A few of the "problems" you want to see fixed made me think "please don't". For instance:
Get rid of/etc and replace it with something sane. After trying several distributions (among them SuSe, with their rc.config madness), I was so glad when I finally found Debian, with all of the configuration files still in/etc, at the exact location that the HOWTOs and the documentation of the individual programs tell you./etc can be pretty sane, and it's actually a lot more sane than the registry.
You find the directory structure stupid. It's so complicated that your dad can't install programs. Well, tell him to look for what he needs on packages.debian.org and then have him type "apt-get install packagename". Done. After that, the docs are in/usr/doc/packagename. And if you want, "dpkg -L packagename" tells you what was installed and where. Try that with Windows. And if you want to compile everything yourself, have a look at GNU stow, which helps you to keep the different programs separated so you can easily uninstall/upgrade them without leaving files of the last few versions lying around. You don't need to know where to put every single file, that's make install's job. I can't see how one can tolerate the windows\system32 directory "structure" and be confused by a Unix directory tree.
Oh, nice that you mentioned how all UNIX console apps work together in a nice harmony of streams and pipes. This is the very reason I feel more comfortable with Unix when doing real work. In this thread, and in pretty much every Linux-related article in the press, there is far too much emphasis on how hard Linux is to install or configure. But there are actually people who install once and work with their machine for years. And for my style of work, a few shell windows and Emacs are the best I have found so far. And yes, I did work with DevStudio on Windows, and did not totally fall in love with it.
If you can't stand to use Linux, you're not really required to like it. Perhaps it would make more sense just to like Linux' development model or the always helpful and well-informed slashdot crowd instead.
Remember why you compiled your framebuffer into kernel? Of course! Because of the fblogo -- great penguin image on startup:)
Well, Hemos, I compiled in fb because this way I got a nice 50+ line console at 75 Hz or so, at exactly the same video timing X uses, so my CRT doesn't go *plong* each time I switch between console and X.
But who am I to talk about splash screens and theming. I am the one who hand-crafted a Sawfish theme to make Sawfish look like MacOS 6 or so (very few colors, no pseudo-3D) -- I just wanted the nice keyboard and mouse customization of Sawfish, the rest could've been twm.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says that if you hold a lungful of air you can survive in the total vacuum of space for about thirty seconds. However, it does go on to say that what with space being the mind-boggling size it is the chances of getting picked up by another ship within those thirty seconds are 2**276709 to 1 against.
Of course, in the book, Arthur and Ford are rescued against all odds, since Adams wields the Plot Device to End All Plot Devices: the Infinite Improbability Drive. This device seems to be in use by various other authors, too, but nobody admits as openly to it. This is exactly why the H2G2 books are (IMHO) the best SF parody ever. And Marvin (the depressed android) is much more sympathetic than HAL.
So whenever you find yourself locked out of a spaceship by some paranoid AI...grab your towel and Don't Panic!
Is the American public ever going to convert to the metric system?
I don't really care whether the American public converts or not. But I was really shocked to learn that many American scientists and engineers haven't converted to SI yet (cf. the Polar Lander incident). In retrospect, I am really glad to have been to school in Europe, so my physics teacher could explain physics to us, and didn't waste our time explaining how to get the units right.
Who would buy the book when it was available for free online?
I have bought several books that were available for free online. For something that you read front-to-back, IMHO paper is the more convenient form. Reference works (like mathworld) are a different beast. I saw the CRC book once in a bookstore here in Germany, realized that this was the print version of Eric's Math Treasure Trove, and didn't buy it. Not because it wasn't free, but because it had no Search button.
I really hope Wolfram can (and wants to) make a deal with CRC and continues to host mathworld. Or Encyclopaedia Brittanica realizes that if they want to stay the #1 knowledge portal, they need license Eric's work.
Sorry, dear moderators, but this post was not insightful at all:
It just seems wrong that the people who made id aren't the people who get a say in what it does.
Who do think Adrian (Carmack) and Kevin (Cloud) are? AC is a founder of the company and Cloud is on board since 1992 (Wolfenstein was released May 5 that year). Especially AC, as artist and pixel pusher supreme, has defined the look of every id game to date. The Cyberdemon, the Cacodemon and all these awesome textures are the work of these guys. I'd think that they, as much as JC and Romero, "made" id. They are definitely not what most people here think they are: some dudes who have no idea of gaming but somehow managed to get in control at id.
