It looks like you're trying to think for yourself!
Would you like me to [x]Notify the authorities? [ ]Display Microsoft Marketing and Re-Education materials? [ ]Send an electric shock through your keyboard again?
Subject pretty much says it all. It also works with linux via the rio music manager lite java program, and I've seen some free software ports but haven't tried them yet. The base has an ethernet port and the device is smaller than an ipod, 3x3. It's pretty nice.
The GPL'd code can be used commercially. In fact, it would VIOLATE THE GPL if they said it couldn't be used commercially. Indeed, most of the software in the linux distro box on my shelf is licensed under the GPL, and I paid good money for it.
What it can't be is proprietary.
I know Slashdot is not known for precision, but on an issue that gets everyone so worked up it's foolish to provoke people like this for no good reason.
Um, I crash my machine occasionally b/c I run lots of bleeding edge stuff, but... I don't think I've had the NVIDIA drivers crash on me in a year. They're pretty solid.
I just wish they'd open them up- I used to buy ATI cards then they stopped sharing the card specs with the DRI developers. I'm sure I'm not the only one whose business ATI lost this way. I hate not running a free software-only OS, but the latest card with free drivers is about two generations behind the times. Not good enough for games when my LCD's native resolution is 1280x1024.
Well yes I can, because at least the platform is open source, it's better than closed end to end.
But more importantly, none of the game companies that make the games I like are 1/10th as evil as Microsoft, nor are they convicted monopolists. Proprietary software in a competitive market is not nearly so bad as stagnant monopoly-ware, and since games are fun but not really important I don't judge their freedom to be nearly so critical as that of office suites and C libraries.
Games that I have played in the last couple months on my linux box:
Neverwinter Nights and expansions Quake 1,2,3 and mods Return to Castle Wolfenstein Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Unreal 2k3/2k4demo and mods Warcraft III and expansion Diablo I and II and expansion Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Angband:) Descent III Half life and mods
Games that I've been really annoyed that I couldn't play on my linux box in the last few months:
Unreal II Various midi-enabled piano-tutor games
Linux gaming is not where it was a few years ago. You might need a winex rpm to get past the copy controls for some of the games but it's cheaper and better than buying windows (or any proprietary console or whatever).
Ever hear of the Voting Rights Act of 1965? There is a very good reason for federal preemption of osme state election laws, i.e., whenever voters are disenfranchised.
This happened in the past through explicitly discriminatory laws; today it's more subtle but it still happens through things like the overzealous purging of felon lists.
little known fact about the therac-25
on
Can Software Kill?
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
It's a little known fact that the first machine attached to skynet to become self-aware will be a Therac-25 controlled by a pdp 11, although it will be quickly obsoleted by the terminator class machines that have been deployed in Sacramento.
I mean seriously, the knowledge was always too general or out-of-date to be of use even before the internet unless you were writing a high school report on what Rwanda is like or something. I say good riddance.
Anyone remember that long-blonde-haired teenage encyclopedia pitch guy in the late 80's? He was even more annoying than the Dell dude.
I played the link-the-powernodes game and found it endlessly stupid. The game's pretty much decided in the first 30-40 seconds by who gets the most nodes.
That hasn't been my experience. This play mode rocks. It's balanced in the sense that when you are down to just your base, you always spawn right where you need to be to defend, and in a good game the control of the middle and tank nodes on the demo map shift control often.
If you have unbalanced teams you'll see someone dominate early, but the game seems to have a mechanism for rebalancing teams when the next round starts, probably according to kill count.
I've found it's best to take your opponent's tank node before you bother taking the middle, but I'm sure others have their own opinions.
Yep, buyin' this one. Thanks for a great game that runs really well on linux. I just wish Unreal II had been available for linux, I LOVED the first single-player unreal. I'm not sure I've seen a more beautifully drawn game since.
Ignoring RMS's demand has consequences: he will refuse to speak with any journalist that doesn't agree up front to his demand, for example
Oh well, your comparison makes sense now! Stop the presses! RMS won't speak to reporters who he perceives as insulting him! Our VERY FREEDOMS ARE AT STAKE!
I hear that if IBM doesn't concede their court case to SCO, Darl may "GO NUCLEAR" and stop talking to skeptical reporters! THE HORROR!
Of course Stallman's not like SCO overall, and nowhere have I claimed that
The point of comparisons is to show how two things are alike. You imply that they are similar, otherwise why don't you just say what's bad about what Stallman does?
Stallman is certainly obnoxious (although not necessarily *wrong*), but that, again, is a far cry from lawsuits claiming ownership. You use the word demand but it's more of a request backed by moral suasion. SCO makes demands and uses the legal system to back them up.
The difference in the XF86 again is one where Stallman's demand is a request with no consequences for non-compliance, whereas the XF86 license change may make some people's work illegal (i.e., GPL'd software that links with X). Stallman can complain for the rest of his life but it will never cause someone to go to jail for copyright infringement. The years of contributions RMS has made give him the right to be a grumpy old man as long as he doesn't sue anyone.
