Funny. Our business is dumping a bunch of ICA stuff in the next few months (have to write the letter to break the heart of the leasing company tomorrow:) Unfortunately, we were using it to run apps on some nice laptops (IBM 360p's) that weren't up to running the entire program locally. What really killed us on keeping the technology is having to spend money on both MetaFrame and Terminal Server. Yeah, I've looked for some linux/unix/mac/"anything but M$" solutions, but FreeMed isn't quite there yet (hard to tell from the demo, and I've been too lazy to install it locally yet.
What does open source have to do with forking? It seems that one of the points of open source is that IF the standard product doesn't do the job, here is the source and modify it to your liking.
Hey, remember that article a few weeks back about the read once DVDs? Well, you can use one of those suckers for your initial setup. Put the user info on one of them using a burner at Circuit City. Then plop it in when you get home, and it does all of the setup for you. And it erases itself so that you can't kludge the setup and spoof a linux box into running it.
Hmm, the possibilities abound. I bet Katz is VERY frightened:)
Add Quicken and AOL (those products specifically) and I'll happily replace my mother's PC. NO MORE LATE NIGHT SUPPORT CALLS FROM MOM!! Cool:)
I'd rather do the maintenance on Linux (no mother, you can't have the root password) but we've all seen that Intuit won't even develop new apps for the Mac, let alone Linux. Of course, they probably won't develop an app for this, but this is much more appealing to many folks.
As for those who have said "we've seen it before and they tanked". Well, yes and no. Yes, we have seen similar products before. And yes, they didn't sell. But why? First, techies weren't interested. Second, there wasn't much of a push by CompUSA et al. of the machines. Better profit margins/commisions on the Packard Bells, etc.
Also, we have an even less technically savvy audience gravitating towards computers. Two years ago, how many grandmothers were on the internet? Now, with proddings by their children and grandchildren, they are more likely to sign on. So the market is a bit more ripe these days.
But, there is still a problem. These machines are too hard to hook up for the grandmothers out there. So they will need the help of someone more familiar with the technology. And that person will say "why don't you just get a PC?"
To make these work, you need a distribution model similar to WebPC/TV (I am guessing on what follows. If this isn't WebTV's MO, ignore that part, and look at the idea) You buy it from Circuit City. You pay an extra $50 for in home installation. While waiting for the installer to come out, your paperwork for membership is processed. They come to your house, plug in all the fiddly bits. As soon as the machine boots, you enter your special ID number. This gets written to flash ROM. It automatically connects you to the Net, maintains upgrades, etc.
Or, if you didn't opt for the 'Internet Package', and just picked the packages for Home Checking, Offline Games, and Word Processing, then it installs/updates those packages, and the Circuit City installer can then unplug your modem.
We're not talking rocket science here. There is one sticking point, and that is us, the technically savvy. As long as we recommend against these types of machines, people will listen. The manufacturers either need to convince us to convince others (and, OSS not withstanding, having M$ go into a joint PS2/WebTV development will help. Remember, most computer users out there still proudly fly the Redmond flag) to use these machines, or they need to make them so easy that we are taken out of the picture.
How to do that? First with the install plan I mentioned. Second way: have a demo installation booth at Circuit City. Let potential buyers open a box (repacked and taped up after every demo) and hook one up themselves.
The corporation I am a part of is going to give me paid time out of the office to have a sit down with our state senator(s). But, we are not in the software industry. Neither are the insurance companies.
So while it is antithetical and dangerous for most companies, it is not dangerous for Red Hat, MicroSloth, Corel (or their US distribution arm), Adobe, etc, etc, etc. And when those companies have so damned much cash (as well as less liquid assets) they control serious lobbying dollars. The NRA, BBB, AMA, AMA (there are two. Ask me:) etc. should be happy to have 10% of that kind of cash.
Living in Maryland can make this a tricky vote for our legislature. On one hand, they can do the right thing for their citizens as well as the citizens of Virginia. Why mention Virginia? Silicon Valley East I've heard it called. With all of those gov't contracts, wouldn't the fed be more likely to purchase in Maryland, a consumer friendly state? I hope so. Nice income tax for the state.
But, let's say that Md. doesn't pass the UCITA. Then Supreme Widget Software of Va. says 'fine. There are no legal sellers of licenses to our software in Maryland. You must buy them in Va. (Or Deleware, or wherever).' The savvy senator, while perhaps not swayed by this argument, will see the LOSS of money to Virginia by some (CompUSA, white box manufacturers, etc.) and might listen to them.
I should be contacting my senator(s) within the week. (Would have done it earlier, but the ice has shut down the state. When I finally got back to work, the router had crapped out. Fixed that this morning, so I can do my research on the topic before writing the letter). Hopefully, I'll have an audience. With any luck, I may be able to get before a hearing on the subject.
Write your state legislators. Contact your local chambers of commerce and make sure they are aware of the situation. I don't hold out much/any hope for residents of WA, VA, CA, and a few other states. But if we are diligent, and perhaps a bit lucky, those will be the only three states with these absurd laws.
I dunno. Do you think the best way to learn how to fly is to buy a plane and just take off? Or would you start with making yourself more familiar with flying planes under the supervision of someone who knows how to fly?
