If every developer out there could convert 10 people - and those 10 convert 10 more...
Well, considering where all the developer jobs are being shipped to, that'll mean a good chunk of India will be using Mozilla. Fat lot of good that'll do the movement over here.
(Just kidding. Love Linux. Love Mozilla. etc. etc.)
Never mind $3 Billion or $50 Billion or whatnot. Never mind what IBM will or won't have to buy out SCO to make this thing go away.
Think instead of how much it's costing the folks at SCO to make this lawsuit happen -- probably not that much considering all the exposure it's getting, and it seems all SCO has to do to keep it on the front pages of the tech business section is to continue to up the amount. How much does each amendment actually cost SCO to make in paperwork? A few thousand in legal fees and filings? Now, how much would it cost to get that same exposure through traditional advertising?
Now realize that Microsoft is licensing pretty much useless software from SCO. How much money is SCO getting from that deal? Enough to help SCO make salary and perpetuate this lawsuit? Heck, so long as they can delay the actual court date with IBM, they might be making a profit on this whole deal. Good for SCO. Meanwhile, the longer this lasts the longer a cloud hangs over Linux in the eye of the corporate world. Good for Microsoft. And the longer it takes IBM to squelch this thing, well, bad for Linux making deeper corporate inroads. And it won't look much better if IBM buys out SCO, because that can be spun by the enemy into making the public believe that IBM had something to hide.
This isn't about SCO trying to win any money. I'm willing to bet they've given up on that a long time ago. They're a smear tool right now, with just enough distance between themselves and Microsoft to avoid culpability landing on the latter. Heck, this whole thing doesn't have to be more than just a chilling loss leader to be effective.
The following is a proposed definition of hubris: Posting a story on Slashdot with the following quote: "...and you have never seen anything like this before."
Someone on Slashdot has always, always seen something like this before, even if they haven't.
Assuming you're not native to Asia, Japan is going to have a different DVD encoding than for other parts of the world. That means that you have to prepare for the possibility that (if you go with something that has Win XP), you won't be able to change the region encoding more than a few times. Seems obvious enough, but I was really disappointed with the fact that my laptop, which I'd bought for portability, wouldn't be entirely portable between my home country and South Korea, where I'm working now.
There's probably work-arounds to this limitation (as well as universal DVD players in some laptops) but I don't know of them just yet.
Real estate is at a premium here. Apartments and housings are usually pretty cramped, so your home isn't really all that much of a social space. People who can afford it usually like to congregate outside of the home for things like eating and entertainment (As an aside, good luck finding a golf-course, but there are quite a few inner-city driving ranges). Besides, for feasibility reasons, it makes more sense to have a LAN party in a good-sized PC Bang than in a tiny living room.
It's definitely grown from a subculture to an aspect of Korean culture, though. There's even a channel on TV where you can watch Starcraft duels. There's also Warcraft and E-Golf, but for whatever reason (cheap hardware cost?) Starcraft still rules. However, there are also very popular Diablo-style MMPORPGs that are Asian in origin. Back in Canada (Toronto, specifically) there were some Internet Cafes that were run and packed full of Asians playing various online games.
Still, to get the meandering point back on track, I think that the PC Bang concept is more a product of the culture. To that end, it won't take off in the US like it has in Korea until Americans need PC Bangs the same way that Koreans do.
(And I do think it's PC Bang (not Baang), although there really doesn't appear to be in practice one proper way to romanize Korean. Even the city I'm currently in properly translates phonetically to Daegu, but if you send mail here it has to be written "Taegu". Go figure.)
Let's assume that we're hoping for a world in which open-source and closed-source are given equal consideration based on their respective merits. We currently live in a world where they aren't. To get from our world to the promised land we need to have a revolution of sorts.
Generally, if you want to get a peaceful revolution, you've got to argue on two fronts (or be prepared to wait for a loooooooooooong time). The first front is the reasonable front that calls for equality right now -- ie: the "I have a dream" approach. The second front is the unreasonable front that calls for the oppressed side to turn the tables and make the oppressors become the oppressed -- ie: the "By any means necessary" approach.
You need both, because they compliment each other. The peaceful approach is more likely to be taken seriously if there's a radical approach looming in the background waiting to explode if the peaceful side isn't appeased. The radical approach is more likely to be taken seriously if there's a peaceful approach that can calmly set out the objectives in a non-offensive and non-confrontational manner. Take one away, and you've got trouble.
