Can you offer anything with which to back up this ridiculous assertion? [Hitler was a socialist. He has much more in common with modern day liberals than conservatives.]
"Every single application has at least one non-functional detail that makes me want to climb the wall with my teeth"
At the risk of obscurity beneath 800 comments, perhaps I could suggest a reason why so many niggling details need fixing.
RPMs
There are plenty of things in linux desktop applications that I'd like fixed. Many of them, I'd probably have the skills and time to fix, if I had access to the source code. Well, it's an open-source operating system, so what's the problem?
The problem is I'm running Mandrake. When I installed the OS, the applications were all installed automatically from RPMs. My/usr/src directory is nearly empty, and if I want the source-code to any given application, I have to find CD6, which is not even included with some Mandrake CD-sets. All I need to do is get this CD to work, copy the files, and compile.
Well, actually not. For the same reason that I have hardly any source-code on my system, Mandrake seems also to have skimped on the libraries it left on my disk. So what was a half-hour fix to add a fuzzy-clock to WindowMaker now takes a week to get the system into a state where I can make the change. Open-source, but it might as well not be.
I'm sure many people will reply to this with disparaging remarks about the lack of effort I'm prepared to put in. People will suggest things involving sourcerer and kernel-recompilation. But this is the GNU Operating system as supplied. Damned difficult to change.
So the solution to all of the GNU/desktop bugs? Make it easy to change. The reason linux and linux servers became so successful was that every person who used them had the materials and the skills to change the programs and make them better. The GNU desktop needs that as well; if someone finds a bug that would take an hour to fix, or a feature that would take an hour to implement, there shouldn't be any artificial restrictions to them doing so. Users' itches need to be converted into solutions more efficiently.
"I wonder what the situation is on PRIVATE (intranet) servers that Netcraft can't see"
Uh, it's windows fileshares of the c:\ drive with no password. Hundreds of them, littering the network. Nope, you don't want to be trusting your PC when our firewall fails.
"So if the photographer poses the subjects, she should be fired?"
Howabout if the iraqi photographer poses the prisoners above an american flag before allowing them to piss. That's journalistic integrity, you say?
Howabout if courts force a suspect to recreate their alleged crimes for the media. Is that journalistic integrity too?
Yes, posing subjects is as dishonest as editing photos. It's fine for personal photos, but has no place in reporting news. Reporting things which didn't happen is not the job of a newspaper. (it's the job of the US propoganda office)
"It might, however, be useful for the likes of hillwalkers and walkers."
Sorry, doesn't work that way. Mobile telephones don't work anywhere remote enough to have mountains. Most of scotland you can only get coverage at the very peaks, and although snowdonia and lakes are slightly better, there'll still not be a signal anywhere that you might need mountain rescue (i.e. in a gully or on a scramble)
I regularly write programs that read/write xml style documents, but with only the most basic xml functionality. The main benefit is so that other programs can also read & write these files.
Yup, 100 lines of code, or a couple of extra libraries in your program. It's so much better than the 4 lines of code needed to read your entire INI file into a hash.
Why would you want to *reduce* the light output from an LED? They're dim enough to start with. Turn more of them on when you want more light -- 4 LEDs per colour gives 4 brighness levels, which should be good enough
Driving them? It'll probably work best with a serial port and a PIC controller, because: (a) There's loads of information on PICs/Serial around (b) You only need 3 wires (c) You can still connect a printer (d) It's easier to drive from your PC
"Or just buy the Windows version for about $5. Played both. Linux version sucks ass compared to Windows"
Windows version sucks. I had to install the super-unstable nvidia drivers, and the even-more unstable DirectX 9, and now it takes 3 reboots (one shuts-down the PC when starting windows, second one is in safe mode, third one has no video support, forth one works) to even get into Windows to play the game.
No thanks, I prefer to just type "myth2", and have it running without having to waste 10 minutes getting Windows to boot.
"We've already renamed 'French fries' in the capital"
What's the deal with that then? I've been hearing sly references all week, but have they actually done anything so blatantly dumb as renaming french fries?
