In the USA I believe the idea of the FCC forcing AT&T to wholesale its lines to competitors is completely alien?
It actually used to be the law of the land. During that period (around 2000) there was an incredibly vibrant broadband ISP scene. Unfortunately the FCC changed its mind (and no doubt a few briefcases full of cash changed hands) and now the situation has reverted to the anti-consumer oligopoly you see today.
Consider how much effort and worldwide coordination has gone into the IPv6 migration, and it really doesn't make sense to do that multiple times for only 250x the address space each go-round. Why half-ass it?
I was talking about a solely 40-bit address space -- something different than IPv6.
Well, stop talking about that, it's a stupid idea. If we're going to upgrade billions of devices around the world, I don't want to have to do it again in 4 years' time when 40 bits prove to be inadequate.
Well... don't write shit programs. FTP "active mode" is an example of said shit.
Active mode FTP predates widespread usage of NAT by about 20 years.
It was a perfectly good solution at the time, and saying that its developers wrote a "shit" program is like saying that the people who built ancient Rome were shit architects because the streets weren't wide enough for semi trucks.
lease times could be really short - maybe a minute or two - even if that were not handled
That would mean more spurious data charges, and lower battery life due to frequent activity that has to trickle up from the radio board to the phone's OS. Also I don't want to lose my IP every time I'm in an elevator.
Yes, we already knew that the periodic table of elements is pretty much the same all across the universe.
That wasn't his point at all, as I hope you know. He was describing how it helped us project the specific mineral makeup of the moon, which, though falling on the same periodic table, does not necessarily have to be the same as that of the earth.
I need to be able to hold my finger on a key for pressing on time. I can't imagine how to do this with a "touch"screen. While I generally use a laptop for this, I occasionally use the N900 as a remote (ssh over wlan).
All of my phones have had very erratic latency, even for wifi over LAN. Have yours been consistent enough for this to provide the split-second timing you need?
My N4 is about 3 unobstructed meters from the wifi access point. With 10 samples of each, a laptop at the same distance gets pings to the router ranging from 0.399ms to 0.418ms. The phone's range from 6.89ms to 91.27ms.
Did you miss eighth grade civics class or something?
My eighth grade civics teacher was pretty specific about how "free speech" is a construct involving the relationship between individuals and the government. Perhaps yours left that part out.
The government is obliged to let you say what you want, without putting you in jail.
I, however, am not obliged to continue to give you money if you are saying things that annoy me. I have the freedom to spend my money elsewhere.
I think they are overly sensitive about it, but I do see where they're coming from. It is in fact possible to see both sides of an issue, if you open your mind a little.
And, importantly, the straw man that you're arguing against (that RMS wants people to call the kernel GNU/Linux) is way out in left field. If you are confused about GNU's position, it's clearly laid out here: http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html
My understanding has always been that RMS wants people to refer to distributions that contain the Linux kernel and GNU userspace tools to refer to it as GNU/Linux... not that he wants the Linux kernel itself to be referred to as GNU/Linux.
How does that misrepresent what he said? He was using social pressure against someone with whom he disagreed. If he didn't care about my reaction, he would have kept it to himself.
There are also several systems in my home with large bases of installed GNU tools, that don't run Linux at all.
Linux doesn't need GNU tools. Nobody's arguing with you there.
GNU tools don't need Linux.
But the vast majority of the time, you find them together. Specifically, in all the distributions that some (admittedly persnickety) people like to call GNU/Linux.
The kernel can run without those utilities/libraries. The utilities can not run without some flavor of operating system to run them on, Linux being one example of such.
The kernel can't do anything useful without the userspace stuff, the GNU tools can't do anything without a kernel. They're both dependent on the other, and the "other" is fungible but they are most commonly found in this pairing. It's a fairly equal relationship.
A wise man once said, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." These boycotts run opposite that spirit.
No they don't. They don't take away anyone's right to say anything.
What they may do, however, is affect the consequences of saying things that upset people.
And, critically, they make it possible for people with little or no voice to react in some way to high-profile speakers who have large audiences.
That's an improvement in my book.
Otherwise, under your system, the rich and powerful can say anything they want into their microphones, and everyone else has to just sit there and shut up and listen.
I can insert the plug one handed in the dark in my iPhone 5 (in my car, without taking my eyes off the road). I have never been successful at achieving the same with my micro-USB phone.
I used a soldering iron to make an easily-felt dimple in the plastic on one side of the plug, now I can finally use it in the dark.
They went with their own port because it was a much better design that allows them to provide a better experience to their customers. That sort of thinking is how they sell so many devices.
Anyone who regularly uses Google Translate has seen the problems that come with this approach.
It "translates" analogous terms in ways that make no sense. Translate "Amsterdam" from Dutch to English and it often gives you "London". Same with kilometres / miles, and other things that significantly change the meaning of the text.
With some hand-crafted guidance, the outcome can be much less useful than the more rough-sounding word-by-word machine translations from days of yore.
