This is obviously self-serving on the part of the theatre chains. The more ways consumers can purchase (or rent) content, the better it is for them. Movie tickets, DVD purchases and rentals, paid-for downloads, subscriptions, pay-per-view television - the more choices, the better it is for the consumer.
Can anyone think of anything beneficial about a long delay before a DVD is released to the public?
Encryption is not a permanent thing; encrypted data is *always* vulnerable after a time. The question is how long the data is protected for, and this is a functino of time. Either an elegant method will be revealed, or a system (software and/or hardware) will be powerful enough to break it using a brute-force method. Note that for the brute-force method to matter, it has to be within a given time frame. (e.g. decoding a VISA number sent over the web within microseconds is useful; within days it is not)
Limewire is an open-source product. Any reason not to download their CVS tree, remove the code we don't like, recompile and carry on? Hell, we could move it to a SourceForge project!
I am disappointed - I had a high opinion of Limewire, though why I'm not sure. At least with the source code, a KazaaLite stle product can be released shortly. I may have to take a look at that this afternoon - anyone else interested?:)
There is a simple reason why many people call the OS+software distributions "Linux". It's because "GNU SLASH LINUX" is a lot longer to say.
Then there's the difficulty in explaining to people that
a) Yes, you know Linux has been around for a while, and is not "new".
or
b) No, this isn't a "new" version of Linux - it's the same OS, with the same strengths and weaknesses as always, though they are being improved over time.
(Few casual users, including most managers, will be familiar with "GNU" as opposed to "new".)
There's a difference between breaking backwards compatability in a free (as in beer) operating system, and breaking compatability in hardware which is in thousands of homes and businesses.
You can choose to not upgrade Linux kernels (2.2 still runs fine, as I understand it) and get most software updates compiled for that platform. However, you can't rebuild your CPU to support a new version of Windows, Linux, your favourite office suite or anything else. That's a key difference.
Rendering the screen to a bitmap using Java is not that easy. It'd be fine for the panel contents, but not for the entire window, and would certainly not show things like the user moving things with a mouse or other system-related graphics.
Microsoft doesn't support Windows 95 or 98, NT 4.0 is pretty much left adrift (beyond access to SP6), and Windows 2000 has 9 months left before it too gets cut from new sales. It's the MS way. Upgrade or you lose support. That's the best argument FOR open-source software.
How did I get modded to being a troll? No flames, no arguments, just questions and a lack of agreement with the way that the idea of privacy being paramount is taken to extremes. Is disagreeing with popular opinion trolling?
How secure do you really need to be, though? I'm sure that most people on this list are not criminals, and don't lead lives so exciting that they're worth listening into. That's not meant as an insult - I'd feel sorry for the poor people stuck tailing me or listening to my phone conversations (most concern wedding planning, which even we don't want to be hearing!:).
Why is this such a hot button with some people? Do you really think Uncle Sam / Big Brother cares about your personal lives? Unless your doing something illegal (beyond the odd burned cd or speeding ticket), why worry? With limited resources and public pressure for results, the FBI and other law institutions don't have the resources to spy on us all.
Indeed. There is no way a start-up could afford to buy an established competitor just to remove them from the market. That's what competition is for.
Caldera has limited resources. They likely can't afford to pay developers to port an operating system to IA64, so that keeps OpenUNIX on IA32. Meanwhile, Linux is being ported to IA64 by open-source developers, so Caldera gets that move for the cost of testing, not developing.
These are the kinds of silly questions that give open source projects trouble. Business projects, as a rule, have a manager who is (more or less) obeyed. Linus, the closing thing to a Linux manager, obviously can't fire anyone, and the tree can be forked an infinite number of times. This is a good thing, since he can't take his toys and go home when someone finally gets under his skin.
However, when attempting to run an open-source-based business, some semblance of order is required. If the guy says he'll release the code, give him a chance. These dirty-laundry-in-public attacks damage open-source credibility, and that is not a good thing.
