Or, maybe it's the fact that he is completely and utterly the most irritating person staggering around the face of this planet to those of us who are not concerned with the political aspects of Linux and the GPL. I just use it. I couldn't care less what the implications of calling it Linux instead of GNU/Linux are, nor do I want to hear his remarkably anal whine anytime anyone dares to speak against his messages from the mount.
I guess any revolution needs a mouthpiece, but this guy is so unlikable and plain annoying that I would personally do anything I could to keep him off the list, regardless of his credentials. Personally, I'd much rather listen to Bill Gates spew his crap than RMS, and believe me, that's saying something. So, justify his exclusion however you like, but I guarantee that you zealots would hate this guy more than any other technological-celebrity if he wasn't supporting what you personally care about.
I know I had a nightmare of a time trying to fake that 14.00 load average when I got Slashdotted. The things I won't do in the name of neato conspiracies.
I hope this doesn't impede my ability to record TV shows just like how all those impossible-to-decode scrambled sattelite TV signals have alluded me for all these years!
Yes, and just exactly how did they do that? Well, by giving away free software of course.
Very nice. Too bad that this isn't good enough for most OSS fans - they don't just want free software, they want the source too. Calling Microsoft's success with IE a victory for open source thinking is, at the very best, a half-truth, since you are no closer to seeing the source for MSIE than you are Office or Frontpage.
Right idea, wrong words. There's no gambling involved, since I can guarantee that any hardware upgrade is obsolete by the time it shows up on your Visa card. It's purely a pissing contest; who, outside of a graphic artist or video editor, needs 64MB or even 32MB of RAM on a video card? All the stupid game-jockeys lead everyone to believe that things like this are a virtual requirement in order to be On The Cutting Edge, when the reality is that they are the only ones gullible enough to think so.
Common sense should indicate that these vastly overpowered video cards are nothing but a good excuse to give "fraggers" a nasty case of the thigh-sweats, but if common sense were the rule instead of the exception, Windows ME would gather dust on store shelves upon release. Obviously, it's not going to, and people will still think they need more video RAM than many people have on their entire PC. Ahh, capitalism - what's not to love?
Please, just shut up. This is a web site run by real people with thoughts and opinions and... aww screw it, just shut up right now, and continue to shut up into the foreseeable future.
This comment will instantly make me sound like a freak, but I really find that I work better when able to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes as I work.
Part of my job is as a web developer, and the work load is split between my office (a real office with a door, totally customizable to my every whim) and my home-office. The only real difference is that I can drink and smoke like a maniac at home, which I find is very productive. I'm aware that neither habit is good for me physically, but man, can I crank out the code (bug free!) in such an environment. It's tough to quantify productivity, but I honestly feel 50% more effective after 4 - 6 beers. Often, after an 8 - 10 hour coding frenzy at home, I'm amazed at how attractive and efficient the final product is... with the exception of a mild hangover. I don't know if the booze helps me relax or focus, but whatever it does works very, very well.
Anyway, there's a really good reason why you shouldn't use "Internet Explorer", no matter how absolutively wounderful it is: you're voting with every mouseclick, leaving trails in the logs of every website you visit, getting us all a little closer to a Microsoft dominated world.
What a colossal load of absolute crap. First off, I am as pro-open source as anyone else, but this type of fanaticism makes me sick. You're telling me I should use a product that has been essentially forgotten by its creators to further political goals? No frigging way. I loathe Microsoft for everything they stand for, and I don't trust their product as far as I can throw it, but there is no damn way I will use a substandard product just to spite them. I run a weblog and ditched Netscape after losing my seventh article due to an unexpected and completely random bail, so if by switching to a clearly superior product that actually matters to its developers I am nurturing the tool of Satan, then I'm happy to do so.
It's ridiculous statements like yours that give OSS proponants a bad name, because by your own admission, quality of product has absolutely no meaning as long as you're screwing Bill in the process. Since when do OSS pundits argue for the purchase of commercial software like Opera? Sounds like pure politics to me. And guess what, I do develop for IE more than anything else simply because the viable alternatives either expect me to shell out hard earned cash I don't have, or have neglected the product to the point of borderline uselessness. Opera makes a great browser that nobody will ever know about because it's commercial software with free alternatives.
Netscape's outright loss in the web browser war has less to do with Microsoft's monopoly than it does AOL's complete neglect of a once desirable product, and if NS6 PR1 is any indication, nothing has changed. Standards compliance means precisely jack if the damn thing is slow, crashy or just plain unusable for any combination of reasons.
I hope you enjoy playing politician while the vast majority make choices based upon quality of product.
