I know the writer asked about Intel, so this is OT more than the AMD SMP (K7) posts, but as someone with one foot in both the x86 and PPC world just throught I'd drop this..
Known fact: The PPC G3 (750) does not fully support SMP, there are cache issues. An exception is what the Amiga guys did with the 4way G3 box, but it's still a hack because the CPU doesn't fully exploit SMP (there are cache-related SMP instructions needed that are not there). FYI the G3 is based on a PPC 603e... a notebook chip, but this revision has really good integer (FP is decent... still stomps Intel tho).
The G4, which is based on the PPC 604; both support what's needed for SMP. G4 is 64-bit - initially it will be configured with some compromises on the _motherboard_ so it's a "drop in" to G3 setups. Then there's AltiVec vector processing, 128-bit, which UNLIKE MMX can be executed in paralell with the FPU.
FYI - if you can find multi-processor 604e Macs, like the 9600MP or a Daystay 4-way @ 200MHz, they're supposed to make bitchen Linux boxes. Or so I hear... *I* don't have one.:-/
Nazi Germany. They may have found them repulsive, but they sure didn't mind taking their gold and transforming their little agricultural country into a rich industrialized one (with discounted art, gold, and 'used' shoes..).
Is that what you mean by love/hate relationships that both engage and sicken you? Just curious.
(I'm not exactly equating Intel with Germany, I'm illustrating how people will go along with things that supposedly go against their better judgement, just because they make money of it. IMHO the *only* excuse is stupidity... people who can't figure things out aren't as responsible).
BTW both Intel and Microsoft stocks are SEVERELY inflated and I deliberately own none of either. Adobe, Apple, Corel, and News Corporation/Fox are all safe, undervalued bets for when the market adjusts itself, Any Day Now.
Gee, somehow these Deals With The [other] Devil don't surprise me.
Prior to investments, didn't VA research sell Alpha boxes?
Does this have ANYTHING to do with RedHat's insulting comments about Linux on Alpha (regarding Compaq's promotion of Linux/Alpha)?
I WONDER what's written in for software "partners" like BeOS? Do they lose marketing money if they update non-Intel software like the PPC version?
Note that Intel and MetaCreations partnered to form the "internet's Open 3D format" called MetaStream. Feh! Like 75% of MetaCreation's customers are Mac users, and the deal left MacOS without a browser plug-in for this "open" format (still no full disclosure of code either).
My view is: Intel is committed to Linux like Microsoft was committed to Java... commitment being measured in exnergy spent to co-opt the Movement.
In the absence of an open-standard CPU, we need to encourage competition. AMD exists only because they managed to reverse-engineer Intel designs, AND survive many lawsuits. It will be much harder to clone Merced. x86 is a Dead End regarding technology and competition. Intel's not known for supporting something once they obsolete it (Pentium Pro owners have my sympathy).
How can you talk about the advantages of DVD over DIVX and NOT mention privacy??
This is MY big problem with DIVX... everything you watch with it goes to some soulless corporate database which will later be exploited.
It should be a crime for corporations to collect and sell information on you without your consent. It's a form of privacy theft borderline on stalking.
To put it another way, privacy is threatened enough without the TELEVISION WATCHING US!
Additionally, DIVX is very environmentally unfriendly. How can they cheer this on as "disposable movies"? It's bad enough that America Online sends unrequested CD software to people who don't even HAVE a computer... now we're going to throwaway movies after viewing? We ARE destroying ourselves... just keep consuming to keep your mind off it.
How do you copy DVD?? Using CDDA??:) After the MP3 fiasco they'll never let the best technology win.. when bandwidth and storage get cheaper look for the MP3 wars to expand to video. Information wants to be free.... corporations want to control it.
I know about man (duh).. but like others noted it's notoriously out of date. However it USUALLY contains info not found in the readme. For example, check the various documentation that ships with X-MAME... at times the man and.txt contradict one another when it comes to setting variables.
Microsoft's HTML Help really looks nice, with the added benefit of not being difficult to author. I say this with some reservations because I don't know how open their format ("compiled HTML") is. Certainly they wouldn't use something like.gz to compress, but the idea itself deserves merit. I don't assume it's a priority in Linus' eyes, which is too bad because a different group of people could be brought on board.
yes, I know about man2html...
OUCH! Coupled with low supplies in warehouse.
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iMac Factory Burns
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· Score: 1
Apple's been keeping their supply lines at just a few days in order to maximize profit. Their build-to-ship is like half that of Dell's..
There isn't much of a buffer for this. This is a new contractor for Apple, so hopefully the other builders can keep up...
I'm not a Linux guru but I have been struggling with the OS (part-time..) for about 3 years now. I have gotten a few people interested in Linux, and they appreciate the technical superiority over Windows and the political aspects, but everyone says nearly the same thing:
It's too difficult.
For me Linux does not seem that "difficult", but I do see part of where they come from -- it's VERY time consuming configuring your system especially if you don't have convenient documentation... which when you find it, glosses over "Linux related" items like X/KDE/Gnome and how to personalize makefiles that don't 'make configure' (ack) so they compile on your system. Oh, and you need to install some libraries which maybe you can find in RPM if you randomly check ftp sites (they MUST be somewhere but the project's homepage does not maintain them), and they in turn depend on OTHER libraries. I've had to walk some people through it using that really old distribution called Red Hat 5.2 (I'm now using Mandrake + AfterStep).
