First off, I said need access to a WinXP box. I do my development/othershit in Gentoo. So while it's annoying it's no responsible reason to leave a job.
I dunno about you but I can't just up and leave a job because the colour of the walls bothers me or something.
Second, when I do happen to use windows it's not to play some hand-me-down 2nd rate crappy FPS that other retards around here stick onto windows for. It's to build/test things.
So I keep windows on it to make money. Not to play games then brag about my l33t linux zkillz by having some auto-installed redhat distro on another partition....
Um why change distros? Just use Gentoo and be done with;-) Gentoo is so fucking modular that I doubt many people have "identical" installs a week after they set it up.
For instance, Gentoo is on 4 machines in my house. One has Apache 1.3.29, I run 2.0.49. I have tvtime on two boxes [tvtuner card] and not on the others. I use Gnome on my box and my laptop and the other two boxes use KDE, etc, etc, etc...
We all started from the 2004.0 CD and ended up with essentially four different boxes all suited to our different needs.
Now I'm not trying to be a Gentoo zealot. But for desktop/laptop machines it's definitely a smooth ride.
If you're just installing random OSes for the hoot of it then you're really not being smart about it. If you're reviewing OSes probably the best way is a clean slate as the developers intended?
As someone who develops software, play games, chats, listens to music, watches tv and browses the web I can't think of a really good reason to install FC2, SUSE and Debian all at once [or in any pairs, triples of combos]. I mean if gentoo had not existed I'm sure I could managed with FC2. Installing SUSE in another partition wouldn't help me any.
This is a similarly argument to those who develop security software and have a dozen ciphers, hashes, etc. All you need is one good one.
I'm not saying that people shouldn't work on the distros. Diversity is good [so is cross-porting stuff]. My point is find a distro that works and use it.
I don't *want* to waste 10GB for a windows partition [I made it fat32 so if I run out of space on my main 46GB partition [gentoo has three partitions] I can borrow from it] for an OS that I don't want to use [I do my browsing/chatting/development in Gentoo on my laptop when I'm not at my desktop].
I *need* to have a WinXP install handy for my job.
My question was more geared towards the average user who keeps Windows around "cuz of the games". My point is scrap windows, stop buying windows only games and play console games instead.
Of course you fail to mention that Windows doesn't have such a problem *ONLY* because it erases the MBR and denies access to other OSes.
At least GRUB/lilo attempt [and in my experience with lilo succeed] in giving you an option.
Besides, why would you want to dual boot anyways? Unless a job requires it stop being a half-ass sitting-on-the-fence loser and go all or nothing. Aside from games pretty much any util you'd need for windows is available in one form or another in OSS land.
As for games buy a PS2 or Xbox. Not only is the experience better [fewer crashes, common hardware] but its comfier [if you have your console next to say a big couch].
Windows is just a huge pain in the ass that *isn't* worth it. At least when it took me 3-4 days to figure out Gentoo on my Laptop the net-result was a Gentoo'ed laptop [fully functional] that supports my development habits and doesn't crash because the IDE driver or PowerNOW! driver feels like fucking up.
Who wants to dual boot into windows anyways? I recently got my laptop back from the manufacturer only to find out that Gentoo works fine on it but Windows [XP SP1 + all new patches] has troubles working with PowerNOW! clock throttling [repeated hangs]
I'm glad I made the devision 10GB/50GB [winxp/gentoo] cuz I'd hate to think about wasting any more resources on WinXP. If my job didn't require access to a WinXP box I'd just fdisk it out;-)
BTW: If anyone owns a Compaq 2180CA and wants to get gentoo going on it... um good luck. APIC doesn't work and ACPI causes interesting bugs [like you have to read from/dev/psaux to get the keyboard to respond....]. Though after some hacking [I had to "break" cpufreq a little to get it to detect a working PST] I've managed to get Gentoo working happily with all my hardware on the laptop.
