I hate seeing this argument so much because it give the inference that Open Source products are only better because they are free. If you think that is what Open Source is about, you missed the point.
The strength of Open Source is it allows more eyes to scrutinize and more ideas into the camp of software development.
Ah. But being free, that is _exactly_ what Free Software is about. If you think that the open source development model is the same philosophy as the Free Software one, you missed the point as well.
The music industry on the other hand, they should be eliminated since they are no longer needed in the Internet age.
Not entirely true. They do a lot of marketing. Without that, Britney Spears would not have had a chance. The songs themselves are not that good. And she wouldn't have had the money for all those expensive outfits in expensive videoclips.
Not sure whether that would be a bad thing, but face it: Internet is not magic pixie dust. You still need marketing which is what the music industry does.
Please, there have been innumerable cases of credit card databases being stolen and that's just the cases we've found out about (so no more over-abused waiter myth).
And fortunately that never happens in real life? I did not claim that it was completely safe, all I said was that it's not unsafe compared to what happens in real life. _Especially_ not because of the reimbursements, indeed.
And there have not been "innumerable cases of credit card databases being stolen", it just makes a larger impact because it's big news. I am positive that in the same timespan just as many creditcards are being used fraudulently because they are physically stolen or copied, although since those are always stand-alone cases you hardly ever hear about it.
Actually, your idea of free posting in the beginning would still give trolls and 'baits a free ride.
I would like to raise the barrier to make sure that people think twice before posting. To see their post as an investment (after all, it costs them initially but if it's good enough they earn karma etcetera) and thus make sure they post high quality.
I hear a lot of people say that e-commerce is slow to take off in Europe because credit-cards are not widespread. This is only a half-truth. In Germany at least you have three options:
For German sites, yes. The beauty of e-commerce would be that you can order around the entire globe (I get my DVDs from Australia, my books from England and some geek stuff from the USA). However, if you want to do that, a creditcard remains a must.
So in the future I will have to pay a cent per article and two if I want to comment. Moderation in 5 cents a point?
No, here's the deal. It does cost one cent to comment (after all you are using Slashdot to punish your thoughts). However, if you are moderated up from your original score, your post is free. After all, your post definitely contributes to Slashdot.
Furthermore, users who have high karma no longer get bother with banner ads anymore, since all the trolls would generate enough income for/. to give the elite (and karma whores) a break.
Posting anonymously costs more because of the complications to scramble the connection between payment and post.
I think it would make the forum a lot more valuable. On the other hand, more reason to abuse the mod system.
This will be a positive boost for e-commerce activity. Many users do not shop on the Internet because they are afraid of giving out their creditcard information. Or here in Europe, because they do not have one because creditcards are not as widespread as in Northern America.
Of course, if you order a lot on-line then this won't be convenient at all. Think 'cell phone', the only people who do not have one do not make calls on the road often. So the only users who will use this will be the casual ones - still a huge market!
I'll stick with my creditcard though. Unsafe? I doubt it, I've been using it on-line for six years now and I have not encountered any false transaction yet. There's a bigger chance that some vague waiter at the restaurant copies your details when your card is out of sight than a cracker decrypting your SSL connection or breaking into your favourite e-shop.
Even if it is inflammatory, that does not mean you have to respond like that. You could also just reply: "I disagree that KDE is ahead, because even though it does A, B and C, GNOME does A, B, D and F!".
Personally I do think KDE is ahead of GNOME, but so what? First of all KDE started earlier and maybe even more important: many of the good things in KDE are there because GNOME is making good things also. Developers of neither project can sit on their arses and be lazy, they keep each other going.
KDE would not be what it is today without GNOME, likewise would GNOME not be what it is today (or even be at all) if it hadn't been for KDE.
They mention KDE 2.0 Beta and GNOME 1.2, I'm positive that most distributions ship with more recent versions of these desktop environments.
How old is this article anyway? (couldn't find a date on it so soon)
That sounds pretty scary. It might even mean that if I created a domain called "xpenhancer.com" to sell a multiple-desktop tool for Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft could legally take the domain away.
No, because your product would not compete with Windows XP itself, in fact, it would require one to use it in order for your product to be successful.
AIMster is a product similar to AIM. If it were an add-on to integrate your Buddies in a LDAP enviromnent or whatever, I doubt AOL would've cared much.
Ahh rewriting history. Many people did work on Harmony. The problem was, the main KDE developers worked for TrollTech and refused to even consider using Harmony for *anything*, even if it turned out better than Qt.
