BSA - aka Bidouilleurs Sans Argent (Means something like Moneyless Hackers) - is a non-profit organization aimed at giving people free software : not only GPL'ed but also FreeWare and even "Official Abandonware".
We created it in France something like 2 years ago after long discussions that even involved Richard Stallman himself (co-author of the BPL - BSA Public License).
We gather all the related software on our Web Site (in French) and we actively harass Abandonware editors to let us publish their "old", though often useful programs.
Of course, this might look we have not gathered that much software but whatever we get we publish it and if you help us convincing editors there'll soon be loads to pick.
FYI, the BSA name comes from the fact that we remarked that the Business Software Alliance didn't have a legal existence in France : So, we just picked the acronym before them...
--
It's a pity there's a lack of details about, say, Powerage.
Because, if it's only molecular, the signal it will generate will need to be amplified to be processed by another peripheral, should it be a monitor.
If an external signal as to be absorbed, there is also a risk that it has to be lowered not to "break" the moleculs (Overflow ?).
So, yes, it *is* cool, but we will need a complete range of devices to connect it to before it is usable...
At this moement, I can only imagine a single multiusages interface for these chips : living organisms.
And then, it will have to reach the "mass-production" level.
Maybe in fields, as "transgenic corn" ?
OR it'll maybe look like "human powered" like in "The Matrix" ? --
Though I enjoyed seeing what others did to their computers, I am rather annoyed by the models uniformity.
I don't mean the look itself but rather the fact that they all seemed to share the same dimensions.
This would have been cool to see an exagerously flat (carputer = carpet + computer) or small (Liliputter = Liliputt + computer) or huge (roomputter because biuggest than a room, I wouldn't dare) computer box, no ?
Hope this will give ideas to someone... --
Let's forget the fact that Miguel did use the word "suck".
OK, now, the rest of this document highlight some features that Miguel'd like to see in Unix.
IMHO, some of these features could be worth coding. And accepting that we don't have them unlike others is fair.
If we want to prove him that Unix doesn't suck, well, just prove him that Unix is open enough to easily embed the features he asks.
These are reasonable features that would certainly benefit Unix, and Gnome in peculiar (by "benefit", I mean bring their users to new levels of computing ease).
I personaly enjoy it and understand Miguel's message as a challenge. --
Anyone remembers Zila ?
a utility rthat came with the machine and that was aimed at auto-distributing threads across a network.
When using this feature with PhotoShop, we actually had a good time...:-)
This was quite an elegant machine. --
There were also add-ons cards for the NeXT, The NeXTdimension, a color card for NeXTcube and also the Ariel . a multi-DSP card aimed at sound-manipulation.
The IRCAM (famous French music institute) hadd a complete Ariel-powered NeXT network.
Wow...
These were more-than professional add-ons for what was already a more-than professional machine.:-) --
Maybe they are simply going to research on gnu/linux and then rewrite everything to their current operating
...For the following reasons:
Linux is cool. IBM know it and works with it. BTW, IBM also worked in order to adapt their Intellistations to BeOS (see the result here). Conclusion, if it's good, IBM will work with it, however reluctant the "partner is". (In this case, Be wouldn't help IBM as they had too much to do with their own stuff, that's why IBM contacted distributors and bypassed Be Inc.)
They are known for their machines quality : I remember productive 80286 Xenix servers that still work perfectly along fabrication chains in factories.
They are also known for their developments: Compare the performances of the JDK1.2.2 that came with the Caldera OpenLinux2.4 and the one that was made by IBM.
IBM has patented loads of things. In fact, IIRC, they have an entry about this in the Guinness book of records. So, they are innovative (even if patents may be "stolen" - these are not my words - , all of these can't obviously have some irregular origin).
IBM doesn't focus on manufacturing products or computer. They are rather, IMHO, an R&D company. Which means that they are asked to develop solutions for a given problem ; hence the watch, hence the PC (The problem was : "Give me a quick and dirty computer to type some letters on"), hence Big crack, hence Kasparov defeat (Actually, this was a consequence of their researches in both AI and supercomputing), hence more advanced solutions...
IBM are known for projects which might not be paying before decades (e.g. 3D mollecular synthesis in some Swiss labs). So, who seriously think he will be here to collect the big bucks ?
