I dunno, I think flaming has it's place. All it really is is raw emotion and a violent outpouring of opinion.
I have to disagree violently... I don't think flaming has a place at any time in any situation. I certainly would never listen to anyone who is hurling obcenities at me whether it is through Email, or in front of my face. It just isn't a practical method of getting your point across. Escpecially when you get 1 or 2 hundred of them in a ten minute span.
If I get an email that starts with "You are an idiot", unless I am really bored, it will automatically be forwarded to/dev/null. So whatever briliant revelations may have been further on in the letter are lost.
Constructive critisism is much more effective. mention the good with the bad. Think about what you are writing. And most importantly, wait 5 minutes and re-read your message before sending it. You will most likely have calmed down and realize that what you've written sounds way to harsh for the situation. Remember, there is no cancel button once that Email is out the door.
Bug is such a nasty, negative word. In our PC (not Personal Computer) world we should not be using a term such as "BUG" to refer to anything in the programs we are creating.
Personally I have always prefered "Undocumented Feature", and I propose it as the proper way to refer to these accidental inconsistencies that occur in our works of "Art"....
If only we got to see half the cool stuff they make for the European market, like the extensive trainsets...sigh. Still, I'd love to have a tower case made out of Lego bricks. Not only expandable, but thoroughly customizable
I've got a whole box full of the Lego electric train stuff. I just pulled it out of the box about a month ago, but it's not working too well anymore... The tracks are a bit rusty, and I don't have a 110 to 220 Volt transformer anymore to make it run properly. If I find a few spare hours some day I'll have to fix it up again, because that stuff was ausome to play with when I was younger. Who am I kidding it's still ausome stuff (I'm only 27 yrs young after all =] )
I lived my first 9 years in the Netherlands, and my parents were kind enough to give me Lego on every birthday.
I don't know if anyone knew about this, but in Canada we have no restrictions on what words can be used on the radio. The CRTC has taken a stance that Radio stations can decide for themselves if they choose to play music with swear words in them, or to bleep them out.
They realize that most (if not all) Radio Stations do not want to risk losing listeners by using obsenities, so you will rarely hear any. Gee, self regulation can work...
If spam followed the rules of telemarketing, I wouldn't have as much problem with it. Here in Canada, if a company calls you at home and tries to sell you something, you can ask them to remove you from their callers list. If they do not, and 'harass' you again, you can report them and/or take legal action.
In other words, the law states that you have a choice about whether you want to receive telemarketing calls or not.
The problem with Spam is that 99.9% of all spammers hide their identity (or at least try to). You rarely get the chance to ask them to remove you from their mailing list. And even if that option exists, I doubt it actually gets removed.
If I had some sort of control over what I get and what I don't get, then I would be able to live with spam. However, I will never buy something from a telemarketer, and I will never buy something through uncolicited Email (or Spam). Those companies always get in my bad books (Sprint anyone)... I just don't like businesses invading my time like that.
But is it really the only thing that interests you in life? I enjoy work a lot, but there are also other things that are important to me. I like to go SCUBA diving, and I like to go camping, and I like reading a good book every once in a while.
Work can be very enjoyable, but it shouldn't occupy all of your life. If it does, then you are missing out on a whole lot more.
Of course, if you don't feel like you are missing anything, then there isn't anything that is missing. I guess it all comes down to who you are...
two reasons why people upgrade software
on
All Hail Bloatware
·
· Score: 1
The two top reasons why people upgrade software
1. New versions usually have incompatible, proprietary file formats 2. And how else do you get bug fixes from Windows software
New features is not a reason to upgrade to the next version of a software package. Most IT people that I deal with are of the mind that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. But since all software is 'broke', we are stuck in the endless upgrade cycle...
It states that it is a non profit corporation. I don't think many inverstors would really want to buy a chunk of a non profit organization. It kind of goes against what investments are all about:)
ESR and RMS are friends. ESR and RMS are friendly rivals. ESR and RMS are bitter rivals. It depends on the day, the cause, and the mood. They both have talent, and they both have egos. Unfortunately, because of that, they will never both pull quite in the same direction, and that's too bad for the community - because as much as they've both accomplished, if they could meet in the middle they'd probably accomplish even more.
