Arguing the semantics between "user" and "slashdotter" does not hide the fact that you have made a very sweeping and, in my view, incorrect statement.
In my experience of Slashdot, I've actually found there are far more Windows-focused people making incorrect FUD statements about Linux than Linux people actively "selling" Linux to everyone else. Sorry, top of the list for OS zealots on here has to go to a lot of the Apple users.
Again, I really don't care what OS somebody else chooses to run but I will correct them if they make statements I think are wrong.
And I also try, where possible, to encourage people to try Open Source software on Windows rather than running virus-ridden pirated software because I quite fancy a time in the future when the Internet isn't being dragged to a slow crawl by botnets.
I think you'll find there are both helpful people & obnoxious zealots for whatever OS you would care to mention.
I'm not going to repeat the contents of my two previous posts in this thread except to say that since "Linux geek" generally equates to "PC geek", if you took the trouble to find out then you'd see that a lot of people in the "Linux Community" (myself included) give a lot of free time fixing computer problems for friends & family, most of whom run Windows.
And in my 25 years of doing tech support-type jobs, one thing that makes me so good at it is because I take the time to explain to people how they can avoid recurrence of problems so that they learn something - and in turn, probably end up troubling me less in the future.
she had problems using Ubuntu because she just didn't know how and that's something slashdotters should probably take seriously if they want people to adopt Ubuntu (or some other distro)
I really don't like this statement - why would a normal Linux user "want" everyone else to start using it?
In my circle of friends & family, I'm the "freebie" PC support guy & I've pretty much constantly got someone's PC in my house waiting to be upgraded or repaired. And if, as they usually do, hand me a PC with Windows XP on it then, surprisingly, they get it returned with Windows XP on it, despite the fact I use Linux more than Windows these days.
To be entirely honest with you, I would much rather the Windows people I support either pay for licensed copies of software they want to use or install an Open Source alternative on Windows rather than downloading and installing trojan-ridden pirated software from the P2P networks - it really is getting to the stage, within my circle, where I am going to start refusing to fix anyone's PC where they've installed pirated software...
I also quite like Windows XP and decided from the outset I wouldn't like or want anything to do with Vista. Yet I still spent 4 hours on Boxing Day (December 26th to those not in the UK) sorting out a neighbour's new Vista laptop for wireless connectivity that turned out to be a configuration issue that would have taken minutes to resolve in XP.
So please remember that very few of us Linux people are zealots and, because we have the know-how to use Linux then we probably also know a lot about Windows & PCs in general. That in turn means a lot of inexperienced Windows users get a lot of free tech support out of us - and whilst I personally wouldn't touch Vista with a bargepole, it doesn't mean I won't help someone fix a problem with it if they ask me to.
There's a lesson to be learned here - don't try and use Linux just because you think it's fashionable.
Even better, if you you're a newbie thinking about migrating from Windows to Linux in the future then maybe do it in small stages and start by installing and running as many of the common Linux-associated Open Source apps on Windows first - OpenOffice, The Gimp, etc.
Sure, there's nothing stopping someone with technical interest and some spare time for the learning curve to dual boot Linux with their existing Windows installation but, speaking as a Linux geek, the only other reason you should migrate from Windows to Linux as an inexperienced user is because you're determined to save some money & have high moral standards about not running pirated software. Otherwise stick with Windows.
And, yes, Linux is far less prone to virii & trojans than Windows is but that doesn't mean Linux is automatically more secure - run any PC without at least a NAT router (and/or a firewall) and you're probably going to leave an exploitable service running on the Internet. If anything, this is less likely from a default Windows XP perspective because the chances are you're installing SP2 minimum, in which case the Windows Firewall is at least giving some protection. On a Linux installation, you need to carefully choose stuff to install from the outset to be fairly secure as soon as the PC boots up. That's why a NAT router & immediate/regular software updates is the minimum home security anyone should apply.
However, in the real life case of my sister & her husband, they far prefer Ubuntu to Windows now on the basis that they can call me whenever with any questions. With two teenagers in the house sharing their own Windows PC, mum & dad's Windows PC kept getting killed with virii & trojans when one of the kids borrowed it because the other kid was using the other PC. Since the adults only do email, a bit of word processing, surfing the Internet & watching/listening to a bit of multimedia, I stuck Ubuntu on their PC & they now have a trouble-free PC. Sure, they leave me all the command line work but I can easily help them out remotely using an SSH session.