Hmm... Screwing up while learning to fly kills me, the ground crew, maybe the people in the community I crash into.
Screwing up while learning Linux gives lots of hackers access to all the porn on my hard drive and the recipes for my mother's 'experimental' cooking.
Whine, whine, whine! Corel and RedHat are making it too easy for feebs to run Linux. It's not fair, I'm not cool enough anymore.
Get over it. For years, I told DOSheads to run the Mac if they wanted something easier to use. They didn't. They improved what they had. Corel (amongst others) has decided that they are targeting the new user. In order to do that, some people are going to get peeved. It's those who know what's going on. If you don't like it because when you install a distro with some 'prevent-the-newbie-from-hurting-themselves' features it slows you down, pick Slack. Or roll your own.
Unfortunately, not all of us were as cool as you, and we didn't take to Linux like a fish to water. It took a good bit of time. If you go back an reread my scheme, you'll see that it is entirely possible for a l33t user such as yourself to remove this 'idiot protection'. Watch:
rm/usr/bin/rpm chmod xxxx (set your own)/usr/bin/rpmcommand mv/usr/bin/rpmcommand/usr/bin/rpm
Now, this, of course, ignores the fact that if you were as kewl as you think you are, you wouldn't be USING RPM's ANYWAY!
Another point:
I'm a newbie. I want to learn Linux, but because of the great wisdom of Abigail, I shouldn't install it, I should get experience as a user. Where do we start with the errors of this thinking. Fine, I buy a box from VA. Don't have to install. But I want to use Gnumeric (for example only), and it's not on my machine. How do I install it? All of the instructions say to change to root, and type 'make install' at the end, but Abigail said I should only be a user.
Oh, I know!!! You are going to be the admin for every Joe Schmo in the world who wants to run Linux and see what the hype is about. Sounds fair to me.
Oh, you don't want to do that? Then you are writing the Don't-Hose-Your-System-Newbie-HOWTO?
Hmm, guess not. You just want to bitch.
Anything that gives more Linux users is a good thing. The more users, the more programs, and the less I have to keep this near useless Win95 partition on my drive.
Yeah, sooner or later, it's probably important for owners of Linux machines to learn the how's and why's (specifically, why you don't logon as 'root'). Most of us who are using it (to some degree) are the early adopters. We are more technically savvy. Next comes the big part of the distribution curve. And guess what? Those people aren't as savvy. Who does it hurt to help them safely along the newbie path? Not Corel. Not RedHat. Not most of the distro packagers. No, it seems it only hurts your ego.
Geez, next thing you know, you'll be claiming that only those who know the secret handshake should get a copy of the source. Get a grip you snob.
It took me around a year to learn to not run as root. Why? Lazy. Installing new stuff. I didn't know how to add another user (all of the books sorta glossed over this point. Before I found O'Reilly and some better sources).
It was somewhat understandable. But with the new distros that want you to create a non-root account upon installation, it is less understandable. Perhaps they need to add a function that if the user enters 'root' at the first logon, they are asked to confirm this, reiterate that it could be dangerous, etc.
Perhaps in the various compilation instructions, there should be info saying "before typing 'su -c 'make install'' type./foo in order to test foo as a non-root user". Or, instead of having to do "rpm -Uvh foo.rpm" as root, have rpm wired so that it automatically runs as "su -c 'rpm -Uvh foo.rpm'" even if you just type in the first part. Or provide an option to 'rpm -Uvh' as either a user or as root. Hmm... I don't know anything about writing shell scripts, but I could probably figure this out by tomorrow:
Move the rpm binary to rpmcommand. Make a shell script (entitled rpm) that checks the arguments. If one of them is U or I, then rewrite the whole command entered as 'su -c....' and pass it to the shell. Set permissions so that it WON'T run as root. (The script, not the binary). If I or U (or any of the switches that require root access) is not passed, then just pass the arguments to rpmcommand.
Okay, somebody who knows what they are doing type it up in a nice script. This outline is, of course, GPL:)
I just got my Copyleft DVD t-shirt yesterday (make sure that $4 gets to the defense fund soon). Is this shirt in violation of the Judge's injunction? How do items like this shirt play into the whole deal? Also, has anyone purchased a DVD-ROM drive, and returned the software (ala "Windows Refund Day")? Is it just me, or are the people (Creative??) who make player software for Winblows and the Mac the only ones who could potentially be losing money? (Okay, Apple and M$ also, since we aren't 'forced' into buying their OS'es.) Also, since nobody offers a player for Linux, could it be argued further that no monetary loss could occur, as an open source Linux player does not compete against Winblows/Mac players? I use Linux (much of the time). I have no desire to purchase a Winblows player. I want a Linux player. Therefore, the sellers of Winblows players have lost nothing, as I have no intention of buying their product on that platform.
Offtopic? Yet another moderator who isn't terribly bright. It is peripherally on topic, as Linus mentioned a domain (mylinux.com) that he wasn't sure whether it was real or not. This poster merely checked up on it, and posted the information. Of course, had the moderator read the original article (you don't even need to leave this page!) and used a bit of common sense (!?) the moderator wouldn't have done that.
