I apologize in advance for picking at your last post piece by piece, but there's a lot of material to cover here unfortunately.
Linux _does not care_ what its public representatives do. I'll grant that if some of our more visible figures were more... marketable... the process might be sped up in certain circles, but that's just a matter of speed.
I simply must disagree. As long as 'radical' figures such as the ones I listed originally are at the forefront of Linux's public image, it will always appear as a "hippie culture", for lack of a better term -- especially in the eyes of corporate PHBs who are responsible for adopting anything new. Not everyone is as enlightened as I'm sure most Linux zealots wish.
As long as there is still one lone hacker coding and publishing, Linux will continue to advance. The rate of advance may ebb and flow, but the net advancement is unstoppable.
Here's where we share some common ground. You're right, but will it move forward into the mainstream with the current structure? No. Is that okay? I personally would be very happy to see Linux (and BSD, for that matter) remain in the unprostituted "underground", but that's not the same goal as many free software users.
Niether strategy can work against Linux - Linux does not need MS compatibility for the large part, and can react much faster than MS to API changes in the small part. And as for outright purchase... they can join the party, but they cannot extinguish it.
True again, but a refusal to work with the uncontested king of the industry at this point does nothing, again, to move toward mainstream acceptance. Look at it however you like, if most people are forced to choose between products like MS Office and StarOffice, the answer is obvious. Perhaps not among people who can comprehend the ramifications, but that's certainly not the majority.
With Linux, you get source - for EVERYTHING. Having the source means never getting caught with your pants down.
This is a common argument, and one that irks me, frankly. Having the source is only worthwhile if there are people proficient in C on staff (or readily available). At my last job, I worked for a very small consulting firm (less than ten people total), none of whom were coders. How valuable is megs and megs of source in such a case? Being a system administrator of any OS does require scripting skills, but should I have to be a C hacker in order to administer Linux? I sure think not. The fact that Linux isn't proprietary is a completely moot point unless there's a coder in the office, not to mention someone willing to foot the bills while he slogs through the source.
...and if it wasn't for the enormous amount of legacy data (Spreadsheets and documents) produced on MS tools that only work on MS tools, Linux would be all over the desktops here.
...in a group of computer-savvy users. Again, my point is that, in its current state, Linux will never penetrate the desktop market as a whole, because it does not offer anything revolutionary, aside from an attractive price, to those who are not as computer literate as we who hang out on Slashdot. Again, that's fine with me, but it's really another nail in the coffin for your original mammals/dinosaurs metaphor. My Dad bought a new (ick) Chevy because he knew that he could rush back to the dealership and talk to a real person with any problems. Not being able to do so (in most cases) with Linux is not a point in its favor in the eyes of the average user.
Never be a 10% player? Brother, we passed 10% a long time ago.
Consider this article at theregister.co.uk. I'm not sure where you're getting your figures from, but even if the ones quoted in the above link are off by 100%, it's still not even close (in terms of desktop penetration, at least).
Oh, I'm so sick of this Linux counter-FUD that it's finally time to vent. I'm very, very pleased to see that you have such a philanthropical view of Linux, but you're in the minority, buddy. "Linux is all about solving computing problems"... my ass it is! Linux has become a cause to champion for anyone who is fed up with any number of Microsoft's questionable tactics, nothing more. Windows and Linux are (inexplicably, I might add) damn sure in direct competition, and if you don't believe it, I encourage you to carefully read any thread that involves a Linux desktop enhancement of virtually any description or severity or a Windows deficiency of, again, virtually any severity. There you'll surely find literally hundreds of people writing Windows' eulogy (again) as Linux takes its (supposedly) rightful place at the top of the heap. Difference in corporate philosophy or not, there you have competition.
You can use all the evolutionary metaphors you like, the fact is that Microsoft is a successful business and Linux, thus far, is simply not because Linux as a whole has chosen to stick to its ideals. Right or wrong, this philosophy along with the decreasing trust and increasing frustration with piss-poor public representatives like Cox, Raymond and the simply loathsome Stallman has lost this fight for Linux before the bell even rings.
Maybe you think you Get It, but until you're willing to look sadly at your Linux CD and admit aloud that it will never, ever be more than a 10% player in this world while attempting to push idiotic business ideals and relying on people who look and speak like street-urchins as public representatives, you simply don't Get It at all. As unpleasant as it is, this is not now, nor will it ever be a world where philanthropy rules. If you like Linux, use it happily (I do), but if you honestly believe you're wildly misplaced mammals versus dinosaurs analogy, you're in for a whole host of rude awakening.
