Civil rights is like promoting property rights until someone tries to own a slave. True freedom is letting people own other human beings. That includes whipping slaves, or killing slaves who can no longer work. If you do not allow this you're a hypocrite.
Do you see why "limits" on certain rights don't necessarily decrease freedom? It's called living in an equitable and free society; your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins. So it is with GPL: your right to "do whatever you want with the code" ends where other peoples' rights to do whatever they want with the code begins.
That's because it's not liberty for YOU (that's already been granted) but for whomever gets it from you. Stop being so greedy and self-centered with your thought process.
Many people don't seem to understand the concept that liberty isn't liberty if it's only available to some. Part of this is because some parties have equated copyright with "intellectual property". Of course, the definition of "property" has been so ingrained by custom that most people don't even ask what is property?.
That is exactly the problem with GPL, you have to think about it to be sure you aren't violating the license. You have to make sure that the way you are distributing software is appropriate and compliant, and in some circumstances, it is possible to violate it without trying to. As an end user, I like what the GPL stands for, but if I were a developer, I would be avoiding it simply because of the headaches.
Really? I'd think it was pretty simple: if you give someone the binary, you make the source code available to them. If I was selling software, I'd license it under GPLv3 and just deliver the source code as part of the package at the point of sale. Anyone who came asking for the source would be directed to go look at the original package they received when they bought it, or provide proof of purchase (eg, plug in your receipt number to a webform to be able to download the package again). Problem solved.
What good would critical thinkers serve from a government's or an economy's point of view?
Well for one thing they'd be better at figuring out how to get a new job after being laid off. Even if it meant reschooling for a new career. Of course, the power hungry elite don't want the peasants to question their policies. No, that's too dangerous. Wouldn't want them thinking they could get themselves elected and implement better policy . . .
Remember, the more litigious the company, the less innovative.
Apple is not excluded and obviously neither is MS.
I was just thinking about this with respect to the whole Apple suing Amazon frippery, and it occurred to me to ask: has an open source company ever sued based on copyright, trademarks or patents? And just to avoid the no true Scotsman fallacy, let's state the qualifications for an open source company upfront: a company that makes it's living via open source software, such that they pay developers to work on open source software.
I'm really curious: are there any open source companies who have sued (especially on bogus claims) over copyright, trademarks or patents? I would like to know, because I already have the moral high ground of boycotting Apple and Microsoft; I would like to know what open source companies to boycott because they don't act in good faith. I suspect there will be very few, and none as large or as unethical as Apple or Microsoft.
Copyright has long since expired on many editions of the scores, there are piles of PDF scans available. No one apparently has taken the time to enter it into a computer readable format, mainly becuase it's huge.
I find this surprising. People have created open source projects in their spare time that rival the largest corporate or government software projects. Why not transcription projects of this scale?
And free recordings are hard to come by, because the people who can play it already have contracts so they can't release a free version.
This makes sense. Still, I'm surprised that even some of the easier movements (say, the first or the last) don't have PD recordings yet.
In case you've never heard of the Goldberg Variations, I suggest having a listen to either of the versions by Glenn Gould (1955 or 1981). Both are incredible, and the technicality of the piece is staggering; there is one movement with differing time signatures (18/16 and 3/4) on each hand, that exchange hands, repeatedly. There are some who consider it good thinking music.
It's funny, but I had never noticed until now that there aren't public domain versions of this piece; it's really quite eye-opening that people can recognize probably half a dozen classical pieces because they've been used so much (because they are public domain), but one of the greatest pieces by one of the greatest composers hasn't entered into the public awareness simply because of the tyranny known as copyright.
I'm not suggesting that MIDI would be better, and I'm guessing there are, in fact, some limitations of MIDI that make it inappropriate here, but I'm very curious what those limitations are, and why XML was chosen instead?
From what little experience I've had composing on the computer, I can say that MIDI doesn't create scores very well. Just importing random MIDIs to notation in RoseGarden usually ends up unreadable/unplayable by human beings. Usually it's best to keep the source format in something more exact and portable, which can then be rendered to MIDI (sort of like ripping all your samples or tracks to FLAC, and mixing to OGG for release). Last I checked, there are many pieces of software that can use MusicXML
So I was looking to invest some money and figured, hey, as long as it earns decent interest, why not encourage ethical actions in the marketplace. So I looked at the list of the biggest companies in the "socially conscious" portfolio, and Microsoft was number one. Heck, I might as well invest in the vice fund; at least I wouldn't be lying to myself, and apparently they make a pretty good return on investment!
