Ja. Why not? Some people have the ability to take these things into consideration, others don't. Okay, most people don't bother to build the servers at work, I'll give you that. *I* wouldn't, anyway. But if I *OWNED* the company and it was only one or two of them? It might be a different story. Of course, I probably wouldn't bother with an Itanium in that case anyway. But it doesn't mean that I would necessarily be UNABLE to do it competently.
Ever since I bought my first PC and discovered the Joy of Customization I've been an advocate of building your own PC. Most of the PCs I've seen have always been lacking in something that could be bigger or better, usually in HD size or RAM amounts. 128 of RAM is okay, but at today's prices why not more?
It may cost just a little bit more to build your own and there are some who don't have the know-how to do it, granted. And for the Slashdot community at large this doesn't apply, myself included. I try to help my friends build their own if I'm able and most of them seem to want Windows, so I give up.
Build your own. Get blank HDs and install 7.2, or Mandrake, or Debian, or whatever. Don't pay the M$ OR the HP tax.
I'd like to see a book written that isn't a "Dummies" book but also isn't a straight print-out of the man pages. Sometimes the syntax is confusing and, occasionally, contradictory. While the Books with the Animals are wonderful and well put-together they just don't help with the middle ground of those who are somewhat experienced with Linux but are far from Grand Guru SysAdmin status. Something like the "Linux Problem Solver" (unsure of exact title, actually) by No Starch Press was helpful, and limited. Oh, and a little over-priced, but hey, it isn't the worst $30 I've ever spent. I'd like to see an expansion on that sort of book, encompassing things like getting a USB scanner to work (no, the online how-to's don't go far enough, thank you) or explaining the black magic of Networking. I can't really expect a good explanation of these things, I suppose, but here's hoping!
It shouldn't be a matter of PUNISHMENT! ISPs are selling high-speed connections and part of their math, at the OUTSET, should be that these connections will be used to their fullest potential. Example: an SDSL connection at 784 costs the company X. The company wants to make a profit of X + Y. The company should charge X + Y. If that means the price is high, well, too bad. Joe Six-Pack will have to pay a high price. But the company shouldn't come along making promises that they find later that they can't keep. It's known as fraud or, at least, negligence.
This is different from a company passing on higher costs, i.e. "we now pay more for it so now we have to charge more for it." Consumers understand that. Consumers DON'T understand (or condone) empty promises.
I hope Rogers will be honest with their users about this and admit that they goofed instead of accusing some users of being "bandwidth-hogs." That will only set them up for backlash from those who get accused.
Not only can they build a beowulf cluster...
Not only could they buy it on the black market...
It just means that they have to wait a little longer for what knowledge they have to be crunched.
You see, computers have no inherent knowledge. If these computers aren't shipped with [insert scary knowledge here {atomic secrets, plans to our Death Star, etc.}] then these countries will have to be clever enough to come up with this knowledge on their own. No amount of number crunching, no matter how fast, would be able to help them.
I say give 'em all the computing power they can handle. Who knows? Maybe they'll use those SGI machines to make some really neat movies, Lucasfilm style!
I can understand that you don't want anybody screwing with your machine; it's your Millenium Falcon and you're its Han Solo and Chewie and NOBODY messes with it.
I'm the same way with my own R2 unit at work and everybody around me knows it. How do they know this? Because I am the local Computer Geek. I'm just an Administrative Assistant, true, but I run Linux at home and Win95 at work and people know that I'm the man to come to when the computer isn't doing what it's supposed to do.
But there are limits to my POWER and my knowledge. I have no way to affect the print servers, Java applications, and other things outside of my own system. These are things only (whatever their equivalent is) ROOT users can affect. I am not a root user on a print server locked upstairs and, even if I was, I don't know that I could do anything to it because I WOULDN'T USE A LOUSY HUNK OF JUNK WINDOWS PRINT SERVER TO BEGIN WITH! I'd use an old 133 MHZ, 32 MB machine with Linux left over in the "abandoned" pile to do it.
