Has the FSF stated that it will defend any GPL'd code in court? IIRC, they said they would defend any software for which they hold the copyright, although they would probably provide legal assistance to others (and it is certainly in their interest to do so). Can anyone correct or confirm this?
Sure, just go tell all of the KDE or GNOME volunteer programmers that you have decided it would be better if they code something completely different, rather than the thing they actually like coding.
As long as these projects are dominated by developers who do it for fun, it's going to be near-impossible for external voices to sway their development. That's as it should be, IMHO.
To the extent that GNOME is becoming a corporate project, you may see attempts to "standardize" on GNOME like you're asking for...I for one hope it doesn't happen (but witness Redhat's reskinning of KDE to look like GNOME in their latest beta...)
It's got to be better than what they currently have. I was actually thinking about "wintering over" down there. They get an email-grade connection to the satellites about 4 times a day. That's it.
Ok, stick me in a tin can at the most isolated spot on Earth for 6 months. Ok, no sun for that entire period. Ok, the harshest conditions on the planet outside, and not exactly the Hilton inside. But no internet connection? Dealbreaker.
Yeah, I figured...I was j/k. I have nothing but respect for you vi guys, really. Whenever I use it, it makes me want to hurl heavy objects at my computer, but I've seen what it can do in the hands of One Who Knows.
Ok, you guys posted three different ways to do a string replace in vi...each some cryptic variation on the standard regexp. Thanks for reminding me why I like emacs!:p
Look around, man: YRO; GPL; IANAL; MS;/. (which even you used!). Using and making up acronyms is part of the/. culture. IANAL(inguist), but I believe that most social groups come up with distinctive uses of language to give a sense of community; why should/. be ridiculed for doing the same?
So you didn't get "TWOK" right away. The point is, you eventually got it; good for you. You apparently missed the feeling of being "in on it" that is supposed to follow. Maybe you don't want to be in on it. Fine, you don't have to swim, but please don't piss in the pool.
One thing that most people don't realize is that the American flag placed on the Moon was more than purely symbolic; under U.S. law, they were actually staking a claim on the land for America.
Pardon my french, but: Bullshit. According to Article 2 of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, no one can own the moon, or indeed anything else beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
Don't forget what it says on the plaque attached to the Apollo 11 LEM:
"We came in peace, for all mankind."
Please don't attempt to portray one of humanity's greatest achievements as some kind of land-grab. Thanks.
Re:Old idea with problems.. but promising..
on
Going Up?
·
· Score: 2
What are you on about, exactly?
If we lift 60 trillion trillion tons of stuff, then a day will be longer by 9 hundredths of a second, is that your argument?
First of all, who cares? Did you know that the Earth's spin is naturally slowing down because of tidal drag from the Moon? The length of a day is increasing by about 3 milliseconds per century, and this is ridiculously larger than the effect you're worried about. Consider:
You say NYC produces 5 million tons of waste per year. Let's be generous and say that the entire Earth produces 1 billion times that (ha!), and that we decide to get rid of it by sending it all up the elevator (double ha!).
So 5 trillion tons of mass lifted per year means that the Earth's day will be.09 seconds longer because of this diabolical plan after 12 trillion years.
1. There's no NEO tether at the other end; rather, the cable stretches out thousands of km beyond the geosynch point.
2. It's attached to a floating platform in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
3. South Africa...whatever. Check your atlas.
4. Energy. A space elevator would be far more efficient than a rocket, so yes, Virginia, it would use much less energy.
5. Real-time adjustment of earth end: no idea what you're talking about here. The weight of the cable counterbalancing the bouyancy of the submerged portion of the platform would keep the platform stable. This is how all boats float.
IANAL, but I'd be careful, bud. You can get into trouble assuming that people won't sue you.
The phrase "surely no one would be dumb enough to sue me over that!" has Famous Last Words written all over it. Next time you're in McDonalds, order a coffee and check out the warning label ("Caution! Contents are unbelievably HOT! Do not pour down pants!"). Every such label has a moronic (but successful) lawsuit behind it.
One does not need to accept the terms of the GPL unless one is redistributing the program. Mere users of GPL'd software don't need to read or accept the license at all.
So for a huge fraction of "open source" software (that which is actually Free software, under the GPL), a click-through requirement prior to using the software makes no sense.
Fact #1: The Visible range of the EM spectrum ends around 450 nm.
Fact #2: Existing chips are manufactured with processes at 250, 180 and even 130 nm. Each of these requires photolithography with light at a wavelength that is invisible to humans.
I was pointing out that the move from 130 nm to 100 nm cannot possibly have anything to do with the limit of human visibility, since the former length was already well below the limits of what wavelength humans can see. I thought this was obvious, but I guess you missed it.
CPUs aren't hand-crafted, so they don't require someone to actually *look* at the chip when it's manufactured. I'm a bit stunned that there are at least two slashdot readers who actually think that someone sits at a desk with a tiny needle and scratches out CPUs...the mind boggles.
I guess all of those 130 nm process chips currently on the market are just imaginary as well, eh? Damn, I guess I should throw out my box!
