How long do you think it will be before using a LiveCD will be illegal because it could be used by a terrorist and not leave any traces on the machine? I think this story is just the first of many about how some rogue non-modern equiment impeded law enforcement and those stories will become the basis for laws banning anonymous access and non- "trusted" systems.
Personally I think that is fine, they can profit from working with Open Source/Free Software. As soon as Bill and Steve make a public statement saying that they welcome their GPL overlords we can put this all behind us.
I hope you are right, I have seen several stories in this vein and I hope they are all based on lies and innuendo. I overstated based on quotes like this:
"Sony stated at the time that the aim is to protect itself from counterfeit software, but were aware that the same technology would also prevent the re-sale of used games."
or this:
"However retail sources have revealed to GamesRadar that "high street games shops have been told by Sony that there will be no PS3 pre-owned sections in their stores as it will be illegal for customers to sell any next-gen PlayStation games that they've bought"
I am not even a big gamer, but back when it looked like Sony planned on shipping the PS3 with Linux installed, at $399 a pop, I thought I might get one just to have a blu-ray player and a linux machine running on a cell processor. Since then Sony:
1- installed a root kit on my In-laws machine through a Neil Diamond CD 2- increased the price dramatically 3- announced that they would like to uni-laterally revoke my right to resell items I purchase. 4- generally bone headed their way through every press conference they have had without apologizing directly for any of their bad behavior.
so I don't have an exact count of reasons, but I know the sum == enough.
So are you suggesting that, even if the word count feature is better in OOo, they should break it to be more like the one in MS Word? I don't know what the diffence is, but suggesting that they make a feature WORSE just to match up with Microsoft is about the best indication I have ever seen that there needs to be a major alternative to Microsoft Office.
I feel the pain of the original poster, but I think that two things are needed here. Openoffice.org is definitely not perfect, and it will always need tweaks from developers, but as users find solutions to problems there needs to be a good place to post tips and tricks so we can share our solutions. Users have spent 20 years coming up with work arounds to Microsoft Office problems, funky pagination issues, mysterious normal.dot corruption etc. We can't expect ANY product to match Microsoft Office feature for feature AND bug for bug.
If the average marketing email didn't so closely resemble SPAM this wouldn't be a problem. I don't want email for life because I bought one product from a company 5 years ago. I have a folder set up at work to filter out the emails our marketing and sales people send INTERNALLY. I don't need an email every time they sell something, just like I don't think they want an email from me everytime I do MY job. If companies only sent mail to people who really wanted it there would be no such thing as SPAM. Your "Exciting Announcement" is my trash if I didn't ask you to keep me updated. That goes double for all the sites that insist I register with an email address to read their content. Do you hate it when people cypherpunk your site? Stop spamming them!
Oh, but people who think that a suit and tie are proper business attire are not convinced that "their way" is the right way? Form should follow function, if your job is to "make an impression" such as with sales, marketing or executive positions, then by all means wear a suit and tie.If you want me to wear a suit and tie so I can sit in a cube and crank out code, or worse yet crawl under desks arranging cable and electrical outlets, then you are not making any sense. Professional dress requires SOME conformity, sandals and ponytails may be inapproptiate in a job that interacts with the public, but if an employee's clothing and grooming are not distracting to their co-workers and not visible to the general public please give one SUBSTANTIVE reason why it should be changed.
It's anecdotal of course but I have noticed that technology (hardware and software) sales people who are the best dressed tend to be the ones who know the least about the product.The sales guy who wears chinos and an oxford has a much better chance of explaining what the product actually does without having to quote the brochure.I see well dressed SOFTWARE salesmen all day that aren't willing to learn how to use email well.How do I know they are willing to learn other things to do their job when they say things like "I'm a sales guy, I don't know this technical stuff"? I couldn't care less how much their suit costs if they are unable to understand the products they sell.
