Umm... Netscape used to (and still technically does under AOL/Sun) sell a commercial Web Server. Ran on a variety of Unices and POSIX type systems, IIRC. --
philosophical father? I guess Locke, Jefferson, Franklin, Paine, and anybody else who ever wrote anything about freedoms and rights never existed, eh?
we here at slashdot? Which we is that?
A belief in the spirit of the GPL is the one, and ONLY qualification. Belief in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the one and only qualification for Christianity... (well, not really, but...:) Anyone whose arguments for/against something sound like little more than religious evangelism needs to find a better way to argue.
That said, I do have to agree with your statement of companies turning out decent, usable products. However, the argument that the GPL is the be all and end all of software licensing is... weak. I agree with Linus, that "whoever writes the code gets to choose the license, and nobody else gets to complain."
have given away source code Given away? Such a statement implies that you do not understand the terms of the GPL. It is a license agreement, of the same sort of agreement one might make for use of a commercial software package. It permits redistribution if you distribue source with it. Others have different terms. That's all it is. Holding the GPL as holy writ is short-sighted and closed-minded. --
More context: the code he wants to post is incomplete. You couldn't download it and compile it; you'd need to fill in the missing parts to make it workable. He really only did have an algorithm (Snuffle) presented in code, not an encryption package. --
In the Star Wars Horoscope, I was born under the sign of Luke. The Career Path quiz told me I was Luke. *sigh* Then it told my sister she was Vader. I think I'll just resign myself to being doomed.:) --
...were published in yesterday's Salon. The review had this quote: "if you're looking for an amusing, Hollywood-filtered dramatization of the rise of the geek industry, there are worse ways to spend your Sunday evening." The debunking of the story I found more interesting and informative. "Pirates" isn't ground-breaking by any means, and does little more than perpetuate the existing mythos of Silicon Valley (and make TNT some ad revenue). The real history (IMHO) is more interesting, but it'd shatter the popular worldview, so few subscribe to it. It's more fun to demonize people you only know through third- or fourth-hand accounts, apparently.:) --
In one sense, Apple has it right: release code for a finished, working product; something that the Mozilla project did wrong initially. Where Apple's move breaks down is Darwin/OS X Server vs OS X, though they're doing what they can to say where the internal dev road map they're following leads. And, since they are planning to release a commercial product to make money, they do have some self-interest in keeping internal development efforts from becoming derailed by external interaction. Consider the state of Mozilla from a commercial point of view: initial estimates for times were way off, and the simultaneous development of Communicator 4.5 and Mozilla 5.0 hampered development of Mozilla. While Mozilla is tracking well now, their initial stumbles were a good example of how NOT to start off. --
I buy many.. but then, I already only pay $6-$8 per CD. And legally, too. Unfortunately, it seems people are clueless when it comes to the fact that mail-order music clubs can charge $4/CD (+$2 S/H) and make a profit, while the stores charge $17+ for the same ones... And the mail-order houses have employees, just as stores do. Maybe not as many, but still... --
Re:Bombers vs. Archers, and other CTP oddities.
on
CivCTP Patch Released
·
· Score: 1
What's always bothered me was the ability to steal Tech you couldn't even develop. No Prerequisites? No Problem! You haven't discovered Flight, Combustion, Explosives, and JUST discovered the secret of Gunpowder, yet you can steal Advanced Flight. So... your bombers are... what, steam-powered? And they drop cows on the opponents? (Fetchez la vache! Mooooo!) I mean.. it wouldn't be SO bad if you were required to have, say, at least ONE of the prereqs, but such technological leaps.. gah. I guess I'm just sick of having to dump money into building SAM batteries in every city once those barbarians start engaging in Espionage. --
You probably wouldn't need 20 monitors, no. But one can read this statement as "you can have an iMac running the same setup for use as the control console." Or something like that. Sorry. Just spent half a day searching for an itty-bitty annoying bug. Gah. --
the guys at Bungie did a real good job of abstracting away from those same APIs
Given that Bungie does their stuff Mac/Win hybrid as it is, I'd guess they've got their own API set already. Loki would just have to port that set, and given their work with Civ:CTP, I'd guess that much of the work was effectively already done. --
One thing I'm not clear on: what kind of a law is this? It says that once it's ratified by a group of state attorneys general and then passed by a few state legislatures, it will become law. Since when is that how things work?
