And show me a real reason to go for 64-bit on the desktop.
Two words – video editing.
I’ve seen PSD files that uncompress to well over 400 megabytes. So I can imagine that someone might want to merge five of those files, and run into the memory limitations of 32bit processors. Or the creation of a digital equivilent to a 60mm camera, which could also exceed the limits of a 32bit memory address space.
Perhaps this is why some states in the U.S. are considering making having an unsecured Wi-Fi access point illegal
As mentioned in this link. The FCC views anyone but the FCC regulating the air waves in a very dim light.
The interstate commerce clause in the constitution could even back them up. (for those not into U.S. law, this is similar to the GPL relying on copyright.)
I have to say that I found the answer to question nine to be a dodge, so I will give my thoughts on the subject:-)
There has been a lot writen about apache vs. sendmail in terms of security and those issues seem to apply to apache vs IIS as well.
Apache seems to have a lot going for it that IIS does not. (See the Halloween documents)
One of the biggest things going for apache is httpd.conf.
It is documented and a seasoned *n*x admin can quickly tell what it is doing.
This seems to be one of the big advantages exim, postfix, and qmail have over sendmail.
I am never entirely sure that sendmail works as I think it does. I also had the same problem on IIS (thankfully now on the scrap heap.) I didn't have a problem configuring it, I just couldn't quickly tell how it was configured.
I would also say that patch distribution is so varied (ports, apt-get, home brewed, etc.), and people routinely have uptimes in years on *n*x side so I would expect that IIS actually has a better patch distribution system than apache, just a substandard product with even worse patches.
I also suspect that apache has an advantage in the fact that it lives on many different operating systems, many of them incompatible with each other, limiting the scope of the freebsd apache vulnerablity, for example.
And any response besides "this is how porn hurts women" with real examples is increasing the likelyhood that the porn filter is what is stopping him from surfing porn sites, not the ethics of how he should treat women.
Which is what I would hope your aunt is trying to teach your nephew.
What does your action teach the kid? That only adults can demean women?
I'm sure you ment to help, and maybe in some way you did, but only in the sense of providing an example of helping family members. You certainly didn't tell him anything about porn, the porn industry, and why maybe you wouldn't want to vist those websites. (He already knows why he would want to vist those websites.)
The filter doesn't change how he treats women, and amazingly enough, people's sex habits don't directly correlate to behavior out side of the bedroom. (See Strom Thurmond's life for proof.)
One, question. Why are you looking for an "entry level job"? Your resume speaks that you might be able to handle a little more than that. "junior programer" might be a more apt description of what you are looking for, but I can't really tell from your resume. A problem with looking for saying junior programmer is you might exclude yourself from companies that want someone around for small jobs, but can't justify paying six figures. Your resume hints that you might be able to handle that.
If I was looking for a web programmer, I'm not sure that I would ask you, instead I would ask one of the people that said that they are interested in being a web programer, just because they would be more likely to be enthusiastic about the job and I could stop the hiring process.
True story, at one of my jobs, I was opening a box of my new business cards, IT was installing my computer on my desk, when my boss came running over with a job application saying "Fill this out quick, HR is throwing a fit." The moral, ask for a job in person if you can, and ask other programmers who is hiring.
This may be snide, but why not make your own CA, and issue your own cert.
It is definately the easiest way if you have a dozen clients.
There are many howto's around on setting up your own CA. If you publish your CA cert semi-widely, then you can even sign friends certs.
This also allows you to sign IMAPS, webmin, ssl, ssh, and many other commonly used keys. If you are in the windows world, you can even sign your apps, so that windows, stops complaining about them.
MS HAS ALWAYS OFFERED A FREE DATABASE ENGINE, its no secret. SQl Server 2005 Express is just the new version of this product which has been available for years. Because of its easy transition to Sql Server its used a lot as a started Database for companies trying to sell in the SBM market. A lot of software application make use of MSDE (which is what the engine was called before Express edition)
Well, if you define always as since about 2002 or so. Linux, FreeBSD, MySQL, and Apache, have caused an extreme reduction in the price of *n*x type software. (Relational Databases are *n*x type software) Solaris is an order of maginude cheaper now, All the database companies are aware the fact that a sizable percentage of websites use MySQL, and now offer develper versions for very cheap.
