Netscape thought that they could go open source and suddenly get all the benefits of the Open Source Society. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.
For people to support something that is Open Source, and do it for free, they must enjoy the work. If you don't make it enjoyable, then the people won't do it. There are lots of other Open Source projects that I want to work on and Mozilla is near the bottom of that list. I rather work on the Linux kernel or XFree86 or GTK+ or another project. Others may feel differently about this but only if they like to work on Mozilla.
I didn't join the Mozilla development so I don't know how enjoyable it was/is. Also, it takes time. Before you can help out, you need to know the system. Once you get a standard set of people who know the system, then improvements/bug fixes/ enhancements will come quickly. But you can't just release something Open Source and see the effect immediately.
Also, slightly off topic, but I worry that Open Source development will slow down drastically if there is a lot of Open Source projects. This will spread out the resources (people) and then the development slows down. The advantage of Open Source is that it is easier to work with something that is not a total black box. This is only true if you are a programmer and can understand the code. But that takes time as stated above.
I think that Netscape/AOL should give Mozilla more time, or at least keep it going. This way you can get a good set of developers. Also give some sort of compensation for those who submit a large amount of enhancments. Keep this going for the sake of Open Source, and you will benefit. Keep it going just to benefit, and you won't. I can't prove this, but the atmosphere is there. (what ever that means:)
There seems to be several communities out there that represent the/. community. We have the "Open Source" community, the "Free Software" community, the "Linux" community, the "BSD Community", the greater "*nux" community (which holds some of the previous communities I've mentioned). And then we have the total encapsulating "Computer" community. This last community includes the Microsoft crowd as well.
Which ever community you belong to, it's good to have ESR and RMS as well as any outspoken individual. Good natured conflicts help advance society. But flames always impede the growth of society. That's why I now spell out Microsoft instead of using M$ or other.
It's good to have opinions, but it is even more important to have respect for others opinions. If you disagree, that's great, but try to back up your disagreements with facts or at least intelligent arguments. ESR and RMS attack each other in this way. They are friends but also compete well against each other.
There is a lot I agree with ESR and RMS. But there is a lot I disagree with. I believe that Open Source is good, but code should be owned(but not controlled) by the one who buys it. I like to know what a program is doing in the background when I am working with it. I've talked with both Eric and Richard at the Linux World Expo back in March. RMS seems to be for having full control of what you buy. He did not say, "you programmed code so you must give it to me". but more or less said, "I bought code from you, I should be able to do what I please".
It's funny because in my business (Military Defense) we almost always give away the source. Of course the Government pays for the development. But we give the source away and the Government owns it. Not us. I don't believe that everyone can afford to pay for someone to develop code for there needs (customize). But have a middle ground where we can help share in development and still get paid. Start out with giving the source, but you need to pay for any enhancements. Of course it comes down to everyone getting the benefits from one persons/company's purchase. But this can easily work. A lot came from Bell Labs and they were still at the top. If you donate a large amount of source code to GNU and it is top quality, you will be the one that most companies will ask for for support.
This also keeps you (the programmer) from getting to lazy. You have to keep improving code to stay working. You can't just write some code and say everyone must use this whether it completely works or not. This is the position that Microsoft is in. They can get away with writing code and not having to make it better. It wasn't until the threat of the Open Source/GNU that Microsoft started working harder for better quality. Yes they are now actually working harder (maybe not that much harder but they do feel the threat). If Microsoft comes out with better products then it is a partial win for the Open Source/GNU community. Not what RMS wanted but at least we don't get software that "sucks" (ESR quote, not a flame by me:) But don't be afraid, Linux and GNU will always be around because it doesn't work in the realm of the business world. It doesn't need money to survive. It only needs a few devoted hackers and a way to distribute (like the Internet).
Does this mean we will be rooting for Microsoft in 20 years??
I live in the birth place of old big blue, and twenty years ago I WAS rooting for IBM. Since they started laying off, my home town almost became a ghost town.
I guess we won't see Palms being sold with Linux on them.
Yes I know some crazy guys(and gals?) ported Linux to the Palm. But I wanted Linux and not Palm OS being sold.
Will we see palm OS replaced with Windows 2000 soon. I doubt it, since I heard that the minimum requirements for Windows 2000 is 128 Megs RAM, and at least a 300 MHz processor. So I won't be able to get W2K anytime soon, since I still have a Pentium 233 MMX with only 64M RAM. But Linux still Rocks on it!!!!
