The OSS community is by and far much more honest about software status than the closed source community. I've run "finished" software that was so chock full of bugs that I would've considered it alpha, and I've run "beta" software that was stable as could be.
Finished and final shouldn't be a part of the equation. As to sticking around, well, even if a project dies you have the damn source, you could hire someone to mod it or fix it for you needs easily and probably more cheaply than the liscensing fees you would otherwise pay. 1000 copies of a $100 program/version = $100,000, that's a lot of programmer time devoted to your needs. How more "sticking around" can you get than having the source code?
Your reasoning is flawed, I take if you have a business it is small (under 100 employees) and this is the basis for it, but for larger fish who could eat you, this shouldn't be the basis.
I get to go shell out $200 dollars for a new copy of Windows, and another $500 dollars for a new computer to run it, just so I can run the new version of Office for $400 which included some new feature maybe 1% of people who use it will use, just so I can read your documents. I'm so glad it's still possible to distract a business person by going "look, it's shiny... no no no, not here, over there, shiny!" and pick their pockets bare.
For what most businesses pay for software they could hire a damned engineer or two, I'd think you could get one hell of a competitive edge out of having software specifically tailored to your needs. Then again, what do I know, I can only do math, unlike MBAs and Lawyers.
It all comes down to cost, I doubt that during your next upgrade cycle Closed Source will cost you less in the long run than Open, but I don't exaclty work for you. Base it on that, not some wierd idea about software that's simply not true.
Most developers aren't being paid to do this, so why the hell should they bother? I mean, I know for me, when I hack source for fun, if you like using it, great, but don't expect it to be about you. If you give me an idea and I like it, I'll put it in, but I am god, lord, and root over my project. It's for me.
All of the linux advocates and non-contributing users out there should just start coding what they want. There's room for everyone in this pond.
Re:one app, one desktop, one united front
on
Too Much Free Software
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Okay, let's see if I can sum this up for you.
Let me first make the define libraries. Libraries are, sort of, predefined routines to save programmers time. The windows equivalent is the DLL file. Only under Linux drivers are either compiled into the OS or are modules that can be plugged in.
What most consider the Linux operating system consists of the Kernel, and the GNU tools at it's core. The entire system is exceptionally modular in nature.
The kernel handles everything from memory management, to task scheduling. It is the grand lord brain, translating everything from the plebian programs into action on the system. The kernel by itself would just sit there and do nothing, with no way to interact with the system.
The GNU tools are tools for interacting with the system, managing files, etc.
Everything else is stacked on top of this.
X is a series of libraries and programs that provide the core of the GUI for a linux system.
On top of this you stack various libraries which do various things within the X framework, GNOME and KDE are a set of tools and libraries that extend X and make it pretty.
Then you have programs that utilize all of the above.
So your typical program, like say OpenOffice has a series of dependancies on up the tree. Some of them require additional libraries.
This is why, with a little tweaking, you can have a BSD Kernel running a "Linux" program. Each part for the most part can be substituted for something else with a little work.
Sorry to be an ass, but you're WRONG. That program works perfectly in the context of this thread (being linux programs).
printf outputs to stdout without an include using the standard libraries under linux.
Output:
$ gcc helloworld.c -o helloworld
$./helloworld
Hello World
$
It's been a long time since I've programmed anything under Windows in C so you may or may not be right in that context, but I seem to remember that also working perfectly well under DOS without bothering with conio, ctype, or for all you C++ windows jockeys, iostream.
I had NOTHING to do with it, I swear. I thought he was 8 bit, not my fault he crashed when I entered 65. It's that damned two's compliment! When will you learn, people need to be unsigned. Why god... why?
I don't know about it removing nuances. You can convey a lot of subtlety simply in how you address a person.
For instance: Mr. instead of an appropriate honorific(IE: Dr.) shows an almost complete lack of respect for that person's right to the honorific and to the person themself.
Also, anyone who has been on the net for a while develops a kind of voice you can sort of hear. Once you're used to them, it's easy to tell if they are being sarcastic, upset, etc. emotions can very much be conveyed in choice of words.
