Why is this front page slashdot? If it had been any other company than Microsoft it never would have been news.
Because the new patch system, which is suppose to protect users of the world's most buggy OS, is buggy. If the irony (and yes, I have a dictionary) doesn't get you, what will?
I'm thinking seriously about this, and I feel that I may momentarily have an epiphany, a sudden gestalt, or just grok the situation. On the other hand, it could be the martini.
You shouldn't whittle it down to the same old saw about 'many small tools' on UNIX. Particularly not to a crowd whom, if they use Unix or Linux at all, are probably hunkered down in their Gnome or KDE desktop.
With my KDE desktop, a "Konsole" window is only a click away, and I know how to use it, and I use it often, thanks.
I have to wonder, though - what is a "judicial activist"?
I don't want to get involved in a prolonged argument either - that's happened twice recently. Revisionism and judicial activism go hand-in-hand when the courts *reinterpret* existing laws by applying modern day language usage or modern "values" to effectively create a new law. This is not the job of the judiciary; it is the job of the legislature to change laws or make new ones. A judge who usurps the rights and duties of the legislature is a judicial activist.
Aside from which, I would like to know how recognizing that the society and values of the early 21st century is not the same as the society and values of the late 18th century, and that 21st century issues should not be considered in terms of 18th century values consists of short sightedness.
An example: The founding fathers knew from experience that a strong central (federal) government was a bad thing. In recent times, both the legislative and judicial branches of American government have supported a power grab by the federal government, transferring power from the states to the Capitol. The founding fathers were right, but in the name of expediency and modern values, we are losing the freedoms the founders gave us. We are repeating very old mistakes, and that is short-sighted. Anything important enough to override the founders' framework should be important enough to win a constitutional ammendment, and very few things do. Unfortunately, we have judicial activists who are willing to subvert the system.
You've managed to miss the entire point. Without society, what good would money be? What would it buy? Would it protect your gifted individual from bears? Would it get electric power piped into his cave? The time society gives to individuals is the time they don't have to spend growing their own food or defending themselves against wolves or creating their own electric grid. Try to look at the big picture (I know it's hard).
What the founding fathers intended in 1776 is irrelevant in 2003. What is important is how our society is NOW.
First, the Constitution was written in 1787. What the founding fathers intended is not irrelevant today; it is only made so by short-sighted people who are ignorant of history and doomed to repeat it. It is the revisionists and judicial activists who have lost sight of the true goal and will cause our downfall.
society hasn't provided anything, That small minority of indiviuals who are capable of creating are the ones who provided it all
Society is the banding together of individuals to provide things for the group that individuals cannot provide for themselves. In return, the individual agrees to abide by the rules/mores of the group. Your "small minority of individuals" is not going to produce anything while searching for grubs or being eaten by bears. Society provides the gifted individuals with the time (the most important thing we have) to do something new. Why do you think we have survived as social creatures rather than anti-social units?
I love how I don't even need to say that copyrights are good, I can just say that they're necessary to a software-based business model and people jump all over me like I'm this crazy right wing zealot.
I'm not jumping on you.:) But if copyrights are really necessary "to a software-based business model", then why are companies registering software patents while still using copyrights? The two should be mutually exclusive. Shouldn't they?
I hear this business about how "Joe User really only wants to word process, surf the web and do email" all the time around here. I think this assumption is just plain wrong. If I'm wrong, I'd certainly like to see some proof.
I can't offer "proof", but I can tell you what my mother does with her computer - word processing, spreadsheets, email, and looking stuff up on the web (not quite surfing), and she's been using computers since the early 80's.
That has nothing to do with anything remotely related to your argument, and why are you still alive?
It is way past time for you to collect your Darwin Award. Your trollish traits cry out to be removed from the gene pool. Do it. It will be a relief to you (and certainly to the rest of us). If you don't have a bunker, perhaps your parents' basement will do.
Indentured servitude is not the same thing as slavery. And attempting to enslave someone and failing is not the same thing as enslaving someone - obviously.
So when are you and Eva going to take the plunge? Will it be gruesome? Will you avoid the coward's poison and take it like a man this time? Do you have the courage to put the business end of a Luger in your mouth and pull the trigger or perhaps fall on a ceremonial sword?
We're all born clueless, but the years have not improved your condition. I have no doubt that many old buildings in the original colonies were built using slave labor. That is a small piece of the country, and the number of slaves was a small percentage of the population.