Difference between a Ferrari and a Lamborgini? about a 100 grand!
I'll still enjoy driving my Nissan Sentra!
As for a new mascot, check out this guy! -- NOTE: This link is dead at the moment. But it should be up by tomorrow (or later today). It is definitly worth the look! The New OS Mascot
Re:Why are they so fat?!
on
Linus @BALUG
·
· Score: 4
Is this somekind disease only Americans have?
Yes, it's what technology brings us.
What do you eat over there people?
Twinkies.
PS: do you really need bigger seats in public transport because you don't fit anymore in these "tiny" ones?
Yes, or actually we need two seats that have no arm between them.
OK OK, I was just in Europe, and I did notice that there are not many Fat people around. But I work in a large corporation and I watch people take the elevator to keep from going up one flight of stairs. No they don't have any problems, just laziness. But then again, ain't most programmers lazy. That's what usually makes for better code and less SLOC.
Good exercise is to move you computers around the office/home every 45 minutes:)
Re:HEHE even redhat engineers ack. NT as supperior
on
Salon on Mindcraft II
·
· Score: 1
Rob wouldn't be able to afford NT to do all that he does.
It seems that NT runs better on some servers, but it better run ALOT better if I'm going to pay the expensive amount to have it.
Side note: what type of machine does Rob run for slashdot? With the traffic it gets, I'm just curious.
From what the FBI stated in a story not to long ago. The FBI should demand that they have the key so that they can make sure that this is not some sort of criminal activity going on here. You know they don't trust the CIA. Maybe this is some kind of secret message to disclose nuclear secrets to China? Maybe it is child pornography?
There's no question that the average Joe Schmoe computer will run Linux faster than NT. Unfortunately, this "bench-marketing" is done on a high end server. Although this server is designed for NT, it would be good for Linux to do well.
Even if Linux doesn't beat NT, if it comes close, then it has won. The reason is in the cost. How much does NT cost compared to Linux. Also, you get the source (although Microsoft said they would give you the source too, but for how much???:) And I don't need to mention anything about security.
If I was a manager, NT had better cripple Linux, otherwise it is not worth the money. So if Linux can keep up with NT, then it has won. It will only be a matter of time when Linux will equal the performance or surpass it altogether.
I rewrote my libraries back in 1992. I've been using them ever since. I've been working since then and I have a very good reputation of making schedules on time. Mainly because of a large number of libraries. I would love to make them GPL but they are owned by my employer. If I ever have to leave the job, I would have to rewrite them again, but I think that is not a problem.
All languages I use, I have my own libraries. Like most programmers, I like to do things my own way (but still fit them into the format that is defined by my employer: like indentation and such). I mostly code in C, and I try my best to follow an object oriented design. Remember you can program OO without an OO language. Lots of people forget that, or just don't know that you can. It just takes a little discipline.
The only reason I don't think that Microsoft sues anyone on slash dot, is that it would be another blow to their PR. Could you imagine how much less people would think of MS if they sued someone because they said "Microsoft sucks". But please be careful because they probably can sue. But I don't think they would get any real money out of it (another reason why they don't).
It's bad programming to allow overflows. Although if you use some of the standard libraries you may be in trouble. In fact I wrote my own routines that mimic most of the standard libs in C. For example, rewrote my own sprintf that does check for boundaries. It was a one time deal and I have not written any code since then that contains overflows. I thoroughly debugged my code. And if you don't have the time to write this routines, glib from GTK+ has done this as well. Although I've been using mine long before glib came out, but I'm glad it did.
A good programmer knows to encapsulate all system calls so that they may be checked for errors everywhere. Also check all boudaries or better yet don't have any. I like the dynamic arrays and such better than static ones. Of course most will complain about freeing your mallocs. But thats another story. I rather have memory leaks (server crashes) than a compromised system.
Why do so many Americans insist on making assertions about places in the world that they have no knowlege of?
Being American, I will say that most of our knowledge of the IRA is only through television and the movies. Most of us really don't know what the IRA is all about. Ask one of us about IRA and well tell you about our retirement funds.
Seriously, I was just in Omagh, North Ireland, for a tournament to help in a fundraiser to help those affected by the bomb that went off in the shopping center. It really was an eye opening experience. All of the people I met were very friendly and I could not understand how there could be any problems. But I guess there are a few that ruin it for everyone else.
