While you bring up some interesting and valid points let's not forget that prohibition in the 30s was largely overturned because of the criminal element. We have the same crime today centered around the drug trade but the media doesn't point to drug kingpins the way they use to point towards bootleggers. Instead they now have this fascination with the weapons used over the motives. This is a dangerous trend.
Well, the one argument that comes up is that anyone can grow the stuff. Timothy Leary approached this by saying to tax the user instead of the drug itself. This way the user would be permitted to possess, use and grow for themselves. Of course we could still have professionally made products like smokes are today.
But beyond all the banter about the actual use and production of the marijuana itself we need to look at it from a social standpoint: marijuana provides soft money for drug dealers and keeps it profitable for them to keep pushing harder stuff. Imagine the breakdown of the drug supply if it were only harder substances without dope smokers funding them? This would put more of a dent in the drug trade than all the attempts made by law enforcement. At the same time we'd free up prison space and put some dollars in the pockets of otherwise subsidized farmers who can't grow a profitable crop anymore.
And I wonder if there have ever been any hemp/biodiesel studies? Hmmmm....
Do you honestly think the vast majority of beer drinkers are doing it for the taste of beer? That's a hoot.
And to be extremely frank about it, what's wrong with altered states? Why is it as an adult that sitting in front of the tube for 4-6 hours watching guys throw around or beat around a ball while getting wasted on Coors is acceptable but smoking up and listening to some Tangerine Dream or Pink Floyd is considered bad?
I'd love a real answer to this question. And no, I'm not a pot smoker but I've spent more than enough time around alcohol to know that "social drinking" is largely a joke for the vast majority of drinkers. If you choose not to smoke dope that's great but please don't act like we don't already have an available intoxicant that isn't abused just as much. The only difference is that one can be taxed easily.
Well, all major religions are based on the same group of ideals. It's just a matter of how each promotes them.
As for Scientology? I can't say. There are just too many FUDers and conspiracy theories out there to separate what really goes on behind those doors versus what someone made up to make them look bad. It's amazing the number of fallacies out there that get spread as fact and people just follow it regardless of how false you can prove it.
Hell, you see it here where an erroneous fact is posted, modded to a +5 informative and when the truth is posted as a reply it's largely ignored. Sometimes you have to wonder if this misdirection is on purpose or if people are just that gullible.
Thanks for mentioning this. Not that I'm a player anymore but when I read the GPs claim that EQ didn't roll out new content outside of paid expansion packs my jaw nearly hit the floor.
Not to mention that ex-WoW players who I talk to who are now into EQ2 always have one thing to say about EQ2: "There's so much stuff to cover here"
My impression is that EQ2 is a larger world and considering that EQ1 went over 1000 zones something like a year and a half ago I can only imagine how big the world is there having given EQ1 up a couple of years before EQ2 came along.
Although I hear they updated EQ1 graphics. I'm not real happy about that in some nostalgic way. Maybe it's just me.
The RIAA itself does not manufacture or distribute any of these recordings. The RIAA is an advocacy group. The do not control the product, they do not decide what does and does not get published. Even on their sponsor labels they have no control of what gets produced. How can you be a monopoly if you don't control anything?
If Sony wanted to put out an album of a homeless guy banging on an empty garbage can and screaming obscenities there's is nothing the RIAA can do to stop it. (See Yoko Ono for reference)
If Island Records decides that it wants to make Anthrax's Persistence of Time album public domain there is nothing the RIAA can do to stop it.
If Columbia wanted to pull every album they publish off the shelves and take it all out of print there is nothing the RIAA can do to stop it.
So if the RIAA loses sales, its not because more people are buying indie band CDs or downloading non-RIAA songs, its because of those pirates never ever because most of the music is more noise then music.
Ok, so you go find a truely indy band and compare the number of hits you get for them versus the number of hits you get for, say, Pink Floyd on eMule. You'll find that at least a good portion of the RIAAs suspicions are well founded. If it were really a matter of so many people turning to P2P to get non-RIAA music than why is it that for years we've seen an RIAA story about every 2 days and 97% of those involve lawsuits? Why is it that tens of thousands have already settled? Let's not be ridiculous about the numbers here. Most of the music available on P2P networks is from RIAA sponsor labels and most of it is still in print.
The RIAA has no logic, they are used to being a monopoly.
