I've had a PayPal account for a long time and I get and send money that way now and then. Never any trouble. Actually, often things have gone smoother than they promised.
I also saw those paypalwarnings sites. I didn't cancel because of that, for one because I think lots of it is about someone not being PayPal screwing up, but mainly because PayPal does not screw you over more than any bank. Actually, to me it seems they screw you lots less, especially if you are right.
You really mean I should trust a bank instead? That is laughable. As it is now, I "trust" them both. That is laughable enough for me.:)
That always comes up, "Wine Is Not an Emulator". Well, doesn't they say that more because they want a cool recursive acronym than anything else?:)
It is more than just an implementation of the API, since it obviously emulates the registry and some file system capabilites. Granted, this may be just because this api needs it to work, but it still takes it beyond just the api.
I have to agree. I tried the 1.0 version way back, and it really, really, really sucked. But after a recommendation recently, I've tried out 2.0 on windows and 1.2 on linux (2.0 on the way)... and:
I can sum up my review of it like this: I'm buying it the minute the paycheck comes this month.
"This alliance enables Corel to introduce a whole new group of customers to the unique benefits of our productivity solutions," Steve Houck, Corel's executive vice president of strategic relations, said in a statement.
As much fun as this is, don't you just hate people that talk like that and on top of that, seems to mean it?
Well then, could you at least please update the page?:) I went there a few months ago, and actually turned away just because it said "NT4" - maybe it still isn't for me, but I had known you were targetting 2000, I'd given it another look at least.
Something to keep in mind for the future... to gain, and keep, potential users/developers.:)
This was actually the original UNIX philosopy, lots of small tools interacting to achieve something complex. Let us bring this idea to the desktop and create the most flexible, powerful, easy-to-use desktop ever seen.
You mean like Windows from Microsoft?;-)
Lots and lots of pretty lightweight applications that integrate easily, you can send email from your texteditor via outlook express, or go to a link in your email via IE...
Well, no, I'm no great fan either. But it had to be pointed out.
This system also allows for more security holes and bigger impacts when security is compromised. That has to be taken into consideration.
Re:Interaction, not Merging
on
Phoenix 0.3 Is Out
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
And as a side note, at least on Windows, Mozilla has been just as fast as IE for ages now. Using QuickStart makes startup instant, although here at work I never bothered switching it on as it starts quickly enough for me anyway.
On *what* Windows I ask? As I always do, as I've used Mozilla for quite some time (exclusively for mail, together with others for browsing), on several boxes, and never seen this happen.
Face it people, Mozilla can never be as fast as IE, partly because IE cheats, and partly because, well the Mozilla UI is slow-rendered. The latter could probably be "fixed", but probably not as long as the otherwise great XUL is used - the win is extremely flexible GUI instead. I tend to think that it is worth the slower UI. But don't say it is as fast as heavily optimized win32 GUI. Duh.
It also gets swapped out long time before memory is full, and boy has it got trouble getting back out of there... is this more Windows cheating? It might be. Don't know. It doesn't hang though... just goes for a very long walk before it comes back.
QuickStart helps. Not more, not less. It helps. No instant starts there, even on my AMD XP 1800 with 512 MB meory and nothing else running, IE beats it easily. IE beats it easily on every machine I've tried, ranging from 300 Mhz to around 1500 Mhz, with memory varying from 128-512 MB most oftenly.
So what is this magic machine that makes Mozilla as fast as IE? What Windows? Oh, maybe it is 3.1 on an old 386? That would probably make it hard to tell the difference...
Now, instead of running around pretending as if our favourite browser is already as fast and as good as the competition, how about we open our eyes and make that happen for real instead?
Maybe that would make "normal" people take us seriously, for starters. They don't when they clearly see the lies.
As long as ($TASK !~/server/i), "Windows" is often the most suitable software.
I'm still waiting for that to change, but that is really the same thing as this cvs/BK debate. Lots of people are saying that "what they use is really the best, and even if something proprietry is better, well, it really isn't. So there. And I don't have time to implement that myself." And yadda yadda yadda. Noone wants to face anything these days.
Furthermore, they way open source works, if you need an unusual tool for your project, you create it yourself and share it.
Yeah, and let the real development wait for six months. That is not always possible. Not to mention that here there is a tool that does what they want, and there is a large whining community to implement the same features for them with open source. Strangely, the whiners doesn't.