In 1999 it was common for people to develop on MSAccess and see if the project worked. Then port to MSSQL if the project worked. This was done because of two issues; cost and RAD tools. The free developer tools are not something that Microsoft has traditionally provided, This is a direct responce to the popularity of Linux/FreeBSD/etc. If all the programers use Linux, their apps will run on Linux, and the people that want to use the new apps will run Linux, This is a long term threat that Microsoft understands very well. They may not know exactly what to do about it, but most software executives are ex-hackers, (a good percentage in both meanings of the word)
I wouldn't be suprised to see MicroSoft distriubte a source only version of Office for cheap, that you can compile with their $0.00 visual C compiler. (with a license agreement, that promises MS x% of all revenue from distributing software using their code, and a $n per copy minimun.)
There may be reasons for MS to not do this, but it is something that we can safely assume is/has been discussed, and is an option to maintain the Office and OS dominance that they currently have.
This is the same future think that has Microsofts competitors wanting people to use Openoffice.org. They are looking to reduce Microsofts oxygen.
Sad state of the world, but it does have same pull as nasty car wreck.
Same reason most people think they need a phone at their desk.
Email has become an integrated part of most companies work flow. Just like invoices, and letters to customers and vendors.
Personally, I would like something other than outlook to see openoffice and evolution have plugins so the intergrated nicely into SugarCRM. I'd be a happy camper at least. (OK then I'd want my accounting software to integrate nicely:-)
It took me about two weeks worth of searching to find out why my CD burner wasn't working (problem with the old 2.6.8 kernel). Whereas if I ever have a problem with my windows box, I can google an answer in under 2 minutes.
I would attribute that more to your knowledge of windows help vs. your knowledge of linux help.
One of the reasons why I am productive on FreeBSD is because I know pretty close to where to go for help.
The quality of FreeBSD vs. Linux vs. Windows help has nothing to do with it. There are millions of users of Linux, Windows and Mac OS/X, And all of them have more support than you will probably ever need. There is the off shoots of the Windows knowledge base, the FreeBSD Handbook, and Linux Gazette can solve any common problem quickly. If you have something that is really obscure, your knowledge of the os you are using is going to be the biggest factor in getting the problem fixed. To the *n*x family of os' credit, I have a vi book from the early 80's and it is still usable to someone just learning *n*x, unlike a pc book from that era. So veteran *n*x users tend to be more knowledgeable just because they haven't had their world yanked out from under them. But really, Linux and Windows are well supported, and widely used widely enough that you can find unique examples of what ever you want to prove. I just don't see $999.00 for an os on a $1200 dollar computer, when I can get a functionally equivalent os for free. Windows must have some advantages, but the only thing I remember about going to windows in the first place was "Solaris is how much more?!!"
Add the fact that if they used Debian or BSD or whatever free-soft-distro-of-the-month is, they have no one to yell and scream at when something goes wrong.
You might want to verify this statement with HP. Last I checked they will take your money and offer support for debian.
There may be other companies as well, But, no suport for debian is an out right myth, no matter what type of support you are talking about.
They would have insisted on using duct tape and bailing wire.
(If you ever vist the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, you can see a cross section of cable that looks way to much like one of the engineers said "just twist together lots of bailing wire and it will hold.""
For the most party you are right, but there are a few that have the talk to a sales rep. about our volume licensing options. and one of those conversations can cause people to do very stupid things.
This has *nothing* to do with Windows being teh suq. Rather, this has everything to do with the previous admin not knowing what he was doing.
Or maybe the cost of windows server licenses.
This is speculation, but redundancy in the windows world can be very expensive as you need to pay for the backup server license and all the client licenses for the backup server. That $2,000 server may have a $6k license fee and if the project is $10k over budget . . .
The Initial Developer hereby grants You a world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license, subject to third party intellectual property claims:
under intellectual property rights (other than patent or trademark) Licensable by Initial Developer to use, reproduce, modify, display, perform, sublicense and distribute the Original Code (or portions thereof) with or without Modifications, and/or as part of a Larger Work; and
under Patents Claims infringed by the making, using or selling of Original Code, to make, have made, use, practice, sell, and offer for sale, and/or otherwise dispose of the Original Code (or portions thereof).
the licenses granted in this Section 2.1 (a) and (b) are effective on the date Initial Developer first distributes Original Code under the terms of this License.
Notwithstanding Section 2.1 (b) above, no patent license is granted: 1) for code that You delete from the Original Code; 2) separate from the Original Code; or 3) for infringements caused by: i) the modification of the Original Code or ii) the combination of the Original Code with other software or devices.