So, to answer your question, the kind of support I want is EFFECTIVE support. I want people to know what's what when I call them to fix a problem that I CAN'T DIRECTLY AFFECT! Too damned often this is not the case. They take no action and take no responsibility for the operation of these machines and the applications that go with them.
{begin Sgt. Hartmann rant}
And to those who can't install Linux to begin with, well...get your greasy dickskinners off the hardware and go pick up a book! It's numbnuts know-nothing yardbirds like you that fuck up things for skilled people! Now get on your keyboard and compile me 30!{end Sgt. Hartmann rant}
...it works really well considering the layers it has to pass through.
Yeah, it's a little slow but it's worth it to be able to watch Quicktime movies on my Linux Box. My friend and I both bought a copy because it isn't re-distributable but he sees potential for using it for other plug-in installations so it may be more useful than first thought.
If you've got the $20 to spare then grab it. It probably won't be the worst $20 spent in your life even if you don't use it much.
Two words: bull & shit. I can hit ctl-N (to bring up a 'new message' box in Winbloze Lookout) a helluva lot faster than I can go to the top toolbar, click "file" and drag to "new message." Those people in that study may have done things faster, I'll grant you, but it just wouldn't be true anymore. The one place I can see a GUI being faster is with people who don't know the layout of a keyboard at all. If this is the case then their problems go MUCH deeper than which gets the task done faster, a mouse or a keyboard.
Yes, Win2K Professional has some good points...most of them coming from the fact that it took from BSD code. {This sentence may also be read as: Mundie and Gates are hypocrites for using open-source code and simultaneously bad-mouthing it}
You seem to have missed something here: my system doesn't have an admin other than myself. I use Linux at home. And, no, killing the PIDs under Win2K does not work NEARLY as well as it does under *nix.
Yes, Gnome and KDE crash on occasion. Hell, in the year and a half I've been running KDE it's crashed 3 times!
Sure, I can deal with Win2K. Why not? I deal with Win95 at work every day. If you want to buy a copy of Win2K for me I'd be happy to install it on my 233 MhZ PII with 96 MB RAM on an 8 GB HD. I'll be happy as a pig in shit to give up such useful tools for networking as PING and TRACEROUTE, tools for graphics such as the GIMP, tools for Usenet browsing such as Pan, tools for development such as GCC, and pay thousands to Microsoft and Adobe instead to get buggy bloated code from hypocrites.
In a pigs ass. I'll give up my Linux box when they pry my cold dead hands from it!
Win2K is a good operating system. Linux is better. So don't simultaneously hand me statements saying, "Linux isn't user friendly" AND"Don't blame the system for your laziness" Maybe you think you stand to make a profit from saying all this but it won't be from me.
I couldn't give two shits about Joe Schmoe who wants to check his email and surf for porn, let him use Windows, it's not necessary for everyone to use the same operating system. Use the right tool for the job, and for developement *nix is the best tool.
I'll take exception to that statement. It is true that I use this machine in front of me to check simple text messages and get porn much of the time.
But it STILL beats the living dogshit out of using Windows!! Why, you ask? Because when ONE piece of the code breaks it doesn't bring down the whole fucking thing!! I can kill PIDs and get on with my day.
I've learned a lot about computers since I started with a Compaq 5610 with Win98. I've learned how to code in Pascal and HTML (laugh at Pascal if you must but I like it!) I've come to expect GCC to be there when I need it. I like the idea of being able (and free) to screw things up as I see fit.
I am proud to say that I *AM* Joe Schmoe and I use Linux! Don't tell me that it can't be used by amateurs because I know for a fact that they CAN!
Kill each and every person, without regard to age or gender, in the country that dares to attack us.
It doesn't matter how you do it: nuke 'em, incendiary device 'em, shoot 'em, drown 'em, pour huge amounts of mercury into their water system (a personal favorite) just kill 'em all.
