Jabber is starting to show a lot of promise for consolidating the different messengers. It's truly open source, and it has a much more intelligent (and extendable) design then ICQ, AIM, Y!M or any of the others.
It still not user-ready, but it's getting there quickly.
just another example of companies making money as slaves of the government.
----------
Government: If you are a big company and are the first one to pay for the cost of owning this IDEA, it's yours!
Corps: Really? Okay... we'll start buying up ALL the ideas that we can think of.
Citizens: But as individuals we cannot afford to buy all the ideas. The corporations are going to own them all!
Government (to people): That's okay... we will protect you.
Government (to corporations): The people are upset. We need to have good reason to let you own all the IDEAS.
Corporations (to government): Cool... here are a few "contributions" in exchange for giving us ownership of the IDEAS.
Government (to all): In order to keep the Economy running, we need to give ownership of the IDEAS to the Corporations. But don't worry, if the corporations violate too many rights, we will step in and take care of everything.
---------
*SHUDDER* I really hate parts of this system at times.
sorry guys... I had ran across the ZDNET article earlier, and I admit that I just read the first couple lines of the MSNBC one. I realize now that they are the same...
anyway, my point about MS using BSD as a "weapon" is still valid. We should keep an eye out and see if we start seeing more articles that attack linux.
*sigh* ok flame me... I commited a sin. I posted before reading the whole article...
Call me a bit paranoid, but it seems an interesting coincidence that ZDNET came out with a story on this subject. It's possible that MS thinks they can sow confusion in the open source movement by subtley pushing whatever competes with their biggest problem right now... Linux.
I've avoided using Macs to be honest. I agree that their OS isn't that great (well, it's not my cup of tea at least). Once Linux is working well on these things (I'm assuming it will eventually) it may actually be nice. I'll admit I don't know if I should admire or despise it's cuteness.
I *do* like the optional wireless device however. Hopefully PC laptops will start providing a similar option.
Regardless of the numerous complaints I have heard, I am convinced it's gonna go over pretty big. Apple has really refined their marketing niche and though many of us don't like it, marketing does (often) make the sales...
They could have just done things the *normal* way and most open source developers wouldn't see a penny.
Most likely those who are bitching about this don't know how to code and are just angry that they weren't afforded the same opportunity as people that HAVE contributed to Linux and ARE able to code.
sigh. Why I wasted my time responding to your crap I don't know.
I don't understand why so many people seem afraid of these extra distributions. Basically, there are several "primary" ones that about 90 to 95% of the Linux users will utilize. The rest are all secondary or custom distros either based off of those main ones or designed for a specific purpose. These "minor" distros will each suit a smaller group, but perform more specific/specialized functions. Don't use Microsoft as your standard for how OSs should be "marketed".
Ultimatly all these choices may seem slightly painful, but the extra competition will just feed Linux evolution. We will all benefit in the long run.
Watch many of the predictions currently about MP3. As your average user's bandwidth increases the "digital video images" will start to be traded around much like MP3s are now. Probably starting off with music videos (since they average about 4-5 minutes) and then gradually expanding to include any type of video.
This also includes "shoutcast" type systems where anyone with cheap video camera and fast net connection can broadcast their own TV show over the internet. It will be beautiful...
Also, the convergence of "Tivo" and writtable DVDs will really bring about major changes. Writtable DVDs will eventually be as cheap as CDs are now, probably within 2 or 3 years. These digital VCRs will be able to output four 1/2 hour shows or a full length movie once writtable DVD comes standard on them.
The big networks probably have more to fear than they think....
While Linux and BSD are having "fun" competing and trying to make the technically superior product, Microsoft is left to play their game alone. Basically, they are becoming bored, fat and bloated while we stay fit and trim!
From personal experience, I *know* NT is that unstable. I worked at a place with 2 linux boxes and 2 NT boxes (they have more now but that's not the point). Linux ran just fine. Other than a hardware malfunction (which didn't cause a crash...it just slowed it down), linux would keep chugging for months at a time.