So don't get caught in the stupid "anti-Microsoft" fad - use it because you think there's a need to, otherwise stick with what you're happy with...
You need the right sort of mind to be good at chess, it is not something anyone can master.
I myself know how to play chess but I will never master it because I do not have the skills to predict future moves and likely outcomes - not that poker interests me at all but in just the same way, I could never be a good poker player.
However, I do consider myself of above average intelligence and I'm very good at looking at a fixed, real-time situation and working out a solution from there. That's why I'm very good at Sudoku, crosswords and other puzzles that give you something to solve right in front of you.
Likewise, I've always done very well in technical support roles or programming because given a specific problem and the point to which I need to get to (i.e. full resolution of a problem or a program that needs to do such-and-such), I'm very good at working out how to get from the start to the end point.
When it comes to chess, which I do quite enjoy playing occasionally, I will always go for attrition and try and swap pieces to remove as many as possible as quickly as possible from the board. That means that there are fewer combinations of possible outcomes with fewer pieces on the board.
I should also say that in college, I always excelled in pure mathematics and calculus but totally flunked out in statistics which I have never managed to get a grasp of. I always took the view that working out the probability for a specific outcome was meaningless because it was just an excuse for being unable to take all the external factors into account that cause a specific outcome.
So, for example, if someone flips a coin, my view was that you can pretty much work out whether it will come up heads or tails if you know the weight of the coin, the force at which it's flipped, the air pressure, falling distance, etc. and that therefore saying "there's a 50% chance of tails" was completely pointless to me.
Yes, an average chess player would wipe the floor with me but I'd give him a good "drubbing" at a game of Scrabble afterwards!
I actually defend your right to protect your own software from piracy by whatever mechanism you see fit, just so long as you make it clear to any legitimate user of that software exactly how that protection affects their fair usage of that product.
But the real problem you have is that once news get out about your software trashing the PCs of pirates, then you will worry your legitimate user base also - which in turn means that Open Source software, where code can be scrutinised by the users, will gain share over your product.
I enjoyed MOO2 though I have to admit I've ditched it these days in favour of Galactic Civilizations 2. I've not played Free Orion yet, I don't think it's that mature a release yet, but it certainly looks interesting.
Why is the license fee unsustainable? After all, it is basically a "tax" just about everyone in the UK pays & the only way to make it more sustainable would be to deduct it directly from salaries as is the case with income tax.
Furthermore, I think that if you speak to most people, you will actually find that they don't mind paying the license fee in order to maintain advert-free broadcasting. Personally, the majority of TV programming across all broadcasters is trash but for the handful of good BBC programs that I do watch, not to mention the radio stations (particularly Radio 4 drama and comedy) and the web site for learning resources (I'm a Spanish language student), I think it's excellent value for money.
No, I probably wouldn't pay more for iPlayer but then I've not used it so far anyway as I just record what I want to see.
In my experience, ISPs never took Usenet particularly seriously anyway - they always seemed to provide some antiquated 386 server on its last legs for the job that struggled to manage 50% binary completion and 2 hours binary retention.
I suggest that you have absolutely no idea what level of services the BBC actually provide if you feel you can make such an obtuse statement.
There may be more crap reality TV shows than ever on all channels but there is actually a large amount of good quality drama being made by the BBC as well - Dr Who, Survivors and Torchwood are three off the top of my head that if you bought them as DVD box sets would probably come close to the cost of the license fee.
Add to that the excellent drama and comedy on BBC radio plus the phenomenally good language resources on the BBC web site (I myself am learning Spanish) and all of it ***100% ADVERT FREE***.
I don't work for the BBC, never have done and don't even know anyone who works there - but I vehemently maintain that the TV license is great value for money for what you get.
The *REAL* problem is that far too many people sit with their backsides glued to their settees without bothering to check what programming there is, both on TV and radio and just prefer to sit there whining about it.
