Most insightful post on this story. We often lose sight of the fact that being on the Internet is reading. 5 hours a day on the Internet might seem excessive, but it is actually 5 hours of reading (or writing - as now). Any reading is good.
Now I have to spend the next few days trying to find a pair of blue/red glasses. Should have planned ahead. Still - very cool, thanks for the pairs.
Michael
I agree. As a windowmanager/desktop KDE is the best there is. As a collection of apps (k-this, k-that) alot is left to be desired. I use KDE as a desktop but not many of their apps since there are much better choices (XMMS, Firebird, OO, Bluefish) available. I wish they integrated better with the desktop.
Through various extensions (Flash-Click-to-View is one) Firebird can make any plugin an on-demand event. Since installing Flash Click to View I have not seen any Flash material I didn't want to, even if it is embedded in a page. This seems to me a solution.
You mistake freeing the coders vs. freeing the code. The GPL make sure the code stays free, with no regard to the people who wrote it. If you (the programmer) wants freedom then BSD by all means. If you want code that is free (to improve, learn from, etc. ) then the GPL ensures that.
Actually the doughnut on a rope trail is probably from a regular jet. I watched the contrail of a 4-engine jet (probably a 747) at altitude coalesce into a perfect doughnut on a rope trail. It was almost exactly like that in the picture. Until then I had been a believer in Aurora. I've never been so disappointed in all my life;)
I have maintained for a long time that there should be a virus and worm naming convention. If a user learns that he is infected by "Windows Virus #47" (or some such thing) they might realize what a risk Windows is. The current names Blaster, Code Red, Slammer et al paper over what is a serious problem.
My HP-28S was my most prized possesion for about 10 years. It helped me get through university (I swore I would never-ever invert another matrix by hand again), I wrote a blackjack game for it, and when I went to Paris I used it as a French-English dictionary (again something I wrote for it). I think it was a mistake when HP got away from the pocketbook design of the 28S. The calculator I use on my desktop is basically a 28S style RPN calculator - Calcoo, available at Sourceforge. The battery cover on the 28S really did suck.
I agree. We know who speaks for SCO, we know who speaks for IBM. Who speaks for Linux and OSS in general? The fund will help produce a unified voice defending OSS. As OSS infringes on more and more proprietary markets, this voice will be needed even more. And Redhat really was the only one with the clout (and money) to institute this.
But if they don't accept the GPL then it defaults to regular copyright, for which they must ask the copyright holders (Linus and ALL the contributors) for rights to distribute the code. Which they obviously did not. The GPL gives you rights (not to have to ask the rightholder for permission is one) that are not part of regular copyright. GPL or regular copyright - your choice.
As an avid Blender user I consider Blender to be one of OSS's greatest success stories. Since going GPL the rate of improvement has been rapid (the audio sequencer was wanted for years) and the fact that the community made it happen despite it being considered commercially "dead" is a tribute to the power of open source. Makes you wonder what dead code is out there that can be "rescued" by the OSS community.
If they try to follow that strategy then AT &T will definitely get involved. They will argue that they in no way signed away the rights to all derivatives of Unix. SCO cannot go back and re-open or rewrite the Unix wars.
Just a note to everyone who posted. This was easily the best, most adult thread I've read on Slashdot. Canuck is very lucky to have a group like you advising him. I even learned a few things. This is why I read/. - Thank-you for this.
As far as I can tell the only losers here will be businesses who would have benefitted from using Linux, yet choose Windows because of the FUD. If they decide the risk is too great, that is their perogative. If they let Gartner, SCO or whomever choose for them then it's their loss, not Linux's. Linux itself will just keep on improving and will always remain an available choice (with risks of course) for those businesses who want off the Microsoft treadmill.
At the very least I think there should be a virus/worm naming convention fingering the guilty company. By the time we got to Microsoft Sever Worm #25 people might think twice about using Redmond's product. I also doubt we we ever get to Apache Worm #25 very quickly. Just an idea
Slashdot Mirror
Your're missing the part where Darl takes a hit off a crack pipe.
QNX
And I'll be damned if I am going to wait three years between episodes again. LOTR - one per year. Matrix - two in one year.
Most insightful post on this story. We often lose sight of the fact that being on the Internet is reading. 5 hours a day on the Internet might seem excessive, but it is actually 5 hours of reading (or writing - as now). Any reading is good.
