What tomstdenis said, but on a longer time scale.
I coded my first Fortran in 1976. In 1980, somebody was showing me a system that would "eliminate programming" because you could just speak English (actually they were showing me a SQL system) to the computer..
In the late 80's, early 90's "object oriented programming" "would eliminate the programmer" because all you would have to do is put components together.
And now this clueless arsehole. But he got published, so I guess he accomplished his job. (Like the academic who said JK Rowling wasn't a great writer...)
As a bachelor degree student in physics in the 70's and early 80's, fusion research was on of the 'hot' topics. The tokamak was the predominant fusion plant, but other fusion reactors were being investigated. In those days we measured sustained reaction times in milliseconds.
Obviously I haven't been keeping up, 'cuz 28 seconds sounds like a lifetime to me now.
Every business exists for one, and only one, purpose. To make money for the owner. (not as cynical as it sounds. Even in non profits, if they run out of cash, they go away.) In all my years of gainful employment, everytime I argued for something because it would be 'better quality' pretty much fell on deaf ears.
If I framed the argument that 'we'll make more money' or 'we'll spend less money' ears perked up. Frame the quality argument in 'reduced support costs, reduced maintenance costs, greater server workload efficiency resulting in $xxxxx savings in the first year alone' and I immediately got a reply. I still may not have gotten what i wanted, but at least i was able to present my case.
In your case you can add the point that the only company that makes money selling Microsoft is Microsoft. In linux, IBM, RedHat, Novell, and plenty of other companies make money selling Linux.
Frame your argument by talking about what your manager is being evaluated on (how much money he/she is making/saving the company) and you will have a much better chance.
And Baen books has been releasing some of their books as mp3 audiobooks.
Not huge yet, but let's face it... as far as security is concerned, If you can get the cd, you can rip to mp3. I do that all the time to get books to listen to while I'm running. Angela's Ashes will be playing for me during a marathon this weekend.
(For you national socialists at RIAA, no, I am not posting the mp3's. This is for my own fair use)
During my programming days, open source hadn't become big yet. The biggest gripe everyone had was (...wait for it...) documention. To the point where we would almost never use the documentation from the vendor, and instead buy third party books. My shelves are still full of books on MS C, Borland Pascal and C++ etc.
I think this is just a case of 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'.
And to continue the analogy, there are plenty of good 3rd party books out there on the main open source programs. For the smaller, more targeted software, it's no different than the documentation we used to push onto users after they paid $1000's of dollars on our product.
One point I haven't seen made yet is about hardware issues. One of the problems with game development on a PC is what hardware is in use? I know that as a consumer, I can purchace the best hardware available, but that doesn't mean that the programs will be written to take advantage of it.
Case in point, remember 3DFX? Great hardware, great software interface, great linux support. Lousy longevity. They are gone, swallowed up by Nvidia. So all of the games that worked great on my voodoo 3 card now absolutely stink with an equivalently priced Nvidia card (maybe if I buy a newer card)
My point is not to bash nvidia, but to emphasize that the games that worked great with voodoo were specifically coded to take advantage of that card, and because of that, would almost have to make other cards look bad. If I had purchaced games that were coded for nvidia, then i would have seen the exact opposite effect.
Now what is the development team to do? Re code software so that every single video card is supported? Rotsa ruck. As soon as it goes gole, there will be 30 more cards that aren't in the package that will require the patch to be downloaded.
Contrast this to ANY console. Sure, I can purchase much better hardware for a PC, but every console developer knows exactly what hardware he/she is coding for, and doesn't have to waste 6 man-years coding for multiple cards. Everything works. Performance is squeezed out of those machines to the nth degree.
I don't think that this will mean either platform will 'die' but until video card developers come up with a 'consensus' set of api's that developers can code for, then it will always seem that the user will need a custom pc to for each game to get the best performance out of that particular title.
Given the assumption that video games makes one violent, what games did Adolph Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Attilla the Hun and Jack the Ripper play when they were younger>
After WWI there was a great fear that the return of all the trained and experienced killers from european battlefields would create a violent crime spree of endemic proportions. Never happened. If real violence couldn't create that kind of effect, how come video violence is supposed to be a surefire violence trigger?
"Brain the size of a planet and they want me to open up a file...Pardon me while I solve the string theory for the internal construction of a black hole..."
With all the hullabaloo about Fedora, isn't the switch to Fedora as much of a branding issue as anything else?
I actually teach courses in Red Hat Linux, and I always had trouble explaining to people why they would want to pay for Red Hat, when you could download it for free. (Even with issues like real vendor tech support, etc.
Now I am having an easier time saying 'Fedora is the free download, if you want the most stable version, licence Red Hat, and you will get stability and a much higher level of vendor support'.
Slashdot Mirror
2. What do you care what everybody thinks?
Both by Richard Feynman
The movie Infinity, Matthew Broderick, Patricia Arquette
The books are the best. The movie concentrates on the love story between Feynman and his first wife..
That still is a great game, despite the older graphics. The story carries it. I feel like I'm Clint Eastwood every time I play it..
