I don't think the Bush Administration has any intention of helping the homeless (they don't vote Republican or donate large sums of money). This is another program designed to make the public think that the government gives a damn so they can suck the money off and use it to pay down the deficit.
Sadly, not that the Democrats (or any political party) are any better.
I can see his point about hating/. - I read his reasons and they're all reasonable opinions. I pray god I never post anything that is even remotely interesting to/. as a whole.
Taking something without permission is theft. If I write a piece of code that is original, peculiar to my situation, and you decide to just up and take it without permission, implied or otherwise, then you are guilty of theft.
Code is not necessarily always speech. It is an expression of ideas, but it can be copyrighted, which gives me ownership. It may not be right, it may not be ethical, but it is legal under the law, and that's all we've got to work with for now.
to have it posted somewhere besides a site that already advocates Open Source solutions? I mean, how about local newspapers?
It's preaching to the converted, otherwise. I don't mean to sound like a troll, but c'mon guys./. and LT readers are pretty well in favor of it already. How about telling someone who doesn't already know?
No, I shit you not. However, the usual method of updating is to send out instructions to all the teachers on how to run their own updates. This is not a situation that anyone likes (from what I gather), but rather what they're forced into.
I seriously doubt it will improve (using any software) until the public ponies up the money to make necessary improvements (through taxes, robbery, whatever).
I think the situation they're in is best described as a clusterfuck.
I feel kid shouldn't be in front of a computer at school...
I agree to a certain extent - they shouldn't be put in front of a computer until they've learned the basic three R's. Save the computers for high school - they're not helping much at the lower levels, IMHO.
I just talked to a teacher last night - they run MS windows for the school district. Guess how many people they have to administer about 3,000 computers?
One.
Now, tell me they're wasting money on IT staff. MS works for them because it's easily explainable to teaching staff, who wind up handling the actual hands on (for obvious reasons). While Linux might be a better solution from a technology standpoint, the training and setup (in labor) costs would be exhorbitant, and way beyond the capabilities of one person to make it secure and idiot (student & teacher) proof.
Plus, where's the software? Wine? Does it support every feature of each installed package? The administration is going to want to know that they can get the full potential value (not the real, actual value) of their software. Will Wine run everything that's available for the PC? If not, what's the replacement package on Linux?
These are questions that aren't being answered very well by the Open Source community, because (opinion coming) they don't care! They're so focused on technology for it's own sake or on beating down Microsoft, they're overlooking that it's not realistic to just up and replace things without some sort of infrastructure to support it.
But in education, diversity costs more. Not necessarily for the hardware or the software, but for the training necessary to teach students to work in it. Since Apple charges a premium price for their systems (worth it, IMHO), they automatically are shut out by cheaper Windows and Linux software solutions. And since the rest of the non-technical world has standardized on Windows (more or less), Linux is not a viable option either.
That's reality. It's not necessarily right and good, but it is what is. You can fight to change it all you want, but the money's going to have to come from somewhere and I don't see a lot of extra tax dollars being burned on schools here in Texas. Hiring qualified teachers is a bitch down here, since the payscale is so low, compared to the work required.
Well, this way they have a deadline to sort things out. It's not like a given project can't go back in again, it's just what's currently deadweight being removed now.
I think many commercial search engines have learned that biasing themselves to sites who have paid them is a good way to errode consumer confidence
Where is your evidence to support this? Of five major search engines, only Google doesn't directly insert advertisements into your search results stream. Yahoo, MSN and others do and it doesn't seem to have affected their business.
True security means trashing any possibly affected code and starting over from zero. It also means you find the person responsible and terminate his existence in a way that will make grown men cry.
What's a zealous zealot like RMS doing not posting on slashdot... he would have karma coming out his arse since everybody would love to hear his opinions (albiet maybe not agree with them). The same would go for Linus Torvalds
Look at the/. crowd. I imagine they're too busy to deal with all the crap posted here. Some of it is valid crap, but the large majority are knee-jerk reflex responses based on little or no ACTUAL information.