Emoticons fill in any voids, for instance: WTF!? You ignorant assclown. WTF!? You ignorant underpants gnome.:)
Additionally, unless you are completely irrational, if you stay on and vent your response in case of being offended you quickly learn if it was an intentional affront or not.
I would gather it's easier to gauge such things in other languages like French and Japanese where you can express a lot more in your choice of words as well as how the words themselves are said. English is capable of the same, but to a much more limited degree, and most English speakers don't have the necessary vocabulary to take advantage of it.
The post office wanted to start charging for email a while back. Personally, I like the pay for non-whitelisted email, with revenues collected by the US Post Office and distributed to the involved ISPs with the Post Office collecting an administration fee. They could charge $.50, $1.00, whatever they want really, if the recipient wants, they can "reverse the charges", if not, the spammer or unsolicited emailer pays out of pocket a large sum.
Mainly because they have the legal muscle to back it up. I'm sure most people would disagree with me.
main(){int n=99,l;while(n)for(l=0;l4;(l==2?l++,n--:l++)){prin tf(l==2?"Take one down, pass it around,\n":"%d%s bottle%s of beer%s%c\n%s",n,(!n?"\bNo more":""),"s"+(n==1),l==1?"":" on the wall",",."[l==3],"\n"+(l!=3||!n));}}
I was assuming he was talking about doing it under Linux. NT is a bit different. I always seem to assume people who do this type of thing run Linux (I must read too much Slashdot).
That's an amazing site by the way, it's right here since you didn't supply the link.
Parallel port devices are fairly easy to program and create (I'd have to say THE easiest), most basic linux programming books go into how to do it.
Considering the simplicity of the circuit to make an LED glow, and the ease of parallel port programming, plus the relative ease of finding information on how to do it I'd have to concur with you.
Plus the low power consumption would probably mean you could forgo any external power source unless you either wanted it brighter or wanted to light up a bunch of LEDs at once. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't need an external power source at all under most circumstances, but I've been up late and shouldn't be wasting time posting on slashdot.
I'd think he should start by looking at some of those overclocker parallel port mini-display information, that'll get him started.
Then just pick up a book on electronics (beginner would do I'd say), the parallel port specification, and some driver knowledge. Boom he's in business. I don't think theres a bit of information you'd need to do this that couldn't be found via google, so let's go for it.
Annotation: The above two are the most popular other slashdot similar forums I know of, Plastic runs modified slash, and I'm almost positive that K5 runs it's own thing.
Around where I live the state holds an auction every week. You can get some great hardware if you're a geek there. Older AIX mainframes, SPARC-III's, etc.
I bought 12 Pentium-2's there for $50 total (no monitors). Also bought a bunch of Cisco 2501s on the cheap there as well (I think they went for 1/pop, no one else bid on them).
Basic procedure was: Show up, see equipment, submit a sealed bid, get contacted within a day, go pay, go pick up your hardware.
If you live in a state capitol here in the US of A, check to see if they have auctions. If they do, go there, greatest thing next to sliced bread.
PowerPC makes one think of certain types of computers, just as SPARC does... etc.
Mac User + PPC + Laptop = Powerbook in my mind, which uses a G4. Would you prefer a part number?
As to why I got modded up as informative, I have no idea. The moderators must have liked my post and found it interesting and informative I guess. Just as one of them must have found your post informative.
I was generalizing based upon my experiences with the chip on a wide variety of software. I didn't try to play quake on it... so I guess my opinion is irrelevant.
The pentium 4 can't outperform the athlon on pure FPU intensive applications either. The C3 isn't designed for that, it's basically designed to be a hoped up DVD/home entertainment chip/chipset. It consumes next to no power, hell you could even modify an old laptop to take the board and run it off of the battery for as long or longer than the original laptop would run.
I don't know if that's true or not, my C3 isn't running Linux (it's the only box in the house that's not). I bought it because it has Dolby 5.1 and DVD quality TV-Out for $200. It's perfectly happy to serve media off of the linux PVR(well, more VCR since it's not nearly at TIVO level) and it works pretty snappy as a MAME/Emulator box as well.
