If you really think you're in the right fight it and then counter-sue, big-time. If the RIAA loses a couple million to a 23 yr old computer nerd fresh out of college [or whatever] that will be a huge blow to their public rampage [because really all these lawsuits are a private matter anyways].
Extortion would be like "pay up or I'll tell people you're gay" or something like that.
Telling people "you violated my civil rights and I'm going to sue you. Either settle or pay up bigger in court" is not only perfectly legal but totally humble.
Let's not forget these are people who are listening to music from artists without paying for it first.
If it happens some of them were on P2P networks but sharing allowable Indy stuff or whatever than fight it in court, countersue, etc. But if you happen to be "sharing" pirated audio then you screwed up.
This is just plain wrong. While I agree that windows has bloat around I think you'll find alot of the bloat is in 3rd party or at least non-core applications like Office, etc...
That being said you can certain run WinXP in a resource limited device. My laptop routinely sits at 530Mhz [4x133] while I'm tinkering around in windows and it's just fine. Though my laptop has 240MB of ram free for windows, windows itself only uses about 30MB at most [uses alot for cache]. So you could easily squeeze the core windows and applications written properly in 96MB of ram and a 500Mhz processor. Which last I checked would make such a box about 5 years old thereabouts.
You don't need a 3Ghz 4GB ram box to use windows. You need that to run the 3rd party apps all written in Java/.NET/C++\MFC using the latest raster pexel-pipelining super eyecandy bullshit. Specially games. 9/10 games have no actual gameplay and just eyecandy. Just a sign of the times...
I totally agree that in that respect windows is flawed. It should have came out of the box with it's services disabled. But that isn't good marketing...
That being said I've installed windowsa a-many times and have yet to get infected with anything. Sole reason....firewall. I don't let every yahoo and nutjob from the web send my machine packets which means I'm fairly invulnerable to these lame attacks. I still patch my box but I don't worry about it as much.
If you actually look up the definition of Distribution from which Distro comes from it's quite conceivable to think that RH6 and RH9 are different collections of tools hence difference distributions.
NT4 and XP are different distros though. That's like telling RH to upgrade your RH6 servers to RH9 for free with support.
As for daily updates go and try gentoo out. Though the updates aren't daily there is usually at least one or two things a week to rebuild on a decently complicated install [e.g. servers, kde, tetex, etc..]
The point is OSS software gets updated/patched quite often too. So saying windows sucks because there are too many patches is kind of hypocritical.
Are you kidding? The whole OSS philosophy is wrapped around release early release often. Maybe openssl doesn't follow this [though it has had it share of bugs] many other things [kernel for instance] follow this model.
This isn't "my wang is longer than your wang". The lesson is both streams have bugs and you have to patch both often to keep decently cought up.
I mean I can go fetch a RH6 cd of the shelf, install it and get rooted. What do you say then of your beloved OSS?
It's what I would expect. See he prolly has more important things to worry about. E.g. the next kernel, his job, feeding his family then defending the next tit-for-tat msft vs. linux flame war.
Personally I would be concerned if all he did was fan the flame wars...
Um I agree great hype is placed on "current tech". But how many people really use MFC? I still code guis using the same win32api in C used way back in the day. You know why? Because 99% it "just works" and doesn't take excessive effort.
There is no need to learn C#, MFC, ASP, and all the other MSFT hype aside from filling out checkboxes on a resume.
Which is why when people tell me "I know Java, ASP, C#, C++, Perl,... yada yada" I ask "so what? What have you done with them?"
Usually the answer is "I wouldn't give away programs I write". Implying that OSS development is beneath them.
Anyways, my point is in windows you can code in basically any language you want. You just have to install the tools [mostly free] to do so. The fact that people are trying to wrap themselves in MSFT goodness so they can check things on their resume isn't MSFTs fault strictly.
Quite frankly there are probably legitimate uses to half of the things MSFT comes up with. Not that I'd personally choose to use any of them myself. But whatever, you install windows server and want fast scripting ASP is prolly a good choice.
Just like in almost any nix install bash is the default shell. Are we to say GNU/Linux is evil because "everyone and their dog" uses bash? No. Why? Cuz you can install csh, tcsh, zsh, etc...Just like in windows you can install ActivePerl, cygwin [which gives you gcc, ruby, python, bash, etc...],...
AMD is no better. Barton processors are wickedly overclockable but sold at a few settings [e.g. 1.8, 2.1 and 2.2 Ghz].
