Yes, I can confirm that. We're working with SubVersion for almost one year now, and it's a really reliable version control system. I simply love it:-)
The only problems we've had so far were due to bugs in the Berkeley DataBase which were resolved simply by upgrading BDB and SubVersion.
The beauty of SubVersion is its speed compared to CVS and low diskfootprint when it comes to versioning binaries. In CVS, every change to a binary file causes the complete new version of the file to be appended in the repository (AFAIK). Thus, if you change a 10kB binary file five times, the RCS file will be about 50kB. Not so in SubVersion, it handles binaries very efficient.
Another speed-issue of CVS is that when you're working remotely your whole working copy needs to be transmitted to the server and the server checks what changed. Obviously this is a bandwidth and time eater. SubVersion stores a copy of the last checked out version on your disk and thus already knows what changed and only transmits these changes. This means your working copy is always double the size but this trade-off is one of the reasons why SubVersion is really fast even with very big repositories.
I know what I'm talking about, the repository I maintain is now 2.8GB in size:-)
What I'm really looking forward to is when SubVersion supports SQL based databases like PostgreSQL or SAP DB. That will be a killer feature, but don't hold your breath, the SubVersion folks say it'll take a significant amount of work to do this but they want to implement this eventually.
Paying big bucks (euros in this case) makes one immune from GPL infringment claims. What the shame...
FUD-alert ! Allnet did not just donate money to several organisations but also agreed to release their modifications under GPL and to work with iptables together in the future. So they agreed to comply with the GPL, release their code under GPL, work with the iptables team together and additionally donate some money. Which is good news, IMHP !
Actually, the 4 megabytes is correct: x86 processors handles memory in pages. They normally are 4kB in size (thanks to the 8086 or propably even the 8080). The Pentium then introduced an extension called Page Size Extension (PSE, see/proc/cpuinfo if that flag is present;-). The PSE allows the use of 4 megabyte pages. And the processor can only access one page at a time, which makes the original statement correct... more or less;-)
Yeah, then we'll redesign the Traffic system, too. But wait, so many people rely on the Traffic system working the way it does already -- and the number of intersections/roads to change would be immense. I guess it's just not going to happen. Kind of like your suggestion. Backward compatibility is there for a reason. Hundreds of thousands of people already rely on what's in place.
Well, UNIX is also backwards compatible, at least on the source level. And if you don't use assembler or bit-modifying C code you can normally easily port a program from one computer architecture to another.
Luckily MS noticed the problems I described in my original posting as well, the.NET CLR is a reaction to it because in theory it would allow MS to port Windows (or just the CLR) to a new platform and all NET programs run unmodified (in binary).
In short, why are PC compatibles such heaps of shit?
In short, because they still try to be compatible with a 20 year old machine that was a quick-shot and intended to be replaced by something better... but it wasn't replaced since the quick-shot gained too much market capacity.
The funny thing is that not only the IBM PC itself was just intended to be an interim solution but the processor (8086) was as well ! Intel wanted to do something better but felt it had to react to competition and thus released quickly made the 8086 just to have something.
And then people began to build even more and more stores onto this messy ground (PCI, AGP, ACPI, APIC, and the most famous: the A20 gate, just to name a few extensions) and now we have an architecture so horrible, complicated and full of unnecessary stuff that it's a real wonder that most PCs run quite well...
I've been saying this for years: it's time to start from scratch and cut that damn downward compability. But Windows only runs on Intel systems, that's a problem worth another discussion. If we'd start from scratch and throw the 20 year old dirt over board not only would computers be faster, they would also be cheaper and more reliable (because implementors wouldn't have to implement all those warts and bugs that some software now depends on).
IIRC, compiling into the kernel or as a module isn't all that different w.r.t. licensing. They are (probably) allowed to do so by the GPL since they didn't mix their proprietary code with GPL code, you did, and since you don't distribute the final result, neither GPL nor anybody cares.
According to Linus there is a difference. That's why modules have a field that states which license you use (or whether your module is GPL'ed, for that matter). If your module is not GPL'ed you get a message that your kernel is "tainted" when loading that module (plus a few kernel functions may not be used by not-GPL'ed modules !).
