Later dudes. If this site isn't good enough for Taco, it isn't good enough for me. It's been a fun ten years, and I've learned a lot and met some interesting people.
But this sucks. See you over at ycombinator.com and maybe osnews.com Too bad, I used to love linuxtoday.com as well and they bit the dust ages ago, and for the same reason: "We need more ads!"
Me, I'd rather build a site that fits a niche perfectly and makes just enough money to get by. You guys are obviously going for the big bucks instead. But to do so you're alienating your readers. You spend more in bandwidth to send us video, to catch the attention of fewer interested readers. Meanwhile you're the last site on the web that doesn't have a good mobile version.
Ya. I've been reading Slashdot for about 12 years now, but it's increasingly clear this site is headed the route of "PCWorld" with articles that provide nothing but adspace. Increasingly, these "ask Slashdot" things are looking like corporate research too.
Not sure how much they sold us out for, but I hope it was worth it. This place is starting to smell funky.
Pretty easy: first, pay for a non-free email account. I chose fastmail.fm and like it. If you are all, "waaa, I don't want to pay" then you will pay with something else - your data, in this case.
2nd step: use an alternate search provider. I use DuckDuckGo. It's not perfect and sometimes I have to revert to Google, but it's better than getting sucked into the Google ecosystem.
It's so easy to avoid getting sucked into the blackhole. You just steer around it before its gravitational pull (waaah, I want an Android phone) sucks you over the event horizon. Buh-bye.
I was a big fan of Google way back when, very early days. But as Google gets bigger and more powerful I get more concerned, and their privacy and data-snarfing issues don't make me comfortable at all. I don't want companies profiling me.
So, I'm no fan of Microsoft's business practices past or present, or much of any of their software. But I hope Bing provides some competition, just to keep Google in line.
I use DDG as my primary search engine. For a lot of things it works great, and has features that I find useful. When I'm searching for esoteric Linux config questions or equivalent, I reluctantly have to switch to Google, which provides better info. But with change DDG will get better. The fact that they want to be a search engine and not link me into their other "products" is reason enough for me to use it.
Why not use something as simple as possible? Keep the card system in place, and track it all using a collection manager like Tellico. I use Tellico for my personal library, which is probably about the size of the library you're managing. I'd say keep the card system in place - you're never going to get people to fill out online forms etc. And then use Tellico to answer the questions "What have I got?," "What's been checked out?" and "to Whom?" Seems like that's all you need at this stage.
Lots of complaining going on here. I probably wouldn't like the new look myself, as I much prefer simple, uncluttered interfaces anyway. But I can't remembrer the last time I had to go directly to the google.com website. Searches happen through the dedicated search box in Opera or Firefox, not by navigating to google.com. I also don't use any of their services, from calendar to google apps.
I am bored to tears with all the "Does XXX mean the death of YYY" articles these technologist wankers drool out. It's always the same: "do computers mean the end of TV?" "Does the internet mean the end to commuting to work in your car?" "Does the Wii mean the end of Computer gaming?" and so on.
In EVERY case, the new technology has had an impact, sometimes even a limited one, but failed to do away with the previous. And anyone that thinks a technology for displaying information (and that's all an ebook is) will do away with a fundamental societal need like formal education is a fool, a wanker, or both.
Not to be a jerk here, but the best way to get bug reports is to make it clear that you'll respond to them. There is nothing more frustrating to a user than taking the time to file a report of any kind (either by using the software's automated thing - Opera web browser does this) or manually (I've filed several bugs against KDE PIM software) only to find it unaddressed. If on your website you make it obvious that you're receiving and dealing with issues, users will be more tempted to write you, and thus more inclined to do so in a helpful/thoughtful way. I've had great success with softmaker.de - every email I've ever sent with a bug report has been responded to with a solution, usually very quickly.
I dual boot my Linux desktop, and spend a lot of time in FreeBSD (I used PC-BSD, which installs pretty easily). These days, one of its advantages is that you can still have a KDE3 or Gnome2 desktop - worth it indeed!
