Money! Giving money requires absolutely no skill, and doesn't force you to spend time doing boring tasks. All it takes is compassion and willingness to help out in a project.
Over the last 6 months or so, my friends and I have been randomly revisiting old games. We just bought a bunch of used NES and SNES games at a nearby store. We even were able to beat Ghosts 'n Goblins, a game I had not played for 16 years (and was impossible back then).
Other games we have been playing lately, instead of modern games:
Kid Icarus Contra 3 Street Fighter 2010 (sleeper NES game from capcom, it is NOT a fighting game) Ninja Gaiden Castlevania 1 & 3 Crystalis (best NES game, IMO) Megaman 1-6 The Gaurdian Legend Ultima: Quest of the Avatar (this one goes nearly forever) Super Mario all-stars Bionic Commando
There are a lot of good old games, you just have to know what to look for. In my case, I had played all of these games in the past, so I remembered what was good. And contrary to what others may say about old games, I found these totally enjoyable in the present.
For modern 2D, I recommend Marvel vs Capcom 2, an amazingly well-done 2D fighting game by capcom, such that it is still popular even after being around for nearly 3 years (and still has a tournament scene).
I know that having an intermediate server is an advantage too, but for the regular user it's a disadvantage
I think you're looking at this from the wrong perspective. Jabber is not about putting an extra server between you and some proprietary IM system. If that is all Jabber did, it would be pointless. Forget all you know about Jabber, and just start with this:
- It is a distributed and open IM system.
Good, now does that sound interesting? If not, then Jabber may not be for you. Now I will add:
- Jabber has the ability to connect to MSN.
Alright, so you can do this also. However, please remember that it is optional, and not the reason for Jabber's sole existence. Jabber was never intended to be a multi-IM solution. If you want to use MSN through Jabber, that is your thing. You can just as easily run two clients instead, one for MSN and one for Jabber, if you don't want to have a "middleman" to MSN. Or maybe someday Trillian will support Jabber, then you won't need multiple clients.
I want to use psi, but until it has file transfer, it's not usable for me. And for windows, i am sorry, but you cannot beat trillian.
File transfer is planned. Even so, lots of people seem to like it. Trillian is more featureful than Psi in many ways, but it is missing just one very important feature that Psi has: Jabber support:) But I'm not saying you need to use it. There are many other good Jabber clients to choose from too. Good luck.
About the server going down: hopefully that doesn't happen:) The good part though, is that if it does go down then it won't take the rest of us out. If you are concerned, your best bet is to run your own server. Personally, I use dreamhost.com, which offers $10/mo hosting which includes Jabber. They even have a nice web based admin section for adding users.
If you don't want to run a server, then just stick with a known public server. jabber.org, myjabber.net, amessage.de, etc are probably not going anywhere.
I guess I made the false assumption that everyone already knows what Jabber is, yet aren't using it. That was actually very stupid of me, considering what I was arguing:)
Jabber is an open IM system, which uses an XML-based protocol for interconnecting servers and clients. Your Jabber ID (or JID) is in the form "user@host", obviously following in the footsteps of other common internet protocols (most notably email, but also ftp, http, etc). Jabber also supports SSL in the core protocol.
Because the protocol is open, there are numerous server and client implementations, all designed to interoperate. Anyone can run a server, and there is no such thing as an "official client" (that would be as absurd as an official email client). The world of Jabber is much more friendly than that of closed IM, as the Jabber Software Foundation encourages developer participation.
Let the linking commence!
Jabber Software Foundation - The "JSF" handles all of the core protocol decision-making. There are members, council, and an enhancement proposal system. The website is also a nice hub for information, as there are links to guides, programming info, client software, server software, public server lists, etc. Start here.
Some nice clients: Psi* - powerful and minimal cross-platform Jabber client (Windows/Mac/Unix), looking like Licq. Gabber - a full featured GNOME Jabber client. Exodus - a very featureful Windows client. Has a strange UI in my opinion, but lots of people like it. Gaim - mentioned 100 times already in the comments area. This program is nice because it natively supports AIM (and other protocols), which can make your transition to Jabber easier.
Other areas of interest: User guide - a good read for newbies. jabberd - home of the popular open source jabber server. Jabberd Admin guide - Read this if you want to run your own server. Jogger - a Jabber-based blog.
