"In what way is removing the DRM from iTunes music "fair use"?"
So its okay to "remove" DRM from Itunes by burning to cd and re-ripping but its no okay do it otherwise? As I posted before, you Apple defenders come off looking rather silly for be so up in arms against this and need to choose your battles more wisely. Going from digital->digital(CD)->digital is okay but going from digital->digital(Playfair)->digital is illegal and not "fair use"? Umm, ok.
You better Copy down that webpage because I have a feeling that as soon as someone from Microsoft finds out it will be pulled from the Net and he will be fired.
"I have nothing against Linus, but he makes decisions for Linux primarily based on the idea that it's a "hacker's OS""
I think that's a bit of a stretch. Linus isn't dumb you know. He is well aware where Linux is being used and is very much interested in getting Enterprise Level features into the kernel. Look at all of the scalibility work that's gone on since 2.0. Do you think that Linus thinks this is so that some code junkie can mess around with his machine at home? Contrary to what you implied the Linux kernel is driven by market forces. Look at the impact that SGI, IBM etc have had since they got involved. Big business has made it very clear what they need and the kernel hackers have answered. I'm not implying that they or Linus are some sort of corporate lacky, but they are not coding with blinders on either.
Maybe somehow I'm in the wrong here, but your version of how Linus views the kernel seems like a view from 1994. Your right, he probably doesn't *care* about Microsft or world domination, but don't think that the kernel isn't very much driven by corporate and market needs at this point.
So much for a kinder friendlier Novell who wants to play nice with the community. I guess at least we are on notice how Suse plans to gain more marketshare.
Smart move. Hype your just recently GPL'd app against a company who has been Open Sourcing their entire OS for years and make THEM seem like the bad guy. Bravo.
People act like this is a tool that let's you hack into the Itunes Store and get Free unencrypted files that are then automatically shared for Free on the Net. Gimme a break. Playfair is one of a million other things people use "not in accordance to manufacturer guidelines". Just because its Apple we supposed to give them a free pass for cracking down? What's next? If I use my Oven to dry clothes instead of cook food do I go to jail because the Oven maker says your not allowed to put anything but food in it? And don't give me any of this "well don't buy from Itunes" crap.
Gotta love a whole generation of people who have nothing better to do then get all up in arms because *gasp* you change the file format on a product you already own. Lastly of course my favorite response is when people say its "O.K," if you go from digital->digital(CD)->digital but not if you go from digital->digital(Playfair)->digital. If the end result is the same what the heck is the difference besides one method being slightly easier than the other. Oh right, the whole "not in accordance to manufacturer guidelines"...
Sorry you think Playfair ruined your favorite incarnation of DRM. If this makes you uncomfortable you better get out of computing now because it just going to get worse.
btw I understand you can do this with Applescript as well. So is Apple going to sue Apple now?
Almost every home PC I see where kids are not in picture still has the default icons on the desktop. You know, like 5 Dell icons that they never use but don't delete because they don't understand the difference between deleting an icon and deleting/removing an applicatoin. That and you end up seeing a dozen verisons of AOL;AOL 6, AOL 7, AOL 8 etc. They only buy new PC's because a) things are so screwed up and the PC(Windows) doesn't work anymore or b) at work they got a new PC and broadband and they finally realize their Pentium 233 is out of date.
Like I said add kids in the picture and all I've said goes out the window. But for empty nesters and older people without children its mostly like I stated above. Just like the parent stated they are not likely to want new software once they have their basic needs met. This of course can be done with a good Linux distro. I'm obviously not saying its for everyone, but considering many home users just know 2 or 3 programs at most(one of them being Freecell) using Linux for such basic tasks is very much a realistic option. The problems Linux has still lies with slight more advanced users who want to use programs from work, play recent games, actually browse at the computer store, etc. This group will still have tons of problems with Linux.
