Lets look at the history of ubiquity in the IT world. From the MS perspective.
IE. ( buggy, secutiry nightmare, Loosing ground fast to alternatives. ) ActiveX ( Attempt at ubiquity, buggy, security nightmare. Not copied )
A de-facto, ubiquitous standard has to maintain certain properties in order to stay in that postition. 1. Cost little to nothing 2. Be reliable 3. Be safe 4. Stay ahead of the competition in form and function
Haven't you just contradicted yourself? On the one hand, you have to acknowledge msie's ubiquity, on the other hand - according to your own post - you seem to claim that msie does not meet the standards you listed to be ubiquitous.
For example you claim that msie is a "buggy, secutiry nightmare" then you claim that standards for ubiquity that include: safe, reliable, and "ahead of the competition in form and function." So how has been msie been so ubiquitous for the last decade?
You want to be fair, and have no protectionist practices? Okay, when does India stop being protectionist? In case you didn't know, India is extremely protectionist.
And maybe India isn't wrong. I think it can be argued that it is the right, and responsibility of any nation to protect it's own national interests.
At the very least, it would be nice if US corporations stopped lying about the severe shortages of US workers. For example Microsoft wants to lay off Americans, and hire unlimited h1bs.
Microsoft Plans To Cut Jobs By 10 Percent The reality is, this should be no surprise to anyone currently in the technology sector. The industry is bleeding and other companies such as Yahoo, Google, Sun, and Sony recently had massive layoffs.
How can msft claim that there are not enough US workers, at the same time that msft is laying off US workers? Just last March, Bill Gates sat before the US congress and insisted that the US needed unlimited numbers of h1bs. Without those h1bs - we are constantly told - US companies will be forced to ship jobs offshore - because there are just not enough Americans to do the jobs.
As always, the pop-media, seems to play softball with msft. The pop-media reporters just nod their heads, and ignore the elephant in the living room.
Intuit has about 80% of the US SMB market, in spite of the fact that they suck. Intuits hates to fully support any non-microsoft platforms. I really wish there was a good alternative. Intuit actually has me hoping that microsoft's office-accounting will get some traction.
A f/oss alternative would be ideal. But, for some reason, there does not seem to be any worthwhile f/oss alternative.
I had xubuntu 8.1 running om my old HP ze4220 with 512mb or ram, and 1.7ghz celuron processor. I decided to try opensolaris 2008.5.
Xunbuntu won hands down, in every measurable way. I could never get music, or movies, to play on opensolaris. Also, I was never able to read.chm file on opensolaris. Xubuntu was also faster to install, and booted up faster. Opensolaris was not terrrible, it just wasn't as nice as xubuntu.
Neither OS could detect my wireless NIC. XP runs noticeably faster than either xubuntu or opensolaris, and xp does detect my wireless nic.
Please answer the following question sincerely: do you still believe in Santa Claus?
Please learn basics, GPL v2, v3 being a good start.
WTF? You are making no sense at all. I do understand the GPL. I also understand msft. Therefore, it is easy for me to see how msft is constantly trying to undermine the GPL, and anything else that may someday threaten msft's monopoloy.
BTW: I am not saying msft has a monolopy, that was the US DoJ. And msft using "Tonya Harding tactics" are the words of a US federal judge.
I have followed the msft/scox-scam for over five years. I have also followed the msft/acacia scam, and the msft ooxml scam. The msft/novl scam is just msft up it's old tricks.
If you are a UNIX/Linux sysadmin, you may find that perl code looks more unix-like. Also, as a practical matter, perl is far more popular for unix sysadmin than python, so you are more likely to have to work with perl scripts.
These days, perl is essentially a requirement for unix sysadmin jobs - that is not true of python.
As I understand it, Intuit owns about 80% of the US SMB accounting market, the other 20% is split between Microsoft and Sage. Everything else combined, does not have enough of a user base to even register - which is a huge problem when it comes to support issues.
By support, I don't just mean phone support. I mean being able to find people who know, and accept, the product: accountants, consultants, employees, and third party developers. There are also issues of worthwhile documentation and training.
With Intuit, that sort of support is no problem: Intuit developer network, Quickbooks consultant certification program, hundreds of third party add-on products. Intuit is widely accepted, and recommended, by accountants. There are hundreds of books, and training programs, for Intuit products. And Intuit is supported by a real company.
Without a worthwhile SMB accounting application for Linux, I don't see how linux can compete in the SMB market.
