As in any case, the legal system should be seen as a last resort. If they are going to buy laws for the purpose of terrorizing their own customers (and who do you think supplied the money to buy the laws?), I see no reason not to boycott them AND support the EFF/ACLU.
Why not just use one of the well-documented, unlikely to be fixed in the near future 'features' in MSIE? You could write your program in C, upload it to the luser's RAM via a buffer overflow, and execute it. Upon the next reboot, it's gone, as it was never saved to the hard disk.
Use public-key encryption. Keep your public key on your hard disk, and keep your private key on a floppy that you carry with you at all times. Carry a lighter with you at all times. If you start seeing black helecopters, burn the disk. Poof, problem solved.
Re:There are people born like this, actually...
on
Pain-free mice
·
· Score: 1
True, but I think a 60 year old with arthritis would probably sleep the way s/he always did, and would have already developed an ingrained revulsion to sticking their hand into open flames or pouring lye into their eyes.
it means I know I can keep using that software in the future because its developers will be around to maintain and upgrade it.
And what happens if the software company goes out of business? Answer: the developers will not be around to maintain and upgrade it. For an open source project, you are free to continue using it on as many computers as you wish, and upgrade/maintain it yourelf or hire someone to do that.
It seems to me that paying for good software isn't such a bad idea.
The trouble is, by buying any commercial software, some of your money is going to end up at Microsoft, and that is immoral.
Side note - my Windows 2000 machine stays up pretty well. I've only had it crash once in the last year, and that's my development box. Windows used to be awful, its got a lot better. One of the key traits of Microsoft is they do improve their products, they do fix their bugs, they do add new features. Why? Because people pay for these improvements. Is the market perfect? Far from it. Has it "failed miserably"? Not in my book.
One of the key traits of Microsoft is they do not improve their products; they do remove their features, they do add new bugs. Why? Because people are forced to pay for these "improvements". Is the market perfect? Far from it. Has it "failed miserably"? It has in my book. I shall no longer take any part in it. It has abused me, therefore I abuse it. So there.
Why circumvent the market principle? Why disenfranchise users in this way?
Uh huh, we better not "disenfranchise" the market principle that has given us such wonderful companies like Microsoft, and organizations like the MPAA.
Yay for selling good software for a fair price.
Do you call Windows "good software"? How about Office? Outlook? Oh, and is $300 a "fair price" for an OS that crashes continuously and allows unhindered access to any yahoo who cares to break into your computer? I think it's obvious that the "free" market has failed miserably. We now need to search for alternatives.
Now before you say "Put them on Linux!" -- get real.. would you put your mother-in-law on linux --> knowing you dont want to put up with her "Whats this? BASH? Is this a joke??"... feh on them all..
Although there aren't any distributions that are idiot compatible out of the box, it's pretty easy to drop a few icons on the desktop, hide the panel, etc.
Hook this baby up with a Head Mounted Display, a wrist-mounted keyboard and trackball, some batteries, 802.11b, then stuff it in your backpack, and away you go!
I don't think that's entirely true. For example, eyes always do the same thing- they detect light. That information travels along nerves and into the brain. The signals that travel along the optic nerve are basically the same for everyone, but that does not mean that every brain is identical. The same would (I think) be true of external senses. The data always enters the brain the same way, but once inside, it's up to the individual brain to assimilate the data. If that makes any sense:)
Early in life, the brain is highly adaptible. Perhaps we could just decide on a simple protocol, then allow the brain to learn to use it? IIRC, you aren't born knowing exactly what parts of your brain hook up to your eyes, ears, nose, etc.
Microsoft should simply be forced to put all of their file formats, APIs, and communication protocols in the public domain. This would eliminate their unfair advantage and force them to compete based on quality.
Switch to Mandrake. I heartily recommend it for ex-Windoze users. It's really the only distro that isn't aimed at "power users". Ret Hat expects you to know how to do things like recompile the kernel; Mandrake comes with everything pre-compiled. Linux is really an "adolescent" OS*. I'm looking forward to using Linux in the next few years, when it really grows up.
*Not that this is a bad thing, it just needs more time.
can't even open a simple Word document without formatting errors.
Ever think about why that might be? The MS Word format is arguably the most complex and obfusicated file format ever devised. People have gone mad trying to unravel it's mysteries. Not even Micro$loth's own programs can open files made by previous versions of the SAME program.
