It still causes problems with video playback, though.
I should clarify. By this I mean that Compiz still causes video playback programs when it is enabled. When it is disabled, playback functions correctly. Wasn't sure if that was obvious.
That's not unexpected. XP is equivalent to Gnome, while Compiz is equivalent to Vista Aero.
That's a very good point, and with Compiz disabled you're correct: performance is faster. It still causes problems with video playback, though. But again, your point is fair.
I dispute, however, your argument re: apt-get/synaptic. You're correct to note that that sort of functionality is altogether missing in Windows. It's functionality that, if I were to go back to Windows, I would sorely miss. Were I to plop it down on my mom's desktop, however, she would have trouble with it. Given that apt-get/Synaptic is the primary way of obtaining software in Ubuntu, I think it's usability is a fair criticism, whether or not anything similar to apt-get exists in Windows (and I think one could make the argument that Windows Update is a primitive and poorly-implemented version of the same idea -- albeit with a different intent).
I think Ubuntu is finally ready with the Gibbon to go toe to toe with Microsoft and Apple in the commercial arena.
I do respectfully disagree... although as I stated, I think things are definitely getting close. When I look at what Apple has done with putting a spiffy GUI over BSD, I think "That is how it ought to be." Not because I particularly love OS X's UI (in fact, I'm swiftly becoming a GNOME partisan...), but rather because I still don't feel that there's enough separation between the UI and what's going on underneath the hood for the average user to feel comfortable with. You and I know that OS X's GUI is running over BSD, but most OS X users I run into at work doing computer support think of the terminal as something powerful yet superfluous -- something they never need to worry themselves with.
Again: I'm just not quite convinced that Ubuntu is at that point yet. As great as it is, it still retains something of that "cobbled together" feel to it.
But you know... I have to do an XP re-install on my mom's computer this weekend. Maybe I'll set up an Ubuntu partition and tell her to try it out if she's feeling adventurous... Who knows? Maybe we'll get another convert...
And any reverse engineered Ipod app that does not come from Apple has to fight an uphill battle
Very true. But that means it's not "there" yet. Not offering easy use of the prevalent portable media device is a serious setback for an operating system that's purporting to be a good enough desktop to replace Windows. For me? Good enough. For you? Good enough. For my mom? Not so much.
For the record, I'm not blaming Ubuntu, necessarily. But as a total package, 3rd party apps included, Ubuntu isn't there yet.
I'm not sure that Vista is there yet either, by the way. It looks like a lot of people seem to agree.
Gutsy Gibbon isn't QUITE "there" yet...
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Vista Vs. Gutsy Gibbon
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· Score: 4, Interesting
Gutsy Gibbon isn't "there" yet as far as being a perfectly consumer-friendly desktop system. It's fairly close -- I'm using it right now, in fact -- but it still has a ways to go. Yes, Compiz is nice. It also has a habit of causing MPlayer to go haywire. Things always seem kind of sluggish. Sure, my machine is a bit old, but even XP wasn't quite as sluggish. It's not unbearable though. Close. But not there yet.
Ipod? Works pretty well. Basic copying of files works nicely (albeit with a few GTKpod kinks here and there). Mounting and un-mounting usually work automatically without any extra prodding after plugging it in. Usually. Smart playlists are dodgy in GTKpod. Giving Amarok a try, so we'll see. But still... Not. Quite. There. Yet.
Program installation? Well, Synaptic/apt-get are great. You got the right repositories in there, and you know what you're looking for -- works like a charm. Can't see my mom learning how to add repositories and public key signatures. Close. But not quite there yet.
On the other hand, it's leaps and bounds ahead of where Linux-on-the-desktop used to be the last time I went down that path (SuSe 7.something? Mandrake something-dot-something?? Few years ago, anyways...). So progress is definitely being made. It all depends on your personal threshold.
For me, Ubuntu has proven to be quite - QUITE - sufficient. I'll probably be sticking with it for everything except ArcGIS. For all the "moms" of the world, though... I just don't think it's quite there yet. Give it a few more years and it might just make it.
