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User: hgesser

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  1. Re:No need for cameras. on EU Proposes To Fit Cars With Speed Limiters · · Score: 2

    The information is often out-of-date. My navi computer does the same, but when there's a new construction area (or one goes away), the limit is completely wrong.

  2. Re: "gotten much better"? on New KScreen Supplies Some Magic For Multi-Monitor Linux Set-Ups · · Score: 1

    Yes, that does solve the particular problem I described, and I've already used that trick. But it's not a general solution to the "independent virtual desktop switching" problem. Very old Linux installations had no Xinerama option, so the concept of having a single desktop that spreads over several monitors was introduced after I became used to dealing with things separately on each monitor. What I prefer (the non-Xinerama mode) has the disadvantage that you cannot move windows to the other monitor; I guess that is why so many people (seem to) prefer the Xinerama way. But I found that my workflows work better in non-Xinerama mode.

    Also, sometimes dialogs belonging to a program on one monitor will pop-up on the other one in Xinerama mode -- that does not happen when the displays are logically seperate.

  3. "gotten much better"? on New KScreen Supplies Some Magic For Multi-Monitor Linux Set-Ups · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The article says: "This is one thing that's certainly gotten much better in recent years for Linux GUI users in general..." -- I cannot agree. While connecting a beamer to a notebook is simpler today, support for multiple monitors (of a desktop machine) is far from where it was some years ago. For years I had been able to disable the (default) Xinerama options, so I could have two separate instances of (e.g. KDE 3) running on both screens. That allowed me for example to stay on virtual desktop 1 on the left monitor and cycle through my virtual desktops on the right monitor. (Imagine lots of data sources on the right screen and some application I use to combine stuff on the left monitor; I want to switch desktops without the left monitor changing its content). This is still possible today, but it's a lot harder and depends on what kind of graphics card you use. Granted, my old way required knowledge of the xorg.conf syntax, but once it was finished it gave me maximum configurability. Last time I checked, KDE 4 wasn't able to start two instances on :0.0 and :0.1 properly which is why I'm still using KDE 3 (a.k.a. "Trinity" today).
    Hans-Georg

  4. Re:The Straight Dope ...did it on Why Fingernails On a Chalkboard Sound Painful · · Score: 1

    (back when "chalkboard" still had some meaning)

    Well, guess what most schools still use in the class rooms, at least in Germany... If there was a trend away from chalkboards/blackboards, it would be towards those newish electronic boards running interactive learning/teaching software. But those are expensive so you won't see them too often.

  5. Re:Perspective vs. Tunnel Vision on Stop the Math Press's Presses — Knuth Announces iTex · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The default font the generated postscript files had was 1) ugly 2) always the same.

    Funny argument. In Word the default font (Times New Roman) is 1) not truly a good option for printing documents and 2) always the same. With LaTeX you can change the standard fonts as easily as you change them in Word, plus with many fonts you get modified math fonts so your math equations fit the normal text.

    [...] you can easily tell someone's thesis was done in Tex/LaTeX, while in Word you can choose slightly different fonts from the same family that made it look at least a little different from every other thesis.

    You can easily tell someone's thesis was done in Word, because the typesetting is broken and formulas look disgusting, unless the author spent hours changing things like the size of exponents. Also, when writing for a journal/conference proceedings etc., articles are meant to look the same (since they'll appear in the same book). With LaTeX you get that for free, with Word, even when using the official publisher's stylesheet, there are always minor errors in the layout.

  6. Re:SILC on Internal Instant Messaging Client / Server Combo? · · Score: 5, Informative

    This post was rather short, but I think it is one of the best suggestions. I played a bit with SILC some years ago: From a user's view it looks a lot like an IRC client, so users can talk to one another privately or join a channel to meet with several other users. What's most important is: It meets all the criteria,
    - it encrypts all communication
    - it is no multi-protocol thing, i.e. you cannot connect to other services.
    I can't remember whether you can run connections to several silc servers at the same time, but if so, that's at least better than having to restrict a program that can connect everywhere. Even though I haven't heard much of silc lately, the software is still actively developed. The last release is from March 19, 2009.

  7. Re:Let's not forget... on A Six-Step Plan for Apple · · Score: 1
    Nope, not like KDE. I haven't seen KDE asking for the user password when starting any programs, plus sudo typically isn't configured on a Linux system. KDE password dialogs request the root password.

    So it's different. Macs do sudo, KDE does su.

  8. New distro boxes will look funny... on FSF: New Apache License not GPL-Compatible · · Score: 1

    License changes may be the hype of the new year. I was wondering what future Linux boxes might look like and came up with this:
    http://privat.hgesser.com/boxen/

    (I know, the Apache license change isn't about mentioning the product in bundles, but maybe we'll see more XFree-alike stuff.)

  9. Re:Question on RMS on RMS Weighs In On BitKeeper · · Score: 1
    That's definitely the best defense of RMS's practices I've ever read. I do also tend to get bothered by the massive criticism that FSF people show towards those who dare use proprietary software, but I do see that many things they say have a point. I don't call Linux "GNU/Linux", and I don't think I will convert to that notion soon, but I understand the reasons the FSF asks for that.

    What made me think was your last sentence about who else created something like GNU and not put him in control in some way. So hey: The FSF people truly aren't selfish, they wish us all well. If that means that every now and then I have to find myself criticized for living against the GNU philosophy, I will accept that criticism with a smile and say: I agree, but I'm lazy.

  10. Re:Agreed on Do Long Work Hours Affect Code Quality? · · Score: 1
    So you think it's so nice in Europe, eh? Well yes, we do have trade unions. And yes, there are laws against overtime work. But it's pretty wrong to believe that would mean, people in the IT industry can go home after 8 hours and claim they are doing right.

    Just as in the US, many companies over here have hardly enough personal for all the tasks; or maybe they had it once but were forced to lay them off. So people over here do work longer hours; I've only just come home from a 14 hour day (which included a 1 hour lunch break, and which isn't the regular length - it was extreme).

    Anyway, when there are deadlines to meet you'll stay longer. In Europe, too. (I'm in Germany.)