I believe a similar approach will be required for the computer to "understand" language
I don't see how. There's no computer language in the sense that would correspond to a natural (human) language. So how do you set up the required Rosetta data set?
A paper I read a few years ago invoked that detachment strategy. It was calculated that using a large laser (powered by the sun, focused through a colossal Fresnel lens) you could send a sail to Alpha Centauri in under 80 years, IIRC. That's pretty good speed.
I could be more amenable to not having support out of the box, if there were an easy mechanism for 3rd party apps to install their own drivers but there isn't.
Erm... rpm? What about the loki installer? Or shell scripts a la NVidia? These are all just as easy to use as windows software installers, with the proviso that the installers are clever enough to check for kernel versions and compile / configure as necessary. This isn't a platform problem, it's an availability problem. Not enough hardware manufacturers actually supply the drivers.
I agree that linux distros should try hard to make it easier for the end-user. Hopefully one day they will also be able to pressure more manufacturers into driver releases.
The developers will be under contract to the organisation to produce code under the organisation's copyright. They will not be licensees to the code under any other terms, even those of the GPL. The GPL is for the client, not for the developer.
The GPL is great. But don't force anyone to use it. That defeats the purpose of 'free' software.
Not so.
Let's say I'm the government. Suppose I force John Q to use a piece of free software (e.g., OpenOffice). If he were a government employee, though, I wouldn't give him any choice of software in the first place. So let's suppose he's a member of the public. To 'force' John to use OpenOffice, someone must distribute it to him. But they can't do that without passing on the offer of source.
Armed with his source, John is completely free to create, or employ someone else to create, his own personal version of OpenOffice. He has full access to the protocols, formats and APIs used. So there's nothing he dislikes about OpenOffice that he couldn't change. John has access to as many alternatives as he could want. He is free.
Now explain how that defeats the purposes of free software.
(Here is a list of John's freedoms: FSF link)
The GPL is restrictive in only one sense. It restricts your ability to impose further restrictions on others.
(Note: this ability is not a right.)
This is a very powerful and important restriction to have, if you want free software, and the corresponding protocols and formats, to be perpetuated. That is because there is little incentive for companies to perpetuate BSD-licensed code, and the corresponding protocols and formats, as free. OTOH the GPL forces companies to perpetuate the code's free status, when they build on or with it.
If you ripped sounds from another project, aren't they included in the "artwork" for which you claim copyright on the page?
Fair comment, 'artwork' can be taken to include sounds.
I don't plan to put such credits on the front page as it is already cluttered with 'mandatory' copyright information. TLK Games are credited in the README and other files that come in the distribution, as are the font creators (I am distributing non-free fonts, in fact) and co-authors. I've now updated the page to more accurately reflect this.
I have a little GPL'd game on Sourceforge as well (It's a 'Space Hulk' clone, in case you care: Sulk) and I've found that for smaller parts of the project, ripping from other GPL'd games can be worthwhile.
Specifically, I took a couple of sounds for my user interface from Powermanga. The license allows this kind of thing, so why not? In this sense my game is a 'derived work'.
There are of course public domain sounds, and indeed graphics, around. It seems pretty hard to find good ones that you can be sure are genuinely PD.
Nice idea, but Brazil is a signatory of the Berne Convention (look it up). Essentially, Brazil won't be able to change its laws on copyright without some major hassle from the international community, probably including economic sanctions. That's not to mention the potential for domestic dissent.
I totally agree. I would say 'mod parent up', but you're already at 5.
I'm not a 'youth' any more; my first experience of programming as a child was with 8-bit machines running Logo and BASIC. That didn't get too far though, and after a long break (and a Maths degree) I am now taking up Python as a 'first' programming language.
I feel that I am learning fairly good habits with Python, as it is strongly typed and the syntax enforces readable code, to a degree. As a free scripting language, it's cross-platform compatible. It also has lots of 'buzzword' features like introspectibility, garbage collection, multiple inheritance, and functional programming tools. So there's plenty still to learn once the basics are grasped.
SDL does sound and event handling pretty well, with Java bindings here. Other posters have mentioned OpenGL too. As for networking like 'directplay' (I think), does any game on windows actually use it? I would have thought just programming sockets would be fairly cross-platform. I think SDL_net can help with that too.
... they might argue that the code that there are no damages
Even so, having gone to trial they would have to pay lawyers' expenses, and they would still have been found in copyright violation. The $0 damages strategy doesn't sound like a very good plan then, does it?
What an awful, unreadable review! It's got no style, the punctuation and grammar are poor, and it's uninformative. This is why people would rather trust a dead tree review which costs money. Look at this:
Thereâ(TM)s no question in my mind that most of you, if it was possible, would love an LCD plopped in front of you rather than a conventional CRT which hogs up 50% of your desk space, well, what if it was not only an LCD but one which is larger than most of your mates home TV?
Blech. Great sentence.
And then there's his propensity for redundant commentary:
under the mentioned goodies, within the full Styrofoam encasing, we find the LTM295W LCD monitor/TV. To furthermore ensure its safety we find it covered in wrapping.
Not to mention his toadying:
In closing I must commend Samsung on a job well done.
