Nobody is going to buy your book in 7 years, though. By then if will be all but outdated.
Additionally, what you're written is a sort of manual reference book, something that's always handy to have around, as opposed to something like a nonfiction or fiction book, where you might read it once and then toss it on the shelf.
O'Reilly probably doesn't have much to fear, but someone like Tom Clancy probably does.
I think the thing that publishers are concerned about (this is pretty obvious) is that the internet serves as a very good distribution model for people to sell things that they don't want anymore.
Previously, if you wanted to go get a used book, you go to the bookstore, and if they don't have any, a lot of the time you'll end up having to buy a new one. The information is the same, and chances are, lots of people out there have books that they don't want anymore, just sitting on the shelf all lonely.
Books aren't like VCR's, TV sets, stuffed animals and what have you, unless they're some sort of printed manual, you usually don't read a book over and over and over, you read it, and then you're done with it -- you put it on the shelf so that everybody who sees it in your house can marvel at how well read you are (showoff!). The preceding warm fuzzy feeling that you get from showing off the books you have read is worth a lot less than cold hard cash.
Chances are though, you're probably not going to set up a blanket outside your house with all your used books and proposition everybody that walks by to buy your copy of War and Peace. Chances are, if people wanted to go buy War and Peace, they wouldn't look to go find you. This just doesn't work too well.
The internet screws this all up, because web applications allow people who want something to get into contact with people who don't need or want it anymore (and are willing to exchange or sell it). Whoops. Now perhaps that book that you bought could have 2-3 people reading it, with no new revenue going to the person who wrote it -- and unlike the internet, no serious politician is going to go pass laws against the transfer and sale of books (they'd be politically castrated, you just can't fuck with books, it's the political equivalent of burning flags), so basically, the forces that wish to quell the rising tide of used book sales are totally powerless and have turned to writing angry letters.
Rental online books, like the ones you are suggesting, might be the answer to some publishers... which is certainly a scary prospect.
Quite honestly, I'm surprised that there isn't an underground subculture of 'bookz' like there are 'gamez' 'appz' and 'warez'... like PDF scanned versions of originals and such.
You can bet there will be one, if the e-book rental market ever becomes serious. So, as long as long as you lack a certain degree of intellectual property morals and know how to look around for things, everything might not go all '1984' on you personally.
Wow, I wrote a whole lot. Did anyone actually read that?
Much to my chargrin, recently when slashdot linked to the 'cheap video card lineup', I bought an ATI Radeon for my linux workstation.
Don't do this, because there are no X drivers for it. Well, technically, there are drivers for it, but unfortunately some scumbag company called Xi Technologies is selling the thing for 80 bucks. EIGHTY BUCKS.
Third party Radeon drivers for linux are expected Q1 2001, but I suppose we shall see. Also, as an added bonus, ATI has a java applet on their page that happily crashes linux netscape after a couple of page views.
ATI may be willing to part with design specs for driver development, but I'm not exactly sure if that necessarily makes them linux friendly.
This means, if this little number of a genetically modified rice kernel is extremely harmful (similar things have happened before with frankenfoods) we may be unable to stop it from growing with disasterous consequences.
The whole 'grow once and never again' isn't just a good business model for the corporations that make this stuff, it's a safety precaution.
As jello biafra said, "We're incompetant as human beings, even worse at playing god"
I tend to agree.
Additionally, people aren't starving or suffering from malnutrition because food isn't constructed properly, they're starving because not enough people care to do anything about it. Don't blame the food, blame society.
If you think for a minute that the people making this crap aren't spinning the "Look how many people are dying because we can't distribute our product' angle out of pure greed, you're got another thing coming.
Netscape's browser is certainly skanky with regard to it's pre-linked content, which is why a lot of people are undoubtably going to wait for mozilla releases.
Quite honestly, what is the purpose of Netscape releasing a browser at all if they can't turn a profit on it?
1) They don't have an operating system that needs internet functionality out-of-the-box (like Microsoft has to).
2) They're giving it away for free (Unlike Opera)
Despite the efforts of tons of Mozilla developers, Netscape still pays for a lot of people to work on the code too, and they probably deserve some return on that, even if it's extremely annoying.