Uh, since when? Indy has been around for longer than the RIAA. Maybe your politics (or more likely your fear of prosecution) has finally opened your eyes to the "indy" labels/bands but they've been around for a long time and the RIAA is neither a monopoly nor a music producing company. You've had a choice all along. These people bitching about the artists supposedly getting pennies per sale have had the same choice all along too. No one got uptight and self righteous until they found a way to get free music and suddenly started getting busted for it. If P2P and MP3 didn't exist today 99% of the people on here who bitch and moan about the RIAA would still be buying their product because if they want the music they'd have little choice. The only thing that has made this such a hotplate issue for the masses is that the labels can't beat the "free" price tag.
The vast majority of those involved in this issue have little to do with this pseudo-political awareness squabbling about copyright, fair use and home recording that goes on here and even fewer give a damn about the artists.
Even when we win we lose.
Win what? Free music? Someone's got to lose in that case because anytime a product is produced money and/or time is involved someone has to pitch in to see the product come to existance. Otherwise it's just an idea rolling around in someone's head. So feel free to think that downloading music is a "win" situation but unless people put their money where their mouth is and support the artists who's music they take there will be a general decline in music.
Or if you mean "win" in the case of defacing a website? You know, I kind of cheer these people (website hackers) on in a real shallow way but when you deface a page and just put up slop in it's place I feel really cheap for doing it. In this case these guys had all the tact of hacking the NAACP's website just to throw up pictures of Klan lynchings with a bunch of hate speech written by a 12 year old. They had an opportunity to make a real statement and they blew it. If they get caught I won't feel bad for them as their motive appeared to be little more than to destroy something just to destroy it. These guys aren't doing a peace sit-in for God's sake, they're poking fun at a section of the music industry. Let's try to keep some perspective on their place in all of this.
When it comes right down to it if the music is crap and not worth the price don't buy it. If you're stealing it you're proving that the labels still have viable product and that they're losing money. The only way to tell the labels that they have a product that isn't worth buying is to boycott it in every way. Or do you think the store owner who has his store broken into thinks that he should charge less for his product to avoid future theft?
What does any of that have to do with a setting in WSUS?
If you're using WSUS the rules still apply and the individuals would have no say-so anyway. If you're not using WSUS the story doesn't apply. In other words, this is not a Windows Update release in the typical home user sense. This is a WSUS update and non-WSUS users will not be effected by it.
Include in your e-mail that as long as their WSUS isn't set to auto-accept that this does not apply to them. Also include in the e-mail that if their WSUS is set to auto-accept than why are you paying admins the big bucks?
I wasn't implying that Fischer had Asperger's. I was making a statement about how those with issues such as mental illness or Asperger's (if you choose not to see it as a mental illness) should be judged with a bit of sympathy due to a condition that they have no reliable control over.
In a more simplistic sense it's like saying not to blame someone for lying if they think that they're telling the truth. To sit and call everyone who has even stated an erroneous fact as a liar is a pretty harsh judgement. In some cases they are, in some cases they're simply misinformed. Not to say that they couldn't stand a bit of correction and that the facts shouldn't be set straight but in the case of the mentally ill it's not so simple.
There are a number of books out there by and about Fischer. If you're looking just for a book involving his insights into chess My 60 Memorable Games is a great work by Fischer.
We warned, tho, it's not for the casual chess player. I read it at a point when I studied a lot of chess and considered myself (and was considered by others) to be a pretty good chess player. As far as chess books go it's a pretty hard read. Also note that according to one of the Amazon reviewers that there are several editions of this book. I have a 1st edition copy so YMMV by which edition you pick up.
Perhaps your correct. But my understanding is that it's a mental condition with possible genetic roots. (of course, I'm not a doctor). I think as our understanding of mental illenss evolves we're going to see more of this. Just look at John Nash and his son.
We have a ton we just don't know yet. It's going to be an interesting trip.
It really sounds like he succumbed to hate and had to disappear at times simply because he knew he couldn't exist in the real world
Actually, the man succumbed to mental illness. Hopefully you're never in a position to pass any meaningful judgement on people who have these kinds of issues.
Or what would you tell the readers on this site that lay claims to having Asperger's syndrome or a close relative of such? Would you tell them that it serves them right and that they're just a bunch of misfits?
