Your age group *isn't* the driving force behind popular music; college kids don't have the necessary disposable income and they're more likely to steal their music online than to buy it.
The driving force behind popular music is the *high school* crowd, who get their disposable income straight from their parents. These are the people being targeted, not you. They're the new sheep; you're the already-bought-and-paid-for sheep and no one in the RIAA gives a rats ass what you think. The RIAA no more cares about your music preferences than it does mine.
College students aren't nearly as important as they think they are.
And yeah, the personal attack was warranted. You blithely assume that because you and your friends do something, that 'everyone' does that thing - or at least everyone that counts. Sheer arrogance.
In posting as in cutting wood, measure twice and cut once.
People aren't cheap; you and your friends are cheap. There's a difference.
Trying to extrapolate the behavior of a bunch of college boys to the world as a whole is ridiculous. Someday you, too, will graduate (with luck) and then you'll no longer be an irresponsible little college brat who has the temerity to apply the behavior of himself and his friends to the entire world population.
Most of us - responsible working stiffs - actually buy cds of downloaded mp3s that we like. Perhaps because we want better sound quality, or think the artists should get some small amount of money for their efforts, or just because we aren't blowing all of our cash on drunkfests and ski trips. Whichever sounds most reasonable.
It isn't your post I disagree with, it's your sig, which any sane human being would find revolting. Excuses about 'song lyrics' or whatever don't cut it.
And I'm "man enough", if that's the way you want to put it, to object both by post and moderation. It certainly makes more sense than most attempts at moderation here.
Hey, freedom of speech means that you can use any sig you like, no matter how sick or screwed up it might be (yeah, those lyrics are really funny...har, har, har).
Freedom of speech also means I can mod your ass down because I don't happen to like your sig. Works both ways. I don't like your sig, you don't like my mod - freedom for all concerned. That's what you want, isn't it?
I think the root issue is rather more simple. When a friend of mine purchased this 'brand new cd player thingie' and showed it to me, he also bought 3 CDs for $16 a pop; part of a package deal at the store where he got the player.
Today I walk into a store and the average price of a cd not on sale is...$16. The price of the media has dropped dramatically, the price of production has dropped dramatically and yet the price of the cd is still about the same as it was when players were first being mass-produced. Something stinks here, folks, and I'm willing to bet that I'm not the only person who wonders why the price of a cd hasn't fallen over the years.
Add to this the bloom of personal computing combined with the mp3 and people suddenly realize that they can get *just the parts of the cd they like*. If the RIAA were a smart organization they'd offer this service themselves; the combination of computing technology and robotics advances means that burning custom cds isn't prohibitively expensive anymore. In fact, it's so cheap you can do it yourself at home with equipment that doesn't cost more than $150.
If the RIAA wasn't so desperately set on trying to force the world back into the 1980's, they could offer an internet-based solution where you could order a custom cd over the web and have it shipped to you in a week. Make the price $1.00 a track and guarrantee that the quality will be better than any mp3 you'll get off of the net and people would be much more like to pay $16 for 16 songs if they knew they'd like every single song on the cd. Offer it at $0.50/track plus shipping and I bet most people would jump at the chance ($8.00 for 16 songs *you* pick out; it certainly be worth it just in the time it'd save me to find and download lower-grade mp3s. Perhaps the average college student doesn't have the money and does have the time, but for the average working stiff with a family it's the other way around.)
Yet the music industry doesn't offer this service. They insist that you pretend it's still 1985 and that you keep on paying through the nose for cds where you *might* like all the tracks, but in reality (as most of us have no doubt experienced) you actually really enjoy 2 or 3 and don't care for the rest.
There are people who throw a hissy fit and scream "it's the law! Don't complain!" but the fact is that mp3 piracy isn't just a kiddie phenomena. Alot of working adults, a fair chunk of the adult American population, have flagrantly violated the law in this regard to get mp3s they want. Are you going to tell me that they're all morally bankrupt and deserve to be shot? Perhaps you're extreme enough, or morally pure enough, to sit on a high horse and dish out judgements in this regard, but I suspect that the reason people who could otherwise afford the cds do this is because 1) they're rather pissed off at getting screwed one time too many after buying a new cd at rates that haven't gone down over the years, and 2) there aren't any alternatives such as the one I listed above (custom cds at $.50/track).
