Hmmm.... I definitely OWN my gateway/router/modem/whatever you call it. We committed to pay for DSL for one year, and in exchange got a free modem and installation.
Now, I don't think it's useful if you don't have DSL anymore, but they don't have any right to take it back.
Better go read your contract, you might find that you do own it after all. However, since it's useless, it was probably best that you give it back.
Huh... bandwidth is like electricity in California, expensive, and with sort of a manufactured shortage.
I would be real curious to see pricing on an ISP end to see what it actually cost to have a full time, say T3 or whatever your average mom and pop ISP uses.
Assuming that you have someone to set it up for you, yes. But if you're the "administrator" of your own box, no way.
Windows at least makes an ATTEMPT to be user friendly (although it frequently fails miserably) whereas with Linux you are really on your own.
Joe Idiot, the computer user, can at least install some programs and probably a printer on Windows by reading a printed page of instructions. I don't think it can be said that Joe Idiot can figure out how to acquire, decompress, compile, and install Linux applications, without a guru looking over their shoulder.
You're making my point again - you can just as easily as the developer of the program to release a binary with some different feature, regardless of whether YOU have the source.
They might say yes, they might say no, but whether or not you've got the source is irrelevant.
Because I'm not the only one who uses the computers
Are you admitting that Linux is not easy enough / not ideal for the beginning user? If Windows better meets their needs, why try to force them to use Linux?
Right - but an advanced user could contribute bug reports, suggestions, give feedback, etc without the source. Having/not having the source is irrelevant.
If Linux serves the need of what you're doing, and you are able to administrate the boxes, and you're really that geeky, why do you have any Windows boxes, period?
This topic reminds me of an "Ask Slashdot" I've been meaning to send in. For 99% of the population, they wouldn't know what to do with the source of MS Office even if you gave it to them.
So what's the point of open source being used on an entry level machine with Windows? It has no benefit to the user, other than taking up space on hard drives and cd roms.
Even if there was a bug that a developer was able to fix in the code, they wouldn't be able to compile it again anyway - they'd have to wait for a binary.
So I guess my question is, is there any benefit of open source to the newbie? Or even an advanced, non programmer type user?
Where did you get your numbers from? My player (Toshiba 4109x) will do Dvd audio, and it was $300. You certainly don't have to pay thousands to get DVD audio.
If you are choosing GPL/GNU/Open Source because you are making a political statement, or doing it for philosophical reasons, you shouldn't be using Windows.
If you AREN'T doing it for political or philosophical reason, but are merely getting the best tools for the job, there are better inexpensive/free, (closed source) tools, so use those.
Racks are expensive because they are used primarily by corporations (.coms, Fortune 500, ISPs and hosting providers), and like most shit sold to the business market, are horribly priced.
Your server will do just fine, sitting under a desk or in a closet. You don't need a rack. Promise.
Oh, I sure have. I've owned several Powerbooks, the last one ran OS 8.6 for several years. MacOS? It's a close second right now. The stability of Windows 2000 just destroys the classic MacOS though.
No. Smart tags change and add to the publishers content, altering it to add links to additional sites. Filtering ads just removes part of the presentation. It's like covering your ears if someone is saying something you don't like. Smart tags is recording them, dubbing your voice over, and then walking around, playing the tape, and pretending it's unaltered.
As funny as you think it is to post that, Windows 2000 IS EASILY the best OS I've ever seen on a laptop. Even most Linux fans I know of will agree to that.
Okay, it's funny, and ought to be on the front page.:) But do you really want to exclude IE users from your site, when you consider that MANY of them (corporate users) have no choice whether or not to use IE?
I happen to think that alot of Linux people are arrogant and stuck up, but I don't exclude them from my sites, even one day a week.
While you ponder your answer, I'll be hard at work on some javascript that boots Konqueror users to microsoft.com.
Uh huh... what's your upload speed on that 1-10Mbs cable modem? 64k? 128k if you're lucky. At least with DSL you can pay for symettric access - at my office we have 1.5Mb in BOTH directions for $90 a month, and we don't have any stupid restrictions on running servers like you get with cable. In this case, it's cable that is inferior on a price/perf ratio.