Personally, I've only clicked on the "Shopping" button by accident in the 4.x generation, and never personally thought "Shopping, yeah! Shopping is what I will do now, thank sweet lord jesus for this Shopping button, how else would I have purchased goods on the internet?"
But apparently some people actually do that, otherwise why would it be there? Because the only way Netscape actually makes money at all is by sending people to their portal site in various ways.
When mozilla appears in a fully materialized and non-beta state, I am sure someone will kindly remove every reference to Netscape's annoying web-services and their paid-for bookmarks.
By the way, I don't fault AOL/Netscape in putting money-making devices in the browser. They have to make money somehow, and they don't have OS or office suite cash cows to support the browser as a loss leader, so they have to recognize some revenue somehow.
Whoops, then another browser comes along without these annoying things and at the same time works better, so the majority of users use that. I'm not discounting what netscape did, i'm just basically saying that right now netscape is dead.
If mozilla takes off, then fine, but mozilla is not netscape (it crashes even more than 4.0 on my machine). That's the way things work, jimbo.
The only thing that low turnout signifies is happiness with the status quo. Personally, I'm a Nader supporter, but if you really feel strongly about how bad the choices are, you should just go vote for something stupid, like a Ficus tree or Barry White.
At the very least then you send a clear signal to the powers that be that you're dissatisfied with what they're offering and could be a threat to them in future elections.
Basically, Voting for something stupid is a like a big "Fuck You" to everybody running, especially the majority.
Staying home and voting for nothing just says that you're happy to have others (whom you do not approve of) in control of you.
i don't like *any* of the candidates. low turn-outs should signal that people are apathetic about the choices we're given, and don't agree with anyone. (not any of those third party buttfuckers like nader or browne either.)
The only thing that low turnout signifies is happiness with the status quo. Personally, I'm a Nader supporter, but if you really feel strongly about how bad the choices are, you should just go vote for something stupid, like a Ficus tree or Barry White.
At the very least then you send a clear signal to the powers that be that you're dissatisfied with what they're offering and could be a threat to them in future elections.
Basically,
Voting for something stupid is a like a big "Fuck You" to everybody running, especially the majority.
Staying home and voting for nothing just says that you're happy to have others (whom you do not approve of) in control of you.
I would agree with what you said. I'm just a pessimist...
I went to high school, if my memory serves me correctly, I don't know if it'll solve anything by handing the authority figures I encountered lots of money. Who needs computers when you can create a second JB wrestling team *retch*...
I agree with you about the fact that public schools are very underfunded. I personally recall all of the senior citizens being lead onto their representative bus like cattle and then sent into their representative voting districts to vote down anything that could possible represent a tax increase (ie: the school budget, every time)
Then these dipshits wonder why there's so much crime.......
One more example of a bad business model that should have never been accepted by anyone. Just like channel one, students get a small benefit in exchange for the inescapable corporatist propaganda they are forced to swallow.
This stuff is partially our fault. Geeks should volunteer their time more than the norm. Imagine what could be accomplished if a few nerds got ahold of a four thousand dollars? You could build many good usable computers for that pricetag. Maybe they wouldn't be up to par for running Word 2000, but they would certainly be capable of teaching introductory to advanced computer courses, that's for sure.
Microsoft 'innovation' forces many schools to get into an inescapable loop of buying newer hardware to run software that's not all that much different from previos versions. My friend is currently working as a student teacher, and he's completely stranded technologically when he enters the school. They just don't have the resources or the know-how to get wired, a little linux and a little help would help out a lot.
I hadn't really thought seriously about voluteering before reading this, but it appears that public schools are desperate enough to submit to the demands of greedy profiteers. Its got to stop, and it appears the only way to stop it is to offer alternatives.
"I know I'll probably get moderated down for this"
However, I think that the Transmeta stuff has just gotten out of hand. If this was any other company, they would not get such attention, but simply because it has some affiliation with Linus Torvalds means that people actually care?
Not really. Linux is great, but transmeta... what are they doing for me right now? Not all that much. What will they do for me in the future? Maybe a little, but not all that much again. It's like doing a 30 part series on the little IBM eraser nub pointing device. WE GET IT, WE GET IT, WE GET IT. Low power consumption. We get it. It's worth an article or two, but not 20.