Which says that you can distribute mozilla under a non-free license as long as you don't change it. Hence, the complete unmodified mozilla source tree. The MPL is incompatible with the GPL so this is also how Epiphany, Skipstone, and Galeon use the gecko rendering engine. Even though Epiphany, Skipstone, Galeon, OpenOffice.org, and StarOffice all use Gecko.
You cannot use GPL libraries in non-GPL software. See TrollTechs QT library which is under the GPL or if you want to use it in something like StarOffice, available for a fee.
See the history of the readline library which is GPL and not LGPL. There has been at least one project that was GPLed so it could use readline.
Distributing a non-GPL program that requires a GPL library is a violation of copyright law, unless you obtain another distribution license from the copyright holder of the library. There is a reason the LGPL exists. and why companies like TrollTech and MySQL A.B don't use it.
No, Python, is released under a license very similar to the BSD licenses, see http://www.python.org/doc/Copyright.html for details. and they use no mozilla code.
How to submit code to OpenOffice.org
We ask that all code submitted to OpenOffice.org be submitted via Issue Tracker . In your submission please list "Issue Type" as PATCH. Your code will be sent to the committer for the appropriate project.
Submit a filled-out copy of the Joint Copyright Assignment form (JCA); we have a PDF version you may print out. We explain our reasons for requiring the JCA in the Licensing FAQ. The FAQ further explain the use and advantages of using this license.
This means that you CANNOT submit someone else's GPL code.
You can however take Openoffice.org code and submit it to Kword or Abiword,
This is not FUD, it is a reality check that Openoffice.org does not have access to as much GPL code as projects that do not require Copyright assignment. NeoOffice can add the the grammer checker that abiword uses because they do not require copyright assignment.
Sun and the Free Software Foundation like demanding copyright assignment, but they also get limited contributions from the community and seem to spend time complaining about it instead of realizing that many people don't like giving their work away for nothing. Kind of ironic since both organizations release software under the GPL.
As of December 2004, we are releasing the parser under a new license; the license allows unrestricted use in commercial applications, and is also compatible with the GNU GPL (General Public License). You can view the license here. We are also releasing version 4.1b, which is identical to version 4.1 (released in 2000) except that the licensing statements reflect the new license.
Meaning that it is most likely no easier for abiword to include it than it is for openoffice to include it.
That is true for forks of openoffice.org. However, Sun requires copyright assignment for all contributions to openoffice.org, (much like the Free Software Foundation used to, and still may.)
This is different than Linux where many people own the copyright. Linux has so many copyright holders that it is almost impossilbe to release it under a license other than the GPL. Sun makes sure that they are the only copyright holder on openoffice.org so that they can release the code as star office.
This means that If there was a lot of GPL code that could be quickly reused in openoffice.org it would be very vulnerable to being forked, with Sun having to decide if they want to roll in the changes of the fork and dropping StarOffice, or plod along and rewrite all GPL code that they don't own the copyright on.
Long term, I don't see how Sun can compete against Abiword and Kword without droping StarOffice.
Dell is the worlds largest PC seller, with $49 billion in sales last year.
They ship 0% of their systems with AMD processors, due to some unholy deal they made with intel.
Dell makes a lot of demands on suppliers (Dell's goal is to never by a part until a customer has paid for it, they don't succeed, but they come as close as they can.
If AMD could afford make a delivery every hour on the hour for the last hours purchases they would have a real chance at some of Dell's business.
Michael Dell doesn't want to guess where the market is going, He wants the market to show up on his door and make an order, and then he will buy the parts and assemble it.
There are exceptions to this, but Intel and Microsoft both belive that Dell would drop both of them on a moments notice if there was a buck in it, and negotiate their deals accordingly.
I'm very pro patent, I think we SHOULD have VERY strong patents, however they should expire just 5 years after their filed OR give the patent holder the option of a much less restrictive patent with for examplke forced licenses at a fixed price for 10 years.
That might make sense for things that are not copyrightable, and not business methods.
But patenting the Harry Potter books is entirely insane. (one could start by patenting quidich, and horcruxes.)
I would be willing to consider software patents as reasonable if software was then exempt from copyright law.
The multiple layers of artifical monopolies is a sign that something is wrong. There is a very reasonable arguement that one of the things that lead to the United States becoming a super power was the blatant disregard for IP laws.
Take a normal contract... and put a "NOT!" after each sentence that sounds like it's somehow restricting your rights.
You may wish to read up on legal writing before you doing this. (Hint, full sentences can be quoted and used on their own, so you never break up a thought into shorter readable sentences, if the shorter more readable sentences do not stand on their own, at least that is how Cornell law schools on-line guide to legal writing explains things.)
