Seriously, who really uses them anyways (don't answer that!)
Bah...you'd be surprised who uses the friggin paper cliip. I have a friend (newbie-ish) who somehow deleted her help files and spent DAYS trying to get the paper clip back. She called me asking for help and I was making all sorts of sarcastic cracks about the lame clip until I realized she was serious..She finally ended up doing a complete re-install of Windows just so she could have the dreaded clip back.
So..yeah...as hard as it is to believe...some people really do like the stupid thing.
Very true, there was also a lot of heat from the Inprise shareholders, for the most part they wanted nothing to do with Corel. I can't say that I blame them, there is a lot of turmoil with Corel right now... they badly missed their earnings (this caused the stock to drop quite a bit) and Cowpland has his legal troubles with the insider trading lawsuit. This was not a good fit at all IMHO.
I'm a former Inprise stockholder and I feel bad for the people who didn't jump ship when I did becaue this "merger" has really destroyed the $$ of Inprise. That's not to say that it can't or won't come back, but I'm guessing it will be an uphill battle for them. Anyways.. good luck Inprise/Borland.. I hope you get things straightened out.
I was surprised to find out that you read the posts on slashdot, but since we have your attention I would like to say a few things to you. I used your products for personal use for a couple years, from win 3.1 to win 3.11 to the first release of win95. I will never purchase another windows product again.
I found your products to be unstable, unreliable and generally lacking in most areas. I am sorry you feel it's more important to concentrate on destroying all your competitors than to develop quality software.
I find the way your company does business to be distatefull and damaging to the computer industry.
Yet, despite my opinions about your company and your poor products, I do not think it's appropriate for others to violate your rights. Two wrongs do not make a right.
While this sounds like common sense, the reality is that even one company in a hundred is stable enough to survive a market crash, there are tens of thousands of people who invested in the other 99.
Actually I was responding to a post which claimed that we would likely see many market corrections leading to a bear market, not a crash. I personally don't believe that a "crash" like the one leading into the depression will happen. However a bear market will happen at some time, and yes, the companies who are not generating revenue will eventually die.
Over the long term the market has always come back from corrections so if you buy the Coke's and GM's you will do just fine. If you invest in the high-risk get-rich-quick stocks then you better know your at risk when you go in and you better be prepared for the worst.
Amen to that my brother. That was my first thought too, and I'm not one to jump on the conspiracy theory bandwagon.
Either he is a complete and total idiot or he pissed off the wrong person and they set him up.
I have a hard time believing that anybody who sets out inflict this worm/virus on the world would put personal info in the header of the script. Makes no sense.
Amen to that my brother. The good companies will grow and adapt and thrive(long term), the bad companies or the fly-by-nights will die. There will be lots of ups and downs in between.
This is a brave new world, the computer revolution has begun and it's going to forever change the world. We have to realize that alot of these insane company market-caps are based on future earnings. The ones that don't have future earnings will die. It's plain and simple.
So the moral to the story is: invest in good companies and if your investing in tech stocks don't put in any money you are going to need in the near future.
Sorry...but that makes no sense at all. If that's the case then you should have a warning about the trolls and flamebait that are part of every discussion.
If you wanted to alert people who are used to PC websites about the opinionated nature of RMS it could have been done in a respectfull way, something like:
"Richard Stallman is the controversial leader of the free software movement. Richard is known for speaking his mind and his strong opinions regarding somtimes sensitive issues blah blah blah......"
****Warning: The interview below contains mature concepts and strong opinions. It may not be suitable reading for easily-angered readers whose views conflict with Mr. Stallman's****
Was this meant to be funny? It really strikes me as strange that you would say that. RMS agrees to do an interview and you put this warning garbage on the main page...maybe I'm over-reacting here but it seems..well...strange. Sure a lot of people don't like his opinions but so what, to each his own.