It's not. What this is is an attempt to create a law that all states will pass so that state law is the same everywhere. This makes it a state crime (not federal) and a company could go after anyone in any state, effectively creating a federal law on software licensing without involving the Federal Government. Compare this to the few states with anti-spam laws: you must transgress in that state to be able to sue. The idea here is to have all states have equal laws, and as the article says, it's possible that they will rubber-stamp the reccommendation of the organization. This seems like it could be an end-run around the US Federal controls on Inter-state Commerce, but I'm no constitutional lawyer, so I don't know how that whole thing works. --
This was a topic in a recent Time (or Newsweek?) and Popular Science. Basically, all the over-use of antibiotics has begun to breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Penicillin doesn't work as well as it did, and many of the other common antibiotics aren't, either. What's worse about this is that it isn't just use of antibiotics on people, it's use on livestock, too. Very big argument for proper food preparation. It's also been suggested that such behavior by parents leads to lower resistance to even minor things in their children, where a lack of exposure to common germs and particles at a young age leading to allergies and such later in life.
Very War of the Worlds (wasn't it?) kind of thought: being killed by the common cold. --
It seems the press keeps asking, "Why did this happen?" I think the correct question is, "Why did this happen at school?" Why not a shopping mall? Why not a department store? If FPS games are really turning kids into violent, mindless killers, why are they particularly targeting their fellow students and not Joe Six-Pack on the street? How does that saying go? "For every complex problem, there's a solution that's simple, neat, and wrong." --
Let's say I were to create a computer language and compiler that would use natural language (albeit very refined language) to create a program.
Discussed in the opinion: The distinction urged on us by the government would prove too much in this era of rapidly evolving computer capabilities. The fact that computers will soon be able to respond directly to spoken commands, for example, should not confer on the government the unfettered power to impose prior restraints on speech in an effort to control its "functional " aspects.
what about pseudocode ? Can that be posted and escape these restrictions?
Actually, from reading the opinion (http://www.epic.org/crypto/export_controls/bernst ein_decision_9_cir.html), it seems that posting of "Instructions" was prohibited: Bernstein later wrote a set of instructions in English (the "Instructions") explaining how to program a computer to encrypt and decrypt data utilizing a one-way hash function, essentially translating verbatim his Source Code into prose form. [...] The State Department responded that Snuffle was a munition under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR"), and that Bernstein would need a license to "export" the Paper, the Source Code, or the Instructions.
As for code being speech or functional, there's a decent point made in the opinion: Second, and more importantly, the government's argument, distilled to its essence, suggests that even one drop of "direct functionality" overwhelms any constitutional protections that expression might otherwise enjoy. This cannot be so. (Search for the words "draft card" to find why it cannot be so.)
The majority decision has really well written arguments as to why "we reject the notion that the admixture of functionality necessarily puts expression beyond the protections of the Constitution."
I think a comment I saw posted already about the CG characters not looking CG explain it.
Simply that. I've got a subscription to the dead tree edition, and they had a few large pics (large for a print magazine, anyway) of the CG characters. Quite simply, if I hadn't known that they were CG, I don't think I could've said one way or the other. I'd say go wander past a news stand or bookstore and flip through it.
...are "exclusive pictures". Some of the closeups of the CG characters are amazing... I could really only tell that they were CGI because I *knew* they were CGI. The Galactic Guide's much neater in there, too... all on one foldout, that's going to get tacked to my wall.
News.com has an article covering it. I agree with their analysis: NSI's going to have a de facto monopoly because of their past governance of the InterNIC, and the fact that, regardless of the new state of competition, NSI gets to skim off the others' fees (they still have to pay NSI to maintain the database).
The anonymous source is such a longstanding journalistic tradition...
Quite true; however, Deep Throat was fronted by legitimate journalists. There's a difference between a journalist using an anonymous source and an anonymous journalist, which is how I read Katz's statement regarding semi-anonymous postings of events.
Slashdot Mirror
Where's the Ministry for Silly Walks? :)
--
...spread between Mom, Dad, and their 2.4 children. At least, that's my guess. The Neilson ratings are funny that way.
--
What has Netscape got to do with Apache?
Umm... Netscape used to (and still technically does under AOL/Sun) sell a commercial Web Server. Ran on a variety of Unices and POSIX type systems, IIRC.
