good points? He talks about ONE security hole in OS X. So because they found one flaw, it's just as insecure as windows. huh?
Ok, no OS is immune (not even the beloved linux) to security flaws. To compare one hole in OS X to thousands upon thousands in windows is stupid. I've heard the windows is more popular so thats why it has more viruses argument before and it's BS! Windows is insecure by design.
I use linux and Mac OS X exclusively. I haven't had a problem with either of them. It's kindof like locking your car door... can someone break in? Sure they can, so maybe you have the club or an alarm (or both)... can they still break in? Yes, it just takes a little more time and effort. Windows is like leaving your car unlocked and the windows rolled down. Linux and OS X at least lock the doors and set the alarm.
I love debian mostly for the dpkg and related tools. I tried the latest red hat recently just for kicks and I really missed dpkg. I get great download speeds and it's easy to use.
Re:I can recommend the Definitive Guide...
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can someone please write an intermediate/advanced book that doesn't cover recompiling the kernel. I mean there are so many resources that cover this and I think it's been beaten to death. The majority of the linux books I own cover this and it takes up too much space and they all tell you basically the same thing.
If you are going to cover recompiling the kernel, write one book on one kernel. Then discuss what all the options mean. That might be useful! I think recompiling the kernel belongs in a beginner book. I want an intermediate/advanced book that is truly intermediate/advanced!
Re:looking for a good windows to linux book.
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· Score: 2, Informative
It's kindof hard to say this is how you do it in windows and then this is how you do it in linux.
In windows, you click a lot of "ok"s and reboot a lot. In linux, you:./configure; make; sudo make install
In windows, you install buggy drivers that conflict with other drivers and crash your system. In linux, you either compile support directly into the kernel or compile a loadable module.
In windows, you endlessly navigate through menu's to try and find a preference. In linux, it's usually one config file has all you preferences... and it's usually somewhere either in your home directory for user preferences or somewhere in/etc
The problem is, windows creates a security blanket. It's easy to use and administer. This creates a cheapened definition of "expert" as well as creating a whole new definition of "beginner"
Some of my definitions: An expert in windows would be someone who is comfortable editing the windows registry (or at least as comfortable as you can get playing with such a horrible creation) and knows what an IRQ is.
An intermediate windows user knows what a dll is, how to install and configure any windows programs. They can also troubleshoot most problems.
A beginner is someone who can navigate through the filesystem and run programs like office and internet explorer and be fairly confident in their skills as a user. Knows very little about maintaining their computers.
Thus a beginner/intermediate may know to run defrag and scandisk every once in a while. A intermediate/advanced person may know the problem lies in the registry but can't fix it without doing a re-install
Now for the linux definitions: a beginner is someone who knows what KDE or GNOME is and can login and open up a web browser. Can also usually install an easy-to-install linux distro (like redhat)
an Intermediate user, knows what their hardware is and can not only install a linux distro but configure/setup most of the major applications (like XFree86) without using a GUI. Being able to recompile a kernel (that works) is mandatory for an intermediate user.
An expert user is someone who has intimate knowledge of the linux filestructure. Is able to modify startup scripts. Basically, someone who could make their own linux distro.
given this classification, it sounds like this book is for beginner/intermediate users. (That's not beginner OR intermediate)
So far the closest book to a true Linux Powertools is Linux in a nutshell but the old UNIX Powertools is one of the greatest UNIX books and I would love to have one updated specifically for linux. It's a shame this book isn't it because I got really excited for a minute there.
I'm not a believer in learning everything the hard way at first because if you are not dedicated to it, the camera will sit and collect dust.
Learning to take good pictures takes a lot of time and effort. Buying something that will autofocus for you will help you focus (no pun intended) your efforts on other items. Switch to auto for a little while to focus on your composition. Being able to concentrate on one subject will be able to help you not get too frustrated. However, you have to be the person to continue learning and not give up and just leave it in auto.
Of course I've also heard of people who walk into a store, ask for the "most expensive camera" and then return it because it is "too complicated" The person behind the camera is always the one thing that can use improvement before the camera itself.
On my Nikon, the only thing I can't seem to do is set the film ISO speed (as it does this automatically)
I can tell you how to adjust the apeture and the shutter speed on my camer... it's not hard and the values come up in the viewfinder as well as on top of the camera.
