There is something about a paper text that makes learning better (perhaps even easier). You can make margin notes, highlight the major points and put little post it notes here and there. You can flip back a couple of pages or chapters and you can read ahead to prep for the next days class.
You can huddle with you classmates at a table and study. You can keep those most important books for future reference.
But, most importantly, a book is non-virtual. It is something that represents knowlege. A good textbook is a good read, unfortunately, there aren't too many really good textbooks anymore.
As a student I had the luxuary of getting knowlege for knowlege's sake. As a working adult I no longer have that luxuary, as a result, I only find the time to learn what I need to at the moment. Believe me, there is a real difference.
I like most of the live distros that I have seen and think that they are one of the keys to getting more people to try, like, enjoy, and move to Linux. MEPIS is probably my favorite but Knoppix is right up there too.
I'd like to see a couple of changes (hopefull improvments) come along sometime soon. In Knoppix, I'd like to see a MEPIS like "install me" tool. In both MEPIS and Knoppix I'd like to see fewer default applications (don't need three or four word processors or several spreadsheets).
These are common complaints - I know. But really the complexity will turn some people off.
I'd also like to see an online place where I can go to load and run some other applications. I know that this would probably mean having to write to the hard drive and that sort of defeats the concept of the live CD but I think that that could be dealt with by a warning banner that informs the user that this is about to happen (and tell them how to undo it).
My thinking on this is that trial-users may think that all of the best applications are already stuffed on the CD. That simply isn't the case.
I'd also like to see a DVD version of either Knoppix or MEPIS - but not just so they can offer more applications. I'd also like to see it used as a demo-ground of what people have done using Linux (graphics, movies, and so on).
One final note - I think that most live CD's should have a way of copying themselves easily so that users would have an even easier time making and sharing the CD!
Microsoft has dominated the desktop for over a decade. Unless something drastic and unexpected happens, it will take a minimum of five years from now for it to lose dominance. Having said that, I do think that 2004 is a watershed year for Linux and for Microsoft. Years from now, we will look back and identify 2004 as the year where the tides bagan to change.
Why do I feel this way? Very few companies in very few industries ever achieve the dominance that Microsoft has in the computing industry. Competition always keeps the underdogs going for the golden ring, and profits like Microsoft enjoys have other companies salivating. History shows us that very few companies can hold onto such an amazing lead over the competition.
Linux and other "free" operating systems hold a unique advantage over Microsoft's offerings. They are free. Microsoft can not afford to compete on price alone. Every day that goes by, the gap between Microsoft's offerings and Linux's offerings narrows the gap in quality. With Novell and IBM in the fray, that gap is sure to close even further. At some point, Linux's offerings will become the most logical choice for everyone. Microsoft's grip will sliip and they will slide. It won't be fast, they will lose by percentage points.
At least this is what I hope. I have no crysal ball. They have quite a war chest and they have a lot of lawyers. Maybe one of these hair-brained lawsuits from the likes of SCO will work. I don't know, and I sure hope not.
Linus is probably right but I hope that it is 5 years and not 10.
For the love of God will somebody please explain to me how "genetic engineering" is going to destroy the earth? I don't get it. Really, it isn't obvious to me.
Every day we eat foods that are genetic modifications of the originals. The corn we eat today bears very little resemblence to the maize eaten by the indians and original settlers. Apples, like the Red Delicious are hybrids - it hardly seems to be the same thing that comes from the apple tree in my back yard. Today's cattle are larger and better than those grown in the '30's & 40's, same thing goes for pigs. Turkeys and chickens produce more white meat today than they did even a few years ago. They are all GENETIC MUTATIONS! Should I stop eating them? No. They are better than the originals.
Genetic engineering is a science. These people understand what they are doing. They are ethical people who do their best to deliver safe, reliable, beneficial products to market. The companies that employ them expose themselves to great liability so they test these products thouroughly.
I'm not ready for scientists to graft human DNA into apes to create a ready supply of transplantable organs but that goes more to ethical questions than it does to the science.
Science is all about discovery to bebefit mankind. Engineering is all about the application of science to benefit mankind. It is a good thing to have oversight of these processes but there are far too many out there crying wolf!
Thinking that there are mad scientists out there creating evil things to benefit themselves is largely a product of Hollywood. The people that can't seperate Hollywood fantasy from reality are the ones screaming that mad scientists will create a genetic mutation that will destroy humanity.
Do you have a lock on the front door of your house or apartment? If every one were trustworthy and honest it could be argued that you don't need one. But the fact is that there are many (if not most) people out there who will take something for free that they should have to pay for if they know they can get away with it.
Music (and software) piracy is theft. The creator of the art deserves to get their cut of the sales.
What rankles me about copy protection, licensing codes and so on is not the protection of the product (that is legitimate) but the fact that most if not all of these arrangments break something in the process. When a copy protection scheme prohibits me from some leigitimate use then it is like the lock on the front door occasionaly locking me out too. If I buy a CD and want to play it on my computer I should be able to. If I want to cary a copy of a CD in my car rather than the original, I should be able to because I am afraid of the original being ripped off or damaged. These are ligitamate rights that I have when I make my purchase.
Weed is on to something here. I hope that they expand their offerings to music I listen to and I hope they come up with a similar solution for video and software.
Me too! I'm in Minneapolis where Time Warner charges me $49.95 + taxes per month for cable access. It seems to get slower and slower every day and they are advertising that they have sped it up.
Also, they advertise 29.95 per month for joining up - when I see that ad, I want to quit for a day and re-join but probably can't do that and keep my email addresses and stuff.
I admit it, I have used er, abused IM to the point where I have told the kids supper is ready. It was an exparament sorta. I actually think I got a better response then just yelling for them.
I do seriously use it to IM them when they are at their friends or boyfriends. I hate to admit it but one of their friends will know where they are and get the word to them. There is a new culture brewing with teens today, they are all online and it is a secondary means of communication for them.
One of the more unique things that I am aware of is that my daugter has several classes where the kids do their homework together via IM/chat with the full approval and santion of their teacher.
