I do not think that word means what you think it means.
Yes it does. Merriam-Webster agrees with my usage:
One entry found for pedantic.
Main Entry: pedantic
Pronunciation: pi-'dan-tik
Function: adjective
1 : of, relating to, or being a pedant
2 : narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned
3 : UNIMAGINATIVE, PEDESTRIAN
Back in the late 70s and early 80s I used to work at a computer bureau. For those of you who are too young to remember, a bureau was where customers took their raw data to be encoded, processed and backed up.
The only practical way to maintain integrity, given that data was stored offline (in fireproof safes) on mag tapes was to use a grandfather/father/son system of backups, with special tapes reserved for end-of-month or end-of-year processes.
I know we've come a long way since the days of batch-processing, but having a series of backups on separate media is way safer than relying on a single flash drive, CD-RW or whatever. The latter is bound to fail at the critical moment when it is most needed.
I run weekly backups on my home computers out to DVD-RWs which are overwritten in three-weekly cycles. More interim stuff on a day-to-day basis gets run out to USB flash drive or to CD-RW. Oh, and I set my backup scripts to alert me if there is even a hint of bad I/O an any media. Anything that is at all iffy is replaced immediately and the backup re-run.
I know this is a pedantic way of going about it, but I've rarely had any trouble with data loss as a result, while others seem to take it as a matter of course that they will lose their stuff when a drive fails.
An equivalent to Endnote that interfaces with OpenOffice. That would be a big plus for those of us who write scientific documents on linux machines in a MS-based world, where BibTex is not an option.
Oh, and while we're at it, a gui-based stats package along the lines of PASS or SPSS would be nice too.
At least I can install firefox, but mail clients that aren't OE are a big no-no.
If, perchance you are referring to the need to interface with MS Exchange, Evolution now does that quite well. Though I should say, recent versions of Evo have unfortunately become quite heavy resource hogs...
I have no comparisons to make with OE, however. Does anyone else?
I concur. I have not seen a single email in at least 18 months with any form of Windows executable content which has not been malign.
I'm not a zealot about html mail, since as a markup language it is there to aid expression and communication, but html is just text, and sensible practices such as not allowing one's mail client to follow every link in sight should be sufficient to make it safe.
ActiveX, however, opens up a can of worms every time it's invoked and has no honest or useful place in email.
I know you got modded "Funny", but I also live in Australia and I find my sense of humour has taken a bit of a battering over the last couple of weeks...
In answer to your header "How insightful is this comparison?", I would simply say "Not very".
(Quick disclaimer here: I've been a fan of Slackware since it was SLS...)
One point that I happen to agree with is that Pat uses some strange packaging quirks. A case in point is that he prefers Gnome built with "-prefix=/usr" while KDE goes in/opt. I'm sure he has legitimate reasons for doing so, but unless he elucidates them it just seems odd.
However, the advocacy of swaret in TFA is irrelevant and somewhat silly in this context. Swaret is a 3rd-party package which has worked well (up to a point) for a number of people, but which has also something of a reputation for leaving systems unbootable.
In actuality, the dependency issue is fairly much irrelevant in [probably the majority of] Slackware setups, since a large proportion of apps are hand-built from source, which necessarily implies that dependencies are resolved to start with.
I am somewhat curious as to why this is a topic for Slashdot.
I personally don't give a damn what consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedrooms, since it is none of my business, but it is slightly suggestive given the byline "News for nerds".
All you have to do is wait a couple of weeks, and you'll know who has won. It's the voters who decide the outcome in (at least in most cases - we might hope we don't see a repeat of the last election fiasco), not the pundits spinning their wheels.
In any case, a single advertisement in a tabloid newspaper read (maybe) by a globally select minority is likely to be of relatively little value compared to squashing the remaining bugs and getting the browser distributed with ISPs setup CDs.
