It's not the 'year of the Linux desktop.' It's not this year, it won't be next year, and it won't be any year after that.
But that's okay. Linux -- and other Free OSes -- don't need a "year." They're gaining traction, slowly, and will continue to do so. The migration away from vendor lock-in on the part of the general public isn't something that's going to happen in a single year. It's going to happen over the course of decades.
For a while now I've had the idea that Microsoft's own FUD was going to ultimately contribute in large part to a viable Linux desktop. I think of all the people who used to complain that Linux is too hard to install, and now even though Vista is by all rights the easiest Microsoft OS to install since DOS, Ubuntu's installer is still by far less troublesome. The louder Microsoft crows about Linux's failings, the more temptation there will be for some OSS developer to scratch the itch.
You need the shades of grey if you're going to have a game that deals in morals, Bioshock has the same flaw.
Isn't that kind of an odd criticism for BioShock, considering the whole point of the story was that not once did you actually make your own decisions, but were instead just obeying somebody else's orders? Even when you were freed of the mind control you just plowed right on, this time doing whatever Dr. Tenenbaum told you. How many shades of grey are there in being a single-minded automaton?
You don't get an edge in the lottery by picking numbers that are more likely to come up; you get it by picking numbers that other players are less likely to choose (e.g. >31), so that you don't have to split your win with as many others.
Considering you're the third person I've seen just in this thread to suggest this strategy, I have to wonder if it would be smarter to play { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 } after all.
Do you have any examples of software that works in XP and needs rewriting for Vista?
How about Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0? Released four years ago. Doesn't work in Vista. Apparently Visual Studio 2003 doesn't either. Windows Mobile 5.0 only came out a couple years ago, so if you want to target devices older than that, you're not going to be doing it on Vista.
They guy said 10 years, 10 YEARS!!! That's a lifetime in IT. Online delivery of applications will be a WHOLE DIFFERENT BALL GAME then.
Perhaps I'm being myopic, but online delivery of applications doesn't seem significantly different now than it was in 1997. Java Web Start exists now, but it doesn't seem to have made Java for desktop apps any more attractive. Steam exists, and seems by all accounts to be wildly successful, but I'm not sure P2P file distribution qualifies a "whole different ball game".
The GKOS Sixback is similar to what you describe. Their version actually goes a step further, and puts a two-button trackpoint mouse under your thumbs.
Shame they didn't account for it. Escaping the ambush and having the next mission be to break into UNATCO HQ to retrieve whatever it was Daedalus wanted from Paul would have been interesting.
If you had the micro-fibril muscle aug you could avoid Harmann and just move one of the concrete barricades out of the way. Not that it did you any good, of course. You still had to get captured.:P
If someone asks you if you believe in jury nullification, it is moral to like and say "no" since saying "yes" would get you disqualified from the jury. If you do so, you must use any reason besides jury nullification as your reason for finding the defending "not guilty" or you could face contempt charges.
Couldn't you also answer that you don't know? Surely they would not go out of their way to educate you enough on the subject that you could make a decision on the spot, so it seems like it would be a question of whether they would disqualify you for not having an opinion on the matter.
The people who would ultimately pay for it didn't have anything to do with this apart from electing the guy who hired the guy who hired the guy who screwed up.
And now out of the whole city there is only one person with a vested interest in getting that guy out of office.
Quite frankly, I will be amazed if SP1 actually helps at all. I've had Vista installed on my (admittedly oldish) laptop since about February, and every update only seems to make things worse. I particularly hate whatever patch caused Vista to turn off the freaking file names in Explorer whenever it feels like it.
There's still a dearth of drivers, and using XP drivers is still hit-and-miss. My motherboard uses an ESS Allegro chipset for audio, for example, that disabled and re-enabled every time you reboot. Support for the latest driver for the Mobility Radeon chipset is so bad that I haven't even tried updating since I installed. Maybe someone more adventurous than I can say whether they fixed the bluescreen at boot up, but they haven't fixed anything else, so I kinda doubt they did.
Power management still doesn't work. The estimated time remaining is off by over an hour, and if I suspend to disk Vista loses the ability to tell when the AC power has been connected or disconnected, and it stops charging the battery. If I boot into Ubuntu I experince none of these problems.
Microsoft's own software crashes; namely eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0, which afaik is the last version that can still target CE 4.2 devices.
Whenever there are updates to install it replaces the sleep button with one that shuts the machine down completely. So you have to watch out for the little shield icon if you don't want all your running apps to be unceremoniously killed.
Microsoft rushed Vista, and now it seems like they're rushing SP1. I expect no better than a repeat performance of the release.
I care. Not because I'm concerned that this will mean all the other clients will mysteriously stop working, but because it is useful as a lens with which to view anything Bram Cohen does in the future. Before I get into a position where I rely on one of his creations, it is good to know in advance that he may opt to pull the rug out from under me once the product reaches a critical mass.