Can I ask if you would be posting a similar comment if the Linux users already had BBC iPlayer and it was the Windows users who were waiting for it?
I'm a Linux-using Brit who has to the pay the TV License fee (not that I actually mind because I get advert-free TV, advert-free radio, Dr Who and some good comedy) which is essentially a tax that I *have* to pay. Therefore the BBC have a duty to support me.
You also forget to mention that pirates are, in effect, no better than the RIAA or DRM anyway.
Whether or not piracy affects music/movie/game sales is irrelevant here but the fact is that the pirates give the manufacturers the excuse that they need to foist DRM on everyone enen though, ultimately, DRM is more about enforcing a rental model through media expiration rather than copy protection.
In other words, if pirates didn't copy the stuff, there could be no DRM in the first place because there could be no justification to deploy it.
But if you're running VNC over a Hamachi VPN then the risks of being intruded upon really are minimal - especially if you create a Hamachi network where the only machines allowed in it are the ones that need to be there. Plus you use an "unguessable" network name and strong password to access it.
As for arguing about "a security hole being good", I work as a security consultant so, no, I don't believe that whatsoever. But I do believe it's a good idea for the other person to see what I am doing so maybe they also learn something in the process.
Yep, RDC is probably faster but VNC and Hamachi work on any machine - and if there's an SSH server in place, then tunnelling over that is even better.
It's actually very simple to tunnel VNC over PuTTY - just Google for it.
Applications don't normally get as much interest as do games and if you do show a genuine interest in a FOSS project as a potential user with some good ideas, they do normally listen to what you have to say - just bear in mind that these people have a "because it's there" attitude and if you express positive and negative things about what they're programming, they're generally very receptive.
And if we're talking FOSS games, then let's not forget World Of Padman, Alien Arena, Nexuiz and a few others.
Personally, the FOSSers and modders have allowed me to forget about upgrading my PCs so regularly as there's always some new freebie game or mod I can try out if I need something new to pique my interest. These days, the only products I will upgrade for are those produced by Valve and Stardock - everyone else is far too into DRM protection that kills any interest I might have in their games from the outset.
For friends and relatives who treat me as their PC support guy, I've saved myself a lot of time by putting Hamachi and VNC on their Windows PCs so I can access them when they have a problem. I just get them to start up Hamachi for me and off I go.
But most of the people I support obviously have documents on their PCs that they view as confidential and whilst they trust me in what I do, they are much happier in being able to watch the desktop while I work on it - it could be argued that because RDP doesn't let the PC owner see what the other party is doing, that also is a major security issue.
As for SSH tunnels, it only really applies to accessing a Linux/UNIX machine and it's not difficult configuring PuTTY (from a Windows client) or an SSH command-line client to get it to work. And the security advantage with tunnelling over SSH is that you're not opening any additional ports over the network if you're already running SSH.
But on the basis that a new desktop or laptop comes with Vista Home, are all those features worth the £150 or thereabouts for a copy of Vista Ultimate?
This sounds like a very specific problem related maybe to a hardware interrupt or possibly a not-so-good kernel driver, I don't think it's a general problem.
I've been playing Doom 3, UT2004 and "the Quakes" in Linux with nVidia for some time now and I get similar frame performance to XP, even with the mouse moving.
Sorry I can't be more help but I'm sure if you posted your xorg.conf and/or kernel.config on an appropriate forum somewhere, someone may be able to give you some pointers.
But Microsoft's total greed and stupidity means that unlike VNC, it's impossible (unless you know something I don't) to log into another desktop remotely & show the remote user what you are doing when you want to demonstrate something to the user.
As far as I know, there's no technical reason why RDP can't show the same desktop on two screens simultaneously, it's a Windows licensing issue.
Slashdot Mirror
Arguing the semantics between "user" and "slashdotter" does not hide the fact that you have made a very sweeping and, in my view, incorrect statement.
In my experience of Slashdot, I've actually found there are far more Windows-focused people making incorrect FUD statements about Linux than Linux people actively "selling" Linux to everyone else. Sorry, top of the list for OS zealots on here has to go to a lot of the Apple users.
Again, I really don't care what OS somebody else chooses to run but I will correct them if they make statements I think are wrong.
