Java is a great language for rapid development. Its multitude of APIs(networking, databases etc.) make it ideal for high level coding. Now you probably wouldn't want to right a device driver in java....
BTW: No pointers is GOOD. Most programmers can't handle pointers adequately, hence memory leaks and other problems. I mean they may THEORETICALLY know how to handle pointers but in PRACTISE we get memory leaks. If you are 133t then good for you, but often they are more trouble than they are worth.
There should be some kind of law, that forces the networks to make their content easily available over various media such as the net. i.e If they are not willing to broadcast their stuff over the net,. they should allow icravetv.com to broadcast it. The justification for this would be an anti-monopoly consumer. rights argument. As you pointed out, NBC won't be losing any money from this and the people. watching would have missed TV otherwise.
I used to buy Mags religiously, especially PC Magazine when I was a Windows user. But a some time ago I realized I could get all the commentary I needed right here on slashdot and the product reviews at variuous other sites on the web. What with reloading./ every 5 minutes who has time for those mags anyway?:-)
Now I don't buy normal magazines either (GQ, Vanity Fair etc.) Too expensive, no time and I am already saturated with infomation from other sources. I only buy the Washington Post, and text books now basically. Of course I can read the Post on the web, but it just doesn't feel as natural and its only 25 cents at the corner.
Yes, the upper class will benefit more than the poor, I will not argue with that. But the economy as a whole will be enhanced and everyone will benefit from the increased productivity.
Thats the same system that works in the West or so I have been led to believe. Michael Dell makes billions, and I get a cool computer. Everybody is happy. Same principle here. The rich benefit more but the effects 'trickle down'(Yes, its Reagan) to the rest of society. Capitalism at its finest.
You are wrong on all counts. URBAN areas in most developing countries have telephones, electrities and even some computers(in offices mostly). Thus Linux could most certainly be of use.
You make the all too common mistake of assuming EVERYONE in a developing country is a farmer. As someone who has lived in Africa for 20 years I can assure you this is not the case. Believe it or not, there are doctors, lawyers, modern businesses, goverment agencies etc. Sure, they are not as big as in the west, but they can definitely afford a PC. The "average" American can't afford a 100 node Beowulf Cluster of Pentium IIIs. Does that mean that America doesn't need them? Course not. Same thing applies here.
Yes, Linux is pretty much useless to the ordinary farmer, but it could be damn useful to the country as a whole, significantly reducing costs and allowing local consultants to handle contracts that would normally go to the likes of Microsoft or Oracle.
To conclude: Maybe the farmer won't use Linux, but his son could start a local distro and customize Linux for the local market and sell it to goverment agencies. The goverment could save millions of dollars per year and nurture the local IT industry by not relying on Western software that much. His daughter might encounter Linux at University and became a well paid kernel guru without leaving the country (The "brain drain" is one of the biggest problems in developing countries).
All of these scenarios are highly realistic and not pipe dreams based on my experiences. Just because people don't have the same opportunites, it does not follow that they do not desire the same things out of life. So no lame "They need to concentrate on food first!" type of comments, OK?
1. Describes a computer architecture in which, within a given multi-byte numeric representation, the most significant byte has the lowest address (the word is stored `big-end-first'). Most processors, including the IBM 370 family, the PDP-10, the Motorola microprocessor families, and most of the various RISC designs are big-endian."
They may not like the GPL, but it is a lot more open than almost all other licenses by far (except of course FreeBSD-style licenses) in particular Microsoft's. So if they abandon Linux and go with FreeBSD - Good for them! ( I prefer GPL, but as long as I have source, I won't complain)
It took me two minutes to set up ppp in Linux, using kppp in RedHat 6.0. It was easier than Windows(honestly). I also liked the fact that the GUI displayed the commands it was sending while it was attempting the connection (AT something etc). On Windows I only get a dialagoue box thing, but I don't see the actual commands that are being sent. A fairly small thing, but I like it for trouble shooting and such. Kppp also conveniently displayed my dynamic IP, which Windows does not, which was crucial at the time as I wanted to test a couple of things.
As to your general point, yes MS does have *some* decent applications. IE5 is OK, and I liked Encarta when I was younger. I personally think they do a much better job on the consumer side applications than they do with the OS, utilities and server stuff.
I agree with your points. What Gates is doing is eminently understandable and within the norms of human behavior especially in our capitalist society. And yes, if I was in his position I might do the same thing.
However, just because I understand it, doesn't mean that I have to support it. If I was Israeli, I might understand why Palestinian terrorists are bent on their bombing, but I hardly think that I would support it. I would still be obliged to seek a way of preventing this damage to myself.
In the same way, Microsoft's tactics are very beneficial to them and hence understandable, but they are NOT beneficial to me. Remember Lord Acton's dictum: Power corrupts, Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. MS has way too much power in the market and it is in my best interest to try and reverse the situation.
