Don't confuse IDC (International Data Corporation, the company that I'm talking about) with IDG. They're two different companies. IDG is the company that does the whole LinuxWorld thing.
1. The whole Indian situation makes no sense; the US government is not going to give up control of half the country to 2 million people and displace ten times that many.
And how, exactly, did the US government have a choice?
They aren't going to start herding them into death camps and executing them en masse either, unless the public goes totally mad.
Or unless the natives were magically active and the public was fed propaganda...
It looks like what you are trying to do is remove the influence of magic on the game's history.
With the class of magic that the Shadowrun universe has, most of the magic related events (great ghost dance, etc) make perfect sense. You just arn't willing to accept the suspention of disbelief.
The whole point of a role playing game is to take a set of givens and to play with them. In Shadowrun, Magic is one of the givens. Eithor accept it or go play a different game, don't post to Slashdot that Magic isn't realistic.
This is one of the few cases where copyright has a good effect. Only the copyright holder can permit the editing of their movie, and hopefully they will refuse to do so.
Because RPM only knows about other software that was installed through RPM. If you use non-RPM methods to install *anything* that another package might depend on, you'll get dependancy errors later. RPM is optimal for systems where *all* the software is installed through RPM.
Windows doesn't differentiate between "view" and "execute". It uses the same command (double click) for both. Double clicking a.vbs file executes it, while double clicking a.txt file opens it in a viewer. Combined with the default Windows setting of "don't show extentions" this is a OS error if I ever heard one.
On the other hand, this is another example of user stupidity. People have to be told that "You just don't run stuff from an untrusted source."
The problem is, with Windows, that becomes "You just don't open stuff from an untrusted source."
Hmm... I think this *is* an OS and application error. (Operating System for lack of View/Execute distinction, Applications such as MS Office for allowing data files to do system calls.)
Demanding technical savvy of users is akin to demanding that drivers know how to tune up their car's engine.
It's more like demanding that drivers learn how to drive before causing an accident on the highway.
It wouldn't make sense to demand that every use r learns how to program, but demanding that they know the basics of using a computer makes a damn lot of sense - and Gnome or KDE aren't any harder to learn than any other desktop system out there, they're probably easier.
A: Intelectual Property is not property as used in the fifth amendment.
B: Microsoft is not a "Person".
C: Due process of law created monopoly laws that make it illegal to abuse a monopoly. Due process of law can create a law that disallows propriatary document formats from a company with monopoly power.
Your thought process shows it's flaws in this statement:
* I obtain a gun. This reduces the threat to myself some amount, and increases the threat to everybody else by some amount. But this amount is shared.
By getting a gun for personal protection, you do not increase the threat to everyone else, you decrease it. The knowledge that you may have a gun is a deterrant to would be violent criminals. Your statement assumes that *everyone* is a would be violent criminal. I personally take that as an insult.
Besides - everything is taxed nowadays. Gas is nearly at $2/gal although if you cut out the taxes it would be closer to half of that.
This one's actually really weird. AFAIK gas actually should cost $4 to $5 a gallon, but government subsidies bring that down to around $1 a gallon, then it is taxed, bringing it back up to $1.50 to $2 a gallon.
All I can say is "That's pretty fucked up right there!".
Napster *is* the moral equivilent of a gun. They're both tools - morally nil.
On the other hand, using Napster to copy music is morally completely different from using a gun to hold up a music store - napster doesn't qualify as "threat of deadly force".
Napster has control over the songs distributed using their protocal The users are in control of what they offer and what they download.
No technological advance can prevent them from seeing and procecting copyright violations Not even strongly encrypted, non-centralized, anonymizing networks.
First he admits that he knows jack about computers and the internet, then he goes on to display a complete lack of understanding of the questions.
He would have been able to give significantly better answers if someone had *explained* to him some of the technological issues involved.
He doesn't even seem to grasp that Napster is an issue of peer to peer file trading. He completely misses that Napster is no more offering unauthorized Metallica music than Network Solutions is offering books through Amazon.com!