Linux stills falls short of Windows when playing Quake.
This is simply not true. In fact, with Nvidia hardware, Linux runs Quake 3 about 25% faster than Windows.
There are a myriad of competing, mutually incompatible yet separately inadequate office suites (Star Office, KOffice, Applix,...), desktop environments (KDE, Gnome, XFCE, CDE, UDE, ROX,...), and X servers (XFree86, MetroX, XiG).
The programs you mention here really do not compete very much. While they all achieve the same purpose, they are targeted at different people. StarOffice is designed to make Office users feel at home, KOffice is for more advanced users. KDE is designed to make Windows users feel at home, Gnome is for more advanced users. XFree86 is designed for everyone, MetroX and XiG are used by no one in their right mind.
I really don't understand what you percieve the problem to be. I'm perfectly happy with AbiWord, Gnome, Quake, and XF86.
In my area at least, DSL is outrageously expensive, whether or not you get upstream bandwidth. Plus, they don't allow incoming connections. Period! I don't know why everyone is so surprised that DSL companies are going under when ADSL is $100/mo for a paltry 128k upstream/384k downstream and cable is $40/mo for a generous 384k up/2M down...
Actually, it's not slow, for the same reason Wine isn't slow. It's not an emulator, it's an API translation layer. Cygwin just copied the APIs from Unix, then modified them so instead of actually doing things, they call the relevant Windows APIs. The non-API parts of the program run unmodified, therefore, programs (at least the majority of them that don't spend much time in API calls) run very close to native speed. Your idea about the laptop hibernation is a good one, I have thought about something like that too.
Slashdot Mirror
If you run a web site, MIRROR BNETD! It is still available from here and here! Hurry!
I... don't know! AAAUGHHH!!!
As in any case, the legal system should be seen as a last resort. If they are going to buy laws for the purpose of terrorizing their own customers (and who do you think supplied the money to buy the laws?), I see no reason not to boycott them AND support the EFF/ACLU.
Why not just use one of the well-documented, unlikely to be fixed in the near future 'features' in MSIE? You could write your program in C, upload it to the luser's RAM via a buffer overflow, and execute it. Upon the next reboot, it's gone, as it was never saved to the hard disk.
Use public-key encryption. Keep your public key on your hard disk, and keep your private key on a floppy that you carry with you at all times. Carry a lighter with you at all times. If you start seeing black helecopters, burn the disk. Poof, problem solved.
True, but I think a 60 year old with arthritis would probably sleep the way s/he always did, and would have already developed an ingrained revulsion to sticking their hand into open flames or pouring lye into their eyes.
You wouldn't recieve food, in order to test effectiveness on "hunger pains"
Okay... who exactly are we supposed to call in order to buy this info?
it means I know I can keep using that software in the future because its developers will be around to maintain and upgrade it.
And what happens if the software company goes out of business? Answer: the developers will not be around to maintain and upgrade it. For an open source project, you are free to continue using it on as many computers as you wish, and upgrade/maintain it yourelf or hire someone to do that.
It seems to me that paying for good software isn't such a bad idea.
The trouble is, by buying any commercial software, some of your money is going to end up at Microsoft, and that is immoral.
Side note - my Windows 2000 machine stays up pretty well. I've only had it crash once in the last year, and that's my development box. Windows used to be awful, its got a lot better. One of the key traits of Microsoft is they do improve their products, they do fix their bugs, they do add new features. Why? Because people pay for these improvements. Is the market perfect? Far from it. Has it "failed miserably"? Not in my book.
One of the key traits of Microsoft is they do not improve their products; they do remove their features, they do add new bugs. Why? Because people are forced to pay for these "improvements". Is the market perfect? Far from it. Has it "failed miserably"? It has in my book. I shall no longer take any part in it. It has abused me, therefore I abuse it. So there.
Why circumvent the market principle? Why disenfranchise users in this way?
Uh huh, we better not "disenfranchise" the market principle that has given us such wonderful companies like Microsoft, and organizations like the MPAA.
Yay for selling good software for a fair price.
Do you call Windows "good software"? How about Office? Outlook? Oh, and is $300 a "fair price" for an OS that crashes continuously and allows unhindered access to any yahoo who cares to break into your computer? I think it's obvious that the "free" market has failed miserably. We now need to search for alternatives.