I would suggest that if the addiction is so bad that it is causing headaches you should probably make your first step "see a doctor." The headaches may be simply a symptom of caffiene withdrawl and something that you will get past in a couple of days but what if the headaches are a side-effect of another )possibly related) problem.
The doctor can recommend a process to follow (ie:cold turkey or gradual withdrawl) and he may be able to perscribe a drug to help deal with the headaches (ie: Imitrex).
Caffiene is a dangerous drug when used in large quanities or over a prolonged period of time. It can cause irregularities in your heartbeat, throw your bloood pressure out of whack, contribute to strokes, cause migraines...
My son used to drink a 12 pack of "Dew" a day. At the ripe age of eighteen, he landed in the CCU at a hospital after having a heart fibrulation . The clinic made him go by ambulance. While in the hospital, the doctors detoxed him while he was hooked to a heart monitor. When he was released, they told him no more caffieneated beverages - period.
I thought it would be fun to copy their format and see what I could come up with:
The Big Trend
Companies will continue to demand lower cost IT services and will put the squeeze on suppliers to provide lower cost products that deliver quality "core services" but have fewer bells and whistles that the companies rarely use. In search of lower cost, quality software forward thinking companies will turn to open source software to meet their day-to-day operating needs.
The Unconventional Wisdom
Companies will discover that they can use the internet for more than web pages and email. They will start small, using thin-clients to put some of their internal applications on servers in the back room on Linux based servers allowing users to connect to these applications using X-windows servers on Windows based desktops. These early experiments will pave the way for greater implementations in 2005 and beyond of additional server based applications and will eventually allow business to place Linux based computers on the desktop. Look for Novell and IBM to partner in this process. IBM will supply the power (mainframes and high-end servers) in the backroom and the inexpensive but reliable desktops needed for this and Novell will provide the software.
The Misplaced Assumption
Microsoft will continue to oppose open source software with a campaign of FUD. They will rely on their marketing team to continue selling the idea that "free is not less expensive." Watch for their FUD to change slightly in the next year though. They will tie the SCO lawsuit into their FUD, telling customers that they may be liable for large licensing fees if they use Linux. They will also ask the hard question: "Who do you go to for support when you need help for your free software?" and; "Who do you sue if you lose money by using free software?" The companies promoting open source software will form an Open Software Alliance that will address these new FUD-angles.
SCO will continue their lawsuit. They will lose battles but it will not be decided in 2004. Sorry.
The Watch List
Novell has an aggressive plan for their Linux holdings. IBM also has a real vested interest in Linux and is a true believer in what Linux can do for business. IBM has a significant investment in Novell. Watch for this partnership to start to bear fruit in 2004. It is a partnership that can office business an affordable, reliable solution to their honest to goodness needs.
SCO will continue their fight. Groklaw will follow it blow by blow. SCO will file more suits against more companies. 2004 will be over before this is over.
The Bold Prediction
2004 will be a watershed year for open source. 2003 was filled with skirmishes. In 2004 the battle lines will be drawn and armies formed but the battle for computing dominance will not happen until 2005 or perhaps 2006. But, by the end of 2004, people will know what side they are on. This is truly a "David VS Goliath" story but the tale is still taking shape.
Have you ever pulled in to a gas station and had an old car, perhaps a Model "T" or Model "A" pull into the pump next to you? On nice summer weekends in these parts, it happens quite frequently and, to me, it is quite reassuring.
Car technology has advanced a great deal since 1903 but those antique cars can still get their gas from the same pumps I can! While I recognize that there are a lot of differences between a gallon of gas and a BIOS chip the point is that when you keep certain basic things the same, a continuity is provided that kind of keeps obsolesence at bay. I would rather not go back to DOS, or even Windows 3.1 but knowing that at a certain core level, I am working with hardware that works the same way, I feel a little better.
I'm giving away my age here - but I had been working on computers for a few years when I first encountered BIOS. The first BIOS I worked with came on an 8" floppy and was the disk you booted before you could boot CP/M! A few years later IBM came out with the PC and the BIOS was on a chip but it performed the same basic functions that that BIOS disk did in CP/M. The BIOS was really the only "closed" part of the PC, everything else was open. This allowed many different manufacturers to build hardware and accessories for the PC. IBM only published some basic information on the BIOS which was eventually reverse engineered and the rest as they say is history.
My concern is that if the BIOS is replaced with something like EFI that Intel and Microsoft will essencially close the "new BIOS." This would lead to only a limited number of companys that would (once again) hold the "keys to the kingdom." They could shut out companies like AMD, VIA, as well as the open source community and companies like Novell, Oracle, AMI, Phoenix and perhaps even IBM. They could and probably would create new "methods" that would hide behind the protections that EFI could afford. They would only share the methods with companies that would license the rights.
It goes beyond what we consider DRM today. I am not against finding some way to give authors a way of protecting their works but when the gatekeepers can decide who has the right to create, that rubs me the wrong way.
You don't think they would do it? Look at how hard it has been for people to make Linux drivers for "Winmodems" or how difficult it has been for the open source community to build a Windows Emulator. Reverse engineering is hard even before you think about the restrictions that the DCMA introduced. You can bet they'll do it.
I'd like to keep my BIOS and not use much of what it has to offer because software has found better ways of doing it. Because at a very base level it keeps the playing field level.
Perhaps I am all wrong, and nobody would be happier than I if I am wrong. But do you really want to risk all the compatibility that we have today on something Microsoft and Intel control?
Face it, there is little reason to fix BIOS, it works and it is reasonably simple. The reason M$ wants this is for DRM and I guess that the reason Intel wants it is because without Microsoft, they are just another chip maker.
Oppose this at all costs! Send Intel an email today telling them how if they leave BIOS in the dust, you'll buy AMD, VIA, or ABI (Anything But Intel).
The tools that they used were briliantly simple and delivered reasonable accuracy as long as they were well treated. Even today, the sextent is used to confirm the locations of bouys and etc because it can independantly confirm the GPS reading. Windspeed was guaged with a spinning cup or a paddle. The spinning cup method depends on the accuracy of the count and time, and the paddle method depends on the accuracy of the paddle's measurements and it's precise weight. Since the ships were moving too, the ship's speed had to be known (which was calculated by latitude and longitude and time).