IIRC it goes like this: If you compile it directly into the kernel you modify the "original work", but a module does not since the kernel ("original work") is not modified, it just uses a module. You can see the module more like a third-party plug-in to an application here.
On the bottom of the netcraft report you can see an OS history of www.sco.com - apparently they switched from SCO UNIX to Linux in August 2002...
Yes, saw that too... and I always thought SCO will redeem us from the evil called Open Source;-) I'd really like to hear McBride's comment on that fact !:-)
I was sure that to place a sound spatially your brain relies on the delay between hearing the sound in one ear and then the other.
Yes, this information is used for left/right locating. But AFAIK (IANAES, I am not an ear specialist) also interference caused by sonic reflections from your shoulders are needed for locating whether a sound comes from above or below. I don't know how the distinguishes front/rear locating, though.
M-Systems' DiscOnChips are very nice flash chips which we use in some ThinClients. While there is support for those in the 2.4.x kernel tree it never worked for us. So we took M-Systems drivers.
Now they seem to be in a similar boat: they don't like to give out their intellectual property. Their solution is what looks like a driver stub and a binary.o file which is the real driver which does the real work. This way you can build kernel modules for you favourite kernel with M-Systems not releasing any "critical" source code.
This practice means that you can't compile the driver into the kernel, you have to build a module (since the GPL does not allow building that propietary driver into the GPL'ed kernel, but allows non-GPL'ed kernel modules since they are not part of the resulting program or so... at least this what I recall Linus saying about that subject).
But having a module does the job as well, using an initrd we can boot from M-Systems DoC perfectly (in Real Mode they are accessible like a harddisk). The extra-effort is worth it since in our experience they are a lot more reliable than Flash IDE Chips, and reliablity is an important factor in embedded systems like ThinClients:-)
Intel could do it the same way: release a driver stub and a binary.o file which links together a kernel module. Et voila: Neutrino support for every kernel without releasing the real source code !
If all you want to do is build a GUI for a database backend it's a heck of a lot faster and simpler to build it in VB.net than with Java or C.
Yes, I know it's used for "dumb" UI's and prototypes since you get something that you can see and "grab" very quickly, but doing big (> 10.000 lines of source) programs with VB would be insane, IMHO. After all, the "Visual" is followed by "BASIC" which still after all those years means "Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code". The language was meant for your first steps in the world of programming, and never was intended to be used for "real" applications.
I'd really like to know which language would be billg's favourite if he hadn't written BASIC interpreters in the first days of MicroSoft...
I personally don't like VB, for many reasons... to it's just a toy.
In the style of E. W. Dijkstra (please forgive me): The use of Visual BASIC cripples the mind and should therefor be considered a criminal offence.;-)
What I've done is use Linux's excellent support for console joypads (see the documentation in the Linux source in Documentation/input/joystick-parport.txt). This allows you to use e.g. Atari/Amiga joysticks, or Sega MegaDrive/Genesis joysticks, even PlayStation joypads are supported !
Now what I've done is use a defective SNES multiplayer adapter, take an parallel printer cable and soldered everything according to the documentation mentioned above. No resistors or shit necessary. You can see the result on my SNES page (you have to scroll down). Works fine and is the only thing that gives you the real feeling, except for the real SNES of course;-)
May I suggest vdmsound Allowed me to play Dune 2 no problems under windows 2k. Bonus points for it being open source and gpl'ed eh?
I've heard about it but it's of no use for me since I just have Windows ME on my laptop and VDMsound requires a NT-based Windows. And since I need to use Windows just two or three times a year I won't update to Windows 2k or XP because you know: never touch a running system:-)
I'm still playing DOS games from time to time, like Dune 2. Now the ironic part is that I can't get the sound to work in DOS directly (laptop with an SiS chip, no DOS usable driver avaible) neither does the sound work under Windows ME... but it works without problems in Linux using DOSEmu since it emulates an SoundBlaster 16 and a General MIDI card:-)
When I was 15 years old I got my first modem. And my cousin was sysop for two local (I'm from Munich) BBS's, one was a chat-BBS called StadtNet.
