I was going to say I don't understand the opposition here, but in fact I do. It's the same mentality that says "I" should get everything for free, and "I" am entitled to everything for free.
In fact, this is far more clear cut than, say, the arguments about copying mp3s. In this case, something of real cost was stolen from someone. Maybe you can't hold bandwidth in your hand, but the bandwidth these people stole cost the provider real money. I don't care if it was really $250,000 or $98.54, it's theft and those people who stole that are getting what they deserve.
I consulted Google on this point, and found this link, containing some interesting data on lines of code in RedHat 7.1.
From the statistics given therein, it should probably be called Xfree/Mozilla/Gnu/Linux using RMS's logic. I was amused to see Mozilla so high in the list. I was also amused to see the Linux kernel is, in fact, apparently the largest chunk of code.
The problem I have with MiniDisks is the cost. The media may be inexpensive, but the recorder is just too much. (Last time I looked was about 6 months ago) CD-R is a good solution because you can play them essentially anywhere. The media is extremely inexpensive, and the burner (assuming a computer burner here, not a standalone unit) is useful for other things as well.
Now, granted, if MiniDisc recorders/player were cheaper, I would be much more impressed. Also granted that they are a better solution than a Diamond Rio and co. I personally think the best solution at the moment is to just burn a cheap CD. Sure you should use better CD-R media for archiving, but if you just want a CD you can jam too and don't mind possibly having to reburn it in a couple years, then 70 cent CD-R media are great.
Thank you for posting this. I had not been able to read the origional as yet. Unlike many of my fellow Slashdot readers I prefer to read the artical in question before commenting.
This is just bad reporting. Even if the facts were correct, the article itself is of very poor quality. Sources we're not identified, grammer was poor, and very little justification is given for any of the claims. I'm betting upper level editorial people took it down the minute they saw it.
I'm betting that someone owed someone a favor and this was some sort of free promotion for myCIO.com or something..
(Not that my grammer and spelling are wonderful, but I'm not "publishing" this...)
Well, to be precise, WP 2000 are native apps. They are simply compiled using the libwine libraries that ease migration from windows. Wine is both an "emulator" in the sense that is can be use to fool the application into running under Linux, and a library that allows easy compilation of windows apps as native apps. I fail to see how this could be a problem. Haveing an easy port path from windows to Linux can only be a good thing, and thats all libwine is, and port path.
You ever notice how difficult it is to find some of the smaller open source projects that you just know you saw around? You search the web for hours in vain?
That will be one of the best contributions of this setup. A lot of the smaller projects are going to gravitate to web sites like Soureforge, making them much easier to locate. If you can locate an existing project, you can help it.
Much of the competeing Open source projects probably started because someone did not know that the origional existed. Of course, i gues that's also what freshmeat is for.
Er.. I think MathML already works in mozilla (if you set the correct options during compile.) It was a good example of how extendable Mozilla's layout engine is. As future extentions are added to the browser world, the new Netscape should allow for far quicker/cleaner extentions. That is one of the main reasons for rewriting it.
I hate to be a pessimist, but I doubt that any other company could have done any better. It has nothing to do with the quality of the software.
Consider things like the Amiga, the Atari's, and even the Mac. All were better than the MS stuff of the day, yet they failed utterly in the face of the brick wall that Microsoft turned out to be.
Yes, OS/2 was a better OS than Windows in every aspect when it came out. It may still be now (I haven't used it in several years), but the fact is that OS/2 is dead. As is the Amiga, the Atari ST, and all the other computers I held dear. Even Apple, which has always had a bigger maketshare than Amiga, OS/2, et all, has been struggling.
It is the nature of the real world that for the most part only "new" things can have a significant impact. Linux (despite really being a 30 year old OS) is "new" enough that it might have an effect. We can only hope that the community will win where IBM has failed.
Now, first of all, this is not intended as flame bait, just an comment:
The KDE 1.1.1 bug fix is probably recieving real press because right now it is the only GUI system that could probably be used, with minimal frustration, by someone whose talents do not lie in computer science. This is news worthy due to the whole "Is Linux going to topple Microsoft?" fad that is going though the media.
Now, as flame retardant, I feel thst I must add this: I am not saying "GNOME sucks" or anything similar. Just think of it as "GNOME has a ways to go yet." KDE 1.0 was pretty rough as well. GNOME may very well become as usable as KDE for non-computer oriented people in the future, I don't know. I'm just talking about the present.
And in the present, KDE is a very good and really suprisingly stable desktop. GNOME is getting better, but still has some problems.
I really don't understand how someone can prefer the online version to a printed version. Granted, this is only my opinion, but if I spend too much time looking at a screen full of text (i.e., the hours that a technical book might require) I get a bad case of eye strain.
Also, there is something relaxing about sitting back in a chair with a book, even if it's a text book or technical book. I really wish that opinion was more prevelant now-a-days. There is not much that is more benifical that reading. I guess if it doesn't bother your eyes reading online can be just as good, though.
Slashdot Mirror
I was going to say I don't understand the opposition here, but in fact I do. It's the same mentality that says "I" should get everything for free, and "I" am entitled to everything for free.