Aside from M mode (completely manual, you have to set shutter speed as well as the apeture) it has an A and S (Apeture and Shutter respectively) modes. These modes allow you to choose an apeture or shutter speed and it automatically chooses the corresponding value based on what it thinks it should be.
All the functionality is there, it's just different than you are used to. (oh and I still have depth of field lines on my lenses) I almost always have my camera in the A mode with the occasional change to M. However, sometimes at parties or something where there usually isn't time to set up a shot I have been known to put it in Auto, but usually A.
I disagree... a no-frills camera may be good for a student on a budget but it won't grow with you.
I went with a Nikon N60 (they have since replaced it with the N65 which is very similar). It is their bottom line automatic camera. I used it for a photography class at school. I could put it in manual mode with the automatic focusing off. Then when I went to family events and needed to take "quick" pictures (ie. I didn't want people to stand there while I adjusted everything) I threw it into either auto mode of A mode (Aperature mode) and turned on the auto-focus. Pictures turned out great.
Now that I have gotten to the point where I am thinking about upgrading I like the fact that I can get any Nikon and still use my lenses. (I've acquired 3) In fact, one of them I inherited from my uncle who has an N80.
My suggestion would be to first decide what you want to do with your camera. If you are just starting, the base camera of whatever brand you decide on should be fine. Also think about upgrading... not all lenses fit on all camera's. Usually lenses also don't fit between different camera models (same manufacturer) So keep that in mind if you think you will upgrade.
Also think about getting an enlarger and setting up a personal darkroom. It's something that I've been wating to do for a while but I didn't have the space. When I was at school I could use the school's darkroom but now that I'm out I don't have a space to use and it can be frustrating.
Also, whatever you choose, choose a good lense. (even if it's a fixed focal length) I have one 50mm lense that I LOVE and I find myself frequently switching back to it when I don't need my wide angle lense or my 80mm lense.
I've been a fan of the Nikon cameras but whatever you decide have fun with it!
Actually, while I may not go in and tinker and modify the source myself, I do recompile my kernels to get better performance by getting rid of the stuff I don't need. In fact I know lots of other linux users who do this as well.
Sure, some users use a stock kernel and don't recompile it but any linux user who actually knows what they are doing should recompile their kernel!
buahaha... to build an army to take over and destroy Bill Gates!!!!
But seriously, this makes perfect sense. The linux kernel (unlike NT's kernel) is configurable so you can take out or add whatever bits you'd like. So say I don't want to use a printer, modem, but I do want to use the microphone and speakers. I can remove and add the availability by either a simple recompilation of the kernel or by loading or unloading modules.
It takes a lot to write a OS from scratch and robots are very complex things. If I was working on a robot, I'd rather work on the robot's functions than reinvent the wheel.
I know lots of Indians, many of them went to my school at Drexel. I even worked for one on one of my coops. Maybe I've just had some bad experiences with them but if they have such a good IT educational system, why are they coming to the US to be educated?
I'm sure there are some well educated Indians but the problem is most of the outsourcing is done to save money so you pay a few people you found on the street to bang on a keyboard. I never said "Everyone in India is an idiot" but then again, people hear what they want to hear. If I complain about human rights violations in China does that mean I think all Chinese people are cruel?
Not really considering they changed the plot, blew up earth, made starbuck a woman. It sounds like a completely different story except for some of the names. What they couldn't think of some new names?
I have no objection to women starfighters, I have an objection to a woman Starbuck! I mean is it that hard to think up a new title for a new series?
At least Starbuck does still smoke cigars... it's a shame she's now a womanizer still... that I'd watch.
is the fact that instead of using cheap grad student labor, they outsourced to India. I can only imagine how many talented grad students MIT has at their disposal.
Plus, I'd assume that most grad students (at least all the ones I know) would apreciate the flexability of open source software, thus saving even more money.
I am more shocked at the waste of money!
However, if you want to talk about India, the fact that a US univeristy outsourced it's code does not bode well for it's graduating student. CS jobs are getting harder and harder to find here in the US. Why? Well that would be because it's cheaper to outsource it to places like India. The only drawback is that you tend to get what you pay for.
The reason this is on slashdot is because slashdot has a large population of tech readers of whom this outsourcing effects.
is that some Debian systems get cracked.... They discover it withing 24 hours and no real damage seems to have happened.
