Napster wanted to claim that it is a common carrier under current law and thus should not be held responsible for the actions of it's users. What Napster has forgotten is that all common carriers (e.g. phone companies and ISPs) have personal information about their users so that if they are involved in illegal activities the users can be prosecuted. The PPI's first point is simply that if a company or service wants to claim innocence as a common carrier then it should be ready to cough up user info if the users participate in criminal endeavors through their service. After in the U.S. obscene phone callers and people who host illegal material on their ISP pages can be dealt with through their service providers, so why should Napster be different?
I'll tell you why. Think every single website that allows user-contiributed content - including this one. Think every FTP site that allows uploads.
That would all be gone with that provision. In order for slashdot (and slashdot's ISP) to claim that they are not responsible for content on the website would require that they have positive identification of every user. And not this 'name and email address' stuff - real positive identification, like a credit card or something.
It seems pretty obvious that these people haven't spend five minutes thinking about the rammifications of their proposal.
Before goig off like a cork, read the paper published by the PPI which will likely form the basis of their argument.
Of course, it might get you even more pissed off, since they propose:
Require service providers, as a condition to qualifying for the liability limitation under the DMCA, to collect personally identifiable and verifiable information from their users.
which as someone noted above, is far more sinister. What are they going to do - require my Social Insurace Number or credit card number to access file-sharing services?
You also have to question these people's grasp on reality when they base their arguments on statements such as:
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a music industry trade group, estimates that piracy of physical music products, cassettes, and compact discs costs the industry nearly $5 billion in sales worldwide every year.
which we all know is crap.
This PPI group seems to have more suggestions that will just jam a few fingers in the dyke while water will continue to pour through. If they are successful, all they will do is further harm privacy on the internet along the way.
What they should offer as a remedy is the ability to download MP3's from a Metallica controlled website. That would require some sort of registration with Metallica, that would also include proof of purchase for the albums that have been bought. Sort of like a fan club distribution.
Yeah, kinda sounds like MyMP3.com doesn't it? You know, where they could determine that I actually had the CD before I could listen to the MP3?
Of course, what sounds like a rational idea to 99% of humans ends up being shut down by RIAA.
The RIAA and their members aren't going to make anything available online until they figure a way to screw you at least as badly as when you buy a CD.
I don't think so. Any database driver worth it's salt implements connection pooling. I haven't done mod_perl -> Oracle myself, but this is standard procedure for the MS ODBC -> Oracle and EJB/Servlet/JSP -> Oracle stuff I normally work on. The bottleneck is never the connection setup/teardown time.
Oracle may indeed me somewhat slower - these guys have the money to throw at more hardware! And they need the features that Oracle provides.
As for code modifications - make a fork that supports Oracle. There appears to be people working on Slash full time now. It isn't like back in the day when Rob had to make the changes himself.
My best guess is that this is a result of 'do what you know best'. Oracle isn't well known in the open-source world, and there may be nobody at Andover who has real experience running it. I think their money would be better spent on setting everything up to run Oracle and hiring an Oracle admin, but that is just my humble $0.02.
Well, if you have a look at the license you pretty much can't use MySQL for anything commercial unless it is for your own purposes. I need to buy a license if I want to do something with MySQL for a client.
Also, while the source code may be available, the licesnse that MySQL is under does not come anywhere close to meeting the open source definition - with the exception of older versions as you mention.
This isn't flamebait - I'm honestly wondering why you wouldn't go away from MySQL here. It is obvious that money isn't a concern - so why not fork over the money for some Oracle licenses and a competent Oracle admin?
It's not like it is for some sort of open-source reason - MySQL isn't released under an open-source license. I'm curious why slashdot/Andover are spending money funding a closed source project rather than funding an open-source one or forking over the $ for a more capable database like Oracle.
(PS for all the Canadians reading this, if you don't think the likes of Tom "Sieg Hiel!" Long or Preston Manning wouldn't like to get their hands on this info, your sadly mistaken. The 'Alliance' Facists would be way worse than simply incompetent Liberals)
If anything I have read modded up on/. ever deserved a good old (-1 Flamebait), this is it.