Eh, not really. I was just getting into PCs at this time, so my memory is a little fuzzy, but a little digging finds WordPerfect was already at version 5.1 and Lotus 1-2-3 at Release 3. Those were pretty much the killer apps for the platform, and versions of Windows that supported virtual 8086 mode had been available for some time, so you could run them in tandum.
Besides that, dBase IV and FoxPro were out, plus Borland's Turbo C++ and Turbo Pascal, and even an early version of Visual Basic. Thre was a DOS port of The Print Shop out--dunno how big this was on DOS, but I do recall plenty of banners printed on fan-fold paper in schools and all sorts of little businesses during the 80's. This was also about when Apogee and Epic were getting started with their shareware games.
A Unix system with just the compiler toolchain and shell utilities doesn't really hold a candle to that.
"Well, considering that Windows by default doesn't show the file
extension for known filetypes, as far as all the noobs can tell, the
file they just double-clicked was "Artist - song.mp3", since they
wouldn't even see the.exe at the end. Sweet deal eh?
Which is why I've been telling people for years the first thing they
should do after installing Windows (immediately after selecting the "Show
hidden files and folders" option and unchecking (clearing) the "Hide
extensions for known file types" and "Hide protected operating system
files" options in Control Panel -> Folder Options, View tab) is to run
REGEDIT and do a 'Find' for all occurrences of "NeverShowExt" and delete
every single one found. All of them (spare none).
This doesn't really solve anything, though, since people can't reasonably be
expected to know a safe file extension from a dangerous one. Just as an
example, try to list all the extensions you know that indicate an executable
file. Then compare with the list of
extensions blocked by Outlook.
How many did you get? Did you have all of the help file formats? How about
the shell scripts for DOS, NT and the MKS Korn shell? How about HyperText
Applications? How about Microsoft's proprietary obfuscated VBScript and
JavaScript files?
Some of the files blocked by Outlook are completely beneign (e.g. you can't
execute an.asp file). Do you know which ones? How about the mysterious,
unlabeld MAU files? How about Internet Document Set files, do you know they
are safe? Do you know what they even do? I can't say I do.
How many of the file extensions associated with
Windows Media Player can
you name? If someone sent you an.ivf file, would you know it was an Indeo
video? Would your mom know? How about Windows Media Player Skins. Are those
safe to open? They aren't blocked by Outlook, but they contain "any
associated JScript files that... add functionality to the skin". Safe? Not?
Beats me.
So, you might say, just don't open files if you don't know what they are. But
if people followed advice like that, they would be checking with the sender
before opening any files they weren't expecting, anyway.
Obviously the little bit of metadata provided by displaying the file
extension is better than none at all, but it's not going to make email
attachments all that much safer.
I was under the impression that most shows have the commercials stripped out when they're distributed like this. You were, of course, never under any impetus to watch the commercials, but is it really still moral to patronize a third party who are distributing a derivative work without compensating the people who actually created it?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not so high-and-mighty; I do something very similar, only it's shows that are only on in foreign markets. This is convenient, but I think moral is reaching a bit.
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For a while now I've had the idea that Microsoft's own FUD was going to ultimately contribute in large part to a viable Linux desktop. I think of all the people who used to complain that Linux is too hard to install, and now even though Vista is by all rights the easiest Microsoft OS to install since DOS, Ubuntu's installer is still by far less troublesome. The louder Microsoft crows about Linux's failings, the more temptation there will be for some OSS developer to scratch the itch.
BioShock spoilers ahead.
Isn't that kind of an odd criticism for BioShock, considering the whole point of the story was that not once did you actually make your own decisions, but were instead just obeying somebody else's orders? Even when you were freed of the mind control you just plowed right on, this time doing whatever Dr. Tenenbaum told you. How many shades of grey are there in being a single-minded automaton?
Just out of curiosity, how are you planning to prove that the EULA you have is the one they made you agree to you?
Considering you're the third person I've seen just in this thread to suggest this strategy, I have to wonder if it would be smarter to play { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 } after all.
Except when there are updates to install. Then it becomes an "unceremoniously kill all open applications and install updates" button.
How about Microsoft eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0? Released four years ago. Doesn't work in Vista. Apparently Visual Studio 2003 doesn't either. Windows Mobile 5.0 only came out a couple years ago, so if you want to target devices older than that, you're not going to be doing it on Vista.
Perhaps I'm being myopic, but online delivery of applications doesn't seem significantly different now than it was in 1997. Java Web Start exists now, but it doesn't seem to have made Java for desktop apps any more attractive. Steam exists, and seems by all accounts to be wildly successful, but I'm not sure P2P file distribution qualifies a "whole different ball game".
The GKOS Sixback is similar to what you describe. Their version actually goes a step further, and puts a two-button trackpoint mouse under your thumbs.
Shame they didn't account for it. Escaping the ambush and having the next mission be to break into UNATCO HQ to retrieve whatever it was Daedalus wanted from Paul would have been interesting.
