In June 2003 some folks on the Linux Kernel Mailing List sniffed around the WRT54G and found that its firmware was based on Linux components. Because Linux is released under the GNU General Public License, or GPL, the terms of the license obliged Linksys to make available the source code to the WRT54G firmware. As most router firmware is proprietary code, vendors have no such obligation. It remains unclear whether Linksys was aware of the WRT54G's Linux lineage, and its associated source requirements, at the time they released the router. But ultimately, under outside pressure to deliver on their legal obligation under the GPL, Linksys open sourced the WRT54G firmware in July 2003.
Users can protest all they want, big business and the Establishment will NOT budge.
That's bullshit. Sure, Bush is a tyrant and doesn't care about what his people think but you can't say that generally no change will happen in government or big business as a result of protests. LOTS of changes have happened as a result of public pressure over the decades! Ask your friends or family about things and you'll have plenty of examples to start with. Here - one set of examples is the impact Peta (people for the ethical treatment of animals) has had. Companies like Loreal and General Motors no longer test on animals as a result of huge pressure campaigns launched against them. Or like McDonalds now serving healthier foods due to public pressure to do so. It might even be possible to budge Bush but it's going to take a lot more pressure than has been applied so far. That's a whole other discussion, however. Cheers.
Instead of going for the outright conspiracy theory, consider that authorities were just waiting for the right opportunity to spring their plan into action. If there's a high profile shooting, roll out the surveillance... I'm sure some of this went on with 9/11 - if there's a terrorist attack, roll out freedom limiting changes to the law, attack Iraq, etc...
It wasn't that long ago when blatantly biased statements like that were the norm in computer trade journals. It's always pissed me off, but this one really stuck out because most people seem to have realized that open source software is a formidable player in the software market and don't talk like that anymore. I'm not sure why the author of this article chose the wording he did... weird.
I'd bet it's true that most users with development skills "run away" from trying to fix bugs in OpenOffice by themselves. It's a huge, huge amount of source code with lots of dependencies. Just ramping up on how it all works - without making any changes - would be an undertaking. I'm not sure how projects of this size are handled right now, but being able to download and work on a small piece of the puzzle would be very beneficial. For example, if I'm using Linux on a daily basis and find a bug in bash or rsync, I can just download those pieces and work on them - not the entire operating system. Similarly, with OpenOffice if I found that a table did not import properly from an MS Word document, I would hope to download just the import filter and edit/build/test it on its own without reliance on the rest of the OpenOffice codebase.
One thing sorely lacking on all online photo ordering sites is how they have you upload files if you aren't using Internet Explorer. You have to browse and select each picture one at a time which is extremely tedious. When using MSIE, you get a nice multi-select plugin usually which lets you pick all your pictures and upload them in one shot. I've yet to see something like this on a non-Microsoft browser. Tried a Java plugin one time but it didn't work. Maybe someone knows of a Firefox plugin that lets you multi-select files to fill in multiple file upload fields simultaneously?
About a year or two ago, I suggested that an easy way to beat Microsoft is to deny them any mindshare. Don't talk about them, don't consider their products, never recommend them. Microsoft and its arguments then just disappear. However, as long as you have to work with people who *do* have to consider Microsoft, this is probably not realistic.
I heard a rumour that Google is working on a "dev team in a box". It is a 20x40 foot container complete with air holes and laptop computers inside. You upload your requirements then set a couple of knobs controlling how much up front design to do, what programming language to use, and how often to shower. The box itself is stackable with the "data centre in a box" also rumoured to be in the works at Google.
I think it's pretty comical how scientists are so serious about everything being explained with evidence, etc.. and on the other hand call matter "stuff" and certain actions "spooky". Maybe it's The Far Side scientists at work.
What if someone jumps to their death to reenact the boy jumping to his death? Who gets sued then? Same thing, isn't it? I'm sorry the boy ended his life but blaming a game company is stupid. Each of us needs to take responsibility for our own actions. That so many people don't is one of the single biggest failings in the world today.
Imagine if the Microsoft Media Player division spun off into their own company and were free to create a player for Linux, Mac,... open their formats a little (or a lot). That could actually be cool.
No kidding. It's pretty bad when the first I hear of stuff like this is on Slashdot.
Why is it so hard to have public input on these issues? American Idol/Canadian Idol can have these massive phone-ins where people vote on a singer of their choice. Why not have some sort of phone-based voting system that lets Canadians have a say on important issues like this? Oh wait, because these sorts of laws would never get passed that way.