If anything Fischer's legacy outside of chess should be to show people that extreme talent and insight in a small area gives no one any special insight into anything else. Maybe actors and singers should take note of that.
I thought humor was supposed to be funny, and preferably original, and this fails on both counts.
If you fail to see the humor in it than you do need to check into getting a sense of humor.
"Do you want fries with that", unadorned, ceased counting as slashdot humor around 10 years ago.
The term is both much older than and much more encompassing than Slashdot. I'm not one of the Slashdot users who live and die by what's going on around here, thankfully. There are already far too many users here who can't relate to the real world and that don't understand that the ramblings of 50,000 or so (myself included) geeks doesn't count for anything in the real world.
Usually it's a mark of Engineer scorn for Liberal Artists; here it was just trotted out as a fairly damning accusation that this young programmer was already hosed career-wise; an accusation that deserved at least some kind of support.
Yeah, meaning that the future of the industry is bleak. It is but my comment was meant tongue-in-cheek. I'm surprised you didn't bust on the guy who said "girls and parties" as trying to derail this impressionable young man from his future career.
Buy a $400 WindowsCE thin-client that doesn't have a hard drive and requires a server just to boot, or buy a $200 shuttle with a hard drive and a web browser.
The fact is that those numbers simply don't wash since we see full Windows systems today for about 300 with Vista and better specs than what this system offers. It also includes an optical drive.
Ultimately the argument isn't against a Linux PC in total but rather *this* Linux PC. I still think that there is a fair crowd that is going to be disillusioned with Linux as it is today but anyone can build a better system with Linux on it for nearly the same price. There are better barebones systems with optical drives that are killers compared to this lightweight excuse for a desktop.
Flash player and PDF reader are available direct from Adobe. Additionaly, there are several open source flassh players, and PDF renderers are everywhere. Open source Action Script compiler here. Blender can directly generate Flash movies as good as anything produced anywhere, while lots of other Linux programs can produce some Flash output;
Premier? Illustrator? GoLive? PhotoShop? Just to name a few...
Open Office; KOffice;
As has been pointed out *many* times before; these are not the same as MS Office. Blame whomever you want but there are features that are offered in MSO that simply do not exist in these alternatives. It's not a debate about if a substitute good enough for Joe Sixpack can be found, it was a question of having software packages that aren't available on Linux which had better features than the Linux alternative.
Starry nights? Hell! you know the professionals use Linux, don't you?
I'm not a pro. Name me a software package available to me for Linux that is just as good as Starry Night and as feature filled. Again, you're missing the point of why I listed this software.
Anything you want to do with more or less any GPS - from professional navigation for shipping (although that's proprietary and expensive) to mapping your walks in the woods - is available. What is it you want to do?
Again, you're missing the point. But since you ask: Find me software for my Garmin iQue M5 that does map management (detailed map uploading and trip history downloading) but does not require me to break any of the functionality of the unit.
unless you want the whole buying mp3s legally online from *zomg shiney white plastic* apple.
Yeah, because supporting artists you listen to is a terrible thing.
And don't even start with this GIMP and OO being a replacement thing. Maybe for most, yes, but not for me. I was asked to name one software package that wasn't available for Linux for which there are no substitutes that are at least equal to the Windows/Apple alternative and I came up with a laundry list of them and these are just things I use myself. I can't even imagine the kinds of problems you run into when you're doing stuff the involves things like CAD. So you're debating something without putting it into the context of why I presented it to make Linux look better. In turn you've proven my point.
BTW: GIMP may be a suitable replacement in most cases for Photoshop but Photoshop is a small (and becoming smaller) part of Adobe's overall offerings. Adobe and the rest of the world are quickly moving on while GIMP is just, well, gimping along. I do agree that most people would find this usable. I've tried it myself (on Windows, I don't use my Linux machine for much outside of learning about Linux) and for a free software package it's actually pretty slick.
cakewalk/fruity loops/starry night sound more like partydrugs to me then windows apps (so, not familiar with them), so i cant offer any suggestions.
And you had to slag them why? It's one thing to admit that you know little about a software package but so far you've done nothing but make fun of people who use them. Cracking on iTunes because people don't mind supporting artist? Making it sound like some software is drug related? WTF? Why can't you stick with the topic instead of blindly poking fun in a poor attempt to make your argument seem more solid?