Anyway back to the point of encryption. The Government has plenty of reasons to stop people from encryption. Some of those reasons are probably secret as well (That's why they lie, or should I say "tell the half truth"!). What bothers me the most is the "recovery agent". Is this a centralized location that if compromised could be even more harmful then helpful? Enquireing minds want to know!
First as the subject says, GNOME is NOT a window manager. It is a window environment. It usually runs on top of the window manager enlightenment (which is still in beta/alpha version and has more bugs then GNOME). Also, unfortunately, Red Hat doesn't make it to easy to pick another window manager. I use Red Hat at home, and it took me awhile to use another window manager, because every time I changed it, somehow enlightenment came back!
I have had GNOME/enlightenment crash, but at least I didn't have to shutdown the machine. (Thanks to Linux). But I still lost important data. And as ESR has noted, that is what is important.
I mainly use Slackware with fvwm2 at work and at home (I have a multi-boot to RH or Slack). I'm very happy with both (Slack and fvwm) and I usually run for months. I turn off the machine for vacations and electrical storms.
I do agree that if RH is focusing on the non-server market, it should use another window manager/environment until it works all the bugs out of GNOME/enlightenment. Otherwise distributions such as Caldera that use KDE will probably become the perferred choice.
Coming from a Unix background, I'll stay with Slack (The REAL Linux distribution!). But I hope RH cleans up its act so that I can help others with something other then the MS stuff.
I've posted earlier about my feelings on Suing over name calling.
he puts up a web page that includes accusations and phony evidence that you are a pedophile, homosexual child molester who is wanted for murder and rape in 19 states
I agree that if this happens, more than just suing should be involved, but also criminal charges. I don't believe that you can sue if someone just insults you. But that is for the courts to decide.
The bigger issue is the way that the judge was able to arrest the accused. If this was a federal case, then there would be no questions. But to use the excuse that the server that the posting was done on is where I totally disagree. There's no question that a law suit should be attained if the accused actually did call the victim a pedophile. But the way the judge was able to get him, is totally wrong. This should have been a federal case. Not an state case because of where the server actually is located. God knows what laws I'm breaking because of the servers I use! I'm quite opinionated and could easily have said something illegal in some other country where a server lies.
In this case I would agree that harm was done, because of the accusation that the person was a pedophile. But I'm worried that people will start suing when someone is called an idiot or some other insult. Also, I don't know in what context the "pedophile" was used (although I don't think there is many variants), but if it was just an obvious insult, or an actually accusation does matter. For example, if you had a heated argument and wrote "You F#ing C&M Sucking @$$ S%%T Face Pedophile Anteater!" I would be insulted, but I don't think of it as being accused of a Pedophile. But If someone were to say "I know that you are a Pedophile", then that person had better have proof to back up the claim.
I'm not for insults nor do I condone them, but I do think people are "sue happy" and some people need to lighten up.
As for the jurisdiction issue, I think that VA is correct if the law is the same in the state of the accused is located. Someone pointed out that if a server is in a state that bans pornography, then should all that used that server be prosecuted if they download naught stuff?
I partially agree with you. People do get a little out of hand when they can write as Anonymous Coward (no offense). I always make it a habit of placing my name on everything I write so that I don't say something I wouldn't say to your face.
But where I disagree, is that I don't think suing is the right choice, unless something of harm actually happens. I don't mean feelings hurt, but say you lose a job, because the employer read something about you that was not true. Then you have the right to sue. But just because you where called something you're not on a Usenet (of all places), doesn't mean you can (or should) sue. A good rebuttal is all that it takes.
I've had my share of being flamed, but I refuse to throw insults (or sue). That makes me look like the better person (regardless of whether or not I actual am:)
I know this is some what reiterating what you already stated, but I really have strong feelings on this topic.
Linux is PERFECT for Universities. It's free, modifiable and it actually WORKS. I just completed a course in High Speed Computer Networks where we had to modify the Linux kernel TCP portion to implement a Credit/NACK protocol. The professor stated at the beginning of the semester that he choose Linux because the source is available and there is no problems with licensing. Every student that came out of this class, knew networking AND Linux. This is my third class that I was able to use Linux as my OS.
If this is the case in most Universities, then in (at most) four more years, there is going to be a large number of Linux administrators out there:)
Sorry you feel so strongly against Miguel. I met him at the Linux World Expo back in March. He was smart, active, and an all around "nice guy". I've had some correspondence with him via email and he actually returned my messages that same day! He does a lot for the open source community so please, don't insult him.
