what can Google do that would make this more special then any other ubuntu release/spin off?
Maintain it? Finish it up? Come up with a decent GUI for it? Establish a list of officially supported hardware, so that getting sound working isn't a crap shoot?
There are all kinds of things a company with very deep pockets can do for an OS.
Not long after I got to Apple, a director there explained to me what the secrecy is worth in dollar terms. Apple got the cover of Time magazine for the G4 iMac, because it was a surprise. You can't buy the cover of Time as an ad placement, but if you could, it would probably be worth at least a hundred million bucks.
I remember a time, about 25 years ago, when Maury Povich was serious reporter. He was on the local news at WTTG in Washington, DC. Then, he tried to be Phil Donahue, and it's been deeper into the muck with him ever since.
Oh, I don't think he's innocent at all, but I strongly doubt that he's being prosecuted for the right reasons. It's rather like going after Al Capone for tax evasion, or Marion Barry for smoking crack: it's too much work to bust someone for the biggest crimes they're involved in.
Democracy is often termed the tyranny of the majority.
It can be, and that's why the USA isn't a democracy. It's a Republic, which has several dampers in place to prevent the majority from acting capriciously.
given the minimization of every single Republican scandal
That's not a "given", by any means. Both wings of the ruling party try like hell to amplify any hint of scandal on the other side, and minimize any on their own side. Think Whitewater was flogged to death? Tom DeLay was indicted after a very persistent DA empanelled four grand juries. The first three refused to indict!
The long and short of it is, both the republicans and the democrats fight dirty, with every tool at their disposal.
The moonies, rajneeshis, and the scientologits also put some serious effort into whitewashing the entries on their cults and leaders. They usually win, since they can assign a full-time zombie to each page, just about.
The quacks who push "Therapeutic Touch", "Psychic Surgery", and Chiropractic aren't quite as diligent, but you still need to take those entries with a grain of salt, too.
The three-revert rule will get the host that's doing the reverting banned. You'd probably have to do it from a botnet, and even then the page is likely to get protected.
Slashdot Mirror
The term was coined by said social engineers, not their detractors.
That's news to me, and I don't happen to believe it. I've been hanging around with people in that crowd from time to time since about 1982, BTW.
-jcr
Yet despite all of this, it doesn't succeed.
Define "succeed".
-jcr
what can Google do that would make this more special then any other ubuntu release/spin off?
Maintain it? Finish it up? Come up with a decent GUI for it? Establish a list of officially supported hardware, so that getting sound working isn't a crap shoot?
There are all kinds of things a company with very deep pockets can do for an OS.
-jcr
WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE A WINDOW'S KILLER FROM GOOGLE?!
Probably because the world so desperately needs something to kill windows.
Mac OS X is a great alternative, but Apple's giving no indication of any intention to ship it on the generic x86 machines.
-jcr
You're not listening. "Social Engineer" is an ironic, derogatory term.
-jcr
Anyone who leaks information gets killed.
No, just fired. And deservedly so.
Not long after I got to Apple, a director there explained to me what the secrecy is worth in dollar terms. Apple got the cover of Time magazine for the G4 iMac, because it was a surprise. You can't buy the cover of Time as an ad placement, but if you could, it would probably be worth at least a hundred million bucks.
-jcr
to say Steve Jobs is an overpaid CEO is to be a fucking moron.
;-)
Speaking as a shareholder, I want to see what happens if the board gives him two airplanes!
-jcr
Actually, I'd probably pick #3 as his greatest talent. Look at who he's gotten to work for him.
-jcr
I thought this must be corp. myth,
I never doubted it. Apple was a basket case when Steve returned. It's not surprising at all that he'd be reluctant.
Anyway, we have it from Woolard himself: he begged Steve to take the gig.
-jcr
People have been talking for years about how Steve "schemed" to replace Amelio. Woolard makes it very clear what really happened.
-jcr
Haven't MSFT's shareholders lynched him by now?
-jcr
I, for one, have grown tired of seeing Mitnick quoted as an authority on anything.
I concur, but when was the last time you saw anyone in the press who knew even as much as Mitnick?
-jcr
Can we please stop calling common conning "social engineering?"
No, I won't. "Social engineering" is a derogatory term, which takes ironic note of the perp's inability to do any real engineering.
-jcr
Yeah, but I really need those plumbing skills...
-jcr
The dude was a social engineer. I've seen no evidence that he ever wrote an exploit himself.
-jcr
So, you want to remove the last shred of hope that Java may make Sun some money one of these days? ;-)
-jcr
I remember a time, about 25 years ago, when Maury Povich was serious reporter. He was on the local news at WTTG in Washington, DC. Then, he tried to be Phil Donahue, and it's been deeper into the muck with him ever since.
-jcr
If you're looking for an innocent victim
Oh, I don't think he's innocent at all, but I strongly doubt that he's being prosecuted for the right reasons. It's rather like going after Al Capone for tax evasion, or Marion Barry for smoking crack: it's too much work to bust someone for the biggest crimes they're involved in.
-jcr
I understand that on paper, in a democracy you can change what you don't like
Nope. That's never been the promise of a democracy. You can change what you don't like if you convince enough people that it's bad.
-jcr
Democracy is often termed the tyranny of the majority.
It can be, and that's why the USA isn't a democracy. It's a Republic, which has several dampers in place to prevent the majority from acting capriciously.
-jcr
I can make my IP change every very often by changing the MAC address and getting a new lease from my ISP's DHCP server.
Yeah, and then the page gets protected, as I mentioned above. Wikipedia has dealt with this issue before, you know.
-jcr
given the minimization of every single Republican scandal
That's not a "given", by any means. Both wings of the ruling party try like hell to amplify any hint of scandal on the other side, and minimize any on their own side. Think Whitewater was flogged to death? Tom DeLay was indicted after a very persistent DA empanelled four grand juries. The first three refused to indict!
The long and short of it is, both the republicans and the democrats fight dirty, with every tool at their disposal.
-jcr
The moonies, rajneeshis, and the scientologits also put some serious effort into whitewashing the entries on their cults and leaders. They usually win, since they can assign a full-time zombie to each page, just about.
The quacks who push "Therapeutic Touch", "Psychic Surgery", and Chiropractic aren't quite as diligent, but you still need to take those entries with a grain of salt, too.
-jcr
The three-revert rule will get the host that's doing the reverting banned. You'd probably have to do it from a botnet, and even then the page is likely to get protected.
-jcr
Are you sure about that? I can only think of one instance of a Congressman who doesn't make me want to puke..
-jcr