Waiting for this driver was one reason I haven't yet upgraded. The patch didn't work for me either. But the other big problem I've had is getting apps to use the new sound API. Almost everything seems to still be written with the older API, and for some reason I can't get the kernel option for the new driver to expose the old compatible API to work. Maybe I just need to try the latest kernel version...
That doesn't provide framebuffer support. That provides NVidia driver support for XFree86. The 2.6 kernel doesn't seem to have a fully functional framebuffer driver for nvidia cards (I couldn't get it to work either, but it works for me in 2.4). I don't know how to get XFree86 to try to use the framebuffer driver from the kernel, but I've heard there's no performance gain over using NVidia's drivers directly.
I agree and I'd like to add something. Switching technologies can effectively bring your experience back down to zero. I have 8 years of development experience, all on Windows. I'm looking for a job doing non-Windows development, but they all want related experience, so I'm basically starting from nothing again. So I spend my free time doing Linux development so I can claim some form of experience. Otherwise I'll be stuck on Windows forever.
Moral of the story: In markets like today it's important to pick technologies you want to stick with or which apply to multiple areas. C++ and Java can be used on multiple platforms, for example, but only going Win32 development may lock you in.
...or choose one central house/apartment and setup shop in a room there. Basements are fine, so are spare bedrooms.
IANAL, but I do know you need to be careful if you have employees working in your home. In many places it's illegal to have full-time employees working in a place that's not zoned for commericial use. Just check your local laws or ask a local commercial laywer that quick question.
Their overall revenues are at a record high, but their classic revenue streams from regular OS and Office sales are flat for the first time in their history. Their core profit areas are down, which is why they've been branching out for years in anticipation. But I believe if they lose their core markets their done for, not matter how well they do in other markets. They can not remain a major player in any market if their OS and basic apps don't remain monopolies.
Gee, wouldn't it just be simpler to cut XML out of Office entirely than to throw legions of lawyers and patents at it?
Yes, easier, but not smarter. So far Microsoft's been praised for deciding to allow users to choose XML as the data format. They won major PR points. It made all the big tech news outlets and customers everywhere saw it. Now this news will make much quieter headlines and less will see it. So customers will buy into it, locking themselves in while thinking they're now more free to make other choices later. And they can keep advertising they're using open standards, while only those who look into it further will find the problem.
The core of Red Hat's software is the GNU/Linux OS which could be obtained for free or from other vendors. Anything proprietary that they sell on top would be a one-time fee with less frequently forced upgrades.
Red Hat's primary source of income is services. Services can easily be replaced by competition.
Red Hat is not a monopoly and is therefore not held to as strict a standard, and for good reason.
Microsoft gives away much software, such as to schools, on a regular basis to hook or create future customers. They have a proven record of getting customers comfortable on cheap software and then charging full price later.
Giving away (mostly) open source software is generally a good thing for society (see RMS for details). They would have a lot more to learn from if those who are interested could see the source code. It's like teaching a man to fish instead of giving him a fish.
I disagree that the bulk of the linux world ignores usability. The first step in most open source projects is to get something out there that works. The second step is to get in as many useful features as possible. The third step is sometimes usability. Many many projects work on usability once they have something useful in the wild. Even the linux kernel has a nice menu system with good documentation to assist in configuring. Mozilla, OpenOffice, GNOME, and KDE have been focusing primarily on usability lately. There are weak areas, especially XFree86 configuration, but as projects become more mature there is often a focus on usability.
As bad as Windows might be, it's really annoying and fear-inducing for bosses to imagine taking down all their machines and installing a different O/S on them.
It doesn't stop them from doing it. Every day a department somewhere is taken offline to replace their NT with XP or 2000. They are replacing their OSes, as every Windows upgrade is a drastic change and a major outage. Every app must first be tested, and many have changes made to their code, before the replacements are done. In many situations it would be just as much work to switch from Windows to Linux as from NT to XP.
(My company's migrating from NT to XP and my team has had to modify every single application we support. And we don't do anything fancy that's unique to NT.)
I agree that bootable CDs make a huge difference. There is one problem, though. I've given bootable CDs to a few people. When they reboot with the CD in the drive nothing happens but Windows loading. Many (most?) users need to set their BIOS to try booting from CD because it's not set by default. When I explain that it's an immediate turn-off, no matter how easy it is. They sigh and think using Linux means work. They've all been happy in the end, but unfortunately it may not be as easy as handing out CDs and saying, "Put this in and turn on your computer." Plus if this becomes common I'm sure a certain big software company will strongly suggest to desktop hardware manufacturers that booting from CD not be on by default.
