Ditto some of the other replies. NO mail gets delivered in my office until it is opened. Even stuff that says "personal and confidential" is opened. It's a safety issue. There have been a couple of death threats throughout the years. It's also my facility. I paid for the person opening the mail, I paid for the post box. Trust me, I have no interest in reading a subpoena from your divorce attorney. I really don't. But if that's a death threat, I owe it to you AND THE OTHER EMPLOYEES to tell the cops.
In our employee handbooks, we reserve the right to monitor calls. We never have, but we can. We allow a few calls (lots of mothers in my office. Lots of calls to/from the office to make sure the kiddies got off the bus okay) which is no big deal. Same thing with... A million little things. People are more productive, like you say, if they don't have to stay at home to wait for a package, to order a repair of their appliance, etc. But some people abuse the privelage.
It's a balance that has to be struck. What seems to work is when we suspect someone of abusing the phone, we just remind them that we allow limited personal calls, and that we can monitor their calls to see if they are abusing the privelege. The offending behavior stops within hours:)
And to the naysayers who say 'ignore company loyalty'. I've got news for you: it's a chicken and egg problem. I'll extend loyalty. We've got employees working for us who were around in the Ford administration. Until they retired, there were a couple of employees who changed my diapers. They gave their loyalty. We reciprocated. Need 2 months off for back surgery and recovery? No problem. Hope you get better. We'll keep your chair warm for you. OTOH, you think we're only good for a paycheck? Well, screw you. When times get tight, you'll be first on the chopping block. We'll find a way to save the person who stayed late to finish up some work.
Loyalty works both ways. I think some of the children on slashdot forget that.
Might there not be a zope product of some sort that would work for this? What are you looking for out of the project? What are your goals? "e-learning" or whatever seems a bit broad. Who will do the admin work? Does the university already have a site license for some other product?
For basic discussion type things, slashcode, or one of the clones/mutants might work rather well. In fact, too well. You'd need to modify it for closed registrations, drop the automatic mod priveleges, etc.
Finally, I can say that as a former student, I'd be least interested in a BS web-course at higher levels. At that point in my education, one-on-one time was highly important.
Go look at my fans list. There's more than a couple of Christians there. And a few atheists:) Try FortKnox and TechnoLust (not 100% about the latter, and too lazy to double check). Anyway, check their journals. There's a surprisingly large 'hidden christian' group on Slashdot.
Don't forget that not only were they selling what others (Debian) were giving away for free, Caldera was doing it at a premium over others (RedHat) while offering very little of value.
Ransom Love is not a friend of the Linux community. The more distance between him and 'us', the better.
Part of the problem is that he wants to be Scott McNealy when he grows up. And it's just not going to happen.
That's pretty impressive. Last I looked a few months ago, the $99 jobs seemed to be cheapest.
But I'm not surprised. Ever taken a look inside a VCR? Tons of moving parts. DVD player is nothing by comparison. Similar to cassettes vs. CDs.
Was reading an older Computer Shopper today at the PT office. Saw a column by that moron Dvorak, where he extolled the virtues of the tape drive, and mentioned the CD as a $50 option. I wonder what planet this guy lives on. Tapes sucked hard, even back in the day. The CDRom would be cheaper than a tape mechanism, and perform better in every conceivable way.
Of course people with DVD players buy more videos than people with VCR's. First, people who have DVD players have more disposable income. I spent $350 on my first DVD player, and didn't bat an eye. I think the total bill that day was over $500 when I included a few movies. Compare this with the person scraping together $59 for a VCR.
But that should be modded 'redundant'.
Here is the insightful part:
What consumer cares how cheap the discs are to create? The savings will NOT be passed on to us. The savings will get divvied up amongst the distributor, presser of discs, and the owner of the source material.
Don't count on data either. At the very least, Valenti and the gang will be pushing for some sort of blank media tax.
The only way these get onto consumers' shelves is if the profit taking potential for the entities I mentioned is so great that they essentially subsidize the players.
