From what I read of it, it seems to be an antenna that can transmit data at speeds faster than the speed of light. It seems that it does not transmit conventional matter and consequently cannot send a space ship through it. This brings up interesting solutions to problems with any sort of "intergalactic Internet."
I would first like to say that this was not a troll. I merely provided my view regarding phrawzty's comment that Slackware was geared for "the Linux user that knows what they're doing." I was not even debating any merits or dismerits of Slackware.
Note that my purpose was not to disparage Slackware in any way. I was simply refuting phrawzty's comment that Slackware is so much more geared to "the Linux user that knows what they're doing." The FAQ you pointed out says that one of the reasons they skipped major version numbers was "just to make it clear to people who don't know anything about Linux that Slackware's libraries, compilers, and other stuff are not 3 major versions behind." This does not seem to say they are geared toward experienced and informed Linux user, but rather try to make Slackware appeal more to the newbie Linux user.
If Slackware is so "geared towards the linux user that already knows what they're doing" why did they skip three version numbers so people would think that Slackware is newer than all the other distros. Any "linux user that already knows what they're doing" knows that Slackware 4 is not 2 versions older than Red Hat 6. If anything, skipping 3 version numbers might discourage a hardcore Linux user.
I submitted an article (declined) a while ago regarding a French intelligence report that National Security Agency agents had installed monitoring software, "secret programs," in Microsoft software. Another good reason to keep stuff open-source, turn a blind eye for this to ever happen with Linux...
All minor-odd numbered kernels are designated Development, a tree where new features can be added to the kernel without sacrificing stability. All minor-even numbered kernels are designated Stable. Consequently, by the very definition of the numbering of Linux kernel's, a 2.3.x kernel cannot be Stable.
Regardless, the very process by which one would make the 2.3 kernel stable would produce a kernel for the 2.4 kernel tree, and consequently be a Stable kernel.
If all you want is USB support, there are patches to add USB support to the current Stable kernel, if you just look around for them.
Just because it's a pre does not mean that it is stable at all. It merely means that there will be no more non-pending features added. In other words, the focus will be on making it stable, rather than on adding new features. Consequently, this pre/2.3.51 should not be expected to be any more stable than 2.3.50 or any other 2.3.x It is merely the beginning of making the kernel stable for 2.4
If a person cannot figure out how to read and assimiliate the abundance of information regarding the downloading, configuration, and installation of either the Stable or Development kernels, what I said above still applies. If they can figure out how to do that, then they know how to compile and install a development kernel, and consequently, what I originally said would not apply to them anyway.
Different devel kernels are broken and unbroken all the time. Some hardware configurations will work perfectly, while others will crash and burn. Consequently, it is not definitive that a 2.3. (x + 1) is going to be any more stable than a 2.3. (x)
If you do not know how to "get these pre2.4 kernels up and running" you should not be doing it. For those that say there needs to be as many people running these as possible, I say: if a person can't even figure out how to install the kernel, how much help are they going to be in isolating and helpfully reporting bugs?
It seems to me that XFree86 has bad releasing practices. While skipping from 3.3 to 4.0 isn't all that bad, it would err on the bad side if anything. That's not the major thing though.
I first saw it when they said that 3.9.18 was going to be the last pre-4.0, they should say this. If the stable kernel development coordinator had said that 2.2.15pre13 was going to be the last 2.2.15pre, it would be the same thing. (For those of you that don't know, that was a relatively buggy pre). If something was needed to be fixed in XFree86 3.9.18, they should fix it, not just shove it out the door. Otherwise, they're not better than Microsoft.
Right on the XFree86 homepage, it says of the 4.0 release:
If you're looking for a stable version of XFree86, you might be better off with the latest 3.3.x release.
Now I ask you this: isn't this supposed to be a stable release?
Here's more info for all of you who cannot visit the site:
The major part of this demo is a movie of in-game action rendered with the Parsec game engine. The demo is composed out of several actual network game sessions that was recorded using Parsec's in-game recording feature. It is 11:40 minutes long and features nice background music.
There is also a "free flight mode" where people can select their ship and navigate outer-space, collecting power-ups and such. However, there are no opponents, since the demo does not contain any networking code. Still, pilots can steer their spacecraft and fly around.
