I find it ironic that damn near every Slashdot story these days has someone whinig about "slashbots", "groupthink", etc...
And they're generally modded UP. Maybe the groupthink is actually biased towards the idea that it exists.
Personally, I'm still of the opinion that in a group of 900,000+ people, some may differ in opinion on some subjects (shocking!), and sometimes, there's a majority opinion (scandalous!).
Next thing you know, someone will claim that exactly 50% of the population loves Microsoft, and the other 50% hates them. Any other possible result must be due to groupthink. It's simply impossible that the world could work otherwise.
I can only speak to the digital camera part, but in Ubuntu it's even easier. My Canon A60 does NOT function as a USB mass storage device, and it's been a PITA over the years (but it's a great camera so I've learned to deal with it).
With my Ubuntu install, I simply plug the camera in, and I get a nice camera icon on my desktop. Click on that, and there are my pictures. Far easier than Windows 2000 (which requires the Canon software loaded), or even XP (which requires me to hunt for the camera through explorer).
Linux has many warts, but this one is solved, folks. No manual anything, no learning what mounting is, just plug and play - like MS promised us 10 years ago.
Worms exist for Windows not because it is more or less insecure than anything else. They exist because it is the biggest target and therefore people put more time into figuring out how to attack it.... If some flavour of Linux were the #1 operating system we'd see more worms for it.
Your words. Worms. W. O. R. M. S. You claimed Windows has worms because it's more popular, I refuted this claim.
And calling people a "cocksmoker", whatever that means, is surely a way to pretty much destroy any credibility as a professional you may be trying to claim here. Next time try actually attempting to answer the argument.
ANYTHING takes experience to be able to do it quickly and efficiently. Personally, I'm about as good with Windows as I am with Linux, and I find they both take about the same time, from a fresh install to usable. Linux because I have to mess around with the odd driver or X setting or something, plus apt-get a few packages. Windows because I have to play the CD shuffling game, plus run through some installers, change some settings, secure it, etc. For me, 2-3 hours is about what it takes to get either system up to usable status.
Same thing with IKEA furniture. I have better tools than they do (small Allen wrenches, ick), and a fair bit of experience with self-built furniture. I can put together a bookshelf or a desk in a few minutes, while many people take a lot longer.
Then again, I'm horrible with cars. It'd take me a full day just to change the oil or replace a tire, even if I had the proper tools. Much easier to just pay someone the $50, because my time is worth more than that.
I guess the point is, I spend my time doing the things I can do efficiently, but otherwise I'd just as soon pay someone to do it for me.
you can save a bundle if your time is not that valuable
I can't speak for everything IKEA sells, but for a lot of things, the $100 (or more) I saved is more than worth the 15 minutes it took me to assemble the thing.
Kinda like Linux. Personally, the 2 or 3 extra hours I might spend fussing with Linux is still worth the $300 saved on a Windows license.
To most people I know, $100/hour or more is a damn good wage:)
I can't speak for OSX, having never used it, but OK. Write me a worm that infects my "out-of-the-box", default, no firewall in front, Linux install. I'll even set up a few different ones, say Knoppix, Ubuntu, and Red Hat 9 (hey, everyone claims Windows' issues are because it's "older", and I can't speak with authority as to a default Fedora setup these days).
Go for it. Good luck. Let me know when you've managed to infect a machine that does not, by default, listen on any network ports at all. It'd sure be fun watching you try.
See, Windows listens on many ports. Most of them, needlessly. All of them needlessly, considering a risk/benefit analysis. These options should be disabled by default, especially for home users, and only turned on WHEN DESIRED. It took Microsoft until what, 2004 (?) before they finally put a firewall in front of their machines by default. A software firewall. Potentially exploitable as well. See, a properly secured OS would just NOT LISTEN ON THESE PORTS, instead of opening them up and putting another layer of software "protecting" them.
The only way you'll ever get in to my machines is by finding a vulnerability in the network stack, and really, you'll never prevent this sort of issue, on any OS, regardless of software firewall, anti-malware software, virus scanner, or anything. Notice that we haven't seen a worm do this since Morris, because a TCP/IP stack is typically far more robust than the applications lying beneath.
Oh, and for more fun, I'll let you try this in another 10 years, and I won't patch a thing during that time. Again, short of a vulnerability in the network stack, you won't get in. On a Windows box, you have that avenue of attack, plus the firewall software, plus whatever applications are listening for network traffic.
