Not at all. Corel was a graphics software house that overreached when they bought WordPerfect from Novell in the mid 90s. Novell's core business - NetWare has been in decline for about seven years. Linux allows Novell to do what they are really good (networking, infrastructure management and so one) without the cost of writing and maintaining their own OS (NetWare).
Novel had to reposition. They were in the same camp with has beens like SCO and Sun, living off a market that hasn't grown all that much in the past 5 years. Here's a way to see it:
* Open source/open standards - with IBM leading the charge followed by a totall disorganized mob (and I mean that in the best way possible). Ultimately the winner as the open source world evolves quickly and is extremely competitive.
* Microsoft Block - led by MS, Dell and to a certain extent Ziff-Davis publishing/hype. To a certain degree the strength of the MS Block is anchored around two pieces of the MS product line: MS Office and MS's outstanding development tools.
* Unix Luddites - Led by SCO and Sun - these are the people who have not read the writing on the wall that an OS is not worth $500. Traditionally their strength was flexibility, speed and reliability. Unfortunately, this does not differentiate their product from open source software nor does it counter the MS block's edge in development tools. Their business models are not built to withstand the commoditization of their core product.
I just read my phone bill. $49.95 from AT&T for all you can eat local and long distance calling. $20 in supposedly mandated taxes. I did a little digging and found out from a friend that carriers often mark up the taxes and pocket the profit. My question is how good is voice over IP? Is it good enough to yank out my existing line and make the jump?
I checked out Packet8 and I noticed that even after paying twenty bucks a month calls from the US to Taiwan are still five cents a minute. That's not so special.
I'm not so sure. To have a phone line in your home in the US is about $23-$28 per month. $19 isn't bad considering I can use my cable internet connection and it includes all north american calls. 5 cents a minute to Tiawan isn't bad either.
Most people can't install an operating system period.
You underestimate most people. Were that the case, no one would have ever got their old PC to work. There was a time when you had two floppies and an OS disk. People did fine. In fact, having started back in the era of text mode, most users actually were doing the same things with their pcs (except internet) that they do today:
* Word Processing * Spread Sheets * Databases Applications * Presentation Graphice (lol - Harvard Graphics rules) * Playing Games * Writing Software
If "ready for the desktop" for most users means word processing, internet access, and so forth, Linux is almost there - it just needs to be able to read Word documents properly
Actually, the whole "read word documents" properly thing is overrated. In fact, I'd much rather see an application that demolishes old productivity suites and makes me more productive. Enough application switching already.
I am becoming more and more convinced that intellectual property is on a collision course with personal liberty. Unfortunately, neither the Republicans or Demorats seem to get this yet.
Agreed. Reading the patent, one sees that they describe a web-based process where one can access a web page, back up files comprising a user's environment, go to a new workstation, and restore said files.
How is this different than using NFS of FTP for the same end other than the protocol?
ell if you consider the UN charter a treaty that the US has agreed to, then you look at that charter, especially where it says "The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members"
No nation takes orders from the UN. It was kind of funny that anyone expected Hussein to before the war. It is a toothless institution.
Voting? give me a break. Voting doesn't do shit and you know it. All the important selections and choices have already been made by the time the avg citizen is allowed to 'vote.'
Actually, you could not be more wrong. Most power in the US is held at the local government level. The county or city is more likely to tax, arrest, jail, or otherwise interfere in your life than anything. Your vote matters deeply there. So far as the federal government goes, congressional races often come down to a few votes and primary elections are often decided by less than 5% of the vote.
If people were truly politically engaged in the US, Gore and Bush would have never won the primary. Neither were great leaders. Both were laughing stocks.
I rarely get mad at a post on slashdot. But this one got me going.
We are now guilty of illegally invading a foreign country without any direct threat of war or attack or in assistance to another country, but simply based on political agenda, public ignorance, public fear mongering, and propoganda about WMD. Wow. First, there is no such thing as an illegal war. Frankly, there's hardly such a thing as a civilized war. Who has the athority to say "war is legal" and "war is illegal"? Last I looked on earth the highest authority is a soverign government. There is NO INTERNATIONAL GOVERNEMENT - although some would like there to be one.
The public was not ignorant about the war in Iraq. I seem to recall almost endless debate over the need for the war. It came to a vote and people with access to even better information than you and I (congress) authorized the president to take action. WMD as justification aside, there were four other pillars to the decision: democratization of the region, oil, terrorism and the plight of the Iraqi people.