By the 1700's all these measurements were reasonably accurate. Maps made back then were already quite accurate and mariners were able to sail to pretty small islands because they knew exactly where to look. Their Navigation was a real science and required accurate time keeping and accurate measurments.
This reminds me of the Monty Python skit from the Holy Grail where they have to answer a question about the speed of a swollow before crossing the bridge.
I guess that the idea does have some merit, however, I don't want to slow spam down, I want to stop it. I don't really see how the solution will work, spammers will just find a different direction - probably hijacking computers to do the calculations they need.
Please don't flame me for sounding pro-Microsoft until you think about what I've said for a few minutes.
Microsoft didn't get where they are today without having a few things going for them. They are a savvy competitor and ruthelss opponents. Like a good football team, they have a good offense, and a good defense. They have forward looking vision and they try like hell to react to the market place. They measure their success by both profit and marketshare. You can be sure that anything threatens either profit or marketshare they will try to beat it.
Linux alone has not been a real threat to Microsoft, it has been seen as too geeky, too limited, and too difficult to use. But other open-source projects have come along and helped fill in the voids (projects like KDE) and now, Linux and open source in general have risen to the level where they can no longer escape Microsoft's attention.
Product surveys are nothing new. Ford sends them to Chevy & Dodge owners. I don't really see much difference in Microsoft sending them out to Linux users. As a matter of fact, I think good things could come from them.
Most people who use Linux have used Windows, they know what they like about Linux and what they dislike about Windows. They know why they have changed and they know what it would take to make them change back to Microsoft's Windows.
Survey's cost money. Companys spend money on them to learn things about their products stengths and weaknesses. They use this data to make product and marketing changes.
What they are likely to hear from Linux users is that they like Linux's license, Linux's cost-to-performance ratio, and that they feel that Linux is getting close to Windows in the Look-and-Feel category.
They are going to also hear Microsoft Windows is too expensive, that the product has flaws that they find intolerable (security risks, crashes, and so on).
Then the marketing types will talk to the developer types and try to fix the product so that Linux users will consider returning to the fold.
This is a smart, good, and ethical business practice although I find it difficult to believe that they would take it far enough. I just can't see them writing extenstions for Windows that would run *nix compatible software. Nor can I see them giving away either Windows or Office.
Business history shows us that almost every company that has climbed to the top of the heap has lost its footing and slips. They usually fall because they are arrogent and ignore some basic solid business theory. In Microsoft's case, this is likely to be the case. They feel they have such a grip on the market that they can charge excessive license fees. By the time they finish milking this cash cow they will have dried her up.
Saddam has been captured. The country, indeed the world seem to think this is a good thing and a big part of me is inclined to agree. But I guess I am quite a cynic because a tiny part of me wonders how important, how real all of this is.
Those of us who live in the USA are told time and time again how free a world we live in, that our press is free to report whatever they want and that we are free to have whatever opinions we want. But over the years, I have had the opportunity to "be in the know" on a deep level significant details of a couple of news items. What I've learned from these experiences is that the news is more an entertainment medium than it is journalisim. Reporters tell a good story but leave out details that are really significant even when they know these details.
Based on these few instances, I can't help but take all news reports with more than a bit of skepticisim. In this case, I am even a bit more cautious because almost all of the information comes from our military and our government. This means that the reporters get a cleansed version of the information. They are only hearing what the government wants them to hear.
Are the facts correct? Yes, they probably are. But they aren't all of the facts. An this is true not just for this chapter of the story but all the way back to "chapter one" where ever that is.
Yes, I still want to know where the WMD are. I want to know because it was one of the primary justifications that our government used to launch the war. I hope that there will be a real, honest trial where some of the "dirty laundry" will be exposed against both sides. I think that this information is valuable so that more real truth will actually come out. Make no mistake about it, when all is said and done, the USA will probably come out better than Saddam but we need a real, honest, fair trial to really get to the honest truth. Only then will we really know. Only then will this be really important.
This is really juat a paper ballot system with a balanced set of partisian judges. The same kind of system is in place in most non-metro places in the USA. In fact, it was the partisianship that played such a major role in FL. You know, the state that cost Gore the election? The state where the current president's brother is govenor?
Paper ballots, or hanging chads either can be disputed and either can cause the problems again.
What we need is an auditable system of balloting that will beep at us if our choices aren't clear. Perhaps Windows would be good for this! Are you sure? OK Are you really sure? OK Please review your choices and press SUBMIT.
Perhaps you could then recieve a reciept with the poll, the date, and the time you cast your vote, you sign it and tear off the part with the time and date (to eliminate the possibility that anyone could tell how you voted) and turn it in to the election judge. A simple count of how many ballots versus how many reciepts there are would be a good audit.
Think like the enemy and you will come to understand him.
Business is war. McBride sees open-source as a real threat to his business. He realizes that he can not fight a conventional war against this enemy. How can you under-cut the price when your competition happily gives their product away? How can you build a better product when the enemy doesn't pay it's developers so they can have as many as they want? The only weapon in his arseneal that can gain an upper hand is the legal system.
McBride may be right (in this assumption).
Lawyers, good ones, don't usually work for free. The companies that are exclusivly open source are not (yet) cash rich and don't have much of a war-chest. Companies like IBM and Novell can not fully defend open-source because they have plenty of conventional closed-source software themselves and in some ways have a conflict of interest. They will defend themselves against the charges leveled directly against them but their shareholders wouldn't let them go beyond that.
So this is a war that is being fought in the courtroom, an arena where true open source issues may be under-represented and, under-funded. McBride hasn't found a hole in the defenses but he has found the position most weakly defended and he is attacking there.
