Not if there was a relatively easy to apply, free fix that I could get from Ford to keep the engine from exploding.
I must live in an alternate dimension from the rest of you or something - i've been using Windows in various forms since Win95 came out, and yet i've never had a single problem with any sort of worm or virus. It's not that hard to stay safe, really.
Speak for yourself. I'm a middle-ability user (for example), and i've had zero problems from this or any of the other nasty Windows worms/virii. If you've kept your box properly updated, it seems like this one is pretty much a non-issue, considering some(all?) of the holes it uses have been patched already.
And besides, do you really want people switching to Linux out of fear, or do you want them switching after making an informed choice? You're basically approving of scare-tactics to get people to switch - doesn't seem like a good thing.
If you think all game music is repetitive MIDI stuff on a level with Pong...Then you haven't listened to the right games. There are many, many titles out there with wonderful music - often RPG's(Final Fantasy series, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, etc.), and some of the newer fighting and action games will have decent rock-type soundtracks as well.
Experiment a bit, listen to tracks on places like OCRemix, you might be suprised what you find.
but pushing this kind of place, on the vague premise that 'there hasn't been a virulent epidemic for a while now', is just silly...
I dunno, i'm not afraid of any of that stuff, but this still seems rather appealing. The level to which he has chosen to "get away from it all" is perhaps a little extreme for my tastes, but it definately has its good points.
So...Don't use IE?:) With the number of security holes found and recommendations made, using another browser really is (or at least should be) a no-brainer these days.
Personally, I use Firefox, and everyone I know has started to use and love it as well. Same idea with patching and other security - slowly pounding it into the heads of those I have contact with.
I guess it comes down to whether you want to try and improve the situation, or just back and insult the "lusers" without doing anything to help. I may think users are causing problems, but that doesn't mean I want it to continue.
I know you're just trolling, but it actually brings up a point that some others in this thread have already discussed - you don't have to be a computer wizard, super genius, or anything else like that.
Just take a little time to put basic precautions and common sense in place, and you'll be way ahead. Most people out there do nothing, and that's how we end up with these stories.
Have you seen these emails? They're damned convincing.
I must be getting them from a different batch than you- obvious grammar/spelling/formatting mistakes in most of them, and 99% of them aren't even from the bank I use.
If people would just stop and think "Why would they be asking me for this" for a second when they get such mails, or just make a quick call to their local branch to verify things....They'd be so much better off.
And one wonders why users do not recieve some of they blame they rightly deserve, either.
First lady in the story - obviously had zero protection beforehand, and it took a major problem w/her connection being disconnected before she got some. If nothing else, at least it sounds like she has the concept of basic security down a little better now.
Second lady mentioned - a single call to her bank for verification would have likely saved her any trouble. I have gotten several "phishing" mails myself, and they are incredibly easy to recognize - often from a bank I have no accounts with or that never sends mail otherwise, they contain grammatical/spelling errors that would never appear in a real mail, and ask for information that the real bank would have absolutely no reason to need verified.
Third lady mentioned - more Microsoft's fault than the others, due to the security holes. Still, it sounds like she either didn't patch things, opened a nasty attachment, or otherwise brought the software on through her own action. Hard to tell since they don't mention anything by name.
So yes, Microsoft is evil. But don't fool yourself into thinking that users aren't contributing their share of problems either.
Can be bought here, among other places. Slightly expensive, but I suppose it might be worth it to some people that don't want to do the work themselves.
I don't work for the linked site, nor have I bought any of their products yet, though, so I can't speak to the quality.
Study after study has shown that 33% of all students cheat to get their bachelor's in engineering.
So everyone in bachelor's degree programs is an engineering student? I fail to see what you're getting at with that statement - it would seem to indicate a problem with that program in particular, not the whole university system.
You sound like a cancer cell. Really. Life is not all about acquiring resources. That's the mentality you get in school, my friend.
Uh, right. You want people to enjoy life to the fullest, but either want everyone to self-teach themselves or just forgo advanced education altogether - for people that can't self-teach themselves in their desired fields, where is the income supposed to come from to live this happy life?
I'm not saying anything about that. Look at the record enrollments in universities. Every year it gets higher. Are you implying that all these people are going to be in these advanced fields?