There is a bit of "n00b-defence" in this though. It's very easy to overclock and damage a Barton since the multipliers aren't locked at all [heck you can run a 3000+ at 11.5x200 just fine].
That being said anyone who uses anything but the default should be responsible for their changes.
As for the 2MB vs. 8MB chances are it is different firmware/controller and they have an abundance of one [or both].
That's just it. A "web browser" is no longer purely an HTML renderer. In windows for example it can be setup to preview JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc.
And the interface is similar to FTP for all intents and purposes. That is you need to list directories, files, be able to move back, up to parent, etc...
If you're going to have a browser with decent FTP browsing you might as well spend the extra little effort and make it browse local directories/netmount stuff too.
I don't see the problem with that. I mean aren't dll/so's supposed to cut down on the amount of junk required to be loaded?
To reply to another reply to my original reply, [phew!] MSFT is a monopoly but not because they put IE on the desktop. Because they bullied competitors into using Windows over other OSes. I mean I could just as easily disable IE such that whenever I want to read email or browse "the web" [e.g. ftp/http] I use Opera or Mozilla.
MSFT doesn't do jackshit to stop people from using other browsers, media players, games, themes, etc...
Hell you could just remove explorer all together. But then you wouldn't be able to use most windows programs.
In fact that may be an interesting project. Take the winxp kernel, ditch the explorer/GUI and re-write it from scratch.
Would you say the same if store bought computers with Lindows had Mozilla by default?
Or does your rant only apply when MSFT is in question?
And btw, integrating the browser with the OS [this particular OS] *makes sense*. Similar to KDE the file browser/explorer re-uses the codebase as the web browser.
And it isn't as if you can't just as easilly install opera, netscape or mozilla in Windows. If you want to waste diskspace and ram go right ahead.
Just like my Gentoo box with KDE I only use Konqueror because that just makese sense. I certainly don't blame the KDE team for making Konqueror so universal. In fact I like flexibility provided by the layout.
As you kinda alluded to the "good" uses for these pieces of software is what should be the focus. I think the point is that you can't outlaw technology or research solely because it may have a negative use.
I mean what of all the military arms that Bush and co. like making? So I'm to take it that someone making DVD decoding software is abigger risk to the world than a nation with a massive stock of WMDs....
Compiling on a cluster? I want to work where you do. When I develop my for $$$ software and my free stuff I almost always have to use my laptop or homebox or whatever.
I think the only people using clusters to build software work at telcom firms or say MSFT.
As for the "office apps" comments it depends really. MSFT launches a huge number of threads for all sorts of things going on. Aside for first time loading [e.g. not in cache] OpenOffice is always faster than I am [e.g. I don't have to wait for pages to render or keystrokes to get added to pages].
The trick which laptops use nicely [and desktops should really consider] is a 2Ghz cpu doesn't have to be 2Ghz all the time. Transmeta cpus for example can scale to a bunch of speeds/voltage to match the idle time.
I know from experience that my Athlon-M 2400+ can hit speeds like 530Mhz, 1430Mhz and 1789Mhz [or so]. I think it can hit things inbetween as well.
Anyways, It's really faulty to think older machines were more responsive because there are a lot of factors that come into play. Specially if you consider how much more we expect of computers nowadays [like on-screen fonts, graphics, tables]. Recall the text-based editors which would strictly be text with no fancy inline graphics, fonts, colours, etc...
I think if we all ran WordPerfect 5.0 for DOS on say a 2Ghz Athlon and a 4Mhz 8086 we would probably notice that the Athlon is faster or as fast for the task at hand....
I use OpenOffice on my Presario laptop and my Athlon-M cpu sits at 530Mhz [it's capable of 1.8Ghz] all the time [that's it's lowest setting].
In fact even during the install of OpenOffice it stayed at 530Mhz.
What does this mean? It means bottlenecks other than the CPU. In this case the disk, but what do you expect, openoffice installs to about 200MB or so. I'd love to see how fast a XT class machine could write 200MB to disk [heck assuming it could even hold that much!]. That being said when OpenOffice is running it's smooth, responsive and takes little cpu time [cuz my cpu sits at 530Mhz].
In fact the only thing so far that can get the cpu speed up all the way is compilations [no duh].
So you're part right. Yes bloat is a problem for speed but only if you use the wrong software. You can use "spiffy new" software, just not if it comes from MSFT.
