> But Apple knows that Linux users, as a rule, > don't buy software. No third party would > license QuickTime for Linux, because they > couldn't make any money on their product. So > there's zero motivation for Apple to port > QuickTime to Linux.
If it were simple dis-interest on Apple's part, we would have Linux support. However, Apple contractually will not allow Sorenson to release even a binary version of their codec to Linux developers.
I am fairly certain that Microsoft is the reason - one part of their support of Apple, financially and by producine IE and Office, is that Apple must do whatever they can to not support Linux.
If not actually true, then it is a chilling effect - Apple knows that they are dependent on MS completely, so they must not do anything to piss them off.
This is very easy to do in other window managers too... I have done it in E and kwm, and maybe I did it n sawfish for the few days I was using it before switching back to E.
I was a huge fan of fvwm... i still consider switching back... i liked being able to specify my startup programs in a config file with the -geometry option instead of having E try to remember where things go. Sawfish was particularly sucky at this.
I am trying WMX now... nice & lightweight, but it doesn't support 2 dimensional virtual desktops.
> but if the community allows Linux to be > splintered like that to the point where we > have to start excluding mainstream hardware > because something doesn't measure up to the > "Stallman yardstick-of-freedom" wont we just > be hurting the very cause we purport to > embrace?
Not quite. If a concession like this is made, people should hear about it and discuss it, which is what is happening right now. In this regard, choosing a hopelessly inpossible goal like having everyone use "GNU/Linux" is a brilliant idea because it will always generate controversy and discussion; but will never be truly resolved. I think that RMS thrives in this kind of environment.
> The person who never makes any sacrifices or > concessions for their friends is a lonely > man indeed. I hesitate to say this but it > seems like RMS can't see the forest for the > trees.
No, his goals are just different than yours. He also comes from a family of activists. He has a very clear world-view: free software is good, non-free software is evil. Why would he make a concession to evil? I'm sure that Jesus message isn't that you should sacrifice the ten commandments if people are attacking Christianity.
I think that the name GNU/Linux is kind of silly, but that is not the point. The only thing worse than being talked about is NOT being talked about, and whenever one of these GNU/Linux issues comes up, people discuss the FSF and their ideas.
People who get pissed off by it are really just confusing their emotions - Stallman has a point and it is difficult to admit it for some.
I'm a little bit disappointed that RMS has gone to new depths and attacked Linus personally, but I can see why he did it - the BitKeeper & device driver issues are quite significant. The ability for free software advocates to remain ideologically pure is at risk.
It is ridiculous for a bunch of adults to talk about the theoretical worst case scenarios.
Hopefully they will look at the case of actual victims - if parents prepare their kids properly for internet use, this kind of thing would be quite rare... if it isn't already.
> Take a 7200 rpm SCSI drive. Take a 7200 rpm > IDE drive. Rip off the electronics. > You now have two identical drives.
If only this were true. It may have been true ten years ago, but these days the SCSI drives are significantly different; with 50% higher spin rates, and 1/2 the access time. Do they even make 7200rpm scsi drives these days?
I wish there were an option to have SCSI or IDE on the same drive; it might bring the prices back in line with the early 90's - a 20% premium on SCSI instead of 200%.
> Thus, the court said, people are just > watching the shows at other times, and still > seeing the commercials, so what are you > studios complaining about? This box is > getting you more viewers.
This is even more true with Tivo, in my case. A vast majority of the programs that I watch are recorded at times when I would be unable to watch. Setting up a VCR to record 5 shows during the day and middle of the night would be too painful.
I do love to skip those damn commercials though. I wish the TV networks would come up with an arrangement like Salon - pay to not see the ads. They could just move all the ads to the end of the show to keep time parity with the ad-laden broadcast.
If this is a problem, these damn networks need to come up with a way to provide advertisement- free programming. I would gladly pay an extra $100/month (total, not per-station obviously) to have the ads removed - or even to just have them all bunched at the end of a program (to keep time continuity with the regular broadcast). Obviously live events wouldn't apply, but I can deal with that.
The fact that rechargeable batteries are still not universal. Disposable batteries are a joke, and really should be outlawed.
