Within a month... nay, a week, after the first mainstream HDCP-requiring discs hit the market, the protection will have been cracked. If I am holding a disc with a movie on it, nothing will ever be able to stop me from watching that movie more than temporarily.
For simple setup as was done here, I am currently working for $18/hr (the other half of the job is basic FOSS web application installation, same rate). I don't understand how some of these TCO analyses include a dozen $100/hr morons when a half dozen college students/graduates at $10/hr could do the job just as well.
Maybe it is FUD, maybe not. I have not heard or seen conclusive proof either way. The "FUD" in question here is the oft-repeated 'fact' that if you play DRM'd content under Vista over a non-DRM-capable connection, such as VGA, DVI, or SPDIF, then *ALL* content going over that connection will be degraded.
Unique skills, sure. We aren't talking about unique skills. We are talking about trivial OS operation knowledge.
And why did you elaborate on "30% to 100% more..." when I said $15/hr cost the company $25/hr? Was my 66% more too precise? It seems to fall right in the middle of your range, a reasonable approximation.
Re:So... we lose one, we win one.
on
Birth of an Island
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· Score: 3, Funny
First one to the new island gets shitty landlocked property. LAST one gets beachfront:)
One computer costs $1,000 in hardware. One employee costs $120,000 per year, with burdening. One "mission-critical" application costs anywhere from $800 (AutoCAD 2007) to $5,000 (Inventor 11, non-pro.) One WinXP Pro license costs mere $150 even if you buy it at maximum cost, as a retail box. Now, aren't you putting the cart way ahead of the horse? A single wasted hour of any of your employees' time (or your own) will cost as much as an XP Pro license. Have your numbers straight before switching, and have very good reasons to switch.
Bullshit. I don't know where you live, but $120000 per employee per year would be a seriously high class company in any city/market I have ever worked. I am currently contracting, so my $18/hr is exactly what I make. My employee counterparts are making $15/hr+benefits, so call it $25 with benefits and HR expenses and whatever else. If switching from windows did nothing but waste time, it could waste 6 hours before we saw a loss, and it doesn't. Every machine I move from Windows to Linux is 1 less hour per month I have to spend fixing patch deployment problems, rooting out spyware, installing new product-vendor-provided software, etc. It adds up.
OpenOffice is just one of many contenders. Try Star Office, OpenOffice's commerically supported brother. Or KOffice, the office suite from the KDE project. Or for a less mature option, there is Gnome Office which is just a wrapper for AbiWord and Gnumeric for the most part.
Why do you need integration with quickbooks instead of some other open accounting/bookkeeping/invoicing software? Why the HELL do you need a Win32 API for integration with a website... wtf is your website running*? I have used FOSS POS programs, they arent very mature but they do work and they store their data in open well-documented formats and systems so custom software to pull it out and do [whatever] with it wouldnt be that hard to write.
$4000/yr buys you the services of a local college graduate and experienced php/c++ programmer with moderate web design and AJAX experience (the local equivalent of ME), for about 400 hours. That's 6 weeks of 8hr/day development and then 11 months of 4hr/wk support. If I couldn't replace your current system, completely and improved in every aspect that you use, in those 6 weeks then I would eat my hat.
* - youre probably running a.NET powered website... see previous comments regarding the downside of vendor lock-in.
I make a concerted effort to never sign a contract with a utility company. I have mostly succeeded. I had to sign one for gas once, in an apartment with gas heat.
I am not really sure. We never had much like that. One option to consider, that I am completely unfamiliar with the details of, is that there is some way to create self-contained executables from scripted Excel and Access interfaces. I have never done it myself, but I have used the results. You may want to consider something similar with the binaries running as mentioned previously for windows apps.