Anyway, they are powerful but want us to trust them. Just do it. because in this case this also helps validating the concept of Free Software. --
For 2 reasons, I really appreciate the final quote from this article:
Before Linux, IBM's research group had lost its enthusiasm for operating system work, Goyal said. Linux, though, is
ideal for research environments because its open-source nature encourages innovation that's not hobbled by licensing
negotiations, he said.
I hope they are sincere and that this is not only to get rid of this old Big Brother reputation, though we mostly agree on IBM products quality.
Mozilla was coded after Netscape source code.
I'd like to know how different from the original Mozilla has become.
In case there have been some source code blocks copy, how can we be sure that Netscape bugs don't occur in Mozilla ?
Is Mozilla proofed against all of Netscape's security issues ??? --
Editing capabilities : Well, the editor will have to be excellent, quick and easy as the BeOS 3D mixing deck. This is the hardest point.
Multiplaying abilities : Imagine if you could not only fight with or against one another as a warrior or as any creature or (why not) as a rocket tower or whatever...
multiple view : So that it could fit most computers or displays :
3D
3D Isometric (like in Diablo)
2D, like in Keen.
Now, if a game featured all of these, do you seriously think it would be possible to abandon it once "finished" ?
Do you also think it could be possible to finish it ?
I bet these are ideas that M. Carmack could follow.
But this could also man that Doom200 would be a cross between Quake3, Commander Keen and... Civilization. (I'd buy it for sure). --
Microsoft abandon the prompt when it is integrated in MacOSX.
I guess this won't please the developpers : in most of my former companies, they were using some special compilation stuff to be launched from within Visual Studio.
Also, what about gamers who still love to play eiher Quake1 or Doom and who won't be able to launch their favorite mod anymore?
This definitively make me think Microsoft is inviting people to use Windows2000 rather than WindowsME. --
The remote control is the ultimate tool of this endless XXth century.
First used to control a TV-set now it is even more widely used as a phone and, thanks to WAP, we can now use its tiny display to order marshmallows online.
Next, we will have voice recognition and also a digital camera...
And the remote control will have become a TV-set itself.
So, to answer your question, I'd say that if we consider the handy as the only (commercially) viable "electronic device", then having it communicating with others devices is already done.
DIY-code-freaks are what we call hackers (bidouilleurs in French).
For example, somebody who codes (preferably against ISO9xxx heavy standards) practical tools for his own needs.
If these tools could be used in order to gather illegaly copyrighted data, then, according to this article, the hacker could be considered as a pirate, or as a criminal.
In case this happens to be accepted and hackers happen to be condemned because they created such tools then this would especially mean that whoever coding whatever will need a licence to be allowed to share it publicly so that his liability can easily be proofed whenever some malicious guy discovers some funny manipulation to be done with one of his programs.
This is really frightening as Free Software can't afford to rely only on "licensed" coders.
This just reinforce the gap between the way Internet was used 10 years ago and how it works today.
But I still hope this is only Sci-Fi. --
RIAA is not *creating* music. If you boycott them, it will ruin artists before they get seriously hurt. Some of them do need money. And you need music. --
Condoleances. Joel would probably have liked that we also care about his work so, what's new in 2.2 ? Is it a major upgrade or does it just consist of bug-fixes and upgrades ? I hope this is somehow major or that further major updates will also be dedicated to his memory as, for what I read he was more than just a passing by Debian contributor. --
> Further, and even more important, this is a major chance to > convince a global player of the capabilities of Linux. Show them something big. I believe that they won't really suffer if they have to pay for a machine that would *only* be 5 times more expensive as a supermarket. They won't suffer as if you take a 1k$ box on the first hand and the 5k$ box that your U/X reseller advises you to take, you are still far from the 10k$ Sun stations. You are also far from a consultat's weekly bill. Also, you won't impress "global players" of Linux capabilities by showing them something cheap (even if it is reliable, sufficient and competitive). If they see that they can manage really big boxes using Linux, then they will have more chances to be convinced of this opportunity. So, accept the 5k$ proposition (sounds like multix86 processors along with a RAID-5 array ?) and show your boss that Linux is not a toy. (Linux or BSD, of course...) --
If it worked. I mean, I downloaded and installed wherever it found my Quake 3 installation. It won't start. I usually have a message about a file not found : default.cfg. If I have to use a w4r3z version of a program that I legally bought (Do somebody remember the same story about Ultima4/atari ST ?) to see it working then,... Why is this problem not in the FAQ??? --