Sometimes, things are simply more secure by design. Notice what worms have been exploiting for the past decade or so. It sure ain't buffer overflows in the TCP/IP stack.
There, there, we understand. It's very hard to imagine the concept of different people having different opinions. UIDs in Slashdot do in fact look just like process IDs, and really, how do you KNOW that Slashdot isn't just one big automated process continually forking itself? I know when sitting at a computer it can feel like the whole Internet is just one big automated script, spewing out automated responses to everything.
Take a deep breath, step away from the computer, and go for a walk outside. The big scary bright place where it's hard to read your LCD monitor.
See all those other humanoid carbon-based lifeforms? They're called people. It's hard to tell without dissection, but they in fact each have their own brain. Unlike computers, those brains cannot be wirelessly networked to form some sort of super hive mind. They actually operate independently to form a working society, interacting with only a few others at a time.
I know, I know, it's scary to imagine that there are so many people around. In fact, last time I counted (one by one, on my fingers, too) there were over 6 billion of them. It's funny, too, because not every one of them agreed with me on everything either. Scared the hell out of me when I first discovered this.
I didn't say anything about people dying, although that's the logical extreme in automobile failure modes. Many cars have had defects that the manufacturer was sued for, that did NOT cause death.
Name me a single product that, when it fails, you have no legal recourse against the manufacturer. They don't exist, although software publishers are trying to change this. You can't simply hand-wave your way out of responsibility by saying "no one forced you to use this".
Fortunately, liability cases aren't decided on the basis of "no one died" and "there was an alternative". If you sell me something knowing full well it has defects, and you were warned about those defects, and you refuse to fix them, you don't just get off scot free.
Of course, the examples you gave are all free products, where the standard is considerably lower. However, it's still possible to sue over a faulty free product and/or servive. Do I think it's right? Depends on the circumstances. Legal liability isn't about what YOU think is acceptable. It's what a judge and/or jury thinks is acceptable.
I didn't have to compile/reinstall the kernel in order to GET these graphics drivers
I don't get this. I really, really don't.
In Windows, if you need a new video driver (or any other driver), you download a file, install it, and (typically) reboot.
In Linux, if you need a new video driver (or any other driver), you download a file, install it, and (usually don't have to) reboot. Have to restart X for a video driver, which is almost the same as a reboot in all practical terms, I'll give you that.
Am I missing something? With the advent of kernel modules I haven't had to compile a kernel in YEARS. These days it's a simple apt-get away, or opening an rpm, or what have you. Exactly the same procedure as Windows.
I won't refute the rest of what you say, because I'll be the first to admit that Linux is one serious pain sometimes as application vendors still primarily write Windows-only software.
But I just don't get it. Why do people keep talking about compiling their kernel? Are there any major distributions out there that don't support LKMs?
No, but it sure would be fun to be able to play it without shelling out $200+ (cost of a PS2 plus the game).
Yes, I'm a slightly bitter Gamecube owner about this one. Then again, I shouldn't complain, as this is the only game I've even considered buying another console for.
It's a pointless statistic too, because 12-24 year olds are by far the largest CONSUMERS of music, anyway. It might be their parents buying it for them, but the fact is that teenagers and young adults have one hell of a lot more music than older folks. Even though they only make up 21% of the population.
This is changing to some degree, but it's still fairly common that most people stop buying hordes of music once they settle down, get a career, have a family, etc.
Next they're going to release a study that claims "Canadians between 12 and 24 years of age are responsible for 78 per cent of illegal video game downloading". No kidding.
Hayden whathisname is just about the worst actor alive. Watch "Life as a House" to really appreciate this. It's like he's a goth Anakin. Exact same emotional range (whiny brat). Exact same facial expressions (whining). Exact same flat delivery.
He makes Mark Hamill look GOOD, and that's really saying something. At least Luke's whining seems believable.
Quite frankly, I've seen a bit of Portman's other work too, and she's pretty horrific. At least Carrie Fisher could read her lines with a modicum of effort.
Ewan McGregor was about the only talented actor in Eps 1-3 who actually pulled it off, and even he was really blunted. Compare that to Harrison Ford, who did a stellar job considering it's a space opera.
It's worth nothing that until very recently (past few years), NO game system was sold at a loss when it first hit the market, or at any other time thereafter.