I have a brother-in-law named Dave. One day Dave's daughter comes home and says: "look dad, my teacher gave me this free student edition of ms-office 2003." Not knowing any better Dave installs it on the family PC, and just accepts all the defaults.
Three months later, the trial period ends, and Dave can not access his outlook email. I tried an outlook backup, and uninstalling the crapware, and re-installing Dave's ms-office 2000 - it wouldn't work. I had to completely re-build Dave's PC. But, nothing could read outlook trial 2003 email. I had to install the crapware on another PC, read the old.pst file in, save the email in another format, then move the email to Dave's rebuilt PC, then rebuild the other computer. When msft tells us "try before you buy" they don't mean it to be an option.
>>professional freelance web development rates in US and Canada start at $30/hr for complete beginners
Now I know you're lying. I live in Denver, and I can assure you that I can hire a "complete beginner" for *way* less than $30 a hour, any day of the week.
I don't know, but it looks to me like I can hire all the offshore web developers that I want for $2 an hour. I have seen job ads for web developers that ask for a bachelor's degree, and loads of professional experience - in several technologies - for $14 an hour (part time, no benefits). I know there a lot of 15 year old web developers, who are actually very talented.
Frankly, it looks to me like web developers. and web-developer wannabees are not a dime-a-dozen, but a dime-a-gross.
>>Crappy & lazy programmers are the ones who bring up this argument.
Wrong. Python's indentation problem makes the code *much* less portable. You can not look at code developed by somebody else and determine if that person used tabs or spaces, or some combination - not without a hex dump or something. You can not always used emailed code, or copy and paste code from a newsgroup, or forum, or web-site.
Python is nice language, but please don't kid yourself. The whitespace issue is a real problem.
Why whitespace really is a problem
on
Python 3.0 Released
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
>>Any coder worth his salt is already indenting his code
As long as you are using your own code, and stick to your own conventions, then it's not a problem.
But what about when you are working with code from somebody else? You can not just look at it and tell if the original developer used spaces, or tabs. You have to do a hex dump, or something - what a pain.
And what if you want to cut and paste from a website? Or email code? Or post code to a news group, or whatever? Whitespace can be an issue in any of those cases.
I believe that even Guido has admitted the forced whitespace was a mistake.
I installed OpenSolaris on my laptop about one week ago.
Laptop: 1.7mhz celeron, 512mb ram. Previous OS: Xubuntu. IMO: OpenSolaris loses by a mile.
OpenSolaris installation was easy, but very slow. It hangs at 99% for hours. This is a well know bug. OpenSolaris was noticeably slower than xubuntu. Bootup and shutdown are especially slow. The worst problem is applications, I can not find a chm reader, or mp3 player that works - on xubuntu (or any linux) this is a cinch. The applications that come with OpenSolaris are old, for example firefox 2.0. After installation, I had additional configuration to get OpenSolaris on the internet, usually linux does not require such additional configuration. I find package management in solaris to be much difficult than with any debian based, or redhat based, linux. HW detection was not a problem for me with either linux, or opensolaris.
I installed OpenSolaris for the learning experience, so I am getting that. Although it may just be a personal preference, I dislike the whole Solaris way of doing anything. Ironically, the Linux CLI, directory hierarchy, and configuration files, are a lot closer to generic UNIX than Solaris - especially Solaris 10. It might be easier for me to learn solaris, if I didn't already know some unix and linux. These days, solaris is practically it's own OS, as opposed to a version of UNIX.
Slashdot Mirror
Wouldn't that be even better than the two other options you listed? Isn't competition what we (the consumers) are looking for?
Would you consider Tonya Handing to be a great competitor?
Lets look at the history of ubiquity in the IT world. From the MS perspective.
IE. ( buggy, secutiry nightmare, Loosing ground fast to alternatives. )
ActiveX ( Attempt at ubiquity, buggy, security nightmare. Not copied )
A de-facto, ubiquitous standard has to maintain certain properties in order to stay in that postition.
1. Cost little to nothing
2. Be reliable
3. Be safe
4. Stay ahead of the competition in form and function
Haven't you just contradicted yourself? On the one hand, you have to acknowledge msie's ubiquity, on the other hand - according to your own post - you seem to claim that msie does not meet the standards you listed to be ubiquitous.
For example you claim that msie is a "buggy, secutiry nightmare" then you claim that standards for ubiquity that include: safe, reliable, and "ahead of the competition in form and function." So how has been msie been so ubiquitous for the last decade?