***The fact of the matter is, Microsoft practically single-handedly turned the PC from the haven of 31337 tech-savvy "gurus" to a domain where anyone could use a computer to browse the internet, write letters and play games***
I repspectfully dissagree.
Apple was the first company to make an attempt to produce an OS that was aimed at the average user. MS has done much to mimic that OS. In fact it took MS years to even come close to the early Macs. No I really don't think they have been leaders in that area at all.
If you want to look at why the PC revolution happened and why your mom has one then look no farther than the web browser my friend. And if you give it some thought you'll see that MS's whole "make the browser part of the OS" sure doesn't happen without Tim Berners Lee or any of the leaders who pioneered the browser technologies. Then you can look at cheap hardware prices and heck... even AOL if you want to be brutally honost.
I'm not bashing MS or saying that they haven't done anything good, but the revolution was happening and they were just part of it, not leading it
I agree with your reply. While I still feel like someone is throwing us a bone, I am gratefull for it and I'm looking forward to playing with it on the project I'm working on.
When I asked for the good stuff you'll notice I was being sarcastic...notice the smiley emoticon at the end of my original post.
**Of course they had to attack OpenSource way back when... **
I respectfully disagree. Instead of viewing it as competition they could have viewed it as free promotion for *nix and embraced it. Linux was the media darling. You couldn't click on a website without seeing Linux. That was the marketing opportunity of a lifetime. All they had to do was come out and pay lip service to Linux for a ton of free PR. They had to realize that people were going to try Linux regardless of what they said. Why shoot yourself in the foot?
I don't wish any ill-will on them but I think you will see them slowly go away (they already are) as Linux becomes more enterprise ready.
Also...this looks like a nifty tool, but it seems like they are just throwing us a bone. Come on guys, if you want to do something for the Linux community give us the good stuff:)
This is the sort of thing that happens when you have a monopoly. You have no fear about doing this crap, because what happens if you get caught? Nothing. MS will go into full spin/damage control and in a month the whole thing will be forgotten.
Way to go Microsoft, that's the way a world leader in business should act. sheesh.
Actually MS hasn't just started now, they have been giving quite a bit on money for some time now. Do a search for lobbyist and Microsoft and see for yoursef.
To be fair you are correct, this is what all major companies do so it's nothing unusual. It does seem sort of wrong though when you consider how many decisions are based on money and power instead of right and worng.
Well the NASDAQ got nailed today, down over 5%... while Corel was down 3%, so I would say they held up pretty well today.
Most of the beating Corel has been taking lately has been due to the attempt to purchase Inprise which is not going ower too well with the Inprise shareholders. Then you add in the "insider trading" charges that Cowpland is facing and the general bloodletting that the nasdaq is going through and you can see many reasons for the downward slide. Not to mention they missed their earings mark fairly badly a few weeks ago.
I'll agree that they are probably undervalued at 10 bucks per share but these are strange days for the market and it's hard to say where this company is going.
I might be a total idiot here, but I think that the whole "usability" thing is pretty much a load of crap. What seems easy and intuitive to me might seem downright *wrong* and confusing to you. We always hear about designing interfaces that are so easy that my mom can use them, well lets face it, everybody's mom is different and what seems easy to my mom might seem hard to yours.
Lets face it, there is nothing very intuitive about a computer to someone who has never used one. So we learn how to use them and the interface "becomes" intuitive.
Now lest anyone get the wrong idea here, I'm not saying that haveing some common things doesn't make it easier for all people, things like menus and minimize/maximize buttons in the same place... but overall I think the usability argument is mostly a matter of opinion and opinions are not right or wrong, they are opinions.
I have a friend who had had a computer for a couple years now and he still gets confused when I tell him to "right click" on something, or to click on file->edit from the menubar. He's not a stupid guy, he just can't wrap his brain around this whole computer thing.
And quite honostly I really don't care much for the look of the netscape 6 preview, but I really don't see how it could be any more difficult to use than ie5 or netscape 4.72. Then again my standard disclaimer is that I might be a total idiot... I really don't know.