Still since he played the "unconstitutional card" I'm wondering how long it will be before the open-source side of the issue says that software is written and that it is a freedom of speech issue? Given the size of the work it has to be expected that some of the sentences used within it may appear in someone else's work? I am sure that a writer like Steven King has probably used a sentence or two that appeared in someone else's book. This alone is not a copyright violation. If someone copied an entire chapter out of his book he would be compelled to show that his work was copied before a court would hear his complaint. That is pretty much what is happening to McBride right now. Show us the stuff or go away.
With the number of features and calls that they are adding, their BIOS is getting close to being an operating system. Frankly, I see this as a good thing for Open Source.
The BIOS does not need to be "open" in order for Open Source to take advantage of this. By necessity they will have to publish their calls and protocols to allow the BIOS to be as effective as it can be. Using this information, Opne Source projects can have direct access to this "mini-os" and be able to build whatever they please around it.
Will this spell the end for Windows? I doubt it. But it may help level the playing field a bit.
First, I want a Linux that is pleasing in appearance right from the box, next I want it easy to use with icons that come close to meaning something. I like KDE for it's consistancy and generally straight forward interface.
Before it is ever even launched, I will have an opinion of it. My feelings aboout a distribution start when I install it. If that is difficult, it is already close to striking out. I know it needs to ask a few questions but those questions need to be verbose and senseable. A paragraph explaining them would be awesome.
Next, I would like only one application for each use installed straight from the box, if I want more I can add them later. Please don't load me up with things I'll never use. I do not want a ton of games and I don't want a thousand developer tools. Don't try to impress me with things like mouse odeometers - they are a total waste!
Give me a link to a software repository on the web that will allow me to install what I want, when I want it without much more than a single click. Make it just as easy to uninstall too.
Since I am comfortable with Microsoft Windows, I'll want a brief tutorial that teaches me to only click once rather than twice to launch things and shows me those subtle differences between Microsoft Windows and X-Windows then, to make me feel better about Linux, show me a few tricks that are done better in my new operating system than they are in Microsoft Windows. Teach me the basics of file and system maintence while you are at it, I never really "got it" in MS Windows and that caused me some problems as my computer got older (or, at least I think that is what happened).
I'll need some help once in a while and I don't want to have to figure out where to go to get it. Why not build in a client that will take me to a web site of questions and answers and also has a dedicated IRC client that takes me directly to an IRC channel where other people may be online to help me answer my question?
Finally, I know if I do not operate as root my chances of really screwing things up is small but you know stuff happens, sometimes it isn't even my fault! How about a rescue re-install utility that doesn't mess with my user space but reinstalls the vital system files and restores my settings so I stand a chance of getting my system back with my data if somethng really bad happens? This should probably be the original CD-ROM and a bootable rescue floppy. I'm smart enough to know that I sould always back up my data but it is something I never seem to do. At least with something like this I'd have a fighting chance.
I like the idea of sending stuff back to spammers and I don't mind sending it from an address that I've created for that purpose but, even better I'd like to get other spammer's information and submit that!
Perhaps we could create a database of spammers information or create a newsgroup to exchange this information.
This way, we could inconvenience them twice, once when they get the bogus reply and once when they are spammed by other spammers!
Blacklisting causes a couple of problems. First, a blacklist uses addresses or domains that have already been used to send spam from. It can't really predict where is will come from in the future. This alone limits a blacklist's fuctionality. Second, blacklists can (and often do) blacklist legitamate senders. This is because someone contributes a "spam" from an address and it is quickly added to the blacklist with little or no research and then if the sender complains the have to jump through hoops to get removed - most won't bother.
I know you mentioned relays in your response and that I have not directly addressed them. They are not good, and the people that control them should either close them or find some way of securing them from abuse. It is kind of like going on vacation and leaving your doors unlocked if you don't. But open relay blacklists don't catch the majority of spam anymore. Spammers have legions of legitamate machines that they control that send the spams from and no longer have to really rely on open relays to mask their source.
I hope that by patenting the method to circumvent spam filters AT&T has something up their sleeves. I hope that they plan on prosicuting spammers who use their method. Sounds like a dirty trick but patent protection lawsuits can command some pretty stiff penalties. Cost them enough money and they will go out of business!
Perhaps it is time for the internet to mature. Right now law enforcement and justice on the internet are a little bit like they were in the Wild West. Crooks don't have to worry too much about getting caught and if they do, chances are they can just move from that juristiction to another and continue business as usual until they catch the attention of that countrys law enforcement officials.
That is the down-side of the anarchistic internet. The plus side is that the internet has brought freedom to people who have seen little of it before. This freedom has benefited the internet by allowing people to develop some decidedly awesome things (like Web Browsers and even operating systems).
In my mind, the question is: How do we create laws that stop what should be criminal activity yet encourage freedoms? I'd love to see spam regulated or even outlawed. I think that police should not have borders when it comes to pursuing child molesters and other scumbags. Scammers should get what they deserve, no matter where they are or where their victims are. Laws can help in all of these cases.
Political free speech and other human rights should remain free on the internet and by having a political body oversee the internet, it is possible that they would either intentionally or inadvertantly open the door to regulating these. Also, I have no doubt that someday a "cyber-war" will be fought. When this happens, if the internet is regulated, political entities may be forced to take sides and isolate their countries internet resources from the opposing side and many other countries in order to remain neuteral will isolate their resources from both sides. It is a large world, perhaps several of these wars will be fought at the same time and when and if that happens, we will have a fragmented internet that is no longer a single entity. I can see more harm than good coming from that.
The UN could create a body to oversee the internet and pass resolutions that "require" member countries to adopt certain standards as they relate to the internet. Doing so would help police track down criminals who prey on people on one continent while working from another continent. For the most part these would be good things but, it also opens the door to a country restricting a Yahoo or Google from doing something in that one country and forceing the host country (the USA in this example) to enforce the rights-restricting law. That would be a bad thing.
It seems I still have more reservations about regulating the internet than I see good in doing so. It is easy to say let the UN do this and we can be rid of spammers and scammers but there is also too much of a potential for abuse in regulating it too. I fear that more than I fear spammers and scammers.
Slashdot Mirror
I too say "No thanks."
