Of course. The thing here is that such a God (basically, the "first cause God"), is a non-interventionist God. He started the show, but can't intervene. He can't be a "personal God" as many religions want you to believe in.
Sure, you can put God at the big bang, but as a great man once said: I have no need for that hypothesis. The first cause argument is flawed in the sense that you explain something, by invoking something else (God) that has no first cause and apparently is exempt from causality. So, for all intents and purposes, you can just scratch that "extra" assumption. Ergo: whatever caused the big bang, was there already (and given that time even didn't exist, talking about "before" is truly a stretch already).
That one, definitely isn't going to convince me.
... it pretty much removes God from the whole picture. His place is then relegated to the creation of life in it's absolutely fundamental form, where evolution takes over. Personally, I think that abiogenesis is the better rational explanation. The people who want intelligent design (or, let's call it by name: "creationism") have a problem with God of the gaps, so they desperately try to cling to a gap that has been filled a long time ago. The remaining gaps (like the actual "first life" and the "big bang") seem too insignificant for their great Skydaddy's glory.
While for a full-blown laptop, I wouldn't skimp on RAM. However, something cheap may have less. I'm typing this on an Acer Aspire S3 (Bought it last week: it was on sale for cheap), which has -granted- 4GB RAM. It runs Ubuntu 12.04LTS and while I only have Terminal, Firefox and Thunderbird open, it uses a whopping 1.3GB RAM. So, even with 2GB, I'd be fine:
As, you can see... 1.4GB is used for buffers, but that can be freed up. 1GB is "truly" free, as in "not used at all". I don't think that 2GB would be much of a problem for "basic" usage and there are much lighter distros out there than Ubuntu.
So, yes, it might not be ideal, but I wouldn't exactly call it a dealbreaker.
For normal users, I usually recommend 4GB RAM... More is usually a waste for them, but 4GB is already with a big margin calculated in. Most, never fill it up. Regardless the OS.
If you dread going to work every day with no bright points, you really do need a different job or different employer.
Nice theory, but no... Most people need to pay the bills and that's why you go to work. Pay your bills, make the time you haven't got to work as comfortable as possible. Oh, and that's for the people who are well off... For those less lucky, they go to work to pay the bills, then go to their second job to pay the ends-of-months and then, if they're lucky not to have a third job, be happy to can crash and sleep.
I don't think you understand Stallman. He will not be happy until all software on all devices is Free Software. (Free as in Freedom) I'd even expect him to see this as a failure or an affront to the Free Software movement.
You'll pay the bill, I assume? If it works, there is no need to upgrade. XP is just fine, and any competent admin can secure it so that it remains usable but is less risky. Installing an anti-virus is part of it. I usually recommend MSE because it's low-footprint and free. However, I expect MS to drop MSE support for XP in 2014.
On the other hand, why not simply use subdomains of an actual domainname you own?
I do realize it's inconceivable, but some people do not own domain names. Well, I do, but they don't really match my internal naming scheme. So, my internal domain is something that wasn't valid until they came up with the stupid gTLD concept: shark species as hostname, domain "sharks" on my network and in a similar vein Kiplings Jungle Book characters as hostnames and "jungle" as domain for my parents network. This works fine, looks pretty and works.
Now of course, I could use jawtheshark.com for my internal network. As a direct consequence, I'd have to either slave my LAN DNS to a public DNS and expose my internal IP numbering to the world, or keep my LAN DNS manually synchronized with my global DNS. You see, all kind of problems I didn't have because my internal domain was completely not used on the Internet. For my parents network, I don't even have a domain name that would match the naming scheme. My dad has our surname.lu, but that hardly will match the jungle naming scheme. Well, I could just buy yet another domain name and use it only internally, but that's added cost I didn't use to have.
I still have a dual boot laptop. Thing is, last time I actually booted 7, I had to undergo a two hour update frenzy and totally forgot why I actually booted into Windows. I should boot it again, I don't think it has seen an update in a year.
That person who tries to get their friends to adopt Linux and sees their hopes and dreams dashed when they go buy a cheap Windows PC.