As a system administrator, I also find the idea of installing software in any other method than RPM very bad practice.
That must be this weeks strangest remark, even for slashdot.:)
As a system administrator (among other things), I find that using RPMs are the sure path to unmaintainability and broken systems. Considering that it is *easier* to build from source as well as less problems, I can't imagine any serious admins using RPMs.
Debians apt system at least keeps track of dependencies and test the stuff they release... but RPMs? Give me a break. Just do something else while the source compiles, and you will save yourself a lot of future problems. And you'll often get better software.:)
The alternative is no courts, just executive authority to arrest/imprision/confiscate.
Here, in the free-for-real world, outside of the US, we let whoever loses the case pay for all the legal costs, for the other side too.
This does not mean that the good guy always wins, but it does mean that the poor guy can always fight, because money is not (immideately) an issue. You can not win by simply let your opponent exhaust all his means. You must win by actually have a case.
We also do not turn our legal system into a circus whatwith all the show for the jury, piefights and slander. We do not usually have all these fancy trickeries and technicalities that really are laughable - and usually only serve the purpose of costing money for the poor guy.
It works pretty well for us. Maybe something to consider, a semi-fair system? Nah. Won't happen somewhere where the guys with money makes the laws. Too bad.
Interesting idea that the number of hours you put in (and is forced to put in) should somehow equal "work ethics".
Or, for that matter, productivity.
Being at work more does not mean you actually work more, for one thing, and experience shows us that if you work for less hours, say 35 per week, you get more done. Possibly this does not apply to mindless assembly at some factory, but if it is such a simple job it will not be affected by how fast and effective you work, chances are robots are already doing that job, right?
I can understand you want to defend your country, but that argument is both wrong, and well, kinda naive if not outright stupid.
I agree with you. I don't need it, for the same reasons, and I support the community the same way as you do.
Still, I subscribed. Why? Well, partly because $12 is no cash, even for someone that doesn't have a lot of it.
Also, I like the idea that people try to get money for what they do online instead of using banner ads. Even though a lot of great people put their, often superb, content online for free, that is not an option for some. And I do respect that. I'd rather pay for some content that I might like than have it soiled with banner ads. If I don't like it, fine, I'll stop paying.
I strongly disagree that the dead-tree business is going away though - there is always room, and I think will always be for books and papers. For one, although they are possible to take with you on the toilet and to bed, they are not comfortable. Hell, it isn't even comfortable reading from your laptop when sitting in your favourite chair.
All in all, people that write and provide content should be rewarded. Some with money, some with tolerating their stupid ads, and some with credit (maybe the greatest currency of them all). Which they want, is up to the provider.
But of course, everyone wants the free lunch. Even when the grouceries to make the meal costs (like bandwidth, servers and time). *Sigh*
No, you don't have to do what I do. But what I do, I do with open eyes, and because I a) want something, and b) support something. Maybe a poor choice, but at least I will know.
Was some while ago, but on the PC I think B&W still recorded the gesture through the autosave, which means that when you trained your reflexes to not stop the movement when saving occured, it worked out alright.
How does changing the shading on a non-selected tab on a tab control, while a nice cosmetic addition, add to the consistency or usability of the control?
Nice try. Read the review. That wasn't what it was about. At all.
I think the users want an easy to use computer that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and that doesn't crash on them all the time. One that they can get good software for and doesn't lock them into an expensive solution.
I think so too. But when faced with the choice between "easy to use and can get good software" or "doesn't crash or lock them into an expensive solution" they choose number two.
Just what the author of the review wants to cure. (And yes, some choose the "arm and leg" option too. I call them "Mac users").
Joe Sixpack, or my mom, or my boss, or pick anyone that isn't a geek aren't interetsed in how stable and secure it is way down below. They want usability and not have to learn all kinds of arcane commands - especially not new ones for each app. Why can't we both have what we want?
How can you compare Emacs and TextPad???
They are my editors of choice. What else would I compare? And I only use the editor part of emacs. Which means all the shortcuts are different, the menu is ordered differently and even the mouse works differently. That takes some getting used to. That is all.
Many Windows apps have a minimum of consistency in the naming of the menu selections and buttons... not a whole lot more than that. Anyway, take any killer app or tool and compare it with any other app or tool - Photoshop and Dreamweaver for instance - they don't have consistent interfaces do they? Didn't think so.
