I'm also surprised Pepsi are still in business because the only cola drink I will drink is Coca Cola...
And quite frankly since switching back from Mandrake (now Mandriva) to Windows I'm amazed Mandrakesoft are still in business too since I've not missed them at all and don't really care for any of their new products.
The article was incorrect. The tracks are *NOT* free, they are encrypted in a format called "Windows Media" which will cost: $200 for a copy of windows. $400 or so for an extra computer to run it on. $[lots] for anti virus software. $[even_more] Firewall software $[lots_o_money] hardware firewall Even then, I don't know how you would go about converting it to.mp3 or.ogg in order to use it on your regular computer.
Because of course you got your regular computer completely without charge.
Please provide the link so that we can all enjoy free of charge computers.:)
Same place as they get the bandwidth for "standard" digital television - the bandwidth/connection never has to leave the cable co's own network therefore there is no external links etc which need to be paid for, merely the ongoing maintanence of their own network.
Yes Slashdot is "the press", however it's an Ask Slashdot and not really an article that's been posted as "news" so the information is incidental to it's main task.
I'll concede that knowing the bank involved and other details about this incident would be nice to have, but as an Ask Slashdot the information isn't "needed".
For £5.00 which is how much a floppy drive is and has been for a long time now, I personally consider a floppy drive well worth the cost.
Sure, I have bootable CDs, bootable live distros, etc etc, however if I need to I still have the capability to go back to basics and boot into a small Dos shell with low level formatting tools, fdisk, and the like.
It bugs me how often identity fraud is incorrectly called theft and fraudsters are all too often are called identity thieves.
True identity theft would require the actual stealing of someone's identity. In the case of fraud, the person whose SSN has been copied still has his SSN, they have not lost anything. Same with any other copying of personal data.
I use an "upgraded" version of the above, namely notepad.exe - while I use Crimson Editor for my other tasks which require a good text editor nothing beats notepad.exe (or similar depending on your OS) for quick and easy note taking.
Funnily enough you can actually do this with songs downloaded through the iTMS and the "new" incarnation of Napster.
They do come in DRM'd AAC format, however you can burn them onto audio CD and then re-rip them into non-DRM'd MP3 format. It's a nuisance to have to do it but it certainly can be done.
I myself use a variety of different legal download services. I use Napster at £9.99 per month for unlimited downloads/listening on my workstation. If I had a WMA audio player I could pay £14.95 per month to extend this unlimited listening to that, but I have an iPod Mini instead.
If there are any tracks I like in particular from the Napster service then I can purchase them for £0.99 per track or a discounted price for the entire CD and I can "do what I like" with them subject to the hassles described above. Normally however I purchase tracks I like driving to and burn them onto mix-CDs since the music I enjoy driving to is a mere subset of the variety I'll listen to while working, playing, surfing etc.
It's quite funny how you and many other posters I've seen here have tried to justify their illegal downloading of music by saying how the music industry charges too high a price for their products.
If you feel the price point is too high, surely the correct thing to do is to go without?
Let's look at an offline example such as electricity. Whether you use it or not, electricity is produced and cannot be stored thus must be used at once, so whether you pay for it or not it still costs the power companies the same amount of money to produce. If you felt it to be too high in cost would you feel justified in using the power without paying for it?
There's a bunch of pundits who plain just dont get it, and if they still dont it's not likely they ever will. It's amazing that they can still get words out around their feet.
You say the pundits don't get it, but it's you who's making the assumption that the vast majority of users of desktop operating systems actually care about the licensing of said desktop OS.
This article and topic relates to "Desktop Linux", not Linux as a whole and in honesty I think you're the one who doesn't get it. Most of the users I know just want their desktop OS to work and allow them to do what they need to do - they don't actually give a shit whether it's closed source, open source, or whether it runs on a certain architecture.
So port it then. The source is there for you to make your non-Windows port.
I fail to see how this is verging on hypocritical idealogy - the developers of a piece of software have licensed it under an OSS license and the source is available if anyone does want to port it to another platform.
They might perhaps just have an offer included with the product itself advising their customers how to obtain a CD-ROM containing the code. They could even charge you to cover their costs in providing this CD-ROM.