And I also try, where possible, to encourage people to try Open Source software on Windows rather than running virus-ridden pirated software because I quite fancy a time in the future when the Internet isn't being dragged to a slow crawl by botnets.
There is a very clear distinction here.
I think you'll find there are both helpful people & obnoxious zealots for whatever OS you would care to mention.
I'm not going to repeat the contents of my two previous posts in this thread except to say that since "Linux geek" generally equates to "PC geek", if you took the trouble to find out then you'd see that a lot of people in the "Linux Community" (myself included) give a lot of free time fixing computer problems for friends & family, most of whom run Windows.
And in my 25 years of doing tech support-type jobs, one thing that makes me so good at it is because I take the time to explain to people how they can avoid recurrence of problems so that they learn something - and in turn, probably end up troubling me less in the future.
she had problems using Ubuntu because she just didn't know how and that's something slashdotters should probably take seriously if they want people to adopt Ubuntu (or some other distro)
I really don't like this statement - why would a normal Linux user "want" everyone else to start using it?
In my circle of friends & family, I'm the "freebie" PC support guy & I've pretty much constantly got someone's PC in my house waiting to be upgraded or repaired. And if, as they usually do, hand me a PC with Windows XP on it then, surprisingly, they get it returned with Windows XP on it, despite the fact I use Linux more than Windows these days.
To be entirely honest with you, I would much rather the Windows people I support either pay for licensed copies of software they want to use or install an Open Source alternative on Windows rather than downloading and installing trojan-ridden pirated software from the P2P networks - it really is getting to the stage, within my circle, where I am going to start refusing to fix anyone's PC where they've installed pirated software...
I also quite like Windows XP and decided from the outset I wouldn't like or want anything to do with Vista. Yet I still spent 4 hours on Boxing Day (December 26th to those not in the UK) sorting out a neighbour's new Vista laptop for wireless connectivity that turned out to be a configuration issue that would have taken minutes to resolve in XP.
So please remember that very few of us Linux people are zealots and, because we have the know-how to use Linux then we probably also know a lot about Windows & PCs in general. That in turn means a lot of inexperienced Windows users get a lot of free tech support out of us - and whilst I personally wouldn't touch Vista with a bargepole, it doesn't mean I won't help someone fix a problem with it if they ask me to.
There's a lesson to be learned here - don't try and use Linux just because you think it's fashionable.
Even better, if you you're a newbie thinking about migrating from Windows to Linux in the future then maybe do it in small stages and start by installing and running as many of the common Linux-associated Open Source apps on Windows first - OpenOffice, The Gimp, etc.
Sure, there's nothing stopping someone with technical interest and some spare time for the learning curve to dual boot Linux with their existing Windows installation but, speaking as a Linux geek, the only other reason you should migrate from Windows to Linux as an inexperienced user is because you're determined to save some money & have high moral standards about not running pirated software. Otherwise stick with Windows.
And, yes, Linux is far less prone to virii & trojans than Windows is but that doesn't mean Linux is automatically more secure - run any PC without at least a NAT router (and/or a firewall) and you're probably going to leave an exploitable service running on the Internet. If anything, this is less likely from a default Windows XP perspective because the chances are you're installing SP2 minimum, in which case the Windows Firewall is at least giving some protection. On a Linux installation, you need to carefully choose stuff to install from the outset to be fairly secure as soon as the PC boots up. That's why a NAT router & immediate/regular software updates is the minimum home security anyone should apply.
However, in the real life case of my sister & her husband, they far prefer Ubuntu to Windows now on the basis that they can call me whenever with any questions. With two teenagers in the house sharing their own Windows PC, mum & dad's Windows PC kept getting killed with virii & trojans when one of the kids borrowed it because the other kid was using the other PC. Since the adults only do email, a bit of word processing, surfing the Internet & watching/listening to a bit of multimedia, I stuck Ubuntu on their PC & they now have a trouble-free PC. Sure, they leave me all the command line work but I can easily help them out remotely using an SSH session.
So don't get caught in the stupid "anti-Microsoft" fad - use it because you think there's a need to, otherwise stick with what you're happy with...
