Yes - I think all of us thought of Synaptic, the Ports collection, etc.
Why is Novell building yet another stupid frontend for yum/apt-get/etc? Does the world need this?
On a similar vein - does the linux community really need this? I mean, end-users using linux is nice and all (if that's what they want), but I just find that the more "user-friendly" they make these desktop distros, the harder it is to fix them when they break.
Take Ubuntu for example - when it works, that's cool. When something breaks, it breaks ugly and you very quickly destroy the illusion of user-friendliness. Suspend/hibernate, for example. Works great for lots of folks, but when it doesn't... you're building custom hibernate scripts, installing kernel mods like Tux on Ice, etc.
I just think that this is not a smart move from Novell's part. It will give the appearance of yet another bullet-proof polished tool that will clutter up the menu while giving the appearance of user-friendliness without the actual user-friendliness.
Having had XCode also blow my mind, but in a bad way, I'm really curious what these features are too.
MS VS2k5/2k8 really is pretty good. Now, as I've stated elsewhere in these comments, I'm more of a Vim/Eclipse guy - but I still like any editor that does the following:
1) Improves my workflow 2) Improves my speed 3) Reduces my bug count (bugs due to human input error... like an unmatched ' or a missing ; or something) 4) Simplifies hunting for methods/subs (I LOVE auto-complete when doing java or.NET code) 5) If it involves a compiler, supports stack trace, debug, and walking through the compiler output (in, say, assembler)
I would argue these are the hallmarks of an IDE, actually. Otherwise, we wouldn't need them.
Apparently for you guys, XCode totally nailed these. For me, I spent hours trying to get even basic Carbon/C++/C type stuff to compile. Trying to design interfaces with interface builder made me long for even the Visual Basic 4 interface.
I'm glad it worked... and I'd love to hear what these features are, so that I can re-evaluate them and learn something.
I second that. Maybe I just don't get it, but XCode is worst, ugliest, most cumbersome IDE I've used in 20 years. That includes years of using Borland and Microsoft environments.
The "Best Ever" is still LSE on VMS... followed by edit/tpu, then Vim.
I love Vim, and it's probably my favorite editor for anything in the small-medium size (99% of my perl programs, some C, some Java, most of my PHP stuff).
Eclipse is also fantastic, and picks up for me where Vim leaves off. It's a little too cumbersome for very short tasks, but awesome for anything with includes or lots of subs.
These plus XAMPP (Linux, and even Windows if you roll that way) make me quite productive on PHP/HTML/CGI stuff.
Note: I'm biased - roughly 90% of my coding is PL/SQL, SQL, Perl, PHP, and database driven frontends. I don't do anything fun with graphics, so I'm sure that my tools aren't the best for hardcore OpenGL/GLUT type stuff:)
Well, I don't get any prizes for being an early adopter - I argued fervently that FreeBSD (2.2.x) was better, and I had a subscription to get them mailed to me. (Yay Walnut Creek CD-ROM)
I think I first tried linux in 96/97 via the 'linux' add-in for FreeBSD. Then I tried a full-blown Debian install, and eventually bought the Corel Linux package for my wife.
SAP released a Linux install for RedHat 6.5 IIRC, which my company installed on my recommendation. This led to years and years of professionally supporting Linux, which I continue to do to this day. Right now I support SAP on DB2 and Oracle running on a mix of RHEL 4 and AIX.
So my first date with Linux was really more of a 'blind date', since I just installed the ports package for it;)
That doesn't look unusual to me. I have difficulty believing that couldn't be made replaceable if they had cared. It might have made it *slightly* larger. Oh noes. Most likely it would have cost more, and damaged Apple's revenue stream.
I find that an interesting point - you must be one of those fun people who spends the first 5 minutes of any given meeting plugging in your laptop, then the last 5 minutes unplugging and packing it.
Here we are *required* by corporate policy to bring our laptops to every meeting (we don't get to use disposable cups either, btw - same mindset), and we are also *required* to be logged into our IM client all day. It's often used for note passing during meetings when a boss or PM or whatever will ask for specific information or details regarding a point during a presentation or conference call.
So - on my side? I use a battery about 3 hours a day, every day. I also do oncall support that has (on occasion) required me to do a fix from the odd coffeeshop/diner/restaurant/beach.
Maybe you don't really need a laptop with a decent battery, but I *live* on them, and carry 2 extra batteries and an aircard like religious talismans.