Isn't that sort of thing what msft usually does? Msft just has to create a de-facto standard, that will not be supported in any foss product.
You want to be fair, and have no protectionist practices? Okay, when does India stop being protectionist? In case you didn't know, India is extremely protectionist.
And maybe India isn't wrong. I think it can be argued that it is the right, and responsibility of any nation to protect it's own national interests.
At the very least, it would be nice if US corporations stopped lying about the severe shortages of US workers. For example Microsoft wants to lay off Americans, and hire unlimited h1bs.
Microsoft Plans To Cut Jobs By 10 Percent
The reality is, this should be no surprise to anyone currently in the technology sector. The industry is bleeding and other companies such as Yahoo, Google, Sun, and Sony recently had massive layoffs.
http://www.newsoxy.com/microsoft/article11527.html
How can msft claim that there are not enough US workers, at the same time that msft is laying off US workers? Just last March, Bill Gates sat before the US congress and insisted that the US needed unlimited numbers of h1bs. Without those h1bs - we are constantly told - US companies will be forced to ship jobs offshore - because there are just not enough Americans to do the jobs.
As always, the pop-media, seems to play softball with msft. The pop-media reporters just nod their heads, and ignore the elephant in the living room.
I guess the fun and games just never end.
Intuit has about 80% of the US SMB market, in spite of the fact that they suck. Intuits hates to fully support any non-microsoft platforms. I really wish there was a good alternative. Intuit actually has me hoping that microsoft's office-accounting will get some traction.
A f/oss alternative would be ideal. But, for some reason, there does not seem to be any worthwhile f/oss alternative.
By Kenn Amdahl
Good introduction to electronics.
I had xubuntu 8.1 running om my old HP ze4220 with 512mb or ram, and 1.7ghz celuron processor. I decided to try opensolaris 2008.5.
Xunbuntu won hands down, in every measurable way. I could never get music, or movies, to play on opensolaris. Also, I was never able to read .chm file on opensolaris. Xubuntu was also faster to install, and booted up faster. Opensolaris was not terrrible, it just wasn't as nice as xubuntu.
Neither OS could detect my wireless NIC. XP runs noticeably faster than either xubuntu or opensolaris, and xp does detect my wireless nic.
Again, just my experience.
Then please explain why the deal was needed?
>>Why is this marked as TROLL??
Because msft shills take over slashdot anytime msft thinks it's important to quash discussions that msft might find unflattering.
Typical msft "Tonya Harding" tactics - just like the msft/novl scam.
If anybody claims that the deal was not a scam, then please explain why the deal was needed?
Anybody else notice that posts that are not favorable to the msft/novl deal are modded down as troll or flamebait?
Isn't it funny how that happens whenever there is a issue that is important to msft? Like the ooxml scam, or msft's vista pos?
Please answer the following question sincerely: do you still believe in Santa Claus?
Please learn basics, GPL v2, v3 being a good start.
WTF? You are making no sense at all. I do understand the GPL. I also understand msft. Therefore, it is easy for me to see how msft is constantly trying to undermine the GPL, and anything else that may someday threaten msft's monopoloy.
BTW: I am not saying msft has a monolopy, that was the US DoJ. And msft using "Tonya Harding tactics" are the words of a US federal judge.
I have followed the msft/scox-scam for over five years. I have also followed the msft/acacia scam, and the msft ooxml scam. The msft/novl scam is just msft up it's old tricks.
If the ms/novell deal was not an ms scam to make all other linux distros illegal, then what was the point of the deal?
And why hasn't novell offered any good explaination?
Deal is between M$ and Novell. Between you (as user) and Novell stands GPL. Users are NOT affected by the deal.
No offense: but what a stupid thing to post.
If I am a linux user, then Microsoft's attempts to make all distros - except for msft approved distros - illegal, certainty could affect me.
I personally program in Perl, watch Flash movies and use ODF
Doesn't every msft shill post something like that?
This happens everytime a msft hot-button issue is posted. Slashdot gets flooded with msft shills.
Thanks a lot.
If you are a UNIX/Linux sysadmin, you may find that perl code looks more unix-like. Also, as a practical matter, perl is far more popular for unix sysadmin than python, so you are more likely to have to work with perl scripts.
These days, perl is essentially a requirement for unix sysadmin jobs - that is not true of python.
