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User: Afrosheen

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  1. Re:Morphix LiveCD of XPde on XPde 0.5 - A Linux Desktop for Windows Users · · Score: 2

    Phlak has had this option also. It's such a funny implementation, you can right click the desktop and get the display properties and everything looks just like XP.

    Try it with phlak desktop=sneaky at boot time IIRC.

  2. Re:Random Thoughts on Libraries on Zero Install: The Future of Linux on the Desktop? · · Score: 1

    But the problem is, you never know who is going to write another app that uses that library or what the app will be doing with it. I imagine as a developer one of your goals should be making sure the app works for as many people as possible.

    The good thing about dynamically linked binaries, in my experience, is that upgrading the systemwide libraries that apps depend on very rarely breaks them. What I hate is when coders make an app you're building from source search for a specific library version rather than a range, i.e. glibc=3.36 instead of glibc=3.3.6. (Greater than or equal to in case I just had a brainfart)

    I've had trouble with old apps specifying libraries (like qt2) by version number. Sometimes I can trick it into building by symlinking qt2 to qt3 which is actually installed and running ldconfig again. Sometimes it doesn't work regardless.

  3. Re:Someone should tell Apple on Zero Install: The Future of Linux on the Desktop? · · Score: 1

    Yeah you got a point there. Ultimately I wanted everything to work like the Irix machines that were 2 buildings over. Hated the fact that they had some ghetto fabulous custom software for retouching rather than Photoshop though. But they were rock solid and if anything thought about breaking, some magic gnomes from the service contract would dial in and fix stuff remotely without the user ever knowing it.

  4. Re:Random Thoughts on Libraries on Zero Install: The Future of Linux on the Desktop? · · Score: 1

    Yeah I forgot about the resident memory bloat issue with statically linked binaries. That is true indeed. Like I said in my original post, however, there is always a tradeoff in using one form or the other, and that's why I respect and like developers that provide both. It's good for lazy people or people that don't want a million dev libraries installed just to install one program and build from source. I can't even begin to guess how many dev lib packages I've installed just to build one program and never use again.

  5. Re:This sounds perfect... on Zero Install: The Future of Linux on the Desktop? · · Score: 1

    Versions of those files are indeed on the release cds and on your computer already. When you want to update, yes, you will have to download updated hdlist files. HOWEVER, you DO NOT require the big fat hdlist files. They are just there for verbose-ness. The small, light synthesis files are also an option. Mandrake started providing them for people with pathetic bandwidth a few years ago.

    If you use easy urpmi to add software sources, edit the end of the command to use synthesis.hdlist* instead of hdlist*. You won't get all the long winded descriptions of every single package, but you will get a super quick download every time you update a remote source.

  6. Re:This sounds perfect... on Zero Install: The Future of Linux on the Desktop? · · Score: 1

    Here's your "" tag, no charge. Next time it'll be $50 though.

  7. Re:static or what? on Zero Install: The Future of Linux on the Desktop? · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here's the difference in a nutshell.

    Statically linked binaries include all the libs and dependencies along with the binaries used to actually 'run' the program in one fat package. Depending on what it is you're packaging, it can add a shitload of weight to the package.

    Dynamically linked binaries expect your system to contain dependencies already. They have the benefit of giving you a small, tight package but don't always work right away. IE you, the user, have to hunt down packages it needs or apt or rpm has to handle that for you.

    It's a trade-off either route you choose. Statically linked binaries add bloat but usually work great without user or system intervention. Dynamically linked binaries are smaller and bloat-free but depend on you, your package manager or something else to make sure it works.

    The typical stance of developers has been to build good packages that are small and dynamically linked. After all, what's the point of having 20 copies of a common system library that you may have had since your OS install? That's just bloat. Ultimately, the best developers, in my opinion, give you the choice when you go to download. Click here for static, here for dynamic.