(if anyone's interested, the name comes from "to french", i.e. to cut into long thin pieces. I have serious doubts that it's related in any way to les militaires francais)
Right, so they've already named the hamburger a beefburger (completely missing the hamburg reference, whoosh! over-head joke!) and next thing you'll know, they'll be banning cheese in protest that american farms pump their cows full of shite before exporting them. What is francophobia coming to?
And no, the email doing the rounds today wasn't funny. It was horifically racist, and whoever wrote it deserves to have their hometown invaded by the Iraqi army.
Slashdot Mirror
Can you offer anything with which to back up this ridiculous assertion? [Hitler was a socialist. He has much more in common with modern day liberals than conservatives.]
Howabout this? [The political compass]
"Every single application has at least one non-functional detail that makes me want to climb the wall with my teeth"
/usr/src directory is nearly empty, and if I want the source-code to any given application, I have to find CD6, which is not even included with some Mandrake CD-sets. All I need to do is get this CD to work, copy the files, and compile.
At the risk of obscurity beneath 800 comments, perhaps I could suggest a reason why so many niggling details need fixing.
RPMs
There are plenty of things in linux desktop applications that I'd like fixed. Many of them, I'd probably have the skills and time to fix, if I had access to the source code. Well, it's an open-source operating system, so what's the problem?
The problem is I'm running Mandrake. When I installed the OS, the applications were all installed automatically from RPMs. My
Well, actually not. For the same reason that I have hardly any source-code on my system, Mandrake seems also to have skimped on the libraries it left on my disk. So what was a half-hour fix to add a fuzzy-clock to WindowMaker now takes a week to get the system into a state where I can make the change. Open-source, but it might as well not be.
I'm sure many people will reply to this with disparaging remarks about the lack of effort I'm prepared to put in. People will suggest things involving sourcerer and kernel-recompilation. But this is the GNU Operating system as supplied. Damned difficult to change.
So the solution to all of the GNU/desktop bugs? Make it easy to change. The reason linux and linux servers became so successful was that every person who used them had the materials and the skills to change the programs and make them better. The GNU desktop needs that as well; if someone finds a bug that would take an hour to fix, or a feature that would take an hour to implement, there shouldn't be any artificial restrictions to them doing so. Users' itches need to be converted into solutions more efficiently.
"I wonder what the situation is on PRIVATE (intranet) servers that Netcraft can't see"
Uh, it's windows fileshares of the c:\ drive with no password. Hundreds of them, littering the network. Nope, you don't want to be trusting your PC when our firewall fails.
"So if the photographer poses the subjects, she should be fired?"
Howabout if the iraqi photographer poses the prisoners above an american flag before allowing them to piss. That's journalistic integrity, you say?
Howabout if courts force a suspect to recreate their alleged crimes for the media. Is that journalistic integrity too?
Yes, posing subjects is as dishonest as editing photos. It's fine for personal photos, but has no place in reporting news. Reporting things which didn't happen is not the job of a newspaper. (it's the job of the US propoganda office)
"The kitchen sink [about] that is now also included in Mozilla"
Also try clicking on the 'hidden' menu item underneath Tools::Web Development for the gekko picture. (This on Moz1.1 and some others)
"It might, however, be useful for the likes of hillwalkers and walkers."
Sorry, doesn't work that way. Mobile telephones don't work anywhere remote enough to have mountains. Most of scotland you can only get coverage at the very peaks, and although snowdonia and lakes are slightly better, there'll still not be a signal anywhere that you might need mountain rescue (i.e. in a gully or on a scramble)
The UK government has put forward a compelling and intelligent case for this war and has won the hearts and minds of the nation because of it.
Yeah, the UK parliament is all in agreement. Not. Did you ever see so many ministers resign in a week?
"But if this is true you could also say that they are discriminating against Slash Dot readers. Couldn't you?"
Yes. Just like you could say they're discriminating against people who use a brick, rather than a computer, to access the internet.
"The important thing is not to deny legitimate use of portscanning tools"
Next up: it should be illegal to take a walk around the outside of your home checking for any windows left open.
