Have you ever noticed that people are always warning about the *prospect* of a monopoly, rather than the reality? There *are* real monopolies. Electric companies, local telcos, cable companies. And they're all granted their monoplies by virtue of legislative action. And these monoploies, which were established under the pretext of maintaining market order, are the most durable of all.
You make a good point that is almost always ignored by the slashdotters; a monopoly is a government creation.
MS ain't no monopoly. Ugly, yes, monopoly, no. Only the gov can inforce a monopoly -- wish I would have saved the letter I got from the IRS when I inquired about their ad for "free" online tax service which required MS.
The reply to my VERY polilte letter was "you are not using a PC", because I was not using MS IE.
I feel that the gov is actually enforcing a monopoly with the preference of IE. (Run any gov web site through the w3c web valitor if you are in doubt.)
If there's one thing you can count on Slashdot to be, it's elitist. All of us like to think we're so much better than anyone else it makes me sick. Some sample/. reactions to articles: article about GNOME/KDE: "If they can't figure out a command line every once in a while, why should they be using Linux? And do they really even need a computer?"... Add this to the fundamentally Libertarian / Objectivist / "if things were fair I'd be at the top of the heap because I'm better than most people" attitude and the rampant bragging about IQ's (you know who you are, all of you "my IQ is 160+" people) in any story that talks about intelligence, and you've got one hell of a scary picture.
Hey, I resemble that!:) Yes, slashdotters pretend to be pricks, yet I suspect that they don't do much more than read slashdot, hence they are harmless.
But the disciples spread some good. They are for open source (although they don't always know why). I don't like anything closed. e.g. MS software which results in my getting oodles of Word documents when text would have worked just fine. And those damn web pages that are unreadable without IE. (I think 99.999% of slashdot readers are Windows users, but I digress.)
I like the rants. Even if they are totally unfounded. For a brief moment I feel as though I am not alone on a "World Wide Web" which requires IE. And I can pretend that there REALLY is freedom of speech which isn't controlled by corporatations.
O.K., I'll grant you that the web is a "visual" medium. And I'm sure you'll agree that this "visual" medium must be navigated. Do you agree with this? Assuming you said "yes", how do you navigate? Personally, I prefer the keyboard to the mouse. So, this stuff to help the blind also helps many who aren't overly fond of using a mouse. I call it a winning situation. It really comes down to writing half way decent HTML. A web page that can be viewed with any browser can most likely be easily navigated with a keyboard. Or now are you going to argue that people who use keyboards shouldn't use the web? Maybe the web should only be used accessable through WebTV? Maybe you think that applications shouldn't have scrollbars because everyone has a wheel mouse. Just how far are you willing to take your stupidity?
Wasn't it just a day or two ago that/. had a link to the ghost of the great Ada Byron. Yet I haven't seen her mentioned anywhere in these posts.
Re:I'm raising my daughter to be a girl geek
on
Girls Like Linux Too
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· Score: 1
For the most part though our customers did not care if the person on the other end of the phone was purple and from outer space
I don't know about tech support, but I know that many men treat women quite different in topics of conversion where gender should not be an issue. A few years ago my e-mail name was "Helenize", and folks therefore assumed me female. I got replies that began "Listen here lady..." and were filled gender biased belittling remarks. (We'll ignore the dozens of pathetic pickup attempts.)
The accidental experience really opened my eyes.
Regards,
Tim
FWIW, "Helenize" is a word James Joyce used in Ulysses, as in "Helenize it."
I remember reading a couple of years ago that Sony sued a woman named Sony. She had the audacity to open a little diner, and she named it, you guessed it, Sony's. The lawyers felt that people would confuse her little greasy spoon with their corporation I guess.
