I don't want to start a holy war here, but what is the deal with you GUI fanatics? I've been sitting here at my freelance gig in front of 3 Ghz white box loaded with KDE for about 20 minutes now while it attempts to copy a 17 Meg file from one directory on the hard drive to another folder. 20 minutes. At home, on my Pentium Pro 200 running tsch, which by all standards should be a lot slower than KDE, the same operation would take about 2 minutes. If that.
In addition, during this file transfer, Firefox will not work. And everything else has ground to a halt. Even Pico is straining to keep up as I type this.
I won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while working on various Linux distros, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen a GUI that has run faster than its shell counterpart, despite the vast number of volunteers working on GUI/Linux. My 486/66 with 8 megs of ram runs a shell faster than this 3 Ghz machine at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that the GUI distros are superior interfaces.
GUI addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to use a GUI over other faster, cheaper, more stable systems.
You can only say that they over reacted in hindsight, once the threat was known. Before the full extent is known, they have to assume the worst case scenario based on the evidence before them.
Don't you even watch Battlestar Galactica? What kind of geek are you? =)
Five out of seven of the applications on the Google Download Page require windows. Google doesn't seem to be falling over itself trying to provide OS parity.
I think you're falling into the trap of seeing everything in black and white generalizations.
Try this:
A Most business' main goal is to maximize profit for its shareholders, [snip]
I think it is possible for profit to be the priority, and yet have ethics inform ones path to profits. If your code of business was taken to the extreme, then we'd see Steve Balmer literarily put hits on Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Think Moscow just after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
If a publicly held company states their commitment to ethics and what exactly those ethics are on it's prospectus, there really need not be a conflict.
I still don't think you appreciate how quickly this thing spread world wide, despite the rather "primitive" vectors. True, it most likely found it's breeding ground in the muddy trenches of WWI and from there moved to the Civilian population.
Today, we can cross the oceans in mere hours, not days. A pathogen similar to the Spanish Flu, unchecked, would wipe out a staggering amount of people before we even knew what hit us. If there is an outbreak, time is off the essence.
Yes, you are right, containment and isolation are the most effective countermeasures. Which is why timely information about who has been exposed is so vital. At least you are not one of those here who seems to be saying (in the name of liberty!) that they would refuse to be quarantined if exposed to such a virus. Man, that just blows my mind. I suppose it shouldn't, being born and raised in the US.
Basically, I agree that the reasons you gave were factors, but not what I would call the two main reasons. So, we'll have to agree about some things and disagree with out others.
Seriously, it's #2. It's a parody of John C. Dvorak and the like, if nothing more. There are so many clues.
Otto comes across as a very mean spirited David Sedaris. He's wincingly over the top, and his articles are like train wrecks still trying to make it into the station. I feel compelled to watch (or read, as it were) and find out where he's going to end up.
I'm pretty sure that much of the motivation for this style is page hits, but perhaps he is also trying to set himself apart, to get noticed among the din of everyone else vying for attention on the web. And I have no doubt that garnering page hits was Samzenpus's motivation. Slashdot is all about "monetizing the product" these days, if you haven't noticed.
At best you get a "you're doing something wrong". Most of the time you get no response at all, which I guess is a way of saying, "Figure it out yourself."
I don't have time to figure it all out myself every time I have a crappy software experience. That's why I don't mind paying for some of the tools I use.
Oh, I see you're in the "functionally descriptive" camp. They were all murdered in their sleep right after AOL bought netscape. I wonder how they missed you?
Anyway, you obviously didn't get a response because your name suggestions aren't BRANDABLE and free of trademark baggage. Now, I happen to agree that the developers are off base with "Firefox", and have suggested a few ideas of my own. CutePuppy is my favorite, but I think I got the best response when I suggested PornStar. Jenna Jameson has agreed to lend her image for the logo under a creative commons license, but I think that's only because she, like our dear Otto, is operating under the misapprehension that it's for an "open sores" charity.
Slashdot Mirror
I think it means he had sex with a real woman using only one finger while his baby daughter was asleep on his lap.
My grandfather pwns me on most fps games, you insensitive clod!
Also, please note the date of the original rant: November 25, 1998. =) Circa OS 8.6, I believe.
It's an oldie, but a goodie!
I don't want to start a holy war here, but what is the deal with you GUI fanatics? I've been sitting here at my freelance gig in front of 3 Ghz white box loaded with KDE for about 20 minutes now while it attempts to copy a 17 Meg file from one directory on the hard drive to another folder. 20 minutes. At home, on my Pentium Pro 200 running tsch, which by all standards should be a lot slower than KDE, the same operation would take about 2 minutes. If that.