So, anyway, Michael sort of kind of has a point. If O'Reilly is going to be getting up and giving his two bits, and they're reasonable bits, we'd better make sure that there's a rabid and foaming RMS waiting around somewhere to rally the GNUites into a frenzy if O'Reilly isn't taken seriously.
"Dell users! Send us your FreeDOS CD and get the latest Red Hat distribution for free!"
Either that, or just punch up a whole bunch of PC's and have the delivery guy ask, "Say, you want a bonus pack for free?" So long as it's not part of the terms of sale, it could be purely as a promotion.
I get the distinct impression that software developers are complaining mostly because they aren't seeing the salaries they'd like... not because the jobs aren't out there.
Trust me, it's pretty horrible for programmers as well. There's been so much convergence that the privilege to compete is reserved for the few.
It depends on where you live, too. UK, Canada and the U.S. all have different deficits and surpluses depending on the branch of IT you're talking about.
That's a lot of tough talk considering that you're in a position of relative power in the IT industry. It's not so easy when you're a developer holding onto your job like grim death.
LOL! Well, AFAIK, WRT this sort of CIM/WBEM spec for DMTF, SBLIM can get a little FUBAR IIRC depending on your LAN or WAN, (c.e. IANASA), and you'll be like, WTF? ROTFLMAO!
Back in my day, light was blimblamming all over the place! We had GOOD light in those days. Yessiree, you couldn't go outside with your onion strapped to your belt (as was the fashion at the time) without getting knocked over by rays of light all the time! Not like today's LAZY light, mind you.
Slashdot being astroturfed? (offtopic)
on
More MS EULA Fun
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
At 6:28 am an article is posted about the negative aspects of the new Microsoft EULA. At 6:31 am an Anonymous Coward posts a well-written, generally grammatically-correct response that explains the need for it.
The response is 383 words. That's over 127 words per minute.
Furthermore, this paragraph smacks of being mandate-driven...
And before we crucify Microsoft alone for including this "heinous" behavior, check Apple. Mac OS has performed automatic updating since Mac OS 9. I don't know about any other software, but I would love to see some form of update checking and/or installation method for servers, especially the variety that are intended to be installed, turned on, and forgotten, like email notifications or schedulable updates. I'd also like to see a move to create a standard through which updates can be propogated for any software. Some software already scan, like Adobe Acrobat Reader, Macromedia ShockWave, and I think QuickTime. If there were one place, maybe things could be more organized and more user friendly.
Am I the only one getting the feeling that./ is being actively astroturfed?
This sort of thing really creeps me out. I mean, from a business standpoint I'm sure it makes sense, but it also seems to be the next step in the sorts of things Karl Marx was describing. We already have a media cartel and a software monopoly. Now we have IT corporations buying up consultancies?
At a local consumers conference, Microsoft's Bill Gates, apparently growing frustrated over the questions surrounding.NET ("What is it?" "What does it do?" "Why do I need it?") finally said, "Look! You know Java? Same $%#@ thing!" and then stormed out.
You know, to be honest, I think they kept it vague on purpose, so that they could sell a whole bunch of products and tout each one as an essential component of.NET. They were looking to brand first and foremost, and it's worked to a certain extent. I know some guys who landed some venture capital who say that they think.NET is great even though they can't quite explain what it is.
To be honest, I think if we weren't in the middle of the a Linux revolution right now, nobody would be asking the questions that needed to get asked about.NET and that Microsoft can't answer because they weren't expecting to have to answer them. Consider all those commercials touting One Degree of Separation. Yes, we all know that we could recreate the same systems in any OS/platform, only with.NET you can do it in VB.NET. Perhaps that's a bonus, but only the VB programmers are going to recognize that, and I wonder how many IT departments (the people who'd give the green light on the switch) would be dominated by VB programmers? Or there's the bonus of being able to write ASP+ pages in several different languages. How many different IT departments are dominated by the web programmers? Furthermore, even if the different programmers made a fuss over.NET, I wonder how many IT departments would have said "That's nice, but with a little effort and good design we can incorporate the benefits using our current tech."
Slashdot Mirror
Well, considering where all the developer jobs are being shipped to, that'll mean a good chunk of India will be using Mozilla. Fat lot of good that'll do the movement over here.
(Just kidding. Love Linux. Love Mozilla. etc. etc.)
Never mind $3 Billion or $50 Billion or whatnot. Never mind what IBM will or won't have to buy out SCO to make this thing go away.
Think instead of how much it's costing the folks at SCO to make this lawsuit happen -- probably not that much considering all the exposure it's getting, and it seems all SCO has to do to keep it on the front pages of the tech business section is to continue to up the amount. How much does each amendment actually cost SCO to make in paperwork? A few thousand in legal fees and filings? Now, how much would it cost to get that same exposure through traditional advertising?
