"So you figure it is better to only lose your home directory containing everything you care about, email, pictures, personal documents, all your settings like bookmarks etc. As long as the rest of the system, which is easy as hell to reinstall, is not compromised? As a desktop user I severely disagree, I'd rather lose everything but ~ and if I'm stupid enough to run malware that malware will have the necessary permissions to delete everything I care about." That is worst case on Unix. On Window worst case is you lose EVERYTHING. So yes it is still slightly better. Do you have kids? Does your spouse use your PC? Again the worst case is that user can infect and maybe loose there home directory and not everybody's. So yes it is better to just loose your home directory. BTW make backups. No matter how secure you OS is that important data is sitting on a drive that will fail some day.
"I monitor a few open source applications mailing lists and often when a security vulnerability is found, it has been there a long time. How many more are lurking in that mess of C++ code?" Yes but that is the key. They are out in the open. How many more are lurking in that mess of C++ code that is Windows that nobody fixes?
Linux has a higher security rating than Windows at least that is what the US government says. If you want a really secure OS then I suggest running VMS:)
"The data import was the main aggravating part, because Excel is completely free form. When a user is doing something like this, you have to account for the fact that sometimes they might feel like typing the phone number in one column and but then later they'll decide to use that for general notes because they didn't have a phone number for that particular row." Yewww... Well first of all Exel is only free form if you let it. You can set the Cell types. When I have dealt with spreadsheets they where usually done by someone that atleast set up the columns and used them! Yea you had a mess to deal with and yes I have had more than a few issues when dealing with abused databases. My favorite was when we where sending out updates to our software. I had nothing to do with it thank goodness but one of our clerical staff decided to use the second line of the address fields to mark people as having bad credit. A few lables had the presons name and address but BAD CREDIT in all caps printed on them. I think the caught it in time.
Actually it really isn't that bad. For one thing you know know what the application is supposed to do and how it should work. Importing the data shouldn't be that hard. Every spreadsheet I have ever seen will export CSV or DBF files. Importing those isn't that big of a deal. "Yes I have done it". Sounds like this application evolved over time an now it needs to migrate. The interesting thing is I what solution will you use? Java plus SQL is one of my favorite tools for complex database applications but may be over kill for this. VB plus SQL. Nice Microsoft lock in but you guys may really know VB and already have it all over creation. C# plus SQL See above. Ruby on Rails plus AJAX. Very buzz word compliant. LAMP plus AJAX a little old school but still buzz worthy. Or just straight LAMP which if your UI is simple enough should work just fine.
So Mac you thought you where so funny. Well take this! "PC throws a chair label Cross platform compatability right out a Window". So what you going to do about Mister I am so much cooler than a PC!. Mac pick up the phone. "Hello Open Office org?, Yea this is Mac I have a message from Steve for you. How would you like a big pile of cash and about a hundred programers? Really great they will be right over."
Gnome and KDE choose to distribute their software for free. I suggest that you read this. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html Yes you can charge for FOSS software. My company has paid for FOSS. We needed a feature added to Asterisk so we paid for the developer to add it. You use selfish in an interesting way. You want a developer to spend his time and effort on a project and not even get a thank you in return. I am saying that if you use a FOSS program that you should at least thank the developers, help other users, write documentation, write code, pay someone to write code, or donate money to projects that benfit you. You keep using that word but I don't think you know what it means.
At the local Woolworths. Or maybe SpaceWars at the Melbourne FL Airport in the mid seventies. First game system was Atari Pinball. It was so cool it had pinball and breakout and was a lot cheaper then the Atari 2600. From there I got an Atari 2600, then a C64, ColecoVision, and an Amiga. Now I have an N64, Dreamcast, XBox, PS2, Wii, Gamecube, and an atari retro arcade system. On my PC I play with Fliight Simulator. Like I did on my C64, and my Amiga.
I got an HD-DVD when they where on sale for $98. It is only 1080i but then I only have a 1080i TV. I am hoping that it will win but I think the magic price was $100. If there was a flood of $99.95 HD-DVD players on black Friday then HD-DVD would have won. I thought that was going to happen. It does do a wonderful job with upconverting and is is a very nice DVD Player. The funny thing was when I was buying it the woman at the check out made the comment "That is an expensive DVD player." I told her that it was really cheap for an HD-DVD. She thought that all DVDs where HD.
