* Better general multimedia support. I can view trailers on apple.com, but I can't watch video on ifilm or Daily Show clips on CC.com. I don't blame linux for this shortcoming, I blame patents and closed source codecs. I'm running FC4 with a bunch of xine/gstreamer packages installed from extras, so either I've done something wrong, or there's more bugs to work out.
If my email system designer were satisfied with almost nine hours of downtime per year, I'd find a new designer.
If 99.9% uptime costs X, and 99.99% uptime costs X x 2.5 (according to an earlier post) and 99.999% uptime costs god knows how much more -- at what point do you reach a point of diminishing returns?
Assuming that 100% is not achievable, how does one determing what degree of available is "good enough"? Alternatively, why are you so certain that 99.9% is *not* good enough?
I completely understand why they would only want people using IE to register, especially if they didn't have much of a tech support staff. It's near impossible to cater a web app to every single flavor of every browser for every OS.
Screw that. How about just supporting three browsers and the three most widely used OSes? How about not blocking access based on the UserAgent header?
If they don't have "much of a tech support staff" -- then maybe they should write simple forms that work without jumping through browser-specific hoops. HTML forms have been around a while. The simple stuff is just that -- simple.
And it ain't *that* hard to write JS form validation for the three main browsers.
Pardon my french, but the parent post is bullshit.
Look him up. This is the one character on the list I'd like to see in a movie. Not the most popular character in the Marvel universe, but I think one of the most interesting.
I'm sick of this tired old "fix it yourself" argument.
[...]
In short, please stop repeating that tired old argument, its not feasible for 99% of the user community for any particular application and it makes you sound like an arrogant prick.
If 99% of the user community can't follow the "fix it yourself" advice, they can easily can do the next best thing. They can write a check to some developer who will do it. If users *really* want an MDI in Gimp, they can pay a team of developers to do it.
The current GIMP team doesn't want to do it. That's not their itch, and they don't feel the need to scratch it. Fine. It's a free product. The project doesn't have shareholders or clients to please. Their job is not on the line -- because they are doing it for free.
You accuse developers of being arrogant pricks, but many users of Free software can just as easily be accused of being ungrateful freeloaders.
I admit to being a freeloader, but at least I'm grateful.
I just don't understand how people can be so venomous to a project's development team for not implementing a feature on a free project that no one is paying for.
If you pirated a copy of Photoshop and found that it was missing some crucial feature, would you write Adobe and demand it be implemented? Of course not. If you did, would Adobe have any reason to listen to you? No. Why? -- Because you aren't paying the bills.
Why should you expect the Gimp team to treat you any different?
Is it your job to research Linux and FOSS in general with the ultimate goal of margnializing it and pressing Microsoft's advantage?
For example, by examing the source code of various projects, you could find areas where FOSS products have, through reverse engineering, managed to become compatitable with Microsoft products. Then you could change the MS proprietary interface to break compatibility, and patent the technique of accessing the new interface.
This would shut out FOSS products that attempt to work with Microsoft products.
Is this your job description?
What possible strategic reason would Microsoft have to integrate with Linux/FOSS products?
What possible strategic reason would Microsoft have to explicitly and actively allow (or even encourage) Linux/FOSS products to integrate with Microsoft products?
Wouldn't such an embracing strategy undermine and mitigate the primary competitive advantage that Microsoft offers -- that of controlling a uniform development and distribution platform that is, for now, nearly ubiquitous?
How does researching Linux work toward protecting that competitive advantage of Microsoft in a way that is beneficial toward the Linux community?
And yet they wonder why the music industry isn't growning the way it used to -- because the music they make is crap and they have to manufacture hits and stars, bribing their way onto the airwaves if need be.
No, thanks. They can keep swimming in the tarpits.
Compare with Bittorrent. I'm sure Bram knows damn well that his program/design is being used for copyright violation, but he didn't DESIGN his product to be used for that purpose PRIMARILY, and he doesn't promote it's use in that form.
I stand by my position. Bittorent is screwed.
1) Grokster shuts down. 2) Music and movies sharing moves over to the torrent 3) Nobody acts to stop the illegal trading. 4) "Not stopping" will be interpreted as "Promoting" 5) Bye-bye bittorent.
12-18 months. RIAA/MPAA has bought too much legislation to let technology or freedom and customers continue to erode their profit margins.
The supreme court is becoming more and more pointless every day
Not pointless - dangerous. The SC rulings that have come out this session represent a series of outright attacks on individual liberties, while empowering governments at all levels to expand -- and excusing them for their mistakes. I shit you not dude, look at the other rulings that came out.
Slashdot Mirror
Linux has its own niche; it is not meant to replace windoz boxes, and it will not replace them in the near future. So, who cares ?
B.S. Linux *has* replaced Windows in my house. My five year old child uses linux exclusively. My wife uses Linux. I use linux.
Granted, Linux doesn't have much in the games category, but I'm not much of a games player. Besides, I've got a PS2.
My list of unmet needs are getting pretty short:
* Shockwave/Director player.
* Flash IDE (but that's coming.)
* Better general multimedia support. I can view trailers on apple.com, but I can't watch video on ifilm or Daily Show clips on CC.com. I don't blame linux for this shortcoming, I blame patents and closed source codecs. I'm running FC4 with a bunch of xine/gstreamer packages installed from extras, so either I've done something wrong, or there's more bugs to work out.
* Educational software for my kids.
If my email system designer were satisfied with almost nine hours of downtime per year, I'd find a new designer.