I know of a software company that is run by an old school ex-IBM salesman. He wears great suits and has his assistant print his emails because he doesn't have a computer in his office. Not too long ago he floated the idea of tightening the dress code to present a more "professional" image. Unfortunately someone had to remind him that he hasn't given anyone but executives and salesmen a raise in over 5 years, so asking for everyone to dress better was a hard sell. If you give people a reason to do something besides "it's just more professional" you might be surprised. I bet many (not all of course) "unprofessionally dressed" people can give you a good reason why they dress the way they do.
I don't think Gentoo has visions of world domination. Red Hat Enterprise won't have things like this. Gentoo is working with their audience, if you think they are "unprofessional" you probably aren't their audience because they AREN'T professionals for the most part.
Us "Linux People" recommend serious commercial distributions to people who need serious professional products. The rest we keep for ourselves, logins that give the QOTD, GDM/KDM setups that have Tux with a fly swatter chasing a Microsoft Butterfly. Installers that have "redneck" as a language option (before Red Hat was too concerned about corporate support).
See the problem is that you think that people who work on something for their own pleasure and use should care what you think is appropriate. They don't. If someone wants to convince you to buy their product or wants their product to spread outside of "geek culture" then they may begin to pay attention to propriety. Linux is not a monolithic product like MS Windows or Novell Netware. Outside of capturing game support a lot of Gentoo users and developers probably care very little about increasing marketshare.
Expect a lot of stories that logically lead to a tiered Internet in the next few months. First there were stories about the telecom companies considering tiers. Now there will be stories about how the current internet structure is threatened by certain applications that require high bandwidth. Then the excuse will be that they HAD to go to tiered service because the infrastructure just couldn't handle the strain without causing riots, plaugues and famine.
Actually TV manufacturers have worked for over 10 years to build "customer demand" and some estimates say that as many as 50% of HD TV owners are not using them for HD (in many cases because they don't know how). I'm not saying HD isn't better, I'm just saying that the TV/electronics manufactures, the MPAA (because of broadcast flags and other DRM), and the hopeful future providers of "Rich Content" ("click here to learn more" as they say in Starship Troopers), and maybe game console makers, are much more excited about HD than any significant portion of the consuming public. Many people will buy HD for bragging rights then happily sit and watch distorted regular TV broadcasts.
Moronic it may be, but what is your reasoning for the other side? An artist writes a song once, sings it once, records it once. They should have the right to profit from every copy of it made from that point on? Why? Why is the length of time they control the rights to that song longer than they used to be? Does it make them more creative or less that they can live off of one song for 5 years? In the US the STATED purpose of copyright and patent laws is to foster the growth of sciences and arts, not to be fair or make a living for anyone. What is the supposed purpose in other countries? Companies want to sell songs like they are "real" property with intrinsic value, but the want to control it like they just loaned it to you.
If you look at all of this in a historical context then you will see that the current system is fairly new. We have really only had recordings for about 100 years, before that musicians had to either perform their ass off or sell their work to a good performer. Songs were stolen and copied constantly.
It is easy to make moronic statements when you are talking about a complex and highly debated topic, but the most moronic statements are the ones that are made as if they are some sort of reveletory truth that settles the argument once and for all. The grand-parent sees music recordings the same way you do, a glass that never empties and can be shared without diminishing anyone's supplies. They see that as a reason to share, your reason why that is moronic is, what exactly? It cheats the owner of the original song? Would it be fair if it cost more to share it, but the "original" owner got none of that money? If you make a table and I buy it, then I buy wood and make a copy of your table to give to a friend, what have I done that makes it different than sharing a copy of a cd except cost myself money? Oh, but wait, I didn't give my friend an EXACT copy of your table, is that the difference? So it's ok if I share a CD with a friend if I use OGG or MP3 where their copy is not as good as the original? It's a complex issue, like I said. Maybe the grand parent was moronic, maybe they are just generous.
Now ISPs (in the U.S.A, and really what other country would have spawned this money grubbing plan?) have a common carrier status, they just carry the data, but it isn't theirs and they aren't responsible for it. As soon as ISPs start saying that this data has priority over that data they can no longer claim that they have no responsibilty for how their service is used.
It is this type of thinking that gives capitalism a bad name. If a company wants better download rates then they need a bigger and faster connection for their infrastructure not some putz taking off the brakes that never should have been engaged.