Now before you say "Put them on Linux!" -- get real.. would you put your mother-in-law on linux --> knowing you dont want to put up with her "Whats this? BASH? Is this a joke??"... feh on them all..
Although there aren't any distributions that are idiot compatible out of the box, it's pretty easy to drop a few icons on the desktop, hide the panel, etc.
Hook this baby up with a Head Mounted Display, a wrist-mounted keyboard and trackball, some batteries, 802.11b, then stuff it in your backpack, and away you go!
They are already bushing for laws like this. Ever heard of UCITA? SSSCA? DMCA?
> Civ III does a lot of neat things that are not yet implemented in any other civ programs.
Like what?
Who needs Civ3 when there's FreeCiv?
If you have a high-speed Net connection, you can download movies from Gnutella. :)
I don't think that's entirely true. For example, eyes always do the same thing- they detect light. That information travels along nerves and into the brain. The signals that travel along the optic nerve are basically the same for everyone, but that does not mean that every brain is identical. The same would (I think) be true of external senses. The data always enters the brain the same way, but once inside, it's up to the individual brain to assimilate the data. If that makes any sense :)
Early in life, the brain is highly adaptible. Perhaps we could just decide on a simple protocol, then allow the brain to learn to use it? IIRC, you aren't born knowing exactly what parts of your brain hook up to your eyes, ears, nose, etc.
Microsoft should simply be forced to put all of their file formats, APIs, and communication protocols in the public domain. This would eliminate their unfair advantage and force them to compete based on quality.
Biggest ever seen,
GOD this program's BIG,
MS Word XP!
Comes on ten CDs,
It requires... damn!
Word is fine, but jeez,
200 Megs of RAM?
Oh, Microsoft! Microsoft!
Bloatware all the way,
I've sat here installing Word,
Since breakfast yesterday!
Oh Microsoft, Microsoft,
Moderation, please!
Guess you haven't noticed,
4 Gig drives don't grow on treeeees!
Switch to Mandrake. I heartily recommend it for ex-Windoze users. It's really the only distro that isn't aimed at "power users". Ret Hat expects you to know how to do things like recompile the kernel; Mandrake comes with everything pre-compiled. Linux is really an "adolescent" OS*. I'm looking forward to using Linux in the next few years, when it really grows up.
*Not that this is a bad thing, it just needs more time.
Ever think about why that might be? The MS Word format is arguably the most complex and obfusicated file format ever devised. People have gone mad trying to unravel it's mysteries. Not even Micro$loth's own programs can open files made by previous versions of the SAME program.
Linux stills falls short of Windows when playing Quake.
This is simply not true. In fact, with Nvidia hardware, Linux runs Quake 3 about 25% faster than Windows.
There are a myriad of competing, mutually incompatible yet separately inadequate office suites (Star Office, KOffice, Applix,...), desktop environments (KDE, Gnome, XFCE, CDE, UDE, ROX,...), and X servers (XFree86, MetroX, XiG).
The programs you mention here really do not compete very much. While they all achieve the same purpose, they are targeted at different people. StarOffice is designed to make Office users feel at home, KOffice is for more advanced users. KDE is designed to make Windows users feel at home, Gnome is for more advanced users. XFree86 is designed for everyone, MetroX and XiG are used by no one in their right mind.
I really don't understand what you percieve the problem to be. I'm perfectly happy with AbiWord, Gnome, Quake, and XF86.
Has Quake been ported to this? I wonder if you could use the wireless networking for a Beowulf cluster?
In my area at least, DSL is outrageously expensive, whether or not you get upstream bandwidth. Plus, they don't allow incoming connections. Period! I don't know why everyone is so surprised that DSL companies are going under when ADSL is $100/mo for a paltry 128k upstream/384k downstream and cable is $40/mo for a generous 384k up/2M down...
Actually, it's not slow, for the same reason Wine isn't slow. It's not an emulator, it's an API translation layer. Cygwin just copied the APIs from Unix, then modified them so instead of actually doing things, they call the relevant Windows APIs. The non-API parts of the program run unmodified, therefore, programs (at least the majority of them that don't spend much time in API calls) run very close to native speed. Your idea about the laptop hibernation is a good one, I have thought about something like that too.