Godwin right in the first post! Bravo I say, Bravo! A true and shining accomplishment in the field of utterly irrelevant comparisons.
In all seriousness, I do think scientists are an excellent canary for the local political/cultural environment. They rely on public funding while demanding the right to teach/work as they see best.
That's what Hitler said when he forced scientists to bow to the party line.
Stop jumping to conclusions! User 243324 is correct: Hawking's potential move from the UK to Canada is clearly based upon US policy. It's the Republicans' fault, but the Democrats are no better, so he's going to pack his bags regardless of what happens in November. Plus, it proves astrology is correct. Take your nay-saying to Digg.com where it belongs!
Many of us choose XP just because of the games. Here is where MSFT I think shot themselves in the foot. I, personally, rarely, if ever, play games on the computer anymore. I way prefer the XBOX360.
You know, this is an interesting observation, because game support is one of the most oft-quoted reasons why people cannot migrate from Windows. The success of consoles like XBox 360 could really sway this trend.
It would be doubly ironic if this were to happen, because IIRC Microsoft still hasn't framed dollar number one in XBox profits. Their entirely unprofitable games devision could help erode Windows market share.
Even though Vista Ultimate has some really good features, I had to purchase Office software separately. Total cost of software: ~$1000.00! That is when I said enough is enough I need to look for a new Operating System.
Wrong. The moment before he shelled out $1000 was when the reviewer needed to look for a new operating system. I'm surprised he'd make what (to this Linux user) sounds like a massive investment, then ditch it. If more people convert to Linux by this method Microsoft will double its profits.
I know making certain key applications work in time for the 1.0 milestone was one of the WINE team's goals, but I just wanted to thank the team, on behalf of everyone in the/. crowd, for making sure Notepad.exe was one of them. It was the first Windows program I tried to use under WINE and it performed flawlessly, making me feel a little more at home on Linux.
We Linux users have been putting up with the likes of vim and Kate and gedit for years, but all of these editors come with major caveats, such as multiple levels of undo and the ability to read both UNIX and DOS text files. With WINE I've been able to use Notepad to delete entire lines when I really mean to delete only one word, and get little square characters where carriage returns should be. I'm so pleased by this app that I'll probably move on to trying Paint.exe next (the silly GIMP airbrush tool isn't as satisfyingly pixellated as the one MS Paint perfected way back in 1995).
Keep up the good work in bringing the Redmond's best software to the Linux desktop!
I hate to say this, but I've submitted about half a dozen crash reports every day since the betas and through the release candidates. The browser is great, but the Windows version does crash more for me than previous Firefoxen. Anyone else notice that? It's slightly better with the final release.
The Linux one I have on Ubuntu Hardy hsa been much more stable for some reason.
You know, it's funny: I was just thinking that I could write a Perl script that would auto-generate GPL and copyright Slashdot threads. I bet it's do-able.
In other news, Microsoft employees were spotted in computer stores across the country writing the number 7 on existing Windows XP and Vista boxes using Sharpies.
I'm an anarcho-capitalist, and a huge supporter of property rights, both physical and intellectual
Your opening sentence got me curious: how do we reconcile the idea of limited government with that of enforcing monopolies on ideas? More to the point, where do we draw the line between what should an should not be property?
Copyrights and patents are artificial constructs. Enforcing them is a form of government interference in business and public life - certainly not the sort of thing you think of when you try to describe anarcho-capitalism. But then, by that argument enforcing them is not unlike enforcing laws against theft of "real" property. Isn't "real" property just a constructs, too? Arguably the idea that a 1991 Chevy Cavalier is "owned" is just as artificial as the idea that being able to click a button only once to buy a product is owned. And the idea of land as a form of property was universally unrecognized in my neck of the woods (North America) as recently as 500 years ago.
In the end I'm left concluding that it's really an issue of costs and benefits to society: any form of property is good only insofar as it is beneficial for us to recognize it as a form of property. That said, I still don't like lumping ideas in with property, but this is mainly because I find it more beneficial to think of them differently e.g., as monopolies rather than as owned items). I do think patents and copyright are beneficial, but not necessarily in a property sense. In fact I've long found the term "Intellectual Property" to be very pretentious.
That's nothing. Before the site's CSS redesign they were planning to have twenty new data centers in Chicago. It was the data center plans that led to the redesign.
