It would actually be simpler to allow the sale and then arrest the (presumably) French purchaser of said offending items, with far more beneficial (to France) results.
That's one less neo-Nazi they have to worry about and they can destroy the items in question, thereby preventing further spread, if it's a relatively rare item.
A side benefit is that neo-Nazi related items become rare in France, thus ensuring that French collectors pay a premium for their collections.
It's a win-win-win situation: they get the Nazi's, they get to destroy the items, the Nazi's go broke, and the Nazi's get something else to bitch about.
There is no reason for a hobbyist to do go to the trouble of making a gui for end-users.
However, many people do FOSS development as a means of creating software to supplant commercial software, or as a means of creating new ideas in software. Those are the ones that should be paying attention to non-geek end-user needs. Furthermore, those that wish to be taken seriously as developers for end-user solutions need to do so as well.
A lot of it comes down to understanding who you're writing software for. If it's for yourself, who cares? If it's to attract other users, then you have to consider your target audience and if the audience includes the basic non-geek user, then you need to plan for their needs.
Here's hoping that there is a [literal] smoking crater where SCO used to be and Darl and Co. are hanging from gibbets in a prison, after having been duly tried, convicted, and sentenced.
This question hinges on a lot of "ifs", but nonetheless, it must be asked:
If SCO loses the right to distribute Linux because they repudiated the GPL, would they then be open to lawsuit for distributing other products under the GPL or GPL-like licenses (GNU CC, etc.)?
If so, perhaps it would be useful to not only go for the jugular, as IBM has done, but to violate the corpse as well.
This idea that you can sit on patents until someone else is making millions on the same idea and then pounce on them is ridiculous. Use it or lose it.
It's the "uniqueness" of an idea that makes it an investable item, though. It actually works great, except when it gets to software.
There needs to be a different system for software, with a much shorter duration, to allow the people who have the idea to cash in somewhat on their idea, but the system must be well funded in order to allow the PTO to hire the qualified examiners. Physical objects a much longer useful lifespan than software does.
As well, the patents should be published so that everyone can access them to know if it's been done already. The current publishing system doesn't work too well.
I hope Real winds up taking a dirt nap simply because I'm tired of being treated like a second class citizen because I own a Mac. Their player has never worked correctly under OS X and it shows no signs of improving. On any platform, the quality is terrible.
Real? Just go away.
Re:... which should be on the FRONT PAGE!
on
The Spyware Inferno
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· Score: 1
Why do you assume that they are only targeting the Mac version?
It's pretty easy to figure out that they are targeting both Windows and Macintosh platforms, but Windows users are less likely to have a problem with it, since they're used to having Real's products available by default. Mac users have always been second-class citizens when it comes to Real's products. Now, they want to charge us for the privilege of using their products, without offering up any proof that they've changed their opinions of the Mac. It has all the appearance of being a cynical money-grab without offering any real philosophical change to go along with it.
Microsoft does the same thing, but we tolerate it (barely) since they are the 800-lb gorilla. Open Source and Free Software does it too, to an extent, but OS X is still a environment by comparison, so it probably doesn't matter as much being snubbed by them (plus, it is getting better).
So regardless of who Real is really aiming at with their marketing, the biggest effect is on the psyche of the Mac user. Thus the backlash.
Me? I don't use Real (even on my PC) and this isn't likely to change things.
Re:... which should be on the FRONT PAGE!
on
The Spyware Inferno
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· Score: 1
So is drawing and quartering. Plus, the betting pool is better, more diverse.
If computer users can't manage to get their heads around simple dialogs (which SP2 questions pretty much are), they deserve the trouble they get... perhaps them being offline would reduce the spam & DDoS zombies.
Perhaps if the Linux community would stop praising virus and trojan writers for playing up the security issues in Windows, it wouldn't be such a popular sport. Perhaps if you uniformly treated them like the criminals they are and demanded punishments to fit the damages, instead of defending them as the Second Coming, it might convince a few of them to stop.
But then the producers and directors of the movie should *explicitely* state that the movie is *utterly* for entertainment purposes only, *completely* fictional, has no historical basis, and that *no* part of the film should be taken as truth.
Ummm. Yeah. I'll get back to you on that when Quixotic Campaign to Labelize Everything According to It's True Nature has it's first meeting. Here on Planet Reality, we just assume that movies are for entertainment and if someone doesn't understand that, well, they should have paid more attention in school.
By making the service providers pay part of the costs, decreasing their profit margin, it makes it less likely they will try to inflate actual costs and turn the operation into a revenue stream.
Wow. Do your phone companies really operate like that? South of your borders, the telco's would look at that twelve and one-half cents and start tacking on administrative fees, processing fees, handling fees, and by the time they were done it would $2.50 in Federally-Required Fees and the police would still only get twelve and a half-cents.
Posterity? Really? Is that what it's called when it's locked up in someone's house rather than a museum? I could buy the posterity thing if these collectors were creating a publicly-viewable-for-free-or-nominal-fee collection, but otherwise, it's socially acceptable hoarding. I don't think there's anything terribly wrong with that, either, after all, who doesn't lust after a full set of original Star Wars figures or some other such thing? But I think it's a good use of dead technology and a whole lot more respectful than letting it gather dust in some collector's private hoard.