Yes they have. If you compare with Linux. All the standard shortcuts are there too. CTRL-V works the same in virtually every windows app. The File menu and the Edit menu contains about the same commands. That is going a long way, only that.
I figure I save alot of those seconds, you say I lose with allegedly inconsistent interfaces, by not having to reboot multiple times a day and setup my whole development environment every freakin time.
Blatant propaganda, or you are using 98. Anyone ever told you that isn't a server *or* a development machine? It is a home OS for people who can take a few reboots as long as they can blast away monsters in the last game. Still wouldn't set up a Windows server if I can avoid it, but that is plain FUD.
Just like with warning kids of the dangers with drugs, don't lie. They will find out and then they will never beleive the stuff that is actually bad either.
What you, and she, seem to really mean is that you want applications to look and act more alike - it's not the OS you have problems with. The windowmanagers could use more polish also - true. But to say they are inefficient at getting a job done because they need a more subtle shading and to round a few pixels on the edges... then I say you need to take off yer windows colored glasses and get an eye-exam as well as an electroencephalogram to check for brainwave activity.
Read again. Flaming stuff that was never said gets you nowhere.
Emacs is an OS.
Not the way I use it. I use it as an editor, because an editor is what I need.
Coffee needs to be brewed at a temperature of about ~97 C or else it tastes like crap. Granted, from brewing to serving it will cool a little, but ~87 C is not in *any* way a strange temperature for coffee. (Well, nowadays in McD USA maybe it is).
What is strange is that someone can get money for being clumpsy. Or stupid enough to think that coffee wouldn't be hot. Might as well sue the hammer company for making a hard and heavy hammer, so it broke my thumb. They should understand that keeping a hammer that hard may cause injury. It is a friggin joke.
And yes, the jury came to this conclusion. Either the jury is a big joke too, or else they all later were found in Starbucks pouring coffe on themselves for money and wanted a good earlier case to refer to.
I disagree. Seemed to me she wanted usability and consistency. DWIW and "least surprise", in other words.
And this is very important if Linux ever is going outside the geek block.
Since she seems to be a mainly Mac and BeOS user, it is also unlikely she wants stuff to work like windows, but OTOH, if you want to get into businesses, what are the odds that the machine you are replacing is a Windows machine? What would the *USERS* want, you think?
Consistency is great for productivity. I only need to look at the fact that I am switching back and forth between Emacs on Linux and TextPad on Windows to see that it costs time and productivity doing things differently. Even if it is measured in seconds, tops, it adds up. And that is just two text editors.
I really like both, and don't expect any of them to change, but on the same OS I want stuff to follow certain principles, so I can at least learn a few OS's instead of thousands of apps. It is fun when you are playing, but not when you try to get job done.
And no, no really good way ATM to do all editing in one of them. Emacs on Windows you say? Well, then it doesn't behave like the rest of the OS, which is worse.
Over here (Finlands neighbour Sweden), we also do not have the ridicolous law suits that seems to be so common in the US (or maybe we just hear about those).
Over here, if someone is stupid enough to burn themselves on coffee they bought, maybe they would get a new cup. Maybe a few hundred (in dollars) even. Over there, or so we hear, that can bring in millions and millions - so you can earn money on being stupid and go to court proving that.
As a result of this, most law suits here are real complaints. So I understand why you would be worried, but if you had the complete system, noone would make you pay just for being wrong, since it is hardly worth it. At least you wouldn't be paying much.:)
OTOH, for real cases, that is actual damage done, like burning down your house, you can get damages for. So basically, we decided to not allow sillyness, noone can (in theory) buy their justice, and whomever (as decided by court) is actually the really bad guy gets to pay, not the victim.
Why would you assume that he means the systray when there actually is a toolbar in Windows that takes a one-click as opposed to the desktop?
By default: Look to the immideate right of the Start button - that is the toolbar. To the far right is the systray. Toolbar takes single click. Desktop takes double. Systray applications behave like whoever programmed them wants to, which is sometimes single, sometimes double, often right-click only and also often combinations. All this by default, which means it is changeable.
Slashdot Mirror
I've had a PayPal account for a long time and I get and send money that way now and then. Never any trouble. Actually, often things have gone smoother than they promised.
:)
I also saw those paypalwarnings sites. I didn't cancel because of that, for one because I think lots of it is about someone not being PayPal screwing up, but mainly because PayPal does not screw you over more than any bank. Actually, to me it seems they screw you lots less, especially if you are right.