He missed one step. Internet use leads to increased masturbation, which leads to autism, weight loss, shifty-eyes, sweaty palms, and social retardation. Got it?
That's OK that the new Ubuntu is too big to fit on a CD. Since it's got that craptastic Unity desktop, no one is going to want to download it anyway.
(Kidding, sort of. Even SuSE 8.1 came on two DVDs, one binaries and one source. I'm not against software getting distributed on DVD. But I am TOTALLY against Unity, which sucks donkey balls. That's a technical term).
Actually, that's EXACTLY what power users do - take the time to configure their environment to their liking and in a way that makes them efficient at a minimum of effort. I spent a couple of hours one day choosing keyboard shortcuts and so on, and have never had to touch it since - everything I do has been faster ever since.
But you can continue stabbing at the "Start" menu if you like.
Re:Nice distro but they messed up the desktop
on
Ubuntu Turns 7
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· Score: 1
Cheers to that. I run Bodhi on a Netbook and love it more and more. My desktop runs openSUSE; it's been my preference since SuSE 7.1 back eleven years ago. The last version of Gnome I liked started with a "1," not a "2" or "3." And Unity can just bite it.
Slashdot is awful on any mobile device I've ever tried it with. Give us http://m.slashdot.org/ in a form factor that makes sense, and you will be doing something great for your readers.
I currently use Alterslash, the brain child of someone else on this site, and it's fantastic. And OSNews has one of the best mobile versions I know of (and has had it for ages).
This Slashdot discussion is not touching on the one issue that matters to the USPS's fiscal health: the payments it owes retirees. There's an entire generation of Americans retiring and collecting their retirement pensions, and it's killing the financial system - not just the USPS. This is *not* about good or bad service, or email, or flat rates, or whatever. Those issues will sort themselves out naturally. But the USPS - like the USG on the whole, and many many private companies - have promised healthy retirement packages to lots of people who worked there for a lifetime, and now they've got to figure out how to actually pay them.
1. Apple gradually lured people into the tablet world by giving the confidence to try out this new paradigm. They made great ipods for a couple of years, and blew people away with the user interface, the clever hardware (click wheel, etc.) and the smooth software experience. So when they came out with a phone, people were willing to try it, remembering the ipod. Then when it was clear the ipad was just a big iphone, people knew what to expect and had the confidence it would have a similar, good user interface and software experience. And that's largely been the case. Microsoft has done no such thing, and people have had enough desktop and Winphone horror stories to be suspicious that the Winpad is worth taking a chance on. Add to that the story of the Zune nobody wanted, and Microsoft has an uphill battle convincing people to take the splurge on a $600 Winpad. In the souring economy, people are going to be more cautious than ever.
2. What's the point of having a Winpad? Microsoft ruled the desktop because everybody wanted Word, Excel, and Power-gag-Point to work with. But those days are LONG over, and no one gets a boner over office software anymore. So what kind of software are they going to put on a WinPad to make you want to buy it? God help them if they try to get you excited about WinPad office apps. Their media player is so-so, they have nothing like iTunes, their photo software is mediocre, etc.etc. etc. In short, these are the Balmer days, and Microsoft under Balmer's leadership has been uninspired and uninspiring. Expect their WinPad to be the same, lacking any real software application worth buying the hardware to run (echoes of Balmer talking about how his Zune will "squirt" you a photo of his kids: "now that's a great user experience!"). Good luck, Balmer.
Sorry to see this new form factor requires lots of pieces built into place instead of modulized or componentized. It means when your SSD goes bad or the network card fries you will have to replace the whole thing, or at least send it in to the manufacturer for replacement. The days of replacing the card or the drive are over. More potential avenues for profit for the manufacturer, but not so good for us measly consumers!