My current boss, a close friend of mine, single-handedly began a FOSS migration in our 3-location 100-desktop 20-offsite-laptop-user office about a year ago. I came on board about 3 months ago, almost through the first stages of the process. We now have 99% of our users on OpenOffice (one holdout, and I am going to fix his missing feature ASAP to get him off Excel), and 100% migrated away from IE+Outlook (most on Firefox+Thunderbird, a few people requested Mac desktops and are using Safari+Mail). We transitioned to Open Directory on an OS X Server with nary a hitch, with the added bonus that OD supports LDAP which means it plays nice with all of our new extranet and internet services (LDAP login to our helpdesk, CMS, etc).
Eventually Windows XP will lose support and we will have to consider sticking with unsupported XP, or moving to Vista/Fiji/Vienna, or a complete migration to Mac, or a final alternative that I am starting to push slowly up the list of possibilities... Linux. My boss is a Mac user, he dislikes many of the problems with Windows. He had the popular misconception that Linux is hard to install, hard to maintain, and hard to use in general. My first day, when provided free reign over my own desktop, I let him watch me go through a Kubuntu installation. Cleared up all that nonsense right quick. From a blank hard drive to a better-than-Explorer GUI, with both of our network printers completely configured, desktop shortcuts to our network shares, Firefox and Thunderbird installed as well as a GUI terminal (we have legacy apps requiring telnet to our SCO UNIX machine), all in under 30 minutes, and without touching a text console.
Running actual GUI Windows applications in Linux CAN be difficult, but often is not. There is a VERY good chance that they will 'Just Work' under WINE or Crossover Office. If you need terminal services functionality, rdesktop has worked great for me. There is also the VMWare/etc option, if the programs are old enough for the perfomance hit to not matter (and if you're developing "core" applications that only run on Windows TODAY, then youve got other problems).
One would be wrong. The purpose of the patent and copyright system is only superficially to reward the rights holders. The purpose of the rewards is to encourage more people to produce inventions and creative works, and the purpose of the encouragement is so that there will be more inventions and creative works for the public to have access to.
"linux distro that happens to run on a desktop computer" != "desktop linux distro"
When I attach a USB storage device to my Kubuntu PC, I get a windows-like "autorun" dialog. It always includes the options "Open in new window" (opens a file browser) and "Do Nothing", and includes contextual options depending on whats in the root of the device. Photos, videos, music, etc, all yield different options. On my work machine I have it set to never ask and always just Open in new window. Attach, automount, autoopen. Bam. Beats the hell out of windows.
Built-in wireless has worked on every laptop I have tried [k]ubuntu on. Including an iBook (powerpc mac), and that's pretty out there.
gphoto, the library used by digikam, supports over 90% of cameras on the market. about 70% specifically, and 20% with a generic *STANDARD* usb camera driver. And the remaining 10% still work as usb storage devices, so digikam can load photos from them anyways. (any cameras that dont work as usb storage devices are broken and not counted here).
I gave (and am giving) out Kubuntu 6.10 CDs for Christmas this year. Mostly i386, but some powerpc for Mac-using friends. My roommate has it running on his iBook right now, from the CD that I gave him.
"While playing, I've found that a quick flick of the wrist will often times send the strap down my hand and all the way over the remote so that the strap isn't even connected to me anymore."
This tells me you aren't using the strap tightening doodad.
The icon has a CD with some indication of data going onto it. I can't describe it precisely since I don't have it in front of me. It seemed pretty self explanatory to me. Joe Average probably understands the term 'burn' by now, even if only from anti-piracy campaigns.
By WHICH book? That is the question. Most of the rules are consistent, but some very much aren't. The most notable one being the rule about auctions, which is present about 50% of the time I have seen different Monopoly editions. I made that up as a house rule early on, to add more strategy to the game, and was surprised to find it in a different set of Monopoly rules years later.
MySQL has no restrictions on commercial development. They have restrictions on non-GPL distribution. Just like every other GPL-ed product on the planet. Nice try.
Slashdot Mirror
Within a month... nay, a week, after the first mainstream HDCP-requiring discs hit the market, the protection will have been cracked. If I am holding a disc with a movie on it, nothing will ever be able to stop me from watching that movie more than temporarily.
Yeah, right. How's the weather in SonyMicrosoftLand?
