Not only will Solaris 9 run on x86, but Sun's new LX50 server is x86 based. And the really cool thing is you can get it with either Solaris or Sun's new Linux distro. This marks an interesting turn for Sun, throwing support to both x86 processors *and* linux.
If they feel that strong about it, then THEY should run for office. Seriously, if you don't like your options, make new ones. Or collaborate with others to make new ones. Until those steps are taken, I don't see how those who refuse to vote have any right to complain when things obviously don't go the way they would prefer.
Very interesting point. I'm not sure if that justifies not attempting to oppose the legislation though (but I doubt that's your intended point).
Actually, instead of 1984, I was thinking of "Atlas Shrugged" where the one washington scientist points out the Rearden that the laws which had been passed were not intended to be followed, but passed with the intention that people would not be able to continue unless they broke them, thus putting everyone in the power of those who pass and control the laws.
However, why should *we* be the ones to move out? Huh? Both the US and the UK are (supposed to be) democratic nations. Isn't that the point of establishing a democracy in the first place? So that we don't have to leave, but instead can change the nation and government to better suit the people?
Maybe I'm too idealistic, but it seems to me that too many have given up on democracy really working (including myself often). The real test is that countries can change. That has happened in the past, if it can no longer happen, I think the fault lies more with the citizens than with the elected officials.
I am not a European, however, I believe the point is to try to stop having these bills passed in the first place. Enough restriction of information and freedom via over-reaching copyright and patent laws is going to eventually threaten *real* innovation and progress. Sometimes it reminds me of the way many established powers baulked at the printing press. What we need is a new Renaissance -- balancing appropriate intellectual propertry rights with the freedom needed for advancement and enjoyment. One more reason to support organizations like the EFF...
Speaking of which, is there a European counterpart to the EFF or does the EFF handle European issues as well?
I just had a grad class this summer in Scientific Computing and it was all Fortran 90. I knew Fortran 77 from a numerical computation course a few years ago. My point is, it is _still_ being taught and it is still *THE* language of choice for high performance scientific programming. Those who count Fortran as "outdated" or no longer significant obviously don't get exposed to this type of programming. While Fortran can seem "odd" to a programmer who grew up on java or C++, it is still a worth while language to learn and use.
Most web developers do not understand DOM and how Javascript (ECMAScript) has improved. It's a common problem -- developers have preferences and refuse to try new (or retry) tools and stick to only what they know.
Javascript has come a long way. While there is always the need to provide standard pages that can be rendered across different browsers, this isn't as hard as people claim it to be.
I'm glad to see someone defend this position so well.
The whole "problem" here has nothing to do with Sun or Apple, but it has everything to do with CNET running an inaccurate story that was picked up by the other "news" sites like Newsforge and Slashdot, thus furthering the rumors. This in turn created quite a fuss with the OpenOffice programmers who thought it would have been nice for Sun to tell them directly rather than getting the word through a news story.
The really interesting part of this little mixup is how quickly misinformation travels. While this episode might not be all that serious in the grand scale of things, I wouldn't be surprised if one day this same sort of mix up (ie- online news sites reporting some rumor story that spreads like fire through blogs and other online portals) will create a real problem or crisis. You watch. Information (thankfully) travels much faster and more freely these days, but that means the consumer of the information must pay more attention to filter out fact from fiction.
For those looking for more facts, check out the FAQ at OpenOffice.org about the OS X port.
I tried out Lycoris a while ago when I was exploring other distros. I was really pleased with the overall experience. Generally user friendly, clean interface, network browser worked well for me, and the forums on the company web site were very friendly and helpful. All in all, I think Lycoris is probably the best Linux desktop available for an average [windows] computer user (not the average linux user that is).
My only gripe was that so much software I'm used to finding on a unix-like OS was simply missing. Unless you knew better, you ended up after the initial install with out a compiler or make or anything to roll your own software. This of course became a hastle when wanted to install new software later.