As soon as everyone agrees on the same principles and ideals, then the topic becomes boring and people loose interest. These little wars that rage on in the OSS & FS community is what keeps everyone fighting for what they believe in, and defines us as a community.
Fighting (disagreeing) is a necesary part of a healthy relationship...
As long as this doesn't result in a flame war, and I believe that RMS and ESR both have enough dignity and common sense not to let it go to that, I think that everything will turn out just peachy keen.
Have you ever checked to see how much room IE 5.0 actually takes up? At the University where I worked, they were asked to install IE 5.0. They use a 'restore image' that allows them to format a drive and just copy over a complete install in a couple of minutes. It turned out that adding IE 5.0 increased the 'restore image' by 70 Megs. This is not 70 megs worth of files that replace old files, this is an extra 70 Megs... When you need to restore 300 PC on a weekly basis (student computer labs), this is a significant amount. Now I don't really care how quick it is, or the fact that I have 4 Gigs of HD space, web browser (or any program for that matter) should not require that much space.
This reminds me of one of the Darwin Award candidates for 1998.
Telephone relay company night watchman Edward Baker, 31, was killed early Christmas morning by excessive microwave radiation exposure. He was apparently attempting to keep warm next to a telecommunications feedhorn.
It says that he did this quite often, but during the Christmas rush, they has increased the power by tenfold without his knowledge. Oops...
If there is one thing that Microsoft has done well in the past, is that it has adapted quickly to threats. It looks like they are again changing their ways, this time to combat their demize at the hands of OSS and FS.
The big difference this time, is the fact that they realize that they can't win with marketing alone... They can only win by improving their own product.
In my opinion, this is a welcome change. It show that competition in an open market will eventually provide better products.
Who knows, perhaps we will one day see an OS from Microsoft that is free and open (not likely, but not entirely out of the question)
For now however, I will keep using Linux for my own use because it fills my requirements (not because I think its the best of the lot, that is inconsequential)
Also, if you start reading letters across from left to right, you can read down at any point and still continue with the same pattern... Thought that was kinda neat...
I'm sure that in the next month or so you can save up $125. Just stop drinking for a month:). And after all, what is OSAP really for. This is an educational experience after all. I'm sure you will learn more in this conference than you will in your courses at Queens (not a shot at Queens, just at Universities in general).
Then again, I'm trying to justify spending the 225 bones myself (I have a student card, but it's expired now)
If you do decide to go and need a ride, let me know, because IF I go I'll be coming through Kingston (I live in Toronto)
But by using a 133 MHz FSB you are overclocking the processor... A Celery 300 runs at 300MHz because the processor is clock-tripled (ie 3 times the FSB speed of 100 MHz). By increasing the FSB speed, you also increase the processor speed, so your 300 MHz processor would now run at 400 MHz if the FSB is running at 133 MHz.
Borland has made some excellent development tools in that past. This is definitely a smart move on Microsoft's part.
On the other hand, I don't think this will benefit Inprise (Borland) much more than the fact that they are getting $125 big ones out of it.
By the way, I thought that C++ Builder 3 already had MFC included with it. I realy hope that they don't scrap VCL for MFC. That would be a huge step backwards.
I guess I'll have to wait until hell freezes over before I see the C++ builder GUI for Linux now.
Well, seeing as the article was mainly about the Linux kernel, the GNOME/KDE debate doesn't really fit in.
I liked the article as well. It talked about many of the technical advantages of Linux (without any technical details mind you). I think that too much emphasis is being placed on advertizing the new GUIs for Linux, and your average non-Linux user doesn't realize the many other great features that Linux has (RAID, SMP, SMB, IPmasq, etc...) There needs to be some balance in the advocacy wars...
I think he just means that you can tweak the kernel by changing some values in the/proc filesystem, instead of hard-coding them in the source and needing to recompile.