Write down what you want the contract to do in plain English. A list is fine.
See if the IEEE has a sample contract that looks close to what you want. If so, modify it, if not, look for a Nolo Press contract that looks close to what you want.
Now, find an attorney that specializes in ip law.
Show the attorney your draft contract, and your description that you wrote in plain English.
This should minimize your legal expenses and maximize your chances of getting what you want.
My personal preference would be to have a meta-distribution that is compiled on a central system, where you pick the options from a pick-list and it builds the distribution from your choices.
This sounds a lot like you are describing Debian. They have tasksel that gives you thier default choices, but you can pick from about at least five MTA's (all except qmail are precompiled for a similar number as platforms as NetBSD supports in source form.) you can pick and choose to your hearts content, creating a snappy gateway with eight meg ram on a Pentium I, or overloading a workstation with GIS and developer tools so that you are complaining about the pokey performance of your Athalon64 running in native 64 bit mode. You can have a Zope webserver that uses less than a half gig of diskspace for the OS and server, a simple gateway that uses 200meg of disk space, or a Workstation that has everything but the kitchensink, that/usr has over ten gig of native programs. And it's all Debian, even though the only program they may have in common is the dpkg-tools and apt. (although apt is strictly speaking optional.)
Hope this helps you on your quest for the perfect system
Unix-like systems – and that includes Linux – are by design more secure than Windows,
That is not entirely true.
Windows has well audited acl's that preform very well compared to seLinux. Windows NT type operating systems have all the pieces to make a very secure system.
The problem is not that Windows NT/2K/xp/2003 does not have the tool. The problem is that Microsoft did the equivilant of logging into a *n*x system as root and going:
cd/
chown -R root:root *
chmod -R 777 *
Oh, you also have to reduce the number of groups from about 25 to 5 so that securing your system is as close to writing a Ph.D. disertation as possible. Windows has the tools, and they may work very well, but almost nobody uses them, especially Microsoft.
Slashdot Mirror
Two words – video editing.
I’ve seen PSD files that uncompress to well over 400 megabytes. So I can imagine that someone might want to merge five of those files, and run into the memory limitations of 32bit processors. Or the creation of a digital equivilent to a 60mm camera, which could also exceed the limits of a 32bit memory address space.
As mentioned in this link. The FCC views anyone but the FCC regulating the air waves in a very dim light.
The interstate commerce clause in the constitution could even back them up. (for those not into U.S. law, this is similar to the GPL relying on copyright.)
I read some place that Google's definition of beta is: We don't know how we are going to make money on this.
Fact or urban legend I haven't seen much evidence contradicting this.
I have to say that I found the answer to question nine to be a dodge, so I will give my thoughts on the subject :-)
There has been a lot writen about apache vs. sendmail in terms of security and those issues seem to apply to apache vs IIS as well.
Apache seems to have a lot going for it that IIS does not. (See the Halloween documents)
One of the biggest things going for apache is httpd.conf.
It is documented and a seasoned *n*x admin can quickly tell what it is doing.
This seems to be one of the big advantages exim, postfix, and qmail have over sendmail.
I am never entirely sure that sendmail works as I think it does. I also had the same problem on IIS (thankfully now on the scrap heap.) I didn't have a problem configuring it, I just couldn't quickly tell how it was configured.
I would also say that patch distribution is so varied (ports, apt-get, home brewed, etc.), and people routinely have uptimes in years on *n*x side so I would expect that IIS actually has a better patch distribution system than apache, just a substandard product with even worse patches.
I also suspect that apache has an advantage in the fact that it lives on many different operating systems, many of them incompatible with each other, limiting the scope of the freebsd apache vulnerablity, for example.
Care to chime in?
And any response besides "this is how porn hurts women" with real examples is increasing the likelyhood that the porn filter is what is stopping him from surfing porn sites, not the ethics of how he should treat women.
Which is what I would hope your aunt is trying to teach your nephew.
What does your action teach the kid? That only adults can demean women?
I'm sure you ment to help, and maybe in some way you did, but only in the sense of providing an example of helping family members. You certainly didn't tell him anything about porn, the porn industry, and why maybe you wouldn't want to vist those websites. (He already knows why he would want to vist those websites.)
The filter doesn't change how he treats women, and amazingly enough, people's sex habits don't directly correlate to behavior out side of the bedroom. (See Strom Thurmond's life for proof.)
You asked for advice, so here is my to pennies.
You might try putting in an objective section.
You might also spiff up your resume landing page.
