Re:"In" Languages, and languages of the future.
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Microsoft PDC Journal
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· Score: 1
Um, nice speculation. Yes, of course if there was a language that was magically perfect for everybody and the best for every need, everyone would switch to it. Unfortunately, languages are an exercise in compromises and what is a useful feature for one programmer is a horrible kludge for another. As a simple example, if I was creating a language for game programming, it would probably be useful to have a language feature to express a coordinate system. But this would be totally useless for someone trying to program a database.
In a general-purpose language, you have to make similar decisions. Should you force variables to be declared before they are used of should they spring into existence? The former slows down initial development time, the latter is more error-prone. There's no One Right Way; you have to decide what audience your language is for.
BTW, I'm not sure what you mean when you say that Python and Squeak are the languages of the day. Whatever its merits, Python is only a mildly popular language, and I've never even heard of Squeak. And if you think that millions of programmers, programming both proprietary and open source software, have been for 20 years using a language that is "laughable", think again.
Anyway, if you think you can design this "Sheep", go ahead and do so. You'll end up with another language that's good for some uses, but not for everybody. And that's as it should be. There should be diversity in programming languages, as well as operating systems.
Maybe you're right, but I don't think so. The first anime I watched (DNA^2, Fushigi Yuugi), that made me fall in love with the genre had no element of SF or mechs in them. In fact, there's only one anime that I would rank among my favorites that has mecha in it (Eva). But I fit the definition of a 'nerd' pretty closely. Also, there's lots of american stuff with cool technology in it also, but that doesn't necessarily make anime fans like it.
No, I think there's something more fundamental about anime that makes us like it. Hard to define, though. Maybe it's just the creativity of anime in general, compared to formulaic american TV. I can't think of anything else that Lain and Sailor Moon have in common:).
I'm against letting people filter out anime news:). Slashdot is doing people a favor by introducing them to anime; the whiners don't know what they're missing. If this article causes a few curious people to check out some Tenchi Muyou, that's a Very Good Thing. As anime fans, it's our duty to share the wealth.
When people say nukes will "destroy the earth", they don't mean it literally. Our puny bombs only scratch the surface of the earth. We can destroy the biosphere (which is something like 0.00001% of the total mass of the earth) but don't think that a little hydrogen bomb can split the earth in half or anything.
Of course the earth will be around for billions of years. It's so huge that we can't hope to even deviate it from its course, let alone destroy it.
over 90% of the rain forest is pristine and intact!!
I was looking through greenpeace.com a while ago and the figure that was given was more like 20%. They, of course, have an interest in exaggeration, but it's certainly below 50%. I wish you were right, though...
Instead of using goto to break out of nested loops/switch statements, I've found it's always better to put the inner loop into a separate function (inline if efficiency is a concern). Frequently I end up calling the new function from somewhere else and thinking "I'm glad I didn't use goto".
IHMO, goto only has one use in serious code: for "compilers" of other languages (e.g. Eiffel) that transform their code into C++, it's often easiest to use goto. But avoid goto like the plague in handcrafted code:).
Re:Substandard C++ compiler, libraries, etc...
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Why Develop On Linux?
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· Score: 2
I've found coding C++ is much easier under Windows than Linux. GCC has its own share of incompatibilities with the standard: the most obvious is the complete lack of support for virtual base classes. Second, Linux theoretically has libraries that are more up-to-date that MSVC's; but in practice, since you must distribute your code in source form (unless you want to be crucified), you have to support older versions of the libraries to save your users the hassle of recompiling GCC.
The biggest problem with developing under Linux, though, it that gdb's support for C++ is terrible. Yes, even the new 5.0. It crashes constantly, is confused by name mangling and object construction and destruction. Bugs that should've taken 5 minutes to find take 60. I always use MSVC's debugger unless I am debugging linux-specific problems.
I'm not sure where you got the idea that Linux has better support for C++ than Windows. The few language features that MSVC is missing are minor inconveniences at worst.
It's so horrible, in fact, that I can't even think of a worse one.
I advocate forcing every new programmer to learn INTERCAL. Behold its gloriously simple and useful operators:
The interleave operator takes two 16-bit values and produces a 32-bit result by alternating the bits of the operands. Thus, #65535c/#0 has the 32-bit binary form 101010....10 or 2863311530 decimal, while #0c/#65535 = 0101....01 binary = 1431655765 decimal, and #255c/#255 is equivalent to #65535.
