doubt it. Something tells me google isn't the company to reach out twice.
I mean yeah, it's good that the guy has character and defends his creation [G-mail that is]. But I dunno, if google wanted to give me 250K for libtom.org I'd be finding a pen.
Your line of thinking is WHY people find MSFT so evil.
Oh, you use Windows, great, then we can totally ignore all open standards and lock you into our platform/tools. Great, you have legacy data awesome!
Put aside the anti-competitive argument for a minute. The reason I'm [and many OSS advocates] are not MSFT customers is simply because while individual tools from MSFT may be "the best" the package is not. That's part of what the FLOSS world likes so much. Hate Gnome? Use KDE, but guess what, Mozilla will still work in it! Like Linux but not the x86 platform? Great, here's a kernel for PPC and a C and C++ compiler for it [etc].
With FLOSS you get to pick the combination of tools [within reason] that suit YOUR needs, not the sales and marketing needs of some overlord corporation.
For example, I love the IDE from Visual Studio. But I hate the Windows OS and the CL compiler. I'd love to pair VS with GCC and run it in Linux with glibc. Why is the IDE so desperately tied to the platform and compiler? [from a technical point of view]. Similarly, some people may like Word [why?], why can't Word work in Linux? Or BSD?
Answer: MSFT does only what's best in interests AT THE EXPENSE of what is actually good for the end users.
It's all nice that you work for MSFT, but dude, get some perspective. I hope you don't remain a corporate shill your entire life. Grow a backbone someday.
As to your comment on the standard process. Yes, some standards are ridiculously complicated. But it isn't like MSFT internal standards are any easier. They're just easier since you guys pick and choose what you want to implement as oppose to what industry seems to actually need. For development, for example, I'd rather have a POSIX.1 [unix srv4] platform any day compared to whatever Windows is called [w32api?]. I know that my apps written for Linux will work elsewhere WITHOUT modification, or vary few.
Shareholders don't like lawsuits. If you repeat 700k enough times it starts to sting. What's worse, there could be other troubles for Apple if the government decides they're an unlawful business (e.g. rampantly violating the civil rights of others).
That and now they get to continue reporting on every little detail of Apple... oh wait... how is that bad anyways?
People think msft is evil because they rarely do things in the customers best interest.
1. Not porting Office to other preferred OSes 2. Not porting Visual Studio [or embracing GCC at all] 3. Supporting DRM wholeheartedly 4. Slow adoption of an IP stack 5. Lack of POSIX.1 compliance 6. Lack of OpenGL and other open standard support 7. re-invention of mp3 in the form of WMA and mpeg in the form WMV 8. WGA 9. the list goes on...
MSFT just assumes everything it does is a brilliant smashing great idea even if there is an open solution that would give the customer more freedom to migrate their work/data to and from tools as THEY see fit.
Combine collusion with PC vendors [e.g. Dell and the like] and the general smugness that the execs seem to have and you have an "evil corporation"
He could start by stoping making my computer belong to others. Fortunately, I solved that problem by not running Windows. And by all accounts of Vista, I'm glad I don't.
It's one thing to donate your money to charity, it's another to donate money you earn through shady business and inferior product lockins.
I would assume a mythbox is just a box sitting at home recording stuff from a PVR device. If it's working. then installing new software won't fix it. It might make it better [add new features] but that's about it.
That there are updates out there doesn't mean you have to use them.
If you want to make flexible hardware, use an FPGA. We can already do that... TODAY.
So if a customer wants to pay for a "wifi thingy card" that can do various specs (though keep in mind not all spec changes are a simple matter of switching a few gates around) then they can pay a premium. For the rest of us who wait for the dust to settle we can use an ASIC offload.
Never been to a.su domain before. Maybe it's because I don't speak Russian... That being said I have been to plenty of.ro,.jp,.cn,.de, etc domains and I don't any of their funny languages.
Things like network, sound, display adapters should largely be an offload task. If my CPU has to work out the line encoding of 802.3 then something is wrong here.
This is just ignorant legal babble. There is a huge difference between knowing how to make something "go" and how it works internally.
If the value of your [say] network card is how to make it read/write frames and not how it actually does it internally... you need to rethink your market. I work for a hardware firm and we regularly give out interface specs to our customers [hint: they wouldn't buy it otherwise] but consider our designs/algorithms as intellectual and proprietary property.
Shaw, right cuz like there's just no linux users anywhere. for sure, totally.
You keep thinking that. While it's no secret that Windows has the lead of MARKET share, there is a considerable userbase that isn't counted because they're not buying the OS [e.g. a free distro].