*Note - I am the author of Psi. Please forgive the plug:)
Yes, which is a huge deal. Lots of people in the comments are posting about client-side workarounds, which don't even solve the problem. If you are logged into AIM and ICQ from one client, the networks are not bridged whatsoever. You've just got two logins, that's all. It's a nice trick, but there is a lot more to solving IM interoperability.
Now that the IETF working group for Jabber is on its way, I sincerely hope that AOL will consider using it for their server-to-server communication. They can still use OSCAR for client communication (just as they use a proprietary client mail protocol and not POP), but they need to use Jabber on the outside (as they use SMTP on the outside) to fully solve the "IM Interoperability Dilemma" (tm).
Of course, considering how long it is taking for them to link their own damn networks, I'd say we've got about 5 years to go:(
AOL holds most of the cards for IM interoperability. I still encourage everyone out there to start using Jabber and run Jabber servers, but AOL's users totally outnumber us. Even in this Slashdot forum today, most of you using some form of IM are using an AOL-controlled service. Please, guys, the faster we move to Jabber, the faster this war will be over. Stop using AIM, ICQ, MSN, or Yahoo, especially if you are on Linux (doesn't anyone think using MSN on Linux is just too ironic?). Or if you can't quit cold-turkey, use GAIM so that you can use Jabber alongside these other proprietary protocols. I still think it will take a move by AOL to fully solve this (as I said, they have most of the cards), but I think if the entire tech community embraced Jabber we would have a lot more influence. This move to link AIM and ICQ is a good first step, but there is more to be done.
So go forth and use Jabber. Find a friend to do it also. Even if you just have each other in your contact list and no one else, you are securing yourself a place in the future of open IM. I'm already AOL-free, as I quit AIM and ICQ earlier this year. Now my Jabber roster has over 100 contacts, after successful conversion of all of my friends and family. Who needs AOL? Not any of us!!
For a long time I couldn't log into my bank's website (Bank of America) with Konqueror, because the javascript support sucked back then. I remember spending hours looking through the html/js sourcecode of the website, trying to track each step in the login procedure to perhaps fix the problem. OMG, there was so much bullsh*t in the code, checks for WebTV, etc. I eventually gave up, it was just way too long and cryptic (not to mention I'm not a web dev).
With the introduction of Konqueror 3, I was finally able to log into the website. However, the point remains. What in God's name was BofA doing in their login scheme? Security through obscurity? All they need is a nice webform with https and be done with it. As it stands, I really have no clue how secure their system is. Banks should not be goofing off with l33t javascript.
He who has the most expensive toys becomes the envy of his friends, thus enhancing his self-esteem.
Right, just like all the hardcore gamers here who have overpriced video cards that no software or game even takes advantage of? These same folks whining about the yuppies blowing their money on LCDs for no good reason? Haha!
Personally, I have two boxes at home, both with LCD monitors. They are easier on the eyes, better allowing me to get work done. Sure, they were expensive, but at least I've got a good reason to use them. Not everyone buys pricy items to "be cool".
I have a similar stance about pda/laptop devices, but mine is more like this:
"If it isn't small enough to fit in my pocket, then it may as well be as big as my backpack."
The 'My Little VAIO' appears to be in the wrong size-bracket for the size to actually matter. You're gonna have to put it in some sort of bag anyway, unless you expect to carry it around in your hands all day. The only reason to recommend a device of this size is if your backpack is already full of other things, and you only have enough room left for a tiny laptop:)
Yup, it seems with the advent of KDE (and GNOME), the world of X11 actually has a concept of native widgets, moreso than Win32.
This is actually a side-effect of X11 never having a native "look and feel". So instead of each GUI lib trying to match a native L&F, they have their own unique look.
This makes the KDE desktop similar to MacOS X in that regard. Any non-native app sticks out like a sore thumb.
Developers, pay heed! You must use native widgets or you are doomed to look bad everywhere!
Native widgets are a fantasy. Consider MFC apps, Borland apps, Qt apps, Microsoft's latest apps, or even raw win32 apps. The rule here is that they all have a similar enough "look and feel" that the user is happy, even though they are all different GUI libs. Of course, there are GUI libs that totally break the rule, such as Java's Swing and gtk-win32. And apparently even Mozilla's XUL, according to you.
The solution here is for Mozilla to take better care with "fitting in".