So Real dies, but then what about Linux users? Real was the only reason Linux users were able to stream from a huge amount of popular web sites. Yes I know after RP8 they just left us hanging for a while but at least the product still worked. Shit something is better than nothing. Real dying may be for the greater good but it would definitely hurt linux users. Mplayer and hacked codecs don't exactly work well on every website out there and I refuse to pay for the crossover plugin. So I ask again, what will Linux users do? Especially when web streaming becomes a DRM'd Windows Media only affair?
My first reaction when watching the videos was duh, but then I realized what a great job he had done. We are a culture that flat out doesn't like to read instructions, having it done in a visual manner was a smart move. Also seeing something done right before your eyes is a much bigger confidence builder then just reading a quick howto on the internet. Look at the Outlook migration video. How nice is it to just say "download the video on it" and know that they probably won't need much assitance beyond that. People and companies especially pay big bucks for videos like this which train users how to install or use a product. While they are not the most comprehensive Linux video training out there and I have a few minor nitpciks, its Free so how can you knock it? Tom's has done a real service to the community with these articles and videos and they deserve our thanks.
"So using Apple's supplied tools to burn a CD, the DRM can be removed. By using playfair, the DRM can be removed. Why is one bad and one not?"
How dare you bring logic into a discussion where Apple is involved?
Now before I get modded Troll let me make a point. I've been reading Slashdot daily for a long long time. In that time we've seen a of programs that do emulation, reserve engineering, etc etc that in the end are applauded for empowering consumers. Over the years I have NEVER seen an outburst like this over something so natural to the computing and electronics world.
Let's go back to the original IBM bios being "cracked". This ushered in a whole new generation of cheaper "clones" and brought affordable computing to the mainstream. Look at Samba, look at DeCSS, look GAIM, look at Novell DOS, look at WINE, look at any of a billion pieces of software or hardware which let people use products in ways not forseen are authorized by the product manufacturers.
Now just because its Apple suddenly we are talking about how a "Criminal" "cracked" Apple's DRM and how we are all a bunch of assholes for not supporting Apple's commercial venture. Sorry but this is just like every article on Slashdot where Apple gets mentioned. Apple users come out in droves to support whatever Apple sells no matter what the story is about. These people are actually defending the DMCA for Christ's sake when you just know that if it were somthing that didn't affect Apple but they pesonally found useful they'd be cheering it on.
This is fanboyism at its worst. I'm sick and tired of reading posts from people who benefit from reverse engineering every single day yet don't even give it a second thought. Like the parent said. WTF is the difference between burning to CD and then ripping as opposed to just ripping? The end result is the same, a nonDRM file. Apple still got paid and you Itunes users seem to think this method for circumventing DRM is just dandy. Why are people who skipped the burning to cd part criminals? Oh I get it, they didn't work within the "Apple approved framework" and we should all be obeying the DMCA when it involves Apple. Hypocrites.
"but RedHat deployments have a tendency to self destruct."
Err yea ok, sure whatever you say.
"Long term, Unix machines still win the day."
You wrote an entire reponse to something he didn't say. He never said he was advocating Winx86. He said that the older SUN/SGI style hardware was losing marketshare in favor of X86 hardware. Which of course is correct. He didn't say that these cheaper X86 boxes wouldn't be running a *nix.
I just wanted to point out an area where KDE kicks the crap out of Microsoft's best OS. File management. Looks at the pictures here. http://static.kdenews.org/mirrors/www.lugod .org/pr esentations/kde-user-persp/thumbnails.html
Look at the way the thumbnails pop up to a useable size. In XP you can still see what the thumbnail is but having it double in size on mouse-over allows you to get a much better look without having to launch a seperate application, namely Windows Picture and Fax viewer. Also look at what happens when you copy or move a picture file. Instead of "Do you want to overwrite xxx.jpg with xxx.jpg" you actually see what your doing. And people say Linux desktops don't innovate...