Windows get cracked... huge fortune 500 companies lose millions of dollars. Russians get access to the NSA's secret back door to windows (ok I made that up but the NSA could have a backdoor and the Russians could have figured it out in the three months that they had access to the windows source)
Kudos to the Debian guys for catching this so quickly.
In this current article, aside from what you quoted, it seems to me he is saying... You can't take out the code because it's like a bankrobber throwing back the money... however, you can just give us money so we can stay afloat since people are now buying linux instead of SCO products.
Talk about shooting oneself in the foot. Managers like Linux because that tech who lives in his cubicle can administer a whole bunch of them without leaving and they can put them on as many computers as they want without paying anyone anything (except that poor tech guy in the corner secretly wooried that they will outsource his job to India)
That poor tech guy likes linux because he can just get things done. He hacks out perl scripts to automate his work and he likes to look at the code just for fun. He also likes the fact that he can recompile his kernel whenever he wants. There are so many great tinkering things you can do with linux which is what makes it so popular. Most of these things would not be possible if we have to pay $700 to SCO every time we install another copy of Linux. Linux is about choices, Debian, Redhat, Slackware, Mandrake, Gentoo, Suse, turbolinux, etc... I can go download any one of those and install it on my computer and then decide I don't like the way this distro arranges things so I switch back to another distro (or try something new).
SCO just wants money, nothing more, nothing less. They really don't care that their code is in linux, they just want money! Linus and others have said many times - show us the code and we'll remove it. Apparently that's not enough for them. I just wish this would go to court already.
When I was a teenager I was on all the BBSes, downloading Warez and looking at porn. Once the I got internet access newsgroups were always a good spot.
I found all sorts of things, some disgusting that I quickly deleted, other things interesting that I never really wanted to try (like how to build a bomb).
I had almost no parental control. My single mother didn't have a clue about computers (though she did write her yearly christmas letter on Word Perfect! and used the computer to print out labels) Sure the computer was in the livingroom but there were times when I would get home from school and no one was home and she never really read what was on the screen. She certainly didn't know anything about warez and pirating software. Her biggest concern was that I was tying up the phone line.
However, she did spend time with me and taught me right and wrong. She gave me the knowledge and ability to make my own decisions. While I'm sure she wouldn't approve of some things, I think I was better prepared than most when I went away to college. While I brewed beer in the dorms while underage, I didn't get hammered all the time and I've never done drugs. However, leading a sheltered life only causes people to rebel when they get away from their parents for the first time. In college, no one is there to watch over them. The most colleges do is sometime block certain filesharing ports because of lawsuits.
Let them have a little privacy and a little fun now so they don't explode when the get out on their own. But most importantly, spend some time with them and set a good example, it makes more of an impression than you'd think.
I'll start by saying I am an open source fan. I've been using linux for about 7-8 years. A couple years ago I bought a mac laptop and for the past 2-3 years I've been using Linux and OS X exclusively. Only delving into the windows world occasionally to fix family members computers...
That said, my feelings are that it would cost more initially to switch from an existing M$ environment to an open source environment. My reasoning is that you will need to train people to administer their new linux boxes as well as train the workers to use linux. This is vs. people continuing to use their windows machines which they are used to so there is no real training involved.
Now what you have to look at is how much will it cost to upgrade to XP (if you are still running 2000 or 98) or if you are already running XP, to Longhorn? Is there going to be a significant learning curve? I know Microsoft has a habit of changing where things are from an administrators point of view but not as much from a users point of view. So you will need to train your administrators some to deal with the new OS. Now if you had switched to Linux, the location of things usually stay the same. (Of course different distributions place certain things in different areas but we'll assume you aren't switching distrobutions) There may be some new functionality that you may need to learn but the basic structure is the same. So I'd say moving from 98->XP->Longhorn would be more costly in terms of training than moving from RedHat 6 -> 7 -> 8.