I agree that he wasn't very clear here, but at least it was written in a pro Linux manner. I hate it when 'tech' reporters make mistakes and in turn make Linux look bad (that goes for any other OS or software as well). If you're going to say something negative, you better make sure that you are right... Unless your spreading FUD of coarse:)
You don't understand that a Perl script written for this new MS breed of Perl will not work for other platforms, that is where the problem lies.
So are you saying that perl code should be platform independant like Java was supposed to be? This seems like a ridiculous expectation. According to that notion I should be able to use the same perl script that I use to change passwords in/etc/passwd, to change passwords in the WinNT registry!
There will probably be functions added to allow you to change the registry from within Perl among other things. But I don't expect anyone to find these functions useful on the Unix side. If you want to build platform independant system utilities using Perl, you may have to do some magic (do an if else on the OS version). But I expect that most of your perl scripts will work no problem on either platform (ie text parsing is text parsing whether you are on NT or Unix).
And if you only use Perl on Unix, the fact that Perl may have Windows specific functionality in it will have ~zero effect on you.
Now what would be ideal, is if these extensions were done as part of a module. That should make everyone happy...
I had some problems with my AMD K6II/350 using the VIA chipset (obviously were talking Socket7 not slot1 here, but it does have the 100Mhz fsb). I couldn't get a SB128 working with an ATI 3DRage Video card.
I tried every possible driver combination, but nothing worked. It turned out it was the USB driver for the motherboard chipset that was provided by Win98 that was the culprit. I wasn't even using the USB, so this kind it confused me. But, after getting the proper USB driver and installing it, everything has worked without a flaw.
But these squatters didn't pay for anything... You don't have to pay for the domain immediately. They just hold the domain for 6 months, and when their time runs out, they release and register it under a different name...
This means they can register any number of domains at practicaly ZERO cost...
I like the shot that the editor takes at Microsoft at the end of the article...
In other news, last October an internal memo from Microsoft was released that outlines de-commoditization of open protocols as a way to respond to the threat of Open Source Software. -lt ed
Anyway, I'm sure that there is more money coming from other places, so I don't think Microsoft will have much influence in the direction of this project.
I think an internet based on closed standards would fail miserably. And in any case, since the internet is an International community, there is no way that the world would let it be controlled by a single American company.
Even the US government would be wary to give anyone a controlled monopoly (ie look at what has happened to NSI)
It worries me to read in the Salon article than Linus and Alan Cox are trying to give advice to Mindcraft for a second test
It worries me because I think the Linux community did a very good job of refuting the ridiculous results of the test, but if they redo them and can claim that Linux lost even with the help of Linus and Alan Cox. . .
But words will only take you so far. An MSCE could talk for hours about how great NT is, but that doesn't mean you're going to believe him.
If Linus and Alan have a chance to help in redoing the tests (assuming the tests were done to their satisfaction), then I say go for it.
It seems that maybe there is some fear that Linux may not "blow away" NT like it has been talked about. This wouldn't surprise me, given the oversized hardware the test is being done on. It is already known that Linux has a lot of room for growth in that market.
It is not a bad thing to openly display the shortcomings of Linux. This will spark interest in overcoming these problems (and as the Salon article mentions, the ball is already rolling on this).
But then again, maybe Linux will "blow NT" out of the water. I for one would like to see the results.
The problem is, that the server is only part of the cost. In order to test the server, you will also need 100-200 client machines + all the networking for these machines. This is where things get pricy. And to do a proper benchmark, asking people to SlashDot the machine is not an accurate measure of it's performance.
Slashdot Mirror
If I get an email that starts with "You are an idiot", unless I am really bored, it will automatically be forwarded to /dev/null. So whatever briliant revelations may have been further on in the letter are lost.
Constructive critisism is much more effective. mention the good with the bad. Think about what you are writing. And most importantly, wait 5 minutes and re-read your message before sending it. You will most likely have calmed down and realize that what you've written sounds way to harsh for the situation. Remember, there is no cancel button once that Email is out the door.
