The same things were said about Windows XP. And look where we are today...
It might surprise the Slashdot crowd to know that *some* people like Vista. I do. I'm no MS fanboy, and I've cursed Bill Gates so many times its become a household cliche -- but the reality is, Vista is just fine. I use it every day, 10-12 hours a day, and my only complaint is the annoying slowness of file copies. Vista has a number of nice features that improve on XP.
Will I upgrade the other four machines in my office? Heck no. The Linux machines will remain with Gentoo; the Windows XP and MCE systems will not be upgraded any time soon. That doesn't mean I hate Vista, or nor did it fail because 80% of my computers are staying with their current OS.
Just like 2000 and XP, Vista works best on a new system; upgrading is always a mess, because vendors want to sell you today's tech instead of supporting what you bought last month. So the older systems stay with what works, and the new computer runs Vista (very well, I might add).
It's popular and trendy to hate Microsoft and Vista; heaven forbid you should think for yourselves.
And if they are spending money, it is on a commercial Linux distro, bought in order to obtain a reasonable sense of stability and the comfort of support. People are not, however, buying development tools or desktop applications for Linux -- at least not in any significant quantity.
Odd. Who said (in this thread) that "Linux users are commie freeloaders?"
*I* didn't.
And since I am a proud Linux user and developer (see my signature link below), I certainly would use such an incorrect characterization of Linux users.
I *can* say that I've never purchased a single piece of software to run on my Linux boxes, and I don't know any Linux users who have spent significant money beyond, in some cases, buying a commercial distro. Does that make any of us communists? In and of itself, no.
If someone is interested in supporting Linux, they won't be using Silverlight simply by nature of their needs. Thus the market will decide if Microsoft's product is a success.
Linux users, by nature, do not use proprietary closed-source programs for development; therefore, they are not going to be buying Silverlight development tools even if they were available for Linux.
I won't be using Silverlight. I took a look at it, and don't see that it offers anything I can't get elsewhere. If my feelings reflect the majority, Microsoft will need to produce a Linux variant -- and if that is impossible due to license conflicts, then Microsoft is screwed. Simple as that.
Don't edit other people's words to make them say what you want to hear. It's rude.
Everyone has different needs, and I see no reason why the computing community needs to be polarized. The FOSS community acts too much like a religion, saying "Follow my faith, or go to the devil." Microsoft is a dictator, FOSS is the pope -- both need to get over themselves.
I'm pretty much an agnostic when it comes to technology; for me, it's a tool, and I use the tools that work for me. If your mileage varies, and you like something different, by all means use it!
My suggestion to the FOSS community: If you don't like Silverlight, don't support it! Simple as that. Vote with your actions instead of demanding that other people follow you like sheep.
I would love to see Java applets make a comeback. And opening Java should help... unfortunately, the prejudices against Java are likely to prevent it from being accepted by much of the FOSS community. I've seen many companies burned by the early Java hype, and once burned is twice cautious. That's a shame, because Java has evolve dinto a fine independent platform.
It's an honest question: Why would Microsoft release software to enhance Linux?
Linux users do not pay for software; that's the nature of the beast. I've been running Linux full-time since the early 1.x versions, and I've never purchased a single piece of software for it. So I don't see what the incentive is for Microsoft to support Linux.
Much as I love Linux and free software, it is self-defeating and unrealistic to demand that Microsoft (and other companies) support Linux. Perhaps the much-vaunted free software community should produce its own solutions that are better then the closed-source competition? Instead of complaining about what other people do, take responsibility for your own needs and write the software you want.
I don;t like the current trend toward "shiny" displays on laptops.
What I'd really like to have is a filter I can put over a TFT display for times when I need to use a laptop outside. By saying "I've Googled and can't find anything" (which I have), I hope some wise-arse Slashdotian will inflate their ego and show me where such a device can be found.
There isn't a single compelling reason for "regular" users to upgrade from XP to Vista. None. And there are several reasons -- system performance and older applications being two -- not to upgrade.
That said, I have upgraded one of my workstaations to Vista, and find it to be very stable -- more stable than XP was on this machine. I upgraded because of client requests that I include Vista compatibility in the code I write. The logic is that all new machines will come with Vista, so any new software needs to work on that platform and XP.
