...give him what he needs, rather what he asks for. If he looks at a competing website, and thinks that it is "exactly" the same as what you're doing, this is a classic case of failed requirements gathering. For one thing, he obviously doesn't know what you're doing for him. Another thing, if his comparison of that other site to yours is puzzling to you, you obviously don't have his full requirements.
Obviously, if you just give him the same thing as what that other site presents, he'll regret it. And, you'll regret it as it probably doesn't really cover his needs. You need to find out what he needs. Then, present it to him as a clarifying document so that he can see what you're doing for him, and if he agrees with it.
Use that other site as a base and start talking to your client about what he finds good about it. Then, find out what he finds missing in that site and yours (if you have something he can see). To fill in the puzzle of his needs, you need to pump him for requirements, and avoid giving him more sugar than he can handle. It wouldn't hurt to put together a diagram of his business process pertaining to the site. But, if you think it's overkill, at least put together a Functional Specification (really just a list of things he needs the site to be able to do) that describes what the site should do as part of his business. This can be the beginning of a contract that you and your client can come to agreement on, and anything else outside that contract is out of scope until the next revision. This will reduce some of the annoyance in dealing with a none-technical person who also happens to hold the purse-strings.
It's based on a book by Art Bell, the Coming Global Superstorm
That's what they claim, but the story and plot seems to be a direct rip-off of "ICE!" by Arnold Federbush, written in 1978. Even the book cover (painted by Lou Feck) is nearly identical with the movie trailer scene of a bird's-eye view of New York buried in snow, and tiny people tracking through the dunes (the book's cover still has the twin towers).
It's based on a book by Art Bell, the Coming Global Superstorm
That's what they claim, but the story and plot seems to be a direct rip-off of "ICE!" by Arnold Federbush, written in 1978. Even the book cover (painted by Lou Feck) is nearly identical with the movie trailer scene of a bird's-eye view of New York buried in snow, and tiny people tracking through the dunes (the book's cover still has the twin towers).
I have a DishNetwork DVR that runs Linux. It has two tuners and two outputs so that you can watch and record on two separate television sets in different rooms (yes, it means more cabling). The difference with the Roku is that I enjoy the DishNetwork DVR very much as it's well set up and fairly easy to use.
However, like the Roku, the sucker is unstable and crashes at least once a week. I mean, the whole bloody thing just shuts down, and you end up with an awful burst of snow and white-noise on the TV. Then, it takes something like 5 minutes for it to boot back up again. It's either poor hardware design, or poor software engineering to support the hardware.
Tivo showed us that a company is fully capable of doing the right things with Linux. But, what's amazing is that nobody appears to have bothered to learn from Tivo as an example in how to do things right: whether Roku or DishNetwork.
As an aside, according to this, older versions of the DVR ran XFS for file management. My 522DVR probably does as well. I wonder if the file system is unstable?
Apparently, Plone was already GPL'd. Computer Assoc, a seedy bunch to begin with, will remove Plone from under the GPL and put it under a weaker license.
If there's enough momentum (if the app is any good) you should see a fork that will continue development under the GPL.
3. The PostgreSQL client libraries are BSD, while the MySQL libraries are GPL. If I make commercial apps, I would have to buy a commercial license from MySQL Ab.
I have to clarify something that others may misunderstand in your list.
I believe you meant to say, "If I make proprietary apps". There are plenty of non-proprietary commercial apps out there that are Open Sourced (even GPL'd): RedHat Linux, FireBird, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and now Ingres.
Wouldn't this be easily settled by supplying the jury with a pre-1985 copy of "This Old House", or contractor magazine, where it describes installing easily breakable glass plating over rectangular security holes in walls? Then the lawyers can point out that this has been going on since Roman times?
I believe their main contribution to our culture is their literature.
Through which we model our own culture and ideas about ourselves. In the Illiad and Odyssey, we see ourselves and who we would like to be and what we should find repugnant. We don't follow the Egyptians, who's ways are rather alien to us now. And, we don't follow the Chinese who's philosophies are often too ephemeral for our gross tastes. We follow the Hellenese because their arts were physically emotional and their sciences were concretely logical. Naturally, most of us don't read this stuff first hand as the context may not be familiar. But, nearly every time you open a modern novel, go to a movie theater, or flip on the boob-tube, you'll see the descendents of Hellenistic arts (classical and post-classical) at its worst, and occasionally, at its best.