Problem is, when the average USian thinks 'BBC', they think depressing stories about Welsh coal miner and comedy that they just don't understand. Or they think it is the same as PBS, which is depressing stories about Pennsylvania coal miners and BBC comedy repeats that they just don't understand.
What they don't equate pay-per-channel with is HBO, Showtime, etc.
My problem is that I do pay for tv right now, thanks to Comcast and restrictive HOA covenents. But that's not a big deal. What is a big deal is paying for: FoxNews, CSPAN, Lifetime, etc. etc. etc. All as a package. I want/need about 10 channels. Or maybe 5 channels, and a few ala carte programs.
Re:I think it's finally just time to stop...
on
Napster Not To Blame
·
· Score: 1
Right on!
I look at my collection, and am heartened by the fact that I can't find new stuff to like. It'll take me years just to fill in the stuff that has gone before me. Hell, it would take several thousand dollars to replace my father's collection of vinyl (But I'll be ripping and burning that...)
Winbindd actually has nothing to do with DNS (I was amazed also). It's a daemon that gets info from a windows PDC. Used in conjunction with some PAM modules, you can use the Windows info to allow/deny/verify all services on your Linux boxes.
Not interested in disinfection; just want to dump bad files to/dev/null.
I'd like to know a little more about your setup (as this is the direction I'm heading in. Ironic that this question is posted as I'm heading to work to get winbindd to work on our mail server, and finish ramping up)
What exactly is the difference between clam and amavis? Are you using spamassassin to go back and delete mail that was flagged by the other two products?
How quick is clam at providing updates? How comprehensive is their database? I'm somewhat remiss to not use a commercial solution for this.
(And I'll hit all of the pages and look for answers myself. But I figured if you had 'em already, I could be looking for other things. Thanks)
I suggested the title of this article, and know full well what "wherefore" means. (I have a dusty old English degree.) Furthermore, I think that paraphrasing Juliet is entirely appropriate. I suspect that the relationship between Mac OS X and HyperCard is doomed, as was Romeo and Juliet's love.
Okay, so the relationship is doomed. But I was always taught (and came to agree) that Juliet's question is why must my love be a Montague (or was it Capulet? It's been a few years.) Why not a Corleone or Smith? Then things would have been okay.
As I see it, an understanding of your title in this context would be something like Apple saying "why does this great program come from us?!" (which is a rather incestuous version of Romeo and Juliet:) There's also the fact that while Juliet knew there was a great love that was doomed to fail, Apple's love seems to be long gone, and not something they much care about. Unfortunately, I'm not conversant enough in the bard to be able to offer up what I think is a more appropriate quote for my view of the situation.
Perhaps the worst grammatical mistake in slashdot history.
That's perhaps the most misdirected outrage in slashdot history!
If tongue weren't planted firmly in cheek, I'd certainly be inclined to agree with you:)
How convenient it is to look on the past and shame people for the way things were. Slavery wasn't anything new, nor was misogyny, nor was segregation. There's still a caste system in many parts of the world.
None of these things were changed until a majority decided that they were wrong. It took a majority to decide to grant women the vote. It took a majority to pass the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960's.
Individuals are not to be 'protected' by copyright laws; they are to be rewarded for contributing to the public good. What individual is protected by having the image of a cartoon mouse still under copyright? Only if you believe in the legal fallacy of the 'corporation as a person' can you infer this.
Given that your username begins with 'Marx' (which I assume is reference to Karl Marx, but if not, skip this sentence) I find that possibility... amusing.
Yes, I'm sure that some human being somewhere has been protected by copyright. But how is it not tyrannical to remove the rights of millions for that one, heretofore nonexistant, individual?
With the exceptions of Dr. Dre (who is more a representative of the recording industry than an artist. Has he done an album since "The Chronic"?) and Metallica (who have unusual contracts, in that they own much of their own work), most artists seem to favor at least sampling of their works.
