Yes, but my philosophy is why bother to load up a GUI if its not going to look good. IMO, GNOME simply has a better look and feel than KDE - I currently run Mandrake 8.0, with Gnome, Nautilus, and Sawfish. Very slick interface. It is a bit slow because of all the bells and whistles, but it looks good. If I just want speed I'll drop to a console.
As far as apps, I have KDE installed and can use them if need be. I look forward to the stable release of GNOME 2.0.
Re:Sad, sad commentary
on
XBox Released
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· Score: 1
Umm, could it be that thier monopoly on the desktop is what is making it so easy for developers to produce games? This 'advantage' that everyone already knows how to program for it is nothing more but another example of MS using thier monopoly power to leverage thier way into even mroe markets.
Bullshit. I'll pay for it, if its a quality product. Quality meaning
- MP3 format. No stupid encryption crap. Not that it'll make it safe, but then I'll have to go to the bother of downloading a crack to use it properly. I need it in the same format as the 1.5 GB I currently have, and can easily burn it to CD or even *gasp* share it with a friend
- I'm getting it off THIER server, with a guarantee of track quality and completeness. I'm not going to pay to let someone else use my limited bandwidth.
- Most importantly, some value added items. Maybe alert to concerts in my area by artist whose music I've purchased. Or extra photos, clips, etc. on a web site. Nothing much, but it would be nice to get a little perk for being a paying customer.
- Some reassurance that the artists aren't getting fucked in the ass. THey say that the artists need to get paid, but I have a hard time believing that they will get a dime of online sales.
But no, none of this will happen. They'll push some BS format you can only use in monopoly crapware OSes, uncopyable, unburnable, low quality. Then cry that no one wants to pay for product. Not if its a shitty product!
if all you care about is www, mp3, AIM, and maybe word processing and gaming, Windows will still be the clear choice. Linux might be stable as a rock, but the Open Source software developers are going to have to raise the bar a lot higher to convince 15-year-old Sally Rottencrotch from Cumshot, IL to deinstall the OS that came with the computer, and switch to a "better" OS.
So you agree that the monopoly should be destroyed? After all, with Konquerer, xmms, everbuddy, staroffice, and transgaming, you can do all that on Linux. If Sally could buy the computer preinstalled and pre configured all the better. If the OEMs weren't locked into deals signed in blood they could even offer the Linux box cheaper. This has nothing to do with the quality of Linux, it has to do with MS illegally choking off competition.
"If you look at the value of the stuff that's in Windows XP, compared to the stand-alone packages you'd have to buy for the equivalent, that's many hundreds of dollars," Gates said.
"And all you have to do is understand that to understand why consumers like it and why a competitor would say, 'Hey, it's too good a deal, you know, why are they offering people such a good deal?"'
You mean like web servers, compilers, office suites, advanced graphics programs all come with it? No, we get a crippled music player, something that I refuse to call a firewall, and a substandard CD writer. Imagine if there was an OS that gave you all the apps you needed to work right along with it! And no ridiculous registration either. Oh, wait, I'm thinking of Linux again.
Some sheeple that don't know any better will get it on an OEM computer, but I can't see many people buying it retail. I also doubt that its going to push sales much either.
Wait - I bet that's thier evil plan! They want to push and push until the government forces them to GPL or BSD thier source code.
Then, they will push.net into an unassailable position while the open source programmers do nothing. Why? They'll be too busy makeing jokes about the silly, Bad and Wrong, hacked together kludges that make up the windows kernel. You can't code while you're laughing hard enough to piss yourself!
We're falling into thier trap - run for the hills, women and penguins first
Who pays to educate a student to PHD level, where upon he/she can write the complicated algorithms needed to do *insert subject here* within an 'open source' program?
Are all your ideas going to come out of academics locked behind the desk? Or do you think someone with a HS education and lots of free time can do the complicated calculations while pounding out code?
No, this isn't a troll- but *someone* has to think and spend the time to write these algorithms, and that costs money. Education costs money. Yes, you can have 3 million people working on it, and yes they are paid by employers... and yes they can dedicate their time to helping along open source programs.
Don't patent anything? Where's the profit motive? How will you pay off your 10 years of college for your PHD by giving away your ideas freely? Oh, get a job and then give those ideas away freely?? Sorry... can't work that way.
Anways, I see OS as a more potent form of QA- force the corporations to incorporate the stability of newer platforms... if at least customers are expecting that kind of stability then that raises the stakes.
Here's the idea - Fred the Open Source programmer writes code in his spare time, while he's not at his closed source/IT job. He develops an impressive resume of projects he's worked on.