I agree with zhiwenchong, the people who make mp3 encoders are the ones who have to pay a license currently (how LAME gets around it is little complex, but not your problem in any case), not content creators so there is no reason not to make an mp3 version. If you have software to create ogg vorbis and speex files you might as well go ahead and do it for anyone who would prefer them. The speex file may save some bandwith and the ogg vorbis file just gives you that warm free software feeling. Hope your project goes well.
Are you really considering buying a product from a company that plans a shortage to build buzz? Granted they are not the first company to do it, but given the fact that you know in advance that you are being played, you are just going to go with it? Until the "shortage" is over you can pretty much bet you are going to pay top dollar, buy it after the price goes down and spend the difference on group therapy for game addicts;). On second thought forget I said anything, it's your money, enjoy.
Actually that is a good question. AJAX is great but it needs to gracefully fall back to solid useable HTML for clients that can't handle javascript or whatever.
It all depends on how they license it. I agree that there are some questions here. If they open source this entire product under a BSD or GPL license with no extra stipulations then it could be package in a DEB or RPM and shipped with a distribution just like OpenOffice.org. Either one of those licenses would also allow a free version for Windows, OSX, heck even OS/2.
This will be worth a lot if it is GPL just so that the algorithms can be used. The inkscape developers are always looking for sources for things like morphing functions, gradients, etc. Even if this program where a falling corpse the parts are worth salvaging.
This will be huge news, sodipodi and inkscape could use their algorithms for new functions. Abiword could support their file formats. The Gimp could build compatibilty in easily. Bravo Xara, I will be the first one to mail a check when I know this is really going to happen. I just hope this doesn't go down like the GOBE Productive announcement a few years back.
Large software companies are now getting to a point where they would LOVE this. Current software companies has had 35+ years to build market share with EULAs that say that their products are not guaranteed usable for any particular purpose. The opportunity to change the rules now gives a huge advantage to current market leaders by creating an enormous, artificial, barrier to entry into the market. This would be the best way to kill the growth and competition in the software market. Look at all the other businesses that are encumbered with huge legal liability requirements and you will find business sectors that contain huge, multinational, 50-100 year old companies.
If a company wants to shop around and find a guarantee, fine. Requiring legal liabilty of all software vendors will just create another mess of goverment regulatory groups, certification boards and happy insurance salesmen.
I don't know of any time the update servers ever hosted a virus to users. There has been at least one instance of them shipping a virus on a product CD though, if that helps.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,101930,0 0.asp
"classic method of producing superior software"?
on
IE7 Bugs and Reviews
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
I'm not sure I was aware of this method.I seem to remember a few times Microsoft "met the needs of the user" by supplying a "good enough" solution for less cost than the competition, but if I had to pick ONE time when they may have provided a better solution to take a market it would have been IE 4 (after ealier IE versions sucked) versus an aging and slow to develop Netscape, even then they had to bundle it, make illegal deals, and include ActiveX to screw up any chance at security. Mind you the author of this review would seem to think that was not a case of superior software winning out.
I'm not saying MS has never made a good peice of software, but in the past to dominate the market, price and vendor pressure seem to have been the preferred weapons. After they GET the market they have sometimes made a product that is amoung the best of breed (Excel would be my example here)
I didn't say they were valid arguments. When I said "my problem", I fully acknowledged it was MY problem with evolution, not a grand theory refuting it. I think that many scientists would prefer to think that the reason some people don't accept evolution is religion. I have read what people have written about elvolution though clearly not as much as you. While agree that the majority do harp on the creationist view, I think there are some who have some concerns about the theory itself. How valid those concerns are obiously varies but I am sure the work of past critics has been used to improve our current understanding. As I have said in a previous post the theory of evolution has itself evolved extensively over time (Unless you think Darwin hit it on the nose with the first swing). Your professor's research is 25 years old at most, so it will take a few more years for its implications to to sink into the general populace's understanding of evolution. Your not-so-humble-opinion seems to be based in years of studying the subject, maybe you can see how those of us who have not devoted the same amount of time to the subject have a slightly fuzzier view.