In reality, they should be releasing the specs to the hardware like they were in the 70s and 80s. Let the customer decide how they want to use the damn hardware.
So, what you're saying is you're using a system where you KNOW FOR A FACT that rampant abuse is possible and happening. But decide to use it anyways, and you're not a sucker because?
eBay should have open auctions, should require more verification of user identities, etc...In a right world you'd know the name/address of the person you're buying from before the sale goes through. That price of privacy would be the price you pay [along with the fees] to use eBay.
If you're willing to pay $15 - $35 for a widget, presumably getting it for $35 is still a deal. If it weren't why are you willing to bid $35 for it?
I get how the seller is a creep. My point is you can beat them at this game by not setting a max you're not willing to spend. If they [or their buddy] wins their own auction then it costs them money and you nothing. And chances are, you didn't want to buy from them anyways as they're not reputable.
Stuff like HDs and fans can die out of the gate fairly easily. Hint: Moving parts.
Granted, it's not common to have an HD die right away, but I've had it happen [from various suppliers] and this one is nice in that they'll replace it on the spot with a new HD. Other shops in town will want a "restocking" fee, even though the drive is broken.
I would not buy a used HD or mobo. used ram/processor maybe but only after extensive testing.
The only serious gear I have is computers and I don't mind paying retail because the shop I use gives me good service deals and even tradeins to upgrade stuff below retail cost (it helps that I've been shopping there for years and even when I moved out of town for a bit I kept using them).
Sure I might save 30% by buying from a stranger on Ebay, but will they fix/replace the widget when it breaks in a month? I know my retailer will.
Slashdot Mirror
doubt it. Something tells me google isn't the company to reach out twice.
I mean yeah, it's good that the guy has character and defends his creation [G-mail that is]. But I dunno, if google wanted to give me 250K for libtom.org I'd be finding a pen.
Tom
Article says he was offered $250K [wonder if that's cash?]... damn I'd sold. Used the money to tour the world, then apply for a job at Google.de
Tom
Your line of thinking is WHY people find MSFT so evil.
Oh, you use Windows, great, then we can totally ignore all open standards and lock you into our platform/tools. Great, you have legacy data awesome!
Put aside the anti-competitive argument for a minute. The reason I'm [and many OSS advocates] are not MSFT customers is simply because while individual tools from MSFT may be "the best" the package is not. That's part of what the FLOSS world likes so much. Hate Gnome? Use KDE, but guess what, Mozilla will still work in it! Like Linux but not the x86 platform? Great, here's a kernel for PPC and a C and C++ compiler for it [etc].
With FLOSS you get to pick the combination of tools [within reason] that suit YOUR needs, not the sales and marketing needs of some overlord corporation.
For example, I love the IDE from Visual Studio. But I hate the Windows OS and the CL compiler. I'd love to pair VS with GCC and run it in Linux with glibc. Why is the IDE so desperately tied to the platform and compiler? [from a technical point of view]. Similarly, some people may like Word [why?], why can't Word work in Linux? Or BSD?
Answer: MSFT does only what's best in interests AT THE EXPENSE of what is actually good for the end users.
It's all nice that you work for MSFT, but dude, get some perspective. I hope you don't remain a corporate shill your entire life. Grow a backbone someday.
As to your comment on the standard process. Yes, some standards are ridiculously complicated. But it isn't like MSFT internal standards are any easier. They're just easier since you guys pick and choose what you want to implement as oppose to what industry seems to actually need. For development, for example, I'd rather have a POSIX.1 [unix srv4] platform any day compared to whatever Windows is called [w32api?]. I know that my apps written for Linux will work elsewhere WITHOUT modification, or vary few.
Why do you hate america?
Geez.
Bahahahahahahahahaha
Shareholders don't like lawsuits. If you repeat 700k enough times it starts to sting. What's worse, there could be other troubles for Apple if the government decides they're an unlawful business (e.g. rampantly violating the civil rights of others).
... oh wait ... how is that bad anyways?
That and now they get to continue reporting on every little detail of Apple
Tom
Well that's one way to look at it, the other is Apple loses 700k. Maybe they'll think twice before trampling the rights of others next time.
Tom
this is why I support them. /me proudly wears my eff hat....
People think msft is evil because they rarely do things in the customers best interest.
1. Not porting Office to other preferred OSes
2. Not porting Visual Studio [or embracing GCC at all]
3. Supporting DRM wholeheartedly
4. Slow adoption of an IP stack
5. Lack of POSIX.1 compliance
6. Lack of OpenGL and other open standard support
7. re-invention of mp3 in the form of WMA and mpeg in the form WMV
8. WGA
9. the list goes on...