The tools and applications that are now included with KDE by default are vastly superior to the ones that come on XP. When will Windows get such full featured scanning/ocr software by default? How about a decent cd burner app? Heck KDE even has XP beat on creating something as basic as desktop snapshots. For those people who are willing to make a go of it using Free software KDE makes for a nice upgrade from XP once you realize all the great features that come with it.
For example you'll never see backdoors in commercial software. You can rest easy that they've done their job well and everything is nice and secure. That's why its better to stick with big commercial vendors like Cisco.
btw, why even give a story like this press? What a joke.
"The same goes for switches. You'll be doing good to get 400 mbps out of a cheap gig switch."
40MB is a hell of a lot better than 10MB. I don't know why everyone keeps saying he won't be able to saturate the line. He doesn't need to max it out in order to enjoy the benefits over 100Mb ethernet. Who knows what kind data we will be dealing with in 5 years? Seems like going 1000 is a smart investment.
I had no idea Gb Ethernet switches had dropped so much in price. If I was buying a new switch today I'd definitely be buying one of those $100 Linksys switches. Considering the cost is so cheap why even bother with 100MB if you think you'll be using bandwidth hungry apps?
But everything is NOT broken out of the box like your stating. Not all distros make setting up fonts hard and not all Linux file managers are garbage.
You are Just as bad as the over the top Linux zealots who think Linux should be hard to use and think Gentoo is good for newbies "if they just follow the instructions". Except your on the side that refuses to admit that Linux can ever do anything right. Many distros clearly are doing things to address your concerns and improve ease of use.
Yes but Piracy is also what got Microsoft where it is today. How many pirated copies of Win95/98/2000, Office 95/97/2000 are out there? Casual piracy is a huge part of the way Microsoft got to its monopoly position.
For the near term more people playing Xbox games will only lead to greater mindshare for Microsoft. Xbox 2 comes out and you have a whole other market of "Xbox gamers" who never bought the first gen console but are now hooked on Xbox games and might consider buying Xbox2 even thought they never owned Xbox 1.
Regarding it hurting sales, people who have an Xbox will most likely continue to buy retail games. They play on Xbox and Not a PC for a reason. Those that don't own an Xbox but download this emu to play Xbox games were never going to buy an Xbox or Xbox games in the first place. So how does MS lose revenue on games people had no interest of every buying?
I think the publicity will only help Microsoft and get more people using Microsoft products. Remember the way Microsoft does business on the PC side. In order to gain in their goal of World Domination, Microsoft would rather give their products away for Free then lose a customer. Even if that means "losing" money. *Tinfoil hat on* I wouldn't be surprised in 10 years if we found out that someone internal at MS "helped" this guy out in order to get more people using Microsoft products.
Sorry but your page of "Free" providers is nothing more than a link to a bunch of commercial services which cost money. How can companies that charge $24 a month or charge by the minute be considered "Free service Providers"? If they were really Free than there would be no fees for the service.
You might as well have linked to a bunch of Cell phone plans and said "Free Long Distance Providers"....when you sign up for their $50 a month plan.
So let me guess? Microsoft will "help" representatives draft legislation with Security standards and goals that make it difficult if not impossible for OSS to compete.
From the report
"Task force co-chairman Ron Moritz said the report calls for a limited government role, such as helping to develop certification standards for software that runs in sensitive systems. "
"I wonder how StarOffice for Windows fits into this? I doubt that it's going to be around to much longer."
Fine with me we still have OpenOfice.org. Yes it would hurt if Sun stopped backing it, but hey Sun was never a true believer in nothing but FOSS on every PC anyway. They aren't in it for the long haul, they just see the writing on the wall for Solaris. With Linux Sun can exert at least some control unlike if they were to become an all Windows shop. That's why Sun sells Linux. They have given to OSS but their real interest is now and forever will be selling you Sun Servers. Even their Linux client is just a gateway to Sun servers. Think of them like Apple. A Hardware company that just happens to utilize OSS in order to sell more Hardware.