My digital camera came with 4 excellent double-A rechargeable batteries. However, later releases of the camera did not include batteries. I wonder who Duracell had to blow to get them to make this change.
Genius, I've wanted this for years. Unfortunately, each state
has local control of this; and people just aren't organized
enough yet to fight the state regulatory body.
The taping community "standardized" (as much as is
possible) on Shorten (SHN), which is lossless compression of wav files. Check out http://etree.org
sometime.
Comparing true CD quality vs. a 128k mp3 definitely
makes a difference, especially on nice home audio
equipment. Perhaps in a car or with headphones it is
less discernable but still important. I use 128k mp3 in
my car, but I would never try it on the home theater.
The key benefit to using lossless compression wherever
possible, however, is to take away the degradation with
each generation. People will make mp3's into CD's, and
then someone else will rip that into mp3 again... etc. That
would be unacceptable.
A new approach is needed, but it isn't the standardizcation
you mention: at least one of them should just use Microsoft's
file formats everywhere. This is the 'killer app" that everyone
is waiting for like it's the Messiah.
It should be an option in star office, for example, to just use
DOC, XLS, PPT so people don't even have to know what
a file format conversion is. Maybe it is already possible to
do this, for all I know.
I hate to be a troll here, but you really have no idea what
you're talking about on points 2 & 3.
Point #1, the "applications barrier to entry", is the ONLY
obstacle to Linux domination, and that has been the case
for at least 5 years. It was the case against OS/2 ten
years ago. It will continue to be the case until IS
departments seriously try to make Linux work, instead of
looking for any excuse not to.
All of the training & accountability problems you mention
were common complaints back when Linux was just starting
to be used in the server market. The training and
accountability issues are always addressed AFTER the
applications are made available. However, that didn't
stop Linux from doing quite well with mail servers, web
servers, etc.
Believe me, when Windows 3.0 was being pirated like
mad, creating a market for those old Excel versions,
there was no training or accountability. People were used
to DOS and keyboards; and what "accountability" was
there for pirated software? Once a "killer app" came
along, it took off.
Linux doesn't, and in my opinion, will never have a
"killer app". However, if you can use Linux and KDE
on a desktop for basic office functions now and save
$400 per computer, that is really the "killer" aspect of
it.
Re-writing an already-working system is not a good idea.
However, when you implement a new system; make sure that
it will work on both Windows and Linux. It takes a long time,
but if you stick with that approach, Linux desktops will be
a possibility.
KDE is quite windows-like; and most window managers
have a "Redmond" theme or some such.
There are even window managers, fvwm95, qvwm, that
go for the 100% windows look. As a sysadmin, I loved
giving an old version of qvwm to people because it looked
& worked like windows, but they were unable to move or
change icons; configuration was done in a text file.
Then the RIAA would lobby for, and receive, the ability to
have ISP's cut you off. Great.
What is more important is to have bands who allow legal
trading of their live music be more successful than bands
who don't. If you measure success by concert ticket
revenue, bands who allow trading: Phish, the Dead, Metallica, and U2 were among the most successful bands
of the 90's - Phish and the Dead didn't have a single
radio hit and weren't exactly big on MTV.
There is a lot of good legally tradable music available; try
it out.
I've been using etree for years. I don't care if it meets your
personal criteria for a "decent" number of users; it has more
music than I could possibly download and listen to. And it's
not just hippie bands like the Dead, other bands e.g. U2,
radiohead, Dave Matthews, and even the evil Metallica
allow trading of their concerts.
Slashdot Mirror
> But Apple knows that Linux users, as a rule,
> don't buy software. No third party would
> license QuickTime for Linux, because they
> couldn't make any money on their product. So
> there's zero motivation for Apple to port
> QuickTime to Linux.
If it were simple dis-interest on Apple's part,
we would have Linux support. However, Apple
contractually will not allow Sorenson to
release even a binary version of their codec
to Linux developers.
I am fairly certain that Microsoft is the
reason - one part of their support of Apple,
financially and by producine IE and Office,
is that Apple must do whatever they can to
not support Linux.
If not actually true, then it is a chilling
effect - Apple knows that they are dependent
on MS completely, so they must not do anything
to piss them off.