I'm coping just fine, thanks for your caring. Everyone assumes that I'm a "jock" because I made it through highschool without shooting the joint up, but the fact is that I was small, ugly and borderline unpopular. I just simply prefer the, IMO, carefree nature of school to the drudgery of the real world which, again IMO, sucks.
Oh, and you probably shouldn't assume that you're better than me because you valiantly sacrificed your social life in highschool in order to prepare for college. I'm in charge of some of you guys at the office.
Well the trailer trash sluts at my school had alot of sex (25% where pregnant at or around graduation)
Actually, the copious sex I was referring to was all contained in two long-term relationships -- I'm no big fan of the "town bikes" you refer to either. I wasn't a "jock", a bully or especially attractive, just apparently charasmatic enough to be worthwhile.
It's a shame about your tale of woe with the popular kid, however.
I was neither part of the "popular crowd" nor was I spoonfed everything I wanted by my parents. I had a small core of friends (perhaps six or seven) who, apparently, just happened to be a really fun group of people, considering the flak I tend to take for expressing my fond memories of those times. I was picked on as much as anyone else (especially since I was always quite short) until I started to stand up for myself. Now you'll assume that I'm a fighter, right? Nope. I learned how to lead other people into making endless fun of the bullies which, for some reason, gave me respect. I can't explain it either.
I've been working since the age of fourteen and was given $1600 for my first car by my Dad after which point I was on my own. I was certainly more fortunate than some, but far from spoiled in my own opinion. My parents were not overly suffocating but also weren't afraid to dummy me up quickly and severely if I did anything truly stupid, which I generally didn't largely due to my own ethics. What it boils down to is that I was given essentially free reign because I never did anything serious enough (drinking and driving, etc) to lose their respect. If I was going to a party, my car stayed at home -- they knew it and through gritted teeth allowed me to largely make my own decisions as a result of my demonstrations of responsibility. I'm 25, a homeowner and a reasonably successful nerd with no illegitimate kids or criminal record... I think I've backed up their trust. I wish more parents had the same philosophy as mine.
It seems pretty typical that someone should assume that I am a spoiled child because I look back upon my teen years with fondness, but it really isn't the case.
You share the same opinion as nearly everyone I've ever spoken to, and I can't understand why. What was so bad about your highschool years? I've never partied more, drank more or had more sex than when I was between the ages of 15 and 18, not to mention the complete and utter lack of responsibility and repercussions from all of the above illicit activities. I could go on two hours sleep all weekend and still feel like a million bucks. After all that, I even graduated with a B+ average.
Since then, it's been nothing but working some shit underpaid job or racking up thousands in debt via university courses so I can stagger home, pay my bills and watch the government suck the rest out of my pocket. Women in their mid-20s are even more fucked than teenagers and tend to have biological clocks ticking louder than Big Freaking Ben, leading, not surprisingly, to brutal sexual politics. Just to top it all off, I feel like absolute shit if I get less than six hours of sleep every night. I've got an $80,000 mortgage, a $23,000 car loan and I need back surgery. There's no such thing as true fun or freedom once we join the "real world" and I can't understand why so many people look back scornfully on the highschool years.
I truly hope you're either joking or trying to make a point, because if not, this is truly the stupidest piece of garbage I've ever, ever read -- and that's saying something. There is categorically *no one* outside of the geek community (and even then, often) who has any interest in using a CLI as the main input of a computer. Since this article is about delivering for the *common man*, you're not only wildly offtopic but clearly a little dim as well.
I'll warn you in advance that this will sound like a flame... it's not, I'm just cranky.
What? How much is XML, XHTML or any other flavor of the week worth when the content that sits nestled amongst the code is still virtually pure shit? It's like building a vehicle that simply can't be vandalized, crashed or rusted and then putting the engine from a '79 Pinto inside. The internet of the everyman has degraded to a point where it's, in many cases, completely useless aside from being a soapbox where any jackass with sufficient appendages can hammer out another ill-conceived rant which will only exist long enough to be indexed by the similarly worthless search engines before being reduced to Yet Another 404 Page in an endless sea of the same. And, if it's not utter crap, it's patented or stolen by a corporation large enough to afford 'justice'. Considering web languages 'radical' is laughable in the current state of affairs online.
And, I'm willing to bet that the sun would still rise if you were to lose your PDA.
I can't think of any reason why the air compressor couldn't be running as I drive, perhaps using a generator running on the circular motion of something in the vehicle (what vehicle doesn't have circular motion of some kind?). Even if it reduced the "charge" capacity by 10% to give back 50%, isn't that okay? Superchargers have been drawing 5hp to produce 70 more for decades, and it's proven to be a good tradeoff.