In fact, this is far more clear cut than, say, the arguments about copying mp3s. In this case, something of real cost was stolen from someone. Maybe you can't hold bandwidth in your hand, but the bandwidth these people stole cost the provider real money. I don't care if it was really $250,000 or $98.54, it's theft and those people who stole that are getting what they deserve.
I consulted Google on this point, and found this link, containing some interesting data on lines of code in RedHat 7.1.
From the statistics given therein, it should probably be called Xfree/Mozilla/Gnu/Linux using RMS's logic. I was amused to see Mozilla so high in the list. I was also amused to see the Linux kernel is, in fact, apparently the largest chunk of code.
It is not the KAI compiler, it's the same Intel compiler that it has been for a long time. KCC is still a different compiler.
Now, granted, if MiniDisc recorders/player were cheaper, I would be much more impressed. Also granted that they are a better solution than a Diamond Rio and co. I personally think the best solution at the moment is to just burn a cheap CD. Sure you should use better CD-R media for archiving, but if you just want a CD you can jam too and don't mind possibly having to reburn it in a couple years, then 70 cent CD-R media are great.
This is just bad reporting. Even if the facts were correct, the article itself is of very poor quality. Sources we're not identified, grammer was poor, and very little justification is given for any of the claims. I'm betting upper level editorial people took it down the minute they saw it.
I'm betting that someone owed someone a favor and this was some sort of free promotion for myCIO.com or something..
(Not that my grammer and spelling are wonderful, but I'm not "publishing" this...)
Well, to be precise, WP 2000 are native apps. They are simply compiled using the libwine libraries that ease migration from windows. Wine is both an "emulator" in the sense that is can be use to fool the application into running under Linux, and a library that allows easy compilation of windows apps as native apps. I fail to see how this could be a problem. Haveing an easy port path from windows to Linux can only be a good thing, and thats all libwine is, and port path.
Why would you want an ISA card? The very speed of the bus would rule out a "decent" card. You could not do anywhere near modern speed with a ISA card.
If you had an old computer with only ISA slots, then you would obvoiusly need an ISA card. But it would not be more than a basic video card.
You ever notice how difficult it is to find some of the smaller open source projects that you just know you saw around? You search the web for hours in vain?
That will be one of the best contributions of this setup. A lot of the smaller projects are going to gravitate to web sites like Soureforge, making them much easier to locate. If you can locate an existing project, you can help it.
Much of the competeing Open source projects probably started because someone did not know that the origional existed. Of course, i gues that's also what freshmeat is for.
Er.. I think MathML already works in mozilla (if you set the correct options during compile.) It was a good example of how extendable Mozilla's layout engine is. As future extentions are added to the browser world, the new Netscape should allow for far quicker/cleaner extentions. That is one of the main reasons for rewriting it.
I hate to be a pessimist, but I doubt that any other company could have done any better. It has nothing to do with the quality of the software.
Consider things like the Amiga, the Atari's, and even the Mac. All were better than the MS stuff of the day, yet they failed utterly in the face of the brick wall that Microsoft turned out to be.
Yes, OS/2 was a better OS than Windows in every aspect when it came out. It may still be now (I haven't used it in several years), but the fact is that OS/2 is dead. As is the Amiga, the Atari ST, and all the other computers I held dear. Even Apple, which has always had a bigger maketshare than Amiga, OS/2, et all, has been struggling.
It is the nature of the real world that for the most part only "new" things can have a significant impact. Linux (despite really being a 30 year old OS) is "new" enough that it might have an effect. We can only hope that the community will win where IBM has failed.
That said, I think that SGI's recent actions baffle me. They seem to, in fact, be offloading everything that has an unique value.
Exactly.
Gmc is precisely what I was thinking of when I said "a ways to go."
Now, first of all, this is not intended as flame bait, just an comment:
The KDE 1.1.1 bug fix is probably recieving real press because right now it is the only GUI system that could probably be used, with minimal frustration, by someone whose talents do not lie in computer science. This is news worthy due to the whole "Is Linux going to topple Microsoft?" fad that is going though the media.
Now, as flame retardant, I feel thst I must add this: I am not saying "GNOME sucks" or anything similar. Just think of it as "GNOME has a ways to go yet." KDE 1.0 was pretty rough as well. GNOME may very well become as usable as KDE for non-computer oriented people in the future, I don't know. I'm just talking about the present.
And in the present, KDE is a very good and really suprisingly stable desktop. GNOME is getting better, but still has some problems.
I am now a grad student, but I can identify with the letters here. Check out the following page for the thoughs I wrote up a couple days ago: Here.
I really don't understand how someone can prefer the online version to a printed version. Granted, this is only my opinion, but if I spend too much time looking at a screen full of text (i.e., the hours that a technical book might require) I get a bad case of eye strain.
Also, there is something relaxing about sitting back in a chair with a book, even if it's a text book or technical book. I really wish that opinion was more prevelant now-a-days. There is not much that is more benifical that reading. I guess if it doesn't bother your eyes reading online can be just as good, though.
Anyway.