The "right of first sale" basically means that if you buy something then it's yours. You can sell it, burn it, whatever. It is the legal idea that allows used book stores to do what they do and it's the reason that many people claim that if you don't agree (or even read) any EULA you are still free to use the software. Most EULAs try to get around this by claiming that the software was NOT sold but instead just licensed however it's hard to see how they can change the sale into a license after the fact unless you agree and judges HAVE ruled that handing money over in exchange for a box containing software IS a sale. I don't agree with the poster that claimed that the GPL restricts this right however. If someone gives/sells you a CD with GPL (or any other) software on it you CAN give away or sell that same CD without agreeing (or even seeing) any license including the GPL. Once you start making/selling/giving COPIES of the origional then you are breaking copyright law unless you have permission from the copyright holder or your particular copy falls under fair use. That additonal right to copy is what the GPL gives you if you agree to it.
That's not true. If an OEM want's to sell computers with KDE and a browser other than Konqueror they have several choices:
1. Just don't install it and live with the results.
2. Install a replacement browser, making any necessary modifications to the replacement required for integration.
3. Just remove the Konqueror desktop/menu entries but leave it installed so most web browsing gets done by Mozilla or whatever but help and file browsing still gets done by Konqueror.
In any case, the choice is up to the OEM based on the needs of their customers. With MS the OEM (and thus the customer) has no choice, they are legally obligated to set up the system the way MS sees fit or not at all.
Honestly I as a software producer (probably not the company that employs me however) am perfectly willing to require you to sign terms of use before you purchase the software. I think that the producer should have the right to limit distribution in some fundamental way and if the way to enforce that is to require that a person sign a binding contract before purchase then so be it.
Copyright law already handles that and has for many years so you do not need a special contract just for that.
With software I think the producer should have the right to limit software to one concurrent use per licence
That would fit nicely on the front of just about any software package/box AND be understandable by just about anyone who can read.
Almost all of the cheap "all in one" motherboards have a winmodem built in. It probably would have been more expensive for them to offer a system modemless.
Sec. 117. - Limitations on exclusive rights: Computer programs
(a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy. -
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided:
(1)
that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or
(2)
that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.
They are morally wrong because they add restrictions (ie decrease value) that were not apparent at the time of sale. This is little different than selling someone a car and then swapping out the good battery, tires, etc. before they come to pick it up and it's WRONG.
Now before you say "you couldn't use the sofware anyways without a license", that's not true. Copyright law covers COPYING. Barring any other agreement, usage is NOT restricted by copyright law and copies required in order to use the software (copying to your hard drive for example) ARE allowed.
"If I want to sell software on a per-machine basis, I can make you agree either in a paper contract or a EULA that you'll only install it on one machine."
Fine then put that on the box where I can see it BEFORE I hand over my money.
"Unreasonable contracts can be thrown out in court."
To me "Unreasonable" is changing the terms of a contract after the sale is complete. The problem is that "Unreasonable" seems to get defined by the courts as "standard industry practice" In effect every time you click "Accept" on some heavy handed EULA you are expanding what is considered reasonable.
No kidding but the result of the experiment is irrelivent to this discussion. The point is that a valid scientific theory makes predictions that can be tested such that IF any of the predictions turns out to be wrong THEN the theory is disproven. I really hope you didn't think that the earlier poster was saying that a theory must actually BE disproven before it can be considered a theory. That would be kinda pointless.
Actually MANY experiments have been designed to disprove all three of those. Every time someone tries to design a perpetual motion machine it is an experiment to disprove Thermodynamics. Likewise people have put atomic clocks in airplanes and other fast moving objects and looked for the time dialation predicted by Special Relativity.
By shifting schools to linux you deprive students of a chance to learn the most common os in business which may give them a competitive disadvantage after they graduate when looking for a job.
Not really, KDE is every much as like WinXP as Win95 (which is what many schools still use) is. Once person understands how to use any modern GUI the differences are pretty trivial from a user perspective (admin is a different animal). There is no value in teaching kids to just memorize click by click how how to accomplish something in one particular program which will likely be obsolete by the time they graduate anyway.
The problem is that when all the "magic" is in software the manufacturers are even more reluctant to release source code since that's really all they have to sell. Binary only drivers are possible but they're a PITA on Linux, and impossible for those using BSD or non X86 Linux.
I don't think too many companies are going to fall for this. Remember most of them use the same cards in their base units too and these don't have anywhere enough extra power to run Windows let alone a winnic.
I'm not sure what planet you're on but those of us who deal with computers for a living have ALL seen the problems they cause. It's not soo much how frequently they fail as the fact that when they do they are a real PITA to troubleshoot. If you don't believe me just call ANY ISP and ask them.
Re:Getting tired of this....
on
XP, Phone Home
·
· Score: 1
"If they want to know I do searches on their stuff, Linux, Digital
Cameras and things like that then so what! It's not like I am handing them my
credit card!"
Well, that information IS worth something otherwise they wouldn't be wasting their resources collecting it.
