I see it as solving problems than the alternatives create, I am tired of fixing peoples' spyware trashed Win boxes, and telling them they cannot create a PDF without a $300 program (easily, yeah there are alternatives, but a lot of em are kinda kludgey).
There are affordable (to the common person) alternatives to PageMaker, Office, and Illustrator. You CAN edit videos and create music, freely use a digital media player without a credit card. And I know a lot of people who have a hard enough time just affording a PC and its peripherals much less any software to run on them.
Also, technically speaking, many of us nerds aren't all that adept at utilizing the programs we create to thier potential, I do OK with Scribus and Inkscape, but an adept graphic artitist will make them shine. With them into the mix Linux based apps will show thier poential and improve, as people will give thier informed feedback (fictional example: "Um, the color quality dosen't match quite right here.. here... and here...")
Having a larger community will help it gain commercial interest, and they (proprietary niche developors) eventually will fill in many of the gaps, but to make a profit they will have to code up stuff better than that's out there free (and/or) they be able to code up something even better than on proprietary platforms due to the solid foundation that Linux and its associated tools provide.
So to sum it up in just a few words, "Becuause Linux is 'A Good Thing'"
Isn't this mindset violating the first (0) freedom of free software:
* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
By charging for running a service using a free program you are restricting that freedom, in essense you are saying "you are NOT free to run the program for just any purpose, you are FREE to run the program most of the time, or, any time if you have enough sufficient money." No, that just sucks.
Next we will have the layers come in and redefine free like the Markeing drones in the commercial world do ("free as in you only pay the postage and handling fees").
I still hope one day there will be legislation that finally defines the term free as "something without any cost or obilgation."
...but they're going to remember it for a lot longer than you are because they'll be the ones doing time for the crime. If they got really rough sentences because of you and spent several years in the slammer as a result, ten years later they could come looking for you to take away your life. Your credit cards would be the least of your problems.
Wow, that's pretty good FUD, you work for Microsoft?
This is how monopolies are made, elections won, and people get away with with such things. Yep, don't do a thing and cower under your desks... like everyone else (thats what they want to to believe).
I think you need somebody that understands the market/business you are in, not an engineer...
Take Apple, I don't think Steve Jobs would be considered really a computer geek, but he 'gets it' he see the product and the people and puts them together. He knows that he needs people with good brains to make good stuff, and knows that 'cool' stuff has to be used by not the brainiest bunch out there. and works with it.
HP isn't Apple though, the audience formerly were some of the brainiest bunch in the community, with more letters than you can shake a sliderule at. I think Carly wanted HP to be IBM PC, Microsoft, Apple, Compaq and whatever other things HP wasn't because she didn't understand engineers and such.
What HP needs is a Leo Laporte or some other guy who gets the tech thing but also sees the popular community and what would be the next killer app or box for them.
The problem with your thesis is that it's too expensive and time-consuming for single inventors or small organizations to get patents.
And there is where the patent system broke down. Originally it was set up for the average american to make an honest living (and stave away dishonest copycats). But the politicians and lawyers have been nickeled and dimes enough and the big conpanies have turned the tables and now use it as a business strategy. Alot of these things to protect the little guy is now a weapon for the big guy.
One good example was Nolan Bushnell in the early days of Atari, even back at the time of the 2600, Atari was working out ways to lock out the competition one by contracting with all the ROM manufacturers (to have exclusive acess to key chips), or setting up a dummy competitor (Kee Games) in order to increase regional distributor sales. The only thing was back then we didn't really see what was going to happen, we just smirked and said, "that's kinda cool..." Well things like that are now out of control, the little book of shifty business strategies is used my the majority now, and it aint funny anymore.
What's even more sad is this bad business is a daily headlines thing, and none of us really does much about it except post thier opionions on Sla... oh... well... um... (cough) I've been sick.
That seems to sum up the "new HP". Before they were pretty much doing thier own thing making specialized computers, test equipment and some damn fine laser printers.
Now 2/3 of thier profits come from ink and toner sales, thier systems are very unsupported, I know I just talked to a really friendly techie from India who couldn't answer my problem (I have just discovered are due to thier thier latest BIOS...grrr).
From what I saw when I booted this machine is that HP is cozying up to any company with money: Microsoft (XP, only XP), Apple (iPod), Symantic, AOL and other services (spyware/adware/Internet/etc). They seem to be using thier PCs hard drive capacity for garnering advertising, tie-in and lock-in revenue.