You really mean I should trust a bank instead? That is laughable. As it is now, I "trust" them both. That is laughable enough for me.
All those tricks *and* lots of cute colors for only double the money... :)
PHP? You gotta be kidding me.
e .html#access
Here you go: http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/misc/rewriteguid
That always comes up, "Wine Is Not an Emulator". Well, doesn't they say that more because they want a cool recursive acronym than anything else? :)
It is more than just an implementation of the API, since it obviously emulates the registry and some file system capabilites. Granted, this may be just because this api needs it to work, but it still takes it beyond just the api.
Wasn't this a Dilbert episode? :)
I have to agree. I tried the 1.0 version way back, and it really, really, really sucked. But after a recommendation recently, I've tried out 2.0 on windows and 1.2 on linux (2.0 on the way)... and:
I can sum up my review of it like this: I'm buying it the minute the paycheck comes this month.
"This alliance enables Corel to introduce a whole new group of customers to the unique benefits of our productivity solutions," Steve Houck, Corel's executive vice president of strategic relations, said in a statement.
As much fun as this is, don't you just hate people that talk like that and on top of that, seems to mean it?
Of course someone could. But not, under US law, without having more money than Microsoft has - if they want to win.
Well then, could you at least please update the page? :) I went there a few months ago, and actually turned away just because it said "NT4" - maybe it still isn't for me, but I had known you were targetting 2000, I'd given it another look at least.
:)
:)
Something to keep in mind for the future... to gain, and keep, potential users/developers.
Anyhow, good luck with the project.
This was actually the original UNIX philosopy, lots of small tools interacting to achieve something complex. Let us bring this idea to the desktop and create the most flexible, powerful, easy-to-use desktop ever seen.
;-)
You mean like Windows from Microsoft?
Lots and lots of pretty lightweight applications that integrate easily, you can send email from your texteditor via outlook express, or go to a link in your email via IE...
Well, no, I'm no great fan either. But it had to be pointed out.
This system also allows for more security holes and bigger impacts when security is compromised. That has to be taken into consideration.
And as a side note, at least on Windows, Mozilla has been just as fast as IE for ages now. Using QuickStart makes startup instant, although here at work I never bothered switching it on as it starts quickly enough for me anyway.
On *what* Windows I ask? As I always do, as I've used Mozilla for quite some time (exclusively for mail, together with others for browsing), on several boxes, and never seen this happen.
Face it people, Mozilla can never be as fast as IE, partly because IE cheats, and partly because, well the Mozilla UI is slow-rendered. The latter could probably be "fixed", but probably not as long as the otherwise great XUL is used - the win is extremely flexible GUI instead. I tend to think that it is worth the slower UI. But don't say it is as fast as heavily optimized win32 GUI. Duh.
It also gets swapped out long time before memory is full, and boy has it got trouble getting back out of there... is this more Windows cheating? It might be. Don't know. It doesn't hang though... just goes for a very long walk before it comes back.
QuickStart helps. Not more, not less. It helps. No instant starts there, even on my AMD XP 1800 with 512 MB meory and nothing else running, IE beats it easily. IE beats it easily on every machine I've tried, ranging from 300 Mhz to around 1500 Mhz, with memory varying from 128-512 MB most oftenly.
So what is this magic machine that makes Mozilla as fast as IE? What Windows? Oh, maybe it is 3.1 on an old 386? That would probably make it hard to tell the difference...
Now, instead of running around pretending as if our favourite browser is already as fast and as good as the competition, how about we open our eyes and make that happen for real instead?
Maybe that would make "normal" people take us seriously, for starters. They don't when they clearly see the lies.
ReactOS might make it, if it ever catches up. I see some things that need to happen first:
:)
* It has to work. Currently, those applications and hardware mentioned are on the idea level.
* It should be at least NT5, not NT4.
* It has to work. See above. How long before it does (and reasonably like w2k?)
As long as ($TASK !~ /server/i), "Windows" is often the most suitable software.
I'm still waiting for that to change, but that is really the same thing as this cvs/BK debate. Lots of people are saying that "what they use is really the best, and even if something proprietry is better, well, it really isn't. So there. And I don't have time to implement that myself." And yadda yadda yadda. Noone wants to face anything these days.