There is something about a paper text that makes learning better (perhaps even easier). You can make margin notes, highlight the major points and put little post it notes here and there. You can flip back a couple of pages or chapters and you can read ahead to prep for the next days class.
You can huddle with you classmates at a table and study. You can keep those most important books for future reference.
But, most importantly, a book is non-virtual. It is something that represents knowlege. A good textbook is a good read, unfortunately, there aren't too many really good textbooks anymore.
As a student I had the luxuary of getting knowlege for knowlege's sake. As a working adult I no longer have that luxuary, as a result, I only find the time to learn what I need to at the moment. Believe me, there is a real difference.
After reading this I had to chect the date to make sure it was not dated April 01.
Sheesh.
I like most of the live distros that I have seen and think that they are one of the keys to getting more people to try, like, enjoy, and move to Linux. MEPIS is probably my favorite but Knoppix is right up there too.
I'd like to see a couple of changes (hopefull improvments) come along sometime soon. In Knoppix, I'd like to see a MEPIS like "install me" tool. In both MEPIS and Knoppix I'd like to see fewer default applications (don't need three or four word processors or several spreadsheets).
These are common complaints - I know. But really the complexity will turn some people off.
I'd also like to see an online place where I can go to load and run some other applications. I know that this would probably mean having to write to the hard drive and that sort of defeats the concept of the live CD but I think that that could be dealt with by a warning banner that informs the user that this is about to happen (and tell them how to undo it).
My thinking on this is that trial-users may think that all of the best applications are already stuffed on the CD. That simply isn't the case.
I'd also like to see a DVD version of either Knoppix or MEPIS - but not just so they can offer more applications. I'd also like to see it used as a demo-ground of what people have done using Linux (graphics, movies, and so on).
One final note - I think that most live CD's should have a way of copying themselves easily so that users would have an even easier time making and sharing the CD!
Just give them all life without the possibility of parole.
Microsoft has dominated the desktop for over a decade. Unless something drastic and unexpected happens, it will take a minimum of five years from now for it to lose dominance. Having said that, I do think that 2004 is a watershed year for Linux and for Microsoft. Years from now, we will look back and identify 2004 as the year where the tides bagan to change.
Why do I feel this way? Very few companies in very few industries ever achieve the dominance that Microsoft has in the computing industry. Competition always keeps the underdogs going for the golden ring, and profits like Microsoft enjoys have other companies salivating. History shows us that very few companies can hold onto such an amazing lead over the competition.
Linux and other "free" operating systems hold a unique advantage over Microsoft's offerings. They are free. Microsoft can not afford to compete on price alone. Every day that goes by, the gap between Microsoft's offerings and Linux's offerings narrows the gap in quality. With Novell and IBM in the fray, that gap is sure to close even further. At some point, Linux's offerings will become the most logical choice for everyone. Microsoft's grip will sliip and they will slide. It won't be fast, they will lose by percentage points.
At least this is what I hope. I have no crysal ball. They have quite a war chest and they have a lot of lawyers. Maybe one of these hair-brained lawsuits from the likes of SCO will work. I don't know, and I sure hope not.
Linus is probably right but I hope that it is 5 years and not 10.
For the love of God will somebody please explain to me how "genetic engineering" is going to destroy the earth? I don't get it. Really, it isn't obvious to me.
Every day we eat foods that are genetic modifications of the originals. The corn we eat today bears very little resemblence to the maize eaten by the indians and original settlers. Apples, like the Red Delicious are hybrids - it hardly seems to be the same thing that comes from the apple tree in my back yard. Today's cattle are larger and better than those grown in the '30's & 40's, same thing goes for pigs. Turkeys and chickens produce more white meat today than they did even a few years ago. They are all GENETIC MUTATIONS! Should I stop eating them? No. They are better than the originals.
Genetic engineering is a science. These people understand what they are doing. They are ethical people who do their best to deliver safe, reliable, beneficial products to market. The companies that employ them expose themselves to great liability so they test these products thouroughly.
I'm not ready for scientists to graft human DNA into apes to create a ready supply of transplantable organs but that goes more to ethical questions than it does to the science.
Science is all about discovery to bebefit mankind. Engineering is all about the application of science to benefit mankind. It is a good thing to have oversight of these processes but there are far too many out there crying wolf!
Thinking that there are mad scientists out there creating evil things to benefit themselves is largely a product of Hollywood. The people that can't seperate Hollywood fantasy from reality are the ones screaming that mad scientists will create a genetic mutation that will destroy humanity.
Do you have a lock on the front door of your house or apartment? If every one were trustworthy and honest it could be argued that you don't need one. But the fact is that there are many (if not most) people out there who will take something for free that they should have to pay for if they know they can get away with it.
Music (and software) piracy is theft. The creator of the art deserves to get their cut of the sales.
What rankles me about copy protection, licensing codes and so on is not the protection of the product (that is legitimate) but the fact that most if not all of these arrangments break something in the process. When a copy protection scheme prohibits me from some leigitimate use then it is like the lock on the front door occasionaly locking me out too. If I buy a CD and want to play it on my computer I should be able to. If I want to cary a copy of a CD in my car rather than the original, I should be able to because I am afraid of the original being ripped off or damaged. These are ligitamate rights that I have when I make my purchase.
Weed is on to something here. I hope that they expand their offerings to music I listen to and I hope they come up with a similar solution for video and software.
Me too! I'm in Minneapolis where Time Warner charges me $49.95 + taxes per month for cable access. It seems to get slower and slower every day and they are advertising that they have sped it up.
Also, they advertise 29.95 per month for joining up - when I see that ad, I want to quit for a day and re-join but probably can't do that and keep my email addresses and stuff.
Grrrrr!
I admit it, I have used er, abused IM to the point where I have told the kids supper is ready. It was an exparament sorta. I actually think I got a better response then just yelling for them.
I do seriously use it to IM them when they are at their friends or boyfriends. I hate to admit it but one of their friends will know where they are and get the word to them. There is a new culture brewing with teens today, they are all online and it is a secondary means of communication for them.
