Forget it. When you've got a minority viewpoint (e.g. not trusting Steam) it's extremely hard to get anyone to listen and those that do already have their mind set and would rather joke about you "missing out" rather than seriously consider your words. There's something about games that gets even Slashdotters to forget their anti-DRM principles - as if they can't non-DRM games from somewhere else legally, but they chose not to because they can't handle not having the latest regenerating-health shooter.
Yes, in theory, everyone should boycott DRM. But this is the Real World, and out here, you have to make compromises. Steam is the best compromise solution - it eliminates or ameliorates the problems with DRM, but still placates the corporations' concerns about digital distribution and "piracy".
I strongly disagree. You don't have to buy with Steam - why not GOG.com? They won't have quite the selection sure, but are you honestly going to tell me you have the time available to play all the games you want anyway? Shit, there's plenty of people who buy during Steam sales as an impulse purchase and never get around to playing their games, and GOG.com has recently had a string of sales and continues to do so as well, so you'll always have something to play.
As for the games themselves, well GOG has Alan Wake + American Nightmare, so they are starting to improve with having big new titles (AW and the mini-expansion appears on GOG and Steam at the same time). It's not like the newer games are magically better than older ones I've never played, so the outcome is the same to me anyway. Plus you get extras not available with Steam.
And... you don't get DRM. I refuse to bind all my software purchases to a single account that may at some point reject my authentication for any number of reasons, or the company may be sold out of private hands to a less respectable corporation (think EA/Activision) who then changes the terms of Steam to something less palatable, etc. I just can't resolve not having control over the stuff I purchase. I don't care what "pledge" Valve have stated about going out of business - when the creditors come they won't care. You can't guarantee anything unless it's codified in a legal document somewhere, and I don't like the idea of having to crack my games should this single point of failure (i.e. Valve) cause me to be unable to play the games I purchased.
Yes it's a minority viewpoint and yes this idea of giving up control of your software to a third-party is the way the world's heading, but I don't have to fucking follow it.
I can't submit my tax online in Linux since E-Tax in Australia is a Windows program. Then again Mac users are in a similar bind, and they have more complaining power. I could do my tax by hand of course (how horrible!), but life is also more fun if you have at least a virtualised Windows and hence don't have to stress.
Could you be more specific? Is it because of the (optional) single-window mode in 2.8? The only reason I can stand to use GIMP now is BECAUSE of the single-window mode, but there's no reason to flame given it's still optional, and not even the default.
Apart from that 2.8 seems to only have improvements and greater functionality from what I've seen, but I'd be interested to read what it has which got under your skin so I can either sympathize or deride you.:)
P.S. Agreed with Ubuntu - Mint is the current distro of choice if I have to use Linux.
How the fuck have you never heard of Cyanogenmod? They the most famous crew for custom ROMs and kernels out there in the Android world (though I'd argue not necessarily the best), mentioned several times on Slashdot and other tech sites, and so on.
You don't even have to look for this info. Often you'll read something interesting but you don't have any practical use for said knowledge just yet, but your brain will hide it away in your long-term memory so that, like me, once you finally buy an Android phone you go "OK I want to root this baby and get rid of the carrier shit, what first... oh I know, Cyanogenmod! I remember them!"... and then you begin the journey.
The autorun feature of Windows (mainly XP and to a much lesser extend Vista/7) is a textbook example of where trading convenience for security can turn out to be a VERY BAD IDEA.
Autorun functionality pisses me off anyway. I always turn that shit off mainly because yes, if I put in a DVD or a USB flash it's likely I'm going to be wanting to use it soon, but since Autorun is going to invariable pop up some Explorer window or DVD application all of a sudden once the media has been analysed, that very action of a new window popping up without my direct instantiation of it is damn annoying.
Saving the couple of clicks to perform the same effect of whatever Autorun does is really, really not worth the mess we've gotten ourselves into (and still do).
That said, I don't know why the hell I'm on Slashdot.
You're on Slashdot because the general quality level of comments here are significantly higher than most other sites (particularly the comment sections of mainstream news sites - now those are places you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy). On Slashdot, so long as you browse at say a score 3 and over (maybe even 2) you'll find quite a lot of interesting and insightful comments, whereas the shit tends to get modded into oblivion.
On the other hand, you'll tend to get controversial comments (particularly if someone is bringing legitimate issues about Linux into light, or someone just hasn't drunk the Linux Kool-aid like most people here have) modded down as well because some people don't like having their preconceptions challenged. It makes them uncomfortable, hence if you browse at too high a threshold you might end up with a LOT of comments basically agreeing with one another and turning the discussion into a one-sided event. But sometimes this is the price to pay for filtering out the actual bullshit.