...Denial of Service. I am unashamedly a music pirate, and will continue to steal music as long as it is possible. I don't care about the legal or moral debates, because the fact of the matter is that I can avoid paying between twelve and twenty dollars on a CD by using a very simplistic tool. The quality is not the same as a CD, but is more than sufficient to ease my mind, after all, it is free. I also don't care about the "prices are dictated by demand" excuses, because the fact of the matter is that CDs cost virtually nothing to produce, and a 5000% markup is something I am not willing to absorb. I do feel bad that by my pirating, I am also stiffing the artist, but I am not rich enough to think of anyone but myself. I would not likely buy the CD anyway at the astronomical prices being charged, so the artists get none of my money either way.
If a Napster shutdown is mandated, I will use Gnutella. If Gnutella is forced down, I will use the next flavor of the month to get music for free. For those of you who are wealthy enough to get financially raped by the RIAA, I encourage you to continue doing so. I am not, and thus, I will not relent in my search for stolen music. I do not encourage anyone else to follow my lead, but do encourage you to consider exactly who is profiting each time you choose to purchase a CD, as it is certainly not the musician to any notable degree.
This is a world where each individual must look out for number one, which is why I simply don't give a shit about any of the anti-pirating sentiment. If artists, in the process of looking out for themselves, decide to quit making music due to people like myself, I truly feel sorry, but that does not move me any closer to justifying the price of legitimate media. I was thoroughly screwed on the 100 CDs I purchased, some for as much as $30, before pirating became as simple as it currently is, so I have absolutely no regrets over performing the same sexual act on the recording industry. The RIAA, due to the disgusting percentage paid to the artists themselves, are essentially a pimp in this situation, and I can't remember the last time anyone was chastised for financially jerking a pimp around. I do not fault the RIAA for their ongoing attempts to curtail my activity, as it is a sound business move, but there is simply no way to stop people like me now that the word is out. I will never go back to paying inflated prices for music.
I am so tremendously sick of this moral and legal debate. Go ahead, call me part of the problem, because it may be true, but I can't afford to care. Ideally, I would love to walk to the music store and purchase several CDs at two bucks a piece, but that will never happen, so I will steal it until I simply can steal no more. I will be happy to send a buck to the artists themselves, should they ask that I do so, because I appreciate their art. In that situation, I will be paying for the priveledge of enjoying their creation. The buck that I send is far more than they would receive from their pimp if I had purchased the music legitimately. I seriously doubt that any role the RIAA actually plays in the production or marketing of an album is worthy of a 99.5% cut into the profit.
To summarize, screw the RIAA because they screw everyone else first. How would you sheep respond if big, bad Microsoft paid one slave laborer $0.10 an hour to code product they then sell for $100? You'd hit the roof, yet portions of the same group suddenly get all high-and-mighty in a situation like this. To that segment of the Slashdot population, I say to hell with you. This is the wrong place for anyone to be taking a moral highground.
Slashdot Mirror
I guess any revolution needs a mouthpiece, but this guy is so unlikable and plain annoying that I would personally do anything I could to keep him off the list, regardless of his credentials. Personally, I'd much rather listen to Bill Gates spew his crap than RMS, and believe me, that's saying something. So, justify his exclusion however you like, but I guarantee that you zealots would hate this guy more than any other technological-celebrity if he wasn't supporting what you personally care about.
Yeah, I don't care either.
How can she be anonymous and Emily Dickinson at the same time? There is a question that should be debated by Slashdot's top scholars.
Excellent! I don't even have to insult this jackass, since he's done it to himself with this last sentence. He's a hockey fan... nuff said.
Sigh.
I know I had a nightmare of a time trying to fake that 14.00 load average when I got Slashdotted. The things I won't do in the name of neato conspiracies.
Thank you, mister david duncan scott, for brightening up my day. Won't someone mod the parent up, dammit? That's how comedy is done.
I am the lover in your bed (and I can troll you)
Wow, nice sig. It reminds me that I haven't listened to that CD in a few weeks.
Frankly, yes.
This is an outra... wait.
Nevermind.
Those are some serious fighting words.
Yeah, he might break even.
I have one client who has a 21" monitor set to 640x480x8. I laugh out loud each and every time I see that thing.
I'd guess you're new around here, but with a userid in the 13k range, you must have just been away or in a coma for awhile.
Very nice. Too bad that this isn't good enough for most OSS fans - they don't just want free software, they want the source too. Calling Microsoft's success with IE a victory for open source thinking is, at the very best, a half-truth, since you are no closer to seeing the source for MSIE than you are Office or Frontpage.
Right idea, wrong words. There's no gambling involved, since I can guarantee that any hardware upgrade is obsolete by the time it shows up on your Visa card. It's purely a pissing contest; who, outside of a graphic artist or video editor, needs 64MB or even 32MB of RAM on a video card? All the stupid game-jockeys lead everyone to believe that things like this are a virtual requirement in order to be On The Cutting Edge, when the reality is that they are the only ones gullible enough to think so.
