The last couple of posts prompted me to write, mostly because I believe they show a fundamental lack of understanding about end-user types.
Folks, the vast majority of people who own computers today got them in the past four or five years, and primarily to Web surf and do e-mail. The computer is becoming an appliance, a means to an end and not the end itself. It's unreasonable to assume that people will take the time to become "good" users. Do the majority of the people on Slashdot take the time to become auto mechanics or nutritionists? Same goes for end-users and computing.
There is nothing to stop Linux from becoming a "hacker" OS AND a consumer OS. Today it's doing really well in server, workstation and "enthusiast" markets. But that doesn't mean it's impossible or undesireable to make it easy for your mom to use. Add a solid, hands-off installer (or get more OEMs to install it), make the GUI even more intuitive, and do up the Help documentation that people are used to. That's easy. The hard part -- creating a solid, fast, lean and mean OS -- is already done!
And wouldn't it be nice to have a cross-platform OS that could be used in everything from handhelds to mega-servers? Imagine if all these devices spoke the same language.....!! That, IMHO, is the true promise of Linux.
This article's right on -- if you want world domination, you're gonna have to do stuff you might not want to do. Nobody said it would be fun all the time.
One of the other silly things about counting LOC is that it is often so much more productive to ELIMINATE code than to write new lines.
I probably wrote some small number of thousands of lines of new code last year. But I am quite certain that I simultaneously managed to delete more lines than that from legacy products/projects. Some of that was in Y2K remediation, other parts were just in regular code maintenance, version creation.
Bad programmers, or even just good programmers in too much of a hurry, will write almost the same 50 lines over and over rather than stick them into a generalized function/class; or they may simply not know that someone else in the workteam (who left years earlier) had written that function and stuck it somewhere in a different program. Also, but to a smaller extent, programmers use inefficient expressions of an algorithm that can be expressed non-cryptically (no obfuscated Perl for me) in many fewer lines.
So during my 1998 contract, I probably wound up getting paid a net NEGATIVE $10 per line of code I wrote:-). I've had a similar experience most places that I have inherited code.
I would think that generating fewer lines of code would be a mark of excellence in this industry, not laziness. I'd much rather produce an elegant 7700 lines of code than 16,000+ lines of bloatware.
Laziness is a VIRTUE in a programmer. "Man, I don't want to keep doing this. I'll write a program to take care of it." "It'll take me forever to write that program; there must be a faster way." Etc.
Ever since they made that bonehead decision to compete with microsoft (Office versus WP) they have piled up their financial losses. Every year they make the same empty promises to do better but as long as they stick with linux they ain't going anywhere. The CEO claims to have 30% of their revenue coming from the internet this year, when it was only 1% last year. If this company doesn't dump linux soon, Adobe might attempt a takeover because they are so financially weak
NeoPlanet is a newbie browser at best. It's designed to package up a whole bunch of links in the browser "shell." That way, the new user can find information in NeoPlanet's playground and view their ads, instead of getting distracted by going to a portal or other search engine.
I have to say that the "toggling" idea is cool, switching from Mozilla to Microsoft on the fly. But I don't understand why they're doing it in the first place...! Most new users wouldn't know what it means, wouldn't understand why you might want to do it, and generally don't care as long as their browser gets them from point A to point B. They already had a solid product. If they wanted it to go faster, they should've just switched to Gecko and left IE out of it.
In the end, I think the folks at NeoPlanet are co-opting the open source "buzz." It's not the first time, and it won't be the last.
I have a TV tuner card, and while I certainly use it quite a bit, the picture quality isn't all that great once you get it up to near full-screen size.
I've also seen HDTV programming -- the image quality is intense, especially on the big HTDV screen that I viewed. But once the screen is smaller, I personally feel the difference is less pronounced.
Now slap it on a 15" monitor...? I just don't see the benefit. Maybe I'm wrong, and someone out there is willing to enlighten me. Otherwise, I'll keep my ATI tuner card.