Shutup faggot. Do we have to beat this horse again? Go do some research and see if you still believe that "Apple copied their interface from Xerox" when you're done.
Slashdot Mirror
If you count "click setup.exe", I guess those are "instructions".
My mom is not going to be able to figure that out. She can, however, install simple programs under Windows.
Now, I don't think it's useful if you don't have DSL anymore, but they don't have any right to take it back.
Better go read your contract, you might find that you do own it after all. However, since it's useless, it was probably best that you give it back.
I would be real curious to see pricing on an ISP end to see what it actually cost to have a full time, say T3 or whatever your average mom and pop ISP uses.
Windows at least makes an ATTEMPT to be user friendly (although it frequently fails miserably) whereas with Linux you are really on your own.
Joe Idiot, the computer user, can at least install some programs and probably a printer on Windows by reading a printed page of instructions. I don't think it can be said that Joe Idiot can figure out how to acquire, decompress, compile, and install Linux applications, without a guru looking over their shoulder.
They might say yes, they might say no, but whether or not you've got the source is irrelevant.
Are you admitting that Linux is not easy enough / not ideal for the beginning user? If Windows better meets their needs, why try to force them to use Linux?
Right - but an advanced user could contribute bug reports, suggestions, give feedback, etc without the source. Having/not having the source is irrelevant.
So what's the point of open source being used on an entry level machine with Windows? It has no benefit to the user, other than taking up space on hard drives and cd roms.
Even if there was a bug that a developer was able to fix in the code, they wouldn't be able to compile it again anyway - they'd have to wait for a binary.
So I guess my question is, is there any benefit of open source to the newbie? Or even an advanced, non programmer type user?
Where did you get your numbers from? My player (Toshiba 4109x) will do Dvd audio, and it was $300. You certainly don't have to pay thousands to get DVD audio.
If you are choosing GPL/GNU/Open Source because you are making a political statement, or doing it for philosophical reasons, you shouldn't be using Windows.
If you AREN'T doing it for political or philosophical reason, but are merely getting the best tools for the job, there are better inexpensive/free, (closed source) tools, so use those.
Your server will do just fine, sitting under a desk or in a closet. You don't need a rack. Promise.
Shutup fag your stupid shit XBOX is going to crash all the time, just like every other shitty OS your company has ever "programmed".
Oh, I sure have. I've owned several Powerbooks, the last one ran OS 8.6 for several years. MacOS? It's a close second right now. The stability of Windows 2000 just destroys the classic MacOS though.
No. Smart tags change and add to the publishers content, altering it to add links to additional sites. Filtering ads just removes part of the presentation. It's like covering your ears if someone is saying something you don't like. Smart tags is recording them, dubbing your voice over, and then walking around, playing the tape, and pretending it's unaltered.
As funny as you think it is to post that, Windows 2000 IS EASILY the best OS I've ever seen on a laptop. Even most Linux fans I know of will agree to that.
If the sun blows up, we are all completely fucked. Lack of solar power would be the least of our worries :)
Except unlike the "Star Wars" franchise, each of the Indy movies is actually good.
This is the only article worthy of being on Slashdot in the last 3 days.
I happen to think that alot of Linux people are arrogant and stuck up, but I don't exclude them from my sites, even one day a week.
While you ponder your answer, I'll be hard at work on some javascript that boots Konqueror users to microsoft.com.
Uh huh... what's your upload speed on that 1-10Mbs cable modem? 64k? 128k if you're lucky. At least with DSL you can pay for symettric access - at my office we have 1.5Mb in BOTH directions for $90 a month, and we don't have any stupid restrictions on running servers like you get with cable. In this case, it's cable that is inferior on a price/perf ratio.
It doesn't matter that more than one exists if you can't choose between them.
Shutup faggot. Do we have to beat this horse again? Go do some research and see if you still believe that "Apple copied their interface from Xerox" when you're done.
Ha hah ha, oh god, you're killing me. Stop. Seriously.