My wife's computer is now a white box machine. PS went up last night. Pulled a PS out of a spare case, and got her running again in about an hour. (Minus some snapped cords that I literally ripped out of the machine. I had never experienced a burning power supply (smoke and everything) before and panicked a bit). Now, contrast that with the last power supply she had go bad:
Two years ago, on a name brand PC (forget the brand) she had a power supply go bad. Now, even though this was a 486/25 running DOS 6.22, she was entirely, 100% happy with the machine. (Her current machine is a K5 150, I think) So, just spring $30-$50 for a power supply, and go on our way. Nope. Had to get a custom power supply. Okay, just drop the motherboard and all into a new case. Nope. Custom shaped motherboard.
I will build my own 'puters (the first was to get what I wanted at a decent price, as well as cherry picking the parts. The past three or four have been built out of hand-me-down components.) At work, we buy only white-box computers. It supports a good local business, and I can repair them in VERY short order. If you had the office next to mine, me with a white box/home built and you with a Dell/Gateway/IBM/Micron/Whatever and we both have problem XYZ, who is going to get it faster? You call FedEx and wait three days. I go to the local shop, ask a favor (to be moved to the head of the queue) and get back in business no later than first thing the following morning.
Where do I buy it, where do I sent the check, and how much?
I've got two versions of IV-VI on LD, and two on tape. One of the tape versions purchased before the advent of 'sell-through' pricing. Saw TPM twice. Have a ton of licensed toys.
Mr. Lucas, I have three copies of American Graffitti. You have enough of my money. Time for some of those hard working pirates to get one.
Seriously, somebody please tell me where to get a copy.
Is it so bad that anyone can be a judge? Personally, I believe that if the legal system were imbued with a bit of thought and intelligence, it would be much better. Take a look at the US Constitution: It's only a few pages once typed, and has formed one of the longest and most effective governments (I am not a historian, but other than England's parliament, haven't all the other countries in the world undergone some rather major changes in government since 1783?)
All of this is written in fairly plain English, and can be interpreted by anyone capable of reading the language. Why does it require 7+ years of schooling to understand that?
I've got a better one: let's look at the bar exam. Doctor's, dentists, teachers, etc. all take professional exams. They have to get CME credits, or their license expires. They must remain somewhat current with new techniques and ideas. No such system for legal professionals. Pass the bar once and you are off the hook. Sure, you have to pass it in every state you want to practice in (except for reciprocity arrangements) But (for example) an 80 year old lawyer who took the bar before televisions existed outside military labs could have a hand in judging the eToys case.
Maybe they could explain it to the duffer in such a way that it makes sense. But it would likely be safer to write the law so that I (or eToys' lawyers) could understand it and anyone can make the decision.
We had to make cars easy to drive. We're having to make computers easy to use. Why not the law.
FWIW, if I had an IP case, I'd rather it heard by a trial of true peers (for example, you and/. readers) than by some lawyer whose computer knowledge comes from watching his secretary type his briefs.
Presumably, someone (andover) is going to make a big pile of money out of this. What are the odds that they might host mirrors of sites that are being slashdotted, even if only for a few hours?
Any plans to hire more staff to sift the articles? Professional moderators? etc?
Geez, in my diatribe of problems with the tax system, I completely forgot that there is a small business I'd like to start. For various reasons, I'd prefer to not have my personal finances so directly tied to the company, but the tax code essentially prevents this, as you've pointed out so well.
Let me throw another log on the fire of the BS tax system in the US: corporate profits. I work for a small company (annual gross $4 million per year) that spent about two years sending out more than we take in. Finally, we come close to only spending what we took in this year. No problem, right? Wrong. Last year, we had (and these numbers are just for example) $50,000 in back debts. This FY, it was down to $12,500. We didn't have any more money in the bank (it was about the same this FY as last) but we were able to save on a supplier here, get a little more money there, and basically pay up back bills. That is counted as profit!! So even though we have no more money in the bank, we have to come up with roughly $10,000 in cash to pay the tax burden because we lowered our debts. It would make more sense from a tax perspective to buy goods from the next FY and backdate the due date on the bills to the current FY, thereby lowering our 'profit'. Repeat ad nauseum.
While I disagree with the idea of taxing corporate profits, I understand that that is how we do things in the US. Fine. But let's use a real world definition of profit, not some BS invented by lawyers and accountants. Let's call profit either the money in the bank and/or money paid to the stockholders in the form of dividends (Yeah, I know that these are also taxed, but why add in the stupidity of my lower accounts payable?)
What a crock of shit. This stuff really chaps my ass. Sure, maybe it is 'fair', and maybe it provides one less loophole for GM, M$, etc., but what about the small businesses who don't have the money for the accountants and are are not abusing the system? Last time I checked, the vast majority of job growth in the US in the current financial expansion has been as a result not of M$, GM, and other Fortune 500's, but of all the mom and pops out there (yeah, we are a little bigger than that, but we are certainly far from the Fortune 500, and are in an industry with very narrow profit margins).
(BTW, I can't complain about the IRS but so much. My father-in-law is an agent, and is actually a decent guy (for an in-law:). FWIW, he complains quite a bit about the tax system as well. It really doesn't seem as though the agents and the agency are especially fond of the system. At least not as much as the pols who set it up.)