If the music industry lowered prices to something more reasonable *and* provided the custom cd service I'd make a sizable bet on the prediction that mp3 piracy would decline markedly, becoming in actual fact a 'little boy' phenomena prevalent only among high school and college kids. Eight bucks for a custom cd and I'll be one of the first to go get a dozen of the suckers with music I want.
I'll *still* rip them to my computer so I can mix 'n match while I work without having to change out the cds, but you won't see me on the Gnutella network any time soon. And at $8.00 per custom cd you can be damned sure I won't be offering up my purchased music for piracy just so some college kid can spend the money on beer on a Saturday night.
Speaking of the Seagates, I've had horrible luck with them. Only tried one at home; it failed on the second day. At work over the last three years the Seagates have crashed and burned more than all other drives combined (and we have some really cheap, trashy, overseas never-heard-of-the-brand drives running).
I'll never buy a Seagate after what I've seen. On the other hand, my WD drives have never failed, and my IBM 60's are churning along just fine.
Maybe so, but it had not just one Hot Babe(TM), but two Hot Babes(TM): Denise Richards and Dina Meyer.
Besides, I happen to like the citizen/civilian distinction. A civilian has all the rights of a citizen except that the civilian can't vote; and to get that vote you have to put in some time in national service. Everyone can, no one is refused; two years of your life and the vote is yours.
Those that don't value the vote can just avoid national service and keep their mouths shut if they don't like the way elections turn out.
Right now I think that's a far sight better than 'universal suffrage'.
My wife and switched over to cell-only service - no land line. Now not only do we have the convenience of a cell, but we no longer get telemarketing calls (one law I agree with).
I didn't realize just how much telemarketers annoyed me until I stopped getting their calls...now I wonder how much happier I'd be using email if I no longer received any kind of spam?
These are precisely the reasons why KDE is unsuitable for most computer users.
Whoah nellie, you completely missed the point of that last post. Read on.
You are a minimalist. Most aren't.
And he doesn't use KDE.
You can figure out rudimentary and advanced features. Many can't.
And he doesn't use KDE.
You like do-it-yourself. Most don't (care).
(sigh) And he doesn't use KDE. He said it himself: it's too much desktop for him. He likes a much more minimalist approach, which is not the KDE way of doing things.
Of course, you're right. Whatever works for any one person is the best tool. But the point here is that KDE is years behind. And that's still true.
Years behind what? Windows? Just because it doesn't work like WinXP and you wish it would? Please, don't make me laugh; if you want WinXP then bloody well use WinXP and stop your bitching. You'll be happier to have your (P)OS of choice and I'll be happier because I won't be running across so many whining posts from Windows users.
A-Teens. Younger, prettier, and they actually harmonize far better than ABBA ever did (and I'm a big Abba fan - I admit it; but the A-Teens simply have more vocal talent).
Max
Re:A great example of open-source at work.
on
Five Years of KDE
·
· Score: 1
MS not only stood on the shoulders of giants, but bought many of them out. Those that it couldn't buy it simply 'embraced' (e.g., TCP/IP stack).
KDE isn't any more of a beneficiary of the works that have gone before than MS is. And KDE has managed to accomplish what it has without a single dollar of financial support. Can anyone say the same of the GUI for MS Windows?
Max
Re:A great example of an RMS witch-hunt
on
Five Years of KDE
·
· Score: 1
And where does it say that RMS has the 'right' to do this sort of thing in the first place? Would this be according to the actual GPL license, or the First Church of FSF?
Max
Re:A great example of open-source at work.
on
Five Years of KDE
·
· Score: 1
This has to be the most non-sequiter response I've seen in days on Slashdot. What part of your reply has anything to do in response to the original post? Or are you just an MS fanboy?
Oh, and while we're wildly off-topic, prove points 2 and 3 with empirical evidence. Point 1 I grant you, but the other two you're pulling out of your ass with nothing more to support it than your own wanton desire to give Bill G. a tongue-bath.