  8. Re:Someone should tell Apple on Zero Install: The Future of Linux on the Desktop? · · Score: 1

    System 7 quite good? As if. I had to work on a powermac 9500 with 2 gigs of ram and a big scsi harddrive running MacOS 7.x (either .3 or .5 don't remember) and the memory leaks were constant. That thing liked to freeze when Photoshop ran out of memory, which was often. I'd work on 500M+ images for a big photography shop and sometimes it was really frustrating.

    When 8.1 came out I was lucky I was friends with the guys at the Apple shop. They hooked me up and it was MUCH better.

  9. Re:Desktop... on NYT: The New Breed of Gaming Laptops Get Serious · · Score: 1

    Well I'll be damned. Sure enough, mine got the Hitachi screen. I just checked my service tag.

    Oh man, Dell pulled a fast one on me. I may consider sending this one back and getting one with the other screen instead.

  10. Re:remember Nanking on Real 'Akira' Motorcycle · · Score: 1

    Yeah, after all, most Jewish professionals I know drive one of two cars, BMW or Mercedes. They're both German designed and built.

  11. Re:Desktop... on NYT: The New Breed of Gaming Laptops Get Serious · · Score: 1

    I seriously doubt I could even imagine playing at the native resolution on my laptop. I have a Dell 8600 with widescreen and the res is 1680x1050. The LCD, while being the 'newer' one you brag about, is hardly worthy of most 3d games.

    Now, laptops with comparably sorry resolutions are probably viable for gaming. Then again, with the amount of blurring I endure playing Need for Speed Underground at a ghastly 800x600, I doubt it'd make much difference. Some screens just aren't made for gaming.

    Now, play a DVD on my laptop and you'll draw a crowd. :)

  12. Re:Which leads to the unspoken truth... on Creativity, a Problem for the Gaming Industry? · · Score: 1

    Id doesn't need a publisher? Then why is Activision all over the front of my Quake3 cd? I guess it's because they're a distributor, but IMHO, that's a publisher.

    What is the difference between a publisher and a distributor anyway? Does a publisher actually press cds, box them up and ship them out? Sounds like a distributor also, although some limited distributors are just clearing houses that use market connections and big distribution lines to put products where people will buy them.

    I agree with the rest of your post. Counterstrike is a million internet years old now but people still love it. Why? It's cheap as hell, lots of people constantly play it, and it's easy to cheat. Also there hasn't been anything besides Urban Terror that has gotten close to matching it in terms of gameplay.

    At any rate, distributors and publishers like to play it safe. If you announced Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six part 10, anyone would give it the green light.

  13. Re:Which leads to the unspoken truth... on Creativity, a Problem for the Gaming Industry? · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The entertainment industry as a whole is hitting a brick wall. Hollywood keeps making 'safe' movies and rehashing old ones for guaranteed hits. The game industry is doing the same thing.

    The problem started as the cost of entry went up for developers and filmmakers. When it was cheaper to make movies, studios were (and smaller independents still are) more apt to make risky movies that don't fit into a rehashed, well trodden category. Same goes for game makers. You'll keep seeing Doom and Quake as long as Doom and Quake are easy to evolve and guaranteed to sell 15 million copies worldwide. The last thing any developer wants at this point is to throw an ungodly amount of money at a project and end up with another Daikatana.

    Also at fault are the publishers. Some publishers just won't take on specific games because they feel they won't sell. What you end up with is what we all have today. People wanting something new or different but when they're given it, they don't buy into it heavily enough to send the message to publishers that 'we want something new, and we really mean it'.

    If you're a smaller movie studio or smaller game shop, you can take bigger risks as long as you keep costs down. There have been some great indy films and smaller publisher games over the years.

  14. Re:protecting from viruses on Nasty New Virus Variants · · Score: 1

    Bleh, we already know what's correct, because everytime someone uses the word Virii on Slashdot the grammar nazis show up in force and remind us all, with hyperlinks, what the correct plural of virus is.