Besides, once everyone stops transmitting analog signals and goes strictly digital, the PC and TV will have converged anyway.:)
Okay don't bother flaming because I've heard the flames before.
Front Page 98 is the BIG thing keeping me from ditching NT once and for all. Always has been. No one to date has been able to point me to a good Linux-based alternative. So I find myself dual booting a lot. Front Page doesn't exactly code HTML as efficiently, but I am pleased with how the final pages look. I need something that works similarly and I think many other Front Page users would agree that all in all it is one of the better M$ products.
Oh one other thing Linux needs - decent MP3 encoders! I went through the appindex at Freshmeat and it seems that everything out there is an order of magnitude slower on the same hardware as MMJB on NT. Part of it is that all the Linux solutions encode to WAV first, and from there to MP3. This makes it MUCH MUCH slower than it needs to be for most people.
I really hope Corel doesn't come up with the above two packages, though, that is unless they license under the GPL. I'd really like to see this available under GPL. I can't help with the code but I can help with the doc!
IBM gave some hardware to Red Hat for this. Red Hat is doing the port to low end RS6K's. There are other parties with hardware as well. IBM is not doing this port themselves but is subsidizing it.
Lucas Arrogant? Please... Lucas is just doing what any excellent (and I do mean excellent) movie producer dreams of... Creating an environment in which the greatest saga of all time can be enjoyed to the fullest. By setting these regulations Lucas can ensure that what the audience experiences is how it was meant to be experienced. It is the ultimate dream of millions upon millions of dedicated followers, and has been for 22 years. Without his "arrogant" regulations the movie could, and would not be experienced as it was concieved and birthed. If you cannot handle this don't go and see the greatest motion picture ever to grace the planet. If you can I welcome you to join us (fellow star wars enthusiasts) in line the night before (may 18th) and cherish modern mythology at its best.
Tux was all over the place.. and some sexy alphas. Seems they're obviously tryin to market it at all of the multiple os users out there. (probably most slashdot readers).. Personally I think they'd be better tryin to sell it to businesses. But hey.. I still want one.
I find 3dfx making attacks on PC glide wrappers inadequate, and if they do such a thing, they should also be cancelling PC emulators for the Mac. They are infringing by emulating the Voodoo chipset for the emulator... Just a thought.
>>I did read Fortune say that it was Bill, but I can't imagine why he would say that - he wasn't involved in PC hardware design at all. If Bill actually did say it, the reason would be this, the 640K limit was NOT a hardware limitation on machines like the 386, BUT the way M$ designed their first versions of DOS they were only able to handle the 640K that was the limit on early processors. They didn't think ahead because "640K sould be enough for anybody". That is why XMS and EMS were done. 640K + XMS + EMS maintained compatibility with apps that could only run in 640K while giving extra ram for programs whach needed (or could use) more.
640K hasn't been a hardware limitation since before the heyday of the 286. It IS still a M$ limitation to this day.
Now is spreadsheets and word processors are so simple then M$ must no longer be in that market. Be nice to see free software compete with Office. I'm tired of $300 updates to get more bloated code. Won't be using Office 2000. I'll be using the "simple" KOffice.
If fortune is the source, take up the validity of the claim with them. What you're saying is akin to "I defy you to prove that water is wet, without using the words 'water', 'wet', or using the substance itself."
...that Linux is really a great, powerful, versatile, robust and crash-proof OS?...that people are idiots if they don't at least consider Linux before they dig out their checkbooks and buying NT? That would be like the CEO of Ford saying, "Y'know, for many consumers, a Saturn would be a better choice than anything we produce."
