Better than most, agreed.
Better than all? That's the thrust of the question that was asked - "Is the United States still the best choice.."
Now that we have proper human rights legislation here in Britain I'd be inclined to say "No", if only because the US is as free. Note not less free.
The challenge for the US is to not let the freedom of one party impinge on the freedoms of others, namely big business trampling on ordinary people.
It's always happened, for sure, but now we're all so much more connected we're all aware it goes on.
Not enough.
Users may not WANT to understand how the distros truly work and it would be suicidally bad to force them to compile their own binaries.
Just because someone might think users SHOULD learn how an OS is put together doesn't mean it is the right decision to make. You'd only keep out those who couldn't be bothered and stop a great many people from beginning to learn about computing outside of the Windows environment.
I'm as ex-pat as someone who has lived here my entire life ie. not at all.
Most of the broadsheets do NOT have a bias towards government. The Times and Telegraph are right-wing and The Telegraph is practically Conservative Central Office Daily.
The Guardian is radical, rather than left-wing, and tried to say something interesting but often shows tired old anti-Tory bias (not even pro-Labour). The Independent tries very hard to be, but I can't comment too much as I'm not a regular reader.
As for the beef thing - all the papers, especially the Daily mail, treat health matters with this 'startled sheep' attitude. Out comes a new report suggesting there may be a link between breathing and cancer.
"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE" says the Mail.
Out comes another report saying drinking lots of alcohol can help prevent some odd disease or other.
"ALCOHOLICS 'LIVE LONGER'" says the Mail.
It's the same attitude over Europe except the coverage is always in one direction only.:-)
Frankly most of the papers don't have much of a clue about this communications malarky and are not going to give it the proper coverage it deserves. Coverage of RIP was not exactly great.
A troll is a remark designed to inflame. You remarked, and chose to leave the remark without any sort of support.
If it wasn't a troll, then it was misguided.
As is your bizarre statement about concepts and triviality. I specifically said "conceptually" because the software internals would be extremely complex. But as a concept, placing a layer of abstraction over the workings of the system to hide it to the necessary degree IS trivial. I could draw you a diagram if you like.
Fact is that not every system suits every purpose, and right now Windows *is* a better desktop system but Linux need not be worse forever and "30-year old technology" will not hold it back if someone chooses to take it in that direction.
Ha! No, but I just want to know who in the British press has this particular opinion.
I do try to keep abreast of the press in the UK and am well aware of the bias inherent in 99% of the stuff I read but this particular view seems a bit too much like a cartoon character.
The '30-year old technology' troll is pretty jaded by now isn't it?
First of all anecdotes do not a good OS make, and that goes for any *nix you could care to mention. There have to be hard and substantiative facts that make one system better than another for one or more tasks before you could credibly say "My OS is better than yours".
Secondly it is conceptually trivial for someone to write a Linux GUI that manages to hide the most complex parts of the system and make it akin to Windows as far as the user is concerned.
Sure, many people will not like it but it's quite possible. I'm not sure that this would be a useful step to take given the GUI should really be made to work in an easier way to Windows, but nevertheless it is possible.
It would be nice if Linux could function as a great desktop and be faster than Win2K for > 50% of all comparable features but until this happens it won't be taking over the desktop, I imagine.
Some may say it has already achieved this, but my jury is out.
No but the EU have said to BT 'you will unbundle yourlocal loop ASAP' to which BT have gone 'Oh but we can't' in a whiny horrid voice.
Oftel are being crap at making them actually do it, and say that July is the earliest it can be done.
Well done to you too - the indignant responses are as funny as anything.
People get way too paranoid about this sort of stuff, and are ripe for gently taking the piss out of.
There is - it is called CGI. You can write CGIs in C, Perl, shell script, LISP or whatever you want.
BTW if you like ASP then try the Chili!Soft ASP add-on, or get Apache::ASP for ASP using Perl, or use the OpenASP module.
I say stick with mod_perl and HTML::Mason for best results.
I am using Mason to develop a large-ish site for selling goods on-line and I've found it fantastic.
The flexibility and power of the system is truly astonishing.
For those not in the know - each page is constructed out of components which are a mixture of HTML and Perl, very much like PHP. Components can output something but don't necessarily have to. The best bit is that their output can be cached so using the same component 50 times in the same page will not require it to be processed 50 times.
I'd love to see how mod_perl/Mason stacks up against the competition performance-wise.
This is, for me, the future of web development with Perl.
I'm using right now (the joys of being a student at a rich university) Silicon Graphics workstation with a 1600SW monitor - 1600x1024 LCD screen. Very nice picture, easy on the eye and has a very small desk footprint.
These can work with as PC using a special graphics card from Oxygen, I believe.