I'm sorry, the US was meddling in foreign affairs long before Bush was in power. Watch "bowling for columbine" and write down all of the nations/times where the US changed foreign nations policies [e.g. by overthowing the government].
The problem is the average "god bless american" citizen is so full of patriotic bullshit that they can't just step back, say "THAT AIN'T RIGHT" and vote out militant leaders. Of course democracy is a sham anyways. I mean look at the public debates. They're nothing more than shouting matches and insult flings.
When the potential leaders you can vote for act like 3 yr old kids whenever they meet someone that for all intents and purposes "just isn't them" [for the most part I'd say most leaders have similar goals/views/etc]. Then I think democracy is a sham.
Anyways on point, this "omg something scary, must be 1984" bullshit is really sad. First off, America has been a world-class bully for over fifty years [long before 1984]. The "we're all that" bullshit attitude goes back over two centuries...
The fact that americans are now paranoid is not anything surprising, just sad as it has long since been predictable.
Your comment on GCC isn't entirely true. Sure you can't make money solely by selling compilers but I'm sure cygnus, Intel and ARM would tell you otherwise about their compilers.
Not everything you disagree with is 1984. Fuck. Bush is temporal. E.g. he prolly won't be voted back in...
Or how about instead of pinning all your problems on one fucking guy you guys take responsibility for your own actions. Stop acting so paranoid and just relax!
Slashdot Mirror
If you really think you're in the right fight it and then counter-sue, big-time. If the RIAA loses a couple million to a 23 yr old computer nerd fresh out of college [or whatever] that will be a huge blow to their public rampage [because really all these lawsuits are a private matter anyways].
Tom
Doesn't hurt windows.... That's why windows costs 400$ [non-oem] and 85% of that is towards profit.
Tom
Extortion would be like "pay up or I'll tell people you're gay" or something like that.
Telling people "you violated my civil rights and I'm going to sue you. Either settle or pay up bigger in court" is not only perfectly legal but totally humble.
Let's not forget these are people who are listening to music from artists without paying for it first.
If it happens some of them were on P2P networks but sharing allowable Indy stuff or whatever than fight it in court, countersue, etc. But if you happen to be "sharing" pirated audio then you screwed up.
Tom
SHHHH! You want to upset the /. hordes?
Tom
It's not leading .NET edge. See .NET MSFT wants to .NET drive home new .NET buzzwords that will .NET get customers to .NET recognize their .NET brandnames.
It's almost as if MSFT is trying to "innovate" again which is almost never a good thing.
Hopefully MSFT will be smart and allow users of the new LongBuildSlowReleaseHorn windows turn off this extra-probably-wastes-a-gig-or-two database.
Tom
This is just plain wrong. While I agree that windows has bloat around I think you'll find alot of the bloat is in 3rd party or at least non-core applications like Office, etc...
That being said you can certain run WinXP in a resource limited device. My laptop routinely sits at 530Mhz [4x133] while I'm tinkering around in windows and it's just fine. Though my laptop has 240MB of ram free for windows, windows itself only uses about 30MB at most [uses alot for cache]. So you could easily squeeze the core windows and applications written properly in 96MB of ram and a 500Mhz processor. Which last I checked would make such a box about 5 years old thereabouts.
You don't need a 3Ghz 4GB ram box to use windows. You need that to run the 3rd party apps all written in Java/.NET/C++\MFC using the latest raster pexel-pipelining super eyecandy bullshit. Specially games. 9/10 games have no actual gameplay and just eyecandy. Just a sign of the times...
Tom
I totally agree that in that respect windows is flawed. It should have came out of the box with it's services disabled. But that isn't good marketing...
That being said I've installed windowsa a-many times and have yet to get infected with anything. Sole reason....firewall. I don't let every yahoo and nutjob from the web send my machine packets which means I'm fairly invulnerable to these lame attacks. I still patch my box but I don't worry about it as much.
Tom
If you actually look up the definition of Distribution from which Distro comes from it's quite conceivable to think that RH6 and RH9 are different collections of tools hence difference distributions.
Tom
NT4 and XP are different distros though. That's like telling RH to upgrade your RH6 servers to RH9 for free with support.
As for daily updates go and try gentoo out. Though the updates aren't daily there is usually at least one or two things a week to rebuild on a decently complicated install [e.g. servers, kde, tetex, etc..]