The days of the publicly visible american rebel are long gone. Thousands of protesters appear outside government functions, but aren't given much mainstream press. Hundreds of journalists strongly critisize government policy, but none are given much visibility. A few Senators work very hard to prevent unjust laws from being passed, but aren't taken seriously.
The problem is the few ultra-rich corporations, including the mainstream press, work together with the government. The press avoids displaying many acts of rebellion. The press used to show what was important for people to know. Now they display what they think entertains people.
Don't think we're all sheep behind would-be dictator Bush. Many of our voices aren't made public and therefore aren't loud enough. As tracking techniques are increasing use in the US many are fighting against it, but few protesters will ever be seen on the nightly news.
For new desktop apps Visual Basic 6 is no longer an option. I've been a full time VB developer for years. With the end of the VB line comes a switch to.NET or something else. VB.NET is not the next version of VB, but a complete rewrite. The best alternative I've found for rapid desktop app development is Python with the wxPython library. It's cross-platform, executes very fast, and requires little code for basic stuff. Microsoft would have us drop everything and move to.NET, but my experience with C# on.NET has been far less than pleasant. I know C++ so the learning curve is minimal. The problem is Microsoft's promises of automatic memory management and rapid development of complete apps is a joke. It's riddled with bugs and memory leaks. It requires far more coding than VB did or Python does. This is an important time for VB developers and they should move along to the freedom and speed of non-Microsoft tools.
I don't disagree, but India's not a country considered a security threat to the US. I'm only specifically referring to those countries who the US considers a threat. Historically they tend to be countries with an oppressed population. Therefore outsourcing jobs to any country considered a threat to US security will not help improve that security. In fact, any country directly a threat to US security will not get many outsourcing jobs from US companies, which will further not help improve security.
...one can make the argument that this trend will, in the long run, help to minimize the economic disparities between the "developed" countries and the "third world." And that can't be bad for international security.
It'll help reduce the economic disparities between some countries, but it won't help with international security. If sending more money from the US to less "developed" countries helped improve security, we should have no security issues with Egypt (given $2 billion aid per year), Saudi Arabia (source of most of the 9/11 hijackers), or Iraq (2nd largest oil producer). Rediculously large amounts of money are sent to countries for their oil, yet most of the money ends up in their government. Many developing countries are still developing because their people are kept down by their government, and having jobs with foreign companies for low wage will not help. If they're paid more, they'll simply be taxed more. Until the exchange is properly balanced with the general population of developing nations there will be no increase in international security.
The people who are driving the move to a global economy are large public corporations. The people who believe they will see the biggest short-term gain by using global labor are corporate executives. Their goal is cut costs, increasing their profits and raking in more money for themselves. It's as simple as that.
Part of the problem is these same executives also have the most influence over American politics, which is why trade organizations like the WTO help US corporations, help some foreign governments, and hurt the average citizen (lack of adjusted minimum wage per country, no requirement to respect civil rights in China, etc.). The reason WTO meetings about public policy are held in private is because if the public heard what our politicians were setting up there would be much larger riots and some of these officials would not get re-elected.
So it's not about what you or I want. The global economy is about what the upper class in America wants.
I wonder if it's because those who drank a lot of coffee throughout the day consumed less refined sugar. Many put some sugar in their coffee, but if they're getting a boost in energy from the coffee maybe they lay off the snacks.
First, it took little moral courage to eliminate slavery, and it did not trigger a war. The Civil War occurred because the north needed to prevent the south from becoming a separate country or else the north would turn into financial ruin. The slaves were freed for a few reasons, the immorality of slavery only being one. We could argue cause and affect all day, but most who research the details find the Civil War occurred for economic reasons.
Nobody is being oppressed or having their human rights violated by using proprietary software.
True, but it's close. The 95 year copyright protection, DMCA, and other laws are an abuse of my limited right to intellectual property. Intellectual property should become public after a limited time, and open source sort of works around the issue with the GPL. Current copyright law is an abuse of my constitutional rights.
And many would argue that we are oppressed (in a way) by proprietary software. Sure, we're not being forced to perform slave labor, but we are continually obligated to pay more and more money to companies because they won't let us use the source.