Just a FYI: Fruity Loops and Cakewalk are music production software (they offer packages from novice to professional) and Starry Night happens to be one of the best (if not the best) software package for amateur astronomy. But you could have googled that yourself instead of slighting them.
But except for the office/media player software you suggested all your stuff can probably be grouped into the "specialist software" category the GP suggested, highly useful software for professionals, but not something joe sixpack cant do without.
I don't recall the GP suggesting that at all. But in either case you're pretty much dead wrong. Why is it that the Linux community thinks that applications outside of an Office suite and a graphics package is specialist? Hell, for as good as MS Paint is you may as well consider GIMP a specialist software by your terms. I thought PCs were for people to use to do the things that they want or need to. Frankly, outside of the work environment, how many people use an Office suite more than they use a music program like iTunes? And yes, if you have not used it, iTunes can be used for a buttload more than buying songs.
His point wasnt that linux is ready for everyone, but rather that regular joe sixpack can do most of his/her daily tasks on a linux system as well as on a windows machine, with which i tend to agree.
Again, the GP asked me to name one software package that was not available for Linux and that Linux offered no equivalent for in the same utilitarian fashion. I named several that I use. That's what the deal was. And I'm sure I can come up with more but I just went from the names that came into my head at the time.
oh, and i kinda agree with the GPS software thing, but i tend to see that more as a device driver / hardware support problem, in which case i have biffer fish to fry then my GPS device
I'll be honest and say that I know little about the standards (if there are any, I'd like to think there is) involved with the GPS thing. My Garmin is actually a PDA running Windows Mobile so I actually do forgive the lack of Linux software.
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While you bring up some interesting and valid points let's not forget that prohibition in the 30s was largely overturned because of the criminal element. We have the same crime today centered around the drug trade but the media doesn't point to drug kingpins the way they use to point towards bootleggers. Instead they now have this fascination with the weapons used over the motives. This is a dangerous trend.
Really?
And there are cheaper and more expensive models available. How about putting these up against a USB drive?
The bottomline is that these prices are all artificial and just comes down to what the customer is willing to pay.
Well, the one argument that comes up is that anyone can grow the stuff. Timothy Leary approached this by saying to tax the user instead of the drug itself. This way the user would be permitted to possess, use and grow for themselves. Of course we could still have professionally made products like smokes are today.
But beyond all the banter about the actual use and production of the marijuana itself we need to look at it from a social standpoint: marijuana provides soft money for drug dealers and keeps it profitable for them to keep pushing harder stuff. Imagine the breakdown of the drug supply if it were only harder substances without dope smokers funding them? This would put more of a dent in the drug trade than all the attempts made by law enforcement. At the same time we'd free up prison space and put some dollars in the pockets of otherwise subsidized farmers who can't grow a profitable crop anymore.
And I wonder if there have ever been any hemp/biodiesel studies? Hmmmm....
Do you honestly think the vast majority of beer drinkers are doing it for the taste of beer? That's a hoot.
And to be extremely frank about it, what's wrong with altered states? Why is it as an adult that sitting in front of the tube for 4-6 hours watching guys throw around or beat around a ball while getting wasted on Coors is acceptable but smoking up and listening to some Tangerine Dream or Pink Floyd is considered bad?
I'd love a real answer to this question. And no, I'm not a pot smoker but I've spent more than enough time around alcohol to know that "social drinking" is largely a joke for the vast majority of drinkers. If you choose not to smoke dope that's great but please don't act like we don't already have an available intoxicant that isn't abused just as much. The only difference is that one can be taxed easily.
The idea that people can do what they normally need to do in OO doesn't mean that MSO isn't better.
Most people can use GIMP or MS Paint for most things they do graphically too but that doesn't mean that Photoshop isn't the superior graphics package.
When will people stop twisting their needs into being the end-all and be-all of the computing experience?
And to be honest? How many home users really buy MSO anyway? It's really not a question of economics for 99% of home MSO users.
I heard this happened to Hannibal Lechter after he got a liver from a census taker.
Well, all major religions are based on the same group of ideals. It's just a matter of how each promotes them.
As for Scientology? I can't say. There are just too many FUDers and conspiracy theories out there to separate what really goes on behind those doors versus what someone made up to make them look bad. It's amazing the number of fallacies out there that get spread as fact and people just follow it regardless of how false you can prove it.