In other words, I just wrote a post that says I'm a little ignorant, but that you're dead on in saying it's great for what it does.
It's designed to play DVDs, that's pretty much what most of the mini-ITX mainboards coming out are meant for: DVD/Media playback, web browsing on TV, and MAME.
It is not a gaming CPU. It's also cheap as all get out.
And they're both still behind VIA and IBM on both power consumption and heat.
VIA chips have a lot less processing power, but wow can you do some wierd and neat things with them. Multiply the Mhz rating of a C3 by.75 and you get it's pentium equivalent. And they run as cool as a 486 (thereabouts). So they max out at 933Mhz (equal to about a 700Mhz pentium-III), they run air cooled with just a heatsink. That's just great.
We all know how great the powerpc chip is for laptops, anyone who owns a Mac laptop can fill you in far more than I can.
I always thought the "big boys" were more concerned with raw cpu ops/cycle or Mhz than power and heat, at least there's a shift of views in both camps. This can't be anything other than a good thing, otherwise, I predict by 2060 if processors keep getting as hot as they have been, running your PC without a coolermaster "absolute zero cryogenic cooling unit" will cause nucleur fussion to occur inside your case. Hello miniature sun. That would be AMD's model, intel's would just vaporize everything in a wide radius.
Slashdot Mirror
Software is NEVER finished and never perfect.
I take it you still use windows 3.11?
I take it you can still get support on that?
The OSS community is by and far much more honest about software status than the closed source community. I've run "finished" software that was so chock full of bugs that I would've considered it alpha, and I've run "beta" software that was stable as could be.
Finished and final shouldn't be a part of the equation. As to sticking around, well, even if a project dies you have the damn source, you could hire someone to mod it or fix it for you needs easily and probably more cheaply than the liscensing fees you would otherwise pay. 1000 copies of a $100 program/version = $100,000, that's a lot of programmer time devoted to your needs. How more "sticking around" can you get than having the source code?
Your reasoning is flawed, I take if you have a business it is small (under 100 employees) and this is the basis for it, but for larger fish who could eat you, this shouldn't be the basis.
I get to go shell out $200 dollars for a new copy of Windows, and another $500 dollars for a new computer to run it, just so I can run the new version of Office for $400 which included some new feature maybe 1% of people who use it will use, just so I can read your documents. I'm so glad it's still possible to distract a business person by going "look, it's shiny... no no no, not here, over there, shiny!" and pick their pockets bare.
For what most businesses pay for software they could hire a damned engineer or two, I'd think you could get one hell of a competitive edge out of having software specifically tailored to your needs. Then again, what do I know, I can only do math, unlike MBAs and Lawyers.
It all comes down to cost, I doubt that during your next upgrade cycle Closed Source will cost you less in the long run than Open, but I don't exaclty work for you. Base it on that, not some wierd idea about software that's simply not true.
Unless you're a developer, then it's great.
Most developers aren't being paid to do this, so why the hell should they bother? I mean, I know for me, when I hack source for fun, if you like using it, great, but don't expect it to be about you. If you give me an idea and I like it, I'll put it in, but I am god, lord, and root over my project. It's for me.
All of the linux advocates and non-contributing users out there should just start coding what they want. There's room for everyone in this pond.
Okay, let's see if I can sum this up for you.
Let me first make the define libraries. Libraries are, sort of, predefined routines to save programmers time. The windows equivalent is the DLL file. Only under Linux drivers are either compiled into the OS or are modules that can be plugged in.
What most consider the Linux operating system consists of the Kernel, and the GNU tools at it's core. The entire system is exceptionally modular in nature.
The kernel handles everything from memory management, to task scheduling. It is the grand lord brain, translating everything from the plebian programs into action on the system. The kernel by itself would just sit there and do nothing, with no way to interact with the system.
The GNU tools are tools for interacting with the system, managing files, etc.
Everything else is stacked on top of this.
X is a series of libraries and programs that provide the core of the GUI for a linux system.