I happen to know for a fact that if I GPL my homework and put it up on-line here at Rutgers University, I am liable to be prosecuted for cheating.
That sure isn't Open Source. I wonder how they'll handle that sort of thing at NCSU?
As for Windows 9x/ME, it's only under controlled
laboratory conditions that you can make a Windows box run long enough to see that bug. I've managed to see the 49.7 day bug once; and with the M$ fix, I've seen a record uptime of 103 days with Windows 95B OSR2. Windows 3.1/DOS, I've managed to keep running for months at a time.
I'd bet that's because a Windows3.1/DOS machine is the virtual equivalent of a 'rock'.
Normal modern systems have weird daemons in the background which eventually contribute to their demise. What Redhat should be avoiding is running more of these that are of questionable merit, at least by default. By the looks of the bug page, it's obvious they see the errors of their ways, as the daemon won't be enabled unless turned on explicity. Nevertheless, the whole idea sounds kind of dumb anyway.
Something tells me that it's a REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA to allow your current system configuration to go out over the network towards a centralized server every 30 minutes.
Hey, look! This guy's running an old version of BIND, it's black hat time, et al.
Anyway...
I know a lot of people who use their personal computers as servers in one way or another, and turning the thing on and off just isn't workable because you have to _plan_ your uptime to when you think you might need to get something remotely. This never ever works.
This isn't really an issue for Microsoft operating systems at this point, because remote access to most of them is quite horrid.
I've kept various computers on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since I was 14 and ran a Bulletin Board System, and personally I've never had problems besides broken burnt-smelling fans every couple years.
The added functionality I get from it is _way_ more than the sacrifice, and since those who run Linux are (for the most part) serious computer users, its not realistic for us to do otherwise.
I've always thought that 'fortran' would be a good name for a dog, perhaps it's even better for a robotic one, although I'd always picture myself screaming it down the street when the dog ran away, and I doubt that would ever happen with the brother/sister of aibo, which takes away all the fun.
Maybe i'd name it after the evil competitive robotic dog that George was going to replace Astro with on the Jetsons, but of course... that... would... be.... a.... copyright.... violation....
Hanna Barabera's Intellectual property would be ravaged and the entire capitalist system as we know it would fall apart.
How the hell do you license something like that and be serious about it?
It's not like amazon sells you some sort of pre-prepared one-click shopping package infrastructure that you install and run, they just let you use the 'idea' of one-click shopping. Not because they thought of it first, but because they were the only ones with the gall to patent something so completely obvious.
I guess they have to make money somehow, they sure aren't going to do it by selling books.
Apple stock will probably rise when they cash in on selling all of the replacement parts for the poorly-designed G4 Cube. Its like the computer-equivalent of the edsel, except it doesn't do all that much except stay quiet and look pretty.
Spill a drink on it by accident, and with the help of the badly-placed top vent, suddenly you have a very fancy coaster.
I don't believe that anyone understands this properly. Slashdot was hacked and the hackers inserted a story into the database (the one that everyone is replying to)
I doubt cmdrtaco would post such a cryptic story about the nature of the breakin, nor is it possible to simply let a hacked machine keep running as if nothing happened (due to the possibility of inserted backdoors)
In addition, I don't believe white-hat hackers are usually apt to hack into your machine without your permission and then modify your website to their liking.........
The slashdot staff will probably have to take the server offline or switch it to a new one to do an autopsy, which is probably going to be an inconvenience to everyone.
I think the weird problem is the fact that their little website agreement thing that was previously posted on slashdot espouses the fact that the device is not actually being given away for free, but actually being loaned.
That's insane... sending an electronic device to someone in the mail unsolicited, and then pretending that it's on loan.
That's what they deserve to get burned for.
Being on slashdot, I guess i get into a linux-centric frame of mind. Java (Plugin or otherwise) is not currently supported by Linux mozilla and this is what I was referring to.
In addition, mozilla crashes more often than 4.x, and 4.x crashes often enough on it's own. I rarely have this problem on Win32 with 4.x.