I'm sure all of you know why the Mac has a little system sound called something like "Sosume".:)
I've read every darn message posted. ( Approximately 150.) I have a ThinkPad 500 which, as best I can tell, is Linux compatable -- it's running a Slackware-ish hodge-podge. I've owned many computers, and for some reason, this little IBM is my favorite. Currently it resides in my kitchen woking as a fancy PDA. Networks quite nicely. Weighing in at 50 mhz, 8 meg ram, 170 meg hd, it'll kick many bigger computers buttocks:)
Re:"the Linux de facto standard desktop"?
on
KDE 1.1.2 is out
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· Score: 1
Ah, but MS would never admit to quote bug fixes end quote. Fixing bugs doesn't sell software. See: Microsoft code has no bugs
I don't think this kid did anything. I think it's just a dorky scripted roll he's playing.
Reading his story about breaking into BMP et al reminded me of a talk show I saw a few years ago. The topic was credit card scams, or some such thing. The guests has on the silly disguises like hats, sun glasses, and fake mustaches. At the end of the show a number of police officers made an "unexpected" appearance and arrested the guests.
If this self proclaimed hacker is guilty of all his claims, I don't think he would have his own personal editors. He would have his lawyers.
I imagine BMP doesn't care about his cracking because it is actually just hype. They wanted a computer geek for the show. He knew a little bit about computers and had a look they liked. So they enhanced his resume to make him more interesting. The kid probably doesn't know the GPL from the GH-EULA
It sounds like lots of folks are worried about RedHat changing into some big bad company. I don't get it. A) They haven't released any non GPL stuff, and they are the most popular distribution. Why would they follow the companies that are trailing them? B) I don't think they will make their money from the sale of the Linux OS but from services provided. If they do go the non-GPL route, it will probably be in the applications market, not the OS.
If RedHat does go bad, it is very easy to change to another distribution. There is no reason to be fiercy loyal to one distributor when they are all so similar. I think everyone is well aware of this. I would imagine that RedHat will capitalize on servicing Linux in general.
I used Macs. And being a Mac fan I worshipped Steve Jobs, therefore I followed the progress of NeXTStep. One day a newsgroup message mentioned Linux. Read a bit about this free OS. Bought a 25 mhz PC with 4 big meg of ram, 100 meg hd, and a 14.4 modem. Downloaded and installed Slackware in an evening without a problem. Read the docs while downloading. Not a big deal. This was circa Slackware 1.0. Pre-Pile-O-Linux-Books-At-The-Bookstore days. (Although "Running Linux" would appear on the scene in the near future.)
Still run Slackware on my shiny new ThinkPad. Once Slackware dropped the "real" disk sets I started venturing into other distros. (What the heck is a "disk set" if it doesn't fit on a floppy?)
I simpley think 80% of Linux users are morons. (Based on the repeated cry that Slackware is really hard, and only for the elusive guru who writes programs not in C, not in Assembley, but directly to Binary. Whatever...)
>It has been a long time since I have seen anyone use this distribution
I think this means you haven't gone over to a friends house and watched them use Slackware.
I don't think you'd be so ignorant as to mean that people haven't used Slackware in "a long time". Come on, Linux is less then 10 years old. What the heck does "a long time" mean? And what makes you so special as to think that anyone might care if you have "seen" anybody use it. It's been a long times since I've seen anyone use any product by Microsoft. Should I therefore conclude that Microsoft has gone out of business? Or should we conclude that I need to get a job at a Windows shop? Or that I need more friends? and on and on and on
>it wasn't happy just writing onto my previous partitions
I've read this quite a few times. It worked just fine for me. But I think I'm alone. On the other hand, I fought with my printer, but others with the same printer had no problems. (Or so they say.)
>The fact that there are only 4 install options
I found this unforgivable. If you choose the minimum install, which I normally do, they don't provide a decent GUI tool for adding additional packages (which sort of defeats the "user-friendly" thing they promote.)
>There appear to be some problems with adding users through the install GUI
The initial install GUI adduser is broken, but once running the GUI tool works fine.
Overall I really liked Caldera 2.2, but it does have some really ugly problems, or if you prefer, lots of room for improvement.
I think the biggest problem is ignored--they aren't quite sure who there target audience is. On one hand, they seem to be going for the Windows 9X home user, but on the other, they are going for the big corperate clients. The result is an odd mixture of good and bad, and which is which, depends on who you are.