I've always wanted to see Daggerfall re-made with better graphics, fewer bugs, and all that sort of thing. Also, games like "DejaVu" would seem to benefit from more interactive environments and less obtuse UI's.
This is for those of you who're sitting in front of your computer screens waxing eloquent about the profound subtleties (or lack thereof) that may or may not, according to the hallowed body of work left behind by such intellectual titans as Nitschze, Kierkegaard, Descartes, and Plato (hint: namedropping "The Cave" doesn't make you sound cool or particularly educated) be embodied in The Matrix: please, for the love of God, get over yourselves. It's a fucking movie. If The Matrix is so intellectually beneath you, then don't see it. Go read "The Birth of Tragedy" or something in a coffeehouse, smoke some cloves, and wear a beret or something. Because, and I can't stress this enough:
However, the spacecraft will never ever make it to the core of Jupiter, because massive gravity, heat, and tidal forces will destroy it LONG before it gets deep enough to touch the core.
Rabid environmentalism cracks me up. It's one thing to reduce pollution to make the sky look less brown, or to reduce respiratory diseases and such, but all this "Save the Earth!" crap is such a lie. It's all about saving HUMANS, not the Earth. If we launched 600 high-powered thermonuclear warheads, life on Earth (on the surface at least) would probably be wiped out, or close to it. But don't forget that there's life TEEMING in the oceans, in pitch black, on thermal vents on the ocean floor that are far more inhospitable than we can make things on the surface. The Earth can take care of itself. It's made it to this point from being a molten ball of rock. No matter what harm we do, give our planet a couple million years, and it'll be back to normal... for instance, check out the surface of the planet... do you see many impact craters? No. Why? Because the Earth, unlike, say, Mercury or our moon, experiences alot of volcanic/weather activity that really helps to erase cataclysms. People ought to stop pretending that they're really trying to save the Earth and admit they're looking out for the species instead. This planet's been through alot more than humans, and once we're gone it'll continue to go on until the sun eventually envelops in when it grows into a red giant. Earth can take care of itself. It's people who need saving.
Yeah, I agree. I get tired of hearing people diss on Mandrake. It's a good distro for the desktop, and they're clearly interested in doing what it takes to get Linux out there and available for the 'average user.' Mandrake is what I use for my desktop distro at home. If i want to run a server here at work, I use Slackware or BSD... but for general "home use" type stuff, for me, at least, Mandrake takes the cake. Kudos to them for making the "right move."
I don't really know what to say to all of this. It's depressing, and I'd really hoped that it wouldn't come to this. I'm not going to spout a bunch of idiotic anti-American rhetoric, because that'd make me look about as dumb as some of the Chomsky-quoting, Rage Against the Machine worshipping 15 year old anarchist wannabes who've been posting... but I'm pretty disappointed in this course of action. I think I'm going to go take a walk, and do some thinking... no one else seems to be doing anything except reacting. *sigh*
I guess it doesn't bother this guy when his collection gets scratched over the years and slowly become unplayable.
Of course it doesn't bother him. He's rich, and could re-purchase his collection with no problem should he choose to. He probably even has the whole thing archived in OGG format on a private server somewhere! *wink* And as for us, he certainly doesn't care if our collections become unplayable, because that means we'll have to invenst in new media/players which his software might be part of, thus giving him and the rest of the industry a whole lot more money.
...we are designing the software for the 99 percent of the people who don't want to steal the music but instead (want to) use it for whatever means--for whatever personal use that's allowed by the artist and the record label. The software was designed for those people, not for the 1 percent who are going to take the lock cutters and cut the lock off and steal music in an unauthorized way.
Okay... so... they're designing anti-piracy software for people who "want to use it for whatever personal use that's allowed by the artists and the record label", not 31337 hax0r pir-8's who'll crack the encryption anyways. So... what exactly is the point? If the people who're going to pirate the music are still going to pirate the music... why are they building copy protection schemes to protect music from people who aren't going to steal it in the first place? It just doesn't add up.
I think that this dude is just some smart capitalist who knows that his software sucks, that it's going to get cracked anyways, but he's riding on the fad-of-the-day, and as soon as record labels give up on this form of CD copy protection, his company will too, and start catering to whatever the flavor-of-the-month is then.