As a system administrator (among other things), I find that using RPMs are the sure path to unmaintainability and broken systems. Considering that it is *easier* to build from source as well as less problems, I can't imagine any serious admins using RPMs.
Debians apt system at least keeps track of dependencies and test the stuff they release... but RPMs? Give me a break. Just do something else while the source compiles, and you will save yourself a lot of future problems. And you'll often get better software. :)
The alternative is no courts, just executive authority to arrest/imprision/confiscate.
Here, in the free-for-real world, outside of the US, we let whoever loses the case pay for all the legal costs, for the other side too.
This does not mean that the good guy always wins, but it does mean that the poor guy can always fight, because money is not (immideately) an issue. You can not win by simply let your opponent exhaust all his means. You must win by actually have a case.
We also do not turn our legal system into a circus whatwith all the show for the jury, piefights and slander. We do not usually have all these fancy trickeries and technicalities that really are laughable - and usually only serve the purpose of costing money for the poor guy.
It works pretty well for us. Maybe something to consider, a semi-fair system? Nah. Won't happen somewhere where the guys with money makes the laws. Too bad.
Interesting idea that the number of hours you put in (and is forced to put in) should somehow equal "work ethics".
Or, for that matter, productivity.
Being at work more does not mean you actually work more, for one thing, and experience shows us that if you work for less hours, say 35 per week, you get more done. Possibly this does not apply to mindless assembly at some factory, but if it is such a simple job it will not be affected by how fast and effective you work, chances are robots are already doing that job, right?
I can understand you want to defend your country, but that argument is both wrong, and well, kinda naive if not outright stupid.
I agree with you. I don't need it, for the same reasons, and I support the community the same way as you do.
Still, I subscribed. Why? Well, partly because $12 is no cash, even for someone that doesn't have a lot of it.
Also, I like the idea that people try to get money for what they do online instead of using banner ads. Even though a lot of great people put their, often superb, content online for free, that is not an option for some. And I do respect that. I'd rather pay for some content that I might like than have it soiled with banner ads. If I don't like it, fine, I'll stop paying.
I strongly disagree that the dead-tree business is going away though - there is always room, and I think will always be for books and papers. For one, although they are possible to take with you on the toilet and to bed, they are not comfortable. Hell, it isn't even comfortable reading from your laptop when sitting in your favourite chair.
All in all, people that write and provide content should be rewarded. Some with money, some with tolerating their stupid ads, and some with credit (maybe the greatest currency of them all). Which they want, is up to the provider.
But of course, everyone wants the free lunch. Even when the grouceries to make the meal costs (like bandwidth, servers and time). *Sigh*
No, you don't have to do what I do. But what I do, I do with open eyes, and because I a) want something, and b) support something. Maybe a poor choice, but at least I will know.
Was some while ago, but on the PC I think B&W still recorded the gesture through the autosave, which means that when you trained your reflexes to not stop the movement when saving occured, it worked out alright.
That actually becomes even more funny when partly translated to Swedish, where the word for mouse, "mus" is actually also a word for vagina.
:)
Don't ask me who thought that was a good name though...
And well, before you ask, I haven't heard of "vagina balls" either.
How does changing the shading on a non-selected tab on a tab control, while a nice cosmetic addition, add to the consistency or usability of the control?
Nice try. Read the review. That wasn't what it was about. At all.
I think the users want an easy to use computer that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and that doesn't crash on them all the time. One that they can get good software for and doesn't lock them into an expensive solution.
I think so too. But when faced with the choice between "easy to use and can get good software" or "doesn't crash or lock them into an expensive solution" they choose number two.
Just what the author of the review wants to cure. (And yes, some choose the "arm and leg" option too. I call them "Mac users").
Joe Sixpack, or my mom, or my boss, or pick anyone that isn't a geek aren't interetsed in how stable and secure it is way down below. They want usability and not have to learn all kinds of arcane commands - especially not new ones for each app. Why can't we both have what we want?
How can you compare Emacs and TextPad???
They are my editors of choice. What else would I compare? And I only use the editor part of emacs. Which means all the shortcuts are different, the menu is ordered differently and even the mouse works differently. That takes some getting used to. That is all.
Many Windows apps have a minimum of consistency in the naming of the menu selections and buttons... not a whole lot more than that. Anyway, take any killer app or tool and compare it with any other app or tool - Photoshop and Dreamweaver for instance - they don't have consistent interfaces do they? Didn't think so.