It's most certainly not a stability-of-platform issue, because netscape seems to be the only consistently unstable (yet necessary) application I run.
Slashdot Mirror
Additionally, what you're written is a sort of manual reference book, something that's always handy to have around, as opposed to something like a nonfiction or fiction book, where you might read it once and then toss it on the shelf.
O'Reilly probably doesn't have much to fear, but someone like Tom Clancy probably does.
Poor Poor Tom Clancy, he'll starve!
--Fellow Slackware User.
I think the thing that publishers are concerned about (this is pretty obvious) is that the internet serves as a very good distribution model for people to sell things that they don't want anymore.
Previously, if you wanted to go get a used book, you go to the bookstore, and if they don't have any, a lot of the time you'll end up having to buy a new one. The information is the same, and chances are, lots of people out there have books that they don't want anymore, just sitting on the shelf all lonely.
Books aren't like VCR's, TV sets, stuffed animals and what have you, unless they're some sort of printed manual, you usually don't read a book over and over and over, you read it, and then you're done with it -- you put it on the shelf so that everybody who sees it in your house can marvel at how well read you are (showoff!). The preceding warm fuzzy feeling that you get from showing off the books you have read is worth a lot less than cold hard cash.
Chances are though, you're probably not going to set up a blanket outside your house with all your used books and proposition everybody that walks by to buy your copy of War and Peace. Chances are, if people wanted to go buy War and Peace, they wouldn't look to go find you. This just doesn't work too well.
The internet screws this all up, because web applications allow people who want something to get into contact with people who don't need or want it anymore (and are willing to exchange or sell it). Whoops. Now perhaps that book that you bought could have 2-3 people reading it, with no new revenue going to the person who wrote it -- and unlike the internet, no serious politician is going to go pass laws against the transfer and sale of books (they'd be politically castrated, you just can't fuck with books, it's the political equivalent of burning flags), so basically, the forces that wish to quell the rising tide of used book sales are totally powerless and have turned to writing angry letters.
Rental online books, like the ones you are suggesting, might be the answer to some publishers... which is certainly a scary prospect.
Quite honestly, I'm surprised that there isn't an underground subculture of 'bookz' like there are 'gamez' 'appz' and 'warez'... like PDF scanned versions of originals and such.
You can bet there will be one, if the e-book rental market ever becomes serious. So, as long as long as you lack a certain degree of intellectual property morals and know how to look around for things, everything might not go all '1984' on you personally.
Wow, I wrote a whole lot. Did anyone actually read that?
Don't do this, because there are no X drivers for it. Well, technically, there are drivers for it, but unfortunately some scumbag company called Xi Technologies is selling the thing for 80 bucks. EIGHTY BUCKS.
Third party Radeon drivers for linux are expected Q1 2001, but I suppose we shall see. Also, as an added bonus, ATI has a java applet on their page that happily crashes linux netscape after a couple of page views.
ATI may be willing to part with design specs for driver development, but I'm not exactly sure if that necessarily makes them linux friendly.
Be aware.
Frankly, I get a little upset when people portscan my firewall, much less MY FREAKING' BRAIN.
http://www.robotfrank.com/Diary.html
GO ROBOT RON!
This means, if this little number of a genetically modified rice kernel is extremely harmful (similar things have happened before with frankenfoods) we may be unable to stop it from growing with disasterous consequences.
The whole 'grow once and never again' isn't just a good business model for the corporations that make this stuff, it's a safety precaution.
As jello biafra said, "We're incompetant as human beings, even worse at playing god"
I tend to agree.
Additionally, people aren't starving or suffering from malnutrition because food isn't constructed properly, they're starving because not enough people care to do anything about it. Don't blame the food, blame society.
If you think for a minute that the people making this crap aren't spinning the "Look how many people are dying because we can't distribute our product' angle out of pure greed, you're got another thing coming.
Quite honestly, what is the purpose of Netscape releasing a browser at all if they can't turn a profit on it?
1) They don't have an operating system that needs internet functionality out-of-the-box (like Microsoft has to).