Serving dynamic content, I saw sustained load averages of over 14 and pushed out 1.9G in 8 hours when I got nailed. I was still able to SSH in during all this, so color me impressed.
Welp, it took 116 comments before someone raised the ridiculous notion that this is a freedom of speech violation, so I guess it could have been worse. In the name of God, how is this a violation of any freedom, real or perceived, that you have?
When you enter a place of business, which is where the vast, vast majority of this will come into play, you are under the rules they choose to employ. Don't like it? Goodbye! Perhaps if there was a shred of consideration or courtesy remaining in this disgusting world, things like cellular jammers wouldn't be necessary. There isn't, so it is. I probably shouldn't be surprised that there's a black helicopter faction around here that feels oppressed by a technical possibility like this, but it still never ceases to amaze me how some of you people can't see the forest for the trees on repeated occasions.
I don't mean this as flamey as it sounds, but I am so freaking sick of hearing about how everything but rain on a Sunday is a violation of someone's freedom that I just had to stick my big stupid nose in here. Guess what? You simply cannot do whatever you like, whenever you like without repercussion.
Perhaps someone will explain the difference between "laughing at" and "laughing with" to you someday. Not that your intentions were all that bad... just weird.
As long as you don't piss and moan when it fails from improper use, you're right. You'd be amazed at how angry and indignant some of the skinbags out there can get when the wildly inappropriate use of potentially sensitive electronics voids a warranty and leaves them with a $500 coaster.
For example, I worked at a car audio shop two years ago. We would sell remote starters over the counter, but not without serious warnings (not to mention the large red disclaimer on the box) about improper installation. One time, a moron came in and shouted at the sky not only for his money back, but that we pay for his deductable because he had installed the starter himself and had simply drilled through the case to mount the box under his dash. The thing shorted out and hosed his electrical system entirely. Needless to say, we invited him to get bent.
If you understand how the stuff works, bully for you, but electronics manufacturers would have to be dumber than dirt to not vehemently recommend against nonstandard practices.
Sadly, you've forgotten to substitute the 's' in Microsoft with a dollar sign, which would have really established you as a master of the subtle zinger.
As much as I'm sure all of you honest, law-abiding citizens loathe such a plan, the sad fact is that it's a bi-product of our zero accountability society. Sure, nobody likes the potential for having movement tracked, but perhaps it's a step in the right direction, because a quick look around is sure to find that we are degrading into a sea of blamelessness that will kill our "civilized" society faster than any other threat.
Think I'm trolling? Just look at some of the absolutely lame excuses people use to avoid being accountable. Don't give me any of this freedom of speech rhetoric either, because everyone with an ounce of sense knows that utter freedom is a disaster within a group of people as accustomed to lying, cheating and stealing without pennance as the first world countries of this planet have become. In this world, you give anyone from a snot-nosed kid to snot-nosed adult an inch and they will be most sure to take it ten miles.
What it boils down to is that things are reaching a point where overly restrictive and intrusive snooping mechanism is a borderline necessity as a way of yanking the chain of those who screw everyone else endlessly without repercussions because the mashed potato legal system in any developed nation allows it to happen time and time and time again. Considering the choir I'm currently preaching to, I have no doubt that any responses to this will contain the words "Nazi", "Orwellian" or "fascist", but I'm so fucking sick of having my house and car vandalized (as an example) by people who know goddamn well that being caught red-handed carries absolutely no penalty that I'm willing to sacrifice a certain measure of freedom in the short term in order to get a good night's sleep. If you want someone to blame for the repeated attempts to compromise small pieces of your supposed freedom, I encourage you to look directly in the mirror.
Truly you are the worst debator I've ever had the misfortune of sumbling across. Tell me, pray, are you attractive enough yourself to avoid being slaughtered? Didn't think so.
Slashdot Mirror
Linux _does not care_ what its public representatives do. I'll grant that if some of our more visible figures were more... marketable... the process might be sped up in certain circles, but that's just a matter of speed.
I simply must disagree. As long as 'radical' figures such as the ones I listed originally are at the forefront of Linux's public image, it will always appear as a "hippie culture", for lack of a better term -- especially in the eyes of corporate PHBs who are responsible for adopting anything new. Not everyone is as enlightened as I'm sure most Linux zealots wish.
As long as there is still one lone hacker coding and publishing, Linux will continue to advance. The rate of advance may ebb and flow, but the net advancement is unstoppable.
