Planet America? Planet America? Come in, Planet America.
This is Planet Earth.
E-A-R-T-H. Yes. Yes, some of us do speak American, only we call it English down here. No, most people here don't speak English or American, although the Canadians tell us that they can understand American. They usually find it funny, though. Quaint. They say the American words all sound normal enough, but the concepts behind them are totally divorced from reality.
Anyway, we just wanted to let you know, if you ever want to rejoin the human race, find out about us, get to know us, you are always welcome to return to Earth and have a go at it.
Keep in touch.
If you can.
That's E-A-R-T-H. Yes, write it down or you'll forget.
America: 5% of the world's population that thinks it is 95% of the world.
The general idea is fine, and I agree that misspellings are a problem.
Now I spell words the Australian way (mostly like the Brits): honour, colour, centre, kilometre, etc.
Also, I would naturally call a library of mathematical routines libmaths.so and its header maths.h
I find the term "math" foreign and unsightly, like "creat" instead of "create".
So what we really need is some kind of internationalisation in code.
A German-speaker should be able to read German keywords, a Spanish-speaker Spanish keywords, etc. A good source control package should be able to arrange this.
Maybe one day?
e.g. a German-speaking programmer might see:
DATEI *quelle =...
and the English-speaking programmer sees:
FILE *source =...
Wouldn't that be nice. Or else we translate all the keywords into Esperanto or Interlingua or suchlike.
Well, firstly, I wouldn't ask Slashdot for advice. I mean, you must be desperate.
Secondly, I would buy a thick book of management jargon. If you cannot say "prioritize" and "going forward" and "methodologies" and stuff like that, how will you ever go forward with the right management priorities and the possibility of blaming someone else?
Thirdly, I would attend a big management course. Now I happen to be selling one right now....
My advice? Go back to the coding now, before they swallow you alive. Alive, I tell you!
If I didn't trust other people's opinions I would believe that the world is flat; that the continents of Africa, Antarctica and South America don't exist (I've never seen them); and millions of other things.
Really, you go through life having very little proof *personally* of the things you believe. Most of it you "learn" (ie are told and believe) by other people. Knowledge is *social* - it belongs to a population, not any one individual. If others know that Vista is garbage, and I listen, then I know Vista is garbage.
"Years later and I still don't think we ever really found out"
Linux stole an 'n' and an 'x' from Unix, and also stole the 'i' and tried to hide it by putting it in a different place.
Re:Round 1 over; Now for round 2
on
SCO Loses
·
· Score: 1
I have also heard IT conference speakers citing the SCO case as an example of how Open Source software was under a cloud - and that was just last year.
Then there is all the talk about the need for "indemnification". That only began, as far as I can tell, when SCO began their baseless threats against the world of Linux users. The consequence is that government contracts for FOSS now mention the need for indemnification, which is an added hurdle for FOSS. This is exactly what Microsoft wanted - to make FOSS sound more "scary", more "worrying". And it has worked with the government purchasing types. Long after SCO is forgotten, the "need for indemnification" will continue to be mentioned in relation to FOSS contracts.
Let me you give an example without either cars or software.
I own a block of land with a view. I put up a notice: "anyone can picnic on this land without paying a fee provided they wear a pink raincoat the whole time". I rather like the idea of little groups of pink-clad picnickers on my land...
A bus company decides to sell tickets (including advance tickets) to people to be driven to my land and issued with tiny pink raincoats that they wear as a lapel badge, while they picnic and admire the wonderful view. The bus company figures that they are keeping my licence terms, and at the same time they don't have to ask their customers to wear a full size pink raincoat (which they think will turn off many prospective customers for some reason...) They promise their customers a picnic with my view, and that they will provide all necessary equipment for the picnic (food, umbrellas, rugs, etc).
Now I, meanwhile, notice that there are hordes of picnickers on my land apparently without any pink raincoats. I investigate, and find that they are all wearing tiny lapel-badge-size pink raincoats. This contravenes my original desire to see picnickers in full sized pink raincoats. So I immediately change my sign: "anyone can picnic on this land provided they wear a full-size pink raincoat the whole time". Naturally, I see a lawyer who alters this to reflect my precise wishes in water-tight terms (pun... oh, who cares).
Now what does the bus company do with all the advance tickets they have sold? I have no obligation to the bus company. They either follow my licence or stay off my land. But they have an obligation to their paid-up customers. They have to issue full-size raincoats to their customers if they are to fulfil their contract of a picnic with a view from my land.