Oh, and my *former* MBP? I went through 4 batteries at least before I finally got rid of it, because they all ended up with about 10 minutes of power after a couple months. Now I use a different brand and after a year I still get an hour from the original battery. Not that I'm bitter.
Actually, I implied that Dell is cool because it owns Alienware and continues to let them do cool stuff.
I never said they invented Alienware. I actually was really pissed when Dell bought Alienware, expecting they would ruin it.
I agree - DEC was probably the single best hardware/software company ever ( I used to be a VMS admin ), and while Compaq didn't completely destroy the DEC legacy, HP sure did.
But to put this back on tangent... Apple no longer releases stuff that I find exciting. I *was* a fan until I had 3 years of HORRIBLE experiences and terrible equipment failures. Dell may not be producing amazing advances, but they make solid machines that I can get for half the price of Apple's "cool" stuff.
I didn't see that one - that is pretty freaking cool!
Much more exciting than having non-replaceable batteries.
Oh, and let's not forget that Dell owns Alienware, and I LOVE those systems. Saving up for one now to replace my aged-out obsolete MBP (32 bit edition).
Well, I have made good money the past year and some converting massive Solaris, HPUX, and AIX solutions to Linux.
I have only converted one large Windows solution to Linux, and that was combined with switching from MSCS and SQL Server to Linux and Oracle RAC. (Not sure if that counts, since it wasn't a conversion - more of a full scale re-architecting)
TR is, IMHO, the best MMO available today. It's also pretty cheap compared to WoW.
I have played both pretty heavily, and my all time fave is TR.
I've been a fan of Garriott since the beginning (Akalabeth) and he has rarely disappointed (well, ultima underworld kinda sucked). TR doesn't seem to have much of his penchant for dramatic story telling (unlike Ultima, Wing Commander, and UO), so his departure may not change much.
I hope he goes off to do something fun.
If TR ends after this, it will be a shame. It's my favorite MMO, and probably the last one I'll play for the foreseeable future (since most of the rest are just... meh)
I have to agree - MS has actually done some really cool stuff lately and Apple some really stupid stuff.
I think right now developers are in a good place - MS seems to be reacting to the competition from Apple and Linux/Android by making things better for *us*, which makes it better for the consumers in the long run.
Popfly has gotten my kid finally interested in programming (much like basic did for me), XNA is a blast, and even Studio Express is pretty nice for a free dev studio. Compared to Apple getting nastier daily, I'd say that things will even out sooner or later.
I still think it's BS to have ANY company control the stuff that I can run on a device I purchased (which is why I'm still pro Linux/BSD). Apple is going the wrong direction on this one.
Actually, many cell phones don't require drivers;)
For example - supposedly the Helio Ocean requires a driver. In reality, you can plug it directly into a DL585 running Windows 2003 and it is instantly recognized as a USB device (two if you have a flash card in it)
They were obviously incorrect, since the systems even an idiot can use (elevators, A/C units, fans, cameras, ipods) are frequently by far the most popular. Maybe most people are just idiots;)
Hard to use is not the same thing as powerful. Hard to use is simply hard to use.
Most of the best operating systems used by hundreds of millions of people a day are used with very little training at all. Were you trained to use the OS that operates your car? How about the software the powers your crosswalk? DVD player? Home telephone? Pacemaker? All these items have grown from extremely simple devices to incredibly complex devices with very little change in interface. The power has grown dramatically (anti-lock breaks, dynamic traction control, pressure sensing stop lights) while the interface has remained so simple as to be nearly intuitive.
An OS is not there for you to use - it is there to enable you to do something. Every minute you spend aware of the OS is a minute you could have spent doing something more useful to you (unless you deliberately tinker with the OS, like I do).
Linux is a great example. Not simple. Not easy. Not powerful. It's fun, and neat, and does cool stuff, but it constantly reminds you it is there. Vista is the same. Well designed operating systems are nearly invisible.
I played fanatically 1-55. Loved it, and then got above 55 and started having to grind for MC and all that stuff. Getting together huge Raid groups sucked too. It became a real job, and the differences between characters vanished. Hunters had to be spec'd and armored like this. Warriors like this. Etc etc.
So I went and created a new player, and it was a BLAST doing it all over again.
Gold farming exists to address the desire for an easy out. It's not so much the low levels (where a small amount will get you totally set) but the high levels where it takes 20 hours a week just to keep up.
I have repeatedly worked for exactly this kind of company.