Hell, you see it here where an erroneous fact is posted, modded to a +5 informative and when the truth is posted as a reply it's largely ignored. Sometimes you have to wonder if this misdirection is on purpose or if people are just that gullible.
Thanks for mentioning this. Not that I'm a player anymore but when I read the GPs claim that EQ didn't roll out new content outside of paid expansion packs my jaw nearly hit the floor.
Not to mention that ex-WoW players who I talk to who are now into EQ2 always have one thing to say about EQ2: "There's so much stuff to cover here"
My impression is that EQ2 is a larger world and considering that EQ1 went over 1000 zones something like a year and a half ago I can only imagine how big the world is there having given EQ1 up a couple of years before EQ2 came along.
Although I hear they updated EQ1 graphics. I'm not real happy about that in some nostalgic way. Maybe it's just me.
And don't think that only big labels are members of the RIAA. 'Giant' labels such as Taang!, Equal Vision and Wrong Records are RIAA members.
The RIAA itself does not manufacture or distribute any of these recordings. The RIAA is an advocacy group. The do not control the product, they do not decide what does and does not get published. Even on their sponsor labels they have no control of what gets produced. How can you be a monopoly if you don't control anything?
If Sony wanted to put out an album of a homeless guy banging on an empty garbage can and screaming obscenities there's is nothing the RIAA can do to stop it. (See Yoko Ono for reference)
If Island Records decides that it wants to make Anthrax's Persistence of Time album public domain there is nothing the RIAA can do to stop it.
If Columbia wanted to pull every album they publish off the shelves and take it all out of print there is nothing the RIAA can do to stop it.
Some monopoly. They have zero control.
So if the RIAA loses sales, its not because more people are buying indie band CDs or downloading non-RIAA songs, its because of those pirates never ever because most of the music is more noise then music.
Ok, so you go find a truely indy band and compare the number of hits you get for them versus the number of hits you get for, say, Pink Floyd on eMule. You'll find that at least a good portion of the RIAAs suspicions are well founded. If it were really a matter of so many people turning to P2P to get non-RIAA music than why is it that for years we've seen an RIAA story about every 2 days and 97% of those involve lawsuits? Why is it that tens of thousands have already settled? Let's not be ridiculous about the numbers here. Most of the music available on P2P networks is from RIAA sponsor labels and most of it is still in print.
The RIAA has no logic, they are used to being a monopoly.
Uh, since when? Indy has been around for longer than the RIAA. Maybe your politics (or more likely your fear of prosecution) has finally opened your eyes to the "indy" labels/bands but they've been around for a long time and the RIAA is neither a monopoly nor a music producing company. You've had a choice all along. These people bitching about the artists supposedly getting pennies per sale have had the same choice all along too. No one got uptight and self righteous until they found a way to get free music and suddenly started getting busted for it. If P2P and MP3 didn't exist today 99% of the people on here who bitch and moan about the RIAA would still be buying their product because if they want the music they'd have little choice. The only thing that has made this such a hotplate issue for the masses is that the labels can't beat the "free" price tag.
The vast majority of those involved in this issue have little to do with this pseudo-political awareness squabbling about copyright, fair use and home recording that goes on here and even fewer give a damn about the artists.
Even when we win we lose.
Win what? Free music? Someone's got to lose in that case because anytime a product is produced money and/or time is involved someone has to pitch in to see the product come to existance. Otherwise it's just an idea rolling around in someone's head. So feel free to think that downloading music is a "win" situation but unless people put their money where their mouth is and support the artists who's music they take there will be a general decline in music.
Or if you mean "win" in the case of defacing a website? You know, I kind of cheer these people (website hackers) on in a real shallow way but when you deface a page and just put up slop in it's place I feel really cheap for doing it. In this case these guys had all the tact of hacking the NAACP's website just to throw up pictures of Klan lynchings with a bunch of hate speech written by a 12 year old. They had an opportunity to make a real statement and they blew it. If they get caught I won't feel bad for them as their motive appeared to be little more than to destroy something just to destroy it. These guys aren't doing a peace sit-in for God's sake, they're poking fun at a section of the music industry. Let's try to keep some perspective on their place in all of this.
When it comes right down to it if the music is crap and not worth the price don't buy it. If you're stealing it you're proving that the labels still have viable product and that they're losing money. The only way to tell the labels that they have a product that isn't worth buying is to boycott it in every way. Or do you think the store owner who has his store broken into thinks that he should charge less for his product to avoid future theft?