Only thieves and criminals would want to know if your windows were open.
I don't see portscanners being banned anytime soon.
If anyone is having trouble forwarding their postal junk-mail ("Not known at this address: please forward to..."), here's the address again:
Charles F Childs
and Linda Jean Lightfoot
4132 Pompton Court
Dayton
Ohio 45405
Keywords: "Spammer's address, Universal Direct, Pyramid marketing scam", for the benefit of google.
I regularly write programs that read/write xml style documents, but with only the most basic xml functionality. The main benefit is so that other programs can also read & write these files.
Yup, 100 lines of code, or a couple of extra libraries in your program. It's so much better than the 4 lines of code needed to read your entire INI file into a hash.
"BASIC stamps, IMHO, are a lot easier to learn to code for."
Err, anyone who knows enough electronics to consider attaching lights to their serial port already knows how to program in assembler.
BASIC has it's places, but embedded systems is not one of them.
How do LEDs hold up to high frequency PWM?
Perfectly.
That sounds like a really cool idea.
Why would you want to *reduce* the light output from an LED? They're dim enough to start with. Turn more of them on when you want more light -- 4 LEDs per colour gives 4 brighness levels, which should be good enough
Driving them? It'll probably work best with a serial port and a PIC controller, because:
(a) There's loads of information on PICs/Serial around
(b) You only need 3 wires
(c) You can still connect a printer
(d) It's easier to drive from your PC
"I was ready to uninstall Exchange 2K when I realized users would not be able to function."
The Kolab server is a complete replacement for Exchange2K, and it runs on free operating systems.
"WHEN IN DOUBT, HIT CANCEL"
... complete assembly-language listing of MS Word 2000 appears in a debugger...
You've never had Visual Studio installed, have you?
"MS Word tried to access memory at 0x3284223, which cannot be "read". OK to terminate, or Cancel to debug"
*default cancel*
dammit, I do not want your memory-dump!
"Can OSS build a mail client/PIM that plays well with Exchange servers?"
Not only that, but the Kolab/ Kroupware project server can even replace exchange servers!
"In dual honor of RMS's birthday today and St. Patty's Day tomorrow" ... finally realises ...
You're all in a weird american time-zone, aren't you?
Children Of Dune Tonight
Not in the UK it isn't, you insensitive clod!
"What happens when we inadvertantly give M$ 98.2% of the 'known' server market?"
We get even more crap directed against our webservers until we get tired, and declare it to be a BSD box.
Dammit, just give up asking my linux/apache server for "../../../../windows/" you morons!
Re: linux is also communism
"Or just buy the Windows version for about $5. Played both. Linux version sucks ass compared to Windows"
Windows version sucks. I had to install the super-unstable nvidia drivers, and the even-more unstable DirectX 9, and now it takes 3 reboots (one shuts-down the PC when starting windows, second one is in safe mode, third one has no video support, forth one works) to even get into Windows to play the game.
No thanks, I prefer to just type "myth2", and have it running without having to waste 10 minutes getting Windows to boot.
"Linux is not a gaming platform, but some people tend to think so."
If anyone's not played MythII on linux, it's highly reccommended.
"We've already renamed 'French fries' in the capital"
What's the deal with that then? I've been hearing sly references all week, but have they actually done anything so blatantly dumb as renaming french fries?
(if anyone's interested, the name comes from "to french", i.e. to cut into long thin pieces. I have serious doubts that it's related in any way to les militaires francais)
Right, so they've already named the hamburger a beefburger (completely missing the hamburg reference, whoosh! over-head joke!) and next thing you'll know, they'll be banning cheese in protest that american farms pump their cows full of shite before exporting them. What is francophobia coming to?
And no, the email doing the rounds today wasn't funny. It was horifically racist, and whoever wrote it deserves to have their hometown invaded by the Iraqi army.
"Seriously,..remember the Muslim Charity that was nailed funneling money to al Qaeda?"
And on a related note, who funded the Taleban?
Oh, that would be public money then...
Bill Bush or George Gates?
Something to ask Vice-President Blair, I guess...