Toshiba needs to get them under $100 then they will win.
I can see your point. I haven't messed with the online stuff yet with the Wii. My wife has but yea if you have a Wii friend you should have the opportunity to just add them from the address book. I still need to get Opera for my Wii as well.
"They're also asking them to hand over the full specifications on all their EXISTING modern formats--a move that would allow competitors to develop Office clones at will."
I really hate to tell you but there is a lot more to a program than the file format. What this will allow is for a company to create a competitor to Office that can exchange files with Office at will. When you consider the number of companies and government agencies that have documents in Office format this is vital.
But if you really think all you need is a the file format I have the docs for the Wordstar file format around here somewhere. I will be glad to posit and you can knock out Wordstar in a day.
How to not be a freeloader. You are probably already pulling your weight but here are somethings that someone like could or is already doing to not be a freeloader. 1. Help other people. If you are on a mailing list and you know an answer then give it. 2. SugarCRM does have support agreements. You could get one if you use it. 3. You said that you write scripts and are a knowlegeable sysadmin. Even answer a LInux newbe's question? 4. Post bug reports. 5. And this is the big one. Say please and thank you. When I ask a question on a forum and I get an answer I always say thanks. I didn't say that nobody could be a freeloader but there are getting to be too many of them. A good example is the FOSS phone system my company uses. We are using Asterisk for our phone system. We pay a company for support and to add new features. Those features end up as FOSS but we pay for them. That is the way FOSS should work.
I don't know if the friends codes are all that bad. I think in a way it adds to the "social" aspect of the Wii. My Wii is set to work with a few of my friends Wiis and not anyone else. In other words we play games with people that we have real relationships with and not strangers online. As you said you can use any number of websites to find people to play with on-line so it doesn't stop you from finding people to play online with. Maybe it is just different and not all that bad.
It really will always fail but at the same time I am sick of the pirates as well. Pirate's Bay is making money off of other peoples work. They Sell ads on their website they are not the good guys. I don't like the RIAA or the MPAA going after grandmothers, little kids, and college students and they are also not the good guys for sure. As I said it seems that we are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. You have two groups of people that seem to think they are entitled to rule the world. You have the media companies that think that they should have the right to control how you watch and or listen to their media. If they could do figure out how they would charge you for every person that you let listen to your music. Don't put that CD on at a party and heaven forbid you play while tailgating at a football game! Don't forget that broadcast flag! They must sell you that show on DVD when they get around to selling it. And then you have the people that think they are entitled to take any media that they can! You can tell them by their matting call. "I it isn't my responsibility to make your business model work!" I really don't mind paying for my music. I don't mind buying or renting DVDs. Heck I don't even rip the DVDs I get from NetFlix. But I want to record shows off my TV for my own use and I want to put my DVDs on my hard drive and my iPod. Oh and I don't want to pay bunch for my digital music. Even $.99 for a song is a bit silly folks.
"Again, PAY ME OR GO AWAY. No! If you insist on being paid, don't write FOSS. There will always be a huge majority of users of FOSS that don't contribute. They don't have to; you are giving away the software and source code." Again I suggest you read what RMS has written. FOSS doesn't mean that you give away the software and the source! FOSS means that if you SELL the software the source and the rights to redistribute go with it! I can write FOSS all day long for pay but that means that the person that gets my work gets the source and the rights to modify it an to redistribute it. And your right. I don't have to be paid in money for my FOSS. But I have to get some value from it even if it is the enjoyment of it. It really doesn't bother me when the freeloader jerks make comments to me. It tends to bother me more when I see other FOSS authors get abused. Some of them do a lot more than I do and make real effort. Then you get some jerk screaming that this or that sucks and that they developers needs to get off his butt and fix this or that. I know that really takes the joy out of it. So yes if you are not paying then you really don't have any right to demand anything from the author. And yes I want to see the deadbeat jerks to start paying. They can start by using the words please, and thank you.
"You're pro-life and anti-TV? Let me guess you're Christian too and occasionally attend church but you still believe in evolution because the bible isn't to be taken literally. I'm still undecided on the Mac issue. You may not own one but you at least appreciate them. How close am I???"
Actually I am pro-choice I am a Christian and I go to church every Sunday. What Mac issue? They are good PCs and I actually own an old Mac plus because I like classic computers. So you are about as wrong as you can possible be.