How is THIS any more efficent than Windows? I'm being ironic.. once you've passed a point it's not as bad, but there is this black hole that sucks up all your time.
How is this related to the topic? Well, when we talk about "developer itch" usually the developer is WAY PAST the threshhold I outlined in the above paragraph. User-friendly itches gave way to efficency.
I honestly believe this will correct itself over time, since someone already in the club will still care about it and fix it for future members. The danger I see is the longer it takes to straighten out usability the longer it will take to remove the stereotype.
Someone told me FreeBSD has a lot of the usability worked out... you use an update menu that KNOWS what you have installed, and connects to a central FTP server to tell you "what's new" and can download it for you. You can also do a "make world" to rebuild EVERYTHING on your system.
I'd *love* to do that with Linux... I don't know how much performance increases if you optomize build for your exact CPU, but this Pentium 120 I use for a server could use all the help it can get - especially FREE help!:-D
Are there any such projects for Linux? Probably not, since it would involve getting RedHat and the other distribs to co-operate. This, and a standardized HELP system as you mention would be a wonderful thing. I don't see any "leadership" in this area of Linux.:-(
If you're curious about the camera effects, there's a great article in this month's Shoot magazine.
Some of the sequences were shot at several hundred frames per second so they could be slowed down. While this is not unusual with still cameras and subjects, for most of it it involved dozens or hundreds of camersa in an array around the actors, with the cameras streaming.
The tricky part is hiding the cameras so you don't see them. What they did was film the action sequences in front of blue screens with holes cut in them for the lens (the lens hole could be painted out during compositing). Later the action sequences were composited onto the complex's shrapnel-filled lobby. VERY well done.
I had my doubts at first about the movie, but it's very well done. MUCH better than recent hokey stuff like Lost in Space (blech!).
They didn't even insult us technology types by using a web page interface to hack into the matrix. god I HATE when Hollywood dumbs down movies lower than an AOL user...
>I've often thought the solution to this is make a compiler that compiles into a pseudo machine code, which then would be compiled to a binary. This would NOT be java, which is a stack based virtual chip.
Obfuscating the source does pretty much the same thing. Either way it sucks.
Loki Games WILL be releasing a patch for running Civ3 on LinuxPPC... it's rather trivial I am told. They could do the same with Quake at Id if they want... it's the "media" or WAD files that you're buying... and iD realized this long ago when they first supported Linux. Same thing with linuxPPC homefully..:-?
Lest I be OT... I *am* looking forward to this distro. I would like to try it out, but there doesn't look like there's any FTP site to download it. Hmm... I'll have to wait for the next MacWorld and just try the LinuxPPC version.:-/
Is YDL just not redistributable?? Or they have no bandwidth. Ideally I'd need an.ISO or 600 meg stuffit file to build an HFS CD on my work PC (T1!)..
I groan every time someone says command-line is "primitive".
Cygwin is awesome... if I have to use micros~1 windows I load this baby on.
I wish there was a version for the Mac..:/ AppleScript *really* kicks butt -- at least for some things -- but it would be nice to run some standard shell scripts.
With Windows95 Microsoft even took away the Macro recorder. Remember that utility?? Crude, but given how neglected DOS was you could automate some things. But hey, if you need automation just BUY Visual BASIC, right??
I remember when EVERY computer shipped with a free BASIC. Sigh...
yes and no. There was documentation that some Engineers VOLUNTEERED to write in code to harm the operation of Windows and apps IF it was run on top of DR-DOS.
I don't know if they actually DID this, but the email of the suggested "fix" survives as evidence.
I do know that a product I once supported would crash more often under DR-DOS/Win3.1, and middle management decreed on the spot we should not support it (the same "power-hungry ex-DEC'er" would refuse to tell Sales about it, naturally).
But hey, like clueless managers will say "it's Microsoft's OS.. of course you should only use their DOS". Microsoft has sharpened FUD as sharp as a razor (a term I wouldn't use to describe the people who BELIEVE them...)
Oh blood and ASHES! I hit preview and all my text is deleted. Argh..
Short story is Intel is funding companies and efforts to subtly "lave out" alternative CPU's. EXPECT this FUD effort to carry over into the Linux world, such as Rob Young's unflattering remarks about Linux on Alpha.
Gee, didn't Red Hat used to sell an Alpha Linux? Didn't VA Research used to sell Alpha workstations? Didn't BeOS used to support PowerPC? Didn't MetaCreations promise a Mac port of the MC/Intel "MetaStream" web 3D project? Isn't Intel deliberately withholding the specs to Indeo instead of producing a Mac version (Indeo is for wanna-be's, but still I've talked to people who can't consider it because it's not x-platform).
We're just about to get independence from Microsoft and people don't see we'll end up right in the grip of Intel. Watch for future "Linux efforts" by Intel designed to keep non-Intel Linux users off the cutting edge. No one can "own" Linux, true, but anyone can make a version so technically appealing that the masses won't give a rat's ass about "politically correct" licensing (look at all the people who didn't care about the *OLD* QT/KDE licensing...)
Visual Basic is not part of the HTML standard... what you are talking about is a virus that ONLY affects Windows users who are running MS IE.
