After all Disney has done for cultural freedom, it's nice to see Debian is still honoring their properties with its OS names.
Couple of things: Bruce Perens, who used to work at Pixar, and developed Electric Fence while there, was once a Debian Project Leader and started the convention of codenaming Debian releases to Toy Story characters. This was all before Disney bought Pixar. HTH.
Why doesn't Obama require Intel to release the 10 GHz Chip? Apparently the only thing stopping progress is there isn't any legislation mandating it, right? So why stop at 60mpg? Why not 1000 mpg? We should also mandate flying cars and a PONY for EVERYONE!!! What is up with this imaginary thinking? Do people really believe everything they think?
People like you were probably heckling the Wright brothers, saying that heavier than air flight wasn't possible. Some things may not be "possible" today (like 1000mpg; if that ain't hyperbolie, I don't know what is), but 60mpg is well within the realm of possibility in the next 20 years.
I'm all for reducing government meddling (like repealing drug laws), but self-regulation is a myth in this day an age. Take the history of phosphates in detergents. When the government (rightly) forbid phosphates in laundry soap, many said that it was meddling, despite the fact that ground water was being polluted. Moving the goalposts, people then claimed it was impossible to make an effective laundry detergent without phosphates. Yet here we sit with clean clothes and clean groundwater. Wash, rinse, repeat (pun intended) for banning phosphates in dishwasher detergents.
The only thing stopping progress is big business, big money and entrenched interests. I have hope that human ingenuity (in the form of scientists and engineers; yes, educated people) will overcome. The day we really have to fear is when longevity allows regressive throwbacks to live forever and allows them to keep abusing control over those with less power than them.
Anyone who is too naive or too young should now be able to see what those of us who know better have been trying to tell them for years: Microsoft is our enemy, not because *we* choose them as our enemy, but because they are making themselves our enemy. Thank goodness Microsoft is being marginalized; I only wish there were something better than Google taking their place, although Google's a heck of a lot better than Apple.
I would prefer Bazaar over Git for an actual software project.
*shrug*. Git has worked well for me on software projects I've used it for, and obviously the Linux kernel maintainers prefer it. The technical and performance merits of git vs Bazaar vs. Mercurial are debatable. I personally don't have enough time or mental capacity to properly master a plethora of tools that are either redundant or may soon be obsoleted (this is why I object to learning proprietary tools, like MS or Apple products). Bazaar and Mercurial do have the advantage of being open source, but git has inertia in my headspace, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. However, competition is a good thing, and to each their own.
We knew this months and months and months ago, but apparently CNET didn't make the connection so easily.
Or some Apple fanboi is just upset that Google is thrashing Apple mightily in the marketplace, and decided to upvote this article in the firehose.
Don't get me wrong, I don't trust Google, nor do I think they are the savior; I just get sick of every Apple fanboi who can't see that Apple is worse. At least Google is an open source company who doesn't try to tell you what to do with your property. Apple's no better than Microsoft. In fact, they are worse, by many measures.
Re:Data, Images, Binary builds etc.
on
The Rise of Git
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· Score: 1
Those who store data, images, other binaries like built executables and other artifacts alongside the code.
Hmm "data, images, other binaries" - nope, not seeing anything looks like source code to me. Don't know why you'd want to version binary data - line by line diff doesn't work to well on them, and there's always backups. As for executables and other built artifacts, don't you have a one button press way to build them? And tag stable releases? You see where I'm going with this, right? I've personally never seen the point of versioning or backing up autogenerated data; it's like throwing out one of the most obvious methods of compression while ignoring the rule of no duplicated data.
DIY stand for Do-It-Yourself...installing other third-party-applications which are doing the same does not count as DIY!
And I suppose you write your own compiler and assembler, then run it on silicon you fused yourself. And where'd you get those electrons from, hmmm? The *true* DIY'er would build his own bicycle generator and *pedal* power his server everyday! All while only eating organic vegetables he grew himself, using his own excrement as fertilizer!
I keep telling people, it's not that hard to run your own server these days (or maybe I'm just some super-admin; doubtful). The only daunting part is the variance in options: VPS, colocation, or host at home? Hell, that last is entirely viable since most people reading this already have a high speed connection at home and dynamic DNS solves the mapping problem. If your ISP blocks certain ports, just pick another above 1024; they can't block them all.
Many, many moons ago (see my UID), this was a site founded about open source (with emphasis on Linux), science, and technology (with emphasis on IT). It was good, and attracted many interesting and smart people. The articles weren't always the best, but you could read comments from people who were knowledgeable in their field, and learn about really cool things you otherwise would never hear about.