Is Opie really necessary on the Zaurus? From what I can figure out from the website, Opie is basically Qtopia (which is already fully GPL) with some extra applications. For iPAQ this might be a big deal since it doesn't even run Linux at all. But the Zaurus already has Qtopia, so...
I have the Nokia 6310i, which has absolutely amazing battery life when running in the USA:
Talk time: 4h - 7h 30 min
Standby time: up to 17 days
Of course, the phone isn't very fancy. No color screen or anything. Just a slimmer 61xx-style phone, but with all the stuff you really want: GPRS, Bluetooth, WAP.
Konsole is the best shell I've ever used. I'm posting this with Konqueror.. I use Kmail for all email use. Kate for development (that and vi) KMahjongg for fun?:)
It seems the KDE community chooses to concentrate much more on their endless whining and political stunts than on development, and the comparitive quality of KDE and GNOME applications bears this out. Especially considering the head-start the KDE project had.
Ehm, this must be a matter of opinion, since I believe KDE to be putting out better quality applications (in a shorter timespan too, they are not losing their head-start, they are increasing their lead). As for "political stunts", consider this: when I think of GNOME, I think of Ximian and Eazel (the millions wasted, the strange Google ads). When I think of KDE, I think of a team of developers "getting shit done." About the only bad mark that KDE has ever had was with the old Qt licensing, which all boiled down to wanting to "get shit done" instead of worrying about licensing. If you want to talk about politics, talk about GNOME.
Maybe if they had been developing instead of throwing tantrums their applications would be the ones Red Hat had chosen instead.
Red Hat chose GNOME way back in the day, as far as Linux desktops are concerned. KDE wasn't all that great back then, and GNOME was fully GPL. I think the licensing had to do more with their decision than quality of applications (especially considering that GNOME at that time was awful). Of course, it is harder to turn back now that Red Hat promoted GNOME so much. Considering that Red Hat is the only major distribution shipping GNOME as the default desktop, I wonder if Red Hat could end the desktop war by simply switching to KDE as default? Something to think about...
It is also important to remember that the people debating this are people like you and I, not the actual core KDE developers (or GNOME developers for that matter). They are not throwing tantrums, they are coding. I'd even guess that most of them don't even have Slashdot accounts. KDE continues to have a very strong developer community that generally does not worry about things like this. Please place blame appropriately.
TMDA is an anti-spam program that basically does this using the current email system. Unrecognized sending addresses are given a confirmation request email, to which they must reply in order for the message to continue delivery (sorta like a mailinglist signup). This prevents the spoofing problem, which is probably enough to solve all of SPAM, since an essential part of SPAM effectiveness is the ability to hide the origin.
It is a shame that this "dialback" approach isn't standard in the protocol (like it is in Jabber), because now we either have to change the protocol or graft something on top of it (TMDA). I run TMDA at my server, and it works well. I get no SPAM (that's 'zero', baby), but it causes an extra inconvenience to first-time senders, which could otherwise easily be automated with a better email protocol.
There was a similar article recently about "roaming profiles", and I brought up the same idea. Seriously, Jabber is capable of having a single-signon in its current state (no change to clients). And because Jabber is a distributed system where anyone can run a server, basically any problem anyone has mentioned so far in this entire comment board is non-existent.
Slashdot could easily allow logins via Jabber presence. Passwords aren't even needed, since Jabber presence is authoritative. Then I could log into such websites from wherever there is a Jabber client, all using my own personal server (none of this Microsoft-controlled Passport BS).
To an extent, Jabber already supports "roaming profiles" with your IM, through the use of a server-side contact list, and even any transports you might be using (AIM, ICQ, etc), along with their login info. This is more of a single-signon type thing, but it is along the same lines as a roaming profile.
But this could be taken much farther. The current protocol already offers arbitrary data storage on the server, and it could be beefed up if necessary (that's the wonderful part about an extensible protocol).
So then in your web browser (or in some global location on your OS), you could enter:
myusername@my-own-domain-nyah.com
and a password, and the browser could retrieve the necessary bookmarks and other data. And all of your data is safe at your-own-domain-nyah.com, instead of Microsoft HQ.
That pretty much covers all the bases. Time to hack this out.
From what I understand, DirectFB provides something similar to what DirectX does on Windows. Basically there are a set of operations that DFB can do, and it will try to do them in hardware if possible, otherwise it will fall back to software mode. The Linux Framebuffer does not provide an abstraction like this by itself, which is why we need DFB.