Good thing too. Isn't this what Darwinism is all about? Hee hee.. don't see NEARLY as many virii on Linux or MacOS (nasty exception: HK automount virus).
Anyways, back to my point... VB is the same rotten core found in Office - HTML has nothing to do with it. The "finder" of this virus tried to whip up a media scare about HTML, and FAILED...
And if the police even APPEAR to not support her case she should sue them. This officer is unfit for duty in the same way as the judge who in a rape case allows the defenses "what she was wearing provoked me" or "everybody knows she is a slut... she wanted it even if she doesn't admit it".
It's just amazing to me the preconcieved notions the ignorant will carry around with them. It's depressing to know things will not get better, and we'll never have a completely computer-literate or even literate world. I'm sick of people, especially parents/breeders, looking for scapegoats (Internet, Judas Priest, Beavis and/or Butthead) instead of instilling responsibility in their offspring. I have no idea how old the victim is here, but the people of this town should demand an apology from the officer for the comments he made to her.
>And lets all use commercialized cddb for a while and when it pops up popular cdroms, say no thats not the one I have and add some bullshit entry...wont that be a fun way to get back at them for taking our submissions and making them their property???
Are you a troll, or just one of those script kiddies? Either was you're an ass for suggesting this.
Isn't Slashdot moderating here? What this person is proposing reflects badly on us all, especially since the comment is almost 24 hours old and still at "0"... and what he suggests is probably illegal (not to mention just plain stupid).
Let the success of completely free and open alternatives be "lesson enough" for cddb.com.
It WOULD be nice if we could somehow convince OEM's like Apple and Compaq, to support freecddb. The AppleCD Player is lame - better than what comes with Windows, but not by much... could definately use an update here..
There's probably some license clause that says Compaq can't bundle a better CD player because it "competes" with Windows98 (or the PlusPack)...
Hang In There Eric (NT: "Loathing" commercialware)
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ESR Wants to Retire
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· Score: 1
>For a long time, I have been working on an idea of my own, and if (no--when, damn it!) it gets released, it would be as proprietary, closed source software. This raises the question: Am I welcome here?
*I* would say so. I believe there's a higher ratio of "everything must be free [speech]" here because that's a freedom most Windows users do not even KNOW exists!
I think you would find a ready market for your product, depending on the specifics. I run Linux [x86] as my home server and G3 as my primary desktop... and I'm perfectly willing to buy anything I like for either platform.
I don't agree 100% with ESR, RMS, or XYZZY - and why should I? They're all politicians... but hey I would rather they continue to argue intelligently than resort to US-style politics where the goal is to outspend your rival. There is NO ONE like any of these folks in the greedy Windows world.
Oh, and to the troll a few messages up who quipped "no wonder ESR wants to quit after Apple screwed him"... I say offer some proof - or simply admit you're talking out your a$$. Apple + ESR may have made for some controversy, but I haven't seen an ESR posting where he lamented his treatment by Apple. If he HAS posted something, I'll happily retract the above.
I'm confused... (USB and Linux Games)
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Gaming on Linux
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· Score: 1
When Linux gets game software it will still be only half the answer. What are you going to use with it - a basic joystick driver hacked into X with just 2 button support?
All the NICE hardware will be arriving for USB only - start planning for it if this stuff interests you (adding USB to my PC requires a US $9 cable; my G3 Mac has USB all over).
Apple switched to USB generally because it allows all the things ADB did (hot swapping, daisy-chaining, generic device support and plug and play). The Windows world will be all USB sometime soon so to cut it short Linux will be left behind without it.
That said, I still haven't found a steering wheel for USB:-( but it's still a rather small market. I'm sure USB steering will be here before long (Christmas! aggh!).
Even if you don't like controllers, lots of people will dismiss Linux without them. This is why USB, which is the future, is so important.
This was definately NOT "newsworthy" material.. It's bad enough I have to see ads here and elsewhere, but to knowningly direct th Slashdot Effect to a domain-name pirate with POP UP ADS is pretty obscene.
Now, if there had been something even remotely funny about the page that would have been an interesting diversion. But this guy just made a killing at our expense.:-(
>Do you really think the average Slashdot'er would have bought any of Apple's products anyhow? How do you boycott something like that?
I'm not sure what your *intention* was here, but reading at face value you're presuming a LOT. What is the average Slashdotter using? Just x86 and Linux? I see a LOT of users here talk about Alpha, Solaris, Be and yes Apple. PLEASE don't marginalize us - that's what Bill Gates does when he redefines "crossplatform" to mean "Windows 9x, or Windows NT?". That said, you could have meant something completelky different than my interpretation... tis the nature of electronic words and this imprecise thing called English.:-D
Back on the license, I DO think Apple is targeting Linux but NOT in the same way as Microsoft, who is launching FUD that will eventually be picked apart and laughed at once the press is educated.
Apple's just trying to show it can adapt, and tap into the "alternative" programming pool. Apple is a powerful ally with some really smart people who are JUST AS DEDICATED to their platform as Linux users (is anyone dedicated to Windows? besides Bill's little "lap-dog" face-lick companies like Rational or SilkNet)
I am relieved the tone of most of this has been rational, or maybe everything's moderated past -5?:-)
Apple would not have taken this step without considering the consequences of being told it's not enough. They have to be listening.
