oh, i know penguin adventure quite well, i had an MSX system (Yamaha) back in the day for its extraordinary MIDI capabilities, and PA was one of the few 'other' things I did with that system...
i just think tuxracer isn't far off... any enterprising PA-fan with an itch to scratch could derive an interesting Square One from the tuxracer sources....
That's probably because the only people who think Lisp Is The Answer to Everything are a little bit insane. --- Um, wasn't that my point? Its the "Lisp is the Answer to Everything" people that make it harder for normal people to push Lisp to areas where it would be really useful.
no no, you don't get it, he's just one of those 'likes to prove smart lisp people wrong' insane people... those guys are all just a little bit insane as well.
I still lovingly remember the entire collection of MIPS documentation that came with my Magnum and R3200 systems. The 'man' 'manual' was about 5 inches thick, and the 7 others were hefty too, but the biggest stack of all were the updates and inserts.
i never did get around to 'merging' all that into one big doc system before i (stupidly) threw it all out in the 90's, but if i had i would probably be very proud of that Unix Documentation Collection...;)
this is great news for 3rd World Countries, too, if it works.
imagine if Toshiba or Honda or some other such industrial giant were to take these and make a portable steel-mill system the size of a porta-loo? feed it ore and whatever, get steel wire.
even having low-grade steel for embedding into locally produced cement could make a world of difference to tribes of thirsty people.
hell, i give it a year before someone takes this technique and puts a 'FAQ/How-To' style site together for the rec.hobby.steelwork DIY crowd...
not me... its got me reaching for the keys to my sailboat and the digits to the lock on the door of my secret island lair, stacked with my "personal women collection", where i will weather the invasion while you lot all get shipped off for dessert to gotze-12, otherwise known as 'the refrigerator planet'...
i just want to say that i enjoyed this review, and i'm looking forward to tomorrow's followup.
in light of the fact that its so easy to complain about/. quality, i figured that i'd actually do the opposite for a change and congratulate the editors for a 'stuff that matters' moment... i thought this article was fun to read, and not just because i too am an osx/linux weenie.
I just like to good arguments, not that you find that many of them around here... on slashdot... one of the biggest wastes of time known to a very select percentage of mankind.
It is classic Linux-advocate style to redefine the user's problem to fit Linux's needs rather than the other way around.
I fail to see how I'm changing anyones problems to suit "linux's needs", but in fact two things can happen with a problem:
a) the person can change their perspective on a problem and solve it, or b) the problem will go unsolved
as a 'classic linux-advocate' (woohoo, at least you didn't say 'typical'!) i would like to point out that any 'classic linux user' worth their salt understands that there are countless ways to address problems in life, what matters is whichever method you use to solve it. Linux has an infinite plethora of ways to solve peoples' problems, but peoples' problems -belong- to them, not the other way around.
Some people like to get a new digital camera once a year. Some people like to install a new game once a month. Some people like to buy the latest and greatest MP3 players, video cards, wi-fi devices, photo printers, hand-held devices and all of it comes with software.
This fact is, of course, an undefeatable argument. Marketplace is what marketplace is.
But if 'peoples problems can be re-defined to solve needs', then so too can markets.
... then again, sometimes you just can't find a RPM...
Use the source. Open Source is about using the source.
If you can't use the source, well, learn to wait.
Here's a clue: the condition of waiting behind a few point releases is exactly -the same- for closed source software.
This happens: Typical Windows User is, typically, 3 or 4 code revisions away from the current source set, and this is not an insignificant fact.
You don't see the latest and greatest windows software, you just install the released.exe's, and don't have the -option- of seeing the 'latest and greatest' with closed-soure software, as a work in progress, until marketing/packaging gets its way...
With open source you do have access, to the very lab environment even, but this does not mean you should manically go on a re-build fest every time someone commits to a CVS tree somewhere...
Since you are waiting for releases in.exe land, why don't you also apply a similar principle in.c land? Its a good principle.
Keep maintaining and upgrading and tweaking your systems all you like. But every minute of the day that you do things like this, is time your computer isn't actually working for you.
If your system needs to do stuff its not currently doing, then by all means, go through the hassle of getting it there, somehow, using whatever software you can use. But remember, there are tons of ways to solve problems in linux, and in fact any computer system, millions and millions and millions...
The statement 'games are a trap' is a false negative image.
Games can also be extremely valuable engineering resources. Fun is also worth the effort to experience, as well.
But nevertheless, the nature of a trap is that it is often not what you think it actually is... a fact which has been exploited quite well in many marketplaces.
The difference is, games give you nothing in the end, whereas the 'PC-tweak' treadmill should, presumably, leave you with a 'better running' computer... or so the implications seem to warrant.