One of the more unique things that I am aware of is that my daugter has several classes where the kids do their homework together via IM/chat with the full approval and santion of their teacher.
I would suggest that if the addiction is so bad that it is causing headaches you should probably make your first step "see a doctor." The headaches may be simply a symptom of caffiene withdrawl and something that you will get past in a couple of days but what if the headaches are a side-effect of another )possibly related) problem.
The doctor can recommend a process to follow (ie:cold turkey or gradual withdrawl) and he may be able to perscribe a drug to help deal with the headaches (ie: Imitrex).
Caffiene is a dangerous drug when used in large quanities or over a prolonged period of time. It can cause irregularities in your heartbeat, throw your bloood pressure out of whack, contribute to strokes, cause migraines...
My son used to drink a 12 pack of "Dew" a day. At the ripe age of eighteen, he landed in the CCU at a hospital after having a heart fibrulation . The clinic made him go by ambulance. While in the hospital, the doctors detoxed him while he was hooked to a heart monitor. When he was released, they told him no more caffieneated beverages - period.
The Big Trend
Companies will continue to demand lower cost IT services and will put the squeeze on suppliers to provide lower cost products that deliver quality "core services" but have fewer bells and whistles that the companies rarely use. In search of lower cost, quality software forward thinking companies will turn to open source software to meet their day-to-day operating needs.
The Unconventional Wisdom
Companies will discover that they can use the internet for more than web pages and email. They will start small, using thin-clients to put some of their internal applications on servers in the back room on Linux based servers allowing users to connect to these applications using X-windows servers on Windows based desktops. These early experiments will pave the way for greater implementations in 2005 and beyond of additional server based applications and will eventually allow business to place Linux based computers on the desktop. Look for Novell and IBM to partner in this process. IBM will supply the power (mainframes and high-end servers) in the backroom and the inexpensive but reliable desktops needed for this and Novell will provide the software.
The Misplaced Assumption
Microsoft will continue to oppose open source software with a campaign of FUD. They will rely on their marketing team to continue selling the idea that "free is not less expensive." Watch for their FUD to change slightly in the next year though. They will tie the SCO lawsuit into their FUD, telling customers that they may be liable for large licensing fees if they use Linux. They will also ask the hard question: "Who do you go to for support when you need help for your free software?" and; "Who do you sue if you lose money by using free software?" The companies promoting open source software will form an Open Software Alliance that will address these new FUD-angles. SCO will continue their lawsuit. They will lose battles but it will not be decided in 2004. Sorry.
The Watch List
Novell has an aggressive plan for their Linux holdings. IBM also has a real vested interest in Linux and is a true believer in what Linux can do for business. IBM has a significant investment in Novell. Watch for this partnership to start to bear fruit in 2004. It is a partnership that can office business an affordable, reliable solution to their honest to goodness needs. SCO will continue their fight. Groklaw will follow it blow by blow. SCO will file more suits against more companies. 2004 will be over before this is over.
The Bold Prediction
2004 will be a watershed year for open source. 2003 was filled with skirmishes. In 2004 the battle lines will be drawn and armies formed but the battle for computing dominance will not happen until 2005 or perhaps 2006. But, by the end of 2004, people will know what side they are on. This is truly a "David VS Goliath" story but the tale is still taking shape.
Have you ever pulled in to a gas station and had an old car, perhaps a Model "T" or Model "A" pull into the pump next to you? On nice summer weekends in these parts, it happens quite frequently and, to me, it is quite reassuring.
Car technology has advanced a great deal since 1903 but those antique cars can still get their gas from the same pumps I can! While I recognize that there are a lot of differences between a gallon of gas and a BIOS chip the point is that when you keep certain basic things the same, a continuity is provided that kind of keeps obsolesence at bay. I would rather not go back to DOS, or even Windows 3.1 but knowing that at a certain core level, I am working with hardware that works the same way, I feel a little better.
I'm giving away my age here - but I had been working on computers for a few years when I first encountered BIOS. The first BIOS I worked with came on an 8" floppy and was the disk you booted before you could boot CP/M! A few years later IBM came out with the PC and the BIOS was on a chip but it performed the same basic functions that that BIOS disk did in CP/M. The BIOS was really the only "closed" part of the PC, everything else was open. This allowed many different manufacturers to build hardware and accessories for the PC. IBM only published some basic information on the BIOS which was eventually reverse engineered and the rest as they say is history.
My concern is that if the BIOS is replaced with something like EFI that Intel and Microsoft will essencially close the "new BIOS." This would lead to only a limited number of companys that would (once again) hold the "keys to the kingdom." They could shut out companies like AMD, VIA, as well as the open source community and companies like Novell, Oracle, AMI, Phoenix and perhaps even IBM. They could and probably would create new "methods" that would hide behind the protections that EFI could afford. They would only share the methods with companies that would license the rights.
It goes beyond what we consider DRM today. I am not against finding some way to give authors a way of protecting their works but when the gatekeepers can decide who has the right to create, that rubs me the wrong way.
You don't think they would do it? Look at how hard it has been for people to make Linux drivers for "Winmodems" or how difficult it has been for the open source community to build a Windows Emulator. Reverse engineering is hard even before you think about the restrictions that the DCMA introduced. You can bet they'll do it.
I'd like to keep my BIOS and not use much of what it has to offer because software has found better ways of doing it. Because at a very base level it keeps the playing field level.
Perhaps I am all wrong, and nobody would be happier than I if I am wrong. But do you really want to risk all the compatibility that we have today on something Microsoft and Intel control?
Face it, there is little reason to fix BIOS, it works and it is reasonably simple. The reason M$ wants this is for DRM and I guess that the reason Intel wants it is because without Microsoft, they are just another chip maker.
Oppose this at all costs!
Send Intel an email today telling them how if they leave BIOS in the dust, you'll buy AMD, VIA, or ABI (Anything But Intel).
Like I said, I am no expert. And, I am a landlubber no less. I do find early seafaring adventures to be quite interesting and even heroic.
I'm not an expert but...
