They're already paying dividends (just announced recently) to placate their investors. Maybe they are trying to shore up demand in their stock.
Could someone who knows something about how stock price effects company policy please post their opinion on how falling share prices would effect how MS runs its business?
All that I can think of is that they would actually have to start paying their employees rather than offering stock options.
Tight budgets will motivate people to find alternatives to expensive software.
This is a good thing.
Switching to something just because it's cheaper and not because it meets your need as well or better than what you're currently using is stupid and dangerous.
The biggest challenge for OSS is to educate the masses so that the masses can make intelligent decisions with regards to the software they're using. Once we do that, we win. Use cost as an added bonus to already good software, not as the sole selling point.
As long as you have the correct libraries present, you can run KDE apps in Gnome and vice versa.
The issue here has far more to do with how the underlying libraries for KDE and Gnome are licensed. Gnome is LGPL which has certain advantages for vendors developing non-free software. KDE is conditionally GPL (it's GPL if you code is GPL but if you pay money, you can still use the library without releasing your code).
I guess there are other issues as well, but I think most of them are secondary to the idiological one presented above (LGPL better or worse than conditionally GPL?).
That's my understanding. I don't really feel strongly either way. Having two competing desktops seems like a good thing to me.
It's probably the result of a lazy programmer not checking for error after a function call. That said, I've read lots of articles that complain how MySQL behaves badly or crashes under sufficiently high load.
I have no idea if that is still the case with the most recent versions.
The PS2 has been out for years and I continue to be impressed by it. Its specs might not look as impressive as the Xbox, but it is plenty powerful for the excellent games that continue to be developed for it.
I'm looking forward to the PS3, but I don't see the need for it. Th PS2 is plenty powerful for me.
Does not effect OpenBSD or NetBSD
on
FreeBSD Kernel Leak
·
· Score: 2, Informative
I just wanted to point this out since whoever submitted the article didn't feel it was necessary.
To repeat myself, according to the article, this problem does not effect OpenBSD or NetBSD.
Re:That's because Linux admins are self-taught
on
Linux Is Cheaper
·
· Score: 1
Because even with the 64-bit systems, you need software that take advantage of 64-bit.
If you've got source and an appropriate compiler, you have 64-bit software. Sure, the source isn't necessarily any different from what you compiled on your 32-bit machine, but it might run significantly better on a 64-bit machine if it uses large structs can take advantage of parallel instructions (2 32-bit operations on the same processor in the same clock-tick).
The masses might not care, but this is definately a good thing.
Re:What desktop users want to know..
on
AMD's 64-bit Plot
·
· Score: 1
It's certainly true that you don't need to spend $2000 on a computer to read email, but if you go for the abolute bottom barrel system, you are going to get what you pay for.
Has anyone tried out the $199 computers from Walmart? These have got to be the absolute bottom barrel systems you can get. Are they crap?
I, for instance, use Linux at work and BSD at home. My next purchase will be a laptop from Apple. It won't be replacing anything, but will definately be a welcome addition.
The replacement of proprietary software with free software (as in beer and/or speech) allows for a massive redistribution of funds in the economy. Money that would otherwise have gone to Software makers can now be spent on other goods and services effectively greasing the wheels of the economy by making each dollar stay in circulation longer (rather than sitting in a bank in Redmond).
Think of proprietary software as a dam that impedes the flow of money through the economy. An unimpeded dollar that changes hands several times a year does more good to more people than the dollar that sits collecting dust.
And when Bill's stock dips because of all the negative publicity, that cash pile will have to be used to prop up the stock price or else Bill will have to actually start paying his employees rather than just offer them stock options.
This could get interesting.
Has anyone written up the implication for MicroSoft if their stock loses value? Would be an interesting read.
I think most people are still faster at writing with a pen than a keyboard
Are you serious? Maybe people who are hunt-and-peckers, but even BAD touch typists type 30 words a minute. No way someone could do that writing longhand.
I've been reading about the differences between using journals and using soft updates and have decided that soft updates is the cleaner approach.
Can anyone explain to me why the Linux community is so enthralled with the concept of journaling file systems while the BSD community has quietly but unanimously embraced soft updates?
Slashdot Mirror
Seriously?
What do you have them doing?
Is this accurate?
If so, then why do people care about buying
machines with TCPA?
My, my, won't that be interesting.
They're already paying dividends (just announced
recently) to placate their investors. Maybe they
are trying to shore up demand in their stock.
Could someone who knows something about how stock
price effects company policy please post their
opinion on how falling share prices would effect
how MS runs its business?
All that I can think of is that they would actually
have to start paying their employees rather than
offering stock options.
Tight budgets will motivate people to find
alternatives to expensive software.
This is a good thing.
Switching to something just because it's cheaper and
not because it meets your need as well or better
than what you're currently using is stupid and
dangerous.
The biggest challenge for OSS is to educate
the masses so that the masses can make intelligent
decisions with regards to the software they're
using. Once we do that, we win. Use cost as an
added bonus to already good software, not as the
sole selling point.
