You missed the point totally. Most users are more used to Windows and thus harass the system managers if they get a non-Windows sytem. This is a common and big problem.
The solution is to make the help system public. Keeps people from asking stoopid questions.:-)
Normal users don't run Pine!
Pine is much simpler to use if you use multiple computers. You don't need to configure every machine or use webmail (this is the case for University students). In this case pine is the ease of use winner.
Unless said book is shrinkwrapped, in which case the bookstore won't accept the return, and 9 times out of ten, the books required for my classes were shrinkwrapped.
What books are these? Do they have software on them? The return policy should be printed on the bill, and in most places you can even return shrinkwrapped software.
So, You have to get a degree, which in most cases teaches you nothing you couldn't learn better through experience.
And where would you find these jobs which don't require a college degree? Try getting a programming job without a BS. Along with TAANSTAAFL, the other thing is "on the job training".
You are generally taught by the people least qualified in the field, often by people who you can't understand the first word they say (Foreign Grad Students).
Most schools are going back to using Profs to teach courses.
Seriously. At the start of the semester, ignore the books entirely. Buy the book the day you first need it. I started doing that a couple years into college; for the rest of my time, I think I averaged one or two books a semester. Most classes didn't require the book at all. (Often you could pick between reading the book and going to class; doing both was redundant.)
Why is this even necessary? You can return books to the University bookstore anytime within the first two weeks. You can do without books if you are really well organized, but if you do your homework the day before it is due, then the book purchase is worth it.
School meal plans. One day, I calculated the per meal cost of my eat-as-often-as-you-want plan, and realized that I could eat out at a restaurant for every meal and spend less money. After that, I stopped paying for the meal plan and started paying on a per-meal basis at the cafeteria.
Most places have compulsory meal plans for undergraduates.
Linux is still far from "user-friendly" as a desktop solution. Stable or not, it's still has a huge "geek factor" to bridge before you can just give it to a user without your phone and pager going off every 5 minutes. Talk about high maintenance.
Why would your pager go off? This implies some major problem--like disk errors or and OS crash. All the GNU/Linux machines that I have used have several month uptimes, and running TeX happily.
So, if they stopped tomorrow how long would it be before Mac users REALLY felt the pinch?
Quite soon, I should imagine, considering all the talk about ease of use and using the best tool for the job etc. by the Mac community. They would at least have to use a second machine to use the standard office talks (just like engineers who used UNIX had to before them).
For the record, Sun still uses no MS products internally. (other than a few laptops with XP here and there.) Sun really does run on Sun.
Care to point to any statements by SUN executives? IIRC, about 5 years ago most of the office work at SUN was done using MS machines--raised a big stink here on slashdot. I guess that has changed with Sun Rays, but still...
I used to think this was some sort of Coupland lie justifying the power book he probably wrote the novel on.
I am sure if it was written in 2000 things would be really different. As for lying, I think the title of the book is misleading--it has very little to do with Microsoft (less than 10% of the pages).
Calculus was actually invented by *Leibniz* mostly-independently at about the same time or slightly earlier.
Not at all. It is now generally agreed that Newton invented Calculus much earlier. However, it was Leibniz's notation which was finally accepted. The only thing Leibniz had going for him was that he did it independently.
Seriously, I posted a little while ago about a new Linux based Mulimedia PC from InterVideo [intervideo.com] and it got rejected
Intervideo is the company which was being touted by *AA as developing Linux DVD solution while the CSS case was big news. Of course, they never released their Linux product.
I don't know of any laptops made today that I'd call robust. Laptops today are built for performance which means pushing their components to their limits, which means early failure.
I found some companies which were selling mini-ITX based laptops, but they seem to have discontinued them. They should be pretty robust as they are desktop systems.
Even sadder is that the space program will go nowhere without nuclear. Of all the propulsion methods that have been theorized, only nuclear powered ones (be it fission, fusion, or matter/antimatter) produce enough power and thrust to make space travel a feasible option.
Why is this? We don't have cold fusion or antimatter yet, so the only alternative is fission. However, without gravity drives, we still need to carry mass to be used as reaction force. And from a previous slashdot story the thrust increase is only about 100% even with nuclear power. Nuclear energy is not a silver bullet.
The problem is that computers have a difficult time generating new text.
How do you figure? In TAOCP Knuth gives an example of computers that write a western play. If you can create new stories then writing a report based on certain facts is trivial.
Since when are patent auditors "skilled in the art"?