Interesting. Perhaps they aren't quite using their position right. It is very simple: you want my help? You'd better be very close family, for whom I'd run Windows on a dead badger... If you're not, you have three choices:
You buy a Mac, and I'll help you. Of course only after you have tried yourself, after all the first thing you'll hear for me is: "Mac is for people who don't want to learn about computers. Try it yourself, it will most likely do exactly as you think."
The second option is that you get Linux (Hey, you even may choose the distro if you're inclined to do so, but why are you asking me then?) and you get support. No questions asked. Printer doesn't work because you didn't insert the paper deep enough. (This actualy happened) Fine, no problem.
Finally, you get Windows. Pre-installed OEM or if I feel magnanimous, I'll even build you a machine and install it. However, from that point on: you are on your own. I will not help, I will not reinstall, I will not clean viruses. You find another idiot for that. I do not have time for that crap.
Some do see value in my help, and chose option one or two. That's how you convert people. In that sense Richard Stallman was right: "You sell on support". My support is free, but at least I don't have to deal with our friends from Richmond.
Hmmm, while not 800x600 (which is the standard resolution I think he was hinting at), there have been graphic cards in that timeframe that were high resolution. Well high resolution for those days. You're probably just too young to remember. That's fine. Let me show you: Hercules Graphics Card.
CRT's were... Older LCD's could also. I just recently had to throw away my 15" 1024x768 LCD screen I bought in... 2000 (!). That's 13 years and the image quality was as good as on day #1. One day, last month, it simply didn't turn on again. Sure, the last 5 years, it was the console of a server, but it worked.
So, the conversion from CRT to LCD also cost us longevity.
I can't say for printers (but if they're PostScript, I'm sure generic drivers will work). However, for scanners, do take a look at VueScan. It's not all that expensive and the amount of scanners that are supported is staggering. It also works on Linux and OS X... Since I don't use Windows any more, but do have some speciality scanning devices (still on SCSI, so you can guess the age), VueScan on LInux did all I needed an more.
Worker protection and Luxembourg? You do realize you can be pretty much fired at will in my country of residence, don't you? Luxembourg has pretty liberal employment laws. Also. Unemployed? Got one year to find a job... Then you're on your own. Just you know.
Luxembourg is a nice country, but you're highly mistaken about worker rights. Go read the Code du Travail if you've got some time. You can find it on legilux.lu.
Try using CSV in a localized setting. For example, in a country where the decimal separator is the comma and the list separator is the;. Now, you get a CSV from a co-worker in the US. Now, you think this would work... the C stands for comma, right, right? Well, Excel makes the import locale dependent. so your co-workers CSV will fail to import. Inversely, the one you generate with commas between the numbers and semicolons as a separator, will fail to import for your co-worker.
Now, I haven't read the standard. Excel might as well implement it correctly, and even the Free alternatives might do this (I don't know, I rarely use CSV in a setting where I have only Libre/OpenOffice), but that is very damn confusing for the end-user.
Slashdot Mirror
Of course. The thing here is that such a God (basically, the "first cause God"), is a non-interventionist God. He started the show, but can't intervene. He can't be a "personal God" as many religions want you to believe in.
That one, definitely isn't going to convince me.
(Wikipedia: First Cause Argument))
Interestingly, I found the zero-energy universe to be an superbly elegant explanation: Lawrence Krauss: A Universe From Nothing.
... it pretty much removes God from the whole picture. His place is then relegated to the creation of life in it's absolutely fundamental form, where evolution takes over. Personally, I think that abiogenesis is the better rational explanation. The people who want intelligent design (or, let's call it by name: "creationism") have a problem with God of the gaps, so they desperately try to cling to a gap that has been filled a long time ago. The remaining gaps (like the actual "first life" and the "big bang") seem too insignificant for their great Skydaddy's glory.
As, you can see... 1.4GB is used for buffers, but that can be freed up. 1GB is "truly" free, as in "not used at all". I don't think that 2GB would be much of a problem for "basic" usage and there are much lighter distros out there than Ubuntu.
So, yes, it might not be ideal, but I wouldn't exactly call it a dealbreaker.