You can complain about the block because even if it's "turned off", a copy of all your internet traffic is still being sent to a Chinese company for analysis.
Slashdot Mirror
It actually used to be the law of the land. During that period (around 2000) there was an incredibly vibrant broadband ISP scene. Unfortunately the FCC changed its mind (and no doubt a few briefcases full of cash changed hands) and now the situation has reverted to the anti-consumer oligopoly you see today.
Consider how much effort and worldwide coordination has gone into the IPv6 migration, and it really doesn't make sense to do that multiple times for only 250x the address space each go-round. Why half-ass it?
Well, stop talking about that, it's a stupid idea. If we're going to upgrade billions of devices around the world, I don't want to have to do it again in 4 years' time when 40 bits prove to be inadequate.
Active mode FTP predates widespread usage of NAT by about 20 years.
It was a perfectly good solution at the time, and saying that its developers wrote a "shit" program is like saying that the people who built ancient Rome were shit architects because the streets weren't wide enough for semi trucks.
That would mean more spurious data charges, and lower battery life due to frequent activity that has to trickle up from the radio board to the phone's OS. Also I don't want to lose my IP every time I'm in an elevator.
That wasn't his point at all, as I hope you know. He was describing how it helped us project the specific mineral makeup of the moon, which, though falling on the same periodic table, does not necessarily have to be the same as that of the earth.
All of my phones have had very erratic latency, even for wifi over LAN. Have yours been consistent enough for this to provide the split-second timing you need?
My N4 is about 3 unobstructed meters from the wifi access point. With 10 samples of each, a laptop at the same distance gets pings to the router ranging from 0.399ms to 0.418ms. The phone's range from 6.89ms to 91.27ms.
My eighth grade civics teacher was pretty specific about how "free speech" is a construct involving the relationship between individuals and the government. Perhaps yours left that part out.
The government is obliged to let you say what you want, without putting you in jail.
I, however, am not obliged to continue to give you money if you are saying things that annoy me. I have the freedom to spend my money elsewhere.
I think they are overly sensitive about it, but I do see where they're coming from. It is in fact possible to see both sides of an issue, if you open your mind a little.
And, importantly, the straw man that you're arguing against (that RMS wants people to call the kernel GNU/Linux) is way out in left field. If you are confused about GNU's position, it's clearly laid out here: http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html
My understanding has always been that RMS wants people to refer to distributions that contain the Linux kernel and GNU userspace tools to refer to it as GNU/Linux... not that he wants the Linux kernel itself to be referred to as GNU/Linux.
How does that misrepresent what he said? He was using social pressure against someone with whom he disagreed. If he didn't care about my reaction, he would have kept it to himself.
Yeah, none of this addresses my argument.
There are also several systems in my home with large bases of installed GNU tools, that don't run Linux at all.
Linux doesn't need GNU tools. Nobody's arguing with you there.
GNU tools don't need Linux.
But the vast majority of the time, you find them together. Specifically, in all the distributions that some (admittedly persnickety) people like to call GNU/Linux.
The kernel can't do anything useful without the userspace stuff, the GNU tools can't do anything without a kernel. They're both dependent on the other, and the "other" is fungible but they are most commonly found in this pairing. It's a fairly equal relationship.
Because of this, I am going to stop talking.
Social and/or business consequences, yes. Legal consequences, no, as I've already made clear.
How would you envision a world in which there were no consequences for speaking?
And what would be the point of opening your mouth in such a world?
They maintain many of the userspace tools that make it actually, you know, usable.
Linux alone is just the kernel. That's a small part of the actual system that makes the computer do things.
Has anyone not? Barilla is pretty much the only pasta brand with worldwide recognition.
No they don't. They don't take away anyone's right to say anything.
What they may do, however, is affect the consequences of saying things that upset people.
And, critically, they make it possible for people with little or no voice to react in some way to high-profile speakers who have large audiences.
That's an improvement in my book.
Otherwise, under your system, the rich and powerful can say anything they want into their microphones, and everyone else has to just sit there and shut up and listen.
Same if you ask people who have almost any phobia. They've spent their entire lives constructing back-stories to support their reactions.
I used a soldering iron to make an easily-felt dimple in the plastic on one side of the plug, now I can finally use it in the dark.
How do you feel about rules that mandate power outlets in the wall all fit certain standards? Goodbye innovation?
They went with their own port because it was a much better design that allows them to provide a better experience to their customers. That sort of thinking is how they sell so many devices.
Anyone who regularly uses Google Translate has seen the problems that come with this approach.
It "translates" analogous terms in ways that make no sense. Translate "Amsterdam" from Dutch to English and it often gives you "London". Same with kilometres / miles, and other things that significantly change the meaning of the text.
With some hand-crafted guidance, the outcome can be much less useful than the more rough-sounding word-by-word machine translations from days of yore.
The system provides no way to opt out of having all your traffic sent to Huawei for analysis.
You can complain about the block because even if it's "turned off", a copy of all your internet traffic is still being sent to a Chinese company for analysis.