If you have a compulsive personality gambling is just one of many avenues to exacerbate your problem.
Many people just take a bit of money lose it, and once in a while win a bit more, and go home once they are done, happy with the adrenalin rush provided by the small probability of winning something.
I spent the same amount in one day at the horse races.
You talk to lots of interest people, including very fetching chicks, look at all the ceremonial of the races, the beauty of the horses, and then to top it all, you can risk a couple of bob to make matters more interesting while watching the races, and spectacle on it sown right.
Only a nerd would chose to sit alone playing a game in preference to such a rich and interesting afternoon.
Lots of people gamble as a pastime, in a way akin to going to the cinema. for the small adrenaline rush you get by doing something out of the mundane where you could actually win a bit of money if you are lucky.
Most people that gamble know that they will lose and the house will win, but the element of uncertainty is enough to make it a pleasurable pursuit.
Of course there are rights amongst nations, and most importantly obligations.
That is what treaties are all about.
Some countries may be strong enough to ignore them, that does not mean they were not signed, or that they were not legally enforceable, somebody may still come back to the US and try that one against the war mongers of the Bush years.
If the "Lockerbie Bomber" appeal would have continued the likelihood of him been acquited is quite substantial (if the evidence was flimsy the Scottish courts would have not allowed the appeal to continue).
Bush and his cronies wrecked so badly the international stand of the US in the world that the Nobel committee is thanking the US, by means of its President, for deciding to come back to the arena of international diplomacy.
You forget that in recent years most people around the world rated the US as one of the greatest threats to international peace. You USians may not like the indictment, but should keep it in mind when judging the warm welcome Obama has received abroad.
This Nobel Prize is the equivalent to an international sigh of relief.
Many say that Obama was awarded this for not being Bush, this has a great grain of truth.
What I find distasteful is how during Bush presidency so many people equated disagreeing with their President to something akin to treason, but now it seems those same people snipe at Obama at every single opportunity, even if it is not his fucking fault.
And pretty much all the main points have been answered to the agreement of most scientists and politicians (who have to make the hard choices).
There is a point where you have to take all the evidence available and make a decision about your course of action, otherwise you will be overwhelmed by the events while you continue the unproductive questioning.
Mate, buy yourself a couple of Carl Sagan's books, then you will know that what you just wrote contradicts some very basic principles of logic (ignoring the message because who the messenger is).
"For them its a political crusade mixed with a sort of religion"
Please drop the "religion" nonsense about the Open Source movement. It is not true, it is a bad analogy, and it is tired. Maybe what happens is that nowadays in which political parties look all the same and in which ideology seems to be dead, some folks out there can't countenance that some people are adamant and consistent regarding their ideals, specially when they spot an important issue that needs to be addressed with urgency.
If having political convictions is a "crusade" so be it, but unlike crusaders, people with political convictions have to lay out their plans for all to see and convince people with logical arguments about why supporting a certain idea is a good thing.
I just don't understand how some people can equate reasoned debate and action with illogical and mindless religious barbarism, but I suppose that says more about the critics than anybody else.
"but it really seems to me that hating a company to such personal levels as many people hate MS is really just sort of off base"
Tell me something, how would you deal with a plumber that flooded your house? And that then stole your kitchen sink? And that then forced everybody selling water taps in town to use as the exclusive plumber, regardless of his numerous legal troubles?
I am pretty certain that you would move to visceral disdain at some point.
But here you are, advocating not to hate a company that has used pretty much any underhanded tactic in the book, both legal and illegal (this is a fact).
I don't know about some of you, but I just simply don't enjoy so much punishment. If you are a masochist, be my guest, I don't partake in such lifestyle.
"I know I used to partake of the MS bashing myself as well when I was younger, and maybe its just that now that I'm older and have more experience in life I can see what a waste of effort it is"
Oh, I didn't know the desire for justice and the exasperation of dealing with unethical companies should fade away with age. I will note that since I am not that young anymore.
"They are releasing code"
Where? Which? When?