NT on the other hand was hell. Lockups happened almost every other day, depending on how busy the servers were. It got to the point where we decided to just schedule a nightly process to reboot the servers.
NT was serving web pages and files. Nothing else. Linux was handling mail, DNS, samba, FTP and whatever we wanted to play with at the time.
To give then a *little* credit, I do think development time in NT can be less than Linux. However, the development time was far overshadowed by the hours spent troubleshooting problems caused by Window's instability.
Give them some CONSTRUCTIVE feedback if you see room for improvement. I personally enjoyed listening to them. I think they should go to a live streaming format so they can take callers and guests and stuff....
For most people, HALF of the money they make ALREADY goes to government in the form of taxes. The govt then takes these taxes and (amoungst other things) pays people to find out more ways to get our money (like licensing costs, parking tickets, misc fees, etc) Why in the HELL would you want more taxes?
This is one issue that gets to me. Why do people LIKE to pay taxes to a government that is so OBVIOUSLY corrupt and wasteful?
Wouldn't it make much more sense for us to choose where we use our own money?
This guy is basically saying that having the physical storage material is as important to him as the music itself. Being a music lover myself, I think the important thing is having the music to listen to. This author (along with a lot of/. posters it seams) are very proud of their CD collections (as well they should be), but CD is basically just a very cheap storage medium that major record labels have used to make billions of dollars. The medium itself determines the quality of the reproduction of the music. It doesn't determine if it is good music or not. If a track sucks, it doesn't matter if it is on MP3, CD, tape or LP. The quality of digital music will dramatically increase as available bandwidth increases. There WILL be an electronic music format better than MP3 and even better than the currently existing CD format...it's just a matter of time. IMHO, having $10K worth of CDs is great, but along with LPs, 8-tracks and tapes, it will fall by the wayside when people start to adopt a technology that works better and allows more instant access to the music
This is a prime example of Government making rules to the benefit of big business rather than to the benefit of the individual.
UCITA will in no way help consumers. It WILL help out the huge mega-corps who will now have the power to play hard-ball with individual users.
This definately is a call for users to go with OSS. It's the quickest and easiest way out of the mess that proprietary vendors are creating.
As you can see, Government is making rules based on where the money is. It should be passing laws that protect the individual. I think it's in all of our best interest to fight this (write letters, use OSS--stuff like that)
Slashdot Mirror
It still not user-ready, but it's getting there quickly.
here it is
----------
Government: If you are a big company and are the first one to pay for the cost of owning this IDEA, it's yours!
Corps: Really? Okay... we'll start buying up ALL the ideas that we can think of.
Citizens: But as individuals we cannot afford to buy all the ideas. The corporations are going to own them all!
Government (to people): That's okay... we will protect you.
Government (to corporations): The people are upset. We need to have good reason to let you own all the IDEAS.
Corporations (to government): Cool... here are a few "contributions" in exchange for giving us ownership of the IDEAS.
Government (to all): In order to keep the Economy running, we need to give ownership of the IDEAS to the Corporations. But don't worry, if the corporations violate too many rights, we will step in and take care of everything.
---------
*SHUDDER* I really hate parts of this system at times.
I use ICQ all the time on every machine I log into. It'd be really cool to have source for it... (since the Java version sorta sucks)
anyway, my point about MS using BSD as a "weapon" is still valid. We should keep an eye out and see if we start seeing more articles that attack linux.
*sigh* ok flame me... I commited a sin. I posted before reading the whole article...
Call me a bit paranoid, but it seems an interesting coincidence that ZDNET came out with a story on this subject. It's possible that MS thinks they can sow confusion in the open source movement by subtley pushing whatever competes with their biggest problem right now... Linux.
I *do* like the optional wireless device however. Hopefully PC laptops will start providing a similar option.
Regardless of the numerous complaints I have heard, I am convinced it's gonna go over pretty big. Apple has really refined their marketing niche and though many of us don't like it, marketing does (often) make the sales...
