"I was reading through your News page and was interested in your 'Response to SF Gate, Perens Article' but found it impossible to read since it's only available in.DOC format. This, I believe is one of the points of Mr. Perens' stance; that information should be made available independently of the application that generated it. It's interesting to me that the rest of the links on that page lead to information in HTML format. Yet you choose to publish your response in a closed format. In my opinion, you have just helped to prove the case against your position."
the IT departments are supposed to support every oddball application, just because a user is too lazy and/or stubborn and/or religious to learn a different one?
No. That's not what he's saying at all. Every oddball application will be supported already, as long as it conforms to openly published standards. What's so difficult to understand about that?
I dislike when my users come to me and say, "I can't open this attachment I just received." and it turns out to be a Visio drawing or something. Why the hell couldn't the sender just turn it into a.pdf instead of assuming that we have Visio installed here? (Obviously, we don't).
Voluntarily conforming to open standards does away with this problem quite nicely. That's the point...
Please see the 'Corporate Agenda - Volume 14, Section VII, Sub-section Eight, Paragraph 2'...
..."An alleged human should never be considered as a 'Circumvention Device' under the DMCA as long as said alleged human is a member of the 'Consumer' class. However, should an individual stop being a member of the 'Consumer' class, they can then be considered to be a 'Circumvention Device' under the DMCA as well as a 'Dirty Communist Hippie' under the McCarthy Act. Said individual should, at that time, be prosecuted to the full extent of our^H^H^Hthe law(s)."
Speaking as a musician about to embark on a new recording project, I plan to offer it for sale at CD Baby. This guy has set up a distribution model that benefits musicians - not big record labels. Sure, it might be small today, but this type of thing could very well be the future of the music industry.
For those of you who are sick of paying into the RIAA monopoly, I strongly suggest that you explore the alternatives - they're out there if you're willing to dig a little bit.
I've spent almost $100 on calling cards to Japan in the last month
Since you're using pre-paid phone cards, you might look into using a pre-paid dial-around service like bigzoo for your international calls. I call Japan for $0.064/minute with a $0.75 per month fee. Domestic long distance is $0.029/minute (home state included). I find this is cheaper, per minute, than my cell-phone bill. Based on actual usage anyway.
I'm pretty sure that to offer these kinds of prices to the consumer, bigzoo must be running VoIP somewhere along the line.
"This is the first fab whose IT infrastructure is all Linux-based, controlled by some 1,700 1-GHz microprocessors able to access some 600 terabytes of data."
Heh - yeah, you're right. I was just joking about the size of the glass in your average pub or tavern being the same size in both countries. I mean, who drinks that other stuff you mentioned anyway?;-]
Hubbard never intended Battlefield Earth to be a 'comedy'. It just turned into one in the hands of Hollywood and Travolta. The best Hubbard sci-fi/comedy story came in the form of the 10-volume Mission Earth - A bitingly sarcastic riot of a read IMO.
And maybe we should all pay a visit to Fritz Hollings' website [senate.gov] while we're at it so he too can feel the love.
Almost wish I hadn't followed that link. I almost puked when I read this. 'Defending the Consumer' and 'Protecting the Children', indeed. How low can these guys sink? Every time I think they've hit bottom, they find new depths to plumb.
Heh? I make a joke about Starbucks in a discussion about coffee and I get modded off-topic? Unfunny I could accept, but off-topic? Maybe the moderators need some coffee to help them wake up? Or maybe they just forgot which choice they were selecting from the list?
What you are describing is no different than how the 'War on Drugs' is being waged. Makes me sick to my stomach when I see 'Cops' on TV. "See, we're winning the war on drugs, violence, and.. and.. crime in general, see?"
Due process is well on it's way to being a thing of the past - especially for those who can't afford the legal fees to have their day in court.
Now you're doomed to spend the next three days slogging through thousands of pieces of friendly advice. Methiks you'd have been better off just doing the research yourself.
And here I am reading along when I should be sleeping. hehehe...
My fear is that of a tech support nightmare when somebodies grandmother calls up and can't get things working on her new Wal-Mart computer.
You make a decent point but I wouldn't worry too much. In my experience, most beginners are actually pretty easy to train. Your 80-year old granny is unlikely to do much more than learn how to surf the web, send/receive e-mails and maybe play solitaire. I propose that Mandrake is just as intuitive as Windows in this regard.