I wonder just who decided on some of those songs... I mean really... "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel?? Just what is the "questionable content" in that song? And how come Cannibal Corpse didn't make the list? Something tells me that "Meathook Sodomy" might have more "questionable content" in it in light of recent events than say.... "Imagine" by John Lennon, which somehow got on the list.
One can easily understand the rationalle behind banning such musical abortions as "Obladi-Oblada" and "What a Wonderful World" for being morally offensive in this time of crisis for our nation, but banning "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey" by Steam is a travesty.
Tasteless as it may be, I think it's funny they banned "Disco Inferno," "Crash Into Me," "Ticket to Ride," "Burning Down the House," and "Walk Like an Egyptian." On the plus side, they've also banned popular songs by Alanis Morissette and Korn, so I guess some good came out of this after all.
I've seen alot of posts saying "Alright! The average Joe is finally becoming aware of copyright abuses!" which may or may not be true in this case. When the problem finally affected her personally, she took matters into her own hands. Kudos to her in either case, because the more things like this happen, the more challenged the legitimacy(*cough*) of the DMCA becomes. Now we gotta wait till the next Britney Spears CD or the next Limp Bizkit CD gets this copy protection crap on it, because then we'll see some REAL outcry... maybe that's why the chose Charley Pride: his CD would be a good test-case without angering a large segment of the demographic.
Well, you're blaming the lack of comments on the failure of the system. How about looking instead to the failure of the people to take part in the system? Sure, the DMCA brings many on/. 'to a boil', but how many people on/. actually 'put their money where their mouth is,' so to speak, and actually do something about the things they like to bitch and moan about? My guess would be a very low percentage. Clearly you have, since you've written your Congressman. I did the same thing, and he politely told me that he would 'look into the matter, and see how it plays out.' This coming from a Congressman who is well-known for his connection with his constituants (Peter DeFazio). Whether he ever did anything, I don't know, but hopefully whenever he sees a piece of news about the DMCA, he'll think of the letter that I wrote him and the complaints I raised.... who knows. At any rate, I don' think the system is at fault in this case... the people are, because they're lazy or unwilling to do anything more than rant and rave and preach to the choir, or simply unwilling to do anything at all.
Err, well it seems to me, by reading alot of these posts, that everyone thinks that AMD is "ditching the embedded market" altogether and is "going to let Intel have the embedded systems market, so they can focus on the main consumer market".
I don't think that's the case at all... The K6IIE+ and the K6IIIE+ are going to be AMD's new embedded solutions (denoted by the "E"), and it says so in the article. As embedded devices become more and more complex, I think there'll be a greater demand for more powerful processors to run them. I think AMD is just thinking ahead, and the fact that they're gonna keep on making older processors until June 2002 says that they're not just jumping ship. I don't think AMD has ANY intention of giving away ANY market to Intel... they are competitors, after all. Not to mention that in the long run, it's probably easier and cheaper for them to fab K6-2/3 processors than the old stuff.
I'm using Mandrake 8.0 right now, i use SuSE at work... I've experience with Slackware, Debian, and Red Hat as well... Mandrake is definately a good starter... it makes installing pretty simple and you won't get lost... sure its not as "ELEET KRAD HARDCORE" as some of the other distros, but its definately great for starting users, and makes a good desktop system as well. If you really want to "LEARN LINUX" it's probably not the best way to go, since it automates alot of stuff, though alot of those things you can do by hand too, but the distro itself is mostly geared towards desktop usage.
SuSE is a good middle-of-the-road distro, imo, providing a pretty easy interface, but alot of customizibility too. I guess it really depends on if you want to LEARN LINUX before you start using it, or the other way around... getting your feet in the water before moving into the more difficult things... Just my opinion...
What you mean is that people don't know anything other than Windows.