There is absolutely no requirement for them to provide the source code via an FTP site or to people other than customers who have actually purchased a device containing GPL'd code.
hacker Audio pronunciation of "hacker" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (hkr)
n. Informal
1. One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer buff.
2. One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file.
3. One who enthusiastically pursues a game or sport: a weekend tennis hacker.
In the evolving English language, words can have two different meanings. I encourage you to read the second definition as listed above and stop your wishful thinking that English is going to somehow become a dead and non-evolving language like some other European languages.
On the other hand, we could always ask the "responsible" adults who take out these credit cards to actually take responsibility for once and only take out and use credit they can afford to pay back?
My father has many many credit cards which give him potential credit facilities to the tune of over twice his annual salary. His credit file is near perfect with the exception of a few late payments to cards (by a few days) and he has certainly never taken on more credit than he can afford.
Yes, maybe credit card companies should have a "responsibility test" which takes into account whether potential customers are willing to take responsibility for their actions and reject those who would rather not, however their current checks such as credit reference checks and the like do give a fairly accurate picture of people's finances and the people applying for these cards should take responsibility rather than blaming the card companies themselves.
"Digibox" is a commonly used term in the United Kingdom though and is arguably part of our language. The "proper" term is set-top box (STB) however to my knowledge all the digital operators in the UK refer to their STBs as digital boxes and this is shortened to digiboxes.
I was made redundant at the turn of last year and with my redundancy package amongst other things I decided to purchase an inexpensive MP3 player and promptly headed over to Apple's website to purchase a 1GB iPod Shuffle however the insignificant difference in price between the Shuffle and the iPod Mini coupled with the free engraving service prompted me to spend more than I had originally intended.
Since then I've spent a little (not much) at the iTMS however most of my MP3 collection comes from CDs I have bought and as I don't buy much new music it's ideal for me.
You might be curious as to why I chose an iPod over something like a Creative player or similar which would have worked with the Napster-to-Go service (I use Napster subscription to listen to music on my workstation). The reason was pure and simple that it was made by Apple and their reputation of things "just working" plus of course it's nice design made it an instant decision and one which I don't regret at all. After installing the iTunes & iPod software it works a treat and does actually "just work".
With regards to their move to Intel, the recent speculation relating to their "Numbers" trademark, and the fact that Steve Jobs is IMO an astute businessman I've got the sneaky feeling that the processor isn't just a processor switch and is part of a longer term strategy.
Another user linked to Apple's Trademark List on yet another Apple thread and the terminology was one of the things I noticed.
Apple's "preferred" generic term appears to be "mobile digital device" however they do say the generic terms listed are only suggestions and others may also be appropriate.
And how would you download the service pack without using someone else's bandwidth that they paid for?
As much as you might not like to hear this, MS are under no legal obligation to provide you with service packs. Yes, it would be a bad business move for them to not do so, but you have no legal right to download service packs using Microsoft's bandwidth.
A P2P network of all Windows users providing fast network connectivity and ease of distribution would in my eyes be ideal assuming it was secured and there was no possibility of cracked code being distributed via unsafe nodes.
Of course, if you don't believe in people using other people's paid bandwidth you would probably be best to order (and pay for) a Service Pack on CD which means only the person who actually wants the software would incur costs.
Maybe they do, but given 10 minutes I could probably give you a far bigger list of hardware which will not work in Linux, I could probably expand your list for Windows too and give a few more troublesome additions.
Hardware however should be a defining factor when choosing an OS to use (when we're talking about floppys, DVD-ROMs, etc) as given a particular piece of hardware, if it doesn't work in a particular OS should there not be alternatives you can choose to purchase instead? And I believe in this respect Windows has more choice & options.
You conveniently forget that installing Windows does just that, install Windows.
Exactly, it installs an operating system which I can customise to my hearts content and enough applications for me to run the computer and start downloading/installing other applications I use.
No apps
And you promise not to cry foul or complain when Microsoft include a version of every single application type included in a "standard" Linux distro including their own version of OpenOffice?
Sounds like you would bitch when they don't include applications with their OS just as you would if they did (for monopoly concerns).
no security updates
Are you using Windows 95 or something? Or have you merely totally missed the entire concept of automatic updates in SP2 and Windowsupdate website? I actually rather suspect you are spreading untruths merely to try and achieve your agenda.
a lot of drivers missing
If you mean Linux then I would definitely have to agree with you. If you are comparing Windows to Linux then you have me lost.
Now compare that with the install of a modern Linux distro. See the difference?