Why will homebrew hardware be necessary? I believe there will always be a part of the population which will not like DRM hardware, and will therefore retain a demand for DRM-free hardware. Luckily hardware works with the natural laws of supply and demand.
I think it can help quite a lot. The Israeli government has a lot of interaction with other governments and businesses. They have huge military contracts locally and abroad. They also contribute much government money to scientific research, so it may spread there as well. Since their government has so much interaction with so many different organizations I think it will help spread the word.
In 1967 Egypt attacked Israel and began a war. Israel fought back aggressively into Egypt and took some land. Saying Israel started a war to steal Egyptian land is like saying the Allies started WWII to steal Germany.
What a few people called Palestine was owned by England. England handed over the land to the Jewish people after many migrated there during and after WWII and with much pressure from the international community. It was not stolen by anyone. Since Israel was established there has never been any land known as Palestine. Israelis and Muslims have lived peacefully together in this land for thousands of years except for a small faction of people who refuse to live with any Jew as a neighbor.
I can't believe I'm even responding to such an obvious troll, but at least get your facts a little closer to reality.
A few months after getting my 1997 Dodge I took it to the dealer's service because the check engine light came on. They plugged in their handheld computer and told me there's a computer problem. Each computer records every trip I take (up to some limit I assume), storing duration, top speed, distance, and a few other things. If the 2 computers fall out of sync with this info the check engine light comes on to say there's a computer problem. One of the computers apparently broke and was replaced. I was very surprised to hear in 97 that my car kept all this information. Anyone with the right computer could plug in and read it. Luckily it's not transmitted and isn't kept with location information. But it's still a little scary.
I left MasterCard in 1999 after working with their data warehouse. At the time they recently bought a 3 terabyte Sun E10000 with Oracle. They quickly ran out of space and added another terabyte. I'm also surprised to not see them on the list. They work closely with Oracle, who have an office down the street, since they have high volume. Just the credit card transactions table alone gets 14 million new records on average every day.
I agree that there are many companies who would not want to be in that list. There's a small competitive advantage if you keep what technology you use secret.
If it had been any other company than Microsoft it never would have been news.
But it wasn't any other company. It's the company that believes it knows what's best for everyone. The same company that believes it deserves to control all software on Earth. When they make a "big" policy change, even these insignificant ones, and then mess it up right away, it's news.
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Waiting for this driver was one reason I haven't yet upgraded. The patch didn't work for me either. But the other big problem I've had is getting apps to use the new sound API. Almost everything seems to still be written with the older API, and for some reason I can't get the kernel option for the new driver to expose the old compatible API to work. Maybe I just need to try the latest kernel version...
That doesn't provide framebuffer support. That provides NVidia driver support for XFree86. The 2.6 kernel doesn't seem to have a fully functional framebuffer driver for nvidia cards (I couldn't get it to work either, but it works for me in 2.4). I don't know how to get XFree86 to try to use the framebuffer driver from the kernel, but I've heard there's no performance gain over using NVidia's drivers directly.
I agree and I'd like to add something. Switching technologies can effectively bring your experience back down to zero. I have 8 years of development experience, all on Windows. I'm looking for a job doing non-Windows development, but they all want related experience, so I'm basically starting from nothing again. So I spend my free time doing Linux development so I can claim some form of experience. Otherwise I'll be stuck on Windows forever.
Moral of the story: In markets like today it's important to pick technologies you want to stick with or which apply to multiple areas. C++ and Java can be used on multiple platforms, for example, but only going Win32 development may lock you in.
...or choose one central house/apartment and setup shop in a room there. Basements are fine, so are spare bedrooms.
IANAL, but I do know you need to be careful if you have employees working in your home. In many places it's illegal to have full-time employees working in a place that's not zoned for commericial use. Just check your local laws or ask a local commercial laywer that quick question.
Their overall revenues are at a record high, but their classic revenue streams from regular OS and Office sales are flat for the first time in their history. Their core profit areas are down, which is why they've been branching out for years in anticipation. But I believe if they lose their core markets their done for, not matter how well they do in other markets. They can not remain a major player in any market if their OS and basic apps don't remain monopolies.
Gee, wouldn't it just be simpler to cut XML out of Office entirely than to throw legions of lawyers and patents at it?
