The developers have made it clear that this dot zero release is very much a work in progress. An experimental version appropriate only for labroratory use.
Like I pointed out before only FreeBSD 4.0 is officially -Stable. All other 4.x releases are -Release versions.
STABLE refers to an upgrade branch. There is never a version you can download called STABLE. The process begins with a RELEASE. The CURRENT branch is the constantly changing -- for better or worse -- decendent of that version. Perhaps a better name for CURRENT would be EXPERIMENTAL. From time to time, new features that have been in CURRENT long enough to be considered reliable are applied to the original RELEASE, creating a STABLE version. Usually the most stable, most reliable versions are RELEASE versions with non-zero minor numbers like 4.2. Sometimes the changes in the STABLE branch improve reliability, but that is not what the branch name STABLE refers to. The only way to get a STABLE or CURRENT version is to use CVSup to download source code updates and rebuild your kernel. The folks on CURRENT typically do that every night.
FreeBSD 5 is ready for %95 of user and server use. Its just as stable as FreeBSD 4.6 or 4.7 since they are also Release versions. Only 4.0 is considered STABLE at this point.
This is just wrong. I'm sure the FreeBSD group appreciates your support, but you need to read up a bit more on how the various tracks work. See Absolute BSD by Michael Lucas, Chapter 6. If you're an operating system developer, have too much spare time and too little excitement, or are a blind idiot, -current is for you. When -current destroys your MP3 collection, debug the problem and submit a patch to correct it.
I currently use release 4.6.2 and am very happy. Except a little problem I had recently after going overboard with portupgrade, but that's another post.
H2O sounds like a good tool for building the kind of open-source, open-process course content I envision for the Open Slate project. Our goal is a slate design high school students can build themselves, a student-run network, and courseware written by college students under the direction of professors. The courseware piece is called Chalk Dust.
I have been poking around with Mimerdesk and find it to be quite useful, except for some quirks involving the HTML editing. Written in Perl, hooks into Apache and MySQL. For those who know, I'd like opinions as to Mimerdesk qualifies as an LMS, and if not, why?
It was when I saw Enlightenment running on FreeBSD 3.0 that I was hooked on open-source software. The idea of a bunch of nerds cranking out free editors and compilers was fine in and of itself, but the artistry and raw sex appeal Mandrake (Geoff Harrison) and Rasterman (Carsten Haitzler) achieved was completely unexpected. It was then that I knew I had to have this stuff. I still insist there is a place for art and personal expression in computer design, a position that so far only Apple appears to appreciate.
Re:Create a market for Laptops parts?
on
Barebones Notebook
·
· Score: 1
I hope so. My Open Slate Project is designed to have high school students build their own slates. Slate-modders would benefit greatly from the abundance of new and used bits and pieces currently available to desktop-modders. LCDs, digitizers, and batteries are especially hard.
I realize that my design is still conceptual (some would call it vapor), but I really believe there is more to it, in its current form, than this laptop shell. I am looking for more members.
I agree. You cannot apply the GPL with discrimination based on usage. Either a work is released under the GPL or it is not. More specifically, if it is, further restrictions are without merit.
The problem with browscap.ini is that it functions essentially like a massive nesting of if-then-else conditions and string matching patterns. The subtleties between the many user agent strings makes it difficult to ensure that every version of every browser on every platform is going to fall into the expected identification.
So what you are saying is that browscap is too complex to be trusted. I agree. The original goal of HTML was to make it easy for non-specialists to create formatted content that displays well on a variety of browsers, without alteration. That is where the power of the web came from, not this micro-managed obsessive nit picking.
...it would be fun to hack a Tablet PC but not much productivity could be expected.
I have a different opinion. Building a tablet PC would be a great project for high school students, and provide the market for a new, open-source class of applications. I call it the
Open Slate Project. The applications piece I call
Chalk Dust.
AFAIK there is no high-powered handwriting recognition software readily available for linux. Is that so?
The best as yet is Xscribble, and that is not really handwriting recognition. Closer to Graffiti, it does one character at a time. NICI (Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information) has a promising system. Here are the
handwriting recognition links from my
Open Slate Project web site.
The Open Slate Project intends to develop hardware using the open-source model, and to adapt existing open-source software to run on it. The slate piece should be capable of being built from a kit by a high school student. Self-made slates could compete with cars and skateboards as self-expressive hardware. Advanced players would design and build cases, perhaps motherboards.