True, but the insistence on a relaxed schedule is the reason 90% of the people who formerly used Debian are now on *buntu. Plus, to make code "done" by a given date you don't just freeze the repository and peg a.0 release number on it. Generally you set goals that are achievable by the date.
A loose schedule exists for many of these projects anyway: having the distros coordinate just gives the projects the option to coordinate. And nothing is stopping them from delaying release if the code truly isn't ready.
Is Ubuntu really going to wait for KDE to wait for SuSE to get GNOME compiled with the latest GCC?
No. Shuttleworth isn't suggesting the distros wait for anyone else, but rather that they set a well-publicized schedule by which they coordinate their respective releases - say, April and October (to borrow Ubuntu's schedule). Then the makers of GNOME, KDE, GCC, GIMP, Firefox, OpenOffice.org, etc. will know that April or October is the month to shoot for in order to ensure their latest releases are finished in time for inclusion in the most popular distros. But Shuttleworth is stressing that it doesn't have to be April and October - that he'd happily change Ubuntu's schedule as long as a few distros can agree on something. This is a great idea. If this had existed by now, Mozilla would have known when to aim for a Firefox 3 release so that OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, Fedora and any other coordinated releases would be able to distribute their official 3.0 (and not beta5, as a couple distros decided to do).
For a long while he was Chief Software Architect and Chairman. Looks like he's sill Executive Chairman, though he retired from his daily duties in January.
Only XBox and Exchange, eh? You forget forget that Microsoft is still one of the foremost manufacturers of quality PC peripherals. Even in the Linux/OS X future I'll take a Microsoft optical wheelmouse any day of the week. Their keyboards are nice as well (though I think they should replace the Windows keys with something more platform neutral).
You missed a fun opportunity
on
Second Person
·
· Score: 1
It's too late for you now, but you probably should have considered writing the entire review in the second person (i.e., instead of starting the review with "As we all learned in English class..." you could have written "As you've surely learned in English class..."). This would have been an appropriate style for you to use, considering the title of the book you reviewed. It wouldn't have been too hard, and in fact it would have read much like the post you're reading now.
Slashdot Mirror
Godwin right in the first post! Bravo I say, Bravo! A true and shining accomplishment in the field of utterly irrelevant comparisons.
In all seriousness, I do think scientists are an excellent canary for the local political/cultural environment. They rely on public funding while demanding the right to teach/work as they see best.
That's what Hitler said when he forced scientists to bow to the party line.
Stop jumping to conclusions! User 243324 is correct: Hawking's potential move from the UK to Canada is clearly based upon US policy. It's the Republicans' fault, but the Democrats are no better, so he's going to pack his bags regardless of what happens in November. Plus, it proves astrology is correct. Take your nay-saying to Digg.com where it belongs!
Remind me, it's the odd ones that are good and the even ones that are bad, just like the Star Trek movies? Or is it the other way round?
Not even close, dude. The even ones are good with Star Trek and Linux. The odd ones are good with Indiana Jones and KDE.*
* Yes, I know latest even KDE will improve quickly.
You know, this is an interesting observation, because game support is one of the most oft-quoted reasons why people cannot migrate from Windows. The success of consoles like XBox 360 could really sway this trend.
It would be doubly ironic if this were to happen, because IIRC Microsoft still hasn't framed dollar number one in XBox profits. Their entirely unprofitable games devision could help erode Windows market share.
Go ahead, let's make it a triple: someone tell me I misspelled coincidence.
To double the pedantry that has already devoured this thread, an apt cosincidence is not an example of irony. :)
Wrong. The moment before he shelled out $1000 was when the reviewer needed to look for a new operating system. I'm surprised he'd make what (to this Linux user) sounds like a massive investment, then ditch it. If more people convert to Linux by this method Microsoft will double its profits.
I know making certain key applications work in time for the 1.0 milestone was one of the WINE team's goals, but I just wanted to thank the team, on behalf of everyone in the /. crowd, for making sure Notepad.exe was one of them. It was the first Windows program I tried to use under WINE and it performed flawlessly, making me feel a little more at home on Linux.
We Linux users have been putting up with the likes of vim and Kate and gedit for years, but all of these editors come with major caveats, such as multiple levels of undo and the ability to read both UNIX and DOS text files. With WINE I've been able to use Notepad to delete entire lines when I really mean to delete only one word, and get little square characters where carriage returns should be. I'm so pleased by this app that I'll probably move on to trying Paint.exe next (the silly GIMP airbrush tool isn't as satisfyingly pixellated as the one MS Paint perfected way back in 1995).