See. I *can* change the conditions on my licence. It is my licence, and I owe the bus company nothing. It is their problem.
"Lemme guess... Perhaps that offer will be done to the manufacturers that were "thinking about/already intalling" Open Office for free in their naked PCs ?"
Umm, how do install anything in a "naked PC" other than a new OS? And once you do that, it is no longer naked.
OOo requires a dressed PC - whether Linux, MacOSX or that other thing.
In Australia, all elections are held on a Saturday, from 9.00 AM to 6.00 PM. Well over 90% of the population that is eligible to vote turns up (voting is compulsory in Australia).
Anyone who cannot vote that day (religious scruples, health, travel, etc) can lodge a postal vote before hand.
Naaah. Microsoft wasn't trying to maintain an abusive monopoly.
They were just trying to protect the consumer from a confusing array of choices. Consumers are bewildered by all that computer stuff, and Microsoft just wants to help them.
All quite altruistic really. Nothing wrong at all. Nup.
"What can Wikipedia do about those who would use it for their own purposes?"
They should immediately rush off and report it to the Press, for the Press is the unbiased harbinger of truth and will expose all lies!
Or maybe they realise that all public information is potentially biased anyway. And bias is the issue, isn't it? Not *who* wrote it, but *what* they wrote?
Even esteemed reference works can get things wrong. If you can't check something, you don't *know* it.
Slashdot Mirror
Planet America? Planet America? Come in, Planet America.
This is Planet Earth.
E-A-R-T-H. Yes. Yes, some of us do speak American, only we call it English down here. No, most people here don't speak English or American, although the Canadians tell us that they can understand American. They usually find it funny, though. Quaint. They say the American words all sound normal enough, but the concepts behind them are totally divorced from reality.
Anyway, we just wanted to let you know, if you ever want to rejoin the human race, find out about us, get to know us, you are always welcome to return to Earth and have a go at it.
Keep in touch.
If you can.
That's E-A-R-T-H. Yes, write it down or you'll forget.
America: 5% of the world's population that thinks it is 95% of the world.
Good luck with "carefully" during the rocket take-off and all those G-forces.
"it is of no known use."
It's of no unknown use either.
(Unknown uses are unusable without knowledge - so they are of no use. See?)
Yeah, and cool 3D screensavers when we are away from our Linux desktops!
(Well that is what I use OpenGL for at work...)
The general idea is fine, and I agree that misspellings are a problem.
...
...
Now I spell words the Australian way (mostly like the Brits): honour, colour, centre, kilometre, etc.
Also, I would naturally call a library of mathematical routines libmaths.so and its header maths.h
I find the term "math" foreign and unsightly, like "creat" instead of "create".
So what we really need is some kind of internationalisation in code.
A German-speaker should be able to read German keywords, a Spanish-speaker Spanish keywords, etc. A good source control package should be able to arrange this.
Maybe one day?
e.g. a German-speaking programmer might see:
DATEI *quelle =
and the English-speaking programmer sees:
FILE *source =
Wouldn't that be nice. Or else we translate all the keywords into Esperanto or Interlingua or suchlike.
Yeah, there is an upside.
You get to laugh at all the schmucks who cannot get to their remote software service, while you are happily using your "old fashioned" local software.
That has got to be worth something.
Well, firstly, I wouldn't ask Slashdot for advice. I mean, you must be desperate.
Secondly, I would buy a thick book of management jargon. If you cannot say "prioritize" and "going forward" and "methodologies" and stuff like that, how will you ever go forward with the right management priorities and the possibility of blaming someone else?
Thirdly, I would attend a big management course. Now I happen to be selling one right now....
My advice? Go back to the coding now, before they swallow you alive. Alive, I tell you!
"great. another indicator that india has a really developing and conscious i.t. crowd."
How long will they remain conscious once Microsoft get to work on them?
If I didn't trust other people's opinions I would believe that the world is flat; that the continents of Africa, Antarctica and South America don't exist (I've never seen them); and millions of other things.
Really, you go through life having very little proof *personally* of the things you believe. Most of it you "learn" (ie are told and believe) by other people. Knowledge is *social* - it belongs to a population, not any one individual. If others know that Vista is garbage, and I listen, then I know Vista is garbage.
"I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide." --Gandalf
So does flotsam.
"Even the most retarded businessman doesn't want his own customers to hate him."