It literally changed my life, since for the first time I met people with whom I could talk about computers (noone in my suburb was into programming, and by the age of 15 I already knew four or five programming languages). But the most important part was that since we were all from Munich or from suburbs of Munich we did a lot together, like having brunch every Sunday or meeting at different restaurant every Tuesday, going to the cinema together, having parties, etc.
I met a lot of people that heavily influenced me because they really impressed me (like a guy who was a real old-school gentleman... it really did me good to have known such a guy, helped later on with flirting to have learned from him;-)
I was going to recommend the HP LJ 4/5 series as well. They are very robust printers, Linux plays very nice with them (and every other OS as well). Replacement parts are also still avaible and very cheap. I've got an 5L and had a 4 at work and both work without any problems for years now.
If you WANT to quit, you will. You don't need any drugs, devices, or enemas.
Everyone I know who has tried (and failed) to quit, failed because they did not want to quit smoking. They tried to quit because they just felt they should.
You can quit when you actually WANT too.
Mind over matter, and shit like that....
Having quit smoking myself a few months ago I absolutely agree ! If you don't like to quit you won't make it. I wanted to quit because my girlfriend smokes too much. She kept coughing while sleeping, keeping me from sleeping. So I said to myself, if I quit she has to quit too as I would otherwise annoy the hell out of her (I am currently };-)
I figured out that the worst part of quitting smoking was... what to do with my fingers ? Smoking gives your fingers and hand something to do, especially when you're nervous this is an important part of smoking.
My trick was simply having my cool wooden trick jo-jo with me:-) I regained a lot of my jo-jo skills while quitting smoking;-)
How many Access databases do you know ? You can know only one, since there is only one. It's from MicroSoft and it only runs on Windows. It's a dead end.
On the other hand, without spending more than three seconds of thinking I can come up with more than half a dozen SQL databases, on all kind of operating systems and in all kind of flavours (from the very simple ones to the overpowered ones).
When you look into the real world out there you're stumbling over SQL database everywhere. It's what's used out there and requested knowledge by employers. Just look at your favourite computer magazine and look at the job ads: count how many time you read SQL and how many times you read Access.
That should be a fairly good argument to show your boss: just really take a computer magazine with job ads to your boss, and show him the ads which require SQL knowledge and which require Access so he can actually see with his own eyes. Should also work with online job services:-)
In fairness, thats a great pad. I know EXACTLY which one you're talking about. I had two, my friend had two. Fun switching it to full auto in street fighter 2 turbo as blanka to do the electricity move, and see how long you can do it before your friend realises you're not touching the controller.
Yes, exactly... I hated my brother for always using Blanka with this pad. But it was also useful with Chun-Li's endless kick and that similar hand-attack from that sumo (don't remember his name):-)
A really interesting article about Lagrange Points can be found here. What I found really fascinating is the fact that it seems like that the earth pulls/pushes dust around space on the earth-moon Lagrange Points L4 and L5.
Nintendo controllers and systems have classically been made of ultra-durable plastic of doom. I remember throwing controllers again brick walls, and dropping gamecubes painfully high distances. Of course, I've never had any of these things break or stop working. I'm sure that when cockroaches rule the earth they will all play SNES games.
Yes, I can confirm this:-) Back when me and my brother were playing SNES he often got very angry with some games and held the joypad by the cable and smacked the pad to the wall, with all his force ! No problem with Nintendos joypads, but he did it once with a clearcase third-party joypad (one with auto-fire and stuff), and all that was left of it afterwards was a pile of plastic crumbs;-)
How about, "If a company works with Linux it has to know about the GPL"? Programmers don't need to know about the GPL--they send the license to legal, and legal advises management about what must be done with the release. Of course, this isn't quite the case for small companies, without legal departments.