Nintendo, for one, has only ever shown a loss on a console once, and that was about $10 for a couple of months, well after the intial release date, and this was very recently.
Or, you could just fill them all out and send them in. It costs them about $50 to pull a full credit report on you. This is a bad idea on cards that have an annual fee, of course, unless you're sure they'll reject you.
This is very, VERY bad advice. At least here in Canada, and I'm pretty sure credit bureaus work the same in most countries.
Each time a credit report is done on you, it gets entered into your record, to stay there for 7 years, as an attempt at obtaining credit. Every one of these entries lowers your credit score a bit. Have more than a few in a short period of time (like a year), and you will be denied credit for YEARS.
Also, racking up a bunch of cards, even if you don't use them, can really mess things up for when you actually need some credit. You want a car loan, but have 15 credit cards with zero balance on them? Sorry. You've over-extended yourself.
All you have to do is say 'put me on your do-not-call list'. That's it. THEY'LL NEVER BOTHER YOU AGAIN.
Great. And once I've done this with each of the 10,000 companies who are trying to call me, I'll be 20 years older and ready to shoot myself.
If you just hang up on a telemarketer, they're going to call you back. No doubt about it. They will do it. You never told them not to call back, for all they know maybe you just dropped the phone. Or maybe your 5-year-old answered. They don't know.
You're just about the stupidest person alive if you actually believe this. Yes, it's the excuse telemarketing companies use. It's also complete and utter bull.
Slashdot Mirror
Before you go off about the nazis - what about the bloody US? How are they so different?
Well, the US didn't stuff over 5 million people into ovens, for one.
I find it ironic that damn near every Slashdot story these days has someone whinig about "slashbots", "groupthink", etc...
And they're generally modded UP. Maybe the groupthink is actually biased towards the idea that it exists.
Personally, I'm still of the opinion that in a group of 900,000+ people, some may differ in opinion on some subjects (shocking!), and sometimes, there's a majority opinion (scandalous!).
Next thing you know, someone will claim that exactly 50% of the population loves Microsoft, and the other 50% hates them. Any other possible result must be due to groupthink. It's simply impossible that the world could work otherwise.
I can only speak to the digital camera part, but in Ubuntu it's even easier. My Canon A60 does NOT function as a USB mass storage device, and it's been a PITA over the years (but it's a great camera so I've learned to deal with it).
With my Ubuntu install, I simply plug the camera in, and I get a nice camera icon on my desktop. Click on that, and there are my pictures. Far easier than Windows 2000 (which requires the Canon software loaded), or even XP (which requires me to hunt for the camera through explorer).
Linux has many warts, but this one is solved, folks. No manual anything, no learning what mounting is, just plug and play - like MS promised us 10 years ago.
Worms exist for Windows not because it is more or less insecure than anything else. They exist because it is the biggest target and therefore people put more time into figuring out how to attack it. ... If some flavour of Linux were the #1 operating system we'd see more worms for it.
Your words. Worms. W. O. R. M. S. You claimed Windows has worms because it's more popular, I refuted this claim.
And calling people a "cocksmoker", whatever that means, is surely a way to pretty much destroy any credibility as a professional you may be trying to claim here. Next time try actually attempting to answer the argument.
Yup. And I'd agree with both points.
ANYTHING takes experience to be able to do it quickly and efficiently. Personally, I'm about as good with Windows as I am with Linux, and I find they both take about the same time, from a fresh install to usable. Linux because I have to mess around with the odd driver or X setting or something, plus apt-get a few packages. Windows because I have to play the CD shuffling game, plus run through some installers, change some settings, secure it, etc. For me, 2-3 hours is about what it takes to get either system up to usable status.
Same thing with IKEA furniture. I have better tools than they do (small Allen wrenches, ick), and a fair bit of experience with self-built furniture. I can put together a bookshelf or a desk in a few minutes, while many people take a lot longer.
Then again, I'm horrible with cars. It'd take me a full day just to change the oil or replace a tire, even if I had the proper tools. Much easier to just pay someone the $50, because my time is worth more than that.
I guess the point is, I spend my time doing the things I can do efficiently, but otherwise I'd just as soon pay someone to do it for me.
You can have your say about Cuthbert's conviction by voting in this poll.
Man, if only Slashdot polls carried this much weight...
Just because we do not like the RIAA does not make them wrong each and every single time.