Lots of comments here comparing KDE to Gnome 2, 3, and Unity, and a couple of posts praising LXDE (which I also like). I'm surprised there are so few who have mentioned E17. I installed Bodhi Linux (Ubuntu with E17 desktop) on a netbook and have been extremely impressed:
1. Fast, low memory usage, but... 2. Manages to be beautiful... 3. Without being in your way.
Its "Run Everything" (equivalent to Alt-F2 run dialog) is exceptional, the menus are generally sensible, and it's easy on the eyes. I'd highly recommend it. It's given me much of what I like KDE4 and is conceptually easier (multiple desktops, etc.) than KDE4's confusing Workspaces/Activities/etc. metaphor.
Slashdot is not blocked in China, but citizens are forced to use older browsers that choke on Slashdot's excessive CSS and Javascript goodness. The result is an experience - not unlike my own - that makes Slashdot increasingly too annoying a site to visit.
Maybe I got stuck in the early 90s, but the way I used computers then and how I use them now hasn't changed much. I prefer console software - mutt, links, and so on. (Slashdot on Lynx is better, frankly, for reading). I just got done building a gopher server for my home intranet (pygopher works great), and am a regular on Usenet. Just built my own news server, and my current project is a FreeBSD box and modem just so I can learn how the "other side" works when you dial into an ISP.
I'm mostly unimpressed by modern apps, and did serious, daily work on a PIII 550Mhz laptop from 2000 (Linux console mode) until last week when it finally kicked the bucket. Love reading stories about people whose definition of "Old" is a Pentium. Holy crap.
Instead of going internet free, I'd recommend you downgrade to a dialup connection. You can still do some of what you'd like to do, but you need to really think carefully about things. I wrote about my experience here: http://therandymon.com/content/view/188/98/ and would probably do it again. All the high bandwidth stuff I didn't really miss (no flash video? Oh noes!) although these days I'd miss skype. This way you've got minimal access if you need it, but are forced to radically downgrade your addiction.
That's about when you'll find your house is full of good books to read. Screw the downloaded wikipedia - you don't need it. Go walk the dogs and learn the guitar. (I can recommend a great website.... ha ha ha ha).
For a long time now there's been speculation that "getting" someon'es social graph will be valuable. In practice it hasn't yet played out. The value of IPOs like Facebook is largely based on the suspicion that having all that information on how people network will be valuable. This looks like an attempt to prove the info can be valuable. But they haven't exactly done an overwhelming job of convincing us, if this is the best they can do.
I use Spideroak and like it. I'm actually surprised no one else has mentioned it; it's even present in openSUSE repositories and possibly Ubuntu as well. It's not opensource but it works great, has full data encryption, and runs on Windows, Mac, Linux. You get 2GB free. I use it only to mirror my dotfiles and a couple of other key docs, and I'm well below the limit, so I don't pay. You can sync files across computers, and make others available from a publically-accessible web page.
No complaints from me. I do wish they offered the "send us an email and $5 and we'll email you a burned CD of your files" thing, but so it goes.
I'm hip with the "put all your memory to use" paradigm - that makes perfect sense. However, I want that memory to be in use for my applications. The Window Manager is just a utility, not an end in itself.
At my place, my primary box is an x86_64 box with 2G of RAM and it flies. It would easily run Natty, if I cared to install it (I don't like Gnome). But I still boot up my old PIII 555 Mhz with 128MB RAM just to see how far we've gotten. My conclusion after 11 years (bought that old PIII in 2000) is that WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN FAR. That old KDE 3.1 desktop does everything I want a desktop to do, and in some ways WIndowmaker does as well. Fast forward to the land of beautifulu rendering, compiz effects, GPU-accelerated whiz-bang, and in terms of functionality I'm not much better off. I'd far prefer to use the old desktop and have that RAM available for better apps. My desktop and window manager don't deserve all that RAM for themselves. And if your solution is to buy more memory, you're mistaken, because the developers will quickly appropriate that new RAM for themselves in the next edition, for an even shinier-but-no-more-useful windowmanager.
Slashdot Mirror
Later dudes. If this site isn't good enough for Taco, it isn't good enough for me. It's been a fun ten years, and I've learned a lot and met some interesting people.
