PKD was so paranoid and loony that no-one -- least of all himself -- though his stuff would be seen as anything but pulp fantasy. And now it's creepy how spot on he could be about some things.
The thought occurs that a rating-list of software would be good. It'd be nice to see how different network scanners or email clients rate against each other, for e.g. For real annoyances, though:
non-distro specific:
-menu options in GUIs, and a way to edit menus
-plug&play-ness has a long ways to go
-GUI file permissions changes
-MS Exchange compatibility (a pipe dream, but hey, I can dream)
-easier security patching (Bastille is good, but something easier would be better still...) an easier firewall config would be fantastic.
distro-specific:
-debian stable needs updated packages. no, really
-debian needs a GUI installer. no, no, no, really. The txt install is NOT hard, but a GUI install shouldn't be either.
-i always have to recompile my 2.4 kernel in debian because the.deb package doesn't include my NIC driver. minor PITA, but hey, this is basically a whine-list.
-a chkconfig util in debian, just like in redhat. there's a chkconfig for debian, but few apps work with it (that i know of).
-if redhat could stop changing really big things like GCC and glibc, that would not suck.
getting a large number of people that you trust using the same network -- so that you have access to large amounts of files -- is going to be a bigger problem than security, and that's a big problem in and of itself, really. Are the other private groups/programs that can be used for filesharing?
While I'm a big fan of this guide, and have used it myself, the post that references it is misleading -- or at least, not totally accurate. You do not need to upgrade to unstable/testing to get the latest version of a specific package. Edit your/etc/apt/sources.list to include an apt repository for the packages you want (e.g., gnome2.2, kde3.1, mozilla-firebird, etc,) and then do apt-get update, and apt-get install whatever-it-is. Check apt-get.org for apt-get repositories for newer stuff. Adding new stuff to older versions of debian may break stuff, caveat emptor.
I'm fairly certain if you asked your radiostation to play local bands they would. The whole reason why radiostations are in business is because people listen to the BS they put out. So if people don't complain why change it?
What's the weather like on your planet? I don't know about you, but Clear Channel Communications owns 99% of all the radio stations I can pick up. The two exceptions in my very large metropolitan city are: NPR and my local University radiostations. I called up my city's "contemporary rock" station and asked the DJ to play an XTC -- any XTC song -- and he laughed at me and said "get real"...so I requested an album track by a band they DO play (Faith No More's "Midlife Crisis", which was released as a single about 10 years ago). He played FNM's "Epic" instead.
I have never heard some large metal bands on the radio -- Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Megadeth -- because my city's radio stations don't think it's what their demographic wants to hear. That seems unlikely, but I suppose it's possible that everyone who listens to AOR (a misnomer if there ever was one,) wants to hear the last 3 Red Hot Chili Peppers songs 10 times in two hours.
People don't complain because "it's always been like that" and they don't get any response when they DO complain. CC effectively owns US radio and they want to appeal to the lowest common denominator, so they will never ever ever play what people WANT but what people WILL TAKE. And people will take almost anything given to them.
a mixed bag package manager exists: There's apt-rpm for rpm based distros; considering rpm's ubiquity, it's a great thing for users who don't want to use anything but RPM and want the advantages of APT-GET (which are many,) but other systems' use of different packaging (debs, source distros, stuff like slackware which is AFAIK not automatic at all, etc) is one of the things that gives linux/bsd it's strength. One of MS's weak points is security, and it's a weak point for them because a) they have to make their package-equivalents fit w/ very different systems (win 9x to XP) and b) their very ubiquity makes them an easy target.
Outlook-launched virii would not have the effect they DO have if not for the fact that everybody and their mom USES outlook/OE etc. If all the distros used DEB or RPM (for e.g.,) it'd be another fixed spot that attackers can try to concentrate on. As it is, you can't just compile an RPM and assume that any user on a linux system CAN run it. Debian users without alien would be SOL.
Another -- somewhat more popular among scifi/fantasy fans, I would guess -- is Jose Philip Farmer's "Riverworld" series, recently made into a TV miniseries, I think. The main characters are historical figures brought back to life on a -- wait for it -- River-world. It's not bad, if you're into the genre.