This is very easy to do in other window
managers too... I have done it in E and kwm,
and maybe I did it n sawfish for the few days
I was using it before switching back to E.
I was a huge fan of fvwm... i still consider
switching back... i liked being able to specify
my startup programs in a config file with the
-geometry option instead of having E try to
remember where things go. Sawfish was
particularly sucky at this.
I am trying WMX now... nice & lightweight, but
it doesn't support 2 dimensional virtual
desktops.
It would really be nice if Red Hat would start
shipping some new themes. I'm getting really
bored with the defaults and Themes.org sucks
these days.
> but if the community allows Linux to be
> splintered like that to the point where we
> have to start excluding mainstream hardware
> because something doesn't measure up to the
> "Stallman yardstick-of-freedom" wont we just
> be hurting the very cause we purport to
> embrace?
Not quite. If a concession like this is made,
people should hear about it and discuss it,
which is what is happening right now. In this
regard, choosing a hopelessly inpossible goal
like having everyone use "GNU/Linux" is a
brilliant idea because it will always generate
controversy and discussion; but will never be
truly resolved. I think that RMS thrives in
this kind of environment.
> The person who never makes any sacrifices or
> concessions for their friends is a lonely
> man indeed. I hesitate to say this but it
> seems like RMS can't see the forest for the
> trees.
No, his goals are just different than yours.
He also comes from a family of activists. He
has a very clear world-view: free software is
good, non-free software is evil. Why would he
make a concession to evil? I'm sure that
Jesus message isn't that you should sacrifice
the ten commandments if people are attacking
Christianity.
I think that the name GNU/Linux is kind of
silly, but that is not the point. The only
thing worse than being talked about is NOT
being talked about, and whenever one of these
GNU/Linux issues comes up, people discuss the
FSF and their ideas.
People who get pissed off by it are really just
confusing their emotions - Stallman has a point
and it is difficult to admit it for some.
I'm a little bit disappointed that RMS has
gone to new depths and attacked Linus
personally, but I can see why he did it - the
BitKeeper & device driver issues are quite
significant. The ability for free software
advocates to remain ideologically pure is at
risk.
It is ridiculous for a bunch of adults to talk
about the theoretical worst case scenarios.
Hopefully they will look at the case of actual
victims - if parents prepare their kids properly
for internet use, this kind of thing would be
quite rare... if it isn't already.
Restricting fair use should be a felony, just
like figuring out methods of encryption.
> Take a 7200 rpm SCSI drive. Take a 7200 rpm
> IDE drive. Rip off the electronics.
> You now have two identical drives.
If only this were true. It may have been true
ten years ago, but these days the SCSI drives
are significantly different; with 50% higher
spin rates, and 1/2 the access time. Do they
even make 7200rpm scsi drives these days?
I wish there were an option to have SCSI or
IDE on the same drive; it might bring the
prices back in line with the early 90's - a
20% premium on SCSI instead of 200%.
Most IDE drives have 9-10ms seek times; whereas
scsi is generally around 5. That alone is worth
a lot in real world performance...
> Thus, the court said, people are just
> watching the shows at other times, and still
> seeing the commercials, so what are you
> studios complaining about? This box is
> getting you more viewers.
This is even more true with Tivo, in my case.
A vast majority of the programs that I watch
are recorded at times when I would be unable to
watch. Setting up a VCR to record 5 shows
during the day and middle of the night would be
too painful.
I do love to skip those damn commercials
though. I wish the TV networks would come up
with an arrangement like Salon - pay to not
see the ads. They could just move all the ads
to the end of the show to keep time parity with
the ad-laden broadcast.
If this is a problem, these damn networks need
to come up with a way to provide advertisement-
free programming. I would gladly pay an extra
$100/month (total, not per-station obviously)
to have the ads removed - or even to just have
them all bunched at the end of a program (to
keep time continuity with the regular
broadcast). Obviously live events wouldn't
apply, but I can deal with that.
Is there any way to make this thing work with
an HDTV card? My 21" monitor would look great
with 720p HDTV content...
Mark
Start migrating away from those legacy NT/2000/XP
systems.