While it's true that HALs require space they are dynamically linked in both Linux and Windows. So there goes that theory.
In fact you can write GUI apps in Windows with menus, dialog, buttons that are smaller than a couple dozen KB.
A lot of bloat comes from huge MFC/C++/etc libraries that get linked in [all or nothing] and serve merely as another languages wrapper around a C API.
I recall from the Borland days [my first C compiler for Windows] a simple OWL based hello world application was 80KB lines of code [though it did count headers], was a few hundred KB in size, etc...
In the case of games most decent games have small executables and huge data files. At best they are storing things wrong [e.g textures as BMP, sounds as WAV] instead of using compression [JPEG, Vorbis, etc...].
So really a "game" merely has to dynamically link against the HALs. In a way this is provided in other platforms. For example, the Gameboys [all of them] have had hardware 2d graphics. You load tile memory, set a sprite register or two and voila on screen sprite. You didn't have to mess with the LCD driver directly, etc, etc, etc...
Arrg this always pisses me off. Stupid self-appointed "engineers" of software.
Chances are if you're a computer programmer you're not a software developer nor a software engineer.
It's like saying "I'm a brick setter and professional engineer" [on the same job]. Doesn't happen. The people who design buildings usually don't do the grunt work.
Similarly most people who code-monkey [re: write bloated VB apps for crappy hardware/utilities] are not real software developers and not engineers in any sense of the word.
Not that I want to enter the "can software really be engineered" [I think it can]. I just hate lame-ass VB code monkey wanker losers thinking they're respectable developers because they can script out poorly working programs that don't adhere to standards [for messages, interface, etc...] and generally cause more problems then they solve.
[or whatever, I ain't no expert but I ams a canadian].
Just we ain't be saying them that way cuz well there are too many sylables in Aluminium and well Aunt sounds gay.
On the plus side I can say "appartment" not "flat" and nobody around here speaks pikee. We don't call each other mate and "bloody hell" is just something you don't say in public.
I run gentoo. I once removed mozilla [1.6] and replaced it with the latest and greatest of Firefox and Thunderbird. To my horror both are basically full copies of Mozilla with minor changes [one has the web client disabled the other the mail client]. Essentially both are 30MB tar.bz2's that waste a huge amount of ram when they are both loaded.
Really for the average user who might use both clients it's just better to run mozilla instead.
As for "how many features to include" honestly I think firefox is too big as it is. If it's *just* a web browser it ought to be smaller and take less ram. But it doesn't.
Though I think people miss the point of firefox. It's not meant to be smaller. It's meant to show off the leading edge. Though honestly most new features aren't that keen to be worth it.
Maybe but I think for the most part people "do your own crypto" for simple reasons
1. They don't know better
2. They're cheap
3. They're trying to get out the door quick as possible.
Mostly developers should know better [e.g. know that you don't know]. So it falls into #2 or #3.
Look at Mythic for instance. Their first authentication protocol was broken. So what did they do? Hash it out again only to get broken again. They're just cheap. I'm sure mythic knows crypto is hard they just hope the users don't.
The best service Bruce did was breaking protocols. He didn't break WinZip so really why does he have a fucking say in this at all? When he broke ORYX or CMEA I'd say he's entitled to a bit of press. But he's just milking it now.
Sure crypto is hard, I think the dude who broke WinZip should be the one saying it though not Bruce.
Don't get me wrong he's a keen guy to listen to [when the listening is free]. In as much as a comedian is funny to listen to.
As for being paid to dis WinZip it's so he can get his two little buzzphrases out there and plug his stupid company some more. He probably has a string on his back with a hoop attached that you can pull to make him say such neat truths.
[pull] The cryptographer says analyze your threat model.
[pull] Picking ciphers is the easy part.
[pull] Buy stocks in Counterpane.
[pull] Cryptography is uber-hard. Pay me money.
[pull] Conference talk? Sure 20,000$ in expenses.
