There is a genuine weakness to the open source world when it meets the mass market.
90% of computer users do not have the knowledge necessary to evaluate whether a piece of software is garbage or not. Because open source software can be forked and kept around by anyone, garbage often can't be removed. No matter how awful the code, someone will keep it alive.
This problem applies somewhat to the BSDs too; except that there aren't as many BSD distributions, so it's more likely that they'll all decide to remove a given piece of crap that should be removed. With Linux, there's practically no chance of getting something godawful removed from every distribution, because they all compete with each other for completeness. I mean, we still have sendmail, and RPM was even made part of the LSB. There are still IMAP servers that use mbox format, and one of them has such shitty code that it doesn't even check malloc return values for failure.
Actually, if we're talking about fundamental flaws in OSs, perhaps Theo could spend some of his time fixing BSD's syslog before he turns his attention to ranting about Linux.
Lord of the Rings is an interesting case. I wanted to watch it, but I knew that the DVD version was going to be a more complete version of the story, so I decided I'd wait for that. If the DVD had been going to be the same as the theater version, I probably would have gone to see it in the theater.
Another case where the movie company have only themselves to blame is Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. I simply won't watch censored movies, so I waited for the uncensored DVD to come out.
This is increasingly happening with movies--another example is Team America World Police, where the theatrical version farcically censored puppets miming sex.
Let's see... shall we pay $18 for the two of us to watch a censored version of the movie, or shall we wait and pay $4 to watch the uncut version? Ooh, that's a tricky one, I don't think.
Software does not have a cost that grows with each copy sold simply because there isn't a single EULA that doesn't absolve the company for any faults in the program.
Yes, legally speaking Apple could provide zero support for software problems, and hence not incur extra cost with each copy sold. However, I have a hunch that if they did so, they would find that sales of their software and hardware rapidly fell to zero.
Yes, a story about the Linux version of a set of cross-platform programming language developer tools, available for free download... must have been really hard to sneak such an inappropriate story onto the developer section of Slashdot, you fucktard.
Actually LSD is a great stimulant... I'm suprised Mac OSX doesn't ship with a sheet of the stuff.
It's mixed into the Kool-Aid.
Re:OMG! I have to re-learn Emacs?!?!?
on
Advocating Dvorak
·
· Score: 1
You're probably joking... but if you are interested enough in ergonomics to consider Dvorak, you shouldn't be using emacs anyway.
Emacs relies on modifier keys (Escape Meta Alt Control Shift) for everything, which is tough on the hands, particularly now that some idiot moved the control key down next to the alt and shift. You have to keep pressure on a key, using your little finger--tough on muscles and tendons.
If you have any concern for your wrists, switch to vim. Much less use of modifier keys, movement keys on the home row, and so on. It's also easier to learn--whereas in emacs there's no mnemonic relationship between the command and the keystroke most of the time, in vi there's almost always a simple mnemonic, and the commands are built up systematically from verbs and selections.
Not only do most of the retail outlets have nothing in the Pooh line except - maybe - a stuffed Pooh bear that isn't tied to the release at all, but even the freakin' Disney Store online doesn't have a Lumpy
That's because the Slesinger "Deep Pooh" lawsuit is still being appealed. I'm sure once the lawsuit is finally resolved, Disney will crap out faux Americanized Pooh merchandise until the landfills are full of it.
I was about to spend one of my mod points putting your comment up to +1 Funny, but then I decided that +1 Fucking Ignorant was more likely, and that's not an option...
You may be surprised to hear this, but not all the people sent to the Soviet gulags were sent there because the country needed workers or because they were criminals. Political prisoners were sent there too.
With Fedora, he wouldn't have to worry about upgrades removing packages... but he'd have to reinstall every few months when a new Fedora release came out.
VHS had two hour capability, Betamax had one hour.
Not true. VHS had three hour tapes, Sony had a multi-loader unit called the Beta Stack that would load extra tapes automatically, for up to five hours of recording time on the SL-C7.
Sony kept Betamax to themselves.
Not true. Betamax was licensed to Sanyo, Toshiba, NEC, Pioneer and Aiwa. Sanyo , Toshiba and NEC certainly sold Betamax VCRs, I'm not sure about all the others.
The vaunted quality of Betamax was only on the video, and not enough to really notice, given how crappy TV is anyway;
Possibly true on NTSC TVs, but the superior quality of Betamax was very apparent on PAL systems.
Oh, right. And the Cuban revolution wasn't a revolution, because far more people died during the Soviet revolution or the French revolution, yes? And those Serbian concentration camps weren't really concentration camps, because they didn't kill anything like as many people as the Nazis, right?
Try pricing up the ingredients for a healthy home-cooked meal some time, you might find it enlightening.
Fast food joints have an economy of scale advantage. It's hard to buy and cook an appealing meal using fresh healthy ingredients and spend under $3, whereas you can spend $3 at Taco Bell and get two large burritos plus an empanada for dessert...
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Ah, but IBM has solved that problem, by forcing Apple to eliminate those pesky low-priced PowerPC systems...
You'll also need Tiger, which was a showstopper for me as I'm still running 10.3.
(Never upgrade OS in the middle of a video editing project.)
There is a genuine weakness to the open source world when it meets the mass market.