You statement is so typical of the Canadian 'let it be' attitude that has allowed this country to be managed by people who aren't fit to wipe my ass for the last 10 years.
We have astronomical taxes, declining productivity and government mismanagement all over the place. I'm voting for whomever looks like the strongest opponent to the Liberals (besides the NDP).
Oh, before you throw around the word, 'facist' next time, try looking it up in a dictionary first.
Have you ever worked in a heterogeneous environment? Windows users want to open up their "Network Neighborhood" double click on the machine and then double click on the file share.
I maintain several servers (IRIX and Linux - SGI has been a big supporter of samba) and I share the required directory or two on each box. It is easy - no NFS client software to worry about, easy for Windows users, and it works quickly and realiably. Samba also allows printer sharing.
I can see avoiding SMB and Samba if you are primarily a UNIX shop. However, we run about 70% NT and 30% UNIX so the interoperability that Samba provides is excellent.
So Bruce was trolling. But I get so sick of this crap every time there is a Java story on Slashdot...
I'd like someone to show me an example of real software(i.e word processor, database, game, compiler, OS) that is written in Java.
Yeah, except most lines of code aren't written for apps like that. Try buisiness systems in major companies. Have a look at IBM Websphere, BEA Weblogic or Oracle8i or any of several dozen other similar products. You know - stuff used by real businesses.
Just becuase Java isn't used by 20 dorks a day to write a CD player front end and put it on freshmeat doesn't mean it isn't used.
See this and the thread started here by me the other day.
While the suit over the Rio may have determined that MP3 playback devices are not illegal, it is still the opinion of RIAA that under the current law you cannot legally rip copies of your CDs yourself.
Me, you and the EFF may think that is BS, but as far as I know this still hasn't been settled in court.
And since this device does not apparently encode mp3s in any way shape or form, I can't see how it would be illegal.
Once again you underestimate RIAA. The have sued Diamond Multimedia for the Rio. How could that be? Simple - according to RIAA, these devices aid in the copyright infringement.
Is the turtle beach instrument a device that complies with the audio home recording act?
How could it be? It is a device that allows the *playback* of MP3 files. It has nothing to do with recording MP3s.
99%+ of the MP3s in existance out there are created by ripping the mp3 track from a CD. On a home computer. RIAA says this is illegal, plain and simple. That means using this thing is probably illegal too, according to RIAA.
I think that RIAA can get stuffed - fair use should extend to me being allowed to make personal copies of digital music (CDs) for my own personal use, on whatever device I choose.
If I decide to put said copies up on an FTP site, then they might have something to complain about. But for my own personal use? Get with the program.
IANAL either, but I believe that is the issue before various courts now. Which interpretation of the law is correct?
The RIAA says that the DCMA gives them the right to dictate terms with regards to fair use. The EFF thinks otherwise.
If you read some of what the EFF is saying, them seem to expect some sort of landmark case along the lines of Sony vs. Universal Studios in 1984 that said fair use allows us to record TV broadcasts on tape and replay them later for personal use.
Computers and general-purpose computer peripheral devices are not covered by the Audio Home Recording Act. This means they do not pay royalties and they do not incorporate technology to prevent serial copying. As a result, this also means that copying music onto a computer hard drive is not permitted. It is copyright infringement, and a violation of federal law.
How much more straight-forward can this be?
If you read http://www.riaa.com/tech/tech_ht.htm, you will also see it says in a couple of places that you are only allowed to make digital copies of music for your own use with certain devices.
No PC CD-R drives for mixed CDs, no MP3s, just people who make copying hardware (read: audio CD-R) that have paid a royalty to RIAA.
And if had bothered to look at the link I provided, you'd see that RIAA thinks that making MP3s from your own CDs is illegal, even if it is for your own use.
I'd imagine that lawsuits will follow for all of these companies, since according to RIAA the only way you can have a legit mp3 is if that was the original format that it was distributed in, or if it is the public domain.