My point is, Lycoris is NOT for the linux power user out there (or maybe even average linux user), but then, it isn't targeted to be. For it's target audience, I think Lycoris makes an excellent choice of a Linux desktop (although, one might wonder how much of such an audience exists).
Mono has nothing to do with GNOME. If you'd do your research you'd realize that they are seperate projects and that the rumors that GNOME is going to be based on.NET are just that -- rumors. There are some people that are involved in both projects, however, the GNOME project has come out and said they currently have no plans to move to MONO or.NET any time soon. Maybe someday, who knows? But they are SEPERATE projects. Read Miguel de Icaza's own
reply to this idea.
Besides, have you ever looked at the MONO project? They're doing some really impressive stuff. You probably shouldn't write it off just because you're afraid of M$. I'm a java programmer and an avid Linux user, however, there are some features of C# and the.NET framework that are really nice. What's more, unlike Sun, M$ has given their language and technology up to be standardized. In that sense, it's more free than Java.
I've been testing out RedHat's new beta name "Limbo." It comes with Gnome 2.0 (which I must say looks wonderful). However, most of the Gnome apps are still based on 1.4, which means you get some really horribly looking GUI's as the two versions mingle. In some cases, they just don't work (Evolution in Gnome 2.0 can be buggy, at least that's my experience).
Now perhaps a lot of what I'm experiencing is just from the beta aspect of RedHat Limbo, but I would suggest (as other posters have) waiting until Ximian comes out with a full Gnome 2.0 based Desktop, especially if this will be on your production workstation/desktop. I know waiting is difficult when you've got wonderful new versions out there, but unless you plan on joining the party and testing/debugging/coding, I would wait a bit.
On that same line of thought though, if you want to see a final product sooner, then try upgrading to Gnome 2.0 on something other than your production machine and help out with any bug fixes. That's the way these projects work, right?:)
that these reports do not adequately take into account that populations adjust and evolve in response to changes in the enviroment.
"Using the image of the need for mankind to colonise space as a stark illustration of the problems facing Earth, the report warns that either consumption rates are dramatically and rapidly lowered or the planet will no longer be able to sustain its growing population." [from article, emphasis mine]
While I understand that the article is trying to shock people into paying attention to a serious problem (and it is a problem), at the same time alarmists need to recognize that growing populations when facing a change in the enviroment change with that environment.
No society is going to continue at break-neck speeds to oblivion, eat the last edible object, and then suddenly start think, "hey we need to change something here." While the issue we face now is on a more global scale, many times in history local communities have faced similar problems and they adapt. Birthrates drop, consumption drops, etc. Now that doesn't mean it's always pretty either -- such situations can lead to massive decimation of a population, but I doubt we're facing the end of human existance here.
My point is, while the issue raised is certainly an important and serious issue, it's not the end of the world. We need to worry and we need to do something, but we don't need doomsayers. (not that I wouldn't mind some terriformed land on Mars...):)
I work in a Win2K environment, so cygwin keeps me sane. I've been using the XFree86 port for it for a while and it's really nice. I would recommend to anyone the whole cygwin project. In fact, it's a great way to get windows users used to unix commands without having them commit to installing a new OS!
A little while back I took a course in scientific computing and put together some instructions for setting up cyginw/X windows on Win32. It's got screen shots and links to other resources. Check out http://www.geocities.com/jaaronfarr/cygwin.html
Actually, if you check the source, you'll see that they are using XML namespaces and schemas. Actually, they're using something called XDR (XML-Data-Reduced) which was developed by Microsoft and is upwards compatable with XML schema. I'm familiar with schema but not XDR. For more information, you may want to check out these links:
Good point, I didn't notice that when I first posted. Still though, they're using namespaces which isn't part of the DTD definition. So the issue isn't that they're using outdated technology, it's that they're using proprietary extentions.
