Does this million dollar buyout give the company to continue "illegally" obtaining Mp3s off the internet and distributing them on their server?
Or is this going to become a ritual? Bribe the RIAA, get off the hook for a while, bribe the RIAA, get off the hook for a while...
If they did get a future use clause, I'd love to see the agreement: "The RIAA hereby gives permission to the following company to download as much as they want! Rock on!"
Instead of a wired cat, maybe we should send the Taliban a wired Bonsai Kitten. Considering their love of life, they'll enjoy it, and as a room decoration, it's second to none.
Hey, you make valid points yourself. I'm not really making an argument that Linux is too hard (see my other post in the thread). In fact, I don't believe that at all, and I am absolutely willing to chalk it up to my inexpereince, and I'm striving to be more knowledgable.
But my point is that is isn't 1-2-3. And I don't really think there needs to be more evidence on that, because it's practically taken for granted. And from that, it isn't a competitor for Windows, and espically not a more user friendly WindowsXP.
I think the goal needs to be to design an operating system that isn't Windows, but is as simple as Windows, and 100% compatable with Windows, so the average user can use it. My 'can't tell a toaster from a computer Mom', can make do with Linux as is, because she wouldn't use anything but the most basic functions... Internet and e-mail. Hell, Linux is better for her, since she can't run those damn.exe e-mail attachments... But the moment Mom tries to install a program... (And my Mom's smart, she'll get bored with just e-mail and internet...)
You know, I'd say that the areas I've having problems with have nothing to do with the complexity, or unworkability of Linux systems, but rather, my inexperience with the OS. I mean, I've been working with MS-DOS since I was 13 or so, before Windows 3.1, so the idea that my "first" hard drive is C:\, and so on, is pretty ingrained into my head. Of course, this means that the idea of/dev/hda1 or anything like that is completely alien. But again, I'll chalk that up to inexperience... If I (or anyone with computer knowledge) use Linux for a significant amount of time, it'll be second nature.
So if we discount that, and say that no problem I have now can't be overcome by spending time on the system, we're still left with the main problem, or at least what I think is the main problem -- You can't use the GUI for everything. Case in point: When I loaded up RH7.1 for the first time, I had to figure out how to read my other HD... I had no idea what 'mount' was, how to use it, or that I needed to use it. Same with my CD drive. And in order to get it to come up every time, I had to go find something called fstab and figure out how to open it.
In Windows, these things are automatic. And even when they aren't, Device Manager does a pretty good job of helping to troubleshoot. The IRQ, DMA, I/O information is all right there. It's not foolproof, but all you need it a little idea of what to look for, and almost anyone can do it.
I think Linux is lacking the 'anyone can do it' part. Anyone can install it (even my roommate, who messed up his MBR and almost got into worlds of trouble), but not anyone can use it. I don't think Windows 3.1 had the same appeal at Windows 95, for the sole reason that you frequently needed to go back to an MS-DOS prompt to get things done. Personally, I think that's where Linux is now. Until you make the terminal obsolete, it will never be a replacement for Windows.
Everything in Windows is simple, automated, and getting more and more effective. In doing so, it sacrifices personal choice/freedom for ease and usability. Seemingly, Linux does the opposite -- superior choice and freedom, but it isn't easy, and usability is up for debate.
I don't mean to bash Linux, or claim that Windows is better, or should be used more. I have Red Hat installed on my system so that maybe, just maybe, I can stop myself from getting screwed by MS. The activation idea, Passport, the built in features, I don't want that crap. I want the choice of using Nero, or Roxio to burn CDs... I don't want to be bombarded all over the place by MSN ads. So I do what I can, which isn't much.
The issue is not people like me, who use Windows because we don't really want to take the time, day in day out, to configure a Linux system to supplant MS as our desktop. The issue is that everyday, someone out there buys a brand new computer for the first time. And it comes complete with Microsoft Windows. And the only reason for that is because if a company like Dell, or IBM, or CompUSA puts Mandrake on a system, it won't sell. And as it is now, it will never sell -- It's incompatable with things at work or school or I can't run games, or whatever. Or better still "Well, everyone else has Windows, so there must be something good about it, right?" It isn't just marketing. Linux isn't even in the game.
It's like the cliche goes... 'If it was easy, everyone would do it.' Linux may not be rocket science, but it's nowhere near as easy as Windows.
The problem, as it always has been, is that people can't use Linux.
Hell, ask anyone... Using Linux probably has never been easier. I, for the first time, installed Red Hat 7.1 a few weeks ago... Until then, I had been a diehard Windows user... Not because I wanted to be, mind you, but because I didn't think I could use Linux, or that it could replace my desktop.
So I yanked out my Windows HD, put in a clean one, and installed Red Hat. Hell, it astonishingly simple. The biggest problem I had was KDE or Gnome? But then I started using it...