Certainly sounds like HP has been reduced to a me-too company, they should expand into the ringtone business, I hear there are big bux there now.
At our work we are still on OS9, we aren't cutting edge, we keep safely back from that to keep reliability and costs down. It's hard to move to OSX, besides costs there are a lot of things that work very differently (not in just the configuration of the computers) and we have some very productive legacy apps and hardware, which may or may not work under OSX (in Classic).
But as a system admin I already see the future benefits of Linux. I can get all the workstations running with quality apps (real DTP for everyone!) and not kill our annual budget in licesning. (and use LTSP to reduce management!) Interopibility with the 'other world' (Windows) would be better (also with OSX), and also cheaper/wider range of hardware/peripherals are available.
So OSX/Classic first, and hit the books and trainings and then Linux down the road.
Check out the Linux Terminal Server Project, there are a few education LTSP projects linked in there (example), I think it would make management of the computer lab much more simplier and keep the overall hardware costs down.
The classic Mac desktop scheme (all the parts of a program (exclusinfg the system bits( were usually in one icon inside of which was the resource and data contents), so you move the icon, the thole program moves with it. (Many will say you don't move apps, but I am just referring to the file structure being 'intuitive') Also such things as the scrapbook and launcher, pop-up folders, the control panel accessible from the apple menu etc. It just just was very easy to work with. Mac OSX, in all it's glory still has to recapture the intuitive spirit that MacOS had in 7.5+.
Kudos also for Quickdraw, an object drawing library built into the OS where you can actually do WSIWIG in whatever app, move the draw/text objects into the clipboard and then later out into another app and still be able to edit, and to the printer without missing a beat. I really miss that when playing with Linux, the graphics boundries are well divided between screen and printed output. Again with OSX the push to raster images sure makes for a much larger footprint with all the pretty (bitmap) buttons and such.
Next is AppleWorks, Microsoft has nothing on the intuitive nature of this gem, want to make a database? no problem, draw a picture (with drawing tools)? no problem, merge the drawing into the database? no problem. Write in the word processor, graph on the spreasheet, merge the spreadsheet into the WP, slick as all can be. Though if you read Apple's comments it soulds like they are re-writing into iWork and it is uncertain if it will remain as flexible (or maybe it will be moreso?) Either way, AppleWorks get's alot of bad press because no one ever really looks at what simple power it gives the user.
"...Now that he has been rebuffed by his community the scientist will turn his discovery towards evil - and unleash his unholy creation on the public to seek revenge!..."
I can see the SciFi channel picking up the phone to get the rights right now.
in Mozilla for Mac OS9 i get p?ypal.com , pretty obvious to me. Not that I don't want to use something newer then Mozilla 1.21, just that MacOS is no longer supported. (OSX is though)
Cause Cousin Jimmy can't buy games for Linux at Wal Mart, nor can Mom pick up that Million Recipies or Family Tree CD and run it on her Mac Either.
As long as many popular consumer choices are only readily availalbe to Windows (or only "known" to be for Windows) you won't see the majority of the comsumers go to other platforms. It's not that they don't want to, it's just they don't "see" anything compelling them to make the choice to go there.
It's not just writing programs that can do the jobs, Linux and Apple has some damn good alternatives, but there is very little press showing the examples of what Linux can do (Apple is in a better position, but it also does not have much command over WalMart shleves either, and lookig at Comp USA yeasterday, the Mac offerings there don't 'look' very healthy either).
They are trying to make all the solutions work in one fail swoop. When you build a comprehensive system to do it all from the get go expect comprehensive problems.
I think projects of that scope should stage such large developments, start with a general specification for the system and the desired end result and interoporability, then develop and roll-out modules progressively. As you debug the core modules and define the additions you can tune/revamp as you go. Then when you have a an unexpected problem with your thousand clients you are only dealing with a portion of the functionality not some monolithic spaghetti code. By the time you get to the end of the development you are working on a field-hardened platform.
Would it take longer or cost more? - well given the time and cost overruns of many of these big projects it might be more economical if not mre timely.
If you want a fraction of what you make in the big business industry but a stable job where you could make a real difference in the community then look for a solid non-profit or goverment agency.
Writing this I remember the Dilbert cartoon where Phil (the Prince of Insufficient Light) offers Dilbert a life of working for no appreciation or recgnition for lots of money or a life of recognition and satisfaction but being broke. All the engineers were interested in the money route...