Start menu search still works the same way in Windows 8. Hit the win key on your keyboard to bring up the start screen, type a few letters and hit enter.
No it does not.
Sometimes you don't just want to use the Start menu to launch a program. Sometimes I want to access a control panel, or even a task. For example, in Windows 7 if I press the Windows key and type in Mouse, the first entry is the Mouse control panel. In Windows 8 you try the same thing and you won't get any hits, because unless you happen to have an actual program installed with the word 'Mouse' in it the search functionality by default only searches for programs. You can tap the arrow key down to change the category to search with (forget the names of each one), but they're no longer grouped together.
Simple stuff like this feels like a regression particularly when it serves no benefit to filter things out like this.
Absolute bullshit. I can say this from actual experience in corporate-level I.T. work (got out of it though, thank goodness) and am not just speculating on stuff I've read on the web. Now if you aren't just talking out of your ass and have some real issues with IE, I'm open to hearing them.
People use IE in the business environment because it's the default and IT departments frown on (and in almost all cases prohibit) individuals from installing FF or Chrome.
People use IE in the business environment because it melds extremely nicely with Group Policy (which isn't a surprise, given they're both Microsoft tools). Firefox has half-baked third-party support for GP extensions and Chrome, while a bit better, seems mostly to be about how to control updates and less about the fine-control of the browser.
When one vendor provides a lot of niceties to make your job a heck of a lot simpler and easier and the competition doesn't, it's no surprise why IE still rules in corporate enterprise. Certainly helps that the OS and the browser are made by the same group of people.
Given the length of time each platform has been available for, this says more about the pathetic state of Linux (non-Android) in the hands of the regular public than anything.
A software company might (and I emphasize MIGHT) be willing to open-source some old commercial software they own if it can be shown to be of benefit to them. Simply doing it for philanthropic purposes is unlikely to sway most companies, but if, say, a newer and better version of their software is coming out and the old, discontinued version people are asking for is of no threat to their profit margins, then that might be enough of a motivation as it would increase publicity, improve the image of the company (good PR is always helpful), and all the side benefits as well.
John Carmack open-sources all the engines he writes for iD software after a while, once the engine is no longer deemed commercially viable. It's unlike anyone will use the Doom 3 engine (technically id Tech 4) for example in a commercial game as it's been superseded by modern engines, and virtually no-one plays Doom 3 online so the threat from exploits is redundant. This is a great idea since it means projects such as iodoom 3 can be born to improve the engine and allow hobbyist developers to use it in their own games. I wish Valve would open source the original Goldsource engine used for their Half-Life 1 based games, but that will never happen as long as Counter-Strike is still actively played.
Easy way to disprove your argument - install the Linux build of Doom 3 and run it on something like Ubuntu. You won't get any audio because Doom 3 uses OSS audio, which is not compiled in the kernel that modern versions of Ubuntu uses. You can redirect Doom 3 to use ALSA, but that requires a bit of modification to its launch parameters and even then, if you don't do it right you'll have a few seconds of audio lag.
Yes I know Doom 3 is an oldish game (2004) and that games from the Humble Bundles for example don't have any audio issues, but there's an example of a commercial game that has audio problems out of the box without tweaking. On Windows, it works perfectly.
I have no idea if this accusation of Linux users being banned for using WINE with Diablo 3 is true or not, or if we have all the facts yet or not, but one thing seems quite clear to me - if your account is banned, you can't play the game AT ALL - not even single-player, since D3's single player still has to be played via their servers.
So if, through a fuckup of their Warden software you are marked as a cheater despite being nothing of the sort, you probably won't get any recourse. I mean, why would they bother investigating? Here's the TOS: http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/termsofuse.html
"BLIZZARD MAY SUSPEND, TERMINATE, MODIFY, OR DELETE ACCOUNTS AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON OR FOR NO REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU"
This crap isn't unusual, it's actually very common and will become increasingly pervasive as more service-dependent games are brought into the world. And some people wonder why I don't fucking use Steam/Origin and only go with Humble Bundles, GOG and other non-DRM outfits.
I'm sorry but I have to call you out there. The browser war involving IE vs Netscape was partially won by IE being bundled with Windows making the downloading of Netscape redundant. I'd wager another big reason for Netscape losing the war simply was because it was SHIT compared to IE 4. I distinctly remember switcing from Netscape to IE 4 and then IE 5 because IE was, believe it or not, fast and snappy whereas Netscape had degraded into a bloated, crappy shell of its former self. Making the effort to download a browser which was worse than that supplied by the operating system didn't make sense. It was only until better browsers like Firefox came on the scene that IE finally lost its dominance - proving that people WILL use something superior to a bundled application if it's better.