Your grandma won't change from IE for the same reason that my dad keeps using that stupid Compuserve browser. You have to get them going with it from the outset, or present them with conclusive preoof that Firefox is better along with a totally bombproof means of getting it installed.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds fault with Firefox rendering of slashdot.org. I admit I haven't checked bugzilla, but it seems a fairly significant situation to be allowed to persist.
(Not flaming here: I use firefox as my primary browser, but bave sort of got used to clicking the "back" and "forward" buttons to get the content as well as the green stripes.)
The idea of factual unbiased news telling went the way of the Dodo MANY years ago. (probably about 20-25 years ago, IMO):)
Err, what makes you think journalism has ever been unbiased? I am old enough (and then some;-)) to remember 20-25 years ago, and journalism was not much different from what it is now.
I used to say that uniformed people shouldnt talk about things like math, and patent law
Hell, I had to read that three times before I realised that you weren't talking about policemen, nurses or firemen... Not that I have ever heard a policeman discuss...
Our two-party system really isn't serving the country at all.
Two-party systems don't serve any country well. The US situation has been pointed out, and I won't repeat it; the same can be seen in Britain and Australia, where parties whose traditional focus has been towards social justice have sold out their principles to pander to insecurities whipped up by "conservatives".
Interesting, though; for a long time after those planes pranged into the World Trade Centre, one would have been forgiven for believing Slashdot was populated entirely by persons suffering from malignant redness around the neck area.:-)
I guess there's been enough time for some of the jingoistic rhetoric to wear off.
Exactly. However, while some are paranoid about security, many are too clueless to be able to enforce it.
I used to specialise in system security, and in my experience, the single biggest threat to most corporations' security is the humble post-it note. Passwords stuck to computer screens... Not good.
Sometimes the actual software used in Australia is quite good, but it is useless if poorly configured or if users are allowed to leave gates open for anybody with a dictionary.
Wait till they reply/call you and say that the document is mangled. It's not that good.
And MSWord never mangles formatting? Even of documents created with MSWord? Thanks, but I find OOo far superior in that respect.
OOo has its deficiencies in speed, some aspects of its UI and a few quirks here and there, but interoperability with MSWord (with the exception of a number of particularly egregious opject link embedding "features") is far better than MSWord's with any other package.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes it does. Merriam-Webster agrees with my usage:
One entry found for pedantic.
Main Entry: pedantic
Pronunciation: pi-'dan-tik
Function: adjective
1 : of, relating to, or being a pedant
2 : narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned
3 : UNIMAGINATIVE, PEDESTRIAN
The only practical way to maintain integrity, given that data was stored offline (in fireproof safes) on mag tapes was to use a grandfather/father/son system of backups, with special tapes reserved for end-of-month or end-of-year processes.
I know we've come a long way since the days of batch-processing, but having a series of backups on separate media is way safer than relying on a single flash drive, CD-RW or whatever. The latter is bound to fail at the critical moment when it is most needed.
I run weekly backups on my home computers out to DVD-RWs which are overwritten in three-weekly cycles. More interim stuff on a day-to-day basis gets run out to USB flash drive or to CD-RW. Oh, and I set my backup scripts to alert me if there is even a hint of bad I/O an any media. Anything that is at all iffy is replaced immediately and the backup re-run.
I know this is a pedantic way of going about it, but I've rarely had any trouble with data loss as a result, while others seem to take it as a matter of course that they will lose their stuff when a drive fails.
Oh, and while we're at it, a gui-based stats package along the lines of PASS or SPSS would be nice too.
Well, I guess it was perfectly OK for Bush to attempt to influence the Australian election. Looks like he succeeded, too.
If, perchance you are referring to the need to interface with MS Exchange, Evolution now does that quite well. Though I should say, recent versions of Evo have unfortunately become quite heavy resource hogs...
I have no comparisons to make with OE, however. Does anyone else?
I'm not a zealot about html mail, since as a markup language it is there to aid expression and communication, but html is just text, and sensible practices such as not allowing one's mail client to follow every link in sight should be sufficient to make it safe.