Slashdot Mirror
FYI you can use scribus to make PDF forms. I can't vouch for overall stability or ease of use, but it does have that function.
How long do you think it will be before using a LiveCD will be illegal because it could be used by a terrorist and not leave any traces on the machine? I think this story is just the first of many about how some rogue non-modern equiment impeded law enforcement and those stories will become the basis for laws banning anonymous access and non- "trusted" systems.
Personally I think that is fine, they can profit from working with Open Source/Free Software. As soon as Bill and Steve make a public statement saying that they welcome their GPL overlords we can put this all behind us.
or this: (source: http://itvibe.com/news/4063/ )
These look pretty damning, but you are correct that they are not statements directly from Sony. I stand corrected.
I am not even a big gamer, but back when it looked like Sony planned on shipping the PS3 with Linux installed, at $399 a pop, I thought I might get one just to have a blu-ray player and a linux machine running on a cell processor. Since then Sony:
1- installed a root kit on my In-laws machine through a Neil Diamond CD
2- increased the price dramatically
3- announced that they would like to uni-laterally revoke my right to resell items I purchase.
4- generally bone headed their way through every press conference they have had without apologizing directly for any of their bad behavior.
so I don't have an exact count of reasons, but I know the sum == enough.
So are you suggesting that, even if the word count feature is better in OOo, they should break it to be more like the one in MS Word? I don't know what the diffence is, but suggesting that they make a feature WORSE just to match up with Microsoft is about the best indication I have ever seen that there needs to be a major alternative to Microsoft Office.
I feel the pain of the original poster, but I think that two things are needed here. Openoffice.org is definitely not perfect, and it will always need tweaks from developers, but as users find solutions to problems there needs to be a good place to post tips and tricks so we can share our solutions. Users have spent 20 years coming up with work arounds to Microsoft Office problems, funky pagination issues, mysterious normal.dot corruption etc. We can't expect ANY product to match Microsoft Office feature for feature AND bug for bug.
If the average marketing email didn't so closely resemble SPAM this wouldn't be a problem. I don't want email for life because I bought one product from a company 5 years ago. I have a folder set up at work to filter out the emails our marketing and sales people send INTERNALLY. I don't need an email every time they sell something, just like I don't think they want an email from me everytime I do MY job. If companies only sent mail to people who really wanted it there would be no such thing as SPAM. Your "Exciting Announcement" is my trash if I didn't ask you to keep me updated. That goes double for all the sites that insist I register with an email address to read their content. Do you hate it when people cypherpunk your site? Stop spamming them!
Oh, but people who think that a suit and tie are proper business attire are not convinced that "their way" is the right way? Form should follow function, if your job is to "make an impression" such as with sales, marketing or executive positions, then by all means wear a suit and tie.If you want me to wear a suit and tie so I can sit in a cube and crank out code, or worse yet crawl under desks arranging cable and electrical outlets, then you are not making any sense. Professional dress requires SOME conformity, sandals and ponytails may be inapproptiate in a job that interacts with the public, but if an employee's clothing and grooming are not distracting to their co-workers and not visible to the general public please give one SUBSTANTIVE reason why it should be changed.
It's anecdotal of course but I have noticed that technology (hardware and software) sales people who are the best dressed tend to be the ones who know the least about the product.The sales guy who wears chinos and an oxford has a much better chance of explaining what the product actually does without having to quote the brochure.I see well dressed SOFTWARE salesmen all day that aren't willing to learn how to use email well.How do I know they are willing to learn other things to do their job when they say things like "I'm a sales guy, I don't know this technical stuff"? I couldn't care less how much their suit costs if they are unable to understand the products they sell.
I know of a software company that is run by an old school ex-IBM salesman. He wears great suits and has his assistant print his emails because he doesn't have a computer in his office. Not too long ago he floated the idea of tightening the dress code to present a more "professional" image. Unfortunately someone had to remind him that he hasn't given anyone but executives and salesmen a raise in over 5 years, so asking for everyone to dress better was a hard sell. If you give people a reason to do something besides "it's just more professional" you might be surprised. I bet many (not all of course) "unprofessionally dressed" people can give you a good reason why they dress the way they do.