I am sure they have some knowledge of the respective fields. Most of the problems arise due to policy decisions. BTW, wasn't Einstein a patent examiner?
Some ingenious ideas , need to be patented so that the inventor can reap the benefits of his hardwork. But inventions which leave us saying "f@#king DUH!", should seriously be quentioned.
Umm... patents are only granted if it is not obvious to one skilled in the art (i.e. someone in the industry). So safeguards are already in place.
Paper books are awesome. Although it's not typical in a library, you could find a century-old book and read it. If it degrades there is still mostly legible information. The data is not destroyed by impact, large electromagnetic fields (including nuclear/EM bomb) and the data can be wired directly to our brains via the eyes.
And most of the old books in a library are thrown out (What do you think they sell in those library sales?). Have a look at the arguments in Eldred. With a digital book, you will never have to make that decision.
Slashdot Mirror
The solution is to make the help system public. Keeps people from asking stoopid questions. :-)
Pine is much simpler to use if you use multiple computers. You don't need to configure every machine or use webmail (this is the case for University students). In this case pine is the ease of use winner.
What books are these? Do they have software on them? The return policy should be printed on the bill, and in most places you can even return shrinkwrapped software.
Why would they be using a shortcut? That is Windows behavior--all the UNIX users I know use either Netscape Mail or pine.
And where would you find these jobs which don't require a college degree? Try getting a programming job without a BS. Along with TAANSTAAFL, the other thing is "on the job training".
Most schools are going back to using Profs to teach courses.
Why is this even necessary? You can return books to the University bookstore anytime within the first two weeks. You can do without books if you are really well organized, but if you do your homework the day before it is due, then the book purchase is worth it.
Most places have compulsory meal plans for undergraduates.
Why would your pager go off? This implies some major problem--like disk errors or and OS crash. All the GNU/Linux machines that I have used have several month uptimes, and running TeX happily.
Quite soon, I should imagine, considering all the talk about ease of use and using the best tool for the job etc. by the Mac community. They would at least have to use a second machine to use the standard office talks (just like engineers who used UNIX had to before them).
Care to point to any statements by SUN executives? IIRC, about 5 years ago most of the office work at SUN was done using MS machines--raised a big stink here on slashdot. I guess that has changed with Sun Rays, but still ...
I am sure if it was written in 2000 things would be really different. As for lying, I think the title of the book is misleading--it has very little to do with Microsoft (less than 10% of the pages).
Not at all. It is now generally agreed that Newton invented Calculus much earlier. However, it was Leibniz's notation which was finally accepted. The only thing Leibniz had going for him was that he did it independently.
This is not about someone's ego. Without GNU and the GPL, the software wouldn't be Free. And the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
It is called Mandrake.
It already does (middle click).
Double click on the rpm in the file manager.
It is autodetected and installed (same as in Windows).
How about mentioning that the OS they are using is Windows 9x? Yeah, BMW is a really cool company that makes all the right choices.
Intervideo is the company which was being touted by *AA as developing Linux DVD solution while the CSS case was big news. Of course, they never released their Linux product.
I found some companies which were selling mini-ITX based laptops, but they seem to have discontinued them. They should be pretty robust as they are desktop systems.
Why is this? We don't have cold fusion or antimatter yet, so the only alternative is fission. However, without gravity drives, we still need to carry mass to be used as reaction force. And from a previous slashdot story the thrust increase is only about 100% even with nuclear power. Nuclear energy is not a silver bullet.
Although the noise from this revolutionary ducts are much lower, they do emit ultra low frequency noise not unlike those of seismic disturbances. ;-)
Do you know of any laptops that are robust? You are much better off buying a $800 laptop and throwing it away if it fails after one year.
And at $20,000 a pop I am sure very few organizations would consider buying one. But now with Sun supporting AMD64 who knows ...
Well, it is lot of code (23 MB compressed). Since it is hosted on Savannah, I wonder how long it will take to start development again?
Adult movie actors were routinely arrested for prostitution/escorted out of town in the 70s.
How do you figure? In TAOCP Knuth gives an example of computers that write a western play. If you can create new stories then writing a report based on certain facts is trivial.
I am sure they have some knowledge of the respective fields. Most of the problems arise due to policy decisions. BTW, wasn't Einstein a patent examiner?
Umm ... patents are only granted if it is not obvious to one skilled in the art (i.e. someone in the industry). So safeguards are already in place.
And most of the old books in a library are thrown out (What do you think they sell in those library sales?). Have a look at the arguments in Eldred. With a digital book, you will never have to make that decision.