Not sure if they can be fixed up to hang from a wall, but for a desktop they get my vote.
There is a real case of wanting to have your cake and eat it here. You want Linux to remain stable and retain "underground" credibility but you want to see it adopted wider. We all do, of course. Is there any way to get around the problems commercial pressures cause, with the inevitable bugs cropping up aplenty? Perhaps. Because the GPL allows us to mess around with the code and release it again, it is not difficult to see people who need stability using one of a range of distributions that strives for the Linux you know and love, whereas the people who want features, features, features get their Windows-like distribution. This is already happening. As long as the support is directed where it is needed there is plenty of reason to expect success.
Good coders make themselves known
on
Too Old To Code?
·
· Score: 1
Good coders are what people want. People who can learn, people who can apply previous knowledge to new problems, people who can be creative. If you can demonstrate this objectively surely you should get snapped up by some smart company somewhere? To use Slashdot's favourite hacker as an example, can you imagine Alan Cox going for a job coding C or device drivers and getting told "Sorry you're over 30 and you're no good"? Of course not, because he's got proven skill in his field. Learning needn't become impossible as you get older. Yes it may take a bit more time, but really good coders aren't just automatons, they are people who apply themselves diligently and consistently. No-one wants a coder who shows flashes of brilliance but is unreliable. Since when have diligence and consistency been attributes only available to those under 35? Of course if you want to really get into the big money in a sure-fire way you'll be in management by the time you're 40, but hey it isn't everyone's bag.:-)
They're both incomplete descriptions of nature, that is for sure. Who is to say in 50 years time we will not see an entirely different method of thinking about physics and we'll look back and laugh at what we now consider accepted ideas?
Adrian should have been more careful. The university have acted lawfully here. Under UK law if they have reason to believe there MIGHT be an infringement of the law then they must pull the page. They can put it back up again if there is nothing illegal of course. ZDNet are quoting it as the college computer officer who asked him to pull the page when I have been told he's not to blame.
Slashdot Mirror
If you move back to Scotland you'll find that you have rights to free speech etc. just like in the US.
Better than most, agreed.
Better than all? That's the thrust of the question that was asked - "Is the United States still the best choice.."
Now that we have proper human rights legislation here in Britain I'd be inclined to say "No", if only because the US is as free. Note not less free.
The challenge for the US is to not let the freedom of one party impinge on the freedoms of others, namely big business trampling on ordinary people.
It's always happened, for sure, but now we're all so much more connected we're all aware it goes on.
Maybe they just meant "Fool who can't work out for themselves that the story is really what it is purported to be"?
This is very funny indeed, but you've got to admire them for not removing it. They're almost inviting pot-shots but it's kind of noble.
Not enough.
Users may not WANT to understand how the distros truly work and it would be suicidally bad to force them to compile their own binaries.
Just because someone might think users SHOULD learn how an OS is put together doesn't mean it is the right decision to make. You'd only keep out those who couldn't be bothered and stop a great many people from beginning to learn about computing outside of the Windows environment.
I'm as ex-pat as someone who has lived here my entire life ie. not at all.
:-)
Most of the broadsheets do NOT have a bias towards government. The Times and Telegraph are right-wing and The Telegraph is practically Conservative Central Office Daily.
The Guardian is radical, rather than left-wing, and tried to say something interesting but often shows tired old anti-Tory bias (not even pro-Labour). The Independent tries very hard to be, but I can't comment too much as I'm not a regular reader.
As for the beef thing - all the papers, especially the Daily mail, treat health matters with this 'startled sheep' attitude. Out comes a new report suggesting there may be a link between breathing and cancer.
"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE" says the Mail.
Out comes another report saying drinking lots of alcohol can help prevent some odd disease or other.
"ALCOHOLICS 'LIVE LONGER'" says the Mail.
It's the same attitude over Europe except the coverage is always in one direction only.
Frankly most of the papers don't have much of a clue about this communications malarky and are not going to give it the proper coverage it deserves. Coverage of RIP was not exactly great.
We need more high-quality competition in the computer marketplace. Good to see Amiga back.
Apparently they've got lots of pre-orders already.
A troll is a remark designed to inflame. You remarked, and chose to leave the remark without any sort of support.
If it wasn't a troll, then it was misguided.
As is your bizarre statement about concepts and triviality. I specifically said "conceptually" because the software internals would be extremely complex. But as a concept, placing a layer of abstraction over the workings of the system to hide it to the necessary degree IS trivial. I could draw you a diagram if you like.
Fact is that not every system suits every purpose, and right now Windows *is* a better desktop system but Linux need not be worse forever and "30-year old technology" will not hold it back if someone chooses to take it in that direction.
Ha! No, but I just want to know who in the British press has this particular opinion.