Re:Can someone give 1 good reason to use C++
on
Who's Afraid Of C++?
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· Score: 1
There are lots of reasons to use C++ over C. The problem is whether you'll find that any of them are good:).
C++ has lots of small advantages over C that every programmer will be able to appreciate: stricter type checking, function overloading, being able to declare new variables anywhere, inline functions, etc. If this is all that you'll use, though, it isn't really worth switching.
The big advantage of C++ is that it supports other programming styles ("paradigms"). Object-oriented (and generic) programming is impossible to do properly in C, but C++ offers direct support for both techniques. In other words, you have to learn to think in OO before you can really appreciate it. So, the advantages of C++ are the advantages of OOP: code that is overall more modular, extendable and safe. The price is a really steep learning curve, because you have to learn to think about programming problems differently. People who say all of the new features of C++ are just syntactic convenience are right, in the same way that I would be right if I said that functions are just convenience, and you could write whole programs using only goto.
OOP isn't a panacea, but it's a good solution to a lot of problems, and I think every programmer working on large or medium-sized projects should take the time to learn it. Basically, C++ allows you to write OO programs while still being able to use all your old C code.
Unfortunately, not all programmers are paid... tell that to all the young, self-taught OSS programmers and starving college students:). I, for one, am not buying a Xeon to speed up my development of free software.
Grr. The tar.gz file unzips in the current directory instead of creating one like the release-HOWTO says:(. Make sure you mkdir terminus; mv Ter^I.tar.gz terminus if you don't want to hunt around for the files.
I would comment on the game, but I don't have a 3d card right now. Looks pretty interesting, though:).
A well-reasoned reply. Of course, Java has it's good points also (but I don't like it:). A few points I'd like to make, though:
It's true that templates are _strictly_ necessary only for generic objects that work with primitives. However, some problems can be solved naturally better using them. The classic example is containers: it's impossible to have a generic, non-intrusive container without templates.
MI is easy to misuse, but it has it's uses. For example, the C++ iostreams library uses it effectively.
Final is no match for const:). The main use of const is that it allows you to create a constant and non-constant interface. e.g. int Read() const; void Write(int); So, people who have const objects can only read from them.
As for the 'political' issues, you have good points, and integration to a certain degree is good, but I think Sun takes it too far.
Maybe Java is really popular right now, but personally, I don't like it.
First, I wouldn't say it has everything one could want in an OOP language. The language feels like watered-down C++: templates (and STL), objects on the stack, const, references, and true multiple inheritance, are all missing from Java, but clearly would be useful. Yes, the absence of these features makes life easier for beginners, but it's painful to work around Java's deficiencies when you know how to use such features.
Unfortunately, Java isn't really multiplatform, either, unlike what Sun's marketing team would have you believe. Java is multiplatform in the same way that my Super Nintendo ROM is: I can play it on windows, linux, solaris, etc. I need an emulator, of course. Similarly, I need a "Java Virtual Machine" to run my Java bytecode: it's really just an emulator for a platform that doesn't exist. And if the emulator isn't ported to your favorite platform, well, tough.
But the main thing I don't like about Java is how gratuitously integrated it is. Why should the Java standard library (which is really a platform in itself) be inextricably bound with the Java language? It could easily have been made into a C++ library, since C++ has direct support for all the language features of Java. Then, they could have written the Java language/bytecode interpreter separately, and made it an option to use the Java platform. This would clearly be better for everyone (except Sun): I could use the well-designed Java APIs in my C++ project with no loss of speed.
The same thing goes for much of Java. Why does Javadoc, a program that generates documentation from comments in your code, have to be integrated with the rest of Java? It could also be used to document C/C++ code, with minor modifications.
IOW, Sun is trying to lock you into their platform in the same way that MS is with their strange APIs ; except that Sun's method is much more effective. I am sticking with C++.
So why to care if they mutualy contribute to their loss - the only thing they ruin is their own machine or network, but they rarely get those who are preventive.
By that logic, dueling to the death should be allowed. After all, the two fighters are mutually contributing to the fatality: the only thing they lose are their own lives, but they rarely get those who aren't interested in fighting.
I think it's reasonable to prevent people from hurting themselves, and much of American law is based on that principle.