Con:
Limited driver support. You can use any card that has a kernel fb driver (even VESA, with software rendered transparency and everything:) ), but you'll only get acceleration if DFB has support specifically for that card. From what I can tell, only the Matrox has near-full support. The rest are lacking.
The problems with X that people have are really not the fault of X11, but instead XFree86.
Want to know the number 1 reason a Linux box freezes? XFree86 !
Ever seen X-win32, or other X servers for Windows? That's what I want on Linux. What this gives us is an abstraction of display layer and X server, which means that X would probably never have the power to bring the system down.
Instead, the graphics / display layer would be handled by DirectFB (http://www.directfb.org/). I can go on about the many reasons why this is a better model:
1) With the Linux Framebuffer (and DirectFB), we use the kernel for our graphics driver, which is something we should have been doing all along. Ever tried to combine XFree86 and svgalib? or the framebuffer? It's shaky ground, and most often results in a loud *BOOM*. With the kernel managing all of your video and actually knowing what the hell is going on means much better video stability.
2) On a similar note, DirectFB also uses whatever mouse you have setup in your kernel. No config files, it just works.
3) The Linux Framebuffer does not require root access to use. Rather, you just chmod your/dev/fb device. Easy! Why are we running around with XFree86 as setuid root?
4) Applications can access the local video directly for fast graphics access, and if they want they could use X also. This is the opposite of the current design, which is that you are always remote and you have to "ask" for local priveledge. Does anyone else find it totally backasswards that Quake requires X11 to run?
In short, don't dump X. But I say reorganize this whole display layer mess. We really can have our cake and eat it too. Just look at X-win32... and MacOS X....
DirectFB is really looking cool. I'm actually using it right now for my X display (and I'm only running X apps, so I'm not really gaining any accel at the moment). All in all, the DirectFB desktop is still not yet ready for prime time, but I'll be waiting:)
It's fairly clear the Red Hat's developers are more adept with Gtk+/Gnome than Qt/KDE, and there's nothing wrong with that - if they were better at Qt, we'd still be having this discussion.
Actually, I wonder... Redhat is the only distribution I can name that has GNOME as a default desktop. Had Redhat chosen KDE as their default, then maybe they would not have even bothered with trying to theme with GNOME. So, no, I think if they were better with Qt then we wouldn't be having this discussion.
The irony here is that Redhat, being the most popular Linux distribution, could probably end the desktop war by simply switching to KDE as a default.
Anyway, just thinking out loud. I have nothing against GNOME.
You may have missed my point. I didn't say to give up Trillian, but rather I recommended that you (or whomever) run both Trillian _and_ a Jabber client. This way you and your geeky friends would be able to switch over, yet you'd still be able to talk with everyone else. I'm well aware that the average user of some proprietary IM would have little incentive to switch to Jabber. I wasn't talking about them. We'll let them use AIM for now. I was talking about geek folks like us here.
I'd only expect the people that care about promoting open IM to do this. You may or may not be that type of person.
The problem is that IM is now a widely used application of the Internet, and thus should be interoperable. The existence of programs like Trillian (and its millions of downloads) shows there is no question that the public wants interoperable IM. You may not think IM needs to be interoperable, but the rest of us certainly do.
The reason the government stepped in on AOL is because they are so dominant. It is MUCH harder to enforce a standard this late in the IM game. Back in the early days of the public Internet, many services had incompatible/closed email systems (Prodigy, AOL, Compuserve, etc). Eventually they wised up and all agreed to use SMTP, but this was probably only because SMTP was already an established standard. It is much harder to wedge Jabber in as a standard today, when you've got millions already using the closed systems.
I should add here that, for example, AOL does not offer POP3. They still use a proprietary email client. In much the same way, they can continue to use Oscar (the AIM protocol) internally for their users (and have all sorts of internal "value-added-competition-healthy" services), but they really ought to talk Jabber to the rest of the world.
Anyhow, there's not much to debate here. Jabber is going to be accepted by the IETF soon, so finally we'll have an official standard. However, only time will tell if the big boys of IM will start using it...
Slashdot Mirror
You forgot the most important one:
Money! Giving money requires absolutely no skill, and doesn't force you to spend time doing boring tasks. All it takes is compassion and willingness to help out in a project.
Definitely..