So far as I know this 'policy' - which isn't law and never has been - hasn't been tested in a U.S. court. Just because MS saws it's legal and fair doesn't make it so; even the fanboys can't argue this point (or they could, I suppose, but they'd look like idiots trying to pass themselves off as judges).
It's part of the MS philosophy that however they proclaim the world works, must actually be the way the world works - and they'll crush anyone who says different. This whole idea of 'bundled software' is, remember, something that MS just made up to cut prices on mass orders to distributors while still being able to prosecute 'piracy' in the future. Imagine if a publisher sold OEM 'bundled' books which a customer couldn't resell after they read them.
If it were a book, or pretty much anything else, you'd say "what a crock". But since it's software and most of you've been bludgeoned about the head with propaganda stating "this is the way things are because we say that's the way things are", a good many people have actually come to believe that software is, in some strange fashion, actually different from other commodities.
It isn't. Certain corporations and industries would like us to believe that, since it results in an ecology of artificial scarcity which drives up prices. But this ecology is, indeed, *artificial* and completely imaginary; it has nothing to do with real-world scarcity of any kind. If software were licensed like a book (use it, resell it as you would) then some small amount of profit would be lost; but more importantly, *people wouldn't automatically give credence to bizarre and nonsensical EULA's*. They might actually start asking a few pointed questions concerning pricing and idiotic use restrictions.
Companies bent on turning a profit on artificial scarcity can't have the sheep questioning the system, now can they? Give those damned consumers and inch and they'll take a mile!
There is no company in charge of Linux, no warranty, no implied promises or expectations. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! This is inherent in Linux and everyone with a clue knows this. Linux is *not* a company product and doesn't owe you a damned thing.
And stop with the diversions. Post specific examples of 'sloppy code' in popular apps or the kernel itself. Right here. On Slashdot. Either put up or shut up.
It's already too late. When I bought a copy of the "Anarchist's Cookbook" at the tender age of 14, I had to register with the FBI in order to obtain the book. So no doubt the FBI already thinks that I'm a terrorist with a long-standing history of un-American activity. This post will only confirms their suspicions, and soon I'll be the subject of an X-Files episode.
Your argument re kernel releases is irrelevant. Any serious Linux enthusiast knows you don't download the 'latest and greatest' for actual use unless it's withstood the test of time; you do this if you want to test it and see how it works, in essence helping the Linux community beta the new kernel and work out any issues that might crop up.
If you aren't one of these folks then downloading and using a brand-new kernel is just plain foolish. The only 'fiasco' here is your own clueless as to how the Linux world works, i.e., the 'release early and release often' philosophy. Linux development operates completely contrary to your expectations and this is openly, explicitly stated wherever you go; if you ignored this philosophy and the abundant warnings that go with it that's your problem and has nothing to do with 'sloppy code'. In fact, you might be better served by sticking with a Win machine.
I can't comment on MS having sloppy code or not, since it's all closed-source. Neither can you, actually. What I've seen of most OS code doesn't convince me that there's a "whole lot of sloppy code" out there. Perhaps you'd be good enough to point out specific examples in either the kernel or in apps that get alot of use (KOffice, the GIMP, etc.). Since it's all open I'm sure you won't have any trouble posting a great many examples of this "sloppy code" you've seen a "whole lot of".
Excuse me? Who are you to complain about "disdainful language"? Re-read your post, littered with comments belittleing your targets mental faculties. If you're going to dish it out, best be ready to take it as well.
What are you talking about? StarOffice has never crashed on me in Linux, and only rarely crashes on me in Windows. On the other hand, every day I have to deal with people who lose work because Word, Excel, or PP have crashed and completely locked up the system.
I'm responsible for hundreds of machines. While my evidence may be anecdotal, I seriously doubt that it's exceptional.
Not only can you get great broadband service in Sweden, but for all you porn freaks out there (yeah, that means you; we all know that broadband users spend their time downloading adult mpegs - that's why they need broadband in the first place!) Sweden has an age of consent of 15.
Then you were there when I was there. Undoubtedly you played the version I worked on. You might even have been subject to the 'invincible ship' hack I secretly put into the code (not hard to do, in APL) and sometimes used to blow people out of the water with when I got bored.