I don't think Gentoo has visions of world domination. Red Hat Enterprise won't have things like this. Gentoo is working with their audience, if you think they are "unprofessional" you probably aren't their audience because they AREN'T professionals for the most part.
Us "Linux People" recommend serious commercial distributions to people who need serious professional products. The rest we keep for ourselves, logins that give the QOTD, GDM/KDM setups that have Tux with a fly swatter chasing a Microsoft Butterfly. Installers that have "redneck" as a language option (before Red Hat was too concerned about corporate support).
See the problem is that you think that people who work on something for their own pleasure and use should care what you think is appropriate. They don't. If someone wants to convince you to buy their product or wants their product to spread outside of "geek culture" then they may begin to pay attention to propriety. Linux is not a monolithic product like MS Windows or Novell Netware. Outside of capturing game support a lot of Gentoo users and developers probably care very little about increasing marketshare.
Expect a lot of stories that logically lead to a tiered Internet in the next few months. First there were stories about the telecom companies considering tiers. Now there will be stories about how the current internet structure is threatened by certain applications that require high bandwidth. Then the excuse will be that they HAD to go to tiered service because the infrastructure just couldn't handle the strain without causing riots, plaugues and famine.
Actually TV manufacturers have worked for over 10 years to build "customer demand" and some estimates say that as many as 50% of HD TV owners are not using them for HD (in many cases because they don't know how). I'm not saying HD isn't better, I'm just saying that the TV/electronics manufactures, the MPAA (because of broadcast flags and other DRM), and the hopeful future providers of "Rich Content" ("click here to learn more" as they say in Starship Troopers), and maybe game console makers, are much more excited about HD than any significant portion of the consuming public. Many people will buy HD for bragging rights then happily sit and watch distorted regular TV broadcasts.
Moronic it may be, but what is your reasoning for the other side? An artist writes a song once, sings it once, records it once. They should have the right to profit from every copy of it made from that point on? Why? Why is the length of time they control the rights to that song longer than they used to be? Does it make them more creative or less that they can live off of one song for 5 years? In the US the STATED purpose of copyright and patent laws is to foster the growth of sciences and arts, not to be fair or make a living for anyone. What is the supposed purpose in other countries? Companies want to sell songs like they are "real" property with intrinsic value, but the want to control it like they just loaned it to you.
If you look at all of this in a historical context then you will see that the current system is fairly new. We have really only had recordings for about 100 years, before that musicians had to either perform their ass off or sell their work to a good performer. Songs were stolen and copied constantly.
It is easy to make moronic statements when you are talking about a complex and highly debated topic, but the most moronic statements are the ones that are made as if they are some sort of reveletory truth that settles the argument once and for all. The grand-parent sees music recordings the same way you do, a glass that never empties and can be shared without diminishing anyone's supplies. They see that as a reason to share, your reason why that is moronic is, what exactly? It cheats the owner of the original song? Would it be fair if it cost more to share it, but the "original" owner got none of that money? If you make a table and I buy it, then I buy wood and make a copy of your table to give to a friend, what have I done that makes it different than sharing a copy of a cd except cost myself money? Oh, but wait, I didn't give my friend an EXACT copy of your table, is that the difference? So it's ok if I share a CD with a friend if I use OGG or MP3 where their copy is not as good as the original? It's a complex issue, like I said. Maybe the grand parent was moronic, maybe they are just generous.
Now ISPs (in the U.S.A, and really what other country would have spawned this money grubbing plan?) have a common carrier status, they just carry the data, but it isn't theirs and they aren't responsible for it. As soon as ISPs start saying that this data has priority over that data they can no longer claim that they have no responsibilty for how their service is used.
It is this type of thinking that gives capitalism a bad name. If a company wants better download rates then they need a bigger and faster connection for their infrastructure not some putz taking off the brakes that never should have been engaged.
You might want to read the article you linked a little more carefully.Linux and Windows both lose out :)
The article was from 2001. The long term server that just ran and ran was a Novell Netware server...