I don't disagree with your conclusion, just that concluding that games are a massive treadmill does not mean that 'tweak treadmill' is any less of a trap.
You make the case that the 'treadmill is great for games'.
And then you conclude:
So whilst i agree with you that there is a treadmill, it's not really as much of a trap as you make it out to be.
Sorry, but games are a trap too. You're lured into them for the purposes of 'entertainment and fun', and end up wasting countless, countless hours playing them. And when you are finished, you have nothing to show for it except memories. Of a completely artificial reality.
I'm not implying a value judgement here - it is for every human being alive to determine their own tolerance for the world around them. I'm just saying that both a) video game playing and b) windows upgrades are an industrial treadmill which produce very little except profit for their executors...
trouble is, how do you buy this game if you don't have or use a credit card?
its actually quite interesting to observe just how much in life you can't do because of the ubiquity of credit cards.
it always seems strange to me that linux game developers come and go, but yet nobody has worked out a way for geeks to pay for their video games without having to use a credit card. thats a huuuuge market of people who are missing out.
when will we see 1-900 #'s for software payment, is what i wanna know...
Linux is ready for *some* desktops only, namely ones where users won't be constantly tweaking and installing new software and hardware.
in other words, linux is ready for the healthier installations, and not ready for sick computer use.
constant tweaking and installation of new hardware and software is not using a computer productively. using a computer productively means that the computer is operational, in the sense that it doesn't actually -need- anything further to be done to it in order to function as intended. it just works.
this 'just works' state is fairly easy to get to with linux, and other open operating systems, and stay there. but i can count on one hand the # of windows users i have personally known who can point at their aging computers and say 'that system just works, so i leave it alone and just use it'.
15 years of Windows use may have given you a neurosis, a false standard, with which you are comparing other platforms where such inflictions aren't really a priority. of -course- you can tweak and install software in linux; indefinitely in fact.
but the point of computing, and of computer use in general is to -USE- the computer to do something, not be continuously servicing it. this is a fact that seems so simple, yet for most window-dwellers, it often appears to be inseparable from 'actual use' as a concept.
i blame microsoft of course. tweaking and upgrading and re-installing and installing and 'software choice' is just a way of getting you locked into a constant crackhouse fit.
The average user wants to do everything grandma wants to do, but they also want to be able to install or upgrade software and hardware *easily*.
why should they? ubiquitous, cheap computing (s/cheap/inexpensive) means that once you've set it up and got it working, you can leave it alone and just use it.
people are starting to see that the windows treadmill is a trap. once you get sucked into a windows way of life, upgrades and re-installs and tweaks and fixes all seem to be 'normal' ways to use the computer, but in fact this is really a detraction from the core issue of computer science, which is 'how can i use this computer to do the job in front of me?'.
microsoft, and others in the industry who have been around long enough to have weathered countless waves of API and hardware technological changes know that computers are a constantly-changing product. its like a lump of magic matter which never maintains its state long enough for it to become a fixture.
but this is not the linux philosophy. the linux philosophy is: get it working, and once its working, use it.
Currency control is DRM--well done, torpor. Points for a very inventive troll.
this is not a troll. i'm serious. gov'ts have had 'rights management' for years. this is currency. rights management is a core aspect of economy, as is currency of course.
just because i'm associating 'drm' with 'money' does -not- mean that i'm trolling... or even making a negative association.
you, however, are exhibiting reactionary 'analaytical' lapses typical of fascists, which is my 2cent word of the week...
Wow. A country that derives much of its stability and power from its currency wants to defend it. The bank that issues that currency doesn't want people making fakes. What's the problem here?
Slashdot Mirror
oh, i know penguin adventure quite well, i had an MSX system (Yamaha) back in the day for its extraordinary MIDI capabilities, and PA was one of the few 'other' things I did with that system...
... any enterprising PA-fan with an itch to scratch could derive an interesting Square One from the tuxracer sources ....
i just think tuxracer isn't far off
But what I want to know is when did it become OK to make fun of people for their learning disabilites?
If you are going to "lead the free world" you better be a literate mutherfucker.
G. Bush is illiterate. He's not qualified to read books to kindergarten kids. He should not be allowed access to weapons of mass destruction...
He can tell me more about the world than Bill Gates or Steve Jobs can, and in the right places, too.
but, but ... thats tuxracer, no?
... wouldn't be hard to finish the Penguin Adventure maps in Tuxracer format, anyway ...
close enough
That's probably because the only people who think Lisp Is The Answer to Everything are a little bit insane.
... those guys are all just a little bit insane as well.
