The Drill is pretty well-documented all over the place, including in the kernel source documentation. Don't encourage linux newbies to use experimental kernels.
...is that, even though they go to such great lengths to distance themselves from the Windows/Intel mentality, they absolutely love comparing their slower hardware to Wintel machines. They describe their newest CPU as "faster-than-light". Give me a fucking break!
At least SGI knows their niche and doesn't bother others with stilted benchmarks.
I use the 6800 at home for about 300 gigs of RAID-5 storage. I use FreeBSD as the OS, though, for this particular machine. (Linux seems to be 3ware's preferred OS, however.) So far, things have been fine. Unfortunately, the first card I was sent was DOA (seemed to have cache problems.) The second one worked fine, and is still in the system working happily. I'm not sure i'd recommend these cards for HA systems, though, for a couple of reasons:
Can you buy hot-swappable IDE enclosures? I've never seen any.
Performance-wise, these cards aren't top-notch. They have a very small amount of cache. Modern SCSI RAID cards take DIMMs and can be easily upgraded to more cache if necessary. These things have soldered-on memory.
For mass storage, they're great. For high-performance mass-storage, I'd still look to SCSI. Where else can you get 15000 RPM drives with 5-year warranties?
You're basically talking about putting a PC into an old mahogany case. That's great and all, but would you want to use it all the time? Typewriter keyboards are *terrible* for the wrists.
What would you power the vacuum tubes with? They get very hot; this could pose the risk of a fire. Also, if you're just using normal vacuum tubes for show and you're not loading them; they'll fry almost immediately if you're just running current through the plates to make them turn orange.
I guess I just don't see the point. A nasty little magnified screen that's headache-inducing, a huge power-draining array of vacuum tubes, and a keyboard you couldn't use for 5 minutes without wanting to gnaw your hands off... sounds like an expensive, useless conversation piece.
- A.P.
Re:This is what happens....
on
Loki Games Closing?
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
We all know Windows games never get pirated.
They get pirated all the time, but what they lose in piracy they make up for in legit sales. Lots and lots of legit sales.
The problem is that Linux is run by only 0.24 per cent [slashdot.org] of desktop users. You can't support a proprietary software company with 0.24% of the market.
The problem is that nobody bought their games; doesn't matter how many Linux users there are. Loki sold their games in stores nationwide and on their website. They're there for the purchasing. Unfortunately, they're also there for the taking elsewhere on the Internet. If everyone who stole their copy of "Railroad Tycoon 2" or "Sim City 3000" or "Postal" had supported Loki and paid for it instead, we wouldn't be commenting on this story right now.
Gigabit ethernet has no way of powering external devices. Firewire does.
Firewire was designed for high-speed peripheral communication. Gigabit ethernet was designed for high-speed network communications. The only thing the two have in common is the modifier "high-speed". Another standard would need to be developed for peripheral communications over GigE (unless you want to add an IP stack to every digital camera and removeable CD-R drive out there, in which case you are smoking crack.)
Firewire is available on most new PCs now. Gigabit ethernet is not (please do not muddy the waters here, Mac users.)
Firewire is cheap. Gigabit ethernet is expensive.
Firewire peripherals are here in abundance. Gigabit ethernet peripherals exist in your head.
It seems that all you're talking about is putting an RJ45 port onto a machine for peripherals instead of a Firewire port. All this will do is cause people to plug their networking equipment into the wrong port.
Not exactly a brain teaser. Anyone who can't figure this out (and is already a CS major) should think of switching majors to something a little less challenging.
No/etc. Well, technically, there is a/etc, but it is incredibly empty compared to what you may be used to in FreeBSD or Linux. None of the system's configuration is included in standard POSIX text files; Apple has opted to move everything into what they call a "NetInfo" registry. This is awful, to say the least.
Why is this a bad idea? The concept of a system registry is fantastic in theory; in practice, on Microsoft's operating systems, it is a trainwreck. Why must Apple's attempt immediately be classified as such, as well? Do you honestly think managing 100 different little config files in/etc, each with its own syntax and gotchas, is somehow more elegant than a registry-based solution? The registry is something I wish some Linux distro would get around to doing, to be honest, and one of the few good ideas Microsoft has ever had.