You need the right sort of mind to be good at chess, it is not something anyone can master.
I myself know how to play chess but I will never master it because I do not have the skills to predict future moves and likely outcomes - not that poker interests me at all but in just the same way, I could never be a good poker player.
However, I do consider myself of above average intelligence and I'm very good at looking at a fixed, real-time situation and working out a solution from there. That's why I'm very good at Sudoku, crosswords and other puzzles that give you something to solve right in front of you.
Likewise, I've always done very well in technical support roles or programming because given a specific problem and the point to which I need to get to (i.e. full resolution of a problem or a program that needs to do such-and-such), I'm very good at working out how to get from the start to the end point.
When it comes to chess, which I do quite enjoy playing occasionally, I will always go for attrition and try and swap pieces to remove as many as possible as quickly as possible from the board. That means that there are fewer combinations of possible outcomes with fewer pieces on the board.
I should also say that in college, I always excelled in pure mathematics and calculus but totally flunked out in statistics which I have never managed to get a grasp of. I always took the view that working out the probability for a specific outcome was meaningless because it was just an excuse for being unable to take all the external factors into account that cause a specific outcome.
So, for example, if someone flips a coin, my view was that you can pretty much work out whether it will come up heads or tails if you know the weight of the coin, the force at which it's flipped, the air pressure, falling distance, etc. and that therefore saying "there's a 50% chance of tails" was completely pointless to me.
Yes, an average chess player would wipe the floor with me but I'd give him a good "drubbing" at a game of Scrabble afterwards!
...he'll find those missing emails in 24 hours.
I actually defend your right to protect your own software from piracy by whatever mechanism you see fit, just so long as you make it clear to any legitimate user of that software exactly how that protection affects their fair usage of that product.
But the real problem you have is that once news get out about your software trashing the PCs of pirates, then you will worry your legitimate user base also - which in turn means that Open Source software, where code can be scrutinised by the users, will gain share over your product.
It is being remade:
Free Orion
I enjoyed MOO2 though I have to admit I've ditched it these days in favour of Galactic Civilizations 2. I've not played Free Orion yet, I don't think it's that mature a release yet, but it certainly looks interesting.
Why is the license fee unsustainable? After all, it is basically a "tax" just about everyone in the UK pays & the only way to make it more sustainable would be to deduct it directly from salaries as is the case with income tax.
Furthermore, I think that if you speak to most people, you will actually find that they don't mind paying the license fee in order to maintain advert-free broadcasting. Personally, the majority of TV programming across all broadcasters is trash but for the handful of good BBC programs that I do watch, not to mention the radio stations (particularly Radio 4 drama and comedy) and the web site for learning resources (I'm a Spanish language student), I think it's excellent value for money.
No, I probably wouldn't pay more for iPlayer but then I've not used it so far anyway as I just record what I want to see.
In my experience, ISPs never took Usenet particularly seriously anyway - they always seemed to provide some antiquated 386 server on its last legs for the job that struggled to manage 50% binary completion and 2 hours binary retention.
Good music stands up on its own without the need for accompanying pretty pictures.
..if it's good music then it goes in the EAR, not the EYE.
Youtube Schmootube...
One cooly dressed guy listening to music through a pair of white headphones...
Beneath him appear the words "Apple = iTunes".
Pan camera right to a group of revelling party animals drinking beer, chatting to each other, smiling and dancing to some loud music.
Beneath them appear the words "Linux = OurTunes".
I suggest that you have absolutely no idea what level of services the BBC actually provide if you feel you can make such an obtuse statement.
There may be more crap reality TV shows than ever on all channels but there is actually a large amount of good quality drama being made by the BBC as well - Dr Who, Survivors and Torchwood are three off the top of my head that if you bought them as DVD box sets would probably come close to the cost of the license fee.
Add to that the excellent drama and comedy on BBC radio plus the phenomenally good language resources on the BBC web site (I myself am learning Spanish) and all of it ***100% ADVERT FREE***.
I don't work for the BBC, never have done and don't even know anyone who works there - but I vehemently maintain that the TV license is great value for money for what you get.