I agree that the guy is playing fast and loose with the rules, but I think we should give him a chance by waiting until he meets his deadline. Then, if he doesn't open up, a lawsuit may be in order, but otherwise, what's wrong with waiting a few months? Do we really want alpha- and beta-level projects released and visible to people who will immediately compare them to Microsoft Windows? Let's not forget that there is no such thing as a rough draft - when we see a prototype, we form lasting first impressions.
cheers,
Andrew
Yikes! Thanks for the link. The raise of $0.60 (or thereabouts) per CD-R isn't nice, but hardly damaging, and if it shuts up the local "everyone is a pirate" guys, it's okay with me. The "yikes" is for the mini-hdd levy of $21/GB. That's extreme, since it's the best example of fair-use of the bunch. Growl. Ah, well, I guess folks are taking advantage of the low Canadian dollar to buy our politicians while they're "on sale".:)
I'm a Canadian, and don't find the the price bad, Cd tax or no. I just bought 30 name-brand CD's for $19.99 at a retail store (the most expensive way to buy CD's), and don't think that's a bad price. For the US folks that's about $13.00 US.
cheers,
Andrew
Re:Globalisation must be an effect, not a cause
on
Defining Globalism
·
· Score: 1
The company I was an intern for always holds year-end and year-beginning all-hands meetings. The guest speaker for one of these was a career journalist who gave an interesting summation of the state of the world today. Her main point concerned globalization and globalism (she didn't define them either, but we all understood the loosest definition of the term and ignored attempts to nail it down tightly).
Her claim was that globalization has been going on for centuries, perhaps even millenia. She said that whenever distinct cultures begin trading, inter-marrying etc, the lines begin to blur - this is one definition of globalization. Over time, the process has accelerated, as modern technology makes the world "smaller". She (and I) believed that this was a good thing. People can either be afraid of a tighter-nit world, or they can embrace it and other cultures, and be the richer for it. Imagine who much better off we'd be if people had global freedom of religion, rather than religious warfare, and free trade and equal access to education, rather than differing economies and protection schemes to keep them separate.
I hope I'm not sounding like a hippy - I'm anything but - but as long as steps are taken to protect the good parts of our distinct world cultures (e.g. freedom of religion, and mandating accurate cultural histories), this could be a very positive thing for everyone.
Slashdot Mirror
This is obviously self-serving on the part of the theatre chains. The more ways consumers can purchase (or rent) content, the better it is for them. Movie tickets, DVD purchases and rentals, paid-for downloads, subscriptions, pay-per-view television - the more choices, the better it is for the consumer.
Can anyone think of anything beneficial about a long delay before a DVD is released to the public?
Encryption is not a permanent thing; encrypted data is *always* vulnerable after a time. The question is how long the data is protected for, and this is a functino of time. Either an elegant method will be revealed, or a system (software and/or hardware) will be powerful enough to break it using a brute-force method. Note that for the brute-force method to matter, it has to be within a given time frame. (e.g. decoding a VISA number sent over the web within microseconds is useful; within days it is not)
Limewire is an open-source product. Any reason not to download their CVS tree, remove the code we don't like, recompile and carry on? Hell, we could move it to a SourceForge project!
I am disappointed - I had a high opinion of Limewire, though why I'm not sure. At least with the source code, a KazaaLite stle product can be released shortly. I may have to take a look at that this afternoon - anyone else interested? :)
There is a simple reason why many people call the OS+software distributions "Linux". It's because "GNU SLASH LINUX" is a lot longer to say.
Then there's the difficulty in explaining to people that
a) Yes, you know Linux has been around for a while, and is not "new".
or
b) No, this isn't a "new" version of Linux - it's the same OS, with the same strengths and weaknesses as always, though they are being improved over time.
(Few casual users, including most managers, will be familiar with "GNU" as opposed to "new".)
There's a difference between breaking backwards compatability in a free (as in beer) operating system, and breaking compatability in hardware which is in thousands of homes and businesses. You can choose to not upgrade Linux kernels (2.2 still runs fine, as I understand it) and get most software updates compiled for that platform. However, you can't rebuild your CPU to support a new version of Windows, Linux, your favourite office suite or anything else. That's a key difference.