Perfectly, I see it like this:
Windows includes a barebones OS and does not include many other applications due to their monopoly status. Linux distributions have an (unfair) advantage in that they can distribute whatever they hell they want with their OS providing it is done legally under copyright law.
Windows has much more out-of-the-box driver support than Linux-based OS's and those which do require additional driver support merely require the user to install a piece of software. With Linux-based distros this may still be the case but the amount of hardware supported and ease of installation of hardware drivers can be significantly harder.
On security updates both sides are generally equal - a good user should keep up to date with security updates in the same way a good driver should make sure he/she has enough oil, gas, tyre-threads etc. Whether you use Windows or a Linux-based distro, the facilities are there for you to keep your system updated.
Emails to them, some which have included threatening legal action, have done little good.
Which law makes it illegal for a search engine to ignore robots.txt files? And would you even have a valid claim against them due to non-compliance of a web standard?
They do - the actual creative work in this case is the performance and arrangement of parts itself and not the mere notes/manuscripts the original composer wrote.
Slashdot Mirror
Not all of us with e-mail accounts receive spam you know.
And quite frankly since switching back from Mandrake (now Mandriva) to Windows I'm amazed Mandrakesoft are still in business too since I've not missed them at all and don't really care for any of their new products.
Because of course you got your regular computer completely without charge.
Please provide the link so that we can all enjoy free of charge computers. :)
Same place as they get the bandwidth for "standard" digital television - the bandwidth/connection never has to leave the cable co's own network therefore there is no external links etc which need to be paid for, merely the ongoing maintanence of their own network.
I'll concede that knowing the bank involved and other details about this incident would be nice to have, but as an Ask Slashdot the information isn't "needed".
Sure, I have bootable CDs, bootable live distros, etc etc, however if I need to I still have the capability to go back to basics and boot into a small Dos shell with low level formatting tools, fdisk, and the like.
True identity theft would require the actual stealing of someone's identity. In the case of fraud, the person whose SSN has been copied still has his SSN, they have not lost anything. Same with any other copying of personal data.
I use an "upgraded" version of the above, namely notepad.exe - while I use Crimson Editor for my other tasks which require a good text editor nothing beats notepad.exe (or similar depending on your OS) for quick and easy note taking.
They do come in DRM'd AAC format, however you can burn them onto audio CD and then re-rip them into non-DRM'd MP3 format. It's a nuisance to have to do it but it certainly can be done.
I myself use a variety of different legal download services. I use Napster at £9.99 per month for unlimited downloads/listening on my workstation. If I had a WMA audio player I could pay £14.95 per month to extend this unlimited listening to that, but I have an iPod Mini instead.
If there are any tracks I like in particular from the Napster service then I can purchase them for £0.99 per track or a discounted price for the entire CD and I can "do what I like" with them subject to the hassles described above. Normally however I purchase tracks I like driving to and burn them onto mix-CDs since the music I enjoy driving to is a mere subset of the variety I'll listen to while working, playing, surfing etc.
If you feel the price point is too high, surely the correct thing to do is to go without?
Let's look at an offline example such as electricity. Whether you use it or not, electricity is produced and cannot be stored thus must be used at once, so whether you pay for it or not it still costs the power companies the same amount of money to produce. If you felt it to be too high in cost would you feel justified in using the power without paying for it?
You say the pundits don't get it, but it's you who's making the assumption that the vast majority of users of desktop operating systems actually care about the licensing of said desktop OS.
This article and topic relates to "Desktop Linux", not Linux as a whole and in honesty I think you're the one who doesn't get it. Most of the users I know just want their desktop OS to work and allow them to do what they need to do - they don't actually give a shit whether it's closed source, open source, or whether it runs on a certain architecture.
I fail to see how this is verging on hypocritical idealogy - the developers of a piece of software have licensed it under an OSS license and the source is available if anyone does want to port it to another platform.
A beowulf cluster of wallpapered paperthin digital clocks?
There is absolutely no requirement for them to provide the source code via an FTP site or to people other than customers who have actually purchased a device containing GPL'd code.
hacker Audio pronunciation of "hacker" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (hkr)
n. Informal
1. One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer buff.
2. One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file.
3. One who enthusiastically pursues a game or sport: a weekend tennis hacker.
In the evolving English language, words can have two different meanings. I encourage you to read the second definition as listed above and stop your wishful thinking that English is going to somehow become a dead and non-evolving language like some other European languages.