If ever a destroyer came along and wasted your dreadnought, you have me to blame.;-)
My memory of things could be wildly distorted after all this time, but I do know that one of the colleges (I thought it was mine - Pomona - but it could've been Scripps, next door on the same campus) claimed that the professor was 'on staff', although he never taught classes and didn't have an office, and that he 'created' APL.
This doesn't mean that any of it was true - the college was a west coast ivy-league setup and we had a number of 'professors' whose primary purpose was to increase the college's prestige. One was a semi-famous poet who taught one class each year - and that's it. I never met the APL guy, nor did anyone I know ever meet him. Insofar as I'm aware, he was never once on campus during the two years that I was there.
But the claim was made regardless. Given your information it was most likely a PR deal of some kind, as was done with some of the other 'staff'. Or perhaps complete BS. I certainly don't know the truth of it, other than what I was told.
If you want a strange programming language that garnered virtually no support and was a real pain in the ass, look up APL (primarily used at Pomona College in Claremont, CA, because the guy who invented it was a professor there).
APL was defined by coding which wasn't particularly inventive but which required a complete keyboard overlay - it didn't use ASCII characters (except in text, as I recall), but rather a mixture of greek symbols and shit the author just plain made up. So in effect you had to match 'objects' to keys on the keyboard, a completely non-intuitive way of typing. Talk about watching your hands while you work....
Unfortunately the college was incredibly gung-ho on APL and thought it would revolutionize coding, so if we wanted to do any serious work we had to do it in APL. This meant that about a dozen of us sat around learning APL so that we could program what might have been (don't really know, but I don't know of any other examples in 1983) the most massively multiplayer Star Trek ship battle game to date (up to 127 players, although the mainframe usually came to a grinding halt when we passed the 70 or 80 player mark). We then passed this program off as a science project, which it was accepted as since no one else could read the damned thing.
Slashdot Mirror
Five BILLION on R&D??? And XP is all they have to show for it???
Dear christ, if you give me $5 billion I'll promise much better results, even after I pocket the first $4 billion.
MS sure knows how to waste money....
Max
Your age group *isn't* the driving force behind popular music; college kids don't have the necessary disposable income and they're more likely to steal their music online than to buy it.
The driving force behind popular music is the *high school* crowd, who get their disposable income straight from their parents. These are the people being targeted, not you. They're the new sheep; you're the already-bought-and-paid-for sheep and no one in the RIAA gives a rats ass what you think. The RIAA no more cares about your music preferences than it does mine.
College students aren't nearly as important as they think they are.
And yeah, the personal attack was warranted. You blithely assume that because you and your friends do something, that 'everyone' does that thing - or at least everyone that counts. Sheer arrogance.
In posting as in cutting wood, measure twice and cut once.
Max
People aren't cheap; you and your friends are cheap. There's a difference.
Trying to extrapolate the behavior of a bunch of college boys to the world as a whole is ridiculous. Someday you, too, will graduate (with luck) and then you'll no longer be an irresponsible little college brat who has the temerity to apply the behavior of himself and his friends to the entire world population.
Most of us - responsible working stiffs - actually buy cds of downloaded mp3s that we like. Perhaps because we want better sound quality, or think the artists should get some small amount of money for their efforts, or just because we aren't blowing all of our cash on drunkfests and ski trips. Whichever sounds most reasonable.
Max
It isn't your post I disagree with, it's your sig, which any sane human being would find revolting. Excuses about 'song lyrics' or whatever don't cut it.
And I'm "man enough", if that's the way you want to put it, to object both by post and moderation. It certainly makes more sense than most attempts at moderation here.
Max
Hey, freedom of speech means that you can use any sig you like, no matter how sick or screwed up it might be (yeah, those lyrics are really funny...har, har, har).
Freedom of speech also means I can mod your ass down because I don't happen to like your sig. Works both ways. I don't like your sig, you don't like my mod - freedom for all concerned. That's what you want, isn't it?
Max
I think the root issue is rather more simple. When a friend of mine purchased this 'brand new cd player thingie' and showed it to me, he also bought 3 CDs for $16 a pop; part of a package deal at the store where he got the player.
