For plenty of us, it's not just about the
$0 price tag. It's about having software
that we are free to share with friends and
colleagues. It's about having the ability to
put it into a standard system image that's
installed over the network to every machine
in the department without any licensing hassles.
It's about having access to the source code and
the right to modify and build it.
If you don't care about those fundamental freedoms, then by all means buy StarOffice
from Sun.
So is RedHat not in a position to negotiate a
special license with Sun for the JDK? If I recall
correctly, they were willing to grant Debian
explicit permission to distribute it in non-free,
but the sticking point was a requirement that
Debian "indeminfy and hold harmless" Sun against
any claims. As a nonprofit, Debian (i.e. Software
in the Public Interest) wasn't willing to accept
that level of liability.
There is a high-speed catamaran ferry
("The Cat")
that operates from Bar Harbor, Maine, USA to Yarmouth,
Nova Scotia, Canada at about 55 miles per hour.
Local fishermen are scared to death of it,
because of an
accident back in September 1998.
In spite of all reasonable precautions, it
collided with a fishing boat, killing the
captain. The timetables and routes are
well publicized, the two vessels had been in
radio contact, and The Cat is equipped with
state-of-the-art radar equipment.
So, if it's this difficult to operate a ship
safely at 55 mph, what additional precautions
need to be taken to go to several hundred mph
over the water?
Thanks for your answer. I took a look at some of
the wireless rumor sites, and they suggest that
VoiceStream's policy is to give out the SIM unlock
code to customers who have been in good standing
for at least three months. If you call customer
service, you should ask for the "Advanced
activations" department. The other way is to
send e-mail to -simunlock- at -voicestream- dot -com-
(I like this company enough to spam-protect their
address!). It's supposed to take about a week.
I just sent an e-mail request; we'll see what
happens!
A few months ago, I got an Ericsson T28 WorldPhone
together with a service agreement from VoiceStream
Wireless. I may end up living in Europe for a few
years after I finish grad school next year, so I
picked ths phone thinking of the long term. I didn't
know about this phone locking business at the time.
Does anyone know how I can definitively tell
whether this phone is locked to VoiceStream?
It's probably a bad sign that their name is
printed on it...:-(
After simply including the API's on our classpath, the Java VM stopped behaving normally. Execution would suddenly jump from one class to the second(!) line of an exception handler in another class. After removing the API's things returned to normal.
If that really happened (which I personally doubt),
then it's a bug in your JVM, not in any Java API.
Remember, the JVM was designed to run untrusted code
from the network.
Was that "Woody" is such a major improvement over "Potato" that they felt it was justifiable to go to the next major version number; i.e. 3.0.
I would argue that a new major release number would
have been very justified for potato; there were
major upgrades of gcc and glibc relative to slink.
Woody has the same default gcc as potato and only a
minor upgrade to glibc.
3) Why do people eat Vitamin C and Echinacea in massive quantities?
There's real peer-reviewed science on the benefits
of vitamin C. See, for instance, Khaw et al, Lancet 2001; 357 657-63. The
authors of this article followed nearly 20000 people for four years, measuring their plasma ascorbic acid (i.e. vitamin C) level. Over four
years, the mortality rate of the 20 percent with
the highest levels was about half that of
the 20 percent with the lowest levels. The probability of this result happening by chance is
estimated to be less than 1/10000.
cdparanoia and ogg are built in, lame isn't because it's illegal (patent issues - if you want the support in, write to your government explaining why software patents are evil).
Does anyone know whether there is any actual
case law regarding software patents yet?
That is, has anyone ever obtained an injunction
or damages from a court (in the U.S.) based
purely on a software patent?
A higher quality copy of the bill is availible at Cryptome
The copy at Cryptome to which you linked is not
the bill that was introduced; it's an old draft
from last September. For instance, it doesn't
have the provision concerning open source
software that several people have brought up.
That's an interesting suggestion: in a day when
essentially all correspondence is printed
from a word processor, I would guess that a
handwritten letter would simply look
unprofessional. I understand that a handwritten
note clearly makes the point that you're a
real person who put some time into writing it
rather than just printing out a form letter, but
I'm not sure that this factor wins out anymore.
There store already has installed the OS(Windows XP). I buy the PC, and without ever clicking on "I Agree" button, I use the PC.
I know that with a new system from Dell,
although Windows is "preinstalled,"
it doesn't immediately boot up to a functional
system. It makes you click through the EULA and
configure network/printer settings (etc.) before
you can actually use it.
Does anyone have experience with an OEM where
things work differently?
I'm not sure why the author of this question
thinks that he'll get good advice from Ask Slashdot. The only reasonable response is "you should find an
attorney with experience in intellectual property and national security laws and an
appropriate security clearance to be told the
complete story."
Mozilla is the bulkiest, slowest browser available for Linux.