Little tangible progess so far, but I now use Linux on a laptop to gain practical experience.
I am a professional IT guy, and was an amateur astronomer. Tired of my federal government SA job I pined to do the same work at, say the Keck 'scope, down on the Big Island. I was told that astronomers hire young, starving astronomers to do whatever else needs do be done. What they wanted was an amateur SA, not an amateur astronomer.
I disagree. This will make government bigger, less productive and more costly. Worse, it will create the illusion that what they do is okay. That which is intended to limit action becomes a club to justify undesireable behavior. Government is like the flu... [insert snappy punchline here]
A couple of years ago I came across Gnome and found it to be a refreshing, creative alternative to the wearisomely familiar look and feel of Windows and KDE. Which is to say that my tastes run to Asian women, Italian cars, and Californian wine.
I use Evolution, but only because of my commitment to Gnome and what I see as my role as technology assessor -- I put myself in my customer's shoes. I'm not knocking the technology, or the quality. Only the lack of creativity. Honestly, it pains me to use something that tries so hard to look like what I nominate as the worst application of the last, um, ten years: Microsoft Outlook.
I could just push Evolution aside and choose alternatives, but that would be missing an important point. Ximian has become tightly bound to Gnome, and Ximian has been chasing after Microsoft. Is there a future for Gnome in the role of a creative, alternative to middle-of-the-road environments that will allow me to claim independence from Microsoft?
Sony is more into the music market than Disney, and they pull no punches when it comes to letting you enjoy your personal music collection. Their VAIOs come chock full of applications for working with audio, and their newer Mini-Disk recorders (MZ-R700DPC, MZ-R900DPC) include Firewire connections for downloading (but not uploading:( ) digital audio, including MP3 format. And then there's the memory stick MP3 player. On the other hand, their as yet not released in America next generation MD system appears to have a copy protection sensor of some sort. Anybody know anything about that, and is it a *bad thing*?
In "Foundation" Asimov describes the rise of religious power as scientific knowledge is lost, and the use of religion to control
ignorant populations. I see a striking parallel with Afghanistan and other religious extremist societies, regardless of nationality or
religious denomination. But Asimov failed to predict the change in the
role of women in modern society, limiting himself to an all-male cast
better suited to a Raymond Chandler novel. So, nobody's perfect.
To what extent Asimov's views on religion influenced the Taliban in
outlawing T.V. is difficult to say. Even though the Taliban leadership
may not have read Foundation, the series has had an undeniable
influence on so many people that the second order effects could be
considerable. Could it just be prediction, without any influence on
that which it predicts, or has quantum mechanics raised its hand? We
ought to consider a world in which increasing numbers of people turn
their back on technology and resort to faith.
Slashdot Mirror
The developers have made it clear that this dot zero release is very much a work in progress. An experimental version appropriate only for labroratory use.
Like I pointed out before only FreeBSD 4.0 is officially -Stable. All other 4.x releases are -Release versions.
STABLE refers to an upgrade branch. There is never a version you can download called STABLE. The process begins with a RELEASE. The CURRENT branch is the constantly changing -- for better or worse -- decendent of that version. Perhaps a better name for CURRENT would be EXPERIMENTAL. From time to time, new features that have been in CURRENT long enough to be considered reliable are applied to the original RELEASE, creating a STABLE version. Usually the most stable, most reliable versions are RELEASE versions with non-zero minor numbers like 4.2. Sometimes the changes in the STABLE branch improve reliability, but that is not what the branch name STABLE refers to. The only way to get a STABLE or CURRENT version is to use CVSup to download source code updates and rebuild your kernel. The folks on CURRENT typically do that every night.
This is just wrong. I'm sure the FreeBSD group appreciates your support, but you need to read up a bit more on how the various tracks work. See Absolute BSD by Michael Lucas, Chapter 6. If you're an operating system developer, have too much spare time and too little excitement, or are a blind idiot, -current is for you. When -current destroys your MP3 collection, debug the problem and submit a patch to correct it.
I currently use release 4.6.2 and am very happy. Except a little problem I had recently after going overboard with portupgrade, but that's another post.