It really depends on how much(and what kind of) support hardware ends up being involved in having lots and lots of them together in some useful way. That and what inefficiencies, if any, are present because your workload was really expecting a smaller number of higher-performance cores.
I've been saying for years that people should make their chunks of code smaller (eg, smaller functions, et al) so it's easier to understand and maintain. The old argument has always been that the compiler will inline it even if you don't tell it to. I think now, looking towards the future, it's obvious that parallelization will be what drives performance. Code that is already broken down into smaller chunks will scale better to a large number of cores. I guess what I'm trying to say is: break your code down, even beyond what you think is too much; the compiler can inline it for beefier, lower core CPUs, and given the proper backends, automatically thread it to lower power, massively cored architectures. Plus you get the not insignificant bonus of more maintainable code!
Why not? I use FLAC on my Sansa CLIP all the time. Sure, I can't hold bazillions of songs, but if you choose wisely, you won't need that many (hint: pick things you won't get sick of after 1-3 listenings; things that are complex, or have replayability).
I forgot to mention: you can go to archive.org and find tons of public domain or CC licensed stuff in FLAC (and OGG Vorbis). If you think it's all outdated garbage, well, I'm not sure there's any hope for you or your taste in music.
When allofmp3.com was around, I bought FLACs from them, and highest quality OGGs when FLAC wasn't available. Then it got shut down. Guess how many digital music files I've bought since then?
I still buy CDs and rip them to FLAC. But not nearly as many as I used to, and I'll usually look for used first. All I ask for is FLAC with no DRM, but no one is willing to provide that.
My father, with his Masters in CS, went his whole career, until just five years before retirement, without using calculus. Yes, he was working in scientific domains. OTOH, just the other day, I was playing around with an example using "rock, paper, scissors" and it occurred to me that this was interesting from a combinatorics standpoint: what are the minimum number of states you need to produce a win, lose, or draw outcome for two participants?
Math is all around us; no you don't need to use high level math everyday, even in software. Yes, you need to get over your fear of math (don't say you suck at it; everybody says that). The sooner you learn to like math and appreciate it for its beauty, the better off you'll be.
The problem isn't what the data mining companies would do with the data, themselves. I don't think it's even with what companies who buy their services would do, frankly...although I know that on Slashdot that may not be a widely-held or even popular belief. What's dangerous is that the data mining companies also provide data to the government.
What's that quote I've seen on slashdot? Something along the lines of "in Soviet Russia, government controls the commmerce." Excuse me for sounding like a liberal douche, but at least we can vote out politicians; we have no such control over corporations. Of course, it doesn't help when those same corporations buy all the politicians outright. IMO, anyone who fears the government more than the corporations is, to put it politely, extremely short-sighted.
The author seems to be using "troll" as a term for "someone posting in an inflammatory manner," but I thought "troll" specifically referred to posters doing it to get a rise out of people. Responding in a reasonable manner isn't going to help if the other party isn't interested in taking the conversation seriously.
My favorite definition of troll is still "someone who, finding that no-one likes them, decides to pretend that it's on purpose." Oh, so you're trying to "troll" for the lulz? Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that no one likes you because you want it that way. Losers.
I'm personally concerned with having the same OS on handheld, tablet, and desktop. I don't want to maintain multiple software ecosystems.
Then you should have loved Maemo. It was pretty much Debian. While I haven't seen a Debian tablet yet, I do know that Debian Works For Me very well on my laptop, servers and smartphone, so that's two out of three.
Because I do. Just putting it out there in case anybody wants some nice, freely-available indie music to replace the RIAA trash and stop giving those bloodsuckers free advertisement and/or money.
I'd have to second this. Sure, you have to sort through a lot of not so good stuff sometimes, but there are some real gems in there. Some I've found that I like:
Even better, just install rhythmbox, turn on the Jamendo plugin if it's not on, and load up Jamendo on random. With 281517 songs you should eventually be able to find something you like.