As for KDE-GNOME, I have picked GNOME for one reason. CORBA. GNOME is based on CORBA standards, so that it will be portable to other platforms and can interface with other applications that are CORBA compliant. This is a disadvantage to KDE, since it is not CORBA compliant, and I don't see any change for the future. Although if this does change, I will review it too.
What if this team is not about to spread more FUD, but actually tries to get hardware vendors to support NON-standard protocols. Although this would be difficult to do, but this is the one area that FSF is vulnerable.
If MS succeeds in making large numbers of hardware proprietary, this would hurt Linux and FSF. Yes we can always reverse engineer (if it is legal) but that takes time and in the business world, time matters.
If this team is just spreading FUD, then I say "good". That would help more than hurt. But if they are going to come out with a plan to hide standards from FSF developers, and maybe even make it so that reverse-engineering is strictly prohibited, then we might have a problem.
If I was on that "Linux Group", the first thing I would do is read slashdot!
MS setting up a team to combat Linux! War has been declared. The one thing that I don't think MS has realized yet, is that Linux is NOT a company. Sun, Netscape, IBM, and Apple, are all companies, where as, Linux is a community (although I will say Apple is close in this respect:). Linux can survive without businesses. And its roots are with the technical developers. Although management is MS focused, the real work is always done by techies. And that group favours the better OS. We don't like to have our hands held by a system. We want to control it!
MS may convince management to watch out for those "Linux people" who will not play by the rules, but it's time that us techies start talking to our management. Make this an internal vs. external (Microsoft) battle. I've already have given two seminars on Linux that was focused towards management. I request others do the same.
Call for arms here!
P.S. This was always my signature, I didn't updated for this response, although I see others have this Ghandi quote....
Slashdot Mirror
Management would love to have this. They could see what your doing with your time. Right down to the keystrokes.
Actually, if this does what it claims then management should really be worried about security. But noone will do anything until its too late.
PS.
I saw this article a few days ago and tried to submit it, but slashdot wasn't responding
Netscape thought that they could go open source and suddenly get all the benefits of the Open Source Society. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.
:)
For people to support something that is Open Source, and do it for free, they must enjoy the work. If you don't make it enjoyable, then the people won't do it. There are lots of other Open Source projects that I want to work on and Mozilla is near the bottom of that list. I rather work on the Linux kernel or XFree86 or GTK+ or another project. Others may feel differently about this but only if they like to work on Mozilla.
I didn't join the Mozilla development so I don't know how enjoyable it was/is. Also, it takes time. Before you can help out, you need to know the system. Once you get a standard set of people who know the system, then improvements/bug fixes/ enhancements will come quickly. But you can't just release something Open Source and see the effect immediately.
Also, slightly off topic, but I worry that Open Source development will slow down drastically if there is a lot of Open Source projects. This will spread out the resources (people) and then the development slows down. The advantage of Open Source is that it is easier to work with something that is not a total black box. This is only true if you are a programmer and can understand the code. But that takes time as stated above.
I think that Netscape/AOL should give Mozilla more time, or at least keep it going. This way you can get a good set of developers. Also give some sort of compensation for those who submit a large amount of enhancments. Keep this going for the sake of Open Source, and you will benefit. Keep it going just to benefit, and you won't. I can't prove this, but the atmosphere is there. (what ever that means
There seems to be several communities out there that represent the /. community. We have the "Open Source" community, the "Free Software" community, the "Linux" community, the "BSD Community", the greater "*nux" community (which holds some of the previous communities I've mentioned). And then we have the total encapsulating "Computer" community. This last community includes the Microsoft crowd as well.
:) But don't be afraid, Linux and GNU will always be around because it doesn't work in the realm of the business world. It doesn't need money to survive. It only needs a few devoted hackers and a way to distribute (like the Internet).
Which ever community you belong to, it's good to have ESR and RMS as well as any outspoken individual. Good natured conflicts help advance society. But flames always impede the growth of society. That's why I now spell out Microsoft instead of using M$ or other.
It's good to have opinions, but it is even more important to have respect for others opinions. If you disagree, that's great, but try to back up your disagreements with facts or at least intelligent arguments. ESR and RMS attack each other in this way. They are friends but also compete well against each other.