Everyone seems to be recommending boy anime so I'll throw in a few shoujo titles I liked:
Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (His and her circumstances) I'd say this is a must-see for everybody. It was directed by Hideaki Anno, the creator of Evangelion, and from the episodes I've seen it actually surpasses Eva. What makes this one unique is that it's written from a first-person perspective: everything is distorted to fit the perspective of the main character. For example, when she feels other characters are insignificant, they are "blanked out" (you don't see their faces). And it develops really strong drama even at episode 2, because of the extremely realistic relationship between 2 characters. And also, top-notch soundtrack, great Gainax-style art, good acting, etc. Because this is so new and hasn't been commercially subbed, most people have not heard of it yet, but this is one of the best anime I've seen. If you loved Eva, you'll probably also love this.
Fushigi Yuugi (Mysterious play) A very popular anime, it's the story of two high school girls transported into a fantasy world. This one is good in all respects, has decently developed characters, frequent anime-style drama and never gets boring. Nice swordfighting that isn't gratuitous but blends in with the plot and characters. Characters aren't as developed as they could be but after a while I really identified with them.
Card Captor Sakura This one is "pure" mahou shoujo (magical girl): I would recommend this to people who aren't afraid of the color pink:). CCS has top-notch, extremely detailed art: Sakura's costumes are really gorgeous. Also, the acting is excellent: it's impossible not to laugh at Kero-chan's antics. However, being a kid's show, it's lacking in plot and character development. Still, it has a large cult of fans.
Sailor Moon Trust me, the japanese version is much better than the dub:). Awesome pacing, soundtrack, art (the attacks are awe-inspiring) and acting. It isn't so popular for nothing. Once again, though, you have to be unafraid of being "sissy" in order to watch this. I recommend you start by watching the SM SuperS "mini-movie", Ami-chan no Hatsukoi (Ami's first love).
Saint Tail A mysterious magical thief girl:). Once again, great pacing, acting, and music. If you liked Sailor Moon, you'll like this.
Anyway, that being said, my favorite anime is still Neon Genesis Evangelion and like a lot of other people, I highly recommend you watch it above all else.
Cnet, as you might expect from an "OS deathmatch", considered only the needs of a certain class of users. You might as well compare Vi versus Microsoft Word and try to find a "winner". You could divide the properties of each editor into various categories: UI, features, cost, etc. but that wouldn't change the fact that each is aimed at a different market and has different uses. Coding in Word would be positively painful, OTOH my mom doesn't want to use Vi for word processing.
Same thing goes for the OSes. I haven't seen MacOS run on any web servers lately, even though it's the "better OS". My mom thinks it's a better OS, but RMS considers it a tool of Satan:). It's all a matter of your needs and perspective.
MacOS only won because they mostly considered the needs of what they considered Average Joe Desktop User. For me, their whole discussion on interfaces was ludicrous: for most tasks, I only use a GUI when I'm forced to. I couldn't care less who has drag-and-drop or whatever. As far as I'm concerned, MacOS's lack of a decent CLI makes it the instant loser.
I'm not saying the MacOS sucks. Just that the article sucked:). I think if they had said at least "best OS for the average user" I would've liked it a lot more.
I guess this is the position taken by proponents of Islamic law
Comparing Meyer to fanatical Islamic militants is exactly the sort of slander he criticized the free software community for. Now, I agree that he was pretty insulting and offtopic at times (e.g. his gun control rant) but don't attack a straw man like this.
I Am Not A Philosopher, but according to everything I know, the purpose of law _is_ to enforce ethics. Why is murdering illegal? Because the vast majority of society considers it unethical. Same thing goes for stealing, discrimination, etc. Even higher-level laws (e.g. don't litter) break down at some point to ethics. Therefore, yes, law is meant to be a reflection of ethics, and there is nothing "Islamic" about that. If you can find some other use for law, I'd like to know what it is.
What you quoted there is just common sense, and what any ethics professor will tell you.
As with everything, it's not really possible to have a web page that's just right for everyone. For example, people on 1200 baud modems will obviously prefer pages with no graphics at all:).
So, in your opinion, what are the major categories of audiences and what sort of design is appropriate for each one? Why do you think your own web page has the best design for the audience you're aiming for?
Personally, I'd like to see a construct like the French "si" enter the language. (si is an true response to a default false question
Hm, I'm a French Canadian and I've never heard of this:). Perhaps that is true in a theoretical sense (as in, it is written in an official book that no one really cares about) but in practice "si" is exactly equivalent to "oui".
