In general you are right but NOT if you develop a 3D engine like I do. I absolutely need the drivers to be as good as they can be (and on cards better then a Radeon 8500). And I'm sorry to say but on linux the ATI closed drivers are still the best (most features) but are very bad compared to nVidia drivers for linux.
Free software is good and I'm all for it but there are cases where features DO matter.
I'm one of the developers on the free (in the sense of not having to pay money to play it) MMORPG game called PlaneShift (http://www.planeshift.it). The MMORPG engine is fully Open Source (GPL). This game is still in development and the current released demo is getting old. But even if you can't do a lot in it yet (only explore, chat, hunt crystals) it still has 100000 registered accounts. The next version which will soon be released will have magic, combat,...
The game is fully free. You don't have to pay to download the game and you don't have to pay to play it.
It still holds for Sybase though. Sybase makes a query plan for a SP the first time it is used. At least in 12.5 it is still like that. We're using that here.
A database stores data. The fact that it has transactions or not does not make something a database. The fact that something stores data is what makes something a database.
Of course. To have a 'useful' database it may be wise that transactions are available. But it is not a necessary feature.
Is that most users are not capable to do things like 'turn on firewall' or 'install this program to fix that vulnarability'. Most solutions that I have seen posted here involve some kind of tweaking to firewalls or installing some external firewall box and things like that. Please don't forget that most people don't even know what a firewall is, let alone know that they even need it. I wonder what solution there is for a non-technie home user who is just capable enough to install windows but nothing more. Of course one could argue that that user should just have his OS installed at the shop. That might be the only solution perhaps.
I believe it all depends on what you want to do. For most system software (where security is very important) I would agree with you. Also for big application software (like word processing and stuff like that) I would also tend to agree.
However, I'm not sure I agree for software where security is little or no concern but speed is the main issue. One example of that kind of software is games. I'm author of a 3D engine in C++ and I also program in Java for a living. I think that for things like these low-level languages like C and C++ are still the way to go. You can argue that computers are getting faster and faster. But user expectations about what those games can do are also constantly rising.
As other posted already pointed out the appeal will not help. MS has to pay right now and comply to the rulings already set by this court. If it appeals and they win the appeal later then this will be reversed.
Never heard of tab completion? All good CLI's that I know allow you to complete a path or filename with a single key (usually tab). That saves a lot of typing. If there are multiple choices for the same set of start tokens then you can get a list of all matches with one key too.
The reason I like CLI's a lot more is that you can use wildcards in them. For example, I often want to move all files that match a certain pattern to some other dir (just an example). This is a lot more clumsy to do in a GUI.
Moral of the story, people are idiots. Just accept that and you will be much happier in life.
So because someone doesn't understand the concept of web sites and how to browse them makes that person an idiot? I find that a very harsh statement. I don't understand a lot of things in this world (like quantum mechanics and other stuff like that). Does that make me an idiot?
If you are reading slashdot chances are high that you know about computers. You may even know a lot about computers. But people who know about computers are a minority. Just like people who know about quantum mechanics are a minority. That doesn't make all the other people idiots.
This is false. 'ldd' does NOT run the program you give as an argument. As a proof of that try running 'ldd' on a graphical program (like xclock). Also 'ldd' works on shared libraries too.
Well the links on this article explain what it does (i.e. the interview with the author of valgrind). I can explain it quickly though. Basically it emulates the x86 cpu and runs your program under very close inspection. By doing that it can discover various bugs or suspicious things while your program is running. It can find out that your program is reading or writing to memory where it shouldn't read or write. It can find out when your program is trying to use variables that haven't been initialized yet (haven't got a value yet). It can find out about memory that isn't released properly. And a lot more. It also has a cpu cache analyzer tool.
In short, valgrind manages to find many bugs in programs and gives you the information so you can actually solve those bugs.
Thanks to valgrind (one of the winners), a lot of programs that you probably find useful on linux work a lot better then they would have worked without valgrind. It may not be a program that you would ever use yourselves. But the good effects of that program you can feel in many linux software packages.
I'm very happy to hear that valgrind won an award. This tool is really a life-saver for anyone developing projects on Linux (with x86). In my project we have solved lots of very hard bugs just by running our program under valgrind. For many of those bugs we were not even aware that they existed in the first place:-)
IMHO valgrind is the single most useful programming tool available on linux. Congratulations to the developers!
Isn't it the idea to develop for the future instead of sticking with the paste? Keep in mind that Crystal Space is intended for FUTURE games. i.e. there are currently no (finished) games with CS so why bother trying to run on current hardware?
Note though that we actually do run pretty well on low-end hardware. We will never forget where we came from (I started programming CS on a Pentium 90 with 16 megs RAM and no 3D hardware acceleration).
Actually not completely true. Check out http://www.amiga.com . The amiga is still very much alive. Although not exactly in the same form as it used to be:-)
One can of course question if it makes sense to keep holding Amiga alive (note, I used to be a big Amiga fan in the past. Still have an A3000). But it is not really dead yet.
Slashdot Mirror
In general you are right but NOT if you develop a 3D engine like I do. I absolutely need the drivers to be as good as they can be (and on cards better then a Radeon 8500). And I'm sorry to say but on linux the ATI closed drivers are still the best (most features) but are very bad compared to nVidia drivers for linux.
Free software is good and I'm all for it but there are cases where features DO matter.
Greetings,
I'm one of the developers on the free (in the sense of not having to pay money to play it) MMORPG game called PlaneShift (http://www.planeshift.it). The MMORPG engine is fully Open Source (GPL). This game is still in development and the current released demo is getting old. But even if you can't do a lot in it yet (only explore, chat, hunt crystals) it still has 100000 registered accounts. The next version which will soon be released will have magic, combat, ...