[pull] I can't code but have a degree in comp.sci nonetheless.
[pull] It's like the south-mongolian traffic system, [long story], and that's why you see modem lights on cable modems.;-)
Tom
P.S. this was supposed to be "all in good fun". I'm not trying to belittle Bruce.
I was stating that "crypto is hard" is an OBVIOUS statement for any cryptographer. Heck, even before Schneier entered the scene crypto was hard.
My point is I'm tired of seeing Bruce being portrayed as genius for saying things like "you can't just pluck a cipher and make a secure system" or "crypto is hard" or....
There is a reason why the distinction as "snake oil" exists.
I think Bruce is a smart and clever fellow and he certainly knows what he's talking about.
However, I think *any* cryptographer will say "crypto is hard". Just like *any* heart surgeon will say "transplantation is hard."
Why people continually attribute such obvious tidbits of truth to him is beyond me. Here's a tip for you non-cryptographers out there.... Bruce isn't even an academic cryptographer!!! There are way smarter [Lenstra, Daemen, Matsui, Biham] cryptographers out there. If you want to quote cryptographers at least quote ones that have new and original things to say instead of the repetively tiring press-whore Schneier.
Um, calling a washroom a washroom makes sense. You can also WASH in the ROOM.
Though I agree the ergonomic synergy of pleasant sounding dullotic tonality syllables is really getting argentineously dubious to the average consumer.
[Yes, I made up half of those words, what's it to ya?]
Social Engineering is where you play on vulnerabilities in peoples "social interaction"... er "training" to get them to do things.
You're not always going to be stealing from people.
For instance, I could social engineer people who seem to be in a rush to stop and give me the time [ok not an exiciting s.e.] since that's what they're used to.
In this case he played on the insecurity of various clerks [do you really want to question people who seem to be authentic?] and their willingness to please.
A "con artist" solely wants profit from their social engineering.
No, deception but not illegal is called "modern business". It's gotten to the point that to make more money than your competitor you don't make a better product [why? Standards are fairly subjective nowadays]. Instead you trap your customers into useless deadend contracts and then tact on this charge and that charge.
Banks are by far the most useless institution I've seen. For instance, I get paid via cashier cheques made out to my name. However, if I walk into another branch of the same bank I can't cash the cheque despite the fact every teller has a new-fangled computer with a 17" LCD monitor [which probably cost serious coin].
Every time I see a teller it costs money. Whenver I cash my cheque it costs me money [2% + fee to change from USD to CDN]. Whenever I take out money from non-branch ABMs it costs me money. etc, etc, etc.
Then you get into bank hours which are often anywhere starting from 9 to 11am and ending from 3 to 5pm totally useless for students and the employed.
Then you get into the stupid tellers. Who rarely follow procedure [one teller will cash your cheque without a hold another with a 20 *BUSINESS* days hold].
Then commercials tell you "you are first, we are here to put you first, if you are not first then we are not doing out job to put you first. You are the first important job we deal with because as our first customer you will get the first attention you firstly deserve" which are just trying to hide the fact that banks don't give a rats ass about customers. If they can find a way to make a buck off a customer [including raping you up the ass when you're not looking] they'll certainly try.
Personally if I could find another way to turn a cashier cheque into rent+school+bill+food I would do it in a heart beat.
Back on topic. Phone companies pretty much work on the same M.O. Using stupid commercials to blindside the customer into signing 3yr contracts for plans they don't need, can't use and wouldn't want given the option. 60 "anytime minutes", unlimited weekends, 0.30$/m net access, bullshit bullshit bullshit.
Personally I'd love to see a plan "you pick up da phone and you can talk", no net, no ring tones no stupid extras. Just a fucking phone. These "value added gourmet quality" additions are just there to cover up the fact that you pay too much for the little coverage/service you get. It's like adding salt to dog shit and calling it steak.