Sometimes it is very, very, very hard. Sometimes it is very, very, very easy. If you have low income from one job, live at home, and have no spouse/children and never give to charity, it's simple. I could do my taxes while in college in about 10 minutes.
That is the simplest case.
OTOH, each additional 'thing' adds more complexity than you would expect. I got married. So you have to decide whether to file jointly or separately. I bought a house, so I can deduct the interest from my mortgage from my taxes. Each of these require several pieces of paper. In addition, I need to run the entire thing twice to decide whether my taxes are lower filing jointly or separately (not sure about this, but given the byzantine nature of our tax forms, it's worth checking).
My wife is partially blind and partially deaf. A couple of more forms, and a few doctors' notes. More paper. My wife is a teacher, so she can deduct certain expenses for school supplies. More paper.
Next year, we should finally be starting to invest. Add at least one form for each account. And probably some papers in addition to the forms.
The year after that, we start having children. Add in another form, and proof of a social security number for the child.
Then we start saving for child number one's college. More investment, more forms, more bank papers. Repeat these past two steps for each child.
My parents are getting older. By the time I've got a couple of kids, maybe my father has a heart attack, and I either need to take care of him, or pay someone to do that. More forms, more papers, (plus, I may have to pay social security for anyone I hire to watch him).
As other's have posted, investments and holdings outside the US increase the number and type of documents yet again.
So, seems not too bad, right? Just a couple dozen forms and proof of [XYZ] to be shipped off. Wrong! The forms are written by lawyers and accountants. Therefore, they are entirely incomprehensible. There are instruction books, but they use terminology and phraseology that are usually not easily understood by the general populace. There is no definitive explanation or glossary or dictionary.
So, it's a little worse. So you make a few mistakes. It was all honest, and you follow the directions. Nothing bad will happen. Wrong. You are liable not to what it says on the forms, but what it says in the tax code. Again, this code is thousands of pages long, written by politicians.
Fine, I'll get an accountant to do it. Doesn't matter. You are still liable for what goes on your form. I haven't seen any cases regarding this particular point, but I would imagine that the legal community will back the accountants.
But wait, there is that IRS help number that you can call. Again, check out the fine print. They can answer your questions all day long, but they assume no liability, and do not warrant the accuracy of the answers.
So, a US citizen is required to be fluent in a 1000+ page tax document that changes annually to prepare a form that could go from one page to hundreds of pages. And this is just the federal government. I live in Maryland, which has a lengthy tax code. They used to base taxes almost directly on a percentage of your federal tax. But now you have to fill out a form and provide documentation that is as long as the federal code. Unfortunately, they use slightly different interpretations of certain phrases, and use different methods to calculate different parts of your tax liability.
I'm not sure, but I think that in some areas, you may have to fill out yet another set of forms for city/local taxes. Luckily, I just have to multiply my state tax by a factor to get my combined state/local tax.
In summary, it's not the math. It's the countless inconsistent forms. It's the fact that there is no definitive assistance (also forgot to mention that IRS acts above the law in many ways, so don't count on the courts to help you either) It's the fact that you have to provide seriously asinine proof of the most blatant things (My wife is blind, why the fsck do you need to have a new doctor's note EVERY SINGLE YEAR!!!)
So, yes, while it isn't necessarily the best thing in the world, I'd favor scrapping the current income tax system in the US in favor of a VAT. You eliminate the problem of internet taxation. You eliminate an absurd income tax system. You promote savings and investment. You favor conservation of goods. Hey, it's not perfect, but it's better than what we've got.
I hope this wasn't wildly inaccurate (it's mostly an observation of what I have to go through) and that it helped you understand some of us Americans and our bitching about taxes.
The thing that matters is that 4 cars back can feel my music.:)
Oh, great. And in a few short years, those of us four cars back can pay for your hearing aids, job training, SSI, etc. due to you having fried your eardrums.
Tricked out Firechickens, ill-handling Mopars, and "yet another" Mustang do not geek vehicles make.
Check out the Death Wing. A 1981 Honda Interstate. Four different colors, body parts from at least two different bikes. And let's not forget the sidecar.
For 'reliable' transport (something some of you seem to need) there is the 1999 BMW R1100R with ABS. Fuel Injection. Yeah, not a big deal with autos, but serious high tech stuff for bikes. And let's not forget that bone stock, this rather slow and lowly bike is still capable of pulling ~12.25 in the 1/4.
But I must admit that I have a 1996 Mercury Mystique (5 spd, V-6) for most transport, and a 1981 Olds Diesel Wagon (Why??? Because I can swap in a 455 without pissing off the emissions inspectors in MD:)
Slashdot Mirror
Funny. Our business is dumping a bunch of ICA stuff in the next few months (have to write the letter to break the heart of the leasing company tomorrow:) Unfortunately, we were using it to run apps on some nice laptops (IBM 360p's) that weren't up to running the entire program locally. What really killed us on keeping the technology is having to spend money on both MetaFrame and Terminal Server. Yeah, I've looked for some linux/unix/mac/"anything but M$" solutions, but FreeMed isn't quite there yet (hard to tell from the demo, and I've been too lazy to install it locally yet.