As a 13 year IT veteran who has worked everywhere from.com startups to world-wide multi-billion dollar fortune 100s, I must say that you hit an amazing amount of bloat quite quickly.
I can't say what the ideal ration is, but my current company is too big at about 1:10, and my previous company was 5k people with an IT of less than 30 (about 166:1).
The previous company was amazingly hard work when we had 15 IT, and then suddenly the C levels decided we need help and added 4 managers, 3 directors, a VP, and a change control board. We only got about 10 actual "workers". Productivity plummeted.
My current company has an IT so big that we spend all of our time fighting with each other. It takes months to create new user accounts, months to get simple servers built, 2 weeks to schedule a reboot, etc. The users and the business hate us.
A DOD shop I worked for had a staff of 500 for 12k users, and it worked pretty efficiently. Of course, they were almost entirely former/current military. This led to always knowing precisely what you were supposed to be doing and a really well run group. Maybe that makes a difference?
So, while I can't say what the exact ratio is, it is pretty low. I also think the skill level has something do with it - a small team of skilled people "bond" and form a fast moving and smooth team. A huge team lends itself to infighting, argument, one-upsmanship, face saving, and general worthless behavior.
Part of it is also a lot of people (myself included) got extremely sick of the "guess what I'm thinking" style of puzzle.
Many King's Quest games had puzzles that were simple a stupid waste of time.
And honestly, the whole "move the box to hold down the button so the door stays open" Lego Star Wars/God of War style stuff goes back a long way, and still sucks.
It's called autoexec.bat - and yes, it would have had "win" at the end, probably after doing a lot of memory tuning and driver loading (much in the config.sys).
Slashdot Mirror
Yes - I think all of us thought of Synaptic, the Ports collection, etc.
Why is Novell building yet another stupid frontend for yum/apt-get/etc?
Does the world need this?
On a similar vein - does the linux community really need this? I mean, end-users using linux is nice and all (if that's what they want), but I just find that the more "user-friendly" they make these desktop distros, the harder it is to fix them when they break.
Take Ubuntu for example - when it works, that's cool. When something breaks, it breaks ugly and you very quickly destroy the illusion of user-friendliness. Suspend/hibernate, for example. Works great for lots of folks, but when it doesn't... you're building custom hibernate scripts, installing kernel mods like Tux on Ice, etc.
I just think that this is not a smart move from Novell's part. It will give the appearance of yet another bullet-proof polished tool that will clutter up the menu while giving the appearance of user-friendliness without the actual user-friendliness.
Having had XCode also blow my mind, but in a bad way, I'm really curious what these features are too.
MS VS2k5/2k8 really is pretty good. Now, as I've stated elsewhere in these comments, I'm more of a Vim/Eclipse guy - but I still like any editor that does the following:
1) Improves my workflow .NET code)
2) Improves my speed
3) Reduces my bug count (bugs due to human input error... like an unmatched ' or a missing ; or something)
4) Simplifies hunting for methods/subs (I LOVE auto-complete when doing java or
5) If it involves a compiler, supports stack trace, debug, and walking through the compiler output (in, say, assembler)
I would argue these are the hallmarks of an IDE, actually. Otherwise, we wouldn't need them.
Apparently for you guys, XCode totally nailed these. For me, I spent hours trying to get even basic Carbon/C++/C type stuff to compile. Trying to design interfaces with interface builder made me long for even the Visual Basic 4 interface.
I'm glad it worked... and I'd love to hear what these features are, so that I can re-evaluate them and learn something.
XCode (oh, the horror)
I second that. Maybe I just don't get it, but XCode is worst, ugliest, most cumbersome IDE I've used in 20 years.
That includes years of using Borland and Microsoft environments.
The "Best Ever" is still LSE on VMS... followed by edit /tpu, then Vim.
I love Vim, and it's probably my favorite editor for anything in the small-medium size (99% of my perl programs, some C, some Java, most of my PHP stuff).
Eclipse is also fantastic, and picks up for me where Vim leaves off. It's a little too cumbersome for very short tasks, but awesome for anything with includes or lots of subs.
These plus XAMPP (Linux, and even Windows if you roll that way) make me quite productive on PHP/HTML/CGI stuff.