The Chinese were not enslaved. They may have been paid very little, but as you conveniently point out, that's not slavery. The Native Americans got a raw deal, but they were not enslaved, and they still get payments from the government.
My ancestors did not get paid. They lived by farming and traded for the things they could not make. Don't try to change your argument when you can't support it. The country was built by poor homesteaders.
Your namesake was a coward who committed suicide. Do we dare hope for a repeat performance?
I said build up. Germany was already built when these things happened and so was russia.
Your problem with language is as big as your problems with logic and history. Obviously, both countries are more advanced now - by slave labor. In contrast to your clueless opinion of American history, slavery was practiced in a relatively small section of the country. America was really built by poor immigrants, like my ancestors from Poland, who scratched the land for a living and asked nothing in return except the freedom to do so. Slavery was a short-lived practice that was abolished, although it was common practice in many parts of the world and still continues today. Again, go back under your bridge, troll, and stay there.
I beg to differ. The Americans all want to be chiefs, and so they bring the Indians in to do all the work!
I beg to differ. The Americans who are losing their jobs don't want to be chiefs, they just want to do the jobs they were trained to do while getting their degrees.
The author seems to think that administrators like to obstruct development just for the sheer joy of being a jerk. Never once does the author mention the fact that administrators are the ones who get paged in the middle of the night when the new code brings the system crashing down.
Funny. Before a recent upgrade to some of our servers, the sysadmins said testing the new configuration wasn't necessary since the change was so small it couldn't affect anything. Of course after the upgrade, a major system became unusable for thousands of users for days. The admins later said it was an *unforeseeable complication*.
One more thing, the author seems to understand that J2EE is a bad idea so, why does he continue to develop with it?
It's apparent from the article that he has been called in to provide a "Java" solution. Don't blame the hired hand for providing a management-mandated product.
Developers tend to do what's expedient, not what is secure, managable, scalable or even reliable.
Frankly the people who pull this crap deserve to lose their jobs to the Indians and the Chinese because they do a better job, they're software engineers while you're just a programmer.
I was sorely tempted to mod that as the flamebait it is, but I don't think down mods are all that constructive, so I'm replying instead. You may have had some "ex-developers" step on your toes, but you obviously know nothing about software engineering.
As someone who works with Indian and Chinese developers, I can say they are generally no better or worse than local developers. They certainly are not better educated about software engineering principles. I had one commit untested code that wouldn't even compile to the production branch of CVS. Another released code into production that hadn't been peer-reviewed or approved by configuration control (and the program was broken). I could relate a number of similar stories, but the point is you're wrong and just regurgitating the nonsense you saw on 60 Minutes. With admins like you, *remote administration* (offshore) is looking more attractive all the time.
A distribution - especially a basic-User-oriented distro - only needs one of any type of package.
Even Windows allows you to choose between Notepad, Wordpad, and Word. The problem comes when Windows restricts you to one email client, one media player, and one browser. Linux distros don't do that, and it is a Good Thing.
But equally the "Geek Method" of offering 10 or more ways of doing the same thing is just plain scary.
I can't claim I'm not a geek, but a "user-oriented" distro like Mandrake does offer defaults (in the task bar of the default desktop) for the things most newbs would use, however other options are available from the desktop menus. Perhaps people who are afraid of choices should use a set-top internet box instead of a computer? I really think you are underestimating the average user. There was a huge market for home computers before Microsoft, and every move then was a new adventure.
But with all due respect, sir, you're stealing all our karma!
Hardly. In case you hadn't noticed, the karma fountain is flowing again, and mod points are sprouting like dandelions in the spring. I really thought it was more interesting when things were broken.
One of each app, no more. One text editor, mp3 player, video player, image viewer, office suite, email client, image minupulation program.
Stick with Windows if you want lack of choice. That is not the GNU/Linux approach, nor should it be. That kind of thought got us to the malware playground we now have to deal with.
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Why is this front page slashdot? If it had been any other company than Microsoft it never would have been news.
Because the new patch system, which is suppose to protect users of the world's most buggy OS, is buggy. If the irony (and yes, I have a dictionary) doesn't get you, what will?
What is worse: unplanned patches or planned bugs?
I'm thinking seriously about this, and I feel that I may momentarily have an epiphany, a sudden gestalt, or just grok the situation. On the other hand, it could be the martini.