I'm not a completely naive Windows user... I mean, I read Slashdot, right? But when you have to spend 75% of your time reading websites and manuals and going back and forth to websites and trying to figure out the terminal, and... Well, it's frustrating. Too frustrating.WindowsXP makes things easier for the average, not so bright computer user. People won't have to upgrade, they'll buy new PCs with XP already on it. And they won't even bother to ask "Can I get Red Hat, or Mandrake, or Slackware on that?" And the reason is simple. Despite the fact the MS is a monopolistic megolith, along with groupls like the MPAA and the RIAA and others who eat away at people's freedoms (to choose, to speak, whatever), they (WE!) will tolerate it because there isn't a better choice. And until someone designs a new operating system, one that can run Windows programs, and offers the ease of use that Windows does, you'll never have a real alternative to Windows.
I'm an economist(-in-training). I know that competition drives prices down, and forces product quality up. But if someone doesn't come along and design an alternative, all we'll ever get to do is sit here, bitch about it on Slashdot, and feel sorry for people that don't know the difference.
I'm going to keep using Red Hat. Not full time, not even half time. But I'm going to try to learn to be proficient on something that isn't Windows, so I don't have to use Windows. But in the end, it's just a hobby, and I'll keep coming back to/dev/hda1, where I keep Windows.
The composition of the body doesn't matter, at least, not in the way you're talking about. What matters is the total mass -- As you'll find in any physics textbook, gravity between two objects is determined by the formula GM1M2/R-Squared, or in the case of one object being significantly larger than another, i.e. a person to the Earth/Moon, or the Earth to the Sun, simply GM/R^2, where M is the mass of the big object.
When the object collided with the earth, both "shattered," so to speak. But much of the mass of Earth stayed where it was, while some of it was shot off. The Earth, or, what was left of it, had enough gravity to keep some of the pieces that were trying to break free in place, and the angular momentum (which was, of course, conserved), put the object into orbit. Which is why, of course, the moon doesn't just come crashing down. Or why we don't just get sucked straight into the Sun.
Did we really need a whole research group to figure this... uhhh, hold on.
(/me picks up the phone)
Hello? Yeah, speaking. No, I don't want to subscribe to your newspaper. I get my news from Slashdot and CNN. Stop calling here!
(/me slams down the phone)
Sorry about that. Uhhhh, what was I talking about?
Obviously, you don't know anything about Ellison. His asshole is a little too tight to allow a mistake like that.
Ellison used all caps on purpose, because he knows is irritating to read, and knows that it conveys anger and shouting, which is exactly how I can envision him delivering this speech.
In and of itself, this is part of what makes Ellison such a great author, the innate ability to convey emotion and feeling in his writing.
Just saying.
-TMO
Slashdot Mirror
What makes the Fields medal special, in case you don't know is that:
a) There is no Nobel Prize for mathematics.
b) The Fields Medal is only awarded once every four years, vs. every year for the Nobel.
It's truly an achievement.
No, see, that's the problem...
Do not try and find the solution. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth: There is no solution.
Does this million dollar buyout give the company to continue "illegally" obtaining Mp3s off the internet and distributing them on their server?
Or is this going to become a ritual? Bribe the RIAA, get off the hook for a while, bribe the RIAA, get off the hook for a while...
If they did get a future use clause, I'd love to see the agreement: "The RIAA hereby gives permission to the following company to download as much as they want! Rock on!"
Instead of a wired cat, maybe we should send the Taliban a wired Bonsai Kitten. Considering their love of life, they'll enjoy it, and as a room decoration, it's second to none.
http://www.bonsaikitten.com
Hey, you make valid points yourself. I'm not really making an argument that Linux is too hard (see my other post in the thread). In fact, I don't believe that at all, and I am absolutely willing to chalk it up to my inexpereince, and I'm striving to be more knowledgable.
But my point is that is isn't 1-2-3. And I don't really think there needs to be more evidence on that, because it's practically taken for granted. And from that, it isn't a competitor for Windows, and espically not a more user friendly WindowsXP.
I think the goal needs to be to design an operating system that isn't Windows, but is as simple as Windows, and 100% compatable with Windows, so the average user can use it. My 'can't tell a toaster from a computer Mom', can make do with Linux as is, because she wouldn't use anything but the most basic functions... Internet and e-mail. Hell, Linux is better for her, since she can't run those damn .exe e-mail attachments... But the moment Mom tries to install a program... (And my Mom's smart, she'll get bored with just e-mail and internet...)
That's all I'm trying to say here, I think.
-Josh
You know, I'd say that the areas I've having problems with have nothing to do with the complexity, or unworkability of Linux systems, but rather, my inexperience with the OS. I mean, I've been working with MS-DOS since I was 13 or so, before Windows 3.1, so the idea that my "first" hard drive is C:\, and so on, is pretty ingrained into my head. Of course, this means that the idea of /dev/hda1 or anything like that is completely alien. But again, I'll chalk that up to inexperience... If I (or anyone with computer knowledge) use Linux for a significant amount of time, it'll be second nature.
So if we discount that, and say that no problem I have now can't be overcome by spending time on the system, we're still left with the main problem, or at least what I think is the main problem -- You can't use the GUI for everything. Case in point: When I loaded up RH7.1 for the first time, I had to figure out how to read my other HD... I had no idea what 'mount' was, how to use it, or that I needed to use it. Same with my CD drive. And in order to get it to come up every time, I had to go find something called fstab and figure out how to open it.
