The momentume that Open Source Software has built up over the last year has been really quite remarkable. I would say that the year 2000 has been a watershed year for Linux and the Open Source movement, as it has been the year when business really got serious about it, I think. IBM, Sun, Oracle, Dell, Compaq - all these mainstream companies have jumped on the merry bandwagon. The good thing is, that now they are not doing it because it is new and they want to stay on top of it, they are investing in Open Source because they see it as a viable future for the Computing Industry. It is good that we have hard headed businessmen alongside the idealistic core segment of the community, it gives us another strength. Our happy concoction of Visionaries, Leaders, Coders, Hippies (tee hee!) and businessmen shall give us great diversity and strength, unlike other parts of the software industry that are solely guided by the profit motive.
I only hope that the smaller Open Source companies survive the push by IBM and the rest - I don't want to see us lose any diversity at all! But I am glad that things seem to be succesful so far. I wish I could get a job in a Linux company:-)
Hi! I understand what you are saying, but I think that you may be jumping to conclusions slightly.
Just because the largest ISP in the Philipenes is the mother church, this does not mean that the Church is trying to 'wash them of their evil non-Christian beliefs by assmiliating them through our indoctrination', or at least, I certainly hope not! I thought that the point here is that there is a free market in the Phillipenes, and people there who choose the Catholic Church as their ISP are very probably already Catholics. Personally, I would like to have an ISP that filters content for me, at least when it comes to porn. Its one less thing for me to do! And the Catholic Church can be sure to spend its profits in a community minded fashion - by using a Church as your ISP, you are injecting money into the local community, rather than faceless shareholders, or at least, thats the way it seems to me. I would like it if more ISP's were not for profit, but for community. I would feel much better about my local ISP if it really were local. I think that the Catholic Church having an ISP service is a very good thing, and gives the commercial companies something to think about! Thanks.
Thats good - he does appear to have good credentials. I suppose the unfortunate thing is that Intel know full well that clock speed is what sells their chips. If they had a choice between a 1.2GHz chip and a 1.5GHz chip, with the former outperforming the latter, I bet they would choose the latter. However, we can't blame them too much for that - its not their fault that most people make such superficial judgements regarding their chips.
It will be interesting to see just how the next round of AMD V Intel pans out. Will the next AMD chip have similar clock speeds to the P4? If it does not then, regardless of performance, I fear for it, because everyone except knowledgible Slashdot types buy on clockspeed basis alone. I know I used too, before I became really interested in this computing lark!
As another respondant says, I suppose his credentials don't matter so much when he gives evidence to back up his claims. But still, if you are not a real expert, its good to know that he isn't just some quack, and quite useful to me! Thanks.
Thanks. I only have a couple of days to decide, but it looks as though I'll be choosing either Slackware or Storm Linux. I did some research on Slackware and found that it is very cutting edge indeed. But I really fancy a system modelled on Debian, so I am not sure. Is Stormix pretty much Debian Updated + KDE? If so, I may well get it.
First, I'd be extremely interested to see what this guys credentials are - its interesting to see him take the entire Intel CPU design team to task over this.
Secondly, I thought the entire point of the Pentium IV is that it is focused on different areas to the PIII and others. Specifically, it is designed for a media rich environment, and was designed with the future in mind. I would guess (bear in mind, I don't have any credentials) that we won't see the best of the PIV until a year or two down the line, when compilers are properly optimised for it and people start programming with its architecture in mind. Until then, I fear we are making unfair comparisons. Just my guess!
...so that we can throw off the encumbrance of hardware compatibilty completely. It would be so great, when I choose a pc, if I could choose every little detail of my preferred architecture. The problem with the x86 line is that it is dominated by Windows, and so must be hardware compatible with the earliest 8086. If Linux became a force in the market, then instead of having to piggy back on systems designed for other OS's, complete systems could be designed specifically for linux from the ground up.
I am not an expert in these matters, so I ask you, is this possible? Could we have completely unique hardware setups that cater for Linux specifically? I hope so, I think it would be very liberating.
Hi. Could someone answer a simple question for me please? I'd like to know if there is a distribution that is sort of a halfway house between Debian and the Commercial distributions. What I mean is that Debian is famed for being highly stable but quite curmudgeonly when it comes to integrating new features. The commercial distributions, such as Mandrake 7.2 as mentioned in the article, often have all the latest whizz-bang add ons, but possibly at the expense of stability, for the paranoid at least. What I would like to know is, is there a distribution that is a halfway house? A distro that is reasonably up to date, easy to install, etc etc, but without being too ill-considered? I would be very interested, because currently I use SuSE 6.2, and have been considering Debian but I have been put off by the difficulty of its install and the age of its packages, as well as the lack of KDE. Thank You Very Much in advance!
Computers are just simple turing machines. This means that everything they do is utterly predictable. The very essence of being conscious is an ability to behave in a random fashion, also known as free will. Computers will never have free will and will never be conscious, not in their present Turing Machine form, anyway.
It is for the best, anyway. I don't want to be superceded mentally and made redundant, like the industrial revolution made my muscles redundant. So I am very glad conscious computers are impossible. It would be dangerous for us if they were.