Also, I would hope that as part of their game-plan, MandrakeSoft and MicroTel will be ramping up their tech support to handle what you describe. They will need to be the answer people in case the person who received the computer doesn't have a friend or family member capable of helping them.
It's the users that have just enough knowledge to be dangerous that I would worry about. You know the ones; they have some limited experience with computers running MSWorks and maybe installed a printer driver once. (They are the source of at least 90% of my stress quotient;). But those are also the people that will most likely stick with the devil they know - Windows, (or so we can hope!;-)
Another point; Even if a certain,(I believe small), percentage of computer users become discouraged by their inability to learn Linux, think of all the new users that will have their eyes opened to a new way of doing things. One of them may very well be the next Linus or Alan Cox.
Ok, strike that. Linus probably doesn't shop at Wal-Mart...
I think you're missing the point. I'll repeat what's already been mentioned -- "They are not selling these at Wal-Mart stores - only on their web-site." This means that people won't buy a computer, put it in their real-life shopping cart and then go browse the software aisle for stuff to run on it.
People who buy these systems will already be familiar enough with computers and software that, (hopefully), they'll have some inkling of what it is that they are getting themselves into. I, for one, am planning on looking into this for my kid's next computer.
Slashdot Mirror
I just sent them the following...
.DOC format. This, I believe is one of the points of Mr. Perens' stance; that information should be made available independently of the application that generated it. It's interesting to me that the rest of the links on that page lead to information in HTML format. Yet you choose to publish your response in a closed format. In my opinion, you have just helped to prove the case against your position."
"I was reading through your News page and was interested in your 'Response to SF Gate, Perens Article' but found it impossible to read since it's only available in
the IT departments are supposed to support every oddball application, just because a user is too lazy and/or stubborn and/or religious to learn a different one?
.pdf instead of assuming that we have Visio installed here? (Obviously, we don't).
No. That's not what he's saying at all. Every oddball application will be supported already, as long as it conforms to openly published standards. What's so difficult to understand about that?
I dislike when my users come to me and say, "I can't open this attachment I just received." and it turns out to be a Visio drawing or something. Why the hell couldn't the sender just turn it into a
Voluntarily conforming to open standards does away with this problem quite nicely. That's the point...
Please see the 'Corporate Agenda - Volume 14, Section VII, Sub-section Eight, Paragraph 2'...
..."An alleged human should never be considered as a 'Circumvention Device' under the DMCA as long as said alleged human is a member of the 'Consumer' class. However, should an individual stop being a member of the 'Consumer' class, they can then be considered to be a 'Circumvention Device' under the DMCA as well as a 'Dirty Communist Hippie' under the McCarthy Act. Said individual should, at that time, be prosecuted to the full extent of our^H^H^Hthe law(s)."
Speaking as a musician about to embark on a new recording project, I plan to offer it for sale at CD Baby. This guy has set up a distribution model that benefits musicians - not big record labels. Sure, it might be small today, but this type of thing could very well be the future of the music industry.
For those of you who are sick of paying into the RIAA monopoly, I strongly suggest that you explore the alternatives - they're out there if you're willing to dig a little bit.
So why not write one? If you'd pay $100 for it, others certainly will.
There are a lot of dorks out there, and we need something to entertain us.
:-)
Ahem... I believe the accepted term is geeks - not dorks...
Well, it's not Donahue, but you can kick Dave Letterman's ass by downloading boxdave.exe. Simple but very funny game.
:-)
(Apologies in advance to whoever hosts this file. I found it with Google
I've spent almost $100 on calling cards to Japan in the last month
Since you're using pre-paid phone cards, you might look into using a pre-paid dial-around service like bigzoo for your international calls. I call Japan for $0.064/minute with a $0.75 per month fee. Domestic long distance is $0.029/minute (home state included). I find this is cheaper, per minute, than my cell-phone bill. Based on actual usage anyway.
I'm pretty sure that to offer these kinds of prices to the consumer, bigzoo must be running VoIP somewhere along the line.
As with most things - YMMV...
Whats the engineering world coming to?
:-)
Funny you should ask.