The game is fully free. You don't have to pay to download the game and you don't have to pay to play it.
Greetings,
It still holds for Sybase though. Sybase makes a query plan for a SP the first time it is used. At least in 12.5 it is still like that. We're using that here.
Greetings,
A database stores data. The fact that it has transactions or not does not make something a database. The fact that something stores data is what makes something a database.
Of course. To have a 'useful' database it may be wise that transactions are available. But it is not a necessary feature.
Greetings,
Is that most users are not capable to do things like 'turn on firewall' or 'install this program to fix that vulnarability'. Most solutions that I have seen posted here involve some kind of tweaking to firewalls or installing some external firewall box and things like that. Please don't forget that most people don't even know what a firewall is, let alone know that they even need it. I wonder what solution there is for a non-technie home user who is just capable enough to install windows but nothing more. Of course one could argue that that user should just have his OS installed at the shop. That might be the only solution perhaps.
Greetings,
I believe it all depends on what you want to do. For most system software (where security is very important) I would agree with you. Also for big application software (like word processing and stuff like that) I would also tend to agree.
However, I'm not sure I agree for software where security is little or no concern but speed is the main issue. One example of that kind of software is games. I'm author of a 3D engine in C++ and I also program in Java for a living. I think that for things like these low-level languages like C and C++ are still the way to go. You can argue that computers are getting faster and faster. But user expectations about what those games can do are also constantly rising.
Greetings,
Luckily we don't have those :-)
Well this is how EU law works. Appeals don't stop the sentence from being carried out.
Greetings,
As other posted already pointed out the appeal will not help. MS has to pay right now and comply to the rulings already set by this court. If it appeals and they win the appeal later then this will be reversed.
Greetings,
Yes, the EU forced MS to open the API documentation.
Greetings,
Never heard of tab completion? All good CLI's that I know allow you to complete a path or filename with a single key (usually tab). That saves a lot of typing. If there are multiple choices for the same set of start tokens then you can get a list of all matches with one key too.
The reason I like CLI's a lot more is that you can use wildcards in them. For example, I often want to move all files that match a certain pattern to some other dir (just an example). This is a lot more clumsy to do in a GUI.
Greetings,
Or you can do like many C++/C projects do and simply forget to free the memory (i.e. memory leaks).
Greetings,
Check out the following screenshot where Mozilla is being put on a polygon in the Crystal Space 3D Engine. This feat was done by the VOS Project:
Mozilla on a 3D polygon
Greetings,
Sorry... It's late here and I'm tired. I meant 'quit' of course :-)
Greetings,
Work shouldn't be fun??? That must be one of the saddest remarks I have heard in some time. I would quiet my job the moment it stops getting fun.
Of course I agree with you that work isn't the only thing in life. Family comes first.
But if your work isn't fun then I pity you.
Greetings,
Moral of the story, people are idiots. Just accept that and you will be much happier in life.
So because someone doesn't understand the concept of web sites and how to browse them makes that person an idiot? I find that a very harsh statement. I don't understand a lot of things in this world (like quantum mechanics and other stuff like that). Does that make me an idiot?
If you are reading slashdot chances are high that you know about computers. You may even know a lot about computers. But people who know about computers are a minority. Just like people who know about quantum mechanics are a minority. That doesn't make all the other people idiots.
Greetings,
'Vensters'
Greetings,
This is false. 'ldd' does NOT run the program you give as an argument. As a proof of that try running 'ldd' on a graphical program (like xclock). Also 'ldd' works on shared libraries too.
'ldd' works by reading the binary data directly.
Greetings,
Well the links on this article explain what it does (i.e. the interview with the author of valgrind). I can explain it quickly though. Basically it emulates the x86 cpu and runs your program under very close inspection. By doing that it can discover various bugs or suspicious things while your program is running. It can find out that your program is reading or writing to memory where it shouldn't read or write. It can find out when your program is trying to use variables that haven't been initialized yet (haven't got a value yet). It can find out about memory that isn't released properly. And a lot more. It also has a cpu cache analyzer tool.
In short, valgrind manages to find many bugs in programs and gives you the information so you can actually solve those bugs.
Greetings,
Thanks to valgrind (one of the winners), a lot of programs that you probably find useful on linux work a lot better then they would have worked without valgrind. It may not be a program that you would ever use yourselves. But the good effects of that program you can feel in many linux software packages.
Greetings,
I'm very happy to hear that valgrind won an award. This tool is really a life-saver for anyone developing projects on Linux (with x86). In my project we have solved lots of very hard bugs just by running our program under valgrind. For many of those bugs we were not even aware that they existed in the first place :-)
IMHO valgrind is the single most useful programming tool available on linux. Congratulations to the developers!
Greetings,
Isn't it the idea to develop for the future instead of sticking with the paste? Keep in mind that Crystal Space is intended for FUTURE games. i.e. there are currently no (finished) games with CS so why bother trying to run on current hardware?
Note though that we actually do run pretty well on low-end hardware. We will never forget where we came from (I started programming CS on a Pentium 90 with 16 megs RAM and no 3D hardware acceleration).
Greetings,
Or unless you make 3D engines :-)
Greetings,
Why should this relate to Linux? This is about Open Office. I don't see Linux mentioned in the slashdot headline.
Greetings,
Actually not completely true. Check out http://www.amiga.com . The amiga is still very much alive. Although not exactly in the same form as it used to be :-)
One can of course question if it makes sense to keep holding Amiga alive (note, I used to be a big Amiga fan in the past. Still have an A3000). But it is not really dead yet.
Greetings,