"Companies kill me, it's a corporate lifecycle that we see again and again, and very few seem to learn from it. Once a company gets so big, it gets it in its head that it's invulnerable. It thinks that it can do anything it wants..."
Not just companies - it applies to countries and their empires, too.
Always look out for, and be wary of, people who tell you what you want to hear.
Why is everyone so concerned about the general public being able to see their genitals? I mean, they can already see your face, your neck, your hands, what does it matter?
What will this mean? Probably that Google will put pictures of them online, Canadians will hate winter even more, and we will all hang free.
Damn, go smoke some more pot, you're not paranoid enough.
"Simplicity is a beautiful thing. One of the core fundamentals of Unix is that an application does a single job, does it well, and provides output such that it can easily be piped into another application."
Sure, but many commands like "ls", "grep", "ps", etc have a huge number of options which control how and what they do, and make them more flexible and useful.
Sticking with a Linux-system-as-meal analogy, I would suggest a fairer one would be to compare Gentoo to cooking a meal yourself from pre-prepared ingredients and a recipe to going to a restaurant for a meal.
With Gentoo (cooking yourself) you can choose precisely what meal you want, made from precisely what ingredients, but you do have to go to the effort of cooking it yourself. With binary distributions (going out to a restaurant) you make a selection from whatever they happen to have on the menu, but yes, it is less effort and less time-consuming on your part.
Gentoo may not be the best choice of you, but why go out of your way to criticise those who have a different point of view ?
"Why would the average Brit care whether or not the BBC can make a little bit more money when they've already got their hands in everyone's pockets."
Because the government frequently restricts the licence-fee raises that the BBC asks for, based (partly) on how much they think the BBC needs. More profit for the BBC means the licence fee can be kept lower, so the average Brit ends up paying less money.
"The funniest one is still one where one of my coworkers nuked/lib on a fairly important machine unintentionally"
"He never got a root password for an important server after that incident. In hindsight, that was a funny incident, and a valuable lesson to us all (we all became paranoid of rereading what we just typed)."
I hope the decision to deny him root access was based on more than that one unintentional incident. It could have happened to any of you. After all, why else would it be a "valuable lesson" to you ? Isn't the person who made that mistake the least likely to make it again ? And you did also say you "could fill about a 100 pages on my own from stupid things I've done".
"The West now only concerns itself because suddenly we're the direct targets of their actions."
Make that "the USA" rather than "the west" - other western countries have had serious terrorism problems for years. In the UK there was the IRA and the "troubles" in Northern Ireland, and in Spain there was/is ETA, to name but two.
Interestingly, look at thisstory today - 400lb of explosives found, with a strong suspicion of links to real-live republican terrorists. Notice how little reporting there has been of this?
Now imagine how big the headlines would be if a group of muslims had been found with 400lbs of explosive.
It would be the same amount of explosive - able to kill the same number of people.
"The GPL may have other benefits, but promoting freedom isn't one of them. Freedom means the ability to do whatever you want with software, even something other people may not like. When you cannot do that, it is because your freedom is restricted."
Isn't the point of this discussion the fact that Tivo feels they will be restricted by the GPLv3 precisely because they will not be able to restrict the purchasers of their product ?
"To sum up, yes, I personally am opposed to both the effect and the intent of the GPL."
Do you really mean "opposed to", rather than "prefer BSD for your own work" ? If "opposed, why are you opposed to what other people want to use ? Do you want to restrict their freedom in some way ?
"Somewhere, some accountant at AMD had to draw up a balance sheet showing the OLPC CPUs as a net profit over time -- to do otherwise would be to risk the near-certainty of a shareholder lawsuit."
Somehow, this attitude seems symbolic of the decline of the once-great USA.
"You'll be surprised how many people, making millions on the Internet, have no clue what it is.
Check out this set of pictures (or here) of people finding out exactly what goatse.cx is, while some nice person photographs the expression on their face.
"Unfortunately at least in this country (UK) you are likely to cause a case of road rage. All driving schools teach a completely different driving style. Namely, you are taught to go close to the roundabout without deccelerating and switch 4-to-2nd or 5-to-3rd for the big ones to kill your speed right away with the engine while helping yourself with the breaks. Same for traffic lights, stopping, etc. Even if it is absolutely clear that a traffic light will go green any minute, the average british driver will go all the way to it, break, stop and wait. As a result if you deccelerate early the one bihind you may end up smashing into you or uses breaks to deccelerate early and gets pissed off."