Racism aside, this is exactly what the original poster referred to: All of the games you name were for the most part designed by Reynolds, but had a "Sid Meier's" label on the package (well, I'm not absolutely sure about Colonization).
genuine Sid Meier games are: the original Civ, Covert Action, Gettysburg, the orginal Railroad Tycoon, and a lot more.
Very cool, indeed. A while ago Carmack donated $10k to the FSF, too, because Quake (the original, true, DOS version) was built with djgpp. If I remember his.plan update correctly, he did that after winning the cash in Las Vegas...
It's good to see him putting some of the money he earns to good use (as opposed to buying one more Ferrari:-) Seems he just wants the world to be a better place. Technically.
Slashdot Mirror
- Get rid of
/etc and replace it with something sane. /etc, at the exact location that the HOWTOs and the documentation of the individual programs tell you. /etc can be pretty sane, and it's actually a lot more sane than the registry.
- You find the directory structure stupid. It's so complicated that your dad can't install programs. Well, tell him to look for what he needs on packages.debian.org and then have him type "apt-get install packagename". Done. After that, the docs are in
/usr/doc/packagename. And if you want, "dpkg -L packagename" tells you what was installed and where. Try that with Windows. And if you want to compile everything yourself, have a look at GNU stow, which helps you to keep the different programs separated so you can easily uninstall/upgrade them without leaving files of the last few versions lying around. You don't need to know where to put every single file, that's make install's job. I can't see how one can tolerate the windows\system32 directory "structure" and be confused by a Unix directory tree.
- Oh, nice that you mentioned how all UNIX console apps work together in a nice harmony of streams and pipes. This is the very reason I feel more comfortable with Unix when doing real work. In this thread, and in pretty much every Linux-related article in the press, there is far too much emphasis on how hard Linux is to install or configure. But there are actually people who install once and work with their machine for years. And for my style of work, a few shell windows and Emacs are the best I have found so far. And yes, I did work with DevStudio on Windows, and did not totally fall in love with it.
If you can't stand to use Linux, you're not really required to like it. Perhaps it would make more sense just to like Linux' development model or the always helpful and well-informed slashdot crowd instead.After trying several distributions (among them SuSe, with their rc.config madness), I was so glad when I finally found Debian, with all of the configuration files still in
Well, Hemos, I compiled in fb because this way I got a nice 50+ line console at 75 Hz or so, at exactly the same video timing X uses, so my CRT doesn't go *plong* each time I switch between console and X.
But who am I to talk about splash screens and theming. I am the one who hand-crafted a Sawfish theme to make Sawfish look like MacOS 6 or so (very few colors, no pseudo-3D) -- I just wanted the nice keyboard and mouse customization of Sawfish, the rest could've been twm.
So whenever you find yourself locked out of a spaceship by some paranoid AI...grab your towel and Don't Panic!
I don't really care whether the American public converts or not. But I was really shocked to learn that many American scientists and engineers haven't converted to SI yet (cf. the Polar Lander incident). In retrospect, I am really glad to have been to school in Europe, so my physics teacher could explain physics to us, and didn't waste our time explaining how to get the units right.
I have bought several books that were available for free online. For something that you read front-to-back, IMHO paper is the more convenient form. Reference works (like mathworld) are a different beast. I saw the CRC book once in a bookstore here in Germany, realized that this was the print version of Eric's Math Treasure Trove, and didn't buy it. Not because it wasn't free, but because it had no Search button.
I really hope Wolfram can (and wants to) make a deal with CRC and continues to host mathworld. Or Encyclopaedia Brittanica realizes that if they want to stay the #1 knowledge portal, they need license Eric's work.
genuine Sid Meier games are: the original Civ, Covert Action, Gettysburg, the orginal Railroad Tycoon, and a lot more.
Very cool, indeed. A while ago Carmack donated $10k to the FSF, too, because Quake (the original, true, DOS version) was built with djgpp. If I remember his .plan update correctly, he did that after winning the cash in Las Vegas...
:-) Seems he just wants the world to be a better place. Technically.
It's good to see him putting some of the money he earns to good use (as opposed to buying one more Ferrari