Have you looked at what's getting patented these days?
Yes, and it's become a joke. On the other hand, getting an invalid patent (while a simple process), is a different situation from keeping one once it has been proven to be invalid. If they don't own proof of origin prior to Sir Tim's proposal over six years ago, it's invalid.
The passing of the law that allowed Politicans to hide how they spend money given to them and who gave it to them was the start of the downfall of America.
Which law is that (name, bill number)? Are there laws that later dealt with this law by either making it more transaparent or less likely to be abused? Not disputing, just researching.
Were the support people also unfamiliar with the *nix world?
Sure, why not? That's one of the points of his article; that it's like the blind leading the blind. There's no disputing it at all that certain vendors are overselling ease of use on "every" desktop. There's a place for most Linux distributions on certain desktops. But, not on every desktop, not at this stage. It's inevitable that it will rule there eventually, just as it's asserting itself on the server-side. However, it will take a while.
A more constructive article would've been to report what he did. What failed, and how tech support failed. Then, ask the community how to solve the problem. Afterwards, he could put out a second article with the resolution so that the community could see past their individual issues (since the resolution came from them anyhow), and understand his point of view about misrepresentation by the commercial distributions. Instead, he got attacked by hot-heads in the community who are tired of the SCO/Toqueville/MacroShaft FUD, and all of a sudden he's on the defensive asking what the hell did he do to deserve the abuse. Not constructive at all, but hopefully somewhat instructive for his next attempt at an article about Open Source; particularly during a period when Open Source is dubious of critical articles that could as easily have been a plant by a ruthless monopoly.
The community's been potshot at so often with false accusations in recent years, is it any wonder our hotter heads are suspicious and trigger-happy?
I'm willing to wager that the 'bugs' your filed in 'net use' were actually screwups on your end, and not product defects. And I'm also willing to wager that they are documented in the MSKB.
Why would his alleged screwups be in MacroShaft's KnowledgeBase? Boy, talk about covering your bets!
the regulars on alt.quotations take their hobby very seriously indeed.
Perhaps, but not serious enough to find an author for the quote. There are other serious hobbyists as well, astrologists for instance, whose inegrity towards their pastime I wouldn't doubt. Whether they are correct or not, I wouldn't use their newsgroup discussions as final authority on their subject matter. I'd much rather use them as a source of clues for further research.
Well, thats kind of tricky without showing you every recorded statement by Franklin.
No, only where it is correctly attributed to someone else would be sufficient. Also, keep in mind that it may simply be something that Franklin had said to someone in conversation and he didn't write it down himself. And, the person who it may have been said to documented it, but may not have correctly dated the quote and placed it in the proper context. On the other hand, it may be an identical situation, but Jefferson being the speaker, rather than Franklin. The point is, until the quote's author is identified, to claim that Franklin didn't say it is as invalid as saying he did.
With that said, the sentiment of the quote has me leaning towards the idea that it may be a Founding Father, or one of their close contemporaries, as the original author. However, I suppose the phrasing could lead someone to believe that the original quote, sentiment, or phrase may have been altered by someone else at a later time.
Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Mason, Washington, or any other Founding Father could have easily said it, or something like it. As students of ancient societies, including Rome, they were aware of the single danger in a democracy (that a populist vote will place a tyrant in charge who will then turn to oppress the people, whether a minority or the majority), and the second amendment indicates the necessity to protect against that danger. This is not to say that Jefferson and Franklin weren't for the populist view, they were as they were also students of American Indians and their ways (where morals were controlled by society without codified laws, but with what the majority considered appropriate).
Alternatively, if you can find either (i) a constitutional scholar who believes that Franklin did say it or (ii) a citation from Franklins writings where it, or anything like it appears, I'll concede.
No need to concede as we're not in contention. I can't claim he did say it. I just pointed out that no one seems to be able to prove he didn't. Without that proof, such as finding an instance of it prior to Franklin's birth, he may or may not have said it. I think it would be safe to say that if he wrote it, someone would've eventually dug it up if the matter was of great importance to that person and if he had the resources to do so. Whether such an attempt and circumstance has occured is also a mystery.
