Sounds usable? I've been using Mozilla nightlies since September (I think that they were pre-M18 builds). Not just using Mozilla off and on, but as my full-time browser. I have absolutely no reason to use another browser. PSM works, Java works (I got Netscape 6's xpi's and install the jre.xpi file into every nightly that I download, and, viola, I have Java 2 support.) Some plugins even work (I use the Flash plugin regularly, don't know about others.) Some days you shouldn't download the nightly, but the mozillazine build comments warn you about all of the major bugs, and even recommends when things are worth getting if you haven't updated for a while.
In short...get the nightlies and use the heck out of them...that's the only way that we're going to get all the bugs found and fixed.
I also have to say congrats to mozilla on picking up the release schedule. I remember people whining about how long it took for new milestones to come out, but now things really are progressing nicely. Good job!
Have you ever had the opportunity to hear Dan Goldin speak in person? I have, and he does have a wonderful vision for the space program and eventual technology transfer. The Mars missions failed more due to inexperience than anything else, and how do people gain experience but by making mistakes. This is new territory for everyone, and so mistakes will be made. As long as people (the engineers in this case) learn from their mistakes, it was NOT a waste of time. I never once heard Mr. Goldin expound a "faster, cheaper, better" ideal. Yes, I agree that NASA is underfunded, but let's keep Dan Goldin in charge. He is defnitely the right man for the job.
Has anyone figured out how you could even print from "OpenOffice" 6.0? I downloaded the binary since I can't wait for 20+ hours for this sucker to build, and went to do printer setup, and it gave me some strange error message. If anyone knows how to get it to print, let me know, since an office suite that can't print isn't worth the bandwidth that it took to download it. (Even if it is free.)
What's new here that wasn't in 5.2? XML file formats, woo-hoo, it's not even the default way to save (yeah, I suppose they want to wait for the rest of the world to catch up, but then it will never catch on)!
At least the "Desktop" is gone, but that seems to be about the only big change I noticed. Oh yeah, and Help doesn't work...definitely not a step in the right direction.
Uh, some of us are interested in the whole DC thing. If you don't want to read the stories, don't read them! It's that simple! I for one would really like to see a real response from DC on this issue, but I find their vague threats to Michael to be quite amusing.
Well, I'm probably in the same boat as you in being a small college boy (I start my first year of classes on Tuesday), but for me North Dakota State University isn't really that small. Anyway, back on topic...
Our intro classes are in Java and are meant to teach concepts using Hortmann's Computing Concepts with Java 2 Essentials (1st course, 2nd covers data structures). As far as I know, the C++ intro classes of two years ago revolved around the same idea. Courses on C and C++ are available, but they are self-paced, one-credit-hour courses. I'd have to say that the use of a standard compiling requirement is reasonable, but I like the idea of moving to Java for intro since it SHOULD work on most systems. I don't know why the instructors should be teaching an IDE in an intro course. It locks people into using one thing because it's all that they know. Offer exposure and support what is on the University's systems, but don't TEACH the IDE.
I really don't think that I would want to boot into Windoze to do my homework, but I would go along with it for checking and final compile before handing it in so that I know that I'm not going to get a miserable grade because it compiles on Linux but not Win.
A learning curve is good, for people that would actually fix their computers if something serious goes wrong. For grandma or grandpa that just wants to send e-mail and surf the 'net, "dumbing down" is defintely called for. They might need to change a few settings (following instructions provided by their ISP for instance), and they'll be much more comfortable if they can use a GUI to do it and be told to "Click on the ___ button," instead of "Add the line XYZ to file/etc/ABC and then find and edit the line LMN to read MNO." Linux really can be an OS for everyone, if we can just make it simple for people to manage the settings that they want and NEED to in order to maintain their system. Personally, I'd like for my grandparents to have a Linux PC to do e-mail and surf. Stability is important, and we all know that Linux is much more stable than Windows could ever dream of being. If we can overcome the learning curve for those that don't care about how things actually work, we can increase the user base. However, it is important that things aren't set up so that a GUI is required to do the config. Those of us that know what is going on need to be able to get in and fix things if the GUI won't load, etc., so we need access to the config files, but only if you want to do things that way.