Personally, I would choose ASAP. Patching is pretty fun.
And the last time you actually conversed with another human was? :)
You shouldn't whittle it down to the same old saw about 'many small tools' on UNIX. Particularly not to a crowd whom, if they use Unix or Linux at all, are probably hunkered down in their Gnome or KDE desktop.
With my KDE desktop, a "Konsole" window is only a click away, and I know how to use it, and I use it often, thanks.
I have to wonder, though - what is a "judicial activist"?
I don't want to get involved in a prolonged argument either - that's happened twice recently. Revisionism and judicial activism go hand-in-hand when the courts *reinterpret* existing laws by applying modern day language usage or modern "values" to effectively create a new law. This is not the job of the judiciary; it is the job of the legislature to change laws or make new ones. A judge who usurps the rights and duties of the legislature is a judicial activist.
Aside from which, I would like to know how recognizing that the society and values of the early 21st century is not the same as the society and values of the late 18th century, and that 21st century issues should not be considered in terms of 18th century values consists of short sightedness.
An example: The founding fathers knew from experience that a strong central (federal) government was a bad thing. In recent times, both the legislative and judicial branches of American government have supported a power grab by the federal government, transferring power from the states to the Capitol. The founding fathers were right, but in the name of expediency and modern values, we are losing the freedoms the founders gave us. We are repeating very old mistakes, and that is short-sighted. Anything important enough to override the founders' framework should be important enough to win a constitutional ammendment, and very few things do. Unfortunately, we have judicial activists who are willing to subvert the system.
You've managed to miss the entire point. Without society, what good would money be? What would it buy? Would it protect your gifted individual from bears? Would it get electric power piped into his cave? The time society gives to individuals is the time they don't have to spend growing their own food or defending themselves against wolves or creating their own electric grid. Try to look at the big picture (I know it's hard).
What the founding fathers intended in 1776 is irrelevant in 2003. What is important is how our society is NOW.
First, the Constitution was written in 1787. What the founding fathers intended is not irrelevant today; it is only made so by short-sighted people who are ignorant of history and doomed to repeat it. It is the revisionists and judicial activists who have lost sight of the true goal and will cause our downfall.
society hasn't provided anything, That small minority of indiviuals who are capable of creating are the ones who provided it all
Society is the banding together of individuals to provide things for the group that individuals cannot provide for themselves. In return, the individual agrees to abide by the rules/mores of the group. Your "small minority of individuals" is not going to produce anything while searching for grubs or being eaten by bears. Society provides the gifted individuals with the time (the most important thing we have) to do something new. Why do you think we have survived as social creatures rather than anti-social units?
I love how I don't even need to say that copyrights are good, I can just say that they're necessary to a software-based business model and people jump all over me like I'm this crazy right wing zealot.
I'm not jumping on you. :) But if copyrights are really necessary "to a software-based business model", then why are companies registering software patents while still using copyrights? The two should be mutually exclusive. Shouldn't they?
Seriously, even the village idiot seems to have more brains than the collective consciousness of SCO on legal/intellectual matters.
I know it's not a criminal trial, but if SCO gets a jury of its peers, we could be in real trouble.
I hear this business about how "Joe User really only wants to word process, surf the web and do email" all the time around here. I think this assumption is just plain wrong. If I'm wrong, I'd certainly like to see some proof.
I can't offer "proof", but I can tell you what my mother does with her computer - word processing, spreadsheets, email, and looking stuff up on the web (not quite surfing), and she's been using computers since the early 80's.
That has nothing to do with anything remotely related to your argument, and why are you still alive?
It is way past time for you to collect your Darwin Award. Your trollish traits cry out to be removed from the gene pool. Do it. It will be a relief to you (and certainly to the rest of us). If you don't have a bunker, perhaps your parents' basement will do.
Indentured servitude is not the same thing as slavery. And attempting to enslave someone and failing is not the same thing as enslaving someone - obviously.
So when are you and Eva going to take the plunge? Will it be gruesome? Will you avoid the coward's poison and take it like a man this time? Do you have the courage to put the business end of a Luger in your mouth and pull the trigger or perhaps fall on a ceremonial sword?
My wife and I watch Jerry Springer . . .
Why on earth would you do that? Do you only have reception for one channel or what?