Not sure I agree with this. I was taught to always change down one gear at a time. If you use engine braking by changing down TWO gears at a time, you're going to slow down fairly rapidly WITHOUT YOUR BRAKE LIGHTS COMING ON. This is much more likely to cause a) rear-end accidents; and b) road rage; than slowly down gently. I slow down the way the GP post described, and I never have any problems drivers behind getting annoyed (though I can see they might if you did it "to excess" (i.e. risked yourself and the cars behind not being able to get through the lights when they turn green)).
I don't agree that "[the world] needs everyone working to create a single comprehensive distro". Personally, I think choice is good, and that alternatives can compete against each other, each try out different ideas, and stimulate and improve each other.
What does a "distribution" or "operating system" mean to a large number of computer users ? Nothing. They just see it as part of "the way the computer works". So why do we need more than one operating system ? So let's extend your argument to cover operating systems:
I think that in the [computing] world, mergers are a good thing and need to be made across the entire [computing] community. Imagine if the [Windows] and [Linux] camps could work together... or how about [Windows] and [Linux]... or most importantly the [software installation] camps.
Want to bring [computing] to the mainstream, pick a standard and develop it. Set aside your disagreements and work for the greater good. The world doesn't need another [operating system], it needs everyone working to create a single comprehensive [operating system].
I hate it when I find a piece of software I want, only to discover there is no binary for my chosen [operating system]. I don't hate it because I don't know how to compile it myself, but because I shouldn't have to.
I hate that I can only seem to get hardware drivers for [windows] because the vendor couldn't cater to everyone.
And I hate hearing about projects forking because two intelligent people can't come to a compromise.
Choice is good... but only when there is at least one option that meets the need. Too often there is so much competition that none of the products can really fulfill the needs they set out to fulfill because there are not enough developers to go around.
So......pursuing your argument a little further, should we all just use windows ????
"Unlike you, the Gnome developers don't actually decide things based on their opinions alone, they apply widely used principles of UI design and they test their interfaces on "real people"."
If they apply "widely used principles of UI design", why, for example, is the file save dialog so different (and much worse) than in Windows, OS X or KDE ?
Testing the interface on "real people" is fine, but are they exclusively doing this on people who have next-to-no computer experience ? Testing what these people find useable for their first few days of computing experience with a new environment is fine, but everyone learns things in time, learns their own preferred way of doing things, and is able to absorb more and more functionality.
I really don't understand why people should be limited in their configuration options for their own sakes. (If developers don't want to be bothered coding all those options, that's another matter).
What on earth is the problem with, for example, having TWO control panels - one to control just the basic options, and a second one (or an "advanced" section in a single control panel) to allow more advanced users the options they would like ? Particularly if the "advanced" control panel has a prominent button on it marked "Reset all Advanced Settings to Default Values" to rescue anyone who happens to get lost trying out things they don't fully understand, or have forgotten how to restore.
"Gnome is doing a good job at what they're doing. If people like Linus and you want to help, learn something about UI design first..... Your and Linus's opinions, on the other hand, are pretty much worthless."
If people like you want to help, learn something about not being a condescending prick first.
"On the other hand, I have to think that if someone makes a recording that can continue to sell for 50+ years, that person deserves some sort of financial reward for it."
What about the money from 50+ years of sales, suitably invested over a 50+year period ?
T-Mobile do web n' walk basic, Pro and max services. The Max is £12.50/month (I think) with a 10GB/month limit, and the ability to use VoIP. The Pro is £7.50 a month with a 3GB/month limit, with VoIP prohibited. Both allow use as a computer modem, which is great for wireless internet access anywhere (falling back to GPRS in non-3G areas).
Compared to the other providers in the UK, it's great value.
Slashdot Mirror
"Companies kill me, it's a corporate lifecycle that we see again and again, and very few seem to learn from it. Once a company gets so big, it gets it in its head that it's invulnerable. It thinks that it can do anything it wants..."
Not just companies - it applies to countries and their empires, too.
Always look out for, and be wary of, people who tell you what you want to hear.
Why is everyone so concerned about the general public being able to see their genitals? I mean, they can already see your face, your neck, your hands, what does it matter?
What will this mean? Probably that Google will put pictures of them online, Canadians will hate winter even more, and we will all hang free.
Damn, go smoke some more pot, you're not paranoid enough.
