a model that says "Pay once, upgrade free for life". I know some apps do this (with an "Enter your registration number to download new version" option) but it'd be nice if that was the standard rather than the exception. I think many IT managers would be comfortable with an investment if they knew that they would never have to pay for upgrades.
We could also use something that says you're free to upgrade on your own schedule. I took a slam working on a CS degree when M$ expired the curriculum for Windows NT. Not only are they reigning in support, but they're reigning in the ability of others to train support for aging software.
And need I mention the handshaking going on between the software and hardware industry? How's this for dialogue?
Software Vendor: "You Need to upgrade XYZ app to version D... We will no longer support version C or lower"
Customer "But my hardware won't run version D"
Hardware Vendor: "We have solutions for you that support XYZ Version D! it only costs..."
Customer "Screwed again..."
Hardware and Software Vendor (to selves): Repeat again in two years!
I think (having worked IT in a High School) that I'd be a little nervous letting High School (or even some college) students do an "install fest" for a government installation.
But the idea does have a lot of merit. Goverments have traditionally farmed all sorts of research out to Universities. Why not propose a sort of competition. Allow seniors with a Computer Science major to design a complete open source solution to fit the government's needs. The government could furnish a list of required capabilities and see what emerges. Winning student not only gets to know his solution is implemented... but (s)he probably gets a job too!
It occurs to me to ask... who owns.biz? (Or does anyone?). If NeuLevel is managing the system, don't they have a right to decide what method will be used to resolve contention? Could they (effectively) argue this is more fair than letting the orginization with the deepest pockets claim a name?
Or are we seeing that the corporation with the deepest pockets hires more expensive lawyers to sue first so they can't loose?
There was a story [slashdot.org] here a year ago about IBM doing this. But if you combine this thing with the Thermoelectric system[slashdot.org] that was announced recently, you get a really nifty geek gizmo (probably retailing for more than the average geek wants to pay... at least for the first few years)
Cheers to IBM for pusing forward! Here's to the next few years!
I'm thinking... The problem with a RAM drive is that if you loose power, you loose data... so two solutions come to mind:
Store only application data in your ram drive... all of this data is easily restorable (make an image of a complete install for example) and would fit in a 1-2GB RAM drive. The problem is that you have (and read) data more often than you deal with the applications themselves... so you don't gain as large a performance benefit by having your commonly accessed data on a RAM drive.
or...
Create an automated process that mirrors your RAM drive onto an old fassioned platter drive. Set this process to run automatically once a day at a time of low usage and you only loose a day of changes. Add an option to force sync with the hdisk and you're closer to optimal.
Would this be workable/useful??? I don't know... I think we would need even cheeper RAM to feed the market's hunger for disk space... and I shudder to think of the price on 100GB of RAM (even at today's prices).
And of course, integrating a UPS with this (If power loss then write to disk!) would sweeten the deal.
Don't write a bit player in the software world (no offense to RedHat, but they're far from what I think of when I hear the term "multinational" bandied about), write your goddamned representatives and senators letters
While I agree that Red Hat may not have the clout to sway the Senate... they do have the name recognition to get other players involved.
Think about it... How many people have you heard say they just installed Linux (current Redhat version number). There are plenty of people who don't know much about opensource, but Redhat == Linux to them... And other news agencies pay attention to Redhat because of that.
I'll agree though that simply contributing to the Redhat effort isn't enough...but having Redhat on board for this will certainly help the casue. And you can always write your Senator in addition to this!
When I read this one of the first things I thought was: "Great, now when I generate worlds for my Rifts/Alternity/Anything group, I can actually give my players something to explore!" In tabletop gaming, one of the great advantages to campeign settings has (IMO) been maps. Maps tend to make any fantasy setting easier to explore, and at 90k, it's fairly easy to e-mail my players and say "Here, DL a copy of the world map!"
It also brings to mind some of the Illustrated Guide to XYZ fantasy universe books that so many fans crave. With software like this becoming more common, could we begin to see CDs o' Fractal images with such publications? Or (again with file sizes of 90k), will we see printed URLs with a "Go here do DL the complete wold..."
Still, while thier limited viewer is free, and the professional viewer (with unlimited resolution) is only $30, I think the $250 SRP (even the $200 intro price)the hobbyist may stay off this platform for a while.
Amazingly, I'll put myself in the catagory of people who could use a Linux AOL client. Why?
Because I'm a poor college student who's parents are still on AOL. Why pay for a second ISP when there's one available? Linux isn't a solution for them, but if I could dial up from the Linux Box in my room (Linux on the second cheap computer? I have the second cheap computer!), that'd make my life simpler.
Who wants to reboot to a Win/9x partition, connect, DL kernel patch, reboot to linux partition... etc...