Of course they don't but blind Linux advocation isn't helping anything. I work 2 computer jobs, doing user-support and sure, I've heard all the "my screen is blue and has some wierd message" complaints, but I can EASILY imagine setting up a Linux system for every user and having some of THESE problems:
"It says I don't have permission to run this program." "How do I install programs?" "How do I uninstall programs?" "I downloaded a program, but its.tar.gz... What's that?" etc... Windows certainly isn't flawless, but from a user-support standpoint, I'd rather deal with it than Linux, because trying to explain the difference between binaries and source to someone who views computers as a tool rather than a hobby (this means virtually 0% of/. users) would be an exercise in futility.
I don't like Windows any more than you do, but the fact is that people *ARE* content with the OS despite its annoyances. They *DO* know other things besides Windows, and those things include file-cabinets full of type-written, hand-completed records and correspondance rather than an Outlook inbox and Excel. To them, Windows sure as hell beats the alternative. Linux is, and may always be a 'techie' OS. It has a long way to go before I can envision any of my users seriously grasping it.
Re:logging legal? Not always...
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Eco-Terrorism
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· Score: 2
That is pure hogwash. I live in the middle of oregon, and i used to live on the south coast, and ive been all around the state... and to say 'most of the forests' in oregon have been destroyed' is a lie. Sorry.
I totally agree with you. I like to count myself a liberal... not a radical. Preserving the environment is something we *MUST* do... along with a million other things... but killing and destroying to do so seems like a step in the wrong direction... ya know? Wouldnt it have been nicer if the Romans had found a way to get along with all those barbarian invaders, instead of everyone resorting to killing and destroying?
Re: Why is it OK for Ford to make Excursions?
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Eco-Terrorism
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· Score: 2
I take offense at how you seem to think that people who drive SUVs are pure evil, or fat and lazy. I dislike the way many SUV drivers act, as if they were in impregnable tanks, sure. But *shrug* if they want to blow the money on something that, as oil prices climb, will become even more of a burden, thats just fine with me. We live in a society where we have to put up with what we view as other peoples' wrongs (neo-Nazism, etc.) so that we can preserve our own freedom of choice. I think it would be pretty sucky if i lived in a place where everyone had to drive Geos, by federal mandate, or where i couldnt express my opinion about how lame neo-Nazis are. and of course, everyone has the right to diss on SUV drivers, corporations, etc... but they DONT have the right to start destroying things based on their views.
Why is it okay for Ford to make Excursions? Why isn't it okay? There are a million things that are worse than SUV's. I'm no friend of massive Lexus SUV's, I assure you, but people should have a choice. We live in a capitalist system, whether you like it or not, and there is a market for large SUV-type cars. Clearly, you and I both differ in our opinions, but I don't feel 'enslaved' by corporations. I dont feel that Nike is my master. I have a brain. If i like a nike product, and its the right price, i'll buy it. such a thing has yet to happen, but *shrug*. Basing your whole life and ideology around mistrust and paranoia isnt the way i, or many people choose to live. Questioning the media isnt elitism, but to out and out brand it the tool of evil, or to do the same with the government, or to think that somehow YOU have the inside track, *IS* elitism and pretty arrogant.
...and? so what? Logging is legal. I'm willing to bet you live in a wooden abode, or have a wooden computer desk or have wooden furniture. Cutting down trees is something that happens, for better or worse. Saving a stand of ancient redwoods is one thing. Stopping a logging company from cutting down the trees on some property by destroying their property is quite another. I guarantee these terrorists would be angry if someone came in and stopped them from something they had the legal right to do... say... living in a certain area. They want their cake and to eat it too.. They want to be able to stop people from doing something legal, because they oppose it, and at the same time, if someone tried to stop them from doing something for the same reasons, its an outrage... I just dont understand it.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not about having "too many options." It's having too many options that are presented in a cluttered, inelegant, seemingly haphazard way, I think.
It still causes problems with video playback, though.
I should clarify. By this I mean that Compiz still causes video playback programs when it is enabled. When it is disabled, playback functions correctly. Wasn't sure if that was obvious.
That's not unexpected. XP is equivalent to Gnome, while Compiz is equivalent to Vista Aero.
That's a very good point, and with Compiz disabled you're correct: performance is faster. It still causes problems with video playback, though. But again, your point is fair.