Rendering the screen to a bitmap using Java is not that easy. It'd be fine for the panel contents, but not for the entire window, and would certainly not show things like the user moving things with a mouse or other system-related graphics.
Microsoft doesn't support Windows 95 or 98, NT 4.0 is pretty much left adrift (beyond access to SP6), and Windows 2000 has 9 months left before it too gets cut from new sales. It's the MS way. Upgrade or you lose support. That's the best argument FOR open-source software.
How did I get modded to being a troll? No flames, no arguments, just questions and a lack of agreement with the way that the idea of privacy being paramount is taken to extremes. Is disagreeing with popular opinion trolling?
How secure do you really need to be, though? I'm sure that most people on this list are not criminals, and don't lead lives so exciting that they're worth listening into. That's not meant as an insult - I'd feel sorry for the poor people stuck tailing me or listening to my phone conversations (most concern wedding planning, which even we don't want to be hearing! :).
Why is this such a hot button with some people? Do you really think Uncle Sam / Big Brother cares about your personal lives? Unless your doing something illegal (beyond the odd burned cd or speeding ticket), why worry? With limited resources and public pressure for results, the FBI and other law institutions don't have the resources to spy on us all.
Caldera has limited resources. They likely can't afford to pay developers to port an operating system to IA64, so that keeps OpenUNIX on IA32. Meanwhile, Linux is being ported to IA64 by open-source developers, so Caldera gets that move for the cost of testing, not developing.
Relax! I doubt any conspiracy is lurking here.
These are the kinds of silly questions that give open source projects trouble. Business projects, as a rule, have a manager who is (more or less) obeyed. Linus, the closing thing to a Linux manager, obviously can't fire anyone, and the tree can be forked an infinite number of times. This is a good thing, since he can't take his toys and go home when someone finally gets under his skin.
However, when attempting to run an open-source-based business, some semblance of order is required. If the guy says he'll release the code, give him a chance. These dirty-laundry-in-public attacks damage open-source credibility, and that is not a good thing.
I agree that the guy is playing fast and loose with the rules, but I think we should give him a chance by waiting until he meets his deadline. Then, if he doesn't open up, a lawsuit may be in order, but otherwise, what's wrong with waiting a few months? Do we really want alpha- and beta-level projects released and visible to people who will immediately compare them to Microsoft Windows? Let's not forget that there is no such thing as a rough draft - when we see a prototype, we form lasting first impressions. cheers, Andrew
Yikes! Thanks for the link. The raise of $0.60 (or thereabouts) per CD-R isn't nice, but hardly damaging, and if it shuts up the local "everyone is a pirate" guys, it's okay with me. The "yikes" is for the mini-hdd levy of $21/GB. That's extreme, since it's the best example of fair-use of the bunch. Growl. Ah, well, I guess folks are taking advantage of the low Canadian dollar to buy our politicians while they're "on sale". :)
I'm a Canadian, and don't find the the price bad, Cd tax or no. I just bought 30 name-brand CD's for $19.99 at a retail store (the most expensive way to buy CD's), and don't think that's a bad price. For the US folks that's about $13.00 US. cheers, Andrew
Her claim was that globalization has been going on for centuries, perhaps even millenia. She said that whenever distinct cultures begin trading, inter-marrying etc, the lines begin to blur - this is one definition of globalization. Over time, the process has accelerated, as modern technology makes the world "smaller". She (and I) believed that this was a good thing. People can either be afraid of a tighter-nit world, or they can embrace it and other cultures, and be the richer for it. Imagine who much better off we'd be if people had global freedom of religion, rather than religious warfare, and free trade and equal access to education, rather than differing economies and protection schemes to keep them separate.
I hope I'm not sounding like a hippy - I'm anything but - but as long as steps are taken to protect the good parts of our distinct world cultures (e.g. freedom of religion, and mandating accurate cultural histories), this could be a very positive thing for everyone.