As for finding sources, it may be beyond either of our abilities. However, I can point out that the sentiment of protecting the populace from the single danger in a Democracy can be traced to the Founding Fathers in this chapter from Johansen's scholarly work and this well written allegory. Notice how wolves and sheep appear important to Jefferson as metaphors and simile for the populace and their governments in the sixth chapter from the Forgotten Founders. This may be a more recent edition of that book.
This is not to say that Franklin or Jefferson did say the words of the quote, only that they, and their friends probably wouldn't have disagreed with it. However, it doesn't vindicate associating those words with a person unless the person actually said them.
Slashdot Mirror
Obviously, if you just give him the same thing as what that other site presents, he'll regret it. And, you'll regret it as it probably doesn't really cover his needs. You need to find out what he needs. Then, present it to him as a clarifying document so that he can see what you're doing for him, and if he agrees with it.
Use that other site as a base and start talking to your client about what he finds good about it. Then, find out what he finds missing in that site and yours (if you have something he can see). To fill in the puzzle of his needs, you need to pump him for requirements, and avoid giving him more sugar than he can handle. It wouldn't hurt to put together a diagram of his business process pertaining to the site. But, if you think it's overkill, at least put together a Functional Specification (really just a list of things he needs the site to be able to do) that describes what the site should do as part of his business. This can be the beginning of a contract that you and your client can come to agreement on, and anything else outside that contract is out of scope until the next revision. This will reduce some of the annoyance in dealing with a none-technical person who also happens to hold the purse-strings.
= 9J =
That's what they claim, but the story and plot seems to be a direct rip-off of "ICE!" by Arnold Federbush, written in 1978. Even the book cover (painted by Lou Feck) is nearly identical with the movie trailer scene of a bird's-eye view of New York buried in snow, and tiny people tracking through the dunes (the book's cover still has the twin towers).
= 9J =
That's what they claim, but the story and plot seems to be a direct rip-off of "ICE!" by Arnold Federbush, written in 1978. Even the book cover (painted by Lou Feck) is nearly identical with the movie trailer scene of a bird's-eye view of New York buried in snow, and tiny people tracking through the dunes (the book's cover still has the twin towers).
= 9J =
However, like the Roku, the sucker is unstable and crashes at least once a week. I mean, the whole bloody thing just shuts down, and you end up with an awful burst of snow and white-noise on the TV. Then, it takes something like 5 minutes for it to boot back up again. It's either poor hardware design, or poor software engineering to support the hardware.
Tivo showed us that a company is fully capable of doing the right things with Linux. But, what's amazing is that nobody appears to have bothered to learn from Tivo as an example in how to do things right: whether Roku or DishNetwork.
As an aside, according to this, older versions of the DVR ran XFS for file management. My 522 DVR probably does as well. I wonder if the file system is unstable?
= 9J =
If there's enough momentum (if the app is any good) you should see a fork that will continue development under the GPL.
= 9J =
I have to clarify something that others may misunderstand in your list.
I believe you meant to say, "If I make proprietary apps". There are plenty of non-proprietary commercial apps out there that are Open Sourced (even GPL'd): RedHat Linux, FireBird, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and now Ingres.
= 9J =
= 9J =
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= 9J =
= 9J =
Through which we model our own culture and ideas about ourselves. In the Illiad and Odyssey, we see ourselves and who we would like to be and what we should find repugnant. We don't follow the Egyptians, who's ways are rather alien to us now. And, we don't follow the Chinese who's philosophies are often too ephemeral for our gross tastes. We follow the Hellenese because their arts were physically emotional and their sciences were concretely logical. Naturally, most of us don't read this stuff first hand as the context may not be familiar. But, nearly every time you open a modern novel, go to a movie theater, or flip on the boob-tube, you'll see the descendents of Hellenistic arts (classical and post-classical) at its worst, and occasionally, at its best.
= 9J =
More like tightening it's sphincter.
= 9J =
= 9J =
Yes, and it's become a joke. On the other hand, getting an invalid patent (while a simple process), is a different situation from keeping one once it has been proven to be invalid. If they don't own proof of origin prior to Sir Tim's proposal over six years ago, it's invalid.
= 9J =
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The world is certainly becoming a stranger place where beer and coffee are now considered health drinks.
= 9J =
Which law is that (name, bill number)? Are there laws that later dealt with this law by either making it more transaparent or less likely to be abused? Not disputing, just researching.