I would prefer that we don't use nukes; takes too much time before we can use the land for our own purposes.
You're right, I will not see a difference in the number of rights that I have today and the right I have one year from now.
If the number of rights I have one year from now are different from today then I will not be alive to see it because they will have killed me in order to make it so.
"They can have my gun when they pry my cold, dead fingers from it."
I remember this quote from when I was a young child. I remember the Confederate flag being referred to as the "Rebel" flag. I remember the two sabers crossed above it. I remember from history class that a group of Americans fought the British to be free from the monarchy.
So many people seem to forget that last bit. Our freedom from the British wasn't won in a court of law, it was won on a battlefield after we killed a lot of them. Our freedoms have been checked by a court of law ever since.
Once the courts of law no longer protect our freedoms then where do you suppose we can win them back? A court of law? On the Internet?
I own weapons for a very good reason. I don't own them for hunting; I shop in the market. I don't own them for protection against burgulars; I have good locks on my door and appropriate booby traps. I own them because, some day, my government might come to take my freedoms from me. If you don't think they can then think again; they have before. Just ask Rosa Parks, or, for that matter, any black person from the South older than 60.
When my freedoms are taken away from me then it is my duty as an American to kill those that are trying to take it away from me. If I do not then I am not worthy of the title American. It is further my duty to protect the freedoms of my fellow Americans.
I don't want to kill people but I will if I have to. Remember, nobody EVER won a war by dying for his country; they won by making the other dumb sonofabitch die for HIS country.
If I am wrong for being willing to kill to remain free then I do not wish to be right.
When they come to your door to take your freedoms keep all this in mind.
Cirrocco - Son of Lance Corporal P.T.M. Sr., USMC, 1966-70, Grandson of T.H., USN.
I don't have a problem with Gnome, per se, but here's how it comes across to me:
You know how kids toys that mimic adult objects (e.g. "My First CD Player" or some such) often have oversized buttons and rounded corners? That's how Gnome feels to me. All the functionality but somehow made safe.
KDE, on the other hand, has a lot of sharp edges and hard corners to snag your fingers, kind of like an old-school Tonka Truck.
There's no denying that KDE and Gnome are more or less equals.
But when I swing my GUI at some other kid's head it's gonna do some damage! Fa fa fa!
This is the story of a man named Rich. His IP address showed up in my access_logs and I typed it into my address bar and, lo and behold, it's an infected page.
As you can see here, his phone number is proudly displayed on the page. So I called it.
He says he's running Unix.
This is a page originating from the Southwestern College in Chula Vista, CA. Don't attend college there. You might wind up like Rich, not knowing an IIS server from a Unix server.
I encourage my fellow/.'ers to help educate this man on the differences between a Windows machine and a Unix machine.
He was upset that I called at 11 PM. I was equally upset that he was playing a part in choking our bandwidth.
And there are just as many websites that are giving open-source the thumbs-up. You are forgetting one fundamental thing: it's in OUR hands and we have to treat it as such. We've come this far on our own; why we do suddenly want a corporation to take over our PR for us? We don't NEED them to do that as WE should be doing it OURSELVES. Being a part of the open-source community comes with responsibility, as does being a part of ANY free society. It is our responsibility to get the word out: putting bumper stickers on our car, sounding off about open-source at work and to our friends, using it at home, insisting on using it where you can, giving back to the community when you can. I think it's absolutely astounding that Big Blue has a penguin proudly displayed on its adverts. WE GOT THEIR ATTENTION!
Now, let's go out there and get OTHER PEOPLE'S attention as well.
We can do it! Go team! RAH RAH RAH!!!
LET ME SEE YOUR WAR FACE!!
That's f***in' brilliant! Even if he smashes the phone there will be SOME signal/waveform to go through that speaker due to the shock of it being smashed.
Slashdot Mirror
"No...No different! Only different in your mind!"