--
"Mankind in general occupies the position between the angels and the French." -Mark Twain
But then, we 'mericans can't say much since we can't comprehend the metric system.
--
philosophical father?
:) Anyone whose arguments for/against something sound like little more than religious evangelism needs to find a better way to argue.
I guess Locke, Jefferson, Franklin, Paine, and anybody else who ever wrote anything about freedoms and rights never existed, eh?
we here at slashdot?
Which we is that?
A belief in the spirit of the GPL is the one, and ONLY qualification.
Belief in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the one and only qualification for Christianity... (well, not really, but...
That said, I do have to agree with your statement of companies turning out decent, usable products. However, the argument that the GPL is the be all and end all of software licensing is... weak. I agree with Linus, that "whoever writes the code gets to choose the license, and nobody else gets to complain."
have given away source code
Given away? Such a statement implies that you do not understand the terms of the GPL. It is a license agreement, of the same sort of agreement one might make for use of a commercial software package. It permits redistribution if you distribue source with it. Others have different terms. That's all it is. Holding the GPL as holy writ is short-sighted and closed-minded.
--
More context: the code he wants to post is incomplete. You couldn't download it and compile it; you'd need to fill in the missing parts to make it workable. He really only did have an algorithm (Snuffle) presented in code, not an encryption package.
--
Saw a very brief article about this in Newsweek last night... I *think* it's www.asciimation.co.nz, but I've not tried it.
--
In the Star Wars Horoscope, I was born under the sign of Luke. The Career Path quiz told me I was Luke. *sigh* Then it told my sister she was Vader. I think I'll just resign myself to being doomed. :)
--
...were published in yesterday's Salon. The review had this quote: "if you're looking for an amusing, Hollywood-filtered dramatization of the rise of the geek industry, there are worse ways to spend your Sunday evening." :)
The debunking of the story I found more interesting and informative. "Pirates" isn't ground-breaking by any means, and does little more than perpetuate the existing mythos of Silicon Valley (and make TNT some ad revenue). The real history (IMHO) is more interesting, but it'd shatter the popular worldview, so few subscribe to it. It's more fun to demonize people you only know through third- or fourth-hand accounts, apparently.
--
In one sense, Apple has it right: release code for a finished, working product; something that the Mozilla project did wrong initially. Where Apple's move breaks down is Darwin/OS X Server vs OS X, though they're doing what they can to say where the internal dev road map they're following leads. And, since they are planning to release a commercial product to make money, they do have some self-interest in keeping internal development efforts from becoming derailed by external interaction. Consider the state of Mozilla from a commercial point of view: initial estimates for times were way off, and the simultaneous development of Communicator 4.5 and Mozilla 5.0 hampered development of Mozilla. While Mozilla is tracking well now, their initial stumbles were a good example of how NOT to start off.
--
I buy many.. but then, I already only pay $6-$8 per CD. And legally, too. Unfortunately, it seems people are clueless when it comes to the fact that mail-order music clubs can charge $4/CD (+$2 S/H) and make a profit, while the stores charge $17+ for the same ones... And the mail-order houses have employees, just as stores do. Maybe not as many, but still...
--
What's always bothered me was the ability to steal Tech you couldn't even develop. No Prerequisites? No Problem! You haven't discovered Flight, Combustion, Explosives, and JUST discovered the secret of Gunpowder, yet you can steal Advanced Flight. So... your bombers are... what, steam-powered? And they drop cows on the opponents? (Fetchez la vache! Mooooo!) I mean.. it wouldn't be SO bad if you were required to have, say, at least ONE of the prereqs, but such technological leaps.. gah. I guess I'm just sick of having to dump money into building SAM batteries in every city once those barbarians start engaging in Espionage.
--
You probably wouldn't need 20 monitors, no. But one can read this statement as "you can have an iMac running the same setup for use as the control console."
Or something like that. Sorry. Just spent half a day searching for an itty-bitty annoying bug. Gah.
--
the guys at Bungie did a real good job of abstracting away from those same APIs
Given that Bungie does their stuff Mac/Win hybrid as it is, I'd guess they've got their own API set already. Loki would just have to port that set, and given their work with Civ:CTP, I'd guess that much of the work was effectively already done.
--
One thing I'm not clear on: what kind of a law is this? It says that once it's ratified by a group of state attorneys general and then passed by a few state legislatures, it will become law. Since when is that how things work?