Click here. It comes on a free CD. It works, recognizes anything in your computer and it is fully featured (KDE, Emacs, Netscape, GCC, Perl, etc.). I use it on sensible servers. you only need to be able to boot on a CD. BTW, who deliberately bought an LS, here ? --
Whatever the court decision, we'll win. I mean, if all of this is forbidden, then as most of the required substace is already available, it will not even be hours before it is spread over Internet. After this, there will be some months (maybe less) before a free open alternative appears. Just take a look backwards to 8hz-mp3 that was forbidden but so widely distributed that the market had to do with it. Later, Blade appeared. This is starting to look like the same thing for DVD playback (and especially with QNX coming for free with a port of the Xing player). Today, DeCSS sounds like some illegal stuff, tomorrow some geniusses will just compute something smart, elegant and law-proof to replace it. Just hope they will resist the temptation to get some millions not to release it. --
> The web is its own medium. [...] > Sure, ideally it would be browser independent The fact is that if you use a browser that respects standards to design and test the pages, then the result you'll get will fit most browsers, proprietary or not. For example, before the CSS, I was personally used to make my HTML code for Fresco (RiscOS platform) and it usually looked perfect on MSIE, Voyager and Netscape. (NB: Fresco's rendering engine was used by Oracle Network Computer's web browser: NCFresco.) This approach should be generic in coding: take a standard environment and if your code works on it it should work everywhere. If you want to add browser-specific features, then do it after. Now, if you explain your client that in order to have his data readable by as many surfers as possible, he should renounce to some features (who said "Marquee" or "blink" ?;-) or at least replace them using more portable stuff (animated GIF, java, etc.). Concerning CSS, if they use an HTML-code generator, then it should be able to export the HTML files as "interpreted". BTW, it is funny to see this bit of javascript in RA3's page source: if (Name == "Netscape" && Version >= 4) { alert("Please come back with a CSS-compliant browser, such as IE or Netscape 6 (or Lynx)"); }
What if the browser is "less-featured" and completely different from Netscape ? Seems that the guy who made that page doesn't know that there are alternative browsers. --
> I can understand why in Europe, Asia, etc. > there is an interest in region-free DVD > players - cheap DVDs! As a European, I'd rather tell about their availability as they often cost the same, whichever region they are. For example, The Alien Legacy box or the Die Hard box was out in Zone1 months before being available in Zone2. There are other cult films like "The 10 Commandments", etc.
Now, if I were a Yankee, found of cult films, I think I'd look for films like Jacques Tati's, Marcel Pagnol's or other famous European film-makers.
<THIS IS NOT A FLAME> You might have Hollywood but there are also some pearls by here. </THIS IS NOT A FLAME>
I hope this could give you some clues about why people coul look after region-free solutions... --
> (If you are thinking that GNOME sucks, > however, it's probably "because you are using > Red Hat's version.") Nope, SuSe 6.4. And I ejected Gnome when my Panel disappeared for the third time. BTW, saying that Unix suxx because it has long since ceased to be a platform for innovation is not fair. I believe this is a matter of usage, and I think that Unix is open enough to allow one to approach computing a new way. Just replace these protocols by filers, replace these processus by users whose shell would be the processes... Then you'll have something cool. You can also change the shell, the hardware, the devices, whatever. Unix'll sucks only when it'll have been explored "de fond en comble". In France, we say: "A mauvais valet, point de bons outils" which means something like "Bad workers usually complain about their tools" I understand Miguel can be pissed off by too much work (Gnome, Starzilla, etc.) but he should at least respect what made him a legend. Hopefully this clumsy remark was only a detail in this article. --
The text itself remains unchanged, you can copy/paste it to a text editor to check: Well, it is not quite that either. Many 5 port hubs use indeed 5 ports. I have an intel 5 port hub, a 6th port is for connecting to another hub. The modem is NOT called a 6 port hub.
The word "modem" only appeared once while the word "hub" appeared much more often... Either there's a bug or this is a clumsy attempt to sell modems to cable users.
According to the first point, I understand this could be pissing someone of but rather than removing what actually makes deja live, I'd suggest to just warn the writer about this when he submits a message, and to ensure that the link will be opened (target="_blah") in a new window. --
Slashdot Mirror
BSA - aka Bidouilleurs Sans Argent (Means something like Moneyless Hackers) - is a non-profit organization aimed at giving people free software : not only GPL'ed but also FreeWare and even "Official Abandonware".
