Unless you're talking about some weird language, the main compiler for the Mac *is* gcc - the same one you use in Linux. Apple's Xcode (which is free as in beer) uses gcc to compile - and Xcode is a very nice IDE. You just need to get a free membership to the Apple Developer Connection to get Xcode.
Printing is a nightmare with Windows too - I have to deal with 30 of the brutes. They often fail with no meaningful error message.
Just for your entertainment, here is a rant from the scary devil monastery which really exemplifies the general problem with printers and printer people (on all operating systems). This is not my rant, but quite easily could have been:
The article submitter needn't fear (yet) - there are plenty of companies still making B&W film and photo paper (probably the best being Ilford - I've never actually used Kodak paper more than once or twice, I've always used Ilford Multigrade).
I know all about the aliases. I'm talking about the default output from some of these commands. Try typing 'ls' some time - the output is utterly useless for any directory with more than 2 files.
My first impression - well, it will be fine for scripting, but as it stands it's appaling as an interactive shell - possibly slightly worse than cmd.exe as an interactive shell, and falling far short of bash/tcsh et al. The defaults for the commands seem way too verbose. If you're just passing objects around in a script that's fine - but for interactive use, it's just awful.
Re:Eccleston made a good doctor.
on
Dr Who Rolls On
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· Score: 1
The Daleks, I think, are rather good. Unlike most aliens, they don't look like humans - inside the Dalek machine is a bizarre, octopus-like creature. Not many SF programmes do that sort of thing.
If you want to see some older Dr. Who (wobbly scenery and all), then get a BitTorrent client and head on out to The Pirate Bay - there's some episodes floating around there. Be on the lookout for "The Genesis of the Daleks". Tom Baker is widely thought of as the best Doctor of the old series.
No - Theo really does talk like this. He shoots from the hip very often. He's basically a walking PR disaster.
But he is more often than not right.
I strongly disagree with him on one point - "Linux is for those who hate Microsoft, and BSD is for those who love UNIX" - all the people I know who use Linux do so because they want a functional Unix-like OS, not because they hate Microsoft. The lawsuit he mentions has much more to do with Linux's popularity than hating Microsoft.
I use both OpenBSD and Linux, and I like them both but they are different tools for different jobs. I would never use Linux for a firewall - iptables is awful - poorly documented and has a terrible syntax that means you have to dive into random HOWTO docs on the internet to get anything done. On the other hand, pf is well thought out, everything you need is right there in the manpage, and the syntax is a lot more straightforward. On the other hand, OpenBSD is simply not much of a desktop OS - it doesn't have the polish that even Debian has for that use (and that's saying something). But as a secure web server, mail server, firewall etc. OpenBSD is fantastic, and I have to hand it to Theo.
TANSTAAFL. If the file is already well compressed, generating blocks from parity information won't make it faster - because there's no more redundancy to be squeezed out, you have to transfer more data than the raw file to be able to have the extra information to generate these blocks. Sure, you may be able to get it slightly faster, perhaps 0.5-1% - but certainly not 20-30%, unless the file is uncompressed or only lightly compressed.
Most files that go out via BT are very well compressed.
It's no different to the question "what happens 10 years down the line when this hard disk I paid $150 for dies?" or "what happens 10 years down the line when this car I paid $12,000 for dies?" or pertinently right now, "What happens to my Rover car that I paid $15,000 when it breaks down and I can't get spares because Rover just went bankrupt?"
Virtual property is like anything else that can be traded; its value can increase or decrease relative to something else. It has a set of 'what ifs' attached to it like any piece of real property. Its value can be affected by the segment of the economy it's in (for example, the game developer can't just decide to make infinite land as a way of printing money, because if it's infinite it'll be worthless thanks to the laws of supply and demand).
Personally, I'm not interested - but that doesn't mean that I can't see that other people might find value in property within an online game. They can make up their own minds.
If it was right in the wind tunnel in the 1960s, it'll still be right in the wind tunnel now. This is the fundamental reason why (subsonic) airframe designs all look pretty much the same and haven't changed since the first jet airliners - the laws of physics haven't changed since then either.
No, for the hardware I use (the vast majority of systems are HP-Compaq desktops) Linux really IS easier to install because every piece of hardware is supported out of the box. In Windows, none of the hardware is supported out of the box, and the HP-Compaq drivers must be installed as a separate step afterwards.