In addition, during this file transfer, Firefox will not work. And everything else has ground to a halt. Even Pico is straining to keep up as I type this.
I won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while working on various Linux distros, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen a GUI that has run faster than its shell counterpart, despite the vast number of volunteers working on GUI/Linux. My 486/66 with 8 megs of ram runs a shell faster than this 3 Ghz machine at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that the GUI distros are superior interfaces.
GUI addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to use a GUI over other faster, cheaper, more stable systems.
Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
for SUV drivers. I can hardly wait to watch TV on my cell phone as I cruise through Los Angeles traffic in my Ford Klansman.
I'm truly amazed that there were so many serious comments before we got to this joke.
Isn't this where Taco is supposed to chime in:
"Less storage than an Archos, no wireless, lame.
Oh, wait."
I take it you don't like maple nut crunch flavored coffee?
That pretty much sums it up, 20th Century Boy. Now, back to Chet, up in the Sky9 chopper.
Two heads are better than one.
You can only say that they over reacted in hindsight, once the threat was known. Before the full extent is known, they have to assume the worst case scenario based on the evidence before them.
Don't you even watch Battlestar Galactica? What kind of geek are you? =)
Everything is better with a monkey. Can you even name one thing that is not improved with the addition of a monkey? I know I can't.
That's just an example of how Japan has fallen behind technologically, compared to other East Asian countries.
For example, in Korea, only old people use garbage disposals.
Thank you! Tip your waitress.
Right. Because that 40 Billion is stashed under a mattress, not earning any return.
Everything I needed to know in life I learned from the Players' Handbook.
The turing test is also broken. Anything seems to work.
The site didn't realize that you're a computer?
Five out of seven of the applications on the Google Download Page require windows. Google doesn't seem to be falling over itself trying to provide OS parity.
You don't think MS has gotten away with murder before?
I think you're falling into the trap of seeing everything in black and white generalizations.
Try this:
A Most business' main goal is to maximize profit for its shareholders, [snip]
I think it is possible for profit to be the priority, and yet have ethics inform ones path to profits. If your code of business was taken to the extreme, then we'd see Steve Balmer literarily put hits on Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Think Moscow just after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
If a publicly held company states their commitment to ethics and what exactly those ethics are on it's prospectus, there really need not be a conflict.
I still don't think you appreciate how quickly this thing spread world wide, despite the rather "primitive" vectors. True, it most likely found it's breeding ground in the muddy trenches of WWI and from there moved to the Civilian population.
Today, we can cross the oceans in mere hours, not days. A pathogen similar to the Spanish Flu, unchecked, would wipe out a staggering amount of people before we even knew what hit us. If there is an outbreak, time is off the essence.
Yes, you are right, containment and isolation are the most effective countermeasures. Which is why timely information about who has been exposed is so vital. At least you are not one of those here who seems to be saying (in the name of liberty!) that they would refuse to be quarantined if exposed to such a virus. Man, that just blows my mind. I suppose it shouldn't, being born and raised in the US.
Basically, I agree that the reasons you gave were factors, but not what I would call the two main reasons. So, we'll have to agree about some things and disagree with out others.
Seriously, it's #2. It's a parody of John C. Dvorak and the like, if nothing more. There are so many clues.
Otto comes across as a very mean spirited David Sedaris. He's wincingly over the top, and his articles are like train wrecks still trying to make it into the station. I feel compelled to watch (or read, as it were) and find out where he's going to end up.
I'm pretty sure that much of the motivation for this style is page hits, but perhaps he is also trying to set himself apart, to get noticed among the din of everyone else vying for attention on the web. And I have no doubt that garnering page hits was Samzenpus's motivation. Slashdot is all about "monetizing the product" these days, if you haven't noticed.
At best you get a "you're doing something wrong". Most of the time you get no response at all, which I guess is a way of saying, "Figure it out yourself."
I don't have time to figure it all out myself every time I have a crappy software experience. That's why I don't mind paying for some of the tools I use.
It's a nice change to see a joke crash land into someone's forehead rather than fly over his head. =)
Oh, I see you're in the "functionally descriptive" camp. They were all murdered in their sleep right after AOL bought netscape. I wonder how they missed you?
Anyway, you obviously didn't get a response because your name suggestions aren't BRANDABLE and free of trademark baggage. Now, I happen to agree that the developers are off base with "Firefox", and have suggested a few ideas of my own. CutePuppy is my favorite, but I think I got the best response when I suggested PornStar. Jenna Jameson has agreed to lend her image for the logo under a creative commons license, but I think that's only because she, like our dear Otto, is operating under the misapprehension that it's for an "open sores" charity.
Thanks for that correction. I was beginning to think that everyone here was a product of Kansas schools.