Note: I'm biased - roughly 90% of my coding is PL/SQL, SQL, Perl, PHP, and database driven frontends. I don't do anything fun with graphics, so I'm sure that my tools aren't the best for hardcore OpenGL/GLUT type stuff :)
Well, I don't get any prizes for being an early adopter - I argued fervently that FreeBSD (2.2.x) was better, and I had a subscription to get them mailed to me. (Yay Walnut Creek CD-ROM)
I think I first tried linux in 96/97 via the 'linux' add-in for FreeBSD. Then I tried a full-blown Debian install, and eventually bought the Corel Linux package for my wife.
SAP released a Linux install for RedHat 6.5 IIRC, which my company installed on my recommendation.
This led to years and years of professionally supporting Linux, which I continue to do to this day. Right now I support SAP on DB2 and Oracle running on a mix of RHEL 4 and AIX.
So my first date with Linux was really more of a 'blind date', since I just installed the ports package for it ;)
How did you succeed in running VPN across sat links? Or do you?
I have heard that's one of the biggest challenges for IT/support type work in remote locations.
Agreed, and I posted the links just a moment ago for those who can't be bothered to RTFA.
I call BS. Look at the photo from TFA.
The page: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/First-Look/MacBook-Pro-17-Inch-Unibody/618/2
The actual pic: http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/Gf2GPJlfKvbLJLDZ.large
That doesn't look unusual to me. I have difficulty believing that couldn't be made replaceable if they had cared. It might have made it *slightly* larger. Oh noes. Most likely it would have cost more, and damaged Apple's revenue stream.
I find that an interesting point - you must be one of those fun people who spends the first 5 minutes of any given meeting plugging in your laptop, then the last 5 minutes unplugging and packing it.
Here we are *required* by corporate policy to bring our laptops to every meeting (we don't get to use disposable cups either, btw - same mindset), and we are also *required* to be logged into our IM client all day. It's often used for note passing during meetings when a boss or PM or whatever will ask for specific information or details regarding a point during a presentation or conference call.
So - on my side? I use a battery about 3 hours a day, every day. I also do oncall support that has (on occasion) required me to do a fix from the odd coffeeshop/diner/restaurant/beach.
Maybe you don't really need a laptop with a decent battery, but I *live* on them, and carry 2 extra batteries and an aircard like religious talismans.
Oh, and my *former* MBP? I went through 4 batteries at least before I finally got rid of it, because they all ended up with about 10 minutes of power after a couple months. Now I use a different brand and after a year I still get an hour from the original battery. Not that I'm bitter.
Actually, I implied that Dell is cool because it owns Alienware and continues to let them do cool stuff.
I never said they invented Alienware. I actually was really pissed when Dell bought Alienware, expecting they would ruin it.
I agree - DEC was probably the single best hardware/software company ever ( I used to be a VMS admin ), and while Compaq didn't completely destroy the DEC legacy, HP sure did.
But to put this back on tangent... Apple no longer releases stuff that I find exciting. I *was* a fan until I had 3 years of HORRIBLE experiences and terrible equipment failures.
Dell may not be producing amazing advances, but they make solid machines that I can get for half the price of Apple's "cool" stuff.
And EA owns Origin... but I don't see any new Wing Commander games.
What's your point?
I didn't see that one - that is pretty freaking cool!
Much more exciting than having non-replaceable batteries.
Oh, and let's not forget that Dell owns Alienware, and I LOVE those systems. Saving up for one now to replace my aged-out obsolete MBP (32 bit edition).
I come to slashdot for the sarcasm, personally :D
My favorite version of this quote was told to me by a guy from Hong Kong:
"Anything on 4 but a table, and anything on 2 but a bicycle"
Well, I have made good money the past year and some converting massive Solaris, HPUX, and AIX solutions to Linux.
I have only converted one large Windows solution to Linux, and that was combined with switching from MSCS and SQL Server to Linux and Oracle RAC. (Not sure if that counts, since it wasn't a conversion - more of a full scale re-architecting)
TR is, IMHO, the best MMO available today. It's also pretty cheap compared to WoW.
I have played both pretty heavily, and my all time fave is TR.
I've been a fan of Garriott since the beginning (Akalabeth) and he has rarely disappointed (well, ultima underworld kinda sucked). TR doesn't seem to have much of his penchant for dramatic story telling (unlike Ultima, Wing Commander, and UO), so his departure may not change much.
I hope he goes off to do something fun.
If TR ends after this, it will be a shame. It's my favorite MMO, and probably the last one I'll play for the foreseeable future (since most of the rest are just... meh)
I have to agree - MS has actually done some really cool stuff lately and Apple some really stupid stuff.