But then, MS started to astroturf, and with popularity came misinformed bigots and those ignorant of science and the reasons for Free software. Microsoft and most of their shills have been (rightfully) discredited, but there has been a resurgence in people too blind to look past their brand loyalty and not satisfied with other sites that might better meet theirneeds. Why they feel the need to push their agenda to every inch of the Internet, I do not know.
Many good people have left slashdot; some of us still stay to try and clean things up. But it's hard when you see tons of spam and slashvertisements for companies who are hostile to freedom filling up the firehose everyday, and very little of note about open source and science and real technology getting through. Though there are still many wise people posting insightful comments here, I fear it might be time for me to leave. I'm not sure where I'd go; preferably somewhere that focuses on more technical issues; somewhere that cares about Freedom and open systems. Slashdot does not appear to be that place anymore.
I just don't get it. Why is it that if Google doesn't want to comply, their only option is to pull the app. But if Google were to strip Apple from it's search engine results, that would be anti-competitive behavior?
Because Apple can do no wrong, and Google is the antichrist./sarcasm.
The market didn't move from ps/2 as soon as Apple dumped the ports in the iMac.
Not to mention that Apple didn't use PS/2, least not on the MacOS9 machines I admined; it was Apple's own proprietary, non-standard, conflicting with SVid, Apple only bus. Also, I'm pretty sure Apple didn't kill floppies; otherwise, why do USB sticks use FAT and CD-ROMs use ISO instead of HFS? Hint: those weren't the filesystems of choice on Mac floppies.
This. As a once professional sysadmin (now practicing in my free time), I can tell you that Apple has *always* been hostile to IT departments, even if not on purpose. Back when MacOS was still written in Pascal, Macs were very hard to integrate into a multi-user network because they had no concept of multiple users. Not to mention that automating things was a PITA. I not so fondly remember having to babysit a lab of nine or so Macs for reimaging for hours because the process was far from automatic; I shudder to consider how much effort it would take for larger installations.
Then when 10 came along, Apple definitely started going much more trendy and boutique. Sure, now it was BSD underneath, but the prices and upgrade schedule were (and still are) ridiculous. I have an iBook sitting on a shelf which runs Linux nowadays, because Apple dropped support for PPC somewhere back in 10.4 (I can't be bothered to check, so please fanboys, just shut the fuck up). Developing software in XCode was a nightmare. Not to mention the not uncommon equivalents of BSODs. And I have to buy a special adapter to get to a bigger screen? Thanks, but I think I'll stick with my system76 laptop that has a standard video out connector. As for upgrading the HDD in the iBook, don't even get me started.
When smartphones with Mini-HDMI output proliferate then many people will have lost their last reason to have a real computer.
'When' HDMI proliferates on smartphones? At least a year ago, I saw a smartphone with HDMI on someone I'm pretty sure wasn't the most technical user; my two year old phone *came* with a component out cable. More and more, it's looking like the way to go is to get a portable bluetooth keyboard and mouse, HDMI cable, and just plug in your phone with 64GB+ of storage to the nearest HDMI display. No more laptop or tablet computer needed.
For the English-impaired; The advertisers are the customers, they're bringing their custom to facebook. Users are the product. The same is true of Google+ of course, but the difference is that Google tends to be gentle about selling you where FB is ruthless.
"Google, the compassionate pimp" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "don't be evil". Course, I'd still rank Google as probably the most ethical (big) company out there. Sad. I really hope they find a way to transition to making money from something besides advertising, but even if they did, advertising wouldn't go away. Demand creates supply.
They sued Tom Tom for merely using a Linux kernel that included FAT32 support. So basically, everything on the planet that ships with Linux could be sued for the same criteria. Someone needs to stand up to these lawsuits.
Or stop using FAT32. Considering its limitations, and that there are many better alternatives available with very permissive licenses, it's a valid option, especially in systems where the FS will never be read by anything else (trumping the whole compatibility issue before it gets started). Considering that flash is getting cheaper and bigger, pretty soon people are going to have to start moving to something with bigger volume support. And if you think that using newer FAT32 is an option, then you are ignoring the backwards compatibility problem; last I checked, WinXP wouldn't format a FAT partition over 32GB.