On top of this you stack various libraries which do various things within the X framework, GNOME and KDE are a set of tools and libraries that extend X and make it pretty.
Then you have programs that utilize all of the above.
So your typical program, like say OpenOffice has a series of dependancies on up the tree. Some of them require additional libraries.
This is why, with a little tweaking, you can have a BSD Kernel running a "Linux" program. Each part for the most part can be substituted for something else with a little work.
I hope I didn't ramble or was nonsensical there.
Sorry to be an ass, but you're WRONG. That program works perfectly in the context of this thread (being linux programs).
./helloworld
printf outputs to stdout without an include using the standard libraries under linux.
Output:
$ gcc helloworld.c -o helloworld
$
Hello World
$
It's been a long time since I've programmed anything under Windows in C so you may or may not be right in that context, but I seem to remember that also working perfectly well under DOS without bothering with conio, ctype, or for all you C++ windows jockeys, iostream.
Depends on what you're used to I gather.
For what most people use photoshop for you can use the gimp for. But the gimp is not a replacement for photoshop, not even close.
The actor and programmer in me both feel as if I have been typecasted.
I had NOTHING to do with it, I swear. I thought he was 8 bit, not my fault he crashed when I entered 65. It's that damned two's compliment! When will you learn, people need to be unsigned. Why god... why?
I don't know about it removing nuances. You can convey a lot of subtlety simply in how you address a person.
:)
For instance: Mr. instead of an appropriate honorific(IE: Dr.) shows an almost complete lack of respect for that person's right to the honorific and to the person themself.
Also, anyone who has been on the net for a while develops a kind of voice you can sort of hear. Once you're used to them, it's easy to tell if they are being sarcastic, upset, etc. emotions can very much be conveyed in choice of words.
Emoticons fill in any voids, for instance:
WTF!? You ignorant assclown.
WTF!? You ignorant underpants gnome.
Additionally, unless you are completely irrational, if you stay on and vent your response in case of being offended you quickly learn if it was an intentional affront or not.
I would gather it's easier to gauge such things in other languages like French and Japanese where you can express a lot more in your choice of words as well as how the words themselves are said. English is capable of the same, but to a much more limited degree, and most English speakers don't have the necessary vocabulary to take advantage of it.
The post office wanted to start charging for email a while back. Personally, I like the pay for non-whitelisted email, with revenues collected by the US Post Office and distributed to the involved ISPs with the Post Office collecting an administration fee. They could charge $.50, $1.00, whatever they want really, if the recipient wants, they can "reverse the charges", if not, the spammer or unsolicited emailer pays out of pocket a large sum.
Mainly because they have the legal muscle to back it up. I'm sure most people would disagree with me.
main(){int n=99,l;while(n)for(l=0;l4;(l==2?l++,n--:l++)){prin tf(l==2?"Take one
down, pass it around,\n":"%d%s bottle%s of beer%s%c\n%s",n,(!n?"\bNo more":""),"s"+(n==1),l==1?"":" on the wall",",."[l==3],"\n"+(l!=3||!n));}}
I was assuming he was talking about doing it under Linux. NT is a bit different. I always seem to assume people who do this type of thing run Linux (I must read too much Slashdot).
That's an amazing site by the way, it's right here since you didn't supply the link.
Parallel port devices are fairly easy to program and create (I'd have to say THE easiest), most basic linux programming books go into how to do it.
Considering the simplicity of the circuit to make an LED glow, and the ease of parallel port programming, plus the relative ease of finding information on how to do it I'd have to concur with you.
Plus the low power consumption would probably mean you could forgo any external power source unless you either wanted it brighter or wanted to light up a bunch of LEDs at once. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't need an external power source at all under most circumstances, but I've been up late and shouldn't be wasting time posting on slashdot.
I'd think he should start by looking at some of those overclocker parallel port mini-display information, that'll get him started.
Then just pick up a book on electronics (beginner would do I'd say), the parallel port specification, and some driver knowledge. Boom he's in business. I don't think theres a bit of information you'd need to do this that couldn't be found via google, so let's go for it.