There is a lot I agree with ESR and RMS. But there is a lot I disagree with. I believe that Open Source is good, but code should be owned(but not controlled) by the one who buys it. I like to know what a program is doing in the background when I am working with it. I've talked with both Eric and Richard at the Linux World Expo back in March. RMS seems to be for having full control of what you buy. He did not say, "you programmed code so you must give it to me". but more or less said, "I bought code from you, I should be able to do what I please".
It's funny because in my business (Military Defense) we almost always give away the source. Of course the Government pays for the development. But we give the source away and the Government owns it. Not us. I don't believe that everyone can afford to pay for someone to develop code for there needs (customize). But have a middle ground where we can help share in development and still get paid. Start out with giving the source, but you need to pay for any enhancements. Of course it comes down to everyone getting the benefits from one persons/company's purchase. But this can easily work. A lot came from Bell Labs and they were still at the top. If you donate a large amount of source code to GNU and it is top quality, you will be the one that most companies will ask for for support.
This also keeps you (the programmer) from getting to lazy. You have to keep improving code to stay working. You can't just write some code and say everyone must use this whether it completely works or not. This is the position that Microsoft is in. They can get away with writing code and not having to make it better. It wasn't until the threat of the Open Source/GNU that Microsoft started working harder for better quality. Yes they are now actually working harder (maybe not that much harder but they do feel the threat). If Microsoft comes out with better products then it is a partial win for the Open Source/GNU community. Not what RMS wanted but at least we don't get software that "sucks" (ESR quote, not a flame by me
Does this mean we will be rooting for Microsoft in 20 years??
I live in the birth place of old big blue, and twenty years ago I WAS rooting for IBM. Since they started laying off, my home town almost became a ghost town.
Ok, I don't use RH.
Did anyone get this working with Slack.
I just want to know if you did. I'll play a little but it seems I'm missing some shared object files.
It is a GUI library, used by many programs including KDE. Just like X Motif, GTK+ and MFC (for Windows).
It's made by Troll Tech
I guess we won't see Palms being sold with Linux on them.
Yes I know some crazy guys(and gals?) ported Linux to the Palm. But I wanted Linux and not Palm OS being sold.
Will we see palm OS replaced with Windows 2000 soon. I doubt it, since I heard that the minimum requirements for Windows 2000 is 128 Megs RAM, and at least a 300 MHz processor. So I won't be able to get W2K anytime soon, since I still have a Pentium 233 MMX with only 64M RAM. But Linux still Rocks on it!!!!
Difference between a Ferrari and a Lamborgini?
about a 100 grand!
I'll still enjoy driving my Nissan Sentra!
As for a new mascot, check out this guy! -- NOTE: This link is dead at the moment. But it should be up by tomorrow (or later today). It is definitly worth the look!
The New OS Mascot
Is this somekind disease only Americans have?
:)
Yes, it's what technology brings us.
What do you eat over there people?
Twinkies.
PS: do you really need bigger seats in public transport because you don't fit anymore in these "tiny" ones?
Yes, or actually we need two seats that have no arm between them.
OK OK, I was just in Europe, and I did notice that there are not many Fat people around. But I work in a large corporation and I watch people take the elevator to keep from going up one flight of stairs. No they don't have any problems, just laziness. But then again, ain't most programmers lazy. That's what usually makes for better code and less SLOC.
Good exercise is to move you computers around the office/home every 45 minutes
Rob wouldn't be able to afford NT to do all that he does.
It seems that NT runs better on some servers, but it better run ALOT better if I'm going to pay the expensive amount to have it.
Side note: what type of machine does Rob run for slashdot? With the traffic it gets, I'm just curious.
From what the FBI stated in a story not to long ago. The FBI should demand that they have the key so that they can make sure that this is not some sort of criminal activity going on here. You know they don't trust the CIA. Maybe this is some kind of secret message to disclose nuclear secrets to China? Maybe it is child pornography?
:)
Remember, you can't trust anyone!
There's no question that the average Joe Schmoe computer will run Linux faster than NT. Unfortunately, this "bench-marketing" is done on a high end server. Although this server is designed for NT, it would be good for Linux to do well.
:) And I don't need to mention anything about security.
Even if Linux doesn't beat NT, if it comes close, then it has won. The reason is in the cost. How much does NT cost compared to Linux. Also, you get the source (although Microsoft said they would give you the source too, but for how much???
