The fact that RH is doing this at all is cool. However, why did they choose the UK to do this? Why not in [insert your country of origin]?
What is the dominant distro in the UK? Seems to me I read that it was Suse or Caldera. If that is the case, I presume that RH is attempting to wrestle away dominance from the main distro in the UK.
I'm not complaining about, RH BTW; they are running a business, and this seems like Fair Play to me. I'm just wondering why the UK and not elsewhere.
Or does RH have plans in the works for other such freebie rollouts for schools in other countries?
I was under the impression that SourceForge was it's own entity, without ties to VA Linux, previous to VA providing money and hardware for SourceForge. My Bad.
However, since VA's major (only?) business is selling preconfigured linux boxen, funding high-level s/w projects seems a bit odd. Now, if they were specifically targetting things like drivers for winmodems, that would make a bit more sense.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for SourceForge getting VA's backing; As you say, it's a benefit to the OSS community. I'm merely curious as to how/why VA Linux chose to back SourceForge over something else that might be more closely tied to their business.
OTOH, if the answer is strictly "Well, we wanted to help out. That's all," even better:)
I commend VA Linux Systems for supporting SourceForge; It's a great asset to the community.
However, since VA Linux seems to be mostly about hardware rather than software, supporting a software repository seems like a curious move. Was there a business rational behind "acquiring" SourceForge, or was did this happen just because it seemed like a cool thing to do?
I agree with most of what you wrote, except for this:
Some people who get burnt by this will blame Red Hat, or Linux, or even Linus Torvalds, but you can bet they won't be doing it anywhere high profile. Why? Because no-one likes to admit that they can't tell the difference between The Real Thing and a cheap copy. It's embarassing
Altho you are probably correct about investors being too imbarrassed to raise a stink, I'm sure Microsoft and the Press would have a field day. In fact, most of the Press, being as clueless as they are about technical issues, would just blow this out of proportion based on the financial fiasco alone, and link it to the name 'Linux'.
While I agree that this LinuxOne nonesense sounds like a complete scam, and that their IPO could potentially hurt alot of unwise and unknowledgable investors, it seems to bring up an interesting side effect of the GPL.
For ages, the OSS community has touted the benifits (nay, the necessity) of Free Software. The reasons are many and varied, but seem to boil down to enhancing quality of software and the computing experience. However, this LinuxOne foolishness seems to point out a fact that no-one seems to have pondered before:
If you don't have control over your software, while others can't ruin your software, they can, without legal penalty, completely destroy your software's reputation.
Don't get me wrong, I'm an OSS fan as much as the next geek, but it appears OSS may solve technical problems at the expense of social dynamics.
I had a similar reaction to this article. In fact, just to be sure, I even looked up "gadget" in Webster's:
Main Entry: gadget Pronunciation: 'ga-j&t Function: noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1886 : an often small mechanical or electronic device with a practical use but often thought of as a novelty
And thus, with the exception of the hand dryer, none of these really qualifies too well. Personally, I think something like the lava lamp, or "personal webage" would be a better cadidate...
As far as I can tell, patents like this are used to make the competition back off long enough for the company applying for the patent to gain marketshare. The patent itself is bogus and wont hold up in court, but it forces any other companies that might infringe on the patent to deal with the fact that they might get sued. It's really a business move, not a legal move.
I'm sure any business folks among us can give greater detail, but I believe that is the general idea behind this sort of patent application.
I guess the best way to add to your karma on this story is to bash roblimo, so I must play the karma whore and do:
ObKarmaWhore: Roblimo is a lewser and doesnt know jack shit about journalism! He must be roasted over the pit for all eternity!
blah. Get over it people. Slashdot is *not* journalism, and the folks that run slashdot know it. They just point us to things they think geeks might be interested in knowing about. And that's why slashdot is such a great site.
You can bitch about the article contents, but please dont bitch that this isn't journalism because by definition it is not
When I've perfected my whiny-slashdot-filter program, I'll be sure to let you all know. Maybe even that guy that puts grits down his pants will use it.
It's all well and good that fox.com has apologized, but I'd prefer the apology to be accompanied by a fix. I'm no webmaster but, unless their setup is truly bizarre, deleting the check for browser and OS should take about 20 seconds. What exactly is their problem? I am not booting to winbloze just to have the experience of viewing there site. My uptime is too important to my ego:)
Well, not really, but nobody else has claimed it yet... I could parse most of the silly words, but 1337 got past me. (My fault for being over 30, I guess.) What is it?
I think the guy has a point, and I tend to agree with that point. However, I don't think anything like this will be accepted in the near future for one reason: people outside the OSS comunity just dont get it.