Bug is such a nasty, negative word. In our PC (not Personal Computer) world we should not be using a term such as "BUG" to refer to anything in the programs we are creating.
Personally I have always prefered "Undocumented Feature", and I propose it as the proper way to refer to these accidental inconsistencies that occur in our works of "Art"....
I lived my first 9 years in the Netherlands, and my parents were kind enough to give me Lego on every birthday.
I don't know if anyone knew about this, but in Canada we have no restrictions on what words can be used on the radio. The CRTC has taken a stance that Radio stations can decide for themselves if they choose to play music with swear words in them, or to bleep them out.
They realize that most (if not all) Radio Stations do not want to risk losing listeners by using obsenities, so you will rarely hear any. Gee, self regulation can work...
In other words, the law states that you have a choice about whether you want to receive telemarketing calls or not.
The problem with Spam is that 99.9% of all spammers hide their identity (or at least try to). You rarely get the chance to ask them to remove you from their mailing list. And even if that option exists, I doubt it actually gets removed.
If I had some sort of control over what I get and what I don't get, then I would be able to live with spam. However, I will never buy something from a telemarketer, and I will never buy something through uncolicited Email (or Spam). Those companies always get in my bad books (Sprint anyone)... I just don't like businesses invading my time like that.
But is it really the only thing that interests you in life? I enjoy work a lot, but there are also other things that are important to me. I like to go SCUBA diving, and I like to go camping, and I like reading a good book every once in a while.
Work can be very enjoyable, but it shouldn't occupy all of your life. If it does, then you are missing out on a whole lot more.
Of course, if you don't feel like you are missing anything, then there isn't anything that is missing. I guess it all comes down to who you are...
The two top reasons why people upgrade software
1. New versions usually have incompatible, proprietary file formats
2. And how else do you get bug fixes from Windows software
New features is not a reason to upgrade to the next version of a software package. Most IT people that I deal with are of the mind that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. But since all software is 'broke', we are stuck in the endless upgrade cycle...
It states that it is a non profit corporation. I don't think many inverstors would really want to buy a chunk of a non profit organization. It kind of goes against what investments are all about :)
Fighting (disagreeing) is a necesary part of a healthy relationship...
As long as this doesn't result in a flame war, and I believe that RMS and ESR both have enough dignity and common sense not to let it go to that, I think that everything will turn out just peachy keen.
Have you ever checked to see how much room IE 5.0 actually takes up? At the University where I worked, they were asked to install IE 5.0. They use a 'restore image' that allows them to format a drive and just copy over a complete install in a couple of minutes. It turned out that adding IE 5.0 increased the 'restore image' by 70 Megs. This is not 70 megs worth of files that replace old files, this is an extra 70 Megs... When you need to restore 300 PC on a weekly basis (student computer labs), this is a significant amount.
Now I don't really care how quick it is, or the fact that I have 4 Gigs of HD space, web browser (or any program for that matter) should not require that much space.
Tell me that isn't bloated software...
It says that he did this quite often, but during the Christmas rush, they has increased the power by tenfold without his knowledge. Oops...
Check out www.darwinawards.com for more info...
If there is one thing that Microsoft has done well in the past, is that it has adapted quickly to threats. It looks like they are again changing their ways, this time to combat their demize at the hands of OSS and FS.
The big difference this time, is the fact that they realize that they can't win with marketing alone... They can only win by improving their own product.
In my opinion, this is a welcome change. It show that competition in an open market will eventually provide better products.
Who knows, perhaps we will one day see an OS from Microsoft that is free and open (not likely, but not entirely out of the question)
For now however, I will keep using Linux for my own use because it fills my requirements (not because I think its the best of the lot, that is inconsequential)
Also, if you start reading letters across from left to right, you can read down at any point and still continue with the same pattern... Thought that was kinda neat...
I'm sure that in the next month or so you can save up $125. Just stop drinking for a month :). And after all, what is OSAP really for. This is an educational experience after all. I'm sure you will learn more in this conference than you will in your courses at Queens (not a shot at Queens, just at Universities in general).