I dispute, however, your argument re: apt-get/synaptic. You're correct to note that that sort of functionality is altogether missing in Windows. It's functionality that, if I were to go back to Windows, I would sorely miss. Were I to plop it down on my mom's desktop, however, she would have trouble with it. Given that apt-get/Synaptic is the primary way of obtaining software in Ubuntu, I think it's usability is a fair criticism, whether or not anything similar to apt-get exists in Windows (and I think one could make the argument that Windows Update is a primitive and poorly-implemented version of the same idea -- albeit with a different intent).
I think Ubuntu is finally ready with the Gibbon to go toe to toe with Microsoft and Apple in the commercial arena.
I do respectfully disagree... although as I stated, I think things are definitely getting close. When I look at what Apple has done with putting a spiffy GUI over BSD, I think "That is how it ought to be." Not because I particularly love OS X's UI (in fact, I'm swiftly becoming a GNOME partisan...), but rather because I still don't feel that there's enough separation between the UI and what's going on underneath the hood for the average user to feel comfortable with. You and I know that OS X's GUI is running over BSD, but most OS X users I run into at work doing computer support think of the terminal as something powerful yet superfluous -- something they never need to worry themselves with.
Again: I'm just not quite convinced that Ubuntu is at that point yet. As great as it is, it still retains something of that "cobbled together" feel to it.
But you know... I have to do an XP re-install on my mom's computer this weekend. Maybe I'll set up an Ubuntu partition and tell her to try it out if she's feeling adventurous... Who knows? Maybe we'll get another convert...
And any reverse engineered Ipod app that does not come from Apple has to fight an uphill battle
Very true. But that means it's not "there" yet. Not offering easy use of the prevalent portable media device is a serious setback for an operating system that's purporting to be a good enough desktop to replace Windows. For me? Good enough. For you? Good enough. For my mom? Not so much.
For the record, I'm not blaming Ubuntu, necessarily. But as a total package, 3rd party apps included, Ubuntu isn't there yet.
I'm not sure that Vista is there yet either, by the way. It looks like a lot of people seem to agree.
Gutsy Gibbon isn't "there" yet as far as being a perfectly consumer-friendly desktop system. It's fairly close -- I'm using it right now, in fact -- but it still has a ways to go. Yes, Compiz is nice. It also has a habit of causing MPlayer to go haywire. Things always seem kind of sluggish. Sure, my machine is a bit old, but even XP wasn't quite as sluggish. It's not unbearable though. Close. But not there yet.
Ipod? Works pretty well. Basic copying of files works nicely (albeit with a few GTKpod kinks here and there). Mounting and un-mounting usually work automatically without any extra prodding after plugging it in. Usually. Smart playlists are dodgy in GTKpod. Giving Amarok a try, so we'll see. But still... Not. Quite. There. Yet.
Program installation? Well, Synaptic/apt-get are great. You got the right repositories in there, and you know what you're looking for -- works like a charm. Can't see my mom learning how to add repositories and public key signatures. Close. But not quite there yet.
On the other hand, it's leaps and bounds ahead of where Linux-on-the-desktop used to be the last time I went down that path (SuSe 7.something? Mandrake something-dot-something?? Few years ago, anyways...). So progress is definitely being made. It all depends on your personal threshold.
For me, Ubuntu has proven to be quite - QUITE - sufficient. I'll probably be sticking with it for everything except ArcGIS. For all the "moms" of the world, though... I just don't think it's quite there yet. Give it a few more years and it might just make it.
Then we just need a good way of marketing it...
I've always wanted to see Daggerfall re-made with better graphics, fewer bugs, and all that sort of thing. Also, games like "DejaVu" would seem to benefit from more interactive environments and less obtuse UI's.
This is for those of you who're sitting in front of your computer screens waxing eloquent about the profound subtleties (or lack thereof) that may or may not, according to the hallowed body of work left behind by such intellectual titans as Nitschze, Kierkegaard, Descartes, and Plato (hint: namedropping "The Cave" doesn't make you sound cool or particularly educated) be embodied in The Matrix: please, for the love of God, get over yourselves. It's a fucking movie. If The Matrix is so intellectually beneath you, then don't see it. Go read "The Birth of Tragedy" or something in a coffeehouse, smoke some cloves, and wear a beret or something. Because, and I can't stress this enough:
THE MATRIX IS JUST A MOVIE.