> it doesn't work without a massive fight under
> windows 2000.
All that really matters is Linux support. You
should have migrated away from Windows by now
anyway.
Galeon too. I dislike it almost as much as
you do, but I think it's good to add a
soundtrack to a web site.
As long as people make their sites equally
useful to non-flash users (e.g. the blind), I
don't have a problem.
I really wish they had Flash content creation
tools for Linux...
Mark
The fact that rechargeable batteries are still
not universal. Disposable batteries are a joke,
and really should be outlawed.
My digital camera came with 4 excellent double-A
rechargeable batteries. However, later releases
of the camera did not include batteries. I
wonder who Duracell had to blow to get them to
make this change.
Genius, I've wanted this for years. Unfortunately, each state
has local control of this; and people just aren't organized
enough yet to fight the state regulatory body.
The taping community "standardized" (as much as is
possible) on Shorten (SHN), which is lossless compression of wav files. Check out http://etree.org
sometime.
Comparing true CD quality vs. a 128k mp3 definitely
makes a difference, especially on nice home audio
equipment. Perhaps in a car or with headphones it is
less discernable but still important. I use 128k mp3 in
my car, but I would never try it on the home theater.
The key benefit to using lossless compression wherever
possible, however, is to take away the degradation with
each generation. People will make mp3's into CD's, and
then someone else will rip that into mp3 again... etc. That
would be unacceptable.
They really need to support CD quality format, which is
a WAV file, or some form of lossless compression of one.
It is only about 4x the size of a 128k mp3, but worth it.
A new approach is needed, but it isn't the standardizcation
you mention: at least one of them should just use Microsoft's
file formats everywhere. This is the 'killer app" that everyone
is waiting for like it's the Messiah.
It should be an option in star office, for example, to just use
DOC, XLS, PPT so people don't even have to know what
a file format conversion is. Maybe it is already possible to
do this, for all I know.
I hate to be a troll here, but you really have no idea what
you're talking about on points 2 & 3.
Point #1, the "applications barrier to entry", is the ONLY
obstacle to Linux domination, and that has been the case
for at least 5 years. It was the case against OS/2 ten
years ago. It will continue to be the case until IS
departments seriously try to make Linux work, instead of
looking for any excuse not to.
All of the training & accountability problems you mention
were common complaints back when Linux was just starting
to be used in the server market. The training and
accountability issues are always addressed AFTER the
applications are made available. However, that didn't
stop Linux from doing quite well with mail servers, web
servers, etc.
Believe me, when Windows 3.0 was being pirated like
mad, creating a market for those old Excel versions,
there was no training or accountability. People were used
to DOS and keyboards; and what "accountability" was
there for pirated software? Once a "killer app" came
along, it took off.
Linux doesn't, and in my opinion, will never have a
"killer app". However, if you can use Linux and KDE
on a desktop for basic office functions now and save
$400 per computer, that is really the "killer" aspect of
it.
Re-writing an already-working system is not a good idea.
However, when you implement a new system; make sure that
it will work on both Windows and Linux. It takes a long time,
but if you stick with that approach, Linux desktops will be
a possibility.
KDE is quite windows-like; and most window managers
have a "Redmond" theme or some such.
There are even window managers, fvwm95, qvwm, that
go for the 100% windows look. As a sysadmin, I loved
giving an old version of qvwm to people because it looked
& worked like windows, but they were unable to move or
change icons; configuration was done in a text file.
Then the RIAA would lobby for, and receive, the ability to
have ISP's cut you off. Great.
What is more important is to have bands who allow legal
trading of their live music be more successful than bands
who don't. If you measure success by concert ticket
revenue, bands who allow trading: Phish, the Dead, Metallica, and U2 were among the most successful bands
of the 90's - Phish and the Dead didn't have a single
radio hit and weren't exactly big on MTV.
There is a lot of good legally tradable music available; try
it out.
I've been using etree for years. I don't care if it meets your
personal criteria for a "decent" number of users; it has more
music than I could possibly download and listen to. And it's
not just hippie bands like the Dead, other bands e.g. U2,
radiohead, Dave Matthews, and even the evil Metallica
allow trading of their concerts.