I don't think Microsoft expects peopel to upgrade immediately. New machines will have Vista automatically, and gradually, DirextX 10 and other features will move people to Vista. But nothing will compell peopel to move to Vista from and XP system that works. Much as I like Vista (yes, some of us do), I'm not upgrading any other machines, even thoguh I have Vista upgrades available for a couple fo the HP laptops.
Meanwhile, the two Linux boxes won't be getting upgraded to Vista, ever.:)
Can PvE content be shared by, say, two people? My wife and I always had fun playing Diablo II together; I'm wondering if Guild Wars would give us a similar game to share.
How do you explain the very reptilian (and non-breasted) Argonians of Morrowind? They (and the Kajit) have legs quite unable to wear shoes and boots, for example.
My favorite being the poor cold Argonian at the docks in the Morrowind Bloodmoon expansion, who mournfully complains "All I want is a pair of boots. How hard could it be?"
I have a wonderful dual-CPU Opteron box based on a Tyan Thunder K8W (@885) motherboard. When I bought it in mid-2004, it was leading edge. New, less than two years later, I've had a nightmare upgrading the AGP graphics. I found a nice nVidia 7800GS the works beuatifully in Linux, only to discover that it won't run my Windows games due to a flaw in the AMD 8151 AGP-to-PCI driver. AMD shows no sign of fixing the problem (they claim it is obsolete tech), so I bought and installed an ATI X1x00 card, which works great in Windows, but crashes X in Linux when using DRI.
In Cyberpace, no one can hear you scream.
Meanwhile, I'm upgrading my 1985 Ford F-150 pickup to use biodiesel and alcohol. I can upgrade a 20-yo truck, but not a 2-yo computer.
I've been running a 100% 64-bit dual Opteron rig for almost two years, under Gentoo. No emulation libraries, no multilib, just 64-bit code. Other than Open Office, I've had almost no trouble at all.
BTW, "64-bits" don't make programs run faster (in general) — code compiled for AMD64/EMT64 runs faster than its 32-bit counterpart (for the most part) because of the extra general-purpose registers in the AMD 64-bit design.
I just spent two weeks working and exploring in São Paulo, Brasil (my home is in Florida). I've never been to São Paulo before, and had a rather complex schedule of work and touristing, all managed with a couple of print-outs and old-fashion pen-and-paper notes. No PDA, no GPS, a borrowed cell phone just for emergencies, my laptop secured at the company offices. I did have a real (and decent quality) magentic compass in my watch, just to make certain I didn't get turned around.
I never worried about finding an internet terminal, or having my tech stolen, or carrying flashy stuff to identify me as a "rich" American. No worries about batteries, either.
I love my tech as much as the next geek, but I'm a believer in the right amount of tech for the job at hand. Sometimes, paper and pen are all that's needed, and the tech just gets cumbersome or disracting.
We're building a home in New Mexico, and Kamen's creation look like something we might find useful. It's not just poor folk who need clean water and independent power — although they certainly could use it.
The whole world of computing isn't comprised of "enterprise-class" users. A one-size fits all approach -- trying to make any given OSS product work for geeks, hobbiests, small businesses, corporation, education, what have you -- is unrealistic.
OSS is a good model for innovation, for creativity, for exploration. Many OSS applications work well for niche markets, hobbiests, and researchers -- but I don't see why the "success" of an OSS package should be predicated on its acceptance by "the enterprise."
The software system is badly designed. Internal verification should have caught such a ridiculous value, producing an audit trail or alert.
Of course, a human auditor should have been looking at the numbers as well, but the real human error is in failing to create software that recognizes potential problems.
Science is a process of debate and analysis, and there have been a couple of interesting threads among paleontologists regarding interpretation of the Guanlong fossil:
Much as I like the artist's depiction of Guanlong, he did take some creative liberties that obscure the underlying science. Ignoring the art and focusing on the article itself, the major item of interest in the crest. Many Jurassic carnosaurs had crests; why this feature evolved, and why it "went away" later is being debated.
Why I chose GTK+
on
Why Use GTK+?
·
· Score: 3, Informative
I haven't read the article, since GTK+ is already my preferred GUI toolkit. And this in spite of the fact that I run KDE as my primary desktop! I run both Gnome and KDE, and my choice of KDE over Gnome is based more on organization and flexibility than it is on the underlying GUI toolkit.