Actually, it's entertainment. If you want historical accuracy, watch a documentary - but the point of making movies (aside from the moneygrubbing and casting couch aspects of which there are many) is to entertain.
Should it be to educate? Probably, but the public seems pretty satisfied with entertainment and they're the ones driving the demand. Change that equation on the supply side, and it's a long downhill slide to the poorhouse.
who thought "gee, prison rape doesn't sound like a good MMORPG to me" before I remembered the Wizard and the Flying Monkey thing. Of course, I also thought Australia before I thought L. Frank Baum, so that shows you how long it's been since I read the books.
Australia would make kind of a cool MMORPG for those of us who haven't been there. Being a 10th level croc-botherer ("OY! I'm gonna move this here croc from this bit'o mud to that bit'o mud") or a barbie-wrangler ("Ay! Lemme go get some shrimps, mate!") has it's attractions when you're only half-awake. Plus there's that bit about gravity reversal since they're on the bottom of the world.
Man, I really need to start drinking coffee instead of gin when I wake up...
It's hilarious that the collectors are so up in arms about someone modding out a Predicta TV, when you consider that one less on the market raises the value of their collection ever so slightly.
What's so damn sacred about the design anyway? Sure, it's a nice-looking TV, but it's obsolete which makes it a prime candidate for re-use as something a little more modern.
Then you can safely ignore my commentary at will. However, I still contend that:
It's not necessarily that Windows users are lazy - it's that they have a different set of priorities centered around the activity they want to complete, rather than the process of getting where they can do the activity they want to complete.
Calling anyone lazy or irresponsible does nothing to solve the problems at hand.
Windows users are to damn lazy to learn anything new
It's not necessarily that Windows users are lazy - it's that they have a different set of priorities centered around the activity they want to complete, rather than the process of getting where they can do the activity they want to complete.
The applicable lesson is one in management. What's the most efficient way to send a large package? Most people would say weigh the package, find out the postage, etc, then call FedEx. The executive is the one who says: I call the mailroom - that's their problem.
To a large extent, the average Windows user is the computer-centric version of the executive. They don't care about the details that are peripherally related, they just want to get something done. Anything that stands in the way (ie., having to dig in the OS to get a package running) is a frustration.
Slashdot Mirror
It would actually be simpler to allow the sale and then arrest the (presumably) French purchaser of said offending items, with far more beneficial (to France) results.
That's one less neo-Nazi they have to worry about and they can destroy the items in question, thereby preventing further spread, if it's a relatively rare item.
A side benefit is that neo-Nazi related items become rare in France, thus ensuring that French collectors pay a premium for their collections.
It's a win-win-win situation: they get the Nazi's, they get to destroy the items, the Nazi's go broke, and the Nazi's get something else to bitch about.
There is no reason for a hobbyist to do go to the trouble of making a gui for end-users.
However, many people do FOSS development as a means of creating software to supplant commercial software, or as a means of creating new ideas in software. Those are the ones that should be paying attention to non-geek end-user needs. Furthermore, those that wish to be taken seriously as developers for end-user solutions need to do so as well.
A lot of it comes down to understanding who you're writing software for. If it's for yourself, who cares? If it's to attract other users, then you have to consider your target audience and if the audience includes the basic non-geek user, then you need to plan for their needs.
Here's hoping that there is a [literal] smoking crater where SCO used to be and Darl and Co. are hanging from gibbets in a prison, after having been duly tried, convicted, and sentenced.
This question hinges on a lot of "ifs", but nonetheless, it must be asked:
If SCO loses the right to distribute Linux because they repudiated the GPL, would they then be open to lawsuit for distributing other products under the GPL or GPL-like licenses (GNU CC, etc.)?
If so, perhaps it would be useful to not only go for the jugular, as IBM has done, but to violate the corpse as well.
This idea that you can sit on patents until someone else is making millions on the same idea and then pounce on them is ridiculous. Use it or lose it.
It's the "uniqueness" of an idea that makes it an investable item, though. It actually works great, except when it gets to software.
There needs to be a different system for software, with a much shorter duration, to allow the people who have the idea to cash in somewhat on their idea, but the system must be well funded in order to allow the PTO to hire the qualified examiners. Physical objects a much longer useful lifespan than software does.
As well, the patents should be published so that everyone can access them to know if it's been done already. The current publishing system doesn't work too well.
I hope Real winds up taking a dirt nap simply because I'm tired of being treated like a second class citizen because I own a Mac. Their player has never worked correctly under OS X and it shows no signs of improving. On any platform, the quality is terrible.
Real? Just go away.
Can we draw and quarter them afterwards?
Why do you assume that they are only targeting the Mac version?
It's pretty easy to figure out that they are targeting both Windows and Macintosh platforms, but Windows users are less likely to have a problem with it, since they're used to having Real's products available by default. Mac users have always been second-class citizens when it comes to Real's products. Now, they want to charge us for the privilege of using their products, without offering up any proof that they've changed their opinions of the Mac. It has all the appearance of being a cynical money-grab without offering any real philosophical change to go along with it.