If I was a manager, NT had better cripple Linux, otherwise it is not worth the money. So if Linux can keep up with NT, then it has won. It will only be a matter of time when Linux will equal the performance or surpass it altogether.
Restating what I said in the beginning:
It was a ONE TIME deal.
I rewrote my libraries back in 1992. I've been using them ever since. I've been working since then and I have a very good reputation of making schedules on time. Mainly because of a large number of libraries. I would love to make them GPL but they are owned by my employer. If I ever have to leave the job, I would have to rewrite them again, but I think that is not a problem.
All languages I use, I have my own libraries. Like most programmers, I like to do things my own way (but still fit them into the format that is defined by my employer: like indentation and such). I mostly code in C, and I try my best to follow an object oriented design. Remember you can program OO without an OO language. Lots of people forget that, or just don't know that you can. It just takes a little discipline.
The only reason I don't think that Microsoft sues anyone on slash dot, is that it would be another blow to their PR. Could you imagine how much less people would think of MS if they sued someone because they said "Microsoft sucks". But please be careful because they probably can sue. But I don't think they would get any real money out of it (another reason why they don't).
Again, becareful because Big Brother is watching!
It's bad programming to allow overflows.
Although if you use some of the standard libraries you may be in trouble. In fact I wrote my own routines that mimic most of the standard libs in C. For example, rewrote my own sprintf that does check for boundaries. It was a one time deal and I have not written any code since then that contains overflows. I thoroughly debugged my code. And if you don't have the time to write this routines, glib from GTK+ has done this as well. Although I've been using mine long before glib came out, but I'm glad it did.
A good programmer knows to encapsulate all system calls so that they may be checked for errors everywhere. Also check all boudaries or better yet don't have any. I like the dynamic arrays and such better than static ones. Of course most will complain about freeing your mallocs. But thats another story. I rather have memory leaks (server crashes) than a compromised system.
Why do so many Americans insist on making assertions about places in the world that they have no knowlege of?
Being American, I will say that most of our knowledge of the IRA is only through television and the movies. Most of us really don't know what the IRA is all about. Ask one of us about IRA and well tell you about our retirement funds.
Seriously, I was just in Omagh, North Ireland, for a tournament to help in a fundraiser to help those affected by the bomb that went off in the shopping center. It really was an eye opening experience. All of the people I met were very friendly and I could not understand how there could be any problems. But I guess there are a few that ruin it for everyone else.
Anyway back to the point of encryption. The Government has plenty of reasons to stop people from encryption. Some of those reasons are probably secret as well (That's why they lie, or should I say "tell the half truth"!). What bothers me the most is the "recovery agent". Is this a centralized location that if compromised could be even more harmful then helpful? Enquireing minds want to know!
So OSI is pork! huh.
So does that mean that it is not part of the GNU family?
=)
First as the subject says, GNOME is NOT a window manager. It is a window environment. It usually runs on top of the window manager enlightenment (which is still in beta/alpha version and has more bugs then GNOME). Also, unfortunately, Red Hat doesn't make it to easy to pick another window manager. I use Red Hat at home, and it took me awhile to use another window manager, because every time I changed it, somehow enlightenment came back!
I have had GNOME/enlightenment crash, but at least I didn't have to shutdown the machine. (Thanks to Linux). But I still lost important data. And as ESR has noted, that is what is important.
I mainly use Slackware with fvwm2 at work and at home (I have a multi-boot to RH or Slack). I'm very happy with both (Slack and fvwm) and I usually run for months. I turn off the machine for vacations and electrical storms.
I do agree that if RH is focusing on the non-server market, it should use another window manager/environment until it works all the bugs out of GNOME/enlightenment. Otherwise distributions such as Caldera that use KDE will probably become the perferred choice.
Coming from a Unix background, I'll stay with Slack (The REAL Linux distribution!). But I hope RH cleans up its act so that I can help others with something other then the MS stuff.
I've posted earlier about my feelings on Suing over name calling.
he puts up a web page that includes accusations and phony evidence that you are a pedophile, homosexual child molester who is wanted for murder and rape in 19 states
I agree that if this happens, more than just suing should be involved, but also criminal charges. I don't believe that you can sue if someone just insults you. But that is for the courts to decide.