"Simplicity is a beautiful thing. One of the core fundamentals of Unix is that an application does a single job, does it well, and provides output such that it can easily be piped into another application."
Sure, but many commands like "ls", "grep", "ps", etc have a huge number of options which control how and what they do, and make them more flexible and useful.
A deliberately-exaggerated analogy.
Sticking with a Linux-system-as-meal analogy, I would suggest a fairer one would be to compare Gentoo to cooking a meal yourself from pre-prepared ingredients and a recipe to going to a restaurant for a meal.
With Gentoo (cooking yourself) you can choose precisely what meal you want, made from precisely what ingredients, but you do have to go to the effort of cooking it yourself. With binary distributions (going out to a restaurant) you make a selection from whatever they happen to have on the menu, but yes, it is less effort and less time-consuming on your part.
Gentoo may not be the best choice of you, but why go out of your way to criticise those who have a different point of view ?
"...and 1000s of Deaths Expected in Hati from Cat5 Hurricane.!
Is this why the internet is gonna crash? Coz all the ethernet cables blew away?
Wow, a +3 Post of Flaming!
Oh, now I understand!
Sorry, I thought you said you picked a buttercup.....
"Why would the average Brit care whether or not the BBC can make a little bit more money when they've already got their hands in everyone's pockets."
Because the government frequently restricts the licence-fee raises that the BBC asks for, based (partly) on how much they think the BBC needs. More profit for the BBC means the licence fee can be kept lower, so the average Brit ends up paying less money.
"The funniest one is still one where one of my coworkers nuked /lib on a fairly important machine unintentionally"
"He never got a root password for an important server after that incident. In hindsight, that was a funny incident, and a valuable lesson to us all (we all became paranoid of rereading what we just typed)."
I hope the decision to deny him root access was based on more than that one unintentional incident. It could have happened to any of you. After all, why else would it be a "valuable lesson" to you ? Isn't the person who made that mistake the least likely to make it again ? And you did also say you "could fill about a 100 pages on my own from stupid things I've done".
"The West now only concerns itself because suddenly we're the direct targets of their actions."
Make that "the USA" rather than "the west" - other western countries have had serious terrorism problems for years. In the UK there was the IRA and the "troubles" in Northern Ireland, and in Spain there was/is ETA, to name but two.
Interestingly, look at this story today - 400lb of explosives found, with a strong suspicion of links to real-live republican terrorists. Notice how little reporting there has been of this?
Now imagine how big the headlines would be if a group of muslims had been found with 400lbs of explosive.
It would be the same amount of explosive - able to kill the same number of people.
Have these guys not heard of Project Gutenburg ?
It's been around for years, and I thought it was pretty well-known.
"The GPL may have other benefits, but promoting freedom isn't one of them. Freedom means the ability to do whatever you want with software, even something other people may not like. When you cannot do that, it is because your freedom is restricted."
Isn't the point of this discussion the fact that Tivo feels they will be restricted by the GPLv3 precisely because they will not be able to restrict the purchasers of their product ?
"To sum up, yes, I personally am opposed to both the effect and the intent of the GPL."
Do you really mean "opposed to", rather than "prefer BSD for your own work" ? If "opposed, why are you opposed to what other people want to use ? Do you want to restrict their freedom in some way ?
"Therefore, I must conclude it's better to have long fingers, as they not only make you better at math, but better at playing piano."
What about playing your organ ?
"First, did we ever just jump into large endeavors without considering the costs?"
Iraq ?
"I have no idea if you read/comprehend your own posts..."
This is quite the most curious comment I've seen in a long time here.
Nevertheless, you've made your point and I've made mine. Let others make of them what they will.
"Somewhere, some accountant at AMD had to draw up a balance sheet showing the OLPC CPUs as a net profit over time -- to do otherwise would be to risk the near-certainty of a shareholder lawsuit."
Somehow, this attitude seems symbolic of the decline of the once-great USA.
"You'll be surprised how many people, making millions on the Internet, have no clue what it is.
Check out this set of pictures (or here) of people finding out exactly what goatse.cx is, while some nice person photographs the expression on their face.