I agree with zhiwenchong, the people who make mp3 encoders are the ones who have to pay a license currently (how LAME gets around it is little complex, but not your problem in any case), not content creators so there is no reason not to make an mp3 version. If you have software to create ogg vorbis and speex files you might as well go ahead and do it for anyone who would prefer them. The speex file may save some bandwith and the ogg vorbis file just gives you that warm free software feeling. Hope your project goes well.
Or it could be taken as proof that , is the one true faith.Take your pick.
Are you really considering buying a product from a company that plans a shortage to build buzz? Granted they are not the first company to do it, but given the fact that you know in advance that you are being played, you are just going to go with it? Until the "shortage" is over you can pretty much bet you are going to pay top dollar, buy it after the price goes down and spend the difference on group therapy for game addicts ;). On second thought forget I said anything, it's your money, enjoy.
Actually that is a good question. AJAX is great but it needs to gracefully fall back to solid useable HTML for clients that can't handle javascript or whatever.
It all depends on how they license it. I agree that there are some questions here. If they open source this entire product under a BSD or GPL license with no extra stipulations then it could be package in a DEB or RPM and shipped with a distribution just like OpenOffice.org. Either one of those licenses would also allow a free version for Windows, OSX, heck even OS/2.
This will be worth a lot if it is GPL just so that the algorithms can be used. The inkscape developers are always looking for sources for things like morphing functions, gradients, etc. Even if this program where a falling corpse the parts are worth salvaging.
They specifically mention the GPL here:
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/news/11-10-05.html
This will be huge news, sodipodi and inkscape could use their algorithms for new functions. Abiword could support their file formats. The Gimp could build compatibilty in easily. Bravo Xara, I will be the first one to mail a check when I know this is really going to happen. I just hope this doesn't go down like the GOBE Productive announcement a few years back.
Large software companies are now getting to a point where they would LOVE this. Current software companies has had 35+ years to build market share with EULAs that say that their products are not guaranteed usable for any particular purpose. The opportunity to change the rules now gives a huge advantage to current market leaders by creating an enormous, artificial, barrier to entry into the market. This would be the best way to kill the growth and competition in the software market. Look at all the other businesses that are encumbered with huge legal liability requirements and you will find business sectors that contain huge, multinational, 50-100 year old companies.
If a company wants to shop around and find a guarantee, fine. Requiring legal liabilty of all software vendors will just create another mess of goverment regulatory groups, certification boards and happy insurance salesmen.
I don't know of any time the update servers ever hosted a virus to users. There has been at least one instance of them shipping a virus on a product CD though, if that helps. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,101930,0 0.asp
I'm not sure I was aware of this method.I seem to remember a few times Microsoft "met the needs of the user" by supplying a "good enough" solution for less cost than the competition, but if I had to pick ONE time when they may have provided a better solution to take a market it would have been IE 4 (after ealier IE versions sucked) versus an aging and slow to develop Netscape, even then they had to bundle it, make illegal deals, and include ActiveX to screw up any chance at security. Mind you the author of this review would seem to think that was not a case of superior software winning out.
I'm not saying MS has never made a good peice of software, but in the past to dominate the market, price and vendor pressure seem to have been the preferred weapons. After they GET the market they have sometimes made a product that is amoung the best of breed (Excel would be my example here)
I didn't say they were valid arguments. When I said "my problem", I fully acknowledged it was MY problem with evolution, not a grand theory refuting it. I think that many scientists would prefer to think that the reason some people don't accept evolution is religion. I have read what people have written about elvolution though clearly not as much as you. While agree that the majority do harp on the creationist view, I think there are some who have some concerns about the theory itself. How valid those concerns are obiously varies but I am sure the work of past critics has been used to improve our current understanding. As I have said in a previous post the theory of evolution has itself evolved extensively over time (Unless you think Darwin hit it on the nose with the first swing). Your professor's research is 25 years old at most, so it will take a few more years for its implications to to sink into the general populace's understanding of evolution. Your not-so-humble-opinion seems to be based in years of studying the subject, maybe you can see how those of us who have not devoted the same amount of time to the subject have a slightly fuzzier view.