The rest of us law abiding citizens have nothing to fear. I mean, how many of us have any truly sensitive data on our PCs ? And no, your checking account details do not count, since I can easily get them by paying a detective agency a couple of hundred bucks, and they'll get your credit history, criminal records, and a whole lot more.
No I am talking about truly sensitive information, nuclear secrets, military budget info and the like.
None of us would be stupid enough to store classified data on a PC attached to the internet, would we ?
I think this is a storm in a teacup, we should not waste time worrying about things that really have no relavence. We should be more concerned about things like the DMCA and the like.
Being able to call someone else by vulgar expressions is guaranteed (at least to americans) by the first ammendment.
Ahhh, the good ole US constitution. Where would we be without it eh ? The foundling fathers certainly came up with a serious instrument when they designed that baby.
In fact, nowhere does the first amendment grant anyone the right to use intimidating behaviour against another. Nor would it be desirable for it to. The first amendment is intended to ensure that all political arguments are allowed.
It's like the right to bear arms, that was there for a reason, but the reason was not to allow gangs of crack dealing youths full access to automatic weapons and unlimited ammo.
It is high time we brought the constitution up to date for the new millenium. I'd like curtail the more excessive amendments, basically to try and bring America back to some semblance of sanity.
I would see the enlightened countries of Europe to be the best model to follow (and Canada). Strict gun control, limitations on free speech to prevent hate-crime, and and more responsible attitude to the environment would all make America a much better place to live. IMO
MESA is a great implementation of OpenGL. I do not wish to take away anything from the creators of this great piece of technology. However, I feel that for most 'joe average' users, it will be percieved as an elitists 3d library, used by physists and geologers and the like, with no real relavence to todays fast-paced 3d games.
Linux really badly needs DirectX support, otherwise, the games developers will give up on it as a platform.
I mean, OpenGL and MESA may be technically superior, but if nobody writes any games for them, Linux will be starved of quality software.
Linux developers need to swallow their pride, and take a trip to microsoft where there is a full and comprehensive spec sheet. I believe its 'open source' too.
All thats getting in the way of a complete directX implementaiton for linux, is the pride of a few developers.
Not everything microsoft does is bad even I can see that(and I hate them!!!).
These terrorist guys are usually arabs, or irish, and speak different language from us. E.g. in arabia they speak arabic, and in ireland they speak irish/gaelic. So why bother encrypting. How many US govt officials do you think can understand arabic anyway. And even if they do, what if the terrorists have a secret language, where for example 'I have some warez' translate to 'I have the detonaters and timers'.
The cryptography argument is lame and useless. The US govt is a self-perpetuating organism that seeks power for its own sake.
If I walked up to you in the street and called you a slashdot-reading no-life asshole, that would be illegal (threatening behaviour, harassment whatever). But if I do it online, its OK ???
I'm sorry, and maybe I am an idealist, but does it seem unreasonable to expect civilised behaviour from people, whether or not they hide behind the anonymity of an online persona ?
What do others think ?
I hate to say it, but who gives a FUCK ?
on
Quake on IPv6
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· Score: 1
I mean, Jesus H Christ on a motherfucking bike, does this really constitute "news for nerds" ?
What exactly is wrong with IPV4 for Quake ?
If you cannot answer this, it is because there is NOTHING wrong with it.
IPV6 is DEAD IN THE WATER.
No less than William Gates III (who I normally diagree with vehemently) is on the record as saying 'there is no evidence of consumer demand for an IPv6 offering'
You slashdot morons obviously have too much time on your hands.
Although we all agree on the benefits that open source software can bring, I am not sure that the same approach would extend to hardware.
Hardware design, and chip design is an esoteric and hard to understand skill, debugging a race condition in a silicon chip can take a skilled technician many many hours of painstaking labor.
Contrast this to software development which is more often than not simply drawing a pretty screen, and filling in a few callbacks.
What will happen if the notoriously poor quality control standards of 'open source' reach the hardware level ? I mean, if your kernel doesn't compile, you simply back out the changes, but if your CPU wont boot, what do you do ?