And don't bring up money, either. There are people who PAY for their e-mail addy's, such as those on AOL or certain users at USA.net.
No, e-mail should be just as sacred as any other form of communication in this country.
Ja. Why not? Some people have the ability to take these things into consideration, others don't. Okay, most people don't bother to build the servers at work, I'll give you that. *I* wouldn't, anyway. But if I *OWNED* the company and it was only one or two of them? It might be a different story. Of course, I probably wouldn't bother with an Itanium in that case anyway. But it doesn't mean that I would necessarily be UNABLE to do it competently.
That isn't what I was saying. What I mean here is that I'll let someone buy a pre-packaged system if they want Windows. I should have clarified that.
It may cost just a little bit more to build your own and there are some who don't have the know-how to do it, granted. And for the Slashdot community at large this doesn't apply, myself included. I try to help my friends build their own if I'm able and most of them seem to want Windows, so I give up.
Build your own. Get blank HDs and install 7.2, or Mandrake, or Debian, or whatever. Don't pay the M$ OR the HP tax.
Next thing you know they won't allow people to take snapshots in Vegas because they're afraid people will be seeing all there is to see.
I'd like to see a book written that isn't a "Dummies" book but also isn't a straight print-out of the man pages. Sometimes the syntax is confusing and, occasionally, contradictory. While the Books with the Animals are wonderful and well put-together they just don't help with the middle ground of those who are somewhat experienced with Linux but are far from Grand Guru SysAdmin status. Something like the "Linux Problem Solver" (unsure of exact title, actually) by No Starch Press was helpful, and limited. Oh, and a little over-priced, but hey, it isn't the worst $30 I've ever spent. I'd like to see an expansion on that sort of book, encompassing things like getting a USB scanner to work (no, the online how-to's don't go far enough, thank you) or explaining the black magic of Networking. I can't really expect a good explanation of these things, I suppose, but here's hoping!
This is different from a company passing on higher costs, i.e. "we now pay more for it so now we have to charge more for it." Consumers understand that. Consumers DON'T understand (or condone) empty promises.
I hope Rogers will be honest with their users about this and admit that they goofed instead of accusing some users of being "bandwidth-hogs." That will only set them up for backlash from those who get accused.
Not only can they build a beowulf cluster...
Not only could they buy it on the black market...
It just means that they have to wait a little longer for what knowledge they have to be crunched.
You see, computers have no inherent knowledge. If these computers aren't shipped with [insert scary knowledge here {atomic secrets, plans to our Death Star, etc.}] then these countries will have to be clever enough to come up with this knowledge on their own. No amount of number crunching, no matter how fast, would be able to help them.
I say give 'em all the computing power they can handle. Who knows? Maybe they'll use those SGI machines to make some really neat movies, Lucasfilm style!
I'm the same way with my own R2 unit at work and everybody around me knows it. How do they know this? Because I am the local Computer Geek. I'm just an Administrative Assistant, true, but I run Linux at home and Win95 at work and people know that I'm the man to come to when the computer isn't doing what it's supposed to do.
But there are limits to my POWER and my knowledge. I have no way to affect the print servers, Java applications, and other things outside of my own system. These are things only (whatever their equivalent is) ROOT users can affect. I am not a root user on a print server locked upstairs and, even if I was, I don't know that I could do anything to it because I WOULDN'T USE A LOUSY HUNK OF JUNK WINDOWS PRINT SERVER TO BEGIN WITH! I'd use an old 133 MHZ, 32 MB machine with Linux left over in the "abandoned" pile to do it.
So, to answer your question, the kind of support I want is EFFECTIVE support. I want people to know what's what when I call them to fix a problem that I CAN'T DIRECTLY AFFECT! Too damned often this is not the case. They take no action and take no responsibility for the operation of these machines and the applications that go with them.