It's not. What this is is an attempt to create a law that all states will pass so that state law is the same everywhere. This makes it a state crime (not federal) and a company could go after anyone in any state, effectively creating a federal law on software licensing without involving the Federal Government. Compare this to the few states with anti-spam laws: you must transgress in that state to be able to sue. The idea here is to have all states have equal laws, and as the article says, it's possible that they will rubber-stamp the reccommendation of the organization. This seems like it could be an end-run around the US Federal controls on Inter-state Commerce, but I'm no constitutional lawyer, so I don't know how that whole thing works.
--
This was a topic in a recent Time (or Newsweek?) and Popular Science. Basically, all the over-use of antibiotics has begun to breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Penicillin doesn't work as well as it did, and many of the other common antibiotics aren't, either. What's worse about this is that it isn't just use of antibiotics on people, it's use on livestock, too. Very big argument for proper food preparation. It's also been suggested that such behavior by parents leads to lower resistance to even minor things in their children, where a lack of exposure to common germs and particles at a young age leading to allergies and such later in life.
Very War of the Worlds (wasn't it?) kind of thought: being killed by the common cold.
--
It seems the press keeps asking, "Why did this happen?"
I think the correct question is, "Why did this happen at school?"
Why not a shopping mall? Why not a department store? If FPS games are really turning kids into violent, mindless killers, why are they particularly targeting their fellow students and not Joe Six-Pack on the street?
How does that saying go? "For every complex problem, there's a solution that's simple, neat, and wrong."
--
Precedent: Vader at the end of RotJ.
Might have something to do with willing yourself to die.
--
Let's say I were to create a computer language and compiler that would use natural language (albeit very refined language) to create a program.
Discussed in the opinion:
The distinction urged on us by the government would prove too much in this era of rapidly evolving computer capabilities. The fact that computers will soon be able to respond directly to spoken commands, for example, should not confer on the government the unfettered power to impose prior restraints on speech in an effort to control its "functional " aspects.
-Virgil
--
what about pseudocode ? Can that be posted and escape these restrictions?
t ein_decision_9_cir.html), it seems that posting of "Instructions" was prohibited: Bernstein later wrote a set of instructions in English (the "Instructions") explaining how to program a computer to encrypt and decrypt data utilizing a one-way hash function, essentially translating verbatim his Source Code into prose form. [...] The State Department responded that Snuffle was a munition under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR"), and that Bernstein would need a license to "export" the Paper, the Source Code, or the Instructions.
Actually, from reading the opinion (http://www.epic.org/crypto/export_controls/berns
As for code being speech or functional, there's a decent point made in the opinion: Second, and more importantly, the government's argument, distilled to its essence, suggests that even one drop of "direct functionality" overwhelms any constitutional protections that expression might otherwise enjoy. This cannot be so.
(Search for the words "draft card" to find why it cannot be so.)
The majority decision has really well written arguments as to why "we reject the notion that the admixture of functionality necessarily puts expression beyond the protections of the Constitution."
I highly recommend that everyone read it.
-Virgil
--
I think a comment I saw posted already about the CG characters not looking CG explain it.
Simply that. I've got a subscription to the dead tree edition, and they had a few large pics (large for a print magazine, anyway) of the CG characters. Quite simply, if I hadn't known that they were CG, I don't think I could've said one way or the other. I'd say go wander past a news stand or bookstore and flip through it.
4 more weeks!
-Virgil
--
...are "exclusive pictures". Some of the closeups of the CG characters are amazing... I could really only tell that they were CGI because I *knew* they were CGI.
The Galactic Guide's much neater in there, too... all on one foldout, that's going to get tacked to my wall.
4 more weeks!
-Virgil
--
News.com has an article covering it. I agree with their analysis: NSI's going to have a de facto monopoly because of their past governance of the InterNIC, and the fact that, regardless of the new state of competition, NSI gets to skim off the others' fees (they still have to pay NSI to maintain the database).
-Virgil
--
...are a reality, according to USA Today. No details as to the specifics, but it's going to happen.
-Virgil
--
The anonymous source is such a longstanding journalistic tradition...
Quite true; however, Deep Throat was fronted by legitimate journalists. There's a difference between a journalist using an anonymous source and an anonymous journalist, which is how I read Katz's statement regarding semi-anonymous postings of events.
-Virgil
--