Setting up your linux desktops may take some time. You need a word processor, probably a spread sheet, and whatever other programs you will need in your office environment. Most likely if you are using windows you already did the reasearch and purchased all the things you need. This same research would need to be done for linux. The biggest disadvantage you have is that the program you need may not be available for linux. Of course you also have to ask yourself is this really necessary? The dependancy on Word is created by people using word. Is there another solution? Of course so sometimes alternatives need to be researched. The advantage of using linux is that there are more open source programs available for linux than there are for windows. As a result, you are more likely to find an open source solution that you can use which will cost you nothing to purchase. Training your users and support will cost you but you would have the same problems if you are using windows. (as most people who have worked for a help desk will tell you)
So really I see that the initial investment will be costly in terms of training and evaluating/deciding on new solutions. However, you will never need to pay for an upgrade ever again (for your OS at least) as well as no per-sear licenses. So in the long run you will make your money back. When will this happen? I don't know, I haven't really tried to put numbers on these things. The values will also change depending on your needs. I'd guess that most companies will make up this cost and start seeing a savings in about 5 years, especially if M$ goes to a leasing scheme. Now if you are a company starting from scratch, since you still have to evaluate solutions for whatever OS you go with, the costs here are roughly the same. Training people may cost more because most people have word and excel at home. However I don't think it is significantly more because most word processors and spreadsheets and categories of software are roughly the same. All word processors deal with formatting text and unless you plan on switching from word to LaTeX, there isn't much of a difference. As for administrators, you can hire people with Linux/UNIX experience as opposed to someone with Windows experience. Thus the training is probably going to be less because my experience has typically been that Linux/UNIX admins generally know more than the HighSchool dropout you have maintaining your windows box. Plus with linux you can use the terminal to effectively administer another lin
I definately think this is a gimic and really shouldn't be posted on slashdot. Now if we had something like on star trek, a *real* voice recognition software, that would be news!
I mean come on, Microsoft's spell checker leaves much to be desired, imagine how much their voice recognition will suck.
"Microsoft is insecure" somehow translates to "Microsoft is secure."
This is someday going to go to court and then McBride should plead insanity...
Really, no matter the outcome, the lawyers win. I'm glad IBM is on our side and I definately think IBM is more stable than SCO. SCO is on their way out and they know it and they are grasping at straws. I just wish someone would cut the rope and be done with it.
I've also found that it can't exclude things. I did a search for "Dennis Wilson" (an old highschool friend of mine) and several thousand results about the Beach Boys Dennis Wilson comes up. So I do -"Beach Boys" as well and the first result that shows up had "Beach Boys" in the description.
Google has lost a lot of it's usefulness lately. I find it's certainly not as effective as it used to be. -Chris
HOWEVER, if it could be proved that Microsoft was aware of the problem but did nothing (their famous security through obscurity) then they should be held accountable. There have been many instances where Microsoft was informed of a problem but did nothing. In this case I think they should be held accountable.
I don't really see this going anywhere because you really have no rights when you buy software.
exactly, let's hire some programmers to write open source software for things we need. The state wins because they get software that both their paid programmers as well as other open source advocates work on. PLUS your taxes are going to produce software, not waste it on another microsoft certified goober.
Slackware... those were the days back when I only had 4 megs RAM and couldn't run X! So I had a dual boot system but honestly spent more time playing around with linux (especially because I could connect to my favorite BBSes with it)
Many years later, I know don't have a dual boot system. I tried in high school to find solutions but I wasn't up to learning LaTeX yet (it seemed daunting at the time) and I mostly needed a word processor for school. In college, I tried to switch at first but there was always some program they made us use that required windows.
By my second year I had a dual boot system but I almost always booted into linux. (I used mostly red hat)
Third year I finally learned LaTeX because my STAT teacher wanted us to print all our homework and hand it in. He gave us two options, LaTeX or M$ equation editor. After quickly checking out the equation editor I dove head first into LaTeX. After that, no more word. (Except to open those pesky attachments that people send in word)
About my 4th or 5th year (I'm on the 6 1/2 year schedule at a 5 year school now) I got a powerbook because I had heard so much about OS X. It was everything and more... especially now with the X11 server!!!!!
Now I have a dedicated debian UNIX box and a laptop that I take (and use) everywhere. I have word for those occassions when people send me attachments and emacs for when I am writing something. In fact, I ended up getting so proficient in LaTeX that I take my class notes in it. (especially useful in math class)
Will I switch to windows? Never, however I hate to admit I use my laptop more than I use my linux desktop but I have a feeling it is more of a matter of convenience as I carry my laptop everywhere. I also hate to admit that after swearing I wouldn't fix anyones windows boxes, I have still been known from time to time to help out a family member... it's good to remind me why I switched in the first place.
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good points? He talks about ONE security hole in OS X. So because they found one flaw, it's just as insecure as windows. huh?