We created it in France something like 2 years ago after long discussions that even involved Richard Stallman himself (co-author of the BPL - BSA Public License).
We gather all the related software on our Web Site (in French) and we actively harass Abandonware editors to let us publish their "old", though often useful programs.
Of course, this might look we have not gathered that much software but whatever we get we publish it and if you help us convincing editors there'll soon be loads to pick.
FYI, the BSA name comes from the fact that we remarked that the Business Software Alliance didn't have a legal existence in France : So, we just picked the acronym before them...
--
It's a pity there's a lack of details about, say, Powerage.
Because, if it's only molecular, the signal it will generate will need to be amplified to be processed by another peripheral, should it be a monitor.
If an external signal as to be absorbed, there is also a risk that it has to be lowered not to "break" the moleculs (Overflow ?).
So, yes, it *is* cool, but we will need a complete range of devices to connect it to before it is usable...
At this moement, I can only imagine a single multiusages interface for these chips : living organisms.
And then, it will have to reach the "mass-production" level. Maybe in fields, as "transgenic corn" ?
OR it'll maybe look like "human powered" like in "The Matrix" ?
--
Though I enjoyed seeing what others did to their computers, I am rather annoyed by the models uniformity.
I don't mean the look itself but rather the fact that they all seemed to share the same dimensions.
This would have been cool to see an exagerously flat (carputer = carpet + computer) or small (Liliputter = Liliputt + computer) or huge (roomputter because biuggest than a room, I wouldn't dare) computer box, no ?
Hope this will give ideas to someone...
--
Let's forget the fact that Miguel did use the word "suck".
OK, now, the rest of this document highlight some features that Miguel'd like to see in Unix.
IMHO, some of these features could be worth coding. And accepting that we don't have them unlike others is fair.
If we want to prove him that Unix doesn't suck, well, just prove him that Unix is open enough to easily embed the features he asks.
These are reasonable features that would certainly benefit Unix, and Gnome in peculiar (by "benefit", I mean bring their users to new levels of computing ease).
I personaly enjoy it and understand Miguel's message as a challenge.
--
Anyone remembers Zila ? a utility rthat came with the machine and that was aimed at auto-distributing threads across a network. :-)
When using this feature with PhotoShop, we actually had a good time...
This was quite an elegant machine.
--
There were also add-ons cards for the NeXT, The NeXTdimension, a color card for NeXTcube and also the Ariel . a multi-DSP card aimed at sound-manipulation. The IRCAM (famous French music institute) hadd a complete Ariel-powered NeXT network. Wow... These were more-than professional add-ons for what was already a more-than professional machine. :-)
--
- Linux is cool. IBM know it and works with it. BTW, IBM also worked in order to adapt their Intellistations to BeOS (see the result here).
- They are known for their machines quality : I remember productive 80286 Xenix servers that still work perfectly along fabrication chains in factories.
- They are also known for their developments: Compare the performances of the JDK1.2.2 that came with the Caldera OpenLinux2.4 and the one that was made by IBM.
- IBM has patented loads of things. In fact, IIRC, they have an entry about this in the Guinness book of records. So, they are innovative (even if patents may be "stolen" - these are not my words - , all of these can't obviously have some irregular origin).
- IBM doesn't focus on manufacturing products or computer. They are rather, IMHO, an R&D company. Which means that they are asked to develop solutions for a given problem ; hence the watch, hence the PC (The problem was : "Give me a quick and dirty computer to type some letters on"), hence Big crack, hence Kasparov defeat (Actually, this was a consequence of their researches in both AI and supercomputing), hence more advanced solutions...
- IBM are known for projects which might not be paying before decades (e.g. 3D mollecular synthesis in some Swiss labs). So, who seriously think he will be here to collect the big bucks ?
Anyway, they are powerful but want us to trust them. Just do it. because in this case this also helps validating the concept of Free Software.Conclusion, if it's good, IBM will work with it, however reluctant the "partner is". (In this case, Be wouldn't help IBM as they had too much to do with their own stuff, that's why IBM contacted distributors and bypassed Be Inc.)
--
Before Linux, IBM's research group had lost its enthusiasm for operating system work, Goyal said.
Linux, though, is ideal for research environments because its open-source nature encourages innovation that's not hobbled by licensing negotiations, he said.
--
Mozilla was coded after Netscape source code.
