Microsoft has a clever strategy (they usually do).
What it boils down to is fighting Linux. I'm a regular Linux user myself, and I'm in the habit of recommending certain cross platform applications for my friends and family to use. Browsing the web? Get Firefox. Chatting online? Get Gaim. Writing a paper? Get OpenOffice.
These programs aren't right for everyone, naturally, but a lot of people actually do end up loving them. They can install them on Windows, try them out, and get comfortable with them. Later, when they are experiencing OS related issues, I can say "Oh, well why don't you install Linux?" Once they find out that Linux runs all the programs they use every day, they don't freak out or anything. It makes the migration completely natural.
Plugins like this are sneaky because Microsoft is saying, "OK, you're going to use Firefox... I see how it is. Let's tie it to our platform to make sure you stick with our other software."
I'm damned tired of all these hippie environmentalists talking about their species and deforestation. Every time they want to get in the way of human progress they try to confuse us with taxonomic "data" and "facts." Doesn't Slashdot realize that this is just a liberal commie conspiracy? DOESN'T ANYONE
Funny the article summary mentions the People's Republic of China offhand. A while back I was studying "communist" history, and if my memory serves correct, Norway was the first nation to recognize the sovereignty of the PRC (or maybe the first western nation to do so).
People I know who are native to China seem to have a very positive image of Norway; for example, I had one very good Chinese friend who aspired to live there one day--thought it was the most beautiful country in the world. Norway is beautiful, but out of all the countries in the world, why that one? Of course, this could have been a coincidence, but it further reinforces my perception that Chinese-Norway relations are strong. My girlfriend, whose family is from Pakistan (close neighbor to China, culturally and politically), also seemed to have a glorious image of Norway.
After some quick googling, I found further evidence to support my theory:
Its possible that I'm simply missing the point, but if Tor is so effective then how exactly did a university IT guy and two campus cops find out it was in use and trace it so easily to the professor in question? Isn't anonymity the whole point?
Every technology has its limits, and the anonymity is actually pretty good. When you browse with TOR, you do these things:
Prevent anyone between your computer and TOR from discovering what data is being transferred. In this case it's the university.
Prevent anyone between your computer and TOR from discovering the destination of the data.
Prevent the recipient of the data (whoever you are connecting to) from discovering its source (who/where you are).
The university can see that something went between TOR and one of their computers, but they have no idea what that something is or where it's going. Since anyone who can get access to a computer can use it, the university actually doesn't know who was using the computer. They can only guess because it belongs to that professor and is in his office.
If the professor had taken an extra precaution and used a computer that was not linked to his identity, there really would have been no way to catch him unless they ran over to the machine while he was on it. If were truly a sneaky bastard, he would have installed TOR along with a program to activate it and do some communications and left before it went on. At some later time he could come back to that machine briefly just to retrieve the data.
If you are in a repressive country, you could start by using TOR discretely at an internet cafe. As long as the managers of the cafe are not actively policing their clients, you won't get caught. Better still, your government has no clue and will mistake TOR for traffic they're not interested in.
What if your company's network weren't connected to the internet at all? Naturally, a lot of companies "need" this, but I'm sure there are other companies that can operate fine without the internet at all. Not only does it save the company from worrying about "outside" threats, but I imagine it also helps to deter inside threats. For example, look at the employee that hosted pirated software on company machines. Without the 'net, how is he going to host it?
The only way the nGage would ever succeed is if they:
1. Alow and foster homebrew (aka Mame games).
2. Have a touch screen. (Dual screen in your suggested flip design would be nice)
3. Have the ability to read SD flash cards for memory (same ones you can put in your cameras)
4. Have a USB port (well this one isn't 100% needed if they comply with #3)
5. Make game development really easy (see 1)
6. No tie in with any Cell phone provider.
I think there must be more to it than that. Gamepark Holdings did 5 out of those 6 things with the GP2X, which is modestly popular but not a big hit in the general market.
Really, that's what a package is. What are you asking for exactly? For the vast majority of distros, all you have to do is download the package file and click on it, then it installs itself.
Actually, I've been reading up on news from the Fedora community, and a company called Fluendo is providing their distribution with properly licensed codecs and software. I looked at the prices on their site... kind of expensive for my taste, but at least it's out there.
If you're saying that because professionals don't use it, I'm wondering what kind of logic you are using because it doesn't exist yet.
Secondly, if you are reasoning "I'm a professional, and I don't use this software, therefore if someone uses this software, they aren't a professional," then I would also be rather skeptical of that line of thinking. Being a professional usually has to do with whether or not you are generating income, and I doubt that no one has ever profited from the use of the software that is going to be included.