As background: My wrote my first GUI programs back in the days of Window 3.1, and while most of my work is on data-crunching engines, I do write quite a few GUI applications. I need to rapidly generate an interface, back it with code, and have it presentable on Windows and Linux.
As a programmer, I don't like QT. It feels klunky, bloated; nor do I find QT Designer all that friendly. Beyond matters of taste and comfort, TrollTech requires a commercial license for certain tools (e.g., a MathML widget) that I can obtain under GPL for GTK+.
I'm rather fond of Glade. Most of my GTK+ GUI programs are in C, some in C++; I define an interface in Glade, fill in the appropriate functions, and I'm ready to rock and roll.
GTK+ 2.8 brought with it Cairo, a very nice drawing toolkit. I just put together a little interactive graphics application, just to better familiarize myself with Cairo, and the result is quite nice.
In the near future, I'll be writing some very extensive OpenGL applications, and I'll likely wrap these in a GTK+ GUI. If something better comes along, I'll try it -- but for now, GTK+ provides what I need. Your mileage may vary.
This study reflects more on our society than it does on intelligence.
The education system is designed to create good corporate cogs — people who do what they're told, how they're told to do it. Failure to follow the explicitly-given path is "bad" in human society, and creativity is largely frowned upon as a deviant behavior.
Okay, so I'm being a bit harsh, and probably a bit melodramatic. Yet we spend enormous amounts of effort on human process (particularly in computing) and very little on creativity. Companies complain that they can't find people who "think outside the box", yet are uncomfortable with people who do show inspiration and creativity.
Admitedly, we don't need creative burger flippers, and process can be invaluable. Somewhere, though, we've lost a balance between being cogs in a machine and random parts in a pile.
I've generally found AbiWord to fit the bill for a "small, speedy, and bloat-free" word processor. It's certainly not perfect, but I've used it extensively in my work, and find it more than adequate.
Slashdot Mirror
The same things were said about Windows XP. And look where we are today...
It might surprise the Slashdot crowd to know that *some* people like Vista. I do. I'm no MS fanboy, and I've cursed Bill Gates so many times its become a household cliche -- but the reality is, Vista is just fine. I use it every day, 10-12 hours a day, and my only complaint is the annoying slowness of file copies. Vista has a number of nice features that improve on XP.
Will I upgrade the other four machines in my office? Heck no. The Linux machines will remain with Gentoo; the Windows XP and MCE systems will not be upgraded any time soon. That doesn't mean I hate Vista, or nor did it fail because 80% of my computers are staying with their current OS.
Just like 2000 and XP, Vista works best on a new system; upgrading is always a mess, because vendors want to sell you today's tech instead of supporting what you bought last month. So the older systems stay with what works, and the new computer runs Vista (very well, I might add).
It's popular and trendy to hate Microsoft and Vista; heaven forbid you should think for yourselves.
And if they are spending money, it is on a commercial Linux distro, bought in order to obtain a reasonable sense of stability and the comfort of support. People are not, however, buying development tools or desktop applications for Linux -- at least not in any significant quantity.
Odd. Who said (in this thread) that "Linux users are commie freeloaders?"
*I* didn't.
And since I am a proud Linux user and developer (see my signature link below), I certainly would use such an incorrect characterization of Linux users.
I *can* say that I've never purchased a single piece of software to run on my Linux boxes, and I don't know any Linux users who have spent significant money beyond, in some cases, buying a commercial distro. Does that make any of us communists? In and of itself, no.
If someone is interested in supporting Linux, they won't be using Silverlight simply by nature of their needs. Thus the market will decide if Microsoft's product is a success.
Linux users, by nature, do not use proprietary closed-source programs for development; therefore, they are not going to be buying Silverlight development tools even if they were available for Linux.
I won't be using Silverlight. I took a look at it, and don't see that it offers anything I can't get elsewhere. If my feelings reflect the majority, Microsoft will need to produce a Linux variant -- and if that is impossible due to license conflicts, then Microsoft is screwed. Simple as that.
Don't edit other people's words to make them say what you want to hear. It's rude.
Everyone has different needs, and I see no reason why the computing community needs to be polarized. The FOSS community acts too much like a religion, saying "Follow my faith, or go to the devil." Microsoft is a dictator, FOSS is the pope -- both need to get over themselves.