Well, at least the companies I worked for so far didn't had a legal department, so it was the managers responsibility. In my case, I went to my boss and told him about the GPL and what it meant to us, since I personally felt it to be my duty as I have contributed to several OS projects. But in the end it's "The company has to know the GPL", not the programmers need to know GPL, yes. But I think they should know about it and tell their bosses that it's a problem if the company ignores it. (If not a problem such as "The FSF will sue us otherwise" but e.g. bad PR)
If someone works with Linux he has to know about the GPL, simple as that. A former employer of mine worked with the EM8400 and I wrote an application that used it. And we knew about the GPL and planned to release the sources when the product was to be released.
Unfortunately our company went insolvent so it's quite easy to say that we would have released the offending sources;-) But the point is we worked with Linux and thus knew we had to deal with the GPL. I think anyone who professionally works with Linux has to know the GPL.
But many companies seem to ignore the GPL and just hope they won't get caught. It can be very hard to convince your managers that you are forced to republish any modified GPL'ed programs. In my experience the engineers/programmers know the GPL very well and tell their managers about it but those just don't want to hear. They are not comfortable with giving anything out to the public, even when it's about non-critical stuff or like in this case work of others with a license that forces you to release that particular code. They seem to ignore the fact that only the stuff that your employees wrote is the only thing you really have a right to and that you don't need to release that.
On the other hand Sigma could be telling their customers more about the GPL and what their customers have to publish and what they can keep. But I don't think it's Sigma's fault when their customers don't comply with the GPL.
Most people here seem to hate that spoof, and it seems just because it's MicroSoft making fun out of Linux.
I really hate MicroSoft, and I really love Linux. But I have to admit that this spoof has style. I mean, it's normal for MicroSoft to bash Linux, but this time they're doing it with style, and I find it very funny.
It's not good to take everything serious, and while I really hate MS, billg and Monkeyboy this spoof really is funny, IMHO. It's childish to say it's bad just because it's MS bashing Linux. If it were Linus and Alan Cox doing that very same video, bashing MicroSoft, everyone would praise it as the best piece of humor in IT ever...
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Yes, I can confirm that. We're working with SubVersion for almost one year now, and it's a really reliable version control system. I simply love it :-)
:-)
The only problems we've had so far were due to bugs in the Berkeley DataBase which were resolved simply by upgrading BDB and SubVersion.
The beauty of SubVersion is its speed compared to CVS and low diskfootprint when it comes to versioning binaries. In CVS, every change to a binary file causes the complete new version of the file to be appended in the repository (AFAIK). Thus, if you change a 10kB binary file five times, the RCS file will be about 50kB. Not so in SubVersion, it handles binaries very efficient.
Another speed-issue of CVS is that when you're working remotely your whole working copy needs to be transmitted to the server and the server checks what changed. Obviously this is a bandwidth and time eater. SubVersion stores a copy of the last checked out version on your disk and thus already knows what changed and only transmits these changes. This means your working copy is always double the size but this trade-off is one of the reasons why SubVersion is really fast even with very big repositories.
I know what I'm talking about, the repository I maintain is now 2.8GB in size
What I'm really looking forward to is when SubVersion supports SQL based databases like PostgreSQL or SAP DB. That will be a killer feature, but don't hold your breath, the SubVersion folks say it'll take a significant amount of work to do this but they want to implement this eventually.
s/IMHP/IMHO/
Paying big bucks (euros in this case) makes one immune from GPL infringment claims. What the shame ...
FUD-alert ! Allnet did not just donate money to several organisations but also agreed to release their modifications under GPL and to work with iptables together in the future. So they agreed to comply with the GPL, release their code under GPL, work with the iptables team together and additionally donate some money. Which is good news, IMHP !
4 megabytes (sic) of memory at a time
shouldn't that be 4 gigabyte ;)
Actually, the 4 megabytes is correct: x86 processors handles memory in pages. They normally are 4kB in size (thanks to the 8086 or propably even the 8080). The Pentium then introduced an extension called Page Size Extension (PSE, see /proc/cpuinfo if that flag is present ;-). The PSE allows the use of 4 megabyte pages. And the processor can only access one page at a time, which makes the original statement correct... more or less ;-)
Yeah, then we'll redesign the Traffic system, too. But wait, so many people rely on the Traffic system working the way it does already -- and the number of intersections/roads to change would be immense. I guess it's just not going to happen. Kind of like your suggestion. Backward compatibility is there for a reason. Hundreds of thousands of people already rely on what's in place.