What I don't like is when people think they are unbiased and reasonable and the prove to be totally biased and unreasonable. You sir a great example of the typical open minded liberal. You think you know all the answers and anyone that doesn't agree with you must wrong.
Okay even turning off cores that you don't isn't dump. A lot of the time a pc really is just doing nops waiting for you to do something. Powering down cores when they are not needed will save power just like turning off cylinders in an engine... What is dumb is this pay me to turn on more cores idea. It really goes counter to the idea of of OWNING or BUYING a pc. If I BUY the computer I OWN the computer. I shouldn't have to pay you to unlock some part of the that computer. Yes it is going back to the days of the Mainframe and frankly I don't think that is a good idea.
As I said it is up for debate. But that court ruling does hold a lot of legal weight. So I would say that you are probably correct.
"Which I think relates to why people think it's all about the President. They're the ones that get all the attention, and this translates into an expectation that they have much more influence than they really do over what the law becomes.' Oh I agree that is why I said that people really need to pay a lot more attention to their reps.
Yep that is pretty much it. For some people you would think that saying thank you was more expensive than a new car. The thing is that FOSS developers must get paid or else they will not do it. It doesn't have to be money. It could be having a program that they really need. personal satisfaction, or even fame. Maybe it is just having something great to put on the resume. But if they get nothing but grief then they will stop working on it.
I do understand the difference. I am not sure that a postcard can not be considered evidence since there is no assumption of privacy. Kind of like taking in a Mall. Or on a CB Radio. I am not sure that Email is any different but that is up for debate. Even if it gets the protection of law it is just to easy to sniff a line and get email for me to ever think of it as private.
You really don't need to check EVERY rep. Just yours since those are the only ones you can vote for. With all the complaining about the President I am shocked by how many people just ignore their reps.
Slashdot Mirror
"So you figure it is better to only lose your home directory containing everything you care about, email, pictures, personal documents, all your settings like bookmarks etc. As long as the rest of the system, which is easy as hell to reinstall, is not compromised?
:)
As a desktop user I severely disagree, I'd rather lose everything but ~ and if I'm stupid enough to run malware that malware will have the necessary permissions to delete everything I care about."
That is worst case on Unix. On Window worst case is you lose EVERYTHING. So yes it is still slightly better.
Do you have kids? Does your spouse use your PC? Again the worst case is that user can infect and maybe loose there home directory and not everybody's.
So yes it is better to just loose your home directory. BTW make backups. No matter how secure you OS is that important data is sitting on a drive that will fail some day.
"I monitor a few open source applications mailing lists and often when a security vulnerability is found, it has been there a long time. How many more are lurking in that mess of C++ code?"
Yes but that is the key. They are out in the open. How many more are lurking in that mess of C++ code that is Windows that nobody fixes?
Linux has a higher security rating than Windows at least that is what the US government says.
If you want a really secure OS then I suggest running VMS
"The data import was the main aggravating part, because Excel is completely free form. When a user is doing something like this, you have to account for the fact that sometimes they might feel like typing the phone number in one column and but then later they'll decide to use that for general notes because they didn't have a phone number for that particular row."
Yewww...
Well first of all Exel is only free form if you let it. You can set the Cell types.
When I have dealt with spreadsheets they where usually done by someone that atleast set up the columns and used them!
Yea you had a mess to deal with and yes I have had more than a few issues when dealing with abused databases.
My favorite was when we where sending out updates to our software.
I had nothing to do with it thank goodness but one of our clerical staff decided to use the second line of the address fields to mark people as having bad credit.
A few lables had the presons name and address but BAD CREDIT in all caps printed on them.
I think the caught it in time.
Actually it really isn't that bad.
For one thing you know know what the application is supposed to do and how it should work.
Importing the data shouldn't be that hard. Every spreadsheet I have ever seen will export CSV or DBF files. Importing those isn't that big of a deal. "Yes I have done it".
Sounds like this application evolved over time an now it needs to migrate.
The interesting thing is I what solution will you use?
Java plus SQL is one of my favorite tools for complex database applications but may be over kill for this.
VB plus SQL. Nice Microsoft lock in but you guys may really know VB and already have it all over creation.
C# plus SQL See above.
Ruby on Rails plus AJAX. Very buzz word compliant.
LAMP plus AJAX a little old school but still buzz worthy.
Or just straight LAMP which if your UI is simple enough should work just fine.