Linus does not seem terribly interested in debate - he just wants to do what he does and that's that. RMS, IMHO, is not interested in debate at all - it's his way or the highway. He's made up his mind - don't confuse him with facts.
Thirdly, both these people have been elevated to the status of gods (despite Linus's objections). I'm sure it would be very annoying having to listen to fawning sycophants all day long.
Hey, do what you want. But just remember, the next time a political movement comes up, you set yourself up for it.
Personally, I would like to remove support for all programs written by and for Republicans, Israelis, Palestinians, the French (on general principles), Windows, Debian, China (but not Taiwan), and India/Pakistan. But the thing is, it's a political decision, not based on solid technical reasons.
The decision to pull support for SCO is not based on technical reasons; it is a purely emotional response to an argument that for the time being does not have real effect beyond the two parties.
So is Microsoft, yet they haven't removed support from GCC for that OS under cygwin...
Yes, it's a good thing to take sides, but let the courts make their determination because we are not in possession of ALL the facts in this matter. SCO may suck at PR, but somewhere in there - they may have a case and it may not be the case that you think they do and it may not be the case that they are saying it is.
AFTER the courts have made their determination, THEN apply whatever measures deemed appropriate.
If businesses are going to run their books on this software, they're going to want someone to call when it doesn't work right, not poke around the internet for 6 hours.
I would say that applies to just about any Open Source business package or business package wannabe out there - and there's the problem: businesses want to know that there is a depenable, reliable, on-call support staff whenever they have a problem. You can buy some packages preconfigured (Apache, PHP, etc.) but accounting is not a fire and forget type of application. RedHat is off on the right foot and they seem to be doing pretty well, so in about ten years or so, businesses will trust them in the same way they trust Microsoft now, for better or for worse.
To a certain extent, this applies to all software that runs on Linux - when the tech support is finally there, then we'll see more and more businesses adopting it, but until then they're gonna rely on what they know - which is Windows and it's applications.
As for the marketroids, etc. those are absolutely necessary to hammer whatever message you have into the customer's head. It takes a lot of hammering (something that Microsoft doesn't have to do anymore because they've done it for so long that it's become the safe choice - and don't say you don't know what I mean).
It may be wrong, but the business world moves way more slowly than the tech world in certain areas and way faster in others. That's something that the Open Source community needs to learn.
Where do most of the developers live? If in the US, then the US spelling should take precedence. If outside the US, then the British spelling should take precedence.
There. Problem solved. Can we get on to more important things like reminding ourselves never to start a land war in Asia?
Where do the bulk of the developers live? If they live in the US, then 'flavor' should be the preferred spelling. If the bulk live outside the US where British spelling reigns supreme, then the UK's 'flavour' should be used.
I thought my life was boring, then this pops up. Suddenly, I feel a whole lot better about things.
FYI, for those of us with a degree in drama, the preferred spelling is theatre (for reference to the stage) and theater (for reference to a cinema). It's one of those snobby things that gets drummed in the first day. I swear drama profs can actually hear the difference in pronunciation.
I think IBM knows which way the wind is blowing about Open Source, so I doubt they're going to turn on the community much (except to protect some ultra-valuable patent). Right now, it's a symbiotic relationship that is very much working in IBM's favor - they get a good, flexible OS for a minimum of investment and can sell the hardware to run that OS for a premium price because they're IBM.
I think if anything, the community would have to turn on IBM before they turned on the community. That's not to say there won't be the occasional snit or disagreement (on either side), but I just don't see a major falling out happening.
I absolutely hate being an optimist. It blinds me to reality.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think the Bush Administration has any intention of helping the homeless (they don't vote Republican or donate large sums of money). This is another program designed to make the public think that the government gives a damn so they can suck the money off and use it to pay down the deficit.
Sadly, not that the Democrats (or any political party) are any better.
Hey, can I enter a shark with a "la-zer beam" on it's head in the next chess match?