Actually, you did say something about that. You want people to forgo higher education and apparently confine themslves to jobs that can be done without that formal education. You don't seem to have any concrete ideas on how people should obtain the advanced technical knowledge outside of university though.
What I'm saying is that we, as a planet, as a race, as a people have enough resources to relax now. We don't need 25,000 new engineers every year just to sit in front of a computer filling in parts requests.
I don't know why you've got it in your head that if someone is a university student and/or studying an advanced field, they must be an engineer, as I never said that.
If you want to continue, suck it up and log in, otherwise i'm done arguing with you.
It is no longer about learning, but memorizing, cheating and begging to get a 'grade' so you can get a job.
Speak for yourself. Maybe you need to find a different school, if that's been your experience.
So they can get ready to compete against each other to curry favor with the dominant monkeys instead of enjoying life.
In my experience, the people yelling this the loudest also seem to forget to come up with a way to acquire the resources to enjoy life.
If you think college is worthless - then how would you suggest people that (for example) want to work in the more advanced scientific, medical, or mechanical fields make a living? Not everything can be self-taught or learned on the job.
Nifty...I might actually use that once they get multiplayer support working, as it's rather buggy in Windows.
And re: the web Lemmings link, thanks, but i've got a Windows and DOS (with an old manual covered in passwords) version that runs fine already:) I appreciate the help greatly, but I wasn't really asking for fixes specifically for each game:)
Actually a halfway decent game, except for the fact that the online code was horrible, they took/are taking aeons to get an official patch out for all the bugs, and Activision's official online play servers seemed to be running on old TI calculators:P
First of all, thanks for the links. I wasn't really looking for help on running them at this point, but at least it will provide something to fiddle with the next time I get bored in Linux.
That said, the first two alternatives share a problem that really bugs me about a lot of Linux gaming. Note: this is not an attack on you in any way, only an observation on these projects.
If You have Warcraft II You can use the graphics from the CD and use http://stratagus.sf.net/ as an engine on Linux.
Same with Freeciv at www.freeciv.org and Civilization II. Freeciv is a wonderful, stable game using the ruleset of Civilization II and focusing on network play. But beware of the ai. It is very strong as well.
Sorry, I don't want to play something that's trying to impersonate the game, I want to play the actual game itself. By most standards, these are quite old titles, and it's hard to understand why they don't work yet when stuff like Doom 3, Everquest, and other flashy-graphics advanced titles work perfectly.
I can't find any pictures of Wargus, but from what I can see of FreeCiv, it's pretty ugly compared to the real game, honestly. And the normal Civ games have always been nice and stable.
Whether he likes it or not? Knowing the buggy and insecure nature of Windows, what sensible person would be happy with what you describe?
You'd be suprised. Though i'm sure you'd never believe it, it's quite possible to get a Windows box secured and plenty stable for normal use. The XP Pro box i'm typing this on now (for example) has been up for about a few months straight, with the last reboot being because Winamp was having some odd issues. If you get all the security patches, run regular virus/adware scans, don't open strange attachments like a dumbass, and use a firewall, you'll be pretty well off.
The vast majority simply buy what's put in front of them without question.
Yeah, I guess the fact that like 99% of all commercial games are Windows-only couldn't possibly have something to do with that, eh?
You seem to have been looking for a chance to spout off about how evil Windows is, but let's remember that we're considering gamers in particular here.
It actually makes me think of Linux as a viable platform for games... not a viable platform in five years' time, but a viable platform now.
Maybe, unless you want to use WineX to play something that's not an MMORPG, FPS, or RTS game, with a few exceptions - personally, the last time I tried it I couldn't get anything to work but Diablo II and Starcraft, and even then they had several major playability problems.
More specifically, I tried it about 1.5 years ago, followed the installation directions to the letter. Then tried getting several games (Starcraft, Homeworld, Warcraft II, Diablo II, Civ II, even freaking 10-year old Lemmings wouldn't run right) to work for about a month with almost no success, and cancelled my subscription in disgust.
I'd love to give it another shot, but the only games people ever mention it working with are the same ones over and over again. As well, their game database lists a massive number of non-working titles still, and if a poster on the linked story is to be believed, they're not even updating the database anymore.
Doesn't exactly make me want to shell out more money. I'm sure there's others like you out there who are happy with it and have everything you want working, but I suspect you're in the minority.
