This is good, folks. Watermarks cannot be enforced by DVD-ROM drives, only standalone DVD players. You'll still be able to copy DVDs as raw bits without anyone being the wiser. With DIVX, on the other hand, the data is encrypted and is useless without the appropriate key, which can only be obtained from the DIVX server. (Short of breaking the encryption algorithm which, while not impossible, is much more difficult than a raw binary disk-to-disk copy.)
Agreed - although X is relatively well designed, the line between client and server is drawn at some very bad places. It's also not easy to make X support multiple monitors as well as MacOS, short of figuring a way to make the root window use the shaped window extension. The question of spanning heterogeneous displays is also very awkward - what happens when a window crosses from a 32bpp display onto a 16bpp display (or even a 1bpp)? Most window managers don't grok the concept either, so the default behaviour for error dialogs would be every bit as bad as NT. Yes, a replacement for X would be nice, but I have no time to work on such things for the next several years at least, unless someone wants to make that my full-time job.;^)
The solution is not to ignore laws and patents - the solution is to change the laws and patents. If you're a US citizen, you have rights - use them and stop whining. Call your Senators and your Congressperson. Tell them the PTO must be forced to change their review process and their evaluation system for patent examiners. Tell them we need patent examiners who are competent in the field of endeavour for which they are reviewing patents - which means paying competitive salaries. Tell them we need a law which clearly forbids patenting software and algorithms, or perhaps a new category of IP altogether: short-term software patents with a life of a few years at most. Oh wait - we're dotheads. I forgot we're too busy getting the first post and surfing the Web to make sure that creeping corporatism doesn't destroy our way of life...
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This is good, folks. Watermarks cannot be enforced by DVD-ROM drives, only standalone DVD players. You'll still be able to copy DVDs as raw bits without anyone being the wiser. With DIVX, on the other hand, the data is encrypted and is useless without the appropriate key, which can only be obtained from the DIVX server. (Short of breaking the encryption algorithm which, while not impossible, is much more difficult than a raw binary disk-to-disk copy.)
dd if=/dev/dvdrom of=~/enemy_of_the_state.dvd
Agreed - although X is relatively well designed, the line between client and server is drawn at some very bad places. It's also not easy to make X support multiple monitors as well as MacOS, short of figuring a way to make the root window use the shaped window extension. The question of spanning heterogeneous displays is also very awkward - what happens when a window crosses from a 32bpp display onto a 16bpp display (or even a 1bpp)? Most window managers don't grok the concept either, so the default behaviour for error dialogs would be every bit as bad as NT. Yes, a replacement for X would be nice, but I have no time to work on such things for the next several years at least, unless someone wants to make that my full-time job. ;^)
The solution is not to ignore laws and patents - the solution is to change the laws and patents. If you're a US citizen, you have rights - use them and stop whining. Call your Senators and your Congressperson. Tell them the PTO must be forced to change their review process and their evaluation system for patent examiners. Tell them we need patent examiners who are competent in the field of endeavour for which they are reviewing patents - which means paying competitive salaries. Tell them we need a law which clearly forbids patenting software and algorithms, or perhaps a new category of IP altogether: short-term software patents with a life of a few years at most. Oh wait - we're dotheads. I forgot we're too busy getting the first post and surfing the Web to make sure that creeping corporatism doesn't destroy our way of life...