In fact, in modern-day French, "si" is almost never used: "oui" is 100 times more common. If you say "si" while speaking French, people listening to you will be momentarily confused, thinking you mean to say "if" (which is the normal usage of "si").
There's no inherent rightness in reforming criminals.
IANAP (I Am Not A Philosopher), but according to my worldview at least, there is.
Say Joe Criminal kills your brother, and gets caught. Which is better:
Joe rots in prison for the rest of his life or gets the death penalty.
Joe is released but has been totally reformed and never commits a crime again.
Well, to me, scenario 2 is obviously better. Everyone should have their fundamental rights, even people who have violated the rights of others. The fact that Joe has killed your brother does not him from being a person, and every person deserves their rights. This is a natural consequence of the concept that all people are equal.
IIRC, the ethical motive behind prisons is to stop criminals from committing even more crimes. Not for revenge, which you seem to imply in your post ("undo the past"). Vengeful feelings have no place in ethics.
IMHO, the real problem is that you can't be sure that the criminal has really been reformed. But yes, reforming Joe is intrinsically right.
First, _of course_ people playing wolf3d would be more aggressive than people playing Myst. I would say it's due to the boredom-inducing effect of Myst rather than the violence of wolf3d. Personally, after 15 minutes of Myst I'd be sound asleep:). Second, as others have mentioned, there's nothing in their study to show that it's the violence and not the competitive behavior that causes agressiveness. I get pumped up much more after a 1on1 of Tetris Attack than of Doom (because you don't lose in doom, you just get behind a frag and reappear).
Third, they mentioned they lost the data for 3 people due to "computer failure". It kind of lowers the credibility of their study that they were probably running '95 for their test programs:).
But nevertheless I'd say they have a point. I enjoy killing scientists in Half-Life as much as the next guy, but is it really necessary to have actual physical violence in order to have a good game? Not really. Imho, the only reason non-violent games are generally less fun than violent ones is because all the good developers spend their time on the latter, and so the "genre" has evolved much more. I think if they went back to abstract video games en masse, there would be a wealth of new styles, parents would have nothing to complain about, and we'd all be better off for it.
I'm not saying everyone should start spouting out stuff as boring as Myst, though. But it's possible to have something as fun as Quake, minus the guns.
I love the idea of free software, but I have a major problem with the idea of replacing all proprietary software with it.
If I understand correctly, you say that the users are ethically more important than the programmers, simply by force of numbers. I agree with this. But Joe User doesn't care about whether his source code is open. He just wants a program that will let him get his work done. And today's proprietary software, all in all, seems to be about as useful as today's free software. So Joe User doesn't care at all whether his software is free or not.
So a world of free software would advantage a certain group of users, those who like it because they can modify it and redistribute it at will. In other words, it advantages programmers. The same programmers who income went way down because free software is less profitable than proprietary software.
The only other factors seem to be vague ideas like "intangible ethical pollution" which I find hard to swallow.
So, all in all: most users don't care, programmers have their freedom but are starving to death:). A free software world does not seem worth it.
Please answer this and convert me to GNU:). A world of sharing sounds wonderful, but is it practical?
That distinction was created by RMS, the man that basically invented free software. Here's the gist of it, in his words:
``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ``free speech'', not ``free beer.''
``Free software'' refers to the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. (freedom 3).
Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
I find all the comments flaming Hemos very annoying. What would you have done in his place? It is practically impossible to write an april's fools story and not get flamed.
If he had pretended that there was a _real_ "internet cleaning day", many gullible sysadmins would have fallen for it and they would have gotten very angry. Already, a few people will fall for it just because written in english, and he will get flamed for that too.
Remember last year when User Friendly and Segfault pretended to have been threatened by Microsoft? That was a very well orchestrated joke and I thought it was hilarious... but many people didn't and they got a lot of angry e-mail as a result. The same thing would have happened here if Hemos had not made it clear that it's a joke.
And the other alternative? No jokes at all. Hurrah, more flame.
As always, it's a good idea to calm down and take some deep breaths before posting something insulting. I'm sure receiving hundreds of flames is not at all pleasant; and in this case, I don't think there is good reason.
Slashdot Mirror
In a general-purpose language, you have to make similar decisions. Should you force variables to be declared before they are used of should they spring into existence? The former slows down initial development time, the latter is more error-prone. There's no One Right Way; you have to decide what audience your language is for.