Well I'm no expert in the stock market but I do enjoy watching it and I can tell you that when your stock is trading at 200 in Jan and falls to 50 1/8 on April 7th that is not a good thing. True it was insanely overvalued at 200, but when a stock has as much negative momentum as this one that is not good at all.
I'm not trying to be negative but the shine has worn off Linux with the folks on Wall Street. Now that's not to say that things won't change, after all we are in the very early stages for Linux companies but I feel very bad for anybody who bought VA Linux when it was trading in the 200's because you have probably lost a good chunk of money.
Elvis, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix aparently have come back from the dead...once again... and will be touring the country this summer. A cadre of fans rioted in New York City this morning when the news was released...chanting "We knew they were alive...We knew they were alive" while carrying banners that said "Elvis Lives" The New York Times called the rioters "Elvis Zealots who have refused to accept the death of Elvis and have been clinging to the hope that someday maybe...jsut maybe... this would happen.
While we don't know if anybody has actually *SEEN* the deceased rockers yet, there appears to be much celebration in anticipation of their tour.
Also in the news today... Ford has announced they invention of a special carburator that will enable any car on the road to get 500 miles per gallon.
GPL or not... the fact of the matter is that if the code is out on the net then it's gonna be out there forever. Sure you might have to do a little asking around, or spend some time looking, but it will be there forever. Granted, the guys that wrote it can't "distribute" it from their website, but it's sort of a moot point cause it will live forever. Kinda like locking the barn door shut after the animals have already escaped.
God Bless the digital era where everything you post or write will live until the end of time!!
I really wonder if Mattel will hire a team of people to search the web and yousenet for copies... seems rather silly to me but hey... it's a brave new world
Re:Another HUGE Open Source release
on
Perl 5.6.0 Out
·
· Score: 1
ya know.... for some some reason that just f***ing cracks me up. The midi file of the Andy Griffith theme song playing over and over again just really tops it off.
Bravo.. you with way way way too much time on your hands.. that's the best laugh I've had in a while!!!
Wasn't the CEO of SCO one of thoese bozo's who was blasting Linux about a year ago...hmmmm lets go here for a quick read... then hop over here for more.
Here's my favorite quote from the brilliant SCO CEO: Q: Do you consider Linux friend or foe?
A: Linux is a religion. It's like considering the Catholic Church a competitor. I'm not a religion; I'm a commercial operating system.
Hmmmm... so now they are tanking in a major way and singing a different tune. Well, I guess maybe they should have been a little more forward thnking about a year ago. I say screw em, if you refuse to change with the times you will get left behind. I would think that a "smart" CEO would try to capaitalize on the popularity of Linux ( like IBM did.. ) instead of burying you head in the sand and acting like you are the shit. So now they are going to reorganize... hhmpf.
*****The university system is not poised to effectively teach Computer Science. Respected schools like Cal Poly still teach Ada as a core language. The IT world changes much too fast for the university sytem to keep its curriculum current. Recent grads leave with a degree; training in obsolete areas; and a whole lot of theory with little practical relevence. *****
Actaully you go to a college not to learn a specific language, but to learn how to program. To learn about data structures and algorithims. To learn about CS theory and about writing structured modular clode. If you understand the core basics of thinking like a programmer you should be able to learn a new language with little trouble.
If you are going to school to learn a programming language then you are getting short changed. There is more to programming than knowing syntax.
Caldera is trading around the upper 20's right now, I'd say they don't have to worry about their stock falling down to earthly levels... looks like they are going to stay in the earthly zone.
This is actually not a bad thing... I'll take constant steady growth over a meteoric rise any day. But hey... I'm a long term investor and I prefer to sleep soundly at night:)
If Caldera had gone public 6 months ago they would have done much better, the Nasdaq has been sputtering lately and the Linux charm is starting to erode with the wall street pundits. Witness the major hit that Corel (down 20+% TODAY) and Inprise (down 20+% TODAY) are taking. As well as the downward slide of RedHat, VALinux...etc.