One, question. Why are you looking for an "entry level job"? Your resume speaks that you might be able to handle a little more than that. "junior programer" might be a more apt description of what you are looking for, but I can't really tell from your resume. A problem with looking for saying junior programmer is you might exclude yourself from companies that want someone around for small jobs, but can't justify paying six figures. Your resume hints that you might be able to handle that.
If I was looking for a web programmer, I'm not sure that I would ask you, instead I would ask one of the people that said that they are interested in being a web programer, just because they would be more likely to be enthusiastic about the job and I could stop the hiring process.
True story, at one of my jobs, I was opening a box of my new business cards, IT was installing my computer on my desk, when my boss came running over with a job application saying "Fill this out quick, HR is throwing a fit." The moral, ask for a job in person if you can, and ask other programmers who is hiring.
Good luck
This may be snide, but why not make your own CA, and issue your own cert.
It is definately the easiest way if you have a dozen clients.
There are many howto's around on setting up your own CA. If you publish your CA cert semi-widely, then you can even sign friends certs.
This also allows you to sign IMAPS, webmin, ssl, ssh, and many other commonly used keys. If you are in the windows world, you can even sign your apps, so that windows, stops complaining about them.
Strange most of mine come from Europe,
Guess it depends on the net block you are on.
I have heard that most attacks orginate in the US. and use other servers as proxies. But I have no real evidence.
Well, if you define always as since about 2002 or so. Linux, FreeBSD, MySQL, and Apache, have caused an extreme reduction in the price of *n*x type software. (Relational Databases are *n*x type software) Solaris is an order of maginude cheaper now, All the database companies are aware the fact that a sizable percentage of websites use MySQL, and now offer develper versions for very cheap.
In 1999 it was common for people to develop on MSAccess and see if the project worked. Then port to MSSQL if the project worked. This was done because of two issues; cost and RAD tools. The free developer tools are not something that Microsoft has traditionally provided, This is a direct responce to the popularity of Linux/FreeBSD/etc. If all the programers use Linux, their apps will run on Linux, and the people that want to use the new apps will run Linux, This is a long term threat that Microsoft understands very well. They may not know exactly what to do about it, but most software executives are ex-hackers, (a good percentage in both meanings of the word)
I wouldn't be suprised to see MicroSoft distriubte a source only version of Office for cheap, that you can compile with their $0.00 visual C compiler. (with a license agreement, that promises MS x% of all revenue from distributing software using their code, and a $n per copy minimun.)
There may be reasons for MS to not do this, but it is something that we can safely assume is/has been discussed, and is an option to maintain the Office and OS dominance that they currently have.
This is the same future think that has Microsofts competitors wanting people to use Openoffice.org. They are looking to reduce Microsofts oxygen.
Sad state of the world, but it does have same pull as nasty car wreck.
Same reason most people think they need a phone at their desk.
:-)
Email has become an integrated part of most companies work flow. Just like invoices, and letters to customers and vendors.
Personally, I would like something other than outlook to see openoffice and evolution have plugins so the intergrated nicely into SugarCRM. I'd be a happy camper at least. (OK then I'd want my accounting software to integrate nicely
I would attribute that more to your knowledge of windows help vs. your knowledge of linux help.
One of the reasons why I am productive on FreeBSD is because I know pretty close to where to go for help.
The quality of FreeBSD vs. Linux vs. Windows help has nothing to do with it. There are millions of users of Linux, Windows and Mac OS/X, And all of them have more support than you will probably ever need. There is the off shoots of the Windows knowledge base, the FreeBSD Handbook, and Linux Gazette can solve any common problem quickly. If you have something that is really obscure, your knowledge of the os you are using is going to be the biggest factor in getting the problem fixed. To the *n*x family of os' credit, I have a vi book from the early 80's and it is still usable to someone just learning *n*x, unlike a pc book from that era. So veteran *n*x users tend to be more knowledgeable just because they haven't had their world yanked out from under them. But really, Linux and Windows are well supported, and widely used widely enough that you can find unique examples of what ever you want to prove. I just don't see $999.00 for an os on a $1200 dollar computer, when I can get a functionally equivalent os for free. Windows must have some advantages, but the only thing I remember about going to windows in the first place was "Solaris is how much more?!!"
You might want to verify this statement with HP. Last I checked they will take your money and offer support for debian.
There may be other companies as well, But, no suport for debian is an out right myth, no matter what type of support you are talking about.
You obviously don't know any real engineers.
They would have insisted on using duct tape and bailing wire.