Thank you and good night.
I don't really know what to say to all of this. It's depressing, and I'd really hoped that it wouldn't come to this. I'm not going to spout a bunch of idiotic anti-American rhetoric, because that'd make me look about as dumb as some of the Chomsky-quoting, Rage Against the Machine worshipping 15 year old anarchist wannabes who've been posting... but I'm pretty disappointed in this course of action. I think I'm going to go take a walk, and do some thinking... no one else seems to be doing anything except reacting. *sigh*
The scary thing is... you're probably right! Thank god for vinyl. Classic rock always sounds better on vinyl than on CD anyways, if you ask me!
Of course it doesn't bother him. He's rich, and could re-purchase his collection with no problem should he choose to. He probably even has the whole thing archived in OGG format on a private server somewhere! *wink* And as for us, he certainly doesn't care if our collections become unplayable, because that means we'll have to invenst in new media/players which his software might be part of, thus giving him and the rest of the industry a whole lot more money.
Okay... so... they're designing anti-piracy software for people who "want to use it for whatever personal use that's allowed by the artists and the record label", not 31337 hax0r pir-8's who'll crack the encryption anyways. So... what exactly is the point? If the people who're going to pirate the music are still going to pirate the music... why are they building copy protection schemes to protect music from people who aren't going to steal it in the first place? It just doesn't add up.
I think that this dude is just some smart capitalist who knows that his software sucks, that it's going to get cracked anyways, but he's riding on the fad-of-the-day, and as soon as record labels give up on this form of CD copy protection, his company will too, and start catering to whatever the flavor-of-the-month is then.
One can easily understand the rationalle behind banning such musical abortions as "Obladi-Oblada" and "What a Wonderful World" for being morally offensive in this time of crisis for our nation, but banning "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey" by Steam is a travesty.
Tasteless as it may be, I think it's funny they banned "Disco Inferno," "Crash Into Me," "Ticket to Ride," "Burning Down the House," and "Walk Like an Egyptian." On the plus side, they've also banned popular songs by Alanis Morissette and Korn, so I guess some good came out of this after all.
I've seen alot of posts saying "Alright! The average Joe is finally becoming aware of copyright abuses!" which may or may not be true in this case. When the problem finally affected her personally, she took matters into her own hands. Kudos to her in either case, because the more things like this happen, the more challenged the legitimacy(*cough*) of the DMCA becomes. Now we gotta wait till the next Britney Spears CD or the next Limp Bizkit CD gets this copy protection crap on it, because then we'll see some REAL outcry... maybe that's why the chose Charley Pride: his CD would be a good test-case without angering a large segment of the demographic.
Well, you're blaming the lack of comments on the failure of the system. How about looking instead to the failure of the people to take part in the system? Sure, the DMCA brings many on /. 'to a boil', but how many people on /. actually 'put their money where their mouth is,' so to speak, and actually do something about the things they like to bitch and moan about? My guess would be a very low percentage. Clearly you have, since you've written your Congressman. I did the same thing, and he politely told me that he would 'look into the matter, and see how it plays out.' This coming from a Congressman who is well-known for his connection with his constituants (Peter DeFazio). Whether he ever did anything, I don't know, but hopefully whenever he sees a piece of news about the DMCA, he'll think of the letter that I wrote him and the complaints I raised.... who knows. At any rate, I don' think the system is at fault in this case... the people are, because they're lazy or unwilling to do anything more than rant and rave and preach to the choir, or simply unwilling to do anything at all.
I don't think that's the case at all... The K6IIE+ and the K6IIIE+ are going to be AMD's new embedded solutions (denoted by the "E"), and it says so in the article. As embedded devices become more and more complex, I think there'll be a greater demand for more powerful processors to run them. I think AMD is just thinking ahead, and the fact that they're gonna keep on making older processors until June 2002 says that they're not just jumping ship. I don't think AMD has ANY intention of giving away ANY market to Intel... they are competitors, after all. Not to mention that in the long run, it's probably easier and cheaper for them to fab K6-2/3 processors than the old stuff.