Today I walk into a store and the average price of a cd not on sale is...$16. The price of the media has dropped dramatically, the price of production has dropped dramatically and yet the price of the cd is still about the same as it was when players were first being mass-produced. Something stinks here, folks, and I'm willing to bet that I'm not the only person who wonders why the price of a cd hasn't fallen over the years.
Add to this the bloom of personal computing combined with the mp3 and people suddenly realize that they can get *just the parts of the cd they like*. If the RIAA were a smart organization they'd offer this service themselves; the combination of computing technology and robotics advances means that burning custom cds isn't prohibitively expensive anymore. In fact, it's so cheap you can do it yourself at home with equipment that doesn't cost more than $150.
If the RIAA wasn't so desperately set on trying to force the world back into the 1980's, they could offer an internet-based solution where you could order a custom cd over the web and have it shipped to you in a week. Make the price $1.00 a track and guarrantee that the quality will be better than any mp3 you'll get off of the net and people would be much more like to pay $16 for 16 songs if they knew they'd like every single song on the cd. Offer it at $0.50/track plus shipping and I bet most people would jump at the chance ($8.00 for 16 songs *you* pick out; it certainly be worth it just in the time it'd save me to find and download lower-grade mp3s. Perhaps the average college student doesn't have the money and does have the time, but for the average working stiff with a family it's the other way around.)
Yet the music industry doesn't offer this service. They insist that you pretend it's still 1985 and that you keep on paying through the nose for cds where you *might* like all the tracks, but in reality (as most of us have no doubt experienced) you actually really enjoy 2 or 3 and don't care for the rest.
There are people who throw a hissy fit and scream "it's the law! Don't complain!" but the fact is that mp3 piracy isn't just a kiddie phenomena. Alot of working adults, a fair chunk of the adult American population, have flagrantly violated the law in this regard to get mp3s they want. Are you going to tell me that they're all morally bankrupt and deserve to be shot? Perhaps you're extreme enough, or morally pure enough, to sit on a high horse and dish out judgements in this regard, but I suspect that the reason people who could otherwise afford the cds do this is because 1) they're rather pissed off at getting screwed one time too many after buying a new cd at rates that haven't gone down over the years, and 2) there aren't any alternatives such as the one I listed above (custom cds at $.50/track).
If the music industry lowered prices to something more reasonable *and* provided the custom cd service I'd make a sizable bet on the prediction that mp3 piracy would decline markedly, becoming in actual fact a 'little boy' phenomena prevalent only among high school and college kids. Eight bucks for a custom cd and I'll be one of the first to go get a dozen of the suckers with music I want.
I'll *still* rip them to my computer so I can mix 'n match while I work without having to change out the cds, but you won't see me on the Gnutella network any time soon. And at $8.00 per custom cd you can be damned sure I won't be offering up my purchased music for piracy just so some college kid can spend the money on beer on a Saturday night.
Max
Speaking of the Seagates, I've had horrible luck with them. Only tried one at home; it failed on the second day. At work over the last three years the Seagates have crashed and burned more than all other drives combined (and we have some really cheap, trashy, overseas never-heard-of-the-brand drives running).
I'll never buy a Seagate after what I've seen. On the other hand, my WD drives have never failed, and my IBM 60's are churning along just fine.
Max
Maybe so, but it had not just one Hot Babe(TM), but two Hot Babes(TM): Denise Richards and Dina Meyer.
Besides, I happen to like the citizen/civilian distinction. A civilian has all the rights of a citizen except that the civilian can't vote; and to get that vote you have to put in some time in national service. Everyone can, no one is refused; two years of your life and the vote is yours.
Those that don't value the vote can just avoid national service and keep their mouths shut if they don't like the way elections turn out.
Right now I think that's a far sight better than 'universal suffrage'.
Max
My wife and switched over to cell-only service - no land line. Now not only do we have the convenience of a cell, but we no longer get telemarketing calls (one law I agree with).
I didn't realize just how much telemarketers annoyed me until I stopped getting their calls...now I wonder how much happier I'd be using email if I no longer received any kind of spam?