Now realize that Microsoft is licensing pretty much useless software from SCO. How much money is SCO getting from that deal? Enough to help SCO make salary and perpetuate this lawsuit? Heck, so long as they can delay the actual court date with IBM, they might be making a profit on this whole deal. Good for SCO. Meanwhile, the longer this lasts the longer a cloud hangs over Linux in the eye of the corporate world. Good for Microsoft. And the longer it takes IBM to squelch this thing, well, bad for Linux making deeper corporate inroads. And it won't look much better if IBM buys out SCO, because that can be spun by the enemy into making the public believe that IBM had something to hide.
This isn't about SCO trying to win any money. I'm willing to bet they've given up on that a long time ago. They're a smear tool right now, with just enough distance between themselves and Microsoft to avoid culpability landing on the latter. Heck, this whole thing doesn't have to be more than just a chilling loss leader to be effective.
The following is a proposed definition of hubris: Posting a story on Slashdot with the following quote: "...and you have never seen anything like this before."
Someone on Slashdot has always, always seen something like this before, even if they haven't.
because I don't want to be labelled a gramar nazi
Heh. No need to worry. Grammar nazis are usually anal about spelling as well.
Assuming you're not native to Asia, Japan is going to have a different DVD encoding than for other parts of the world. That means that you have to prepare for the possibility that (if you go with something that has Win XP), you won't be able to change the region encoding more than a few times. Seems obvious enough, but I was really disappointed with the fact that my laptop, which I'd bought for portability, wouldn't be entirely portable between my home country and South Korea, where I'm working now.
There's probably work-arounds to this limitation (as well as universal DVD players in some laptops) but I don't know of them just yet.
Teaching English in SK...
Real estate is at a premium here. Apartments and housings are usually pretty cramped, so your home isn't really all that much of a social space. People who can afford it usually like to congregate outside of the home for things like eating and entertainment (As an aside, good luck finding a golf-course, but there are quite a few inner-city driving ranges). Besides, for feasibility reasons, it makes more sense to have a LAN party in a good-sized PC Bang than in a tiny living room.
It's definitely grown from a subculture to an aspect of Korean culture, though. There's even a channel on TV where you can watch Starcraft duels. There's also Warcraft and E-Golf, but for whatever reason (cheap hardware cost?) Starcraft still rules. However, there are also very popular Diablo-style MMPORPGs that are Asian in origin. Back in Canada (Toronto, specifically) there were some Internet Cafes that were run and packed full of Asians playing various online games.
Still, to get the meandering point back on track, I think that the PC Bang concept is more a product of the culture. To that end, it won't take off in the US like it has in Korea until Americans need PC Bangs the same way that Koreans do.
(And I do think it's PC Bang (not Baang), although there really doesn't appear to be in practice one proper way to romanize Korean. Even the city I'm currently in properly translates phonetically to Daegu, but if you send mail here it has to be written "Taegu". Go figure.)
I guess we should be bracing ourselves for new Microsoft fonts which aren't open for just anybody to use...
Just wondering if anybody knew what sort of specs you'd want for your Linux box to run NWN.
Work with me on this:
Let's assume that we're hoping for a world in which open-source and closed-source are given equal consideration based on their respective merits. We currently live in a world where they aren't. To get from our world to the promised land we need to have a revolution of sorts.
Generally, if you want to get a peaceful revolution, you've got to argue on two fronts (or be prepared to wait for a loooooooooooong time). The first front is the reasonable front that calls for equality right now -- ie: the "I have a dream" approach. The second front is the unreasonable front that calls for the oppressed side to turn the tables and make the oppressors become the oppressed -- ie: the "By any means necessary" approach.
You need both, because they compliment each other. The peaceful approach is more likely to be taken seriously if there's a radical approach looming in the background waiting to explode if the peaceful side isn't appeased. The radical approach is more likely to be taken seriously if there's a peaceful approach that can calmly set out the objectives in a non-offensive and non-confrontational manner. Take one away, and you've got trouble.
So, anyway, Michael sort of kind of has a point. If O'Reilly is going to be getting up and giving his two bits, and they're reasonable bits, we'd better make sure that there's a rabid and foaming RMS waiting around somewhere to rally the GNUites into a frenzy if O'Reilly isn't taken seriously.
Please note above correction.
"Dell users! Send us your FreeDOS CD and get the latest Red Hat distribution for free!"