That said, I heard back from an Apple developer today, and they don't thing there are enough people in the Linux community who would be willing to buy QuickTime Pro for x86 Linux. Am I the only one who doesn't believe this is a true assessment? I don't have to reboot my PC to Windows quite as much now that I bought a G3 box, but I get really bad framerates with the free Linux video players (NOT a dis against the authors of that software!)
I guy I worked with at another company (not my current employer..) told me MSN.COM's server farm was managed by a friend's company - I think Digital. I was told they had about 1800 NT Servers each loaded to the gills with RAM, but owing to the unpredicatable nature they were never all running at one time, which is probably true since it takes 12 minutes to fully reboot my dual-processor NT box. They even installed *automated* reboot scripts to make stability more predictable. How's THAT for "enterprise-ready"? . Disclaimer: I make no guarantees as to the authenticity of above statements as it is heresay from another individual. I am only reporting as I heard this. So I couldn't say it's "REALLY TRUE" as I don't work for them. I believe it though... >I know MS NT is bad, but MS guys scheduling reboots is kind of like Microsoft admiting that their servers are unstable.
Oh, you mean like Hotmail outages when their management was too afraid to tell Bill his little OS couldn't run the webmail service, even with an unlimited hardware budget?
Or do you mean how Microsoft's "Terrabyte server" served nothing but roadmaps because it couldn't handle complex data?
1800 NT servers is pretty amazing. We had a 3 or 4 Solaris + Alpha (UNIX) boxes that handled more load than MSN's little NT wasteland server farm. It doesn't make financial sense to run something that way, until you consider how much internal clout MS Sales/Marketing has and the fear of saying NO.
Just in case any AC snips at my.sig, I don't think MacOS is up to that kind of serving job *either* (MacOS X Server "might" be since it's just NextStep in Mac clothing. I don't know for certain). Different jobs for different tasks I say... but NT does everything second-rate.
I don't see what OS/2 has to do with the facts Nick outlined. Could you be a little more bigoted - you almost introduced a fact. Oh: >OS/2 corrupted my hard drive
Aw, poor baby. What do you use now, Windows NT? Has it NEVER corrupted your hard drive?? If that IS true, your NT box must be a single-tasking standalone box with scheduled reboots. That's how MSN is run... over a THOUSAND Pentium Pro NT servers on a *scheduled* reboot regimen (24 hours I think).
I get it... if you're going to get screwed, you prefer to pay for it, right?
I've never talked to an NT Support goon that DIDN'T suggest rebooting or reinstalling as one of the first 5 solutions to an unidentifiable problem. Hey, you're probably one of dem dere MSCE certified eckspert d00dZ
History has always been re-written... how many people learned what they know about Slaves and Native Americans from freakin' John Wayne movies?
Slavery WAS used in the North also. I'm not talking about agriculture, but there were bricklayers, masons, even engineers.
Granted, it wasn't widespread in the North, and was something more hidden as the USA inched towards the Civil War, but it was not exclusive to the South. In this perverted scale of things Slavery benefitted "everyone"... except the slaves. Farmers had more money to buy goods from the north when they didn't have to pay their workers - does this also benefit "only" the farmer??
Slightly different, but when the rich pay no taxes they have more money to spend on us po' folk, but that's not Slavery they call it Trickle Down Economics (trickling what, their urine?).
In a sense, we're ALL condemned as slaves in an increasingly networked and global sense. Very few of us can completely walk away from our work and start a different life, that's why the really destitute spend the most money on government-run lotteries.
Sometimes I think we would be better off farming and village life than we are today, watching our freedoms get eroded if not by the government (Clipper, digital wiretaps) and also by industry ("Microsoft document fingerprinting" which I first bitched about here LAST YEAR... admittedly I said MS was working on it for the chinese gov't so they can kill students more efficently. Does/. make backups? I can only see back my last 30 posts or so...).
Sorry if I sound so depressing. It *IS* a nice spring day out here in Mass., USA.
The immediately obvious solution to keeping "your" AC preferences seperate from "that other AC's prefs" is to store them in a local cookie.
Some people fear cookies but I don't think there's anything to worry about when the website documents their use (plaintext cookies are self-documenting...)
Moderation sucks, also. I've had "on-topic, non-flame, non-potty-mouth" postings moderated or deleted. Of course, I was participating in the "wrong side" of the "linux.com oversight board" which, um, includes a prominant Slashdot advertiser and the owner of Slashdot itself.
(I STILL think elections for the oversight board are a good idea -- we need 1 RMS on the board to keep everyone honest:), and VA Research's linux.com FAQ only states the makeup of "The Board"... not how they were selected, what veto powers they have, and under what conditions the makeup would possibly change. I'd like to know these things to allay my fears that it will eventually be co-opted by the business majority members.
It WAS pleasently reassuring to see the head of this thread, regarding moderated posts, had a +5 modifier. This tells me some moderators suck less.
Yes, I used to filter at 1, but then on the linux.com story, my ON-TOPIC, yet at the same time both critical and *civil* comments were deleted. Or is it more accurate to describe such a thing as "Microsofted"?0=
Other like minded comments were deleted (LOTS of "hey, where did my post go?" comments) and many more were set to -1 or -2 priority.
I'd be naive to think that moderation had anything to do with whose ad is running at the top of my web browser. Sure. Really. I'm sure "the board" of linux.com will have elections someday, too.