Another route would be to leave programming and do something more 'substationial' (read: something you can actually touch, like the food industry, or construction) I've read that such fields have been a popular escape for burnt-out software people.
Watch the movie, you will see that the MCP was running things "thousands of times more efficently" than humans he (it) was looking forward to adding more functions including the Kremlin into it's duty cycle. (as to what sort of things Dillinger was up to that was another matter, though he was probably the real villian of the movie.)
As far as the system, programs were being integrated into one to make a better system.
Now look at the end, the security system was disabled by Tron, you see see all the I/O towers light up, without the MCP elite to govern it all who knows what was going on then. (not to mention the havoc of who knows how many systems the MCP took over -and subsequently crashed at the end- unbenownst to Dillinger.)
If I were scripting the movie I would start off with the feds finishing up the investigation of Encom what the MCP was doing and move on into Flynn working on reviving the MCP - seeing the opportunities of such a competent proven AI. (also throw in some intrigue, something like Tron being under attack by worms or infected with a Virus that makes him Dillinger evil, then youve got a movie for the 2000s.)
But what about OSX, and Linux, I guess they don't like unlicensed for-profit games either??
I didn't know Windows counts a a console in itself... though with MS' new DRM bent I guess your're right.
The sig was an observation that now Windows is considered a games machine more than the other OSs - which was something (back then) that used as a point of shame for using a 64.
"I have heard something is lousy and we should avoid it..." You work for SCO or Microsoft?
Here's an actual example of a standard X-10 cam image (it's a test page, no updates.) These are the standard color cams, there is also a wide angle B&W camera too and ones with the pan/tilt thingies. The wireless reciver outputs a standard composite video feed (you could split to a VCR). The supplied X-10 uses a USB decoder wich is pretty lo-res, the cameras output higher res then the digitizer. The software does support other video input cards using microsoft's video drivers so the image can be better resolution - based on the input card. (also the hardware is pretty standard so it could be done in Linux)
The hookup is interesting, you need the cameras in the same AC circuit so the X-10 controller can power on and off the cameras, but the cameras themselves use a wireless broadcasting to a reciver unit.
The web software will automatically upload images to your specified FTP as soon as every second, also with the X-10 settings can support multiple cameras. On the other hand the standard live remote control software communicates through X10.com, but if you want more exclusive control you could probably make the box a VNC server and bypass x10s site.
For a tight budget (under $250) you can get four cameras (2 color 2 B&W) and all the goodies and use an old Pentium to hook it all in. For many TCP/IP cameras that would be the cost of one camera.
Slashdot Mirror
There are affordable (to the common person) alternatives to PageMaker, Office, and Illustrator. You CAN edit videos and create music, freely use a digital media player without a credit card. And I know a lot of people who have a hard enough time just affording a PC and its peripherals much less any software to run on them.
Also, technically speaking, many of us nerds aren't all that adept at utilizing the programs we create to thier potential, I do OK with Scribus and Inkscape, but an adept graphic artitist will make them shine. With them into the mix Linux based apps will show thier poential and improve, as people will give thier informed feedback (fictional example: "Um, the color quality dosen't match quite right here.. here... and here...")
Having a larger community will help it gain commercial interest, and they (proprietary niche developors) eventually will fill in many of the gaps, but to make a profit they will have to code up stuff better than that's out there free (and/or) they be able to code up something even better than on proprietary platforms due to the solid foundation that Linux and its associated tools provide.
So to sum it up in just a few words, "Becuause Linux is 'A Good Thing'"
Umm, It was a misquote, he actually said 640 gigabytes is enough memory for anyone... or was that terabytes...
(Yeah, I know, it's an urban legend.)
Isn't this mindset violating the first (0) freedom of free software:
* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
By charging for running a service using a free program you are restricting that freedom, in essense you are saying "you are NOT free to run the program for just any purpose, you are FREE to run the program most of the time, or, any time if you have enough sufficient money." No, that just sucks.
Next we will have the layers come in and redefine free like the Markeing drones in the commercial world do ("free as in you only pay the postage and handling fees").
I still hope one day there will be legislation that finally defines the term free as "something without any cost or obilgation."
Translation, "lets just keep that 'control' stuff away from the consumer..."
The system would differ from its previous attempts to make online transactions more secure, said Microsoft.