SuSE is a good middle-of-the-road distro, imo, providing a pretty easy interface, but alot of customizibility too. I guess it really depends on if you want to LEARN LINUX before you start using it, or the other way around... getting your feet in the water before moving into the more difficult things... Just my opinion...
Of course they don't but blind Linux advocation isn't helping anything. I work 2 computer jobs, doing user-support and sure, I've heard all the "my screen is blue and has some wierd message" complaints, but I can EASILY imagine setting up a Linux system for every user and having some of THESE problems:
"It says I don't have permission to run this program." "How do I install programs?" "How do I uninstall programs?" "I downloaded a program, but its .tar.gz... What's that?" etc... Windows certainly isn't flawless, but from a user-support standpoint, I'd rather deal with it than Linux, because trying to explain the difference between binaries and source to someone who views computers as a tool rather than a hobby (this means virtually 0% of /. users) would be an exercise in futility.
I don't like Windows any more than you do, but the fact is that people *ARE* content with the OS despite its annoyances. They *DO* know other things besides Windows, and those things include file-cabinets full of type-written, hand-completed records and correspondance rather than an Outlook inbox and Excel. To them, Windows sure as hell beats the alternative. Linux is, and may always be a 'techie' OS. It has a long way to go before I can envision any of my users seriously grasping it.
That is pure hogwash. I live in the middle of oregon, and i used to live on the south coast, and ive been all around the state... and to say 'most of the forests' in oregon have been destroyed' is a lie. Sorry.
I totally agree with you. I like to count myself a liberal... not a radical. Preserving the environment is something we *MUST* do... along with a million other things... but killing and destroying to do so seems like a step in the wrong direction... ya know? Wouldnt it have been nicer if the Romans had found a way to get along with all those barbarian invaders, instead of everyone resorting to killing and destroying?
I take offense at how you seem to think that people who drive SUVs are pure evil, or fat and lazy. I dislike the way many SUV drivers act, as if they were in impregnable tanks, sure. But *shrug* if they want to blow the money on something that, as oil prices climb, will become even more of a burden, thats just fine with me. We live in a society where we have to put up with what we view as other peoples' wrongs (neo-Nazism, etc.) so that we can preserve our own freedom of choice. I think it would be pretty sucky if i lived in a place where everyone had to drive Geos, by federal mandate, or where i couldnt express my opinion about how lame neo-Nazis are. and of course, everyone has the right to diss on SUV drivers, corporations, etc... but they DONT have the right to start destroying things based on their views.
Why is it okay for Ford to make Excursions? Why isn't it okay? There are a million things that are worse than SUV's. I'm no friend of massive Lexus SUV's, I assure you, but people should have a choice. We live in a capitalist system, whether you like it or not, and there is a market for large SUV-type cars. Clearly, you and I both differ in our opinions, but I don't feel 'enslaved' by corporations. I dont feel that Nike is my master. I have a brain. If i like a nike product, and its the right price, i'll buy it. such a thing has yet to happen, but *shrug*. Basing your whole life and ideology around mistrust and paranoia isnt the way i, or many people choose to live. Questioning the media isnt elitism, but to out and out brand it the tool of evil, or to do the same with the government, or to think that somehow YOU have the inside track, *IS* elitism and pretty arrogant.
...and? so what? Logging is legal. I'm willing to bet you live in a wooden abode, or have a wooden computer desk or have wooden furniture. Cutting down trees is something that happens, for better or worse. Saving a stand of ancient redwoods is one thing. Stopping a logging company from cutting down the trees on some property by destroying their property is quite another. I guarantee these terrorists would be angry if someone came in and stopped them from something they had the legal right to do... say... living in a certain area. They want their cake and to eat it too.. They want to be able to stop people from doing something legal, because they oppose it, and at the same time, if someone tried to stop them from doing something for the same reasons, its an outrage... I just dont understand it.