[cough] "You'll have to lite it again... pipe went out" [cough]
Slashdot Mirror
I know the writer asked about Intel, so this is OT more than the AMD SMP (K7) posts, but as someone with one foot in both the x86 and PPC world just throught I'd drop this..
:-/
Known fact: The PPC G3 (750) does not fully support SMP, there are cache issues. An exception is what the Amiga guys did with the 4way G3 box, but it's still a hack because the CPU doesn't fully exploit SMP (there are cache-related SMP instructions needed that are not there). FYI the G3 is based on a PPC 603e... a notebook chip, but this revision has really good integer (FP is decent... still stomps Intel tho).
The G4, which is based on the PPC 604; both support what's needed for SMP. G4 is 64-bit - initially it will be configured with some compromises on the _motherboard_ so it's a "drop in" to G3 setups. Then there's AltiVec vector processing, 128-bit, which UNLIKE MMX can be executed in paralell with the FPU.
FYI - if you can find multi-processor 604e Macs, like the 9600MP or a Daystay 4-way @ 200MHz, they're supposed to make bitchen Linux boxes. Or so I hear... *I* don't have one.
Nazi Germany. They may have found them repulsive, but they sure didn't mind taking their gold and transforming their little agricultural country into a rich industrialized one (with discounted art, gold, and 'used' shoes..).
Is that what you mean by love/hate relationships that both engage and sicken you? Just curious.
(I'm not exactly equating Intel with Germany, I'm illustrating how people will go along with things that supposedly go against their better judgement, just because they make money of it. IMHO the *only* excuse is stupidity... people who can't figure things out aren't as responsible).
BTW both Intel and Microsoft stocks are SEVERELY inflated and I deliberately own none of either. Adobe, Apple, Corel, and News Corporation/Fox are all safe, undervalued bets for when the market adjusts itself, Any Day Now.
Gee, somehow these Deals With The [other] Devil don't surprise me.
Prior to investments, didn't VA research sell Alpha boxes?
Does this have ANYTHING to do with RedHat's insulting comments about Linux on Alpha (regarding Compaq's promotion of Linux/Alpha)?
I WONDER what's written in for software "partners" like BeOS? Do they lose marketing money if they update non-Intel software like the PPC version?
Note that Intel and MetaCreations partnered to form the "internet's Open 3D format" called MetaStream. Feh! Like 75% of MetaCreation's customers are Mac users, and the deal left MacOS without a browser plug-in for this "open" format (still no full disclosure of code either).
My view is: Intel is committed to Linux like Microsoft was committed to Java... commitment being measured in exnergy spent to co-opt the Movement.
In the absence of an open-standard CPU, we need to encourage competition. AMD exists only because they managed to reverse-engineer Intel designs, AND survive many lawsuits. It will be much harder to clone Merced. x86 is a Dead End regarding technology and competition. Intel's not known for supporting something once they obsolete it (Pentium Pro owners have my sympathy).
How can you talk about the advantages of DVD over DIVX and NOT mention privacy??
:) After the MP3 fiasco they'll never let the best technology win.. when bandwidth and storage get cheaper look for the MP3 wars to expand to video. Information wants to be free.... corporations want to control it.
This is MY big problem with DIVX... everything you watch with it goes to some soulless corporate database which will later be exploited.
It should be a crime for corporations to collect and sell information on you without your consent. It's a form of privacy theft borderline on stalking.
To put it another way, privacy is threatened enough without the TELEVISION WATCHING US!
Additionally, DIVX is very environmentally unfriendly. How can they cheer this on as "disposable movies"? It's bad enough that America Online sends unrequested CD software to people who don't even HAVE a computer... now we're going to throwaway movies after viewing? We ARE destroying ourselves... just keep consuming to keep your mind off it.
How do you copy DVD?? Using CDDA??
I know about man (duh).. but like others noted it's notoriously out of date. However it USUALLY contains info not found in the readme. For example, check the various documentation that ships with X-MAME... at times the man and .txt contradict one another when it comes to setting variables.
.gz to compress, but the idea itself deserves merit. I don't assume it's a priority in Linus' eyes, which is too bad because a different group of people could be brought on board.
Microsoft's HTML Help really looks nice, with the added benefit of not being difficult to author. I say this with some reservations because I don't know how open their format ("compiled HTML") is. Certainly they wouldn't use something like
yes, I know about man2html...
Apple's been keeping their supply lines at just a few days in order to maximize profit. Their build-to-ship is like half that of Dell's..
There isn't much of a buffer for this. This is a new contractor for Apple, so hopefully the other builders can keep up...
I'm not a Linux guru but I have been struggling with the OS (part-time..) for about 3 years now. I have gotten a few people interested in Linux, and they appreciate the technical superiority over Windows and the political aspects, but everyone says nearly the same thing:
:-D
:-(
It's too difficult.
For me Linux does not seem that "difficult", but I do see part of where they come from -- it's VERY time consuming configuring your system especially if you don't have convenient documentation... which when you find it, glosses over "Linux related" items like X/KDE/Gnome and how to personalize makefiles that don't 'make configure' (ack) so they compile on your system. Oh, and you need to install some libraries which maybe you can find in RPM if you randomly check ftp sites (they MUST be somewhere but the project's homepage does not maintain them), and they in turn depend on OTHER libraries. I've had to walk some people through it using that really old distribution called Red Hat 5.2 (I'm now using Mandrake + AfterStep).