The US is not a world democracy, but a world hypocrisy. We can do it, but NOBODY else can. And there is NOTHING you can do about it.
Why whould you ever think the US was trying in any way to represent the world? Last I looked only US citizens had the right to vote here. We are not a world democracy. Our government was not founded protect the world, it was founded to to protect the people who have entrusted it with the power to do so. Based on the fact we are prosperous, don't have wars inside our borders and enjoy a life where we are free to pursue our own interests, our government is a success.
As for hypocrisy, why does that even matter? Last I looked, hypocrisy wasn't a crime. Regardless, the US is not hypocritical. We are simply pursuing policy that is in our interest. What you seem to fail to grasp is that policies in the interest of other nations are often contrary to what is best for your own nation.
Do we need ANOTHER WMD? The answer is, we don't. That's fine if you want to be bullied around by other nations. But I think I can speek for anyone who values freedom here: I'd rather have the next WMD in our arsenal than anyone else have it. Better my country be able to threaten a foreign power than be threatened by one.
Actually, the operating point of view is that it is good that my courntry has weapon X and other countries do not. Any country seeking to get weapon X should be strongly discouraged.
Frankly, what is right for one nation is often wrong for another. WMD is an easy to understand version of this.
Who cares about one journalist suing another for being a journalist. Both of these guys would be better served by actually finding some real news to report about. Ahhh forget it. People don't like real news it hurts too much.
Actually, thats a bit incorrect. The code that Frontpage produces is a mess, no matter how good the designer is using it. This reminds me of arguments from back in the day about generated assembler vs. hand written assembler. Regardless, FP doesn't generate that bad of HTML - often it contains a lot of nbsp and font= that are unnecessary, but overall, it isn't that bad. You can usually carve more bandwidth from resampling graphics than you can by reducing 400 bytes of text anyway.
I'm generally against IP on the principal that owning an idea is literally impossible. That said, patents, trademarks and copyright have encouraged innovation and are very much responsible for the technology economy's existence. That said, there are three changes to patent law that would make total sense:
a) change the standard from clear and convincing to a preponderance of the evidence.
b) eliminate submarine patents. Tricking people into infringing and then suing for big $$$ is not just.
c) eliminate the ability of patenting the specific use of a general purpose tool. Patenting the use of a digital computer for counting beans. Patenting using an on screen button to buy something is equally obvious. Plus, the original designer of the technology built the tool for flexibility and we should assume the designer intended the tool to be used in that way.
when soldiers from mostly modest backgrounds are sent out to die so the upper-middle-class can continue driving around in their $40K SUV's and $100K RV's.
Actually, it's the lower-middle through upper middle.
The upper class prefers the Ford F-150 and the Crown Victoria (read the millionaire nextstore).
Re:The article focuses solely on the first-world,
on
The End of the Oil Age
·
· Score: 1
I imagine western Europe will switch to hydrogen economies long before it happens in north america.
Western Europe is dependent on confiscatory fuel taxes. Any gains in efficiency would be lost in the form of taxes.
This story hilights one of the biggest fundamental flaws in US privacy laws: personal information can be sent to out of country subcontractors who can do whatever they want with that data. And they can do so with impunity.
want to slow down US and European job loss? I wonder how popular outsourcing IT will be if we restrict the outsourcing of private customer information processing to only countries with recriprocal laws or treaties on the books?
X10 made offers they never backed up - anyone remember this slashdot story? I'm still waiting for mine and that was 1999.
X10 had a niche product - home automation products. Not everyone is willing to replace plugs and switches in their home with x10 enabled smart ones.
X10 tried to appeal to rather base instinct: buy our video gear and you can make movies of naked or at least semi naked 19 year old models. The problem is most people don't have anyone that resembles a model living in their home. If anything the footage most people would secure is suitable only for America's funniest home videos...
Slashdot Mirror
Not at all. Corel was a graphics software house that overreached when they bought WordPerfect from Novell in the mid 90s. Novell's core business - NetWare has been in decline for about seven years. Linux allows Novell to do what they are really good (networking, infrastructure management and so one) without the cost of writing and maintaining their own OS (NetWare).