Just because most people what to play games on them under Windows doesn't mean everyone should be forced to purchase one with Windows. I don't think that is unreasonable.
Fair enough. Whether you like it or not, though, the vast majority of people, especially gamers, have no problem with Windows being preinstalled.
For your situation/beliefs, you would be far better suited to either build your own system, or find someone that builds high-performance custom Linux boxes.
So would you buy one if you weren't forced to get it with Windows installed?
Assuming you use Linux and nothing else, do you game a lot, since that is (usually) the primary purpose of buying an Alienware machine?
Somehow I get the feeling you're posting just so you can get in a jab at Microsoft - if you genuinely support the views you claim to, you shouldn't need to post just to basically say "Lookit me! I'm fighting The Man!"
The point was that the TiVo is a simple to use device that is based on Linux, and is widely used by the unwashed masses. The parent concluded that Linux isn't ready for the mainstream by citing parts of an article about custom building a machine from scratch, while ignoring the counterexample of consumer-oriented products already using Linux.
Well, my bad for not reading your comment a bit closer before posting. One would think though that on a story about custom buiding a Linux PVR system, you'd comment on, well, a custom-built Linux PVR system.
We all know TiVos are easy to use and based on Linux, but that's not the subject of this story or what the original poster was commenting on.
The fact remains that if you want to achieve what the story is concerned with, and build a custom solution, you have to go through a lot of needlessly complex configuration that should really be automated in some fashion by now.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I had all these issues with my Linux-based TiVo. It's so hard for the average Joe like me to understand, and it's not user friendly at all. Apparently you need to have prior knowledge of things like "TV", "Cable", "Schedules", and "Shows."
Seems like you're only proving his point further here.
If you're so sure, then how about a real example of how average-user-friendly it is to setup, instead of taking the cop-out of basically saying "It's easy for me, how could it possibly be hard for anyone else?"
Slashdot Mirror
Not if there was a relatively easy to apply, free fix that I could get from Ford to keep the engine from exploding.
I must live in an alternate dimension from the rest of you or something - i've been using Windows in various forms since Win95 came out, and yet i've never had a single problem with any sort of worm or virus. It's not that hard to stay safe, really.
Speak for yourself. I'm a middle-ability user (for example), and i've had zero problems from this or any of the other nasty Windows worms/virii. If you've kept your box properly updated, it seems like this one is pretty much a non-issue, considering some(all?) of the holes it uses have been patched already.
And besides, do you really want people switching to Linux out of fear, or do you want them switching after making an informed choice? You're basically approving of scare-tactics to get people to switch - doesn't seem like a good thing.
If you think all game music is repetitive MIDI stuff on a level with Pong...Then you haven't listened to the right games. There are many, many titles out there with wonderful music - often RPG's(Final Fantasy series, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, etc.), and some of the newer fighting and action games will have decent rock-type soundtracks as well.
Experiment a bit, listen to tracks on places like OCRemix, you might be suprised what you find.
but pushing this kind of place, on the vague premise that 'there hasn't been a virulent epidemic for a while now', is just silly...
I dunno, i'm not afraid of any of that stuff, but this still seems rather appealing. The level to which he has chosen to "get away from it all" is perhaps a little extreme for my tastes, but it definately has its good points.
So...Don't use IE? :) With the number of security holes found and recommendations made, using another browser really is (or at least should be) a no-brainer these days.
Personally, I use Firefox, and everyone I know has started to use and love it as well. Same idea with patching and other security - slowly pounding it into the heads of those I have contact with.
I guess it comes down to whether you want to try and improve the situation, or just back and insult the "lusers" without doing anything to help. I may think users are causing problems, but that doesn't mean I want it to continue.
I know you're just trolling, but it actually brings up a point that some others in this thread have already discussed - you don't have to be a computer wizard, super genius, or anything else like that.
Just take a little time to put basic precautions and common sense in place, and you'll be way ahead. Most people out there do nothing, and that's how we end up with these stories.
Have you seen these emails? They're damned convincing.
I must be getting them from a different batch than you- obvious grammar/spelling/formatting mistakes in most of them, and 99% of them aren't even from the bank I use.
If people would just stop and think "Why would they be asking me for this" for a second when they get such mails, or just make a quick call to their local branch to verify things....They'd be so much better off.
And one wonders why users do not recieve some of they blame they rightly deserve, either.