We're all born clueless, but the years have not improved your condition. I have no doubt that many old buildings in the original colonies were built using slave labor. That is a small piece of the country, and the number of slaves was a small percentage of the population.
The Chinese were not enslaved. They may have been paid very little, but as you conveniently point out, that's not slavery. The Native Americans got a raw deal, but they were not enslaved, and they still get payments from the government.
My ancestors did not get paid. They lived by farming and traded for the things they could not make. Don't try to change your argument when you can't support it. The country was built by poor homesteaders.
Your namesake was a coward who committed suicide. Do we dare hope for a repeat performance?
I said build up. Germany was already built when these things happened and so was russia.
Your problem with language is as big as your problems with logic and history. Obviously, both countries are more advanced now - by slave labor. In contrast to your clueless opinion of American history, slavery was practiced in a relatively small section of the country. America was really built by poor immigrants, like my ancestors from Poland, who scratched the land for a living and asked nothing in return except the freedom to do so. Slavery was a short-lived practice that was abolished, although it was common practice in many parts of the world and still continues today. Again, go back under your bridge, troll, and stay there.
I beg to differ. The Americans all want to be chiefs, and so they bring the Indians in to do all the work!
I beg to differ. The Americans who are losing their jobs don't want to be chiefs, they just want to do the jobs they were trained to do while getting their degrees.
When was slavery used to build up Germany? Or the Soviet Union?
So you never heard of the labor camps for Jews or the Gulags? You're not even a half-way decent troll. Go away.
The author seems to think that administrators like to obstruct development just for the sheer joy of being a jerk. Never once does the author mention the fact that administrators are the ones who get paged in the middle of the night when the new code brings the system crashing down.
Funny. Before a recent upgrade to some of our servers, the sysadmins said testing the new configuration wasn't necessary since the change was so small it couldn't affect anything. Of course after the upgrade, a major system became unusable for thousands of users for days. The admins later said it was an *unforeseeable complication*.
One more thing, the author seems to understand that J2EE is a bad idea so, why does he continue to develop with it?
It's apparent from the article that he has been called in to provide a "Java" solution. Don't blame the hired hand for providing a management-mandated product.
Cleaning up after code monkeys who wreck a production server is not fun.
Okay, I'll bite. What OS is this server running, and how exactly did the code monkeys wreck this properly administrated box?
Developers tend to do what's expedient, not what is secure, managable, scalable or even reliable.
Frankly the people who pull this crap deserve to lose their jobs to the Indians and the Chinese because they do a better job, they're software engineers while you're just a programmer.
I was sorely tempted to mod that as the flamebait it is, but I don't think down mods are all that constructive, so I'm replying instead. You may have had some "ex-developers" step on your toes, but you obviously know nothing about software engineering.
As someone who works with Indian and Chinese developers, I can say they are generally no better or worse than local developers. They certainly are not better educated about software engineering principles. I had one commit untested code that wouldn't even compile to the production branch of CVS. Another released code into production that hadn't been peer-reviewed or approved by configuration control (and the program was broken). I could relate a number of similar stories, but the point is you're wrong and just regurgitating the nonsense you saw on 60 Minutes. With admins like you, *remote administration* (offshore) is looking more attractive all the time.
A distribution - especially a basic-User-oriented distro - only needs one of any type of package.
Even Windows allows you to choose between Notepad, Wordpad, and Word. The problem comes when Windows restricts you to one email client, one media player, and one browser. Linux distros don't do that, and it is a Good Thing.
But equally the "Geek Method" of offering 10 or more ways of doing the same thing is just plain scary.
I can't claim I'm not a geek, but a "user-oriented" distro like Mandrake does offer defaults (in the task bar of the default desktop) for the things most newbs would use, however other options are available from the desktop menus. Perhaps people who are afraid of choices should use a set-top internet box instead of a computer? I really think you are underestimating the average user. There was a huge market for home computers before Microsoft, and every move then was a new adventure.
But with all due respect, sir, you're stealing all our karma!
Hardly. In case you hadn't noticed, the karma fountain is flowing again, and mod points are sprouting like dandelions in the spring. I really thought it was more interesting when things were broken.
One of each app, no more. One text editor, mp3 player, video player, image viewer, office suite, email client, image minupulation program.
Stick with Windows if you want lack of choice. That is not the GNU/Linux approach, nor should it be. That kind of thought got us to the malware playground we now have to deal with.