I love when people get riled up about this and say stuff like "The fact is your company has no qualms about taking somebody else's hard work, so I guess I can see why you'd be paranoid." Like it or not, IP is a big deal in this day and age. Many companies are simply not willing to give away their work for free.
We respect the GPL, we respect its terms. That's EXACTLY why we aren't using it. This isn't necessarily a problem. We would prefer to use high-quality, open source software. GPL doesn't allow us to resell it, BSD does. So we will use BSD. It's just if Linux *wants* to see more widespread usage for things like custom embedded systems, the GPL holds it back. Maybe Linux *doesn't* want or need this - it's thriving fine on the desktop by people contributing back.
Amazing picture. After travelling Europe for 2 months it's interesting to pick off the major cities and their light densities. For example, Paris, Florence and Rome are clear.
I'm wondering, what's the dense spot right above Italy? Or maybe in Italy? Milan? I'd guess it's in Switzerland but I'm not sure. Bern? Zurich? Anyone know?
I neglected to mention that they want to sell this embedded system for a profit. (The complete system, not just the kernel or anything). It's almost implied. Because that's what companies do. They exist to make money/maximize shareholder value.
That's nonsense. Many companies will not use Linux simply because of the GPL. The company I work for is one of them.
They are using one of the BSDs for their embedded system kernel. They will need to make modifications to the kernel to suit their purposes. They do not want these changes to be released into the open for other competitors. The idea is that we spent valuable time and money changing it, so why should competitors benefit from our work? It's not utopian, but it's logically sound.
I'm interested in hearing serious rebuttals to this argument.
A good point. The other thing that bugs me is the huge amount of cynicism/pessimism that is prevalent on every story. Did we reallllly need the snooty comment "So how long until everything in the home has its own IP address and script kiddies decide to get their kicks messing with your air conditioning during a heat wave?" Is the only way for your submission to get posted to employ a significant amount of bitterness?
I know, let's all abandon our computers and networks then we won't have to worry about any problems.
Thanks for the link! Oh the irony. I've spent all day reading up on OSPF but having difficulty finding good links. Then I slack off at/. and someone posts one for me. Beauty.
Me too... I tried a test that someone posted on here and I rarely use the ring or fourth finger on my right hand. I do use the ring finger on my left hand though. (I'm right handed and have all 10). Weird. My technique is really but but it's fairly fast.
With respects to The Spam Letters, I'm working on a new type of eye surgery that only needs a magnifying glass and a study hand. You might wanna practice on a box of rats before taking it to the kids.
Re:At least, for the iPod, nobody died!
on
Birth of the iPod
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· Score: 1
I'm sure MS would be treated somewhat differently but I'm pretty shocked by the bad press that Google is getting on this. It's remarkable. By nearly all accounts, this is a good, strong, well-liked, well-behaved company. They have an almost spotless record.
To be honest, I can't really see a huge difference between inserting relevant ads in email and for search. For the most part, search is a private thing. I wouldn't want anyone to know the history of every term I've ever searched for. (insert joke here) I also wouldn't want them to read my email. But I don't mind having relevant ads inserted *automatically* (i.e. not even by a person).
Thanks for the reply. I disagree that current Apple laptops get that much battery life. As I said, my newish Rev B 12" PowerBook gets only 3. That is consistent with what I've read on Apple's discussion users. I think the iBooks may be better but I'm not sure how much better.
I'm not exactly sure what qualifies as good battery life, but I don't think my PB 12" does *great* in that department. It gets 3 hours, max. Is that good? (Honest question)
Many of my PC friends can destroy that, but as someone said below, they have 2 batteries and a tank of a laptop twice as thick as mine.
One of my engineering profs who is a cryptography researcher says there is a company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that specializes in ECC encryption. Anyone know who that might be? I tried googling for it but couldn't find much.