While Passport and Hailstorm stored user information centrally on the net, the latest system will store data on a user's PC.
Yeah, we know how secure most folks Windows PCs are; Microsoft will tell you, just ask em!
"It's going to put control of digital IDs into the hands of an end-user, the end-user will be in full control," said Mr Stephenson. ...
How come I am left with the suspicion that "End User" and "Consumer" are two totally different things here.
Wow, that's pretty good FUD, you work for Microsoft?
This is how monopolies are made, elections won, and people get away with with such things. Yep, don't do a thing and cower under your desks... like everyone else (thats what they want to to believe).
Take Apple, I don't think Steve Jobs would be considered really a computer geek, but he 'gets it' he see the product and the people and puts them together. He knows that he needs people with good brains to make good stuff, and knows that 'cool' stuff has to be used by not the brainiest bunch out there. and works with it.
HP isn't Apple though, the audience formerly were some of the brainiest bunch in the community, with more letters than you can shake a sliderule at. I think Carly wanted HP to be IBM PC, Microsoft, Apple, Compaq and whatever other things HP wasn't because she didn't understand engineers and such.
What HP needs is a Leo Laporte or some other guy who gets the tech thing but also sees the popular community and what would be the next killer app or box for them.
And there is where the patent system broke down. Originally it was set up for the average american to make an honest living (and stave away dishonest copycats). But the politicians and lawyers have been nickeled and dimes enough and the big conpanies have turned the tables and now use it as a business strategy. Alot of these things to protect the little guy is now a weapon for the big guy.
One good example was Nolan Bushnell in the early days of Atari, even back at the time of the 2600, Atari was working out ways to lock out the competition one by contracting with all the ROM manufacturers (to have exclusive acess to key chips), or setting up a dummy competitor (Kee Games) in order to increase regional distributor sales. The only thing was back then we didn't really see what was going to happen, we just smirked and said, "that's kinda cool..." Well things like that are now out of control, the little book of shifty business strategies is used my the majority now, and it aint funny anymore.
What's even more sad is this bad business is a daily headlines thing, and none of us really does much about it except post thier opionions on Sla... oh... well... um... (cough) I've been sick.
That seems to sum up the "new HP". Before they were pretty much doing thier own thing making specialized computers, test equipment and some damn fine laser printers.
Now 2/3 of thier profits come from ink and toner sales, thier systems are very unsupported, I know I just talked to a really friendly techie from India who couldn't answer my problem (I have just discovered are due to thier thier latest BIOS...grrr).
From what I saw when I booted this machine is that HP is cozying up to any company with money: Microsoft (XP, only XP), Apple (iPod), Symantic, AOL and other services (spyware/adware/Internet/etc). They seem to be using thier PCs hard drive capacity for garnering advertising, tie-in and lock-in revenue.
Certainly sounds like HP has been reduced to a me-too company, they should expand into the ringtone business, I hear there are big bux there now.
But as a system admin I already see the future benefits of Linux. I can get all the workstations running with quality apps (real DTP for everyone!) and not kill our annual budget in licesning. (and use LTSP to reduce management!) Interopibility with the 'other world' (Windows) would be better (also with OSX), and also cheaper/wider range of hardware/peripherals are available.
So OSX/Classic first, and hit the books and trainings and then Linux down the road.
Check out the Linux Terminal Server Project, there are a few education LTSP projects linked in there (example), I think it would make management of the computer lab much more simplier and keep the overall hardware costs down.
Kudos also for Quickdraw, an object drawing library built into the OS where you can actually do WSIWIG in whatever app, move the draw/text objects into the clipboard and then later out into another app and still be able to edit, and to the printer without missing a beat. I really miss that when playing with Linux, the graphics boundries are well divided between screen and printed output. Again with OSX the push to raster images sure makes for a much larger footprint with all the pretty (bitmap) buttons and such.
Next is AppleWorks, Microsoft has nothing on the intuitive nature of this gem, want to make a database? no problem, draw a picture (with drawing tools)? no problem, merge the drawing into the database? no problem. Write in the word processor, graph on the spreasheet, merge the spreadsheet into the WP, slick as all can be. Though if you read Apple's comments it soulds like they are re-writing into iWork and it is uncertain if it will remain as flexible (or maybe it will be moreso?) Either way, AppleWorks get's alot of bad press because no one ever really looks at what simple power it gives the user.