Compnay X is fed up with MS licensing and goes open source. It needs an app that will do something specific, which is close to something Fred worked on. They hire him to customize the code so that they can get thier work done.
Maybe Company Y sees lots of people like company X, and hires up all the Linux hackers it can lay its hands on. When someone with a contract with them has a problem, they send thier army of geeks to take care of it.
In short, software becomes labor rather than product.
What does a programming course have to do with moving into a junior network admin role?
Very little. But ask most any programmer if they think they could do network administration and they'll most likely tell you that it's a piece of cake. I run into this attitude in a lot of programmers, usually right before I have to bail them out of some bizzare problem that they are experiencing on their test LAN that they haphazardly created without asking for a net tech's advice of help.
AS someone who has finished a 2 year networking program and am looking for something better than my current tech support job, its astounding the number of positions for network admins that want either a BS in COmputer SCience or Electrical Engineering. Network admins normally don't program something more advanced than a few scripts, and don't design circuits. Eventually, I fear I'll have to get a CS to get into an upper tier job. And here I specifically decided that playing with routers, switches, and servers sounded more fun than programming.
I have one too - from the days before MS owned hotmail. When they converted, I got signed up for a passport - lucky me.
AFAIK, there is no way to unsubscribe from passport. Maybe if you break thier EULA or something. Like start sending spam through the account or something:)
"Order Microsoft to block the sharing of personal information among Microsoft areas provided by a user under the Passport registration procedures absent explicit consent"...why just Microsoft? Shouldn't the companies registering this complaint also volunteer their own information sharing policies? Smacks of hypocrasy to me.
Other companies are not legally declared monopolies
"Order Microsoft to incorporate techniques for anonymity and pseudo-anonymity that would allow users of Windows XP to gain access to Microsoft web sites without disclosing their actual identity"...you mean like a fake hotmail account? No one's done that before!
And hopefully it will be possible in the future
"Order Microsoft to incorporate techniques that would enable users of Windows XP to easily integrate services provided by non-Microsoft companies for online payment, electronic commerce, and other Internet-based commercial activity"...what's wrong with the other companies? Can't they write code anymore?
Again, other companies are not legally found to be monopolies. Microsoft doesn't get to play by the same rules because of their monopoly status.
"Provide such other relief as the Commission finds necessary to redress injury to consumers resulting from Microsoft's practices as described herein"...there's been damages? Sheesh!
If MS's crap servers storng 130 million passport members' credit cards get hacked, damn skippy there will be damages.
Of course, Sony is also in bed with the RIAA and the dvd cca, so anyone who buys a PS2 is going to hell in my book, but that's your choice.
Of course, you have to realize that Sony is so large often its left hand doesn't know what its right hand is doing. You are right, on one hand they are in bed with the RIAA, on the other they put linux on PS2 and sell MP3 players.
These kinds of abuses have gone on long enough. Even if this doesn't pass, its the kind of gross abuse that is born when a certain segment of the population goes unheard. We have to untie, to make certain that our rights are not swept away. Follow the link in my sig, we are trying to make our voices heard in D.C.
Really - that's interesting. I've recently installed RedHat 7.1 and registered with the Red Hat Network. In a week, they've send me three security notices of various systems installed that have potential holes. The fix? Go the the command line and type "up2date" RH automatically goes out to the web, downloads the patches, and installs them.
I'm in the same boat. I mean, I wasn't that obsessive, but Metallica was one of my absolute favorites. For guys that grew up in the 80s and early ninties, they were our fuckin Beatles.
They got NO radio play. NO MTV play. You heard about them by word of mouth, from your friend who got this tape from his brother or something. You got a bootleg copy and fell in love, started buying all the Metallica you could get your hands on. They were a band of the people - no hairspray or makeup, just long haired guys in jeans and t shirts playing kickass metal.
I first heard of Napster one of the first tracks I downloaded was Fade to Black. Why? Because Metallica one of my favorite bands! I had the album, and therefore could rightfully have the mp3. I didn't get banned, but dropped them after the lawsuit, deleted all the metallica mp3s off my hard drive. You don't want me listening to your music? Fine.
In fact, fuck you. I listened to you when you were nobody, when you loved the bootleggers. Now all you seem to care about is your fucking money. If that's all its about you can go fuck yourself. I might as well be listening to Britney Spears or N*sync. Why does it matter? Because I thought I was listening to an ARTIST
Follow the link in my sig. We're a mailing list discussing fomring an aliance to influence Washington, to get laws like this one and the DMCA repealed. We'd eventually like to form a PAC, to learn to play the game.