Now the real work begins for these companies. Stocks tend to grow based upon a companies growth and earnings etc. RedHat and VALinux will have to prove to their shareholders that their billion+ marketcap is justified. I wish them luck but I feel sorry for anybody who bought them at the top.
Bingo. Amazon has done a lot of things the right way. I have ordered a dozen or so books from them and they have been at my doorstep in 3-4 days each time. Heck, I'll spend a couple bucks if I have to and get it from them because of their service. The true winners of the Inernet E-commerce businesses will win on one thing: SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE.
That's not to say that price isn't important, but service is going to be more important, IMHO.
On that note I read yesterday that Amazon signed a deal with the folks at Kozmo that will allow them to deliver books in an hour in areas where Kozmo is doing business. I would say that they have a real good clue and are moving in the right direction.
***How long till GNOME or another open-source desktop is the recognized leader?***
***Um.. until they start being original (and good as well). If you think about it, Gnome is copied from MS is copied from Apple is copied from Xerox... each company has just added a little piece, and many of those pieces were crap****
Hmmmmm... Ths one always puzzles me... lets see.. when will Ford be recognized as a leader in the automotive industry.. when they start building something original...yeah... that old stodgy way of building cars with 4 tires and an engine in the front has to go... they need to build cars with big ballons as tires and put the engine on the roof...then invert the seats...yeah...that'll rock...
Maybe some ideas are just plain sound enough that it's okay to use them..sure you can always IMPROVE them... but why does something have to be original for it to be good... heck.. Linux is a Unix clone for petes sake.. nothing original there.. (I'm not talking about the development process... just the OS)
I would ask everyone who claims that we need something original to feel free to expound, in detail, with their ideas. It's easy to throw around these statements, how about backing them up with concrete ideas.
Slashdot Mirror
Seriously, who really uses them anyways (don't answer that!)
..yeah...as hard as it is to believe...some people really do like the stupid thing.
Bah...you'd be surprised who uses the friggin paper cliip. I have a friend (newbie-ish) who somehow deleted her help files and spent DAYS trying to get the paper clip back. She called me asking for help and I was making all sorts of sarcastic cracks about the lame clip until I realized she was serious..She finally ended up doing a complete re-install of Windows just so she could have the dreaded clip back.
So
Very true, there was also a lot of heat from the Inprise shareholders, for the most part they wanted nothing to do with Corel. I can't say that I blame them, there is a lot of turmoil with Corel right now... they badly missed their earnings (this caused the stock to drop quite a bit) and Cowpland has his legal troubles with the insider trading lawsuit. This was not a good fit at all IMHO.
I'm a former Inprise stockholder and I feel bad for the people who didn't jump ship when I did becaue this "merger" has really destroyed the $$ of Inprise. That's not to say that it can't or won't come back, but I'm guessing it will be an uphill battle for them. Anyways.. good luck Inprise/Borland.. I hope you get things straightened out.
Hello,
I was surprised to find out that you read the posts on slashdot, but since we have your attention I would like to say a few things to you. I used your products for personal use for a couple years, from win 3.1 to win 3.11 to the first release of win95. I will never purchase another windows product again.
I found your products to be unstable, unreliable and generally lacking in most areas. I am sorry you feel it's more important to concentrate on destroying all your competitors than to develop quality software.
I find the way your company does business to be distatefull and damaging to the computer industry.
Yet, despite my opinions about your company and your poor products, I do not think it's appropriate for others to violate your rights. Two wrongs do not make a right.
While this sounds like common sense, the reality is that even one company in a hundred is stable enough to survive a market crash, there are tens of thousands of people who invested in the other 99.
Actually I was responding to a post which claimed that we would likely see many market corrections leading to a bear market, not a crash. I personally don't believe that a "crash" like the one leading into the depression will happen. However a bear market will happen at some time, and yes, the companies who are not generating revenue will eventually die.