I agree that trying to install Red Hat/Fedora Core Linux on some random parts-bin PC may be difficult, but on mainstream business desktops it's been easier than Windows since about RedHat 8. Even on my parts-bin PC at home, I get a fully functional machine from scratch in around 40 minutes - the only driver I have to separately install is the NVidia driver (and I'd have to separately install this with Windows too).
Finally, Linux will never ever be easier to install on random parts-bin machines whilst manufacturers only make Windows drivers. This isn't a problem with Linux distros - it's a problem with hardware makers only supporting Windows.
Windows is also only $250 if you value your time at zero.
On typical x86 hardware, like the HPaq systems we have at work (and that many small businesses have), to install Windows XP + all the stuff you need to make a working office system is a 3 hour job. With any recent Linux distro, such as CentOS 4 or Fedora Core 4, getting a ready-to-use machine takes around 45 minutes.
Most users are insulated from the quite difficult process of making a working Windows machine because everything comes pre-installed. Out of the box, Windows XP does not support sound, networking, chipset or the onboard graphics of our HPaq machines - you have to fetch the drivers from the HP website. Out of the box, FC4 or CentOS 4 supports all the hardware in those computers, plus all the various peripherals we use in our office with *no* configuration needed save personalisation (i.e. network settings, telling the machine where the print queue is, clicking on 'Authenticate by LDAP'). All the configuration can be done via the GUI. Additionally, you can make a simple disk image that works and is legal to put on all our computers - Windows requires separate licenses for each, which essentially prohibits installing from a pre-built image for the small business.
Desktop oriented distros like CentOS4, SuSE, Mandrake, Fedora Core et al. certainly DO value the user's time. They have gone to great efforts to make common configuration tasks easy. The spread of Linux to the general population will be slow *because it does not come preinstalled by an OEM*. Most people can't install Windows, and even though Linux has been EASIER to install on most hardware since RedHat 8 came out, can't do that either. Most users would be totally stuck if Windows had to be purchased and installed separately.
There is GNUstep. You can write programs that are cross platform Cocoa and GNUstep. (See my sig for a Mac OS X game ported to Linux and GNUstep, although since the original port, the graphics/sound/input has been moved to SDL).
The processor is irrelevant - I can't see why Intel Macs will slow down Linux adoption any more than PPC Macs will do so. A Mac will still cost just as much as it does now (because unlike the white box PCs many of us use, a Mac won't be a parts-bin machine) - the processor inside is actually pretty irrelevant.
Don't forget that if you can have a dual boot OS X/Windows Mac, you can have a dual boot OS X/Linux Mac too (and the Mac now being Intel will have mainstream Linux distro support, which it doesn't now - well, didn't until Fedora Core 4 came out with PPC support).
Actually, that's not true. Windows is MUCH harder to set up than any recent Linux distro (save Debian and probably Gentoo, but they are hardly 'consumer oriented' distros). The fact is most people *don't* set up Windows (or OS X) - it comes pre-installed and working on the computer they purchase.
However, here is a comparison. We have very common HP-Compaq business desktops at work. Here is the installation procedure for Windows XP:
1. Boot XP CD, let it do its stuff, accept license, reboot. 2. Continue Setup, enter the CD key from our volume license, let the installation complete, press Next a couple of times. After about half an hour, you reboot again. 3. Computer comes up in 640x480 and 16 colours. Sound does not work, networking does not work, no chipset support. 4. On another computer, get HPaq drivers for the appropriate model from the HP website, copy to a USB key. 5. Insert USB key. Install HPaq network driver. Reboot. 6. Install chipset driver. Reboot. 7. Install sound driver. Reboot. 8. Install graphics driver. Reboot. 9. Configure network. 10. Install Microsoft Office and usual apps. 11. Install printer drivers for HP LaserJet 2200TN. 12. Run Windows Update. After approximately 2 hours you have a machine that's ready for office desktop use.
Now let's compare installing CentOS 4 or Fedora Core 4 on the same model of machine: 1. Insert 1st disk of distro. Boot it. 2. Accept defaults for partitioning etc. and select 'Workstation install'. 3. Enter network address (or accept the defaults if you have DHCP). 4. Feed it the disks it asks. About half an hour later, reboot. 5. Enter remaining setup information in the afterboot GUI. 6. Using the Printer Setup GUI, set up the HP 2200TN printer. 7. Click the software update icon and let it download any updates. You now have a complete functioning workstation, complete with graphics, networking in approximately 45 minutes. You've never had to enter a long license key or hunt for drivers. It has sensible defaults.