We're ironing out the platform, but it currently involves these points
- Fair use. WHen I buy someone's IP, I have the right to use that product when and where I choose on the device of my choice. I have the right to make backups, which shall not be infringed.
- Privacy. This is in the COnstitution, it would be nice if it were occasionally enforced.
- Open standards for the computer industry. Prevent nonsence like backdoor encrryption and SSSCA.
- Principle that technology is not a criminal, a criminal is a criminal. No such thing as a 'cyber terrorist,' just a plain old terrorist.
Join us if you'd like to join the fight. THere's an app called GovernMail that will get you in contact with US and world leaders. Unfortunately its Windows only. Get it here
That's the part that I don't get. Sure, they can sell DRM to companies to produce it, but how are they going to make people buy it? Not many people I know are going to buy a CD you can't play in your computer, or rip into MP3.
What would I be willing to pay for? Well, if I had broadband, (which I can't get) I'd pay 10-20 bucks a month to be able to download tracks out of the RIAA's library. In MP3 format. ALL of the library, not just the crap they want to push on me.
Now unless they lock down the hardware it will never work. Nothing at all stopping you from running line in to your sound card, record as WAV, rip to MP3. Most other media works the same way. Locking down hardware would stifle innovation and make America a technological backwater in a few years.
What they really don't get is DOWNLOADING MAKES THEM MONEY! I've bought a lot more CDs than before I started on MP3, simply because I'm more interested in music. The truth is that it has nothing to do with money, but about control.
A few of us/.ers have started up a mailing list to discuss putting together a PAC and concentrating our efforts on making certain that our rights are preserved. We're currently looking for new members and ironing out a platform. Do you have any advice for us to make sure this becomes a reality? Link to group in.sig
The real problem is with vague language. What exactly is "harmful to minors." Is it a psychologists opinion? Which psychologist? Exactly how is pr0n harmful. I viewed pornography before I was of legal age to do so - and some pretty nasty shit too. I don't feel I was paticularly harmed by it.
What about educational sites? Maybe there's a site on chemistry that a kid could use to make some kind of flash powder. Better close that down, don't want the kids to maybe be possibly harmed.
Or message board at all? We all know the people on those things are weirdos:) and you never know what they are going to say. Better make them check IDs at the door too.
How about news sites? You know they could carry a story about another school shooting and give some kid an idea. Or maybe have pictures of the terrorist attacks and have to get counselling. Clearly these are all 'harmful to minors.'
I mean, they could even go to places like/. and theonion and learn to use smarmy sarcasm to make a point instead of calling each other 'boogerhead' on the playground. That sure isn't healthy.
The virtual child pr0n issue is similarly vague. I mean if its an artist vision of a petite nude female, couldn't there be some confusion over whether its supposed to be a mature 15 year old or a lithe 19 year old?
The problem is that we have no voice in Washington. Follow the link in my sig and help make a difference. We need educated people to let those in charge know that these are bad ideas, and why they are bad ideas.
I'm a father myself, and no, I'm not nuts about the idea of her talking to creeps in chatrooms or accidentally clicking onto goatse.cz or having some pervert photoshop a pic of her. But what scared me more is one day having her say "Daddy, where were you when they took freedom of speech away from the internet?"
With a yahoo group, you can set it to not deliver emails and go to the site and read it like a message board. That's why I used yahoo, its pretty flexible like that.
It has been determined by the courts that anonymity is a part of free speech, otherwise reprecussions could hinder your ability to speak out against the government, your employer, or other powerful individuals. The framers themselves relied on anonymous papers to rally support against the British.
As far as chips under the skin - you can implant one under the skin of my cold dead corpse. Not happening while I still draw breath.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, but my philosophy is why bother to load up a GUI if its not going to look good. IMO, GNOME simply has a better look and feel than KDE - I currently run Mandrake 8.0, with Gnome, Nautilus, and Sawfish. Very slick interface. It is a bit slow because of all the bells and whistles, but it looks good. If I just want speed I'll drop to a console.
As far as apps, I have KDE installed and can use them if need be. I look forward to the stable release of GNOME 2.0.
Umm, could it be that thier monopoly on the desktop is what is making it so easy for developers to produce games? This 'advantage' that everyone already knows how to program for it is nothing more but another example of MS using thier monopoly power to leverage thier way into even mroe markets.