{begin Sgt. Hartmann rant} And to those who can't install Linux to begin with, well...get your greasy dickskinners off the hardware and go pick up a book! It's numbnuts know-nothing yardbirds like you that fuck up things for skilled people! Now get on your keyboard and compile me 30!{end Sgt. Hartmann rant}
Compaq iPaq (hint hint)
more memory
fresh batteries
Jolt Cola IV drip
Think Geek gift certificate
I would have an ear that covers me like a shroud.
"It's kind of like having Joe Cocker as your bellboy."
...it works really well considering the layers it has to pass through.
Yeah, it's a little slow but it's worth it to be able to watch Quicktime movies on my Linux Box. My friend and I both bought a copy because it isn't re-distributable but he sees potential for using it for other plug-in installations so it may be more useful than first thought.
If you've got the $20 to spare then grab it. It probably won't be the worst $20 spent in your life even if you don't use it much.
Two words: bull & shit. I can hit ctl-N (to bring up a 'new message' box in Winbloze Lookout) a helluva lot faster than I can go to the top toolbar, click "file" and drag to "new message." Those people in that study may have done things faster, I'll grant you, but it just wouldn't be true anymore. The one place I can see a GUI being faster is with people who don't know the layout of a keyboard at all. If this is the case then their problems go MUCH deeper than which gets the task done faster, a mouse or a keyboard.
Years later, I picked up a sword and found a way of life through Musashi.
I can't use the Force to influence the dice in Vegas. But who cares? I have a lot of fun! Visit theforce.net for a good time!
You seem to have missed something here: my system doesn't have an admin other than myself. I use Linux at home. And, no, killing the PIDs under Win2K does not work NEARLY as well as it does under *nix.
Yes, Gnome and KDE crash on occasion. Hell, in the year and a half I've been running KDE it's crashed 3 times!
Sure, I can deal with Win2K. Why not? I deal with Win95 at work every day. If you want to buy a copy of Win2K for me I'd be happy to install it on my 233 MhZ PII with 96 MB RAM on an 8 GB HD. I'll be happy as a pig in shit to give up such useful tools for networking as PING and TRACEROUTE, tools for graphics such as the GIMP, tools for Usenet browsing such as Pan, tools for development such as GCC, and pay thousands to Microsoft and Adobe instead to get buggy bloated code from hypocrites.
In a pigs ass. I'll give up my Linux box when they pry my cold dead hands from it!
Win2K is a good operating system. Linux is better. So don't simultaneously hand me statements saying, "Linux isn't user friendly" AND"Don't blame the system for your laziness" Maybe you think you stand to make a profit from saying all this but it won't be from me.
I'll take exception to that statement. It is true that I use this machine in front of me to check simple text messages and get porn much of the time.
But it STILL beats the living dogshit out of using Windows!! Why, you ask? Because when ONE piece of the code breaks it doesn't bring down the whole fucking thing!! I can kill PIDs and get on with my day.
I've learned a lot about computers since I started with a Compaq 5610 with Win98. I've learned how to code in Pascal and HTML (laugh at Pascal if you must but I like it!) I've come to expect GCC to be there when I need it. I like the idea of being able (and free) to screw things up as I see fit. I am proud to say that I *AM* Joe Schmoe and I use Linux! Don't tell me that it can't be used by amateurs because I know for a fact that they CAN!
Kill each and every person, without regard to age or gender, in the country that dares to attack us.
It doesn't matter how you do it: nuke 'em, incendiary device 'em, shoot 'em, drown 'em, pour huge amounts of mercury into their water system (a personal favorite) just kill 'em all.
I would prefer that we don't use nukes; takes too much time before we can use the land for our own purposes.
You asked a hard question, there's a hard answer.
You're right, I will not see a difference in the number of rights that I have today and the right I have one year from now.
If the number of rights I have one year from now are different from today then I will not be alive to see it because they will have killed me in order to make it so.
Zealot? Yeah, maybe. I can live with that label.
"They can have my gun when they pry my cold, dead fingers from it."
