"The potential is endless"? It's some really great work, but can it cure cancer? Can it get us to Alpha Centauri in 3 months? No? Well, then the possibilities aren't endless. With rhetoric like that, you seem like the vendor of the "Universal Business Adapter" that I've seen in IBM commercials lately. The suits ask "Does it work in Europe?", and the vendor says "You'd need an adapter". Oops.
Does this mean they're going to port OpenVMS to x86 or something else, or are they going to EOL that, too? I think I had heard some rumors somewhere of a VMS/x86 port.
I use Pair as well. They came with the recommendations of several sysadmin friends of mine, including the guy who runs SunHelp, and with good reason as I found out. They're honest people, their pricing and terms are simple and understandable, their facilities are good, and best of all, they are a 100% FreeBSD shop.
Right now, my email client is connected through an SSH tunnel to my server at Pair, and it's downloading all the mail that my monstrous procmail script on the Pair server has presorted and classified. I am happy.
technology back then was far more expensive than it is today
What technology can do for a certain amount of money has certainly increased. For instance, a PDP-11 that used to cost >$50K can can now be outperformed by a software emulator running on a $500 PC. However, to state that technology in general is less expensive nowadays is an error. Sure, what was leading-edge in the days of the PDP-11 is trailing-edge today, but when it lost its leading-edgeness, something else became the leading edge. And since we typically want for ourselves the best technology possible, our buying habits are going to stay close to the leading edge. Therefore, it is upon the leading edge cost that we must fix our attention, and leading-edge technology is still very expensive. Bought a Cray lately?
However, I do have to admit that a good PC is a hell of a lot more affordable than it used to be. Whether that's because of a general deflation in technology prices, or because of a lack of synchronization between the growths of technology and need, is another question.
It's a great idea, but out in the real world, people use commercial software. If kids aren't educated in how to use it, they won't be able to compete. I think introducing free software and its concepts into the education system is a good idea, but we shouldn't forsake the kids' futures for the sake of indoctrination. Teach both, and let the kids decide what's best.
MSCP = Mass Storage Control Protocol MCSE = Microsoft Certified System Engineer
BTW, MSCP was a DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) standard machine-level API for accessing disk controllers. It was prevalent on later PDP-11s and on some VAXen. The RQDX3 disk controller spoke to MFM drives, and several Emulex boards spoke to ESDI drives, but the system saw them both as MSCP devices.
Yes, but people in the american administration is not happy
I think you mean "are not happy".
europan
I think you mean "European". A Europan is from the Jovian moon Europa. Oh, and capitalize that, too.
there is no free market if market is allowed to create a monopoly. In physics this is called a singularity
Have you taken - and passed - any advanced astrophysics classes? Or have you read about the word "singularity" in the pulp science fiction novels that you buy at the mall? As it turns out, a singularity is not "when a free market is allowed to create a monopoly". It's actually something quite different, following the pattern of most astrophysics in not having much to do with free markets or monopolies.
Microsoft is indeed a kind of black hole
You are again mistaken. There are no types of black hole that astrophysicists refer to as "Microsoft" black holes, or even "Microsoft-type" or "Microsoftian".
It engulfs everything
This claim is easily refuted. I have not been engulfed by Microsoft, I am a part of that which is called everything, and thus Microsoft cannot be said to engulf everything. Q.E.D.
and distorts and ultimately breaks what gets near to it.
In what way does Microsoft distort or break think near it, and how do you define near? Is nearness defined as some distance threshold in a three-dimensional space? What is your threshold value? No matter your answer, I'm sure that many things (e.g. blades of grass on the front lawn) exist within a short distance of the Redmond campus that are not being distorted or broken, which invalidates your claim.
I am quite happy that we... also have nukes
Yes, that will help tremendously in dealing with Microsoft.
You may want to use H instead of B to deliver to the bit bucket. The header is likely to be smaller than the body, so using H can result in a much smaller write.
You don't need to put a second colon on that line, either. There's no reason to use locks when delivering to the bit bucket. I think procmail may even ignore this colon.
Maybe you should anchor the regular expressions to the beginning of the line.
Heh. One of the first things printed on the console by many early unices in the PDP-11 era was "RESTRICTED RIGHTS". This goes back a lot further than one thinks.