Remember that AOL offers a nation wide network. So these days, that's nothing new. But think about moving every few years, and doing this six years ago. Want to hunt up a new ISP every time you move?
If you've managed to keep an ISP (and e-mail address) for a few years, would you want to go through the hassle of chainging? There are alot of long time AOL users who cling to AOL just to keep their e-mail addresses. As they grow more comfortable with their computer they may even grow towards Linux. Being able to keep your ISP would make that decision easier.
It's not about converting windows users to Linux because now they can keep AOL (though I think you may see some of that). It's about letting power users simplify thier life. (Single ISP for both the kids running windows and parents running linux (or the other way around!))
Another possible effect could be an "Offical AOL For Linux". Which would be easier and less stressful in the long run, continually fighting off the third party connections, or writing an offical port to get people away from third party connection software?
Will technology have a large impact on this war? Of course it will. The development of new weapons and new defenses against those weapons is as old as war itself.
Think about it. In a time when a mounted knight was the next best thing to a tank it became necessary to find a way to penetrate that armor. Numerous solutions were developed, ranging from heavier lances to conical blade tips (for spreading chain links). In responce, armor was redesigned to more effectively turn lances, thickened, and the evolution went on. Along come fire arms and within a century or so, armor is meaningless. Now, step up to the modern era, with the advent of hi-tech materials like Kevlar (sp?), we are again "armoring" against modern conventional weapons.
The fact remains that in any protracted war (Be it the Hundred Years war or WWII), technological inovation on both sides is to be expected. The real challenge comes in adapting your military to the new technology, developing Doctrine, Strategy, and Tactics to your new technology (lines of riflemen are great for breaking pike formations, but poorly suited to supressing guerilla (sp?) tactics).
War is fought by human beings (Carl von Clouswitz)
The more they make it "Microsoft everything", and the fewer options they give people
I think MS is actually at a disadvantage here. When you install the OS, sure, you get MS associations. But because the OS doesn't ship with competing products, you then have to add those products. Example... Media player owns MP3s by default, but when I install Winamp, winamp gives me the ability to change the association. Because you're adding competing software after the OS is installed, MS looses the ability to controll things.
I've yet to recieve a message from Media Player saying that "Media player is not the default player for MP3s, would you like to change..." though I do get that message from some versions of Real Player.
Honestly, I don't think that this helps MS w/ Monopoly power... though it does annoy the user, and I agree with the article that it should be easier to change file associations.
"In corporations, the IT department usually has a master key so that even when the employee leaves, the company can still retrieve the data"
I'd think about adding your senior IT staff to laptops when they're checked out. I think that with the lifespan of hardware, your turnaround on senior IT staff is usally not as fast as the replacement cycle on hardware.
Wait a minute... is this even about games? He said "Im thinking of building my final year CS project around developing a piece of software for the Playstation 2... Bringing our own software to the living room on nice hardware seems like a whole new computer medium that would be fun to exploit." I'm wondering if the project in mind really is a game or something else? I'm not a PS2 guy, but if it (like the DreamCast) has a keyboard / modem (or NIC), couldn't you do things with it besides games?
Just a thought...
After all, isn't it just bits in the end?
Slashdot Mirror
We could also use something that says you're free to upgrade on your own schedule. I took a slam working on a CS degree when M$ expired the curriculum for Windows NT. Not only are they reigning in support, but they're reigning in the ability of others to train support for aging software.
And need I mention the handshaking going on between the software and hardware industry? How's this for dialogue?
Software Vendor: "You Need to upgrade XYZ app to version D... We will no longer support version C or lower"
Customer "But my hardware won't run version D"
Hardware Vendor: "We have solutions for you that support XYZ Version D! it only costs..."
Customer "Screwed again..."
Hardware and Software Vendor (to selves): Repeat again in two years!
But the idea does have a lot of merit. Goverments have traditionally farmed all sorts of research out to Universities. Why not propose a sort of competition. Allow seniors with a Computer Science major to design a complete open source solution to fit the government's needs. The government could furnish a list of required capabilities and see what emerges. Winning student not only gets to know his solution is implemented... but (s)he probably gets a job too!
Or are we seeing that the corporation with the deepest pockets hires more expensive lawyers to sue first so they can't loose?
Sad times... but what's new?
"We will adapt, Resistance is Futile..."
Cheers to IBM for pusing forward! Here's to the next few years!
- Store only application data in your ram drive... all of this data is easily restorable (make an image of a complete install for example) and would fit in a 1-2GB RAM drive. The problem is that you have (and read) data more often than you deal with the applications themselves... so you don't gain as large a performance benefit by having your commonly accessed data on a RAM drive.
- Create an automated process that mirrors your RAM drive onto an old fassioned platter drive. Set this process to run automatically once a day at a time of low usage and you only loose a day of changes. Add an option to force sync with the hdisk and you're closer to optimal.