What does any of that have to do with a setting in WSUS?
If you're using WSUS the rules still apply and the individuals would have no say-so anyway. If you're not using WSUS the story doesn't apply. In other words, this is not a Windows Update release in the typical home user sense. This is a WSUS update and non-WSUS users will not be effected by it.
Include in your e-mail that as long as their WSUS isn't set to auto-accept that this does not apply to them. Also include in the e-mail that if their WSUS is set to auto-accept than why are you paying admins the big bucks?
Every four years I vote in the American presidential election
The real question for that is if you vote for the one that is as crazy as an outhouse rat or the one that is pure genius.
All too often people make it sound like there is no middle ground.
I wasn't implying that Fischer had Asperger's. I was making a statement about how those with issues such as mental illness or Asperger's (if you choose not to see it as a mental illness) should be judged with a bit of sympathy due to a condition that they have no reliable control over.
In a more simplistic sense it's like saying not to blame someone for lying if they think that they're telling the truth. To sit and call everyone who has even stated an erroneous fact as a liar is a pretty harsh judgement. In some cases they are, in some cases they're simply misinformed. Not to say that they couldn't stand a bit of correction and that the facts shouldn't be set straight but in the case of the mentally ill it's not so simple.
There are a number of books out there by and about Fischer. If you're looking just for a book involving his insights into chess My 60 Memorable Games is a great work by Fischer.
We warned, tho, it's not for the casual chess player. I read it at a point when I studied a lot of chess and considered myself (and was considered by others) to be a pretty good chess player. As far as chess books go it's a pretty hard read. Also note that according to one of the Amazon reviewers that there are several editions of this book. I have a 1st edition copy so YMMV by which edition you pick up.
Perhaps your correct. But my understanding is that it's a mental condition with possible genetic roots. (of course, I'm not a doctor). I think as our understanding of mental illenss evolves we're going to see more of this. Just look at John Nash and his son.
We have a ton we just don't know yet. It's going to be an interesting trip.
It really sounds like he succumbed to hate and had to disappear at times simply because he knew he couldn't exist in the real world
Actually, the man succumbed to mental illness. Hopefully you're never in a position to pass any meaningful judgement on people who have these kinds of issues.
Or what would you tell the readers on this site that lay claims to having Asperger's syndrome or a close relative of such? Would you tell them that it serves them right and that they're just a bunch of misfits?
If anything Fischer's legacy outside of chess should be to show people that extreme talent and insight in a small area gives no one any special insight into anything else. Maybe actors and singers should take note of that.
I kinda thought that when I first seen the headline, that it might be a Pitfall movie.
Couldn't be any worse than most other movies but I still wouldn't want to see it.
Quick! Hire him as an editor!
This must be surreal in person
If you think that is surreal you gotta try the acid. It'll blow your mind!
I thought humor was supposed to be funny, and preferably original, and this fails on both counts.
If you fail to see the humor in it than you do need to check into getting a sense of humor.
"Do you want fries with that", unadorned, ceased counting as slashdot humor around 10 years ago.
The term is both much older than and much more encompassing than Slashdot. I'm not one of the Slashdot users who live and die by what's going on around here, thankfully. There are already far too many users here who can't relate to the real world and that don't understand that the ramblings of 50,000 or so (myself included) geeks doesn't count for anything in the real world.
Usually it's a mark of Engineer scorn for Liberal Artists; here it was just trotted out as a fairly damning accusation that this young programmer was already hosed career-wise; an accusation that deserved at least some kind of support.
Yeah, meaning that the future of the industry is bleak. It is but my comment was meant tongue-in-cheek. I'm surprised you didn't bust on the guy who said "girls and parties" as trying to derail this impressionable young man from his future career.
Buy a $400 WindowsCE thin-client that doesn't have a hard drive and requires a server just to boot, or buy a $200 shuttle with a hard drive and a web browser.
The fact is that those numbers simply don't wash since we see full Windows systems today for about 300 with Vista and better specs than what this system offers. It also includes an optical drive.
Ultimately the argument isn't against a Linux PC in total but rather *this* Linux PC. I still think that there is a fair crowd that is going to be disillusioned with Linux as it is today but anyone can build a better system with Linux on it for nearly the same price. There are better barebones systems with optical drives that are killers compared to this lightweight excuse for a desktop.