It's because the RIAA is wrong each and every single time, that we (or at least I) do not like them.
you can save a bundle if your time is not that valuable
:)
I can't speak for everything IKEA sells, but for a lot of things, the $100 (or more) I saved is more than worth the 15 minutes it took me to assemble the thing.
Kinda like Linux. Personally, the 2 or 3 extra hours I might spend fussing with Linux is still worth the $300 saved on a Windows license.
To most people I know, $100/hour or more is a damn good wage
I can't speak for OSX, having never used it, but OK. Write me a worm that infects my "out-of-the-box", default, no firewall in front, Linux install. I'll even set up a few different ones, say Knoppix, Ubuntu, and Red Hat 9 (hey, everyone claims Windows' issues are because it's "older", and I can't speak with authority as to a default Fedora setup these days).
Go for it. Good luck. Let me know when you've managed to infect a machine that does not, by default, listen on any network ports at all. It'd sure be fun watching you try.
See, Windows listens on many ports. Most of them, needlessly. All of them needlessly, considering a risk/benefit analysis. These options should be disabled by default, especially for home users, and only turned on WHEN DESIRED. It took Microsoft until what, 2004 (?) before they finally put a firewall in front of their machines by default. A software firewall. Potentially exploitable as well. See, a properly secured OS would just NOT LISTEN ON THESE PORTS, instead of opening them up and putting another layer of software "protecting" them.
The only way you'll ever get in to my machines is by finding a vulnerability in the network stack, and really, you'll never prevent this sort of issue, on any OS, regardless of software firewall, anti-malware software, virus scanner, or anything. Notice that we haven't seen a worm do this since Morris, because a TCP/IP stack is typically far more robust than the applications lying beneath.
Oh, and for more fun, I'll let you try this in another 10 years, and I won't patch a thing during that time. Again, short of a vulnerability in the network stack, you won't get in. On a Windows box, you have that avenue of attack, plus the firewall software, plus whatever applications are listening for network traffic.
Sometimes, things are simply more secure by design. Notice what worms have been exploiting for the past decade or so. It sure ain't buffer overflows in the TCP/IP stack.
There, there, we understand. It's very hard to imagine the concept of different people having different opinions. UIDs in Slashdot do in fact look just like process IDs, and really, how do you KNOW that Slashdot isn't just one big automated process continually forking itself? I know when sitting at a computer it can feel like the whole Internet is just one big automated script, spewing out automated responses to everything.
Take a deep breath, step away from the computer, and go for a walk outside. The big scary bright place where it's hard to read your LCD monitor.
See all those other humanoid carbon-based lifeforms? They're called people. It's hard to tell without dissection, but they in fact each have their own brain. Unlike computers, those brains cannot be wirelessly networked to form some sort of super hive mind. They actually operate independently to form a working society, interacting with only a few others at a time.
I know, I know, it's scary to imagine that there are so many people around. In fact, last time I counted (one by one, on my fingers, too) there were over 6 billion of them. It's funny, too, because not every one of them agreed with me on everything either. Scared the hell out of me when I first discovered this.
I still haven't heard back from Richard Gere's gerbil; you may be on to something.
:)
Aw, crap. GOOGLE rumor.
Ignore me, I'll learn to read better next time
I bet they'll even let these rockets turn left AND right!
Finally! 100 posts saying "you'd know the song if you heard it", and someone makes this true.
Funny, too, because I recently rented "Disturbing Behavior", which had this song. Unfortunately it wasn't on the actual soundtrack CD. *shrug*
Always been one of my favourite one-hits from the 90s, but I never knew who sang it. I'm definitely going to check this out when I get home.
After all, it's easy to lose your daughter on one.
:(
To top it off, the flight attendants just don't care
I didn't say anything about people dying, although that's the logical extreme in automobile failure modes. Many cars have had defects that the manufacturer was sued for, that did NOT cause death.
Name me a single product that, when it fails, you have no legal recourse against the manufacturer. They don't exist, although software publishers are trying to change this. You can't simply hand-wave your way out of responsibility by saying "no one forced you to use this".
Fortunately, liability cases aren't decided on the basis of "no one died" and "there was an alternative". If you sell me something knowing full well it has defects, and you were warned about those defects, and you refuse to fix them, you don't just get off scot free.
Of course, the examples you gave are all free products, where the standard is considerably lower. However, it's still possible to sue over a faulty free product and/or servive. Do I think it's right? Depends on the circumstances. Legal liability isn't about what YOU think is acceptable. It's what a judge and/or jury thinks is acceptable.