OK, is anyone else REALLY disturbed by this. I mean, my computer playing "It's a Small, Small World" or "Fuer Elise"? I think that a warning of impending failure could come in a much better way--a siren or perhaps something ominous sounding...Were these song's Microsoft's choice or the BIOS manufacturer's? And who are they to tell me that I should listen to Beethoven or that other, really annoying song. Maybe I'd rather hear Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies." This must be viewed as an overt attempt by Microsoft to control our lives. Someone MUST hack this in able to allow user customization or Microsoft may begin to subliminally influence us all...oops they've already overtaken the weak-minded drones that walk around talking about "freedom to innovate" all the time. I guess that if they want to innovate so much maybe they should write their own music to warn people of impending doom. Heck they should play music any time a crash may be approaching...Oh yeah, they'd have to play it all the time then and that would get very, very annoying.
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In short...get the nightlies and use the heck out of them...that's the only way that we're going to get all the bugs found and fixed.
I also have to say congrats to mozilla on picking up the release schedule. I remember people whining about how long it took for new milestones to come out, but now things really are progressing nicely. Good job!
Have you ever had the opportunity to hear Dan Goldin speak in person? I have, and he does have a wonderful vision for the space program and eventual technology transfer. The Mars missions failed more due to inexperience than anything else, and how do people gain experience but by making mistakes. This is new territory for everyone, and so mistakes will be made. As long as people (the engineers in this case) learn from their mistakes, it was NOT a waste of time. I never once heard Mr. Goldin expound a "faster, cheaper, better" ideal. Yes, I agree that NASA is underfunded, but let's keep Dan Goldin in charge. He is defnitely the right man for the job.
What's new here that wasn't in 5.2? XML file formats, woo-hoo, it's not even the default way to save (yeah, I suppose they want to wait for the rest of the world to catch up, but then it will never catch on)!
At least the "Desktop" is gone, but that seems to be about the only big change I noticed. Oh yeah, and Help doesn't work...definitely not a step in the right direction.
Yup. The story is here. I can't belive that they're repeating strories only three days after original post. Ridiculous!
Keep the CueCat stories coming!
Our intro classes are in Java and are meant to teach concepts using Hortmann's Computing Concepts with Java 2 Essentials (1st course, 2nd covers data structures). As far as I know, the C++ intro classes of two years ago revolved around the same idea. Courses on C and C++ are available, but they are self-paced, one-credit-hour courses. I'd have to say that the use of a standard compiling requirement is reasonable, but I like the idea of moving to Java for intro since it SHOULD work on most systems. I don't know why the instructors should be teaching an IDE in an intro course. It locks people into using one thing because it's all that they know. Offer exposure and support what is on the University's systems, but don't TEACH the IDE.
I really don't think that I would want to boot into Windoze to do my homework, but I would go along with it for checking and final compile before handing it in so that I know that I'm not going to get a miserable grade because it compiles on Linux but not Win.
A learning curve is good, for people that would actually fix their computers if something serious goes wrong. For grandma or grandpa that just wants to send e-mail and surf the 'net, "dumbing down" is defintely called for. They might need to change a few settings (following instructions provided by their ISP for instance), and they'll be much more comfortable if they can use a GUI to do it and be told to "Click on the ___ button," instead of "Add the line XYZ to file /etc/ABC and then find and edit the line LMN to read MNO." Linux really can be an OS for everyone, if we can just make it simple for people to manage the settings that they want and NEED to in order to maintain their system. Personally, I'd like for my grandparents to have a Linux PC to do e-mail and surf. Stability is important, and we all know that Linux is much more stable than Windows could ever dream of being. If we can overcome the learning curve for those that don't care about how things actually work, we can increase the user base. However, it is important that things aren't set up so that a GUI is required to do the config. Those of us that know what is going on need to be able to get in and fix things if the GUI won't load, etc., so we need access to the config files, but only if you want to do things that way.
OK, is anyone else REALLY disturbed by this. I mean, my computer playing "It's a Small, Small World" or "Fuer Elise"? I think that a warning of impending failure could come in a much better way--a siren or perhaps something ominous sounding...Were these song's Microsoft's choice or the BIOS manufacturer's? And who are they to tell me that I should listen to Beethoven or that other, really annoying song. Maybe I'd rather hear Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies." This must be viewed as an overt attempt by Microsoft to control our lives. Someone MUST hack this in able to allow user customization or Microsoft may begin to subliminally influence us all...oops they've already overtaken the weak-minded drones that walk around talking about "freedom to innovate" all the time. I guess that if they want to innovate so much maybe they should write their own music to warn people of impending doom. Heck they should play music any time a crash may be approaching...Oh yeah, they'd have to play it all the time then and that would get very, very annoying.