If 99.9% uptime costs X, and 99.99% uptime costs X x 2.5 (according to an earlier post) and 99.999% uptime costs god knows how much more -- at what point do you reach a point of diminishing returns?
Assuming that 100% is not achievable, how does one determing what degree of available is "good enough"? Alternatively, why are you so certain that 99.9% is *not* good enough?
Or are they merely collecting people and figuring out what to do with them later? From the outside looking in, it sure seems like the latter.
That *is* the strategy. Great people do great things. You can't do the latter without the former, no matter how goood your "strategy" is.
I completely understand why they would only want people using IE to register, especially if they didn't have much of a tech support staff. It's near impossible to cater a web app to every single flavor of every browser for every OS.
Screw that. How about just supporting three browsers and the three most widely used OSes? How about not blocking access based on the UserAgent header?
If they don't have "much of a tech support staff" -- then maybe they should write simple forms that work without jumping through browser-specific hoops. HTML forms have been around a while. The simple stuff is just that -- simple.
And it ain't *that* hard to write JS form validation for the three main browsers.
Pardon my french, but the parent post is bullshit.
Dr. Strange
Who?
Look him up. This is the one character on the list I'd like to see in a movie. Not the most popular character in the Marvel universe, but I think one of the most interesting.
They've figured out how to charge me 3.29 + 9/10 for a gallon of gas. 9/10 of one cent is pretty micro.
I'm sick of this tired old "fix it yourself" argument.
[...]
In short, please stop repeating that tired old argument, its not feasible for 99% of the user community for any particular application and it makes you sound like an arrogant prick.
If 99% of the user community can't follow the "fix it yourself" advice, they can easily can do the next best thing. They can write a check to some developer who will do it. If users *really* want an MDI in Gimp, they can pay a team of developers to do it.
The current GIMP team doesn't want to do it. That's not their itch, and they don't feel the need to scratch it. Fine. It's a free product. The project doesn't have shareholders or clients to please. Their job is not on the line -- because they are doing it for free.
You accuse developers of being arrogant pricks, but many users of Free software can just as easily be accused of being ungrateful freeloaders.
I admit to being a freeloader, but at least I'm grateful.
I just don't understand how people can be so venomous to a project's development team for not implementing a feature on a free project that no one is paying for.
If you pirated a copy of Photoshop and found that it was missing some crucial feature, would you write Adobe and demand it be implemented? Of course not. If you did, would Adobe have any reason to listen to you? No. Why? -- Because you aren't paying the bills.
Why should you expect the Gimp team to treat you any different?
what exactly am I plugging?
Screenshot
Google Desktop 2.0 is beginning to take shape as a browser in itself as the need for a Firefox or IE is almost eliminated.
Windows only???!! WTF!
I switched to nearlyfreespeech a couple months ago. Here's what I have to say about them.
It's okay. It seems the target market of the game is "14-18 year old girls," and there are no 14-18 year old girls on slashdot.
Dude. If it's spin, it's spin.
I read the whole thing, and that line was the first indicator of what was to follow.
I did read the whole thing, as signified by the "should have" in my post.
So, no, Microsoft is not out to exterminate Linux or Open Source...
I should have stopped reading right there, knowing the whole piece is spin.
Is it your job to research Linux and FOSS in general with the ultimate goal of margnializing it and pressing Microsoft's advantage?
For example, by examing the source code of various projects, you could find areas where FOSS products have, through reverse engineering, managed to become compatitable with Microsoft products. Then you could change the MS proprietary interface to break compatibility, and patent the technique of accessing the new interface.
This would shut out FOSS products that attempt to work with Microsoft products.
Is this your job description?
What possible strategic reason would Microsoft have to integrate with Linux/FOSS products?
What possible strategic reason would Microsoft have to explicitly and actively allow (or even encourage) Linux/FOSS products to integrate with Microsoft products?
Wouldn't such an embracing strategy undermine and mitigate the primary competitive advantage that Microsoft offers -- that of controlling a uniform development and distribution platform that is, for now, nearly ubiquitous?
How does researching Linux work toward protecting that competitive advantage of Microsoft in a way that is beneficial toward the Linux community?
And what do you expect sex starved slashdotters to do, ask if she runs Linux?
Does she? What distro?
And yet they wonder why the music industry isn't growning the way it used to -- because the music they make is crap and they have to manufacture hits and stars, bribing their way onto the airwaves if need be.
No, thanks. They can keep swimming in the tarpits.
MediaWiki
I can personally attest to the power of wiki.
The headline should read:
MS informing developers that IE7 will not be standards compliant, get hacks ready now
Michael Bay ...will direct
Dammit. Why is this many still employed??
Told ya.
Bittorrent Creator A Digital Pirate?
Alarmist, eh? I think not.
Bummer.
Compare with Bittorrent. I'm sure Bram knows damn well that his program/design is being used for copyright violation, but he didn't DESIGN his product to be used for that purpose PRIMARILY, and he doesn't promote it's use in that form.
I stand by my position. Bittorent is screwed.
1) Grokster shuts down.
2) Music and movies sharing moves over to the torrent
3) Nobody acts to stop the illegal trading.
4) "Not stopping" will be interpreted as "Promoting"
5) Bye-bye bittorent.
12-18 months. RIAA/MPAA has bought too much legislation to let technology or freedom and customers continue to erode their profit margins.
The supreme court is becoming more and more pointless every day
Not pointless - dangerous. The SC rulings that have come out this session represent a series of outright attacks on individual liberties, while empowering governments at all levels to expand -- and excusing them for their mistakes. I shit you not dude, look at the other rulings that came out.