Ok, no OS is immune (not even the beloved linux) to security flaws. To compare one hole in OS X to thousands upon thousands in windows is stupid. I've heard the windows is more popular so thats why it has more viruses argument before and it's BS! Windows is insecure by design.
I use linux and Mac OS X exclusively. I haven't had a problem with either of them. It's kindof like locking your car door... can someone break in? Sure they can, so maybe you have the club or an alarm (or both)... can they still break in? Yes, it just takes a little more time and effort. Windows is like leaving your car unlocked and the windows rolled down. Linux and OS X at least lock the doors and set the alarm.
don't forget make-kpkg!!!!!
I love debian mostly for the dpkg and related tools. I tried the latest red hat recently just for kicks and I really missed dpkg. I get great download speeds and it's easy to use.
For a really good debian resource check out http://www.debianplanet.org/
can someone please write an intermediate/advanced book that doesn't cover recompiling the kernel. I mean there are so many resources that cover this and I think it's been beaten to death. The majority of the linux books I own cover this and it takes up too much space and they all tell you basically the same thing.
If you are going to cover recompiling the kernel, write one book on one kernel. Then discuss what all the options mean. That might be useful! I think recompiling the kernel belongs in a beginner book. I want an intermediate/advanced book that is truly intermediate/advanced!
It's kindof hard to say this is how you do it in windows and then this is how you do it in linux.
./configure; make; sudo make install
/etc
In windows, you click a lot of "ok"s and reboot a lot. In linux, you:
In windows, you install buggy drivers that conflict with other drivers and crash your system. In linux, you either compile support directly into the kernel or compile a loadable module.
In windows, you endlessly navigate through menu's to try and find a preference. In linux, it's usually one config file has all you preferences... and it's usually somewhere either in your home directory for user preferences or somewhere in
The problem is, windows creates a security blanket. It's easy to use and administer. This creates a cheapened definition of "expert" as well as creating a whole new definition of "beginner"
Some of my definitions:
An expert in windows would be someone who is comfortable editing the windows registry (or at least as comfortable as you can get playing with such a horrible creation) and knows what an IRQ is.
An intermediate windows user knows what a dll is, how to install and configure any windows programs. They can also troubleshoot most problems.
A beginner is someone who can navigate through the filesystem and run programs like office and internet explorer and be fairly confident in their skills as a user. Knows very little about maintaining their computers.
Thus a beginner/intermediate may know to run defrag and scandisk every once in a while.
A intermediate/advanced person may know the problem lies in the registry but can't fix it without doing a re-install
Now for the linux definitions:
a beginner is someone who knows what KDE or GNOME is and can login and open up a web browser. Can also usually install an easy-to-install linux distro (like redhat)
an Intermediate user, knows what their hardware is and can not only install a linux distro but configure/setup most of the major applications (like XFree86) without using a GUI. Being able to recompile a kernel (that works) is mandatory for an intermediate user.
An expert user is someone who has intimate knowledge of the linux filestructure. Is able to modify startup scripts. Basically, someone who could make their own linux distro.
given this classification, it sounds like this book is for beginner/intermediate users. (That's not beginner OR intermediate)
So far the closest book to a true Linux Powertools is Linux in a nutshell but the old UNIX Powertools is one of the greatest UNIX books and I would love to have one updated specifically for linux. It's a shame this book isn't it because I got really excited for a minute there.
I'm not a believer in learning everything the hard way at first because if you are not dedicated to it, the camera will sit and collect dust.
Learning to take good pictures takes a lot of time and effort. Buying something that will autofocus for you will help you focus (no pun intended) your efforts on other items. Switch to auto for a little while to focus on your composition. Being able to concentrate on one subject will be able to help you not get too frustrated. However, you have to be the person to continue learning and not give up and just leave it in auto.
Of course I've also heard of people who walk into a store, ask for the "most expensive camera" and then return it because it is "too complicated" The person behind the camera is always the one thing that can use improvement before the camera itself.
I second the Horenstein's book... "Black and White Photography: A Basic Manual"
I have both the Ansel Adams series and the "Black and White Photography: A Basic Manual" book was a much easier read when I was just getting started.
On my Nikon, the only thing I can't seem to do is set the film ISO speed (as it does this automatically)
I can tell you how to adjust the apeture and the shutter speed on my camer... it's not hard and the values come up in the viewfinder as well as on top of the camera.
