I haven't been able to get my HP Pavilion N5240 to suspend (or sleep, etc.), which is quite a drag.
Those convenient CD buttons have no driver under Linux, so they're useful only under Windows, or when the laptop is off.
No 3D drivers for the Savage chipset. (?) I'm not sure whether the composite-video-out can be enabled under Linux, either.
It does have pretty nice ergonomics, audio works, 2D video works, and the price was right. Without suspend, though, I'd recommend choosing something else.
Pop Quiz: When are your Linux filesystems most in danger of corruption?
Answer: When Linux isn't running.
An excellent use for this device, as I see it, is to make your Linux filesystems absolutely inaccessible to Windows.
I have to have dual-boot systems for business purposes, and every time I boot into Windows I cringe, as any malicious Windows program could easily wipe (or subtly modify) my Linux files. This switch would definitely give me peace of mind.
Check the article. If you read all the way through the several pages, it's clear that the switch will allow you to disable both drives, or to select one of the two drives as an IDE master. It's not possible to access both drives sumultaneously.
I guess it's you who are turning into a nut. The Author has every right, both legally and morally to protect his/her/their own work.
If you don't want to pay, don't use it. As simple as that.
So I take it that you agree with the media megacorps that libraries and fair use are the devil's spawn?
[A]nything that stops me from having to sit through paid commercials must be prevented. Someday it'll be a law that I can't leave my chair once I've sat down, or I'll be violating a license agreement.
You just think you're kidding:
Dave: (returning to chair with popcorn) Okay, play the show, Hal.
Hal: I can't do that, Dave. My sensors indicate that you weren't in the room when I played the required sponsor messages.
Dave: (muttering) Okay, play the bleeping messages, Hal.
(Hal plays them.)
Dave: Okay, now play the show, Hal.
Hal: I'm sorry, I can't do that Dave. My sensors indicate that you weren't watching the screen when I played the required sponsor messages.
Dave: (staring at screen) Okay, Hal, play the bleeping messages again.
(Hal plays them.)
Dave: Okay, now play the show, Hal.
Hal: I'm sorry, I can't do that Dave. My sensors indicate that you weren't listening to the required sponsor messages with a warm and loving attitude, Dave.
Dave: Here's a little warmth and love for you, Hal! ("zaps" Hal with his one megawatt laser remote)
I'm just tired of it all. There's not enough good content out there on the channels for me to pay their ever-increasing prices anyways, so I settle for local antenna-based TV and a DVD collection of my favorites with no commercials. As long as it costs me as much time and trouble as this to get something for free, I'll continue to just pay up front and keep it simple.
I'm tired too, but if we keep giving them our money for content we can't fairly use, you can bet they'll keep selling it that way.
Here's a link to a page with contact info for Adobe. They might not even know that this law firm is out there precipitating a public relations disaster for them. (As always, if you call, be nice.)
If the guy decided to buy that computer partially on the basis of a promise of a year's free ISP service, then arguably this is a sort of bait and switch.
If he's able to do it, he should return the computer, IMO.
Although, I must say, I've not encountered such a problem on windows in a long time. Has
something changed?
I don't know--it's been several years now since I really have used Windows in any serious sort of way. (By observation, I gather that it is at least still quite unreliable anyway.)
The major reason we refer to it as dll hell on Windows is very simple -- there's no concept of a
version. App A uses v6 of foo.dll, app B uses v8. It's still named foo.dll. Oops -- the API
changed.
Right. And along with that, the custom in the Windows community seems to be for each application installer to overwrite whichever DLLs they like with whatever version they like, potentially breaking your other applications in arbitrary and mystifying ways.
We're past that problem in Linux, since multiple versions can exist peacefully side by side.
I used a Realtor (TM), a buyer's agent, to buy my first house and it was a revolting experience. I'll never deal with another Realtor as long as I live.
My advice would be to deal directly with the seller and hire a lawyer to walk you through the legalities and paperwork.