Common sense should indicate that these vastly overpowered video cards are nothing but a good excuse to give "fraggers" a nasty case of the thigh-sweats, but if common sense were the rule instead of the exception, Windows ME would gather dust on store shelves upon release. Obviously, it's not going to, and people will still think they need more video RAM than many people have on their entire PC. Ahh, capitalism - what's not to love?
Please, just shut up. This is a web site run by real people with thoughts and opinions and... aww screw it, just shut up right now, and continue to shut up into the foreseeable future.
Part of my job is as a web developer, and the work load is split between my office (a real office with a door, totally customizable to my every whim) and my home-office. The only real difference is that I can drink and smoke like a maniac at home, which I find is very productive. I'm aware that neither habit is good for me physically, but man, can I crank out the code (bug free!) in such an environment. It's tough to quantify productivity, but I honestly feel 50% more effective after 4 - 6 beers. Often, after an 8 - 10 hour coding frenzy at home, I'm amazed at how attractive and efficient the final product is... with the exception of a mild hangover. I don't know if the booze helps me relax or focus, but whatever it does works very, very well.
It's weird but true.
It's a quote from the show - look it up.
Please - explain this procedure.
Who's hiding? Some of us have the bag to post without being an AC.
Bullshit. Wake up Timmy, this is Slashdot. Linux for Nerds, Stuff that's Linux.
I paid $20,000 for a Chevy, so I am clearly that stupid.
What a colossal load of absolute crap. First off, I am as pro-open source as anyone else, but this type of fanaticism makes me sick. You're telling me I should use a product that has been essentially forgotten by its creators to further political goals? No frigging way. I loathe Microsoft for everything they stand for, and I don't trust their product as far as I can throw it, but there is no damn way I will use a substandard product just to spite them. I run a weblog and ditched Netscape after losing my seventh article due to an unexpected and completely random bail, so if by switching to a clearly superior product that actually matters to its developers I am nurturing the tool of Satan, then I'm happy to do so.
It's ridiculous statements like yours that give OSS proponants a bad name, because by your own admission, quality of product has absolutely no meaning as long as you're screwing Bill in the process. Since when do OSS pundits argue for the purchase of commercial software like Opera? Sounds like pure politics to me. And guess what, I do develop for IE more than anything else simply because the viable alternatives either expect me to shell out hard earned cash I don't have, or have neglected the product to the point of borderline uselessness. Opera makes a great browser that nobody will ever know about because it's commercial software with free alternatives.
Netscape's outright loss in the web browser war has less to do with Microsoft's monopoly than it does AOL's complete neglect of a once desirable product, and if NS6 PR1 is any indication, nothing has changed. Standards compliance means precisely jack if the damn thing is slow, crashy or just plain unusable for any combination of reasons.
I hope you enjoy playing politician while the vast majority make choices based upon quality of product.
If a Napster shutdown is mandated, I will use Gnutella. If Gnutella is forced down, I will use the next flavor of the month to get music for free. For those of you who are wealthy enough to get financially raped by the RIAA, I encourage you to continue doing so. I am not, and thus, I will not relent in my search for stolen music. I do not encourage anyone else to follow my lead, but do encourage you to consider exactly who is profiting each time you choose to purchase a CD, as it is certainly not the musician to any notable degree.
This is a world where each individual must look out for number one, which is why I simply don't give a shit about any of the anti-pirating sentiment. If artists, in the process of looking out for themselves, decide to quit making music due to people like myself, I truly feel sorry, but that does not move me any closer to justifying the price of legitimate media. I was thoroughly screwed on the 100 CDs I purchased, some for as much as $30, before pirating became as simple as it currently is, so I have absolutely no regrets over performing the same sexual act on the recording industry. The RIAA, due to the disgusting percentage paid to the artists themselves, are essentially a pimp in this situation, and I can't remember the last time anyone was chastised for financially jerking a pimp around. I do not fault the RIAA for their ongoing attempts to curtail my activity, as it is a sound business move, but there is simply no way to stop people like me now that the word is out. I will never go back to paying inflated prices for music.
I am so tremendously sick of this moral and legal debate. Go ahead, call me part of the problem, because it may be true, but I can't afford to care. Ideally, I would love to walk to the music store and purchase several CDs at two bucks a piece, but that will never happen, so I will steal it until I simply can steal no more. I will be happy to send a buck to the artists themselves, should they ask that I do so, because I appreciate their art. In that situation, I will be paying for the priveledge of enjoying their creation. The buck that I send is far more than they would receive from their pimp if I had purchased the music legitimately. I seriously doubt that any role the RIAA actually plays in the production or marketing of an album is worthy of a 99.5% cut into the profit.
To summarize, screw the RIAA because they screw everyone else first. How would you sheep respond if big, bad Microsoft paid one slave laborer $0.10 an hour to code product they then sell for $100? You'd hit the roof, yet portions of the same group suddenly get all high-and-mighty in a situation like this. To that segment of the Slashdot population, I say to hell with you. This is the wrong place for anyone to be taking a moral highground.