90% of computer users do not have the knowledge necessary to evaluate whether a piece of software is garbage or not. Because open source software can be forked and kept around by anyone, garbage often can't be removed. No matter how awful the code, someone will keep it alive.
This problem applies somewhat to the BSDs too; except that there aren't as many BSD distributions, so it's more likely that they'll all decide to remove a given piece of crap that should be removed. With Linux, there's practically no chance of getting something godawful removed from every distribution, because they all compete with each other for completeness. I mean, we still have sendmail, and RPM was even made part of the LSB. There are still IMAP servers that use mbox format, and one of them has such shitty code that it doesn't even check malloc return values for failure.
Actually, if we're talking about fundamental flaws in OSs, perhaps Theo could spend some of his time fixing BSD's syslog before he turns his attention to ranting about Linux.
Lord of the Rings is an interesting case. I wanted to watch it, but I knew that the DVD version was going to be a more complete version of the story, so I decided I'd wait for that. If the DVD had been going to be the same as the theater version, I probably would have gone to see it in the theater.
Another case where the movie company have only themselves to blame is Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. I simply won't watch censored movies, so I waited for the uncensored DVD to come out.
This is increasingly happening with movies--another example is Team America World Police, where the theatrical version farcically censored puppets miming sex.
Let's see... shall we pay $18 for the two of us to watch a censored version of the movie, or shall we wait and pay $4 to watch the uncut version? Ooh, that's a tricky one, I don't think.
You know that OS X has Java built in by default, right?
Yeah, given Dell's past advice to Steve Jobs I somehow don't think he'd go for it.
If you want to make your business accounts a work of fiction, that's up to you and the IRS.
The retail industry is a special case. General accounting practice is to depreciate computers over the course of 2 or 3 years.
Yes, legally speaking Apple could provide zero support for software problems, and hence not incur extra cost with each copy sold. However, I have a hunch that if they did so, they would find that sales of their software and hardware rapidly fell to zero.
Yes, a story about the Linux version of a set of cross-platform programming language developer tools, available for free download... must have been really hard to sneak such an inappropriate story onto the developer section of Slashdot, you fucktard.
It's mixed into the Kool-Aid.
You're probably joking... but if you are interested enough in ergonomics to consider Dvorak, you shouldn't be using emacs anyway.
Emacs relies on modifier keys (Escape Meta Alt Control Shift) for everything, which is tough on the hands, particularly now that some idiot moved the control key down next to the alt and shift. You have to keep pressure on a key, using your little finger--tough on muscles and tendons.
If you have any concern for your wrists, switch to vim. Much less use of modifier keys, movement keys on the home row, and so on. It's also easier to learn--whereas in emacs there's no mnemonic relationship between the command and the keystroke most of the time, in vi there's almost always a simple mnemonic, and the commands are built up systematically from verbs and selections.
Random tidbit: IBM has more developers working on Linux than RedHat has employees.
(Opinions mine, not IBM's, blah blah blah.)
That's because the Slesinger "Deep Pooh" lawsuit is still being appealed. I'm sure once the lawsuit is finally resolved, Disney will crap out faux Americanized Pooh merchandise until the landfills are full of it.
Wake me when they start allowing people to convert RealAudio and RealVideo into other formats.
(Last time I checked, their license still prohibited that.)
I guess what I really want is a Java equivalent of Rails. Java On Crutches or something like it.
P.S. Slashdot just said:
Fucktards.
Ruby's still about half the speed of Perl.
Whether that's a good tradeoff for faster development and less maintenance time is, of course, a matter of opinion.
I was about to spend one of my mod points putting your comment up to +1 Funny, but then I decided that +1 Fucking Ignorant was more likely, and that's not an option...
You may be surprised to hear this, but not all the people sent to the Soviet gulags were sent there because the country needed workers or because they were criminals. Political prisoners were sent there too.
I had a Fedora Core 1 system. When Fedora Core 2 came out, the upgrade path was to burn a CD, reboot from the CD, and do a reinstall.
Maybe there was some hackery to let you upgrade using yum or something, but it wasn't supported according to the documentation I saw.
Oh, boy, if only that were true.
With Fedora, he wouldn't have to worry about upgrades removing packages... but he'd have to reinstall every few months when a new Fedora release came out.
Not true. VHS had three hour tapes, Sony had a multi-loader unit called the Beta Stack that would load extra tapes automatically, for up to five hours of recording time on the SL-C7.
Not true. Betamax was licensed to Sanyo, Toshiba, NEC, Pioneer and Aiwa. Sanyo , Toshiba and NEC certainly sold Betamax VCRs, I'm not sure about all the others.
Possibly true on NTSC TVs, but the superior quality of Betamax was very apparent on PAL systems.
Oh, right. And the Cuban revolution wasn't a revolution, because far more people died during the Soviet revolution or the French revolution, yes? And those Serbian concentration camps weren't really concentration camps, because they didn't kill anything like as many people as the Nazis, right?
Try pricing up the ingredients for a healthy home-cooked meal some time, you might find it enlightening.
Fast food joints have an economy of scale advantage. It's hard to buy and cook an appealing meal using fresh healthy ingredients and spend under $3, whereas you can spend $3 at Taco Bell and get two large burritos plus an empanada for dessert...