I'm pretty much an agnostic when it comes to technology; for me, it's a tool, and I use the tools that work for me. If your mileage varies, and you like something different, by all means use it!
My suggestion to the FOSS community: If you don't like Silverlight, don't support it! Simple as that. Vote with your actions instead of demanding that other people follow you like sheep.
I would love to see Java applets make a comeback. And opening Java should help... unfortunately, the prejudices against Java are likely to prevent it from being accepted by much of the FOSS community. I've seen many companies burned by the early Java hype, and once burned is twice cautious. That's a shame, because Java has evolve dinto a fine independent platform.
It's an honest question: Why would Microsoft release software to enhance Linux?
Linux users do not pay for software; that's the nature of the beast. I've been running Linux full-time since the early 1.x versions, and I've never purchased a single piece of software for it. So I don't see what the incentive is for Microsoft to support Linux.
Much as I love Linux and free software, it is self-defeating and unrealistic to demand that Microsoft (and other companies) support Linux. Perhaps the much-vaunted free software community should produce its own solutions that are better then the closed-source competition? Instead of complaining about what other people do, take responsibility for your own needs and write the software you want.
Isn't free software up to the challenge?
I've had the same question...
I don;t like the current trend toward "shiny" displays on laptops.
What I'd really like to have is a filter I can put over a TFT display for times when I need to use a laptop outside. By saying "I've Googled and can't find anything" (which I have), I hope some wise-arse Slashdotian will inflate their ego and show me where such a device can be found.
There isn't a single compelling reason for "regular" users to upgrade from XP to Vista. None. And there are several reasons -- system performance and older applications being two -- not to upgrade.
That said, I have upgraded one of my workstaations to Vista, and find it to be very stable -- more stable than XP was on this machine. I upgraded because of client requests that I include Vista compatibility in the code I write. The logic is that all new machines will come with Vista, so any new software needs to work on that platform and XP.
I don't think Microsoft expects peopel to upgrade immediately. New machines will have Vista automatically, and gradually, DirextX 10 and other features will move people to Vista. But nothing will compell peopel to move to Vista from and XP system that works. Much as I like Vista (yes, some of us do), I'm not upgrading any other machines, even thoguh I have Vista upgrades available for a couple fo the HP laptops.Meanwhile, the two Linux boxes won't be getting upgraded to Vista, ever. :)
Can PvE content be shared by, say, two people? My wife and I always had fun playing Diablo II together; I'm wondering if Guild Wars would give us a similar game to share.
If I buy Factions, what do I miss out on if I don't buy Prophesies? I can't seem to find this in their FAQs.
How do you explain the very reptilian (and non-breasted) Argonians of Morrowind? They (and the Kajit) have legs quite unable to wear shoes and boots, for example. My favorite being the poor cold Argonian at the docks in the Morrowind Bloodmoon expansion, who mournfully complains "All I want is a pair of boots. How hard could it be?"
...that they put breasts on reptiles. Dear god, think of all those kids who play Oblivion and end up looking for tits on a snake.
Count me in the "upgrade horror" crowd.
I have a wonderful dual-CPU Opteron box based on a Tyan Thunder K8W (@885) motherboard. When I bought it in mid-2004, it was leading edge. New, less than two years later, I've had a nightmare upgrading the AGP graphics. I found a nice nVidia 7800GS the works beuatifully in Linux, only to discover that it won't run my Windows games due to a flaw in the AMD 8151 AGP-to-PCI driver. AMD shows no sign of fixing the problem (they claim it is obsolete tech), so I bought and installed an ATI X1x00 card, which works great in Windows, but crashes X in Linux when using DRI.
In Cyberpace, no one can hear you scream.
Meanwhile, I'm upgrading my 1985 Ford F-150 pickup to use biodiesel and alcohol. I can upgrade a 20-yo truck, but not a 2-yo computer.
I've been running a 100% 64-bit dual Opteron rig for almost two years, under Gentoo. No emulation libraries, no multilib, just 64-bit code. Other than Open Office, I've had almost no trouble at all.
BTW, "64-bits" don't make programs run faster (in general) — code compiled for AMD64/EMT64 runs faster than its 32-bit counterpart (for the most part) because of the extra general-purpose registers in the AMD 64-bit design.
You beat me to it...
