Refer to another comment in this thread, stating the fact that large businesses are required to file electronically. Therefore, it is likely that employees will be required to get a Passport account.
If that is so, then it's a little better. All I'm saying is that this has the potential to be given wholly to Microsoft, and that's a bad idea. I don't think anyone can effectively argue that it's a good idea, whether you like Microsoft or not.
Read my post further up... as I said, they were found guilty in court of law of harming someone through their business practices. Willfully doing so, I might add, in an illegal way. Though not a "criminal" from a technical standpoint(I think), any one of us that did the same would not be given such a responsibility without having proven ourselves trustworthy since then. And Microsoft hasn't.
You are technically correct(I think). However, they have been found guilty of harming the public, which is what is important here. The fact is, they are guilty of some wrongdoing, found guilty in the court of law, and yet are being rewarded.
I did read it... just missed that part. It looks like they don't know what the heck they're doing, to me. So you can't say they won't just use Microsoft.
True, but they're ostensibly out for "the public good." Whether or not they actually serve the public is a matter of debate, but that's not the issue.
Microsoft exists and provides this service for one reason only: to make money. How does that make them qualified to have my ID? This is a capitalist society(supposedly), and I've spent 3 years avoiding Microsoft. Maybe more, I don't recall. I'm not going to have it made illegal to use someone else. See the above post on writing your congressman.
So they're going to trust the information of every single citizen to a corporation that has a known criminal track record? That's intelligent. What next, find a crack dealer to handle international trade?
Yes, I realize the offenses are different... but this is still stupid. It federally mandates giving Microsoft business. Well, not really... if an alternate ID is available, they should accept that.
I guess... I've only used the 8500, the Geforce2, and a heap of Geforce3 cards(for work)
Plus, I've only used it in Linux and XP. From the message boards I've been on, I have the worst-supported configuration, so if it's okay for me, they must be getting better.
True... but the ATI cards do run in linux, and ATI does provide a link to the drivers. And ATI provides the specs to do open-source drivers. For me, it isn't that much of a concern that the geforce drivers are proprietary... but it is a concern. And for purists, it's a major concern.
It wasn't a concern at all, until I ran into a situation where I actually wanted to look at the source...
I agree, for the most part... when the 8500 came out, it was months before ATI released official, updated drivers. When they did, they were an improvement, but still had some stability issues. I was disappointed that after all that time, they still hadn't gotten it right. Especially after they kept talking about their "new commitment"
But then they released newer drivers pretty quickly. Fixed some rendering bugs, seem much more stable... I'll wait and see a little longer before recommending them to anyone else, but it looks like they may be getting their act together.
Wow! That's an excellent argument! Too bad it doesn't apply to the original point of flexibility.
The point of the previos poster was that Windows couldn't adapt to their needs, while another system could. Ergo, evidence(not proof, admittedly) that Unix is more flexible.
Flexibility is being able to get a system to do what you want. Not what "most people" want.
I have!!! Admittedly, 2000 and XP are more stable than their predecessor, NT4... and far beyond the 9x series. But regardless, I HAVE gotten blue screens under fairly heavy load. Meanwhile, linux on the same machine has only given me kernel panics when I had a bad memory stick.
Besides, high-performance computing is moving towards clusters... talk to just about anyone in the clustering area, and you'll hear very little talk of Windows. In the 2001 Cluster Computing Conference, probably only 10% of the talks were on Windows clustering, and I didn't see any that mentioned something that linux didn't already do.
I could be wrong about the last part, though. I can't be in 3 places at once, so I didn't see every presentation:-P
Uh... I do use high bandwidth cards... an Ultra160 SCSI controller, a 3ware RAID controller, and the machines I work with for my job use Myrinet cards. That's about as high-bandwidth as you get.
Basically, I've found that if you spend the same amount on an AMD motherboard as a reliable Intel motherboard, you shouldn't have problems. You wouldn't buy a $78 P4 motherboard, would you?
Read "Flight of the Dragonfly" by Robert L Forward. The outer edge of the sail, with a surface area greater than the inner part, is detatched near the destination and flies ahead, reflecting light that hits the front of the smaller sail and slows it.
It may be unimportant for YOU, but for some, it does matter. My server is in a seperate room, and I care little enough about noise that I haven't even put the cover back on from the latest hardware upgrade. Even with the cover on, my longest uptime was about 20 days... and would be longer, if I didn't turn it off for out of town trips.
I don't know what you're doing wrong, since I haven't had any problems with either of my machines. Maybe it's your motherboard or memory.
FWIW, I run an 850 Athlon Classic as my server, and a dual MP 1800+ for my workstation, and I've only had stability problems in Windows(from flaky video drivers). I also work with a cluster of 40 Dual Athlons(mixed 1.2 and 1800+), and the only failure I've seen is a bad Myrinet card. Though the room is noisy, each individual machine is fairly quiet.
