This is the second time this week I've seen someone compare an early film to when Edison was working. Apart from being famous for abusing the patent system what has Edison got to do with early movies?!
You are a genius. I can only add that I have never seen a GUI that made a non-graphical task easier in the long run than a good text-based system. Even for graphics, sometimes the command line beats the mouse (eg, tell your system to take every four photos in a directory, combine them onto an a4 sheet with.5cm between them, save the result as x.master.jpg, and then send them to the Epson; and do it while I get on with some human work).
Not to mention the complete pain in the arse it is to be ssh'ing into a box and discover the printer config needs to display on X to let you select the printer you need.
The music companies see the net as a way to distribute without having to share the cover price with the retailers. They want to keep the cover price the same or even higher (eg iTunes' 99c per track gouging) and thereby increase their turnover by about a third at a stroke.
That's what this is about: control of the distribution channel, not sales. Effectivly this is a huge cartel actiion to make it illegal to use the 'net as a distribution method for music unless the price is fixed at the cartel's approved levels (and you've paid your cartel membership dues, of course).
it is simply unreasonable to assume that SCO's case is completely baseless. These are intelligent, wealthy people, and they did not get that way by filing groundless lawsuits.
It is simply unreasonable to assume that drug barons have no legal basis for their activities. These are intelligent, wealthy people, and they did not get that way by risking jail.
Wise up. SCO's claims ARE totally baseless and they are relying on people like you being fooled into the old "no smoke without fire" routine to fork out your cash. It's called "Fraud" and it happens every day, sometimes it's done by idiots, and sometimes it's done by clever people but it's still fraud.
The portage system on Gentoo is worth using regardless of the question of source or pre-compiled and is the easiest system to maintain that I've found so far. I would suggest sharing the portage directory over nfs/samba etc, using one turbo-nutter-bastard machine to download and make pentium binaries and have all the slave machines just install those binaries, so: both really.
"Marketing is not Apple's strong suit"? That's what they do best!
Good marketing=high sales, poor marketing=low sales. Historically Apple have only had good sales while the competition is playing catch up. Once their first mover advantage is over they consistantly fail to hold market share. If you're not winning market share how the hell can you be good at marketing, ESPECIALLY when your engineers consistanly produce the best products in that market?
They just aren't targetting what you think they should.
If Apple could market like it can design it would rule the compuer world now (and for the last 20 years). They have no idea when it comes to getting something out to "the people". The iPod is doomed to death once afforable semi-clones appear.
I wish Apple would get it's finger out and bring quality computing to the masses but they've never even tried.
Microsoft fixed a vulnerabillity in their product that was pointed out to them in email, rather than ignoring it until it blew up in their face. ..
I think that if MS fixed it within two days of receiving an email it's a pretty safe bet that they had spotted it themselves two years ago and had been working on it ever since. Luckily, an email came in just before they finished and they got to look good.
TWW
Re:Alpha works great in Photoshop 8.0
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Gimp Hits 2.0
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Likewise, you could take RGB files to your Print Shop, and either be laughed out of the building, or have it end up looking like complete ass.
You obviously don't do any professional presswork yourself. People do bring RGB in all the time and laughing at them or making an ass of the piece is a good way to go hungry.
So instead of all the problems we have at the moment because there is so little room in the name spaces at the moment someone thinks its a good idea to have just one TLD ('cause who's either going to want to do without email or have a second level domain within.mail that doesn't match the second level name in their existing.com/.org.whatever space)?
It's very simple: because MS have a monopoly on computer OS's they can use that to capture dependant markets, ie markets for programs that run under that OS, by simply filling a niche by default bundling of their product, no matter how poor (Media Player being a prime example of third-rate MS software that for no good reason has become a major force in the marketplace). This is bad for the customer because it prevents new products from competing on either quality or price grounds; if they're not bundled and MS's program is then the game's over.
It's not really that MS have a duty to bundle other people's software, it's more that in a capitalist system they have a duty, or a requirement, to compete on a capitalist basis: in other words in a manner which produces the best deal for consumers by open competition - the so-called "American Way". The governmental view is that it's fair enough (although sadly not true) that they obtained their existing monopoly by being the best OS available but it's not okay for them to use that monopoly to prevent further competitive battles taking place. MS do not like the capitalist model (in fact, the reality is that they have never competed in the open market and won, having ridden to their current position on the back of IBM) and would much prefer a Stalinist system where the state mandates that all the people use the one approved system, enforced by DRM and controlled by one, unelected, man who is replaced only on his death. Basically, Microsoft is about as American in philosophy as as Fidel Castro.