Harmony was supposed to be a drop-in replacement, much like Lesstif is for Motif. So even if KDE recommended Free Qt, it would not have been necessary and you could have used GPLed KDE with (L?)GPLed Harmony and be merry.
It became clear that Harmony had little future because of the control TrollTech had over the KDE project.
The only influence from Trolltech came from the KDE developers there. At the time they felt that the Free Qt license was sufficient for KDE largely based on the good cooperation between KDE and Troll.
As soon as the KDE community grew and the license was no longer sufficient Qt was released under the QPL. Community pressure continued and Qt was released under the GPL as well.
(from another post)
Not sure. Qt licensing changed *because* of pressure from the community. So was it well-placed trust or just luck ?
If a company changes its license twice because of community pressure than I think trust in that company was well-placed.
While it is always sad when a person passes away, especially good writers, I must admit - as harsh as it sounds - that it does not affect me a lot. The HHGTTG was marvellous and will always be, that is not going to change.
My condoleances to his friends and family who have lost more than a great author.
Anyway, I'm noticing a lot of KDE trolling going on here... It may just be me, I'm not sure, but it really seems to me that a lot of KDE users like to cut on Gnome really badly. I don't see the same thing coming from Gnome users, I wonder why this is, I'm not inferring anything, I'm honestly curious.
Trolling indeed, the GNOME camp would never cut on KDE badly for certain licensing issues. Which is fine by me, each to his or her own, but claiming it's a one way street is nonsense. Where two fight, two are guilty.
Take a look at Konqueror, it has the UGLIEST interface I've seen since I stopped using motif apps. Look at the buttons, they're hideous! And they way they are dithered when they are inactive, it's God awfully hideous looking!
Some of the people who replied here claimed they could create nicer buttons in their sleep, so why don't they and create a theme or have someone put them in kdeartwork?
Even better.. both GNOME and KDE has similar components: it shouldn't be that hard to create a theme archive which works with both. Both need a back and forth button in a browser. Icons are just icons. We've got cooperation on drag and drop, desktop files, why not themes? Sure, there would be some GNOME/KDE specific config files in such a theme archive, but the icons can be the same..
Control Center -> Icons -> Advanced -> Toolbar (set Effect for Disabled to Gray, not semi-transparent)
I *HATE* panels that stretch across the whole bottom/top/side of the screen.
Good for you, the panel in KDE 2.2 can be configured with a maximum width.
I hope I don't start a flame fest, that's not my intention...
Except for the trolling start, I think you succeeded even though I think "ugly" is a weak argument because it would take only one talented artist to change all that.
To me that just says they're naive. Look at the history of BSD if you want to know why trusting someone who could negatively affect your work is a bad thing.
No, it's naive to trust everything and everyone. It's paranoia to trust noone at all, ever.
It's perfectly normal to trust a few, based on the situation, which is what the KDE team did.
Besides, alienating yourself from people who you distrust is not the way to go. Had everyone who distrusted the Trolls worked on the free Qt replacement (Harmony) instead of GNOME, we would have had one desktop now and less flamewars.
But it was just wrong for KDE to pick the poisoned apple no matter how tempting, and the fact they still don't seem to understand why is a problem.
That, or you could admit that the trust the KDE team placed in Trolltech was just.
On June 22, 1998 they KDE and Trolltech created a foundation to ensure Trolltech couldn't lock Qt away
meanwhile other KDE developers worked on a free Qt version
Quite a few KDE developers work for Trolltech (some at key positions) so the relationship is quite good and there is a good understanding within the Trolls of the needs of KDE
Trolltech developed the QPL almost specifically because of KDE issues
Trolltech released Qt under the GPL, again to benefit KDE
Over the course of 5 years (1997-2001), Trolltech has never had the intention to screw up KDE or free software. Trolltech always accepted patches and even gave official permission for some alternate distributions.
The KDE team trusted the Trolls. I can understand why you were wary of KDE for doing so, but in the end it looks to me like that trust was just well-placed.
It's not so much that it picks a *right* answer out of all possible answers, but rather, the impossible states collapse and you are left with a quantum superposition of all the possible states. (Or, to try to put it more simply, those answers that cannot exist cease to exist, leaving only those answers that can exist.)
The GPL makes perfect sense. It's not always the right tool for the right job, but it makes perfect business sense:
One more time: you do not have to accept the GPL to use GPLed software. Only when you choose to redistribute that code or modifactions / derivatives of it, you have to face the GPL.
You can write proprietary applications that interact with GPLed software. You can even look at the source to study the API at no cost and without any obligation.