... is that they made their PDAs work *too* well. Think of it this way: everyone who wants a Palm Pilot has one by now and, if they're anything like any of my friends, they're in no hurry to "upgrade", even to a color screen. Palm's gear is great for the tasks it's designed to perform, and, unfortunately for Palm, there's really no constant need to upgrade like there is for a PC. People who bought Palm Pilots 2 years ago are still in no hurry to replace them, unless they've got a bit of disposable cash laying around (and who does, these days?)
All this person is doing is presenting an opposing viewpoint. Are moderators really so one-dimensional that, in their own little candy-coated world, there isn't anything bad about attaching messages to GPS locations? Seriously, there's the potential for this technology to be really cool, but, like JanneM said, there's also the possibility of it being misused, or used for purposes other than what some of us would like (such as advertising.) Are moderators so stupid as to consider this opposing viewpoint "Flamebait"? Are we all supposed to blow our load in the comments to this (and every other) story about how neat-o keen this tech is, and squash all opposing viewpoints, no matter how cogent the argument?
Wait, yes, we are. Slashdot needs two (and only two) moderation categories: +1 Groupthink, and -1 Thoughtcrime.
First off, export laws are now set at 128 bits, not 40. Anyone read the article? The computer was running Windows 2000, an operating system released before export controls were relaxed. Of course it had insufficient encryption capabilities! Windows XP now ships with 128-bit encryption in its export version, too.
Why aren't you looking into things like rdist/rsync, if you're just looking to mirror data? Either is a decent tool for the job, as long as you can live with the possibility of a tiny amount of data loss if you lose a machine between synchs.
Slashdot Mirror
The Drill is pretty well-documented all over the place, including in the kernel source documentation. Don't encourage linux newbies to use experimental kernels.
- A.P.
...is that, even though they go to such great lengths to distance themselves from the Windows/Intel mentality, they absolutely love comparing their slower hardware to Wintel machines. They describe their newest CPU as "faster-than-light". Give me a fucking break!
At least SGI knows their niche and doesn't bother others with stilted benchmarks.
- A.P.
Because Austin Powers is so confusingly similar to James Bond, and penises are so confusingly similar to fingers.
- A.P.
For God's sake, USE IT!
Google is your friend.
Scroll down to the one that says "Beowulf Install".
Has anyone tried to make a Linux cluster on a typical company/school network?
Yes, and he was sued for it. Hopefully you have permission to do this.
- A.P.
"Professional" and "MP3" do not go together.
I'll ditch my DAT decks when someone comes up with a working S/PDIF hard disk recorder.
- A.P.
Can you buy hot-swappable IDE enclosures? I've never seen any.
Performance-wise, these cards aren't top-notch. They have a very small amount of cache. Modern SCSI RAID cards take DIMMs and can be easily upgraded to more cache if necessary. These things have soldered-on memory.
For mass storage, they're great. For high-performance mass-storage, I'd still look to SCSI. Where else can you get 15000 RPM drives with 5-year warranties?
- A.P.
New York, Chicago, and a couple of west coast cities isn't really nationwide, is it?
- A.P.
You're basically talking about putting a PC into an old mahogany case. That's great and all, but would you want to use it all the time? Typewriter keyboards are *terrible* for the wrists.
What would you power the vacuum tubes with? They get very hot; this could pose the risk of a fire. Also, if you're just using normal vacuum tubes for show and you're not loading them; they'll fry almost immediately if you're just running current through the plates to make them turn orange.
I guess I just don't see the point. A nasty little magnified screen that's headache-inducing, a huge power-draining array of vacuum tubes, and a keyboard you couldn't use for 5 minutes without wanting to gnaw your hands off... sounds like an expensive, useless conversation piece.
- A.P.
We all know Windows games never get pirated.
They get pirated all the time, but what they lose in piracy they make up for in legit sales. Lots and lots of legit sales.
The problem is that Linux is run by only 0.24 per cent [slashdot.org] of desktop users. You can't support a proprietary software company with 0.24% of the market.
The problem is that nobody bought their games; doesn't matter how many Linux users there are. Loki sold their games in stores nationwide and on their website. They're there for the purchasing. Unfortunately, they're also there for the taking elsewhere on the Internet. If everyone who stole their copy of "Railroad Tycoon 2" or "Sim City 3000" or "Postal" had supported Loki and paid for it instead, we wouldn't be commenting on this story right now.
- A.P.
...when you try to sell games to cheap-ass Linux users. One person bought Loki's games and served the ISOs on IRC.