Well, UNIX is also backwards compatible, at least on the source level. And if you don't use assembler or bit-modifying C code you can normally easily port a program from one computer architecture to another.
Luckily MS noticed the problems I described in my original posting as well, the .NET CLR is a reaction to it because in theory it would allow MS to port Windows (or just the CLR) to a new platform and all NET programs run unmodified (in binary).
In short, why are PC compatibles such heaps of shit?
In short, because they still try to be compatible with a 20 year old machine that was a quick-shot and intended to be replaced by something better... but it wasn't replaced since the quick-shot gained too much market capacity.
The funny thing is that not only the IBM PC itself was just intended to be an interim solution but the processor (8086) was as well ! Intel wanted to do something better but felt it had to react to competition and thus released quickly made the 8086 just to have something.
And then people began to build even more and more stores onto this messy ground (PCI, AGP, ACPI, APIC, and the most famous: the A20 gate, just to name a few extensions) and now we have an architecture so horrible, complicated and full of unnecessary stuff that it's a real wonder that most PCs run quite well...
I've been saying this for years: it's time to start from scratch and cut that damn downward compability. But Windows only runs on Intel systems, that's a problem worth another discussion. If we'd start from scratch and throw the 20 year old dirt over board not only would computers be faster, they would also be cheaper and more reliable (because implementors wouldn't have to implement all those warts and bugs that some software now depends on).
IIRC, compiling into the kernel or as a module isn't all that different w.r.t. licensing. They are (probably) allowed to do so by the GPL since they didn't mix their proprietary code with GPL code, you did, and since you don't distribute the final result, neither GPL nor anybody cares.
According to Linus there is a difference. That's why modules have a field that states which license you use (or whether your module is GPL'ed, for that matter). If your module is not GPL'ed you get a message that your kernel is "tainted" when loading that module (plus a few kernel functions may not be used by not-GPL'ed modules !).
IIRC it goes like this: If you compile it directly into the kernel you modify the "original work", but a module does not since the kernel ("original work") is not modified, it just uses a module. You can see the module more like a third-party plug-in to an application here.
On the bottom of the netcraft report you can see an OS history of www.sco.com - apparently they switched from SCO UNIX to Linux in August 2002...
Yes, saw that too... and I always thought SCO will redeem us from the evil called Open Source ;-) I'd really like to hear McBride's comment on that fact ! :-)
I was sure that to place a sound spatially your brain relies on the delay between hearing the sound in one ear and then the other.
Yes, this information is used for left/right locating. But AFAIK (IANAES, I am not an ear specialist) also interference caused by sonic reflections from your shoulders are needed for locating whether a sound comes from above or below. I don't know how the distinguishes front/rear locating, though.
M-Systems' DiscOnChips are very nice flash chips which we use in some ThinClients. While there is support for those in the 2.4.x kernel tree it never worked for us. So we took M-Systems drivers.
.o file which is the real driver which does the real work. This way you can build kernel modules for you favourite kernel with M-Systems not releasing any "critical" source code.
:-)
.o file which links together a kernel module. Et voila: Neutrino support for every kernel without releasing the real source code !
Now they seem to be in a similar boat: they don't like to give out their intellectual property. Their solution is what looks like a driver stub and a binary
This practice means that you can't compile the driver into the kernel, you have to build a module (since the GPL does not allow building that propietary driver into the GPL'ed kernel, but allows non-GPL'ed kernel modules since they are not part of the resulting program or so... at least this what I recall Linus saying about that subject).
But having a module does the job as well, using an initrd we can boot from M-Systems DoC perfectly (in Real Mode they are accessible like a harddisk). The extra-effort is worth it since in our experience they are a lot more reliable than Flash IDE Chips, and reliablity is an important factor in embedded systems like ThinClients
Intel could do it the same way: release a driver stub and a binary
I'd have to object, VB has it's uses.