I especially liked this following bit:
Now, are we aware of the Gnutellas and all these other things? Of course we are, but you can only take it one step at a time. And I believe, and the people that we talk to about this, we believe, that the minute some of these companies become active, when they basically come to a point that they become fully funcitonal, we believe that there will be technology and a way to go after them in the way they can invent this technology and make it untraceable.
Yea, that's it, you go after the "companies" that make software such as Gnutella. And when that doesn't work, come try to use your magic methods to break strong cryptography and distributed anonymizing networks... I'll happily continue trading files unbothered... that's whatever files I want to trade, be it Metallica's new hit album or the DeCSS code or my new master plan to take over tofu production in Eastern Europe.
Legally, the US *is* standardized on the Metric system. All our imperial units are legally defined in terms of metric units. It would just be absurdly difficult to get the american people to switch, we're all used to imperial units.
Sure, until Gnome 1.3.9.1.5 comes out and then you have to upgrade all you're fricking libraries and download a hundred RPMs or compile a bunch of crap in order to make it work properly. Then a week later when Gnome 1.3.9.1.6 comes out you have to do it all again:P
The GNOME included with Red Hat 6.2 works just fine. There's no reason to upgrade if you don't have the technical know-how to do it. Just use RPMs to update anything you have to until the next version of Red Hat comes out, and pay the $5 to get a new CD...
P.S. not knocking Linux or nothing cuz I love it myself:) but it's certainly not for my parents. They're happy with their iMac:)
Well, truth is you *are* knocking Linux when you say it's not for your parents. Unless your parents are significantly stupider than mine are, or really old and senile, they should have no trouble with a modern Linux distro. (Like Red Hat or Debian)
If they are happy with their iMac and don't need to do anything that it can't do, then there's probably no special reason for them to switch to Linux, but that doesn't mean that Linux wouldn't work for them.
A properly set up Linux system can actually be easier to use than a comparible Mac or Windows system.
Slashdot Mirror
I prefer the following questions:
Even if some few americans could get #1 above, no american could get #2.
Nope, not recently. Red Hat 6.2 does not even include libgif, it's got libungif.
Don't confuse IDC (International Data Corporation, the company that I'm talking about) with IDG. They're two different companies. IDG is the company that does the whole LinuxWorld thing.
Hey, any OS update could be delayed because the primary programmer / project head was on vacation.
With linux, you get to hear about it.
At this point, Red Hat Linux 6.x is an acceptable O/S for a non-computer expert to use.
If you don't want to do the install yourself, I'm sure a member of your local LUG would be glad to help you.
And how, exactly, did the US government have a choice?
Or unless the natives were magically active and the public was fed propaganda...
It looks like what you are trying to do is remove the influence of magic on the game's history.
With the class of magic that the Shadowrun universe has, most of the magic related events (great ghost dance, etc) make perfect sense. You just arn't willing to accept the suspention of disbelief.
The whole point of a role playing game is to take a set of givens and to play with them. In Shadowrun, Magic is one of the givens. Eithor accept it or go play a different game, don't post to Slashdot that Magic isn't realistic.
For some things, I would trust their word more than I would trust certain legal systems.
This is one of the few cases where copyright has a good effect. Only the copyright holder can permit the editing of their movie, and hopefully they will refuse to do so.
This is an advantage?
The last numbers that I saw for desktop OS's were as follows: (I think this was from IDC)
Total desktop computers worldwide: ~200 million.
That puts Linux at about 8 million users...
Because RPM only knows about other software that was installed through RPM. If you use non-RPM methods to install *anything* that another package might depend on, you'll get dependancy errors later. RPM is optimal for systems where *all* the software is installed through RPM.
Windows doesn't differentiate between "view" and "execute". It uses the same command (double click) for both. Double clicking a .vbs file executes it, while double clicking a .txt file opens it in a viewer. Combined with the default Windows setting of "don't show extentions" this is a OS error if I ever heard one.
On the other hand, this is another example of user stupidity. People have to be told that "You just don't run stuff from an untrusted source."