I don't see a conflict; Slashdot doesn't hate Myspace so much as it hates people who use Myspace. In this case, the villians are BOTH Myspace users AND frivolous lawsuit filers. That means they are quite possibly the worst people on Earth in the eyes of Slashdot (with possible exceptions of spammers, crackpot scientists, Steve Ballmer, republicans, lawyers who are not Lawrence Lessig, some European countries, various christian denominations, the United States government, anyone associated with the RIAA, and whoever owns firmware to wireless ethernet devices).
Seriously, this is business as usual in the scientific community.
I'm not a skeptic of global warming. I can't tell you every little detail, but my own personal view is that society does do things that really would make the planet hotter.
My personal views aside, science is full of competing ideas. Scientists disagree. That's what they do. They've always done this, and if they didn't, we'd have lost a lot of valuable research. Yeah, there are a lot of crackpots running around, but that is a real small price to pay for progress. After all, let the crackpots have their fun, as long as science continues.
It seems to me, as other posters have mentioned, that creating a standard by which to oust scientists who believe a certain thing is repressive to science itself. Don't forget also that people who believe crazy things still provide valuable data and research, or at the very least help motivate people who are less crazy to prove that the other guy really is crazy.
I once met a girl in college that tried to prove to me that evolution was false because not all scientists agreed on the same theory. That's crazy. I've seen people post on Slashdot just now that they didn't think global warming was happening because there were multiple theories. Phenomena such as light has multiple theories, but that doesn't stop it from being light.
Right, but all it takes is one copy to be released as GPL, and then the community would fork it right away so that they don't have to risk losing any work on it to another enterprise. It would also mean that Sun might risk losing control of their system if they themselves don't stick with GPL, since they won't be able to use improvements made by the community to the GPL version unless they accept that license back.
Personally, I would find it incredibly amazing if Sun's system suddenly became the vanguard of Free software, "killing" Linux in the process. I had been following the market closely since I started using Linux years ago, and while a lot of GNU/Linux people were going head to head with Microsoft, it was obvious that what Linux was really doing was killing commercial Unix. In fact, the casualties were so bad that all big Unix vendors either converted themselves into Linux companies (IBM, Novell, Sun did Linux too) or died miserable deaths (SCO, SGI).
Sun's premier system probably had the biggest chance of standing up to Linux (popular, technically advanced), there was no way they could keep up unless they joined in on the "open source" thing. If they went in all the way and made it 100% Free, that could really shake things up. If the dispute between GPL versions becomes a big one, Sun would be poised to win big. Not only would their own system become an order of magnitude more popular, but it would also make them the Free software company. With Free products like Solaris and Java, their software is practically legendary (there is no use denying the popularity of Java, and Solaris has always been a Unix lover's darling system).
So, after all those years of "Linux is killing Unix," it would be amusing to see Sun turn the tables on that one. Don't think it can't happen, either... if large companies have proven anything, it's that they're good at absorbing the innovations of smaller entities and taking over. It's similar to how politics works in the United States--the two big parties stay on top partly by taking issues raised by small parties and making those issues their own, using their clout to "cover" the issue better and eliminating the need for the third party.
That is an interesting point you raise, but I'm not so sure things will come out exactly like that. Even if Linux is kept at GPLv2, Stallman would still recognize that system as Free. After all, he promoted this license for ages.
Now, if he prefers GPLv3, he might come out and start saying that he prefers Nexenta. Stallman is not tied to Linux, even though it completed his goal of having a complete, Free system. Linux, while GPL, has not exactly been fully behind the Free software movement a la Linus Torvalds and other "pragmatists" that look at "open source" as a practical compromise rather than a moral solution. Also, the GNU project never intended to use Linux, but its own HURD system, which so far has failed to materialize.
If I were Stallman and I were really concerned about pushing GPLv3, I would either urge the community to move to Nexenta (if it were licensed as GPLv3) or say "Look, this is why we need to complete HURD."
Well, it is generally believed that prime numbers are infinite... that is, we can count them and never run out. All this is an effort to see if we actually do run out.;)
That is pretty much true. My reasoning is that the same could be said for most articles that Slashdot publishes. For example, ones that cite other computer technologies, such as numerous stories about PHP (what is PHP?) and linux (what is linux?). If this article assumes too much, then I guess most of the others do as well.
Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft has a clever strategy (they usually do).
What it boils down to is fighting Linux. I'm a regular Linux user myself, and I'm in the habit of recommending certain cross platform applications for my friends and family to use. Browsing the web? Get Firefox. Chatting online? Get Gaim. Writing a paper? Get OpenOffice.