Always scrutinize contracts, get things on tape if you have the time. When stupid charges pop up deny them. If they don't then withdraw absolutely every add-on [call display, voicemail, net access] that you don't need.
Not like you will "hurt" the company since there's always another moron to take your place but you can make "your" stand and at the very least have a lower bill to show for it [even if it still has a moron-fee] attached to it.
You missed my point though. As a customer I don't care if my cpu has NetBurst or that my ram has "pipeline burst" or that my sound card has a 96-bit DAC [well some would care about that... but...].
I just care that it enables me todo what I do. In my case that's www+email+music+tv+games+develop+write.
w.r.t. Apple's sales and technology I bought an x86 box because it's reliable enough for me to accomplish my goals, cheap enough to work in my budget and earned my respect through past observations.
For me to buy a Mac there would have to be either something really compelling [e.g. x86 vendors dried up].
Let's not forget that for the most part Apple doesn't make specific pieces of hardware. They buy their ram, cpus, mobos, etc from third parties just like Dell, Gateway and the other brands.
Again, Apple didn't lose a sale because I can put the Aqua theme on my desktop, or that I can watch QT movies without buying QT but because their overpriced desktops are not worth the purchase.
Put it another way, it's like if Pepsi doubled their price then blamed low sales on the fact that Coke copied their recipe.
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So you dual-boot a k-mart POS system?
I'm sure the 7$/h clerk really will make good use of that.
First off, I said need access to a WinXP box. I do my development/othershit in Gentoo. So while it's annoying it's no responsible reason to leave a job.
I dunno about you but I can't just up and leave a job because the colour of the walls bothers me or something.
Second, when I do happen to use windows it's not to play some hand-me-down 2nd rate crappy FPS that other retards around here stick onto windows for. It's to build/test things.
So I keep windows on it to make money. Not to play games then brag about my l33t linux zkillz by having some auto-installed redhat distro on another partition....
Tom
Um why change distros? Just use Gentoo and be done with ;-) Gentoo is so fucking modular that I doubt many people have "identical" installs a week after they set it up.
For instance, Gentoo is on 4 machines in my house. One has Apache 1.3.29, I run 2.0.49. I have tvtime on two boxes [tvtuner card] and not on the others. I use Gnome on my box and my laptop and the other two boxes use KDE, etc, etc, etc...
We all started from the 2004.0 CD and ended up with essentially four different boxes all suited to our different needs.
Now I'm not trying to be a Gentoo zealot. But for desktop/laptop machines it's definitely a smooth ride.
If you're just installing random OSes for the hoot of it then you're really not being smart about it. If you're reviewing OSes probably the best way is a clean slate as the developers intended?
As someone who develops software, play games, chats, listens to music, watches tv and browses the web I can't think of a really good reason to install FC2, SUSE and Debian all at once [or in any pairs, triples of combos]. I mean if gentoo had not existed I'm sure I could managed with FC2. Installing SUSE in another partition wouldn't help me any.
This is a similarly argument to those who develop security software and have a dozen ciphers, hashes, etc. All you need is one good one.
I'm not saying that people shouldn't work on the distros. Diversity is good [so is cross-porting stuff]. My point is find a distro that works and use it.
Tom
*wants* and *needs*.
I don't *want* to waste 10GB for a windows partition [I made it fat32 so if I run out of space on my main 46GB partition [gentoo has three partitions] I can borrow from it] for an OS that I don't want to use [I do my browsing/chatting/development in Gentoo on my laptop when I'm not at my desktop].
I *need* to have a WinXP install handy for my job.
My question was more geared towards the average user who keeps Windows around "cuz of the games". My point is scrap windows, stop buying windows only games and play console games instead.
Tom
Of course you fail to mention that Windows doesn't have such a problem *ONLY* because it erases the MBR and denies access to other OSes.
At least GRUB/lilo attempt [and in my experience with lilo succeed] in giving you an option.