I would put the hard drive in a removable tray. With identical hardware configuration, just keep a supply of ghosted drives. When someone hoses it, power off, turn key, remove tray, insert new, turn key, power on.
You could even work this in to licensing issues: 10 copies of Quake means 10 drives with Quake installed. Once they are rented out, no more rentals of Quake.
You've got 300,000 to 400,000 potential customers, but no chance of high speed networking in the near future? What bizarro world is this?
Consider that computer gamers are a small subset of the computer using public. No idea of the percentages, so I'll say %50. So double that number you quoted, fudge it a little bit...
You have a million potential customers for high speed networking? Drop the gaming crap, and run, run as fast as you can to set up an independent DSL provider. Get in there fast, before the ILEC beats you to it.
Or how about just opening a plain-jane cybercafe? If there are this many people wanting net access (again, I doubt it. Go back and double-check your analysis thus far) you can setup a cybercafe with your choice of T-1 or private satellite connection.
Ignore the comments about free drinks. That's completely idiotic. Bowling alleys give away the games (almost) in an attempt to sell sodas and nachos. I would also be careful of food in/around the games. Personally, I would outfit the place with USB equipment. With the 6-10 foot range, you can keep the computers locked up, or at least away from cokes and chips (and cigarettes. When you aren't looking, someone will light up). And when someone dumps a coke on the keyboard, with USB, you can replace it without a hitch. Or even a reboot.
What about software? Are you going to make sure someone shows up with legit copies? Or are you going to rent copies? Call out the attorneys in either case.
Someone talked about quality of gaming rigs. There's a few ways to handle this. First, I would check with Alienware and similar companies, and see if you can get reasonable lease terms. Try to get into a situation where you are replacing the top of the line machines every six months (shortly after the latest and greatest video cards come out?) Older machines can then be either sold for reduced rates, or donated for a tax write off. Sooner or later, you will have new machines and old ones. Charge more for the more expensive machines.
They do at Kinko's. Speaking of Kinko's, a self service payment system would be something I would like.
Reservations? I'd charge a fee. Require a deposit of 30 minutes time. If they show, it is applied to the cost of the session. If not, you keep the money. This also gets you credit cards, which you'll surely want for someone who might hose the machine.
Again, I'd like to say that if there are that many potential customers, there are more lucrative things to do. But if it works, let us know.
No, the editors are up to something much more important than any of the things you imagine. Like playing a game that most of us finished two months ago.
I said somewhere else in this story is that one of the tricks with avoid the sociopathic (probably moreso than psychopathic, but I could be wrong;) public school kids is that these are the progenitors of the people he will deal with as an adult. The sooner he does that, the better.
I could complain about each of your example choices (Little League parents do more damage than Little League does good, no YMCA, etc.) but I understand your point, and it is well taken.
helping students get through the major's introductory courses
To me, that certainly sounds like it is for people who are/will be CS majors. If not, the writer needs to take some time off from saving the world to take an English class.
I have plenty of patience. For people who deserve it. I decided about halfway through college that I was tired of sitting around people who just didn't get it, and who were slowing me down. At that point, I decided that I would do whatever was in my power to make my professors my personal tutors. Everybody should have read the book and gotten something from it. If you can't do that much, there are several trade schools I can recommend. Funny, most professors agreed. So they indulged my tangents, my questions that touched on other disciplines, and questions that would be answered 'next semester'. My grades went up, and I became known throughout the department.
This is college (or university). Not everyone belongs in college. Society is better served when each performs to their ability. Not when everyone is pulled to some average level, be they underachievers who will typically struggle, or overachievers who will be bored senseless.
I'm glad things worked out for you. In my experience, you are the exception.
FWIW (if you don't at this point think I'm a total halfwit) I'm glad that this is being done by a club of potential peers. If this must be done (and it's clear that we aren't of a singular opinion on that) this is the proper arena. If it works out well, students who are like you were can get through it and eventually propser. But they do nobody a favor by not telling some people 'you just aren't cut out for this'.