Over the long term the market has always come back from corrections so if you buy the Coke's and GM's you will do just fine. If you invest in the high-risk get-rich-quick stocks then you better know your at risk when you go in and you better be prepared for the worst.
Amen to that my brother. That was my first thought too, and I'm not one to jump on the conspiracy theory bandwagon.
Either he is a complete and total idiot or he pissed off the wrong person and they set him up.
I have a hard time believing that anybody who sets out inflict this worm/virus on the world would put personal info in the header of the script. Makes no sense.
Amen to that my brother. The good companies will grow and adapt and thrive(long term), the bad companies or the fly-by-nights will die. There will be lots of ups and downs in between.
This is a brave new world, the computer revolution has begun and it's going to forever change the world. We have to realize that alot of these insane company market-caps are based on future earnings. The ones that don't have future earnings will die. It's plain and simple.
So the moral to the story is: invest in good companies and if your investing in tech stocks don't put in any money you are going to need in the near future.
Sorry...but that makes no sense at all. If that's the case then you should have a warning about the trolls and flamebait that are part of every discussion.
If you wanted to alert people who are used to PC websites about the opinionated nature of RMS it could have been done in a respectfull way, something like:
"Richard Stallman is the controversial leader of the free software movement. Richard is known for speaking his mind and his strong opinions regarding somtimes sensitive issues blah blah blah......"
****Warning: The interview below contains mature concepts and strong opinions. It may not be suitable reading for easily-angered readers whose views conflict with Mr. Stallman's****
Was this meant to be funny? It really strikes me as strange that you would say that. RMS agrees to do an interview and you put this warning garbage on the main page...maybe I'm over-reacting here but it seems..well...strange. Sure a lot of people don't like his opinions but so what, to each his own.
***The fact of the matter is, Microsoft practically single-handedly turned the PC from the haven of 31337 tech-savvy "gurus" to a domain where anyone could use a computer to browse the internet, write letters and play games***
I repspectfully dissagree.
Apple was the first company to make an attempt to produce an OS that was aimed at the average user. MS has done much to mimic that OS. In fact it took MS years to even come close to the early Macs. No I really don't think they have been leaders in that area at all.
If you want to look at why the PC revolution happened and why your mom has one then look no farther than the web browser my friend. And if you give it some thought you'll see that MS's whole "make the browser part of the OS" sure doesn't happen without Tim Berners Lee or any of the leaders who pioneered the browser technologies. Then you can look at cheap hardware prices and heck... even AOL if you want to be brutally honost.
I'm not bashing MS or saying that they haven't done anything good, but the revolution was happening and they were just part of it, not leading it
I agree with your reply. While I still feel like someone is throwing us a bone, I am gratefull for it and I'm looking forward to playing with it on the project I'm working on.
When I asked for the good stuff you'll notice I was being sarcastic...notice the smiley emoticon at the end of my original post.
Cheers
**Of course they had to attack OpenSource way back when... **
:)
I respectfully disagree. Instead of viewing it as competition they could have viewed it as free promotion for *nix and embraced it. Linux was the media darling. You couldn't click on a website without seeing Linux. That was the marketing opportunity of a lifetime. All they had to do was come out and pay lip service to Linux for a ton of free PR. They had to realize that people were going to try Linux regardless of what they said. Why shoot yourself in the foot?
I don't wish any ill-will on them but I think you will see them slowly go away (they already are) as Linux becomes more enterprise ready.
Also...this looks like a nifty tool, but it seems like they are just throwing us a bone. Come on guys, if you want to do something for the Linux community give us the good stuff
This is the sort of thing that happens when you have a monopoly. You have no fear about doing this crap, because what happens if you get caught? Nothing. MS will go into full spin/damage control and in a month the whole thing will be forgotten.
Way to go Microsoft, that's the way a world leader in business should act. sheesh.
