If you download the PDF version of the form, open it in Acrobat Reader and choose Document Info, you'll see that this form was actually created back in October 24, 2001. Plus, the name of the form NewCRform101901.htm should also hint that it was done a pretty long time ago (the date is right there).
However I don't know whether the form was already up there all along, or perhaps the Newsforge submitter just spotted it recently and thought it was new.
Loss of freedom and privacy is not the only issue.
Think about it... your biometric features are very unique to you. Now, what if the DMV biometric database gets stolen? Part of you would have been stolen forever. There's no way to replace it.
While I think that biometric authentication and identification in tight security environments (like military bases) are okay, deploying it on a wide scale like this is extremely dangerous. It may all backfire one day.
Yes, that's right. A majority of the sites I've visited have privacy policies that sound good ("we don't sell your info to third parties", etc). But at the same time, they have a line at the end that says "we may change the privacy policy without notifying users first by posting the changes on the website." Great.
And I've also seen sites that explicitly stated that they "care and respect about" my privacy, but say that they're going to sell your info to third-parties anyway. What in the world.
I heard of this BOFH guy who named his boxes "here", "there", "everywhere", "somewhere", "anywhere", and so on. So when users call him up and ask, "Where are my files?" He'll say "somewhere" and he means it!:-) Where did you keep my backup? Everywhere. You can only begin to imagine what else can come out from all this!
While we're on this topic, this Secure Programming HOWTO for Linux and UNIX might be of interest. It's a pretty comprehensive book. And best of all, it's free!:-)
Yes, it's tough to code in C and still keep things secure, especially for inexperienced programmers. But people developing at the OS level need the speed and performance of C. We can't get that amount of speed with Java, C#, etc. There's always a trade-off.
Interestingly, there's a C dialect called Cyclone by AT&T which tries to give the best of both worlds. It doesn't allow careless code (that becomes buffer overflows, etc.) but it doesn't sacrifice performance either.
Yes, I agree. When we're competing with Microsoft - arguably the best marketer in the world - we NEED marketing!
Now while I agree with the original poster that Linux needs marketing, what the original poster is referring to is advertising, not really marketing. Advertising is a one-way communication thingy, while marketing is about a establishing and maintaining relationship with the customer. MS has it easy because a lot of people out there grew up using MS desktops, and to them, MS is the only way to go. Plus, MS is pretty aggresive when it comes to getting new customers. And they'll go to great lengths to keep them.
In a way, people feel "safe" when they use MS products coz MS is so big and they think it won't die off one day. Which we all know is not true.
So what do we have to do? I believe there are two ways we can use to "market" Linux.
First, Linux companies have to be more aggressive. Of course it's hard to compete with such a well-established monopoly, but they'll have to try really hard if Linux is to see mainstream adoption.
And we at the grassroots level have to do our part too. When we introduce Linux to someone who has been using Windoze for years, we need to make sure that the desktop we set up is "similar" to the Windoze desktop. We need to ease that migration path. For example, get them to use StarOffice or some similar office package... and NEVER, EVER ask them to use a package like LaTeX for word processing!! I once saw an article recommending LaTeX for secretaries. That was just pathetic. Don't force users to use vi or emacs as their text editors, and so on. We have to understand that typical users love all the GUI and the bells and whistles, while us techies normally like things minimalistic. Remember - ease the migration path! A lot of the suggestions among the comments on this post are very good ideas too.
Once users get hooked to Linux, and once they notice "hey I don't need to reboot this machine every few hours" or "this is easy!" or "where's that bluescreen again?", then we would have achieved a small victory. Now when they realize how cool Linux is, they'll start recommending it to their friends/contacts/neighbors/dog. Once we get that going, and if their friends etc. start recommending it to their other friends, Linux would achieve the best marketing ever - word-of-mouth marketing.
Slashdot Mirror
If you download the PDF version of the form, open it in Acrobat Reader and choose Document Info, you'll see that this form was actually created back in October 24, 2001. Plus, the name of the form NewCRform101901.htm should also hint that it was done a pretty long time ago (the date is right there).
However I don't know whether the form was already up there all along, or perhaps the Newsforge submitter just spotted it recently and thought it was new.
Loss of freedom and privacy is not the only issue.
Think about it... your biometric features are very unique to you. Now, what if the DMV biometric database gets stolen? Part of you would have been stolen forever. There's no way to replace it.
While I think that biometric authentication and identification in tight security environments (like military bases) are okay, deploying it on a wide scale like this is extremely dangerous. It may all backfire one day.
Yes, that's right. A majority of the sites I've visited have privacy policies that sound good ("we don't sell your info to third parties", etc). But at the same time, they have a line at the end that says "we may change the privacy policy without notifying users first by posting the changes on the website." Great.
And I've also seen sites that explicitly stated that they "care and respect about" my privacy, but say that they're going to sell your info to third-parties anyway. What in the world.
I heard of this BOFH guy who named his boxes "here", "there", "everywhere", "somewhere", "anywhere", and so on. So when users call him up and ask, "Where are my files?" He'll say "somewhere" and he means it! :-) Where did you keep my backup? Everywhere. You can only begin to imagine what else can come out from all this!
While we're on this topic, this Secure Programming HOWTO for Linux and UNIX might be of interest. It's a pretty comprehensive book. And best of all, it's free! :-)
Yes, it's tough to code in C and still keep things secure, especially for inexperienced programmers. But people developing at the OS level need the speed and performance of C. We can't get that amount of speed with Java, C#, etc. There's always a trade-off.
Interestingly, there's a C dialect called Cyclone by AT&T which tries to give the best of both worlds. It doesn't allow careless code (that becomes buffer overflows, etc.) but it doesn't sacrifice performance either.
Yes, I agree. When we're competing with Microsoft - arguably the best marketer in the world - we NEED marketing!
Now while I agree with the original poster that Linux needs marketing, what the original poster is referring to is advertising, not really marketing. Advertising is a one-way communication thingy, while marketing is about a establishing and maintaining relationship with the customer. MS has it easy because a lot of people out there grew up using MS desktops, and to them, MS is the only way to go. Plus, MS is pretty aggresive when it comes to getting new customers. And they'll go to great lengths to keep them.
In a way, people feel "safe" when they use MS products coz MS is so big and they think it won't die off one day. Which we all know is not true.
So what do we have to do? I believe there are two ways we can use to "market" Linux.
First, Linux companies have to be more aggressive. Of course it's hard to compete with such a well-established monopoly, but they'll have to try really hard if Linux is to see mainstream adoption.
And we at the grassroots level have to do our part too. When we introduce Linux to someone who has been using Windoze for years, we need to make sure that the desktop we set up is "similar" to the Windoze desktop. We need to ease that migration path. For example, get them to use StarOffice or some similar office package... and NEVER, EVER ask them to use a package like LaTeX for word processing!! I once saw an article recommending LaTeX for secretaries. That was just pathetic. Don't force users to use vi or emacs as their text editors, and so on. We have to understand that typical users love all the GUI and the bells and whistles, while us techies normally like things minimalistic. Remember - ease the migration path! A lot of the suggestions among the comments on this post are very good ideas too.
Once users get hooked to Linux, and once they notice "hey I don't need to reboot this machine every few hours" or "this is easy!" or "where's that bluescreen again?", then we would have achieved a small victory. Now when they realize how cool Linux is, they'll start recommending it to their friends/contacts/neighbors/dog. Once we get that going, and if their friends etc. start recommending it to their other friends, Linux would achieve the best marketing ever - word-of-mouth marketing.
People don't quit jobs -- they quit managers.
We'll soon get GNU/KDE and KGNOME?