It even makes sense to write GPLed software in case you want to take advantage of the open source development model. In this case, the BSD license is more trouble for companies because in that case they lose total control, with the GPL they will at least have enforced that any modifications or derivatives can be merged back if desired. But perhaps a NPL/MPL style license makes more sense as business model when writing software.
It does make business sense if you do not use GPLed libraries. The FSF deliberately promotes the use of GPLed libraries so that the community can have an advantage over proprietary developers.
So thanks for noticing that the GPL can be used against businesses, but this was intentional in this case. So let's not get mad at Mundie or Caldera, some of us did this on purpose. We just need to make clear that when it comes to libraries, there is the LGPL: it makes perfect business sense to use LGPLed libraries.
It usually takes 5-10 minutes to set up a burn, then 15 minutes or more (on a 4X burner) to burn the disk. If you do this more than one or two times a day, you need a life...
If you would actively watch the progress bar for ten minutes, then I highly agree. But I doubt most people do that, the burning process will continue just as fine when you're doing something else.
Slashdot Mirror
Would that be the stuff that matters then? :-)
The strength of Open Source is it allows more eyes to scrutinize and more ideas into the camp of software development.
Ah. But being free, that is _exactly_ what Free Software is about. If you think that the open source development model is the same philosophy as the Free Software one, you missed the point as well.
Because you can.
Not entirely true. They do a lot of marketing. Without that, Britney Spears would not have had a chance. The songs themselves are not that good. And she wouldn't have had the money for all those expensive outfits in expensive videoclips.
Not sure whether that would be a bad thing, but face it: Internet is not magic pixie dust. You still need marketing which is what the music industry does.
And fortunately that never happens in real life? I did not claim that it was completely safe, all I said was that it's not unsafe compared to what happens in real life. _Especially_ not because of the reimbursements, indeed.
And there have not been "innumerable cases of credit card databases being stolen", it just makes a larger impact because it's big news. I am positive that in the same timespan just as many creditcards are being used fraudulently because they are physically stolen or copied, although since those are always stand-alone cases you hardly ever hear about it.
Actually, your idea of free posting in the beginning would still give trolls and 'baits a free ride.
I would like to raise the barrier to make sure that people think twice before posting. To see their post as an investment (after all, it costs them initially but if it's good enough they earn karma etcetera) and thus make sure they post high quality.
For German sites, yes. The beauty of e-commerce would be that you can order around the entire globe (I get my DVDs from Australia, my books from England and some geek stuff from the USA). However, if you want to do that, a creditcard remains a must.
No, here's the deal. It does cost one cent to comment (after all you are using Slashdot to punish your thoughts). However, if you are moderated up from your original score, your post is free. After all, your post definitely contributes to Slashdot.
Furthermore, users who have high karma no longer get bother with banner ads anymore, since all the trolls would generate enough income for /. to give the elite (and karma whores) a break.
Posting anonymously costs more because of the complications to scramble the connection between payment and post.
I think it would make the forum a lot more valuable. On the other hand, more reason to abuse the mod system.
Of course, if you order a lot on-line then this won't be convenient at all. Think 'cell phone', the only people who do not have one do not make calls on the road often. So the only users who will use this will be the casual ones - still a huge market!
I'll stick with my creditcard though. Unsafe? I doubt it, I've been using it on-line for six years now and I have not encountered any false transaction yet. There's a bigger chance that some vague waiter at the restaurant copies your details when your card is out of sight than a cracker decrypting your SSL connection or breaking into your favourite e-shop.
Even if it is inflammatory, that does not mean you have to respond like that. You could also just reply: "I disagree that KDE is ahead, because even though it does A, B and C, GNOME does A, B, D and F!". Personally I do think KDE is ahead of GNOME, but so what? First of all KDE started earlier and maybe even more important: many of the good things in KDE are there because GNOME is making good things also. Developers of neither project can sit on their arses and be lazy, they keep each other going. KDE would not be what it is today without GNOME, likewise would GNOME not be what it is today (or even be at all) if it hadn't been for KDE.
They mention KDE 2.0 Beta and GNOME 1.2, I'm positive that most distributions ship with more recent versions of these desktop environments. How old is this article anyway? (couldn't find a date on it so soon)
No, because your product would not compete with Windows XP itself, in fact, it would require one to use it in order for your product to be successful.
AIMster is a product similar to AIM. If it were an add-on to integrate your Buddies in a LDAP enviromnent or whatever, I doubt AOL would've cared much.
Does this mean they will also go after Licq.org ICQ.org and other related domains?