Either that, or just punch up a whole bunch of PC's and have the delivery guy ask, "Say, you want a bonus pack for free?" So long as it's not part of the terms of sale, it could be purely as a promotion.
I get the distinct impression that software developers are complaining mostly because they aren't seeing the salaries they'd like... not because the jobs aren't out there.
Trust me, it's pretty horrible for programmers as well. There's been so much convergence that the privilege to compete is reserved for the few.
It depends on where you live, too. UK, Canada and the U.S. all have different deficits and surpluses depending on the branch of IT you're talking about.
That's a lot of tough talk considering that you're in a position of relative power in the IT industry. It's not so easy when you're a developer holding onto your job like grim death.
With the button called "ATR" for (Automatic Tampon Removal) and a guy who accidentally takes care of business in the women's washroom...
They're doing some interesting work with deep brain stimulation. It's already been used for a while to deal with Parkinsons patients.
Funny, I get that from the Slashcode as well.
OpenMG X
Let's see.
Uses a word with benevolent connotations ("Open")... +2 points
Followed up by a small abbreviation that terminates with the "ee" sound... +3 points.
Incorporates X somehow... +4 points.
Fails to use an "e" or "i" prefix... -2 points.
Total:
2 + 3 + 4 - 2 = rights still getting FLUSHED DOWN THE TOI... I mean, 7 points! Good work to everyone involved!
Shifting revenue around is hardly a new practice. In fact, everyone's favourite company has done it...
LOL! Well, AFAIK, WRT this sort of CIM/WBEM spec for DMTF, SBLIM can get a little FUBAR IIRC depending on your LAN or WAN, (c.e. IANASA), and you'll be like, WTF? ROTFLMAO!
Back in my day, light was blimblamming all over the place! We had GOOD light in those days. Yessiree, you couldn't go outside with your onion strapped to your belt (as was the fashion at the time) without getting knocked over by rays of light all the time! Not like today's LAZY light, mind you.
At 6:28 am an article is posted about the negative aspects of the new Microsoft EULA. At 6:31 am an Anonymous Coward posts a well-written, generally grammatically-correct response that explains the need for it.
./ is being actively astroturfed?
The response is 383 words. That's over 127 words per minute.
Furthermore, this paragraph smacks of being mandate-driven...
And before we crucify Microsoft alone for including this "heinous" behavior, check Apple. Mac OS has performed automatic updating since Mac OS 9. I don't know about any other software, but I would love to see some form of update checking and/or installation method for servers, especially the variety that are intended to be installed, turned on, and forgotten, like email notifications or schedulable updates. I'd also like to see a move to create a standard through which updates can be propogated for any software. Some software already scan, like Adobe Acrobat Reader, Macromedia ShockWave, and I think QuickTime. If there were one place, maybe things could be more organized and more user friendly.
Am I the only one getting the feeling that
WANT ONE!!!!
I can't believe that this story's been around this long and nobody's made a CowboyNeal joke yet. C'mon, "Salty"? "Humid"?
It practically writes itself!
This sort of thing really creeps me out. I mean, from a business standpoint I'm sure it makes sense, but it also seems to be the next step in the sorts of things Karl Marx was describing. We already have a media cartel and a software monopoly. Now we have IT corporations buying up consultancies?
Does this freak anybody else out at all?
At a local consumers conference, Microsoft's Bill Gates, apparently growing frustrated over the questions surrounding .NET ("What is it?" "What does it do?" "Why do I need it?") finally said, "Look! You know Java? Same $%#@ thing!" and then stormed out.
.NET. They were looking to brand first and foremost, and it's worked to a certain extent. I know some guys who landed some venture capital who say that they think .NET is great even though they can't quite explain what it is.
.NET and that Microsoft can't answer because they weren't expecting to have to answer them. Consider all those commercials touting One Degree of Separation. Yes, we all know that we could recreate the same systems in any OS/platform, only with .NET you can do it in VB.NET. Perhaps that's a bonus, but only the VB programmers are going to recognize that, and I wonder how many IT departments (the people who'd give the green light on the switch) would be dominated by VB programmers? Or there's the bonus of being able to write ASP+ pages in several different languages. How many different IT departments are dominated by the web programmers? Furthermore, even if the different programmers made a fuss over .NET, I wonder how many IT departments would have said "That's nice, but with a little effort and good design we can incorporate the benefits using our current tech."
You know, to be honest, I think they kept it vague on purpose, so that they could sell a whole bunch of products and tout each one as an essential component of
To be honest, I think if we weren't in the middle of the a Linux revolution right now, nobody would be asking the questions that needed to get asked about