Keep up the good work in bringing the Redmond's best software to the Linux desktop!
I hate to say this, but I've submitted about half a dozen crash reports every day since the betas and through the release candidates. The browser is great, but the Windows version does crash more for me than previous Firefoxen. Anyone else notice that? It's slightly better with the final release.
The Linux one I have on Ubuntu Hardy hsa been much more stable for some reason.
Really? An encyclopedia that accepts user submissions? Wow, only on the Internet!
To clarify Mozilla's position on the matter:
Thank you for your understanding. :)
... right. My Perl script will need some adjustment to generate a post like yours, and like this one. :)
You know, it's funny: I was just thinking that I could write a Perl script that would auto-generate GPL and copyright Slashdot threads. I bet it's do-able.
In other news, Microsoft employees were spotted in computer stores across the country writing the number 7 on existing Windows XP and Vista boxes using Sharpies.
Your opening sentence got me curious: how do we reconcile the idea of limited government with that of enforcing monopolies on ideas? More to the point, where do we draw the line between what should an should not be property?
Copyrights and patents are artificial constructs. Enforcing them is a form of government interference in business and public life - certainly not the sort of thing you think of when you try to describe anarcho-capitalism. But then, by that argument enforcing them is not unlike enforcing laws against theft of "real" property. Isn't "real" property just a constructs, too? Arguably the idea that a 1991 Chevy Cavalier is "owned" is just as artificial as the idea that being able to click a button only once to buy a product is owned. And the idea of land as a form of property was universally unrecognized in my neck of the woods (North America) as recently as 500 years ago.
In the end I'm left concluding that it's really an issue of costs and benefits to society: any form of property is good only insofar as it is beneficial for us to recognize it as a form of property. That said, I still don't like lumping ideas in with property, but this is mainly because I find it more beneficial to think of them differently e.g., as monopolies rather than as owned items). I do think patents and copyright are beneficial, but not necessarily in a property sense. In fact I've long found the term "Intellectual Property" to be very pretentious.
That's nothing. Before the site's CSS redesign they were planning to have twenty new data centers in Chicago. It was the data center plans that led to the redesign.
True, but the insistence on a relaxed schedule is the reason 90% of the people who formerly used Debian are now on *buntu. Plus, to make code "done" by a given date you don't just freeze the repository and peg a .0 release number on it. Generally you set goals that are achievable by the date.
A loose schedule exists for many of these projects anyway: having the distros coordinate just gives the projects the option to coordinate. And nothing is stopping them from delaying release if the code truly isn't ready.
No. Shuttleworth isn't suggesting the distros wait for anyone else, but rather that they set a well-publicized schedule by which they coordinate their respective releases - say, April and October (to borrow Ubuntu's schedule). Then the makers of GNOME, KDE, GCC, GIMP, Firefox, OpenOffice.org, etc. will know that April or October is the month to shoot for in order to ensure their latest releases are finished in time for inclusion in the most popular distros. But Shuttleworth is stressing that it doesn't have to be April and October - that he'd happily change Ubuntu's schedule as long as a few distros can agree on something. This is a great idea. If this had existed by now, Mozilla would have known when to aim for a Firefox 3 release so that OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, Fedora and any other coordinated releases would be able to distribute their official 3.0 (and not beta5, as a couple distros decided to do).
"No tickets." Anyway, it's a moot point because that feature's being delayed until Zeppelin NT 5.0, which I hear may be renamed Zeppelin 2010.
For a long while he was Chief Software Architect and Chairman. Looks like he's sill Executive Chairman, though he retired from his daily duties in January.
Only XBox and Exchange, eh? You forget forget that Microsoft is still one of the foremost manufacturers of quality PC peripherals. Even in the Linux/OS X future I'll take a Microsoft optical wheelmouse any day of the week. Their keyboards are nice as well (though I think they should replace the Windows keys with something more platform neutral).
It's too late for you now, but you probably should have considered writing the entire review in the second person (i.e., instead of starting the review with "As we all learned in English class ..." you could have written "As you've surely learned in English class ..."). This would have been an appropriate style for you to use, considering the title of the book you reviewed. It wouldn't have been too hard, and in fact it would have read much like the post you're reading now.
Don't forget the nineteenth century. (As in, "Personally I think these dangerous rabble-rousers have succumbed to brain fever!")