I can see his point about hating /. - I read his reasons and they're all reasonable opinions. I pray god I never post anything that is even remotely interesting to /. as a whole.
So far, no worries on that point.
Taking something without permission is theft. If I write a piece of code that is original, peculiar to my situation, and you decide to just up and take it without permission, implied or otherwise, then you are guilty of theft.
Code is not necessarily always speech. It is an expression of ideas, but it can be copyrighted, which gives me ownership. It may not be right, it may not be ethical, but it is legal under the law, and that's all we've got to work with for now.
So, the answer is, change the law.
to have it posted somewhere besides a site that already advocates Open Source solutions? I mean, how about local newspapers?
/. and LT readers are pretty well in favor of it already. How about telling someone who doesn't already know?
It's preaching to the converted, otherwise. I don't mean to sound like a troll, but c'mon guys.
this is not a man worthy of admiration or a public forum to spread his opinions
Good thing you're not in charge then. That's the beauty of this country - everyone is allowed to have an asshole and opinion.
And opinions about assholes.
Well, I suppose as long as you can afford it.
And if you've not had a colostomy, in which case you have two assholes, but maybe only one opinion.
Oh, well.
No, I shit you not. However, the usual method of updating is to send out instructions to all the teachers on how to run their own updates. This is not a situation that anyone likes (from what I gather), but rather what they're forced into.
I seriously doubt it will improve (using any software) until the public ponies up the money to make necessary improvements (through taxes, robbery, whatever).
I think the situation they're in is best described as a clusterfuck.
I feel kid shouldn't be in front of a computer at school ...
I agree to a certain extent - they shouldn't be put in front of a computer until they've learned the basic three R's. Save the computers for high school - they're not helping much at the lower levels, IMHO.
I just talked to a teacher last night - they run MS windows for the school district. Guess how many people they have to administer about 3,000 computers?
One.
Now, tell me they're wasting money on IT staff. MS works for them because it's easily explainable to teaching staff, who wind up handling the actual hands on (for obvious reasons). While Linux might be a better solution from a technology standpoint, the training and setup (in labor) costs would be exhorbitant, and way beyond the capabilities of one person to make it secure and idiot (student & teacher) proof.
Plus, where's the software? Wine? Does it support every feature of each installed package? The administration is going to want to know that they can get the full potential value (not the real, actual value) of their software. Will Wine run everything that's available for the PC? If not, what's the replacement package on Linux?
These are questions that aren't being answered very well by the Open Source community, because (opinion coming) they don't care! They're so focused on technology for it's own sake or on beating down Microsoft, they're overlooking that it's not realistic to just up and replace things without some sort of infrastructure to support it.
But in education, diversity costs more. Not necessarily for the hardware or the software, but for the training necessary to teach students to work in it. Since Apple charges a premium price for their systems (worth it, IMHO), they automatically are shut out by cheaper Windows and Linux software solutions. And since the rest of the non-technical world has standardized on Windows (more or less), Linux is not a viable option either.
That's reality. It's not necessarily right and good, but it is what is. You can fight to change it all you want, but the money's going to have to come from somewhere and I don't see a lot of extra tax dollars being burned on schools here in Texas. Hiring qualified teachers is a bitch down here, since the payscale is so low, compared to the work required.
Well, this way they have a deadline to sort things out. It's not like a given project can't go back in again, it's just what's currently deadweight being removed now.
Now, if someone could just convice SourceForge to do the same.
And you can't spell, asshole.
I think many commercial search engines have learned that biasing themselves to sites who have paid them is a good way to errode consumer confidence
Where is your evidence to support this? Of five major search engines, only Google doesn't directly insert advertisements into your search results stream. Yahoo, MSN and others do and it doesn't seem to have affected their business.
True security means trashing any possibly affected code and starting over from zero. It also means you find the person responsible and terminate his existence in a way that will make grown men cry.
I occasionally make an exception. Most of the time, I am disappointed by the content.
If it's not worth signing your name to it, why write it?