Actually MS hasn't just started now, they have been giving quite a bit on money for some time now. Do a search for lobbyist and Microsoft and see for yoursef.
To be fair you are correct, this is what all major companies do so it's nothing unusual. It does seem sort of wrong though when you consider how many decisions are based on money and power instead of right and worng.
But alas...such is the state of the modern world.
Well the NASDAQ got nailed today, down over 5%... while Corel was down 3%, so I would say they held up pretty well today.
Most of the beating Corel has been taking lately has been due to the attempt to purchase Inprise which is not going ower too well with the Inprise shareholders. Then you add in the "insider trading" charges that Cowpland is facing and the general bloodletting that the nasdaq is going through and you can see many reasons for the downward slide. Not to mention they missed their earings mark fairly badly a few weeks ago.
I'll agree that they are probably undervalued at 10 bucks per share but these are strange days for the market and it's hard to say where this company is going.
I might be a total idiot here, but I think that the whole "usability" thing is pretty much a load of crap. What seems easy and intuitive to me might seem downright *wrong* and confusing to you. We always hear about designing interfaces that are so easy that my mom can use them, well lets face it, everybody's mom is different and what seems easy to my mom might seem hard to yours.
Lets face it, there is nothing very intuitive about a computer to someone who has never used one. So we learn how to use them and the interface "becomes" intuitive.
Now lest anyone get the wrong idea here, I'm not saying that haveing some common things doesn't make it easier for all people, things like menus and minimize/maximize buttons in the same place... but overall I think the usability argument is mostly a matter of opinion and opinions are not right or wrong, they are opinions.
I have a friend who had had a computer for a couple years now and he still gets confused when I tell him to "right click" on something, or to click on file->edit from the menubar. He's not a stupid guy, he just can't wrap his brain around this whole computer thing.
And quite honostly I really don't care much for the look of the netscape 6 preview, but I really don't see how it could be any more difficult to use than ie5 or netscape 4.72. Then again my standard disclaimer is that I might be a total idiot... I really don't know.
Well I'm no expert in the stock market but I do enjoy watching it and I can tell you that when your stock is trading at 200 in Jan and falls to 50 1/8 on April 7th that is not a good thing. True it was insanely overvalued at 200, but when a stock has as much negative momentum as this one that is not good at all.
I'm not trying to be negative but the shine has worn off Linux with the folks on Wall Street. Now that's not to say that things won't change, after all we are in the very early stages for Linux companies but I feel very bad for anybody who bought VA Linux when it was trading in the 200's because you have probably lost a good chunk of money.
Elvis, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix aparently have come back from the dead...once again... and will be touring the country this summer. A cadre of fans rioted in New York City this morning when the news was released...chanting "We knew they were alive...We knew they were alive" while carrying banners that said "Elvis Lives" The New York Times called the rioters "Elvis Zealots who have refused to accept the death of Elvis and have been clinging to the hope that someday maybe...jsut maybe... this would happen.
While we don't know if anybody has actually *SEEN* the deceased rockers yet, there appears to be much celebration in anticipation of their tour.
Also in the news today... Ford has announced they invention of a special carburator that will enable any car on the road to get 500 miles per gallon.
sigh...
yeah yeah yeah... we're not exactly a hotbed for technology, but I can't imagine that:
10:00pm Mystery!, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates 3--All Stitched Up, ()
is going to have the masses rushing to their tv's.
sigh...
GPL or not... the fact of the matter is that if the code is out on the net then it's gonna be out there forever. Sure you might have to do a little asking around, or spend some time looking, but it will be there forever. Granted, the guys that wrote it can't "distribute" it from their website, but it's sort of a moot point cause it will live forever. Kinda like locking the barn door shut after the animals have already escaped.
God Bless the digital era where everything you post or write will live until the end of time!!
I really wonder if Mattel will hire a team of people to search the web and yousenet for copies... seems rather silly to me but hey... it's a brave new world
ya know.... for some some reason that just f***ing cracks me up. The midi file of the Andy Griffith theme song playing over and over again just really tops it off.