BTW, I'm not sure what you mean when you say that Python and Squeak are the languages of the day. Whatever its merits, Python is only a mildly popular language, and I've never even heard of Squeak. And if you think that millions of programmers, programming both proprietary and open source software, have been for 20 years using a language that is "laughable", think again.
Anyway, if you think you can design this "Sheep", go ahead and do so. You'll end up with another language that's good for some uses, but not for everybody. And that's as it should be. There should be diversity in programming languages, as well as operating systems.
No, I think there's something more fundamental about anime that makes us like it. Hard to define, though. Maybe it's just the creativity of anime in general, compared to formulaic american TV. I can't think of anything else that Lain and Sailor Moon have in common :).
I'm against letting people filter out anime news :). Slashdot is doing people a favor by introducing them to anime; the whiners don't know what they're missing. If this article causes a few curious people to check out some Tenchi Muyou, that's a Very Good Thing. As anime fans, it's our duty to share the wealth.
Of course the earth will be around for billions of years. It's so huge that we can't hope to even deviate it from its course, let alone destroy it.
I was looking through greenpeace.com a while ago and the figure that was given was more like 20%. They, of course, have an interest in exaggeration, but it's certainly below 50%. I wish you were right, though ...
IHMO, goto only has one use in serious code: for "compilers" of other languages (e.g. Eiffel) that transform their code into C++, it's often easiest to use goto. But avoid goto like the plague in handcrafted code :).
The biggest problem with developing under Linux, though, it that gdb's support for C++ is terrible. Yes, even the new 5.0. It crashes constantly, is confused by name mangling and object construction and destruction. Bugs that should've taken 5 minutes to find take 60. I always use MSVC's debugger unless I am debugging linux-specific problems.
I'm not sure where you got the idea that Linux has better support for C++ than Windows. The few language features that MSVC is missing are minor inconveniences at worst.
I advocate forcing every new programmer to learn INTERCAL. Behold its gloriously simple and useful operators:
The interleave operator takes two 16-bit values and produces a 32-bit result by alternating the bits of the operands. Thus, #65535c/#0 has the 32-bit binary form 101010....10 or 2863311530 decimal, while #0c/#65535 = 0101....01 binary = 1431655765 decimal, and #255c/#255 is equivalent to #65535.
C++ has lots of small advantages over C that every programmer will be able to appreciate: stricter type checking, function overloading, being able to declare new variables anywhere, inline functions, etc. If this is all that you'll use, though, it isn't really worth switching.
The big advantage of C++ is that it supports other programming styles ("paradigms"). Object-oriented (and generic) programming is impossible to do properly in C, but C++ offers direct support for both techniques. In other words, you have to learn to think in OO before you can really appreciate it. So, the advantages of C++ are the advantages of OOP: code that is overall more modular, extendable and safe. The price is a really steep learning curve, because you have to learn to think about programming problems differently. People who say all of the new features of C++ are just syntactic convenience are right, in the same way that I would be right if I said that functions are just convenience, and you could write whole programs using only goto.
OOP isn't a panacea, but it's a good solution to a lot of problems, and I think every programmer working on large or medium-sized projects should take the time to learn it. Basically, C++ allows you to write OO programs while still being able to use all your old C code.
Unfortunately, not all programmers are paid ... tell that to all the young, self-taught OSS programmers and starving college students :). I, for one, am not buying a Xeon to speed up my development of free software.
I would comment on the game, but I don't have a 3d card right now. Looks pretty interesting, though :).
It's true that templates are _strictly_ necessary only for generic objects that work with primitives. However, some problems can be solved naturally better using them. The classic example is containers: it's impossible to have a generic, non-intrusive container without templates.
MI is easy to misuse, but it has it's uses. For example, the C++ iostreams library uses it effectively.
Final is no match for const :). The main use of const is that it allows you to create a constant and non-constant interface. e.g.
int Read() const;
void Write(int);
So, people who have const objects can only read from them.
As for the 'political' issues, you have good points, and integration to a certain degree is good, but I think Sun takes it too far.
First, I wouldn't say it has everything one could want in an OOP language. The language feels like watered-down C++: templates (and STL), objects on the stack, const, references, and true multiple inheritance, are all missing from Java, but clearly would be useful. Yes, the absence of these features makes life easier for beginners, but it's painful to work around Java's deficiencies when you know how to use such features.