Honda do not have a monopoly on car sales and so governments generally are not concerned about their arrangements for cd-players etc. If you don't like it then there's plenty of other car companies to choose from. Plus, of course, Honda are not as well known for bribing, lying and stealing and generally treating the law of their home country as an amusing joke as Microsoft is.
Finally, MS is a US company but they want to play hardball in the EU so that's the juristiction issue. MS don't have to sell their products in the EU, and I for one would be very happy if they didn't. Good riddance to bad rubbish, as we say.
There is exactly one thing holding Linux back from mainstream corporate and personal use:the lack of any unified and consistent message.
No, it's not being bundled with the hardware. Nothing else. KDE/GNOME both suck but any Linux system will give the corporate monkies the option of whichever bad-windows-rip-off they like but while Linux lags behind in # of installs it will lag behind in support and THAT's what corporation monkey-boys like.
Everything else in your post was based on the same mis-conception. Ask yourself this: would anyone have BOUGHT Windows 1, 2 or 3 to install on their computer? Of course not: they were shit, total 100% shit products that were unfit for the use of humans. When did Windows take off? When it got bundled. Why is Media Player of any interest in the market place when it is utterly crap? Because it's bundled. Why is IE even used today let alone the 90% market share holder when it is probably the worst browser still being developed? Because it's bundled. Bundled=big market share=nobody gets fired for buying it regardless of how bad it is. Quality is not a sales pitch in corporate IT sales; never was, never will be.
for wide adoption to ever succeed usability and intuitive design must take precedence.
This flies in the face of all the evidence which is that wide adoption comes from packaging the software (including the OS) with the hardware. Windows is neither intuitive nor particularly well designed from a usability point of view (stick a new user in front of Windows some day, it's tragic!). It is, however very easy to get training and advice BECAUSE it is widespread. So there's a chicken and egg situation for would-be competitors but the way MS solved it, and still solves it for things like Media Player - an absolute dog of a program from a usability/intuition standpoint - is to make sure that the software is ubiquitous (sp?. They know that the books, training courses et al will follow.
You'd be better off learning plain TeX. It's much more flexible and powerful AND easier to learn. LaTeX is bloatware with few advantages unless you are only ever going to work within formats that other people have already designed and that's unlikely.
Okay, now off-topic but all Smalltalk did was put these things together into one package
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" I. Newton
Sometimes the ability to see the power of combining things is the stroke of genius.
As to the type of OO, I've never used Java or C# but C++ and SIMULA are not really OO. The very reason they are successful in terms of user numbers is that they allow you to go into non-OO mode at a whim instead of forcing consistancy. This makes them easier to learn and use but it's arguable whether it's a good thing or not in the long run.
So trust us, here's a bunch of distros that are all only about 40% harder to install and run than Windows and when you're done they will run more or less 80% of what you originally intended Windows to run more or less 90% as well.
Successfully suing IBM or others re Linux is not a precedent for suing any 4.4BSD derivative.
Perhaps I should have said "pretext". I'm not arguing that there would be any merit in such a case, but there isn't any in the Linux case either and look at the trouble they're causing.
Because these cases will all involve lenghty technical argument it is almost impossible for a judge to simply throw them out as the baseless stock-pumping exercises they would really be, so no matter the realities of SCO's position they are have the potential to really disrupt the activities of anyone that MS, er... SCO see as a competitor.
As regards the facts of the AT&&T settlement you have to remember that SCO are liars and crooks and have no interest in what that settlement said; their only aim is to start law cases and thereby disrupt their targets while the legal process takes months and years to toss them out on their ears.
Speaking from experience, the law is very poor at handling people with no morals at all. The assuption that both sides have some validity and honesty in their arguments gives people like Darl a very undeserved strength in court at least for a while.
SCO's entire argument is that it owns ALL Unix-like systems. If they get Linux they'll use that as precedent for *BSD, OS-X and anything else they can get a hold of. The money they could make if they get away with this would put MS's contribution in the shade.