IMO: it does not have to be free, just reasonably priced.
Web-apps can be difficult to install, that is one of the problems that I have with LedgerSMB, and OpenERP.
I don't know of any.
As I understand it, Intuit owns about 80% of the US SMB accounting market, the other 20% is split between Microsoft and Sage. Everything else combined, does not have enough of a user base to even register - which is a huge problem when it comes to support issues.
By support, I don't just mean phone support. I mean being able to find people who know, and accept, the product: accountants, consultants, employees, and third party developers. There are also issues of worthwhile documentation and training.
With Intuit, that sort of support is no problem: Intuit developer network, Quickbooks consultant certification program, hundreds of third party add-on products. Intuit is widely accepted, and recommended, by accountants. There are hundreds of books, and training programs, for Intuit products. And Intuit is supported by a real company.
Without a worthwhile SMB accounting application for Linux, I don't see how linux can compete in the SMB market.
I have a brother-in-law named Dave. One day Dave's daughter comes home and says: "look dad, my teacher gave me this free student edition of ms-office 2003." Not knowing any better Dave installs it on the family PC, and just accepts all the defaults.
Three months later, the trial period ends, and Dave can not access his outlook email. I tried an outlook backup, and uninstalling the crapware, and re-installing Dave's ms-office 2000 - it wouldn't work. I had to completely re-build Dave's PC. But, nothing could read outlook trial 2003 email. I had to install the crapware on another PC, read the old .pst file in, save the email in another format, then move the email to Dave's rebuilt PC, then rebuild the other computer. When msft tells us "try before you buy" they don't mean it to be an option.
>>professional freelance web development rates in US and Canada start at $30/hr for complete beginners
Now I know you're lying. I live in Denver, and I can assure you that I can hire a "complete beginner" for *way* less than $30 a hour, any day of the week.
I don't know, but it looks to me like I can hire all the offshore web developers that I want for $2 an hour. I have seen job ads for web developers that ask for a bachelor's degree, and loads of professional experience - in several technologies - for $14 an hour (part time, no benefits). I know there a lot of 15 year old web developers, who are actually very talented.
Frankly, it looks to me like web developers. and web-developer wannabees are not a dime-a-dozen, but a dime-a-gross.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
According to: PEP 8, Style Guide for Python Code, each indent should be four spaces.
http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/
>>Crappy & lazy programmers are the ones who bring up this argument.
Wrong. Python's indentation problem makes the code *much* less portable. You can not look at code developed by somebody else and determine if that person used tabs or spaces, or some combination - not without a hex dump or something. You can not always used emailed code, or copy and paste code from a newsgroup, or forum, or web-site.
Python is nice language, but please don't kid yourself. The whitespace issue is a real problem.
>>Any coder worth his salt is already indenting his code
As long as you are using your own code, and stick to your own conventions, then it's not a problem.
But what about when you are working with code from somebody else? You can not just look at it and tell if the original developer used spaces, or tabs. You have to do a hex dump, or something - what a pain.
And what if you want to cut and paste from a website? Or email code? Or post code to a news group, or whatever? Whitespace can be an issue in any of those cases.
I believe that even Guido has admitted the forced whitespace was a mistake.
I installed OpenSolaris on my laptop about one week ago.
Laptop: 1.7mhz celeron, 512mb ram.
Previous OS: Xubuntu.
IMO: OpenSolaris loses by a mile.
OpenSolaris installation was easy, but very slow. It hangs at 99% for hours. This is a well know bug. OpenSolaris was noticeably slower than xubuntu. Bootup and shutdown are especially slow. The worst problem is applications, I can not find a chm reader, or mp3 player that works - on xubuntu (or any linux) this is a cinch. The applications that come with OpenSolaris are old, for example firefox 2.0. After installation, I had additional configuration to get OpenSolaris on the internet, usually linux does not require such additional configuration. I find package management in solaris to be much difficult than with any debian based, or redhat based, linux. HW detection was not a problem for me with either linux, or opensolaris.
I installed OpenSolaris for the learning experience, so I am getting that. Although it may just be a personal preference, I dislike the whole Solaris way of doing anything. Ironically, the Linux CLI, directory hierarchy, and configuration files, are a lot closer to generic UNIX than Solaris - especially Solaris 10. It might be easier for me to learn solaris, if I didn't already know some unix and linux. These days, solaris is practically it's own OS, as opposed to a version of UNIX.
All JMHO, of course.