I think right now developers are in a good place - MS seems to be reacting to the competition from Apple and Linux/Android by making things better for *us*, which makes it better for the consumers in the long run.
Popfly has gotten my kid finally interested in programming (much like basic did for me), XNA is a blast, and even Studio Express is pretty nice for a free dev studio.
Compared to Apple getting nastier daily, I'd say that things will even out sooner or later.
I still think it's BS to have ANY company control the stuff that I can run on a device I purchased (which is why I'm still pro Linux/BSD). Apple is going the wrong direction on this one.
Well, see, that's just one of the many reasons why Linux (and BSD, etc) make better servers...
You only have to run what you NEED. You'd be amazed what careful and selective compilation will do for stretching older servers.
With Windows, you have a pretty big footprint, even for a simple web or file server.
Actually, many cell phones don't require drivers ;)
For example - supposedly the Helio Ocean requires a driver. In reality, you can plug it directly into a DL585 running Windows 2003 and it is instantly recognized as a USB device (two if you have a flash card in it)
They were obviously incorrect, since the systems even an idiot can use (elevators, A/C units, fans, cameras, ipods) are frequently by far the most popular. Maybe most people are just idiots ;)
Hard to use is not the same thing as powerful. Hard to use is simply hard to use.
Most of the best operating systems used by hundreds of millions of people a day are used with very little training at all. Were you trained to use the OS that operates your car? How about the software the powers your crosswalk? DVD player? Home telephone? Pacemaker? All these items have grown from extremely simple devices to incredibly complex devices with very little change in interface. The power has grown dramatically (anti-lock breaks, dynamic traction control, pressure sensing stop lights) while the interface has remained so simple as to be nearly intuitive.
An OS is not there for you to use - it is there to enable you to do something. Every minute you spend aware of the OS is a minute you could have spent doing something more useful to you (unless you deliberately tinker with the OS, like I do).
Linux is a great example. Not simple. Not easy. Not powerful. It's fun, and neat, and does cool stuff, but it constantly reminds you it is there. Vista is the same. Well designed operating systems are nearly invisible.
Agreed.
I played fanatically 1-55. Loved it, and then got above 55 and started having to grind for MC and all that stuff. Getting together huge Raid groups sucked too. It became a real job, and the differences between characters vanished. Hunters had to be spec'd and armored like this. Warriors like this. Etc etc.
So I went and created a new player, and it was a BLAST doing it all over again.
Gold farming exists to address the desire for an easy out. It's not so much the low levels (where a small amount will get you totally set) but the high levels where it takes 20 hours a week just to keep up.
I have repeatedly worked for exactly this kind of company.
As a 13 year IT veteran who has worked everywhere from .com startups to world-wide multi-billion dollar fortune 100s, I must say that you hit an amazing amount of bloat quite quickly.
I can't say what the ideal ration is, but my current company is too big at about 1:10, and my previous company was 5k people with an IT of less than 30 (about 166:1).
The previous company was amazingly hard work when we had 15 IT, and then suddenly the C levels decided we need help and added 4 managers, 3 directors, a VP, and a change control board. We only got about 10 actual "workers". Productivity plummeted.
My current company has an IT so big that we spend all of our time fighting with each other. It takes months to create new user accounts, months to get simple servers built, 2 weeks to schedule a reboot, etc. The users and the business hate us.
A DOD shop I worked for had a staff of 500 for 12k users, and it worked pretty efficiently. Of course, they were almost entirely former/current military. This led to always knowing precisely what you were supposed to be doing and a really well run group. Maybe that makes a difference?
So, while I can't say what the exact ratio is, it is pretty low. I also think the skill level has something do with it - a small team of skilled people "bond" and form a fast moving and smooth team. A huge team lends itself to infighting, argument, one-upsmanship, face saving, and general worthless behavior.
Part of it is also a lot of people (myself included) got extremely sick of the "guess what I'm thinking" style of puzzle.
Many King's Quest games had puzzles that were simple a stupid waste of time.
And honestly, the whole "move the box to hold down the button so the door stays open" Lego Star Wars/God of War style stuff goes back a long way, and still sucks.
It's called autoexec.bat - and yes, it would have had "win" at the end, probably after doing a lot of memory tuning and driver loading (much in the config.sys).
Kids these days.
At the time most X users still thought CDE was a pretty neat idea.
I recall using Irix at the time, and I was pretty delighted with Windows 95.