All web sites are blocked by the WI state government firewall the first time they are encountered until they've been cleared as non-offensive (i.e. pr0n). The block was temporary. It was not political. It was not First Amendment relevant. It was a rule in a firewall.
Just for reference, when they put the firewall in place for NMCI (a DoD IT contractor) a few years back, they were blocking slashdot. And yes, I'm posting this from work; I was one of many who told them slashdot is work related (because it is) and got it unblocked. Don't attribute to malice what can easily be explained by CYA tactics.
Seriously, this isn't that hard. If there isn't a phone number or email address on the bill for business support, you need to stop paying your bill (ie, find another provider). That or look for a phone number or email address or even fax number in the DNS records. Your mail admins should know all this and have done it already. I'm a part time admin who runs his own email server, and I run into this on a semi-regular basis; it's not even my paying *job* and I'm able to take care of it.
First thing to do is check your own mail servers. Are you sure you are not sending spam? Are you sure no one in your company is sending spam? Are you sure you're not operating an open relay? If you are running mailing lists, make sure they are all opt in and dead simple to unsubscribe, with an automatic system to handle it, and if someone asks to be taken off without bothering to use the form, do it immediately.
The second thing to do is check the logs and DNS records for email addresses, phone numbers or web addresses or even just error messages as to why you are being blocked. Next is to try to remedy it: fill out the web forms, send email, leave voicemails, etc. Some solutions may prove infeasible (my last provider wouldn't change the reverse DNS, and yes, there are some retards who will block on this one fact *alone*), but it's still worth trying.
Btw the hardware division has carte blanch over software... needs 22.6 MB for a app? Too bad you are only getting what hardware thinks you need. See n97 again.
Speaking as a software weenie who thinks that many hardware types are too big for their britches, I have to say that sometimes telling software devs that hardware *isn't* unlimited and *isn't* free is a good thing. Sometimes code is just bloated shit that should be scrapped and rewritten more carefully.
Nokia found themselves suddenly trailing behind the iPhone and Android, but they had an alternative which was 90% ready. So in a very-time-critical market did they decide to finish off that last 10%? No, instead of allocating resources to providing the missing apps and features, they decided to ditch it completely and start again from scratch. Which also, understandably, pissed off a lot of Maemo supporters.
Nokia were so close with Maemo, but they threw it all away.
This is so true, it's not even fucking funny. Maemo is *true* Linux in your pocket - none of this "port it to Java and package it *again*" bullshit. You could install stuff from Debian ARM repos outright; at worst you had to redesign the UI and recompile. Then Nokia decided to piss all over that and throw in their lot with a distro that didn't even *have* an ARM port, and still relied on RPMs for package management. Fuck.
It seems like almost everyone around here is heralding this is a horrible move. Does anyone actually have a suggestion for what Nokia should have done instead?
They should have stuck with Maemo. Seriously, it's rock fucking solid. I don't care what anyone says, it's a perfectly usable out of the box end user OS, and with the amount of effort they put into MeeGo, they could have very easily tuned and tweaked Maemo to make it into a combined Android/IOS killer.
I love my N900, but it's the only Nokia I've ever owned, and probably the last, after Nokia's clumsy shift to MeeGo (bad) and now WinMo7 (worse). And no, Android isn't open enough for me, not to mention that Android is far too insular. Why should Linux software have to be completely rewritten to work on a "Linux" phone? Itdoesn't. At most, the UI should need a makeover for the different V and C of the MVC, but not on Android.
Slashdot Mirror
Do you see why "limits" on certain rights don't necessarily decrease freedom? It's called living in an equitable and free society; your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins. So it is with GPL: your right to "do whatever you want with the code" ends where other peoples' rights to do whatever they want with the code begins.
Many people don't seem to understand the concept that liberty isn't liberty if it's only available to some. Part of this is because some parties have equated copyright with "intellectual property". Of course, the definition of "property" has been so ingrained by custom that most people don't even ask what is property?.
Really? I'd think it was pretty simple: if you give someone the binary, you make the source code available to them. If I was selling software, I'd license it under GPLv3 and just deliver the source code as part of the package at the point of sale. Anyone who came asking for the source would be directed to go look at the original package they received when they bought it, or provide proof of purchase (eg, plug in your receipt number to a webform to be able to download the package again). Problem solved.