Sad to see them go? What's sad is how little support they got from the stingy Linux user community.
- A.P.
Yes. A clue.
Gigabit ethernet has no way of powering external devices. Firewire does.
Firewire was designed for high-speed peripheral communication. Gigabit ethernet was designed for high-speed network communications. The only thing the two have in common is the modifier "high-speed". Another standard would need to be developed for peripheral communications over GigE (unless you want to add an IP stack to every digital camera and removeable CD-R drive out there, in which case you are smoking crack.)
Firewire is available on most new PCs now. Gigabit ethernet is not (please do not muddy the waters here, Mac users.)
Firewire is cheap. Gigabit ethernet is expensive.
Firewire peripherals are here in abundance. Gigabit ethernet peripherals exist in your head.
It seems that all you're talking about is putting an RJ45 port onto a machine for peripherals instead of a Firewire port. All this will do is cause people to plug their networking equipment into the wrong port.
- A.P.
Not exactly a brain teaser. Anyone who can't figure this out (and is already a CS major) should think of switching majors to something a little less challenging.
- A.P.
Is it that difficult a task that the right hand can't manage anymore?
Carpal tunnel maybe?
- A.P.
No /etc. Well, technically, there is a /etc, but it is incredibly empty compared to what you may be used to in FreeBSD or Linux. None of the system's configuration is included in standard POSIX text files; Apple has opted to move everything into what they call a "NetInfo" registry. This is awful, to say the least.
/etc, each with its own syntax and gotchas, is somehow more elegant than a registry-based solution? The registry is something I wish some Linux distro would get around to doing, to be honest, and one of the few good ideas Microsoft has ever had.
Why is this a bad idea? The concept of a system registry is fantastic in theory; in practice, on Microsoft's operating systems, it is a trainwreck. Why must Apple's attempt immediately be classified as such, as well? Do you honestly think managing 100 different little config files in
- A.P.
ANY MP3 encoder, including LAME, which doesn't have a license, infringes upon the patent.
Since when were slashdroids known to be keenly observant of others' intellectual property rights?
- A.P.
Some guy claims he knows audio engineers and that Windows Media sounds better to them. Wow, *so* informative. Thanks for that rock-hard information.
4 people fell for this troll!
...but the people like me who bought them as organizers find them still quite adequate at that task. Why fix what isn't broken?
- A.P.
... is that they made their PDAs work *too* well. Think of it this way: everyone who wants a Palm Pilot has one by now and, if they're anything like any of my friends, they're in no hurry to "upgrade", even to a color screen. Palm's gear is great for the tasks it's designed to perform, and, unfortunately for Palm, there's really no constant need to upgrade like there is for a PC. People who bought Palm Pilots 2 years ago are still in no hurry to replace them, unless they've got a bit of disposable cash laying around (and who does, these days?)
- A.P.
Now, since gentoo's well and truly dead (thanks to slashdot), can someone explain the bug and the workaround for us Athlon users?
- A.P
All this person is doing is presenting an opposing viewpoint. Are moderators really so one-dimensional that, in their own little candy-coated world, there isn't anything bad about attaching messages to GPS locations? Seriously, there's the potential for this technology to be really cool, but, like JanneM said, there's also the possibility of it being misused, or used for purposes other than what some of us would like (such as advertising.) Are moderators so stupid as to consider this opposing viewpoint "Flamebait"? Are we all supposed to blow our load in the comments to this (and every other) story about how neat-o keen this tech is, and squash all opposing viewpoints, no matter how cogent the argument?
Wait, yes, we are. Slashdot needs two (and only two) moderation categories: +1 Groupthink, and -1 Thoughtcrime.
- A.P.
First off, export laws are now set at 128 bits, not 40. Anyone read the article? The computer was running Windows 2000, an operating system released before export controls were relaxed. Of course it had insufficient encryption capabilities! Windows XP now ships with 128-bit encryption in its export version, too.
What, precisely, is the story here?
- A.P.
This certainly disproves every premise of the article.
- A.P.
...was for Cinemax's new "World Leaders: EXPOSED" series. Coming this fall. You don't wanna know what they caught Jean Chretien doing -- or DO you?
- A.P.
To kill it?
- A.P.
Why aren't you looking into things like rdist/rsync, if you're just looking to mirror data? Either is a decent tool for the job, as long as you can live with the possibility of a tiny amount of data loss if you lose a machine between synchs.
- A.P.