If Bill Gates achieves his goals (One World, One People, One Operating System) I will have no choice but to endure:
1. Unstable products 2. Buggy products 3. Vaporware 4. Lack of choice(everything has to be microsoft to work together) 5. Lack of source code 6. Inability to modify my software and make fixes. 7. Generally being at the whim of Microsoft.
I regard all of the above as threats to me and I feel obliged to work for alternatives.
So it may be "just business", but it is like a business that is building a toxic waste dump in my backyard.
Best way to learn is to get a Linux box and start playing around with it. If you've never used Unix, a lot of manuals will be helpful as a reference.
You can get cheap pre-installed Linux boxes several places. I just bought one from Amnet computers (www.amnet-comp.com) for about 1000 bucks(including shipping). 400 MHZ Celeron, with 64 MB RAM and 4 GB Hard Drive. Generic speakers, mouse, keyboard, AGP Video Card, 56 K modem.
Worked like a charm. Set root passwd, added an account and started having fun with Gnome and Enlightenment.
Of course you can get cheaper prices if you buy the components and do your own install. But as a newbie that could be really asking for it.
Now I just have to get ADSL and start running some services.
I'd suggest that you base your decisions on whether or not the software meets your needs. If Windows 2000 truly meets all your needs then by all means use it, don't be biased by people's opinions.
Ping statistics for 207.46.171.196: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 7:40 AM EASTERN STANDARD TIME
crack.linuxppc.com was reachable with both ping and Netscape. 'Nuff said.
Yeah, I've heard of those definitions as well and I don't doubt their validity. They are of course incompatible with some otherdefinitions as advanced by ESR here (http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.htm) and followed by many people.
I just think it would be simpler if "Cracker" encompassed both of your definitions. Then "hacker" could remain with the meaning that is quite popular among many techies(i.e someone who does cool computer related things).
I think we all noticed the above usage several times in the MSNBC article. I know we discussed this several weeks ago, with many people concluding that all hope was lost as far as convincing the public about the difference. But in the last few article here, I've noticed that most of the authors have bothered to make the distinction. Slashdot has a certain influence in these matters (especially with the tech sites). If we politely point out our disagreement with the interchangeable use of these terms we are bound to have a certain impact.
As to the actual difference between these two terms, I'd say cracking is a subset of hacking. Hacking being loosely defined as "doing some really cool stuff, pushing technology to the limit etc" (see jargon file for more) and cracking more specifically as "compromising security of a machine by any means." Some cracks undeniably involve a lot of hacking but not all hacking has to with cracking (obvious heh?).
One of the biggest problems is that crackers insist on calling themselves hackers. I guess its a bragging thing. "Cracker" doesn't exactly carry great connotations of respect. Ok, fine, if they do something cool we can call them hackers. But when they are breaking security they are still acting as crackers. In other words, yes Mitnick is a Hacker. But he was jailed for his cracking activities(just a question of being specific). Now if he had just stuck to kernel hacking or compiler hacking or something he wouldn't be in this mess would he?
Some people have said that this is hopeless. That the public's perceptions will never change. More specifically that the term "cracker" is synonymous with "redneck" or something. I disagree with that. The meaning of words is very fluid and changeable. As computing plays a larger role in our lives the mainstream media will need to focus on it more and more. Thus thus they will need more precise terminology to avoid confusion. If the daily activities of both Torvalds and Mitnick are called "hacking," I think we have a major source of confusion. I am willing to let them both be called hackers, but lets insist that what Mitnick was doing was cracking just one of the many hacking activities out there.
If we aggresively push this "cracking" terminology out there, I think the media (and hence the public) will latch on to it. (I guess by "we," I mean anyone who would not like to see the original meaning of the word "hacking" disappear.) New words replace old words. The media and the public are always looking for something new. Lets give them "cracking."
Couldn't you blame Redhat or whomever you bought the software from? This would be one of the strongest reasons to actually buy it, rather than just downloading it off the net. RedHat makes money, Alan Cox gets paid, PHBs are happy, the Penguin marches on.................
"Many of its design paradigms have been superseded, not necessarily by Win95, but by 30 years of OS research in general."
Could you be more specific? Perhaps we can incorporate these ideas. Which Operating Systems embody these "good" design paradigms? We need intelligent criticism to improve the system.
"Once a program has the virus attached, it becomes useless for real work."
It becomes useless for "proprietary" work. Thats true and I don't think there is anything wrong with that.
"I went ahead with the troll work because you Slashdotters make it so much fun."
I think you deserve to be moderated down. You were admittedly trolling, and that is one of the specific behaviors that can get you moderated down. So whats the problem?