The tools that they used were briliantly simple and delivered reasonable accuracy as long as they were well treated. Even today, the sextent is used to confirm the locations of bouys and etc because it can independantly confirm the GPS reading. Windspeed was guaged with a spinning cup or a paddle. The spinning cup method depends on the accuracy of the count and time, and the paddle method depends on the accuracy of the paddle's measurements and it's precise weight. Since the ships were moving too, the ship's speed had to be known (which was calculated by latitude and longitude and time).
By the 1700's all these measurements were reasonably accurate. Maps made back then were already quite accurate and mariners were able to sail to pretty small islands because they knew exactly where to look. Their Navigation was a real science and required accurate time keeping and accurate measurments.
This reminds me of the Monty Python skit from the Holy Grail where they have to answer a question about the speed of a swollow before crossing the bridge.
I guess that the idea does have some merit, however, I don't want to slow spam down, I want to stop it. I don't really see how the solution will work, spammers will just find a different direction - probably hijacking computers to do the calculations they need.
Please don't flame me for sounding pro-Microsoft until you think about what I've said for a few minutes.
Microsoft didn't get where they are today without having a few things going for them. They are a savvy competitor and ruthelss opponents. Like a good football team, they have a good offense, and a good defense. They have forward looking vision and they try like hell to react to the market place. They measure their success by both profit and marketshare. You can be sure that anything threatens either profit or marketshare they will try to beat it.
Linux alone has not been a real threat to Microsoft, it has been seen as too geeky, too limited, and too difficult to use. But other open-source projects have come along and helped fill in the voids (projects like KDE) and now, Linux and open source in general have risen to the level where they can no longer escape Microsoft's attention.
Product surveys are nothing new. Ford sends them to Chevy & Dodge owners. I don't really see much difference in Microsoft sending them out to Linux users. As a matter of fact, I think good things could come from them.
Most people who use Linux have used Windows, they know what they like about Linux and what they dislike about Windows. They know why they have changed and they know what it would take to make them change back to Microsoft's Windows.
Survey's cost money. Companys spend money on them to learn things about their products stengths and weaknesses. They use this data to make product and marketing changes.
What they are likely to hear from Linux users is that they like Linux's license, Linux's cost-to-performance ratio, and that they feel that Linux is getting close to Windows in the Look-and-Feel category.
They are going to also hear Microsoft Windows is too expensive, that the product has flaws that they find intolerable (security risks, crashes, and so on).
Then the marketing types will talk to the developer types and try to fix the product so that Linux users will consider returning to the fold.
This is a smart, good, and ethical business practice although I find it difficult to believe that they would take it far enough. I just can't see them writing extenstions for Windows that would run *nix compatible software. Nor can I see them giving away either Windows or Office.
Business history shows us that almost every company that has climbed to the top of the heap has lost its footing and slips. They usually fall because they are arrogent and ignore some basic solid business theory. In Microsoft's case, this is likely to be the case. They feel they have such a grip on the market that they can charge excessive license fees. By the time they finish milking this cash cow they will have dried her up.
Those of us who live in the USA are told time and time again how free a world we live in, that our press is free to report whatever they want and that we are free to have whatever opinions we want. But over the years, I have had the opportunity to "be in the know" on a deep level significant details of a couple of news items. What I've learned from these experiences is that the news is more an entertainment medium than it is journalisim. Reporters tell a good story but leave out details that are really significant even when they know these details.
Based on these few instances, I can't help but take all news reports with more than a bit of skepticisim. In this case, I am even a bit more cautious because almost all of the information comes from our military and our government. This means that the reporters get a cleansed version of the information. They are only hearing what the government wants them to hear.
Are the facts correct? Yes, they probably are. But they aren't all of the facts. An this is true not just for this chapter of the story but all the way back to "chapter one" where ever that is.
Yes, I still want to know where the WMD are. I want to know because it was one of the primary justifications that our government used to launch the war. I hope that there will be a real, honest trial where some of the "dirty laundry" will be exposed against both sides. I think that this information is valuable so that more real truth will actually come out. Make no mistake about it, when all is said and done, the USA will probably come out better than Saddam but we need a real, honest, fair trial to really get to the honest truth. Only then will we really know. Only then will this be really important.
This is really juat a paper ballot system with a balanced set of partisian judges. The same kind of system is in place in most non-metro places in the USA. In fact, it was the partisianship that played such a major role in FL. You know, the state that cost Gore the election? The state where the current president's brother is govenor?
Paper ballots, or hanging chads either can be disputed and either can cause the problems again.
What we need is an auditable system of balloting that will beep at us if our choices aren't clear. Perhaps Windows would be good for this! Are you sure? OK Are you really sure? OK Please review your choices and press SUBMIT.
Perhaps you could then recieve a reciept with the poll, the date, and the time you cast your vote, you sign it and tear off the part with the time and date (to eliminate the possibility that anyone could tell how you voted) and turn it in to the election judge. A simple count of how many ballots versus how many reciepts there are would be a good audit.
Think like the enemy and you will come to understand him.
Business is war. McBride sees open-source as a real threat to his business. He realizes that he can not fight a conventional war against this enemy. How can you under-cut the price when your competition happily gives their product away? How can you build a better product when the enemy doesn't pay it's developers so they can have as many as they want? The only weapon in his arseneal that can gain an upper hand is the legal system.
McBride may be right (in this assumption).
Lawyers, good ones, don't usually work for free. The companies that are exclusivly open source are not (yet) cash rich and don't have much of a war-chest. Companies like IBM and Novell can not fully defend open-source because they have plenty of conventional closed-source software themselves and in some ways have a conflict of interest. They will defend themselves against the charges leveled directly against them but their shareholders wouldn't let them go beyond that.
So this is a war that is being fought in the courtroom, an arena where true open source issues may be under-represented and, under-funded. McBride hasn't found a hole in the defenses but he has found the position most weakly defended and he is attacking there.