MSFT just assumes everything it does is a brilliant smashing great idea even if there is an open solution that would give the customer more freedom to migrate their work/data to and from tools as THEY see fit.
Combine collusion with PC vendors [e.g. Dell and the like] and the general smugness that the execs seem to have and you have an "evil corporation"
Tom
He could start by stoping making my computer belong to others. Fortunately, I solved that problem by not running Windows. And by all accounts of Vista, I'm glad I don't.
It's one thing to donate your money to charity, it's another to donate money you earn through shady business and inferior product lockins.
Tom
I would assume a mythbox is just a box sitting at home recording stuff from a PVR device. If it's working. then installing new software won't fix it. It might make it better [add new features] but that's about it.
That there are updates out there doesn't mean you have to use them.
Tom
If you want to make flexible hardware, use an FPGA. We can already do that... TODAY.
So if a customer wants to pay for a "wifi thingy card" that can do various specs (though keep in mind not all spec changes are a simple matter of switching a few gates around) then they can pay a premium. For the rest of us who wait for the dust to settle we can use an ASIC offload.
Tom
Why do the individual cores have to become slower? Am I missing a logical step here?
Let's see, we have efficient and fast ALU/FPUs now. All of a sudden they'll become totally inefficient because we've gone quad-core?
Hey, biatch from IBM [or just poor reporter], shut your ignorant gob.
Tom
Null Set: Definition. The set of people who asked for your opinion.
Why would I want to go out of my own town? No need to see filth ridden crime festering cities when I have a perfect place to live right here.
^speak
bah, that's why there are editors. Hell if you read either of my two books you'd not have such high expectations for me.
Never been to a .su domain before. Maybe it's because I don't speak Russian... That being said I have been to plenty of .ro, .jp, .cn, .de, etc domains and I don't any of their funny languages.
Tom
Then the hardware is shite and should be avoided.
Things like network, sound, display adapters should largely be an offload task. If my CPU has to work out the line encoding of 802.3 then something is wrong here.
WinModems are not the way developers should go.
Tom
This is just ignorant legal babble. There is a huge difference between knowing how to make something "go" and how it works internally.
... you need to rethink your market. I work for a hardware firm and we regularly give out interface specs to our customers [hint: they wouldn't buy it otherwise] but consider our designs/algorithms as intellectual and proprietary property.
If the value of your [say] network card is how to make it read/write frames and not how it actually does it internally
Tom
Shaw, right cuz like there's just no linux users anywhere. for sure, totally.
You keep thinking that. While it's no secret that Windows has the lead of MARKET share, there is a considerable userbase that isn't counted because they're not buying the OS [e.g. a free distro].
In reality, they should be releasing the specs to the hardware like they were in the 70s and 80s. Let the customer decide how they want to use the damn hardware.
Tom
Bah, minor dialogue changes. The plot was the same.
At least one ad should have had techno/trance playing in the background....
So, what you're saying is you're using a system where you KNOW FOR A FACT that rampant abuse is possible and happening. But decide to use it anyways, and you're not a sucker because?
eBay should have open auctions, should require more verification of user identities, etc...In a right world you'd know the name/address of the person you're buying from before the sale goes through. That price of privacy would be the price you pay [along with the fees] to use eBay.
Bah...
It's the old ads with british accents. The least they could have done is written new ones with allusions to brit society...
And is it me or does the mac not really look that hip compared to the american ads?
Tom
If you're willing to pay $15 - $35 for a widget, presumably getting it for $35 is still a deal. If it weren't why are you willing to bid $35 for it?
I get how the seller is a creep. My point is you can beat them at this game by not setting a max you're not willing to spend. If they [or their buddy] wins their own auction then it costs them money and you nothing. And chances are, you didn't want to buy from them anyways as they're not reputable.
Seems problem solved to me, n'est pas?
Tom
Stuff like HDs and fans can die out of the gate fairly easily. Hint: Moving parts.
Granted, it's not common to have an HD die right away, but I've had it happen [from various suppliers] and this one is nice in that they'll replace it on the spot with a new HD. Other shops in town will want a "restocking" fee, even though the drive is broken.
I would not buy a used HD or mobo. used ram/processor maybe but only after extensive testing.
Good flamebait btw.
Tom
The only serious gear I have is computers and I don't mind paying retail because the shop I use gives me good service deals and even tradeins to upgrade stuff below retail cost (it helps that I've been shopping there for years and even when I moved out of town for a bit I kept using them).
Sure I might save 30% by buying from a stranger on Ebay, but will they fix/replace the widget when it breaks in a month? I know my retailer will.
Tom