
The article which is the subject of this thread just seems to confirm that these companies just make it up as they go along, and then pump out millions of copies of the same thing.
I think our only respite will be from the el-cheapo Chinese companies whose only desire is to pump out millions of pieces of cheap hardware and don't really care about snagging you on "services".
>Who new privacy was a feature which had to be added?
Yeah. That's why I had always believed the best platform for people like us was Nokia. Free maps, Linux-based OS, Qt-based API, no ad-based revenue model, therefore no need to violate your privacy.
Unfortunately, they went off the deep end with Elop and M$, so we're stuck trying to stick fingers in a dike to stop privacy leaks.
(From a Linux geek still happy with a "dumbphone", but considering Android)
Can you use Android without serving yourself up to Google?
Is it true that you have to have a Google account to start up your phone?
Can you (easily) install apps by just downloading them to your computer and then transferring to the phone?
Do you have to give up your credit card info and name/address to sign up for the Google app store? (In light of the recent story that app developers get all your info, I don't know if I want every 2-bit app to get that info. The info itself could be worth more than the 99 cents for the application.)
Also, do free apps also get your personal information?
Any hints or links re: using Android without the all-seeing eye?
I'm using Ubuntu because 1) Redhat basically abandoned the desktop, and 2) I need a more recent stable platform (Ubuntu Server) than RHell.
But I definitely agree about the emerging pattern of Canonical doing stuff just for the sake of it, spending money like crazy, and then wondering why it doesn't make any profit$.
For most intents and purposes, it would simply cease to exist (outside of.edu and a few.org). As opposed to the inconvenience of having to view an ad but still being able to read almost all the newspapers of the world, you'd be limited to, basically, Geocities-style sites, updated every few months or so.
Slashdot Mirror
Speaking of which, how does that compare to employing people to install HVAC, paying for electricity and insulated windows, i.e., providing heat for employees?
Is heat also a taxable fringe benefit?
>there won't be a reason to change to format for approximately 7,895 years (but who is counting, really).
I'm kicking myself for not having caught this earlier!
Thanks (no sarc) for alerting us to the Y10E4 problem.
Question: Is Linux Y10E4 ready?
OK, it's become a joke now, but seriously, if we get our act together, we can have a viable replacement for XP for people who just want to browse, email, skype, google, play music, and the like. That's 90% of what people do.
Yeah, line-of-business apps. Except that people don't run those at home.
Even though I like Unity (the LTS version, not the braindead initial versions), I'd have to say a classic Mint desktop is likely to be more familiar to an XP refugee.
Doesn't Home Depot deliver?
Anyways, in other countries the "last mile" problem is solved by things like tuk-tuks, auto-rikshaws and the like (small vehicles designed to hold 6 or so people).
Most busybody city governments don't like that, though.
In NYC, there are informal (illegal) minivans that pick up passengers for a few dollars and drop them off where they want to go.
If cities allowed that kind of thing, the problem would be solved.
You just blew my mind.
I'm trying to wrap my head around an order of 2143.
Did the brogrammers who came up with that just pick that one day playing darts?
Someone help, please.
>There is no corporate marketing entity behind Linux, so there is no prime director behind the brand name or promotional aspects of it.
Hey, isn't that what the Linux Foundation was supposed to be for? So IBM, HP, Fujitsu, Redhat, Oracle et alia don't have to shoulder the marketing burden all by themselves.
>Did you know that NY sends more money to the Feds than it gets back? About 30% more. The feds give that money to the red states...
Those statistics don't really mean what you're implying.
I'd agree with you if it was just a matter "You're a red state--here have some free money." But it all depends on the definition of "give to a (red/blue) state". E.g., payments to everybody or any entity in a state is counted as giving money to a state.
Many older people move to hotter climates. Their pensions (if retired from the government or military) are counted. So is Social Security, which is a program that doesn't differentiate based on state.
Military spending is also counted, I don't think it means anything because that's not a subsidy to a state per se. Naval bases have to be located on the coasts (many of which are blue, and a good deal of which are red from Texas to Virginia), and missile silos are located in flyover country (red). Many large bases are in red states simply because red states usually have more space (crowded Eastern states don't).
It's far from a non-story.
Remember, it's Apple we're talking about here, the company that thinks they have a Royal Patent to exclusively use the phrase App Store for their application store.
Now that we're seeing a modicum of sanity from the USPTO, I guess we can look forward to a more humble Apple.
Where to begin.
The link talks about Aaron selling his website (meaning the IPR of the code and domain of Reddit.com) to Conde Naste, and so that means Aaron's a hypocrite. Also, a letter to the editor of the New Yorker says that he (the letter writer) was a journalist, depending on copyright for his salary.
Let me break it down: We (taxpayers, students/parents) pay people (professors) for the express purpose of thinking and writing (i.e., professing). That's the source of their salary, not from publishing in journals, which don't pay anything anyway. So Aaron's copying of journal articles did not mean that professor's lost their salary, that's so stupid.
Secondly, society did not pay Aaron and the gang to develop Reddit. They did so privately, and hence are entitled to private gain. Again contrast with professors. They are paid by the public, and don't deserve anything extra for publication (which is what they're paid to do anyway).
So, no, Aaron is decidedly not a hypocrite.
Go ahead and make all the forks you want.