What tomstdenis said, but on a longer time scale. I coded my first Fortran in 1976. In 1980, somebody was showing me a system that would "eliminate programming" because you could just speak English (actually they were showing me a SQL system) to the computer.. In the late 80's, early 90's "object oriented programming" "would eliminate the programmer" because all you would have to do is put components together. And now this clueless arsehole. But he got published, so I guess he accomplished his job. (Like the academic who said JK Rowling wasn't a great writer...)
Actually, they do. Try going to a casino and winning $1000 playing poker. The casino reports it and you have to pay the tax on it..
Them: Is Mark there? Me : I told you already! Them : No you didn't Me: Yes I did. Them : No you didn't Me : I most certainly did....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_1
Didn't you know? The aliens were running Windows 95 using TCP/IP.....
well, that' how Jack Thompson explains it...
What is the most outrageous lawsuit (that you have been involved with) brought by RIAA?
.|A(0{?y01/3z4xy0|?|B|L-Kfpkxey^tom5638BHQ{y9|G.Ak `he&5'|_pl_464:UO>{z7{G@C?D=yDACAFA{/z-z./2
??
Somehow, I'm missing something about how obvious this "quote" is supposed to be.
captian obvious asplodes
Time lag...
As a bachelor degree student in physics in the 70's and early 80's, fusion research was on of the 'hot' topics. The tokamak was the predominant fusion plant, but other fusion reactors were being investigated. In those days we measured sustained reaction times in milliseconds. Obviously I haven't been keeping up, 'cuz 28 seconds sounds like a lifetime to me now.
Every business exists for one, and only one, purpose. To make money for the owner. (not as cynical as it sounds. Even in non profits, if they run out of cash, they go away.) In all my years of gainful employment, everytime I argued for something because it would be 'better quality' pretty much fell on deaf ears. If I framed the argument that 'we'll make more money' or 'we'll spend less money' ears perked up. Frame the quality argument in 'reduced support costs, reduced maintenance costs, greater server workload efficiency resulting in $xxxxx savings in the first year alone' and I immediately got a reply. I still may not have gotten what i wanted, but at least i was able to present my case. In your case you can add the point that the only company that makes money selling Microsoft is Microsoft. In linux, IBM, RedHat, Novell, and plenty of other companies make money selling Linux. Frame your argument by talking about what your manager is being evaluated on (how much money he/she is making/saving the company) and you will have a much better chance.
Nominated for 2006, GRAVITY!!!!
Not huge yet, but let's face it... as far as security is concerned, If you can get the cd, you can rip to mp3. I do that all the time to get books to listen to while I'm running. Angela's Ashes will be playing for me during a marathon this weekend.
(For you national socialists at RIAA, no, I am not posting the mp3's. This is for my own fair use)
1. AOL 2. Me Too 3. Me Too 4. ME TOO (OMGLOL!)
I think this is just a case of 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'.
And to continue the analogy, there are plenty of good 3rd party books out there on the main open source programs. For the smaller, more targeted software, it's no different than the documentation we used to push onto users after they paid $1000's of dollars on our product.
[sacreledge]"Jesus saves! But Satan scores on the rebound!"[/sacreledge]
Case in point, remember 3DFX? Great hardware, great software interface, great linux support. Lousy longevity. They are gone, swallowed up by Nvidia. So all of the games that worked great on my voodoo 3 card now absolutely stink with an equivalently priced Nvidia card (maybe if I buy a newer card)
My point is not to bash nvidia, but to emphasize that the games that worked great with voodoo were specifically coded to take advantage of that card, and because of that, would almost have to make other cards look bad. If I had purchaced games that were coded for nvidia, then i would have seen the exact opposite effect.
Now what is the development team to do? Re code software so that every single video card is supported? Rotsa ruck. As soon as it goes gole, there will be 30 more cards that aren't in the package that will require the patch to be downloaded.
Contrast this to ANY console. Sure, I can purchase much better hardware for a PC, but every console developer knows exactly what hardware he/she is coding for, and doesn't have to waste 6 man-years coding for multiple cards. Everything works. Performance is squeezed out of those machines to the nth degree.
I don't think that this will mean either platform will 'die' but until video card developers come up with a 'consensus' set of api's that developers can code for, then it will always seem that the user will need a custom pc to for each game to get the best performance out of that particular title.
After WWI there was a great fear that the return of all the trained and experienced killers from european battlefields would create a violent crime spree of endemic proportions. Never happened. If real violence couldn't create that kind of effect, how come video violence is supposed to be a surefire violence trigger?
"Brain the size of a planet and they want me to open up a file...Pardon me while I solve the string theory for the internal construction of a black hole..."
If you ever get a tour there, it's like walking through a programmer's playground.
I actually teach courses in Red Hat Linux, and I always had trouble explaining to people why they would want to pay for Red Hat, when you could download it for free. (Even with issues like real vendor tech support, etc.
Now I am having an easier time saying 'Fedora is the free download, if you want the most stable version, licence Red Hat, and you will get stability and a much higher level of vendor support'.
I used to work with nuclear power plants, so I glow. Will that count?