I will recycle all Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11, PDP-8, and other PDP computers that are shipped to my recycling center in Oklahoma. There is no fee for this service, and I will gladly provide a signed, notarized receipt that absolves my customers of all liability for their recycled machines. You can rest assured that your machines will be processed properly and will not simply wind up in some landfill.
That's not limitless
on
Lunar Power
·
· Score: 5, Funny
... a limitless power supply. The moon receives 13,000 terrawatts...
Bzzt! Wrong. Giving stuff away to achieve business goals happens all the time and is fully legal. Microsoft's behavior is contemptable for two reasons:
With its monopoly market share, Microsoft has a nearly 100% safe revenue stream. It can afford to develop and then give away IE. We've seen before how well a company without monopoly power can survive with such a plan. Microsoft used its monopoly power to undercut competing browser makers, ensuring that they would never be anything more than niche players.
By bundling IE with Windows, Microsoft makes the giving away of IE virtually mandatory. If you get Windows, you get IE. If you get a new computer, you most likely get Windows. This is, admittedly, convenient for end users who just want a good browser, but it makes it yet more difficult for third parties to compete.
it's counterproductive to write an HTML engine for one product (IE), then write a completely different one... for another product.
Does the use of a text box require Notepad?
You are correct in thinking that it is counterproductive to implement an HTML engine in each product. You are not correct in the assumption that IE equals an HTML engine. The ability to display HTML pages is not specific to a web browser but is an independent concept, useful in a wide variety of applications. You yourself gave evidence of this fact in your post by naming a few Microsoft applications that make use of an HTML engine.
The implementation of common concepts is the purpose of shared libraries. When a developer needs such an implementation, he links the shared library into his project, eliminating the redundancy of reimplementation. Microsoft does indeed provide its HTML engine in a shared library that other developers can use. The problem is that its use requires -- very artificially -- IE to be installed.
IE is simply a program which takes the HTML engine and builds an web browser out of it; in much the same way, Notepad takes the text box and builds a text editor out of it. Would it not be ludicrous for Microsoft to deny usage of the text box to those who choose not to install Notepad? Yet this is what we would see if Microsoft were trying to crush its foes in some 'text editor war'.
Remember that almost every GUI program out there uses the ubiquitous text box.
There is nothing wrong with Microsoft's inclusion of an HTML engine library into Windows. HTML page displays are appearing in an increasing number of applications, and it makes sense to implement it once and distribute it widely. What is wrong is the artificial restrictions Microsoft places upon the library's use, the use of monopoly power to force the installation of IE.
Well, you certainly can't buy the seven-course luncheon and three attendants that your snobbish tastes have come to expect. So you're right there, rich boy. But for the rest of us, $5 can buy many lunches. What is the price of Ramen noodles where you live?
Slashdot Mirror
"The potential is endless"? It's some really great work, but can it cure cancer? Can it get us to Alpha Centauri in 3 months? No? Well, then the possibilities aren't endless. With rhetoric like that, you seem like the vendor of the "Universal Business Adapter" that I've seen in IBM commercials lately. The suits ask "Does it work in Europe?", and the vendor says "You'd need an adapter". Oops.
Leaving it uncaught is even scarier...
And I still wonder why they dropped ULTRIX way back when. That's gotta be the coolest OS name ever.
Good idea. I'll use the diversion to steal his VAXen. I've been looking for a good heating system for this winter.
Does this mean they're going to port OpenVMS to x86 or something else, or are they going to EOL that, too? I think I had heard some rumors somewhere of a VMS/x86 port.
Right now, my email client is connected through an SSH tunnel to my server at Pair, and it's downloading all the mail that my monstrous procmail script on the Pair server has presorted and classified. I am happy.
What technology can do for a certain amount of money has certainly increased. For instance, a PDP-11 that used to cost >$50K can can now be outperformed by a software emulator running on a $500 PC. However, to state that technology in general is less expensive nowadays is an error. Sure, what was leading-edge in the days of the PDP-11 is trailing-edge today, but when it lost its leading-edgeness, something else became the leading edge. And since we typically want for ourselves the best technology possible, our buying habits are going to stay close to the leading edge. Therefore, it is upon the leading edge cost that we must fix our attention, and leading-edge technology is still very expensive. Bought a Cray lately?
However, I do have to admit that a good PC is a hell of a lot more affordable than it used to be. Whether that's because of a general deflation in technology prices, or because of a lack of synchronization between the growths of technology and need, is another question.