Now I have to spend the next few days trying to find a pair of blue/red glasses. Should have planned ahead. Still - very cool, thanks for the pairs. Michael
Isn't the LKP rumored to have a lot of GPL software in it?
I agree. As a windowmanager/desktop KDE is the best there is. As a collection of apps (k-this, k-that) alot is left to be desired. I use KDE as a desktop but not many of their apps since there are much better choices (XMMS, Firebird, OO, Bluefish) available. I wish they integrated better with the desktop.
Through various extensions (Flash-Click-to-View is one) Firebird can make any plugin an on-demand event. Since installing Flash Click to View I have not seen any Flash material I didn't want to, even if it is embedded in a page. This seems to me a solution.
I wish we would get a similar result soon with SCO. Eventually the truth wins out (doesn't it?).
You mistake freeing the coders vs. freeing the code. The GPL make sure the code stays free, with no regard to the people who wrote it. If you (the programmer) wants freedom then BSD by all means. If you want code that is free (to improve, learn from, etc. ) then the GPL ensures that.
Actually the doughnut on a rope trail is probably from a regular jet. I watched the contrail of a 4-engine jet (probably a 747) at altitude coalesce into a perfect doughnut on a rope trail. It was almost exactly like that in the picture. Until then I had been a believer in Aurora. I've never been so disappointed in all my life ;)
I have maintained for a long time that there should be a virus and worm naming convention. If a user learns that he is infected by "Windows Virus #47" (or some such thing) they might realize what a risk Windows is. The current names Blaster, Code Red, Slammer et al paper over what is a serious problem.
Business needs Linux. Linux doesn't need business
My HP-28S was my most prized possesion for about 10 years. It helped me get through university (I swore I would never-ever invert another matrix by hand again), I wrote a blackjack game for it, and when I went to Paris I used it as a French-English dictionary (again something I wrote for it). I think it was a mistake when HP got away from the pocketbook design of the 28S. The calculator I use on my desktop is basically a 28S style RPN calculator - Calcoo, available at Sourceforge. The battery cover on the 28S really did suck.
I agree. We know who speaks for SCO, we know who speaks for IBM. Who speaks for Linux and OSS in general? The fund will help produce a unified voice defending OSS. As OSS infringes on more and more proprietary markets, this voice will be needed even more. And Redhat really was the only one with the clout (and money) to institute this.
But if they don't accept the GPL then it defaults to regular copyright, for which they must ask the copyright holders (Linus and ALL the contributors) for rights to distribute the code. Which they obviously did not. The GPL gives you rights (not to have to ask the rightholder for permission is one) that are not part of regular copyright. GPL or regular copyright - your choice.
As an avid Blender user I consider Blender to be one of OSS's greatest success stories. Since going GPL the rate of improvement has been rapid (the audio sequencer was wanted for years) and the fact that the community made it happen despite it being considered commercially "dead" is a tribute to the power of open source. Makes you wonder what dead code is out there that can be "rescued" by the OSS community.
If they try to follow that strategy then AT &T will definitely get involved. They will argue that they in no way signed away the rights to all derivatives of Unix. SCO cannot go back and re-open or rewrite the Unix wars.
Just a note to everyone who posted. This was easily the best, most adult thread I've read on Slashdot. Canuck is very lucky to have a group like you advising him. I even learned a few things. This is why I read /. - Thank-you for this.
As far as I can tell the only losers here will be businesses who would have benefitted from using Linux, yet choose Windows because of the FUD. If they decide the risk is too great, that is their perogative. If they let Gartner, SCO or whomever choose for them then it's their loss, not Linux's. Linux itself will just keep on improving and will always remain an available choice (with risks of course) for those businesses who want off the Microsoft treadmill.
He deserves a McCarthur "genius" award. It pays alot, and RMS got one, so it would be fitting.
There should be a worm/virus naming convention. By the time we got to"Outlook Virus #85" people might get a clue about MS products.
And he (Lindows anyways) sponsors KDE-Look, your source for KDE themes etc. who fell on hard times recently. Maybe I misjudged him.
If you check out who is part of the Canopy group you find Linux Networx and Trolltech (!!). Maybe time to switch from KDE to Gnome (just in case).
At the very least I think there should be a virus/worm naming convention fingering the guilty company. By the time we got to Microsoft Sever Worm #25 people might think twice about using Redmond's product. I also doubt we we ever get to Apache Worm #25 very quickly. Just an idea