Here's where we share some common ground. You're right, but will it move forward into the mainstream with the current structure? No. Is that okay? I personally would be very happy to see Linux (and BSD, for that matter) remain in the unprostituted "underground", but that's not the same goal as many free software users.
Niether strategy can work against Linux - Linux does not need MS compatibility for the large part, and can react much faster than MS to API changes in the small part. And as for outright purchase... they can join the party, but they cannot extinguish it.
True again, but a refusal to work with the uncontested king of the industry at this point does nothing, again, to move toward mainstream acceptance. Look at it however you like, if most people are forced to choose between products like MS Office and StarOffice, the answer is obvious. Perhaps not among people who can comprehend the ramifications, but that's certainly not the majority.
With Linux, you get source - for EVERYTHING. Having the source means never getting caught with your pants down.
This is a common argument, and one that irks me, frankly. Having the source is only worthwhile if there are people proficient in C on staff (or readily available). At my last job, I worked for a very small consulting firm (less than ten people total), none of whom were coders. How valuable is megs and megs of source in such a case? Being a system administrator of any OS does require scripting skills, but should I have to be a C hacker in order to administer Linux? I sure think not. The fact that Linux isn't proprietary is a completely moot point unless there's a coder in the office, not to mention someone willing to foot the bills while he slogs through the source.
Never be a 10% player? Brother, we passed 10% a long time ago.
Consider this article at theregister.co.uk. I'm not sure where you're getting your figures from, but even if the ones quoted in the above link are off by 100%, it's still not even close (in terms of desktop penetration, at least).
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You can use all the evolutionary metaphors you like, the fact is that Microsoft is a successful business and Linux, thus far, is simply not because Linux as a whole has chosen to stick to its ideals. Right or wrong, this philosophy along with the decreasing trust and increasing frustration with piss-poor public representatives like Cox, Raymond and the simply loathsome Stallman has lost this fight for Linux before the bell even rings.
Maybe you think you Get It, but until you're willing to look sadly at your Linux CD and admit aloud that it will never, ever be more than a 10% player in this world while attempting to push idiotic business ideals and relying on people who look and speak like street-urchins as public representatives, you simply don't Get It at all. As unpleasant as it is, this is not now, nor will it ever be a world where philanthropy rules. If you like Linux, use it happily (I do), but if you honestly believe you're wildly misplaced mammals versus dinosaurs analogy, you're in for a whole host of rude awakening.
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No, there's nearly half a million accounts. There's only about 650 actual users.
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Oh, and you probably shouldn't assume that you're better than me because you valiantly sacrificed your social life in highschool in order to prepare for college. I'm in charge of some of you guys at the office.
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Actually, the copious sex I was referring to was all contained in two long-term relationships -- I'm no big fan of the "town bikes" you refer to either. I wasn't a "jock", a bully or especially attractive, just apparently charasmatic enough to be worthwhile.
It's a shame about your tale of woe with the popular kid, however.
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I've been working since the age of fourteen and was given $1600 for my first car by my Dad after which point I was on my own. I was certainly more fortunate than some, but far from spoiled in my own opinion. My parents were not overly suffocating but also weren't afraid to dummy me up quickly and severely if I did anything truly stupid, which I generally didn't largely due to my own ethics. What it boils down to is that I was given essentially free reign because I never did anything serious enough (drinking and driving, etc) to lose their respect. If I was going to a party, my car stayed at home -- they knew it and through gritted teeth allowed me to largely make my own decisions as a result of my demonstrations of responsibility. I'm 25, a homeowner and a reasonably successful nerd with no illegitimate kids or criminal record... I think I've backed up their trust. I wish more parents had the same philosophy as mine.
It seems pretty typical that someone should assume that I am a spoiled child because I look back upon my teen years with fondness, but it really isn't the case.
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Since then, it's been nothing but working some shit underpaid job or racking up thousands in debt via university courses so I can stagger home, pay my bills and watch the government suck the rest out of my pocket. Women in their mid-20s are even more fucked than teenagers and tend to have biological clocks ticking louder than Big Freaking Ben, leading, not surprisingly, to brutal sexual politics. Just to top it all off, I feel like absolute shit if I get less than six hours of sleep every night. I've got an $80,000 mortgage, a $23,000 car loan and I need back surgery. There's no such thing as true fun or freedom once we join the "real world" and I can't understand why so many people look back scornfully on the highschool years.
I would go back in a heartbeat.
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You bet. That Vyacheslav Trubitsin was quite a man.