Find all image files in a hierarchy. Do some image magic based on a property (eg. size). Rename the file according to action. Can you show me how to do that in your GUI?
Look, obviously a GUI cannot do everything as it will never be able to scale in such a way as to exactly match the functionality from a custom script or carefully parametrized command. But this is only the case for examples like you provide, where you're basically reaching for cases which are NOT COMMON for most people. Even in your case it might still be possible via a GUI (in Windows 7 you can sort in Explorer via images dimensions, though depending on what your requirements are I'm not sure what to rename them as).
Point is, go far enough and you'll come across a case where the CLI can do something the GUI cannot. But either it's because you aren't aware of a GUI which can do it (even though it might exist), or it's a case which is very left-field and unlikely to ever been required in the first place.
Tons of people love to have something to hate. It might be because they don't like something about it...but I think it's mostly because people like to set up communities held together by rhetoric against a tool or technology perceived and portrayed as an enemy.
Indeed. Explains a lot of the hate towards Microsoft I see from the Linux community. Not that all of that hate is unjustified (Microsoft does provide a lot of ammo for it at times), but since the bulk of the hate seems to come mainly from zealot Linux users and generally not from any other group, your explanation is more accurate than you think.
And sometimes--nay, OFTEN--when I'm searching for something that is uncommon, google UNhelpfully says "did you mean to search for this more common thing? well, we ran this other search for you anyway, and we'll include non-related results because you made the mistake of searching for something that isn't popular."
If that happens you just click on "More search tools" in the left column and click "Verbatim". Done.
The default action you're complaining about resolves spelling errors and nudges the user into finding out the information they're really after. It's what makes the engine so damn useful - if your memory is fuzzy about something (exact phrase, exact spelling) you can often just in the words you remember and Google will work it out for you anyway. If Verbatim was the default it'd have less value for those of us who don't know how to bend Google to your will.
Look, I agree with your assessment but I feel you're inviting trouble by posting such a comment on Slashdot. You run the risk of people posting retorts, using Ubuntu as an example of a workable alternative, mentioning "grandma" every so often, etc. I don't bother trying to debate the merits of operating systems on Slashdot anymore - as far as most people are concerned Linux rules all, despite the fact most people disagree (but hey, apparently it's because they don't' know any better. Well it didn't stop Firefox and Chrome from gaining market share with the unwashed masses, so maybe it's more than just that...")
Slashdot Mirror
I doubt the ISP had a legal requirement to notify anyone about it (unlike an admittance of child porn for example).
Forget it. When you've got a minority viewpoint (e.g. not trusting Steam) it's extremely hard to get anyone to listen and those that do already have their mind set and would rather joke about you "missing out" rather than seriously consider your words. There's something about games that gets even Slashdotters to forget their anti-DRM principles - as if they can't non-DRM games from somewhere else legally, but they chose not to because they can't handle not having the latest regenerating-health shooter.
I strongly disagree. You don't have to buy with Steam - why not GOG.com? They won't have quite the selection sure, but are you honestly going to tell me you have the time available to play all the games you want anyway? Shit, there's plenty of people who buy during Steam sales as an impulse purchase and never get around to playing their games, and GOG.com has recently had a string of sales and continues to do so as well, so you'll always have something to play.
As for the games themselves, well GOG has Alan Wake + American Nightmare, so they are starting to improve with having big new titles (AW and the mini-expansion appears on GOG and Steam at the same time). It's not like the newer games are magically better than older ones I've never played, so the outcome is the same to me anyway. Plus you get extras not available with Steam.
And... you don't get DRM. I refuse to bind all my software purchases to a single account that may at some point reject my authentication for any number of reasons, or the company may be sold out of private hands to a less respectable corporation (think EA/Activision) who then changes the terms of Steam to something less palatable, etc. I just can't resolve not having control over the stuff I purchase. I don't care what "pledge" Valve have stated about going out of business - when the creditors come they won't care. You can't guarantee anything unless it's codified in a legal document somewhere, and I don't like the idea of having to crack my games should this single point of failure (i.e. Valve) cause me to be unable to play the games I purchased.
Yes it's a minority viewpoint and yes this idea of giving up control of your software to a third-party is the way the world's heading, but I don't have to fucking follow it.
I can't submit my tax online in Linux since E-Tax in Australia is a Windows program. Then again Mac users are in a similar bind, and they have more complaining power. I could do my tax by hand of course (how horrible!), but life is also more fun if you have at least a virtualised Windows and hence don't have to stress.