First lady in the story - obviously had zero protection beforehand, and it took a major problem w/her connection being disconnected before she got some. If nothing else, at least it sounds like she has the concept of basic security down a little better now.
Second lady mentioned - a single call to her bank for verification would have likely saved her any trouble. I have gotten several "phishing" mails myself, and they are incredibly easy to recognize - often from a bank I have no accounts with or that never sends mail otherwise, they contain grammatical/spelling errors that would never appear in a real mail, and ask for information that the real bank would have absolutely no reason to need verified.
Third lady mentioned - more Microsoft's fault than the others, due to the security holes. Still, it sounds like she either didn't patch things, opened a nasty attachment, or otherwise brought the software on through her own action. Hard to tell since they don't mention anything by name.
So yes, Microsoft is evil. But don't fool yourself into thinking that users aren't contributing their share of problems either.
You're the one that posted here again after nothing for 5 days, though, so maybe you'd know better about that :)
Can be bought here, among other places. Slightly expensive, but I suppose it might be worth it to some people that don't want to do the work themselves.
I don't work for the linked site, nor have I bought any of their products yet, though, so I can't speak to the quality.
The link in the parent post is an extremely offensive picture, do not click.
Study after study has shown that 33% of all students cheat to get their bachelor's in engineering.
So everyone in bachelor's degree programs is an engineering student? I fail to see what you're getting at with that statement - it would seem to indicate a problem with that program in particular, not the whole university system.
You sound like a cancer cell. Really. Life is not all about acquiring resources. That's the mentality you get in school, my friend.
Uh, right. You want people to enjoy life to the fullest, but either want everyone to self-teach themselves or just forgo advanced education altogether - for people that can't self-teach themselves in their desired fields, where is the income supposed to come from to live this happy life?
I'm not saying anything about that. Look at the record enrollments in universities. Every year it gets higher. Are you implying that all these people are going to be in these advanced fields?
Actually, you did say something about that. You want people to forgo higher education and apparently confine themslves to jobs that can be done without that formal education. You don't seem to have any concrete ideas on how people should obtain the advanced technical knowledge outside of university though.
What I'm saying is that we, as a planet, as a race, as a people have enough resources to relax now. We don't need 25,000 new engineers every year just to sit in front of a computer filling in parts requests.
I don't know why you've got it in your head that if someone is a university student and/or studying an advanced field, they must be an engineer, as I never said that.
If you want to continue, suck it up and log in, otherwise i'm done arguing with you.
It is no longer about learning, but memorizing, cheating and begging to get a 'grade' so you can get a job.
Speak for yourself. Maybe you need to find a different school, if that's been your experience.
So they can get ready to compete against each other to curry favor with the dominant monkeys instead of enjoying life.
In my experience, the people yelling this the loudest also seem to forget to come up with a way to acquire the resources to enjoy life.
If you think college is worthless - then how would you suggest people that (for example) want to work in the more advanced scientific, medical, or mechanical fields make a living? Not everything can be self-taught or learned on the job.
Nifty...I might actually use that once they get multiplayer support working, as it's rather buggy in Windows.
:) I appreciate the help greatly, but I wasn't really asking for fixes specifically for each game :)
And re: the web Lemmings link, thanks, but i've got a Windows and DOS (with an old manual covered in passwords) version that runs fine already
Starfleet Command 3 was 3D, at least partialy.
:P
Actually a halfway decent game, except for the fact that the online code was horrible, they took/are taking aeons to get an official patch out for all the bugs, and Activision's official online play servers seemed to be running on old TI calculators
First of all, thanks for the links. I wasn't really looking for help on running them at this point, but at least it will provide something to fiddle with the next time I get bored in Linux.
That said, the first two alternatives share a problem that really bugs me about a lot of Linux gaming. Note: this is not an attack on you in any way, only an observation on these projects.
If You have Warcraft II You can use the graphics from the CD and use http://stratagus.sf.net/ as an engine on Linux.
Same with Freeciv at www.freeciv.org and Civilization II. Freeciv is a wonderful, stable game using the ruleset of Civilization II and focusing on network play. But beware of the ai. It is very strong as well.
Sorry, I don't want to play something that's trying to impersonate the game, I want to play the actual game itself. By most standards, these are quite old titles, and it's hard to understand why they don't work yet when stuff like Doom 3, Everquest, and other flashy-graphics advanced titles work perfectly.