Poppycock. There may not be a Linux vs Microsoft fight but there is most definitely a Microsoft versus Linux fight. If that seems confusing, consider this: one cannot make enemies of others; only others may choose to be your enemy. Linux (and the large majority of its user/developer base) has never had the intention of being anyone's enemy. Microsoft, on the other hand, has most definitely made itself an enemy of progress, freedom and technological merit. They have shown, time and time again, that they would rather outmarket and use dirty tricks, both political and technical, to eliminate anyone who might take a part of "their" market. If you can't see this, you obviously don't know what you are talking about. This latest move is being scoffed at and viewed with apprehension by many precisely because of Microsoft's past behavior. Fool me twice . . .
That being said, I still like this quote by Linus:
Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect.
But you aren't a cop. You know, entrusted with the public good and all that "with power comes responsibility" stuff. If a cop can't brush off a little name calling then he might as well just be a member of gang that uses guns and blue gang-colors.
Yeah, seriously. Anyone remember those scenes in "Full Metal Jacket" with the drill sargeant yelling all sorts of vitriol at full blast? In case anyone thinks that's harsh, it's nothing compared to a bullet wound, grenade, RPG or IED. Now, a police officer may not be expected to handle the last three, but if their feelings are hurt by some harsh words, maybe they should find another career. One where their fragile little ego isn't entrusted with power over others.
I'd say it's a bad idea for *anyone* to invest in a company that has no product and/or does not make money.
Ah, but then you'd be leaving out the vital message that anything government does is bad, and even when it isn't, government can't do anything right, so we should let all the rich people keep all their money because they earned it.
The story is vaguely interesting, but I don't know how it made it through the firehose unedited, especially with that biased bullshit line.
How about refusing to work 50+ hour work weeks? . . . maybe we should be talking about reducing the work week to 35 hours or less.
Tell you what: you convince my employer to pay me the same salary+benefits for 35 hours/week instead of 40, and I'll drop to 35 hours a week, at least for my paid projects. Tempting as it is to just take off time and work on my personal projects, I don't really want to be fired for going AWOL. I unfortunately still have to pay bills and do not have a big enough nest egg to live off of indefinitely.
Should Silicon Valley (and other tech clusters throughout the country) care?
I think most people care, and maybe I'm being naive, but the subset that consists of tech clusters probably cares more in aggregate. The real interesting question is, what can be done about it? if you have no power (and the majority of tech people *don't* have much power), then it doesn't matter how much you care. I'd suggest asking the people who are outsourcing jobs and fucking over our economy how much they care, but I'm pretty sure they've already answered that question through their actions.
For those people who tried to argue against Adblock and other tools to help users control how their information is used and how their browsing experience plays out, this should take the wind out of their sails at least a little.
Those people arguing against AdBlock, et al had no wind to begin with. It's MY computer, I decide what runs on it. If they don't like people copying their data without paying for it, perhaps they should have considered that before they posted that data on the public Internet, that I also paid for with my taxes and ISP fees.
Right now, a bug in the nVidia kernel driver on Linux could compromise the security of the entire machine, or crash the entire OS, or flip some bit in some other unconnected kernel system (or userland process), and it's hard enough to debug these things when you do have source code. So wanting an untainted kernel makes a lot of sense.
This. Anyone who thinks binary drivers are a good idea needs to read the above. And in case that doesn't convince them, they need to read this. If they are still not convinced, well they need to go write their own OS where proprietary drivers are okay, because we Linux users don't want them.
Slashdot Mirror
Why no mention of Apple? Or Microsoft? They are both members of MPEG-LA, not to mention other sleazy organizations.
Couple of things: Bruce Perens, who used to work at Pixar, and developed Electric Fence while there, was once a Debian Project Leader and started the convention of codenaming Debian releases to Toy Story characters. This was all before Disney bought Pixar. HTH.
People like you were probably heckling the Wright brothers, saying that heavier than air flight wasn't possible. Some things may not be "possible" today (like 1000mpg; if that ain't hyperbolie, I don't know what is), but 60mpg is well within the realm of possibility in the next 20 years.
I'm all for reducing government meddling (like repealing drug laws), but self-regulation is a myth in this day an age. Take the history of phosphates in detergents. When the government (rightly) forbid phosphates in laundry soap, many said that it was meddling, despite the fact that ground water was being polluted. Moving the goalposts, people then claimed it was impossible to make an effective laundry detergent without phosphates. Yet here we sit with clean clothes and clean groundwater. Wash, rinse, repeat (pun intended) for banning phosphates in dishwasher detergents.
The only thing stopping progress is big business, big money and entrenched interests. I have hope that human ingenuity (in the form of scientists and engineers; yes, educated people) will overcome. The day we really have to fear is when longevity allows regressive throwbacks to live forever and allows them to keep abusing control over those with less power than them.
