Linux is what you need it to be. Thanks to feedback like you give in the above post, the developers know where they stand. One of the major benefits of the bazaar style development cycle is that user feedback is crutial to continued development.
In reeding all of these posts you can see that, while "the linux desktop" has some issues which need to be adressed before it becomes the standard, these issues are being adressed.
Even if you have never written a line or code in your life, you can contribute to the development of linux. As a linux user you will find many opportunities to give feedback to the community. This is the true power of our development style. Please keep the feedback coming so we can make linux better for YOU (and your gradma).
This is why we love linux. The users are truely involved, and it is OUR OS.
A do agree with this post. One day I decided to create a female Barbarian Beastlord and I ran her out into the world. Before I got to my newbie zone I had been given two items and high level shaman buffs. Unfortunatley I can't RP a female so I deleted her 10 levels in.
The Flip side of this story is that according to several surverys about 25% of EQ players are female IRL. My Main character is a Half-elf Paladin and the Ladies just love him. I have been offered help and items from female characters many times.
I was diagnised with Tourette Syndrome (which ADHD is one of the many symptoms) in 5th grade. From 5th grade to the time I was 18 I ran the gauntlet of every ADHD drug on the market, Orap, deceprimine, ridilan,... ect. Skip to high school drop out... ect. So I move out on my own and guess what, I forget to take my drugs, doh.
That was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I recommend that you learn to deal with you ADHD without these highly mind altering drugs.
I rescently graduated with a degree in mathematics from the University of Delaware. I never could have done that on those drug. I do have to pace alot when I think, and I can only code for about two hours a sitting without taking a break, sometimes less.
Even the non ADDErs will agree, humans were not ment to sit in cubicals for 8 hours. You now posess an excuse to get out take a break. Congratulations.
I spent yesterday afternoon scrounging through my spare computer parts box trying to get enough peices together to build my sister a new machine for her new apartment. She has no money with moving/baby costs, so any machine would do. I ended up putting together a PIII 700, 256MB RAM. cheap everything else machine running Red Hat.
The point is that most/.ers could find enough parts to build a machine like that in their closet right now, but your average person can't.
If you want to play games you really need to build your own PC these days, so lets exculde the gamers. The hard core computation people all have nice goverment grants to buy fast clusters now, so we can exclude them. So... What else is left... Surfing the web and email, with the occasional office appliction thrown in. Why pay $1500 for that. In fact I belive that most people barely push their CPU's at all in their common, day to day computer operations, so why should they waste their money on an uber powerful computer.
While I'm sure that my above list of high end machine needs is incomplete (please don't mod me down as flamebait, I'm just making apoint), The point is that the casual gamer can buy an Xbox for $300, why can't the casual web surfer buy a computer for $300.
I just graduated from the University of Delaware with a math degree. I really would have loved to learn more about electronics but the only time I got to touch any of it was in a Physics 2 lab. Alot of the engineers complain about Calc not being relavant because the math people who teach it don't know how to make it relavant.
Luckily the department at Delaware is bringing in alot of "hands on" mathematicians and in fact just built a lab for E&M and fluids in the math department. While math people will still never do engineering, It is interesting to see a mathematician laugh about the fact that their solution to the Navier-Stokes equations actually works in the lab. They almost seem suprised.
So I guess thet point is, maybe getting applied math professors into labs is the way to make their curriculum more relavant.
Non fiction writer James Gleick just came out with a new book on Issac Newton (Computers are easy- try hacking together a model of the universe). If you likes Genius, Faster, and Chaos (which I hope that you've read, if not I HIGHLY remommend them), then you will love this book. My only complaint is that it is way too short.
I am also graduating in a few weeks and am looking for a programming job. I majored in mathematics, and have always seen computer science as field of mathematics. A degree in Mathematics or Electrical Engineering will prepare you for a job as a code monkey almost as well as a Comp Sci degree, and it will prepare you for a job an many other fields as well. In fact most of your comp sci professors probably majored in math or EE.
The markets are always changing. If you only want to write code, I don't know what to tell you. I do feel confident that businesses will always need geeks. If you are flexable you can always find a fun job.
Let me begin be saying, we all saw Lord of The Rings and we are all posting to/., so we are all a little geekish anyway.
One interesting point that this post missed is the immense failure of EQOA for PS2. EQ, if anything, is difficult. To make a sweeping stereotype, most console gamers do not have near the ammount of computer knowlege or experience that a PC gamer has. If you put a game as difficult as EQ in front of them then they can tend to get a little frustrated. EQ is definatly not a good first MMORPG for this reason. Maybe this is why most players are older. If these kids get their parents to spend $400 on an xbox and $80 a month on games, I seriously doubt that $12 for a subscription is that hard to get.
My second point is in responce to an above comment. I have a windows partition specifically for EQ and Warcraft III. If the Sony people read this, please make a linux version. If any game could suceed on linux, EQ is the one. It almost works under winex (thanks transgaming), but a directly supported version would be great.
Anyway, let you kids play Diablo, I'm off to Norrath.
Slashdot Mirror
Something to think about.
This is the point.