There is something that is frustrating about being a Linux user. And that is competing with a company with the resources and commercial power that Microsot has. As a strong Linux supporter (albeit a relative newbie) I see the path of where Linux wants to go and where Linux is. However this is more of a battle of David v. Goliath proportions and the one thing that the Linux community has is belief. Microsoft is a company that has thrived off of a poorly designed operating system due to great marketing and appeasing people's doubts. Linux will persevere in this matter because it is a better product (for lack of better word) and it has the strength of the Computing Community behind it. It is derived from UNIX which has persevered since the late 60's early 70's. Linux may never be the desktop OS, but in this world what matters is that you use a product that you believe in. The best form of marketing is still word of mouth and until Linux can generate enough revenue to support marketing, it is up to us...the few, the proud, the geeks. So do your part in spreading the word. Slashdot is a great place to vent your frustrations, but venting to like minded people accomplishes nothing. I suggest venting out in more public places (for starters MSNBC). If we can't get an above ground audience, then the underground crown will have to make enough noise to be heard by the mainstream. Do your part, spread the word. Have a good day.
He is still being very arrogant. It doesn't matter that most people are so addicted to that franchise that they don't care.
Oh well. Guess I'll go play X-Wing v. Tie Fighter for a bit. Then I'll go read star wars comics in the coffeehouse. Maybe later I'll install my wookie scented toilet paper in the bathroom.
Slashdot does not write book reviews. They are submitted, (almost) just like any other story. A link to Amazon is provided so I can get more info. If I buy, Slashdot might make a few cents for the referral.
Slashdot Mirror
Posted by Mike@ABC:
The last couple of posts prompted me to write, mostly because I believe they show a fundamental lack of understanding about end-user types.
Folks, the vast majority of people who own computers today got them in the past four or five years, and primarily to Web surf and do e-mail. The computer is becoming an appliance, a means to an end and not the end itself. It's unreasonable to assume that people will take the time to become "good" users. Do the majority of the people on Slashdot take the time to become auto mechanics or nutritionists? Same goes for end-users and computing.
There is nothing to stop Linux from becoming a "hacker" OS AND a consumer OS. Today it's doing really well in server, workstation and "enthusiast" markets. But that doesn't mean it's impossible or undesireable to make it easy for your mom to use. Add a solid, hands-off installer (or get more OEMs to install it), make the GUI even more intuitive, and do up the Help documentation that people are used to. That's easy. The hard part -- creating a solid, fast, lean and mean OS -- is already done!
And wouldn't it be nice to have a cross-platform OS that could be used in everything from handhelds to mega-servers? Imagine if all these devices spoke the same language.....!! That, IMHO, is the true promise of Linux.
This article's right on -- if you want world domination, you're gonna have to do stuff you might not want to do. Nobody said it would be fun all the time.
Posted by Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters:
:-). I've had a similar experience most places that I have inherited code.
One of the other silly things about counting LOC is that it is often so much more productive to ELIMINATE code than to write new lines.
I probably wrote some small number of thousands of lines of new code last year. But I am quite certain that I simultaneously managed to delete more lines than that from legacy products/projects. Some of that was in Y2K remediation, other parts were just in regular code maintenance, version creation.
Bad programmers, or even just good programmers in too much of a hurry, will write almost the same 50 lines over and over rather than stick them into a generalized function/class; or they may simply not know that someone else in the workteam (who left years earlier) had written that function and stuck it somewhere in a different program. Also, but to a smaller extent, programmers use inefficient expressions of an algorithm that can be expressed non-cryptically (no obfuscated Perl for me) in many fewer lines.
So during my 1998 contract, I probably wound up getting paid a net NEGATIVE $10 per line of code I wrote
Posted by The Trailer:
I would think that generating fewer lines of code would be a mark of excellence in this industry, not laziness. I'd much rather produce an elegant 7700 lines of code than 16,000+ lines of bloatware.
oh well.
Posted by FascDot Killed My Previous Use:
...but not unproductive.
Laziness is a VIRTUE in a programmer. "Man, I don't want to keep doing this. I'll write a program to take care of it." "It'll take me forever to write that program; there must be a faster way." Etc.