What does open source have to do with forking? It seems that one of the points of open source is that IF the standard product doesn't do the job, here is the source and modify it to your liking.
What's so hard to understand?
Hey, remember that article a few weeks back about the read once DVDs? Well, you can use one of those suckers for your initial setup. Put the user info on one of them using a burner at Circuit City. Then plop it in when you get home, and it does all of the setup for you. And it erases itself so that you can't kludge the setup and spoof a linux box into running it.
Hmm, the possibilities abound. I bet Katz is VERY frightened:)
Add Quicken and AOL (those products specifically) and I'll happily replace my mother's PC. NO MORE LATE NIGHT SUPPORT CALLS FROM MOM!! Cool:)
I'd rather do the maintenance on Linux (no mother, you can't have the root password) but we've all seen that Intuit won't even develop new apps for the Mac, let alone Linux. Of course, they probably won't develop an app for this, but this is much more appealing to many folks.
As for those who have said "we've seen it before and they tanked". Well, yes and no. Yes, we have seen similar products before. And yes, they didn't sell. But why? First, techies weren't interested. Second, there wasn't much of a push by CompUSA et al. of the machines. Better profit margins/commisions on the Packard Bells, etc.
Also, we have an even less technically savvy audience gravitating towards computers. Two years ago, how many grandmothers were on the internet? Now, with proddings by their children and grandchildren, they are more likely to sign on. So the market is a bit more ripe these days.
But, there is still a problem. These machines are too hard to hook up for the grandmothers out there. So they will need the help of someone more familiar with the technology. And that person will say "why don't you just get a PC?"
To make these work, you need a distribution model similar to WebPC/TV (I am guessing on what follows. If this isn't WebTV's MO, ignore that part, and look at the idea) You buy it from Circuit City. You pay an extra $50 for in home installation. While waiting for the installer to come out, your paperwork for membership is processed. They come to your house, plug in all the fiddly bits. As soon as the machine boots, you enter your special ID number. This gets written to flash ROM. It automatically connects you to the Net, maintains upgrades, etc.
Or, if you didn't opt for the 'Internet Package', and just picked the packages for Home Checking, Offline Games, and Word Processing, then it installs/updates those packages, and the Circuit City installer can then unplug your modem.
We're not talking rocket science here. There is one sticking point, and that is us, the technically savvy. As long as we recommend against these types of machines, people will listen. The manufacturers either need to convince us to convince others (and, OSS not withstanding, having M$ go into a joint PS2/WebTV development will help. Remember, most computer users out there still proudly fly the Redmond flag) to use these machines, or they need to make them so easy that we are taken out of the picture.
How to do that? First with the install plan I mentioned. Second way: have a demo installation booth at Circuit City. Let potential buyers open a box (repacked and taped up after every demo) and hook one up themselves.
The corporation I am a part of is going to give me paid time out of the office to have a sit down with our state senator(s). But, we are not in the software industry. Neither are the insurance companies.
So while it is antithetical and dangerous for most companies, it is not dangerous for Red Hat, MicroSloth, Corel (or their US distribution arm), Adobe, etc, etc, etc. And when those companies have so damned much cash (as well as less liquid assets) they control serious lobbying dollars. The NRA, BBB, AMA, AMA (there are two. Ask me:) etc. should be happy to have 10% of that kind of cash.
Living in Maryland can make this a tricky vote for our legislature. On one hand, they can do the right thing for their citizens as well as the citizens of Virginia. Why mention Virginia? Silicon Valley East I've heard it called. With all of those gov't contracts, wouldn't the fed be more likely to purchase in Maryland, a consumer friendly state? I hope so. Nice income tax for the state.
But, let's say that Md. doesn't pass the UCITA. Then Supreme Widget Software of Va. says 'fine. There are no legal sellers of licenses to our software in Maryland. You must buy them in Va. (Or Deleware, or wherever).' The savvy senator, while perhaps not swayed by this argument, will see the LOSS of money to Virginia by some (CompUSA, white box manufacturers, etc.) and might listen to them.
I should be contacting my senator(s) within the week. (Would have done it earlier, but the ice has shut down the state. When I finally got back to work, the router had crapped out. Fixed that this morning, so I can do my research on the topic before writing the letter). Hopefully, I'll have an audience. With any luck, I may be able to get before a hearing on the subject.
Write your state legislators. Contact your local chambers of commerce and make sure they are aware of the situation. I don't hold out much/any hope for residents of WA, VA, CA, and a few other states. But if we are diligent, and perhaps a bit lucky, those will be the only three states with these absurd laws.
Hmm... Screwing up while learning to fly kills me, the ground crew, maybe the people in the community I crash into.
Screwing up while learning Linux gives lots of hackers access to all the porn on my hard drive and the recipes for my mother's 'experimental' cooking.
Do I need to spell it out?
Whine, whine, whine! Corel and RedHat are making it too easy for feebs to run Linux. It's not fair, I'm not cool enough anymore.
/usr/bin/rpm /usr/bin/rpmcommand /usr/bin/rpmcommand /usr/bin/rpm
Get over it. For years, I told DOSheads to run the Mac if they wanted something easier to use. They didn't. They improved what they had. Corel (amongst others) has decided that they are targeting the new user. In order to do that, some people are going to get peeved. It's those who know what's going on. If you don't like it because when you install a distro with some 'prevent-the-newbie-from-hurting-themselves' features it slows you down, pick Slack. Or roll your own.