So the government tries to update their use of technology to use an open format like XML and publish the DTD's and inevitably the first 10 slashdot posts complain that the government is too behind the times because that don't use new (and better) XML schemas! Talk about geeks!:)
These are good questions. These are the type of questions that a lot of experiences Linux advocates forget about or ignore.
Well, I'm not going to be able to give a lot of very specific answers to everything here, but this should help. I would first point you to your local Linux Users Group (LUG), if there is one. I've found that there's almost always someone in the group who can help me. It's one of the closest things to true tech support the Linux community has. Chech out
http://linux.com/usergroups.pl
to find one nearby. You should also do a google search since not every LUG is listed.
Many of the packages you see in gnorpm are libraries or applications that run only via the command line. Only a few of these are GUI applications you'll actually see under one of your menus. Now you may think that's a LOT of libraries and system utilities, but (from a Windows point of view) if you ever check out all that's in your C:\WINDOWS folder or C:\WINNT folder, you'll find all sorts of stuff you never seem to use (that doesn't make them unnecessary though!). I've been using Linux coming on two years now and it's only been in the last couple of months that I feel I really start to know what the different core packages are and what they do. And this is after doing many many installs of Linux. A good way to 'explore' what you've got is to check out the 'man' pages for the applications you find under/bin,/usr/bin,/usr/sbin, and all those other 'bin' [binary] directories you have. I wouldn't suggest just sitting down and going through them all unless you have a LOT of time, but searching through the 'man' and 'info' pages are how you can learn a lot about your system.
You're 'boot' partition is where the libaries and programs that start up your computer reside. This partition in general does NOT have to be very large. Space is usually given on the boot partition if you what to do some configuration and cusomization. Try reading
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Partition/partition -4.html#NUMBER
.
Linux still has a horrid learning curve to it. While some love that (I for one), it's a rough climb for many. Learning about your system and about linux is a process of doing exactly what you did here--ask questions, participate in the community. And eventually, you'll get the hang of it.
As of Linux for Joe User, I would say we're getting close, very close, but there will always be more to do.
Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to matter as we can see in the way the current Microsoft lawsuit is being handled. If that lawsuit didn't stop them, why would they worry about pushing around the government and the people again?
True, theft is wrong, period. I don't steal or bootleg any of my computer software, however, that doesn't mean that I'm not against DRM technology. If anything, the courts should decide whether or not my use of some software is legalNOT a software company trying to squeeze every last penny out of me.
The problem with most DRM schemes is that they go too far. They make perfectly legal activities impossible. They allow corporate interests to dictate how I use equipment and software that I paid for. That I own. Now there is a very good point that people can make stating that, well, if you don't like that particular technology in so-and-so company's product, then just don't use them. Fine, okay. But when so-and-so company represents a monopoly and uses this technology to effect the market place and drive out competition, then that's wrong. In fact, it's illegal. That's the problem.
No it isn't. The hardware and software Microsoft is proposing would control ANY software, not just pirated software. If Microsoft wanted to edge someone out of the market, they could just make it possible that that software wouldn't run on your computer. Illegal or not.
Did you read the article? It's like the example they give about printer cartridges: I can legally buy a refill kit for a printer cartridge, but if the cartridge contains a chip that can tell if it was refilled (and consquently refuse to work), then my legal refill kit does nothing for me. And the inventor of the kit is pushed out of the market. Microsoft's technology is along the same line -- it limits your freedom and discourages innovation.
Slashdot Mirror
Not only will Solaris 9 run on x86, but Sun's new LX50 server is x86 based. And the really cool thing is you can get it with either Solaris or Sun's new Linux distro. This marks an interesting turn for Sun, throwing support to both x86 processors *and* linux.
If they feel that strong about it, then THEY should run for office. Seriously, if you don't like your options, make new ones. Or collaborate with others to make new ones. Until those steps are taken, I don't see how those who refuse to vote have any right to complain when things obviously don't go the way they would prefer.