Besides, why would you want to dual boot anyways? Unless a job requires it stop being a half-ass sitting-on-the-fence loser and go all or nothing. Aside from games pretty much any util you'd need for windows is available in one form or another in OSS land.
As for games buy a PS2 or Xbox. Not only is the experience better [fewer crashes, common hardware] but its comfier [if you have your console next to say a big couch].
Windows is just a huge pain in the ass that *isn't* worth it. At least when it took me 3-4 days to figure out Gentoo on my Laptop the net-result was a Gentoo'ed laptop [fully functional] that supports my development habits and doesn't crash because the IDE driver or PowerNOW! driver feels like fucking up.
Boo windows!
Who wants to dual boot into windows anyways? I recently got my laptop back from the manufacturer only to find out that Gentoo works fine on it but Windows [XP SP1 + all new patches] has troubles working with PowerNOW! clock throttling [repeated hangs]
;-)
/dev/psaux to get the keyboard to respond....]. Though after some hacking [I had to "break" cpufreq a little to get it to detect a working PST] I've managed to get Gentoo working happily with all my hardware on the laptop.
I'm glad I made the devision 10GB/50GB [winxp/gentoo] cuz I'd hate to think about wasting any more resources on WinXP. If my job didn't require access to a WinXP box I'd just fdisk it out
BTW: If anyone owns a Compaq 2180CA and wants to get gentoo going on it... um good luck. APIC doesn't work and ACPI causes interesting bugs [like you have to read from
Anyways... ya windows sucks. Boo windows!
I'm new here. Is this where I go into how much better Gentoo is?
;-)
Give it up man. *many* distros have got "bootloaders" down pat. This is just a bug, one I'm sure they're fix.
Besides Gentoo is *so* much better than Debian....
While it's true that HALs require space they are dynamically linked in both Linux and Windows. So there goes that theory.
In fact you can write GUI apps in Windows with menus, dialog, buttons that are smaller than a couple dozen KB.
A lot of bloat comes from huge MFC/C++/etc libraries that get linked in [all or nothing] and serve merely as another languages wrapper around a C API.
I recall from the Borland days [my first C compiler for Windows] a simple OWL based hello world application was 80KB lines of code [though it did count headers], was a few hundred KB in size, etc...
In the case of games most decent games have small executables and huge data files. At best they are storing things wrong [e.g textures as BMP, sounds as WAV] instead of using compression [JPEG, Vorbis, etc...].
So really a "game" merely has to dynamically link against the HALs. In a way this is provided in other platforms. For example, the Gameboys [all of them] have had hardware 2d graphics. You load tile memory, set a sprite register or two and voila on screen sprite. You didn't have to mess with the LCD driver directly, etc, etc, etc...
Tom
Gah? Oh I get it...
I know you are but what am I?
Arrg this always pisses me off. Stupid self-appointed "engineers" of software.
Chances are if you're a computer programmer you're not a software developer nor a software engineer.
It's like saying "I'm a brick setter and professional engineer" [on the same job]. Doesn't happen. The people who design buildings usually don't do the grunt work.
Similarly most people who code-monkey [re: write bloated VB apps for crappy hardware/utilities] are not real software developers and not engineers in any sense of the word.
Not that I want to enter the "can software really be engineered" [I think it can]. I just hate lame-ass VB code monkey wanker losers thinking they're respectable developers because they can script out poorly working programs that don't adhere to standards [for messages, interface, etc...] and generally cause more problems then they solve.
Feel my wrath for I am an angry fat man.
Tom
You can't be Canadian because you *think* we say eh.
Beat that ya hockey hoser.
Aunt =~=> Aw-nt.
Aluminium =~=> Al-ue-min-nee-um
[or whatever, I ain't no expert but I ams a canadian].
Just we ain't be saying them that way cuz well there are too many sylables in Aluminium and well Aunt sounds gay.
On the plus side I can say "appartment" not "flat" and nobody around here speaks pikee. We don't call each other mate and "bloody hell" is just something you don't say in public.