Unfortunately, Java isn't really multiplatform, either, unlike what Sun's marketing team would have you believe. Java is multiplatform in the same way that my Super Nintendo ROM is: I can play it on windows, linux, solaris, etc. I need an emulator, of course. Similarly, I need a "Java Virtual Machine" to run my Java bytecode: it's really just an emulator for a platform that doesn't exist. And if the emulator isn't ported to your favorite platform, well, tough.
But the main thing I don't like about Java is how gratuitously integrated it is. Why should the Java standard library (which is really a platform in itself) be inextricably bound with the Java language? It could easily have been made into a C++ library, since C++ has direct support for all the language features of Java. Then, they could have written the Java language/bytecode interpreter separately, and made it an option to use the Java platform. This would clearly be better for everyone (except Sun): I could use the well-designed Java APIs in my C++ project with no loss of speed.
The same thing goes for much of Java. Why does Javadoc, a program that generates documentation from comments in your code, have to be integrated with the rest of Java? It could also be used to document C/C++ code, with minor modifications.
IOW, Sun is trying to lock you into their platform in the same way that MS is with their strange APIs ; except that Sun's method is much more effective. I am sticking with C++.
By that logic, dueling to the death should be allowed. After all, the two fighters are mutually contributing to the fatality: the only thing they lose are their own lives, but they rarely get those who aren't interested in fighting.
I think it's reasonable to prevent people from hurting themselves, and much of American law is based on that principle.
I'd say this is a must-see for everybody. It was directed by Hideaki Anno, the creator of Evangelion, and from the episodes I've seen it actually surpasses Eva. What makes this one unique is that it's written from a first-person perspective: everything is distorted to fit the perspective of the main character. For example, when she feels other characters are insignificant, they are "blanked out" (you don't see their faces). And it develops really strong drama even at episode 2, because of the extremely realistic relationship between 2 characters. And also, top-notch soundtrack, great Gainax-style art, good acting, etc. Because this is so new and hasn't been commercially subbed, most people have not heard of it yet, but this is one of the best anime I've seen. If you loved Eva, you'll probably also love this.
A very popular anime, it's the story of two high school girls transported into a fantasy world. This one is good in all respects, has decently developed characters, frequent anime-style drama and never gets boring. Nice swordfighting that isn't gratuitous but blends in with the plot and characters. Characters aren't as developed as they could be but after a while I really identified with them.
This one is "pure" mahou shoujo (magical girl): I would recommend this to people who aren't afraid of the color pink
Trust me, the japanese version is much better than the dub
A mysterious magical thief girl
Anyway, that being said, my favorite anime is still Neon Genesis Evangelion and like a lot of other people, I highly recommend you watch it above all else.
Same thing goes for the OSes. I haven't seen MacOS run on any web servers lately, even though it's the "better OS". My mom thinks it's a better OS, but RMS considers it a tool of Satan :). It's all a matter of your needs and perspective.
MacOS only won because they mostly considered the needs of what they considered Average Joe Desktop User. For me, their whole discussion on interfaces was ludicrous: for most tasks, I only use a GUI when I'm forced to. I couldn't care less who has drag-and-drop or whatever. As far as I'm concerned, MacOS's lack of a decent CLI makes it the instant loser.
I'm not saying the MacOS sucks. Just that the article sucked :). I think if they had said at least "best OS for the average user" I would've liked it a lot more.
Comparing Meyer to fanatical Islamic militants is exactly the sort of slander he criticized the free software community for. Now, I agree that he was pretty insulting and offtopic at times (e.g. his gun control rant) but don't attack a straw man like this.
I Am Not A Philosopher, but according to everything I know, the purpose of law _is_ to enforce ethics. Why is murdering illegal? Because the vast majority of society considers it unethical. Same thing goes for stealing, discrimination, etc. Even higher-level laws (e.g. don't litter) break down at some point to ethics. Therefore, yes, law is meant to be a reflection of ethics, and there is nothing "Islamic" about that. If you can find some other use for law, I'd like to know what it is.
What you quoted there is just common sense, and what any ethics professor will tell you.
So, in your opinion, what are the major categories of audiences and what sort of design is appropriate for each one? Why do you think your own web page has the best design for the audience you're aiming for?