So let's review.
Consequences of ignoring:
SCO: lawsuit and possible jail XF86 possible lawsuit and possible jail RMS: no consequences
SCO wants to own linux, while Stallman only wants credit for his contributions. SCO is taking legal action, Stallman is asking politely for a change to be made.
I mean, let's pretend that SCO wrote a really good editor and C compiler and gave them away. Then let's pretend SCO said to linux users everywhere "call it SCO/Linux or else... I'll be really upset and insist that I deserve credit!" I don't think anyone would lose any sleep. See, it's the whole aggressive and hypocritical lawsuit thing that makes this comparison ugly.
It's like calling George Washington a British sympathizer because his soldiers used guns too.
I suppose there's no convincing you of this, I know people tend to defend their positions because people sometimes associate the success of their arguments with their worth as a person. But think long and hard about this. When you compare Stallman to SCO, even if you only mean they are alike in some small way, you imply that they are alike in more ways (or else the comparison wouldn't really tell us anything), and that is so obviously false that it gets you a troll label.
They are more different than alike. That's why the comparison makes you a troll. I'm not laughing it off, I'm arguing that it's absurd because Stallman wants exactly the opposite.
You may have refuted this point in another thread but guess what- not everyone spends as much time on slashdot as you do.
What makes you a troll is comparing Stallman to SCO. Sorry if you can't see that- it's not your beliefs that make you a troll, it's the shrill and foolish way in which you shoose to express those beliefs.
I'm sure you'll counter with "well, stallman's action in this case is like SCO." Well, if Stallman had his way, what SCO is doing would be not only illegal (which it probably already is) but vigorously prosecuted. Your comparison papers over differences that are as wide as the ocean.
Slashdot Mirror
Sounds to me like they've got a non-literal case then.
But everyone knows it's not SCO's cash flow they'll be burning through. One way or another, the cash will come from sugar-daddy Gates.
It looks like you're trying to think for yourself!
Would you like me to
[x]Notify the authorities?
[ ]Display Microsoft Marketing and Re-Education materials?
[ ]Send an electric shock through your keyboard again?
Or maybe a fancy way to say that he couldn't just come out and say that he didn't believe in God given the times he lived in.
IIRC, his tomb said "to hide well is to live well" or somethign to that effect.
That's one benefit of using windows- you're forced to reboot before too much clutter can accumulate :)
Subject pretty much says it all. It also works with linux via the rio music manager lite java program, and I've seen some free software ports but haven't tried them yet. The base has an ethernet port and the device is smaller than an ipod, 3x3. It's pretty nice.
The GPL'd code can be used commercially. In fact, it would VIOLATE THE GPL if they said it couldn't be used commercially. Indeed, most of the software in the linux distro box on my shelf is licensed under the GPL, and I paid good money for it.
What it can't be is proprietary.
I know Slashdot is not known for precision, but on an issue that gets everyone so worked up it's foolish to provoke people like this for no good reason.
You know what would be neat? To run X in a Y window with transparency controlled by the Z axis of my mouse.
Just thought I should mention because it's timely, I went out and bought UT2004 today. It has a penguin on the box! HOORAY!
Um, I crash my machine occasionally b/c I run lots of bleeding edge stuff, but... I don't think I've had the NVIDIA drivers crash on me in a year. They're pretty solid.
I just wish they'd open them up- I used to buy ATI cards then they stopped sharing the card specs with the DRI developers. I'm sure I'm not the only one whose business ATI lost this way. I hate not running a free software-only OS, but the latest card with free drivers is about two generations behind the times. Not good enough for games when my LCD's native resolution is 1280x1024.
Well yes I can, because at least the platform is open source, it's better than closed end to end.
But more importantly, none of the game companies that make the games I like are 1/10th as evil as Microsoft, nor are they convicted monopolists. Proprietary software in a competitive market is not nearly so bad as stagnant monopoly-ware, and since games are fun but not really important I don't judge their freedom to be nearly so critical as that of office suites and C libraries.
Two more games I've played recently on my linux box:
Starcraft (incl. Brood War)
And how could I forget...
Pydance!
But you can put Pump it Up (Korean DDR clone with 5-button pad) on the list of games I wish I could play in linux. Oh well, can't win 'em all.
Games that I have played in the last couple months on my linux box:
:)
Neverwinter Nights and expansions
Quake 1,2,3 and mods
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Unreal 2k3/2k4demo and mods
Warcraft III and expansion
Diablo I and II and expansion
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Angband
Descent III
Half life and mods
Games that I've been really annoyed that I couldn't play on my linux box in the last few months:
Unreal II
Various midi-enabled piano-tutor games
Linux gaming is not where it was a few years ago. You might need a winex rpm to get past the copy controls for some of the games but it's cheaper and better than buying windows (or any proprietary console or whatever).
Ever hear of the Voting Rights Act of 1965? There is a very good reason for federal preemption of osme state election laws, i.e., whenever voters are disenfranchised.