If a neighbor asks to use your phone you probably wouldn't have a problem with it but if they just start walking in and making calls whenever they feel like it you'd probably be annoyed. If they then start raiding your fridge and help themselves to the spare change in your couch cushions you'd probably be more than just a little annoyed. This is exactly what M$ has been doing. At some point people just have to tell them to take their crappy software and go home.
"Also, this probably qualifies as something for those slippery slope
folks to panic about too."
I don't think you realize just how much information about you is out there and how powerful it can be when even fairly innocent bits information are put together. Many companies already use questionares to make risk assesments of prospective employees. How long before they start using your web browsing history? Would you even know if letting your in-laws use your computer to check out drug rehab web sites caused you not to get the job? Wouldn't your insurance company like to know that you've been searching for info on cancer treatments?
" Yeah, it's interesting, but who said you have to use the
search button in thier browser?? Can't you just use google?"
People complain that Linux is difficult but that's NOTHING compared to trying to educate people about how to protect their privacy when using Windows.
Agreed, when you upgrade a user away from AOL one of the first things you need to explain is "what a web browser is". The sick part is that this applies to people who have been using computers for years, not just newbies.
So has anyone else here tried this? I just headed over to emusic.com and it really looks like these guys are doing this "The Right Way"TM. Any catches? Also, I wonder how much the artests are making from this deal compared to what they get from CD sales.
I agree 100% The question is can the record labels allow this without loosing too much in CD sales. I can download one heck of a lot of albums in a month.
"* It uses the overly-complicated runlevel system for startup scripts so it's harder to write your own."
How hard is is to put your script in/etc/init.d and run "update-rc scriptname defaults runlevel"?
"* Most of the Debian people are Free Software zealots. Sorry, but I prefer not to be at the mercy of a bunch of RMS clones when it comes to what software I run. Plus it makes them real assholes."
This is just too stupid for words. You do know that Debian has a non-free section right? I'm grateful to the Debian folks for being such "zealots" because it means that I don't have to worry about licensing issues when I sell or modify a Debian based product.
These mount VERY securely using the 4 holes that surround the cpu socket on socket A motherboards and you can pick whatever 80mm fan you think is best for your situation.
They list several products but the only one you are likely to get in small quantities is the brush on variety. It's a bit more time consuming to apply this stuff but it's far more effective.
"Where does the feel good effect of intel chipsets come from? Are via chipsets that crappy?"
You have to realize that for a while Intel had such a huge majority of the cpu/chipset market that many hardware venders tested almost exclusivly with Intel stuff, at least until after they got the product out the door. Also When the KT133 came out Intel was still using the aging BX chipset and all the required drivers (for the BX) were already built into Win98. The KT133 however was newer than Win98 so those users had to install extra drivers to get things working properly.
While I think that the reliability of the KT133 chipset is probably debatable, the performance was never bad enough to explain a 1.1GHz Athlon being outperformed by a 933MHz P3. Something else must be up with your setup.
" What alternative is there for a good amd chipset? "
The SiS 730S and 735S chipsets seem to perform well and have very few problems however AFIK they are only currently being used on PCChips motherboards which many people (for good reason) won't touch. Personally I've been very happy with the 730 & 735 based systems I've built.
Slashdot Mirror
The "right of first sale" basically means that if you buy something then it's yours. You can sell it, burn it, whatever. It is the legal idea that allows used book stores to do what they do and it's the reason that many people claim that if you don't agree (or even read) any EULA you are still free to use the software. Most EULAs try to get around this by claiming that the software was NOT sold but instead just licensed however it's hard to see how they can change the sale into a license after the fact unless you agree and judges HAVE ruled that handing money over in exchange for a box containing software IS a sale. I don't agree with the poster that claimed that the GPL restricts this right however. If someone gives/sells you a CD with GPL (or any other) software on it you CAN give away or sell that same CD without agreeing (or even seeing) any license including the GPL. Once you start making/selling/giving COPIES of the origional then you are breaking copyright law unless you have permission from the copyright holder or your particular copy falls under fair use. That additonal right to copy is what the GPL gives you if you agree to it.
That's not true. If an OEM want's to sell computers with KDE and a browser other than Konqueror they have several choices:
1. Just don't install it and live with the results.
2. Install a replacement browser, making any necessary modifications to the replacement required for integration.
3. Just remove the Konqueror desktop/menu entries but leave it installed so most web browsing gets done by Mozilla or whatever but help and file browsing still gets done by Konqueror.
In any case, the choice is up to the OEM based on the needs of their customers. With MS the OEM (and thus the customer) has no choice, they are legally obligated to set up the system the way MS sees fit or not at all.
Copyright law already handles that and has for many years so you do not need a special contract just for that.
That would fit nicely on the front of just about any software package/box AND be understandable by just about anyone who can read.
Almost all of the cheap "all in one" motherboards have a winmodem built in. It probably would have been more expensive for them to offer a system modemless.
" How are all EULAs morally wrong? "
They are morally wrong because they add restrictions (ie decrease value) that were not apparent at the time of sale. This is little different than selling someone a car and then swapping out the good battery, tires, etc. before they come to pick it up and it's WRONG.