I can't find any pictures of Wargus, but from what I can see of FreeCiv, it's pretty ugly compared to the real game, honestly. And the normal Civ games have always been nice and stable.
Whether he likes it or not? Knowing the buggy and insecure nature of Windows, what sensible person would be happy with what you describe?
You'd be suprised. Though i'm sure you'd never believe it, it's quite possible to get a Windows box secured and plenty stable for normal use. The XP Pro box i'm typing this on now (for example) has been up for about a few months straight, with the last reboot being because Winamp was having some odd issues. If you get all the security patches, run regular virus/adware scans, don't open strange attachments like a dumbass, and use a firewall, you'll be pretty well off.
The vast majority simply buy what's put in front of them without question.
Yeah, I guess the fact that like 99% of all commercial games are Windows-only couldn't possibly have something to do with that, eh?
You seem to have been looking for a chance to spout off about how evil Windows is, but let's remember that we're considering gamers in particular here.
Between the above and another post today, i have lost all faith in the Slashdot moderation system. Thanks guys!
It actually makes me think of Linux as a viable platform for games... not a viable platform in five years' time, but a viable platform now.
Maybe, unless you want to use WineX to play something that's not an MMORPG, FPS, or RTS game, with a few exceptions - personally, the last time I tried it I couldn't get anything to work but Diablo II and Starcraft, and even then they had several major playability problems.
More specifically, I tried it about 1.5 years ago, followed the installation directions to the letter. Then tried getting several games (Starcraft, Homeworld, Warcraft II, Diablo II, Civ II, even freaking 10-year old Lemmings wouldn't run right) to work for about a month with almost no success, and cancelled my subscription in disgust.
I'd love to give it another shot, but the only games people ever mention it working with are the same ones over and over again. As well, their game database lists a massive number of non-working titles still, and if a poster on the linked story is to be believed, they're not even updating the database anymore.
Doesn't exactly make me want to shell out more money. I'm sure there's others like you out there who are happy with it and have everything you want working, but I suspect you're in the minority.
If you value your eyes, do not follow that link, leads to page with a pic of the goatse.cx man.
Just because most people what to play games on them under Windows doesn't mean everyone should be forced to purchase one with Windows. I don't think that is unreasonable.
Fair enough. Whether you like it or not, though, the vast majority of people, especially gamers, have no problem with Windows being preinstalled.
For your situation/beliefs, you would be far better suited to either build your own system, or find someone that builds high-performance custom Linux boxes.
I don't know why you'd spend $300 on an XBox when you can get a Dreamcast which also has many amazing games for $50.
So you could actually play new (professionally made, not homebrew) games, maybe? Whatever floats your boat though.
Oh, and you can get XBox bundles starting at $119, not $300.
So would you buy one if you weren't forced to get it with Windows installed?
Assuming you use Linux and nothing else, do you game a lot, since that is (usually) the primary purpose of buying an Alienware machine?
Somehow I get the feeling you're posting just so you can get in a jab at Microsoft - if you genuinely support the views you claim to, you shouldn't need to post just to basically say "Lookit me! I'm fighting The Man!"
The point was that the TiVo is a simple to use device that is based on Linux, and is widely used by the unwashed masses. The parent concluded that Linux isn't ready for the mainstream by citing parts of an article about custom building a machine from scratch, while ignoring the counterexample of consumer-oriented products already using Linux.
Well, my bad for not reading your comment a bit closer before posting. One would think though that on a story about custom buiding a Linux PVR system, you'd comment on, well, a custom-built Linux PVR system.
We all know TiVos are easy to use and based on Linux, but that's not the subject of this story or what the original poster was commenting on.
The fact remains that if you want to achieve what the story is concerned with, and build a custom solution, you have to go through a lot of needlessly complex configuration that should really be automated in some fashion by now.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I had all these issues with my Linux-based TiVo. It's so hard for the average Joe like me to understand, and it's not user friendly at all. Apparently you need to have prior knowledge of things like "TV", "Cable", "Schedules", and "Shows."
Seems like you're only proving his point further here.
If you're so sure, then how about a real example of how average-user-friendly it is to setup, instead of taking the cop-out of basically saying "It's easy for me, how could it possibly be hard for anyone else?"