Could you be more specific? Is it because of the (optional) single-window mode in 2.8? The only reason I can stand to use GIMP now is BECAUSE of the single-window mode, but there's no reason to flame given it's still optional, and not even the default.
Apart from that 2.8 seems to only have improvements and greater functionality from what I've seen, but I'd be interested to read what it has which got under your skin so I can either sympathize or deride you. :)
P.S. Agreed with Ubuntu - Mint is the current distro of choice if I have to use Linux.
How the fuck have you never heard of Cyanogenmod? They the most famous crew for custom ROMs and kernels out there in the Android world (though I'd argue not necessarily the best), mentioned several times on Slashdot and other tech sites, and so on.
You don't even have to look for this info. Often you'll read something interesting but you don't have any practical use for said knowledge just yet, but your brain will hide it away in your long-term memory so that, like me, once you finally buy an Android phone you go "OK I want to root this baby and get rid of the carrier shit, what first... oh I know, Cyanogenmod! I remember them!"... and then you begin the journey.
Fuck, that should have read "trading security for convenience". As in, you give up security in exchange for obtaining convenience.
Oh now my whole comment is ruined. I can't bear to read the responses from strangers I'll never meet in the flesh, it will be too much to bear!
The autorun feature of Windows (mainly XP and to a much lesser extend Vista/7) is a textbook example of where trading convenience for security can turn out to be a VERY BAD IDEA.
Autorun functionality pisses me off anyway. I always turn that shit off mainly because yes, if I put in a DVD or a USB flash it's likely I'm going to be wanting to use it soon, but since Autorun is going to invariable pop up some Explorer window or DVD application all of a sudden once the media has been analysed, that very action of a new window popping up without my direct instantiation of it is damn annoying.
Saving the couple of clicks to perform the same effect of whatever Autorun does is really, really not worth the mess we've gotten ourselves into (and still do).
You're on Slashdot because the general quality level of comments here are significantly higher than most other sites (particularly the comment sections of mainstream news sites - now those are places you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy). On Slashdot, so long as you browse at say a score 3 and over (maybe even 2) you'll find quite a lot of interesting and insightful comments, whereas the shit tends to get modded into oblivion.
On the other hand, you'll tend to get controversial comments (particularly if someone is bringing legitimate issues about Linux into light, or someone just hasn't drunk the Linux Kool-aid like most people here have) modded down as well because some people don't like having their preconceptions challenged. It makes them uncomfortable, hence if you browse at too high a threshold you might end up with a LOT of comments basically agreeing with one another and turning the discussion into a one-sided event. But sometimes this is the price to pay for filtering out the actual bullshit.
No it does not.
Sometimes you don't just want to use the Start menu to launch a program. Sometimes I want to access a control panel, or even a task. For example, in Windows 7 if I press the Windows key and type in Mouse, the first entry is the Mouse control panel. In Windows 8 you try the same thing and you won't get any hits, because unless you happen to have an actual program installed with the word 'Mouse' in it the search functionality by default only searches for programs. You can tap the arrow key down to change the category to search with (forget the names of each one), but they're no longer grouped together.
Simple stuff like this feels like a regression particularly when it serves no benefit to filter things out like this.
Q: Why did the hipster burn his mouth while eating pizza?
A: He ate it before it was cool.
That's some good insightful logic there. Might come in handy, thanks.
Absolute bullshit. I can say this from actual experience in corporate-level I.T. work (got out of it though, thank goodness) and am not just speculating on stuff I've read on the web. Now if you aren't just talking out of your ass and have some real issues with IE, I'm open to hearing them.
People use IE in the business environment because it melds extremely nicely with Group Policy (which isn't a surprise, given they're both Microsoft tools). Firefox has half-baked third-party support for GP extensions and Chrome, while a bit better, seems mostly to be about how to control updates and less about the fine-control of the browser.
When one vendor provides a lot of niceties to make your job a heck of a lot simpler and easier and the competition doesn't, it's no surprise why IE still rules in corporate enterprise. Certainly helps that the OS and the browser are made by the same group of people.
Given the length of time each platform has been available for, this says more about the pathetic state of Linux (non-Android) in the hands of the regular public than anything.
A software company might (and I emphasize MIGHT) be willing to open-source some old commercial software they own if it can be shown to be of benefit to them. Simply doing it for philanthropic purposes is unlikely to sway most companies, but if, say, a newer and better version of their software is coming out and the old, discontinued version people are asking for is of no threat to their profit margins, then that might be enough of a motivation as it would increase publicity, improve the image of the company (good PR is always helpful), and all the side benefits as well.