Aside from M mode (completely manual, you have to set shutter speed as well as the apeture) it has an A and S (Apeture and Shutter respectively) modes. These modes allow you to choose an apeture or shutter speed and it automatically chooses the corresponding value based on what it thinks it should be.
All the functionality is there, it's just different than you are used to. (oh and I still have depth of field lines on my lenses) I almost always have my camera in the A mode with the occasional change to M. However, sometimes at parties or something where there usually isn't time to set up a shot I have been known to put it in Auto, but usually A.
I disagree... a no-frills camera may be good for a student on a budget but it won't grow with you.
I went with a Nikon N60 (they have since replaced it with the N65 which is very similar). It is their bottom line automatic camera. I used it for a photography class at school. I could put it in manual mode with the automatic focusing off. Then when I went to family events and needed to take "quick" pictures (ie. I didn't want people to stand there while I adjusted everything) I threw it into either auto mode of A mode (Aperature mode) and turned on the auto-focus. Pictures turned out great.
Now that I have gotten to the point where I am thinking about upgrading I like the fact that I can get any Nikon and still use my lenses. (I've acquired 3) In fact, one of them I inherited from my uncle who has an N80.
My suggestion would be to first decide what you want to do with your camera. If you are just starting, the base camera of whatever brand you decide on should be fine. Also think about upgrading... not all lenses fit on all camera's. Usually lenses also don't fit between different camera models (same manufacturer) So keep that in mind if you think you will upgrade.
Also think about getting an enlarger and setting up a personal darkroom. It's something that I've been wating to do for a while but I didn't have the space. When I was at school I could use the school's darkroom but now that I'm out I don't have a space to use and it can be frustrating.
Also, whatever you choose, choose a good lense. (even if it's a fixed focal length) I have one 50mm lense that I LOVE and I find myself frequently switching back to it when I don't need my wide angle lense or my 80mm lense.
I've been a fan of the Nikon cameras but whatever you decide have fun with it!
Actually, while I may not go in and tinker and modify the source myself, I do recompile my kernels to get better performance by getting rid of the stuff I don't need. In fact I know lots of other linux users who do this as well.
Sure, some users use a stock kernel and don't recompile it but any linux user who actually knows what they are doing should recompile their kernel!
buahaha... to build an army to take over and destroy Bill Gates!!!!
But seriously, this makes perfect sense. The linux kernel (unlike NT's kernel) is configurable so you can take out or add whatever bits you'd like. So say I don't want to use a printer, modem, but I do want to use the microphone and speakers. I can remove and add the availability by either a simple recompilation of the kernel or by loading or unloading modules.
It takes a lot to write a OS from scratch and robots are very complex things. If I was working on a robot, I'd rather work on the robot's functions than reinvent the wheel.
I know lots of Indians, many of them went to my school at Drexel. I even worked for one on one of my coops. Maybe I've just had some bad experiences with them but if they have such a good IT educational system, why are they coming to the US to be educated?
I'm sure there are some well educated Indians but the problem is most of the outsourcing is done to save money so you pay a few people you found on the street to bang on a keyboard. I never said "Everyone in India is an idiot" but then again, people hear what they want to hear. If I complain about human rights violations in China does that mean I think all Chinese people are cruel?
Not really considering they changed the plot, blew up earth, made starbuck a woman. It sounds like a completely different story except for some of the names. What they couldn't think of some new names?
I have no objection to women starfighters, I have an objection to a woman Starbuck! I mean is it that hard to think up a new title for a new series?
At least Starbuck does still smoke cigars... it's a shame she's now a womanizer still... that I'd watch.
Same level of quality? Have you actually seen the code coming from India?
You really do get what you pay for but the PHB saved a few dollars so he's a hero.
is the fact that instead of using cheap grad student labor, they outsourced to India. I can only imagine how many talented grad students MIT has at their disposal.
Plus, I'd assume that most grad students (at least all the ones I know) would apreciate the flexability of open source software, thus saving even more money.
I am more shocked at the waste of money!
However, if you want to talk about India, the fact that a US univeristy outsourced it's code does not bode well for it's graduating student. CS jobs are getting harder and harder to find here in the US. Why? Well that would be because it's cheaper to outsource it to places like India. The only drawback is that you tend to get what you pay for.
The reason this is on slashdot is because slashdot has a large population of tech readers of whom this outsourcing effects.
is that some Debian systems get cracked....
They discover it withing 24 hours and no real damage seems to have happened.