And of course, integrating a UPS with this (If power loss then write to disk!) would sweeten the deal.or...
Would this be workable/useful??? I don't know... I think we would need even cheeper RAM to feed the market's hunger for disk space... and I shudder to think of the price on 100GB of RAM (even at today's prices).
While I agree that Red Hat may not have the clout to sway the Senate... they do have the name recognition to get other players involved.
Think about it... How many people have you heard say they just installed Linux (current Redhat version number). There are plenty of people who don't know much about opensource, but Redhat == Linux to them... And other news agencies pay attention to Redhat because of that.
I'll agree though that simply contributing to the Redhat effort isn't enough...but having Redhat on board for this will certainly help the casue. And you can always write your Senator in addition to this!
It also brings to mind some of the Illustrated Guide to XYZ fantasy universe books that so many fans crave. With software like this becoming more common, could we begin to see CDs o' Fractal images with such publications? Or (again with file sizes of 90k), will we see printed URLs with a "Go here do DL the complete wold..."
Still, while thier limited viewer is free, and the professional viewer (with unlimited resolution) is only $30, I think the $250 SRP (even the $200 intro price)the hobbyist may stay off this platform for a while.
- Because I'm a poor college student who's parents are still on AOL. Why pay for a second ISP when there's one available? Linux isn't a solution for them, but if I could dial up from the Linux Box in my room (Linux on the second cheap computer? I have the second cheap computer!), that'd make my life simpler.
- Who wants to reboot to a Win/9x partition, connect, DL kernel patch, reboot to linux partition... etc...
- Remember that AOL offers a nation wide network. So these days, that's nothing new. But think about moving every few years, and doing this six years ago. Want to hunt up a new ISP every time you move?
- If you've managed to keep an ISP (and e-mail address) for a few years, would you want to go through the hassle of chainging? There are alot of long time AOL users who cling to AOL just to keep their e-mail addresses. As they grow more comfortable with their computer they may even grow towards Linux. Being able to keep your ISP would make that decision easier.
It's not about converting windows users to Linux because now they can keep AOL (though I think you may see some of that). It's about letting power users simplify thier life. (Single ISP for both the kids running windows and parents running linux (or the other way around!))Another possible effect could be an "Offical AOL For Linux". Which would be easier and less stressful in the long run, continually fighting off the third party connections, or writing an offical port to get people away from third party connection software?
Think about it. In a time when a mounted knight was the next best thing to a tank it became necessary to find a way to penetrate that armor. Numerous solutions were developed, ranging from heavier lances to conical blade tips (for spreading chain links). In responce, armor was redesigned to more effectively turn lances, thickened, and the evolution went on. Along come fire arms and within a century or so, armor is meaningless. Now, step up to the modern era, with the advent of hi-tech materials like Kevlar (sp?), we are again "armoring" against modern conventional weapons.
The fact remains that in any protracted war (Be it the Hundred Years war or WWII), technological inovation on both sides is to be expected. The real challenge comes in adapting your military to the new technology, developing Doctrine, Strategy, and Tactics to your new technology (lines of riflemen are great for breaking pike formations, but poorly suited to supressing guerilla (sp?) tactics).
War is fought by human beings (Carl von Clouswitz)
The more they make it "Microsoft everything", and the fewer options they give people
I think MS is actually at a disadvantage here. When you install the OS, sure, you get MS associations. But because the OS doesn't ship with competing products, you then have to add those products. Example... Media player owns MP3s by default, but when I install Winamp, winamp gives me the ability to change the association. Because you're adding competing software after the OS is installed, MS looses the ability to controll things.
I've yet to recieve a message from Media Player saying that "Media player is not the default player for MP3s, would you like to change..." though I do get that message from some versions of Real Player.
Honestly, I don't think that this helps MS w/ Monopoly power... though it does annoy the user, and I agree with the article that it should be easier to change file associations.
to create an OS so bloated that you need a 20 Ghz chip to run it. ::Sigh::
"In corporations, the IT department usually has a master key so that even when the employee leaves, the company can still retrieve the data"
I'd think about adding your senior IT staff to laptops when they're checked out. I think that with the lifespan of hardware, your turnaround on senior IT staff is usally not as fast as the replacement cycle on hardware.
Thoughts from Cubeland....
Wait a minute... is this even about games? He said "Im thinking of building my final year CS project around developing a piece of software for the Playstation 2 ... Bringing our own software to the living room on nice hardware seems like a whole new computer medium that would be fun to exploit." I'm wondering if the project in mind really is a game or something else? I'm not a PS2 guy, but if it (like the DreamCast) has a keyboard / modem (or NIC), couldn't you do things with it besides games?
Just a thought...
After all, isn't it just bits in the end?