Still since he played the "unconstitutional card" I'm wondering how long it will be before the open-source side of the issue says that software is written and that it is a freedom of speech issue? Given the size of the work it has to be expected that some of the sentences used within it may appear in someone else's work? I am sure that a writer like Steven King has probably used a sentence or two that appeared in someone else's book. This alone is not a copyright violation. If someone copied an entire chapter out of his book he would be compelled to show that his work was copied before a court would hear his complaint. That is pretty much what is happening to McBride right now. Show us the stuff or go away.
Personally, I think he will go away.
With the number of features and calls that they are adding, their BIOS is getting close to being an operating system. Frankly, I see this as a good thing for Open Source.
The BIOS does not need to be "open" in order for Open Source to take advantage of this. By necessity they will have to publish their calls and protocols to allow the BIOS to be as effective as it can be. Using this information, Opne Source projects can have direct access to this "mini-os" and be able to build whatever they please around it.
Will this spell the end for Windows? I doubt it. But it may help level the playing field a bit.
First, I want a Linux that is pleasing in appearance right from the box, next I want it easy to use with icons that come close to meaning something. I like KDE for it's consistancy and generally straight forward interface.
Before it is ever even launched, I will have an opinion of it. My feelings aboout a distribution start when I install it. If that is difficult, it is already close to striking out. I know it needs to ask a few questions but those questions need to be verbose and senseable. A paragraph explaining them would be awesome.
Next, I would like only one application for each use installed straight from the box, if I want more I can add them later. Please don't load me up with things I'll never use. I do not want a ton of games and I don't want a thousand developer tools. Don't try to impress me with things like mouse odeometers - they are a total waste!
Give me a link to a software repository on the web that will allow me to install what I want, when I want it without much more than a single click. Make it just as easy to uninstall too.
Since I am comfortable with Microsoft Windows, I'll want a brief tutorial that teaches me to only click once rather than twice to launch things and shows me those subtle differences between Microsoft Windows and X-Windows then, to make me feel better about Linux, show me a few tricks that are done better in my new operating system than they are in Microsoft Windows. Teach me the basics of file and system maintence while you are at it, I never really "got it" in MS Windows and that caused me some problems as my computer got older (or, at least I think that is what happened).
I'll need some help once in a while and I don't want to have to figure out where to go to get it. Why not build in a client that will take me to a web site of questions and answers and also has a dedicated IRC client that takes me directly to an IRC channel where other people may be online to help me answer my question?
Finally, I know if I do not operate as root my chances of really screwing things up is small but you know stuff happens, sometimes it isn't even my fault! How about a rescue re-install utility that doesn't mess with my user space but reinstalls the vital system files and restores my settings so I stand a chance of getting my system back with my data if somethng really bad happens? This should probably be the original CD-ROM and a bootable rescue floppy. I'm smart enough to know that I sould always back up my data but it is something I never seem to do. At least with something like this I'd have a fighting chance.
A. user
I like the idea of sending stuff back to spammers and I don't mind sending it from an address that I've created for that purpose but, even better I'd like to get other spammer's information and submit that! Perhaps we could create a database of spammers information or create a newsgroup to exchange this information. This way, we could inconvenience them twice, once when they get the bogus reply and once when they are spammed by other spammers!
May I respectfully disagree?
Blacklisting causes a couple of problems. First, a blacklist uses addresses or domains that have already been used to send spam from. It can't really predict where is will come from in the future. This alone limits a blacklist's fuctionality. Second, blacklists can (and often do) blacklist legitamate senders. This is because someone contributes a "spam" from an address and it is quickly added to the blacklist with little or no research and then if the sender complains the have to jump through hoops to get removed - most won't bother.
I know you mentioned relays in your response and that I have not directly addressed them. They are not good, and the people that control them should either close them or find some way of securing them from abuse. It is kind of like going on vacation and leaving your doors unlocked if you don't. But open relay blacklists don't catch the majority of spam anymore. Spammers have legions of legitamate machines that they control that send the spams from and no longer have to really rely on open relays to mask their source.
I hope that by patenting the method to circumvent spam filters AT&T has something up their sleeves. I hope that they plan on prosicuting spammers who use their method. Sounds like a dirty trick but patent protection lawsuits can command some pretty stiff penalties. Cost them enough money and they will go out of business!
Perhaps it is time for the internet to mature. Right now law enforcement and justice on the internet are a little bit like they were in the Wild West. Crooks don't have to worry too much about getting caught and if they do, chances are they can just move from that juristiction to another and continue business as usual until they catch the attention of that countrys law enforcement officials.
That is the down-side of the anarchistic internet. The plus side is that the internet has brought freedom to people who have seen little of it before. This freedom has benefited the internet by allowing people to develop some decidedly awesome things (like Web Browsers and even operating systems).
In my mind, the question is: How do we create laws that stop what should be criminal activity yet encourage freedoms? I'd love to see spam regulated or even outlawed. I think that police should not have borders when it comes to pursuing child molesters and other scumbags. Scammers should get what they deserve, no matter where they are or where their victims are. Laws can help in all of these cases.
Political free speech and other human rights should remain free on the internet and by having a political body oversee the internet, it is possible that they would either intentionally or inadvertantly open the door to regulating these. Also, I have no doubt that someday a "cyber-war" will be fought. When this happens, if the internet is regulated, political entities may be forced to take sides and isolate their countries internet resources from the opposing side and many other countries in order to remain neuteral will isolate their resources from both sides. It is a large world, perhaps several of these wars will be fought at the same time and when and if that happens, we will have a fragmented internet that is no longer a single entity. I can see more harm than good coming from that.
The UN could create a body to oversee the internet and pass resolutions that "require" member countries to adopt certain standards as they relate to the internet. Doing so would help police track down criminals who prey on people on one continent while working from another continent. For the most part these would be good things but, it also opens the door to a country restricting a Yahoo or Google from doing something in that one country and forceing the host country (the USA in this example) to enforce the rights-restricting law. That would be a bad thing.
It seems I still have more reservations about regulating the internet than I see good in doing so. It is easy to say let the UN do this and we can be rid of spammers and scammers but there is also too much of a potential for abuse in regulating it too. I fear that more than I fear spammers and scammers.