I think I am the only person around who sees fragmentation as a Good Thing. My Linux needs on my little home box are not my same needs at work. I like the idea of having different Lini (?) for different needs. e.g. My notebook has a 180 meg hd, 8 meg ram, and runs at 50 mghz and doesn't have a CD. Slackware installs and runs great on it. My desktop computer gets whatever I feel like. Usaully run Debian, but I have just installed Caldera 2.2 to see what it was like. I would hate to try installing Caldera on my notebook. I guess I've rambled way too much about this to go into the other posivitve aspects of fragmentation...
It has been a few years since I've had anything to do with Windows, but I was under the impression that Win9x was still MS-DOS based. The option to boot to the command line has been cleverly hidden. But, quite honestly, I really don't know.
I am sorry, but I am not going to read to 700 replies to this article. And I presume next to nobody is going to read my reply, so here I go.
I am glad that these boys did what they did! Highschool is hell. The world is messed up. And there is nothing anyone can do about it. Only highschool kids would be crazy enough to pull a stunt like this. O.K., some others do, but once we're out of highschool most of us stop caring. We stop searching for the meaning of life. We fall into place and become part of the problem.
It takes "insane" acts to shake people. Unfortunatley it shakes most the wrong way. They fall into step with the mainstream brain dead jerks. I think it is sad. The kids who shot up the school are not the "sick" ones. We are. We allow the stupidity to continue. We encourage it by being part of what is wrong. we are the villians. But we are not the cool villians of the TV shows. We are the pathetic stupid people.
We are the criminals, not the kids who decide to go out killing. We are to blame. We are the ones who go to work and school every day. We are the people we hate.
Someday soon, you will be able to install Linux on a any computer, and install any desktop you want. Everything will be fully integrated, if that is what you wish. There are already 2 major desktops, with a third coming soon (GnuStep), with their own applications. You will be able to install SuSE or RedHat or any other distribution, specify the desktop you prefer, and have a fully-functional computer where you never have to see a command line. If that's what makes you happy.
I think you touched on a very important, and under rated point regarding "ease of use". There needs to be a variety. I like good old FVWM with one simple dot file that I tinker with regularly. That is my idea of "user friendly". My best friend loves IceWM; won't consider anything else. Occationally switches between predefined themes, and has never edited one. That is his idea of "user friendly".
How many other WMs are out there? Everyone has there favorite. No way in hell is one GUI going to please everyone. I hate the idea of unification. A dozen different distributions, a dozen different WMs, and now Gnome and KDE. This variety is great.
Re: Do you seriously still believe that "someone to sue" line?
I don't think of it so much as someone to sue, but someone to blame. With Linux the responsibility falls on your own shoulders, and that's no fun. Way better to blame your ignorance on the vendor.
Slashdot Mirror
You make a good point that is almost always ignored by the slashdotters; a monopoly is a government creation.
MS ain't no monopoly. Ugly, yes, monopoly, no. Only the gov can inforce a monopoly -- wish I would have saved the letter I got from the IRS when I inquired about their ad for "free" online tax service which required MS.
The reply to my VERY polilte letter was "you are not using a PC", because I was not using MS IE.
I feel that the gov is actually enforcing a monopoly with the preference of IE. (Run any gov web site through the w3c web valitor if you are in doubt.)
Regards,
Tim
Hey, I resemble that! :) Yes, slashdotters pretend to be pricks, yet I suspect that they don't do much more than read slashdot, hence they are harmless.
But the disciples spread some good. They are for open source (although they don't always know why). I don't like anything closed. e.g. MS software which results in my getting oodles of Word documents when text would have worked just fine. And those damn web pages that are unreadable without IE. (I think 99.999% of slashdot readers are Windows users, but I digress.)
I like the rants. Even if they are totally unfounded. For a brief moment I feel as though I am not alone on a "World Wide Web" which requires IE. And I can pretend that there REALLY is freedom of speech which isn't controlled by corporatations.