    My point being that due to the general public's acceptance of some words (such as drive thru), they eventually become a valid part of the English language. That's one of the benefits to having a living language. Also see 'aint' and 'dang'. Our teachers always told us those weren't real words also, but any unabridged dictionary should have them both.

  15. Re:protecting from viruses on Nasty New Virus Variants · · Score: 4, Funny

    It'll become a word if people keep using it enough.

    Virii virii virii!

  16. Re:protecting from viruses on Nasty New Virus Variants · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's great there. You endorse a product which is broken on your box.

    I got some nice swamp land in Florida for you if you're interested.

  17. Re:I used to vigilante too on eBay Fraud Vigilantes · · Score: 1

    Hahaha what a bullshit survey. They listed Mexico as number 2 for 'happiest place to live' and the rest were other 3rd world South American countries.

    If it's such a happy place to live, why do people from those countries risk their life to cross the border and work here illegally? Hmm.

  18. Re:sub-vocal communication on NASA Develops Tech To Hear Words Not Yet Spoken · · Score: 1

    You sound like one of the 2 million people that watched it just to see a cool plane. I know, we were all wrapped up in that Reagan-era war technology bs back then. Stealth this and hover that. ;)

  19. Re:Wow on Debian Installer Beta 3 Usability Review · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yeah, but the Gentoo-cursors package wouldn't install ALOT FASTER than other distributions.

    Gentoo people, can you back me up on this one? Gentoo is lightning quick from what I hear!

  20. Re:Whats his email? on Junkie Loves His Spam · · Score: 1

    How can you say NYC food is cheaper? The article said he bought Newports (blargh) for $2.85 a pack via spam, a third of what he pays at the corner store. A THIRD! So that means one pack of Newports, ghetto cigarettes, cost over $7 per pack.

    Even in Dallas and other big cities you'll pay about $3 per pack for Newports. Manhattan must be expensive as hell. I call BS on this article.

  21. Re:Suspicious... on Review Of Verizon's New Wireless Network · · Score: 1

    Sounds alot like satellite, which sucks ass too btw. My brother, unfortunately, lives in the boondocks and has to put up with satellite also. Crap upload speed, unacceptable ping, but decent download rates on warm clear days.

    One of these days you'll be able to live in the country or small towns and have broadband. The broadband revolution in the US sucks.

  22. Re:I for one do not welcome our Linux newbie under on HP Starts Pushing Desktop Linux · · Score: 1

    The home and Soho markets are the critical markets when it comes to all the crapware/spyware/virii that's plaguing Windows these days. 5 million owned drones at people's homes on dsl and cable are the result.

  23. Re:I for one do not welcome our Linux newbie under on HP Starts Pushing Desktop Linux · · Score: 1

    I'm all for forking when there are issues like this, but OEM packins will be the problem here. If HP is packing in crapware (like Dell and everyone else does), it'll become the de-facto standard and we'll be facing a new monoculture app-wise. Why do people use app X? Because it came with their computer. Same reason why everyone has used IE for the last 5 years, and Outlook/OE.

    I just hope the vendors don't forget that linux is about choice, first and foremost. Some egghead at these big OEMs needs to come up with a 'sets' policy that has a default set of apps enabled but encourages you to explore and use other sets and other apps.

  24. Re:Rough terrain's a bitch on Grand Challenge 1, Competitors 0 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Captured by Aibo? I think those things have enough room inside for a brick of c4, a detonator, and a remote triggering device.

    Hey what's this cute little robot doggie KABOOM!

  25. Re:But no Xvid? on ExtremeTech Wages War of the Codecs · · Score: 1

    Holy crap, there are still 9000 people who don't have the divx codec installed? That's just sad.

    At any rate, contribute the lack of divx to Microsoft's monopoly on media players and the codecs they use. Anyone can play wmvs in windows because it's MP's native format. Throw another standard codec into the mix and mp chokes.