Anyone who is too naive or too young should now be able to see what those of us who know better have been trying to tell them for years: Microsoft is our enemy, not because *we* choose them as our enemy, but because they are making themselves our enemy. Thank goodness Microsoft is being marginalized; I only wish there were something better than Google taking their place, although Google's a heck of a lot better than Apple.
*shrug*. Git has worked well for me on software projects I've used it for, and obviously the Linux kernel maintainers prefer it. The technical and performance merits of git vs Bazaar vs. Mercurial are debatable. I personally don't have enough time or mental capacity to properly master a plethora of tools that are either redundant or may soon be obsoleted (this is why I object to learning proprietary tools, like MS or Apple products). Bazaar and Mercurial do have the advantage of being open source, but git has inertia in my headspace, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. However, competition is a good thing, and to each their own.
Or some Apple fanboi is just upset that Google is thrashing Apple mightily in the marketplace, and decided to upvote this article in the firehose.
Don't get me wrong, I don't trust Google, nor do I think they are the savior; I just get sick of every Apple fanboi who can't see that Apple is worse. At least Google is an open source company who doesn't try to tell you what to do with your property. Apple's no better than Microsoft. In fact, they are worse, by many measures.
Well, in all fairness, the article is entitled "The Rise of Git".
And I know that performance isn't everything, but for some of us who run git everywhere to track our home dir (see the end of that article) kind of find the performance of git to be pretty nice. Other people have come to similar conclusions.
Hmm "data, images, other binaries" - nope, not seeing anything looks like source code to me. Don't know why you'd want to version binary data - line by line diff doesn't work to well on them, and there's always backups. As for executables and other built artifacts, don't you have a one button press way to build them? And tag stable releases? You see where I'm going with this, right? I've personally never seen the point of versioning or backing up autogenerated data; it's like throwing out one of the most obvious methods of compression while ignoring the rule of no duplicated data.
And I suppose you write your own compiler and assembler, then run it on silicon you fused yourself. And where'd you get those electrons from, hmmm? The *true* DIY'er would build his own bicycle generator and *pedal* power his server everyday! All while only eating organic vegetables he grew himself, using his own excrement as fertilizer!
I keep telling people, it's not that hard to run your own server these days (or maybe I'm just some super-admin; doubtful). The only daunting part is the variance in options: VPS, colocation, or host at home? Hell, that last is entirely viable since most people reading this already have a high speed connection at home and dynamic DNS solves the mapping problem. If your ISP blocks certain ports, just pick another above 1024; they can't block them all.
Many, many moons ago (see my UID), this was a site founded about open source (with emphasis on Linux), science, and technology (with emphasis on IT). It was good, and attracted many interesting and smart people. The articles weren't always the best, but you could read comments from people who were knowledgeable in their field, and learn about really cool things you otherwise would never hear about.
But then, MS started to astroturf, and with popularity came misinformed bigots and those ignorant of science and the reasons for Free software. Microsoft and most of their shills have been (rightfully) discredited, but there has been a resurgence in people too blind to look past their brand loyalty and not satisfied with other sites that might better meet their needs. Why they feel the need to push their agenda to every inch of the Internet, I do not know.
Many good people have left slashdot; some of us still stay to try and clean things up. But it's hard when you see tons of spam and slashvertisements for companies who are hostile to freedom filling up the firehose everyday, and very little of note about open source and science and real technology getting through. Though there are still many wise people posting insightful comments here, I fear it might be time for me to leave. I'm not sure where I'd go; preferably somewhere that focuses on more technical issues; somewhere that cares about Freedom and open systems. Slashdot does not appear to be that place anymore.
Because Apple can do no wrong, and Google is the antichrist. /sarcasm.
Not to mention that Apple didn't use PS/2, least not on the MacOS9 machines I admined; it was Apple's own proprietary, non-standard, conflicting with SVid, Apple only bus. Also, I'm pretty sure Apple didn't kill floppies; otherwise, why do USB sticks use FAT and CD-ROMs use ISO instead of HFS? Hint: those weren't the filesystems of choice on Mac floppies.
This. As a once professional sysadmin (now practicing in my free time), I can tell you that Apple has *always* been hostile to IT departments, even if not on purpose. Back when MacOS was still written in Pascal, Macs were very hard to integrate into a multi-user network because they had no concept of multiple users. Not to mention that automating things was a PITA. I not so fondly remember having to babysit a lab of nine or so Macs for reimaging for hours because the process was far from automatic; I shudder to consider how much effort it would take for larger installations.