For Linux why not kjots?
Also Google notes isn't bad.
Or you could write one yourself. It could a nice little project to get ones feet wet.
Quick charge means a lower life on the battery and really doesn't give a huge advantage. It just isn't a good tradeoff.
Except these are batteries in network cabinets. They are not in end user equipment. I doubt that they are quick charge batteries.
Yep it is last my retirment date as well.
Doesn't matter since I hard code all my programs to fail on my 70th birthday anyway.
Just kidding.
Only if Apple is going to make iWork for Windows and completely backward compatable with Office.
So Mac you thought you where so funny. Well take this! "PC throws a chair label Cross platform compatability right out a Window".
So what you going to do about Mister I am so much cooler than a PC!.
Mac pick up the phone.
"Hello Open Office org?, Yea this is Mac I have a message from Steve for you. How would you like a big pile of cash and about a hundred programers? Really great they will be right over."
Gnome and KDE choose to distribute their software for free.
I suggest that you read this. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html
Yes you can charge for FOSS software. My company has paid for FOSS. We needed a feature added to Asterisk so we paid for the developer to add it.
You use selfish in an interesting way. You want a developer to spend his time and effort on a project and not even get a thank you in return. I am saying that if you use a FOSS program that you should at least thank the developers, help other users, write documentation, write code, pay someone to write code, or donate money to projects that benfit you. You keep using that word but I don't think you know what it means.
Yep and I rember people calling there computer the hard disk.
Yep that is the one.
My family played that for hours.
At the local Woolworths. Or maybe SpaceWars at the Melbourne FL Airport in the mid seventies.
First game system was Atari Pinball. It was so cool it had pinball and breakout and was a lot cheaper then the Atari 2600.
From there I got an Atari 2600, then a C64, ColecoVision, and an Amiga.
Now I have an N64, Dreamcast, XBox, PS2, Wii, Gamecube, and an atari retro arcade system.
On my PC I play with Fliight Simulator. Like I did on my C64, and my Amiga.
I got an HD-DVD when they where on sale for $98. It is only 1080i but then I only have a 1080i TV. I am hoping that it will win but I think the magic price was $100.
If there was a flood of $99.95 HD-DVD players on black Friday then HD-DVD would have won.
I thought that was going to happen.
It does do a wonderful job with upconverting and is is a very nice DVD Player.
The funny thing was when I was buying it the woman at the check out made the comment "That is an expensive DVD player." I told her that it was really cheap for an HD-DVD. She thought that all DVDs where HD.
Toshiba needs to get them under $100 then they will win.
I can see your point. I haven't messed with the online stuff yet with the Wii. My wife has but yea if you have a Wii friend you should have the opportunity to just add them from the address book. I still need to get Opera for my Wii as well.
"They're also asking them to hand over the full specifications on all their EXISTING modern formats--a move that would allow competitors to develop Office clones at will."
I really hate to tell you but there is a lot more to a program than the file format. What this will allow is for a company to create a competitor to Office that can exchange files with Office at will.
When you consider the number of companies and government agencies that have documents in Office format this is vital.
But if you really think all you need is a the file format I have the docs for the Wordstar file format around here somewhere. I will be glad to posit and you can knock out Wordstar in a day.
How to not be a freeloader.
You are probably already pulling your weight but here are somethings that someone like could or is already doing to not be a freeloader.
1. Help other people. If you are on a mailing list and you know an answer then give it.
2. SugarCRM does have support agreements. You could get one if you use it.
3. You said that you write scripts and are a knowlegeable sysadmin. Even answer a LInux newbe's question?
4. Post bug reports.
5. And this is the big one. Say please and thank you. When I ask a question on a forum and I get an answer I always say thanks.
I didn't say that nobody could be a freeloader but there are getting to be too many of them.
A good example is the FOSS phone system my company uses. We are using Asterisk for our phone system. We pay a company for support and to add new features. Those features end up as FOSS but we pay for them.
That is the way FOSS should work.
I don't know if the friends codes are all that bad. I think in a way it adds to the "social" aspect of the Wii. My Wii is set to work with a few of my friends Wiis and not anyone else.
In other words we play games with people that we have real relationships with and not strangers online.
As you said you can use any number of websites to find people to play with on-line so it doesn't stop you from finding people to play online with.
Maybe it is just different and not all that bad.