Now before you say "you couldn't use the sofware anyways without a license", that's not true. Copyright law covers COPYING. Barring any other agreement, usage is NOT restricted by copyright law and copies required in order to use the software (copying to your hard drive for example) ARE allowed.
"If I want to sell software on a per-machine basis, I can make you agree either in a paper contract or a EULA that you'll only install it on one machine."
Fine then put that on the box where I can see it BEFORE I hand over my money.
"Unreasonable contracts can be thrown out in court."
To me "Unreasonable" is changing the terms of a contract after the sale is complete. The problem is that "Unreasonable" seems to get defined by the courts as "standard industry practice" In effect every time you click "Accept" on some heavy handed EULA you are expanding what is considered reasonable.
"* I don't believe in psychics because you have make an appointment to see one"
I think that pretty much says it all.
No kidding but the result of the experiment is irrelivent to this discussion. The point is that a valid scientific theory makes predictions that can be tested such that IF any of the predictions turns out to be wrong THEN the theory is disproven. I really hope you didn't think that the earlier poster was saying that a theory must actually BE disproven before it can be considered a theory. That would be kinda pointless.
Actually MANY experiments have been designed to disprove all three of those. Every time someone tries to design a perpetual motion machine it is an experiment to disprove Thermodynamics. Likewise people have put atomic clocks in airplanes and other fast moving objects and looked for the time dialation predicted by Special Relativity.
Not really, KDE is every much as like WinXP as Win95 (which is what many schools still use) is. Once person understands how to use any modern GUI the differences are pretty trivial from a user perspective (admin is a different animal). There is no value in teaching kids to just memorize click by click how how to accomplish something in one particular program which will likely be obsolete by the time they graduate anyway.
The problem is that when all the "magic" is in software the manufacturers are even more reluctant to release source code since that's really all they have to sell. Binary only drivers are possible but they're a PITA on Linux, and impossible for those using BSD or non X86 Linux.
I don't think too many companies are going to fall for this. Remember most of them use the same cards in their base units too and these don't have anywhere enough extra power to run Windows let alone a winnic.
I'm not sure what planet you're on but those of us who deal with computers for a living have ALL seen the problems they cause. It's not soo much how frequently they fail as the fact that when they do they are a real PITA to troubleshoot. If you don't believe me just call ANY ISP and ask them.
Agreed, when you upgrade a user away from AOL one of the first things you need to explain is "what a web browser is". The sick part is that this applies to people who have been using computers for years, not just newbies.
Actually both MS and Netscape DID play these sorts of games a few years back. That's one reason that browsers got so bloated so fast.
" It worked for Satellite companies, and still does for the customers who can't afford bi-directional service. "
Maybe for very small values of "works". The DPC solution really is buggy as hell but maybe these guys will do better.
The patents in question were applied for back in '96 & '97 so prior art would have to be older than that.
So has anyone else here tried this? I just headed over to emusic.com and it really looks like these guys are doing this "The Right Way"TM. Any catches? Also, I wonder how much the artests are making from this deal compared to what they get from CD sales.
I agree 100% The question is can the record labels allow this without loosing too much in CD sales. I can download one heck of a lot of albums in a month.
"* It uses the overly-complicated runlevel system for startup scripts so it's harder to write your own."
/etc/init.d and run "update-rc scriptname defaults runlevel"?
How hard is is to put your script in
"* Most of the Debian people are Free Software zealots. Sorry, but I prefer not to be at the mercy of a bunch of RMS clones when it comes to what software I run. Plus it makes them real assholes."
This is just too stupid for words. You do know that Debian has a non-free section right? I'm grateful to the Debian folks for being such "zealots" because it means that I don't have to worry about licensing issues when I sell or modify a Debian based product.
The article is talking of output power up to 100mw, not 1w.
A better choice for a heatsink would be the Alpha 8045:
Here
These mount VERY securely using the 4 holes that surround the cpu socket on socket A motherboards and you can pick whatever 80mm fan you think is best for your situation.
A better choice is this:
Noise Killer
They list several products but the only one you are likely to get in small quantities is the brush on variety. It's a bit more time consuming to apply this stuff but it's far more effective.
"Where does the feel good effect of intel chipsets come from? Are via chipsets that crappy?"
You have to realize that for a while Intel had such a huge majority of the cpu/chipset market that many hardware venders tested almost exclusivly with Intel stuff, at least until after they got the product out the door. Also When the KT133 came out Intel was still using the aging BX chipset and all the required drivers (for the BX) were already built into Win98. The KT133 however was newer than Win98 so those users had to install extra drivers to get things working properly.
While I think that the reliability of the KT133 chipset is probably debatable, the performance was never bad enough to explain a 1.1GHz Athlon being outperformed by a 933MHz P3. Something else must be up with your setup.
" What alternative is there for a good amd chipset? "
The SiS 730S and 735S chipsets seem to perform well and have very few problems however AFIK they are only currently being used on PCChips motherboards which many people (for good reason) won't touch. Personally I've been very happy with the 730 & 735 based systems I've built.