If you must deal with a Realtor, realize that they're there for exactly one reason--to get their commission. That's just as true for buyer's agents. Think used-car dealer.
Don't you wish there was some way to sell shares in idiotic companies like this short before they IPO?
(BTW, I've already patented a similar security method: I train packs of chipmunks to plug and unplug 10baseT cables into random ports, thwarting any attempt to break in across the related links.)
To the
extent that he denies a software author the right to do with his code as he pleases, the man is a
maniac.
For that matter, it's worth pointing out that the GPL actually restricts my freedom! I cannot do
just anything with GPL-ed code.
If you wrote the code, you can do anything you want with it. So your first premise is false.
If you didn't write the code, of course you can't do whatever you want with it. Duh. (If I invited you to dinner, would you complain if you couldn't keep my plates?)
How do you fix problems if you don't talk or discuss that problem? The best and most employee
friendly company in the world will have problems.
True, but (speaking for myself) the good companies aren't the ones I leave in the first place. A bad company is not going to be able to take criticism in a constructive way, so why should I stick my neck out for them? (Bad companies rarely have exit interviews, in any case.)
My advice here is to always give the same basic answer: "It was a tough decision, but company X is an oustanding opportunity that I just can't turn down", etc., etc.
I'm sure it's been a long and tedious road, but solving this really matters.
My project, SUBTERFUGUE,
is written in Python, GPL'ed, and included in Debian, so I have a (small) dog in this race.
The FSF has been right about things so far. If you truly disagree with them, make that argument to them (and us). But please don't let exhaustion be the reason for just letting things drop in the current murky state.
God YES! I would! The thing is, I'm paying NOW for crappy quality (well, sort of -- I pay for
Photoshop and Illustrator, which are really pretty good, but MS Office 98 implodes all the time) --
why should anybody go to that extra effort?
"Pay" would probably mean triple or maybe x10 the current price. (Software is hard, remember?) I doubt you, me, or anyone else would pay this.
a REAL "software engineer" is held responsible for
appropriateness of design, i.e. if you're a bridge builder and the client wants a narrow, graceful
bridge that's unsafe and you provide it, and the thing sinks into the bay, the bridge builder is held
accountable because HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER.
I don't know any programmers willing to take that responsibility on.
I don't think we as a discipline are there yet.
I don't know many employers that would allow their employees to expend the resources required to achieve this sort of quality. (Actually, I don't know any, I just have this fantasy that a few may exist.)
Software engineers... pah! My dad is an electrical engineer (>5V). My girlfriend's dad is a civil
engineer. I've got a cousin in aerospace engineering, an uncle with a PhD in electrical
engineering(<=5V), and a good friend in mechanical engineering. They have codes, rules,
guidelines to keep their stuff running, powered, in the air or out of the muck, and ultimately their
stuff either works or it doesn't.
Software engineer... you're a fucking programmer, so get over it or accept (financial) responsibility
when my word processor crashes.
I would be willing to specify the reliability of my software and stand behind that spec financially. Would you be willing to pay for the serious design, engineering and testing practices that would make your word processor reliable? (Hint: Software is damn hard, so it's gonna cost you...)
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- I haven't been able to get my HP Pavilion N5240 to suspend (or sleep, etc.), which is quite a drag.
- Those convenient CD buttons have no driver under Linux, so they're useful only under Windows, or when the laptop is off.
- No 3D drivers for the Savage chipset. (?) I'm not sure whether the composite-video-out can be enabled under Linux, either.
It does have pretty nice ergonomics, audio works, 2D video works, and the price was right. Without suspend, though, I'd recommend choosing something else.--Mike
Answer: When Linux isn't running.
An excellent use for this device, as I see it, is to make your Linux filesystems absolutely inaccessible to Windows.
I have to have dual-boot systems for business purposes, and every time I boot into Windows I cringe, as any malicious Windows program could easily wipe (or subtly modify) my Linux files. This switch would definitely give me peace of mind.
--Mike
--Mike
Well, if you take a simplistic approach, equating IP to real property and fair use to theft, then things are very simple.