Unfortunately, not all of us were as cool as you, and we didn't take to Linux like a fish to water. It took a good bit of time. If you go back an reread my scheme, you'll see that it is entirely possible for a l33t user such as yourself to remove this 'idiot protection'. Watch:
rm
chmod xxxx (set your own)
mv
Now, this, of course, ignores the fact that if you were as kewl as you think you are, you wouldn't be USING RPM's ANYWAY!
Another point:
I'm a newbie. I want to learn Linux, but because of the great wisdom of Abigail, I shouldn't install it, I should get experience as a user. Where do we start with the errors of this thinking. Fine, I buy a box from VA. Don't have to install. But I want to use Gnumeric (for example only), and it's not on my machine. How do I install it? All of the instructions say to change to root, and type 'make install' at the end, but Abigail said I should only be a user.
Oh, I know!!! You are going to be the admin for every Joe Schmo in the world who wants to run Linux and see what the hype is about. Sounds fair to me.
Oh, you don't want to do that? Then you are writing the Don't-Hose-Your-System-Newbie-HOWTO?
Hmm, guess not. You just want to bitch.
Anything that gives more Linux users is a good thing. The more users, the more programs, and the less I have to keep this near useless Win95 partition on my drive.
Yeah, sooner or later, it's probably important for owners of Linux machines to learn the how's and why's (specifically, why you don't logon as 'root'). Most of us who are using it (to some degree) are the early adopters. We are more technically savvy. Next comes the big part of the distribution curve. And guess what? Those people aren't as savvy. Who does it hurt to help them safely along the newbie path? Not Corel. Not RedHat. Not most of the distro packagers. No, it seems it only hurts your ego.
Geez, next thing you know, you'll be claiming that only those who know the secret handshake should get a copy of the source. Get a grip you snob.
Brilliant. What a load of crap gets posted on /., and yet something like this gets passed by?
I guess the story about the folding lego was more important.
(Sheesh. Somebody with the squishdot source want to open a new site?)
It took me around a year to learn to not run as root. Why? Lazy. Installing new stuff. I didn't know how to add another user (all of the books sorta glossed over this point. Before I found O'Reilly and some better sources).
./foo in order to test foo as a non-root user". Or, instead of having to do "rpm -Uvh foo.rpm" as root, have rpm wired so that it automatically runs as "su -c 'rpm -Uvh foo.rpm'" even if you just type in the first part. Or provide an option to 'rpm -Uvh' as either a user or as root. Hmm... I don't know anything about writing shell scripts, but I could probably figure this out by tomorrow:
....' and pass it to the shell.
It was somewhat understandable. But with the new distros that want you to create a non-root account upon installation, it is less understandable. Perhaps they need to add a function that if the user enters 'root' at the first logon, they are asked to confirm this, reiterate that it could be dangerous, etc.
Perhaps in the various compilation instructions, there should be info saying "before typing 'su -c 'make install'' type
Move the rpm binary to rpmcommand.
Make a shell script (entitled rpm) that checks the arguments. If one of them is U or I, then rewrite the whole command entered as 'su -c
Set permissions so that it WON'T run as root. (The script, not the binary).
If I or U (or any of the switches that require root access) is not passed, then just pass the arguments to rpmcommand.
Okay, somebody who knows what they are doing type it up in a nice script. This outline is, of course, GPL:)
I just got my Copyleft DVD t-shirt yesterday (make sure that $4 gets to the defense fund soon). Is this shirt in violation of the Judge's injunction? How do items like this shirt play into the whole deal? Also, has anyone purchased a DVD-ROM drive, and returned the software (ala "Windows Refund Day")? Is it just me, or are the people (Creative??) who make player software for Winblows and the Mac the only ones who could potentially be losing money? (Okay, Apple and M$ also, since we aren't 'forced' into buying their OS'es.) Also, since nobody offers a player for Linux, could it be argued further that no monetary loss could occur, as an open source Linux player does not compete against Winblows/Mac players? I use Linux (much of the time). I have no desire to purchase a Winblows player. I want a Linux player. Therefore, the sellers of Winblows players have lost nothing, as I have no intention of buying their product on that platform.
With all of the bright hax0rs out there, why doesn't one of them hack the slashdot server, find *.pl, and post it?
N.B. While I'd like to see the code posted myself, I can't even claim that I'd know where to begin doing this.
Offtopic? Yet another moderator who isn't terribly bright. It is peripherally on topic, as Linus mentioned a domain (mylinux.com) that he wasn't sure whether it was real or not. This poster merely checked up on it, and posted the information. Of course, had the moderator read the original article (you don't even need to leave this page!) and used a bit of common sense (!?) the moderator wouldn't have done that.
Questioning moderation (-1)
Flamebait (-1)
Troll (-1)
Your choice.
I just finished downloading 6.1 iso over a 56k link. I mean JUST finished. Like two minutes before updating /. to find this article.
