You know, just because some companies don't want to let the open source "community" run completely over their business models it does not make them the "Great Satan" you make them out to be. I value the existence and upkeep of video games like WarCraft and other Blizzard titles so much more than some trivial and irrelevant bnetd project that its not even worth debating.
"The early '90s were, IMHO, the best years of the internet. Everything was still new and uncharted... Domains could still be sold back to corporations who lacked vision... hackers were feared and thought to be bent on destroying the free world (except by those of us who knew them as explorers)... and Mosaic set the standard for web browsing."
and
"The song say's "video killed the radio star," but ".com" is killing the net! The internet began as a free society that policed itself, now we have legislators peering and poking into the "content" being provided and into the "fairness" of enterprise being able to control a domain name. If Joe Geek was insightful enough to recognize that Madonna.Com [duanemorris.com] might have value to a certain bleached blond, then said blond should have to pay his price or be willing to let Joe Geek do what he will with the domain."
What makes you think you are entitled to those domain names? Just because you got there first? Is it really as simple as first come first serve to you? There's something called "trademark". People can trademark their names. Companies can do it and so can individuals. Just because a new medium comes along such as the internet, that is no reason to believe that all of a sudden the old rules and laws are now null and void and you can just run over people's trademarks and squat on them as you see fit. This entire mentality is so 1999 and dot.com like. The internet didn't change anything. It didn't change any rules or laws, it just made business and communication more efficient thats all. But you will always have a small tiny segment of the population who wants something for free. They simply cannot understand that the internet is NOT being ruined just because they aren't able to extort millions of dollars from trademark owners just so they can get their domains back.
Unless your name is Madonna you don't deserve that domain name. And since it isn't, the real Madonna should not have to hand over blackmail money to get usage of her trademark handed back over to her. Its ridiculous. Its like registering ford.com and then blaiming the company for not having the "vision" to register themself before you did. No. They don't need vision. They already own the trademark to the name Ford. You don't have a right to squat on their trademark. Legislating and regulating this does not lessen the value of the internet. It does not ruin its spirit. It simply makes it simple to conduct business online without having to deal with nickle and dimeing hoodlums who would hold you up at every point just so they can be "free".
Have you ever considered leaving the technology industry so that you don't have to retrain so often? It would be much easier than trying to get the entire industry to conform to the way you think it should be (which just isn't going to happen).
I think a more important question would be "Why" do you feel he needs to poke around with technology? Is it more important to poke around with it or just use it? How much time do you spend poking around the inside of your TV or the engine in your car?
I'd just like to remind you that the same things were said in the first few years of the Big Dig project. It was supposedly ahead of schedule and under budget......
Its a self solving problem. As IBM and Red Hat become the only companies that can make money from an open source business model the rest of the industry will wise up and quit trying to make money by selling what you can't sell, free software.
Sorry these aren't misinformed responses at all. Being idealistic and nice isn't enough and it certainly does not exclude someone from also being a idiotic moron. These Loki employees were just that, morons. There never was a market for their products, they did no research to check that out and they lost their shirts. They're not dead, no need to shed any tears over them.
What is so hard to understand about "If there's no market for your product, then don't try and build a company around such a product"? These people WERE morons. Why are you willing to excuse them so?
This entire line of reasoning is amazing. What kind of world are you living in? Is this how all geeks think? You don't need to know how much your co-workers are getting paid. Not only is it none of your business, its not going to help you in the long run. There aren't enough noble people in the world who will say "Oh yeah he's obviously a better worker than I am so he deserves more".
No they really were idiots. They were working for a company that was making a product that had next to no market. They actually finished one of their games and only 1500 people bought it. How many times do you have to be told there is no Linux video game market before the people here on Slashdot will get it thru their heads?
Actually that won't happen. You see the number of people who hate Microsoft to the point where they consider all MS employees to be morally bankrupt is very small. It mainly consists of free software geeks who are already by definition in the minority compared to everyone else. Most folks if you tell them you work for Microsoft will congratulate you for getting what is most likeley a high paying job for a really successful company.
At the end of the day every big company has some questionable things in its past. Ford, DeBeers, McDonalds, Disney....etc. Thats not enough for me to consider all the people working for them as lowlifes.
Kevin Mitnick's time was back when the telephone system was old and very centralized. Thats not what the person you are replying to is talking about at all. In today's world Kevin Mitnick wouldn't be able to have nearly as much of an effect.
I dunno. Gates, Ellison, McNeely.....they all wear suits. And I don't think you could credibly make the case that they're the kind of people that have to wear suits to get by. They seem to genuinely like them. Not everyone wants to look like Matchbox 20 when they go to work, and its not because they don't have anything extra to offer. You however seem to be in abundance of inflated self-worth and arrogance. Ever consider donating some to those low in self-esttem?:)
The military doesn't have to do a damn thing to keep themseves in a job. Simple human nature will do that for them. Competition implies war. We're a species like any other on this planet. A war is just a big "Fight".
Slashdot Mirror
You know, just because some companies don't want to let the open source "community" run completely over their business models it does not make them the "Great Satan" you make them out to be. I value the existence and upkeep of video games like WarCraft and other Blizzard titles so much more than some trivial and irrelevant bnetd project that its not even worth debating.
Sorry, Blizzard's video games are so damn good I'm willing to overlook that bnetd issue.
LOL. Anticompetitive? MS is anticompetitive because IE has a quick launch option now? Wow....
Lets start with these two ...