"...Now that he has been rebuffed by his community the scientist will turn his discovery towards evil - and unleash his unholy creation on the public to seek revenge!..."
I can see the SciFi channel picking up the phone to get the rights right now.
in Mozilla for Mac OS9 i get p?ypal.com , pretty obvious to me. Not that I don't want to use something newer then Mozilla 1.21, just that MacOS is no longer supported. (OSX is though)
As long as many popular consumer choices are only readily availalbe to Windows (or only "known" to be for Windows) you won't see the majority of the comsumers go to other platforms. It's not that they don't want to, it's just they don't "see" anything compelling them to make the choice to go there.
It's not just writing programs that can do the jobs, Linux and Apple has some damn good alternatives, but there is very little press showing the examples of what Linux can do (Apple is in a better position, but it also does not have much command over WalMart shleves either, and lookig at Comp USA yeasterday, the Mac offerings there don't 'look' very healthy either).
I think projects of that scope should stage such large developments, start with a general specification for the system and the desired end result and interoporability, then develop and roll-out modules progressively. As you debug the core modules and define the additions you can tune/revamp as you go. Then when you have a an unexpected problem with your thousand clients you are only dealing with a portion of the functionality not some monolithic spaghetti code. By the time you get to the end of the development you are working on a field-hardened platform.
Would it take longer or cost more? - well given the time and cost overruns of many of these big projects it might be more economical if not mre timely.
Please don't look behind the curtain.
Writing this I remember the Dilbert cartoon where Phil (the Prince of Insufficient Light) offers Dilbert a life of working for no appreciation or recgnition for lots of money or a life of recognition and satisfaction but being broke. All the engineers were interested in the money route...
Another route would be to leave programming and do something more 'substationial' (read: something you can actually touch, like the food industry, or construction) I've read that such fields have been a popular escape for burnt-out software people.
Check out my overclocked PC! I've been feeding it steriods for the last week!
Your computer just took a crap in the corner!
As far as the system, programs were being integrated into one to make a better system.
Now look at the end, the security system was disabled by Tron, you see see all the I/O towers light up, without the MCP elite to govern it all who knows what was going on then. (not to mention the havoc of who knows how many systems the MCP took over -and subsequently crashed at the end- unbenownst to Dillinger.)
If I were scripting the movie I would start off with the feds finishing up the investigation of Encom what the MCP was doing and move on into Flynn working on reviving the MCP - seeing the opportunities of such a competent proven AI. (also throw in some intrigue, something like Tron being under attack by worms or infected with a Virus that makes him Dillinger evil, then youve got a movie for the 2000s.)
I didn't know Windows counts a a console in itself... though with MS' new DRM bent I guess your're right.
The sig was an observation that now Windows is considered a games machine more than the other OSs - which was something (back then) that used as a point of shame for using a 64.
Well in my defense, TFA didn't state any other PC/Mac platforms but Windows on the list. I don't play many games.
looking at many of the lists the only exception I saw was one out for Gamecube/Xbox. Pretty narrow view if you ask me.
Back in the 80's and early 90's all the Microsoft users kept calling my Commodore 64 a 'games machine!'
We better not really fix/enhance IE in XP so people will have a good reason to plunk down the "big bux" for Long horn upgrades in two years.
Here's an actual example of a standard X-10 cam image (it's a test page, no updates.) These are the standard color cams, there is also a wide angle B&W camera too and ones with the pan/tilt thingies. The wireless reciver outputs a standard composite video feed (you could split to a VCR). The supplied X-10 uses a USB decoder wich is pretty lo-res, the cameras output higher res then the digitizer. The software does support other video input cards using microsoft's video drivers so the image can be better resolution - based on the input card. (also the hardware is pretty standard so it could be done in Linux)
The hookup is interesting, you need the cameras in the same AC circuit so the X-10 controller can power on and off the cameras, but the cameras themselves use a wireless broadcasting to a reciver unit.
The web software will automatically upload images to your specified FTP as soon as every second, also with the X-10 settings can support multiple cameras. On the other hand the standard live remote control software communicates through X10.com, but if you want more exclusive control you could probably make the box a VNC server and bypass x10s site.
For a tight budget (under $250) you can get four cameras (2 color 2 B&W) and all the goodies and use an old Pentium to hook it all in. For many TCP/IP cameras that would be the cost of one camera.