Windows get cracked... huge fortune 500 companies lose millions of dollars. Russians get access to the NSA's secret back door to windows (ok I made that up but the NSA could have a backdoor and the Russians could have figured it out in the three months that they had access to the windows source)
Kudos to the Debian guys for catching this so quickly.
In this current article, aside from what you quoted, it seems to me he is saying... You can't take out the code because it's like a bankrobber throwing back the money... however, you can just give us money so we can stay afloat since people are now buying linux instead of SCO products.
Talk about shooting oneself in the foot. Managers like Linux because that tech who lives in his cubicle can administer a whole bunch of them without leaving and they can put them on as many computers as they want without paying anyone anything (except that poor tech guy in the corner secretly wooried that they will outsource his job to India)
That poor tech guy likes linux because he can just get things done. He hacks out perl scripts to automate his work and he likes to look at the code just for fun. He also likes the fact that he can recompile his kernel whenever he wants. There are so many great tinkering things you can do with linux which is what makes it so popular. Most of these things would not be possible if we have to pay $700 to SCO every time we install another copy of Linux. Linux is about choices, Debian, Redhat, Slackware, Mandrake, Gentoo, Suse, turbolinux, etc... I can go download any one of those and install it on my computer and then decide I don't like the way this distro arranges things so I switch back to another distro (or try something new).
SCO just wants money, nothing more, nothing less. They really don't care that their code is in linux, they just want money! Linus and others have said many times - show us the code and we'll remove it. Apparently that's not enough for them. I just wish this would go to court already.
When I was a teenager I was on all the BBSes, downloading Warez and looking at porn. Once the I got internet access newsgroups were always a good spot.
I found all sorts of things, some disgusting that I quickly deleted, other things interesting that I never really wanted to try (like how to build a bomb).
I had almost no parental control. My single mother didn't have a clue about computers (though she did write her yearly christmas letter on Word Perfect! and used the computer to print out labels) Sure the computer was in the livingroom but there were times when I would get home from school and no one was home and she never really read what was on the screen. She certainly didn't know anything about warez and pirating software. Her biggest concern was that I was tying up the phone line.
However, she did spend time with me and taught me right and wrong. She gave me the knowledge and ability to make my own decisions. While I'm sure she wouldn't approve of some things, I think I was better prepared than most when I went away to college. While I brewed beer in the dorms while underage, I didn't get hammered all the time and I've never done drugs. However, leading a sheltered life only causes people to rebel when they get away from their parents for the first time. In college, no one is there to watch over them. The most colleges do is sometime block certain filesharing ports because of lawsuits.
Let them have a little privacy and a little fun now so they don't explode when the get out on their own. But most importantly, spend some time with them and set a good example, it makes more of an impression than you'd think.
I'll start by saying I am an open source fan. I've been using linux for about 7-8 years. A couple years ago I bought a mac laptop and for the past 2-3 years I've been using Linux and OS X exclusively. Only delving into the windows world occasionally to fix family members computers...
That said, my feelings are that it would cost more initially to switch from an existing M$ environment to an open source environment. My reasoning is that you will need to train people to administer their new linux boxes as well as train the workers to use linux. This is vs. people continuing to use their windows machines which they are used to so there is no real training involved.
Now what you have to look at is how much will it cost to upgrade to XP (if you are still running 2000 or 98) or if you are already running XP, to Longhorn? Is there going to be a significant learning curve? I know Microsoft has a habit of changing where things are from an administrators point of view but not as much from a users point of view. So you will need to train your administrators some to deal with the new OS. Now if you had switched to Linux, the location of things usually stay the same. (Of course different distributions place certain things in different areas but we'll assume you aren't switching distrobutions) There may be some new functionality that you may need to learn but the basic structure is the same. So I'd say moving from 98->XP->Longhorn would be more costly in terms of training than moving from RedHat 6 -> 7 -> 8.