Oh and football is soccer.
Tom
That would rock. Cuz really my only serious gripe against the two is that they waste loads of memory [well and build time is annoyingly slow].
Some better NNTP support would be keen for thunderbird while we're at it.
I run gentoo. I once removed mozilla [1.6] and replaced it with the latest and greatest of Firefox and Thunderbird. To my horror both are basically full copies of Mozilla with minor changes [one has the web client disabled the other the mail client]. Essentially both are 30MB tar.bz2's that waste a huge amount of ram when they are both loaded.
Really for the average user who might use both clients it's just better to run mozilla instead.
As for "how many features to include" honestly I think firefox is too big as it is. If it's *just* a web browser it ought to be smaller and take less ram. But it doesn't.
Though I think people miss the point of firefox. It's not meant to be smaller. It's meant to show off the leading edge. Though honestly most new features aren't that keen to be worth it.
Tom
Maybe but I think for the most part people "do your own crypto" for simple reasons
1. They don't know better
2. They're cheap
3. They're trying to get out the door quick as possible.
Mostly developers should know better [e.g. know that you don't know]. So it falls into #2 or #3.
Look at Mythic for instance. Their first authentication protocol was broken. So what did they do? Hash it out again only to get broken again. They're just cheap. I'm sure mythic knows crypto is hard they just hope the users don't.
The best service Bruce did was breaking protocols. He didn't break WinZip so really why does he have a fucking say in this at all? When he broke ORYX or CMEA I'd say he's entitled to a bit of press. But he's just milking it now.
Sure crypto is hard, I think the dude who broke WinZip should be the one saying it though not Bruce.
Tom
Don't get me wrong he's a keen guy to listen to [when the listening is free]. In as much as a comedian is funny to listen to.
;-)
As for being paid to dis WinZip it's so he can get his two little buzzphrases out there and plug his stupid company some more. He probably has a string on his back with a hoop attached that you can pull to make him say such neat truths.
[pull] The cryptographer says analyze your threat model.
[pull] Picking ciphers is the easy part.
[pull] Buy stocks in Counterpane.
[pull] Cryptography is uber-hard. Pay me money.
[pull] Conference talk? Sure 20,000$ in expenses.
[pull] I can't code but have a degree in comp.sci nonetheless.
[pull] It's like the south-mongolian traffic system, [long story], and that's why you see modem lights on cable modems.
Tom
P.S. this was supposed to be "all in good fun". I'm not trying to belittle Bruce.
I think you misunderstood my post.
....
I was stating that "crypto is hard" is an OBVIOUS statement for any cryptographer. Heck, even before Schneier entered the scene crypto was hard.
My point is I'm tired of seeing Bruce being portrayed as genius for saying things like "you can't just pluck a cipher and make a secure system" or "crypto is hard" or
There is a reason why the distinction as "snake oil" exists.
Tom
I think Bruce is a smart and clever fellow and he certainly knows what he's talking about.
However, I think *any* cryptographer will say "crypto is hard". Just like *any* heart surgeon will say "transplantation is hard."
Why people continually attribute such obvious tidbits of truth to him is beyond me. Here's a tip for you non-cryptographers out there.... Bruce isn't even an academic cryptographer!!! There are way smarter [Lenstra, Daemen, Matsui, Biham] cryptographers out there. If you want to quote cryptographers at least quote ones that have new and original things to say instead of the repetively tiring press-whore Schneier.
Tom
Um, calling a washroom a washroom makes sense. You can also WASH in the ROOM.
Though I agree the ergonomic synergy of pleasant sounding dullotic tonality syllables is really getting argentineously dubious to the average consumer.
[Yes, I made up half of those words, what's it to ya?]
Social Engineering is where you play on vulnerabilities in peoples "social interaction" ... er "training" to get them to do things.
You're not always going to be stealing from people.