How is THIS any more efficent than Windows? I'm being ironic.. once you've passed a point it's not as bad, but there is this black hole that sucks up all your time.
How is this related to the topic? Well, when we talk about "developer itch" usually the developer is WAY PAST the threshhold I outlined in the above paragraph. User-friendly itches gave way to efficency.
I honestly believe this will correct itself over time, since someone already in the club will still care about it and fix it for future members. The danger I see is the longer it takes to straighten out usability the longer it will take to remove the stereotype.
Someone told me FreeBSD has a lot of the usability worked out... you use an update menu that KNOWS what you have installed, and connects to a central FTP server to tell you "what's new" and can download it for you. You can also do a "make world" to rebuild EVERYTHING on your system.
I'd *love* to do that with Linux... I don't know how much performance increases if you optomize build for your exact CPU, but this Pentium 120 I use for a server could use all the help it can get - especially FREE help!
Are there any such projects for Linux? Probably not, since it would involve getting RedHat and the other distribs to co-operate. This, and a standardized HELP system as you mention would be a wonderful thing. I don't see any "leadership" in this area of Linux.
If you're curious about the camera effects, there's a great article in this month's Shoot magazine.
Some of the sequences were shot at several hundred frames per second so they could be slowed down. While this is not unusual with still cameras and subjects, for most of it it involved dozens or hundreds of camersa in an array around the actors, with the cameras streaming.
The tricky part is hiding the cameras so you don't see them. What they did was film the action sequences in front of blue screens with holes cut in them for the lens (the lens hole could be painted out during compositing). Later the action sequences were composited onto the complex's shrapnel-filled lobby. VERY well done.
I had my doubts at first about the movie, but it's very well done. MUCH better than recent hokey stuff like Lost in Space (blech!).
They didn't even insult us technology types by using a web page interface to hack into the matrix. god I HATE when Hollywood dumbs down movies lower than an AOL user...
>I've often thought the solution to this is make a compiler that compiles into a pseudo machine code, which then would be compiled to a binary. This
:-?
would NOT be java, which is a stack based virtual chip.
Obfuscating the source does pretty much the same thing. Either way it sucks.
Loki Games WILL be releasing a patch for running Civ3 on LinuxPPC... it's rather trivial I am told. They could do the same with Quake at Id if they want... it's the "media" or WAD files that you're buying... and iD realized this long ago when they first supported Linux. Same thing with linuxPPC homefully..
Hee hee... page looked fine to ME! :-D
:-/
.ISO or 600 meg stuffit file to build an HFS CD on my work PC (T1!)..
Lest I be OT... I *am* looking forward to this distro. I would like to try it out, but there doesn't look like there's any FTP site to download it. Hmm... I'll have to wait for the next MacWorld and just try the LinuxPPC version.
Is YDL just not redistributable?? Or they have no bandwidth. Ideally I'd need an
I groan every time someone says command-line is "primitive".
:/
Cygwin is awesome... if I have to use micros~1 windows I load this baby on.
I wish there was a version for the Mac..
AppleScript *really* kicks butt -- at least for some things -- but it would be nice to run some standard shell scripts.
With Windows95 Microsoft even took away the Macro recorder. Remember that utility?? Crude, but given how neglected DOS was you could automate some things. But hey, if you need automation just BUY Visual BASIC, right??
I remember when EVERY computer shipped with a free BASIC. Sigh...
yes and no. There was documentation that some Engineers VOLUNTEERED to write in code to harm the operation of Windows and apps IF it was run on top of DR-DOS.
I don't know if they actually DID this, but the email of the suggested "fix" survives as evidence.
I do know that a product I once supported would crash more often under DR-DOS/Win3.1, and middle management decreed on the spot we should not support it (the same "power-hungry ex-DEC'er" would refuse to tell Sales about it, naturally).
But hey, like clueless managers will say "it's Microsoft's OS.. of course you should only use their DOS". Microsoft has sharpened FUD as sharp as a razor (a term I wouldn't use to describe the people who BELIEVE them...)
Oh blood and ASHES! I hit preview and all my text is deleted. Argh..
Short story is Intel is funding companies and efforts to subtly "lave out" alternative CPU's. EXPECT this FUD effort to carry over into the Linux world, such as Rob Young's unflattering remarks about Linux on Alpha.
Gee, didn't Red Hat used to sell an Alpha Linux?
Didn't VA Research used to sell Alpha workstations?
Didn't BeOS used to support PowerPC?
Didn't MetaCreations promise a Mac port of the MC/Intel "MetaStream" web 3D project?
Isn't Intel deliberately withholding the specs to Indeo instead of producing a Mac version (Indeo is for wanna-be's, but still I've talked to people who can't consider it because it's not x-platform).
We're just about to get independence from Microsoft and people don't see we'll end up right in the grip of Intel. Watch for future "Linux efforts" by Intel designed to keep non-Intel Linux users off the cutting edge. No one can "own" Linux, true, but anyone can make a version so technically appealing that the masses won't give a rat's ass about "politically correct" licensing (look at all the people who didn't care about the *OLD* QT/KDE licensing...)
Visual Basic is not part of the HTML standard... what you are talking about is a virus that ONLY affects Windows users who are running MS IE.