Linux is what you need it to be. Thanks to feedback like you give in the above post, the developers know where they stand. One of the major benefits of the bazaar style development cycle is that user feedback is crutial to continued development.
In reeding all of these posts you can see that, while "the linux desktop" has some issues which need to be adressed before it becomes the standard, these issues are being adressed.
Even if you have never written a line or code in your life, you can contribute to the development of linux. As a linux user you will find many opportunities to give feedback to the community. This is the true power of our development style. Please keep the feedback coming so we can make linux better for YOU (and your gradma).
This is why we love linux. The users are truely involved, and it is OUR OS.
/say Tell me about these game-contained principles
/boo
grrr... This quest must be broken!!
A do agree with this post. One day I decided to create a female Barbarian Beastlord and I ran her out into the world. Before I got to my newbie zone I had been given two items and high level shaman buffs. Unfortunatley I can't RP a female so I deleted her 10 levels in.
The Flip side of this story is that according to several surverys about 25% of EQ players are female IRL. My Main character is a Half-elf Paladin and the Ladies just love him. I have been offered help and items from female characters many times.
I was diagnised with Tourette Syndrome (which ADHD is one of the many symptoms) in 5th grade. From 5th grade to the time I was 18 I ran the gauntlet of every ADHD drug on the market, Orap, deceprimine, ridilan, ... ect. Skip to high school drop out... ect. So I move out on my own and guess what, I forget to take my drugs, doh.
That was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I recommend that you learn to deal with you ADHD without these highly mind altering drugs.
I rescently graduated with a degree in mathematics from the University of Delaware. I never could have done that on those drug. I do have to pace alot when I think, and I can only code for about two hours a sitting without taking a break, sometimes less.
Even the non ADDErs will agree, humans were not ment to sit in cubicals for 8 hours. You now posess an excuse to get out take a break. Congratulations.
I spent yesterday afternoon scrounging through my spare computer parts box trying to get enough peices together to build my sister a new machine for her new apartment. She has no money with moving/baby costs, so any machine would do. I ended up putting together a PIII 700, 256MB RAM. cheap everything else machine running Red Hat.
/.ers could find enough parts to build a machine like that in their closet right now, but your average person can't.
The point is that most
If you want to play games you really need to build your own PC these days, so lets exculde the gamers. The hard core computation people all have nice goverment grants to buy fast clusters now, so we can exclude them. So... What else is left... Surfing the web and email, with the occasional office appliction thrown in. Why pay $1500 for that. In fact I belive that most people barely push their CPU's at all in their common, day to day computer operations, so why should they waste their money on an uber powerful computer.
While I'm sure that my above list of high end machine needs is incomplete (please don't mod me down as flamebait, I'm just making apoint), The point is that the casual gamer can buy an Xbox for $300, why can't the casual web surfer buy a computer for $300.
Flip out and write MATLAB code
I just graduated from the University of Delaware with a math degree. I really would have loved to learn more about electronics but the only time I got to touch any of it was in a Physics 2 lab. Alot of the engineers complain about Calc not being relavant because the math people who teach it don't know how to make it relavant.
Luckily the department at Delaware is bringing in alot of "hands on" mathematicians and in fact just built a lab for E&M and fluids in the math department. While math people will still never do engineering, It is interesting to see a mathematician laugh about the fact that their solution to the Navier-Stokes equations actually works in the lab. They almost seem suprised.
So I guess thet point is, maybe getting applied math professors into labs is the way to make their curriculum more relavant.
Non fiction writer James Gleick just came out with a new book on Issac Newton (Computers are easy- try hacking together a model of the universe). If you likes Genius, Faster, and Chaos (which I hope that you've read, if not I HIGHLY remommend them), then you will love this book. My only complaint is that it is way too short.
I am also graduating in a few weeks and am looking for a programming job. I majored in mathematics, and have always seen computer science as field of mathematics. A degree in Mathematics or Electrical Engineering will prepare you for a job as a code monkey almost as well as a Comp Sci degree, and it will prepare you for a job an many other fields as well. In fact most of your comp sci professors probably majored in math or EE.
The markets are always changing. If you only want to write code, I don't know what to tell you. I do feel confident that businesses will always need geeks. If you are flexable you can always find a fun job.
Let me begin be saying, we all saw Lord of The Rings and we are all posting to /., so we are all a little geekish anyway.
One interesting point that this post missed is the immense failure of EQOA for PS2. EQ, if anything, is difficult. To make a sweeping stereotype, most console gamers do not have near the ammount of computer knowlege or experience that a PC gamer has. If you put a game as difficult as EQ in front of them then they can tend to get a little frustrated. EQ is definatly not a good first MMORPG for this reason. Maybe this is why most players are older. If these kids get their parents to spend $400 on an xbox and $80 a month on games, I seriously doubt that $12 for a subscription is that hard to get.
My second point is in responce to an above comment. I have a windows partition specifically for EQ and Warcraft III. If the Sony people read this, please make a linux version. If any game could suceed on linux, EQ is the one. It almost works under winex (thanks transgaming), but a directly supported version would be great.
Anyway, let you kids play Diablo, I'm off to Norrath.
Ikeda
20 Gnome Enchanter