Ehhh. I think I'm just being especially hardnosed about this for some reason. Not sure why. Let me try this:
If it is done by peers, and if the students being helped are truly doing their best, and if the peers are willing to accept that not everyone is capable of this, it's a good thing. Some people will always need a helping hand. And I think that in some cases, that hand should guide them to something they are better suited to. Take my mother. You could do your best to get her to understand this stuff. But her lack of mathematical ability (well demonstrated for over 50 years:) would kill her later. She would be better served by being directed to the history department.
Let me also add one more caveat: since you are in research, I assume you are at least 25 or so. Even as recently as 7 years ago, there were far fewer people going into CS. People going in were largely self-selected. Today, it is chock full of those who just saw the dot-com dollar signs.
I'll end on this note: if you are correct that they are trying to help out people who are stuck in some BS class that is required for all students, I'm in total agreement with you. A Java class and intro to OOP techniques is total overkill for most college students. In that case, the CS club should get major help and funding from the University.
You are correct. Trick is, the only times I've been subjected to curves have been in 'soft' classes, like English, History, etc. where the teacher does this:
Class average was 58%. Average should be 70%. Therefore, I will tack 12 points onto everyone's grade.
This is also the form of 'grading on a curve' that most students are familiar with. And given my lack of PhD, those are the people I'd be teaching.
Actually, let me correct myself: once or twice, I have been graded on a real curve. But the only time I remember was in a math class, and the grades were presented as letters. Most of the time, my grades have been numbers.
(But, yes, you are correct. I'm just going by the most common 'curving' method I've come across)
Slashdot Mirror
Ditto some of the other replies. NO mail gets delivered in my office until it is opened. Even stuff that says "personal and confidential" is opened. It's a safety issue. There have been a couple of death threats throughout the years. It's also my facility. I paid for the person opening the mail, I paid for the post box. Trust me, I have no interest in reading a subpoena from your divorce attorney. I really don't. But if that's a death threat, I owe it to you AND THE OTHER EMPLOYEES to tell the cops.
In our employee handbooks, we reserve the right to monitor calls. We never have, but we can. We allow a few calls (lots of mothers in my office. Lots of calls to/from the office to make sure the kiddies got off the bus okay) which is no big deal. Same thing with... A million little things. People are more productive, like you say, if they don't have to stay at home to wait for a package, to order a repair of their appliance, etc. But some people abuse the privelage.
It's a balance that has to be struck. What seems to work is when we suspect someone of abusing the phone, we just remind them that we allow limited personal calls, and that we can monitor their calls to see if they are abusing the privelege. The offending behavior stops within hours:)
And to the naysayers who say 'ignore company loyalty'. I've got news for you: it's a chicken and egg problem. I'll extend loyalty. We've got employees working for us who were around in the Ford administration. Until they retired, there were a couple of employees who changed my diapers. They gave their loyalty. We reciprocated. Need 2 months off for back surgery and recovery? No problem. Hope you get better. We'll keep your chair warm for you. OTOH, you think we're only good for a paycheck? Well, screw you. When times get tight, you'll be first on the chopping block. We'll find a way to save the person who stayed late to finish up some work.
Loyalty works both ways. I think some of the children on slashdot forget that.
Might there not be a zope product of some sort that would work for this? What are you looking for out of the project? What are your goals? "e-learning" or whatever seems a bit broad. Who will do the admin work? Does the university already have a site license for some other product?
For basic discussion type things, slashcode, or one of the clones/mutants might work rather well. In fact, too well. You'd need to modify it for closed registrations, drop the automatic mod priveleges, etc.
Finally, I can say that as a former student, I'd be least interested in a BS web-course at higher levels. At that point in my education, one-on-one time was highly important.
Go look at my fans list. There's more than a couple of Christians there. And a few atheists:) Try FortKnox and TechnoLust (not 100% about the latter, and too lazy to double check). Anyway, check their journals. There's a surprisingly large 'hidden christian' group on Slashdot.