The *REAL* problem is that far too many people sit with their backsides glued to their settees without bothering to check what programming there is, both on TV and radio and just prefer to sit there whining about it.
Can I ask if you would be posting a similar comment if the Linux users already had BBC iPlayer and it was the Windows users who were waiting for it?
I'm a Linux-using Brit who has to the pay the TV License fee (not that I actually mind because I get advert-free TV, advert-free radio, Dr Who and some good comedy) which is essentially a tax that I *have* to pay. Therefore the BBC have a duty to support me.
So end of story and shut up.
Never open the Windows in a submarine!
... welcome our new carol-loving, aquatic predatorial overlords.
You also forget to mention that pirates are, in effect, no better than the RIAA or DRM anyway.
Whether or not piracy affects music/movie/game sales is irrelevant here but the fact is that the pirates give the manufacturers the excuse that they need to foist DRM on everyone enen though, ultimately, DRM is more about enforcing a rental model through media expiration rather than copy protection.
In other words, if pirates didn't copy the stuff, there could be no DRM in the first place because there could be no justification to deploy it.
But if you're running VNC over a Hamachi VPN then the risks of being intruded upon really are minimal - especially if you create a Hamachi network where the only machines allowed in it are the ones that need to be there. Plus you use an "unguessable" network name and strong password to access it.
As for arguing about "a security hole being good", I work as a security consultant so, no, I don't believe that whatsoever. But I do believe it's a good idea for the other person to see what I am doing so maybe they also learn something in the process.
Yep, RDC is probably faster but VNC and Hamachi work on any machine - and if there's an SSH server in place, then tunnelling over that is even better.
It's actually very simple to tunnel VNC over PuTTY - just Google for it.
Please don't knock the FOSS programming crowd.
Applications don't normally get as much interest as do games and if you do show a genuine interest in a FOSS project as a potential user with some good ideas, they do normally listen to what you have to say - just bear in mind that these people have a "because it's there" attitude and if you express positive and negative things about what they're programming, they're generally very receptive.
And if we're talking FOSS games, then let's not forget World Of Padman, Alien Arena, Nexuiz and a few others.
Personally, the FOSSers and modders have allowed me to forget about upgrading my PCs so regularly as there's always some new freebie game or mod I can try out if I need something new to pique my interest. These days, the only products I will upgrade for are those produced by Valve and Stardock - everyone else is far too into DRM protection that kills any interest I might have in their games from the outset.
Okay, let me put it another way.
For friends and relatives who treat me as their PC support guy, I've saved myself a lot of time by putting Hamachi and VNC on their Windows PCs so I can access them when they have a problem. I just get them to start up Hamachi for me and off I go.
But most of the people I support obviously have documents on their PCs that they view as confidential and whilst they trust me in what I do, they are much happier in being able to watch the desktop while I work on it - it could be argued that because RDP doesn't let the PC owner see what the other party is doing, that also is a major security issue.
As for SSH tunnels, it only really applies to accessing a Linux/UNIX machine and it's not difficult configuring PuTTY (from a Windows client) or an SSH command-line client to get it to work. And the security advantage with tunnelling over SSH is that you're not opening any additional ports over the network if you're already running SSH.
But on the basis that a new desktop or laptop comes with Vista Home, are all those features worth the £150 or thereabouts for a copy of Vista Ultimate?
This sounds like a very specific problem related maybe to a hardware interrupt or possibly a not-so-good kernel driver, I don't think it's a general problem.
I've been playing Doom 3, UT2004 and "the Quakes" in Linux with nVidia for some time now and I get similar frame performance to XP, even with the mouse moving.
Sorry I can't be more help but I'm sure if you posted your xorg.conf and/or kernel .config on an appropriate forum somewhere, someone may be able to give you some pointers.
I agree that RDP is fast.
But Microsoft's total greed and stupidity means that unlike VNC, it's impossible (unless you know something I don't) to log into another desktop remotely & show the remote user what you are doing when you want to demonstrate something to the user.
As far as I know, there's no technical reason why RDP can't show the same desktop on two screens simultaneously, it's a Windows licensing issue.
why would anyone want to pay for proprietary hardware ... controlled by one company ..which sums up Apple and iPhone in a nutshell.