My wife's computer is now a white box machine. PS went up last night. Pulled a PS out of a spare case, and got her running again in about an hour. (Minus some snapped cords that I literally ripped out of the machine. I had never experienced a burning power supply (smoke and everything) before and panicked a bit). Now, contrast that with the last power supply she had go bad:
Two years ago, on a name brand PC (forget the brand) she had a power supply go bad. Now, even though this was a 486/25 running DOS 6.22, she was entirely, 100% happy with the machine. (Her current machine is a K5 150, I think) So, just spring $30-$50 for a power supply, and go on our way. Nope. Had to get a custom power supply. Okay, just drop the motherboard and all into a new case. Nope. Custom shaped motherboard.
I will build my own 'puters (the first was to get what I wanted at a decent price, as well as cherry picking the parts. The past three or four have been built out of hand-me-down components.) At work, we buy only white-box computers. It supports a good local business, and I can repair them in VERY short order. If you had the office next to mine, me with a white box/home built and you with a Dell/Gateway/IBM/Micron/Whatever and we both have problem XYZ, who is going to get it faster? You call FedEx and wait three days. I go to the local shop, ask a favor (to be moved to the head of the queue) and get back in business no later than first thing the following morning.
YMMV, of course, but in my case....
If memory serves, Mac OS (circa 6.x or early 7.x) had something similar to OLE. Sadly, I think it failed due to lack of support by M$.
(I could be wrong. It's been a LOOONNNGGG time since I did layout for the college paper. Back when the 68040 was l33t)
No apologies necessary. I've been looking for something like this for a little while. I think:)
I'm going to check the page now.
Where do I buy it, where do I sent the check, and how much?
I've got two versions of IV-VI on LD, and two on tape. One of the tape versions purchased before the advent of 'sell-through' pricing. Saw TPM twice. Have a ton of licensed toys.
Mr. Lucas, I have three copies of American Graffitti. You have enough of my money. Time for some of those hard working pirates to get one.
Seriously, somebody please tell me where to get a copy.
Is it so bad that anyone can be a judge? Personally, I believe that if the legal system were imbued with a bit of thought and intelligence, it would be much better. Take a look at the US Constitution: It's only a few pages once typed, and has formed one of the longest and most effective governments (I am not a historian, but other than England's parliament, haven't all the other countries in the world undergone some rather major changes in government since 1783?)
/. readers) than by some lawyer whose computer knowledge comes from watching his secretary type his briefs.
All of this is written in fairly plain English, and can be interpreted by anyone capable of reading the language. Why does it require 7+ years of schooling to understand that?
I've got a better one: let's look at the bar exam. Doctor's, dentists, teachers, etc. all take professional exams. They have to get CME credits, or their license expires. They must remain somewhat current with new techniques and ideas. No such system for legal professionals. Pass the bar once and you are off the hook. Sure, you have to pass it in every state you want to practice in (except for reciprocity arrangements) But (for example) an 80 year old lawyer who took the bar before televisions existed outside military labs could have a hand in judging the eToys case.
Maybe they could explain it to the duffer in such a way that it makes sense. But it would likely be safer to write the law so that I (or eToys' lawyers) could understand it and anyone can make the decision.
We had to make cars easy to drive. We're having to make computers easy to use. Why not the law.
FWIW, if I had an IP case, I'd rather it heard by a trial of true peers (for example, you and
Presumably, someone (andover) is going to make a
big pile of money out of this. What are the odds that they might host mirrors of sites that are being slashdotted, even if only for a few hours?
Any plans to hire more staff to sift the articles? Professional moderators? etc?
Any plans to fix the deluge of AC crap?
20th century Fox has gone by Fox Films or Fox TV for maybe a year or two now.
Geez, in my diatribe of problems with the tax system, I completely forgot that there is a small business I'd like to start. For various reasons, I'd prefer to not have my personal finances so directly tied to the company, but the tax code essentially prevents this, as you've pointed out so well.
Let me throw another log on the fire of the BS tax system in the US: corporate profits. I work for a small company (annual gross $4 million per year) that spent about two years sending out more than we take in. Finally, we come close to only spending what we took in this year. No problem, right? Wrong. Last year, we had (and these numbers are just for example) $50,000 in back debts. This FY, it was down to $12,500. We didn't have any more money in the bank (it was about the same this FY as last) but we were able to save on a supplier here, get a little more money there, and basically pay up back bills. That is counted as profit!! So even though we have no more money in the bank, we have to come up with roughly $10,000 in cash to pay the tax burden because we lowered our debts. It would make more sense from a tax perspective to buy goods from the next FY and backdate the due date on the bills to the current FY, thereby lowering our 'profit'. Repeat ad nauseum.
While I disagree with the idea of taxing corporate profits, I understand that that is how we do things in the US. Fine. But let's use a real world definition of profit, not some BS invented by lawyers and accountants. Let's call profit either the money in the bank and/or money paid to the stockholders in the form of dividends (Yeah, I know that these are also taxed, but why add in the stupidity of my lower accounts payable?)
What a crock of shit. This stuff really chaps my ass. Sure, maybe it is 'fair', and maybe it provides one less loophole for GM, M$, etc., but what about the small businesses who don't have the money for the accountants and are are not abusing the system? Last time I checked, the vast majority of job growth in the US in the current financial expansion has been as a result not of M$, GM, and other Fortune 500's, but of all the mom and pops out there (yeah, we are a little bigger than that, but we are certainly far from the Fortune 500, and are in an industry with very narrow profit margins).