If all you want to do is build a GUI for a database backend it's a heck of a lot faster and simpler to build it in VB.net than with Java or C.
Yes, I know it's used for "dumb" UI's and prototypes since you get something that you can see and "grab" very quickly, but doing big (> 10.000 lines of source) programs with VB would be insane, IMHO. After all, the "Visual" is followed by "BASIC" which still after all those years means "Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code". The language was meant for your first steps in the world of programming, and never was intended to be used for "real" applications.
I'd really like to know which language would be billg's favourite if he hadn't written BASIC interpreters in the first days of MicroSoft...
I personally don't like VB, for many reasons... to it's just a toy.
In the style of E. W. Dijkstra (please forgive me): The use of Visual BASIC cripples the mind and should therefor be considered a criminal offence. ;-)
Today I use modern languages including Visual Basic
Real programmers don't use (Visual) BASIC... at least not after puberty ! ;-)
What I've done is use Linux's excellent support for console joypads (see the documentation in the Linux source in Documentation/input/joystick-parport.txt). This allows you to use e.g. Atari/Amiga joysticks, or Sega MegaDrive/Genesis joysticks, even PlayStation joypads are supported !
Now what I've done is use a defective SNES multiplayer adapter, take an parallel printer cable and soldered everything according to the documentation mentioned above. No resistors or shit necessary. You can see the result on my SNES page (you have to scroll down). Works fine and is the only thing that gives you the real feeling, except for the real SNES of courseMay I suggest vdmsound Allowed me to play Dune 2 no problems under windows 2k. Bonus points for it being open source and gpl'ed eh?
I've heard about it but it's of no use for me since I just have Windows ME on my laptop and VDMsound requires a NT-based Windows. And since I need to use Windows just two or three times a year I won't update to Windows 2k or XP because you know: never touch a running system :-)
I'm still playing DOS games from time to time, like Dune 2. Now the ironic part is that I can't get the sound to work in DOS directly (laptop with an SiS chip, no DOS usable driver avaible) neither does the sound work under Windows ME... but it works without problems in Linux using DOSEmu since it emulates an SoundBlaster 16 and a General MIDI card :-)
When I was 15 years old I got my first modem. And my cousin was sysop for two local (I'm from Munich) BBS's, one was a chat-BBS called StadtNet.
It literally changed my life, since for the first time I met people with whom I could talk about computers (noone in my suburb was into programming, and by the age of 15 I already knew four or five programming languages). But the most important part was that since we were all from Munich or from suburbs of Munich we did a lot together, like having brunch every Sunday or meeting at different restaurant every Tuesday, going to the cinema together, having parties, etc.
I met a lot of people that heavily influenced me because they really impressed me (like a guy who was a real old-school gentleman... it really did me good to have known such a guy, helped later on with flirting to have learned from him ;-)
I was going to recommend the HP LJ 4/5 series as well. They are very robust printers, Linux plays very nice with them (and every other OS as well). Replacement parts are also still avaible and very cheap. I've got an 5L and had a 4 at work and both work without any problems for years now.
If you WANT to quit, you will. You don't need any drugs, devices, or enemas.
Everyone I know who has tried (and failed) to quit, failed because they did not want to quit smoking. They tried to quit because they just felt they should.
You can quit when you actually WANT too.
Mind over matter, and shit like that....
Having quit smoking myself a few months ago I absolutely agree ! If you don't like to quit you won't make it. I wanted to quit because my girlfriend smokes too much. She kept coughing while sleeping, keeping me from sleeping. So I said to myself, if I quit she has to quit too as I would otherwise annoy the hell out of her (I am currently };-)
I figured out that the worst part of quitting smoking was... what to do with my fingers ? Smoking gives your fingers and hand something to do, especially when you're nervous this is an important part of smoking.
My trick was simply having my cool wooden trick jo-jo with me :-) I regained a lot of my jo-jo skills while quitting smoking ;-)
How many Access databases do you know ? You can know only one, since there is only one. It's from MicroSoft and it only runs on Windows. It's a dead end.