Don't forget that not only were they selling what others (Debian) were giving away for free, Caldera was doing it at a premium over others (RedHat) while offering very little of value.
Ransom Love is not a friend of the Linux community. The more distance between him and 'us', the better.
Part of the problem is that he wants to be Scott McNealy when he grows up. And it's just not going to happen.
No, if that is the case, you are not average. Not when it comes to television.
That's pretty impressive. Last I looked a few months ago, the $99 jobs seemed to be cheapest.
But I'm not surprised. Ever taken a look inside a VCR? Tons of moving parts. DVD player is nothing by comparison. Similar to cassettes vs. CDs.
Was reading an older Computer Shopper today at the PT office. Saw a column by that moron Dvorak, where he extolled the virtues of the tape drive, and mentioned the CD as a $50 option. I wonder what planet this guy lives on. Tapes sucked hard, even back in the day. The CDRom would be cheaper than a tape mechanism, and perform better in every conceivable way.
Of course people with DVD players buy more videos than people with VCR's. First, people who have DVD players have more disposable income. I spent $350 on my first DVD player, and didn't bat an eye. I think the total bill that day was over $500 when I included a few movies. Compare this with the person scraping together $59 for a VCR.
But that should be modded 'redundant'.
Here is the insightful part:
What consumer cares how cheap the discs are to create? The savings will NOT be passed on to us. The savings will get divvied up amongst the distributor, presser of discs, and the owner of the source material.
Don't count on data either. At the very least, Valenti and the gang will be pushing for some sort of blank media tax.
The only way these get onto consumers' shelves is if the profit taking potential for the entities I mentioned is so great that they essentially subsidize the players.
Problem is, when the average USian thinks 'BBC', they think depressing stories about Welsh coal miner and comedy that they just don't understand. Or they think it is the same as PBS, which is depressing stories about Pennsylvania coal miners and BBC comedy repeats that they just don't understand.
What they don't equate pay-per-channel with is HBO, Showtime, etc.
My problem is that I do pay for tv right now, thanks to Comcast and restrictive HOA covenents. But that's not a big deal. What is a big deal is paying for: FoxNews, CSPAN, Lifetime, etc. etc. etc. All as a package. I want/need about 10 channels. Or maybe 5 channels, and a few ala carte programs.
Right on!
I look at my collection, and am heartened by the fact that I can't find new stuff to like. It'll take me years just to fill in the stuff that has gone before me. Hell, it would take several thousand dollars to replace my father's collection of vinyl (But I'll be ripping and burning that...)
Winbindd actually has nothing to do with DNS (I was amazed also). It's a daemon that gets info from a windows PDC. Used in conjunction with some PAM modules, you can use the Windows info to allow/deny/verify all services on your Linux boxes.
/dev/null.
Not interested in disinfection; just want to dump bad files to
Thanks for the info.
I'd like to know a little more about your setup (as this is the direction I'm heading in. Ironic that this question is posted as I'm heading to work to get winbindd to work on our mail server, and finish ramping up)
What exactly is the difference between clam and amavis? Are you using spamassassin to go back and delete mail that was flagged by the other two products?
How quick is clam at providing updates? How comprehensive is their database? I'm somewhat remiss to not use a commercial solution for this.
(And I'll hit all of the pages and look for answers myself. But I figured if you had 'em already, I could be looking for other things. Thanks)
I suggested the title of this article, and know full well what "wherefore" means. (I have a dusty old English degree.) Furthermore, I think that paraphrasing Juliet is entirely appropriate. I suspect that the relationship between Mac OS X and HyperCard is doomed, as was Romeo and Juliet's love.
Okay, so the relationship is doomed. But I was always taught (and came to agree) that Juliet's question is why must my love be a Montague (or was it Capulet? It's been a few years.) Why not a Corleone or Smith? Then things would have been okay.