Very interesting point. I'm not sure if that justifies not attempting to oppose the legislation though (but I doubt that's your intended point).
Actually, instead of 1984, I was thinking of "Atlas Shrugged" where the one washington scientist points out the Rearden that the laws which had been passed were not intended to be followed, but passed with the intention that people would not be able to continue unless they broke them, thus putting everyone in the power of those who pass and control the laws.
Definitely a tempting thought...
However, why should *we* be the ones to move out? Huh? Both the US and the UK are (supposed to be) democratic nations. Isn't that the point of establishing a democracy in the first place? So that we don't have to leave, but instead can change the nation and government to better suit the people?
Maybe I'm too idealistic, but it seems to me that too many have given up on democracy really working (including myself often). The real test is that countries can change. That has happened in the past, if it can no longer happen, I think the fault lies more with the citizens than with the elected officials.
Just my $0.02
I am not a European, however, I believe the point is to try to stop having these bills passed in the first place. Enough restriction of information and freedom via over-reaching copyright and patent laws is going to eventually threaten *real* innovation and progress. Sometimes it reminds me of the way many established powers baulked at the printing press. What we need is a new Renaissance -- balancing appropriate intellectual propertry rights with the freedom needed for advancement and enjoyment. One more reason to support organizations like the EFF...
Speaking of which, is there a European counterpart to the EFF or does the EFF handle European issues as well?
I just had a grad class this summer in Scientific Computing and it was all Fortran 90. I knew Fortran 77 from a numerical computation course a few years ago. My point is, it is _still_ being taught and it is still *THE* language of choice for high performance scientific programming. Those who count Fortran as "outdated" or no longer significant obviously don't get exposed to this type of programming. While Fortran can seem "odd" to a programmer who grew up on java or C++, it is still a worth while language to learn and use.
I'm 100% with you.
Most web developers do not understand DOM and how Javascript (ECMAScript) has improved. It's a common problem -- developers have preferences and refuse to try new (or retry) tools and stick to only what they know.
Javascript has come a long way. While there is always the need to provide standard pages that can be rendered across different browsers, this isn't as hard as people claim it to be.
I'm glad to see someone defend this position so well.
For more information, check out the NewFactor article at : http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18805.html
0 15675.htm
Also check out this GeekNews story: http://geek.com/news/geeknews/2002Jul/gee20020731
(Don't need the Karma, I just want people to get the facts straight. I hate misinformation being spread around...)
The whole "problem" here has nothing to do with Sun or Apple, but it has everything to do with CNET running an inaccurate story that was picked up by the other "news" sites like Newsforge and Slashdot, thus furthering the rumors. This in turn created quite a fuss with the OpenOffice programmers who thought it would have been nice for Sun to tell them directly rather than getting the word through a news story.
The really interesting part of this little mixup is how quickly misinformation travels. While this episode might not be all that serious in the grand scale of things, I wouldn't be surprised if one day this same sort of mix up (ie- online news sites reporting some rumor story that spreads like fire through blogs and other online portals) will create a real problem or crisis. You watch. Information (thankfully) travels much faster and more freely these days, but that means the consumer of the information must pay more attention to filter out fact from fiction.
For those looking for more facts, check out the FAQ at
OpenOffice.org about the OS X port.
I tried out Lycoris a while ago when I was exploring other distros. I was really pleased with the overall experience. Generally user friendly, clean interface, network browser worked well for me, and the forums on the company web site were very friendly and helpful. All in all, I think Lycoris is probably the best Linux desktop available for an average [windows] computer user (not the average linux user that is).
My only gripe was that so much software I'm used to finding on a unix-like OS was simply missing. Unless you knew better, you ended up after the initial install with out a compiler or make or anything to roll your own software. This of course became a hastle when wanted to install new software later.
My point is, Lycoris is NOT for the linux power user out there (or maybe even average linux user), but then, it isn't targeted to be. For it's target audience, I think Lycoris makes an excellent choice of a Linux desktop (although, one might wonder how much of such an audience exists).