But here's what I'd like to see:
-The ability to always be able to switch away from an errant application. That imples ...
-Not allowing apps to hog all input without an exit key (Alt+Tab or whatever).
-Keep a kill switch (XKill).
-The ability to restart the X (or whatever) system without killing all apps. Why can't the apps keep running and allow you to restart the graphics system (if required)?
-That implies keeping (or allowing) Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to restart the graphics system.
-Easy and fast network desktop access, if desired. This isn't just for people working at National Laboratories, but also just for accessing Grandma's computer and so forth.
Here's the way I imagine society works: Some among us produce food. Later, some start producing stuff (as in industry). Then we all notice we need knowledge to keep the economy going. So we set up higher education, and pay people (professors) so they can focus just on education, and leave the moneymaking to the rest of us.
So why is that that we have people still trying to make money off of education, when we're already paying for it anyway?!
When the taxpayers have already funded research, what's the justification for not having that research available to anybody and everybody?
All of this is compelling, but what about where you need high-performance disk? Up until virtualization, DB admins went crazy on various physical ways to optimize database disk access (spreading out on physical spindles, etc.). Now, you just get a virtual drive, what does that do to performance?
[Before anybody gives a response about Internet freedom, that's well and all, but for certain applications, you only need to have employees access a few websites--like say a corp HQ information system.]
There are many routers that have a way to blacklist certain sites and keywords, though that's basically useless (a few mL vs the ocean?).
Whitelisting would be much more handy, but most routers don't support it.
Not only that, but custom Linux router firmware doesn't (easily) support it. Not DDWrt or Tomato. OpenWrt: you're looking at compiling a lot of stuff yourself. Gargoyle does, but you're giving up a lot of OpenWrt features.
Not only that, but custom Linux router distros (meant for running on x86) like ClearOS and the like don't offer an easy whitelist solution, either. Easy would be something like offering an HTML setup page for the whitelist, and optionally, showing a "This page isn't allowed. 1) OK, 2) Request adding to whitelist" when someone requests an non-whitelisted page, and then the admin can easily click through the whitelist requests.
NOT easy: users having to call you up and then you have to vi the squid file.
Somebody must have figured this out by now?
Apropos:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/07/17/0335227/man-physically-assaulted-at-mcdonalds-for-wearing-digital-eye-glasses
Although highly sympathetic to your point, I am impelled by Slashdot pedantism. Sorry:
>"loose your privacy"
Would that be like letting loose your dog?
>Unlike smartphones, it is insanely obvious when Glass is recording because there's a bright red LED.
Talk about failing to rebut.
The guy you're responding to has identified a major problem with Google Glass. You're responding with a mere technical niggle.
All Android phones don't work like the Google Nexus, so why would you think all Glass implementations would work like the current demo model?
You really want to stake everything on an LED lighting up or not?
Would this be the right place to complain about evil modeswitching USB modems?
Used to be when you got a piece of hardware, you'd get a CD with the drivers on it. Later on, somebody got the idea to include USB modem drivers right on the device itself, since it's USB anyway.
The way they implement this is to make the device into a USB Storage Device upon bootup. Then, depending on circumstances, it switches the mode to a USB modem.
This is evil because the protocol isn't totally well defined, and it usually works well only on a particular version of Windows.
Linux tries to cope, but it doesn't always work.
The article which is the subject of this thread just seems to confirm that these companies just make it up as they go along, and then pump out millions of copies of the same thing.
I feel your pain, bro.
I think our only respite will be from the el-cheapo Chinese companies whose only desire is to pump out millions of pieces of cheap hardware and don't really care about snagging you on "services".
>Who new privacy was a feature which had to be added?
Yeah. That's why I had always believed the best platform for people like us was Nokia. Free maps, Linux-based OS, Qt-based API, no ad-based revenue model, therefore no need to violate your privacy.
Unfortunately, they went off the deep end with Elop and M$, so we're stuck trying to stick fingers in a dike to stop privacy leaks.
(From a Linux geek still happy with a "dumbphone", but considering Android)
Can you use Android without serving yourself up to Google?
Is it true that you have to have a Google account to start up your phone?
Can you (easily) install apps by just downloading them to your computer and then transferring to the phone?
Do you have to give up your credit card info and name/address to sign up for the Google app store? (In light of the recent story that app developers get all your info, I don't know if I want every 2-bit app to get that info. The info itself could be worth more than the 99 cents for the application.)
Also, do free apps also get your personal information?
Any hints or links re: using Android without the all-seeing eye?
Builtin app replacement recommendations?
And what provider would that be?
I'm using Ubuntu because 1) Redhat basically abandoned the desktop, and 2) I need a more recent stable platform (Ubuntu Server) than RHell.
But I definitely agree about the emerging pattern of Canonical doing stuff just for the sake of it, spending money like crazy, and then wondering why it doesn't make any profit$.
>How is Skype going to know where my PC is?
1. License a rootkit from Sony
2. ??
3. Don't profit!
What's wrong with Upstart? Doesn't it restart services like it's supposed to?
How would it be better?
For most intents and purposes, it would simply cease to exist (outside of .edu and a few .org). As opposed to the inconvenience of having to view an ad but still being able to read almost all the newspapers of the world, you'd be limited to, basically, Geocities-style sites, updated every few months or so.