As far as I know, the ASCI White system is pretty much "classified" in a way. I know it uses Power3 processors... over 8000 of them, in fact. And it has a mesh-type interconnect... very expensive stuff here. You can see how it compares here
Note that the second most powerful supercomputer peaks at HALF the GigaFlops... there's some serious power there. Though that list is technically innacurate... the #2 machine only has 3000 processors, and 8 on standby in case of hardware failure. That one is an "open" cluster, however. I don't think it's opened quite yet, and I can't even remember the name... something French... LeMue or somesuch.
I did take a look at it once, though. Sweet machine(s):-) And you can't help but be impressed when you learn that it took 4.5 TONS of cabling to wire that puppy!
I've seen the FF TV series. Final Fantasy Unlimited, I think it was called. And if every episode was as bad as the one I saw... well, I wouldn't be surprised that it failed.
The FF OAV anime was decent, however. Nothing to write home about, but certainly not *terrible*
For one, he even calls the GPL the "general public license," which isn't too far off, I guess... then he goes on about not working with Microsoft to use what work has already been done... Hello? Aren't they the ones rewriting everything?
In any case, since this is aimed at legislators, they'll probably take it hook, line and sinker. The gall of Microsoft in saying things like the comment on alternatives is really getting to me. This guy needs to get a life.
Then again, if he's paid to say this stuff, I guess this is his life...
Aside from the whole debate of proprietary versus free, this would close off a lot of people from having their own web page. And if Joe User did decide to put something up, it would no doubt be even more garish than the abominations of HTML that we see today, not to mention take days to load on a modem.
I guess I'm preaching to the choir here... I doubt anyone here wants one company controlling the language of the web.
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Refer to another comment in this thread, stating the fact that large businesses are required to file electronically. Therefore, it is likely that employees will be required to get a Passport account.
If that is so, then it's a little better. All I'm saying is that this has the potential to be given wholly to Microsoft, and that's a bad idea. I don't think anyone can effectively argue that it's a good idea, whether you like Microsoft or not.
Read my post further up... as I said, they were found guilty in court of law of harming someone through their business practices. Willfully doing so, I might add, in an illegal way. Though not a "criminal" from a technical standpoint(I think), any one of us that did the same would not be given such a responsibility without having proven ourselves trustworthy since then. And Microsoft hasn't.
You are technically correct(I think). However, they have been found guilty of harming the public, which is what is important here. The fact is, they are guilty of some wrongdoing, found guilty in the court of law, and yet are being rewarded.
It wasn't, but it didn't say that alternatives would be legal. If the alternatives are legal, then there isn't a problem, is there?
I did read it... just missed that part. It looks like they don't know what the heck they're doing, to me. So you can't say they won't just use Microsoft.
True, but they're ostensibly out for "the public good." Whether or not they actually serve the public is a matter of debate, but that's not the issue.
Microsoft exists and provides this service for one reason only: to make money. How does that make them qualified to have my ID? This is a capitalist society(supposedly), and I've spent 3 years avoiding Microsoft. Maybe more, I don't recall. I'm not going to have it made illegal to use someone else. See the above post on writing your congressman.
So they're going to trust the information of every single citizen to a corporation that has a known criminal track record? That's intelligent. What next, find a crack dealer to handle international trade?
Yes, I realize the offenses are different... but this is still stupid. It federally mandates giving Microsoft business. Well, not really... if an alternate ID is available, they should accept that.
I guess... I've only used the 8500, the Geforce2, and a heap of Geforce3 cards(for work)
Plus, I've only used it in Linux and XP. From the message boards I've been on, I have the worst-supported configuration, so if it's okay for me, they must be getting better.
True... but the ATI cards do run in linux, and ATI does provide a link to the drivers. And ATI provides the specs to do open-source drivers. For me, it isn't that much of a concern that the geforce drivers are proprietary... but it is a concern. And for purists, it's a major concern.
It wasn't a concern at all, until I ran into a situation where I actually wanted to look at the source...
From a dual P3 1.2 GHz? These are P3s here, not P4s... that would slow him down even on non-SMP programs...
As for cards, they might have some... Alpha boards still use PCI, I think. But none of the flashy new stuff.
I agree, for the most part... when the 8500 came out, it was months before ATI released official, updated drivers. When they did, they were an improvement, but still had some stability issues. I was disappointed that after all that time, they still hadn't gotten it right. Especially after they kept talking about their "new commitment"
But then they released newer drivers pretty quickly. Fixed some rendering bugs, seem much more stable... I'll wait and see a little longer before recommending them to anyone else, but it looks like they may be getting their act together.
Wow! That's an excellent argument! Too bad it doesn't apply to the original point of flexibility.