John Carmack open-sources all the engines he writes for iD software after a while, once the engine is no longer deemed commercially viable. It's unlike anyone will use the Doom 3 engine (technically id Tech 4) for example in a commercial game as it's been superseded by modern engines, and virtually no-one plays Doom 3 online so the threat from exploits is redundant. This is a great idea since it means projects such as iodoom 3 can be born to improve the engine and allow hobbyist developers to use it in their own games. I wish Valve would open source the original Goldsource engine used for their Half-Life 1 based games, but that will never happen as long as Counter-Strike is still actively played.
Easy way to disprove your argument - install the Linux build of Doom 3 and run it on something like Ubuntu. You won't get any audio because Doom 3 uses OSS audio, which is not compiled in the kernel that modern versions of Ubuntu uses. You can redirect Doom 3 to use ALSA, but that requires a bit of modification to its launch parameters and even then, if you don't do it right you'll have a few seconds of audio lag.
Yes I know Doom 3 is an oldish game (2004) and that games from the Humble Bundles for example don't have any audio issues, but there's an example of a commercial game that has audio problems out of the box without tweaking. On Windows, it works perfectly.
I have no idea if this accusation of Linux users being banned for using WINE with Diablo 3 is true or not, or if we have all the facts yet or not, but one thing seems quite clear to me - if your account is banned, you can't play the game AT ALL - not even single-player, since D3's single player still has to be played via their servers.
So if, through a fuckup of their Warden software you are marked as a cheater despite being nothing of the sort, you probably won't get any recourse. I mean, why would they bother investigating? Here's the TOS: http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/termsofuse.html
"BLIZZARD MAY SUSPEND, TERMINATE, MODIFY, OR DELETE ACCOUNTS AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON OR FOR NO REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU"
This crap isn't unusual, it's actually very common and will become increasingly pervasive as more service-dependent games are brought into the world. And some people wonder why I don't fucking use Steam/Origin and only go with Humble Bundles, GOG and other non-DRM outfits.
I'm sorry but I have to call you out there. The browser war involving IE vs Netscape was partially won by IE being bundled with Windows making the downloading of Netscape redundant. I'd wager another big reason for Netscape losing the war simply was because it was SHIT compared to IE 4. I distinctly remember switcing from Netscape to IE 4 and then IE 5 because IE was, believe it or not, fast and snappy whereas Netscape had degraded into a bloated, crappy shell of its former self. Making the effort to download a browser which was worse than that supplied by the operating system didn't make sense. It was only until better browsers like Firefox came on the scene that IE finally lost its dominance - proving that people WILL use something superior to a bundled application if it's better.
Look, obviously a GUI cannot do everything as it will never be able to scale in such a way as to exactly match the functionality from a custom script or carefully parametrized command. But this is only the case for examples like you provide, where you're basically reaching for cases which are NOT COMMON for most people. Even in your case it might still be possible via a GUI (in Windows 7 you can sort in Explorer via images dimensions, though depending on what your requirements are I'm not sure what to rename them as).
Point is, go far enough and you'll come across a case where the CLI can do something the GUI cannot. But either it's because you aren't aware of a GUI which can do it (even though it might exist), or it's a case which is very left-field and unlikely to ever been required in the first place.
Indeed. Explains a lot of the hate towards Microsoft I see from the Linux community. Not that all of that hate is unjustified (Microsoft does provide a lot of ammo for it at times), but since the bulk of the hate seems to come mainly from zealot Linux users and generally not from any other group, your explanation is more accurate than you think.
If that happens you just click on "More search tools" in the left column and click "Verbatim". Done.
The default action you're complaining about resolves spelling errors and nudges the user into finding out the information they're really after. It's what makes the engine so damn useful - if your memory is fuzzy about something (exact phrase, exact spelling) you can often just in the words you remember and Google will work it out for you anyway. If Verbatim was the default it'd have less value for those of us who don't know how to bend Google to your will.
Look, I agree with your assessment but I feel you're inviting trouble by posting such a comment on Slashdot. You run the risk of people posting retorts, using Ubuntu as an example of a workable alternative, mentioning "grandma" every so often, etc. I don't bother trying to debate the merits of operating systems on Slashdot anymore - as far as most people are concerned Linux rules all, despite the fact most people disagree (but hey, apparently it's because they don't' know any better. Well it didn't stop Firefox and Chrome from gaining market share with the unwashed masses, so maybe it's more than just that...")
We are thinking the same though. IrfanView has great batch functionality.
I'd KILL for an official Control Panel option in Windows to allow me to customize the BSOD screen. Power Ranger Pink anyone?