If you had the micro-fibril muscle aug you could avoid Harmann and just move one of the concrete barricades out of the way. Not that it did you any good, of course. You still had to get captured. :P
Couldn't you also answer that you don't know? Surely they would not go out of their way to educate you enough on the subject that you could make a decision on the spot, so it seems like it would be a question of whether they would disqualify you for not having an opinion on the matter.
Christ. As if all the guys shaving themselves en route weren't bad enough.
Actually, ??? will be "use pervasive camera network to automatically bill people for 'congestion tax'."
Good news though: it is the year of Linux on the desktop.
Or. You know. Crazy thought: they could just sell both.
Advice: move to an off-grid shack in Montana before anyone has an opportunity to create Goatse Experienced.
Oh. Er. Nevermind, I didn't say anything.
And now out of the whole city there is only one person with a vested interest in getting that guy out of office.
This is a great plan until a month later when you get the bill for the bandwidth used by the 99% who didn't sign up. :D
Quite frankly, I will be amazed if SP1 actually helps at all. I've had Vista installed on my (admittedly oldish) laptop since about February, and every update only seems to make things worse. I particularly hate whatever patch caused Vista to turn off the freaking file names in Explorer whenever it feels like it.
There's still a dearth of drivers, and using XP drivers is still hit-and-miss. My motherboard uses an ESS Allegro chipset for audio, for example, that disabled and re-enabled every time you reboot. Support for the latest driver for the Mobility Radeon chipset is so bad that I haven't even tried updating since I installed. Maybe someone more adventurous than I can say whether they fixed the bluescreen at boot up, but they haven't fixed anything else, so I kinda doubt they did.
Power management still doesn't work. The estimated time remaining is off by over an hour, and if I suspend to disk Vista loses the ability to tell when the AC power has been connected or disconnected, and it stops charging the battery. If I boot into Ubuntu I experince none of these problems.
Microsoft's own software crashes; namely eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0, which afaik is the last version that can still target CE 4.2 devices.
Whenever there are updates to install it replaces the sleep button with one that shuts the machine down completely. So you have to watch out for the little shield icon if you don't want all your running apps to be unceremoniously killed.
Microsoft rushed Vista, and now it seems like they're rushing SP1. I expect no better than a repeat performance of the release.
Even worse they could have left it "URGE" and made it work with the Zune. Then you'd all the time have people offering to squirt you some URGE noises.
This is the way the database ends
This is the way the spreadsheet ends
This is the way the word processor ends
Not with a bang, but with a moof.
I care. Not because I'm concerned that this will mean all the other clients will mysteriously stop working, but because it is useful as a lens with which to view anything Bram Cohen does in the future. Before I get into a position where I rely on one of his creations, it is good to know in advance that he may opt to pull the rug out from under me once the product reaches a critical mass.
Eh, not really. I was just getting into PCs at this time, so my memory is a little fuzzy, but a little digging finds WordPerfect was already at version 5.1 and Lotus 1-2-3 at Release 3. Those were pretty much the killer apps for the platform, and versions of Windows that supported virtual 8086 mode had been available for some time, so you could run them in tandum.
Besides that, dBase IV and FoxPro were out, plus Borland's Turbo C++ and Turbo Pascal, and even an early version of Visual Basic. Thre was a DOS port of The Print Shop out--dunno how big this was on DOS, but I do recall plenty of banners printed on fan-fold paper in schools and all sorts of little businesses during the 80's. This was also about when Apogee and Epic were getting started with their shareware games.
A Unix system with just the compiler toolchain and shell utilities doesn't really hold a candle to that.
This doesn't really solve anything, though, since people can't reasonably be expected to know a safe file extension from a dangerous one. Just as an example, try to list all the extensions you know that indicate an executable file. Then compare with the list of extensions blocked by Outlook.
How many did you get? Did you have all of the help file formats? How about the shell scripts for DOS, NT and the MKS Korn shell? How about HyperText Applications? How about Microsoft's proprietary obfuscated VBScript and JavaScript files?
Some of the files blocked by Outlook are completely beneign (e.g. you can't execute an .asp file). Do you know which ones? How about the mysterious,
unlabeld MAU files? How about Internet Document Set files, do you know they
are safe? Do you know what they even do? I can't say I do.
How many of the file extensions associated with Windows Media Player can you name? If someone sent you an .ivf file, would you know it was an Indeo
video? Would your mom know? How about Windows Media Player Skins. Are those
safe to open? They aren't blocked by Outlook, but they contain "any
associated JScript files that... add functionality to the skin". Safe? Not?
Beats me.
So, you might say, just don't open files if you don't know what they are. But if people followed advice like that, they would be checking with the sender before opening any files they weren't expecting, anyway.
Obviously the little bit of metadata provided by displaying the file extension is better than none at all, but it's not going to make email attachments all that much safer.
I was under the impression that most shows have the commercials stripped out when they're distributed like this. You were, of course, never under any impetus to watch the commercials, but is it really still moral to patronize a third party who are distributing a derivative work without compensating the people who actually created it?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not so high-and-mighty; I do something very similar, only it's shows that are only on in foreign markets. This is convenient, but I think moral is reaching a bit.