A modern desktop oriented Linux distro just works out of the box and has drivers that just work for any common piece of hardware you may find in the typical HPaq equipped office. It even works fine on the HPaq laptops we have straight out of the box. It takes less than half the time and many fewer steps to install Fedora Core 4 than Windows.
Windows is VERY difficult for a noob to install - the fact is, most noobs don't have to install it because it comes pre-installed. Same goes for Mac OS X.
Apple use normal NVidia GeForce or ATi video cards. All you'd need is a PC with an NVidia or ATi card that's the same model as used in the Mac. It won't exactly be difficult to find a compatible card.
The sound hardware is unlikely to be proprietary. The ethernet card certainly isn't, and the wireless card certainly isn't. An Apple mouse is a standard USB mouse - Apple mice already work on PCs, and generic PC mice already work on Macintoshes (as do keyboards).
The only thing "non standard-PC" about a current Macintosh is the PowerPC.
The UK has for decades had The Open University. You can get an accredited degree from the OU. It is not bricks and mortar. It used to be broadcast TV + course materials, but I should imagine it has a lot of computer-based stuff now.
Well, a fit person from Earth wouldn't snap limps [sic] with every step, although falling over would almost certainly be extremely nasty.
I'm not short and stocky (a bit lanky in fact), but I've flown aerobatics. I've pulled a little over 5G without even greying out, and I can easily raise my arms during a 2G manoevre (although they feel very heavy. The worst manoevres I find are the ones that go from negative to positive G in a very short space of time, such as a split-S).
Slashdot Mirror
A month later (which is when he visited), radiation levels would have fallen well below safe levels.
Unless you're talking about some weird language, the main compiler for the Mac *is* gcc - the same one you use in Linux. Apple's Xcode (which is free as in beer) uses gcc to compile - and Xcode is a very nice IDE. You just need to get a free membership to the Apple Developer Connection to get Xcode.
Printing is a nightmare with Windows too - I have to deal with 30 of the brutes. They often fail with no meaningful error message.
Just for your entertainment, here is a rant from the scary devil monastery which really exemplifies the general problem with printers and printer people (on all operating systems). This is not my rant, but quite easily could have been:
http://slashdot.org/~Alioth/journal/93818
Other companies DO do black and white paper, most notably Ilford who is cheaper and better than Kodak.
Colour is awful to do in the darkroom - I did it when I was at school. Never again!
The article submitter needn't fear (yet) - there are plenty of companies still making B&W film and photo paper (probably the best being Ilford - I've never actually used Kodak paper more than once or twice, I've always used Ilford Multigrade).
I know all about the aliases. I'm talking about the default output from some of these commands. Try typing 'ls' some time - the output is utterly useless for any directory with more than 2 files.
I've had it since yesterday.
My first impression - well, it will be fine for scripting, but as it stands it's appaling as an interactive shell - possibly slightly worse than cmd.exe as an interactive shell, and falling far short of bash/tcsh et al. The defaults for the commands seem way too verbose. If you're just passing objects around in a script that's fine - but for interactive use, it's just awful.
The Daleks, I think, are rather good. Unlike most aliens, they don't look like humans - inside the Dalek machine is a bizarre, octopus-like creature. Not many SF programmes do that sort of thing.
If you want to see some older Dr. Who (wobbly scenery and all), then get a BitTorrent client and head on out to The Pirate Bay - there's some episodes floating around there. Be on the lookout for "The Genesis of the Daleks". Tom Baker is widely thought of as the best Doctor of the old series.
The Daleks killed Davros in "The Genesis of the Daleks" (a 1975 6-parter, with Tom Baker as The Doctor).
Of course that doesn't exclude the possibility that the Daleks have created a Davros-replacement as their new 'supreme Dalek' since then.
I watched "The Genesis of the Daleks" (a six-parter with Tom Baker as the Doctor) to help remember what they were like.
It also reminded me that Tom Basker was THE Doctor. However, Eccleston gives Baker a really good run for his money.
No - Theo really does talk like this. He shoots from the hip very often. He's basically a walking PR disaster.
But he is more often than not right.