But this sucks. See you over at ycombinator.com and maybe osnews.com Too bad, I used to love linuxtoday.com as well and they bit the dust ages ago, and for the same reason: "We need more ads!"
Me, I'd rather build a site that fits a niche perfectly and makes just enough money to get by. You guys are obviously going for the big bucks instead. But to do so you're alienating your readers. You spend more in bandwidth to send us video, to catch the attention of fewer interested readers. Meanwhile you're the last site on the web that doesn't have a good mobile version.
I've got two words for you: Death. Spiral.
Adios!
Ya. I've been reading Slashdot for about 12 years now, but it's increasingly clear this site is headed the route of "PCWorld" with articles that provide nothing but adspace. Increasingly, these "ask Slashdot" things are looking like corporate research too.
Not sure how much they sold us out for, but I hope it was worth it. This place is starting to smell funky.
Pretty easy: first, pay for a non-free email account. I chose fastmail.fm and like it. If you are all, "waaa, I don't want to pay" then you will pay with something else - your data, in this case.
2nd step: use an alternate search provider. I use DuckDuckGo. It's not perfect and sometimes I have to revert to Google, but it's better than getting sucked into the Google ecosystem.
It's so easy to avoid getting sucked into the blackhole. You just steer around it before its gravitational pull (waaah, I want an Android phone) sucks you over the event horizon. Buh-bye.
Although they might get gummed up by the new ribbon interface in the menus. "Dammit, where did that button go?"
I was a big fan of Google way back when, very early days. But as Google gets bigger and more powerful I get more concerned, and their privacy and data-snarfing issues don't make me comfortable at all. I don't want companies profiling me.
So, I'm no fan of Microsoft's business practices past or present, or much of any of their software. But I hope Bing provides some competition, just to keep Google in line.
I use DDG as my primary search engine. For a lot of things it works great, and has features that I find useful. When I'm searching for esoteric Linux config questions or equivalent, I reluctantly have to switch to Google, which provides better info. But with change DDG will get better. The fact that they want to be a search engine and not link me into their other "products" is reason enough for me to use it.
Why not use something as simple as possible? Keep the card system in place, and track it all using a collection manager like Tellico. I use Tellico for my personal library, which is probably about the size of the library you're managing. I'd say keep the card system in place - you're never going to get people to fill out online forms etc. And then use Tellico to answer the questions "What have I got?," "What's been checked out?" and "to Whom?" Seems like that's all you need at this stage.
Lots of complaining going on here. I probably wouldn't like the new look myself, as I much prefer simple, uncluttered interfaces anyway. But I can't remembrer the last time I had to go directly to the google.com website. Searches happen through the dedicated search box in Opera or Firefox, not by navigating to google.com. I also don't use any of their services, from calendar to google apps.
Now get offa my lawn.
I am bored to tears with all the "Does XXX mean the death of YYY" articles these technologist wankers drool out. It's always the same: "do computers mean the end of TV?" "Does the internet mean the end to commuting to work in your car?" "Does the Wii mean the end of Computer gaming?" and so on.
In EVERY case, the new technology has had an impact, sometimes even a limited one, but failed to do away with the previous. And anyone that thinks a technology for displaying information (and that's all an ebook is) will do away with a fundamental societal need like formal education is a fool, a wanker, or both.
Not to be a jerk here, but the best way to get bug reports is to make it clear that you'll respond to them. There is nothing more frustrating to a user than taking the time to file a report of any kind (either by using the software's automated thing - Opera web browser does this) or manually (I've filed several bugs against KDE PIM software) only to find it unaddressed. If on your website you make it obvious that you're receiving and dealing with issues, users will be more tempted to write you, and thus more inclined to do so in a helpful/thoughtful way. I've had great success with softmaker.de - every email I've ever sent with a bug report has been responded to with a solution, usually very quickly.