To abuse@isp.com that is, attaching the unmodified e-mail with complete headers.
Harmony was supposed to be a drop-in replacement, much like Lesstif is for Motif. So even if KDE recommended Free Qt, it would not have been necessary and you could have used GPLed KDE with (L?)GPLed Harmony and be merry.
It became clear that Harmony had little future because of the control TrollTech had over the KDE project.
The only influence from Trolltech came from the KDE developers there. At the time they felt that the Free Qt license was sufficient for KDE largely based on the good cooperation between KDE and Troll.
As soon as the KDE community grew and the license was no longer sufficient Qt was released under the QPL. Community pressure continued and Qt was released under the GPL as well.
(from another post)
Not sure. Qt licensing changed *because* of pressure from the community. So was it well-placed trust or just luck ?
If a company changes its license twice because of community pressure than I think trust in that company was well-placed.
Did AT&T had the intention to screw UNIX ?
In the end, apparently so.
Sorry, the /. audience disagrees with you.
While it is always sad when a person passes away, especially good writers, I must admit - as harsh as it sounds - that it does not affect me a lot. The HHGTTG was marvellous and will always be, that is not going to change.
My condoleances to his friends and family who have lost more than a great author.
Trolling indeed, the GNOME camp would never cut on KDE badly for certain licensing issues. Which is fine by me, each to his or her own, but claiming it's a one way street is nonsense. Where two fight, two are guilty.
Take a look at Konqueror, it has the UGLIEST interface I've seen since I stopped using motif apps. Look at the buttons, they're hideous! And they way they are dithered when they are inactive, it's God awfully hideous looking!
Some of the people who replied here claimed they could create nicer buttons in their sleep, so why don't they and create a theme or have someone put them in kdeartwork?
Even better.. both GNOME and KDE has similar components: it shouldn't be that hard to create a theme archive which works with both. Both need a back and forth button in a browser. Icons are just icons. We've got cooperation on drag and drop, desktop files, why not themes? Sure, there would be some GNOME/KDE specific config files in such a theme archive, but the icons can be the same..
Control Center -> Icons -> Advanced -> Toolbar (set Effect for Disabled to Gray, not semi-transparent)
I *HATE* panels that stretch across the whole bottom/top/side of the screen.
Good for you, the panel in KDE 2.2 can be configured with a maximum width.
I hope I don't start a flame fest, that's not my intention...
Except for the trolling start, I think you succeeded even though I think "ugly" is a weak argument because it would take only one talented artist to change all that.
No, it's naive to trust everything and everyone. It's paranoia to trust noone at all, ever.
It's perfectly normal to trust a few, based on the situation, which is what the KDE team did.
Besides, alienating yourself from people who you distrust is not the way to go. Had everyone who distrusted the Trolls worked on the free Qt replacement (Harmony) instead of GNOME, we would have had one desktop now and less flamewars.
That, or you could admit that the trust the KDE team placed in Trolltech was just.
Over the course of 5 years (1997-2001), Trolltech has never had the intention to screw up KDE or free software. Trolltech always accepted patches and even gave official permission for some alternate distributions.
The KDE team trusted the Trolls. I can understand why you were wary of KDE for doing so, but in the end it looks to me like that trust was just well-placed.
They've tried that before, the answer was 42.
But what was the question again?
One more time: you do not have to accept the GPL to use GPLed software. Only when you choose to redistribute that code or modifactions / derivatives of it, you have to face the GPL.
You can write proprietary applications that interact with GPLed software. You can even look at the source to study the API at no cost and without any obligation.
It even makes sense to write GPLed software in case you want to take advantage of the open source development model. In this case, the BSD license is more trouble for companies because in that case they lose total control, with the GPL they will at least have enforced that any modifications or derivatives can be merged back if desired. But perhaps a NPL/MPL style license makes more sense as business model when writing software.
It does make business sense if you do not use GPLed libraries. The FSF deliberately promotes the use of GPLed libraries so that the community can have an advantage over proprietary developers.
So thanks for noticing that the GPL can be used against businesses, but this was intentional in this case. So let's not get mad at Mundie or Caldera, some of us did this on purpose. We just need to make clear that when it comes to libraries, there is the LGPL: it makes perfect business sense to use LGPLed libraries.
If you would actively watch the progress bar for ten minutes, then I highly agree. But I doubt most people do that, the burning process will continue just as fine when you're doing something else.
The US *did* sign the Kyoto agreement. Bush just retracted that signature. If that is not a legal precedent of major consequence, what is?