I strongly disagree with him on one point - "Linux is for those who hate Microsoft, and BSD is for those who love UNIX" - all the people I know who use Linux do so because they want a functional Unix-like OS, not because they hate Microsoft. The lawsuit he mentions has much more to do with Linux's popularity than hating Microsoft.
I use both OpenBSD and Linux, and I like them both but they are different tools for different jobs. I would never use Linux for a firewall - iptables is awful - poorly documented and has a terrible syntax that means you have to dive into random HOWTO docs on the internet to get anything done. On the other hand, pf is well thought out, everything you need is right there in the manpage, and the syntax is a lot more straightforward. On the other hand, OpenBSD is simply not much of a desktop OS - it doesn't have the polish that even Debian has for that use (and that's saying something). But as a secure web server, mail server, firewall etc. OpenBSD is fantastic, and I have to hand it to Theo.
TANSTAAFL. If the file is already well compressed, generating blocks from parity information won't make it faster - because there's no more redundancy to be squeezed out, you have to transfer more data than the raw file to be able to have the extra information to generate these blocks. Sure, you may be able to get it slightly faster, perhaps 0.5-1% - but certainly not 20-30%, unless the file is uncompressed or only lightly compressed.
Most files that go out via BT are very well compressed.
It's no different to the question "what happens 10 years down the line when this hard disk I paid $150 for dies?" or "what happens 10 years down the line when this car I paid $12,000 for dies?" or pertinently right now, "What happens to my Rover car that I paid $15,000 when it breaks down and I can't get spares because Rover just went bankrupt?"
Virtual property is like anything else that can be traded; its value can increase or decrease relative to something else. It has a set of 'what ifs' attached to it like any piece of real property. Its value can be affected by the segment of the economy it's in (for example, the game developer can't just decide to make infinite land as a way of printing money, because if it's infinite it'll be worthless thanks to the laws of supply and demand).
Personally, I'm not interested - but that doesn't mean that I can't see that other people might find value in property within an online game. They can make up their own minds.
If it was right in the wind tunnel in the 1960s, it'll still be right in the wind tunnel now. This is the fundamental reason why (subsonic) airframe designs all look pretty much the same and haven't changed since the first jet airliners - the laws of physics haven't changed since then either.
No, for the hardware I use (the vast majority of systems are HP-Compaq desktops) Linux really IS easier to install because every piece of hardware is supported out of the box. In Windows, none of the hardware is supported out of the box, and the HP-Compaq drivers must be installed as a separate step afterwards.
I agree that trying to install Red Hat/Fedora Core Linux on some random parts-bin PC may be difficult, but on mainstream business desktops it's been easier than Windows since about RedHat 8. Even on my parts-bin PC at home, I get a fully functional machine from scratch in around 40 minutes - the only driver I have to separately install is the NVidia driver (and I'd have to separately install this with Windows too).
Finally, Linux will never ever be easier to install on random parts-bin machines whilst manufacturers only make Windows drivers. This isn't a problem with Linux distros - it's a problem with hardware makers only supporting Windows.
Windows is also only $250 if you value your time at zero.
On typical x86 hardware, like the HPaq systems we have at work (and that many small businesses have), to install Windows XP + all the stuff you need to make a working office system is a 3 hour job. With any recent Linux distro, such as CentOS 4 or Fedora Core 4, getting a ready-to-use machine takes around 45 minutes.
Most users are insulated from the quite difficult process of making a working Windows machine because everything comes pre-installed. Out of the box, Windows XP does not support sound, networking, chipset or the onboard graphics of our HPaq machines - you have to fetch the drivers from the HP website. Out of the box, FC4 or CentOS 4 supports all the hardware in those computers, plus all the various peripherals we use in our office with *no* configuration needed save personalisation (i.e. network settings, telling the machine where the print queue is, clicking on 'Authenticate by LDAP'). All the configuration can be done via the GUI. Additionally, you can make a simple disk image that works and is legal to put on all our computers - Windows requires separate licenses for each, which essentially prohibits installing from a pre-built image for the small business.
Desktop oriented distros like CentOS4, SuSE, Mandrake, Fedora Core et al. certainly DO value the user's time. They have gone to great efforts to make common configuration tasks easy. The spread of Linux to the general population will be slow *because it does not come preinstalled by an OEM*. Most people can't install Windows, and even though Linux has been EASIER to install on most hardware since RedHat 8 came out, can't do that either. Most users would be totally stuck if Windows had to be purchased and installed separately.