There's a type of electromagnetic radiation called "ultraviolet" that extends to wavelengths as low as 10 nm. Maybe you've heard of it. This is the kind of light they use in modern CPU photolithography.
When you use GPL'd software, you are free to do absolutely anything you want with it...except steal it (i.e., make it not Free).
You said: If anything, the GPL is the opposite of the idea behind freedom of speech, because it embodies a law (actually, a contract) that abridges the freedom of the user of the software.
What the heck are you talking about? Imagine you have two pieces of software on your hard drive. One is licensed under the GPL, the other has a proprietary EULA. Which license, do you suppose, abridges your freedom to use, copy, modify, and distribute the corresponding piece of software more?
Besides, as I am sure that you are aware, you always have the choice not to accept the GPL license. If you simply use the software, you are never required to accept the GPL. Only if you choose to redistribute it do you have to make the choice. And if you reject the GPL, then the program is simply protected under standard copyright law, which says that you have absolutely no right to redistribute the work, modified or otherwise.
So, what exactly are you claiming when you say that the GPL "abridges freedom"? Other than your "freedom" to steal something that does not belong to you, I just don't see what you are on about.
In your post, you allow for exceptions to the Freedom of Speech, if limiting speech would be for the "overall good of society". Why can't you also allow for a similarly beneficial and *extremely* slight limitation on your "freedoms" when using GPL'd software (i.e., you are not allowed to steal GPL'd code), without proclaiming that it's the "opposite" of Freedom?
Bottom line: the GPL grants you many Freedoms that you would otherwise not have, and it does NOT restrict any Freedoms that you would otherwise have. Given that, your rants make no sense.
hehe, nope you've got it backwards. For the BG series, Bioware developed, and Black Isle (a division of Interplay) published/marketed. However, for NWN Bioware dumped Interplay, so now Black Isle and Bioware are completely separate now (although Black Isle is using Bioware's old Infinity engine to create Icewind Dale 2).
Slashdot Mirror
Has the FSF stated that it will defend any GPL'd code in court? IIRC, they said they would defend any software for which they hold the copyright, although they would probably provide legal assistance to others (and it is certainly in their interest to do so). Can anyone correct or confirm this?
[-1, Obvious]
:)
Of course, you don't have to upgrade...just ignore beta announcements, and your upgrade cycle will suddenly become much more manageable.
Sure, just go tell all of the KDE or GNOME volunteer programmers that you have decided it would be better if they code something completely different, rather than the thing they actually like coding.
As long as these projects are dominated by developers who do it for fun, it's going to be near-impossible for external voices to sway their development. That's as it should be, IMHO.
To the extent that GNOME is becoming a corporate project, you may see attempts to "standardize" on GNOME like you're asking for...I for one hope it doesn't happen (but witness Redhat's reskinning of KDE to look like GNOME in their latest beta...)
No worries, my bubble was already busted. If you notice, I refer to regexp as "standard" in my post. Thanks for the condescension though! :)
KDE has a kiosk mode. I'm not that familiar with it, but you can find the README file here:
README.kiosk
This is for KDE 3.0.
good luck!
It's got to be better than what they currently have. I was actually thinking about "wintering over" down there. They get an email-grade connection to the satellites about 4 times a day. That's it.
Ok, stick me in a tin can at the most isolated spot on Earth for 6 months. Ok, no sun for that entire period. Ok, the harshest conditions on the planet outside, and not exactly the Hilton inside. But no internet connection? Dealbreaker.
Yeah, I figured...I was j/k. I have nothing but respect for you vi guys, really. Whenever I use it, it makes me want to hurl heavy objects at my computer, but I've seen what it can do in the hands of One Who Knows.
Ok, you guys posted three different ways to do a string replace in vi...each some cryptic variation on the standard regexp. Thanks for reminding me why I like emacs! :p
and while you're at it:
M-x repl-str 'people are' 'people who are'
The fix was also backported to non-HEAD branches of CVS. So, all you'd have to do is specify a "stable" branch like KDE_3_0_BRANCH.
Look around, man: YRO; GPL; IANAL; MS; /. (which even you used!). Using and making up acronyms is part of the /. culture. IANAL(inguist), but I believe that most social groups come up with distinctive uses of language to give a sense of community; why should /. be ridiculed for doing the same?
So you didn't get "TWOK" right away. The point is, you eventually got it; good for you. You apparently missed the feeling of being "in on it" that is supposed to follow. Maybe you don't want to be in on it. Fine, you don't have to swim, but please don't piss in the pool.
thanks!
Everything's stolen these days. Take the FAX machine. Why that's nothing but a waffle iron with a phone attached!
</abesimpson>
I don't get it. Carmack said no one had done side-scrolling on an IBM PC, you say your C=64 had it, and that the article is therefore flawed.
Your C64 was not an IBM PC. Well, mine sure wasn't anyway!
One thing that most people don't realize is that the American flag placed on the Moon was more than purely symbolic; under U.S. law, they were actually staking a claim on the land for America.
Pardon my french, but: Bullshit. According to Article 2 of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, no one can own the moon, or indeed anything else beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
Don't forget what it says on the plaque attached to the Apollo 11 LEM:
"We came in peace, for all mankind."