SCO are totally dishonest and they will repeat the "Linux is ours" routine until someone stops them.
Wouldn't a cheaper solution than buying the licenses have been so switch from linux to freebsd?
They've already said they'll be coming after BSD once they've got Linux so it would be a lot of hassle for a short term gain. If they can win on Linux (which I doubt) they can win against *BSD.
Yes, yes, I know that one can raise all sorts of questions about boundaries and what counts as derived works,
Or, to put it another way, it raises all sorts of possibilities for lawyers to start suing developers that draw the boundary somewhere the lawyer thinks he can squeeze some cash out of. THAT'S the problem!
As someone that's used Linux as their only desktop on nearly a dozen machines for four years Love said nothing of the slightest interest to me.
Linux already works fine as a desktop; what most potential switchers need are a few good apps to fill the role of Quickbooks, Exchange, iMovie and a handfull of other programs. They're happy with any schedular as long as their ogg/mp3 player doesn't skip while loading a big spreadsheet.
As to GNOME and KDE? Well, they're fine if you think all Microsoft's HCI mistakes are outweighed by the need to make it easy for their users to switch to an equally badly designed system. I don't and so I couldn't care less about what the programmers on these projects are wasting their time on this week.
My wish list for the desktop is: a decent file system which stores meta-data beyond the file name and date stamp, a program which decodes the data in Quickbook files so I can import into Gnucash, and a single, working, font system. None of these are very urgent but they're all more urgent than anything mentioned in the article.
Slashdot Mirror
I mean, I don't even know anyone that has a Yahoo email address.
TWW
This is the second time this week I've seen someone compare an early film to when Edison was working. Apart from being famous for abusing the patent system what has Edison got to do with early movies?!
Not to mention the complete pain in the arse it is to be ssh'ing into a box and discover the printer config needs to display on X to let you select the printer you need.
TWW
That's what this is about: control of the distribution channel, not sales. Effectivly this is a huge cartel actiion to make it illegal to use the 'net as a distribution method for music unless the price is fixed at the cartel's approved levels (and you've paid your cartel membership dues, of course).
Just thought I'd mention it.
TWW
It is simply unreasonable to assume that drug barons have no legal basis for their activities. These are intelligent, wealthy people, and they did not get that way by risking jail.
Wise up. SCO's claims ARE totally baseless and they are relying on people like you being fooled into the old "no smoke without fire" routine to fork out your cash. It's called "Fraud" and it happens every day, sometimes it's done by idiots, and sometimes it's done by clever people but it's still fraud.
TWW
TWW
Good marketing=high sales, poor marketing=low sales. Historically Apple have only had good sales while the competition is playing catch up. Once their first mover advantage is over they consistantly fail to hold market share. If you're not winning market share how the hell can you be good at marketing, ESPECIALLY when your engineers consistanly produce the best products in that market?
They just aren't targetting what you think they should.
Yeah: people.
TWW
I wish Apple would get it's finger out and bring quality computing to the masses but they've never even tried.
TWW
I think that if MS fixed it within two days of receiving an email it's a pretty safe bet that they had spotted it themselves two years ago and had been working on it ever since. Luckily, an email came in just before they finished and they got to look good.
TWW
You obviously don't do any professional presswork yourself. People do bring RGB in all the time and laughing at them or making an ass of the piece is a good way to go hungry.
TWW
Just bloody stupid.
TWW
TWW
It's not really that MS have a duty to bundle other people's software, it's more that in a capitalist system they have a duty, or a requirement, to compete on a capitalist basis: in other words in a manner which produces the best deal for consumers by open competition - the so-called "American Way". The governmental view is that it's fair enough (although sadly not true) that they obtained their existing monopoly by being the best OS available but it's not okay for them to use that monopoly to prevent further competitive battles taking place. MS do not like the capitalist model (in fact, the reality is that they have never competed in the open market and won, having ridden to their current position on the back of IBM) and would much prefer a Stalinist system where the state mandates that all the people use the one approved system, enforced by DRM and controlled by one, unelected, man who is replaced only on his death. Basically, Microsoft is about as American in philosophy as as Fidel Castro.