I do try to keep abreast of the press in the UK and am well aware of the bias inherent in 99% of the stuff I read but this particular view seems a bit too much like a cartoon character.
The '30-year old technology' troll is pretty jaded by now isn't it?
First of all anecdotes do not a good OS make, and that goes for any *nix you could care to mention. There have to be hard and substantiative facts that make one system better than another for one or more tasks before you could credibly say "My OS is better than yours".
Secondly it is conceptually trivial for someone to write a Linux GUI that manages to hide the most complex parts of the system and make it akin to Windows as far as the user is concerned.
Sure, many people will not like it but it's quite possible. I'm not sure that this would be a useful step to take given the GUI should really be made to work in an easier way to Windows, but nevertheless it is possible.
It would be nice if Linux could function as a great desktop and be faster than Win2K for > 50% of all comparable features but until this happens it won't be taking over the desktop, I imagine.
Some may say it has already achieved this, but my jury is out.
No but the EU have said to BT 'you will unbundle yourlocal loop ASAP' to which BT have gone 'Oh but we can't' in a whiny horrid voice.
Oftel are being crap at making them actually do it, and say that July is the earliest it can be done.
Emigrate. Now.
Well done to you too - the indignant responses are as funny as anything.
People get way too paranoid about this sort of stuff, and are ripe for gently taking the piss out of.
Who exactly in the British press has this opinion?
There is - it is called CGI. You can write CGIs in C, Perl, shell script, LISP or whatever you want.
BTW if you like ASP then try the Chili!Soft ASP add-on, or get Apache::ASP for ASP using Perl, or use the OpenASP module.
I say stick with mod_perl and HTML::Mason for best results.
I am using Mason to develop a large-ish site for selling goods on-line and I've found it fantastic.
The flexibility and power of the system is truly astonishing.
For those not in the know - each page is constructed out of components which are a mixture of HTML and Perl, very much like PHP. Components can output something but don't necessarily have to. The best bit is that their output can be cached so using the same component 50 times in the same page will not require it to be processed 50 times.
I'd love to see how mod_perl/Mason stacks up against the competition performance-wise.
This is, for me, the future of web development with Perl.
I know it is bad form to follow up your own posts but I posted this without thinking. Sorry - should have read the story properly first!
I'm using right now (the joys of being a student at a rich university) Silicon Graphics workstation with a 1600SW monitor - 1600x1024 LCD screen. Very nice picture, easy on the eye and has a very small desk footprint.
These can work with as PC using a special graphics card from Oxygen, I believe.
Not sure if they can be fixed up to hang from a wall, but for a desktop they get my vote.
Only it is an awful lot more constructive than yours. If you have an opinion on anything, that is.
"From New Scientist, 10 April 1999"
Are there any more recent articles of this nature?
Yeah but Simon's quite a good hacker. He seems to have a genuine and deeply-rooted clue about technical matters, at least to me.
There is a real case of wanting to have your cake and eat it here. You want Linux to remain stable and retain "underground" credibility but you want to see it adopted wider. We all do, of course.
Is there any way to get around the problems commercial pressures cause, with the inevitable bugs cropping up aplenty? Perhaps.
Because the GPL allows us to mess around with the code and release it again, it is not difficult to see people who need stability using one of a range of distributions that strives for the Linux you know and love, whereas the people who want features, features, features get their Windows-like distribution.
This is already happening. As long as the support is directed where it is needed there is plenty of reason to expect success.
Good coders are what people want. People who can learn, people who can apply previous knowledge to new problems, people who can be creative. :-)
If you can demonstrate this objectively surely you should get snapped up by some smart company somewhere?
To use Slashdot's favourite hacker as an example, can you imagine Alan Cox going for a job coding C or device drivers and getting told "Sorry you're over 30 and you're no good"?
Of course not, because he's got proven skill in his field.
Learning needn't become impossible as you get older. Yes it may take a bit more time, but really good coders aren't just automatons, they are people who apply themselves diligently and consistently. No-one wants a coder who shows flashes of brilliance but is unreliable.
Since when have diligence and consistency been attributes only available to those under 35?
Of course if you want to really get into the big money in a sure-fire way you'll be in management by the time you're 40, but hey it isn't everyone's bag.
They're both incomplete descriptions of nature, that is for sure.
Who is to say in 50 years time we will not see an entirely different method of thinking about physics and we'll look back and laugh at what we now consider accepted ideas?
Adrian should have been more careful. The university have acted lawfully here. Under UK law if they have reason to believe there MIGHT be an infringement of the law then they must pull the page. They can put it back up again if there is nothing illegal of course.
ZDNet are quoting it as the college computer officer who asked him to pull the page when I have been told he's not to blame.