These programs aren't right for everyone, naturally, but a lot of people actually do end up loving them. They can install them on Windows, try them out, and get comfortable with them. Later, when they are experiencing OS related issues, I can say "Oh, well why don't you install Linux?" Once they find out that Linux runs all the programs they use every day, they don't freak out or anything. It makes the migration completely natural.
Plugins like this are sneaky because Microsoft is saying, "OK, you're going to use Firefox... I see how it is. Let's tie it to our platform to make sure you stick with our other software."
If it's supported, why not? Paying for Linux is part of what makes Linux good.
uhh... x = i ?
The i is for "intelligence."
emacs has viper-mode, if that's what you're talking about.
I'm damned tired of all these hippie environmentalists talking about their species and deforestation. Every time they want to get in the way of human progress they try to confuse us with taxonomic "data" and "facts." Doesn't Slashdot realize that this is just a liberal commie conspiracy? DOESN'T ANYONE
I'm getting it.
Will it run Linux?
Funny the article summary mentions the People's Republic of China offhand. A while back I was studying "communist" history, and if my memory serves correct, Norway was the first nation to recognize the sovereignty of the PRC (or maybe the first western nation to do so).
People I know who are native to China seem to have a very positive image of Norway; for example, I had one very good Chinese friend who aspired to live there one day--thought it was the most beautiful country in the world. Norway is beautiful, but out of all the countries in the world, why that one? Of course, this could have been a coincidence, but it further reinforces my perception that Chinese-Norway relations are strong. My girlfriend, whose family is from Pakistan (close neighbor to China, culturally and politically), also seemed to have a glorious image of Norway.
After some quick googling, I found further evidence to support my theory:
http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zzjg/xos/gjlb/3346 /default.htm / 50%c3%a5r.htm
http://www.norway.cn/norway_and_china/anniversary
It's not surprising then, that their state policies might align. These guys really like each other.
Its possible that I'm simply missing the point, but if Tor is so effective then how exactly did a university IT guy and two campus cops find out it was in use and trace it so easily to the professor in question? Isn't anonymity the whole point?
Every technology has its limits, and the anonymity is actually pretty good. When you browse with TOR, you do these things:
The university can see that something went between TOR and one of their computers, but they have no idea what that something is or where it's going. Since anyone who can get access to a computer can use it, the university actually doesn't know who was using the computer. They can only guess because it belongs to that professor and is in his office.
If the professor had taken an extra precaution and used a computer that was not linked to his identity, there really would have been no way to catch him unless they ran over to the machine while he was on it. If were truly a sneaky bastard, he would have installed TOR along with a program to activate it and do some communications and left before it went on. At some later time he could come back to that machine briefly just to retrieve the data.
If you are in a repressive country, you could start by using TOR discretely at an internet cafe. As long as the managers of the cafe are not actively policing their clients, you won't get caught. Better still, your government has no clue and will mistake TOR for traffic they're not interested in.
Wait.. you mean it loads porn faster?
Hell yes.
We have this product for adolescent males called Windows Vista.--Bill Gates
You heard it here first.
What if your company's network weren't connected to the internet at all? Naturally, a lot of companies "need" this, but I'm sure there are other companies that can operate fine without the internet at all. Not only does it save the company from worrying about "outside" threats, but I imagine it also helps to deter inside threats. For example, look at the employee that hosted pirated software on company machines. Without the 'net, how is he going to host it?
Floppy you are to me
A work of ingenuity
I put you in
You do but spin
Reading data without
Ambiguity.
From your tracks doth spring
Bytes unerring
Except when integrity lost
In that case you'll get toss'd
But every other moment
You'll find me your proponent
For with your solemn aid
My files are portable made
~vga_init
The only way the nGage would ever succeed is if they:
1. Alow and foster homebrew (aka Mame games).
2. Have a touch screen. (Dual screen in your suggested flip design would be nice)
3. Have the ability to read SD flash cards for memory (same ones you can put in your cameras)
4. Have a USB port (well this one isn't 100% needed if they comply with #3)
5. Make game development really easy (see 1)
6. No tie in with any Cell phone provider.
I think there must be more to it than that. Gamepark Holdings did 5 out of those 6 things with the GP2X, which is modestly popular but not a big hit in the general market.
I want a self contained .app bundle type system.
Really, that's what a package is. What are you asking for exactly? For the vast majority of distros, all you have to do is download the package file and click on it, then it installs itself.
Actually, I've been reading up on news from the Fedora community, and a company called Fluendo is providing their distribution with properly licensed codecs and software. I looked at the prices on their site... kind of expensive for my taste, but at least it's out there.
this isn't a professional package at all.
If you're saying that because professionals don't use it, I'm wondering what kind of logic you are using because it doesn't exist yet.