Good thing too. Isn't this what Darwinism is all about? Hee hee.. don't see NEARLY as many virii on Linux or MacOS (nasty exception: HK automount virus).
Anyways, back to my point... VB is the same rotten core found in Office - HTML has nothing to do with it. The "finder" of this virus tried to whip up a media scare about HTML, and FAILED...
And if the police even APPEAR to not support her case she should sue them. This officer is unfit for duty in the same way as the judge who in a rape case allows the defenses "what she was wearing provoked me" or "everybody knows she is a slut... she wanted it even if she doesn't admit it".
It's just amazing to me the preconcieved notions the ignorant will carry around with them. It's depressing to know things will not get better, and we'll never have a completely computer-literate or even literate world. I'm sick of people, especially parents/breeders, looking for scapegoats (Internet, Judas Priest, Beavis and/or Butthead) instead of instilling responsibility in their offspring. I have no idea how old the victim is here, but the people of this town should demand an apology from the officer for the comments he made to her.
>And lets all use commercialized cddb for a while and when it pops up popular cdroms, say no thats not the one I have and add some bullshit entry...wont that be a fun way to get back at them for taking our submissions and
making them their property???
Are you a troll, or just one of those script kiddies? Either was you're an ass for suggesting this.
Isn't Slashdot moderating here? What this person is proposing reflects badly on us all, especially since the comment is almost 24 hours old and still
at "0"... and what he suggests is probably illegal (not to mention just plain stupid).
Let the success of completely free and open alternatives be "lesson enough" for cddb.com.
It WOULD be nice if we could somehow convince OEM's like Apple and Compaq, to support freecddb. The AppleCD Player is lame - better than what comes with Windows, but not by much... could definately use an update here..
There's probably some license clause that says Compaq can't bundle a better CD player because it "competes" with Windows98 (or the PlusPack)...
>For a long time, I have been working on an idea of my own, and if (no--when, damn it!) it gets released, it would be as proprietary, closed source software. This raises the question: Am I welcome here?
*I* would say so. I believe there's a higher ratio of "everything must be free [speech]" here because that's a freedom most Windows users do not even KNOW exists!
I think you would find a ready market for your product, depending on the specifics. I run Linux [x86] as my home server and G3 as my primary desktop... and I'm perfectly willing to buy anything I like for either platform.
I don't agree 100% with ESR, RMS, or XYZZY - and why should I? They're all politicians... but hey I would rather they continue to argue intelligently than resort to US-style politics where the goal is to outspend your rival. There is NO ONE like any of these folks in the greedy Windows world.
Oh, and to the troll a few messages up who quipped "no wonder ESR wants to quit after Apple screwed him"... I say offer some proof - or simply admit you're talking out your a$$. Apple + ESR may have made for some controversy, but I haven't seen an ESR posting where he lamented his treatment by Apple. If he HAS posted something, I'll happily retract the above.
When Linux gets game software it will still be only half the answer. What are you going to use with it - a basic joystick driver hacked into X with just 2 button support?
:-( but it's still a rather small market. I'm sure USB steering will be here before long (Christmas! aggh!).
All the NICE hardware will be arriving for USB only - start planning for it if this stuff interests you (adding USB to my PC requires a US $9 cable; my G3 Mac has USB all over).
Apple switched to USB generally because it allows all the things ADB did (hot swapping, daisy-chaining, generic device support and plug and play). The Windows world will be all USB sometime soon so to cut it short Linux will be left behind without it.
That said, I still haven't found a steering wheel for USB
Even if you don't like controllers, lots of people will dismiss Linux without them. This is why USB, which is the future, is so important.
This was definately NOT "newsworthy" material.. It's bad enough I have to see ads here and elsewhere, but to knowningly direct th Slashdot Effect to a domain-name pirate with POP UP ADS is pretty obscene.
:-(
Now, if there had been something even remotely funny about the page that would have been an interesting diversion. But this guy just made a killing at our expense.
>Do you really think the average Slashdot'er would have bought any of Apple's products anyhow? How do you boycott something like that?
:-D
:-)
I'm not sure what your *intention* was here, but reading at face value you're presuming a LOT. What is the average Slashdotter using? Just x86 and Linux? I see a LOT of users here talk about Alpha, Solaris, Be and yes Apple. PLEASE don't marginalize us - that's what Bill Gates does when he redefines "crossplatform" to mean "Windows 9x, or Windows NT?". That said, you could have meant something completelky different than my interpretation... tis the nature of electronic words and this imprecise thing called English.
Back on the license, I DO think Apple is targeting Linux but NOT in the same way as Microsoft, who is launching FUD that will eventually be picked apart and laughed at once the press is educated.
Apple's just trying to show it can adapt, and tap into the "alternative" programming pool. Apple is a powerful ally with some really smart people who are JUST AS DEDICATED to their platform as Linux users (is anyone dedicated to Windows? besides Bill's little "lap-dog" face-lick companies like Rational or SilkNet)
I am relieved the tone of most of this has been rational, or maybe everything's moderated past -5?
Apple would not have taken this step without considering the consequences of being told it's not enough. They have to be listening.
That said, I heard back from an Apple developer today, and they don't thing there are enough people in the Linux community who would be willing to buy QuickTime Pro for x86 Linux. Am I the only one who doesn't believe this is a true assessment?
