Re:Free thought is a challenge to authority!
on
EZTree Shuts Down
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Communism - which seems to be the goal of the FOSS information wants to be free set
Hey, Mr McCarthy, haven't you heard - Communism isn't being used as the big scary thing anymore. What you should say now is something about FOSS being "TERRORIST".
Firstly "pirates" are guys with missing body parts and parrots on their shoulders, and secondly, copyright infringement is not criminal unless it's done for profit.
a) Copyright infringement is not a criminal offence in most countries except under very specific circumstances which would not apply to a downloader. Downloaders are therefore NOT criminals.
b) Theft: To take or remove property without the owners consent with intent to permanently deprive the owner of possession. Is clearly not applicable to downloading either.
Encryption is our friend . . . encrypted communications, encrypted distributed networks, encrypted disk storage (preferably something like rubberhose), plausible deniability (like freenet). Fuck these people - come on - we're geeks we can stay ten steps ahead of them if we try.
Memory is cheap. CPU cycles are more of an issue but I suspect a lot of developers rely on Moore's Law and aren't as concerned as they might be - and that applies equally to open source and commercial developers!
For example, a search for 'openoffice writer "word count" criticism' in Google turned up this plea as the first link.
The 2.0 beta has a word count under Tools->Word Count, exactly as this webpage requests. Although it doesn't count paragraphs or lines (I'm really not sure why you'd need to but perhaps some users require it for reasons I'm not aware of?)
I can only speak for myself - and I find OOo does everything I need it to. Still, I doubt I'm that far from the 'average' user.
The help system says there is a menu item for "Relationships" (under Edit->Database->Advanced Settings) but 'Advanced Settings' is greyed out. Guess that means it's something they've planned but not managed to get working yet.
Well the database component doesn't work without Java (at least it wouldn't for me). But what really annoyed me was that even after attempting to select the correct directory manually OO refused to recognise the Kaffe JVM I had installed and I had to install the Sun JRE as well.
And likewise the US has been very clear that it does not want its government, military, businesses using an encryption system that can be broken by other countries
Sorry but that's a bit naive. Do you really think the NSA isn't capable of publicly recommending encryption that it can break (but most governments can't) and privately using/recommending a really secure system.
the SCO move is nothing but a blatant attempt to blackmail IBM and the Linux community for the benefit of MS
No, I don't think that's what happened - there's only one explanation of this that makes sense to me:
SCO execs decided to sue IBM on the assumption that IBM would then buy them out just to shut down the case. Darl and cronies would then have made a nice killing on their stocks/options.
Instead, IBM decided to make an example of SCO to discourage other rats from trying the same thing.
SCO found themselves in a position where they couldn't back down and have been desperately trying to put off the inevitable with any slimy trick they can think of.
MS didn't get involved until things were already well advanced, at which point they saw a PR opportunity and slung a load of money to SCO but got caught and it backfired. I can't imagine MS are still funneling money to SCO since nobody takes them seriously anymore.
Yes I do feel better. Theft and piracy are loaded words which these industries use to cloud the issues with negative connotations.
the civil penalties might be much worse than if you had simply stolen a song
If we make the effort to draw the distinction between criminality and non-criminal copyright infringement people may actually start to question this - which is why the music industry pound out their bullshit about evil pirates contributing to organised crime. They're frightened that otherwise the general public might start to realise that who they really want to go after are 12 year old kids and grandmothers.
All this is incidental though - what really scares these shits is losing control of the means of distribution - that's why they want to clamp down so hard on file sharing.
Can you imagine the average slashdot reader using that defence.
So, Mr Slashdotter, you say you didn't understand that you needed to secure your WiFi network. Can you then explain how you managed to network four computers all using different operating system via Samba and NFS. Configure your own OpenBSD firewall. Make a home built bar code reader and get a job as an IT sysadmin in a major company . . . etc, etc.
Come on. One click purchasing is a strawman - consider a more serious patent which is original and specific . . . like MicroSoft's patent on clicking a button to make something happen.
Isn't it only right that MS should be able to protect their IP when they think of new ideas like this.
I was a little surprised to see that the new default was a google/mozilla hybrid but so what
Ignore these dumbasses - I can't see any moral problem with using google as a default search engine/start page, so long as users can change the default if they want to.
One can only hope that in cooperation google and firefox can use XUL to produce some new functionality that turns out to be really popular but works only with firefox/mozilla (opera, safari, etc would be nice too but probably not practical). Imagine if the latest "must have website", spits up "Browser not supported" when IE users try to access it. Would I laugh!
Google is not without it's critics (ironically just try typing "google censorship" or "google civil liberties" into google). I personally quite like google but the whiter than white image they currently have is a bit misguided.
Re:The Problem With XML
on
Effective XML
·
· Score: 1
You can read an XML data file (eg OpenOffice files) and understand immediately how the data is arranged/formatted, how to extract bits you're interested in, etc. That's a powerful advantage even if it's not what XML was originally designed for.