Novel had to reposition. They were in the same camp with has beens like SCO and Sun, living off a market that hasn't grown all that much in the past 5 years. Here's a way to see it:
* Open source/open standards - with IBM leading the charge followed by a totall disorganized mob (and I mean that in the best way possible). Ultimately the winner as the open source world evolves quickly and is extremely competitive.
* Microsoft Block - led by MS, Dell and to a certain extent Ziff-Davis publishing/hype. To a certain degree the strength of the MS Block is anchored around two pieces of the MS product line: MS Office and MS's outstanding development tools.
* Unix Luddites - Led by SCO and Sun - these are the people who have not read the writing on the wall that an OS is not worth $500. Traditionally their strength was flexibility, speed and reliability. Unfortunately, this does not differentiate their product from open source software nor does it counter the MS block's edge in development tools. Their business models are not built to withstand the commoditization of their core product.
Thanks for answering. I'm likely to give this a try for December. Pricing is good, and my internet is fast!
I just read my phone bill. $49.95 from AT&T for all you can eat local and long distance calling. $20 in supposedly mandated taxes. I did a little digging and found out from a friend that carriers often mark up the taxes and pocket the profit. My question is how good is voice over IP? Is it good enough to yank out my existing line and make the jump?
I checked out Packet8 and I noticed that even after paying twenty bucks a month calls from the US to Taiwan are still five cents a minute. That's not so special.
I'm not so sure. To have a phone line in your home in the US is about $23-$28 per month. $19 isn't bad considering I can use my cable internet connection and it includes all north american calls. 5 cents a minute to Tiawan isn't bad either.
Most people can't install an operating system period.
You underestimate most people. Were that the case, no one would have ever got their old PC to work. There was a time when you had two floppies and an OS disk. People did fine. In fact, having started back in the era of text mode, most users actually were doing the same things with their pcs (except internet) that they do today:
* Word Processing
* Spread Sheets
* Databases Applications
* Presentation Graphice (lol - Harvard Graphics rules)
* Playing Games
* Writing Software
If "ready for the desktop" for most users means word processing, internet access, and so forth, Linux is almost there - it just needs to be able to read Word documents properly
Actually, the whole "read word documents" properly thing is overrated. In fact, I'd much rather see an application that demolishes old productivity suites and makes me more productive. Enough application switching already.
I am becoming more and more convinced that intellectual property is on a collision course with personal liberty. Unfortunately, neither the Republicans or Demorats seem to get this yet.
Agreed. Reading the patent, one sees that they describe a web-based process where one can access a web page, back up files comprising a user's environment, go to a new workstation, and restore said files.
How is this different than using NFS of FTP for the same end other than the protocol?
The Patriot Act has served it's purpose. It's time for it to go now.
If you think you see human stupidity on a helpdesk you ought to see what they do when they buy stuff.
Why am I going to pay a price of $350 or more for something that I can already get for much less than $350?
ell if you consider the UN charter a treaty that the US has agreed to, then you look at that charter, especially where it says "The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members"
No nation takes orders from the UN. It was kind of funny that anyone expected Hussein to before the war. It is a toothless institution.
Voting? give me a break. Voting doesn't do shit and you know it. All the important selections and choices have already been made by the time the avg citizen is allowed to 'vote.'
Actually, you could not be more wrong. Most power in the US is held at the local government level. The county or city is more likely to tax, arrest, jail, or otherwise interfere in your life than anything. Your vote matters deeply there. So far as the federal government goes, congressional races often come down to a few votes and primary elections are often decided by less than 5% of the vote.
If people were truly politically engaged in the US, Gore and Bush would have never won the primary. Neither were great leaders. Both were laughing stocks.
Wacko takes control and restricts freedom
... after Bush's second term since the Democrats have no viable candidates. Oh how I wish there was a viable option.
We shall see in 2008
I rarely get mad at a post on slashdot. But this one got me going.
We are now guilty of illegally invading a foreign country without any direct threat of war or attack or in assistance to another country, but simply based on political agenda, public ignorance, public fear mongering, and propoganda about WMD.
Wow. First, there is no such thing as an illegal war. Frankly, there's hardly such a thing as a civilized war. Who has the athority to say "war is legal" and "war is illegal"? Last I looked on earth the highest authority is a soverign government. There is NO INTERNATIONAL GOVERNEMENT - although some would like there to be one.
The public was not ignorant about the war in Iraq. I seem to recall almost endless debate over the need for the war. It came to a vote and people with access to even better information than you and I (congress) authorized the president to take action. WMD as justification aside, there were four other pillars to the decision: democratization of the region, oil, terrorism and the plight of the Iraqi people.