I remember this quote from when I was a young child. I remember the Confederate flag being referred to as the "Rebel" flag. I remember the two sabers crossed above it. I remember from history class that a group of Americans fought the British to be free from the monarchy.
So many people seem to forget that last bit. Our freedom from the British wasn't won in a court of law, it was won on a battlefield after we killed a lot of them. Our freedoms have been checked by a court of law ever since.
Once the courts of law no longer protect our freedoms then where do you suppose we can win them back? A court of law? On the Internet?
I own weapons for a very good reason. I don't own them for hunting; I shop in the market. I don't own them for protection against burgulars; I have good locks on my door and appropriate booby traps. I own them because, some day, my government might come to take my freedoms from me. If you don't think they can then think again; they have before. Just ask Rosa Parks, or, for that matter, any black person from the South older than 60.
When my freedoms are taken away from me then it is my duty as an American to kill those that are trying to take it away from me. If I do not then I am not worthy of the title American. It is further my duty to protect the freedoms of my fellow Americans.
I don't want to kill people but I will if I have to. Remember, nobody EVER won a war by dying for his country; they won by making the other dumb sonofabitch die for HIS country.
If I am wrong for being willing to kill to remain free then I do not wish to be right.
When they come to your door to take your freedoms keep all this in mind.
Cirrocco - Son of Lance Corporal P.T.M. Sr., USMC, 1966-70, Grandson of T.H., USN.
I don't have a problem with Gnome, per se, but here's how it comes across to me:
You know how kids toys that mimic adult objects (e.g. "My First CD Player" or some such) often have oversized buttons and rounded corners? That's how Gnome feels to me. All the functionality but somehow made safe.
KDE, on the other hand, has a lot of sharp edges and hard corners to snag your fingers, kind of like an old-school Tonka Truck.
There's no denying that KDE and Gnome are more or less equals.
But when I swing my GUI at some other kid's head it's gonna do some damage! Fa fa fa!
He insisted that he the homepage was running on a Unix machine. Perhaps you should call him at home to inform him that he is mistaken.
http://209.129.41.37/
/.'ers to help educate this man on the differences between a Windows machine and a Unix machine.
This is the story of a man named Rich. His IP address showed up in my access_logs and I typed it into my address bar and, lo and behold, it's an infected page.
As you can see here, his phone number is proudly displayed on the page. So I called it.
He says he's running Unix.
This is a page originating from the Southwestern College in Chula Vista, CA. Don't attend college there. You might wind up like Rich, not knowing an IIS server from a Unix server.
I encourage my fellow
He was upset that I called at 11 PM. I was equally upset that he was playing a part in choking our bandwidth.
HA! That's NOTHING! I'm on a 209/29 network and I'm getting them at the rate of 10/minute!
Right now I've got Metallica's "Kill 'em All" on the boombox and that sounds like a pretty good idea to me.
Anybody have an equivalent shutdown webpage like that used against Code Red?
And there are just as many websites that are giving open-source the thumbs-up. You are forgetting one fundamental thing: it's in OUR hands and we have to treat it as such. We've come this far on our own; why we do suddenly want a corporation to take over our PR for us? We don't NEED them to do that as WE should be doing it OURSELVES. Being a part of the open-source community comes with responsibility, as does being a part of ANY free society. It is our responsibility to get the word out: putting bumper stickers on our car, sounding off about open-source at work and to our friends, using it at home, insisting on using it where you can, giving back to the community when you can. I think it's absolutely astounding that Big Blue has a penguin proudly displayed on its adverts. WE GOT THEIR ATTENTION! Now, let's go out there and get OTHER PEOPLE'S attention as well. We can do it! Go team! RAH RAH RAH!!! LET ME SEE YOUR WAR FACE!!
That's f***in' brilliant! Even if he smashes the phone there will be SOME signal/waveform to go through that speaker due to the shock of it being smashed.