I'd like to know how different from the original Mozilla has become.
In case there have been some source code blocks copy, how can we be sure that Netscape bugs don't occur in Mozilla ?
Is Mozilla proofed against all of Netscape's security issues ???
--
- is possible
- would be a hit
Now, how do we write ^]:wq in graffiti ???--
The perfect first person game would feature:
- Morphing scenery : Imagine a game in which the landscape would change between each play. As if it was alive itself, like the towers in a chess game...
- Ultimate playability : Commander Keen [456]. Nuff said...
- Editing capabilities : Well, the editor will have to be excellent, quick and easy as the BeOS 3D mixing deck. This is the hardest point.
- Multiplaying abilities : Imagine if you could not only fight with or against one another as a warrior or as any creature or (why not) as a rocket tower or whatever...
- multiple view : So that it could fit most computers or displays :
- 3D
- 3D Isometric (like in Diablo)
- 2D, like in Keen.
Now, if a game featured all of these, do you seriously think it would be possible to abandon it once "finished" ?Do you also think it could be possible to finish it ?
I bet these are ideas that M. Carmack could follow.
But this could also man that Doom200 would be a cross between Quake3, Commander Keen and... Civilization. (I'd buy it for sure).
--
Microsoft abandon the prompt when it is integrated in MacOSX.
I guess this won't please the developpers : in most of my former companies, they were using some special compilation stuff to be launched from within Visual Studio.
Also, what about gamers who still love to play eiher Quake1 or Doom and who won't be able to launch their favorite mod anymore?
This definitively make me think Microsoft is inviting people to use Windows2000 rather than WindowsME.
--
The remote control is the ultimate tool of this endless XXth century.
First used to control a TV-set now it is even more widely used as a phone and, thanks to WAP, we can now use its tiny display to order marshmallows online.
Next, we will have voice recognition and also a digital camera... And the remote control will have become a TV-set itself.
So, to answer your question, I'd say that if we consider the handy as the only (commercially) viable "electronic device", then having it communicating with others devices is already done.
--
DIY-code-freaks are what we call hackers (bidouilleurs in French).
For example, somebody who codes (preferably against ISO9xxx heavy standards) practical tools for his own needs.
If these tools could be used in order to gather illegaly copyrighted data, then, according to this article, the hacker could be considered as a pirate, or as a criminal.
In case this happens to be accepted and hackers happen to be condemned because they created such tools then this would especially mean that whoever coding whatever will need a licence to be allowed to share it publicly so that his liability can easily be proofed whenever some malicious guy discovers some funny manipulation to be done with one of his programs.
This is really frightening as Free Software can't afford to rely only on "licensed" coders.
This just reinforce the gap between the way Internet was used 10 years ago and how it works today.
But I still hope this is only Sci-Fi.
--
RIAA is not *creating* music.
If you boycott them, it will ruin artists before they get seriously hurt.
Some of them do need money.
And you need music.
--
Condoleances.
Joel would probably have liked that we also care about his work so, what's new in 2.2 ?
Is it a major upgrade or does it just consist of bug-fixes and upgrades ?
I hope this is somehow major or that further major updates will also be dedicated to his memory as, for what I read he was more than just a passing by Debian contributor.
--
> Further, and even more important, this is a major chance to
> convince a global player of the capabilities of Linux.
Show them something big. I believe that they won't really suffer if they have to pay for a machine that would *only* be 5 times more expensive as a supermarket.
They won't suffer as if you take a 1k$ box on the first hand and the 5k$ box that your U/X reseller advises you to take, you are still far from the 10k$ Sun stations.
You are also far from a consultat's weekly bill.
Also, you won't impress "global players" of Linux capabilities by showing them something cheap (even if it is reliable, sufficient and competitive).
If they see that they can manage really big boxes using Linux, then they will have more chances to be convinced of this opportunity.
So, accept the 5k$ proposition (sounds like multix86 processors along with a RAID-5 array ?) and show your boss that Linux is not a toy.
(Linux or BSD, of course...)
--
If it worked.
I mean, I downloaded and installed wherever it found my Quake 3 installation.
It won't start.
I usually have a message about a file not found : default.cfg.
If I have to use a w4r3z version of a program that I legally bought (Do somebody remember the same story about Ultima4/atari ST ?) to see it working then,...
Why is this problem not in the FAQ???
--
Click here.
It comes on a free CD.