I dual boot my Linux desktop, and spend a lot of time in FreeBSD (I used PC-BSD, which installs pretty easily). These days, one of its advantages is that you can still have a KDE3 or Gnome2 desktop - worth it indeed!
He missed one step. Internet use leads to increased masturbation, which leads to autism, weight loss, shifty-eyes, sweaty palms, and social retardation. Got it?
That's OK that the new Ubuntu is too big to fit on a CD. Since it's got that craptastic Unity desktop, no one is going to want to download it anyway.
(Kidding, sort of. Even SuSE 8.1 came on two DVDs, one binaries and one source. I'm not against software getting distributed on DVD. But I am TOTALLY against Unity, which sucks donkey balls. That's a technical term).
Actually, that's EXACTLY what power users do - take the time to configure their environment to their liking and in a way that makes them efficient at a minimum of effort. I spent a couple of hours one day choosing keyboard shortcuts and so on, and have never had to touch it since - everything I do has been faster ever since.
But you can continue stabbing at the "Start" menu if you like.
Cheers to that. I run Bodhi on a Netbook and love it more and more. My desktop runs openSUSE; it's been my preference since SuSE 7.1 back eleven years ago. The last version of Gnome I liked started with a "1," not a "2" or "3." And Unity can just bite it.
Bodhi for the win.
Slashdot is awful on any mobile device I've ever tried it with. Give us http://m.slashdot.org/ in a form factor that makes sense, and you will be doing something great for your readers.
I currently use Alterslash, the brain child of someone else on this site, and it's fantastic. And OSNews has one of the best mobile versions I know of (and has had it for ages).
This Slashdot discussion is not touching on the one issue that matters to the USPS's fiscal health: the payments it owes retirees. There's an entire generation of Americans retiring and collecting their retirement pensions, and it's killing the financial system - not just the USPS. This is *not* about good or bad service, or email, or flat rates, or whatever. Those issues will sort themselves out naturally. But the USPS - like the USG on the whole, and many many private companies - have promised healthy retirement packages to lots of people who worked there for a lifetime, and now they've got to figure out how to actually pay them.
Two thoughts about this:
1. Apple gradually lured people into the tablet world by giving the confidence to try out this new paradigm. They made great ipods for a couple of years, and blew people away with the user interface, the clever hardware (click wheel, etc.) and the smooth software experience. So when they came out with a phone, people were willing to try it, remembering the ipod. Then when it was clear the ipad was just a big iphone, people knew what to expect and had the confidence it would have a similar, good user interface and software experience. And that's largely been the case. Microsoft has done no such thing, and people have had enough desktop and Winphone horror stories to be suspicious that the Winpad is worth taking a chance on. Add to that the story of the Zune nobody wanted, and Microsoft has an uphill battle convincing people to take the splurge on a $600 Winpad. In the souring economy, people are going to be more cautious than ever.
2. What's the point of having a Winpad? Microsoft ruled the desktop because everybody wanted Word, Excel, and Power-gag-Point to work with. But those days are LONG over, and no one gets a boner over office software anymore. So what kind of software are they going to put on a WinPad to make you want to buy it? God help them if they try to get you excited about WinPad office apps. Their media player is so-so, they have nothing like iTunes, their photo software is mediocre, etc.etc. etc. In short, these are the Balmer days, and Microsoft under Balmer's leadership has been uninspired and uninspiring. Expect their WinPad to be the same, lacking any real software application worth buying the hardware to run (echoes of Balmer talking about how his Zune will "squirt" you a photo of his kids: "now that's a great user experience!"). Good luck, Balmer.
Sorry to see this new form factor requires lots of pieces built into place instead of modulized or componentized. It means when your SSD goes bad or the network card fries you will have to replace the whole thing, or at least send it in to the manufacturer for replacement. The days of replacing the card or the drive are over. More potential avenues for profit for the manufacturer, but not so good for us measly consumers!