Anyway, companies like Sun have tried this with sparc international, (no doubt someone will whinge about the license) but this is essentially an open source CPU. It hasn't really caught on.
I think this is just an attempt to garner publicity.
Open Source should confine itself to the realm of software, where it makes eminent good sense.
1) It comes from the UK - hardly a scientific superpower. What do these guys know about space ? Hell, they cannot even design a car that doesn't leak oil:-)
2) What if it went wrong ? A few million miles can make a hell of a difference to the temperature of the earth's surface. I object to scientists playing 'God' like this.
3) Who is going to pay for it ? Why should the US taxpayer subsidize this scheme, when countries such as Libya, Cuba, Iran and Syria (All sworn enemies of the US) would benefit too ?
All in all, it seems like a good idea at first sight, but as usual, they have not really thought it through.
I guess the (flawed)logic goes something like: Well they didn't pay $999 for NT (since Linux is free) therefore there's $999 left to spend on software.
Problem is, the world and his wife are migrating to.Net as fast as their wallets will carry them.
Unless this delphy compiles to MIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) they haven't got a hope in hell of success.
MIL is Microsofts answer to Java, and (much as I hate to say it) is an extremely cool bit of software.
All the real action is in interpreted languages like VB, Smalltalk, Java and Microsoft's revolutionary.NET language.
I mean, compilers still have their place (in a museum of history;-) but all serious development these days is done on interpreted platforms. The suits realise that the true cost of development is high, and they cannot afford to have their geeks sitting around waiting for their code to compile and link.
Well you are correct, in fact the language G++ compiles is not strictly C++ (it is the subset of C++ that RMS chose to implement).
There are serious problems with the way it handles template instantiation, tail-recursion optimization, loop unrolling, peephole optimization, pipelining on P4, etc etc etc, I could go on and on, but the point is made.
Shareware like G++ is all very well for hobbyists, but when theres a job to be done, the professional will ALWAYS pick the commercial (read: bullet proof quality and support) above the open source alternative. That is why Micro$haft are so popular.
p
This is a joke right ? 999 for a piece-of-shit language like Delphie when you can get a far superior tool like squeak for free and Visual Basic for a couple of hundred.
I find it hard to believe there is any demand for this. Indeed, it may make the less savvy people out there think of Linux as an expensive choice, especially when you realise that the vast majority of Linux users are shall we say "careful" with their cash!!!
One more example of big corporations setting out to destroy the open source revolution. I am saddened. What do others think ?
Its about time they took a second look at LINUX
on
How Qwest Runs Things
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· Score: 1
I'm fed up with people going on about how great BSD networking code is. Sure back in the day it was faster than Linux, but things have moved on. Linux is right up there with BSD when it comes to TCP/IP support.
Weaker distro's will simply go down the toilet, while distro's which give people what they want, will succeed. Do we really care about a marginal distro ? We still have redhad, debian, suse, etc etc.
Personally speaking, this is a sad day, since anything that competes with the Redmond Retards has to be a good thing, but in the grand scheme of things, will we really care in say three months time ?
I think there's an element of truth in this. I think perhaps its time Linux let go of the reigns for a while, perhaps letting Alan Cox have a bit more say over what goes into the kernal. However I think rumors of Linux's death are exaggerated.
Just take a look at 2.4 if you don't believe me;-)
The reference to a sensational hollywood movie typifies the American attitude to everything. Trivialsation. Human cloning is an extremely serious ethical issue, one which readers of Slashdot probably have some intelligent opinions. Howver the reference to 'alien ressurection' simply reduces the debate to a flippant and shallow level.
I remember when Slashdot was like 'the well', a polite, well moderated haven in amongst the internet junk and filth. Nowadays its all a bit USAToday... Which is a shame.
I can't make up my mind if this is a very subtle troll, or a very obvious attempt to gain karma...