"Unfortunately at least in this country (UK) you are likely to cause a case of road rage. All driving schools teach a completely different driving style. Namely, you are taught to go close to the roundabout without deccelerating and switch 4-to-2nd or 5-to-3rd for the big ones to kill your speed right away with the engine while helping yourself with the breaks. Same for traffic lights, stopping, etc. Even if it is absolutely clear that a traffic light will go green any minute, the average british driver will go all the way to it, break, stop and wait. As a result if you deccelerate early the one bihind you may end up smashing into you or uses breaks to deccelerate early and gets pissed off."
Not sure I agree with this. I was taught to always change down one gear at a time. If you use engine braking by changing down TWO gears at a time, you're going to slow down fairly rapidly WITHOUT YOUR BRAKE LIGHTS COMING ON. This is much more likely to cause a) rear-end accidents; and b) road rage; than slowly down gently. I slow down the way the GP post described, and I never have any problems drivers behind getting annoyed (though I can see they might if you did it "to excess" (i.e. risked yourself and the cars behind not being able to get through the lights when they turn green)).
I don't agree that "[the world] needs everyone working to create a single comprehensive distro". Personally, I think choice is good, and that alternatives can compete against each other, each try out different ideas, and stimulate and improve each other.
What does a "distribution" or "operating system" mean to a large number of computer users ? Nothing. They just see it as part of "the way the computer works". So why do we need more than one operating system ? So let's extend your argument to cover operating systems:
I think that in the [computing] world, mergers are a good thing and need to be made across the entire [computing] community. Imagine if the [Windows] and [Linux] camps could work together... or how about [Windows] and [Linux]... or most importantly the [software installation] camps.
Want to bring [computing] to the mainstream, pick a standard and develop it. Set aside your disagreements and work for the greater good. The world doesn't need another [operating system], it needs everyone working to create a single comprehensive [operating system].
I hate it when I find a piece of software I want, only to discover there is no binary for my chosen [operating system]. I don't hate it because I don't know how to compile it myself, but because I shouldn't have to.
I hate that I can only seem to get hardware drivers for [windows] because the vendor couldn't cater to everyone.
And I hate hearing about projects forking because two intelligent people can't come to a compromise.
Choice is good... but only when there is at least one option that meets the need. Too often there is so much competition that none of the products can really fulfill the needs they set out to fulfill because there are not enough developers to go around.
So......pursuing your argument a little further, should we all just use windows ????
And what about Unix System Resources ?
"Unlike you, the Gnome developers don't actually decide things based on their opinions alone, they apply widely used principles of UI design and they test their interfaces on "real people"."
If they apply "widely used principles of UI design", why, for example, is the file save dialog so different (and much worse) than in Windows, OS X or KDE ?
Testing the interface on "real people" is fine, but are they exclusively doing this on people who have next-to-no computer experience ? Testing what these people find useable for their first few days of computing experience with a new environment is fine, but everyone learns things in time, learns their own preferred way of doing things, and is able to absorb more and more functionality.
I really don't understand why people should be limited in their configuration options for their own sakes. (If developers don't want to be bothered coding all those options, that's another matter).
What on earth is the problem with, for example, having TWO control panels - one to control just the basic options, and a second one (or an "advanced" section in a single control panel) to allow more advanced users the options they would like ? Particularly if the "advanced" control panel has a prominent button on it marked "Reset all Advanced Settings to Default Values" to rescue anyone who happens to get lost trying out things they don't fully understand, or have forgotten how to restore.
"Gnome is doing a good job at what they're doing. If people like Linus and you want to help, learn something about UI design first..... Your and Linus's opinions, on the other hand, are pretty much worthless."
If people like you want to help, learn something about not being a condescending prick first.
"The thing is (as Linus has demonstrated), is that if you know what you're doing you can add this stuff"
By downloading the source code for an entire desktop environment, learning how it works, patching it, building it, and testing it yourself ?????
Wow....that's configurability for you.
"On the other hand, I have to think that if someone makes a recording that can continue to sell for 50+ years, that person deserves some sort of financial reward for it."
What about the money from 50+ years of sales, suitably invested over a 50+year period ?
T-Mobile do web n' walk basic, Pro and max services. The Max is £12.50/month (I think) with a 10GB/month limit, and the ability to use VoIP. The Pro is £7.50 a month with a 3GB/month limit, with VoIP prohibited. Both allow use as a computer modem, which is great for wireless internet access anywhere (falling back to GPRS in non-3G areas).
Compared to the other providers in the UK, it's great value.
Surprisingly, even within 3.5, KDE 3.5.5 seems noticeably faster than 3.5.0 was, presumably due to continuing performance optimisation work.