(BTW, I can't complain about the IRS but so much. My father-in-law is an agent, and is actually a decent guy (for an in-law:). FWIW, he complains quite a bit about the tax system as well. It really doesn't seem as though the agents and the agency are especially fond of the system. At least not as much as the pols who set it up.)
Sometimes it is very, very, very hard. Sometimes it is very, very, very easy. If you have low income from one job, live at home, and have no spouse/children and never give to charity, it's simple. I could do my taxes while in college in about 10 minutes.
That is the simplest case.
OTOH, each additional 'thing' adds more complexity than you would expect. I got married. So you have to decide whether to file jointly or separately. I bought a house, so I can deduct the interest from my mortgage from my taxes. Each of these require several pieces of paper. In addition, I need to run the entire thing twice to decide whether my taxes are lower filing jointly or separately (not sure about this, but given the byzantine nature of our tax forms, it's worth checking).
My wife is partially blind and partially deaf. A couple of more forms, and a few doctors' notes. More paper. My wife is a teacher, so she can deduct certain expenses for school supplies. More paper.
Next year, we should finally be starting to invest. Add at least one form for each account. And probably some papers in addition to the forms.
The year after that, we start having children. Add in another form, and proof of a social security number for the child.
Then we start saving for child number one's college. More investment, more forms, more bank papers. Repeat these past two steps for each child.
My parents are getting older. By the time I've got a couple of kids, maybe my father has a heart attack, and I either need to take care of him, or pay someone to do that. More forms, more papers, (plus, I may have to pay social security for anyone I hire to watch him).
As other's have posted, investments and holdings outside the US increase the number and type of documents yet again.
So, seems not too bad, right? Just a couple dozen forms and proof of [XYZ] to be shipped off. Wrong! The forms are written by lawyers and accountants. Therefore, they are entirely incomprehensible. There are instruction books, but they use terminology and phraseology that are usually not easily understood by the general populace. There is no definitive explanation or glossary or dictionary.
So, it's a little worse. So you make a few mistakes. It was all honest, and you follow the directions. Nothing bad will happen. Wrong. You are liable not to what it says on the forms, but what it says in the tax code. Again, this code is thousands of pages long, written by politicians.
Fine, I'll get an accountant to do it. Doesn't matter. You are still liable for what goes on your form. I haven't seen any cases regarding this particular point, but I would imagine that the legal community will back the accountants.
But wait, there is that IRS help number that you can call. Again, check out the fine print. They can answer your questions all day long, but they assume no liability, and do not warrant the accuracy of the answers.
So, a US citizen is required to be fluent in a 1000+ page tax document that changes annually to prepare a form that could go from one page to hundreds of pages. And this is just the federal government. I live in Maryland, which has a lengthy tax code. They used to base taxes almost directly on a percentage of your federal tax. But now you have to fill out a form and provide documentation that is as long as the federal code. Unfortunately, they use slightly different interpretations of certain phrases, and use different methods to calculate different parts of your tax liability.
I'm not sure, but I think that in some areas, you may have to fill out yet another set of forms for city/local taxes. Luckily, I just have to multiply my state tax by a factor to get my combined state/local tax.
In summary, it's not the math. It's the countless inconsistent forms. It's the fact that there is no definitive assistance (also forgot to mention that IRS acts above the law in many ways, so don't count on the courts to help you either) It's the fact that you have to provide seriously asinine proof of the most blatant things (My wife is blind, why the fsck do you need to have a new doctor's note EVERY SINGLE YEAR!!!)
So, yes, while it isn't necessarily the best thing in the world, I'd favor scrapping the current income tax system in the US in favor of a VAT. You eliminate the problem of internet taxation. You eliminate an absurd income tax system. You promote savings and investment. You favor conservation of goods. Hey, it's not perfect, but it's better than what we've got.
I hope this wasn't wildly inaccurate (it's mostly an observation of what I have to go through) and that it helped you understand some of us Americans and our bitching about taxes.
Is that my wife asked me last night while watching Tomorrow Never Dies if he had died/retired.
She's a little freaked out now...
Oh, great. And in a few short years, those of us four cars back can pay for your hearing aids, job training, SSI, etc. due to you having fried your eardrums.
That ringing your hear at night? Get used to it.
(Lest of course you were joking.)
Tricked out Firechickens, ill-handling Mopars, and "yet another" Mustang do not geek vehicles make.
Check out the Death Wing. A 1981 Honda Interstate. Four different colors, body parts from at least two different bikes. And let's not forget the sidecar.
For 'reliable' transport (something some of you seem to need) there is the 1999 BMW R1100R with ABS. Fuel Injection. Yeah, not a big deal with autos, but serious high tech stuff for bikes. And let's not forget that bone stock, this rather slow and lowly bike is still capable of pulling ~12.25 in the 1/4.
But I must admit that I have a 1996 Mercury Mystique (5 spd, V-6) for most transport, and a 1981 Olds Diesel Wagon (Why??? Because I can swap in a 455 without pissing off the emissions inspectors in MD:)