2) They're giving it away for free (Unlike Opera)
Despite the efforts of tons of Mozilla developers, Netscape still pays for a lot of people to work on the code too, and they probably deserve some return on that, even if it's extremely annoying.
Personally, I've only clicked on the "Shopping" button by accident in the 4.x generation, and never personally thought "Shopping, yeah! Shopping is what I will do now, thank sweet lord jesus for this Shopping button, how else would I have purchased goods on the internet?"
But apparently some people actually do that, otherwise why would it be there? Because the only way Netscape actually makes money at all is by sending people to their portal site in various ways.
When mozilla appears in a fully materialized and non-beta state, I am sure someone will kindly remove every reference to Netscape's annoying web-services and their paid-for bookmarks.
1) The ISP's that allow people to retreive things _from_ Napster (especially @home, optonline, etc).
2) The users themselves, as a scare tactic.
The RIAA has a lot of money and they need to throw it somewhere.
Whoops, then another browser comes along without these annoying things and at the same time works better, so the majority of users use that. I'm not discounting what netscape did, i'm just basically saying that right now netscape is dead.
If mozilla takes off, then fine, but mozilla is not netscape (it crashes even more than 4.0 on my machine). That's the way things work, jimbo.
At the very least then you send a clear signal to the powers that be that you're dissatisfied with what they're offering and could be a threat to them in future elections.
Basically, Voting for something stupid is a like a big "Fuck You" to everybody running, especially the majority.
Staying home and voting for nothing just says that you're happy to have others (whom you do not approve of) in control of you.
The only thing that low turnout signifies is happiness with the status quo. Personally, I'm a Nader supporter, but if you really feel strongly about how bad the choices are, you should just go vote for something stupid, like a Ficus tree or Barry White.
At the very least then you send a clear signal to the powers that be that you're dissatisfied with what they're offering and could be a threat to them in future elections.
Basically, Voting for something stupid is a like a big "Fuck You" to everybody running, especially the majority.
Staying home and voting for nothing just says that you're happy to have others (whom you do not approve of) in control of you.
I went to high school, if my memory serves me correctly, I don't know if it'll solve anything by handing the authority figures I encountered lots of money. Who needs computers when you can create a second JB wrestling team *retch*...
I agree with you about the fact that public schools are very underfunded. I personally recall all of the senior citizens being lead onto their representative bus like cattle and then sent into their representative voting districts to vote down anything that could possible represent a tax increase (ie: the school budget, every time)
Then these dipshits wonder why there's so much crime.......
I hate people.
This stuff is partially our fault. Geeks should volunteer their time more than the norm. Imagine what could be accomplished if a few nerds got ahold of a four thousand dollars? You could build many good usable computers for that pricetag. Maybe they wouldn't be up to par for running Word 2000, but they would certainly be capable of teaching introductory to advanced computer courses, that's for sure.
Microsoft 'innovation' forces many schools to get into an inescapable loop of buying newer hardware to run software that's not all that much different from previos versions. My friend is currently working as a student teacher, and he's completely stranded technologically when he enters the school. They just don't have the resources or the know-how to get wired, a little linux and a little help would help out a lot.
I hadn't really thought seriously about voluteering before reading this, but it appears that public schools are desperate enough to submit to the demands of greedy profiteers. Its got to stop, and it appears the only way to stop it is to offer alternatives.
However, I think that the Transmeta stuff has just gotten out of hand. If this was any other company, they would not get such attention, but simply because it has some affiliation with Linus Torvalds means that people actually care?
Not really. Linux is great, but transmeta... what are they doing for me right now? Not all that much. What will they do for me in the future? Maybe a little, but not all that much again. It's like doing a 30 part series on the little IBM eraser nub pointing device. WE GET IT, WE GET IT, WE GET IT. Low power consumption. We get it. It's worth an article or two, but not 20.
Move along, nothing new to see here, thanks.
The only major thing that I think D.A.R.E has accomplished is providing ironic clubware for ravers. Can I get a witness?
hahahahah! you made my day.
I happen to know for a fact that if I GPL my homework and put it up on-line here at Rutgers University, I am liable to be prosecuted for cheating. That sure isn't Open Source. I wonder how they'll handle that sort of thing at NCSU?