Over the last 6 months or so, my friends and I have been randomly revisiting old games. We just bought a bunch of used NES and SNES games at a nearby store. We even were able to beat Ghosts 'n Goblins, a game I had not played for 16 years (and was impossible back then).
Other games we have been playing lately, instead of modern games:
Kid Icarus
Contra 3
Street Fighter 2010 (sleeper NES game from capcom, it is NOT a fighting game)
Ninja Gaiden
Castlevania 1 & 3
Crystalis (best NES game, IMO)
Megaman 1-6
The Gaurdian Legend
Ultima: Quest of the Avatar (this one goes nearly forever)
Super Mario all-stars
Bionic Commando
There are a lot of good old games, you just have to know what to look for. In my case, I had played all of these games in the past, so I remembered what was good. And contrary to what others may say about old games, I found these totally enjoyable in the present.
For modern 2D, I recommend Marvel vs Capcom 2, an amazingly well-done 2D fighting game by capcom, such that it is still popular even after being around for nearly 3 years (and still has a tournament scene).
I know that having an intermediate server is an advantage too, but for the regular user it's a disadvantage
:) But I'm not saying you need to use it. There are many other good Jabber clients to choose from too. Good luck.
I think you're looking at this from the wrong perspective. Jabber is not about putting an extra server between you and some proprietary IM system. If that is all Jabber did, it would be pointless. Forget all you know about Jabber, and just start with this:
- It is a distributed and open IM system.
Good, now does that sound interesting? If not, then Jabber may not be for you. Now I will add:
- Jabber has the ability to connect to MSN.
Alright, so you can do this also. However, please remember that it is optional, and not the reason for Jabber's sole existence. Jabber was never intended to be a multi-IM solution. If you want to use MSN through Jabber, that is your thing. You can just as easily run two clients instead, one for MSN and one for Jabber, if you don't want to have a "middleman" to MSN. Or maybe someday Trillian will support Jabber, then you won't need multiple clients.
I want to use psi, but until it has file transfer, it's not usable for me. And for windows, i am sorry, but you cannot beat trillian.
File transfer is planned. Even so, lots of people seem to like it. Trillian is more featureful than Psi in many ways, but it is missing just one very important feature that Psi has: Jabber support
Cool, glad it is working for you.
:) The good part though, is that if it does go down then it won't take the rest of us out. If you are concerned, your best bet is to run your own server. Personally, I use dreamhost.com, which offers $10/mo hosting which includes Jabber. They even have a nice web based admin section for adding users.
About the server going down: hopefully that doesn't happen
If you don't want to run a server, then just stick with a known public server. jabber.org, myjabber.net, amessage.de, etc are probably not going anywhere.
Curious, why are you "hacking" your ICQ client? Why doesn't it do what you want in the first place?
Jabber servers all communicate with each other, like email. There isn't any network segregation
If I am justin@andbit.net (which, I am), and you are wowtip@jabber.org, then my message to you would go from client->andbit.net->jabber.org->client.
I guess I made the false assumption that everyone already knows what Jabber is, yet aren't using it. That was actually very stupid of me, considering what I was arguing :)
:)
Jabber is an open IM system, which uses an XML-based protocol for interconnecting servers and clients. Your Jabber ID (or JID) is in the form "user@host", obviously following in the footsteps of other common internet protocols (most notably email, but also ftp, http, etc). Jabber also supports SSL in the core protocol.
Because the protocol is open, there are numerous server and client implementations, all designed to interoperate. Anyone can run a server, and there is no such thing as an "official client" (that would be as absurd as an official email client). The world of Jabber is much more friendly than that of closed IM, as the Jabber Software Foundation encourages developer participation.
Let the linking commence!
Jabber Software Foundation - The "JSF" handles all of the core protocol decision-making. There are members, council, and an enhancement proposal system. The website is also a nice hub for information, as there are links to guides, programming info, client software, server software, public server lists, etc. Start here.
Some nice clients:
Psi* - powerful and minimal cross-platform Jabber client (Windows/Mac/Unix), looking like Licq.
Gabber - a full featured GNOME Jabber client.
Exodus - a very featureful Windows client. Has a strange UI in my opinion, but lots of people like it.
Gaim - mentioned 100 times already in the comments area. This program is nice because it natively supports AIM (and other protocols), which can make your transition to Jabber easier.
Other areas of interest:
User guide - a good read for newbies.
jabberd - home of the popular open source jabber server.