The US is not a world democracy, but a world hypocrisy. We can do it, but NOBODY else can. And there is NOTHING you can do about it.
Why whould you ever think the US was trying in any way to represent the world? Last I looked only US citizens had the right to vote here. We are not a world democracy. Our government was not founded protect the world, it was founded to to protect the people who have entrusted it with the power to do so. Based on the fact we are prosperous, don't have wars inside our borders and enjoy a life where we are free to pursue our own interests, our government is a success.
As for hypocrisy, why does that even matter? Last I looked, hypocrisy wasn't a crime. Regardless, the US is not hypocritical. We are simply pursuing policy that is in our interest. What you seem to fail to grasp is that policies in the interest of other nations are often contrary to what is best for your own nation.
Do we need ANOTHER WMD? The answer is, we don't.
That's fine if you want to be bullied around by other nations. But I think I can speek for anyone who values freedom here: I'd rather have the next WMD in our arsenal than anyone else have it. Better my country be able to threaten a foreign power than be threatened by one.
Actually, the operating point of view is that it is good that my courntry has weapon X and other countries do not. Any country seeking to get weapon X should be strongly discouraged.
Frankly, what is right for one nation is often wrong for another. WMD is an easy to understand version of this.
Who cares about one journalist suing another for being a journalist. Both of these guys would be better served by actually finding some real news to report about. Ahhh forget it. People don't like real news it hurts too much.
Actually, thats a bit incorrect. The code that Frontpage produces is a mess, no matter how good the designer is using it.
This reminds me of arguments from back in the day about generated assembler vs. hand written assembler. Regardless, FP doesn't generate that bad of HTML - often it contains a lot of nbsp and font= that are unnecessary, but overall, it isn't that bad. You can usually carve more bandwidth from resampling graphics than you can by reducing 400 bytes of text anyway.
I'm generally against IP on the principal that owning an idea is literally impossible. That said, patents, trademarks and copyright have encouraged innovation and are very much responsible for the technology economy's existence. That said, there are three changes to patent law that would make total sense:
a) change the standard from clear and convincing to a preponderance of the evidence.
b) eliminate submarine patents. Tricking people into infringing and then suing for big $$$ is not just.
c) eliminate the ability of patenting the specific use of a general purpose tool. Patenting the use of a digital computer for counting beans. Patenting using an on screen button to buy something is equally obvious. Plus, the original designer of the technology built the tool for flexibility and we should assume the designer intended the tool to be used in that way.
It allows novices to easily create (generally bad) web content.
Last I looked, most web content fell into two categories:
a) generally bad
b) specifically bad
Seriously, FP is just a tool. It's only as good as the designer using it.
when soldiers from mostly modest backgrounds are sent out to die so the upper-middle-class can continue driving around in their $40K SUV's and $100K RV's.
Actually, it's the lower-middle through upper middle.
The upper class prefers the Ford F-150 and the Crown Victoria (read the millionaire nextstore).
I imagine western Europe will switch to hydrogen economies long before it happens in north america.
Western Europe is dependent on confiscatory fuel taxes. Any gains in efficiency would be lost in the form of taxes.
Lets see Pentium VI, Windows XP, nVidia Card etc...
Sounds like a PC. Too bad the general purpose version is pretty damn cheap anyway.
I think all these opportuneurs don't get it:
The general purpose computer will eventually price crush the game box.
maybe you didn't punch the monkey properly.
I ordered three times in different promotions and never recieved a firecracker.
This story hilights one of the biggest fundamental flaws in US privacy laws: personal information can be sent to out of country subcontractors who can do whatever they want with that data. And they can do so with impunity.
want to slow down US and European job loss?
I wonder how popular outsourcing IT will be if we restrict the outsourcing of private customer information processing to only countries with recriprocal laws or treaties on the books?
X10 made offers they never backed up - anyone remember this slashdot story? I'm still waiting for mine and that was 1999.
X10 had a niche product - home automation products. Not everyone is willing to replace plugs and switches in their home with x10 enabled smart ones.
X10 tried to appeal to rather base instinct: buy our video gear and you can make movies of naked or at least semi naked 19 year old models. The problem is most people don't have anyone that resembles a model living in their home. If anything the footage most people would secure is suitable only for America's funniest home videos...