My father has many many credit cards which give him potential credit facilities to the tune of over twice his annual salary. His credit file is near perfect with the exception of a few late payments to cards (by a few days) and he has certainly never taken on more credit than he can afford.
Yes, maybe credit card companies should have a "responsibility test" which takes into account whether potential customers are willing to take responsibility for their actions and reject those who would rather not, however their current checks such as credit reference checks and the like do give a fairly accurate picture of people's finances and the people applying for these cards should take responsibility rather than blaming the card companies themselves.
"Digibox" is a commonly used term in the United Kingdom though and is arguably part of our language. The "proper" term is set-top box (STB) however to my knowledge all the digital operators in the UK refer to their STBs as digital boxes and this is shortened to digiboxes.
Since then I've spent a little (not much) at the iTMS however most of my MP3 collection comes from CDs I have bought and as I don't buy much new music it's ideal for me.
You might be curious as to why I chose an iPod over something like a Creative player or similar which would have worked with the Napster-to-Go service (I use Napster subscription to listen to music on my workstation). The reason was pure and simple that it was made by Apple and their reputation of things "just working" plus of course it's nice design made it an instant decision and one which I don't regret at all. After installing the iTunes & iPod software it works a treat and does actually "just work".
With regards to their move to Intel, the recent speculation relating to their "Numbers" trademark, and the fact that Steve Jobs is IMO an astute businessman I've got the sneaky feeling that the processor isn't just a processor switch and is part of a longer term strategy.
Apple's "preferred" generic term appears to be "mobile digital device" however they do say the generic terms listed are only suggestions and others may also be appropriate.
And the number of times a specific CD was copied, how many times the copies were copied, and if used in a device connected to the internet voila.
As much as you might not like to hear this, MS are under no legal obligation to provide you with service packs. Yes, it would be a bad business move for them to not do so, but you have no legal right to download service packs using Microsoft's bandwidth.
A P2P network of all Windows users providing fast network connectivity and ease of distribution would in my eyes be ideal assuming it was secured and there was no possibility of cracked code being distributed via unsafe nodes.
Of course, if you don't believe in people using other people's paid bandwidth you would probably be best to order (and pay for) a Service Pack on CD which means only the person who actually wants the software would incur costs.
Hardware however should be a defining factor when choosing an OS to use (when we're talking about floppys, DVD-ROMs, etc) as given a particular piece of hardware, if it doesn't work in a particular OS should there not be alternatives you can choose to purchase instead? And I believe in this respect Windows has more choice & options.
Exactly, it installs an operating system which I can customise to my hearts content and enough applications for me to run the computer and start downloading/installing other applications I use.
No apps
And you promise not to cry foul or complain when Microsoft include a version of every single application type included in a "standard" Linux distro including their own version of OpenOffice?
Sounds like you would bitch when they don't include applications with their OS just as you would if they did (for monopoly concerns).
no security updates
Are you using Windows 95 or something? Or have you merely totally missed the entire concept of automatic updates in SP2 and Windowsupdate website? I actually rather suspect you are spreading untruths merely to try and achieve your agenda.
a lot of drivers missing
If you mean Linux then I would definitely have to agree with you. If you are comparing Windows to Linux then you have me lost.
Now compare that with the install of a modern Linux distro. See the difference?
Perfectly, I see it like this:
Windows includes a barebones OS and does not include many other applications due to their monopoly status. Linux distributions have an (unfair) advantage in that they can distribute whatever they hell they want with their OS providing it is done legally under copyright law.
Windows has much more out-of-the-box driver support than Linux-based OS's and those which do require additional driver support merely require the user to install a piece of software. With Linux-based distros this may still be the case but the amount of hardware supported and ease of installation of hardware drivers can be significantly harder.
On security updates both sides are generally equal - a good user should keep up to date with security updates in the same way a good driver should make sure he/she has enough oil, gas, tyre-threads etc. Whether you use Windows or a Linux-based distro, the facilities are there for you to keep your system updated.
Which law makes it illegal for a search engine to ignore robots.txt files? And would you even have a valid claim against them due to non-compliance of a web standard?
They do - the actual creative work in this case is the performance and arrangement of parts itself and not the mere notes/manuscripts the original composer wrote.