Microsoft does the same thing, but we tolerate it (barely) since they are the 800-lb gorilla. Open Source and Free Software does it too, to an extent, but OS X is still a environment by comparison, so it probably doesn't matter as much being snubbed by them (plus, it is getting better).
So regardless of who Real is really aiming at with their marketing, the biggest effect is on the psyche of the Mac user. Thus the backlash.
Me? I don't use Real (even on my PC) and this isn't likely to change things.
So is drawing and quartering. Plus, the betting pool is better, more diverse.
If computer users can't manage to get their heads around simple dialogs (which SP2 questions pretty much are), they deserve the trouble they get... perhaps them being offline would reduce the spam & DDoS zombies.
Perhaps if the Linux community would stop praising virus and trojan writers for playing up the security issues in Windows, it wouldn't be such a popular sport. Perhaps if you uniformly treated them like the criminals they are and demanded punishments to fit the damages, instead of defending them as the Second Coming, it might convince a few of them to stop.
But then the producers and directors of the movie should *explicitely* state that the movie is *utterly* for entertainment purposes only, *completely* fictional, has no historical basis, and that *no* part of the film should be taken as truth.
Ummm. Yeah. I'll get back to you on that when Quixotic Campaign to Labelize Everything According to It's True Nature has it's first meeting. Here on Planet Reality, we just assume that movies are for entertainment and if someone doesn't understand that, well, they should have paid more attention in school.
By making the service providers pay part of the costs, decreasing their profit margin, it makes it less likely they will try to inflate actual costs and turn the operation into a revenue stream.
Wow. Do your phone companies really operate like that? South of your borders, the telco's would look at that twelve and one-half cents and start tacking on administrative fees, processing fees, handling fees, and by the time they were done it would $2.50 in Federally-Required Fees and the police would still only get twelve and a half-cents.
Or as another alternative, don't use their products in any form until they learn to play nicely.
Posterity? Really? Is that what it's called when it's locked up in someone's house rather than a museum? I could buy the posterity thing if these collectors were creating a publicly-viewable-for-free-or-nominal-fee collection, but otherwise, it's socially acceptable hoarding. I don't think there's anything terribly wrong with that, either, after all, who doesn't lust after a full set of original Star Wars figures or some other such thing? But I think it's a good use of dead technology and a whole lot more respectful than letting it gather dust in some collector's private hoard.
I'm just the opposite - I've learned to block the ads from my vision. Now, I know that they are there, but I read around them and barely notice them.
Filmmakers lie. That's life.
Actually, it's entertainment. If you want historical accuracy, watch a documentary - but the point of making movies (aside from the moneygrubbing and casting couch aspects of which there are many) is to entertain.
Should it be to educate? Probably, but the public seems pretty satisfied with entertainment and they're the ones driving the demand. Change that equation on the supply side, and it's a long downhill slide to the poorhouse.
who thought "gee, prison rape doesn't sound like a good MMORPG to me" before I remembered the Wizard and the Flying Monkey thing. Of course, I also thought Australia before I thought L. Frank Baum, so that shows you how long it's been since I read the books.
...
Australia would make kind of a cool MMORPG for those of us who haven't been there. Being a 10th level croc-botherer ("OY! I'm gonna move this here croc from this bit'o mud to that bit'o mud") or a barbie-wrangler ("Ay! Lemme go get some shrimps, mate!") has it's attractions when you're only half-awake. Plus there's that bit about gravity reversal since they're on the bottom of the world.
Man, I really need to start drinking coffee instead of gin when I wake up
It's hilarious that the collectors are so up in arms about someone modding out a Predicta TV, when you consider that one less on the market raises the value of their collection ever so slightly.
What's so damn sacred about the design anyway? Sure, it's a nice-looking TV, but it's obsolete which makes it a prime candidate for re-use as something a little more modern.
I'm with you. Furthermore, I'm absolutely not going to trust information like that posted on a site known for being distinctly anti-Microsoft.
Calling anyone lazy or irresponsible does nothing to solve the problems at hand.
Thank you. I didn't invent it - in fact, I don't remember where I heard it first. But it seemed appropriate.
Windows users are to damn lazy to learn anything new
It's not necessarily that Windows users are lazy - it's that they have a different set of priorities centered around the activity they want to complete, rather than the process of getting where they can do the activity they want to complete.
The applicable lesson is one in management. What's the most efficient way to send a large package? Most people would say weigh the package, find out the postage, etc, then call FedEx. The executive is the one who says: I call the mailroom - that's their problem.
To a large extent, the average Windows user is the computer-centric version of the executive. They don't care about the details that are peripherally related, they just want to get something done. Anything that stands in the way (ie., having to dig in the OS to get a package running) is a frustration.
Goal oriented vs. process oriented.
I remember when I bought my first PC from Gateway - it was a great company then. Good support, decent hardware at a reasonable price, etc.
After all the changes, though, I seriously have to wonder if it's worth saving.
Raided, Reamed, Rogered
Just like they did Cobalt. The business will go great for three or four years, and then they'll fold it into Solaris, or kill it or something.
I just don't trust Sun to let well enough alone.