Well for one thing they'd be better at figuring out how to get a new job after being laid off. Even if it meant reschooling for a new career. Of course, the power hungry elite don't want the peasants to question their policies. No, that's too dangerous. Wouldn't want them thinking they could get themselves elected and implement better policy . . .
I was just thinking about this with respect to the whole Apple suing Amazon frippery, and it occurred to me to ask: has an open source company ever sued based on copyright, trademarks or patents? And just to avoid the no true Scotsman fallacy, let's state the qualifications for an open source company upfront: a company that makes it's living via open source software, such that they pay developers to work on open source software.
I'm really curious: are there any open source companies who have sued (especially on bogus claims) over copyright, trademarks or patents? I would like to know, because I already have the moral high ground of boycotting Apple and Microsoft; I would like to know what open source companies to boycott because they don't act in good faith. I suspect there will be very few, and none as large or as unethical as Apple or Microsoft.
I stand corrected, again! Someone please mod this gentleman up as informative, for I cannot, for obvious reasons.
I find this surprising. People have created open source projects in their spare time that rival the largest corporate or government software projects. Why not transcription projects of this scale?
This makes sense. Still, I'm surprised that even some of the easier movements (say, the first or the last) don't have PD recordings yet.
In case you've never heard of the Goldberg Variations, I suggest having a listen to either of the versions by Glenn Gould (1955 or 1981). Both are incredible, and the technicality of the piece is staggering; there is one movement with differing time signatures (18/16 and 3/4) on each hand, that exchange hands, repeatedly . There are some who consider it good thinking music.
It's funny, but I had never noticed until now that there aren't public domain versions of this piece; it's really quite eye-opening that people can recognize probably half a dozen classical pieces because they've been used so much (because they are public domain), but one of the greatest pieces by one of the greatest composers hasn't entered into the public awareness simply because of the tyranny known as copyright.
From what little experience I've had composing on the computer, I can say that MIDI doesn't create scores very well. Just importing random MIDIs to notation in RoseGarden usually ends up unreadable/unplayable by human beings. Usually it's best to keep the source format in something more exact and portable, which can then be rendered to MIDI (sort of like ripping all your samples or tracks to FLAC, and mixing to OGG for release). Last I checked, there are many pieces of software that can use MusicXML
Some links:
So I was looking to invest some money and figured, hey, as long as it earns decent interest, why not encourage ethical actions in the marketplace. So I looked at the list of the biggest companies in the "socially conscious" portfolio, and Microsoft was number one. Heck, I might as well invest in the vice fund; at least I wouldn't be lying to myself, and apparently they make a pretty good return on investment!
I've been saying for years that people should make their chunks of code smaller (eg, smaller functions, et al) so it's easier to understand and maintain. The old argument has always been that the compiler will inline it even if you don't tell it to. I think now, looking towards the future, it's obvious that parallelization will be what drives performance. Code that is already broken down into smaller chunks will scale better to a large number of cores. I guess what I'm trying to say is: break your code down, even beyond what you think is too much; the compiler can inline it for beefier, lower core CPUs, and given the proper backends, automatically thread it to lower power, massively cored architectures. Plus you get the not insignificant bonus of more maintainable code!
Why not? I use FLAC on my Sansa CLIP all the time. Sure, I can't hold bazillions of songs, but if you choose wisely, you won't need that many (hint: pick things you won't get sick of after 1-3 listenings; things that are complex, or have replayability).
Why not just post the link to the list of portable Vorbis players? Also, the list of not-so-portable players wouldn't hurt either.
I forgot to mention: you can go to archive.org and find tons of public domain or CC licensed stuff in FLAC (and OGG Vorbis). If you think it's all outdated garbage, well, I'm not sure there's any hope for you or your taste in music.
archive.org: it's not just for website backups anymore!
When allofmp3.com was around, I bought FLACs from them, and highest quality OGGs when FLAC wasn't available. Then it got shut down. Guess how many digital music files I've bought since then?
I still buy CDs and rip them to FLAC. But not nearly as many as I used to, and I'll usually look for used first. All I ask for is FLAC with no DRM, but no one is willing to provide that.