I live in Canada.
A new PS2 costs $179.99. Katamari costs $29.99. That's just under $210 total.
Not everyone lives in the USA.
Dear God.
If only car manufacturers thought the way you do.
Oh wait, they did. Until they got their asses sued over and over again.
I didn't have to compile/reinstall the kernel in order to GET these graphics drivers
I don't get this. I really, really don't.
In Windows, if you need a new video driver (or any other driver), you download a file, install it, and (typically) reboot.
In Linux, if you need a new video driver (or any other driver), you download a file, install it, and (usually don't have to) reboot. Have to restart X for a video driver, which is almost the same as a reboot in all practical terms, I'll give you that.
Am I missing something? With the advent of kernel modules I haven't had to compile a kernel in YEARS. These days it's a simple apt-get away, or opening an rpm, or what have you. Exactly the same procedure as Windows.
I won't refute the rest of what you say, because I'll be the first to admit that Linux is one serious pain sometimes as application vendors still primarily write Windows-only software.
But I just don't get it. Why do people keep talking about compiling their kernel? Are there any major distributions out there that don't support LKMs?
Exchanging messages over the Internet seems precisely analogous to exchanging bits of paper (catalogs and order forms) via the postal service.
:)
Only if your online store uses UDP only
*ducks*
No, but it sure would be fun to be able to play it without shelling out $200+ (cost of a PS2 plus the game).
Yes, I'm a slightly bitter Gamecube owner about this one. Then again, I shouldn't complain, as this is the only game I've even considered buying another console for.
It's a pointless statistic too, because 12-24 year olds are by far the largest CONSUMERS of music, anyway. It might be their parents buying it for them, but the fact is that teenagers and young adults have one hell of a lot more music than older folks. Even though they only make up 21% of the population.
This is changing to some degree, but it's still fairly common that most people stop buying hordes of music once they settle down, get a career, have a family, etc.
Next they're going to release a study that claims "Canadians between 12 and 24 years of age are responsible for 78 per cent of illegal video game downloading". No kidding.
No, really.
Hayden whathisname is just about the worst actor alive. Watch "Life as a House" to really appreciate this. It's like he's a goth Anakin. Exact same emotional range (whiny brat). Exact same facial expressions (whining). Exact same flat delivery.
He makes Mark Hamill look GOOD, and that's really saying something. At least Luke's whining seems believable.
Quite frankly, I've seen a bit of Portman's other work too, and she's pretty horrific. At least Carrie Fisher could read her lines with a modicum of effort.
Ewan McGregor was about the only talented actor in Eps 1-3 who actually pulled it off, and even he was really blunted. Compare that to Harrison Ford, who did a stellar job considering it's a space opera.
It's worth nothing that until very recently (past few years), NO game system was sold at a loss when it first hit the market, or at any other time thereafter.
Nintendo, for one, has only ever shown a loss on a console once, and that was about $10 for a couple of months, well after the intial release date, and this was very recently.
Or, you could just fill them all out and send them in. It costs them about $50 to pull a full credit report on you. This is a bad idea on cards that have an annual fee, of course, unless you're sure they'll reject you.
This is very, VERY bad advice. At least here in Canada, and I'm pretty sure credit bureaus work the same in most countries.
Each time a credit report is done on you, it gets entered into your record, to stay there for 7 years, as an attempt at obtaining credit. Every one of these entries lowers your credit score a bit. Have more than a few in a short period of time (like a year), and you will be denied credit for YEARS.
Also, racking up a bunch of cards, even if you don't use them, can really mess things up for when you actually need some credit. You want a car loan, but have 15 credit cards with zero balance on them? Sorry. You've over-extended yourself.
All you have to do is say 'put me on your do-not-call list'. That's it. THEY'LL NEVER BOTHER YOU AGAIN.
Great. And once I've done this with each of the 10,000 companies who are trying to call me, I'll be 20 years older and ready to shoot myself.
If you just hang up on a telemarketer, they're going to call you back. No doubt about it. They will do it. You never told them not to call back, for all they know maybe you just dropped the phone. Or maybe your 5-year-old answered. They don't know.
You're just about the stupidest person alive if you actually believe this. Yes, it's the excuse telemarketing companies use. It's also complete and utter bull.