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I truly hope you're either joking or trying to make a point, because if not, this is truly the stupidest piece of garbage I've ever, ever read -- and that's saying something. There is categorically *no one* outside of the geek community (and even then, often) who has any interest in using a CLI as the main input of a computer. Since this article is about delivering for the *common man*, you're not only wildly offtopic but clearly a little dim as well.
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Real beaches won't exist by the time that happens.
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What? How much is XML, XHTML or any other flavor of the week worth when the content that sits nestled amongst the code is still virtually pure shit? It's like building a vehicle that simply can't be vandalized, crashed or rusted and then putting the engine from a '79 Pinto inside. The internet of the everyman has degraded to a point where it's, in many cases, completely useless aside from being a soapbox where any jackass with sufficient appendages can hammer out another ill-conceived rant which will only exist long enough to be indexed by the similarly worthless search engines before being reduced to Yet Another 404 Page in an endless sea of the same. And, if it's not utter crap, it's patented or stolen by a corporation large enough to afford 'justice'. Considering web languages 'radical' is laughable in the current state of affairs online.
And, I'm willing to bet that the sun would still rise if you were to lose your PDA.
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I can't think of any reason why the air compressor couldn't be running as I drive, perhaps using a generator running on the circular motion of something in the vehicle (what vehicle doesn't have circular motion of some kind?). Even if it reduced the "charge" capacity by 10% to give back 50%, isn't that okay? Superchargers have been drawing 5hp to produce 70 more for decades, and it's proven to be a good tradeoff.
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Serving dynamic content, I saw sustained load averages of over 14 and pushed out 1.9G in 8 hours when I got nailed. I was still able to SSH in during all this, so color me impressed.
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When you enter a place of business, which is where the vast, vast majority of this will come into play, you are under the rules they choose to employ. Don't like it? Goodbye! Perhaps if there was a shred of consideration or courtesy remaining in this disgusting world, things like cellular jammers wouldn't be necessary. There isn't, so it is. I probably shouldn't be surprised that there's a black helicopter faction around here that feels oppressed by a technical possibility like this, but it still never ceases to amaze me how some of you people can't see the forest for the trees on repeated occasions.
I don't mean this as flamey as it sounds, but I am so freaking sick of hearing about how everything but rain on a Sunday is a violation of someone's freedom that I just had to stick my big stupid nose in here. Guess what? You simply cannot do whatever you like, whenever you like without repercussion.
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Perhaps someone will explain the difference between "laughing at" and "laughing with" to you someday. Not that your intentions were all that bad... just weird.
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For example, I worked at a car audio shop two years ago. We would sell remote starters over the counter, but not without serious warnings (not to mention the large red disclaimer on the box) about improper installation. One time, a moron came in and shouted at the sky not only for his money back, but that we pay for his deductable because he had installed the starter himself and had simply drilled through the case to mount the box under his dash. The thing shorted out and hosed his electrical system entirely. Needless to say, we invited him to get bent.
If you understand how the stuff works, bully for you, but electronics manufacturers would have to be dumber than dirt to not vehemently recommend against nonstandard practices.
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What a shame.
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My FOIA inquiry got a PDQ PFO from the CIA. They can FOD, FWIW.
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Talk about eeeeeuseless. I'm willing to bet that there are $10 HAM radios with a better signal to noise ratio than Usenet in the last six months.
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Magic tortoises?
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Down to what?
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Isn't it ironic that the lameness filter hates contests like this.
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Let's re-read this sentence a few times, shall we? I rest my case.
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Think I'm trolling? Just look at some of the absolutely lame excuses people use to avoid being accountable. Don't give me any of this freedom of speech rhetoric either, because everyone with an ounce of sense knows that utter freedom is a disaster within a group of people as accustomed to lying, cheating and stealing without pennance as the first world countries of this planet have become. In this world, you give anyone from a snot-nosed kid to snot-nosed adult an inch and they will be most sure to take it ten miles.
What it boils down to is that things are reaching a point where overly restrictive and intrusive snooping mechanism is a borderline necessity as a way of yanking the chain of those who screw everyone else endlessly without repercussions because the mashed potato legal system in any developed nation allows it to happen time and time and time again. Considering the choir I'm currently preaching to, I have no doubt that any responses to this will contain the words "Nazi", "Orwellian" or "fascist", but I'm so fucking sick of having my house and car vandalized (as an example) by people who know goddamn well that being caught red-handed carries absolutely no penalty that I'm willing to sacrifice a certain measure of freedom in the short term in order to get a good night's sleep. If you want someone to blame for the repeated attempts to compromise small pieces of your supposed freedom, I encourage you to look directly in the mirror.
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IHBT.
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