ActiveX, however, opens up a can of worms every time it's invoked and has no honest or useful place in email.
I know you got modded "Funny", but I also live in Australia and I find my sense of humour has taken a bit of a battering over the last couple of weeks...
(Quick disclaimer here: I've been a fan of Slackware since it was SLS...)
One point that I happen to agree with is that Pat uses some strange packaging quirks. A case in point is that he prefers Gnome built with "-prefix=/usr" while KDE goes in /opt. I'm sure he has legitimate reasons for doing so, but unless he elucidates them it just seems odd.
However, the advocacy of swaret in TFA is irrelevant and somewhat silly in this context. Swaret is a 3rd-party package which has worked well (up to a point) for a number of people, but which has also something of a reputation for leaving systems unbootable.
In actuality, the dependency issue is fairly much irrelevant in [probably the majority of] Slackware setups, since a large proportion of apps are hand-built from source, which necessarily implies that dependencies are resolved to start with.
I am somewhat curious as to why this is a topic for Slashdot.
I personally don't give a damn what consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedrooms, since it is none of my business, but it is slightly suggestive given the byline "News for nerds".
:-D
Err, no. I don't think world's opinion of GWB could be lower. He is a cockroach, and the best thing one could do is step on him.
Never mind that, it's the ".com" that says it all. After all, nobody can seriously claim his best interests are not commercial.
All you have to do is wait a couple of weeks, and you'll know who has won. It's the voters who decide the outcome in (at least in most cases - we might hope we don't see a repeat of the last election fiasco), not the pundits spinning their wheels.
Your grandma won't change from IE for the same reason that my dad keeps using that stupid Compuserve browser. You have to get them going with it from the outset, or present them with conclusive preoof that Firefox is better along with a totally bombproof means of getting it installed.
Hmmm. I've found that while Firefox needs a bit of coaxing to render slashdot.org, Mozilla works perfectly.
(Not flaming here: I use firefox as my primary browser, but bave sort of got used to clicking the "back" and "forward" buttons to get the content as well as the green stripes.)
Then why do they distribute Linux install disks attached to the cover from time to time?
Err, what makes you think journalism has ever been unbiased? I am old enough (and then some ;-)) to remember 20-25 years ago, and journalism was not much different from what it is now.
Hell, I had to read that three times before I realised that you weren't talking about policemen, nurses or firemen... Not that I have ever heard a policeman discuss...
Never mind.
Two-party systems don't serve any country well. The US situation has been pointed out, and I won't repeat it; the same can be seen in Britain and Australia, where parties whose traditional focus has been towards social justice have sold out their principles to pander to insecurities whipped up by "conservatives".
I guess there's been enough time for some of the jingoistic rhetoric to wear off.
Quick break here for disclaimer: I am not a US citizen, and will consequently not be voting in your presidential elections. OK?
While I would personally be gratified to see Bush voted out of office, this trading of votes is a travesty of democracy. Where do you stop?
Exactly. However, while some are paranoid about security, many are too clueless to be able to enforce it.
I used to specialise in system security, and in my experience, the single biggest threat to most corporations' security is the humble post-it note. Passwords stuck to computer screens... Not good.
Sometimes the actual software used in Australia is quite good, but it is useless if poorly configured or if users are allowed to leave gates open for anybody with a dictionary.
That aside, the penultimate sentence of TFA is interesting:
Russell was a disgruntled employee. He admits that if he had been paid, he probably wouldn't have talked.
Obviously an upstanding citizen with refined moral principles.
And MSWord never mangles formatting? Even of documents created with MSWord? Thanks, but I find OOo far superior in that respect.
OOo has its deficiencies in speed, some aspects of its UI and a few quirks here and there, but interoperability with MSWord (with the exception of a number of particularly egregious opject link embedding "features") is far better than MSWord's with any other package.
I like the native exporter, but which one are you talking about? Is it the macro?