What's a zealous zealot like RMS doing not posting on slashdot... he would have karma coming out his arse since everybody would love to hear his opinions (albiet maybe not agree with them). The same would go for Linus Torvalds
/. crowd. I imagine they're too busy to deal with all the crap posted here. Some of it is valid crap, but the large majority are knee-jerk reflex responses based on little or no ACTUAL information.
Look at the
Linus does not seem terribly interested in debate - he just wants to do what he does and that's that. RMS, IMHO, is not interested in debate at all - it's his way or the highway. He's made up his mind - don't confuse him with facts.
Thirdly, both these people have been elevated to the status of gods (despite Linus's objections). I'm sure it would be very annoying having to listen to fawning sycophants all day long.
Hey, do what you want. But just remember, the next time a political movement comes up, you set yourself up for it.
Personally, I would like to remove support for all programs written by and for Republicans, Israelis, Palestinians, the French (on general principles), Windows, Debian, China (but not Taiwan), and India/Pakistan. But the thing is, it's a political decision, not based on solid technical reasons.
The decision to pull support for SCO is not based on technical reasons; it is a purely emotional response to an argument that for the time being does not have real effect beyond the two parties.
So is Microsoft, yet they haven't removed support from GCC for that OS under cygwin ...
Yes, it's a good thing to take sides, but let the courts make their determination because we are not in possession of ALL the facts in this matter. SCO may suck at PR, but somewhere in there - they may have a case and it may not be the case that you think they do and it may not be the case that they are saying it is.
AFTER the courts have made their determination, THEN apply whatever measures deemed appropriate.
If businesses are going to run their books on this software, they're going to want someone to call when it doesn't work right, not poke around the internet for 6 hours.
I would say that applies to just about any Open Source business package or business package wannabe out there - and there's the problem: businesses want to know that there is a depenable, reliable, on-call support staff whenever they have a problem. You can buy some packages preconfigured (Apache, PHP, etc.) but accounting is not a fire and forget type of application. RedHat is off on the right foot and they seem to be doing pretty well, so in about ten years or so, businesses will trust them in the same way they trust Microsoft now, for better or for worse.
To a certain extent, this applies to all software that runs on Linux - when the tech support is finally there, then we'll see more and more businesses adopting it, but until then they're gonna rely on what they know - which is Windows and it's applications.
As for the marketroids, etc. those are absolutely necessary to hammer whatever message you have into the customer's head. It takes a lot of hammering (something that Microsoft doesn't have to do anymore because they've done it for so long that it's become the safe choice - and don't say you don't know what I mean).
It may be wrong, but the business world moves way more slowly than the tech world in certain areas and way faster in others. That's something that the Open Source community needs to learn.
Patience.
Where do most of the developers live? If in the US, then the US spelling should take precedence. If outside the US, then the British spelling should take precedence.
There. Problem solved. Can we get on to more important things like reminding ourselves never to start a land war in Asia?
Where do the bulk of the developers live? If they live in the US, then 'flavor' should be the preferred spelling. If the bulk live outside the US where British spelling reigns supreme, then the UK's 'flavour' should be used.
I thought my life was boring, then this pops up. Suddenly, I feel a whole lot better about things.
FYI, for those of us with a degree in drama, the preferred spelling is theatre (for reference to the stage) and theater (for reference to a cinema). It's one of those snobby things that gets drummed in the first day. I swear drama profs can actually hear the difference in pronunciation.
I think IBM knows which way the wind is blowing about Open Source, so I doubt they're going to turn on the community much (except to protect some ultra-valuable patent). Right now, it's a symbiotic relationship that is very much working in IBM's favor - they get a good, flexible OS for a minimum of investment and can sell the hardware to run that OS for a premium price because they're IBM.
I think if anything, the community would have to turn on IBM before they turned on the community. That's not to say there won't be the occasional snit or disagreement (on either side), but I just don't see a major falling out happening.
I absolutely hate being an optimist. It blinds me to reality.
I think G-d only ranks third or fourth on that list!