Annotation: The above two are the most popular other slashdot similar forums I know of, Plastic runs modified slash, and I'm almost positive that K5 runs it's own thing.
Plastic if you have a liberal bent.
K5 for general high quality zine type stuff.
Or check out all the sites that run slashcode. The above two are the most popular.
I can't read the abstract, I'm currently quite inebriated at the moment and can't figure out how to under Linux.
Somebody help me! Or start posting stuff in HTML or something everyone can read.
Is that too much to ask!? Oh what a world what a world!
Web designer having problem finding work, people across the globe collectively let loose a gasp of surprise.
I was drunk and tired! I'm SORRY!
Everything I see on that site is a tad overpriced for what it is. I mean if I'm looking for a good deal why don't I just go to a state auction?
If I want state of the art, or a price/performance ration, I can buy it new or wholesale.
I'm just talking computer equipment here, I'm not an electronics amateur, much less a guru, I just know how to solder.
Someone caught that, sorry for my silly attempt at humor. If I didn't say at least one idiotic thing per posting, I wouldn't be me.
Disclaimer: I did not RTFA.
Around where I live the state holds an auction every week. You can get some great hardware if you're a geek there. Older AIX mainframes, SPARC-III's, etc.
I bought 12 Pentium-2's there for $50 total (no monitors). Also bought a bunch of Cisco 2501s on the cheap there as well (I think they went for 1/pop, no one else bid on them).
Basic procedure was:
Show up, see equipment, submit a sealed bid, get contacted within a day, go pay, go pick up your hardware.
If you live in a state capitol here in the US of A, check to see if they have auctions. If they do, go there, greatest thing next to sliced bread.
I'm sorry, should I have been more specific?
PowerPC makes one think of certain types of computers, just as SPARC does... etc.
Mac User + PPC + Laptop = Powerbook in my mind, which uses a G4. Would you prefer a part number?
As to why I got modded up as informative, I have no idea. The moderators must have liked my post and found it interesting and informative I guess. Just as one of them must have found your post informative.
I was generalizing based upon my experiences with the chip on a wide variety of software. I didn't try to play quake on it... so I guess my opinion is irrelevant.
The pentium 4 can't outperform the athlon on pure FPU intensive applications either. The C3 isn't designed for that, it's basically designed to be a hoped up DVD/home entertainment chip/chipset. It consumes next to no power, hell you could even modify an old laptop to take the board and run it off of the battery for as long or longer than the original laptop would run.
Lies, damned lies and benchmarks.
I don't know if that's true or not, my C3 isn't running Linux (it's the only box in the house that's not). I bought it because it has Dolby 5.1 and DVD quality TV-Out for $200. It's perfectly happy to serve media off of the linux PVR(well, more VCR since it's not nearly at TIVO level) and it works pretty snappy as a MAME/Emulator box as well.
In other words, I just wrote a post that says I'm a little ignorant, but that you're dead on in saying it's great for what it does.
It's designed to play DVDs, that's pretty much what most of the mini-ITX mainboards coming out are meant for: DVD/Media playback, web browsing on TV, and MAME.
It is not a gaming CPU. It's also cheap as all get out.
And they're both still behind VIA and IBM on both power consumption and heat.
.75 and you get it's pentium equivalent. And they run as cool as a 486 (thereabouts). So they max out at 933Mhz (equal to about a 700Mhz pentium-III), they run air cooled with just a heatsink. That's just great.
VIA chips have a lot less processing power, but wow can you do some wierd and neat things with them. Multiply the Mhz rating of a C3 by
We all know how great the powerpc chip is for laptops, anyone who owns a Mac laptop can fill you in far more than I can.
I always thought the "big boys" were more concerned with raw cpu ops/cycle or Mhz than power and heat, at least there's a shift of views in both camps. This can't be anything other than a good thing, otherwise, I predict by 2060 if processors keep getting as hot as they have been, running your PC without a coolermaster "absolute zero cryogenic cooling unit" will cause nucleur fussion to occur inside your case. Hello miniature sun. That would be AMD's model, intel's would just vaporize everything in a wide radius.