There is also a TIMEDEMO feature that is available.
The minimum recommended CPU is a Pentium 200 although a Pentium 300 is recommended. The minimum memory requirement is 64MB although 128MB or more is recommended. 65MB of hard disk space is also required. It is required that you have a Voodoo card (Glide), as GLX is not yet there. Kernel 2.2, glibc 2.1, and X (or svgalib) is also required.
The wonder of this article is that it exposes the lack of verification by Slashdot editors and the frequency with which commenters do not even read the article in question. One wonders if a submission of the infamous goatske.** would be accepted and discussed by the Slashdot readership using the comment included with the submission as a basis. This reminds me of when an AC posted, regarding a development kernel release: "Linus' comments:" and then linked to goatske.**
Although Linux already has a pair of evolving GUIs -- KDE and Gnome -- neither is anywhere near as easy to set up and use as the Mac OS or Windows. Indeed, users must occasionally resort to typing commands into a command-line interface.
No mention of "neither [KDE or GNOME] has a graphical file manager." They must have changed it. However, it's still wrong, both KDE and GNOME can come preconfigured with no setup required. If anyone wants to configure them, it's no harder than to configure Windows.
On Freshmeat, there is rarely any meaningful discussion of software announcements, especially regarding essential components of the system as glibc. There is, however, a plethora of meaningful discussion and insight on Slashdot about important software releases that one is unable to find on Freshmeat. I know I am pleased to find an outlet for mine and others' ideas regarding various things such as X and kernels that, if posted in in Reply to an article regarding, say, Privacy, would be moderated down as Offtopic and consequently not seen by anyone.
"Using the Insert Link command (or the Link button) in Composer or when composing HTML messages may cause Communicator to crash." This is a brand-spanking new bug in Netscape 4.72 Why don't they fix this stuff before they release it? Or, barring that, at least take out the feature so people don't crash Netscape by using it.
"If you attempt to use Messenger the very first time you run Communicator, it may quit with an "Illegal instruction" message."
"If you delete your only IMAP server and then add a POP server, Communicator may quit."
"A previous workaround for Unix systems, to avoid the freezing on startup of the edit or compose window, has been changed." Is it just me, or does this just sound silly? Changing workarounds, why don't they just fix it!?
I wouldn't mind this so much, except they're introducing new features, mostly useless features, before they even bother to fix these bugs.
In my opinion, the television newsmedia is quite possibly the worst thing to ever happen to America. It may not have killed anyone (although they love it when that happens), but it does something much worse: it breeds ignorance.
They bally about the most sensationalistic news that have no real impact on a person and don't even give mention of truely important things. So much so, that I don't even watch any television news.
The Internet fulfills what TV newsmedia used to be best at: providing instantaneous coverage of important news events. Newspapers, while not the most immediate news source, provide a more indepth and better researched look at things. They are also not as sensationalistic.
Consequently, regarding what you said that a frontpage story about McCain beating out Bush, I had not heard about that. However, even if I had, I appreciate the much more indepth look that is in the newspapers rather than the cursory reporting done by the television newsmedia.
The one thing that I would appreciate much more in the newspapers is more technology coverage. I also find that the minimal coverage found in most newspapers is not very well researched with glaring inaccuracies. While I appreciate the increased technology coverage found in my local newspaper, The Boston Globe, I find that it is still not enough.
I still find it odd that there is so much more coverage about a small thing half a world away than there is about some important thing related to technology.
In posting this comment, all my moderations for this story have been undone, so. Well, if anyone wants to moderate this up like I was going to, please do so.:)
I'm SO DUMB, if any admins like Roblimo, CmdrTaco, CowboyNeal whatever see this, please somehow undo the moderation of "Redundant" and change it to "Insightful" (bringing it up 2 points from what it is now, 1 point from what it was originally). Or even if any goodnatured moderators want to. I meant to moderate it "Insightful" but I missed and moderated it "Redundant" by accident.
(Note: I can't just remoderate again, once a comment is moderated by someone, the same person can't moderate it again.)