Even if we caused the extinction? We've already interferred with evolution and this is potentially a method to reverse the damage...
Most likely those who are bitching about this don't know how to code and are just angry that they weren't afforded the same opportunity as people that HAVE contributed to Linux and ARE able to code.
sigh. Why I wasted my time responding to your crap I don't know.
Ultimatly all these choices may seem slightly painful, but the extra competition will just feed Linux evolution. We will all benefit in the long run.
Watch many of the predictions currently about MP3. As your average user's bandwidth increases the "digital video images" will start to be traded around much like MP3s are now. Probably starting off with music videos (since they average about 4-5 minutes) and then gradually expanding to include any type of video.
This also includes "shoutcast" type systems where anyone with cheap video camera and fast net connection can broadcast their own TV show over the internet. It will be beautiful...
Also, the convergence of "Tivo" and writtable DVDs will really bring about major changes. Writtable DVDs will eventually be as cheap as CDs are now, probably within 2 or 3 years. These digital VCRs will be able to output four 1/2 hour shows or a full length movie once writtable DVD comes standard on them.
The big networks probably have more to fear than they think....
While Linux and BSD are having "fun" competing and trying to make the technically superior product, Microsoft is left to play their game alone. Basically, they are becoming bored, fat and bloated while we stay fit and trim!
From personal experience, I *know* NT is that unstable. I worked at a place with 2 linux boxes and 2 NT boxes (they have more now but that's not the point). Linux ran just fine. Other than a hardware malfunction (which didn't cause a crash...it just slowed it down), linux would keep chugging for months at a time.
NT on the other hand was hell. Lockups happened almost every other day, depending on how busy the servers were. It got to the point where we decided to just schedule a nightly process to reboot the servers.
NT was serving web pages and files. Nothing else. Linux was handling mail, DNS, samba, FTP and whatever we wanted to play with at the time.
To give then a *little* credit, I do think development time in NT can be less than Linux. However, the development time was far overshadowed by the hours spent troubleshooting problems caused by Window's instability.
BTW, I think this post was a troll.
Give them some CONSTRUCTIVE feedback if you see room for improvement. I personally enjoyed listening to them. I think they should go to a live streaming format so they can take callers and guests and stuff....
For most people, HALF of the money they make ALREADY goes to government in the form of taxes. The govt then takes these taxes and (amoungst other things) pays people to find out more ways to get our money (like licensing costs, parking tickets, misc fees, etc) Why in the HELL would you want more taxes?
This is one issue that gets to me. Why do people LIKE to pay taxes to a government that is so OBVIOUSLY corrupt and wasteful?
Wouldn't it make much more sense for us to choose where we use our own money?
This guy is basically saying that having the physical storage material is as important to him as the music itself. Being a music lover myself, I think the important thing is having the music to listen to. This author (along with a lot of /. posters it seams) are very proud of their CD collections (as well they should be), but CD is basically just a very cheap storage medium that major record labels have used to make billions of dollars. The medium itself determines the quality of the reproduction of the music. It doesn't determine if it is good music or not. If a track sucks, it doesn't matter if it is on MP3, CD, tape or LP. The quality of digital music will dramatically increase as available bandwidth increases. There WILL be an electronic music format better than MP3 and even better than the currently existing CD format...it's just a matter of time. IMHO, having $10K worth of CDs is great, but along with LPs, 8-tracks and tapes, it will fall by the wayside when people start to adopt a technology that works better and allows more instant access to the music
I'd like one that is compatable with Icecast (shoutcast).
UCITA will in no way help consumers. It WILL help out the huge mega-corps who will now have the power to play hard-ball with individual users.
This definately is a call for users to go with OSS. It's the quickest and easiest way out of the mess that proprietary vendors are creating.
As you can see, Government is making rules based on where the money is. It should be passing laws that protect the individual. I think it's in all of our best interest to fight this (write letters, use OSS--stuff like that)