It really will always fail but at the same time I am sick of the pirates as well.
Pirate's Bay is making money off of other peoples work. They Sell ads on their website they are not the good guys. I don't like the RIAA or the MPAA going after grandmothers, little kids, and college students and they are also not the good guys for sure.
As I said it seems that we are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
You have two groups of people that seem to think they are entitled to rule the world.
You have the media companies that think that they should have the right to control how you watch and or listen to their media. If they could do figure out how they would charge you for every person that you let listen to your music. Don't put that CD on at a party and heaven forbid you play while tailgating at a football game! Don't forget that broadcast flag! They must sell you that show on DVD when they get around to selling it.
And then you have the people that think they are entitled to take any media that they can! You can tell them by their matting call. "I it isn't my responsibility to make your business model work!"
I really don't mind paying for my music. I don't mind buying or renting DVDs. Heck I don't even rip the DVDs I get from NetFlix. But I want to record shows off my TV for my own use and I want to put my DVDs on my hard drive and my iPod. Oh and I don't want to pay bunch for my digital music. Even $.99 for a song is a bit silly folks.
"Again, PAY ME OR GO AWAY. No! If you insist on being paid, don't write FOSS. There will always be a huge majority of users of FOSS that don't contribute. They don't have to; you are giving away the software and source code."
Again I suggest you read what RMS has written.
FOSS doesn't mean that you give away the software and the source!
FOSS means that if you SELL the software the source and the rights to redistribute go with it!
I can write FOSS all day long for pay but that means that the person that gets my work gets the source and the rights to modify it an to redistribute it.
And your right. I don't have to be paid in money for my FOSS. But I have to get some value from it even if it is the enjoyment of it. It really doesn't bother me when the freeloader jerks make comments to me. It tends to bother me more when I see other FOSS authors get abused. Some of them do a lot more than I do and make real effort. Then you get some jerk screaming that this or that sucks and that they developers needs to get off his butt and fix this or that.
I know that really takes the joy out of it. So yes if you are not paying then you really don't have any right to demand anything from the author. And yes I want to see the deadbeat jerks to start paying. They can start by using the words please, and thank you.
"You're pro-life and anti-TV? Let me guess you're Christian too and occasionally attend church but you still believe in evolution because the bible isn't to be taken literally. I'm still undecided on the Mac issue. You may not own one but you at least appreciate them. How close am I???"
Actually I am pro-choice I am a Christian and I go to church every Sunday. What Mac issue? They are good PCs and I actually own an old Mac plus because I like classic computers.
So you are about as wrong as you can possible be.
What I don't like is when people think they are unbiased and reasonable and the prove to be totally biased and unreasonable. You sir a great example of the typical open minded liberal. You think you know all the answers and anyone that doesn't agree with you must wrong.
Okay even turning off cores that you don't isn't dump. A lot of the time a pc really is just doing nops waiting for you to do something. Powering down cores when they are not needed will save power just like turning off cylinders in an engine...
What is dumb is this pay me to turn on more cores idea.
It really goes counter to the idea of of OWNING or BUYING a pc. If I BUY the computer I OWN the computer. I shouldn't have to pay you to unlock some part of the that computer.
Yes it is going back to the days of the Mainframe and frankly I don't think that is a good idea.
As I said it is up for debate. But that court ruling does hold a lot of legal weight. So I would say that you are probably correct.
"Which I think relates to why people think it's all about the President. They're the ones that get all the attention, and this translates into an expectation that they have much more influence than they really do over what the law becomes.'
Oh I agree that is why I said that people really need to pay a lot more attention to their reps.
Yep that is pretty much it. For some people you would think that saying thank you was more expensive than a new car.
The thing is that FOSS developers must get paid or else they will not do it.
It doesn't have to be money. It could be having a program that they really need. personal satisfaction, or even fame.
Maybe it is just having something great to put on the resume.
But if they get nothing but grief then they will stop working on it.
I do understand the difference. I am not sure that a postcard can not be considered evidence since there is no assumption of privacy. Kind of like taking in a Mall. Or on a CB Radio.
I am not sure that Email is any different but that is up for debate. Even if it gets the protection of law it is just to easy to sniff a line and get email for me to ever think of it as private.
You really don't need to check EVERY rep. Just yours since those are the only ones you can vote for.
With all the complaining about the President I am shocked by how many people just ignore their reps.