Admittedly this is anecdotal, but I'll repeat it here because I found it illuminating:
I hang out on undernet's #linuxhelp quite a bit. A 15 year old was on asking questions. Someone suggested he buy a copy of RedHat from cheapbytes, but he pointed out that cheapbytes wont let a 15 year old purchase from them. Of course, someone told him to get his parents to buy it for him. His response? "my parents dont want me to get linux, because they think I will become a cracker"
As much as I have respect for Bowie as an artist, this sounds like a Jon Katz article. At least Katz doesn't usually screw up his html (yes, I realize Bowie isn't likely to be responsible for the html)
Basically I listen to whatever new tunes I have at the moment. However, I feel pressured to give some kinda list of albums that I have grooved on hardest while coding:
[0] "Off Ramp" - Pat Metheney [1] "2112" - Rush [2] "Ride The Lightning" - Metallica [3] "Angst" - KMFDM [4] "Amused To Death" - Roger Waters
Of course, there are plenty more, but those 5 come to mind immediately. Off Ramp and other old Metheney albums are clear winners for me.
I suppose all this classification is fun to discuss, but other than that, I rarely see the point. As with most other things, like software, people, and music, SF falls into one of two categories for me: It's Cool or It Sucks.
But, if you enjoy making finer grained classifications, amuse yourselves:)
Real World must be a bigger cash cow than I figured, given the fact that a major network has decided to rip an idea off a crummy little network like MTV. Will wonders never cease?
Let me guess, the participants won't really have any survival skill (or if they do, it will be pure coincidence), and all contestants will be chosen such that their personalities clash with everyone else's. My only complaint is that there won't be any booze on the island. That would make the "voting" considerably more interesting (read: violent).
Particularly since we heard about these plans in July
I don't really see that this is much different from the previous announcement, except for the fact that RedHat now has more money. And besides, did you really expect RedHat to not expand its base of operations?
this tiny guitar is a playful example of nanotechnology, in which scientists are building machines and structures on the scale of billionths of a meter to perform useful technological functions
Yeah sure, extremely useful if you happen to be a member of the highly acclaimed metal band Nanobotica from Planet Zorp!
Slashdot Mirror
This brings a whole new meaning the phrase: my battery is running out of "juice"! :)
The fact that RH is doing this at all is cool. However, why did they choose the UK to do this? Why not in [insert your country of origin]?
What is the dominant distro in the UK? Seems to me I read that it was Suse or Caldera. If that is the case, I presume that RH is attempting to wrestle away dominance from the main distro in the UK.
I'm not complaining about, RH BTW; they are running a business, and this seems like Fair Play to me. I'm just wondering why the UK and not elsewhere.
Or does RH have plans in the works for other such freebie rollouts for schools in other countries?
I was under the impression that SourceForge was it's own entity, without ties to VA Linux, previous to VA providing money and hardware for SourceForge. My Bad.
:)
However, since VA's major (only?) business is selling preconfigured linux boxen, funding high-level s/w projects seems a bit odd. Now, if they were specifically targetting things like drivers for winmodems, that would make a bit more sense.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for SourceForge getting VA's backing; As you say, it's a benefit to the OSS community. I'm merely curious as to how/why VA Linux chose to back SourceForge over something else that might be more closely tied to their business.
OTOH, if the answer is strictly "Well, we wanted to help out. That's all," even better
I commend VA Linux Systems for supporting SourceForge; It's a great asset to the community.
However, since VA Linux seems to be mostly about hardware rather than software, supporting a software repository seems like a curious move. Was there a business rational behind "acquiring" SourceForge, or was did this happen just because it seemed like a cool thing to do?
I agree with most of what you wrote, except for this:
Some people who get burnt by this will blame Red Hat, or Linux, or even Linus Torvalds, but you can bet they won't be doing it anywhere high profile. Why? Because no-one likes to admit that they can't tell the difference between The Real Thing and a cheap copy. It's embarassing
Altho you are probably correct about investors being too imbarrassed to raise a stink, I'm sure Microsoft and the Press would have a field day. In fact, most of the Press, being as clueless as they are about technical issues, would just blow this out of proportion based on the financial fiasco alone, and link it to the name 'Linux'.
While I agree that this LinuxOne nonesense sounds like a complete scam, and that their IPO could potentially hurt alot of unwise and unknowledgable investors, it seems to bring up an interesting side effect of the GPL.
For ages, the OSS community has touted the benifits (nay, the necessity) of Free Software. The reasons are many and varied, but seem to boil down to enhancing quality of software and the computing experience. However, this LinuxOne foolishness seems to point out a fact that no-one seems to have pondered before:
If you don't have control over your software, while others can't ruin your software, they can, without legal penalty, completely destroy your software's reputation.
Don't get me wrong, I'm an OSS fan as much as the next geek, but it appears OSS may solve technical problems at the expense of social dynamics.
I had a similar reaction to this article. In fact, just to be sure, I even looked up "gadget" in Webster's:
...