"The early '90s were, IMHO, the best years of the internet. Everything was still new and uncharted... Domains could still be sold back to corporations who lacked vision... hackers were feared and thought to be bent on destroying the free world (except by those of us who knew them as explorers)... and Mosaic set the standard for web browsing."
and
"The song say's "video killed the radio star," but ".com" is killing the net! The internet began as a free society that policed itself, now we have legislators peering and poking into the "content" being provided and into the "fairness" of enterprise being able to control a domain name. If Joe Geek was insightful enough to recognize that Madonna.Com [duanemorris.com] might have value to a certain bleached blond, then said blond should have to pay his price or be willing to let Joe Geek do what he will with the domain."
What makes you think you are entitled to those domain names? Just because you got there first? Is it really as simple as first come first serve to you? There's something called "trademark". People can trademark their names. Companies can do it and so can individuals. Just because a new medium comes along such as the internet, that is no reason to believe that all of a sudden the old rules and laws are now null and void and you can just run over people's trademarks and squat on them as you see fit. This entire mentality is so 1999 and dot.com like. The internet didn't change anything. It didn't change any rules or laws, it just made business and communication more efficient thats all. But you will always have a small tiny segment of the population who wants something for free. They simply cannot understand that the internet is NOT being ruined just because they aren't able to extort millions of dollars from trademark owners just so they can get their domains back.
Unless your name is Madonna you don't deserve that domain name. And since it isn't, the real Madonna should not have to hand over blackmail money to get usage of her trademark handed back over to her. Its ridiculous. Its like registering ford.com and then blaiming the company for not having the "vision" to register themself before you did. No. They don't need vision. They already own the trademark to the name Ford. You don't have a right to squat on their trademark. Legislating and regulating this does not lessen the value of the internet. It does not ruin its spirit. It simply makes it simple to conduct business online without having to deal with nickle and dimeing hoodlums who would hold you up at every point just so they can be "free".
How is it extortion? Do you expect to be able to talk to the engineer who designed your car or your stereo for free or something?
Have you ever considered leaving the technology industry so that you don't have to retrain so often? It would be much easier than trying to get the entire industry to conform to the way you think it should be (which just isn't going to happen).
I think a more important question would be "Why" do you feel he needs to poke around with technology? Is it more important to poke around with it or just use it? How much time do you spend poking around the inside of your TV or the engine in your car?
I'd just like to remind you that the same things were said in the first few years of the Big Dig project. It was supposedly ahead of schedule and under budget......
Lets scale back on the anti-car sentiment here. Cars are innocent free ranging creatures no need to bash them.
Its a self solving problem. As IBM and Red Hat become the only companies that can make money from an open source business model the rest of the industry will wise up and quit trying to make money by selling what you can't sell, free software.
I so hope that wasn't a pathetic attempt at a guilt trip aimed that those who are calling you what you are, a moron.
Sorry these aren't misinformed responses at all. Being idealistic and nice isn't enough and it certainly does not exclude someone from also being a idiotic moron. These Loki employees were just that, morons. There never was a market for their products, they did no research to check that out and they lost their shirts. They're not dead, no need to shed any tears over them.
What is so hard to understand about "If there's no market for your product, then don't try and build a company around such a product"? These people WERE morons. Why are you willing to excuse them so?
This entire line of reasoning is amazing. What kind of world are you living in? Is this how all geeks think? You don't need to know how much your co-workers are getting paid. Not only is it none of your business, its not going to help you in the long run. There aren't enough noble people in the world who will say "Oh yeah he's obviously a better worker than I am so he deserves more".
Retain the code for what purpose? Where's the market?
No they really were idiots. They were working for a company that was making a product that had next to no market. They actually finished one of their games and only 1500 people bought it. How many times do you have to be told there is no Linux video game market before the people here on Slashdot will get it thru their heads?
You are WAY off base with that 50% unemployment figure.
Actually that won't happen. You see the number of people who hate Microsoft to the point where they consider all MS employees to be morally bankrupt is very small. It mainly consists of free software geeks who are already by definition in the minority compared to everyone else. Most folks if you tell them you work for Microsoft will congratulate you for getting what is most likeley a high paying job for a really successful company.
At the end of the day every big company has some questionable things in its past. Ford, DeBeers, McDonalds, Disney....etc. Thats not enough for me to consider all the people working for them as lowlifes.
Kevin Mitnick's time was back when the telephone system was old and very centralized. Thats not what the person you are replying to is talking about at all. In today's world Kevin Mitnick wouldn't be able to have nearly as much of an effect.
I dunno. Gates, Ellison, McNeely.....they all wear suits. And I don't think you could credibly make the case that they're the kind of people that have to wear suits to get by. They seem to genuinely like them. Not everyone wants to look like Matchbox 20 when they go to work, and its not because they don't have anything extra to offer. You however seem to be in abundance of inflated self-worth and arrogance. Ever consider donating some to those low in self-esttem? :)
Sorry your letter must have gotten lost in the mail so I'll just tell you now. Deconstructionism died on 9/11. Time to come up with a new ideology.
The military doesn't have to do a damn thing to keep themseves in a job. Simple human nature will do that for them. Competition implies war. We're a species like any other on this planet. A war is just a big "Fight".
Considering Germany has started two world wars I don't think many Americans really care what German sentiment towards the US is.
If Canada were to allow itself to become a base of operations for an enemy of the US or if you guys stopped being so damn funny. Either one would do.
A real honest to goodness Ion drive was used on a recent satelite probe that was sent to study a nearby comet. So STFU.