"Debian has the potential to be the "one true distribution" "
Not as long as many Debian users continue to think like this. The elitist attitude is still there and the price of entry ie horrible newbie unfriendly installer present a high barrier of entry.
In many ways I feel that Debian is the most important Linux distro. It is now and will forever be Open Source. There are a ton of volunteers and it is mostly Free from commerical influence. But ease of install and a sometimes elitist hacker community continue to hold it back. Look at the guy I quoted above. His attitude is that Debian users are "special" and that if you don't like them go away. That's the type of attitude that forces people to distros like Mandrake, Lindows, Xandros etc in droves.
Of course there are many helpful Debian users out there but being that Debian is a little hard to get used to begin with whenever someone makes a post like that it just turns people off to Debian in general.
Debian sat around too long while all the other distros became moron proof to install and easy to maintain with nice gui tools. I can only hope that the new installer combined with the Gnome System Tools finally lets Debian reach parity with some of the other distros out there. I'd hate to see in 2010 most Linux users running proprietary distros like Lindows because mainline Debian is still a pain to install and maintain for the average user.
The thing is its just not really funny anymore. Now we know to expect it and that takes all of the fun out of it. Really it would be better to make this a regular news day and then add in one fake story.
April fools and big pranks are still funny depending on the situation. Just not at slashdot.
I dunno, what's more useful? A PDA/micro-notebook you can use to manage your entire business/life,play games, surf the web, use email, run X apps, listen to music etc for $699 or an Ipod that you listen to music on but can cost $500? Somehow everyone here seems to think its worth it for a pleasure item like an Ipod why isn't it useful for something you can do so much more with?
Like Apple users are always telling me, if you have to question the value of something based on price you weren't part of the target market to begin with.
Slashdot Mirror
"In what way is removing the DRM from iTunes music "fair use"?"
So its okay to "remove" DRM from Itunes by burning to cd and re-ripping but its no okay do it otherwise? As I posted before, you Apple defenders come off looking rather silly for be so up in arms against this and need to choose your battles more wisely. Going from digital->digital(CD)->digital is okay but going from digital->digital(Playfair)->digital is illegal and not "fair use"? Umm, ok.
You better Copy down that webpage because I have a feeling that as soon as someone from Microsoft finds out it will be pulled from the Net and he will be fired.
"I have nothing against Linus, but he makes decisions for Linux primarily based on the idea that it's a "hacker's OS""
I think that's a bit of a stretch. Linus isn't dumb you know. He is well aware where Linux is being used and is very much interested in getting Enterprise Level features into the kernel. Look at all of the scalibility work that's gone on since 2.0. Do you think that Linus thinks this is so that some code junkie can mess around with his machine at home? Contrary to what you implied the Linux kernel is driven by market forces. Look at the impact that SGI, IBM etc have had since they got involved. Big business has made it very clear what they need and the kernel hackers have answered. I'm not implying that they or Linus are some sort of corporate lacky, but they are not coding with blinders on either.
Maybe somehow I'm in the wrong here, but your version of how Linus views the kernel seems like a view from 1994. Your right, he probably doesn't *care* about Microsft or world domination, but don't think that the kernel isn't very much driven by corporate and market needs at this point.
LOL
So much for a kinder friendlier Novell who wants to play nice with the community. I guess at least we are on notice how Suse plans to gain more marketshare.
Smart move. Hype your just recently GPL'd app against a company who has been Open Sourcing their entire OS for years and make THEM seem like the bad guy. Bravo.
People act like this is a tool that let's you hack into the Itunes Store and get Free unencrypted files that are then automatically shared for Free on the Net. Gimme a break. Playfair is one of a million other things people use "not in accordance to manufacturer guidelines". Just because its Apple we supposed to give them a free pass for cracking down? What's next? If I use my Oven to dry clothes instead of cook food do I go to jail because the Oven maker says your not allowed to put anything but food in it? And don't give me any of this "well don't buy from Itunes" crap.