---
Um, wasn't that my point? Its the "Lisp is the Answer to Everything" people that make it harder for normal people to push Lisp to areas where it would be really useful.
no no, you don't get it, he's just one of those 'likes to prove smart lisp people wrong' insane people
I still lovingly remember the entire collection of MIPS documentation that came with my Magnum and R3200 systems. The 'man' 'manual' was about 5 inches thick, and the 7 others were hefty too, but the biggest stack of all were the updates and inserts.
;)
i never did get around to 'merging' all that into one big doc system before i (stupidly) threw it all out in the 90's, but if i had i would probably be very proud of that Unix Documentation Collection...
this is great news for 3rd World Countries, too, if it works.
imagine if Toshiba or Honda or some other such industrial giant were to take these and make a portable steel-mill system the size of a porta-loo? feed it ore and whatever, get steel wire.
even having low-grade steel for embedding into locally produced cement could make a world of difference to tribes of thirsty people.
hell, i give it a year before someone takes this technique and puts a 'FAQ/How-To' style site together for the rec.hobby.steelwork DIY crowd...
actually, i had umlauted the 'o' in gotze, but it got stripped out by /.'s umlaut filter.
and as for the temperature of gotz-12, i wouldn't have a clue. i'm on my way to the chicks and the beach, remember?
{actually, no i'm not. its 6C outside, wet, not quite snow, really, really shit...}
not me ... its got me reaching for the keys to my sailboat and the digits to the lock on the door of my secret island lair, stacked with my "personal women collection", where i will weather the invasion while you lot all get shipped off for dessert to gotze-12, otherwise known as 'the refrigerator planet' ...
oh, no wait, whats that at my window! too late!!!
i'm not a liar, its true, i do use them!
...
and well, it is true that i am a lunatic however
First 32-bit mantissa is a timestamp, second is the pointer.
Its nice to have a pointer with time. This makes for some interesting algorithms...
i just want to say that i enjoyed this review, and i'm looking forward to tomorrow's followup.
/. quality, i figured that i'd actually do the opposite for a change and congratulate the editors for a 'stuff that matters' moment... i thought this article was fun to read, and not just because i too am an osx/linux weenie.
in light of the fact that its so easy to complain about
What happens when a newer, better encryption alghorythm becomes common?
Break out the compiler, write some code, get it working, use it.
Nothing about 'get it working' means 'dont stop improving it and using it'.
And if it doesn't do so yet, you have the option to make it do so yourself if you have enough knowledge.
Right, or in other words 'get it working and use it'.
well then, you sir just gave me an excuse to use my other hand.
pleased to meet you.
No. What on Earth made you think I cared?
... on slashdot ... one of the biggest wastes of time known to a very select percentage of mankind.
I just like to good arguments, not that you find that many of them around here
It is classic Linux-advocate style to redefine the user's problem to fit Linux's needs rather than the other way around.
I fail to see how I'm changing anyones problems to suit "linux's needs", but in fact two things can happen with a problem:
a) the person can change their perspective on a problem and solve it, or
b) the problem will go unsolved
as a 'classic linux-advocate' (woohoo, at least you didn't say 'typical'!) i would like to point out that any 'classic linux user' worth their salt understands that there are countless ways to address problems in life, what matters is whichever method you use to solve it. Linux has an infinite plethora of ways to solve peoples' problems, but peoples' problems -belong- to them, not the other way around.
Some people like to get a new digital camera once a year. Some people like to install a new game once a month. Some people like to buy the latest and greatest MP3 players, video cards, wi-fi devices, photo printers, hand-held devices and all of it comes with software.
This fact is, of course, an undefeatable argument. Marketplace is what marketplace is.
But if 'peoples problems can be re-defined to solve needs', then so too can markets.
... then again, sometimes you just can't find a RPM ...
.exe's, and don't have the -option- of seeing the 'latest and greatest' with closed-soure software, as a work in progress, until marketing/packaging gets its way...
...
.exe land, why don't you also apply a similar principle in .c land? Its a good principle.
Use the source. Open Source is about using the source.
If you can't use the source, well, learn to wait.
Here's a clue: the condition of waiting behind a few point releases is exactly -the same- for closed source software.
This happens: Typical Windows User is, typically, 3 or 4 code revisions away from the current source set, and this is not an insignificant fact.
You don't see the latest and greatest windows software, you just install the released
With open source you do have access, to the very lab environment even, but this does not mean you should manically go on a re-build fest every time someone commits to a CVS tree somewhere
Since you are waiting for releases in
Keep maintaining and upgrading and tweaking your systems all you like. But every minute of the day that you do things like this, is time your computer isn't actually working for you.