The point is OSS software gets updated/patched quite often too. So saying windows sucks because there are too many patches is kind of hypocritical.
Tom
Are you kidding? The whole OSS philosophy is wrapped around release early release often. Maybe openssl doesn't follow this [though it has had it share of bugs] many other things [kernel for instance] follow this model.
This isn't "my wang is longer than your wang". The lesson is both streams have bugs and you have to patch both often to keep decently cought up.
I mean I can go fetch a RH6 cd of the shelf, install it and get rooted. What do you say then of your beloved OSS?
Tom
another reliable OS. Sounds nice. Which one is that? Would that be GNU/Linux with it's daily new patches? Or MacOS with the pay-as-you-go updates?
This leaves us...hmm... DOS
Are you sure about that? From a 9.1 install you most likely have openssl updates to perform....
oops.
j0 zuckz
that wasn't worth two cents.
By your logic we should not use openssl, kde, etc, o the many many other OSS projects that are in the upgrade windmill.
Your rhetoric is old and mine is new, haha! Go to back to your master and learn new tricks, haha! Stop posting crap on slashdot, haha!
It's what I would expect. See he prolly has more important things to worry about. E.g. the next kernel, his job, feeding his family then defending the next tit-for-tat msft vs. linux flame war.
Personally I would be concerned if all he did was fan the flame wars...
Um I agree great hype is placed on "current tech". But how many people really use MFC? I still code guis using the same win32api in C used way back in the day. You know why? Because 99% it "just works" and doesn't take excessive effort.
... yada yada" I ask "so what? What have you done with them?"
...
There is no need to learn C#, MFC, ASP, and all the other MSFT hype aside from filling out checkboxes on a resume.
Which is why when people tell me "I know Java, ASP, C#, C++, Perl,
Usually the answer is "I wouldn't give away programs I write". Implying that OSS development is beneath them.
Anyways, my point is in windows you can code in basically any language you want. You just have to install the tools [mostly free] to do so. The fact that people are trying to wrap themselves in MSFT goodness so they can check things on their resume isn't MSFTs fault strictly.
Quite frankly there are probably legitimate uses to half of the things MSFT comes up with. Not that I'd personally choose to use any of them myself. But whatever, you install windows server and want fast scripting ASP is prolly a good choice.
Just like in almost any nix install bash is the default shell. Are we to say GNU/Linux is evil because "everyone and their dog" uses bash? No. Why? Cuz you can install csh, tcsh, zsh, etc...Just like in windows you can install ActivePerl, cygwin [which gives you gcc, ruby, python, bash, etc...],
Tom
AMD is no better. Barton processors are wickedly overclockable but sold at a few settings [e.g. 1.8, 2.1 and 2.2 Ghz].
There is a bit of "n00b-defence" in this though. It's very easy to overclock and damage a Barton since the multipliers aren't locked at all [heck you can run a 3000+ at 11.5x200 just fine].
That being said anyone who uses anything but the default should be responsible for their changes.
As for the 2MB vs. 8MB chances are it is different firmware/controller and they have an abundance of one [or both].
Tom
That's just it. A "web browser" is no longer purely an HTML renderer. In windows for example it can be setup to preview JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc.
And the interface is similar to FTP for all intents and purposes. That is you need to list directories, files, be able to move back, up to parent, etc...
If you're going to have a browser with decent FTP browsing you might as well spend the extra little effort and make it browse local directories/netmount stuff too.
I don't see the problem with that. I mean aren't dll/so's supposed to cut down on the amount of junk required to be loaded?
To reply to another reply to my original reply, [phew!] MSFT is a monopoly but not because they put IE on the desktop. Because they bullied competitors into using Windows over other OSes. I mean I could just as easily disable IE such that whenever I want to read email or browse "the web" [e.g. ftp/http] I use Opera or Mozilla.
MSFT doesn't do jackshit to stop people from using other browsers, media players, games, themes, etc...
Hell you could just remove explorer all together. But then you wouldn't be able to use most windows programs.
In fact that may be an interesting project. Take the winxp kernel, ditch the explorer/GUI and re-write it from scratch.
Tom
Would you say the same if store bought computers with Lindows had Mozilla by default?
Or does your rant only apply when MSFT is in question?
And btw, integrating the browser with the OS [this particular OS] *makes sense*. Similar to KDE the file browser/explorer re-uses the codebase as the web browser.