(If you ever vist the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, you can see a cross section of cable that looks way to much like one of the engineers said "just twist together lots of bailing wire and it will hold.""
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtob
For the most party you are right, but there are a few that have the talk to a sales rep. about our volume licensing options. and one of those conversations can cause people to do very stupid things.
This is speculation, but redundancy in the windows world can be very expensive as you need to pay for the backup server license and all the client licenses for the backup server. That $2,000 server may have a $6k license fee and if the project is $10k over budget . . .
Which says that you can distribute mozilla under a non-free license as long as you don't change it. Hence, the complete unmodified mozilla source tree. The MPL is incompatible with the GPL so this is also how Epiphany, Skipstone, and Galeon use the gecko rendering engine. Even though Epiphany, Skipstone, Galeon, OpenOffice.org, and StarOffice all use Gecko.
You cannot use GPL libraries in non-GPL software. See TrollTechs QT library which is under the GPL or if you want to use it in something like StarOffice, available for a fee.
See the history of the readline library which is GPL and not LGPL. There has been at least one project that was GPLed so it could use readline.
Distributing a non-GPL program that requires a GPL library is a violation of copyright law, unless you obtain another distribution license from the copyright holder of the library. There is a reason the LGPL exists. and why companies like TrollTech and MySQL A.B don't use it.
This means that you CANNOT submit someone else's GPL code.
You can however take Openoffice.org code and submit it to Kword or Abiword,
This is not FUD, it is a reality check that Openoffice.org does not have access to as much GPL code as projects that do not require Copyright assignment.
NeoOffice can add the the grammer checker that abiword uses because they do not require copyright assignment.
Sun and the Free Software Foundation like demanding copyright assignment, but they also get limited contributions from the community and seem to spend time complaining about it instead of realizing that many people don't like giving their work away for nothing. Kind of ironic since both organizations release software under the GPL.
That is true for forks of openoffice.org. However, Sun requires copyright assignment for all contributions to openoffice.org, (much like the Free Software Foundation used to, and still may.)
This is different than Linux where many people own the copyright. Linux has so many copyright holders that it is almost impossilbe to release it under a license other than the GPL. Sun makes sure that they are the only copyright holder on openoffice.org so that they can release the code as star office.
This means that If there was a lot of GPL code that could be quickly reused in openoffice.org it would be very vulnerable to being forked, with Sun having to decide if they want to roll in the changes of the fork and dropping StarOffice, or plod along and rewrite all GPL code that they don't own the copyright on.
Long term, I don't see how Sun can compete against Abiword and Kword without droping StarOffice.
But patenting the Harry Potter books is entirely insane. (one could start by patenting quidich, and horcruxes.)
I would be willing to consider software patents as reasonable if software was then exempt from copyright law.
The multiple layers of artifical monopolies is a sign that something is wrong. There is a very reasonable arguement that one of the things that lead to the United States becoming a super power was the blatant disregard for IP laws.
You may wish to read up on legal writing before you doing this. (Hint, full sentences can be quoted and used on their own, so you never break up a thought into shorter readable sentences, if the shorter more readable sentences do not stand on their own, at least that is how Cornell law schools on-line guide to legal writing explains things.)
IANAL, but I have had experience with litigation.
Write down what you want the contract to do in plain English. A list is fine.
See if the IEEE has a sample contract that looks close to what you want. If so, modify it, if not, look for a Nolo Press contract that looks close to what you want.
Now, find an attorney that specializes in ip law.
Show the attorney your draft contract, and your description that you wrote in plain English.
This should minimize your legal expenses and maximize your chances of getting what you want.
This sounds a lot like you are describing Debian. They have tasksel that gives you thier default choices, but you can pick from about at least five MTA's (all except qmail are precompiled for a similar number as platforms as NetBSD supports in source form.) you can pick and choose to your hearts content, creating a snappy gateway with eight meg ram on a Pentium I, or overloading a workstation with GIS and developer tools so that you are complaining about the pokey performance of your Athalon64 running in native 64 bit mode. You can have a Zope webserver that uses less than a half gig of diskspace for the OS and server, a simple gateway that uses 200meg of disk space, or a Workstation that has everything but the kitchensink, that /usr has over ten gig of native programs. And it's all Debian, even though the only program they may have in common is the dpkg-tools and apt. (although apt is strictly speaking optional.)
Hope this helps you on your quest for the perfect system
Galeon had side tabs before version 1.3 (I don't know if they ever returned to Galeon 1.3 or not.)