My biggest complaint w/ debian is the slow release cycle. I'd like to be able to pin the newest KDE/gnome/whatever to stable and do an apt-get upgrade without breaking a million things. Last time I pinned kde 3.1 and updated I spent three days finding broken stuff and fixing it.
And yes, I am aware of the other debian-based distros that are more up to date, but they're all (to my knowledge) pay distros, and I am looking for something cheap/free.
to quote terry pratchett, among others,
on
Isn't It Ironic?
·
· Score: 1
My new site currently looks like shit in MSIE even though I even made a separate CSS that did widths differently and forced alpha transparency on the logo.
You can't polish a turd.
Microsoft's not doing too bad, all things considered.
The more concerning thing is Office. Office v.X is excellent and all, but what happens when the new PC version comes out and Microsoft decide that they're bored of updating Office for the Mac - will they just kill that too? One of the key points of the Apple sales strategy is that Macs have Office - without it, things will become more challenging, I'd have thought.
honestly, that shouldn't be that big a deal ANYWAY; the current office v.x will work for a while yet, there's an OSS solution coming, and no doubt Apple has something brewing in the back of a dark room somewhere. Office X, for all of it's wonderfulness, STILL doesn't do native exchange email, so for corporate places that need exchange, they're stuck either way.
OH NOES!!11! Next time you spammers send out those spams, be sure to send the viagra/penis enhancer spams to old folks and insecure guys and of course if your marks^H^H^H^H^Hclients don't have printers be sure not to send them toner spam!!!
The problem is kids on the web unsupervised, not spam. As if there were such a thing as "appropriate" spam.
it's not a pun; or rather, it's not my pun. When you installed the software, the windows icon was a WASTE muted horn. not unlike the one at http://www.waste.org/pynchon-l/
would this be why W.A.S.T.E. was killed? I would guess so. Or...is this AOL's co-opting of WASTE itself? have they just taken the GPL code that was posted for that one day and slapped AIM on it?
broaden your knowlege base a bit. Pick up some Bill Bryson if fiction isn't your thing; he has a new book out called "a short history of everything" (or something like that... I haven't read all of it yet and forgot the title....everything else he's written that I've read -- travel narratives, mostly -- are fantastically great and very entertaining; I would recommend either "A walk in the woods" or maybe "travels in europe". great stuff.
I see kazaa 2 traffic mostly. but also edonkey, kazaa 1, napster, and others.
napster? really? they're not a functioning service/company any more. I think you're either making things up or astroturfing for the RIAA/MPAA. Or you could be a time-travelling sysadmin from 1999, but I think that's kind of unlikely.
Slashdot Mirror
PKD was so paranoid and loony that no-one -- least of all himself -- though his stuff would be seen as anything but pulp fantasy. And now it's creepy how spot on he could be about some things.
non-distro specific:
-menu options in GUIs, and a way to edit menus
-plug&play-ness has a long ways to go
-GUI file permissions changes
-MS Exchange compatibility (a pipe dream, but hey, I can dream)
-easier security patching (Bastille is good, but something easier would be better still...) an easier firewall config would be fantastic.
distro-specific: .deb package doesn't include my NIC driver. minor PITA, but hey, this is basically a whine-list.
-a chkconfig util in debian, just like in redhat. there's a chkconfig for debian, but few apps work with it (that i know of).
-if redhat could stop changing really big things like GCC and glibc, that would not suck.
-debian stable needs updated packages. no, really
-debian needs a GUI installer. no, no, no, really. The txt install is NOT hard, but a GUI install shouldn't be either.
-i always have to recompile my 2.4 kernel in debian because the
chocolate rations are up!
There's a russian NWW MP3 CD? I've heard of current 93 and coil mp3 CDs but not yet for Nurse or LPD...
getting a large number of people that you trust using the same network -- so that you have access to large amounts of files -- is going to be a bigger problem than security, and that's a big problem in and of itself, really. Are the other private groups/programs that can be used for filesharing?