Of course, RIAA may or may not have heard of something called fair use.
Phil, let me first say that I own your book and I respect what you are doing - especially making things open and available to everyone.
I run my own small business, so I do know about tax deductions, but wasn't my point at all.
You may say that you would only hire a couple of people, but I would doubt that. These people just spent pratically their entire lives for a year immersed in your culture and learning your way of doing things. More than a couple will wind up joining you.
That said, if you say that isn't your prime motive then I respect that.
Good luck hiring 200 web developers in the next year - we're in short supply:)
--I think the program is aimed at smart people with bachelor's degrees in a non-technical field.--
Isn't that an oxymoron?:)
In all seriousness, I know plenty of people who are smart who aren't cut out for a career in computer programming. They don't neccissarily equate, and getting yourself into a 12 hour a day, 6 day a week program isn't likely the best way for you to find out either.
Do you think that Greenspun's company might be able to emply the services of a few of the grads?
Think about it - what does it cost for them to recruit people? And once they are recruited, they still have to learn their (*cough* eliteist) AOLServer/Tcl/Emacs/Oracle way of doing things anyways.
Now you create a place to "educate" (really train them on what *you* want them to learn) people for "free" and you get to hire the best ones for your company. They get a free supply of people all ready to slam right into their workforce.
The $1M that it will cost is nothing compared to what it will save them in hiring/training costs, and I'm sure they get the tax writeoff on top of that.
Are you kidding me? They want people to go sit in a classroom/lab for 12 hours a days, six days a week.
Riiight. I'll be amused to see what their burnout rate is.
Also, comparing this to a Comp Sci degree is a bit silly. This is essentially what all of the "computer colleges" out there are offering - intensive skill-based training. It may be free, and taught by some of the best people in the world, but that is still what it is.
Shipping products have nothing to do with it. Probably 90% (maybe more) of the code written in the world is not used for a "shipping" product.
There are a lot of commercial and government installations who are using Servlets/EJB to do thier web business. Go to BEA or IBM's websites to see lists of successful implementations.
Go search a few web boards and look fr Java jobs. What are all of those people being hired for?
Java may have failed for Applets and other window dressing. It will never replace C as a systems programming language or Perl as a CGI/duct tape language. But many companies are using it for corporate IS development or web development.
Just beacuse it isn't fabulously popular in the open source world does NOT mean it isn't being used.
Slashdot Mirror
I'll tell you why. Think every single website that allows user-contiributed content - including this one. Think every FTP site that allows uploads.
That would all be gone with that provision. In order for slashdot (and slashdot's ISP) to claim that they are not responsible for content on the website would require that they have positive identification of every user. And not this 'name and email address' stuff - real positive identification, like a credit card or something.
It seems pretty obvious that these people haven't spend five minutes thinking about the rammifications of their proposal.
Of course, it might get you even more pissed off, since they propose:
Require service providers, as a condition to qualifying for the liability limitation under the DMCA, to collect personally identifiable and verifiable information from their users.
which as someone noted above, is far more sinister. What are they going to do - require my Social Insurace Number or credit card number to access file-sharing services?
You also have to question these people's grasp on reality when they base their arguments on statements such as:
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a music industry trade group, estimates that piracy of physical music products, cassettes, and compact discs costs the industry nearly $5 billion in sales worldwide every year.
which we all know is crap.
This PPI group seems to have more suggestions that will just jam a few fingers in the dyke while water will continue to pour through. If they are successful, all they will do is further harm privacy on the internet along the way.
Yeah, kinda sounds like MyMP3.com doesn't it? You know, where they could determine that I actually had the CD before I could listen to the MP3?
Of course, what sounds like a rational idea to 99% of humans ends up being shut down by RIAA.
The RIAA and their members aren't going to make anything available online until they figure a way to screw you at least as badly as when you buy a CD.