Gary Dunn
Open Slate
Gary Dunn
Open Slate Project
It was when I saw Enlightenment running on FreeBSD 3.0 that I was hooked on open-source software. The idea of a bunch of nerds cranking out free editors and compilers was fine in and of itself, but the artistry and raw sex appeal Mandrake (Geoff Harrison) and Rasterman (Carsten Haitzler) achieved was completely unexpected. It was then that I knew I had to have this stuff. I still insist there is a place for art and personal expression in computer design, a position that so far only Apple appears to appreciate.
I realize that my design is still conceptual (some would call it vapor), but I really believe there is more to it, in its current form, than this laptop shell. I am looking for more members.
I agree. You cannot apply the GPL with discrimination based on usage. Either a work is released under the GPL or it is not. More specifically, if it is, further restrictions are without merit.
So what you are saying is that browscap is too complex to be trusted. I agree. The original goal of HTML was to make it easy for non-specialists to create formatted content that displays well on a variety of browsers, without alteration. That is where the power of the web came from, not this micro-managed obsessive nit picking.
I have a different opinion. Building a tablet PC would be a great project for high school students, and provide the market for a new, open-source class of applications. I call it the Open Slate Project. The applications piece I call Chalk Dust.
The best as yet is Xscribble, and that is not really handwriting recognition. Closer to Graffiti, it does one character at a time. NICI (Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information) has a promising system. Here are the handwriting recognition links from my Open Slate Project web site.
Little tangible progess so far, but I now use Linux on a laptop to gain practical experience.
The project is activly seeking partners!
I am a professional IT guy, and was an amateur astronomer. Tired of my federal government SA job I pined to do the same work at, say the Keck 'scope, down on the Big Island. I was told that astronomers hire young, starving astronomers to do whatever else needs do be done. What they wanted was an amateur SA, not an amateur astronomer.
Seems like a good idea to me.
... [insert snappy punchline here]
I disagree. This will make government bigger, less productive and more costly. Worse, it will create the illusion that what they do is okay. That which is intended to limit action becomes a club to justify undesireable behavior. Government is like the flu
A couple of years ago I came across Gnome and found it to be a
refreshing, creative alternative to the wearisomely familiar look and
feel of Windows and KDE. Which is to say that my tastes run to Asian
women, Italian cars, and Californian wine.
I use Evolution, but only because of my commitment to Gnome and what I
see as my role as technology assessor -- I put myself in my customer's
shoes. I'm not knocking the technology, or the quality. Only the lack
of creativity. Honestly, it pains me to use something that tries so
hard to look like what I nominate as the worst application of the
last, um, ten years: Microsoft Outlook.
I could just push Evolution aside and choose alternatives, but that
would be missing an important point. Ximian has become tightly bound to
Gnome, and Ximian has been chasing after Microsoft. Is there a future
for Gnome in the role of a creative, alternative to middle-of-the-road
environments that will allow me to claim independence from Microsoft?
Gateway 2000 "Nomad" 486SX-25 laptop with 64 grey scale display. Vintage 1993.
...
Also, I think AT&T or TI did a laptop by the same name. A long long time ago, back in the days of the first Grid portables. I could be wrong
Sony is more into the music market than Disney, and they pull no :( ) digital audio, including MP3 format. And then there's
punches when it comes to letting you enjoy your personal music
collection. Their VAIOs come chock full of applications for working
with audio, and their newer Mini-Disk recorders (MZ-R700DPC,
MZ-R900DPC) include Firewire connections for downloading (but not
uploading
the memory stick MP3 player. On the other hand, their as yet not
released in America next generation MD system appears to have a copy
protection sensor of some sort. Anybody know anything about that, and
is it a *bad thing*?
In "Foundation" Asimov describes the rise of religious power as scientific knowledge is lost, and the use of religion to control
ignorant populations. I see a striking parallel with Afghanistan and other religious extremist societies, regardless of nationality or
religious denomination. But Asimov failed to predict the change in the
role of women in modern society, limiting himself to an all-male cast
better suited to a Raymond Chandler novel. So, nobody's perfect.
To what extent Asimov's views on religion influenced the Taliban in
outlawing T.V. is difficult to say. Even though the Taliban leadership
may not have read Foundation, the series has had an undeniable
influence on so many people that the second order effects could be
considerable. Could it just be prediction, without any influence on
that which it predicts, or has quantum mechanics raised its hand? We
ought to consider a world in which increasing numbers of people turn
their back on technology and resort to faith.