If your system needs to do stuff its not currently doing, then by all means, go through the hassle of getting it there, somehow, using whatever software you can use. But remember, there are tons of ways to solve problems in linux, and in fact any computer system, millions and millions and millions...
The statement 'games are a trap' is a false negative image.
... a fact which has been exploited quite well in many marketplaces.
Games can also be extremely valuable engineering resources. Fun is also worth the effort to experience, as well.
But nevertheless, the nature of a trap is that it is often not what you think it actually is
They aren't games. They're heroin. With each hit having to be stronger than the last as tolerance is built up.
...
Bingo.
Online gaming communities, well that can lead to good things, I know that. But it can also get pretty crackhouse at times too
I also play go, incidentally. Not very good, but getting better every time I play.
The difference is, games give you nothing in the end, whereas the 'PC-tweak' treadmill should, presumably, leave you with a 'better running' computer ... or so the implications seem to warrant.
I don't disagree with your conclusion, just that concluding that games are a massive treadmill does not mean that 'tweak treadmill' is any less of a trap.
You make the case that the 'treadmill is great for games'.
And then you conclude:
So whilst i agree with you that there is a treadmill, it's not really as much of a trap as you make it out to be.
Sorry, but games are a trap too. You're lured into them for the purposes of 'entertainment and fun', and end up wasting countless, countless hours playing them. And when you are finished, you have nothing to show for it except memories. Of a completely artificial reality.
I'm not implying a value judgement here - it is for every human being alive to determine their own tolerance for the world around them. I'm just saying that both a) video game playing and b) windows upgrades are an industrial treadmill which produce very little except profit for their executors...
... where the mouth is.
...
trouble is, how do you buy this game if you don't have or use a credit card?
its actually quite interesting to observe just how much in life you can't do because of the ubiquity of credit cards.
it always seems strange to me that linux game developers come and go, but yet nobody has worked out a way for geeks to pay for their video games without having to use a credit card. thats a huuuuge market of people who are missing out.
when will we see 1-900 #'s for software payment, is what i wanna know
Linux is ready for the business desktop.
...
linux is ready for a lot of other desktops too, such as the audio desktop, the gadget desktop, the flight-control-software desktop, the surveillance desktop, the list-goes-on desktop
Linux is ready for *some* desktops only, namely ones where users won't be constantly tweaking and installing new software and hardware.
in other words, linux is ready for the healthier installations, and not ready for sick computer use.
constant tweaking and installation of new hardware and software is not using a computer productively. using a computer productively means that the computer is operational, in the sense that it doesn't actually -need- anything further to be done to it in order to function as intended. it just works.
this 'just works' state is fairly easy to get to with linux, and other open operating systems, and stay there. but i can count on one hand the # of windows users i have personally known who can point at their aging computers and say 'that system just works, so i leave it alone and just use it'.
15 years of Windows use may have given you a neurosis, a false standard, with which you are comparing other platforms where such inflictions aren't really a priority. of -course- you can tweak and install software in linux; indefinitely in fact.
but the point of computing, and of computer use in general is to -USE- the computer to do something, not be continuously servicing it. this is a fact that seems so simple, yet for most window-dwellers, it often appears to be inseparable from 'actual use' as a concept.
i blame microsoft of course. tweaking and upgrading and re-installing and installing and 'software choice' is just a way of getting you locked into a constant crackhouse fit.
The average user wants to do everything grandma wants to do, but they also want to be able to install or upgrade software and hardware *easily*.
why should they? ubiquitous, cheap computing (s/cheap/inexpensive) means that once you've set it up and got it working, you can leave it alone and just use it.
people are starting to see that the windows treadmill is a trap. once you get sucked into a windows way of life, upgrades and re-installs and tweaks and fixes all seem to be 'normal' ways to use the computer, but in fact this is really a detraction from the core issue of computer science, which is 'how can i use this computer to do the job in front of me?'.
microsoft, and others in the industry who have been around long enough to have weathered countless waves of API and hardware technological changes know that computers are a constantly-changing product. its like a lump of magic matter which never maintains its state long enough for it to become a fixture.
but this is not the linux philosophy. the linux philosophy is: get it working, and once its working, use it.
Currency control is DRM--well done, torpor. Points for a very inventive troll.
this is not a troll. i'm serious. gov'ts have had 'rights management' for years. this is currency. rights management is a core aspect of economy, as is currency of course.
just because i'm associating 'drm' with 'money' does -not- mean that i'm trolling
you, however, are exhibiting reactionary 'analaytical' lapses typical of fascists, which is my 2cent word of the week...
Wow. A country that derives much of its stability and power from its currency wants to defend it. The bank that issues that currency doesn't want people making fakes. What's the problem here?
who said there was a problem?