The point of the previos poster was that Windows couldn't adapt to their needs, while another system could. Ergo, evidence(not proof, admittedly) that Unix is more flexible.
Flexibility is being able to get a system to do what you want. Not what "most people" want.
I have!!! Admittedly, 2000 and XP are more stable than their predecessor, NT4... and far beyond the 9x series. But regardless, I HAVE gotten blue screens under fairly heavy load. Meanwhile, linux on the same machine has only given me kernel panics when I had a bad memory stick.
Besides, high-performance computing is moving towards clusters... talk to just about anyone in the clustering area, and you'll hear very little talk of Windows. In the 2001 Cluster Computing Conference, probably only 10% of the talks were on Windows clustering, and I didn't see any that mentioned something that linux didn't already do.
I could be wrong about the last part, though. I can't be in 3 places at once, so I didn't see every presentation :-P
Ok. My other computer: 16Mhz clone 386SX, 2MB RAM, with a 40MB Hard drive, a 3.5" floppy AND a 5.25" floppy!
Phaugh.
Dual MP 1800s, 1024MB 266 DDR, Four DeskStar 120GB drives in RAID 10 in a 3ware hardware RAID controller, and a 15K RPM Cheetah for the OS.
Suck it ;)
Uh... I do use high bandwidth cards... an Ultra160 SCSI controller, a 3ware RAID controller, and the machines I work with for my job use Myrinet cards. That's about as high-bandwidth as you get.
Basically, I've found that if you spend the same amount on an AMD motherboard as a reliable Intel motherboard, you shouldn't have problems. You wouldn't buy a $78 P4 motherboard, would you?
Read "Flight of the Dragonfly" by Robert L Forward. The outer edge of the sail, with a surface area greater than the inner part, is detatched near the destination and flies ahead, reflecting light that hits the front of the smaller sail and slows it.
It may be unimportant for YOU, but for some, it does matter. My server is in a seperate room, and I care little enough about noise that I haven't even put the cover back on from the latest hardware upgrade. Even with the cover on, my longest uptime was about 20 days... and would be longer, if I didn't turn it off for out of town trips.
I don't know what you're doing wrong, since I haven't had any problems with either of my machines. Maybe it's your motherboard or memory.
FWIW, I run an 850 Athlon Classic as my server, and a dual MP 1800+ for my workstation, and I've only had stability problems in Windows(from flaky video drivers). I also work with a cluster of 40 Dual Athlons(mixed 1.2 and 1800+), and the only failure I've seen is a bad Myrinet card. Though the room is noisy, each individual machine is fairly quiet.
You can't.
As far as I know, the ASCI White system is pretty much "classified" in a way. I know it uses Power3 processors... over 8000 of them, in fact. And it has a mesh-type interconnect... very expensive stuff here. You can see how it compares here
Note that the second most powerful supercomputer peaks at HALF the GigaFlops... there's some serious power there. Though that list is technically innacurate... the #2 machine only has 3000 processors, and 8 on standby in case of hardware failure. That one is an "open" cluster, however. I don't think it's opened quite yet, and I can't even remember the name... something French... LeMue or somesuch.
I did take a look at it once, though. Sweet machine(s) :-) And you can't help but be impressed when you learn that it took 4.5 TONS of cabling to wire that puppy!
I've seen the FF TV series. Final Fantasy Unlimited, I think it was called. And if every episode was as bad as the one I saw... well, I wouldn't be surprised that it failed.
The FF OAV anime was decent, however. Nothing to write home about, but certainly not *terrible*
While 70 years is a bit long, you can't have copyright expore at the author's death. Otherwise you get situations like this:
Guy 1: Wow, great book! Can I make a movie of it?
Guy 2: Sure, pay me 20% royalties on it.
Guy 1: Hmm... that's too much... (pulls out a gun and shoots Guy 2) Well, now it's public domain!
That'll teach me to post during lunch :-b That's one of those things you know, but it doesn't pop out for some reason...
Plus, I just don't know my licenses as well as I should. My boss handles that ;-)
For one, he even calls the GPL the "general public license," which isn't too far off, I guess... then he goes on about not working with Microsoft to use what work has already been done... Hello? Aren't they the ones rewriting everything?
In any case, since this is aimed at legislators, they'll probably take it hook, line and sinker. The gall of Microsoft in saying things like the comment on alternatives is really getting to me. This guy needs to get a life.
Then again, if he's paid to say this stuff, I guess this is his life...
Aside from the whole debate of proprietary versus free, this would close off a lot of people from having their own web page. And if Joe User did decide to put something up, it would no doubt be even more garish than the abominations of HTML that we see today, not to mention take days to load on a modem.
I guess I'm preaching to the choir here... I doubt anyone here wants one company controlling the language of the web.