Lots of comments here comparing KDE to Gnome 2, 3, and Unity, and a couple of posts praising LXDE (which I also like). I'm surprised there are so few who have mentioned E17. I installed Bodhi Linux (Ubuntu with E17 desktop) on a netbook and have been extremely impressed:
1. Fast, low memory usage, but ... ...
2. Manages to be beautiful
3. Without being in your way.
Its "Run Everything" (equivalent to Alt-F2 run dialog) is exceptional, the menus are generally sensible, and it's easy on the eyes. I'd highly recommend it. It's given me much of what I like KDE4 and is conceptually easier (multiple desktops, etc.) than KDE4's confusing Workspaces/Activities/etc. metaphor.
I also use Windowmaker.
Slashdot is not blocked in China, but citizens are forced to use older browsers that choke on Slashdot's excessive CSS and Javascript goodness. The result is an experience - not unlike my own - that makes Slashdot increasingly too annoying a site to visit.
Maybe I got stuck in the early 90s, but the way I used computers then and how I use them now hasn't changed much. I prefer console software - mutt, links, and so on. (Slashdot on Lynx is better, frankly, for reading). I just got done building a gopher server for my home intranet (pygopher works great), and am a regular on Usenet. Just built my own news server, and my current project is a FreeBSD box and modem just so I can learn how the "other side" works when you dial into an ISP.
I'm mostly unimpressed by modern apps, and did serious, daily work on a PIII 550Mhz laptop from 2000 (Linux console mode) until last week when it finally kicked the bucket. Love reading stories about people whose definition of "Old" is a Pentium. Holy crap.
Instead of going internet free, I'd recommend you downgrade to a dialup connection. You can still do some of what you'd like to do, but you need to really think carefully about things. I wrote about my experience here: http://therandymon.com/content/view/188/98/ and would probably do it again. All the high bandwidth stuff I didn't really miss (no flash video? Oh noes!) although these days I'd miss skype. This way you've got minimal access if you need it, but are forced to radically downgrade your addiction.
That's about when you'll find your house is full of good books to read. Screw the downloaded wikipedia - you don't need it. Go walk the dogs and learn the guitar. (I can recommend a great website .... ha ha ha ha).
For a long time now there's been speculation that "getting" someon'es social graph will be valuable. In practice it hasn't yet played out. The value of IPOs like Facebook is largely based on the suspicion that having all that information on how people network will be valuable. This looks like an attempt to prove the info can be valuable. But they haven't exactly done an overwhelming job of convincing us, if this is the best they can do.
I use Spideroak and like it. I'm actually surprised no one else has mentioned it; it's even present in openSUSE repositories and possibly Ubuntu as well. It's not opensource but it works great, has full data encryption, and runs on Windows, Mac, Linux. You get 2GB free. I use it only to mirror my dotfiles and a couple of other key docs, and I'm well below the limit, so I don't pay. You can sync files across computers, and make others available from a publically-accessible web page.
No complaints from me. I do wish they offered the "send us an email and $5 and we'll email you a burned CD of your files" thing, but so it goes.
I'm hip with the "put all your memory to use" paradigm - that makes perfect sense. However, I want that memory to be in use for my applications. The Window Manager is just a utility, not an end in itself.
At my place, my primary box is an x86_64 box with 2G of RAM and it flies. It would easily run Natty, if I cared to install it (I don't like Gnome). But I still boot up my old PIII 555 Mhz with 128MB RAM just to see how far we've gotten. My conclusion after 11 years (bought that old PIII in 2000) is that WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN FAR. That old KDE 3.1 desktop does everything I want a desktop to do, and in some ways WIndowmaker does as well. Fast forward to the land of beautifulu rendering, compiz effects, GPU-accelerated whiz-bang, and in terms of functionality I'm not much better off. I'd far prefer to use the old desktop and have that RAM available for better apps. My desktop and window manager don't deserve all that RAM for themselves. And if your solution is to buy more memory, you're mistaken, because the developers will quickly appropriate that new RAM for themselves in the next edition, for an even shinier-but-no-more-useful windowmanager.