As I see it, an understanding of your title in this context would be something like Apple saying "why does this great program come from us?!" (which is a rather incestuous version of Romeo and Juliet:) There's also the fact that while Juliet knew there was a great love that was doomed to fail, Apple's love seems to be long gone, and not something they much care about. Unfortunately, I'm not conversant enough in the bard to be able to offer up what I think is a more appropriate quote for my view of the situation.
Perhaps the worst grammatical mistake in slashdot history.
That's perhaps the most misdirected outrage in slashdot history!
If tongue weren't planted firmly in cheek, I'd certainly be inclined to agree with you:)
Might I suggest attaching a copy of this to their posters while you are at it?
How convenient it is to look on the past and shame people for the way things were. Slavery wasn't anything new, nor was misogyny, nor was segregation. There's still a caste system in many parts of the world.
None of these things were changed until a majority decided that they were wrong. It took a majority to decide to grant women the vote. It took a majority to pass the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960's.
Individuals are not to be 'protected' by copyright laws; they are to be rewarded for contributing to the public good. What individual is protected by having the image of a cartoon mouse still under copyright? Only if you believe in the legal fallacy of the 'corporation as a person' can you infer this.
Given that your username begins with 'Marx' (which I assume is reference to Karl Marx, but if not, skip this sentence) I find that possibility... amusing.
Yes, I'm sure that some human being somewhere has been protected by copyright. But how is it not tyrannical to remove the rights of millions for that one, heretofore nonexistant, individual?
With the exceptions of Dr. Dre (who is more a representative of the recording industry than an artist. Has he done an album since "The Chronic"?) and Metallica (who have unusual contracts, in that they own much of their own work), most artists seem to favor at least sampling of their works.
If I'm reading you right, that's the most moronic fucking thing Microsoft has ever done. Period.
Is the 'Ask /.' submission queue that bad? This is... really of no interest. This is what accountants are for.
I would put the hard drive in a removable tray. With identical hardware configuration, just keep a supply of ghosted drives. When someone hoses it, power off, turn key, remove tray, insert new, turn key, power on.
You could even work this in to licensing issues: 10 copies of Quake means 10 drives with Quake installed. Once they are rented out, no more rentals of Quake.
You've got 300,000 to 400,000 potential customers, but no chance of high speed networking in the near future? What bizarro world is this?
Consider that computer gamers are a small subset of the computer using public. No idea of the percentages, so I'll say %50. So double that number you quoted, fudge it a little bit...
You have a million potential customers for high speed networking? Drop the gaming crap, and run, run as fast as you can to set up an independent DSL provider. Get in there fast, before the ILEC beats you to it.
Or how about just opening a plain-jane cybercafe? If there are this many people wanting net access (again, I doubt it. Go back and double-check your analysis thus far) you can setup a cybercafe with your choice of T-1 or private satellite connection.
Ignore the comments about free drinks. That's completely idiotic. Bowling alleys give away the games (almost) in an attempt to sell sodas and nachos. I would also be careful of food in/around the games. Personally, I would outfit the place with USB equipment. With the 6-10 foot range, you can keep the computers locked up, or at least away from cokes and chips (and cigarettes. When you aren't looking, someone will light up). And when someone dumps a coke on the keyboard, with USB, you can replace it without a hitch. Or even a reboot.
What about software? Are you going to make sure someone shows up with legit copies? Or are you going to rent copies? Call out the attorneys in either case.
Someone talked about quality of gaming rigs. There's a few ways to handle this. First, I would check with Alienware and similar companies, and see if you can get reasonable lease terms. Try to get into a situation where you are replacing the top of the line machines every six months (shortly after the latest and greatest video cards come out?) Older machines can then be either sold for reduced rates, or donated for a tax write off. Sooner or later, you will have new machines and old ones. Charge more for the more expensive machines.
They do at Kinko's. Speaking of Kinko's, a self service payment system would be something I would like.