My bad, I screwed up the math halfway through. I was aiming for $15/hr. I am making $18 right now, but that includes a lot of web application stuff.
For simple setup as was done here, I am currently working for $18/hr (the other half of the job is basic FOSS web application installation, same rate). I don't understand how some of these TCO analyses include a dozen $100/hr morons when a half dozen college students/graduates at $10/hr could do the job just as well.
Maybe it is FUD, maybe not. I have not heard or seen conclusive proof either way. The "FUD" in question here is the oft-repeated 'fact' that if you play DRM'd content under Vista over a non-DRM-capable connection, such as VGA, DVI, or SPDIF, then *ALL* content going over that connection will be degraded.
Unique skills, sure. We aren't talking about unique skills. We are talking about trivial OS operation knowledge.
And why did you elaborate on "30% to 100% more..." when I said $15/hr cost the company $25/hr? Was my 66% more too precise? It seems to fall right in the middle of your range, a reasonable approximation.
First one to the new island gets shitty landlocked property. LAST one gets beachfront :)
One computer costs $1,000 in hardware. One employee costs $120,000 per year, with burdening. One "mission-critical" application costs anywhere from $800 (AutoCAD 2007) to $5,000 (Inventor 11, non-pro.) One WinXP Pro license costs mere $150 even if you buy it at maximum cost, as a retail box. Now, aren't you putting the cart way ahead of the horse? A single wasted hour of any of your employees' time (or your own) will cost as much as an XP Pro license. Have your numbers straight before switching, and have very good reasons to switch.
Bullshit. I don't know where you live, but $120000 per employee per year would be a seriously high class company in any city/market I have ever worked. I am currently contracting, so my $18/hr is exactly what I make. My employee counterparts are making $15/hr+benefits, so call it $25 with benefits and HR expenses and whatever else. If switching from windows did nothing but waste time, it could waste 6 hours before we saw a loss, and it doesn't. Every machine I move from Windows to Linux is 1 less hour per month I have to spend fixing patch deployment problems, rooting out spyware, installing new product-vendor-provided software, etc. It adds up.
OpenOffice is just one of many contenders. Try Star Office, OpenOffice's commerically supported brother. Or KOffice, the office suite from the KDE project. Or for a less mature option, there is Gnome Office which is just a wrapper for AbiWord and Gnumeric for the most part.
Why do you need integration with quickbooks instead of some other open accounting/bookkeeping/invoicing software? Why the HELL do you need a Win32 API for integration with a website... wtf is your website running*? I have used FOSS POS programs, they arent very mature but they do work and they store their data in open well-documented formats and systems so custom software to pull it out and do [whatever] with it wouldnt be that hard to write.
.NET powered website... see previous comments regarding the downside of vendor lock-in.
$4000/yr buys you the services of a local college graduate and experienced php/c++ programmer with moderate web design and AJAX experience (the local equivalent of ME), for about 400 hours. That's 6 weeks of 8hr/day development and then 11 months of 4hr/wk support. If I couldn't replace your current system, completely and improved in every aspect that you use, in those 6 weeks then I would eat my hat.
* - youre probably running a
I make a concerted effort to never sign a contract with a utility company. I have mostly succeeded. I had to sign one for gas once, in an apartment with gas heat.
inductance-using Wireless mouse pad
I am not really sure. We never had much like that. One option to consider, that I am completely unfamiliar with the details of, is that there is some way to create self-contained executables from scripted Excel and Access interfaces. I have never done it myself, but I have used the results. You may want to consider something similar with the binaries running as mentioned previously for windows apps.
Fortunately most of us live in a country (the USA) where MS doesn't have the authority to "require licenses".
My current boss, a close friend of mine, single-handedly began a FOSS migration in our 3-location 100-desktop 20-offsite-laptop-user office about a year ago. I came on board about 3 months ago, almost through the first stages of the process. We now have 99% of our users on OpenOffice (one holdout, and I am going to fix his missing feature ASAP to get him off Excel), and 100% migrated away from IE+Outlook (most on Firefox+Thunderbird, a few people requested Mac desktops and are using Safari+Mail). We transitioned to Open Directory on an OS X Server with nary a hitch, with the added bonus that OD supports LDAP which means it plays nice with all of our new extranet and internet services (LDAP login to our helpdesk, CMS, etc).