Jabberd Admin guide - Read this if you want to run your own server.
Jogger - a Jabber-based blog.
*Note - I am the author of Psi. Please forgive the plug
Yes, which is a huge deal. Lots of people in the comments are posting about client-side workarounds, which don't even solve the problem. If you are logged into AIM and ICQ from one client, the networks are not bridged whatsoever. You've just got two logins, that's all. It's a nice trick, but there is a lot more to solving IM interoperability.
:(
Now that the IETF working group for Jabber is on its way, I sincerely hope that AOL will consider using it for their server-to-server communication. They can still use OSCAR for client communication (just as they use a proprietary client mail protocol and not POP), but they need to use Jabber on the outside (as they use SMTP on the outside) to fully solve the "IM Interoperability Dilemma" (tm).
Of course, considering how long it is taking for them to link their own damn networks, I'd say we've got about 5 years to go
AOL holds most of the cards for IM interoperability. I still encourage everyone out there to start using Jabber and run Jabber servers, but AOL's users totally outnumber us. Even in this Slashdot forum today, most of you using some form of IM are using an AOL-controlled service. Please, guys, the faster we move to Jabber, the faster this war will be over. Stop using AIM, ICQ, MSN, or Yahoo, especially if you are on Linux (doesn't anyone think using MSN on Linux is just too ironic?). Or if you can't quit cold-turkey, use GAIM so that you can use Jabber alongside these other proprietary protocols. I still think it will take a move by AOL to fully solve this (as I said, they have most of the cards), but I think if the entire tech community embraced Jabber we would have a lot more influence. This move to link AIM and ICQ is a good first step, but there is more to be done.
So go forth and use Jabber. Find a friend to do it also. Even if you just have each other in your contact list and no one else, you are securing yourself a place in the future of open IM. I'm already AOL-free, as I quit AIM and ICQ earlier this year. Now my Jabber roster has over 100 contacts, after successful conversion of all of my friends and family. Who needs AOL? Not any of us!!
For a long time I couldn't log into my bank's website (Bank of America) with Konqueror, because the javascript support sucked back then. I remember spending hours looking through the html/js sourcecode of the website, trying to track each step in the login procedure to perhaps fix the problem. OMG, there was so much bullsh*t in the code, checks for WebTV, etc. I eventually gave up, it was just way too long and cryptic (not to mention I'm not a web dev).
With the introduction of Konqueror 3, I was finally able to log into the website. However, the point remains. What in God's name was BofA doing in their login scheme? Security through obscurity? All they need is a nice webform with https and be done with it. As it stands, I really have no clue how secure their system is. Banks should not be goofing off with l33t javascript.
He who has the most expensive toys becomes the envy of his friends, thus enhancing his self-esteem.
Right, just like all the hardcore gamers here who have overpriced video cards that no software or game even takes advantage of? These same folks whining about the yuppies blowing their money on LCDs for no good reason? Haha!
Personally, I have two boxes at home, both with LCD monitors. They are easier on the eyes, better allowing me to get work done. Sure, they were expensive, but at least I've got a good reason to use them. Not everyone buys pricy items to "be cool".
I have a similar stance about pda/laptop devices, but mine is more like this:
:)
"If it isn't small enough to fit in my pocket, then it may as well be as big as my backpack."
The 'My Little VAIO' appears to be in the wrong size-bracket for the size to actually matter. You're gonna have to put it in some sort of bag anyway, unless you expect to carry it around in your hands all day. The only reason to recommend a device of this size is if your backpack is already full of other things, and you only have enough room left for a tiny laptop
Yup, it seems with the advent of KDE (and GNOME), the world of X11 actually has a concept of native widgets, moreso than Win32.
This is actually a side-effect of X11 never having a native "look and feel". So instead of each GUI lib trying to match a native L&F, they have their own unique look.
This makes the KDE desktop similar to MacOS X in that regard. Any non-native app sticks out like a sore thumb.
Developers, pay heed! You must use native widgets or you are doomed to look bad everywhere!
Native widgets are a fantasy. Consider MFC apps, Borland apps, Qt apps, Microsoft's latest apps, or even raw win32 apps. The rule here is that they all have a similar enough "look and feel" that the user is happy, even though they are all different GUI libs. Of course, there are GUI libs that totally break the rule, such as Java's Swing and gtk-win32. And apparently even Mozilla's XUL, according to you.