The problem is, with Windows, that becomes "You just don't open stuff from an untrusted source."
Hmm... I think this *is* an OS and application error. (Operating System for lack of View/Execute distinction, Applications such as MS Office for allowing data files to do system calls.)
It's more like demanding that drivers learn how to drive before causing an accident on the highway.
It wouldn't make sense to demand that every use r learns how to program, but demanding that they know the basics of using a computer makes a damn lot of sense - and Gnome or KDE aren't any harder to learn than any other desktop system out there, they're probably easier.
A: Intelectual Property is not property as used in the fifth amendment.
B: Microsoft is not a "Person".
C: Due process of law created monopoly laws that make it illegal to abuse a monopoly. Due process of law can create a law that disallows propriatary document formats from a company with monopoly power.
Your thought process shows it's flaws in this statement:
By getting a gun for personal protection, you do not increase the threat to everyone else, you decrease it. The knowledge that you may have a gun is a deterrant to would be violent criminals. Your statement assumes that *everyone* is a would be violent criminal. I personally take that as an insult.
Yea, and I have figures here showing that there are fewer deaths from heat stroke in Alaska than in Texas!
It might be worthwhile to check out the following:
This one's actually really weird. AFAIK gas actually should cost $4 to $5 a gallon, but government subsidies bring that down to around $1 a gallon, then it is taxed, bringing it back up to $1.50 to $2 a gallon.
All I can say is "That's pretty fucked up right there!".
If you release a modified Linux binary, you must also make avalable all the source nessisary for someone else to make an identical Linux binary.
Napster *is* the moral equivilent of a gun. They're both tools - morally nil.
On the other hand, using Napster to copy music is morally completely different from using a gun to hold up a music store - napster doesn't qualify as "threat of deadly force".
The users are in control of what they offer and what they download.
Not even strongly encrypted, non-centralized, anonymizing networks.
First he admits that he knows jack about computers and the internet, then he goes on to display a complete lack of understanding of the questions.
He would have been able to give significantly better answers if someone had *explained* to him some of the technological issues involved.
He doesn't even seem to grasp that Napster is an issue of peer to peer file trading. He completely misses that Napster is no more offering unauthorized Metallica music than Network Solutions is offering books through Amazon.com!
I especially liked this following bit:
Yea, that's it, you go after the "companies" that make software such as Gnutella. And when that doesn't work, come try to use your magic methods to break strong cryptography and distributed anonymizing networks... I'll happily continue trading files unbothered... that's whatever files I want to trade, be it Metallica's new hit album or the DeCSS code or my new master plan to take over tofu production in Eastern Europe.
They might as well compare QNX to BeOS...
And *Corel* Linux? What are they smoking. They just had to choose the most useless Linux distro avalible.
(FAQ: What is Corel Linux? A: Debian linux with apt broken.)
Their catigories are somewhat meaningless. They knew before they started that "Installation" for MacOS is a null point.
Their "Linux Expert" didn't know his `cat` from his `fortune`. He just spouted the standard "Corel Linux vs. Slackware 3.0 and Windows 95" lines.
They should try "Red Hat 6.2 vs Mac OS 9" with the following catigories:
Legally, the US *is* standardized on the Metric system. All our imperial units are legally defined in terms of metric units. It would just be absurdly difficult to get the american people to switch, we're all used to imperial units.
The GNOME included with Red Hat 6.2 works just fine. There's no reason to upgrade if you don't have the technical know-how to do it. Just use RPMs to update anything you have to until the next version of Red Hat comes out, and pay the $5 to get a new CD...
Well, truth is you *are* knocking Linux when you say it's not for your parents. Unless your parents are significantly stupider than mine are, or really old and senile, they should have no trouble with a modern Linux distro. (Like Red Hat or Debian)
If they are happy with their iMac and don't need to do anything that it can't do, then there's probably no special reason for them to switch to Linux, but that doesn't mean that Linux wouldn't work for them.
A properly set up Linux system can actually be easier to use than a comparible Mac or Windows system.
I call Ganymede!