Hm, I'm a French Canadian and I've never heard of this :). Perhaps that is true in a theoretical sense (as in, it is written in an official book that no one really cares about) but in practice "si" is exactly equivalent to "oui".
In fact, in modern-day French, "si" is almost never used: "oui" is 100 times more common. If you say "si" while speaking French, people listening to you will be momentarily confused, thinking you mean to say "if" (which is the normal usage of "si").
"You're not going to a movie, are you?"; "If."
:)
IANAP (I Am Not A Philosopher), but according to my worldview at least, there is.
Say Joe Criminal kills your brother, and gets caught. Which is better:
- Joe rots in prison for the rest of his life or gets the death penalty.
- Joe is released but has been totally reformed and never commits a crime again.
Well, to me, scenario 2 is obviously better. Everyone should have their fundamental rights, even people who have violated the rights of others. The fact that Joe has killed your brother does not him from being a person, and every person deserves their rights. This is a natural consequence of the concept that all people are equal.IIRC, the ethical motive behind prisons is to stop criminals from committing even more crimes. Not for revenge, which you seem to imply in your post ("undo the past"). Vengeful feelings have no place in ethics.
IMHO, the real problem is that you can't be sure that the criminal has really been reformed. But yes, reforming Joe is intrinsically right.
First, _of course_ people playing wolf3d would be more aggressive than people playing Myst. I would say it's due to the boredom-inducing effect of Myst rather than the violence of wolf3d. Personally, after 15 minutes of Myst I'd be sound asleep :).
:).
Second, as others have mentioned, there's nothing in their study to show that it's the violence and not the competitive behavior that causes agressiveness. I get pumped up much more after a 1on1 of Tetris Attack than of Doom (because you don't lose in doom, you just get behind a frag and reappear).
Third, they mentioned they lost the data for 3 people due to "computer failure". It kind of lowers the credibility of their study that they were probably running '95 for their test programs
But nevertheless I'd say they have a point. I enjoy killing scientists in Half-Life as much as the next guy, but is it really necessary to have actual physical violence in order to have a good game? Not really. Imho, the only reason non-violent games are generally less fun than violent ones is because all the good developers spend their time on the latter, and so the "genre" has evolved much more. I think if they went back to abstract video games en masse, there would be a wealth of new styles, parents would have nothing to complain about, and we'd all be better off for it.
I'm not saying everyone should start spouting out stuff as boring as Myst, though. But it's possible to have something as fun as Quake, minus the guns.
I love the idea of free software, but I have a major problem with the idea of replacing all proprietary software with it.
:). A free software world does not seem worth it.
:). A world of sharing sounds wonderful, but is it practical?
If I understand correctly, you say that the users are ethically more important than the programmers, simply by force of numbers. I agree with this. But Joe User doesn't care about whether his source code is open. He just wants a program that will let him get his work done. And today's proprietary software, all in all, seems to be about as useful as today's free software. So Joe User doesn't care at all whether his software is free or not.
So a world of free software would advantage a certain group of users, those who like it because they can modify it and redistribute it at will. In other words, it advantages programmers. The same programmers who income went way down because free software is less profitable than proprietary software.
The only other factors seem to be vague ideas like "intangible ethical pollution" which I find hard to swallow.
So, all in all: most users don't care, programmers have their freedom but are starving to death
Please answer this and convert me to GNU
``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ``free speech'', not ``free beer.''
``Free software'' refers to the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. (freedom 3).
Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
Here's the full text.
I find all the comments flaming Hemos very annoying. What would you have done in his place? It is practically impossible to write an april's fools story and not get flamed.
... but many people didn't and they got a lot of angry e-mail as a result. The same thing would have happened here if Hemos had not made it clear that it's a joke.
If he had pretended that there was a _real_ "internet cleaning day", many gullible sysadmins would have fallen for it and they would have gotten very angry. Already, a few people will fall for it just because written in english, and he will get flamed for that too.
Remember last year when User Friendly and Segfault pretended to have been threatened by Microsoft? That was a very well orchestrated joke and I thought it was hilarious
And the other alternative? No jokes at all. Hurrah, more flame.
As always, it's a good idea to calm down and take some deep breaths before posting something insulting. I'm sure receiving hundreds of flames is not at all pleasant; and in this case, I don't think there is good reason.
Hong Kong party line
There are funny tidbits like they only have 2 T1 lines for the whole country :) (they use proxies). Anyway, that's how it was in '97.
Broccolist