There are tonnes of reasons! First, copy the Apple firmware look & feel as closely as possible. Then, add features and fix bugs. Here are a few ideas:
Fix the terrible lack of randomness in the shuffle
Implement cross fade
Implement on-the-go playlists for the people who originally clamoured for them - 1st gen owners
Implement a file browser
Re:Why not use these skills for something useful ?
on
Linux for iPod Matures
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· Score: 1
Ummm... without an OS you can develop apps for (i.e. Linux), it would be impossible to run the type of app you are suggesting. That's why I think Linux for iPod has a lot of promise. There are a lot of nice features I've always wanted to add to the firmware. This will allow it.
Slashdot Mirror
We respect the GPL, we respect its terms. That's EXACTLY why we aren't using it. This isn't necessarily a problem. We would prefer to use high-quality, open source software. GPL doesn't allow us to resell it, BSD does. So we will use BSD. It's just if Linux *wants* to see more widespread usage for things like custom embedded systems, the GPL holds it back. Maybe Linux *doesn't* want or need this - it's thriving fine on the desktop by people contributing back.
I'm wondering, what's the dense spot right above Italy? Or maybe in Italy? Milan? I'd guess it's in Switzerland but I'm not sure. Bern? Zurich? Anyone know?
I neglected to mention that they want to sell this embedded system for a profit. (The complete system, not just the kernel or anything). It's almost implied. Because that's what companies do. They exist to make money/maximize shareholder value.
They are using one of the BSDs for their embedded system kernel. They will need to make modifications to the kernel to suit their purposes. They do not want these changes to be released into the open for other competitors. The idea is that we spent valuable time and money changing it, so why should competitors benefit from our work? It's not utopian, but it's logically sound.
I'm interested in hearing serious rebuttals to this argument.
I know, let's all abandon our computers and networks then we won't have to worry about any problems.
Thanks for the link! Oh the irony. I've spent all day reading up on OSPF but having difficulty finding good links. Then I slack off at /. and someone posts one for me. Beauty.
Me too... I tried a test that someone posted on here and I rarely use the ring or fourth finger on my right hand. I do use the ring finger on my left hand though. (I'm right handed and have all 10). Weird. My technique is really but but it's fairly fast.
With respects to The Spam Letters, I'm working on a new type of eye surgery that only needs a magnifying glass and a study hand. You might wanna practice on a box of rats before taking it to the kids.
Really?
Wow, cool. I was in the Lauterbrunnen Valley when this thing was announced! Gimmelwald, what a beautiful place.
I got a laugh when reading that line out of context. ;)
To be honest, I can't really see a huge difference between inserting relevant ads in email and for search. For the most part, search is a private thing. I wouldn't want anyone to know the history of every term I've ever searched for. (insert joke here) I also wouldn't want them to read my email. But I don't mind having relevant ads inserted *automatically* (i.e. not even by a person).
Thanks for the reply. I disagree that current Apple laptops get that much battery life. As I said, my newish Rev B 12" PowerBook gets only 3. That is consistent with what I've read on Apple's discussion users. I think the iBooks may be better but I'm not sure how much better.
I think Nov 2002 was when the presentation was.
Many of my PC friends can destroy that, but as someone said below, they have 2 batteries and a tank of a laptop twice as thick as mine.
Heh, gotta love the informative mod.
Luxury!
The only thing that dies faster than a Zip drive is a floppy disk!
One of my engineering profs who is a cryptography researcher says there is a company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that specializes in ECC encryption. Anyone know who that might be? I tried googling for it but couldn't find much.
Yeah, because only a few trillion dollars in transactions are protected every day by encryption schemes. Nothing much at stake there.
Yup, I was thinking that cross-fade would encompass that. On iPod forums, there are a LOT of people that want those two features.
Oops, I forgot the one most people here care about: Add Ogg support! (Or WMP or FLAC or whatever)
Ummm... without an OS you can develop apps for (i.e. Linux), it would be impossible to run the type of app you are suggesting. That's why I think Linux for iPod has a lot of promise. There are a lot of nice features I've always wanted to add to the firmware. This will allow it.
I have *very* good reason to believe the iPod hardware is sufficient to play MP3s at real-time. ;)