"they are joining in on community projects"
Which ones? if it is not under their own "open" license (which aren't) in order to beneift one of their own products, I fail to see where Microsoft is doing anything of the sort.
"Frankly, I think that getting Microsoft to just stick to open standards for information exchange -- document formats, protocols, etc -- would be more than enough"
Oh, me too. FAT chance.(punt intended).
"Encourage them with good will rather than shifty-eyed suspicion"
We encouraged them with good will in the form of our hard earned cash when they used to make useful software. They used the power obtained from that in order to co-opt the market in ways that are widely documented as illegal in several major localities (the US and EU just to name two). The time for gentle encouragement is long time gone, migrating away from their wares is the only sane response to years of abuse.
You see? There are things that are black and white.
The issue regarding software is very simple: you either provide the source code of software or not, you either grant other the ability to inspect it and modify as they see fit or you don't.
Black and white.
Pretty simple.
Access to software code is not an intricate issue, it is a panda issue in the vein explained above.
You can bill for your work and still release your software using the GPL, or service GPL software for your clients (i have seen modifications of Perl and OpenSSH in the field).
Since most development is made in house (that is, software does not need to be released to the community) this question remains as meaningless as always.
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If you have a compulsive personality gambling is just one of many avenues to exacerbate your problem.
Many people just take a bit of money lose it, and once in a while win a bit more, and go home once they are done, happy with the adrenalin rush provided by the small probability of winning something.
I spent the same amount in one day at the horse races.
You talk to lots of interest people, including very fetching chicks, look at all the ceremonial of the races, the beauty of the horses, and then to top it all, you can risk a couple of bob to make matters more interesting while watching the races, and spectacle on it sown right.
Only a nerd would chose to sit alone playing a game in preference to such a rich and interesting afternoon.
Lots of people gamble as a pastime, in a way akin to going to the cinema. for the small adrenaline rush you get by doing something out of the mundane where you could actually win a bit of money if you are lucky.
Most people that gamble know that they will lose and the house will win, but the element of uncertainty is enough to make it a pleasurable pursuit.
And the amount of comments and interest probes it.
I think that is enough without being undiplomatic.
Of course there are rights amongst nations, and most importantly obligations.
That is what treaties are all about.
Some countries may be strong enough to ignore them, that does not mean they were not signed, or that they were not legally enforceable, somebody may still come back to the US and try that one against the war mongers of the Bush years.
Most likely it was the Palestinians.
If the "Lockerbie Bomber" appeal would have continued the likelihood of him been acquited is quite substantial (if the evidence was flimsy the Scottish courts would have not allowed the appeal to continue).
People in the US will be paying 50% of their income soon in health insurance, many will go bankrupt.
That is unsustainable, but clearly Maths is something that don't grace the brains of most people fighting to keep the status quo.
Proof of this is that routinely parties from all the political spectre complain about bias from the BBC.
Also if you understood how it works and how punctilious they are about this, you would know better.
And baring your ass, I can't imagine where did you pull those stances from.
Bush and his cronies wrecked so badly the international stand of the US in the world that the Nobel committee is thanking the US, by means of its President, for deciding to come back to the arena of international diplomacy.
You forget that in recent years most people around the world rated the US as one of the greatest threats to international peace. You USians may not like the indictment, but should keep it in mind when judging the warm welcome Obama has received abroad.
This Nobel Prize is the equivalent to an international sigh of relief.
Many say that Obama was awarded this for not being Bush, this has a great grain of truth.
What I find distasteful is how during Bush presidency so many people equated disagreeing with their President to something akin to treason, but now it seems those same people snipe at Obama at every single opportunity, even if it is not his fucking fault.
And pretty much all the main points have been answered to the agreement of most scientists and politicians (who have to make the hard choices).
There is a point where you have to take all the evidence available and make a decision about your course of action, otherwise you will be overwhelmed by the events while you continue the unproductive questioning.
I am sure they have been debunked. SO what about you use Google?