Regards,
Tim
O.K., I'll grant you that the web is a "visual" medium. And I'm sure you'll agree that this "visual" medium must be navigated. Do you agree with this? Assuming you said "yes", how do you navigate? Personally, I prefer the keyboard to the mouse. So, this stuff to help the blind also helps many who aren't overly fond of using a mouse. I call it a winning situation. It really comes down to writing half way decent HTML. A web page that can be viewed with any browser can most likely be easily navigated with a keyboard. Or now are you going to argue that people who use keyboards shouldn't use the web? Maybe the web should only be used accessable through WebTV?
Maybe you think that applications shouldn't have scrollbars because everyone has a wheel mouse. Just how far are you willing to take your stupidity?
Wasn't it just a day or two ago that /. had a link to the ghost of the great Ada Byron. Yet I haven't seen her mentioned anywhere in these posts.
I don't know about tech support, but I know that many men treat women quite different in topics of conversion where gender should not be an issue. A few years ago my e-mail name was "Helenize", and folks therefore assumed me female. I got replies that began "Listen here lady..." and were filled gender biased belittling remarks. (We'll ignore the dozens of pathetic pickup attempts.)
The accidental experience really opened my eyes.
Regards,
Tim
FWIW, "Helenize" is a word James Joyce used in Ulysses, as in "Helenize it."
I remember reading a couple of years ago that Sony sued a woman named Sony. She had the audacity to open a little diner, and she named it, you guessed it, Sony's. The lawyers felt that people would confuse her little greasy spoon with their corporation I guess.
:)
I'm sure all of you know why the Mac has a little system sound called something like "Sosume".
I've read every darn message posted. ( :)
Approximately 150.) I have a ThinkPad 500 which,
as best I can tell, is Linux compatable -- it's running a Slackware-ish hodge-podge. I've owned
many computers, and for some reason, this little IBM is my favorite. Currently it resides in my kitchen woking as a fancy PDA. Networks quite nicely. Weighing in at 50 mhz, 8 meg ram, 170 meg hd, it'll kick many bigger computers buttocks
Ah, but MS would never admit to quote bug fixes end quote. Fixing bugs doesn't sell software. See: Microsoft code has no bugs
Reading his story about breaking into BMP et al reminded me of a talk show I saw a few years ago. The topic was credit card scams, or some such thing. The guests has on the silly disguises like hats, sun glasses, and fake mustaches. At the end of the show a number of police officers made an "unexpected" appearance and arrested the guests.
If this self proclaimed hacker is guilty of all his claims, I don't think he would have his own personal editors. He would have his lawyers.
I imagine BMP doesn't care about his cracking because it is actually just hype. They wanted a computer geek for the show. He knew a little bit about computers and had a look they liked. So they enhanced his resume to make him more interesting. The kid probably doesn't know the GPL from the GH-EULA
It sounds like lots of folks are worried about RedHat changing into some big bad company. I don't get it. A) They haven't released any non GPL stuff, and they are the most popular distribution. Why would they follow the companies that are trailing them? B) I don't think they will make their money from the sale of the Linux OS but from services provided. If they do go the non-GPL route, it will probably be in the applications market, not the OS.
If RedHat does go bad, it is very easy to change to another distribution. There is no reason to be fiercy loyal to one distributor when they are all so similar. I think everyone is well aware of this. I would imagine that RedHat will capitalize on servicing Linux in general.
I just don't get it!
I used Macs. And being a Mac fan I worshipped Steve Jobs, therefore I followed the progress of NeXTStep. One day a newsgroup message mentioned Linux. Read a bit about this free OS. Bought a 25 mhz PC with 4 big meg of ram, 100 meg hd, and a 14.4 modem. Downloaded and installed Slackware in an evening without a problem. Read the docs while downloading. Not a big deal. This was circa Slackware 1.0. Pre-Pile-O-Linux-Books-At-The-Bookstore days. (Although "Running Linux" would appear on the scene in the near future.)
Still run Slackware on my shiny new ThinkPad. Once Slackware dropped the "real" disk sets I started venturing into other distros. (What the heck is a "disk set" if it doesn't fit on a floppy?)
I simpley think 80% of Linux users are morons. (Based on the repeated cry that Slackware is really hard, and only for the elusive guru who writes programs not in C, not in Assembley, but directly to Binary. Whatever...)