Posted by Gates of Borg:
Ever since they made that bonehead decision to compete with microsoft (Office versus WP) they have piled up their financial losses. Every year they make the same empty promises to do better but as long as they stick with linux they ain't going anywhere. The CEO claims to have 30% of their revenue coming from the internet this year, when it was only 1% last year. If this company doesn't dump linux soon, Adobe might attempt a takeover because they are so financially weak
Posted by Mike@ABC:
NeoPlanet is a newbie browser at best. It's designed to package up a whole bunch of links in the browser "shell." That way, the new user can find information in NeoPlanet's playground and view their ads, instead of getting distracted by going to a portal or other search engine.
I have to say that the "toggling" idea is cool, switching from Mozilla to Microsoft on the fly. But I don't understand why they're doing it in the first place...! Most new users wouldn't know what it means, wouldn't understand why you might want to do it, and generally don't care as long as their browser gets them from point A to point B. They already had a solid product. If they wanted it to go faster, they should've just switched to Gecko and left IE out of it.
In the end, I think the folks at NeoPlanet are co-opting the open source "buzz." It's not the first time, and it won't be the last.
But this is just my opinion. I could be wrong.
Posted by Mike@ABC:
:)
I have a TV tuner card, and while I certainly use it quite a bit, the picture quality isn't all that great once you get it up to near full-screen size.
I've also seen HDTV programming -- the image quality is intense, especially on the big HTDV screen that I viewed. But once the screen is smaller, I personally feel the difference is less pronounced.
Now slap it on a 15" monitor...? I just don't see the benefit. Maybe I'm wrong, and someone out there is willing to enlighten me. Otherwise, I'll keep my ATI tuner card.
Besides, once everyone stops transmitting analog signals and goes strictly digital, the PC and TV will have converged anyway.
Posted by The ULTIMATE Crippler:
This one is a little closer to reality.
Posted by The ULTIMATE Crippler:
Okay don't bother flaming because I've heard the flames before.
Front Page 98 is the BIG thing keeping me from ditching NT once and for all. Always has been. No one to date has been able to point me to a good Linux-based alternative. So I find myself dual booting a lot. Front Page doesn't exactly code HTML as efficiently, but I am pleased with how the final pages look. I need something that works similarly and I think many other Front Page users would agree that all in all it is one of the better M$ products.
Oh one other thing Linux needs - decent MP3 encoders! I went through the appindex at Freshmeat and it seems that everything out there is an order of magnitude slower on the same hardware as MMJB on NT. Part of it is that all the Linux solutions encode to WAV first, and from there to MP3. This makes it MUCH MUCH slower than it needs to be for most people.
I really hope Corel doesn't come up with the above two packages, though, that is unless they license under the GPL. I'd really like to see this available under GPL. I can't help with the code but I can help with the doc!
Posted by The ULTIMATE Crippler:
IBM gave some hardware to Red Hat for this. Red Hat is doing the port to low end RS6K's. There are other parties with hardware as well. IBM is not doing this port themselves but is subsidizing it.
Posted by Othello:
Lucas Arrogant? Please... Lucas is just doing what any excellent (and I do mean excellent) movie producer dreams of... Creating an environment in which the greatest saga of all time can be enjoyed to the fullest. By setting these regulations Lucas can ensure that what the audience experiences is how it was meant to be experienced. It is the ultimate dream of millions upon millions of dedicated followers, and has been for 22 years. Without his "arrogant" regulations the movie could, and would not be experienced as it was concieved and birthed. If you cannot handle this don't go and see the greatest motion picture ever to grace the planet. If you can I welcome you to join us (fellow star wars enthusiasts) in line the night before (may 18th) and cherish modern mythology at its best.
Posted by majestic1:
.. Personally I think they'd be better tryin to sell it to businesses. But hey.. I still want one.
Tux was all over the place.. and some sexy alphas. Seems they're obviously tryin to market it at all of the multiple os users out there. (probably most slashdot readers)
Posted by hOdGy:
I find 3dfx making attacks on PC glide wrappers inadequate, and if they do such a thing, they should also be cancelling PC emulators for the Mac. They are infringing by emulating the Voodoo chipset for the emulator...
Just a thought.