Part of that is that Microsoft is not a EU
company and so there is no political motivation
to protect MS's market in the EU.
Whether or not that plays a bigger role than the
national security angle (being dependent on a
foreign company for national IT), I have no idea.
As long as you have the correct libraries present,
you can run KDE apps in Gnome and vice versa.
The issue here has far more to do with how the
underlying libraries for KDE and Gnome are
licensed. Gnome is LGPL which has certain
advantages for vendors developing non-free
software. KDE is conditionally GPL (it's GPL if
you code is GPL but if you pay money, you can
still use the library without releasing your
code).
I guess there are other issues as well, but I
think most of them are secondary to the idiological
one presented above (LGPL better or worse than
conditionally GPL?).
That's my understanding. I don't really feel
strongly either way. Having two competing desktops
seems like a good thing to me.
What? Bourne isn't interesting because it's not
being developed anymore?
I'm a big fan of Python, but for every Python
script I write, I write dozens that start out
#!/bin/sh.
It may not be sexy, but it's maintainable (every
admin knows it), portable (any system that has
sh or bash), and dirt simple to write.
It's probably the result of a lazy programmer not
checking for error after a function call. That
said, I've read lots of articles that complain how
MySQL behaves badly or crashes under sufficiently
high load.
I have no idea if that is still the case with the most
recent versions.
Extremely disappointing?
The PS2 has been out for years and I continue to
be impressed by it. Its specs might not look as
impressive as the Xbox, but it is plenty powerful
for the excellent games that continue to be
developed for it.
I'm looking forward to the PS3, but I don't see
the need for it. Th PS2 is plenty powerful for me.
I just wanted to point this out since whoever
submitted the article didn't feel it was
necessary.
To repeat myself, according to the article, this
problem does not effect OpenBSD or NetBSD.
If I had mod points I'd mark this +1 Insightful.
Has it not occured to you that a NDA is
inconsistent with the ideals of open source?
From that point of view, Theo is doing the
right thing and the Linux developers sold out.
I happen to agree with Theo. One of the greatest
strengths of OpenBSD is that it is completely
unencumbered code (no strings attached).
When was the last release of IE?
It seems to me that MS has let it stagnate now
that they think they have no real competition
in the browser market.
Or maybe they're just taking a real long time...
Because even with the 64-bit systems, you need software that take advantage of 64-bit.
If you've got source and an appropriate compiler,
you have 64-bit software. Sure, the source isn't
necessarily any different from what you compiled
on your 32-bit machine, but it might run
significantly better on a 64-bit machine if it
uses large structs can take advantage of
parallel instructions (2 32-bit operations on
the same processor in the same clock-tick).
The masses might not care, but this is definately
a good thing.
It's certainly true that you don't need to spend $2000 on a computer to read email, but if you go for the abolute bottom barrel system, you are going to get what you pay for.
Has anyone tried out the $199 computers from
Walmart? These have got to be the absolute bottom
barrel systems you can get. Are they crap?
Does anyone know how this impacts the performance
of the generated executables?
It's usually not a "switch", but an addition.,
I think you've hit the nail on the head.
I, for instance, use Linux at work and BSD at home.
My next purchase will be a laptop from Apple. It
won't be replacing anything, but will definately
be a welcome addition.
Amen, brother.
The replacement of proprietary software with
free software (as in beer and/or speech) allows
for a massive redistribution of funds in the
economy. Money that would otherwise have gone to
Software makers can now be spent on other goods
and services effectively greasing the wheels of
the economy by making each dollar stay in
circulation longer (rather than sitting in a
bank in Redmond).
Think of proprietary software as a dam that
impedes the flow of money through the economy.
An unimpeded dollar that changes hands several
times a year does more good to more people than
the dollar that sits collecting dust.
Everything that I've read seems to say that
Paladium will be something that you can turn
off in the BIOS.
If that's true, Linux and *BSD should be safe
on that hardware.
Hmm...Super Windows...sounds like good fodder
for a Simpsons episode.
And when Bill's stock dips because of all the
negative publicity, that cash pile will have to
be used to prop up the stock price or else
Bill will have to actually start paying his
employees rather than just offer them stock
options.
This could get interesting.
Has anyone written up the implication for
MicroSoft if their stock loses value? Would
be an interesting read.
but... but... I thought goto's were considered harmful!
There are times when a goto is the elegant solution (at least until C lets you tell break how many levels of nesting you need to break out of).
I think most people are still faster at writing with a pen than a keyboard
Are you serious? Maybe people who are hunt-and-peckers, but even BAD touch typists type 30 words a minute. No way someone could do that writing longhand.
I've been reading about the differences between
using journals and using soft updates and have
decided that soft updates is the cleaner approach.
Can anyone explain to me why the Linux community
is so enthralled with the concept of journaling
file systems while the BSD community has quietly
but unanimously embraced soft updates?