I don't think so. Any database driver worth it's salt implements connection pooling. I haven't done mod_perl -> Oracle myself, but this is standard procedure for the MS ODBC -> Oracle and EJB/Servlet/JSP -> Oracle stuff I normally work on. The bottleneck is never the connection setup/teardown time.
Oracle may indeed me somewhat slower - these guys have the money to throw at more hardware! And they need the features that Oracle provides.
As for code modifications - make a fork that supports Oracle. There appears to be people working on Slash full time now. It isn't like back in the day when Rob had to make the changes himself.
My best guess is that this is a result of 'do what you know best'. Oracle isn't well known in the open-source world, and there may be nobody at Andover who has real experience running it. I think their money would be better spent on setting everything up to run Oracle and hiring an Oracle admin, but that is just my humble $0.02.
Also, while the source code may be available, the licesnse that MySQL is under does not come anywhere close to meeting the open source definition - with the exception of older versions as you mention.
This isn't flamebait - I'm honestly wondering why you wouldn't go away from MySQL here. It is obvious that money isn't a concern - so why not fork over the money for some Oracle licenses and a competent Oracle admin?
It's not like it is for some sort of open-source reason - MySQL isn't released under an open-source license. I'm curious why slashdot/Andover are spending money funding a closed source project rather than funding an open-source one or forking over the $ for a more capable database like Oracle.
If anything I have read modded up on /. ever deserved a good old (-1 Flamebait), this is it.
You statement is so typical of the Canadian 'let it be' attitude that has allowed this country to be managed by people who aren't fit to wipe my ass for the last 10 years.
We have astronomical taxes, declining productivity and government mismanagement all over the place. I'm voting for whomever looks like the strongest opponent to the Liberals (besides the NDP).
Oh, before you throw around the word, 'facist' next time, try looking it up in a dictionary first.
Does this book provide much more than that?
Have you ever worked in a heterogeneous environment? Windows users want to open up their "Network Neighborhood" double click on the machine and then double click on the file share.
I maintain several servers (IRIX and Linux - SGI has been a big supporter of samba) and I share the required directory or two on each box. It is easy - no NFS client software to worry about, easy for Windows users, and it works quickly and realiably. Samba also allows printer sharing.
I can see avoiding SMB and Samba if you are primarily a UNIX shop. However, we run about 70% NT and 30% UNIX so the interoperability that Samba provides is excellent.
So Bruce was trolling. But I get so sick of this crap every time there is a Java story on Slashdot...
I'd like someone to show me an example of real software(i.e word processor, database, game, compiler, OS) that is written in Java.
Yeah, except most lines of code aren't written for apps like that. Try buisiness systems in major companies. Have a look at IBM Websphere, BEA Weblogic or Oracle8i or any of several dozen other similar products. You know - stuff used by real businesses.
Just becuase Java isn't used by 20 dorks a day to write a CD player front end and put it on freshmeat doesn't mean it isn't used.
While the suit over the Rio may have determined that MP3 playback devices are not illegal, it is still the opinion of RIAA that under the current law you cannot legally rip copies of your CDs yourself.
Me, you and the EFF may think that is BS, but as far as I know this still hasn't been settled in court.
Amen
Once again you underestimate RIAA. The have sued Diamond Multimedia for the Rio. How could that be? Simple - according to RIAA, these devices aid in the copyright infringement.
How could it be? It is a device that allows the *playback* of MP3 files. It has nothing to do with recording MP3s.
99%+ of the MP3s in existance out there are created by ripping the mp3 track from a CD. On a home computer. RIAA says this is illegal, plain and simple. That means using this thing is probably illegal too, according to RIAA.
I think that RIAA can get stuffed - fair use should extend to me being allowed to make personal copies of digital music (CDs) for my own personal use, on whatever device I choose.
If I decide to put said copies up on an FTP site, then they might have something to complain about. But for my own personal use? Get with the program.
IANAL either, but I believe that is the issue before various courts now. Which interpretation of the law is correct?
The RIAA says that the DCMA gives them the right to dictate terms with regards to fair use. The EFF thinks otherwise.