Re:They needed space to test a vacuum?
on
Space Lichens
·
· Score: 1
The article mentioned that the temperature went as low as -20 Celcius on the dark side of the Earth. I always thought the vacuum of space was much colder than that. I mean, there are places here on Earth that have colder temperatures! Can anyone explain this?
I don't have Firefox in my ports tree, unfortunately. Haven't figured out how to get it there yet (via a port upgrade?). Could you refer me somewhere? I'm running FreeBSD 5.4. Thanks in advance.
I hope someday people can look back and say "boy, that was stupid! We used to put people in power to interpret what they thought was right and wrong on any given day and many, many more people to advise citizens on what they thought those with the judging power would agree to on any given day". Isn't that what it really comes down to?
Using such an ambiguous language as human language (English, or whatever) seems like a silly idea. Computer language - something with very clear syntax rules - is the way to go. I can't tell you how many times at work someone will hide behind a stupid "that's not what I meant" argument when clearly they said something else. Human language sucks for accuracy and accountability.
Here's a chance to get Microsoft proprietary formats the hell out and someone wants to get in the way of this, even though clearly any shortcomings of OO can and will be fixed in the short term? How representative is this of those with without sight or with visual impairments? I find it hard to believe a majority would be so short sighted (no pun intended).
Well said. I knew a woman who was a brown belt in tai kwan do and one day she actually had to defend herself from another woman. She hardly knew what the hell to do because she had never been in that situation before. Her training had consisted of sparring and practicing moves but no real situation. There is certainly a mental aspect to being in a dangerous situation which a martial art may not train you for.
I was all set to download Ubuntu but when I read that it only provided Gnome with the live CD, that turned me off. I've never liked Gnome. I'll stick with FreeBSD for now, even though I much prefer what I would call GNU/Linux command-line usability.
Microsoft is in a game of catch-up here, and not only is it currently losing the race, it isn't yet even in the damn stadium yet.
Because Microsoft is not a real innovator, it is destined to always be chasing its competitors. In the past it has had some victories but those hey days are gone now that it has been convicted of abusing its monopoly powers and has its hands somewhat tied. The other aspect of this situation of Microsoft vs. Google is that Google has been redefining the playing field over and over again in rapid time. This race is a relay race where the Google team is on the 8th relay and Microsoft is still trying to get to relay #1 - web search, purple in the face and panting.
Besides, even if Microsoft did manage to kill Google (which I think is highly unlikely), the wheels have been set in motion. The open source community and other competitors are also carrying their own torches. Maybe that's why Microsoft has been trying to get in bed with large web companies lately - so it can stay in the game.
Anyway, I think it's pretty funny for Gates to site his ambitions as something he is bringing to the competitive table. They've had years to bring their web technologies into mainstream use and have failed to do so. I think their "we want it all", "open source hackers need haircuts" attitude is costing them big time. Adapt or die.
You can definitely feel the effects of having used an IDE with code completion for years once you have to go back to a plain editor and remember everything yourself. What a shock. It's like being on crutches for years, having them taken away from you, and being told to walk. BTW, VisualStudio was pretty late on the code completion thing. Borland has had it for years and years (not that I'm recommending either company). What I found code completion awesome for is actually learning a language. I learned core Java really quickly because I could easily explore all the classes and methods from within my IDE and not have to turn to documentation. Learning Perl after that without a fancy IDE was quite a change.
Proponents of evolution sometimes forget that it is a theory and that other explanations are possible. They also dismiss the fact that evolution may only be a part of the big picture. Why could a great designer not design evolution itself?
I don't claim that it is impossible that evolution is the actual explanation for how life came to be. However, scientists do not have all the answers yet. A widely debated example is how the eyeball evolved. Some try to explain that given a million years this is possible. Then you have the eye socket and brain plumbing that go along with sight.
One argument against evolution that I have is you don't see all these half developed fossils being dug up. For example, you'd expect to see animals with 1 arm, 2 arms, 3 arms, 10 arms, no arms, half an arm, round arms, and so on for every part of the body while evolution is fine tuning this stuff. As far as I know, this isn't the case.
I haven't seen this mentioned before but here is my theory for interest's sake: the living creatures of this earth may have been "put here" by some higher being or via the design of some higher being. Creatures are given the ability to adapt to their environment which makes perfect sense. If the creatures are expected to live on their own and make Earth their home for thousands or millions of years and the planet changes as it gets older, the ability to adapt makes good sense. In what ways can they adapt? Lots of ways, as programmed in our DNA. Parts of us which are no longer useful become dormant but in the future - let's say we all blow ourselves up and are back to the stone age - those things could come back. For example, hair all over our body. The possibilities are all preprogrammed and not just accidental.