It works, recognizes anything in your computer and it is fully featured (KDE, Emacs, Netscape, GCC, Perl, etc.).
I use it on sensible servers.
you only need to be able to boot on a CD.
BTW, who deliberately bought an LS, here ?
--
Whatever the court decision, we'll win.
I mean, if all of this is forbidden, then as most of the required substace is already available, it will not even be hours before it is spread over Internet.
After this, there will be some months (maybe less) before a free open alternative appears.
Just take a look backwards to 8hz-mp3 that was forbidden but so widely distributed that the market had to do with it.
Later, Blade appeared.
This is starting to look like the same thing for DVD playback (and especially with QNX coming for free with a port of the Xing player).
Today, DeCSS sounds like some illegal stuff, tomorrow some geniusses will just compute something smart, elegant and law-proof to replace it.
Just hope they will resist the temptation to get some millions not to release it.
--
> The web is its own medium. [...] ;-) or at least replace them using more portable stuff (animated GIF, java, etc.).
> Sure, ideally it would be browser independent
The fact is that if you use a browser that respects standards to design and test the pages, then the result you'll get will fit most browsers, proprietary or not.
For example, before the CSS, I was personally used to make my HTML code for Fresco (RiscOS platform) and it usually looked perfect on MSIE, Voyager and Netscape.
(NB: Fresco's rendering engine was used by Oracle Network Computer's web browser: NCFresco.)
This approach should be generic in coding: take a standard environment and if your code works on it it should work everywhere.
If you want to add browser-specific features, then do it after.
Now, if you explain your client that in order to have his data readable by as many surfers as possible, he should renounce to some features (who said "Marquee" or "blink" ?
Concerning CSS, if they use an HTML-code generator, then it should be able to export the HTML files as "interpreted".
BTW, it is funny to see this bit of javascript in RA3's page source:
if (Name == "Netscape" && Version >= 4) {
alert("Please come back with a CSS-compliant browser, such as IE or Netscape 6 (or Lynx)");
}
What if the browser is "less-featured" and completely different from Netscape ?
Seems that the guy who made that page doesn't know that there are alternative browsers.
--
> I can understand why in Europe, Asia, etc.
> there is an interest in region-free DVD
> players - cheap DVDs!
As a European, I'd rather tell about their availability as they often cost the same, whichever region they are.
For example, The Alien Legacy box or the Die Hard box was out in Zone1 months before being available in Zone2.
There are other cult films like "The 10 Commandments", etc.
Now, if I were a Yankee, found of cult films, I think I'd look for films like Jacques Tati's, Marcel Pagnol's or other famous European film-makers.
<THIS IS NOT A FLAME>
You might have Hollywood but there are also some pearls by here.
</THIS IS NOT A FLAME>
I hope this could give you some clues about why people coul look after region-free solutions...
--
> (If you are thinking that GNOME sucks, :
> however, it's probably "because you are using
> Red Hat's version.")
Nope, SuSe 6.4.
And I ejected Gnome when my Panel disappeared for the third time.
BTW, saying that Unix suxx because it has long since ceased to be a platform for innovation is not fair.
I believe this is a matter of usage, and I think that Unix is open enough to allow one to approach computing a new way.
Just replace these protocols by filers, replace these processus by users whose shell would be the processes...
Then you'll have something cool.
You can also change the shell, the hardware, the devices, whatever.
Unix'll sucks only when it'll have been explored "de fond en comble".
In France, we say
"A mauvais valet, point de bons outils"
which means something like
"Bad workers usually complain about their tools"
I understand Miguel can be pissed off by too much work (Gnome, Starzilla, etc.) but he should at least respect what made him a legend.
Hopefully this clumsy remark was only a detail in this article.
--
Thechweb's article says that any mailer using MSIE(4+) HTML renderer is vulnerable...
--
- The text itself remains unchanged, you can copy/paste it to a text editor to check:
- The word "modem" only appeared once while the word "hub" appeared much more often... Either there's a bug or this is a clumsy attempt to sell modems to cable users.
According to the first point, I understand this could be pissing someone of but rather than removing what actually makes deja live, I'd suggest to just warn the writer about this when he submits a message, and to ensure that the link will be opened (target="_blah") in a new window.Well, it is not quite that either.
Many 5 port hubs use indeed 5 ports.
I have an intel 5 port hub, a 6th port is for connecting to another hub.
The modem is NOT called a 6 port hub.
--