Posted by Just Another Perl Slacker:
I think I read on their web site that there is a built-in switch for video, keyboard, and mouse.
Posted by Lord Kano-The Gangster Of Love:
>>I did read Fortune say that it was Bill, but I can't imagine why he would say that - he wasn't involved in PC hardware design at all.
If Bill actually did say it, the reason would be this, the 640K limit was NOT a hardware limitation on machines like the 386, BUT the way M$ designed their first versions of DOS they were only able to handle the 640K that was the limit on early processors. They didn't think ahead because "640K sould be enough for anybody". That is why XMS and EMS were done. 640K + XMS + EMS maintained compatibility with apps that could only run in 640K while giving extra ram for programs whach needed (or could use) more.
640K hasn't been a hardware limitation since before the heyday of the 286. It IS still a M$ limitation to this day.
LK
Posted by BCDMentat:
Now is spreadsheets and word processors are so simple then M$ must no longer be in that market. Be nice to see free software compete with Office. I'm tired of $300 updates to get more bloated code. Won't be using Office 2000. I'll be using the "simple" KOffice.
Posted by Lord Kano-The Gangster Of Love:
If fortune is the source, take up the validity of the claim with them. What you're saying is akin to
"I defy you to prove that water is wet, without using the words 'water', 'wet', or using the substance itself."
LK
Posted by Nino the Mind Boggler:
...that people are idiots if they don't at least consider Linux before they dig out their checkbooks and buying NT? That would be like the CEO of Ford saying, "Y'know, for many consumers, a Saturn would be a better choice than anything we produce."
...that Linux is really a great, powerful, versatile, robust and crash-proof OS?
Go back to your lives, people. The show's over.
Posted by Morpheus_solo:
read my comment titled "Frustrations of right and wrong" it is just above yours.
Posted by Morpheus_solo:
There is something that is frustrating about being a Linux user. And that is competing with a company with the resources and commercial power that Microsot has. As a strong Linux supporter (albeit a relative newbie) I see the path of where Linux wants to go and where Linux is. However this is more of a battle of David v. Goliath proportions and the one thing that the Linux community has is belief. Microsoft is a company that has thrived off of a poorly designed operating system due to great marketing and appeasing people's doubts. Linux will persevere in this matter because it is a better product (for lack of better word) and it has the strength of the Computing Community behind it. It is derived from UNIX which has persevered since the late 60's early 70's. Linux may never be the desktop OS, but in this world what matters is that you use a product that you believe in. The best form of marketing is still word of mouth and until Linux can generate enough revenue to support marketing, it is up to us...the few, the proud, the geeks. So do your part in spreading the word. Slashdot is a great place to vent your frustrations, but venting to like minded people accomplishes nothing. I suggest venting out in more public places (for starters MSNBC). If we can't get an above ground audience, then the underground crown will have to make enough noise to be heard by the mainstream. Do your part, spread the word. Have a good day.
Posted by FascDot Killed My Previous Use:
Ummmm....the only reason people use Win95 is for the "simple" apps like wordprocessing and spreadsheets.
What are these complicated apps that Win95/NT runs so well? It sure ain't battleships...
Posted by The Mongolian Barbecue:
He is still being very arrogant. It doesn't matter that most people are so addicted to that franchise that they don't care.
Oh well. Guess I'll go play X-Wing v. Tie Fighter for a bit. Then I'll go read star wars comics in the coffeehouse. Maybe later I'll install my wookie scented toilet paper in the bathroom.
Posted by LOTHAR, of the Hill People:
Slashdot does not write book reviews. They are submitted, (almost) just like any other story. A link to Amazon is provided so I can get more info. If I buy, Slashdot might make a few cents for the referral.
Posted by FascDot Killed My Previous Use:
Are you under the impression that that job search thing is working? 'Cuz it's totally not.
Every search no matter what the parameters always returns the same data set.
Posted by The Mongolian Barbecue:
let's hope they don't do something stupid like release binary only drivers...