Please don't attempt to portray one of humanity's greatest achievements as some kind of land-grab. Thanks.
What are you on about, exactly?
.09 seconds longer because of this diabolical plan after 12 trillion years.
If we lift 60 trillion trillion tons of stuff, then a day will be longer by 9 hundredths of a second, is that your argument?
First of all, who cares? Did you know that the Earth's spin is naturally slowing down because of tidal drag from the Moon? The length of a day is increasing by about 3 milliseconds per century, and this is ridiculously larger than the effect you're worried about. Consider:
You say NYC produces 5 million tons of waste per year. Let's be generous and say that the entire Earth produces 1 billion times that (ha!), and that we decide to get rid of it by sending it all up the elevator (double ha!).
So 5 trillion tons of mass lifted per year means that the Earth's day will be
Did I miss something?
Read the article, Genius.
1. There's no NEO tether at the other end; rather, the cable stretches out thousands of km beyond the geosynch point.
2. It's attached to a floating platform in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
3. South Africa...whatever. Check your atlas.
4. Energy. A space elevator would be far more efficient than a rocket, so yes, Virginia, it would use much less energy.
5. Real-time adjustment of earth end: no idea what you're talking about here. The weight of the cable counterbalancing the bouyancy of the submerged portion of the platform would keep the platform stable. This is how all boats float.
Interesting account, thanks for posting it. But I don't understand why you discount the possibility that it was one of these secret DoD blimps?
What specifically about the thing that you saw is inconsistent with one of these things?
All right then. Thanks for the correction.
IANAL, but I'd be careful, bud. You can get into trouble assuming that people won't sue you.
The phrase "surely no one would be dumb enough to sue me over that!" has Famous Last Words written all over it. Next time you're in McDonalds, order a coffee and check out the warning label ("Caution! Contents are unbelievably HOT! Do not pour down pants!"). Every such label has a moronic (but successful) lawsuit behind it.
One does not need to accept the terms of the GPL unless one is redistributing the program. Mere users of GPL'd software don't need to read or accept the license at all.
So for a huge fraction of "open source" software (that which is actually Free software, under the GPL), a click-through requirement prior to using the software makes no sense.
I humbly submit my own project, a desktop planetarium for KDE:
http://edu.kde.org/kstars
How about UYFB (use your fine brain)?
Fact #1: The Visible range of the EM spectrum ends around 450 nm.
Fact #2: Existing chips are manufactured with processes at 250, 180 and even 130 nm. Each of these requires photolithography with light at a wavelength that is invisible to humans.
I was pointing out that the move from 130 nm to 100 nm cannot possibly have anything to do with the limit of human visibility, since the former length was already well below the limits of what wavelength humans can see. I thought this was obvious, but I guess you missed it.
CPUs aren't hand-crafted, so they don't require someone to actually *look* at the chip when it's manufactured. I'm a bit stunned that there are at least two slashdot readers who actually think that someone sits at a desk with a tiny needle and scratches out CPUs...the mind boggles.
I guess all of those 130 nm process chips currently on the market are just imaginary as well, eh? Damn, I guess I should throw out my box!
There's a type of electromagnetic radiation called "ultraviolet" that extends to wavelengths as low as 10 nm. Maybe you've heard of it. This is the kind of light they use in modern CPU photolithography.
Seriously, man, it's time to think of a new nick.
I'm afraid you have it completely backwards.
When you use GPL'd software, you are free to do absolutely anything you want with it...except steal it (i.e., make it not Free).
You said: If anything, the GPL is the opposite of the idea behind freedom of speech, because it embodies a law (actually, a contract) that abridges the freedom of the user of the software.
What the heck are you talking about? Imagine you have two pieces of software on your hard drive. One is licensed under the GPL, the other has a proprietary EULA. Which license, do you suppose, abridges your freedom to use, copy, modify, and distribute the corresponding piece of software more?
Besides, as I am sure that you are aware, you always have the choice not to accept the GPL license. If you simply use the software, you are never required to accept the GPL. Only if you choose to redistribute it do you have to make the choice. And if you reject the GPL, then the program is simply protected under standard copyright law, which says that you have absolutely no right to redistribute the work, modified or otherwise.
So, what exactly are you claiming when you say that the GPL "abridges freedom"? Other than your "freedom" to steal something that does not belong to you, I just don't see what you are on about.
In your post, you allow for exceptions to the Freedom of Speech, if limiting speech would be for the "overall good of society". Why can't you also allow for a similarly beneficial and *extremely* slight limitation on your "freedoms" when using GPL'd software (i.e., you are not allowed to steal GPL'd code), without proclaiming that it's the "opposite" of Freedom?
Bottom line: the GPL grants you many Freedoms that you would otherwise not have, and it does NOT restrict any Freedoms that you would otherwise have. Given that, your rants make no sense.
hehe, nope you've got it backwards. For the BG series, Bioware developed, and Black Isle (a division of Interplay) published/marketed. However, for NWN Bioware dumped Interplay, so now Black Isle and Bioware are completely separate now (although Black Isle is using Bioware's old Infinity engine to create Icewind Dale 2).