And it isn't as if you can't just as easilly install opera, netscape or mozilla in Windows. If you want to waste diskspace and ram go right ahead.
Just like my Gentoo box with KDE I only use Konqueror because that just makese sense. I certainly don't blame the KDE team for making Konqueror so universal. In fact I like flexibility provided by the layout.
Tom
As you kinda alluded to the "good" uses for these pieces of software is what should be the focus. I think the point is that you can't outlaw technology or research solely because it may have a negative use.
I mean what of all the military arms that Bush and co. like making? So I'm to take it that someone making DVD decoding software is abigger risk to the world than a nation with a massive stock of WMDs....
Hmmm...
Tom
Compiling on a cluster? I want to work where you do. When I develop my for $$$ software and my free stuff I almost always have to use my laptop or homebox or whatever.
I think the only people using clusters to build software work at telcom firms or say MSFT.
As for the "office apps" comments it depends really. MSFT launches a huge number of threads for all sorts of things going on. Aside for first time loading [e.g. not in cache] OpenOffice is always faster than I am [e.g. I don't have to wait for pages to render or keystrokes to get added to pages].
The trick which laptops use nicely [and desktops should really consider] is a 2Ghz cpu doesn't have to be 2Ghz all the time. Transmeta cpus for example can scale to a bunch of speeds/voltage to match the idle time.
I know from experience that my Athlon-M 2400+ can hit speeds like 530Mhz, 1430Mhz and 1789Mhz [or so]. I think it can hit things inbetween as well.
Anyways, It's really faulty to think older machines were more responsive because there are a lot of factors that come into play. Specially if you consider how much more we expect of computers nowadays [like on-screen fonts, graphics, tables]. Recall the text-based editors which would strictly be text with no fancy inline graphics, fonts, colours, etc...
I think if we all ran WordPerfect 5.0 for DOS on say a 2Ghz Athlon and a 4Mhz 8086 we would probably notice that the Athlon is faster or as fast for the task at hand....
Tom
If you use word....
I use OpenOffice on my Presario laptop and my Athlon-M cpu sits at 530Mhz [it's capable of 1.8Ghz] all the time [that's it's lowest setting].
In fact even during the install of OpenOffice it stayed at 530Mhz.
What does this mean? It means bottlenecks other than the CPU. In this case the disk, but what do you expect, openoffice installs to about 200MB or so. I'd love to see how fast a XT class machine could write 200MB to disk [heck assuming it could even hold that much!]. That being said when OpenOffice is running it's smooth, responsive and takes little cpu time [cuz my cpu sits at 530Mhz].
In fact the only thing so far that can get the cpu speed up all the way is compilations [no duh].
So you're part right. Yes bloat is a problem for speed but only if you use the wrong software. You can use "spiffy new" software, just not if it comes from MSFT.
Tom
I'm sorry, the US was meddling in foreign affairs long before Bush was in power. Watch "bowling for columbine" and write down all of the nations/times where the US changed foreign nations policies [e.g. by overthowing the government].
The problem is the average "god bless american" citizen is so full of patriotic bullshit that they can't just step back, say "THAT AIN'T RIGHT" and vote out militant leaders. Of course democracy is a sham anyways. I mean look at the public debates. They're nothing more than shouting matches and insult flings.
When the potential leaders you can vote for act like 3 yr old kids whenever they meet someone that for all intents and purposes "just isn't them" [for the most part I'd say most leaders have similar goals/views/etc]. Then I think democracy is a sham.
Anyways on point, this "omg something scary, must be 1984" bullshit is really sad. First off, America has been a world-class bully for over fifty years [long before 1984]. The "we're all that" bullshit attitude goes back over two centuries...
The fact that americans are now paranoid is not anything surprising, just sad as it has long since been predictable.
Tom
Your comment on GCC isn't entirely true. Sure you can't make money solely by selling compilers but I'm sure cygnus, Intel and ARM would tell you otherwise about their compilers.
Tom
Tool.
Not everything you disagree with is 1984. Fuck. Bush is temporal. E.g. he prolly won't be voted back in...
Or how about instead of pinning all your problems on one fucking guy you guys take responsibility for your own actions. Stop acting so paranoid and just relax!
Tom
hmm? It's not pronounced "guh-new" by anyone I know. It's pronounced as "new" like the animal. Hence "GNU/Hurd".
...
Fuck... stupid asses. Next you will say it's "Ka-noppix" and "K-Nuth"
Tom