Flash player and PDF reader are available direct from Adobe. Additionaly, there are several open source flassh players, and PDF renderers are everywhere. Open source Action Script compiler here. Blender can directly generate Flash movies as good as anything produced anywhere, while lots of other Linux programs can produce some Flash output;
Premier? Illustrator? GoLive? PhotoShop? Just to name a few...
Open Office; KOffice;
As has been pointed out *many* times before; these are not the same as MS Office. Blame whomever you want but there are features that are offered in MSO that simply do not exist in these alternatives. It's not a debate about if a substitute good enough for Joe Sixpack can be found, it was a question of having software packages that aren't available on Linux which had better features than the Linux alternative.
Starry nights? Hell! you know the professionals use Linux, don't you?
I'm not a pro. Name me a software package available to me for Linux that is just as good as Starry Night and as feature filled. Again, you're missing the point of why I listed this software.
Anything you want to do with more or less any GPS - from professional navigation for shipping (although that's proprietary and expensive) to mapping your walks in the woods - is available. What is it you want to do?
Again, you're missing the point. But since you ask: Find me software for my Garmin iQue M5 that does map management (detailed map uploading and trip history downloading) but does not require me to break any of the functionality of the unit.
unless you want the whole buying mp3s legally online from *zomg shiney white plastic* apple.
Yeah, because supporting artists you listen to is a terrible thing.
And don't even start with this GIMP and OO being a replacement thing. Maybe for most, yes, but not for me. I was asked to name one software package that wasn't available for Linux for which there are no substitutes that are at least equal to the Windows/Apple alternative and I came up with a laundry list of them and these are just things I use myself. I can't even imagine the kinds of problems you run into when you're doing stuff the involves things like CAD. So you're debating something without putting it into the context of why I presented it to make Linux look better. In turn you've proven my point.
BTW: GIMP may be a suitable replacement in most cases for Photoshop but Photoshop is a small (and becoming smaller) part of Adobe's overall offerings. Adobe and the rest of the world are quickly moving on while GIMP is just, well, gimping along. I do agree that most people would find this usable. I've tried it myself (on Windows, I don't use my Linux machine for much outside of learning about Linux) and for a free software package it's actually pretty slick.
cakewalk/fruity loops/starry night sound more like partydrugs to me then windows apps (so, not familiar with them), so i cant offer any suggestions.
And you had to slag them why? It's one thing to admit that you know little about a software package but so far you've done nothing but make fun of people who use them. Cracking on iTunes because people don't mind supporting artist? Making it sound like some software is drug related? WTF? Why can't you stick with the topic instead of blindly poking fun in a poor attempt to make your argument seem more solid?
Just a FYI: Fruity Loops and Cakewalk are music production software (they offer packages from novice to professional) and Starry Night happens to be one of the best (if not the best) software package for amateur astronomy. But you could have googled that yourself instead of slighting them.
But except for the office/media player software you suggested all your stuff can probably be grouped into the "specialist software" category the GP suggested, highly useful software for professionals, but not something joe sixpack cant do without.
I don't recall the GP suggesting that at all. But in either case you're pretty much dead wrong. Why is it that the Linux community thinks that applications outside of an Office suite and a graphics package is specialist? Hell, for as good as MS Paint is you may as well consider GIMP a specialist software by your terms. I thought PCs were for people to use to do the things that they want or need to. Frankly, outside of the work environment, how many people use an Office suite more than they use a music program like iTunes? And yes, if you have not used it, iTunes can be used for a buttload more than buying songs.
His point wasnt that linux is ready for everyone, but rather that regular joe sixpack can do most of his/her daily tasks on a linux system as well as on a windows machine, with which i tend to agree.
Again, the GP asked me to name one software package that was not available for Linux and that Linux offered no equivalent for in the same utilitarian fashion. I named several that I use. That's what the deal was. And I'm sure I can come up with more but I just went from the names that came into my head at the time.
oh, and i kinda agree with the GPS software thing, but i tend to see that more as a device driver / hardware support problem, in which case i have biffer fish to fry then my GPS device
I'll be honest and say that I know little about the standards (if there are any, I'd like to think there is) involved with the GPS thing. My Garmin is actually a PDA running Windows Mobile so I actually do forgive the lack of Linux software.