This approach would also lead to a world that's both awful and quite unlike anything we've ever seen in human history, however.
--Mike
So I take it that you agree with the media megacorps that libraries and fair use are the devil's spawn?
--Mike
You just think you're kidding:
I'm just tired of it all. There's not enough good content out there on the channels for me to pay their ever-increasing prices anyways, so I settle for local antenna-based TV and a DVD collection of my favorites with no commercials. As long as it costs me as much time and trouble as this to get something for free, I'll continue to just pay up front and keep it simple.
I'm tired too, but if we keep giving them our money for content we can't fairly use, you can bet they'll keep selling it that way.
--Mike
--Mike
http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/contact.html
--Mike
If he's able to do it, he should return the computer, IMO.
--Mike
--Mike
I don't know--it's been several years now since I really have used Windows in any serious sort of way. (By observation, I gather that it is at least still quite unreliable anyway.)
--Mike
Right. And along with that, the custom in the Windows community seems to be for each application installer to overwrite whichever DLLs they like with whatever version they like, potentially breaking your other applications in arbitrary and mystifying ways.
We're past that problem in Linux, since multiple versions can exist peacefully side by side.
--Mike
Part of my DNA? Sheesh, for $50 they can at least send one whole nucleus.
(No wait, I get it. For $50 the aliens get the demo DNA, but if they want the whole thing they have to subscribe to a service...)
--Mike
My advice would be to deal directly with the seller and hire a lawyer to walk you through the legalities and paperwork.
If you must deal with a Realtor, realize that they're there for exactly one reason--to get their commission. That's just as true for buyer's agents. Think used-car dealer.
--Mike
We're from Microsoft and we're here to help you! nyuk nyuk nyuk
(At least he didn't say "open sauce"...)
--Mike
--Mike
(Disclosure: I'm the principal author.)
--Mike
--Mike
(BTW, I've already patented a similar security method: I train packs of chipmunks to plug and unplug 10baseT cables into random ports, thwarting any attempt to break in across the related links.)
--Mike
I wonder what the "Llama" crowd is, though.
--Mike
For that matter, it's worth pointing out that the GPL actually restricts my freedom! I cannot do just anything with GPL-ed code.
If you wrote the code, you can do anything you want with it. So your first premise is false.
If you didn't write the code, of course you can't do whatever you want with it. Duh. (If I invited you to dinner, would you complain if you couldn't keep my plates?)
--Mike
True, but (speaking for myself) the good companies aren't the ones I leave in the first place. A bad company is not going to be able to take criticism in a constructive way, so why should I stick my neck out for them? (Bad companies rarely have exit interviews, in any case.)
My advice here is to always give the same basic answer: "It was a tough decision, but company X is an oustanding opportunity that I just can't turn down", etc., etc.
--Mike
My project, SUBTERFUGUE, is written in Python, GPL'ed, and included in Debian, so I have a (small) dog in this race.
The FSF has been right about things so far. If you truly disagree with them, make that argument to them (and us). But please don't let exhaustion be the reason for just letting things drop in the current murky state.
--Mike
"Pay" would probably mean triple or maybe x10 the current price. (Software is hard, remember?) I doubt you, me, or anyone else would pay this.
a REAL "software engineer" is held responsible for appropriateness of design, i.e. if you're a bridge builder and the client wants a narrow, graceful bridge that's unsafe and you provide it, and the thing sinks into the bay, the bridge builder is held accountable because HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER.
I don't know any programmers willing to take that responsibility on.
I don't think we as a discipline are there yet. I don't know many employers that would allow their employees to expend the resources required to achieve this sort of quality. (Actually, I don't know any, I just have this fantasy that a few may exist.)
--Mike
I would be willing to specify the reliability of my software and stand behind that spec financially. Would you be willing to pay for the serious design, engineering and testing practices that would make your word processor reliable? (Hint: Software is damn hard, so it's gonna cost you...)
I can relate to your sentiment, though.
--Mike