Ahhhh... slashdot - some days you make me smile
I believe you're thinking of their specific move away from hard drives - not hardware in general.
"This is the first fab whose IT infrastructure is all Linux-based, controlled by some 1,700 1-GHz microprocessors able to access some 600 terabytes of data."
;-)
I need one of these setups in my garage
Heh - yeah, you're right. I was just joking about the size of the glass in your average pub or tavern being the same size in both countries. I mean, who drinks that other stuff you mentioned anyway? ;-]
He said we have nothing to compare sizes in our drinks, to what you have over in the States..
;-]
Actually, a pint of Guiness is the same size here in the US as it is in the UK. And yes, I do have first-hand experience.
Heh - this made me chuckle. Wish I had mod points for ya.
Hubbard never intended Battlefield Earth to be a 'comedy'. It just turned into one in the hands of Hollywood and Travolta. The best Hubbard sci-fi/comedy story came in the form of the 10-volume Mission Earth - A bitingly sarcastic riot of a read IMO.
And maybe we should all pay a visit to Fritz Hollings' website [senate.gov] while we're at it so he too can feel the love.
Almost wish I hadn't followed that link. I almost puked when I read this. 'Defending the Consumer' and 'Protecting the Children', indeed. How low can these guys sink? Every time I think they've hit bottom, they find new depths to plumb.
bleh...
I think the key here is moderation...
:)
Yep - this is slashdot after all.
(Sorry, couldn't resist
Heh? I make a joke about Starbucks in a discussion about coffee and I get modded off-topic? Unfunny I could accept, but off-topic? Maybe the moderators need some coffee to help them wake up? Or maybe they just forgot which choice they were selecting from the list?
Ah well...
1. Buy Starbucks shares
2. ?
3. PROFIT!!
Yeah - but looking at the pictures, he appears pretty young. He's (probably) got a lot of years left for re-works! ;-]
I'd love to get within 400M of either of them, from that range it be a safe, but effective kill.
.sig for you?
--
--Why is it that Target doesn't sell guns?
Heh - Maybe your last sentence answers your
What you are describing is no different than how the 'War on Drugs' is being waged. Makes me sick to my stomach when I see 'Cops' on TV. "See, we're winning the war on drugs, violence, and.. and.. crime in general, see?"
Due process is well on it's way to being a thing of the past - especially for those who can't afford the legal fees to have their day in court.
Asking a question like this on ./??
Now you're doomed to spend the next three days slogging through thousands of pieces of friendly advice. Methiks you'd have been better off just doing the research yourself.
And here I am reading along when I should be sleeping. hehehe...
My fear is that of a tech support nightmare when somebodies grandmother calls up and can't get things working on her new Wal-Mart computer.
;). But those are also the people that will most likely stick with the devil they know - Windows, (or so we can hope! ;-)
You make a decent point but I wouldn't worry too much. In my experience, most beginners are actually pretty easy to train. Your 80-year old granny is unlikely to do much more than learn how to surf the web, send/receive e-mails and maybe play solitaire. I propose that Mandrake is just as intuitive as Windows in this regard.
Also, I would hope that as part of their game-plan, MandrakeSoft and MicroTel will be ramping up their tech support to handle what you describe. They will need to be the answer people in case the person who received the computer doesn't have a friend or family member capable of helping them.
It's the users that have just enough knowledge to be dangerous that I would worry about. You know the ones; they have some limited experience with computers running MSWorks and maybe installed a printer driver once. (They are the source of at least 90% of my stress quotient
Another point; Even if a certain,(I believe small), percentage of computer users become discouraged by their inability to learn Linux, think of all the new users that will have their eyes opened to a new way of doing things. One of them may very well be the next Linus or Alan Cox.
Ok, strike that. Linus probably doesn't shop at Wal-Mart...
;-]
I think you're missing the point. I'll repeat what's already been mentioned -- "They are not selling these at Wal-Mart stores - only on their web-site." This means that people won't buy a computer, put it in their real-life shopping cart and then go browse the software aisle for stuff to run on it.
People who buy these systems will already be familiar enough with computers and software that, (hopefully), they'll have some inkling of what it is that they are getting themselves into. I, for one, am planning on looking into this for my kid's next computer.
btw - choice is ultimately a good thing.