Hasn't hurt Microsoft.
Ah, yes. Anti-gravity.
"What goes down, must come up."
That's only true if you have drunk too much...
"Years later and I still don't think we ever really found out"
Linux stole an 'n' and an 'x' from Unix, and also stole the 'i' and tried to hide it by putting it in a different place.
I have also heard IT conference speakers citing the SCO case as an example of how Open Source software was under a cloud - and that was just last year.
Then there is all the talk about the need for "indemnification". That only began, as far as I can tell, when SCO began their baseless threats against the world of Linux users. The consequence is that government contracts for FOSS now mention the need for indemnification, which is an added hurdle for FOSS. This is exactly what Microsoft wanted - to make FOSS sound more "scary", more "worrying". And it has worked with the government purchasing types. Long after SCO is forgotten, the "need for indemnification" will continue to be mentioned in relation to FOSS contracts.
The damage *has* been done.
A few governments would help.
Nothing like a government using Linux to convince business that they can - even should - too.
Well, maybe I can help you with that job-security problem you don't seem able to solve ...
Rubbish.
... oh, who cares).
Let me you give an example without either cars or software.
I own a block of land with a view. I put up a notice: "anyone can picnic on this land without paying a fee provided they wear a pink raincoat the whole time". I rather like the idea of little groups of pink-clad picnickers on my land...
A bus company decides to sell tickets (including advance tickets) to people to be driven to my land and issued with tiny pink raincoats that they wear as a lapel badge, while they picnic and admire the wonderful view. The bus company figures that they are keeping my licence terms, and at the same time they don't have to ask their customers to wear a full size pink raincoat (which they think will turn off many prospective customers for some reason...) They promise their customers a picnic with my view, and that they will provide all necessary equipment for the picnic (food, umbrellas, rugs, etc).
Now I, meanwhile, notice that there are hordes of picnickers on my land apparently without any pink raincoats. I investigate, and find that they are all wearing tiny lapel-badge-size pink raincoats. This contravenes my original desire to see picnickers in full sized pink raincoats. So I immediately change my sign: "anyone can picnic on this land provided they wear a full-size pink raincoat the whole time". Naturally, I see a lawyer who alters this to reflect my precise wishes in water-tight terms (pun
Now what does the bus company do with all the advance tickets they have sold? I have no obligation to the bus company. They either follow my licence or stay off my land. But they have an obligation to their paid-up customers. They have to issue full-size raincoats to their customers if they are to fulfil their contract of a picnic with a view from my land.
See. I *can* change the conditions on my licence. It is my licence, and I owe the bus company nothing. It is their problem.
"Lemme guess... Perhaps that offer will be done to the manufacturers that were "thinking about/already intalling" Open Office for free in their naked PCs ?"
Umm, how do install anything in a "naked PC" other than a new OS? And once you do that, it is no longer naked.
OOo requires a dressed PC - whether Linux, MacOSX or that other thing.
"Sorry to burst your bubble."
I think they would prefer you to pop their cherry.
In Australia, all elections are held on a Saturday, from 9.00 AM to 6.00 PM. Well over 90% of the population that is eligible to vote turns up (voting is compulsory in Australia).
Anyone who cannot vote that day (religious scruples, health, travel, etc) can lodge a postal vote before hand.
Works fine.
Naaah. Microsoft wasn't trying to maintain an abusive monopoly.
They were just trying to protect the consumer from a confusing array of choices. Consumers are bewildered by all that computer stuff, and Microsoft just wants to help them.
All quite altruistic really. Nothing wrong at all. Nup.
"What can Wikipedia do about those who would use it for their own purposes?"
They should immediately rush off and report it to the Press, for the Press is the unbiased harbinger of truth and will expose all lies!
Or maybe they realise that all public information is potentially biased anyway. And bias is the issue, isn't it? Not *who* wrote it, but *what* they wrote?
Even esteemed reference works can get things wrong. If you can't check something, you don't *know* it.
Except for stuff I write. It's always correct.
It works like this...
The government, being a public institution, has to keep everything it does private. That's why you are not allowed to see their secret files.
But a citizen, being a private individual, has to keep everything they do public. That's why the government must be able to see your secret files.
Got it?
Well I don't read Slashdot, I just look at the pictures.
In that time, Ubuntu will have gone through 6 releases.
We will be up to "Lurking Lemur", or "Loony Lion", or whatever they plan to call it.