Mono has nothing to do with GNOME. If you'd do your research you'd realize that they are seperate projects and that the rumors that GNOME is going to be based on .NET are just that -- rumors. There are some people that are involved in both projects, however, the GNOME project has come out and said they currently have no plans to move to MONO or .NET any time soon. Maybe someday, who knows? But they are SEPERATE projects. Read Miguel de Icaza's own
reply to this idea.
.NET framework that are really nice. What's more, unlike Sun, M$ has given their language and technology up to be standardized. In that sense, it's more free than Java.
Besides, have you ever looked at the MONO project? They're doing some really impressive stuff. You probably shouldn't write it off just because you're afraid of M$. I'm a java programmer and an avid Linux user, however, there are some features of C# and the
I've been testing out RedHat's new beta name "Limbo." It comes with Gnome 2.0 (which I must say looks wonderful). However, most of the Gnome apps are still based on 1.4, which means you get some really horribly looking GUI's as the two versions mingle. In some cases, they just don't work (Evolution in Gnome 2.0 can be buggy, at least that's my experience).
:)
Now perhaps a lot of what I'm experiencing is just from the beta aspect of RedHat Limbo, but I would suggest (as other posters have) waiting until Ximian comes out with a full Gnome 2.0 based Desktop, especially if this will be on your production workstation/desktop. I know waiting is difficult when you've got wonderful new versions out there, but unless you plan on joining the party and testing/debugging/coding, I would wait a bit.
On that same line of thought though, if you want to see a final product sooner, then try upgrading to Gnome 2.0 on something other than your production machine and help out with any bug fixes. That's the way these projects work, right?
that these reports do not adequately take into account that populations adjust and evolve in response to changes in the enviroment.
:)
"Using the image of the need for mankind to colonise space as a stark illustration of the problems facing Earth, the report warns that either consumption rates are dramatically and rapidly lowered or the planet will no longer be able to sustain its growing population." [from article, emphasis mine]
While I understand that the article is trying to shock people into paying attention to a serious problem (and it is a problem), at the same time alarmists need to recognize that growing populations when facing a change in the enviroment change with that environment. No society is going to continue at break-neck speeds to oblivion, eat the last edible object, and then suddenly start think, "hey we need to change something here." While the issue we face now is on a more global scale, many times in history local communities have faced similar problems and they adapt. Birthrates drop, consumption drops, etc. Now that doesn't mean it's always pretty either -- such situations can lead to massive decimation of a population, but I doubt we're facing the end of human existance here.
My point is, while the issue raised is certainly an important and serious issue, it's not the end of the world. We need to worry and we need to do something, but we don't need doomsayers. (not that I wouldn't mind some terriformed land on Mars...)
I work in a Win2K environment, so cygwin keeps me sane. I've been using the XFree86 port for it for a while and it's really nice. I would recommend to anyone the whole cygwin project. In fact, it's a great way to get windows users used to unix commands without having them commit to installing a new OS!
A little while back I took a course in scientific computing and put together some instructions for setting up cyginw/X windows on Win32. It's got screen shots and links to other resources. Check out
http://www.geocities.com/jaaronfarr/cygwin.html
-
http://www.schemavalid.com/faq/xml-schema.html#a4
-
http://www.netcrucible.com/xslt/msxml-faq.htm#Q13
-
http://www.ltg.ed.ac.uk/~ht/XMLData-Reduced.htm
-
http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/NOTE-XML-data/
And thanks to this poster for pointing it out.Good point, I didn't notice that when I first posted. Still though, they're using namespaces which isn't part of the DTD definition. So the issue isn't that they're using outdated technology, it's that they're using proprietary extentions.
Check out the source for http://xml.house.gov/Members/mbr107.xml and then the corresponding schema: http://xml.house.gov/Members/member-schema.xml
No, it's because of the way they use the XSL stylesheet. IE does not support the XML "standard" any more than Mozilla. Quit posting FUD.