Main Entry: gadget
Pronunciation: 'ga-j&t
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1886
: an often small mechanical or electronic device with a practical use but often thought of as a novelty
And thus, with the exception of the hand dryer, none of these really qualifies too well. Personally, I think something like the lava lamp, or "personal webage" would be a better cadidate
... then he could have added Crusoe to the list. :P
As far as I can tell, patents like this are used to make the competition back off long enough for the company applying for the patent to gain marketshare. The patent itself is bogus and wont hold up in court, but it forces any other companies that might infringe on the patent to deal with the fact that they might get sued. It's really a business move, not a legal move.
I'm sure any business folks among us can give greater detail, but I believe that is the general idea behind this sort of patent application.
I too can write an article that has so many obfuscated links that you are almost guaranteed to be confused. And make sure you follow all the links, otherwise you are sure to be lost at sea.
I guess the best way to add to your karma on this story is to bash roblimo, so I must play the karma whore and do:
ObKarmaWhore: Roblimo is a lewser and doesnt know jack shit about journalism! He must be roasted over the pit for all eternity!
blah. Get over it people. Slashdot is *not* journalism, and the folks that run slashdot know it. They just point us to things they think geeks might be interested in knowing about. And that's why slashdot is such a great site.
You can bitch about the article contents, but please dont bitch that this isn't journalism because by definition it is not
When I've perfected my whiny-slashdot-filter program, I'll be sure to let you all know. Maybe even that guy that puts grits down his pants will use it.
It's all well and good that fox.com has apologized, but I'd prefer the apology to be accompanied by a fix. I'm no webmaster but, unless their setup is truly bizarre, deleting the check for browser and OS should take about 20 seconds. What exactly is their problem? I am not booting to winbloze just to have the experience of viewing there site. My uptime is too important to my ego :)
Well, not really, but nobody else has claimed it yet... I could parse most of the silly words, but 1337 got past me. (My fault for being over 30, I guess.) What is it?
:)
elite -> eleet -> 'leet -> 1337
Get it?
It's interesting to note that CSS is a TLA for both "Content Scrambling System" and "Cascading Style Sheets". Coincidence? I think not!
An entire military department devoted to smurf attacks. Neato.
I think the guy has a point, and I tend to agree with that point. However, I don't think anything like this will be accepted in the near future for one reason: people outside the OSS comunity just dont get it.
Admittedly this is anecdotal, but I'll repeat it here because I found it illuminating:
I hang out on undernet's #linuxhelp quite a bit. A 15 year old was on asking questions. Someone suggested he buy a copy of RedHat from cheapbytes, but he pointed out that cheapbytes wont let a 15 year old purchase from them. Of course, someone told him to get his parents to buy it for him. His response? "my parents dont want me to get linux, because they think I will become a cracker"
Draw your own conclusions.
As much as I have respect for Bowie as an artist, this sounds like a Jon Katz article. At least Katz doesn't usually screw up his html (yes, I realize Bowie isn't likely to be responsible for the html)
Luciferase? My god, these trees are spawn of satan!
If those bastards start charging me by the minute, screw the internet, and screw websites. I'm going back to running a BBS as a Fidonet node.
Basically I listen to whatever new tunes I have at the moment. However, I feel pressured to give some kinda list of albums that I have grooved on hardest while coding:
[0] "Off Ramp" - Pat Metheney
[1] "2112" - Rush
[2] "Ride The Lightning" - Metallica
[3] "Angst" - KMFDM
[4] "Amused To Death" - Roger Waters
Of course, there are plenty more, but those 5 come to mind immediately. Off Ramp and other old Metheney albums are clear winners for me.
I suppose all this classification is fun to discuss, but other than that, I rarely see the point. As with most other things, like software, people, and music, SF falls into one of two categories for me: It's Cool or It Sucks.
:)
But, if you enjoy making finer grained classifications, amuse yourselves
Real World must be a bigger cash cow than I figured, given the fact that a major network has decided to rip an idea off a crummy little network like MTV. Will wonders never cease?
Let me guess, the participants won't really have any survival skill (or if they do, it will be pure coincidence), and all contestants will be chosen such that their personalities clash with everyone else's. My only complaint is that there won't be any booze on the island. That would make the "voting" considerably more interesting (read: violent).
I wonder if Abe will be there.
the effect is pretty conclusive. I have caculated that there is only about a one in 1,700
chance that it is due to chance.
That doesn't quite scan. I presume he means a one in 1700 chance that it was something other than a rogue planetary body.
Particularly since we heard about these plans in July
I don't really see that this is much different from the previous announcement, except for the fact that RedHat now has more money. And besides, did you really expect RedHat to not expand its base of operations?
this tiny guitar is a playful example of nanotechnology, in which scientists are building machines and structures on the scale of billionths of a meter to perform useful technological functions
Yeah sure, extremely useful if you happen to be a member of the highly acclaimed metal band Nanobotica from Planet Zorp!
Nice promo stunt, you |33+ d00dz!