:-)
On the other hand, without spending more than three seconds of thinking I can come up with more than half a dozen SQL databases, on all kind of operating systems and in all kind of flavours (from the very simple ones to the overpowered ones).
When you look into the real world out there you're stumbling over SQL database everywhere. It's what's used out there and requested knowledge by employers. Just look at your favourite computer magazine and look at the job ads: count how many time you read SQL and how many times you read Access.
That should be a fairly good argument to show your boss: just really take a computer magazine with job ads to your boss, and show him the ads which require SQL knowledge and which require Access so he can actually see with his own eyes. Should also work with online job services
In fairness, thats a great pad. I know EXACTLY which one you're talking about. I had two, my friend had two. Fun switching it to full auto in street fighter 2 turbo as blanka to do the electricity move, and see how long you can do it before your friend realises you're not touching the controller.
Yes, exactly... I hated my brother for always using Blanka with this pad. But it was also useful with Chun-Li's endless kick and that similar hand-attack from that sumo (don't remember his name) :-)
A really interesting article about Lagrange Points can be found here. What I found really fascinating is the fact that it seems like that the earth pulls/pushes dust around space on the earth-moon Lagrange Points L4 and L5.
Nintendo controllers and systems have classically been made of ultra-durable plastic of doom. I remember throwing controllers again brick walls, and dropping gamecubes painfully high distances. Of course, I've never had any of these things break or stop working. I'm sure that when cockroaches rule the earth they will all play SNES games.
Yes, I can confirm this :-) Back when me and my brother were playing SNES he often got very angry with some games and held the joypad by the cable and smacked the pad to the wall, with all his force ! No problem with Nintendos joypads, but he did it once with a clearcase third-party joypad (one with auto-fire and stuff), and all that was left of it afterwards was a pile of plastic crumbs ;-)
How about, "If a company works with Linux it has to know about the GPL"? Programmers don't need to know about the GPL--they send the license to legal, and legal advises management about what must be done with the release. Of course, this isn't quite the case for small companies, without legal departments.
Well, at least the companies I worked for so far didn't had a legal department, so it was the managers responsibility. In my case, I went to my boss and told him about the GPL and what it meant to us, since I personally felt it to be my duty as I have contributed to several OS projects. But in the end it's "The company has to know the GPL", not the programmers need to know GPL, yes. But I think they should know about it and tell their bosses that it's a problem if the company ignores it. (If not a problem such as "The FSF will sue us otherwise" but e.g. bad PR)
If someone works with Linux he has to know about the GPL, simple as that. A former employer of mine worked with the EM8400 and I wrote an application that used it. And we knew about the GPL and planned to release the sources when the product was to be released.
Unfortunately our company went insolvent so it's quite easy to say that we would have released the offending sources ;-) But the point is we worked with Linux and thus knew we had to deal with the GPL. I think anyone who professionally works with Linux has to know the GPL.
But many companies seem to ignore the GPL and just hope they won't get caught. It can be very hard to convince your managers that you are forced to republish any modified GPL'ed programs. In my experience the engineers/programmers know the GPL very well and tell their managers about it but those just don't want to hear. They are not comfortable with giving anything out to the public, even when it's about non-critical stuff or like in this case work of others with a license that forces you to release that particular code. They seem to ignore the fact that only the stuff that your employees wrote is the only thing you really have a right to and that you don't need to release that.
On the other hand Sigma could be telling their customers more about the GPL and what their customers have to publish and what they can keep. But I don't think it's Sigma's fault when their customers don't comply with the GPL.
Most people here seem to hate that spoof, and it seems just because it's MicroSoft making fun out of Linux.
I really hate MicroSoft, and I really love Linux. But I have to admit that this spoof has style. I mean, it's normal for MicroSoft to bash Linux, but this time they're doing it with style, and I find it very funny.
It's not good to take everything serious, and while I really hate MS, billg and Monkeyboy this spoof really is funny, IMHO. It's childish to say it's bad just because it's MS bashing Linux. If it were Linus and Alan Cox doing that very same video, bashing MicroSoft, everyone would praise it as the best piece of humor in IT ever...