Regards,
Tim
>It has been a long time since I have seen anyone use this distribution
I think this means you haven't gone over to a friends house and watched them use Slackware.
I don't think you'd be so ignorant as to mean that people haven't used Slackware in "a long time". Come on, Linux is less then 10 years old. What the heck does "a long time" mean? And what makes you so special as to think that anyone might care if you have "seen" anybody use it. It's been a long times since I've seen anyone use any product by Microsoft. Should I therefore conclude that Microsoft has gone out of business? Or should we conclude that I need to get a job at a Windows shop? Or that I need more friends? and on and on and on
Regards,
Tim Moran
>it wasn't happy just writing onto my
previous partitions
I've read this quite a few times. It worked just fine for me. But I think I'm alone. On the other hand, I fought with my printer, but others with the same printer had no problems. (Or so they say.)
>The fact that there are only 4 install options
I found this unforgivable. If you choose the minimum install, which I normally do, they don't provide a decent GUI tool for adding additional packages (which sort of defeats the "user-friendly" thing they promote.)
>There appear to be some problems with adding users through the install GUI
The initial install GUI adduser is broken, but once running the GUI tool works fine.
Overall I really liked Caldera 2.2, but it does have some really ugly problems, or if you prefer, lots of room for improvement.
I think the biggest problem is ignored--they aren't quite sure who there target audience is. On one hand, they seem to be going for the Windows 9X home user, but on the other, they are going for the big corperate clients. The result is an odd mixture of good and bad, and which is which, depends on who you are.
Regards,
Tim
I think I am the only person around who sees fragmentation as a Good Thing. My Linux needs on my little home box are not my same needs at work. I like the idea of having different Lini (?) for different needs. e.g. My notebook has a 180 meg hd, 8 meg ram, and runs at 50 mghz and doesn't have a CD. Slackware installs and runs great on it. My desktop computer gets whatever I feel like. Usaully run Debian, but I have just installed Caldera 2.2 to see what it was like. I would hate to try installing Caldera on my notebook. I guess I've rambled way too much about this to go into the other posivitve aspects of fragmentation...
regards,
Tim
It has been a few years since I've had anything to do with Windows, but I was under the impression that Win9x was still MS-DOS based. The option to boot to the command line has been cleverly hidden.
But, quite honestly, I really don't know.
I am sorry, but I am not going to read to 700 replies to this article. And I presume next to nobody is going to read my reply, so here I go.
I am glad that these boys did what they did! Highschool is hell. The world is messed up. And there is nothing anyone can do about it. Only highschool kids would be crazy enough to pull a stunt like this. O.K., some others do, but once we're out of highschool most of us stop caring. We stop searching for the meaning of life. We fall into place and become part of the problem.
It takes "insane" acts to shake people. Unfortunatley it shakes most the wrong way. They fall into step with the mainstream brain dead jerks. I think it is sad. The kids who shot up the school are not the "sick" ones. We are. We allow the stupidity to continue. We encourage it by being part of what is wrong. we are the villians. But we are not the cool villians of the TV shows. We are the pathetic stupid people.
We are the criminals, not the kids who decide to go out killing. We are to blame. We are the ones who go to work and school every day. We are the people we hate.
regards,
Tim Moran
I think you touched on a very important, and under rated point regarding "ease of use". There needs to be a variety. I like good old FVWM with one simple dot file that I tinker with regularly. That is my idea of "user friendly". My best friend loves IceWM; won't consider anything else. Occationally switches between predefined themes, and has never edited one. That is his idea of "user friendly".
How many other WMs are out there? Everyone has there favorite. No way in hell is one GUI going to please everyone. I hate the idea of unification. A dozen different distributions, a dozen different WMs, and now Gnome and KDE. This variety is great.
I don't think of it so much as someone to sue,
but someone to blame. With Linux the responsibility
falls on your own shoulders, and that's no fun.
Way better to blame your ignorance on the vendor.
Regards,
Tim
Put it in your computer.
Dilbert Desktop