Honda do not have a monopoly on car sales and so governments generally are not concerned about their arrangements for cd-players etc. If you don't like it then there's plenty of other car companies to choose from. Plus, of course, Honda are not as well known for bribing, lying and stealing and generally treating the law of their home country as an amusing joke as Microsoft is.
Finally, MS is a US company but they want to play hardball in the EU so that's the juristiction issue. MS don't have to sell their products in the EU, and I for one would be very happy if they didn't. Good riddance to bad rubbish, as we say.
TWW
No, it's not being bundled with the hardware. Nothing else. KDE/GNOME both suck but any Linux system will give the corporate monkies the option of whichever bad-windows-rip-off they like but while Linux lags behind in # of installs it will lag behind in support and THAT's what corporation monkey-boys like.
Everything else in your post was based on the same mis-conception. Ask yourself this: would anyone have BOUGHT Windows 1, 2 or 3 to install on their computer? Of course not: they were shit, total 100% shit products that were unfit for the use of humans. When did Windows take off? When it got bundled. Why is Media Player of any interest in the market place when it is utterly crap? Because it's bundled. Why is IE even used today let alone the 90% market share holder when it is probably the worst browser still being developed? Because it's bundled. Bundled=big market share=nobody gets fired for buying it regardless of how bad it is. Quality is not a sales pitch in corporate IT sales; never was, never will be.
TWW
This flies in the face of all the evidence which is that wide adoption comes from packaging the software (including the OS) with the hardware. Windows is neither intuitive nor particularly well designed from a usability point of view (stick a new user in front of Windows some day, it's tragic!). It is, however very easy to get training and advice BECAUSE it is widespread. So there's a chicken and egg situation for would-be competitors but the way MS solved it, and still solves it for things like Media Player - an absolute dog of a program from a usability/intuition standpoint - is to make sure that the software is ubiquitous (sp?. They know that the books, training courses et al will follow.
TWW
TWW
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" I. Newton
Sometimes the ability to see the power of combining things is the stroke of genius.
As to the type of OO, I've never used Java or C# but C++ and SIMULA are not really OO. The very reason they are successful in terms of user numbers is that they allow you to go into non-OO mode at a whim instead of forcing consistancy. This makes them easier to learn and use but it's arguable whether it's a good thing or not in the long run.
TWW
TWW
For 0% of the price and 100% more freedom.
TWW
Perhaps I should have said "pretext". I'm not arguing that there would be any merit in such a case, but there isn't any in the Linux case either and look at the trouble they're causing.
Because these cases will all involve lenghty technical argument it is almost impossible for a judge to simply throw them out as the baseless stock-pumping exercises they would really be, so no matter the realities of SCO's position they are have the potential to really disrupt the activities of anyone that MS, er... SCO see as a competitor.
As regards the facts of the AT&&T settlement you have to remember that SCO are liars and crooks and have no interest in what that settlement said; their only aim is to start law cases and thereby disrupt their targets while the legal process takes months and years to toss them out on their ears.
Speaking from experience, the law is very poor at handling people with no morals at all. The assuption that both sides have some validity and honesty in their arguments gives people like Darl a very undeserved strength in court at least for a while.
TWW
SCO are totally dishonest and they will repeat the "Linux is ours" routine until someone stops them.
TWW
They've already said they'll be coming after BSD once they've got Linux so it would be a lot of hassle for a short term gain. If they can win on Linux (which I doubt) they can win against *BSD.
TWW
TWW
Or, to put it another way, it raises all sorts of possibilities for lawyers to start suing developers that draw the boundary somewhere the lawyer thinks he can squeeze some cash out of. THAT'S the problem!
TWW
Linux already works fine as a desktop; what most potential switchers need are a few good apps to fill the role of Quickbooks, Exchange, iMovie and a handfull of other programs. They're happy with any schedular as long as their ogg/mp3 player doesn't skip while loading a big spreadsheet.
As to GNOME and KDE? Well, they're fine if you think all Microsoft's HCI mistakes are outweighed by the need to make it easy for their users to switch to an equally badly designed system. I don't and so I couldn't care less about what the programmers on these projects are wasting their time on this week.
My wish list for the desktop is: a decent file system which stores meta-data beyond the file name and date stamp, a program which decodes the data in Quickbook files so I can import into Gnucash, and a single, working, font system. None of these are very urgent but they're all more urgent than anything mentioned in the article.
TWW