Then when 10 came along, Apple definitely started going much more trendy and boutique. Sure, now it was BSD underneath, but the prices and upgrade schedule were (and still are) ridiculous. I have an iBook sitting on a shelf which runs Linux nowadays, because Apple dropped support for PPC somewhere back in 10.4 (I can't be bothered to check, so please fanboys, just shut the fuck up). Developing software in XCode was a nightmare. Not to mention the not uncommon equivalents of BSODs. And I have to buy a special adapter to get to a bigger screen? Thanks, but I think I'll stick with my system76 laptop that has a standard video out connector. As for upgrading the HDD in the iBook, don't even get me started.
'When' HDMI proliferates on smartphones? At least a year ago, I saw a smartphone with HDMI on someone I'm pretty sure wasn't the most technical user; my two year old phone *came* with a component out cable. More and more, it's looking like the way to go is to get a portable bluetooth keyboard and mouse, HDMI cable, and just plug in your phone with 64GB+ of storage to the nearest HDMI display. No more laptop or tablet computer needed.
That's actually a valid security approach; US DoD uses it all the time.
"Google, the compassionate pimp" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "don't be evil". Course, I'd still rank Google as probably the most ethical (big) company out there. Sad. I really hope they find a way to transition to making money from something besides advertising, but even if they did, advertising wouldn't go away. Demand creates supply.
Or stop using FAT32. Considering its limitations, and that there are many better alternatives available with very permissive licenses, it's a valid option, especially in systems where the FS will never be read by anything else (trumping the whole compatibility issue before it gets started). Considering that flash is getting cheaper and bigger, pretty soon people are going to have to start moving to something with bigger volume support. And if you think that using newer FAT32 is an option, then you are ignoring the backwards compatibility problem; last I checked, WinXP wouldn't format a FAT partition over 32GB.
Poppycock. There may not be a Linux vs Microsoft fight but there is most definitely a Microsoft versus Linux fight. If that seems confusing, consider this: one cannot make enemies of others; only others may choose to be your enemy. Linux (and the large majority of its user/developer base) has never had the intention of being anyone's enemy. Microsoft, on the other hand, has most definitely made itself an enemy of progress, freedom and technological merit. They have shown, time and time again, that they would rather outmarket and use dirty tricks, both political and technical, to eliminate anyone who might take a part of "their" market. If you can't see this, you obviously don't know what you are talking about. This latest move is being scoffed at and viewed with apprehension by many precisely because of Microsoft's past behavior. Fool me twice . . .
That being said, I still like this quote by Linus:
Yeah, seriously. Anyone remember those scenes in "Full Metal Jacket" with the drill sargeant yelling all sorts of vitriol at full blast? In case anyone thinks that's harsh, it's nothing compared to a bullet wound, grenade, RPG or IED. Now, a police officer may not be expected to handle the last three, but if their feelings are hurt by some harsh words, maybe they should find another career. One where their fragile little ego isn't entrusted with power over others.
Ah, but then you'd be leaving out the vital message that anything government does is bad, and even when it isn't, government can't do anything right, so we should let all the rich people keep all their money because they earned it.
The story is vaguely interesting, but I don't know how it made it through the firehose unedited, especially with that biased bullshit line.
Tell you what: you convince my employer to pay me the same salary+benefits for 35 hours/week instead of 40, and I'll drop to 35 hours a week, at least for my paid projects. Tempting as it is to just take off time and work on my personal projects, I don't really want to be fired for going AWOL. I unfortunately still have to pay bills and do not have a big enough nest egg to live off of indefinitely.
I think most people care, and maybe I'm being naive, but the subset that consists of tech clusters probably cares more in aggregate. The real interesting question is, what can be done about it? if you have no power (and the majority of tech people *don't* have much power), then it doesn't matter how much you care. I'd suggest asking the people who are outsourcing jobs and fucking over our economy how much they care, but I'm pretty sure they've already answered that question through their actions.
Those people arguing against AdBlock, et al had no wind to begin with. It's MY computer, I decide what runs on it. If they don't like people copying their data without paying for it, perhaps they should have considered that before they posted that data on the public Internet, that I also paid for with my taxes and ISP fees.
This. Anyone who thinks binary drivers are a good idea needs to read the above. And in case that doesn't convince them, they need to read this. If they are still not convinced, well they need to go write their own OS where proprietary drivers are okay, because we Linux users don't want them.