Eventually Windows XP will lose support and we will have to consider sticking with unsupported XP, or moving to Vista/Fiji/Vienna, or a complete migration to Mac, or a final alternative that I am starting to push slowly up the list of possibilities... Linux. My boss is a Mac user, he dislikes many of the problems with Windows. He had the popular misconception that Linux is hard to install, hard to maintain, and hard to use in general. My first day, when provided free reign over my own desktop, I let him watch me go through a Kubuntu installation. Cleared up all that nonsense right quick. From a blank hard drive to a better-than-Explorer GUI, with both of our network printers completely configured, desktop shortcuts to our network shares, Firefox and Thunderbird installed as well as a GUI terminal (we have legacy apps requiring telnet to our SCO UNIX machine), all in under 30 minutes, and without touching a text console.
Running actual GUI Windows applications in Linux CAN be difficult, but often is not. There is a VERY good chance that they will 'Just Work' under WINE or Crossover Office. If you need terminal services functionality, rdesktop has worked great for me. There is also the VMWare/etc option, if the programs are old enough for the perfomance hit to not matter (and if you're developing "core" applications that only run on Windows TODAY, then youve got other problems).
One would be wrong. The purpose of the patent and copyright system is only superficially to reward the rights holders. The purpose of the rewards is to encourage more people to produce inventions and creative works, and the purpose of the encouragement is so that there will be more inventions and creative works for the public to have access to.
"linux distro that happens to run on a desktop computer" != "desktop linux distro"
When I attach a USB storage device to my Kubuntu PC, I get a windows-like "autorun" dialog. It always includes the options "Open in new window" (opens a file browser) and "Do Nothing", and includes contextual options depending on whats in the root of the device. Photos, videos, music, etc, all yield different options. On my work machine I have it set to never ask and always just Open in new window. Attach, automount, autoopen. Bam. Beats the hell out of windows.
Built-in wireless has worked on every laptop I have tried [k]ubuntu on. Including an iBook (powerpc mac), and that's pretty out there.
gphoto, the library used by digikam, supports over 90% of cameras on the market. about 70% specifically, and 20% with a generic *STANDARD* usb camera driver. And the remaining 10% still work as usb storage devices, so digikam can load photos from them anyways. (any cameras that dont work as usb storage devices are broken and not counted here).
I gave (and am giving) out Kubuntu 6.10 CDs for Christmas this year. Mostly i386, but some powerpc for Mac-using friends. My roommate has it running on his iBook right now, from the CD that I gave him.
Wii-oriented? you mean "works with a mouse"? Like 99% of all flash games on any flash arcade website anywhere?
"While playing, I've found that a quick flick of the wrist will often times send the strap down my hand and all the way over the remote so that the strap isn't even connected to me anymore."
This tells me you aren't using the strap tightening doodad.
The icon has a CD with some indication of data going onto it. I can't describe it precisely since I don't have it in front of me. It seemed pretty self explanatory to me. Joe Average probably understands the term 'burn' by now, even if only from anti-piracy campaigns.
By WHICH book? That is the question. Most of the rules are consistent, but some very much aren't. The most notable one being the rule about auctions, which is present about 50% of the time I have seen different Monopoly editions. I made that up as a house rule early on, to add more strategy to the game, and was surprised to find it in a different set of Monopoly rules years later.
You think different buttons is bad... Try a gamepad with analog buttons. Does it count as a press if you push the button in 1/65536th of the way?
"You will have to know what an .iso file is and how to burn it."
.iso file out of the box.
Only if you are running a poorly organized and feature-lacking OS. Kubuntu has "Burn" on the right click menu for an
MySQL has no restrictions on commercial development. They have restrictions on non-GPL distribution. Just like every other GPL-ed product on the planet. Nice try.