Bullshit. I'll pay for it, if its a quality product. Quality meaning
- MP3 format. No stupid encryption crap. Not that it'll make it safe, but then I'll have to go to the bother of downloading a crack to use it properly. I need it in the same format as the 1.5 GB I currently have, and can easily burn it to CD or even *gasp* share it with a friend
- I'm getting it off THIER server, with a guarantee of track quality and completeness. I'm not going to pay to let someone else use my limited bandwidth.
- Most importantly, some value added items. Maybe alert to concerts in my area by artist whose music I've purchased. Or extra photos, clips, etc. on a web site. Nothing much, but it would be nice to get a little perk for being a paying customer.
- Some reassurance that the artists aren't getting fucked in the ass. THey say that the artists need to get paid, but I have a hard time believing that they will get a dime of online sales.
But no, none of this will happen. They'll push some BS format you can only use in monopoly crapware OSes, uncopyable, unburnable, low quality. Then cry that no one wants to pay for product. Not if its a shitty product!
if all you care about is www, mp3, AIM, and maybe word processing and gaming, Windows will still be the clear choice. Linux might be stable as a rock, but the Open Source software developers are going to have to raise the bar a lot higher to convince 15-year-old Sally Rottencrotch from Cumshot, IL to deinstall the OS that came with the computer, and switch to a "better" OS.
So you agree that the monopoly should be destroyed? After all, with Konquerer, xmms, everbuddy, staroffice, and transgaming, you can do all that on Linux. If Sally could buy the computer preinstalled and pre configured all the better. If the OEMs weren't locked into deals signed in blood they could even offer the Linux box cheaper. This has nothing to do with the quality of Linux, it has to do with MS illegally choking off competition.
Went to take my 2 year old to see Monsters, got treated to this teaser as well as a longer trailer for LOTR.
When she saw the lightsabers, she said "Hey! That's my Daddy's movie!"
The force is strong in this one....
You know the shit has seriously hit the fan when Microsoft and /.ers agree that something is Bad and Wrong :)
You mean like web servers, compilers, office suites, advanced graphics programs all come with it? No, we get a crippled music player, something that I refuse to call a firewall, and a substandard CD writer. Imagine if there was an OS that gave you all the apps you needed to work right along with it! And no ridiculous registration either. Oh, wait, I'm thinking of Linux again.
Some sheeple that don't know any better will get it on an OEM computer, but I can't see many people buying it retail. I also doubt that its going to push sales much either.
Wait - I bet that's thier evil plan! They want to push and push until the government forces them to GPL or BSD thier source code.
.net into an unassailable position while the open source programmers do nothing. Why? They'll be too busy makeing jokes about the silly, Bad and Wrong, hacked together kludges that make up the windows kernel. You can't code while you're laughing hard enough to piss yourself!
Then, they will push
We're falling into thier trap - run for the hills, women and penguins first
Compnay X is fed up with MS licensing and goes open source. It needs an app that will do something specific, which is close to something Fred worked on. They hire him to customize the code so that they can get thier work done.
Maybe Company Y sees lots of people like company X, and hires up all the Linux hackers it can lay its hands on. When someone with a contract with them has a problem, they send thier army of geeks to take care of it.
In short, software becomes labor rather than product.
I have one too - from the days before MS owned hotmail. When they converted, I got signed up for a passport - lucky me.
:)
AFAIK, there is no way to unsubscribe from passport. Maybe if you break thier EULA or something. Like start sending spam through the account or something
The idea is to form a PAC and do just that
We are building right now, follow the link in my .sig. Hopefully we can build enough momnetum to have an impact soon. We ahve to stop these abuses
These kinds of abuses have gone on long enough. Even if this doesn't pass, its the kind of gross abuse that is born when a certain segment of the population goes unheard. We have to untie, to make certain that our rights are not swept away. Follow the link in my sig, we are trying to make our voices heard in D.C.
No Linux company has figured out how to build a profitable business around open source software.
Didn't Red Hat show a profit last quarter?
Really - that's interesting. I've recently installed RedHat 7.1 and registered with the Red Hat Network. In a week, they've send me three security notices of various systems installed that have potential holes. The fix? Go the the command line and type "up2date" RH automatically goes out to the web, downloads the patches, and installs them.
And people say Windows is easier to administer!
I'm in the same boat. I mean, I wasn't that obsessive, but Metallica was one of my absolute favorites. For guys that grew up in the 80s and early ninties, they were our fuckin Beatles.
They got NO radio play. NO MTV play. You heard about them by word of mouth, from your friend who got this tape from his brother or something. You got a bootleg copy and fell in love, started buying all the Metallica you could get your hands on. They were a band of the people - no hairspray or makeup, just long haired guys in jeans and t shirts playing kickass metal.