As for Windows 9x/ME, it's only under controlled
laboratory conditions that you can make a Windows box run long enough to see that bug. I've managed to see the 49.7 day bug once; and with the M$ fix, I've seen a record uptime of 103 days with Windows 95B OSR2. Windows 3.1/DOS, I've managed to keep running for months at a time.
I'd bet that's because a Windows3.1/DOS machine is the virtual equivalent of a 'rock'.
Normal modern systems have weird daemons in the background which eventually contribute to their demise. What Redhat should be avoiding is running more of these that are of questionable merit, at least by default. By the looks of the bug page, it's obvious they see the errors of their ways, as the daemon won't be enabled unless turned on explicity. Nevertheless, the whole idea sounds kind of dumb anyway.
Something tells me that it's a REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA to allow your current system configuration to go out over the network towards a centralized server every 30 minutes.
Hey, look! This guy's running an old version of BIND, it's black hat time, et al.
Anyway...
I know a lot of people who use their personal computers as servers in one way or another, and turning the thing on and off just isn't workable because you have to _plan_ your uptime to when you think you might need to get something remotely. This never ever works.
This isn't really an issue for Microsoft operating systems at this point, because remote access to most of them is quite horrid.
I've kept various computers on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since I was 14 and ran a Bulletin Board System, and personally I've never had problems besides broken burnt-smelling fans every couple years.
The added functionality I get from it is _way_ more than the sacrifice, and since those who run Linux are (for the most part) serious computer users, its not realistic for us to do otherwise.
I've always thought that 'fortran' would be a good name for a dog, perhaps it's even better for a robotic one, although I'd always picture myself screaming it down the street when the dog ran away, and I doubt that would ever happen with the brother/sister of aibo, which takes away all the fun.
Maybe i'd name it after the evil competitive robotic dog that George was going to replace Astro with on the Jetsons, but of course... that... would... be.... a.... copyright.... violation....
Hanna Barabera's Intellectual property would be ravaged and the entire capitalist system as we know it would fall apart.
What was that dogs name again? Lectro?
I don't think he can, I just don't think he can.
Look, renowned cosmologist stephen hawking! GET HIM!
You know you only like whiskey because of Pokey.
No ID means No Whiskey
It's not like amazon sells you some sort of pre-prepared one-click shopping package infrastructure that you install and run, they just let you use the 'idea' of one-click shopping. Not because they thought of it first, but because they were the only ones with the gall to patent something so completely obvious.
I guess they have to make money somehow, they sure aren't going to do it by selling books.
Apple stock will probably rise when they cash in on selling all of the replacement parts for the poorly-designed G4 Cube. Its like the computer-equivalent of the edsel, except it doesn't do all that much except stay quiet and look pretty.
Spill a drink on it by accident, and with the help of the badly-placed top vent, suddenly you have a very fancy coaster.
Hey, I should patent that....
I don't believe that anyone understands this properly. Slashdot was hacked and the hackers inserted a story into the database (the one that everyone is replying to)
I doubt cmdrtaco would post such a cryptic story about the nature of the breakin, nor is it possible to simply let a hacked machine keep running as if nothing happened (due to the possibility of inserted backdoors)
In addition, I don't believe white-hat hackers are usually apt to hack into your machine without your permission and then modify your website to their liking.........
The slashdot staff will probably have to take the server offline or switch it to a new one to do an autopsy, which is probably going to be an inconvenience to everyone.
I think the weird problem is the fact that their little website agreement thing that was previously posted on slashdot espouses the fact that the device is not actually being given away for free, but actually being loaned. That's insane... sending an electronic device to someone in the mail unsolicited, and then pretending that it's on loan. That's what they deserve to get burned for.
Whoops.
Being on slashdot, I guess i get into a linux-centric frame of mind. Java (Plugin or otherwise) is not currently supported by Linux mozilla and this is what I was referring to.
In addition, mozilla crashes more often than 4.x, and 4.x crashes often enough on it's own. I rarely have this problem on Win32 with 4.x.
It's most certainly not a stability-of-platform issue, because netscape seems to be the only consistently unstable (yet necessary) application I run.