Gotta love a whole generation of people who have nothing better to do then get all up in arms because *gasp* you change the file format on a product you already own. Lastly of course my favorite response is when people say its "O.K," if you go from digital->digital(CD)->digital but not if you go from digital->digital(Playfair)->digital. If the end result is the same what the heck is the difference besides one method being slightly easier than the other. Oh right, the whole "not in accordance to manufacturer guidelines"...
Sorry you think Playfair ruined your favorite incarnation of DRM. If this makes you uncomfortable you better get out of computing now because it just going to get worse.
btw I understand you can do this with Applescript as well. So is Apple going to sue Apple now?
Almost every home PC I see where kids are not in picture still has the default icons on the desktop. You know, like 5 Dell icons that they never use but don't delete because they don't understand the difference between deleting an icon and deleting/removing an applicatoin. That and you end up seeing a dozen verisons of AOL;AOL 6, AOL 7, AOL 8 etc.
They only buy new PC's because a) things are so screwed up and the PC(Windows) doesn't work anymore or b) at work they got a new PC and broadband and they finally realize their Pentium 233 is out of date.
Like I said add kids in the picture and all I've said goes out the window. But for empty nesters and older people without children its mostly like I stated above. Just like the parent stated they are not likely to want new software once they have their basic needs met. This of course can be done with a good Linux distro. I'm obviously not saying its for everyone, but considering many home users just know 2 or 3 programs at most(one of them being Freecell) using Linux for such basic tasks is very much a realistic option. The problems Linux has still lies with slight more advanced users who want to use programs from work, play recent games, actually browse at the computer store, etc. This group will still have tons of problems with Linux.
So Real dies, but then what about Linux users? Real was the only reason Linux users were able to stream from a huge amount of popular web sites. Yes I know after RP8 they just left us hanging for a while but at least the product still worked. Shit something is better than nothing. Real dying may be for the greater good but it would definitely hurt linux users. Mplayer and hacked codecs don't exactly work well on every website out there and I refuse to pay for the crossover plugin. So I ask again, what will Linux users do? Especially when web streaming becomes a DRM'd Windows Media only affair?
I basically have the exact specs it requires on my gaming rig and it just hardlocks it with a blackscreen. Oh well would have like to see it.
My first reaction when watching the videos was duh, but then I realized what a great job he had done. We are a culture that flat out doesn't like to read instructions, having it done in a visual manner was a smart move. Also seeing something done right before your eyes is a much bigger confidence builder then just reading a quick howto on the internet. Look at the Outlook migration video. How nice is it to just say "download the video on it" and know that they probably won't need much assitance beyond that. People and companies especially pay big bucks for videos like this which train users how to install or use a product. While they are not the most comprehensive Linux video training out there and I have a few minor nitpciks, its Free so how can you knock it? Tom's has done a real service to the community with these articles and videos and they deserve our thanks.
"So using Apple's supplied tools to burn a CD, the DRM can be removed. By using playfair, the DRM can be removed. Why is one bad and one not?"
How dare you bring logic into a discussion where Apple is involved?
Now before I get modded Troll let me make a point. I've been reading Slashdot daily for a long long time. In that time we've seen a of programs that do emulation, reserve engineering, etc etc that in the end are applauded for empowering consumers. Over the years I have NEVER seen an outburst like this over something so natural to the computing and electronics world.
Let's go back to the original IBM bios being "cracked". This ushered in a whole new generation of cheaper "clones" and brought affordable computing to the mainstream. Look at Samba, look at DeCSS, look GAIM, look at Novell DOS, look at WINE, look at any of a billion pieces of software or hardware which let people use products in ways not forseen are authorized by the product manufacturers.