One thing I can say with certainty is to keep an open mind. Evolutionary fanatics clinging to this one theory need to realize how history repeats itself. Our beliefs can and have been turned on their head surprisingly in the past. The world is round.
Slashdot Mirror
Users can protest all they want, big business and the Establishment will NOT budge.
That's bullshit. Sure, Bush is a tyrant and doesn't care about what his people think but you can't say that generally no change will happen in government or big business as a result of protests. LOTS of changes have happened as a result of public pressure over the decades! Ask your friends or family about things and you'll have plenty of examples to start with.
Here - one set of examples is the impact Peta (people for the ethical treatment of animals) has had. Companies like Loreal and General Motors no longer test on animals as a result of huge pressure campaigns launched against them. Or like McDonalds now serving healthier foods due to public pressure to do so.
It might even be possible to budge Bush but it's going to take a lot more pressure than has been applied so far. That's a whole other discussion, however. Cheers.
What's your position on extreme programming? Sounds like you'd be against it.
Instead of going for the outright conspiracy theory, consider that authorities were just waiting for the right opportunity to spring their plan into action. If there's a high profile shooting, roll out the surveillance...
I'm sure some of this went on with 9/11 - if there's a terrorist attack, roll out freedom limiting changes to the law, attack Iraq, etc...
It wasn't that long ago when blatantly biased statements like that were the norm in computer trade journals. It's always pissed me off, but this one really stuck out because most people seem to have realized that open source software is a formidable player in the software market and don't talk like that anymore. I'm not sure why the author of this article chose the wording he did... weird.
I'd bet it's true that most users with development skills "run away" from trying to fix bugs in OpenOffice by themselves. It's a huge, huge amount of source code with lots of dependencies. Just ramping up on how it all works - without making any changes - would be an undertaking.
I'm not sure how projects of this size are handled right now, but being able to download and work on a small piece of the puzzle would be very beneficial. For example, if I'm using Linux on a daily basis and find a bug in bash or rsync, I can just download those pieces and work on them - not the entire operating system. Similarly, with OpenOffice if I found that a table did not import properly from an MS Word document, I would hope to download just the import filter and edit/build/test it on its own without reliance on the rest of the OpenOffice codebase.
One thing sorely lacking on all online photo ordering sites is how they have you upload files if you aren't using Internet Explorer. You have to browse and select each picture one at a time which is extremely tedious. When using MSIE, you get a nice multi-select plugin usually which lets you pick all your pictures and upload them in one shot. I've yet to see something like this on a non-Microsoft browser. Tried a Java plugin one time but it didn't work. Maybe someone knows of a Firefox plugin that lets you multi-select files to fill in multiple file upload fields simultaneously?
About a year or two ago, I suggested that an easy way to beat Microsoft is to deny them any mindshare. Don't talk about them, don't consider their products, never recommend them. Microsoft and its arguments then just disappear.
However, as long as you have to work with people who *do* have to consider Microsoft, this is probably not realistic.
I heard a rumour that Google is working on a "dev team in a box". It is a 20x40 foot container complete with air holes and laptop computers inside. You upload your requirements then set a couple of knobs controlling how much up front design to do, what programming language to use, and how often to shower.
The box itself is stackable with the "data centre in a box" also rumoured to be in the works at Google.
I hope Google opens a Canadian office at some point. Not everyone here wants to move to the US to work for them.
I think it's pretty comical how scientists are so serious about everything being explained with evidence, etc.. and on the other hand call matter "stuff" and certain actions "spooky". Maybe it's The Far Side scientists at work.
What if someone jumps to their death to reenact the boy jumping to his death? Who gets sued then? Same thing, isn't it?
I'm sorry the boy ended his life but blaming a game company is stupid. Each of us needs to take responsibility for our own actions. That so many people don't is one of the single biggest failings in the world today.
Imagine if the Microsoft Media Player division spun off into their own company and were free to create a player for Linux, Mac, ... open their formats a little (or a lot).
That could actually be cool.
Looks like Linux Journal is Slashdotted. Here's what I get in H1 font when visiting the page:
"Linux Journal Is Currently Unavailable Due to a Denial of Service (DoS) Attack"
No kidding. It's pretty bad when the first I hear of stuff like this is on Slashdot.
Why is it so hard to have public input on these issues? American Idol/Canadian Idol can have these massive phone-ins where people vote on a singer of their choice. Why not have some sort of phone-based voting system that lets Canadians have a say on important issues like this? Oh wait, because these sorts of laws would never get passed that way.
The article mentioned that the temperature went as low as -20 Celcius on the dark side of the Earth.
I always thought the vacuum of space was much colder than that. I mean, there are places here on Earth that have colder temperatures! Can anyone explain this?