Yes, easier, but not smarter. So far Microsoft's been praised for deciding to allow users to choose XML as the data format. They won major PR points. It made all the big tech news outlets and customers everywhere saw it. Now this news will make much quieter headlines and less will see it. So customers will buy into it, locking themselves in while thinking they're now more free to make other choices later. And they can keep advertising they're using open standards, while only those who look into it further will find the problem.
I disagree that the bulk of the linux world ignores usability. The first step in most open source projects is to get something out there that works. The second step is to get in as many useful features as possible. The third step is sometimes usability. Many many projects work on usability once they have something useful in the wild. Even the linux kernel has a nice menu system with good documentation to assist in configuring. Mozilla, OpenOffice, GNOME, and KDE have been focusing primarily on usability lately. There are weak areas, especially XFree86 configuration, but as projects become more mature there is often a focus on usability.
As bad as Windows might be, it's really annoying and fear-inducing for bosses to imagine taking down all their machines and installing a different O/S on them.
It doesn't stop them from doing it. Every day a department somewhere is taken offline to replace their NT with XP or 2000. They are replacing their OSes, as every Windows upgrade is a drastic change and a major outage. Every app must first be tested, and many have changes made to their code, before the replacements are done. In many situations it would be just as much work to switch from Windows to Linux as from NT to XP.
(My company's migrating from NT to XP and my team has had to modify every single application we support. And we don't do anything fancy that's unique to NT.)
...which usually is considered water-reactive and thus volcanic in origin.
If it's water-reactive why does it mean it's volcanic? I don't know anything about minerals but that doesn't sound logical to me.
I agree that bootable CDs make a huge difference. There is one problem, though. I've given bootable CDs to a few people. When they reboot with the CD in the drive nothing happens but Windows loading. Many (most?) users need to set their BIOS to try booting from CD because it's not set by default. When I explain that it's an immediate turn-off, no matter how easy it is. They sigh and think using Linux means work. They've all been happy in the end, but unfortunately it may not be as easy as handing out CDs and saying, "Put this in and turn on your computer." Plus if this becomes common I'm sure a certain big software company will strongly suggest to desktop hardware manufacturers that booting from CD not be on by default.
The days of the american rebel are long gone.
The days of the publicly visible american rebel are long gone. Thousands of protesters appear outside government functions, but aren't given much mainstream press. Hundreds of journalists strongly critisize government policy, but none are given much visibility. A few Senators work very hard to prevent unjust laws from being passed, but aren't taken seriously.
The problem is the few ultra-rich corporations, including the mainstream press, work together with the government. The press avoids displaying many acts of rebellion. The press used to show what was important for people to know. Now they display what they think entertains people.
Don't think we're all sheep behind would-be dictator Bush. Many of our voices aren't made public and therefore aren't loud enough. As tracking techniques are increasing use in the US many are fighting against it, but few protesters will ever be seen on the nightly news.
For new desktop apps Visual Basic 6 is no longer an option. I've been a full time VB developer for years. With the end of the VB line comes a switch to .NET or something else. VB.NET is not the next version of VB, but a complete rewrite. The best alternative I've found for rapid desktop app development is Python with the wxPython library. It's cross-platform, executes very fast, and requires little code for basic stuff. Microsoft would have us drop everything and move to .NET, but my experience with C# on .NET has been far less than pleasant. I know C++ so the learning curve is minimal. The problem is Microsoft's promises of automatic memory management and rapid development of complete apps is a joke. It's riddled with bugs and memory leaks. It requires far more coding than VB did or Python does. This is an important time for VB developers and they should move along to the freedom and speed of non-Microsoft tools.
I don't disagree, but India's not a country considered a security threat to the US. I'm only specifically referring to those countries who the US considers a threat. Historically they tend to be countries with an oppressed population. Therefore outsourcing jobs to any country considered a threat to US security will not help improve that security. In fact, any country directly a threat to US security will not get many outsourcing jobs from US companies, which will further not help improve security.
...one can make the argument that this trend will, in the long run, help to minimize the economic disparities between the "developed" countries and the "third world." And that can't be bad for international security.
It'll help reduce the economic disparities between some countries, but it won't help with international security. If sending more money from the US to less "developed" countries helped improve security, we should have no security issues with Egypt (given $2 billion aid per year), Saudi Arabia (source of most of the 9/11 hijackers), or Iraq (2nd largest oil producer). Rediculously large amounts of money are sent to countries for their oil, yet most of the money ends up in their government. Many developing countries are still developing because their people are kept down by their government, and having jobs with foreign companies for low wage will not help. If they're paid more, they'll simply be taxed more. Until the exchange is properly balanced with the general population of developing nations there will be no increase in international security.