Slashdot Mirror
Java is a great language for rapid development. Its multitude of APIs(networking, databases etc.) make it ideal for high level coding. Now you probably wouldn't want to right a device driver in ....
java
BTW: No pointers is GOOD. Most programmers can't handle pointers adequately, hence memory leaks and other problems. I mean they may THEORETICALLY know how to handle pointers but in PRACTISE we get memory leaks. If you are 133t then good for you, but often they are more trouble than they are worth.
There should be some kind of law, that forces the networks to make their content easily available over various media such as the net. . . .
i.e If they are not willing to broadcast their stuff over the net,
they should allow icravetv.com to broadcast it. The justification for this would be an anti-monopoly consumer
rights argument. As you pointed out, NBC won't be losing any money from this and the people
watching would have missed TV otherwise.
I think he was paid about a million dollars. He probably got it for 70 bucks (or for free before 1993). He has been paid well enough.
If I recall it was an active linux develpor, so he might have got the letter anyway.
Now I don't buy normal magazines either (GQ, Vanity Fair etc.) Too expensive, no time and I am already saturated with infomation from other sources. I only buy the Washington Post, and text books now basically. Of course I can read the Post on the web, but it just doesn't feel as natural and its only 25 cents at the corner.
Well, the less paper the better I say.
Thats the same system that works in the West or so I have been led to believe. Michael Dell makes billions, and I get a cool computer. Everybody is happy. Same principle here. The rich benefit more but the effects 'trickle down'(Yes, its Reagan) to the rest of society. Capitalism at its finest.
Check your facts before you post.
Yes, Linux is pretty much useless to the ordinary farmer, but it could be damn useful to the country as a whole, significantly reducing costs and allowing local consultants to handle contracts that would normally go to the likes of Microsoft or Oracle.
To conclude: Maybe the farmer won't use Linux, but his son could start a local distro and customize Linux for the local market and sell it to goverment agencies. The goverment could save millions of dollars per year and nurture the local IT industry by not relying on Western software that much. His daughter might encounter Linux at University and became a well paid kernel guru without leaving the country (The "brain drain" is one of the biggest problems in developing countries).
All of these scenarios are highly realistic and not pipe dreams based on my experiences. Just because people don't have the same opportunites, it does not follow that they do not desire the same things out of life. So no lame "They need to concentrate on food first!" type of comments, OK?
Jargon file:i g-endian
http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/jargon.html#b
"big-endian adj.
1. Describes a computer architecture in which, within a given multi-byte numeric
representation, the most significant byte has the lowest address (the word is stored `big-end-first'). Most processors, including the
IBM 370 family, the PDP-10, the Motorola microprocessor families, and most of the various RISC designs are big-endian."
I was hospitalized for 17 days, and felt terrrible. I have to take antibiotics for 6 months. I come out and then I see this! Sheeesh!
Time to open you wallet dude!. html
Check out this link:
http://www.hp.com/jornada/products/430se/overview
They may not like the GPL, but it is a lot more open than almost all other licenses by far (except of course FreeBSD-style licenses) in particular
Microsoft's. So if they abandon Linux and go with FreeBSD - Good for them! ( I prefer GPL, but as long as I have source, I won't complain)
It took me two minutes to set up ppp in Linux, using kppp in RedHat 6.0. It was easier than Windows(honestly). I also liked the fact that the GUI displayed the commands it was sending while it was attempting the connection (AT something etc). On Windows I only get a dialagoue box thing, but I don't see the actual commands that are being sent. A fairly small thing, but I like it for trouble shooting and such. Kppp also conveniently displayed my dynamic IP, which Windows does not, which was crucial at the time as I wanted to test a couple of things.
As to your general point, yes MS does have *some* decent applications. IE5 is OK, and I liked Encarta when I was younger. I personally think they do a much better job on the consumer side applications than they do with the OS, utilities and server stuff.
With 1319 comments so far, this is now the most active story in slashdot.org history.... Rob hasn't updated the page yet (www.slashdot.org/hof.shtml).
I agree with your points. What Gates is doing is eminently understandable and within the norms of human behavior especially in our capitalist society. And yes, if I was in his position I might do the same thing.
However, just because I understand it, doesn't mean that I have to support it. If I was Israeli, I might understand why Palestinian terrorists are bent on their bombing, but I hardly think that I would support it. I would still be obliged to seek a way of preventing this damage to myself.
In the same way, Microsoft's tactics are very beneficial to them and hence understandable, but they are NOT beneficial to me. Remember Lord Acton's dictum: Power corrupts, Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. MS has way too much power in the market and it is in my best interest to try and reverse the situation.
If Bill Gates achieves his goals (One World, One People, One Operating System) I will have no choice but to endure:
1. Unstable products
2. Buggy products
3. Vaporware
4. Lack of choice(everything has to be microsoft to work together)
5. Lack of source code
6. Inability to modify my software and make fixes.
7. Generally being at the whim of Microsoft.
I regard all of the above as threats to me and I feel obliged to work for alternatives.