I first heard of Napster one of the first tracks I downloaded was Fade to Black. Why? Because Metallica one of my favorite bands! I had the album, and therefore could rightfully have the mp3. I didn't get banned, but dropped them after the lawsuit, deleted all the metallica mp3s off my hard drive. You don't want me listening to your music? Fine.
In fact, fuck you. I listened to you when you were nobody, when you loved the bootleggers. Now all you seem to care about is your fucking money. If that's all its about you can go fuck yourself. I might as well be listening to Britney Spears or N*sync. Why does it matter? Because I thought I was listening to an ARTIST
Follow the link in my sig. We're a mailing list discussing fomring an aliance to influence Washington, to get laws like this one and the DMCA repealed. We'd eventually like to form a PAC, to learn to play the game.
We're ironing out the platform, but it currently involves these points
- Fair use. WHen I buy someone's IP, I have the right to use that product when and where I choose on the device of my choice. I have the right to make backups, which shall not be infringed.
- Privacy. This is in the COnstitution, it would be nice if it were occasionally enforced.
- Open standards for the computer industry. Prevent nonsence like backdoor encrryption and SSSCA.
- Principle that technology is not a criminal, a criminal is a criminal. No such thing as a 'cyber terrorist,' just a plain old terrorist.
Join us if you'd like to join the fight. THere's an app called GovernMail that will get you in contact with US and world leaders. Unfortunately its Windows only. Get it here
That's the part that I don't get. Sure, they can sell DRM to companies to produce it, but how are they going to make people buy it? Not many people I know are going to buy a CD you can't play in your computer, or rip into MP3.
What would I be willing to pay for? Well, if I had broadband, (which I can't get) I'd pay 10-20 bucks a month to be able to download tracks out of the RIAA's library. In MP3 format. ALL of the library, not just the crap they want to push on me.
Now unless they lock down the hardware it will never work. Nothing at all stopping you from running line in to your sound card, record as WAV, rip to MP3. Most other media works the same way. Locking down hardware would stifle innovation and make America a technological backwater in a few years.
What they really don't get is DOWNLOADING MAKES THEM MONEY! I've bought a lot more CDs than before I started on MP3, simply because I'm more interested in music. The truth is that it has nothing to do with money, but about control.
A few of us /.ers have started up a mailing list to discuss putting together a PAC and concentrating our efforts on making certain that our rights are preserved. We're currently looking for new members and ironing out a platform. Do you have any advice for us to make sure this becomes a reality? Link to group in .sig
The real problem is with vague language. What exactly is "harmful to minors." Is it a psychologists opinion? Which psychologist? Exactly how is pr0n harmful. I viewed pornography before I was of legal age to do so - and some pretty nasty shit too. I don't feel I was paticularly harmed by it.
What about educational sites? Maybe there's a site on chemistry that a kid could use to make some kind of flash powder. Better close that down, don't want the kids to maybe be possibly harmed.
Or message board at all? We all know the people on those things are weirdos :) and you never know what they are going to say. Better make them check IDs at the door too.
How about news sites? You know they could carry a story about another school shooting and give some kid an idea. Or maybe have pictures of the terrorist attacks and have to get counselling. Clearly these are all 'harmful to minors.'
I mean, they could even go to places like /. and theonion and learn to use smarmy sarcasm to make a point instead of calling each other 'boogerhead' on the playground. That sure isn't healthy.
The virtual child pr0n issue is similarly vague. I mean if its an artist vision of a petite nude female, couldn't there be some confusion over whether its supposed to be a mature 15 year old or a lithe 19 year old?
The problem is that we have no voice in Washington. Follow the link in my sig and help make a difference. We need educated people to let those in charge know that these are bad ideas, and why they are bad ideas.
I'm a father myself, and no, I'm not nuts about the idea of her talking to creeps in chatrooms or accidentally clicking onto goatse.cz or having some pervert photoshop a pic of her. But what scared me more is one day having her say "Daddy, where were you when they took freedom of speech away from the internet?"
With a yahoo group, you can set it to not deliver emails and go to the site and read it like a message board. That's why I used yahoo, its pretty flexible like that.
Ya know, that asbestos will give you cancer....
It has been determined by the courts that anonymity is a part of free speech, otherwise reprecussions could hinder your ability to speak out against the government, your employer, or other powerful individuals. The framers themselves relied on anonymous papers to rally support against the British.
As far as chips under the skin - you can implant one under the skin of my cold dead corpse. Not happening while I still draw breath.