If you read some of what the EFF is saying, them seem to expect some sort of landmark case along the lines of Sony vs. Universal Studios in 1984 that said fair use allows us to record TV broadcasts on tape and replay them later for personal use.
I got stuck with one of those cards (came with a Dell) too. Fortunately, in the "better late then never department":
linux.aureal.com
It still doesn't support all of the nifty features, but it works just fine with my Turtle Beach Montego (RH 6.1 stock kernel).
Try the preceding few sentences:
Computers and general-purpose computer peripheral devices are not covered by the Audio Home Recording Act. This means they do not pay royalties and they do not incorporate technology to prevent serial copying. As a result, this also means that copying music onto a computer hard drive is not permitted. It is copyright infringement, and a violation of federal law.
How much more straight-forward can this be?
If you read http://www.riaa.com/tech/tech_ht.htm, you will also see it says in a couple of places that you are only allowed to make digital copies of music for your own use with certain devices.
No PC CD-R drives for mixed CDs, no MP3s, just people who make copying hardware (read: audio CD-R) that have paid a royalty to RIAA.
And if had bothered to look at the link I provided, you'd see that RIAA thinks that making MP3s from your own CDs is illegal, even if it is for your own use.
I'd imagine that lawsuits will follow for all of these companies, since according to RIAA the only way you can have a legit mp3 is if that was the original format that it was distributed in, or if it is the public domain.
Of course, RIAA may or may not have heard of something called fair use.
Phil, let me first say that I own your book and I respect what you are doing - especially making things open and available to everyone.
:)
I run my own small business, so I do know about tax deductions, but wasn't my point at all.
You may say that you would only hire a couple of people, but I would doubt that. These people just spent pratically their entire lives for a year immersed in your culture and learning your way of doing things. More than a couple will wind up joining you.
That said, if you say that isn't your prime motive then I respect that.
Good luck hiring 200 web developers in the next year - we're in short supply
--I think the program is aimed at smart people with bachelor's degrees in a non-technical field.--
:)
Isn't that an oxymoron?
In all seriousness, I know plenty of people who are smart who aren't cut out for a career in computer programming. They don't neccissarily equate, and getting yourself into a 12 hour a day, 6 day a week program isn't likely the best way for you to find out either.
And it has nothing to do with philanthropy.
Do you think that Greenspun's company might be able to emply the services of a few of the grads?
Think about it - what does it cost for them to recruit people? And once they are recruited, they still have to learn their (*cough* eliteist) AOLServer/Tcl/Emacs/Oracle way of doing things anyways.
Now you create a place to "educate" (really train them on what *you* want them to learn) people for "free" and you get to hire the best ones for your company. They get a free supply of people all ready to slam right into their workforce.
The $1M that it will cost is nothing compared to what it will save them in hiring/training costs, and I'm sure they get the tax writeoff on top of that.
Are you kidding me? They want people to go sit in a classroom/lab for 12 hours a days, six days a week.
Riiight. I'll be amused to see what their burnout rate is.
Also, comparing this to a Comp Sci degree is a bit silly. This is essentially what all of the "computer colleges" out there are offering - intensive skill-based training. It may be free, and taught by some of the best people in the world, but that is still what it is.
-- Light weight? I don't think there's ever been a toolkit that's as heavy weight as Swing. --
Apparently you have never used the AWT, Swing's predecessor.
I'll admit Swing isn't the fastest and doesn't have the smallest footprint, but it is a big improvement.
Shipping products have nothing to do with it. Probably 90% (maybe more) of the code written in the world is not used for a "shipping" product.
There are a lot of commercial and government installations who are using Servlets/EJB to do thier web business. Go to BEA or IBM's websites to see lists of successful implementations.
Go search a few web boards and look fr Java jobs. What are all of those people being hired for?
Java may have failed for Applets and other window dressing. It will never replace C as a systems programming language or Perl as a CGI/duct tape language. But many companies are using it for corporate IS development or web development.
Just beacuse it isn't fabulously popular in the open source world does NOT mean it isn't being used.