Its not a lame question. Its actually rather interesting. Who else would put such a fascinating question on the main page of their site? Its this kind of thinking that leads me to come to Slashdot in the first place. Its thinking outside the box. I know that this kind of subject matter makes some people uncomfortable, but one day humanity will have to consider issues like these, and maybe sooner than you think.
I think that there wouldn't be much of a problem with the law if (or should I say when) an alien comes to earth. Its pretty safe to assume that any alien who comes here will be much more advanced than us (not just technologically, but intellectually, morally, and spiritually). Most of us would pretty much intuitively recognize that fact. It would then be obvious that we couldn't possibly ask this higher being to conform to our backwards laws and customs.
In fact, I think we would have to be grateful that any aliens would want to have anything to do with us, after they witness the violence we've done to each other, and to our planet.
It amazes me how people ignore pre 20th century computing.
You know, I heard once that the design of the ancient Egyption pyramids was so sophisticated that the Egyptions probably had to use some kind of fairly sophisticated mechanical computing device. While records of the exact sort of technology they used haven't survived, it is fascinating to think that computers were used such a long time ago. It really makes you think.
Your right, BSD and Linux have much in common. Although Linux is a bit more stable than any of the BSD variants (or at least it is on my boxen), I use both and would be perfectly happy with either.
And it is clear that all of these operating systems have microsoft sweating bricks. They are very, very nervous that in a year or two an Open Source OS is going to put them out of business. And I think they have good reason to be nervous, too.
I think it must have been that Microsoft felt threatened by Ars Digitta and pulled some strings to get their funding cut. Microsoft wants their certification programs to be the accepted industry standard, not Ars Digitta.
This looks pretty neat. I can't wait to get one. I'd say the makers of other PDAs with closed source operating systems are in big, big trouble. Who would buy a Palm when you could get one of these?
I don't see what everyone is so worked up for. I see Microsoft's actions as something to be happy about. They are just going to drive many companies to start using Linux. Good for them. Good for everybody. I predict that in 18 to 24 months, about a quarter of all Fortune 500 companies will have switched to Linux exclusively.
Actually, Pyrite is only the most common of several minerals which may be called fool's gold.
Ironically, Pyrite is often present near deposits of real gold and copper.
And it is neither uslessless or completely worthless. It has been used as a source of sulphur, especially during WWII. (It's chemical makeup is FeS2). It has also been speculated that one day it might be economical to use Pyrite as a source of iron, should more commonly used ores become scarce.
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Its not a lame question. Its actually rather interesting. Who else would put such a fascinating question on the main page of their site? Its this kind of thinking that leads me to come to Slashdot in the first place. Its thinking outside the box. I know that this kind of subject matter makes some people uncomfortable, but one day humanity will have to consider issues like these, and maybe sooner than you think.
I think that there wouldn't be much of a problem with the law if (or should I say when) an alien comes to earth. Its pretty safe to assume that any alien who comes here will be much more advanced than us (not just technologically, but intellectually, morally, and spiritually). Most of us would pretty much intuitively recognize that fact. It would then be obvious that we couldn't possibly ask this higher being to conform to our backwards laws and customs.
In fact, I think we would have to be grateful that any aliens would want to have anything to do with us, after they witness the violence we've done to each other, and to our planet.
It amazes me how people ignore pre 20th century computing.
You know, I heard once that the design of the ancient Egyption pyramids was so sophisticated that the Egyptions probably had to use some kind of fairly sophisticated mechanical computing device. While records of the exact sort of technology they used haven't survived, it is fascinating to think that computers were used such a long time ago. It really makes you think.
Your right, BSD and Linux have much in common. Although Linux is a bit more stable than any of the BSD variants (or at least it is on my boxen), I use both and would be perfectly happy with either.
And it is clear that all of these operating systems have microsoft sweating bricks. They are very, very nervous that in a year or two an Open Source OS is going to put them out of business. And I think they have good reason to be nervous, too.
I think it must have been that Microsoft felt threatened by Ars Digitta and pulled some strings to get their funding cut. Microsoft wants their certification programs to be the accepted industry standard, not Ars Digitta.
BTW, just so you know, a hacker is not someone who breaks into computer systems. That would be more properly called a cracker .
A PDA, I forgot to say, is a portable digital assistant.
This looks pretty neat. I can't wait to get one. I'd say the makers of other PDAs with closed source operating systems are in big, big trouble. Who would buy a Palm when you could get one of these?
I don't see what everyone is so worked up for. I see Microsoft's actions as something to be happy about. They are just going to drive many companies to start using Linux. Good for them. Good for everybody. I predict that in 18 to 24 months, about a quarter of all Fortune 500 companies will have switched to Linux exclusively.
It's the Canadian Space Agency, silly.
Actually, Pyrite is only the most common of several minerals which may be called fool's gold.
Ironically, Pyrite is often present near deposits of real gold and copper.
And it is neither uslessless or completely worthless. It has been used as a source of sulphur, especially during WWII. (It's chemical makeup is FeS2). It has also been speculated that one day it might be economical to use Pyrite as a source of iron, should more commonly used ores become scarce.