The people who are driving the move to a global economy are large public corporations. The people who believe they will see the biggest short-term gain by using global labor are corporate executives. Their goal is cut costs, increasing their profits and raking in more money for themselves. It's as simple as that.
Part of the problem is these same executives also have the most influence over American politics, which is why trade organizations like the WTO help US corporations, help some foreign governments, and hurt the average citizen (lack of adjusted minimum wage per country, no requirement to respect civil rights in China, etc.). The reason WTO meetings about public policy are held in private is because if the public heard what our politicians were setting up there would be much larger riots and some of these officials would not get re-elected.
So it's not about what you or I want. The global economy is about what the upper class in America wants.
there are only 2 Fs in "Caffeine", Taco. Please get it right when you dupe the story in 2 hours.
He's a little jittery from his morning cups of coffee, causinng hhimm to hitt some kkeys tooo manny ttimes.
I wonder if it's because those who drank a lot of coffee throughout the day consumed less refined sugar. Many put some sugar in their coffee, but if they're getting a boost in energy from the coffee maybe they lay off the snacks.
First, it took little moral courage to eliminate slavery, and it did not trigger a war. The Civil War occurred because the north needed to prevent the south from becoming a separate country or else the north would turn into financial ruin. The slaves were freed for a few reasons, the immorality of slavery only being one. We could argue cause and affect all day, but most who research the details find the Civil War occurred for economic reasons.
Nobody is being oppressed or having their human rights violated by using proprietary software.
True, but it's close. The 95 year copyright protection, DMCA, and other laws are an abuse of my limited right to intellectual property. Intellectual property should become public after a limited time, and open source sort of works around the issue with the GPL. Current copyright law is an abuse of my constitutional rights.
And many would argue that we are oppressed (in a way) by proprietary software. Sure, we're not being forced to perform slave labor, but we are continually obligated to pay more and more money to companies because they won't let us use the source.
Why will homebrew hardware be necessary? I believe there will always be a part of the population which will not like DRM hardware, and will therefore retain a demand for DRM-free hardware. Luckily hardware works with the natural laws of supply and demand.
I think it can help quite a lot. The Israeli government has a lot of interaction with other governments and businesses. They have huge military contracts locally and abroad. They also contribute much government money to scientific research, so it may spread there as well. Since their government has so much interaction with so many different organizations I think it will help spread the word.
In 1967 Egypt attacked Israel and began a war. Israel fought back aggressively into Egypt and took some land. Saying Israel started a war to steal Egyptian land is like saying the Allies started WWII to steal Germany.
What a few people called Palestine was owned by England. England handed over the land to the Jewish people after many migrated there during and after WWII and with much pressure from the international community. It was not stolen by anyone. Since Israel was established there has never been any land known as Palestine. Israelis and Muslims have lived peacefully together in this land for thousands of years except for a small faction of people who refuse to live with any Jew as a neighbor.
I can't believe I'm even responding to such an obvious troll, but at least get your facts a little closer to reality.
A few months after getting my 1997 Dodge I took it to the dealer's service because the check engine light came on. They plugged in their handheld computer and told me there's a computer problem. Each computer records every trip I take (up to some limit I assume), storing duration, top speed, distance, and a few other things. If the 2 computers fall out of sync with this info the check engine light comes on to say there's a computer problem. One of the computers apparently broke and was replaced. I was very surprised to hear in 97 that my car kept all this information. Anyone with the right computer could plug in and read it. Luckily it's not transmitted and isn't kept with location information. But it's still a little scary.
I left MasterCard in 1999 after working with their data warehouse. At the time they recently bought a 3 terabyte Sun E10000 with Oracle. They quickly ran out of space and added another terabyte. I'm also surprised to not see them on the list. They work closely with Oracle, who have an office down the street, since they have high volume. Just the credit card transactions table alone gets 14 million new records on average every day.
I agree that there are many companies who would not want to be in that list. There's a small competitive advantage if you keep what technology you use secret.
If it had been any other company than Microsoft it never would have been news.
But it wasn't any other company. It's the company that believes it knows what's best for everyone. The same company that believes it deserves to control all software on Earth. When they make a "big" policy change, even these insignificant ones, and then mess it up right away, it's news.