I don't have Firefox in my ports tree, unfortunately. Haven't figured out how to get it there yet (via a port upgrade?). Could you refer me somewhere? I'm running FreeBSD 5.4. Thanks in advance.
Speaking of FreeBSD, anyone using FireFox on FreeBSD? It's a bit of a bugger to compile.
I hope someday people can look back and say "boy, that was stupid! We used to put people in power to interpret what they thought was right and wrong on any given day and many, many more people to advise citizens on what they thought those with the judging power would agree to on any given day". Isn't that what it really comes down to?
Using such an ambiguous language as human language (English, or whatever) seems like a silly idea. Computer language - something with very clear syntax rules - is the way to go.
I can't tell you how many times at work someone will hide behind a stupid "that's not what I meant" argument when clearly they said something else. Human language sucks for accuracy and accountability.
Here's a chance to get Microsoft proprietary formats the hell out and someone wants to get in the way of this, even though clearly any shortcomings of OO can and will be fixed in the short term? How representative is this of those with without sight or with visual impairments? I find it hard to believe a majority would be so short sighted (no pun intended).
Well said. I knew a woman who was a brown belt in tai kwan do and one day she actually had to defend herself from another woman. She hardly knew what the hell to do because she had never been in that situation before. Her training had consisted of sparring and practicing moves but no real situation. There is certainly a mental aspect to being in a dangerous situation which a martial art may not train you for.
I was all set to download Ubuntu but when I read that it only provided Gnome with the live CD, that turned me off. I've never liked Gnome. I'll stick with FreeBSD for now, even though I much prefer what I would call GNU/Linux command-line usability.
Because Microsoft is not a real innovator, it is destined to always be chasing its competitors. In the past it has had some victories but those hey days are gone now that it has been convicted of abusing its monopoly powers and has its hands somewhat tied.
The other aspect of this situation of Microsoft vs. Google is that Google has been redefining the playing field over and over again in rapid time. This race is a relay race where the Google team is on the 8th relay and Microsoft is still trying to get to relay #1 - web search, purple in the face and panting.
Besides, even if Microsoft did manage to kill Google (which I think is highly unlikely), the wheels have been set in motion. The open source community and other competitors are also carrying their own torches. Maybe that's why Microsoft has been trying to get in bed with large web companies lately - so it can stay in the game.
Anyway, I think it's pretty funny for Gates to site his ambitions as something he is bringing to the competitive table. They've had years to bring their web technologies into mainstream use and have failed to do so. I think their "we want it all", "open source hackers need haircuts" attitude is costing them big time. Adapt or die.
You can definitely feel the effects of having used an IDE with code completion for years once you have to go back to a plain editor and remember everything yourself. What a shock. It's like being on crutches for years, having them taken away from you, and being told to walk.
BTW, VisualStudio was pretty late on the code completion thing. Borland has had it for years and years (not that I'm recommending either company).
What I found code completion awesome for is actually learning a language. I learned core Java really quickly because I could easily explore all the classes and methods from within my IDE and not have to turn to documentation. Learning Perl after that without a fancy IDE was quite a change.
Proponents of evolution sometimes forget that it is a theory and that other explanations are possible. They also dismiss the fact that evolution may only be a part of the big picture. Why could a great designer not design evolution itself?
I don't claim that it is impossible that evolution is the actual explanation for how life came to be. However, scientists do not have all the answers yet. A widely debated example is how the eyeball evolved. Some try to explain that given a million years this is possible. Then you have the eye socket and brain plumbing that go along with sight.
One argument against evolution that I have is you don't see all these half developed fossils being dug up. For example, you'd expect to see animals with 1 arm, 2 arms, 3 arms, 10 arms, no arms, half an arm, round arms, and so on for every part of the body while evolution is fine tuning this stuff. As far as I know, this isn't the case.
I haven't seen this mentioned before but here is my theory for interest's sake: the living creatures of this earth may have been "put here" by some higher being or via the design of some higher being. Creatures are given the ability to adapt to their environment which makes perfect sense. If the creatures are expected to live on their own and make Earth their home for thousands or millions of years and the planet changes as it gets older, the ability to adapt makes good sense. In what ways can they adapt? Lots of ways, as programmed in our DNA. Parts of us which are no longer useful become dormant but in the future - let's say we all blow ourselves up and are back to the stone age - those things could come back. For example, hair all over our body. The possibilities are all preprogrammed and not just accidental.
One thing I can say with certainty is to keep an open mind. Evolutionary fanatics clinging to this one theory need to realize how history repeats itself. Our beliefs can and have been turned on their head surprisingly in the past. The world is round.