Either way, it adds little to the discussion.
thank you
Wow, open source taken to the next level.
on
Free Books Online
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· Score: 1
Will these books be 'open source' in other words can I re-write the ending if I don't like it ?
That would be cool. So many stories have happy endings these days. It would totally rock if we could rewrite them...
BTW has anyone out there read 'lord of the rings' ? It totally rules, and 'the hobbit'.
Gee I hope I don't come over as a stereotype linux geek:-). OOops I'm listening to the 'dead.
Got to go, time to go and wash my beard. (I do this every month whether it needs it or not)...
Whether you regard my honest opinion as a 'troll' (whatever that is) also depends where you stand. I would find it very useful to know for certain which versions of which.dll were installed on the 100000+ PCs in the organization where I work.
I noticed it again that same 'geek gene' that makes us all love Tolkein and 'Star Trek' and Anime, is making us love comic books too.
I have an idea for a new super-hero, 'Anonymous Coward-man'. He would have secret super-powers like invisibility, and anonymity.
Whenever there was a dangerous criminal running around threatening to dominate the world with a crap operating $ystem, AC-man would appear, and thwart those plans with a few well-placed comments like 'code wants to be free' or 'open source or death' or 'j00 14|\/\3rz \/\/1|| |\|3\/3r d3f347/\/\3, I 4/\/\ 31337!!!!!'
That would be good. Or linux man, he would kill criminals with one whip of his humungous beard, or stun them with his fearsomr B.O.
Seriously though, is this really the way computers are going ? I've heard so much about optical, genetic, biological and quantum computers I'm sick of it. But good old silicon seems go on getting faster, smaller and cheaper.
I think Moore's law will hold forever.
If this copy protection is such a good idea, why hasn't SCSI been extended to support it ? SCSI is superior to IDE in all other ways (speed, access time, capacity, latency etc )
Slashdot Mirror
No I am talking about truly sensitive information, nuclear secrets, military budget info and the like.
None of us would be stupid enough to store classified data on a PC attached to the internet, would we ?
I think this is a storm in a teacup, we should not waste time worrying about things that really have no relavence. We should be more concerned about things like the DMCA and the like.
What do others think ?
Ahhh, the good ole US constitution. Where would we be without it eh ? The foundling fathers certainly came up with a serious instrument when they designed that baby.
In fact, nowhere does the first amendment grant anyone the right to use intimidating behaviour against another. Nor would it be desirable for it to. The first amendment is intended to ensure that all political arguments are allowed.
It's like the right to bear arms, that was there for a reason, but the reason was not to allow gangs of crack dealing youths full access to automatic weapons and unlimited ammo.
It is high time we brought the constitution up to date for the new millenium. I'd like curtail the more excessive amendments, basically to try and bring America back to some semblance of sanity.
I would see the enlightened countries of Europe to be the best model to follow (and Canada). Strict gun control, limitations on free speech to prevent hate-crime, and and more responsible attitude to the environment would all make America a much better place to live. IMO
I wonder what others think ?
Linux really badly needs DirectX support, otherwise, the games developers will give up on it as a platform.
I mean, OpenGL and MESA may be technically superior, but if nobody writes any games for them, Linux will be starved of quality software.
Linux developers need to swallow their pride, and take a trip to microsoft where there is a full and comprehensive spec sheet. I believe its 'open source' too.
All thats getting in the way of a complete directX implementaiton for linux, is the pride of a few developers.
Not everything microsoft does is bad even I can see that(and I hate them!!!).
There's not much you can do to stop terrorists from communicating
No, I guess the movie makers are not stupid (like the vast majority of us americans) and made him speak english so we can understand.
The cryptography argument is lame and useless. The US govt is a self-perpetuating organism that seeks power for its own sake.
A bit like the redmond retards :-)
I'm sorry, and maybe I am an idealist, but does it seem unreasonable to expect civilised behaviour from people, whether or not they hide behind the anonymity of an online persona ?
What do others think ?
What exactly is wrong with IPV4 for Quake ?
If you cannot answer this, it is because there is NOTHING wrong with it.