Slashdot Mirror
From what I read of it, it seems to be an antenna that can transmit data at speeds faster than the speed of light. It seems that it does not transmit conventional matter and consequently cannot send a space ship through it. This brings up interesting solutions to problems with any sort of "intergalactic Internet."
Chris Hagar
I would first like to say that this was not a troll. I merely provided my view regarding phrawzty's comment that Slackware was geared for "the Linux user that knows what they're doing." I was not even debating any merits or dismerits of Slackware.
Chris Hagar
Note that my purpose was not to disparage Slackware in any way. I was simply refuting phrawzty's comment that Slackware is so much more geared to "the Linux user that knows what they're doing." The FAQ you pointed out says that one of the reasons they skipped major version numbers was "just to make it clear to people who don't know anything about Linux that Slackware's libraries, compilers, and other stuff are not 3 major versions behind." This does not seem to say they are geared toward experienced and informed Linux user, but rather try to make Slackware appeal more to the newbie Linux user.
Chris Hagar
If Slackware is so "geared towards the linux user that already knows what they're doing" why did they skip three version numbers so people would think that Slackware is newer than all the other distros. Any "linux user that already knows what they're doing" knows that Slackware 4 is not 2 versions older than Red Hat 6. If anything, skipping 3 version numbers might discourage a hardcore Linux user.
Chris Hagar
I submitted an article (declined) a while ago regarding a French intelligence report that National Security Agency agents had installed monitoring software, "secret programs," in Microsoft software. Another good reason to keep stuff open-source, turn a blind eye for this to ever happen with Linux...
Chris Hagar
Regardless, the very process by which one would make the 2.3 kernel stable would produce a kernel for the 2.4 kernel tree, and consequently be a Stable kernel.
If all you want is USB support, there are patches to add USB support to the current Stable kernel, if you just look around for them.
Chris Hagar
Just because it's a pre does not mean that it is stable at all. It merely means that there will be no more non-pending features added. In other words, the focus will be on making it stable, rather than on adding new features. Consequently, this pre/2.3.51 should not be expected to be any more stable than 2.3.50 or any other 2.3.x It is merely the beginning of making the kernel stable for 2.4
Chris Hagar
If a person cannot figure out how to read and assimiliate the abundance of information regarding the downloading, configuration, and installation of either the Stable or Development kernels, what I said above still applies. If they can figure out how to do that, then they know how to compile and install a development kernel, and consequently, what I originally said would not apply to them anyway.
Chris Hagar
Different devel kernels are broken and unbroken all the time. Some hardware configurations will work perfectly, while others will crash and burn. Consequently, it is not definitive that a 2.3. (x + 1) is going to be any more stable than a 2.3. (x)
Chris Hagar
If you do not know how to "get these pre2.4 kernels up and running" you should not be doing it. For those that say there needs to be as many people running these as possible, I say: if a person can't even figure out how to install the kernel, how much help are they going to be in isolating and helpfully reporting bugs?
Chris Hagar
I first saw it when they said that 3.9.18 was going to be the last pre-4.0, they should say this. If the stable kernel development coordinator had said that 2.2.15pre13 was going to be the last 2.2.15pre, it would be the same thing. (For those of you that don't know, that was a relatively buggy pre). If something was needed to be fixed in XFree86 3.9.18, they should fix it, not just shove it out the door. Otherwise, they're not better than Microsoft.
Right on the XFree86 homepage, it says of the 4.0 release:
If you're looking for a stable version of XFree86, you might be better off with the latest 3.3.x release.
Now I ask you this: isn't this supposed to be a stable release?
Chris Hagar
I believe that he meant that the "entire Linux system" is not as free or open-source with the inclusion of XFree86 4.0
Chris Hagar
Now tell me, how is this "Funny" enough to be rated to a 5?
Chris Hagar
Now, how many version numbers does this warrant?
Chris Hagar
As long as this eliminates AC's, I'll be happy ;)
Chris Hagar
The major part of this demo is a movie of in-game action rendered with the Parsec game engine. The demo is composed out of several actual network game sessions that was recorded using Parsec's in-game recording feature. It is 11:40 minutes long and features nice background music.