For instance, I could social engineer people who seem to be in a rush to stop and give me the time [ok not an exiciting s.e.] since that's what they're used to.
In this case he played on the insecurity of various clerks [do you really want to question people who seem to be authentic?] and their willingness to please.
A "con artist" solely wants profit from their social engineering.
Tom
No, deception but not illegal is called "modern business". It's gotten to the point that to make more money than your competitor you don't make a better product [why? Standards are fairly subjective nowadays]. Instead you trap your customers into useless deadend contracts and then tact on this charge and that charge.
Banks are by far the most useless institution I've seen. For instance, I get paid via cashier cheques made out to my name. However, if I walk into another branch of the same bank I can't cash the cheque despite the fact every teller has a new-fangled computer with a 17" LCD monitor [which probably cost serious coin].
Every time I see a teller it costs money. Whenver I cash my cheque it costs me money [2% + fee to change from USD to CDN]. Whenever I take out money from non-branch ABMs it costs me money. etc, etc, etc.
Then you get into bank hours which are often anywhere starting from 9 to 11am and ending from 3 to 5pm totally useless for students and the employed.
Then you get into the stupid tellers. Who rarely follow procedure [one teller will cash your cheque without a hold another with a 20 *BUSINESS* days hold].
Then commercials tell you "you are first, we are here to put you first, if you are not first then we are not doing out job to put you first. You are the first important job we deal with because as our first customer you will get the first attention you firstly deserve" which are just trying to hide the fact that banks don't give a rats ass about customers. If they can find a way to make a buck off a customer [including raping you up the ass when you're not looking] they'll certainly try.
Personally if I could find another way to turn a cashier cheque into rent+school+bill+food I would do it in a heart beat.
Back on topic. Phone companies pretty much work on the same M.O. Using stupid commercials to blindside the customer into signing 3yr contracts for plans they don't need, can't use and wouldn't want given the option. 60 "anytime minutes", unlimited weekends, 0.30$/m net access, bullshit bullshit bullshit.
Personally I'd love to see a plan "you pick up da phone and you can talk", no net, no ring tones no stupid extras. Just a fucking phone. These "value added gourmet quality" additions are just there to cover up the fact that you pay too much for the little coverage/service you get. It's like adding salt to dog shit and calling it steak.
That's my rant and I'm sticking to it.
Tom
Always scrutinize contracts, get things on tape if you have the time. When stupid charges pop up deny them. If they don't then withdraw absolutely every add-on [call display, voicemail, net access] that you don't need.
Not like you will "hurt" the company since there's always another moron to take your place but you can make "your" stand and at the very least have a lower bill to show for it [even if it still has a moron-fee] attached to it.
Tom
You missed my point though. As a customer I don't care if my cpu has NetBurst or that my ram has "pipeline burst" or that my sound card has a 96-bit DAC [well some would care about that... but...].
I just care that it enables me todo what I do. In my case that's www+email+music+tv+games+develop+write.
w.r.t. Apple's sales and technology I bought an x86 box because it's reliable enough for me to accomplish my goals, cheap enough to work in my budget and earned my respect through past observations.
For me to buy a Mac there would have to be either something really compelling [e.g. x86 vendors dried up].
Let's not forget that for the most part Apple doesn't make specific pieces of hardware. They buy their ram, cpus, mobos, etc from third parties just like Dell, Gateway and the other brands.
Again, Apple didn't lose a sale because I can put the Aqua theme on my desktop, or that I can watch QT movies without buying QT but because their overpriced desktops are not worth the purchase.
Put it another way, it's like if Pepsi doubled their price then blamed low sales on the fact that Coke copied their recipe.
Tom
it's only 10 letters long. So really you could just list all valid 10 letter english phrases then see which follow the rules for an Enigma machine.
Tom
3000$ an hour in legal fees?
I'll say this for Mr Gates to the lawyers... GO FUCK YOURSELVES!
Tom