I just spent two weeks working and exploring in São Paulo, Brasil (my home is in Florida). I've never been to São Paulo before, and had a rather complex schedule of work and touristing, all managed with a couple of print-outs and old-fashion pen-and-paper notes. No PDA, no GPS, a borrowed cell phone just for emergencies, my laptop secured at the company offices. I did have a real (and decent quality) magentic compass in my watch, just to make certain I didn't get turned around.
I never worried about finding an internet terminal, or having my tech stolen, or carrying flashy stuff to identify me as a "rich" American. No worries about batteries, either.
I love my tech as much as the next geek, but I'm a believer in the right amount of tech for the job at hand. Sometimes, paper and pen are all that's needed, and the tech just gets cumbersome or disracting.
Once again, the veracity of digital images is in question under the term "Photoshopping."
Notice how no one says "GIMPing" or "GIMPed pictures"? Has Adobe's product become so ubiquitous that it is in danger of loosing its trademark status?
Anything to excess is likely to be harmful. The key is to find balance — moderation in all things, including moderation!
We're building a home in New Mexico, and Kamen's creation look like something we might find useful. It's not just poor folk who need clean water and independent power — although they certainly could use it.
The whole world of computing isn't comprised of "enterprise-class" users. A one-size fits all approach -- trying to make any given OSS product work for geeks, hobbiests, small businesses, corporation, education, what have you -- is unrealistic.
OSS is a good model for innovation, for creativity, for exploration. Many OSS applications work well for niche markets, hobbiests, and researchers -- but I don't see why the "success" of an OSS package should be predicated on its acceptance by "the enterprise."
The software system is badly designed. Internal verification should have caught such a ridiculous value, producing an audit trail or alert.
Of course, a human auditor should have been looking at the numbers as well, but the real human error is in failing to create software that recognizes potential problems.
Science is a process of debate and analysis, and there have been a couple of interesting threads among paleontologists regarding interpretation of the Guanlong fossil:
Thread 1
Thread 2
Much as I like the artist's depiction of Guanlong, he did take some creative liberties that obscure the underlying science. Ignoring the art and focusing on the article itself, the major item of interest in the crest. Many Jurassic carnosaurs had crests; why this feature evolved, and why it "went away" later is being debated.
I haven't read the article, since GTK+ is already my preferred GUI toolkit. And this in spite of the fact that I run KDE as my primary desktop! I run both Gnome and KDE, and my choice of KDE over Gnome is based more on organization and flexibility than it is on the underlying GUI toolkit.
As background: My wrote my first GUI programs back in the days of Window 3.1, and while most of my work is on data-crunching engines, I do write quite a few GUI applications. I need to rapidly generate an interface, back it with code, and have it presentable on Windows and Linux.
As a programmer, I don't like QT. It feels klunky, bloated; nor do I find QT Designer all that friendly. Beyond matters of taste and comfort, TrollTech requires a commercial license for certain tools (e.g., a MathML widget) that I can obtain under GPL for GTK+.
I'm rather fond of Glade. Most of my GTK+ GUI programs are in C, some in C++; I define an interface in Glade, fill in the appropriate functions, and I'm ready to rock and roll.
GTK+ 2.8 brought with it Cairo, a very nice drawing toolkit. I just put together a little interactive graphics application, just to better familiarize myself with Cairo, and the result is quite nice.
In the near future, I'll be writing some very extensive OpenGL applications, and I'll likely wrap these in a GTK+ GUI. If something better comes along, I'll try it -- but for now, GTK+ provides what I need. Your mileage may vary.
This study reflects more on our society than it does on intelligence.
The education system is designed to create good corporate cogs — people who do what they're told, how they're told to do it. Failure to follow the explicitly-given path is "bad" in human society, and creativity is largely frowned upon as a deviant behavior.
Okay, so I'm being a bit harsh, and probably a bit melodramatic. Yet we spend enormous amounts of effort on human process (particularly in computing) and very little on creativity. Companies complain that they can't find people who "think outside the box", yet are uncomfortable with people who do show inspiration and creativity.
Admitedly, we don't need creative burger flippers, and process can be invaluable. Somewhere, though, we've lost a balance between being cogs in a machine and random parts in a pile.
I've generally found AbiWord to fit the bill for a "small, speedy, and bloat-free" word processor. It's certainly not perfect, but I've used it extensively in my work, and find it more than adequate.