In Windows, these things are automatic. And even when they aren't, Device Manager does a pretty good job of helping to troubleshoot. The IRQ, DMA, I/O information is all right there. It's not foolproof, but all you need it a little idea of what to look for, and almost anyone can do it.
I think Linux is lacking the 'anyone can do it' part. Anyone can install it (even my roommate, who messed up his MBR and almost got into worlds of trouble), but not anyone can use it. I don't think Windows 3.1 had the same appeal at Windows 95, for the sole reason that you frequently needed to go back to an MS-DOS prompt to get things done. Personally, I think that's where Linux is now. Until you make the terminal obsolete, it will never be a replacement for Windows.
Everything in Windows is simple, automated, and getting more and more effective. In doing so, it sacrifices personal choice/freedom for ease and usability. Seemingly, Linux does the opposite -- superior choice and freedom, but it isn't easy, and usability is up for debate.
I don't mean to bash Linux, or claim that Windows is better, or should be used more. I have Red Hat installed on my system so that maybe, just maybe, I can stop myself from getting screwed by MS. The activation idea, Passport, the built in features, I don't want that crap. I want the choice of using Nero, or Roxio to burn CDs... I don't want to be bombarded all over the place by MSN ads. So I do what I can, which isn't much.
The issue is not people like me, who use Windows because we don't really want to take the time, day in day out, to configure a Linux system to supplant MS as our desktop. The issue is that everyday, someone out there buys a brand new computer for the first time. And it comes complete with Microsoft Windows. And the only reason for that is because if a company like Dell, or IBM, or CompUSA puts Mandrake on a system, it won't sell. And as it is now, it will never sell -- It's incompatable with things at work or school or I can't run games, or whatever. Or better still "Well, everyone else has Windows, so there must be something good about it, right?" It isn't just marketing. Linux isn't even in the game.
It's like the cliche goes... 'If it was easy, everyone would do it.' Linux may not be rocket science, but it's nowhere near as easy as Windows.
-Josh
Hell, ask anyone... Using Linux probably has never been easier. I, for the first time, installed Red Hat 7.1 a few weeks ago... Until then, I had been a diehard Windows user... Not because I wanted to be, mind you, but because I didn't think I could use Linux, or that it could replace my desktop.
So I yanked out my Windows HD, put in a clean one, and installed Red Hat. Hell, it astonishingly simple. The biggest problem I had was KDE or Gnome? But then I started using it...
I'm not a completely naive Windows user... I mean, I read Slashdot, right? But when you have to spend 75% of your time reading websites and manuals and going back and forth to websites and trying to figure out the terminal, and... Well, it's frustrating. Too frustrating.WindowsXP makes things easier for the average, not so bright computer user. People won't have to upgrade, they'll buy new PCs with XP already on it. And they won't even bother to ask "Can I get Red Hat, or Mandrake, or Slackware on that?" And the reason is simple. Despite the fact the MS is a monopolistic megolith, along with groupls like the MPAA and the RIAA and others who eat away at people's freedoms (to choose, to speak, whatever), they (WE!) will tolerate it because there isn't a better choice. And until someone designs a new operating system, one that can run Windows programs, and offers the ease of use that Windows does, you'll never have a real alternative to Windows.
I'm an economist(-in-training). I know that competition drives prices down, and forces product quality up. But if someone doesn't come along and design an alternative, all we'll ever get to do is sit here, bitch about it on Slashdot, and feel sorry for people that don't know the difference.
I'm going to keep using Red Hat. Not full time, not even half time. But I'm going to try to learn to be proficient on something that isn't Windows, so I don't have to use Windows. But in the end, it's just a hobby, and I'll keep coming back to /dev/hda1, where I keep Windows.
-Josh
The composition of the body doesn't matter, at least, not in the way you're talking about. What matters is the total mass -- As you'll find in any physics textbook, gravity between two objects is determined by the formula GM1M2/R-Squared, or in the case of one object being significantly larger than another, i.e. a person to the Earth/Moon, or the Earth to the Sun, simply GM/R^2, where M is the mass of the big object.
When the object collided with the earth, both "shattered," so to speak. But much of the mass of Earth stayed where it was, while some of it was shot off. The Earth, or, what was left of it, had enough gravity to keep some of the pieces that were trying to break free in place, and the angular momentum (which was, of course, conserved), put the object into orbit. Which is why, of course, the moon doesn't just come crashing down. Or why we don't just get sucked straight into the Sun.
Hooray for undergraduate Astronomy! :)
Did we really need a whole research group to figure this... uhhh, hold on. (/me picks up the phone) Hello? Yeah, speaking. No, I don't want to subscribe to your newspaper. I get my news from Slashdot and CNN. Stop calling here! (/me slams down the phone) Sorry about that. Uhhhh, what was I talking about?
Obviously, you don't know anything about Ellison. His asshole is a little too tight to allow a mistake like that. Ellison used all caps on purpose, because he knows is irritating to read, and knows that it conveys anger and shouting, which is exactly how I can envision him delivering this speech. In and of itself, this is part of what makes Ellison such a great author, the innate ability to convey emotion and feeling in his writing. Just saying. -TMO