And the fact that in a thousand-word review, the display itself is reviewed in only a couple of sentences:
I am pleased to say that during extensive gaming in both games, we encountered no ghosting whatsoever.
...
In each of my selections, the video was extremely crisp and with the adjustability of the brightness, it was always more than bright enough with some to spare.
Chris Allen, don't give up the day job. I really hope this isn't your day job.
Gnome and KDE, like Linux and free software generally, are international projects, funded and written by many different organisations with different needs and resources. (The German government, RedHat, Sun...)
And even if it were possible, there's no longer any point. The traditional "personal" computer market is saturated.
Slashdot Mirror
True but not strictly true. Using Qt GPL edition you can still sell your GPL'd apps. So commercial but not proprietary software can be made.
I might be wrong, because Trolltech themselves are a bit confusing about it. But the GPL explicitly states that commercial selling is unrestricted.
You misspelt 'scam'.
I don't see how. There's no computer language in the sense that would correspond to a natural (human) language. So how do you set up the required Rosetta data set?
A paper I read a few years ago invoked that detachment strategy. It was calculated that using a large laser (powered by the sun, focused through a colossal Fresnel lens) you could send a sail to Alpha Centauri in under 80 years, IIRC. That's pretty good speed.
Would you be able to learn Linux in the time you could save by not hanging around Slashdot?</joke>
rtfa
Erm... rpm? What about the loki installer? Or shell scripts a la NVidia? These are all just as easy to use as windows software installers, with the proviso that the installers are clever enough to check for kernel versions and compile / configure as necessary. This isn't a platform problem, it's an availability problem. Not enough hardware manufacturers actually supply the drivers.
I agree that linux distros should try hard to make it easier for the end-user. Hopefully one day they will also be able to pressure more manufacturers into driver releases.
Pop quiz: what is the difference in length between the circumference of the earth at 20k feet up, and the circumference at 100k feet up?
Answer: 2*pi*80k feet =~ 500k feet. About 0.4% of the total distance.
But remember linux is written for gcc and debugged with gnu tools. So practically speaking it involves gnu software.
IBM backs Linux. IBM link
The GPL is not in conflict with this. It allows you to modify as you like. It only has an effect if you want to redistribute.
No, it's on the side of the person in possession of the program, whether they wish to use it, inspect it, modify it or copy it.
The developers will be under contract to the organisation to produce code under the organisation's copyright. They will not be licensees to the code under any other terms, even those of the GPL. The GPL is for the client, not for the developer.
Let's say I'm the government. Suppose I force John Q to use a piece of free software (e.g., OpenOffice). If he were a government employee, though, I wouldn't give him any choice of software in the first place. So let's suppose he's a member of the public. To 'force' John to use OpenOffice, someone must distribute it to him. But they can't do that without passing on the offer of source.
Armed with his source, John is completely free to create, or employ someone else to create, his own personal version of OpenOffice. He has full access to the protocols, formats and APIs used. So there's nothing he dislikes about OpenOffice that he couldn't change. John has access to as many alternatives as he could want. He is free.
Now explain how that defeats the purposes of free software. (Here is a list of John's freedoms: FSF link)
This is a very powerful and important restriction to have, if you want free software, and the corresponding protocols and formats, to be perpetuated. That is because there is little incentive for companies to perpetuate BSD-licensed code, and the corresponding protocols and formats, as free. OTOH the GPL forces companies to perpetuate the code's free status, when they build on or with it.
I don't plan to put such credits on the front page as it is already cluttered with 'mandatory' copyright information. TLK Games are credited in the README and other files that come in the distribution, as are the font creators (I am distributing non-free fonts, in fact) and co-authors. I've now updated the page to more accurately reflect this.
Specifically, I took a couple of sounds for my user interface from Powermanga. The license allows this kind of thing, so why not? In this sense my game is a 'derived work'.
There are of course public domain sounds, and indeed graphics, around. It seems pretty hard to find good ones that you can be sure are genuinely PD.
Nice idea, but Brazil is a signatory of the Berne Convention (look it up). Essentially, Brazil won't be able to change its laws on copyright without some major hassle from the international community, probably including economic sanctions. That's not to mention the potential for domestic dissent.
I'm not a 'youth' any more; my first experience of programming as a child was with 8-bit machines running Logo and BASIC. That didn't get too far though, and after a long break (and a Maths degree) I am now taking up Python as a 'first' programming language.
I feel that I am learning fairly good habits with Python, as it is strongly typed and the syntax enforces readable code, to a degree. As a free scripting language, it's cross-platform compatible. It also has lots of 'buzzword' features like introspectibility, garbage collection, multiple inheritance, and functional programming tools. So there's plenty still to learn once the basics are grasped.
SDL does sound and event handling pretty well, with Java bindings here. Other posters have mentioned OpenGL too. As for networking like 'directplay' (I think), does any game on windows actually use it? I would have thought just programming sockets would be fairly cross-platform. I think SDL_net can help with that too.
The tragedy of the commons does not apply to information.
What about fair use?
And even if the market for desktop PCs was 'saturated', there would still be a market for operating systems!