It runs acceptably on my laptop, which is a
Pentium/MMX 233 MHz with 128 MB of memory.
I think that's on the low end of what most people
would call a "computer" these days. It takes
22 MB to start it up and load the slashdot front
page. The only issue is that it takes 20 to 30
seconds to start up. I'm running version 0.9.9
as packaged for Debian unstable.
Just because you hate the chef doesn't mean you can't enjoy the food...
True. But imagine that the reason you hate the
chef is that he won't let black people into his
restaurant. Is it right for you (assuming in
this analogy that you're white) to eat there?
Slashdot Mirror
If you don't care about those fundamental freedoms, then by all means buy StarOffice from Sun.
14b. Steal underwear.
14c. ???
And only then...
15. Profit
Seller: Well, you might be waiting for a long time...
So is RedHat not in a position to negotiate a special license with Sun for the JDK? If I recall correctly, they were willing to grant Debian explicit permission to distribute it in non-free, but the sticking point was a requirement that Debian "indeminfy and hold harmless" Sun against any claims. As a nonprofit, Debian (i.e. Software in the Public Interest) wasn't willing to accept that level of liability.
So, if it's this difficult to operate a ship safely at 55 mph, what additional precautions need to be taken to go to several hundred mph over the water?
So, for the record, I got my unlock code. :-)
Thanks for your answer. I took a look at some of the wireless rumor sites, and they suggest that VoiceStream's policy is to give out the SIM unlock code to customers who have been in good standing for at least three months. If you call customer service, you should ask for the "Advanced activations" department. The other way is to send e-mail to -simunlock- at -voicestream- dot -com- (I like this company enough to spam-protect their address!). It's supposed to take about a week. I just sent an e-mail request; we'll see what happens!
Thanks!
Here's yet another one: the "Platinum" IA-32 Linux cluster at NCSA in Urbana, Illinois. I'm lucky enough to have an account on this monster.
If that really happened (which I personally doubt), then it's a bug in your JVM, not in any Java API. Remember, the JVM was designed to run untrusted code from the network.
I would argue that a new major release number would have been very justified for potato; there were major upgrades of gcc and glibc relative to slink. Woody has the same default gcc as potato and only a minor upgrade to glibc.
3) Why do people eat Vitamin C and Echinacea in massive quantities?
There's real peer-reviewed science on the benefits of vitamin C. See, for instance, Khaw et al, Lancet 2001; 357 657-63. The authors of this article followed nearly 20000 people for four years, measuring their plasma ascorbic acid (i.e. vitamin C) level. Over four years, the mortality rate of the 20 percent with the highest levels was about half that of the 20 percent with the lowest levels. The probability of this result happening by chance is estimated to be less than 1/10000.
Does this strike anyone as a funny thing to advertise?
Good to hear that...also in particle physics, and we just put in an order for 6 dual Athlon MP 1900+ machines. Sounds like we won't be disappointed.
This device doesn't really punish the cat. It just keeps the less desirable animals out of the house.
Does anyone know whether there is any actual case law regarding software patents yet? That is, has anyone ever obtained an injunction or damages from a court (in the U.S.) based purely on a software patent?
The copy at Cryptome to which you linked is not the bill that was introduced; it's an old draft from last September. For instance, it doesn't have the provision concerning open source software that several people have brought up.
...and don't forget to send a copy to Honorable Senator Fitzgerald as well!
That's an interesting suggestion: in a day when essentially all correspondence is printed from a word processor, I would guess that a handwritten letter would simply look unprofessional. I understand that a handwritten note clearly makes the point that you're a real person who put some time into writing it rather than just printing out a form letter, but I'm not sure that this factor wins out anymore.
No kidding. Just for the record, Logitech does the same thing now too.
I know that with a new system from Dell, although Windows is "preinstalled," it doesn't immediately boot up to a functional system. It makes you click through the EULA and configure network/printer settings (etc.) before you can actually use it.
Does anyone have experience with an OEM where things work differently?
I'm not sure why the author of this question thinks that he'll get good advice from Ask Slashdot. The only reasonable response is "you should find an attorney with experience in intellectual property and national security laws and an appropriate security clearance to be told the complete story."
I'm pretty sure that, in all U.S. states, contracts for real estate sales are required to be entirely written.
It runs acceptably on my laptop, which is a Pentium/MMX 233 MHz with 128 MB of memory. I think that's on the low end of what most people would call a "computer" these days. It takes 22 MB to start it up and load the slashdot front page. The only issue is that it takes 20 to 30 seconds to start up. I'm running version 0.9.9 as packaged for Debian unstable.
Of course, I still prefer Konqueror. :-)
True. But imagine that the reason you hate the chef is that he won't let black people into his restaurant. Is it right for you (assuming in this analogy that you're white) to eat there?