The solution here is for Mozilla to take better care with "fitting in".
Is Opie really necessary on the Zaurus? From what I can figure out from the website, Opie is basically Qtopia (which is already fully GPL) with some extra applications. For iPAQ this might be a big deal since it doesn't even run Linux at all. But the Zaurus already has Qtopia, so...
Depends on the Nokia phone :)
I have the Nokia 6310i, which has absolutely amazing battery life when running in the USA:
Talk time: 4h - 7h 30 min
Standby time: up to 17 days
Of course, the phone isn't very fancy. No color screen or anything. Just a slimmer 61xx-style phone, but with all the stuff you really want: GPRS, Bluetooth, WAP.
Konsole is the best shell I've ever used. :)
I'm posting this with Konqueror..
I use Kmail for all email use.
Kate for development (that and vi)
KMahjongg for fun?
Probably others..
It seems the KDE community chooses to concentrate much more on their endless whining and political stunts than on development, and the comparitive quality of KDE and GNOME applications bears this out. Especially considering the head-start the KDE project had.
Ehm, this must be a matter of opinion, since I believe KDE to be putting out better quality applications (in a shorter timespan too, they are not losing their head-start, they are increasing their lead). As for "political stunts", consider this: when I think of GNOME, I think of Ximian and Eazel (the millions wasted, the strange Google ads). When I think of KDE, I think of a team of developers "getting shit done." About the only bad mark that KDE has ever had was with the old Qt licensing, which all boiled down to wanting to "get shit done" instead of worrying about licensing. If you want to talk about politics, talk about GNOME.
Maybe if they had been developing instead of throwing tantrums their applications would be the ones Red Hat had chosen instead.
Red Hat chose GNOME way back in the day, as far as Linux desktops are concerned. KDE wasn't all that great back then, and GNOME was fully GPL. I think the licensing had to do more with their decision than quality of applications (especially considering that GNOME at that time was awful). Of course, it is harder to turn back now that Red Hat promoted GNOME so much. Considering that Red Hat is the only major distribution shipping GNOME as the default desktop, I wonder if Red Hat could end the desktop war by simply switching to KDE as default? Something to think about...
It is also important to remember that the people debating this are people like you and I, not the actual core KDE developers (or GNOME developers for that matter). They are not throwing tantrums, they are coding. I'd even guess that most of them don't even have Slashdot accounts. KDE continues to have a very strong developer community that generally does not worry about things like this. Please place blame appropriately.
TMDA is an anti-spam program that basically does this using the current email system. Unrecognized sending addresses are given a confirmation request email, to which they must reply in order for the message to continue delivery (sorta like a mailinglist signup). This prevents the spoofing problem, which is probably enough to solve all of SPAM, since an essential part of SPAM effectiveness is the ability to hide the origin.
It is a shame that this "dialback" approach isn't standard in the protocol (like it is in Jabber), because now we either have to change the protocol or graft something on top of it (TMDA). I run TMDA at my server, and it works well. I get no SPAM (that's 'zero', baby), but it causes an extra inconvenience to first-time senders, which could otherwise easily be automated with a better email protocol.
There was a similar article recently about "roaming profiles", and I brought up the same idea. Seriously, Jabber is capable of having a single-signon in its current state (no change to clients). And because Jabber is a distributed system where anyone can run a server, basically any problem anyone has mentioned so far in this entire comment board is non-existent.
Slashdot could easily allow logins via Jabber presence. Passwords aren't even needed, since Jabber presence is authoritative. Then I could log into such websites from wherever there is a Jabber client, all using my own personal server (none of this Microsoft-controlled Passport BS).
-Justin
To an extent, Jabber already supports "roaming profiles" with your IM, through the use of a server-side contact list, and even any transports you might be using (AIM, ICQ, etc), along with their login info. This is more of a single-signon type thing, but it is along the same lines as a roaming profile.
But this could be taken much farther. The current protocol already offers arbitrary data storage on the server, and it could be beefed up if necessary (that's the wonderful part about an extensible protocol).
So then in your web browser (or in some global location on your OS), you could enter:
myusername@my-own-domain-nyah.com
and a password, and the browser could retrieve the necessary bookmarks and other data. And all of your data is safe at your-own-domain-nyah.com, instead of Microsoft HQ.
That pretty much covers all the bases. Time to hack this out.