Bravo.. you with way way way too much time on your hands.. that's the best laugh I've had in a while!!!
Wasn't the CEO of SCO one of thoese bozo's who was blasting Linux about a year ago...hmmmm lets go here for a quick read ... then hop over here for more.
Here's my favorite quote from the brilliant SCO CEO:
Q: Do you consider Linux friend or foe?
A: Linux is a religion. It's like considering the Catholic Church a competitor. I'm not a religion; I'm a commercial operating system.
Hmmmm... so now they are tanking in a major way and singing a different tune. Well, I guess maybe they should have been a little more forward thnking about a year ago. I say screw em, if you refuse to change with the times you will get left behind. I would think that a "smart" CEO would try to capaitalize on the popularity of Linux ( like IBM did.. ) instead of burying you head in the sand and acting like you are the shit. So now they are going to reorganize... hhmpf.
*****The university system is not poised to effectively teach Computer Science. Respected schools like Cal Poly still teach Ada as a core language. The IT world changes much too fast for the university sytem to keep its curriculum current. Recent grads leave with a degree; training in obsolete areas; and a whole lot of theory with little practical relevence. *****
Actaully you go to a college not to learn a specific language, but to learn how to program. To learn about data structures and algorithims. To learn about CS theory and about writing structured modular clode. If you understand the core basics of thinking like a programmer you should be able to learn a new language with little trouble.
If you are going to school to learn a programming language then you are getting short changed. There is more to programming than knowing syntax.
Caldera is trading around the upper 20's right now, I'd say they don't have to worry about their stock falling down to earthly levels... looks like they are going to stay in the earthly zone.
:)
This is actually not a bad thing... I'll take constant steady growth over a meteoric rise any day. But hey... I'm a long term investor and I prefer to sleep soundly at night
If Caldera had gone public 6 months ago they would have done much better, the Nasdaq has been sputtering lately and the Linux charm is starting to erode with the wall street pundits. Witness the major hit that Corel (down 20+% TODAY) and Inprise (down 20+% TODAY) are taking. As well as the downward slide of RedHat, VALinux...etc.
Now the real work begins for these companies. Stocks tend to grow based upon a companies growth and earnings etc. RedHat and VALinux will have to prove to their shareholders that their billion+ marketcap is justified. I wish them luck but I feel sorry for anybody who bought them at the top.
Bingo. Amazon has done a lot of things the right way. I have ordered a dozen or so books from them and they have been at my doorstep in 3-4 days each time. Heck, I'll spend a couple bucks if I have to and get it from them because of their service. The true winners of the Inernet E-commerce businesses will win on one thing: SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE SERVICE.
That's not to say that price isn't important, but service is going to be more important, IMHO.
On that note I read yesterday that Amazon signed a deal with the folks at Kozmo that will allow them to deliver books in an hour in areas where Kozmo is doing business. I would say that they have a real good clue and are moving in the right direction.
***How long till GNOME or another open-source desktop is the recognized leader?***
***Um.. until they start being original (and good as well). If you think about it, Gnome is copied from MS is copied from Apple is copied from Xerox... each company has just added a little piece, and many of those pieces were crap****
Hmmmmm... Ths one always puzzles me... lets see.. when will Ford be recognized as a leader in the automotive industry.. when they start building something original...yeah... that old stodgy way of building cars with 4 tires and an engine in the front has to go... they need to build cars with big ballons as tires and put the engine on the roof...then invert the seats...yeah...that'll rock...
Maybe some ideas are just plain sound enough that it's okay to use them..sure you can always IMPROVE them... but why does something have to be original for it to be good... heck.. Linux is a Unix clone for petes sake.. nothing original there.. (I'm not talking about the development process... just the OS)
I would ask everyone who claims that we need something original to feel free to expound, in detail, with their ideas. It's easy to throw around these statements, how about backing them up with concrete ideas.