For normal users, I usually recommend 4GB RAM... More is usually a waste for them, but 4GB is already with a big margin calculated in. Most, never fill it up. Regardless the OS.
Nice theory, but no... Most people need to pay the bills and that's why you go to work. Pay your bills, make the time you haven't got to work as comfortable as possible. Oh, and that's for the people who are well off... For those less lucky, they go to work to pay the bills, then go to their second job to pay the ends-of-months and then, if they're lucky not to have a third job, be happy to can crash and sleep.
I don't think you understand Stallman. He will not be happy until all software on all devices is Free Software. (Free as in Freedom) I'd even expect him to see this as a failure or an affront to the Free Software movement.
Nobody stops you to start the brand....
You'll pay the bill, I assume? If it works, there is no need to upgrade. XP is just fine, and any competent admin can secure it so that it remains usable but is less risky. Installing an anti-virus is part of it. I usually recommend MSE because it's low-footprint and free. However, I expect MS to drop MSE support for XP in 2014.
I do realize it's inconceivable, but some people do not own domain names. Well, I do, but they don't really match my internal naming scheme. So, my internal domain is something that wasn't valid until they came up with the stupid gTLD concept: shark species as hostname, domain "sharks" on my network and in a similar vein Kiplings Jungle Book characters as hostnames and "jungle" as domain for my parents network. This works fine, looks pretty and works.
Now of course, I could use jawtheshark.com for my internal network. As a direct consequence, I'd have to either slave my LAN DNS to a public DNS and expose my internal IP numbering to the world, or keep my LAN DNS manually synchronized with my global DNS. You see, all kind of problems I didn't have because my internal domain was completely not used on the Internet. For my parents network, I don't even have a domain name that would match the naming scheme. My dad has our surname.lu, but that hardly will match the jungle naming scheme. Well, I could just buy yet another domain name and use it only internally, but that's added cost I didn't use to have.
The gTLD stuff is just stupid. That's my opinion.
It is "to wreck".
Renault Twizy. There are surprisinly many on the road where I live.
I still have a dual boot laptop. Thing is, last time I actually booted 7, I had to undergo a two hour update frenzy and totally forgot why I actually booted into Windows. I should boot it again, I don't think it has seen an update in a year.
Interesting. Perhaps they aren't quite using their position right. It is very simple: you want my help? You'd better be very close family, for whom I'd run Windows on a dead badger... If you're not, you have three choices:
Some do see value in my help, and chose option one or two. That's how you convert people. In that sense Richard Stallman was right: "You sell on support". My support is free, but at least I don't have to deal with our friends from Richmond.
Well, if the OpenBSD project releases patches like this, there is a huge cryout. Of course, it doesn't happen all that much.
Hmmm, while not 800x600 (which is the standard resolution I think he was hinting at), there have been graphic cards in that timeframe that were high resolution. Well high resolution for those days. You're probably just too young to remember. That's fine. Let me show you: Hercules Graphics Card.
So, the conversion from CRT to LCD also cost us longevity.
Obligatory XKCD.
I can't say for printers (but if they're PostScript, I'm sure generic drivers will work). However, for scanners, do take a look at VueScan. It's not all that expensive and the amount of scanners that are supported is staggering. It also works on Linux and OS X... Since I don't use Windows any more, but do have some speciality scanning devices (still on SCSI, so you can guess the age), VueScan on LInux did all I needed an more.
Ow, sorry... For some reason it looked as if you replied to my comment. My mistake.
Uhm, that's a quote from the Wizard of Oz. What prompted this tirade?
Don't mind the man behind the curtain....
Luxembourg is a nice country, but you're highly mistaken about worker rights. Go read the Code du Travail if you've got some time. You can find it on legilux.lu.
... oh and I just *explained* you the default behaviour; It's broken.
Yeah, try doing that with anything a "little larger". Ever worked with dataminers? These people do insane things....
Now, I haven't read the standard. Excel might as well implement it correctly, and even the Free alternatives might do this (I don't know, I rarely use CSV in a setting where I have only Libre/OpenOffice), but that is very damn confusing for the end-user.