I don't have to reboot my PC to Windows quite as much now that I bought a G3 box, but I get really bad framerates with the free Linux video players (NOT a dis against the authors of that software!)
Regarding msn.com server farms:
.sig, I don't think MacOS is up to that kind of serving job *either* (MacOS X Server "might" be since it's just NextStep in Mac clothing. I don't know for certain). Different jobs for different tasks I say... but NT does everything second-rate.
I guy I worked with at another company (not my current employer..) told me MSN.COM's server farm was managed by a friend's company - I think Digital. I was told they had about 1800 NT Servers each loaded to the gills with RAM, but owing to the unpredicatable nature they were never all running at one time, which is probably true since it takes 12 minutes to fully reboot my dual-processor NT box. They even installed *automated* reboot scripts to make stability more predictable. How's THAT for "enterprise-ready"? . Disclaimer: I make no guarantees as to the authenticity of above statements as it is heresay from another individual. I am only reporting as I heard this. So I couldn't say it's "REALLY TRUE" as I don't work for them. I believe it though...
>I know MS NT is bad, but MS guys scheduling reboots is kind of like Microsoft admiting that their servers are unstable.
Oh, you mean like Hotmail outages when their management was too afraid to tell Bill his little OS couldn't run the webmail service, even with an unlimited hardware budget?
Or do you mean how Microsoft's "Terrabyte server" served nothing but roadmaps because it couldn't handle complex data?
1800 NT servers is pretty amazing. We had a 3 or 4 Solaris + Alpha (UNIX) boxes that handled more load than MSN's little NT wasteland server farm. It doesn't make financial sense to run something that way, until you consider how much internal clout MS Sales/Marketing has and the fear of saying NO.
Just in case any AC snips at my
I don't see what OS/2 has to do with the facts Nick outlined. Could you be a little more bigoted - you almost introduced a fact. Oh:
>OS/2 corrupted my hard drive
Aw, poor baby. What do you use now, Windows NT? Has it NEVER corrupted your hard drive?? If that IS true, your NT box must be a single-tasking standalone box with scheduled reboots. That's how MSN is run... over a THOUSAND Pentium Pro NT servers on a *scheduled* reboot regimen (24 hours I think).
I get it... if you're going to get screwed, you prefer to pay for it, right?
I've never talked to an NT Support goon that DIDN'T suggest rebooting or reinstalling as one of the first 5 solutions to an unidentifiable problem. Hey, you're probably one of dem dere MSCE certified eckspert d00dZ
History has always been re-written... how many people learned what they know about Slaves and Native Americans from freakin' John Wayne movies?
/. make backups? I can only see back my last 30 posts or so...).
Slavery WAS used in the North also. I'm not talking about agriculture, but there were bricklayers, masons, even engineers.
Granted, it wasn't widespread in the North, and was something more hidden as the USA inched towards the Civil War, but it was not exclusive to the South. In this perverted scale of things Slavery benefitted "everyone"... except the slaves. Farmers had more money to buy goods from the north when they didn't have to pay their workers - does this also benefit "only" the farmer??
Slightly different, but when the rich pay no taxes they have more money to spend on us po' folk, but that's not Slavery they call it Trickle Down Economics (trickling what, their urine?).
In a sense, we're ALL condemned as slaves in an increasingly networked and global sense. Very few of us can completely walk away from our work and start a different life, that's why the really destitute spend the most money on government-run lotteries.
Sometimes I think we would be better off farming and village life than we are today, watching our freedoms get eroded if not by the government (Clipper, digital wiretaps) and also by industry ("Microsoft document fingerprinting" which I first bitched about here LAST YEAR... admittedly I said MS was working on it for the chinese gov't so they can kill students more efficently. Does
Sorry if I sound so depressing. It *IS* a nice spring day out here in Mass., USA.
The immediately obvious solution to keeping "your" AC preferences seperate from "that other AC's prefs" is to store them in a local cookie.
:), and VA Research's linux.com FAQ only states the makeup of "The Board"... not how they were selected, what veto powers they have, and under what conditions the makeup would possibly change. I'd like to know these things to allay my fears that it will eventually be co-opted by the business majority members.
Some people fear cookies but I don't think there's anything to worry about when the website documents their use (plaintext cookies are self-documenting...)
Moderation sucks, also. I've had "on-topic, non-flame, non-potty-mouth" postings moderated or deleted. Of course, I was participating in the "wrong side" of the "linux.com oversight board" which, um, includes a prominant Slashdot advertiser and the owner of Slashdot itself.
(I STILL think elections for the oversight board are a good idea -- we need 1 RMS on the board to keep everyone honest
It WAS pleasently reassuring to see the head of this thread, regarding moderated posts, had a +5 modifier. This tells me some moderators suck less.
Yes, I used to filter at 1, but then on the linux.com story, my ON-TOPIC, yet at the same time both critical and *civil* comments were deleted. Or is it more accurate to describe such a thing as "Microsofted"?0=
Other like minded comments were deleted (LOTS of "hey, where did my post go?" comments) and many more were set to -1 or -2 priority.
I'd be naive to think that moderation had anything to do with whose ad is running at the top of my web browser. Sure. Really. I'm sure "the board" of linux.com will have elections someday, too.
[cough]
"You'll have to lite it again... pipe went out"
[cough]