Slashdot Mirror
Hey, Mr McCarthy, haven't you heard - Communism isn't being used as the big scary thing anymore. What you should say now is something about FOSS being "TERRORIST".
How about a reference then?
Firstly "pirates" are guys with missing body parts and parrots on their shoulders, and secondly, copyright infringement is not criminal unless it's done for profit.
A case in England was via an "innocent agent" - the details were complicated but basically some woman tricked a man into fucking a drugged guy.
a) Copyright infringement is not a criminal offence in most countries except under very specific circumstances which would not apply to a downloader. Downloaders are therefore NOT criminals.
b) Theft: To take or remove property without the owners consent with intent to permanently deprive the owner of possession. Is clearly not applicable to downloading either.
Encryption is our friend . . . encrypted communications, encrypted distributed networks, encrypted disk storage (preferably something like rubberhose), plausible deniability (like freenet). Fuck these people - come on - we're geeks we can stay ten steps ahead of them if we try.
In fact
n!=n*(n-1)!
but I suspect that the poster was thinking in recursive terms.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, MS have been doing some serious flattering over the years.
Now flatter off.
LyX is a great idea that's horribly implemented.
Memory is cheap. CPU cycles are more of an issue but I suspect a lot of developers rely on Moore's Law and aren't as concerned as they might be - and that applies equally to open source and commercial developers!
The 2.0 beta has a word count under Tools->Word Count, exactly as this webpage requests. Although it doesn't count paragraphs or lines (I'm really not sure why you'd need to but perhaps some users require it for reasons I'm not aware of?)
I can only speak for myself - and I find OOo does everything I need it to. Still, I doubt I'm that far from the 'average' user.
The help system says there is a menu item for "Relationships" (under Edit->Database->Advanced Settings) but 'Advanced Settings' is greyed out. Guess that means it's something they've planned but not managed to get working yet.
Well the database component doesn't work without Java (at least it wouldn't for me). But what really annoyed me was that even after attempting to select the correct directory manually OO refused to recognise the Kaffe JVM I had installed and I had to install the Sun JRE as well.
I've only used it briefly so far but it seems to be just a 'flat' database system and doesn't do foreign keys, etc.
It also crashed first time out because it refused to recognise kaffe as a java runtime and I had to install the Sun JRE to get it working.
Having said that, I've got to add that I really like the changes and it makes a very good first impression.
Sorry but that's a bit naive. Do you really think the NSA isn't capable of publicly recommending encryption that it can break (but most governments can't) and privately using/recommending a really secure system.
No, I don't think that's what happened - there's only one explanation of this that makes sense to me:
SCO execs decided to sue IBM on the assumption that IBM would then buy them out just to shut down the case. Darl and cronies would then have made a nice killing on their stocks/options.
Instead, IBM decided to make an example of SCO to discourage other rats from trying the same thing.
SCO found themselves in a position where they couldn't back down and have been desperately trying to put off the inevitable with any slimy trick they can think of.
MS didn't get involved until things were already well advanced, at which point they saw a PR opportunity and slung a load of money to SCO but got caught and it backfired. I can't imagine MS are still funneling money to SCO since nobody takes them seriously anymore.
the civil penalties might be much worse than if you had simply stolen a song
If we make the effort to draw the distinction between criminality and non-criminal copyright infringement people may actually start to question this - which is why the music industry pound out their bullshit about evil pirates contributing to organised crime. They're frightened that otherwise the general public might start to realise that who they really want to go after are 12 year old kids and grandmothers.
All this is incidental though - what really scares these shits is losing control of the means of distribution - that's why they want to clamp down so hard on file sharing.
Can you imagine the average slashdot reader using that defence. So, Mr Slashdotter, you say you didn't understand that you needed to secure your WiFi network. Can you then explain how you managed to network four computers all using different operating system via Samba and NFS. Configure your own OpenBSD firewall. Make a home built bar code reader and get a job as an IT sysadmin in a major company . . . etc, etc.
Since the dawn of modern British law, which says civil cases are to be decided "on the balance of probability".
Come on. One click purchasing is a strawman - consider a more serious patent which is original and specific . . . like MicroSoft's patent on clicking a button to make something happen.
Isn't it only right that MS should be able to protect their IP when they think of new ideas like this.
A British knighthood is the best money can buy.
I was a little surprised to see that the new default was a google/mozilla hybrid but so what
Ignore these dumbasses - I can't see any moral problem with using google as a default search engine/start page, so long as users can change the default if they want to.
One can only hope that in cooperation google and firefox can use XUL to produce some new functionality that turns out to be really popular but works only with firefox/mozilla (opera, safari, etc would be nice too but probably not practical). Imagine if the latest "must have website", spits up "Browser not supported" when IE users try to access it. Would I laugh!
Google is not without it's critics (ironically just try typing "google censorship" or "google civil liberties" into google). I personally quite like google but the whiter than white image they currently have is a bit misguided.
You can read an XML data file (eg OpenOffice files) and understand immediately how the data is arranged/formatted, how to extract bits you're interested in, etc. That's a powerful advantage even if it's not what XML was originally designed for.