Secondly, if you are reasoning "I'm a professional, and I don't use this software, therefore if someone uses this software, they aren't a professional," then I would also be rather skeptical of that line of thinking. Being a professional usually has to do with whether or not you are generating income, and I doubt that no one has ever profited from the use of the software that is going to be included.
Actually, I've been using Seamonkey from time to time on my workstations. I actually can't perceive a speed difference between it and Firefox.
I don't see a conflict; Slashdot doesn't hate Myspace so much as it hates people who use Myspace. In this case, the villians are BOTH Myspace users AND frivolous lawsuit filers. That means they are quite possibly the worst people on Earth in the eyes of Slashdot (with possible exceptions of spammers, crackpot scientists, Steve Ballmer, republicans, lawyers who are not Lawrence Lessig, some European countries, various christian denominations, the United States government, anyone associated with the RIAA, and whoever owns firmware to wireless ethernet devices).
Seriously, this is business as usual in the scientific community.
I'm not a skeptic of global warming. I can't tell you every little detail, but my own personal view is that society does do things that really would make the planet hotter.
My personal views aside, science is full of competing ideas. Scientists disagree. That's what they do. They've always done this, and if they didn't, we'd have lost a lot of valuable research. Yeah, there are a lot of crackpots running around, but that is a real small price to pay for progress. After all, let the crackpots have their fun, as long as science continues.
It seems to me, as other posters have mentioned, that creating a standard by which to oust scientists who believe a certain thing is repressive to science itself. Don't forget also that people who believe crazy things still provide valuable data and research, or at the very least help motivate people who are less crazy to prove that the other guy really is crazy.
I once met a girl in college that tried to prove to me that evolution was false because not all scientists agreed on the same theory. That's crazy. I've seen people post on Slashdot just now that they didn't think global warming was happening because there were multiple theories. Phenomena such as light has multiple theories, but that doesn't stop it from being light.
Right, but all it takes is one copy to be released as GPL, and then the community would fork it right away so that they don't have to risk losing any work on it to another enterprise. It would also mean that Sun might risk losing control of their system if they themselves don't stick with GPL, since they won't be able to use improvements made by the community to the GPL version unless they accept that license back.
Personally, I would find it incredibly amazing if Sun's system suddenly became the vanguard of Free software, "killing" Linux in the process. I had been following the market closely since I started using Linux years ago, and while a lot of GNU/Linux people were going head to head with Microsoft, it was obvious that what Linux was really doing was killing commercial Unix. In fact, the casualties were so bad that all big Unix vendors either converted themselves into Linux companies (IBM, Novell, Sun did Linux too) or died miserable deaths (SCO, SGI).
Sun's premier system probably had the biggest chance of standing up to Linux (popular, technically advanced), there was no way they could keep up unless they joined in on the "open source" thing. If they went in all the way and made it 100% Free, that could really shake things up. If the dispute between GPL versions becomes a big one, Sun would be poised to win big. Not only would their own system become an order of magnitude more popular, but it would also make them the Free software company. With Free products like Solaris and Java, their software is practically legendary (there is no use denying the popularity of Java, and Solaris has always been a Unix lover's darling system).
So, after all those years of "Linux is killing Unix," it would be amusing to see Sun turn the tables on that one. Don't think it can't happen, either... if large companies have proven anything, it's that they're good at absorbing the innovations of smaller entities and taking over. It's similar to how politics works in the United States--the two big parties stay on top partly by taking issues raised by small parties and making those issues their own, using their clout to "cover" the issue better and eliminating the need for the third party.
That is an interesting point you raise, but I'm not so sure things will come out exactly like that. Even if Linux is kept at GPLv2, Stallman would still recognize that system as Free. After all, he promoted this license for ages.
Now, if he prefers GPLv3, he might come out and start saying that he prefers Nexenta. Stallman is not tied to Linux, even though it completed his goal of having a complete, Free system. Linux, while GPL, has not exactly been fully behind the Free software movement a la Linus Torvalds and other "pragmatists" that look at "open source" as a practical compromise rather than a moral solution. Also, the GNU project never intended to use Linux, but its own HURD system, which so far has failed to materialize.
If I were Stallman and I were really concerned about pushing GPLv3, I would either urge the community to move to Nexenta (if it were licensed as GPLv3) or say "Look, this is why we need to complete HURD."
Well, it is generally believed that prime numbers are infinite... that is, we can count them and never run out. All this is an effort to see if we actually do run out. ;)
That is pretty much true. My reasoning is that the same could be said for most articles that Slashdot publishes. For example, ones that cite other computer technologies, such as numerous stories about PHP (what is PHP?) and linux (what is linux?). If this article assumes too much, then I guess most of the others do as well.