Now just because its Apple suddenly we are talking about how a "Criminal" "cracked" Apple's DRM and how we are all a bunch of assholes for not supporting Apple's commercial venture. Sorry but this is just like every article on Slashdot where Apple gets mentioned. Apple users come out in droves to support whatever Apple sells no matter what the story is about. These people are actually defending the DMCA for Christ's sake when you just know that if it were somthing that didn't affect Apple but they pesonally found useful they'd be cheering it on.
This is fanboyism at its worst. I'm sick and tired of reading posts from people who benefit from reverse engineering every single day yet don't even give it a second thought. Like the parent said. WTF is the difference between burning to CD and then ripping as opposed to just ripping? The end result is the same, a nonDRM file. Apple still got paid and you Itunes users seem to think this method for circumventing DRM is just dandy. Why are people who skipped the burning to cd part criminals? Oh I get it, they didn't work within the "Apple approved framework" and we should all be obeying the DMCA when it involves Apple. Hypocrites.
"but RedHat deployments have a tendency to self destruct."
Err yea ok, sure whatever you say.
"Long term, Unix machines still win the day."
You wrote an entire reponse to something he didn't say. He never said he was advocating Winx86. He said that the older SUN/SGI style hardware was losing marketshare in favor of X86 hardware. Which of course is correct. He didn't say that these cheaper X86 boxes wouldn't be running a *nix.
I just wanted to point out an area where KDE kicks the crap out of Microsoft's best OS. File management.d .org/pr esentations/kde-user-persp/thumbnails.html
Looks at the pictures here.
http://static.kdenews.org/mirrors/www.lugo
Look at the way the thumbnails pop up to a useable size. In XP you can still see what the thumbnail is but having it double in size on mouse-over allows you to get a much better look without having to launch a seperate application, namely Windows Picture and Fax viewer.
Also look at what happens when you copy or move a picture file. Instead of "Do you want to overwrite xxx.jpg with xxx.jpg" you actually see what your doing. And people say Linux desktops don't innovate...
The tools and applications that are now included with KDE by default are vastly superior to the ones that come on XP. When will Windows get such full featured scanning/ocr software by default? How about a decent cd burner app? Heck KDE even has XP beat on creating something as basic as desktop snapshots. For those people who are willing to make a go of it using Free software KDE makes for a nice upgrade from XP once you realize all the great features that come with it.
For example you'll never see backdoors in commercial software. You can rest easy that they've done their job well and everything is nice and secure. That's why its better to stick with big commercial vendors like Cisco.
btw, why even give a story like this press? What a joke.
"The same goes for switches. You'll be doing good to get 400 mbps out of a cheap gig switch."
40MB is a hell of a lot better than 10MB. I don't know why everyone keeps saying he won't be able to saturate the line. He doesn't need to max it out in order to enjoy the benefits over 100Mb ethernet. Who knows what kind data we will be dealing with in 5 years? Seems like going 1000 is a smart investment.
I had no idea Gb Ethernet switches had dropped so much in price. If I was buying a new switch today I'd definitely be buying one of those $100 Linksys switches. Considering the cost is so cheap why even bother with 100MB if you think you'll be using bandwidth hungry apps?
But everything is NOT broken out of the box like your stating. Not all distros make setting up fonts hard and not all Linux file managers are garbage.
You are Just as bad as the over the top Linux zealots who think Linux should be hard to use and think Gentoo is good for newbies "if they just follow the instructions". Except your on the side that refuses to admit that Linux can ever do anything right. Many distros clearly are doing things to address your concerns and improve ease of use.
Yes but Piracy is also what got Microsoft where it is today. How many pirated copies of Win95/98/2000, Office 95/97/2000 are out there? Casual piracy is a huge part of the way Microsoft got to its monopoly position.
For the near term more people playing Xbox games will only lead to greater mindshare for Microsoft. Xbox 2 comes out and you have a whole other market of "Xbox gamers" who never bought the first gen console but are now hooked on Xbox games and might consider buying Xbox2 even thought they never owned Xbox 1.