While I'm a big fan of this guide, and have used it myself, the post that references it is misleading -- or at least, not totally accurate. You do not need to upgrade to unstable/testing to get the latest version of a specific package. Edit your /etc/apt/sources.list to include an apt repository for the packages you want (e.g., gnome2.2, kde3.1, mozilla-firebird, etc,) and then do apt-get update, and apt-get install whatever-it-is. Check apt-get.org for apt-get repositories for newer stuff. Adding new stuff to older versions of debian may break stuff, caveat emptor.
they can be, if you like. Although I just like using them in firebird/blackdiamond.
What's the weather like on your planet? I don't know about you, but Clear Channel Communications owns 99% of all the radio stations I can pick up. The two exceptions in my very large metropolitan city are: NPR and my local University radiostations. I called up my city's "contemporary rock" station and asked the DJ to play an XTC -- any XTC song -- and he laughed at me and said "get real"...so I requested an album track by a band they DO play (Faith No More's "Midlife Crisis", which was released as a single about 10 years ago). He played FNM's "Epic" instead.
I have never heard some large metal bands on the radio -- Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Megadeth -- because my city's radio stations don't think it's what their demographic wants to hear. That seems unlikely, but I suppose it's possible that everyone who listens to AOR (a misnomer if there ever was one,) wants to hear the last 3 Red Hot Chili Peppers songs 10 times in two hours.
People don't complain because "it's always been like that" and they don't get any response when they DO complain. CC effectively owns US radio and they want to appeal to the lowest common denominator, so they will never ever ever play what people WANT but what people WILL TAKE. And people will take almost anything given to them.
What do you expect in an economy this republican^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H bad?
Outlook-launched virii would not have the effect they DO have if not for the fact that everybody and their mom USES outlook/OE etc. If all the distros used DEB or RPM (for e.g.,) it'd be another fixed spot that attackers can try to concentrate on. As it is, you can't just compile an RPM and assume that any user on a linux system CAN run it. Debian users without alien would be SOL.
Another -- somewhat more popular among scifi/fantasy fans, I would guess -- is Jose Philip Farmer's "Riverworld" series, recently made into a TV miniseries, I think. The main characters are historical figures brought back to life on a -- wait for it -- River-world. It's not bad, if you're into the genre.
My biggest complaint w/ debian is the slow release cycle. I'd like to be able to pin the newest KDE/gnome/whatever to stable and do an apt-get upgrade without breaking a million things. Last time I pinned kde 3.1 and updated I spent three days finding broken stuff and fixing it.
And yes, I am aware of the other debian-based distros that are more up to date, but they're all (to my knowledge) pay distros, and I am looking for something cheap/free.
"It's like goldy, but with iron."
oh, you mean cygwin. or maybe knoppix
Microsoft's not doing too bad, all things considered.
dude, where were you during the September that never ended? Usenet used to be a great place for info on the internet.
could use some editing.
honestly, that shouldn't be that big a deal ANYWAY; the current office v.x will work for a while yet, there's an OSS solution coming, and no doubt Apple has something brewing in the back of a dark room somewhere. Office X, for all of it's wonderfulness, STILL doesn't do native exchange email, so for corporate places that need exchange, they're stuck either way.
The problem is kids on the web unsupervised, not spam. As if there were such a thing as "appropriate" spam.
it's not a pun; or rather, it's not my pun. When you installed the software, the windows icon was a WASTE muted horn. not unlike the one at http://www.waste.org/pynchon-l/
No, you're thinking of Theo de Raadt from OpenBSD.
would this be why W.A.S.T.E. was killed? I would guess so. Or...is this AOL's co-opting of WASTE itself? have they just taken the GPL code that was posted for that one day and slapped AIM on it?
broaden your knowlege base a bit. Pick up some Bill Bryson if fiction isn't your thing; he has a new book out called "a short history of everything" (or something like that... I haven't read all of it yet and forgot the title....everything else he's written that I've read -- travel narratives, mostly -- are fantastically great and very entertaining; I would recommend either "A walk in the woods" or maybe "travels in europe". great stuff.
napster? really? they're not a functioning service/company any more. I think you're either making things up or astroturfing for the RIAA/MPAA. Or you could be a time-travelling sysadmin from 1999, but I think that's kind of unlikely.
dude, check your email, you can get PRINTER REPLACEMENTS FREE 908ASDFO