This happened in the past through explicitly discriminatory laws; today it's more subtle but it still happens through things like the overzealous purging of felon lists.
It's a little known fact that the first machine attached to skynet to become self-aware will be a Therac-25 controlled by a pdp 11, although it will be quickly obsoleted by the terminator class machines that have been deployed in Sacramento.
I mean seriously, the knowledge was always too general or out-of-date to be of use even before the internet unless you were writing a high school report on what Rwanda is like or something. I say good riddance.
Anyone remember that long-blonde-haired teenage encyclopedia pitch guy in the late 80's? He was even more annoying than the Dell dude.
I hear there's a great recipe for Rhubarb Pie circulating on the gnutella networks.
I played the link-the-powernodes game and found it endlessly stupid. The game's pretty much decided in the first 30-40 seconds by who gets the most nodes.
That hasn't been my experience. This play mode rocks. It's balanced in the sense that when you are down to just your base, you always spawn right where you need to be to defend, and in a good game the control of the middle and tank nodes on the demo map shift control often.
If you have unbalanced teams you'll see someone dominate early, but the game seems to have a mechanism for rebalancing teams when the next round starts, probably according to kill count.
I've found it's best to take your opponent's tank node before you bother taking the middle, but I'm sure others have their own opinions.
Yep, buyin' this one. Thanks for a great game that runs really well on linux. I just wish Unreal II had been available for linux, I LOVED the first single-player unreal. I'm not sure I've seen a more beautifully drawn game since.
The question you have to ask yourself is, do the executives of ethical companies do better in the long run?
The reason many unethical businesses fail is that they are fleeced by unethical executives.
Corporations aren't people except legally, and they don't actually have cares or desires- only the people who control them do.
Ignoring RMS's demand has consequences: he will refuse to speak with any journalist that doesn't agree up front to his demand, for example
Oh well, your comparison makes sense now! Stop the presses! RMS won't speak to reporters who he perceives as insulting him! Our VERY FREEDOMS ARE AT STAKE!
I hear that if IBM doesn't concede their court case to SCO, Darl may "GO NUCLEAR" and stop talking to skeptical reporters! THE HORROR!
Of course Stallman's not like SCO overall, and nowhere have I claimed that
The point of comparisons is to show how two things are alike. You imply that they are similar, otherwise why don't you just say what's bad about what Stallman does?
Stallman is certainly obnoxious (although not necessarily *wrong*), but that, again, is a far cry from lawsuits claiming ownership. You use the word demand but it's more of a request backed by moral suasion. SCO makes demands and uses the legal system to back them up.
The difference in the XF86 again is one where Stallman's demand is a request with no consequences for non-compliance, whereas the XF86 license change may make some people's work illegal (i.e., GPL'd software that links with X). Stallman can complain for the rest of his life but it will never cause someone to go to jail for copyright infringement. The years of contributions RMS has made give him the right to be a grumpy old man as long as he doesn't sue anyone.
So let's review.
Consequences of ignoring:
SCO: lawsuit and possible jail
XF86 possible lawsuit and possible jail
RMS: no consequences
Hence the troll label that I still insist fits.
SCO wants to own linux, while Stallman only wants credit for his contributions. SCO is taking legal action, Stallman is asking politely for a change to be made.
I mean, let's pretend that SCO wrote a really good editor and C compiler and gave them away. Then let's pretend SCO said to linux users everywhere "call it SCO/Linux or else... I'll be really upset and insist that I deserve credit!" I don't think anyone would lose any sleep. See, it's the whole aggressive and hypocritical lawsuit thing that makes this comparison ugly.
It's like calling George Washington a British sympathizer because his soldiers used guns too.
I suppose there's no convincing you of this, I know people tend to defend their positions because people sometimes associate the success of their arguments with their worth as a person. But think long and hard about this. When you compare Stallman to SCO, even if you only mean they are alike in some small way, you imply that they are alike in more ways (or else the comparison wouldn't really tell us anything), and that is so obviously false that it gets you a troll label.
They are more different than alike. That's why the comparison makes you a troll. I'm not laughing it off, I'm arguing that it's absurd because Stallman wants exactly the opposite.
You may have refuted this point in another thread but guess what- not everyone spends as much time on slashdot as you do.
What makes you a troll is comparing Stallman to SCO. Sorry if you can't see that- it's not your beliefs that make you a troll, it's the shrill and foolish way in which you shoose to express those beliefs.
I'm sure you'll counter with "well, stallman's action in this case is like SCO." Well, if Stallman had his way, what SCO is doing would be not only illegal (which it probably already is) but vigorously prosecuted. Your comparison papers over differences that are as wide as the ocean.
There was a great episode of the Young Ones about this. The telly inspector comes round and sees Vivian with a power cable hanging out of his mouth.
"You at the telly, didn't you?"
"It's a toaster!"
Then the inspector-man goes to the bathroom, shouting "I can wait! I know how... to wait!"
I recall that the big selling point of slashdot subscriptions was that you got to see articles before they were posted to the public.
Looks like I got the same deal with my Wired subscription!