Max
These are precisely the reasons why KDE is unsuitable for most computer users.
Whoah nellie, you completely missed the point of that last post. Read on.
You are a minimalist. Most aren't.
And he doesn't use KDE.
You can figure out rudimentary and advanced features. Many can't.
And he doesn't use KDE.
You like do-it-yourself. Most don't (care).
(sigh) And he doesn't use KDE. He said it himself: it's too much desktop for him. He likes a much more minimalist approach, which is not the KDE way of doing things.
Of course, you're right. Whatever works for any one person is the best tool. But the point here is that KDE is years behind. And that's still true.
Years behind what? Windows? Just because it doesn't work like WinXP and you wish it would? Please, don't make me laugh; if you want WinXP then bloody well use WinXP and stop your bitching. You'll be happier to have your (P)OS of choice and I'll be happier because I won't be running across so many whining posts from Windows users.
Max
A-Teens. Younger, prettier, and they actually harmonize far better than ABBA ever did (and I'm a big Abba fan - I admit it; but the A-Teens simply have more vocal talent).
Max
MS not only stood on the shoulders of giants, but bought many of them out. Those that it couldn't buy it simply 'embraced' (e.g., TCP/IP stack).
KDE isn't any more of a beneficiary of the works that have gone before than MS is. And KDE has managed to accomplish what it has without a single dollar of financial support. Can anyone say the same of the GUI for MS Windows?
Max
And where does it say that RMS has the 'right' to do this sort of thing in the first place? Would this be according to the actual GPL license, or the First Church of FSF?
Max
This has to be the most non-sequiter response I've seen in days on Slashdot. What part of your reply has anything to do in response to the original post? Or are you just an MS fanboy?
Oh, and while we're wildly off-topic, prove points 2 and 3 with empirical evidence. Point 1 I grant you, but the other two you're pulling out of your ass with nothing more to support it than your own wanton desire to give Bill G. a tongue-bath.
Max
So far as I know this 'policy' - which isn't law and never has been - hasn't been tested in a U.S. court. Just because MS saws it's legal and fair doesn't make it so; even the fanboys can't argue this point (or they could, I suppose, but they'd look like idiots trying to pass themselves off as judges).
It's part of the MS philosophy that however they proclaim the world works, must actually be the way the world works - and they'll crush anyone who says different. This whole idea of 'bundled software' is, remember, something that MS just made up to cut prices on mass orders to distributors while still being able to prosecute 'piracy' in the future. Imagine if a publisher sold OEM 'bundled' books which a customer couldn't resell after they read them.
If it were a book, or pretty much anything else, you'd say "what a crock". But since it's software and most of you've been bludgeoned about the head with propaganda stating "this is the way things are because we say that's the way things are", a good many people have actually come to believe that software is, in some strange fashion, actually different from other commodities.
It isn't. Certain corporations and industries would like us to believe that, since it results in an ecology of artificial scarcity which drives up prices. But this ecology is, indeed, *artificial* and completely imaginary; it has nothing to do with real-world scarcity of any kind. If software were licensed like a book (use it, resell it as you would) then some small amount of profit would be lost; but more importantly, *people wouldn't automatically give credence to bizarre and nonsensical EULA's*. They might actually start asking a few pointed questions concerning pricing and idiotic use restrictions.
Companies bent on turning a profit on artificial scarcity can't have the sheep questioning the system, now can they? Give those damned consumers and inch and they'll take a mile!
Max
There is no company in charge of Linux, no warranty, no implied promises or expectations. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! This is inherent in Linux and everyone with a clue knows this. Linux is *not* a company product and doesn't owe you a damned thing.
And stop with the diversions. Post specific examples of 'sloppy code' in popular apps or the kernel itself. Right here. On Slashdot. Either put up or shut up.
Max
It's already too late. When I bought a copy of the "Anarchist's Cookbook" at the tender age of 14, I had to register with the FBI in order to obtain the book. So no doubt the FBI already thinks that I'm a terrorist with a long-standing history of un-American activity. This post will only confirms their suspicions, and soon I'll be the subject of an X-Files episode.