Regarding it hurting sales, people who have an Xbox will most likely continue to buy retail games. They play on Xbox and Not a PC for a reason. Those that don't own an Xbox but download this emu to play Xbox games were never going to buy an Xbox or Xbox games in the first place. So how does MS lose revenue on games people had no interest of every buying?
I think the publicity will only help Microsoft and get more people using Microsoft products. Remember the way Microsoft does business on the PC side. In order to gain in their goal of World Domination, Microsoft would rather give their products away for Free then lose a customer. Even if that means "losing" money. *Tinfoil hat on* I wouldn't be surprised in 10 years if we found out that someone internal at MS "helped" this guy out in order to get more people using Microsoft products.
Sorry but your page of "Free" providers is nothing more than a link to a bunch of commercial services which cost money. How can companies that charge $24 a month or charge by the minute be considered "Free service Providers"? If they were really Free than there would be no fees for the service.
You might as well have linked to a bunch of Cell phone plans and said "Free Long Distance Providers"....when you sign up for their $50 a month plan.
As others have mentioned you can use VideoLan Client. Its a basic but nice player that plays just about anything you can imagine. Its also Free.
Tell you what. If I can ever find my original /. id you can have my current one. ;)
So let me guess? Microsoft will "help" representatives draft legislation with Security standards and goals that make it difficult if not impossible for OSS to compete.
From the report
"Task force co-chairman Ron Moritz said the report calls for a limited government role, such as helping to develop certification standards for software that runs in sensitive systems. "
"I wonder how StarOffice for Windows fits into this? I doubt that it's going to be around to much longer."
Fine with me we still have OpenOfice.org. Yes it would hurt if Sun stopped backing it, but hey Sun was never a true believer in nothing but FOSS on every PC anyway. They aren't in it for the long haul, they just see the writing on the wall for Solaris. With Linux Sun can exert at least some control unlike if they were to become an all Windows shop. That's why Sun sells Linux. They have given to OSS but their real interest is now and forever will be selling you Sun Servers. Even their Linux client is just a gateway to Sun servers. Think of them like Apple. A Hardware company that just happens to utilize OSS in order to sell more Hardware.
"Debian has the potential to be the "one true distribution" "
Not as long as many Debian users continue to think like this. The elitist attitude is still there and the price of entry ie horrible newbie unfriendly installer present a high barrier of entry.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1026 83&cid=8747288
In many ways I feel that Debian is the most important Linux distro. It is now and will forever be Open Source. There are a ton of volunteers and it is mostly Free from commerical influence. But ease of install and a sometimes elitist hacker community continue to hold it back. Look at the guy I quoted above. His attitude is that Debian users are "special" and that if you don't like them go away. That's the type of attitude that forces people to distros like Mandrake, Lindows, Xandros etc in droves.
Of course there are many helpful Debian users out there but being that Debian is a little hard to get used to begin with whenever someone makes a post like that it just turns people off to Debian in general.
Debian sat around too long while all the other distros became moron proof to install and easy to maintain with nice gui tools. I can only hope that the new installer combined with the Gnome System Tools finally lets Debian reach parity with some of the other distros out there. I'd hate to see in 2010 most Linux users running proprietary distros like Lindows because mainline Debian is still a pain to install and maintain for the average user.
The thing is its just not really funny anymore. Now we know to expect it and that takes all of the fun out of it. Really it would be better to make this a regular news day and then add in one fake story.
April fools and big pranks are still funny depending on the situation. Just not at slashdot.
I dunno, what's more useful? A PDA/micro-notebook you can use to manage your entire business/life,play games, surf the web, use email, run X apps, listen to music etc for $699 or an Ipod that you listen to music on but can cost $500? Somehow everyone here seems to think its worth it for a pleasure item like an Ipod why isn't it useful for something you can do so much more with?
Like Apple users are always telling me, if you have to question the value of something based on price you weren't part of the target market to begin with.