You make two innuendos:
1.- That all males involved in fashion are gay, which is clearly a monumental falsehood.
2.- That gay men somehow prefer infantile mates, which is homophobic and prejudiced, and clearly untrue.
I really wonder where some folks leave their moral and logical compass....
No? What a surprise.
You just need to know how to use Google, but Bing may be more useful in this particular case :-)
Mate, buy yourself a couple of Carl Sagan's books, then you will know that what you just wrote contradicts some very basic principles of logic (ignoring the message because who the messenger is).
Some points:
"For them its a political crusade mixed with a sort of religion"
Please drop the "religion" nonsense about the Open Source movement. It is not true, it is a bad analogy, and it is tired. Maybe what happens is that nowadays in which political parties look all the same and in which ideology seems to be dead, some folks out there can't countenance that some people are adamant and consistent regarding their ideals, specially when they spot an important issue that needs to be addressed with urgency.
If having political convictions is a "crusade" so be it, but unlike crusaders, people with political convictions have to lay out their plans for all to see and convince people with logical arguments about why supporting a certain idea is a good thing.
I just don't understand how some people can equate reasoned debate and action with illogical and mindless religious barbarism, but I suppose that says more about the critics than anybody else.
"but it really seems to me that hating a company to such personal levels as many people hate MS is really just sort of off base"
Tell me something, how would you deal with a plumber that flooded your house? And that then stole your kitchen sink? And that then forced everybody selling water taps in town to use as the exclusive plumber, regardless of his numerous legal troubles?
I am pretty certain that you would move to visceral disdain at some point.
But here you are, advocating not to hate a company that has used pretty much any underhanded tactic in the book, both legal and illegal (this is a fact).
I don't know about some of you, but I just simply don't enjoy so much punishment. If you are a masochist, be my guest, I don't partake in such lifestyle.
"I know I used to partake of the MS bashing myself as well when I was younger, and maybe its just that now that I'm older and have more experience in life I can see what a waste of effort it is"
Oh, I didn't know the desire for justice and the exasperation of dealing with unethical companies should fade away with age. I will note that since I am not that young anymore.
"They are releasing code"
Where? Which? When?
"they are joining in on community projects"
Which ones? if it is not under their own "open" license (which aren't) in order to beneift one of their own products, I fail to see where Microsoft is doing anything of the sort.
"Frankly, I think that getting Microsoft to just stick to open standards for information exchange -- document formats, protocols, etc -- would be more than enough"
Oh, me too. FAT chance.(punt intended).
"Encourage them with good will rather than shifty-eyed suspicion"
We encouraged them with good will in the form of our hard earned cash when they used to make useful software. They used the power obtained from that in order to co-opt the market in ways that are widely documented as illegal in several major localities (the US and EU just to name two). The time for gentle encouragement is long time gone, migrating away from their wares is the only sane response to years of abuse.
When Linus has strayed from the Open Source path (the software control debacle) he has been burned and had to come back to his senses.
It is only the ideological consistency of people promoting the GPL what has kept Linux viable, and by extension, Linus employable.
I think one should know better than to throw sand in the eyes of the giants whose shoulders you are using as a comfy platform for your endeavours.
You are not considering that.
Will you leave a known burglar on his own on your house?
What are the reasonable "conjectures" you would make?
Look buddy, once beaten twice shy, even the most ardent MS apologist (that word again) should be able to understand this.
The sad thing is that you are moded Insightful.
You see? There are things that are black and white.
The issue regarding software is very simple: you either provide the source code of software or not, you either grant other the ability to inspect it and modify as they see fit or you don't.
Black and white.
Pretty simple.
Access to software code is not an intricate issue, it is a panda issue in the vein explained above.
Which is why his short lived empire collapsed.
You can bill for your work and still release your software using the GPL, or service GPL software for your clients (i have seen modifications of Perl and OpenSSH in the field).
Since most development is made in house (that is, software does not need to be released to the community) this question remains as meaningless as always.