Hi. I sorry, but I think I disagree with you! Here at Slashdot, it is obvious that the purpose is to further Linux in every way, something that everybody here is very passionate about. Doesn't this promote all the trolls and flamers that Katz was worrying about though? If everybody has a purpose that they are passionate about, it is much easier for people to throw a spanner in the works and annoy people. Aren't the most successful communities very varied, with no real shared 'purpose' at all? Like, a medieval village wouldn't have had such a clear cut overall goal for its inhabitants. I have noticed that Kuro5hin doesn't seem to either. This means that there is a lot of varied discourse and it is difficult for trolls and flamers to survive, because every position they take is a valid one, to some, unlike here on Slashdot where there is a definate 'established' set of opinions and beliefs for trolls and flamers to exploit.
So the best way to have a varied, interesting and peaceful community is to avoid having a common goal altogether, I would say.:o)
It seems to me that the statistics regarding Napster users at present may be skewed. See, the people who use Napster at the moment are the moneyed 'techno-elite' - the only people I know who use Napster work at my firm in the IT department, all my friends. But most people I know who aren't wealthy and who don't have an interest in computers have never even heard of Napster!
What I am trying to say, in my incompetant way (!), is that these figures do not mean that Napster is an assured business model for the future, as far as the Music Industries are concerned, I mean. When Joe & Jane Bloggs have heard of it, and start to use it, the statistics may well change significantly!
All I am trying to say is that they are being to optomistic.
Slashdot Mirror
I only hope that the smaller Open Source companies survive the push by IBM and the rest - I don't want to see us lose any diversity at all! But I am glad that things seem to be succesful so far. I wish I could get a job in a Linux company :-)
Just because the largest ISP in the Philipenes is the mother church, this does not mean that the Church is trying to 'wash them of their evil non-Christian beliefs by assmiliating them through our indoctrination', or at least, I certainly hope not! I thought that the point here is that there is a free market in the Phillipenes, and people there who choose the Catholic Church as their ISP are very probably already Catholics. Personally, I would like to have an ISP that filters content for me, at least when it comes to porn. Its one less thing for me to do! And the Catholic Church can be sure to spend its profits in a community minded fashion - by using a Church as your ISP, you are injecting money into the local community, rather than faceless shareholders, or at least, thats the way it seems to me. I would like it if more ISP's were not for profit, but for community. I would feel much better about my local ISP if it really were local. I think that the Catholic Church having an ISP service is a very good thing, and gives the commercial companies something to think about! Thanks.
It will be interesting to see just how the next round of AMD V Intel pans out. Will the next AMD chip have similar clock speeds to the P4? If it does not then, regardless of performance, I fear for it, because everyone except knowledgible Slashdot types buy on clockspeed basis alone. I know I used too, before I became really interested in this computing lark!
As another respondant says, I suppose his credentials don't matter so much when he gives evidence to back up his claims. But still, if you are not a real expert, its good to know that he isn't just some quack, and quite useful to me! Thanks.
Thanks. I only have a couple of days to decide, but it looks as though I'll be choosing either Slackware or Storm Linux. I did some research on Slackware and found that it is very cutting edge indeed. But I really fancy a system modelled on Debian, so I am not sure. Is Stormix pretty much Debian Updated + KDE? If so, I may well get it.
Secondly, I thought the entire point of the Pentium IV is that it is focused on different areas to the PIII and others. Specifically, it is designed for a media rich environment, and was designed with the future in mind. I would guess (bear in mind, I don't have any credentials) that we won't see the best of the PIV until a year or two down the line, when compilers are properly optimised for it and people start programming with its architecture in mind. Until then, I fear we are making unfair comparisons. Just my guess!
I am not an expert in these matters, so I ask you, is this possible? Could we have completely unique hardware setups that cater for Linux specifically? I hope so, I think it would be very liberating.
Hi. Could someone answer a simple question for me please? I'd like to know if there is a distribution that is sort of a halfway house between Debian and the Commercial distributions. What I mean is that Debian is famed for being highly stable but quite curmudgeonly when it comes to integrating new features. The commercial distributions, such as Mandrake 7.2 as mentioned in the article, often have all the latest whizz-bang add ons, but possibly at the expense of stability, for the paranoid at least. What I would like to know is, is there a distribution that is a halfway house? A distro that is reasonably up to date, easy to install, etc etc, but without being too ill-considered? I would be very interested, because currently I use SuSE 6.2, and have been considering Debian but I have been put off by the difficulty of its install and the age of its packages, as well as the lack of KDE. Thank You Very Much in advance!
I will do. Thanks very much! I read the original 'Emperors New Mind' a few years ago, but I didn't know about his latest. I must pop down the library.
It is for the best, anyway. I don't want to be superceded mentally and made redundant, like the industrial revolution made my muscles redundant. So I am very glad conscious computers are impossible. It would be dangerous for us if they were.
So the best way to have a varied, interesting and peaceful community is to avoid having a common goal altogether, I would say. :o)
Anyhoo, if the legal people have their way, it looks as though he will get his wish, and have to pay whether he likes it or not ;)
What I am trying to say, in my incompetant way (!), is that these figures do not mean that Napster is an assured business model for the future, as far as the Music Industries are concerned, I mean. When Joe & Jane Bloggs have heard of it, and start to use it, the statistics may well change significantly!
All I am trying to say is that they are being to optomistic.