My father, with his Masters in CS, went his whole career, until just five years before retirement, without using calculus. Yes, he was working in scientific domains. OTOH, just the other day, I was playing around with an example using "rock, paper, scissors" and it occurred to me that this was interesting from a combinatorics standpoint: what are the minimum number of states you need to produce a win, lose, or draw outcome for two participants?
Math is all around us; no you don't need to use high level math everyday, even in software. Yes, you need to get over your fear of math (don't say you suck at it; everybody says that). The sooner you learn to like math and appreciate it for its beauty, the better off you'll be.
What's that quote I've seen on slashdot? Something along the lines of "in Soviet Russia, government controls the commmerce." Excuse me for sounding like a liberal douche, but at least we can vote out politicians; we have no such control over corporations. Of course, it doesn't help when those same corporations buy all the politicians outright. IMO, anyone who fears the government more than the corporations is, to put it politely, extremely short-sighted.
My favorite definition of troll is still "someone who, finding that no-one likes them, decides to pretend that it's on purpose." Oh, so you're trying to "troll" for the lulz? Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that no one likes you because you want it that way. Losers.
Then you should have loved Maemo. It was pretty much Debian. While I haven't seen a Debian tablet yet, I do know that Debian Works For Me very well on my laptop, servers and smartphone, so that's two out of three.
I'd have to second this. Sure, you have to sort through a lot of not so good stuff sometimes, but there are some real gems in there. Some I've found that I like:
Even better, just install rhythmbox, turn on the Jamendo plugin if it's not on, and load up Jamendo on random. With 281517 songs you should eventually be able to find something you like.
Just for reference, when they put the firewall in place for NMCI (a DoD IT contractor) a few years back, they were blocking slashdot. And yes, I'm posting this from work; I was one of many who told them slashdot is work related (because it is) and got it unblocked. Don't attribute to malice what can easily be explained by CYA tactics.
Seriously, this isn't that hard. If there isn't a phone number or email address on the bill for business support, you need to stop paying your bill (ie, find another provider). That or look for a phone number or email address or even fax number in the DNS records. Your mail admins should know all this and have done it already. I'm a part time admin who runs his own email server, and I run into this on a semi-regular basis; it's not even my paying *job* and I'm able to take care of it.
First thing to do is check your own mail servers. Are you sure you are not sending spam? Are you sure no one in your company is sending spam? Are you sure you're not operating an open relay? If you are running mailing lists, make sure they are all opt in and dead simple to unsubscribe, with an automatic system to handle it, and if someone asks to be taken off without bothering to use the form, do it immediately.
The second thing to do is check the logs and DNS records for email addresses, phone numbers or web addresses or even just error messages as to why you are being blocked. Next is to try to remedy it: fill out the web forms, send email, leave voicemails, etc. Some solutions may prove infeasible (my last provider wouldn't change the reverse DNS, and yes, there are some retards who will block on this one fact *alone*), but it's still worth trying.
Speaking as a software weenie who thinks that many hardware types are too big for their britches, I have to say that sometimes telling software devs that hardware *isn't* unlimited and *isn't* free is a good thing. Sometimes code is just bloated shit that should be scrapped and rewritten more carefully.
This is so true, it's not even fucking funny. Maemo is *true* Linux in your pocket - none of this "port it to Java and package it *again*" bullshit. You could install stuff from Debian ARM repos outright; at worst you had to redesign the UI and recompile. Then Nokia decided to piss all over that and throw in their lot with a distro that didn't even *have* an ARM port, and still relied on RPMs for package management. Fuck.
They should have stuck with Maemo. Seriously, it's rock fucking solid. I don't care what anyone says, it's a perfectly usable out of the box end user OS, and with the amount of effort they put into MeeGo, they could have very easily tuned and tweaked Maemo to make it into a combined Android/IOS killer.
I love my N900, but it's the only Nokia I've ever owned, and probably the last, after Nokia's clumsy shift to MeeGo (bad) and now WinMo7 (worse). And no, Android isn't open enough for me, not to mention that Android is far too insular. Why should Linux software have to be completely rewritten to work on a "Linux" phone? It doesn't. At most, the UI should need a makeover for the different V and C of the MVC, but not on Android.