IPV6 is DEAD IN THE WATER.
No less than William Gates III (who I normally diagree with vehemently) is on the record as saying 'there is no evidence of consumer demand for an IPv6 offering'
You slashdot morons obviously have too much time on your hands.
Hardware design, and chip design is an esoteric and hard to understand skill, debugging a race condition in a silicon chip can take a skilled technician many many hours of painstaking labor.
Contrast this to software development which is more often than not simply drawing a pretty screen, and filling in a few callbacks.
What will happen if the notoriously poor quality control standards of 'open source' reach the hardware level ? I mean, if your kernel doesn't compile, you simply back out the changes, but if your CPU wont boot, what do you do ?
Anyway, companies like Sun have tried this with sparc international, (no doubt someone will whinge about the license) but this is essentially an open source CPU. It hasn't really caught on.
I think this is just an attempt to garner publicity.
Open Source should confine itself to the realm of software, where it makes eminent good sense.
2) What if it went wrong ? A few million miles can make a hell of a difference to the temperature of the earth's surface. I object to scientists playing 'God' like this.
3) Who is going to pay for it ? Why should the US taxpayer subsidize this scheme, when countries such as Libya, Cuba, Iran and Syria (All sworn enemies of the US) would benefit too ?
All in all, it seems like a good idea at first sight, but as usual, they have not really thought it through.
What do others think ?
Problem is, the world and his wife are migrating to .Net as fast as their wallets will carry them.
Unless this delphy compiles to MIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) they haven't got a hope in hell of success.
MIL is Microsofts answer to Java, and (much as I hate to say it) is an extremely cool bit of software.
I mean, compilers still have their place (in a museum of history ;-) but all serious development these days is done on interpreted platforms. The suits realise that the true cost of development is high, and they cannot afford to have their geeks sitting around waiting for their code to compile and link.
There are serious problems with the way it handles template instantiation, tail-recursion optimization, loop unrolling, peephole optimization, pipelining on P4, etc etc etc, I could go on and on, but the point is made.
Shareware like G++ is all very well for hobbyists, but when theres a job to be done, the professional will ALWAYS pick the commercial (read: bullet proof quality and support) above the open source alternative. That is why Micro$haft are so popular. p
I find it hard to believe there is any demand for this. Indeed, it may make the less savvy people out there think of Linux as an expensive choice, especially when you realise that the vast majority of Linux users are shall we say "careful" with their cash!!!
One more example of big corporations setting out to destroy the open source revolution. I am saddened. What do others think ?
Personally speaking, this is a sad day, since anything that competes with the Redmond Retards has to be a good thing, but in the grand scheme of things, will we really care in say three months time ?
Just take a look at 2.4 if you don't believe me ;-)
I remember when Slashdot was like 'the well', a polite, well moderated haven in amongst the internet junk and filth. Nowadays its all a bit USAToday... Which is a shame.
thank you
BTW has anyone out there read 'lord of the rings' ? It totally rules, and 'the hobbit'.
Gee I hope I don't come over as a stereotype linux geek :-). OOops I'm listening to the 'dead.
Got to go, time to go and wash my beard. (I do this every month whether it needs it or not)...
I have an idea for a new super-hero, 'Anonymous Coward-man'. He would have secret super-powers like invisibility, and anonymity.
Whenever there was a dangerous criminal running around threatening to dominate the world with a crap operating $ystem, AC-man would appear, and thwart those plans with a few well-placed comments like 'code wants to be free' or 'open source or death' or 'j00 14|\/\3rz \/\/1|| |\|3\/3r d3f347 /\/\3, I 4/\/\ 31337!!!!!'
That would be good. Or linux man, he would kill criminals with one whip of his humungous beard, or stun them with his fearsomr B.O.
Seriously though, is this really the way computers are going ? I've heard so much about optical, genetic, biological and quantum computers I'm sick of it. But good old silicon seems go on getting faster, smaller and cheaper. I think Moore's law will hold forever.