Then again, I'm trying to justify spending the 225 bones myself (I have a student card, but it's expired now)
If you do decide to go and need a ride, let me know, because IF I go I'll be coming through Kingston (I live in Toronto)
But by using a 133 MHz FSB you are overclocking the processor... A Celery 300 runs at 300MHz because the processor is clock-tripled (ie 3 times the FSB speed of 100 MHz). By increasing the FSB speed, you also increase the processor speed, so your 300 MHz processor would now run at 400 MHz if the FSB is running at 133 MHz.
Borland has made some excellent development tools in that past. This is definitely a smart move on Microsoft's part.
On the other hand, I don't think this will benefit Inprise (Borland) much more than the fact that they are getting $125 big ones out of it.
By the way, I thought that C++ Builder 3 already had MFC included with it. I realy hope that they don't scrap VCL for MFC. That would be a huge step backwards.
I guess I'll have to wait until hell freezes over before I see the C++ builder GUI for Linux now.
Well, seeing as the article was mainly about the Linux kernel, the GNOME/KDE debate doesn't really fit in.
I liked the article as well. It talked about many of the technical advantages of Linux (without any technical details mind you). I think that too much emphasis is being placed on advertizing the new GUIs for Linux, and your average non-Linux user doesn't realize the many other great features that Linux has (RAID, SMP, SMB, IPmasq, etc...) There needs to be some balance in the advocacy wars...
I think he just means that you can tweak the kernel by changing some values in the /proc filesystem, instead of hard-coding them in the source and needing to recompile.
:)
I agree that he wasn't very clear here, but at least it was written in a pro Linux manner. I hate it when 'tech' reporters make mistakes and in turn make Linux look bad (that goes for any other OS or software as well). If you're going to say something negative, you better make sure that you are right... Unless your spreading FUD of coarse
There will probably be functions added to allow you to change the registry from within Perl among other things. But I don't expect anyone to find these functions useful on the Unix side. If you want to build platform independant system utilities using Perl, you may have to do some magic (do an if else on the OS version). But I expect that most of your perl scripts will work no problem on either platform (ie text parsing is text parsing whether you are on NT or Unix).
And if you only use Perl on Unix, the fact that Perl may have Windows specific functionality in it will have ~zero effect on you.
Now what would be ideal, is if these extensions were done as part of a module. That should make everyone happy...
I had some problems with my AMD K6II/350 using the VIA chipset (obviously were talking Socket7 not slot1 here, but it does have the 100Mhz fsb). I couldn't get a SB128 working with an ATI 3DRage Video card.
:)
I tried every possible driver combination, but nothing worked. It turned out it was the USB driver for the motherboard chipset that was provided by Win98 that was the culprit. I wasn't even using the USB, so this kind it confused me. But, after getting the proper USB driver and installing it, everything has worked without a flaw.
Just thought I'd share my experience
But these squatters didn't pay for anything... You don't have to pay for the domain immediately. They just hold the domain for 6 months, and when their time runs out, they release and register it under a different name...
This means they can register any number of domains at practicaly ZERO cost...
I think an internet based on closed standards would fail miserably. And in any case, since the internet is an International community, there is no way that the world would let it be controlled by a single American company.
Even the US government would be wary to give anyone a controlled monopoly (ie look at what has happened to NSI)
If Linus and Alan have a chance to help in redoing the tests (assuming the tests were done to their satisfaction), then I say go for it.
It seems that maybe there is some fear that Linux may not "blow away" NT like it has been talked about. This wouldn't surprise me, given the oversized hardware the test is being done on. It is already known that Linux has a lot of room for growth in that market.
It is not a bad thing to openly display the shortcomings of Linux. This will spark interest in overcoming these problems (and as the Salon article mentions, the ball is already rolling on this).
But then again, maybe Linux will "blow NT" out of the water. I for one would like to see the results.
The problem is, that the server is only part of the cost. In order to test the server, you will also need 100-200 client machines + all the networking for these machines. This is where things get pricy. And to do a proper benchmark, asking people to SlashDot the machine is not an accurate measure of it's performance.