= 9J =
Sure, why not? That's one of the points of his article; that it's like the blind leading the blind. There's no disputing it at all that certain vendors are overselling ease of use on "every" desktop. There's a place for most Linux distributions on certain desktops. But, not on every desktop, not at this stage. It's inevitable that it will rule there eventually, just as it's asserting itself on the server-side. However, it will take a while.
A more constructive article would've been to report what he did. What failed, and how tech support failed. Then, ask the community how to solve the problem. Afterwards, he could put out a second article with the resolution so that the community could see past their individual issues (since the resolution came from them anyhow), and understand his point of view about misrepresentation by the commercial distributions. Instead, he got attacked by hot-heads in the community who are tired of the SCO/Toqueville/MacroShaft FUD, and all of a sudden he's on the defensive asking what the hell did he do to deserve the abuse. Not constructive at all, but hopefully somewhat instructive for his next attempt at an article about Open Source; particularly during a period when Open Source is dubious of critical articles that could as easily have been a plant by a ruthless monopoly.
The community's been potshot at so often with false accusations in recent years, is it any wonder our hotter heads are suspicious and trigger-happy?
= 9J =
Why would his alleged screwups be in MacroShaft's KnowledgeBase? Boy, talk about covering your bets!
= 9J =
If true, it simply underlines Langa's inexperience with a different environment, as he's clearly a Windows user and not familiar with the *nix world.
= 9J =
Torquemada... don't beg him for mercy.
Let's face it... you can't Torquemada anything." -Mel Brooks (The History of the World)
= 9J =
= 9J =
You know what happens when you assume...you get water with memory.
= 9J =
Perhaps, but not serious enough to find an author for the quote. There are other serious hobbyists as well, astrologists for instance, whose inegrity towards their pastime I wouldn't doubt. Whether they are correct or not, I wouldn't use their newsgroup discussions as final authority on their subject matter. I'd much rather use them as a source of clues for further research.
Well, thats kind of tricky without showing you every recorded statement by Franklin.
No, only where it is correctly attributed to someone else would be sufficient. Also, keep in mind that it may simply be something that Franklin had said to someone in conversation and he didn't write it down himself. And, the person who it may have been said to documented it, but may not have correctly dated the quote and placed it in the proper context. On the other hand, it may be an identical situation, but Jefferson being the speaker, rather than Franklin. The point is, until the quote's author is identified, to claim that Franklin didn't say it is as invalid as saying he did.
With that said, the sentiment of the quote has me leaning towards the idea that it may be a Founding Father, or one of their close contemporaries, as the original author. However, I suppose the phrasing could lead someone to believe that the original quote, sentiment, or phrase may have been altered by someone else at a later time.
Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Mason, Washington, or any other Founding Father could have easily said it, or something like it. As students of ancient societies, including Rome, they were aware of the single danger in a democracy (that a populist vote will place a tyrant in charge who will then turn to oppress the people, whether a minority or the majority), and the second amendment indicates the necessity to protect against that danger. This is not to say that Jefferson and Franklin weren't for the populist view, they were as they were also students of American Indians and their ways (where morals were controlled by society without codified laws, but with what the majority considered appropriate).
Alternatively, if you can find either (i) a constitutional scholar who believes that Franklin did say it or (ii) a citation from Franklins writings where it, or anything like it appears, I'll concede.
No need to concede as we're not in contention. I can't claim he did say it. I just pointed out that no one seems to be able to prove he didn't. Without that proof, such as finding an instance of it prior to Franklin's birth, he may or may not have said it. I think it would be safe to say that if he wrote it, someone would've eventually dug it up if the matter was of great importance to that person and if he had the resources to do so. Whether such an attempt and circumstance has occured is also a mystery.
As for finding sources, it may be beyond either of our abilities. However, I can point out that the sentiment of protecting the populace from the single danger in a Democracy can be traced to the Founding Fathers in this chapter from Johansen's scholarly work and this well written allegory. Notice how wolves and sheep appear important to Jefferson as metaphors and simile for the populace and their governments in the sixth chapter from the Forgotten Founders. This may be a more recent edition of that book.
This is not to say that Franklin or Jefferson did say the words of the quote, only that they, and their friends probably wouldn't have disagreed with it. However, it doesn't vindicate associating those words with a person unless the person actually said them.
Notice how easy it is to find an at