There is GNUstep. You can write programs that are cross platform Cocoa and GNUstep.
(See my sig for a Mac OS X game ported to Linux and GNUstep, although since the original port, the graphics/sound/input has been moved to SDL).
The processor is irrelevant - I can't see why Intel Macs will slow down Linux adoption any more than PPC Macs will do so. A Mac will still cost just as much as it does now (because unlike the white box PCs many of us use, a Mac won't be a parts-bin machine) - the processor inside is actually pretty irrelevant.
Don't forget that if you can have a dual boot OS X/Windows Mac, you can have a dual boot OS X/Linux Mac too (and the Mac now being Intel will have mainstream Linux distro support, which it doesn't now - well, didn't until Fedora Core 4 came out with PPC support).
Actually, that's not true. Windows is MUCH harder to set up than any recent Linux distro (save Debian and probably Gentoo, but they are hardly 'consumer oriented' distros). The fact is most people *don't* set up Windows (or OS X) - it comes pre-installed and working on the computer they purchase.
However, here is a comparison. We have very common HP-Compaq business desktops at work. Here is the installation procedure for Windows XP:
1. Boot XP CD, let it do its stuff, accept license, reboot.
2. Continue Setup, enter the CD key from our volume license, let the installation complete, press Next a couple of times.
After about half an hour, you reboot again.
3. Computer comes up in 640x480 and 16 colours. Sound does not work, networking does not work, no chipset support.
4. On another computer, get HPaq drivers for the appropriate model from the HP website, copy to a USB key.
5. Insert USB key. Install HPaq network driver. Reboot.
6. Install chipset driver. Reboot.
7. Install sound driver. Reboot.
8. Install graphics driver. Reboot.
9. Configure network.
10. Install Microsoft Office and usual apps.
11. Install printer drivers for HP LaserJet 2200TN.
12. Run Windows Update.
After approximately 2 hours you have a machine that's ready for office desktop use.
Now let's compare installing CentOS 4 or Fedora Core 4 on the same model of machine:
1. Insert 1st disk of distro. Boot it.
2. Accept defaults for partitioning etc. and select 'Workstation install'.
3. Enter network address (or accept the defaults if you have DHCP).
4. Feed it the disks it asks.
About half an hour later, reboot.
5. Enter remaining setup information in the afterboot GUI.
6. Using the Printer Setup GUI, set up the HP 2200TN printer.
7. Click the software update icon and let it download any updates.
You now have a complete functioning workstation, complete with graphics, networking in approximately 45 minutes. You've never had to enter a long license key or hunt for drivers. It has sensible defaults.
A modern desktop oriented Linux distro just works out of the box and has drivers that just work for any common piece of hardware you may find in the typical HPaq equipped office. It even works fine on the HPaq laptops we have straight out of the box. It takes less than half the time and many fewer steps to install Fedora Core 4 than Windows.
Windows is VERY difficult for a noob to install - the fact is, most noobs don't have to install it because it comes pre-installed. Same goes for Mac OS X.
Apple use normal NVidia GeForce or ATi video cards. All you'd need is a PC with an NVidia or ATi card that's the same model as used in the Mac. It won't exactly be difficult to find a compatible card.
The sound hardware is unlikely to be proprietary. The ethernet card certainly isn't, and the wireless card certainly isn't. An Apple mouse is a standard USB mouse - Apple mice already work on PCs, and generic PC mice already work on Macintoshes (as do keyboards).
The only thing "non standard-PC" about a current Macintosh is the PowerPC.
The UK has for decades had The Open University. You can get an accredited degree from the OU. It is not bricks and mortar. It used to be broadcast TV + course materials, but I should imagine it has a lot of computer-based stuff now.
Theo deRaadt seems to make enough money off OpenBSD (he is full time on OpenBSD - it's his job) to pay the bills.
I don't understand. Why would Linux being able to run on another target (the MS hypervisor) cause it to 'sink into oblivion'?
Well, a fit person from Earth wouldn't snap limps [sic] with every step, although falling over would almost certainly be extremely nasty.
I'm not short and stocky (a bit lanky in fact), but I've flown aerobatics. I've pulled a little over 5G without even greying out, and I can easily raise my arms during a 2G manoevre (although they feel very heavy. The worst manoevres I find are the ones that go from negative to positive G in a very short space of time, such as a split-S).