-Justin
Pro:
:) ), but you'll only get acceleration if DFB has support specifically for that card. From what I can tell, only the Matrox has near-full support. The rest are lacking.
From what I understand, DirectFB provides something similar to what DirectX does on Windows. Basically there are a set of operations that DFB can do, and it will try to do them in hardware if possible, otherwise it will fall back to software mode. The Linux Framebuffer does not provide an abstraction like this by itself, which is why we need DFB.
Con:
Limited driver support. You can use any card that has a kernel fb driver (even VESA, with software rendered transparency and everything
The problems with X that people have are really not the fault of X11, but instead XFree86.
/dev/fb device. Easy! Why are we running around with XFree86 as setuid root?
:)
Want to know the number 1 reason a Linux box freezes? XFree86 !
Ever seen X-win32, or other X servers for Windows? That's what I want on Linux. What this gives us is an abstraction of display layer and X server, which means that X would probably never have the power to bring the system down.
Instead, the graphics / display layer would be handled by DirectFB (http://www.directfb.org/). I can go on about the many reasons why this is a better model:
1) With the Linux Framebuffer (and DirectFB), we use the kernel for our graphics driver, which is something we should have been doing all along. Ever tried to combine XFree86 and svgalib? or the framebuffer? It's shaky ground, and most often results in a loud *BOOM*. With the kernel managing all of your video and actually knowing what the hell is going on means much better video stability.
2) On a similar note, DirectFB also uses whatever mouse you have setup in your kernel. No config files, it just works.
3) The Linux Framebuffer does not require root access to use. Rather, you just chmod your
4) Applications can access the local video directly for fast graphics access, and if they want they could use X also. This is the opposite of the current design, which is that you are always remote and you have to "ask" for local priveledge. Does anyone else find it totally backasswards that Quake requires X11 to run?
In short, don't dump X. But I say reorganize this whole display layer mess. We really can have our cake and eat it too. Just look at X-win32... and MacOS X....
DirectFB is really looking cool. I'm actually using it right now for my X display (and I'm only running X apps, so I'm not really gaining any accel at the moment). All in all, the DirectFB desktop is still not yet ready for prime time, but I'll be waiting
It's fairly clear the Red Hat's developers are more adept with Gtk+/Gnome than Qt/KDE, and there's nothing wrong with that - if they were better at Qt, we'd still be having this discussion.
Actually, I wonder... Redhat is the only distribution I can name that has GNOME as a default desktop. Had Redhat chosen KDE as their default, then maybe they would not have even bothered with trying to theme with GNOME. So, no, I think if they were better with Qt then we wouldn't be having this discussion.
The irony here is that Redhat, being the most popular Linux distribution, could probably end the desktop war by simply switching to KDE as a default.
Anyway, just thinking out loud. I have nothing against GNOME.
You may have missed my point. I didn't say to give up Trillian, but rather I recommended that you (or whomever) run both Trillian _and_ a Jabber client. This way you and your geeky friends would be able to switch over, yet you'd still be able to talk with everyone else. I'm well aware that the average user of some proprietary IM would have little incentive to switch to Jabber. I wasn't talking about them. We'll let them use AIM for now. I was talking about geek folks like us here.
I'd only expect the people that care about promoting open IM to do this. You may or may not be that type of person.
The problem is that IM is now a widely used application of the Internet, and thus should be interoperable. The existence of programs like Trillian (and its millions of downloads) shows there is no question that the public wants interoperable IM. You may not think IM needs to be interoperable, but the rest of us certainly do.
The reason the government stepped in on AOL is because they are so dominant. It is MUCH harder to enforce a standard this late in the IM game. Back in the early days of the public Internet, many services had incompatible/closed email systems (Prodigy, AOL, Compuserve, etc). Eventually they wised up and all agreed to use SMTP, but this was probably only because SMTP was already an established standard. It is much harder to wedge Jabber in as a standard today, when you've got millions already using the closed systems.
I should add here that, for example, AOL does not offer POP3. They still use a proprietary email client. In much the same way, they can continue to use Oscar (the AIM protocol) internally for their users (and have all sorts of internal "value-added-competition-healthy" services), but they really ought to talk Jabber to the rest of the world.
Anyhow, there's not much to debate here. Jabber is going to be accepted by the IETF soon, so finally we'll have an official standard. However, only time will tell if the big boys of IM will start using it...