Yes they have. If you compare with Linux. All the standard shortcuts are there too. CTRL-V works the same in virtually every windows app. The File menu and the Edit menu contains about the same commands. That is going a long way, only that.
I figure I save alot of those seconds, you say I lose with allegedly inconsistent interfaces, by not having to reboot multiple times a day and setup my whole development environment every freakin time.
Blatant propaganda, or you are using 98. Anyone ever told you that isn't a server *or* a development machine? It is a home OS for people who can take a few reboots as long as they can blast away monsters in the last game. Still wouldn't set up a Windows server if I can avoid it, but that is plain FUD.
Just like with warning kids of the dangers with drugs, don't lie. They will find out and then they will never beleive the stuff that is actually bad either.
What you, and she, seem to really mean is that you want applications to look and act more alike - it's not the OS you have problems with. The windowmanagers could use more polish also - true. But to say they are inefficient at getting a job done because they need a more subtle shading and to round a few pixels on the edges... then I say you need to take off yer windows colored glasses and get an eye-exam as well as an electroencephalogram to check for brainwave activity.
Read again. Flaming stuff that was never said gets you nowhere.
Emacs is an OS.
Not the way I use it. I use it as an editor, because an editor is what I need.
Now go re-read.
Usually at ~71 C?
Coffee needs to be brewed at a temperature of about ~97 C or else it tastes like crap. Granted, from brewing to serving it will cool a little, but ~87 C is not in *any* way a strange temperature for coffee. (Well, nowadays in McD USA maybe it is).
What is strange is that someone can get money for being clumpsy. Or stupid enough to think that coffee wouldn't be hot. Might as well sue the hammer company for making a hard and heavy hammer, so it broke my thumb. They should understand that keeping a hammer that hard may cause injury. It is a friggin joke.
And yes, the jury came to this conclusion. Either the jury is a big joke too, or else they all later were found in Starbucks pouring coffe on themselves for money and wanted a good earlier case to refer to.
I disagree. Seemed to me she wanted usability and consistency. DWIW and "least surprise", in other words.
And this is very important if Linux ever is going outside the geek block.
Since she seems to be a mainly Mac and BeOS user, it is also unlikely she wants stuff to work like windows, but OTOH, if you want to get into businesses, what are the odds that the machine you are replacing is a Windows machine? What would the *USERS* want, you think?
Consistency is great for productivity. I only need to look at the fact that I am switching back and forth between Emacs on Linux and TextPad on Windows to see that it costs time and productivity doing things differently. Even if it is measured in seconds, tops, it adds up. And that is just two text editors.
I really like both, and don't expect any of them to change, but on the same OS I want stuff to follow certain principles, so I can at least learn a few OS's instead of thousands of apps. It is fun when you are playing, but not when you try to get job done.
And no, no really good way ATM to do all editing in one of them. Emacs on Windows you say? Well, then it doesn't behave like the rest of the OS, which is worse.
Over here (Finlands neighbour Sweden), we also do not have the ridicolous law suits that seems to be so common in the US (or maybe we just hear about those).
:)
Over here, if someone is stupid enough to burn themselves on coffee they bought, maybe they would get a new cup. Maybe a few hundred (in dollars) even. Over there, or so we hear, that can bring in millions and millions - so you can earn money on being stupid and go to court proving that.
As a result of this, most law suits here are real complaints. So I understand why you would be worried, but if you had the complete system, noone would make you pay just for being wrong, since it is hardly worth it. At least you wouldn't be paying much.
OTOH, for real cases, that is actual damage done, like burning down your house, you can get damages for. So basically, we decided to not allow sillyness, noone can (in theory) buy their justice, and whomever (as decided by court) is actually the really bad guy gets to pay, not the victim.
Now, tell me - is that bad and how?
Why would you assume that he means the systray when there actually is a toolbar in Windows that takes a one-click as opposed to the desktop?
By default: Look to the immideate right of the Start button - that is the toolbar. To the far right is the systray. Toolbar takes single click. Desktop takes double. Systray applications behave like whoever programmed them wants to, which is sometimes single, sometimes double, often right-click only and also often combinations. All this by default, which means it is changeable.
Desktop shortcuts and toolbar shortcuts launch programs, systray contains running programs.
And yes, the guy is wrong... I assume he a long time ago configured his desktop to take single-clicks and forgot that he did.