There is also a "free flight mode" where people can select their ship and navigate outer-space, collecting power-ups and such. However, there are no opponents, since the demo does not contain any networking code. Still, pilots can steer their spacecraft and fly around.
There is also a TIMEDEMO feature that is available.
The minimum recommended CPU is a Pentium 200 although a Pentium 300 is recommended. The minimum memory requirement is 64MB although 128MB or more is recommended. 65MB of hard disk space is also required. It is required that you have a Voodoo card (Glide), as GLX is not yet there. Kernel 2.2, glibc 2.1, and X (or svgalib) is also required.
The source is not available.
Chris Hagar
The wonder of this article is that it exposes the lack of verification by Slashdot editors and the frequency with which commenters do not even read the article in question. One wonders if a submission of the infamous goatske.** would be accepted and discussed by the Slashdot readership using the comment included with the submission as a basis. This reminds me of when an AC posted, regarding a development kernel release: "Linus' comments:" and then linked to goatske.**
Chris Hagar
Although Linux already has a pair of evolving GUIs -- KDE and Gnome -- neither is anywhere near as easy to set up and use as the Mac OS or Windows. Indeed, users must occasionally resort to typing commands into a command-line interface.
No mention of "neither [KDE or GNOME] has a graphical file manager." They must have changed it. However, it's still wrong, both KDE and GNOME can come preconfigured with no setup required. If anyone wants to configure them, it's no harder than to configure Windows.
Chris Hagar
Now who are these people, did they find them in a dumpster outside of Transmeta?
Chris Hagar
On Freshmeat, there is rarely any meaningful discussion of software announcements, especially regarding essential components of the system as glibc. There is, however, a plethora of meaningful discussion and insight on Slashdot about important software releases that one is unable to find on Freshmeat. I know I am pleased to find an outlet for mine and others' ideas regarding various things such as X and kernels that, if posted in in Reply to an article regarding, say, Privacy, would be moderated down as Offtopic and consequently not seen by anyone.
Chris Hagar
"Using the Insert Link command (or the Link button) in Composer or when composing HTML messages may cause Communicator to crash." This is a brand-spanking new bug in Netscape 4.72 Why don't they fix this stuff before they release it? Or, barring that, at least take out the feature so people don't crash Netscape by using it.
"If you attempt to use Messenger the very first time you run Communicator, it may quit with an "Illegal instruction" message."
"If you delete your only IMAP server and then add a POP server, Communicator may quit."
"A previous workaround for Unix systems, to avoid the freezing on startup of the edit or compose window, has been changed." Is it just me, or does this just sound silly? Changing workarounds, why don't they just fix it!?
I wouldn't mind this so much, except they're introducing new features, mostly useless features, before they even bother to fix these bugs.
Chris Hagar
Summary of new features in 3.9.17 compared with 3.9.16: http://www.xfree86.org/3.9.18/RELNOT ES2.html
Summary of new features in 3.9.16 compared with 3.9.15: http://www.xfree86.org/3.9.18/RELNOT ES3.html
Chris Hagar
They bally about the most sensationalistic news that have no real impact on a person and don't even give mention of truely important things. So much so, that I don't even watch any television news.
The Internet fulfills what TV newsmedia used to be best at: providing instantaneous coverage of important news events. Newspapers, while not the most immediate news source, provide a more indepth and better researched look at things. They are also not as sensationalistic.
Consequently, regarding what you said that a frontpage story about McCain beating out Bush, I had not heard about that. However, even if I had, I appreciate the much more indepth look that is in the newspapers rather than the cursory reporting done by the television newsmedia.
The one thing that I would appreciate much more in the newspapers is more technology coverage. I also find that the minimal coverage found in most newspapers is not very well researched with glaring inaccuracies. While I appreciate the increased technology coverage found in my local newspaper, The Boston Globe, I find that it is still not enough.
I still find it odd that there is so much more coverage about a small thing half a world away than there is about some important thing related to technology.
Chris Hagar
In posting this comment, all my moderations for this story have been undone, so. Well, if anyone wants to moderate this up like I was going to, please do so. :)
Chris Hagar
(Note: I can't just remoderate again, once a comment is moderated by someone, the same person can't moderate it again.)
Chris Hagar