Reservations? I'd charge a fee. Require a deposit of 30 minutes time. If they show, it is applied to the cost of the session. If not, you keep the money. This also gets you credit cards, which you'll surely want for someone who might hose the machine.
Again, I'd like to say that if there are that many potential customers, there are more lucrative things to do. But if it works, let us know.
Now their silent thanks to the money and time that would be needed to comply with the new regulations.
Please change 'their' to 'they're'. Or, better yet, 'they are'.
C'mon, Timothy. Job description says 'editor'. So edit.
Is it just me, or are the grammar and speling misteaks geting wers?
Do you have kids? Go rent "Elmo's Wild Wild West". Mandatory advertising for other videos.
I'm looking forward to the Linux client. Plan on playing again. This time as an evil magic user of some sort.
No, the editors are up to something much more important than any of the things you imagine. Like playing a game that most of us finished two months ago.
I said somewhere else in this story is that one of the tricks with avoid the sociopathic (probably moreso than psychopathic, but I could be wrong;) public school kids is that these are the progenitors of the people he will deal with as an adult. The sooner he does that, the better.
I could complain about each of your example choices (Little League parents do more damage than Little League does good, no YMCA, etc.) but I understand your point, and it is well taken.
helping students get through the major's introductory courses
To me, that certainly sounds like it is for people who are/will be CS majors. If not, the writer needs to take some time off from saving the world to take an English class.
I have plenty of patience. For people who deserve it. I decided about halfway through college that I was tired of sitting around people who just didn't get it, and who were slowing me down. At that point, I decided that I would do whatever was in my power to make my professors my personal tutors. Everybody should have read the book and gotten something from it. If you can't do that much, there are several trade schools I can recommend. Funny, most professors agreed. So they indulged my tangents, my questions that touched on other disciplines, and questions that would be answered 'next semester'. My grades went up, and I became known throughout the department.
This is college (or university). Not everyone belongs in college. Society is better served when each performs to their ability. Not when everyone is pulled to some average level, be they underachievers who will typically struggle, or overachievers who will be bored senseless.
I'm glad things worked out for you. In my experience, you are the exception.
FWIW (if you don't at this point think I'm a total halfwit) I'm glad that this is being done by a club of potential peers. If this must be done (and it's clear that we aren't of a singular opinion on that) this is the proper arena. If it works out well, students who are like you were can get through it and eventually propser. But they do nobody a favor by not telling some people 'you just aren't cut out for this'.
Ehhh. I think I'm just being especially hardnosed about this for some reason. Not sure why. Let me try this:
If it is done by peers, and if the students being helped are truly doing their best, and if the peers are willing to accept that not everyone is capable of this, it's a good thing. Some people will always need a helping hand. And I think that in some cases, that hand should guide them to something they are better suited to. Take my mother. You could do your best to get her to understand this stuff. But her lack of mathematical ability (well demonstrated for over 50 years:) would kill her later. She would be better served by being directed to the history department.
Let me also add one more caveat: since you are in research, I assume you are at least 25 or so. Even as recently as 7 years ago, there were far fewer people going into CS. People going in were largely self-selected. Today, it is chock full of those who just saw the dot-com dollar signs.
I'll end on this note: if you are correct that they are trying to help out people who are stuck in some BS class that is required for all students, I'm in total agreement with you. A Java class and intro to OOP techniques is total overkill for most college students. In that case, the CS club should get major help and funding from the University.
You are correct. Trick is, the only times I've been subjected to curves have been in 'soft' classes, like English, History, etc. where the teacher does this:
Class average was 58%. Average should be 70%. Therefore, I will tack 12 points onto everyone's grade.
This is also the form of 'grading on a curve' that most students are familiar with. And given my lack of PhD, those are the people I'd be teaching.
Actually, let me correct myself: once or twice, I have been graded on a real curve. But the only time I remember was in a math class, and the grades were presented as letters. Most of the time, my grades have been numbers.
(But, yes, you are correct. I'm just going by the most common 'curving' method I've come across)