It's a great idea, but out in the real world, people use commercial software. If kids aren't educated in how to use it, they won't be able to compete. I think introducing free software and its concepts into the education system is a good idea, but we shouldn't forsake the kids' futures for the sake of indoctrination. Teach both, and let the kids decide what's best.
bash: C:ren: command not found /var/mail/jss
You have mail in
MSCP (Microsoft Certified Professional)
Tsk tsk. Get your acronyms in order, nerd!
MSCP = Mass Storage Control Protocol
MCSE = Microsoft Certified System Engineer
BTW, MSCP was a DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) standard machine-level API for accessing disk controllers. It was prevalent on later PDP-11s and on some VAXen. The RQDX3 disk controller spoke to MFM drives, and several Emulex boards spoke to ESDI drives, but the system saw them both as MSCP devices.
Yes, but people in the american administration is not happy
... also have nukes
I think you mean "are not happy".
europan
I think you mean "European". A Europan is from the Jovian moon Europa. Oh, and capitalize that, too.
there is no free market if market is allowed to create a monopoly. In physics this is called a singularity
Have you taken - and passed - any advanced astrophysics classes? Or have you read about the word "singularity" in the pulp science fiction novels that you buy at the mall? As it turns out, a singularity is not "when a free market is allowed to create a monopoly". It's actually something quite different, following the pattern of most astrophysics in not having much to do with free markets or monopolies.
Microsoft is indeed a kind of black hole
You are again mistaken. There are no types of black hole that astrophysicists refer to as "Microsoft" black holes, or even "Microsoft-type" or "Microsoftian".
It engulfs everything
This claim is easily refuted. I have not been engulfed by Microsoft, I am a part of that which is called everything, and thus Microsoft cannot be said to engulf everything. Q.E.D.
and distorts and ultimately breaks what gets near to it.
In what way does Microsoft distort or break think near it, and how do you define near? Is nearness defined as some distance threshold in a three-dimensional space? What is your threshold value? No matter your answer, I'm sure that many things (e.g. blades of grass on the front lawn) exist within a short distance of the Redmond campus that are not being distorted or broken, which invalidates your claim.
I am quite happy that we
Yes, that will help tremendously in dealing with Microsoft.
A Commode Door and a Packard Smell... They seem quite suited to each other.
What are they going to do when it never rains inside the building? "Oops" goes the marketing department.
Heh. One of the first things printed on the console by many early unices in the PDP-11 era was "RESTRICTED RIGHTS". This goes back a lot further than one thinks.
...now we can have 64-digit hexadecimal constants! This is certainly a much-needed advance!
I will recycle all Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11, PDP-8, and other PDP computers that are shipped to my recycling center in Oklahoma. There is no fee for this service, and I will gladly provide a signed, notarized receipt that absolves my customers of all liability for their recycled machines. You can rest assured that your machines will be processed properly and will not simply wind up in some landfill.
Does the use of a text box require Notepad?
You are correct in thinking that it is counterproductive to implement an HTML engine in each product. You are not correct in the assumption that IE equals an HTML engine. The ability to display HTML pages is not specific to a web browser but is an independent concept, useful in a wide variety of applications. You yourself gave evidence of this fact in your post by naming a few Microsoft applications that make use of an HTML engine.
The implementation of common concepts is the purpose of shared libraries. When a developer needs such an implementation, he links the shared library into his project, eliminating the redundancy of reimplementation. Microsoft does indeed provide its HTML engine in a shared library that other developers can use. The problem is that its use requires -- very artificially -- IE to be installed.
IE is simply a program which takes the HTML engine and builds an web browser out of it; in much the same way, Notepad takes the text box and builds a text editor out of it. Would it not be ludicrous for Microsoft to deny usage of the text box to those who choose not to install Notepad? Yet this is what we would see if Microsoft were trying to crush its foes in some 'text editor war'.
Remember that almost every GUI program out there uses the ubiquitous text box.
There is nothing wrong with Microsoft's inclusion of an HTML engine library into Windows. HTML page displays are appearing in an increasing number of applications, and it makes sense to implement it once and distribute it widely. What is wrong is the artificial restrictions Microsoft places upon the library's use, the use of monopoly power to force the installation of IE.
You can't buy LUNCH for $5.
Well, you certainly can't buy the seven-course luncheon and three attendants that your snobbish tastes have come to expect. So you're right there, rich boy. But for the rest of us, $5 can buy many lunches. What is the price of Ramen noodles where you live?