So it may be "just business", but it is like a business that is building a toxic waste dump in my backyard.
Can these databases be made as secure as /etc/passwd?
Just curious....
Best way to learn is to get a Linux box and start playing around with it. If you've never used Unix, a lot of manuals will be helpful as a reference.
You can get cheap pre-installed Linux boxes several places. I just bought one from Amnet computers (www.amnet-comp.com) for about 1000 bucks(including shipping). 400 MHZ Celeron, with 64 MB RAM and 4 GB Hard Drive. Generic speakers, mouse, keyboard, AGP Video Card, 56 K modem.
Worked like a charm. Set root passwd, added an account and started having fun with Gnome and Enlightenment.
Of course you can get cheaper prices if you buy the components and do your own install. But as a newbie that could be really asking for it.
Now I just have to get ADSL and start running some services.
I'd suggest that you base your decisions on whether or not the software meets your needs. If Windows 2000 truly meets all your needs then by all means use it, don't be biased by people's opinions.
C:\WINDOWS>ping www.windows2000test.com
Pinging www.windows2000test.com [207.46.171.196]
with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 207.46.171.196:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4
(100% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 7:40 AM EASTERN STANDARD TIME
crack.linuxppc.com was reachable with both ping and Netscape. 'Nuff said.
Yeah, I've heard of those definitions as well and I don't doubt their validity. They are of course incompatible with some otherdefinitions as advanced by ESR here (http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.htm) and followed by many people.
I just think it would be simpler if "Cracker" encompassed both of your definitions. Then "hacker" could remain with the meaning that is quite popular among many techies(i.e someone who does cool computer related things).
I think we all noticed the above usage several times in the MSNBC article. I know we discussed this several weeks ago, with many people concluding that all hope was lost as far as convincing the public about the difference. But in the last few article here, I've noticed that most of the authors have bothered to make the distinction. Slashdot has a certain influence in these matters (especially with the tech sites). If we politely point out our disagreement with the interchangeable use of these terms we are bound to have a certain impact.
As to the actual difference between these two terms, I'd say cracking is a subset of hacking. Hacking being loosely defined as "doing some really cool stuff, pushing technology to the limit etc" (see jargon file for more) and cracking more specifically as "compromising security of a machine by any means." Some cracks undeniably involve a lot of hacking but not all hacking has to with cracking (obvious heh?).
One of the biggest problems is that crackers insist on calling themselves hackers. I guess its a bragging thing. "Cracker" doesn't exactly carry great connotations of respect. Ok, fine, if they do something cool we can call them hackers. But when they are breaking security they are still acting as crackers. In other words, yes Mitnick is a Hacker. But he was jailed for his cracking activities(just a question of being specific). Now if he had just stuck to kernel hacking or compiler hacking or something he wouldn't be in this mess would he?
Some people have said that this is hopeless. That the public's perceptions will never change. More specifically that the term "cracker" is synonymous with "redneck" or something. I disagree with that. The meaning of words is very fluid and changeable. As computing plays a larger role in our lives the mainstream media will need to focus on it more and more. Thus thus they will need more precise terminology to avoid confusion. If the daily activities of both Torvalds and Mitnick are called "hacking," I think we have a major source of confusion. I am willing to let them both be called hackers, but lets insist that what Mitnick was doing was cracking just one of the many hacking activities out there.
If we aggresively push this "cracking" terminology out there, I think the media (and hence the public) will latch on to it. (I guess by "we," I mean anyone who would not like to see the original meaning of the word "hacking" disappear.) New words replace old words. The media and the public are always looking for something new. Lets give them "cracking."
Couldn't you blame Redhat or whomever you bought the software from? This would be one of the strongest reasons to actually buy it, rather than just downloading it off the net. RedHat makes money, Alan Cox gets paid, PHBs are happy, the Penguin marches on .................
If you came late like me, this URL might work better:2 151553.htm
http://www.businesswire.com/webbox/bw.080399/19
"Many of its design paradigms have been superseded, not necessarily by Win95, but by 30 years of OS research in general."
Could you be more specific? Perhaps we can incorporate these ideas. Which Operating Systems embody these "good" design paradigms? We need intelligent criticism to improve the system.
Unicode uses 16 bits and is supposed to be the new standard. It supports 65536 characters. Chinese and various other languages are fully supported.
"Once a program has the virus attached, it becomes useless for real work."
It becomes useless for "proprietary" work. Thats true and I don't think there is anything wrong with that.
"I went ahead with the troll work because you Slashdotters make it so much fun."
I think you deserve to be moderated down. You were admittedly trolling, and that is one of the specific behaviors that can get you moderated down. So whats the problem?
BTW, you are at +1, nobody has moderated you.