Max
Your argument re kernel releases is irrelevant. Any serious Linux enthusiast knows you don't download the 'latest and greatest' for actual use unless it's withstood the test of time; you do this if you want to test it and see how it works, in essence helping the Linux community beta the new kernel and work out any issues that might crop up.
If you aren't one of these folks then downloading and using a brand-new kernel is just plain foolish. The only 'fiasco' here is your own clueless as to how the Linux world works, i.e., the 'release early and release often' philosophy. Linux development operates completely contrary to your expectations and this is openly, explicitly stated wherever you go; if you ignored this philosophy and the abundant warnings that go with it that's your problem and has nothing to do with 'sloppy code'. In fact, you might be better served by sticking with a Win machine.
I can't comment on MS having sloppy code or not, since it's all closed-source. Neither can you, actually. What I've seen of most OS code doesn't convince me that there's a "whole lot of sloppy code" out there. Perhaps you'd be good enough to point out specific examples in either the kernel or in apps that get alot of use (KOffice, the GIMP, etc.). Since it's all open I'm sure you won't have any trouble posting a great many examples of this "sloppy code" you've seen a "whole lot of".
Max
Excuse me? Who are you to complain about "disdainful language"? Re-read your post, littered with comments belittleing your targets mental faculties. If you're going to dish it out, best be ready to take it as well.
Max
I'd recommend Opera, which is what I use in both Windows and Linux. I haven't seen a faster or more stable browser.
Max
What are you talking about? StarOffice has never crashed on me in Linux, and only rarely crashes on me in Windows. On the other hand, every day I have to deal with people who lose work because Word, Excel, or PP have crashed and completely locked up the system.
I'm responsible for hundreds of machines. While my evidence may be anecdotal, I seriously doubt that it's exceptional.
Max
Not only can you get great broadband service in Sweden, but for all you porn freaks out there (yeah, that means you; we all know that broadband users spend their time downloading adult mpegs - that's why they need broadband in the first place!) Sweden has an age of consent of 15.
;-)
Max
Then you were there when I was there. Undoubtedly you played the version I worked on. You might even have been subject to the 'invincible ship' hack I secretly put into the code (not hard to do, in APL) and sometimes used to blow people out of the water with when I got bored.
;-)
If ever a destroyer came along and wasted your dreadnought, you have me to blame.
Max
My memory of things could be wildly distorted after all this time, but I do know that one of the colleges (I thought it was mine - Pomona - but it could've been Scripps, next door on the same campus) claimed that the professor was 'on staff', although he never taught classes and didn't have an office, and that he 'created' APL.
This doesn't mean that any of it was true - the college was a west coast ivy-league setup and we had a number of 'professors' whose primary purpose was to increase the college's prestige. One was a semi-famous poet who taught one class each year - and that's it. I never met the APL guy, nor did anyone I know ever meet him. Insofar as I'm aware, he was never once on campus during the two years that I was there.
But the claim was made regardless. Given your information it was most likely a PR deal of some kind, as was done with some of the other 'staff'. Or perhaps complete BS. I certainly don't know the truth of it, other than what I was told.
Max
If you want a strange programming language that garnered virtually no support and was a real pain in the ass, look up APL (primarily used at Pomona College in Claremont, CA, because the guy who invented it was a professor there).
APL was defined by coding which wasn't particularly inventive but which required a complete keyboard overlay - it didn't use ASCII characters (except in text, as I recall), but rather a mixture of greek symbols and shit the author just plain made up. So in effect you had to match 'objects' to keys on the keyboard, a completely non-intuitive way of typing. Talk about watching your hands while you work....
Unfortunately the college was incredibly gung-ho on APL and thought it would revolutionize coding, so if we wanted to do any serious work we had to do it in APL. This meant that about a dozen of us sat around learning APL so that we could program what might have been (don't really know, but I don't know of any other examples in 1983) the most massively multiplayer Star Trek ship battle game to date (up to 127 players, although the mainframe usually came to a grinding halt when we passed the 70 or 80 player mark). We then passed this program off as a science project, which it was accepted as since no one else could read the damned thing.
Well, I guess it had a use after all....
Max