Setting up your linux desktops may take some time. You need a word processor, probably a spread sheet, and whatever other programs you will need in your office environment. Most likely if you are using windows you already did the reasearch and purchased all the things you need. This same research would need to be done for linux. The biggest disadvantage you have is that the program you need may not be available for linux. Of course you also have to ask yourself is this really necessary? The dependancy on Word is created by people using word. Is there another solution? Of course so sometimes alternatives need to be researched. The advantage of using linux is that there are more open source programs available for linux than there are for windows. As a result, you are more likely to find an open source solution that you can use which will cost you nothing to purchase. Training your users and support will cost you but you would have the same problems if you are using windows. (as most people who have worked for a help desk will tell you)
So really I see that the initial investment will be costly in terms of training and evaluating/deciding on new solutions. However, you will never need to pay for an upgrade ever again (for your OS at least) as well as no per-sear licenses. So in the long run you will make your money back. When will this happen? I don't know, I haven't really tried to put numbers on these things. The values will also change depending on your needs. I'd guess that most companies will make up this cost and start seeing a savings in about 5 years, especially if M$ goes to a leasing scheme. Now if you are a company starting from scratch, since you still have to evaluate solutions for whatever OS you go with, the costs here are roughly the same. Training people may cost more because most people have word and excel at home. However I don't think it is significantly more because most word processors and spreadsheets and categories of software are roughly the same. All word processors deal with formatting text and unless you plan on switching from word to LaTeX, there isn't much of a difference. As for administrators, you can hire people with Linux/UNIX experience as opposed to someone with Windows experience. Thus the training is probably going to be less because my experience has typically been that Linux/UNIX admins generally know more than the HighSchool dropout you have maintaining your windows box. Plus with linux you can use the terminal to effectively administer another lin
I definately think this is a gimic and really shouldn't be posted on slashdot. Now if we had something like on star trek, a *real* voice recognition software, that would be news!
I mean come on, Microsoft's spell checker leaves much to be desired, imagine how much their voice recognition will suck.
"Microsoft is insecure" somehow translates to "Microsoft is secure."
This is someday going to go to court and then McBride should plead insanity...
Really, no matter the outcome, the lawyers win.
I'm glad IBM is on our side and I definately think IBM is more stable than SCO. SCO is on their way out and they know it and they are grasping at straws. I just wish someone would cut the rope and be done with it.
Not really because you can have a dual monitor setup and have lots of monitor space.
I've also found that it can't exclude things. I did a search for "Dennis Wilson" (an old highschool friend of mine) and several thousand results about the Beach Boys Dennis Wilson comes up. So I do -"Beach Boys" as well and the first result that shows up had "Beach Boys" in the description.
Google has lost a lot of it's usefulness lately. I find it's certainly not as effective as it used to be.
-Chris
I hate to say this but I agree...
HOWEVER, if it could be proved that Microsoft was aware of the problem but did nothing (their famous security through obscurity) then they should be held accountable. There have been many instances where Microsoft was informed of a problem but did nothing. In this case I think they should be held accountable.
I don't really see this going anywhere because you really have no rights when you buy software.
exactly, let's hire some programmers to write open source software for things we need. The state wins because they get software that both their paid programmers as well as other open source advocates work on. PLUS your taxes are going to produce software, not waste it on another microsoft certified goober.
Slackware... those were the days back when I only had 4 megs RAM and couldn't run X! So I had a dual boot system but honestly spent more time playing around with linux (especially because I could connect to my favorite BBSes with it)
Many years later, I know don't have a dual boot system. I tried in high school to find solutions but I wasn't up to learning LaTeX yet (it seemed daunting at the time) and I mostly needed a word processor for school. In college, I tried to switch at first but there was always some program they made us use that required windows.
By my second year I had a dual boot system but I almost always booted into linux. (I used mostly red hat)
Third year I finally learned LaTeX because my STAT teacher wanted us to print all our homework and hand it in. He gave us two options, LaTeX or M$ equation editor. After quickly checking out the equation editor I dove head first into LaTeX. After that, no more word. (Except to open those pesky attachments that people send in word)
About my 4th or 5th year (I'm on the 6 1/2 year schedule at a 5 year school now) I got a powerbook because I had heard so much about OS X. It was everything and more... especially now with the X11 server!!!!!
Now I have a dedicated debian UNIX box and a laptop that I take (and use) everywhere. I have word for those occassions when people send me attachments and emacs for when I am writing something. In fact, I ended up getting so proficient in LaTeX that I take my class notes in it. (especially useful in math class)
Will I switch to windows? Never, however I hate to admit I use my laptop more than I use my linux desktop but I have a feeling it is more of a matter of convenience as I carry my laptop everywhere. I also hate to admit that after swearing I wouldn't fix anyones windows boxes, I have still been known from time to time to help out a family member... it's good to remind me why I switched in the first place.