It's because of the XSL style sheet they use. You can find it at http://xml.house.gov/Members/member-sorter-vb.xsl.
(Use view source to see the actual XSLT). Notice that they use VBScript!
So the government tries to update their use of technology to use an open format like XML and publish the DTD's and inevitably the first 10 slashdot posts complain that the government is too behind the times because that don't use new (and better) XML schemas! Talk about geeks! :)
These are good questions. These are the type of questions that a lot of experiences Linux advocates forget about or ignore.
/bin, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, and all those other 'bin' [binary] directories you have. I wouldn't suggest just sitting down and going through them all unless you have a LOT of time, but searching through the 'man' and 'info' pages are how you can learn a lot about your system.
n -4.html#NUMBER
.
n -4.html#AEN347
. In general the
Linux Documentation Project is a wonderful place to find answers.
Well, I'm not going to be able to give a lot of very specific answers to everything here, but this should help. I would first point you to your local Linux Users Group (LUG), if there is one. I've found that there's almost always someone in the group who can help me. It's one of the closest things to true tech support the Linux community has. Chech out http://linux.com/usergroups.pl to find one nearby. You should also do a google search since not every LUG is listed.
Many of the packages you see in gnorpm are libraries or applications that run only via the command line. Only a few of these are GUI applications you'll actually see under one of your menus. Now you may think that's a LOT of libraries and system utilities, but (from a Windows point of view) if you ever check out all that's in your C:\WINDOWS folder or C:\WINNT folder, you'll find all sorts of stuff you never seem to use (that doesn't make them unnecessary though!). I've been using Linux coming on two years now and it's only been in the last couple of months that I feel I really start to know what the different core packages are and what they do. And this is after doing many many installs of Linux. A good way to 'explore' what you've got is to check out the 'man' pages for the applications you find under
You're 'boot' partition is where the libaries and programs that start up your computer reside. This partition in general does NOT have to be very large. Space is usually given on the boot partition if you what to do some configuration and cusomization. Try reading http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Partition/partitio
As for the swap space, check out http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Swap-Space.html and also: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Partition/partitio
Linux still has a horrid learning curve to it. While some love that (I for one), it's a rough climb for many. Learning about your system and about linux is a process of doing exactly what you did here--ask questions, participate in the community. And eventually, you'll get the hang of it.
As of Linux for Joe User, I would say we're getting close, very close, but there will always be more to do.
I wish more people would figure this out.
Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to matter as we can see in the way the current Microsoft lawsuit is being handled. If that lawsuit didn't stop them, why would they worry about pushing around the government and the people again?
True, theft is wrong, period. I don't steal or bootleg any of my computer software, however, that doesn't mean that I'm not against DRM technology. If anything, the courts should decide whether or not my use of some software is legalNOT a software company trying to squeeze every last penny out of me.
The problem with most DRM schemes is that they go too far. They make perfectly legal activities impossible. They allow corporate interests to dictate how I use equipment and software that I paid for. That I own. Now there is a very good point that people can make stating that, well, if you don't like that particular technology in so-and-so company's product, then just don't use them. Fine, okay. But when so-and-so company represents a monopoly and uses this technology to effect the market place and drive out competition, then that's wrong. In fact, it's illegal. That's the problem.
No it isn't. The hardware and software Microsoft is proposing would control ANY software, not just pirated software. If Microsoft wanted to edge someone out of the market, they could just make it possible that that software wouldn't run on your computer. Illegal or not.
Did you read the article? It's like the example they give about printer cartridges: I can legally buy a refill kit for a printer cartridge, but if the cartridge contains a chip that can tell if it was refilled (and consquently refuse to work), then my legal refill kit does nothing for me. And the inventor of the kit is pushed out of the market. Microsoft's technology is along the same line -- it limits your freedom and discourages innovation.