The bigger issue is the way that the judge was able to arrest the accused. If this was a federal case, then there would be no questions. But to use the excuse that the server that the posting was done on is where I totally disagree. There's no question that a law suit should be attained if the accused actually did call the victim a pedophile. But the way the judge was able to get him, is totally wrong. This should have been a federal case. Not an state case because of where the server actually is located. God knows what laws I'm breaking because of the servers I use! I'm quite opinionated and could easily have said something illegal in some other country where a server lies.
Eric,
In this case I would agree that harm was done, because of the accusation that the person was a pedophile. But I'm worried that people will start suing when someone is called an idiot or some other insult. Also, I don't know in what context the "pedophile" was used (although I don't think there is many variants), but if it was just an obvious insult, or an actually accusation does matter. For example, if you had a heated argument and wrote "You F#ing C&M Sucking @$$ S%%T Face Pedophile Anteater!" I would be insulted, but I don't think of it as being accused of a Pedophile. But If someone were to say "I know that you are a Pedophile", then that person had better have proof to back up the claim.
I'm not for insults nor do I condone them, but I do think people are "sue happy" and some people need to lighten up.
As for the jurisdiction issue, I think that VA is correct if the law is the same in the state of the accused is located. Someone pointed out that if a server is in a state that bans pornography, then should all that used that server be prosecuted if they download naught stuff?
I partially agree with you. People do get a little out of hand when they can write as Anonymous Coward (no offense). I always make it a habit of placing my name on everything I write so that I don't say something I wouldn't say to your face.
:)
But where I disagree, is that I don't think suing is the right choice, unless something of harm actually happens. I don't mean feelings hurt, but say you lose a job, because the employer read something about you that was not true. Then you have the right to sue. But just because you where called something you're not on a Usenet (of all places), doesn't mean you can (or should) sue. A good rebuttal is all that it takes.
I've had my share of being flamed, but I refuse to throw insults (or sue). That makes me look like the better person (regardless of whether or not I actual am
I know this is some what reiterating what you already stated, but I really have strong feelings on this topic.
:)
Linux is PERFECT for Universities. It's free, modifiable and it actually WORKS. I just completed a course in High Speed Computer Networks where we had to modify the Linux kernel TCP portion to implement a Credit/NACK protocol. The professor stated at the beginning of the semester that he choose Linux because the source is available and there is no problems with licensing. Every student that came out of this class, knew networking AND Linux. This is my third class that I was able to use Linux as my OS.
If this is the case in most Universities, then in (at most) four more years, there is going to be a large number of Linux administrators out there
Alex,
Sorry you feel so strongly against Miguel. I met him at the Linux World Expo back in March. He was smart, active, and an all around "nice guy". I've had some correspondence with him via email and he actually returned my messages that same day! He does a lot for the open source community so please, don't insult him.
As for KDE-GNOME, I have picked GNOME for one reason. CORBA. GNOME is based on CORBA standards, so that it will be portable to other platforms and can interface with other applications that are CORBA compliant. This is a disadvantage to KDE, since it is not CORBA compliant, and I don't see any change for the future. Although if this does change, I will review it too.
What if this team is not about to spread more FUD, but actually tries to get hardware vendors to support NON-standard protocols. Although this would be difficult to do, but this is the one area that FSF is vulnerable.
If MS succeeds in making large numbers of hardware proprietary, this would hurt Linux and FSF. Yes we can always reverse engineer (if it is legal) but that takes time and in the business world, time matters.
If this team is just spreading FUD, then I say "good". That would help more than hurt. But if they are going to come out with a plan to hide standards from FSF developers, and maybe even make it so that reverse-engineering is strictly prohibited, then we might have a problem.
If I was on that "Linux Group", the first thing I would do is read slashdot!
MS setting up a team to combat Linux! :). Linux can survive without businesses. And its roots are with the technical developers. Although management is MS focused, the real work is always done by techies. And that group favours the better OS. We don't like to have our hands held by a system. We want to control it!
War has been declared. The one thing that I don't think MS has realized yet, is that Linux is NOT a company. Sun, Netscape, IBM, and Apple, are all companies, where as, Linux is a community (although I will say Apple is close in this respect
MS may convince management to watch out for those "Linux people" who will not play by the rules, but it's time that us techies start talking to our management. Make this an internal vs. external (Microsoft) battle. I've already have given two seminars on Linux that was focused towards management. I request others do the same.
Call for arms here!
P.S. This was always my signature, I didn't updated for this response, although I see others have this Ghandi quote....