Me, I prefer the CLI. Red Hat's install is very easy, and I hear Debian is relatively painless too.
But for your average computer user, they don't really care what the OS is, so long as they can play games and send e-mail. I believe people will sit up and take notice of a packaged OS that is:
Inexpensive.
Easy to install.
Rock-solid. (Imagine, no more BSOD!)
In most cases, does not require hardware upgrades.
Won't have you over a barrel for "upgrades" every couple years.
Partition Magic is a good product. WordPerfect is a very capable editor. Of course Netscape is built in.
And some new users will appreciate the freedom in both senses of that word.
I believe that an easy-to-install, easy to use distro can only be good for Linux and for computer users. Congratulations, Caldera!
Did you know that when people post through DejaNews, the originating IP is included in the headers?
For our boy will@whistlingfish.net, any linux group, we get exactly 2 posts. One was made to comp.os.linux.setup, for crying out loud. I love c.o.l.setup, but don't you think c.ol.networking would have been more appropriate? But I digress.
The posting IP for will@whistlingfish.net is 131.107.3.71. nslookup 131.107.3.71 yields... drumroll, please!...
Host name: tide71.microsoft.com IP address: 131.107.3.71 Alias(es): None
Heh heh. Yeah, "we're thinking of going with Apache on Linux," you bet.
Open Text did this--sold top ten results based on keywords. And where are they now? The search engine still exists, but is not exactly a household name.
BTW, there was a boycott movement when Open Text did this. Icons, linked to an information page. And Open Text did back down...
I have been a user of Alta Vista since the day they opened. But I will certainly dump them if they sell results.
Random thoughts on latest edition of Jargon File
on
Jargon File v4.1.0
·
· Score: 1
Frames suck. A flat text file would be better for searching, and surely ESR must have started with plain text or non-framed HTML--witness the change log. Non-framed would be better for Lynx users and for bookmarking purposes. IMHO, some of the letters have too many entries to be listed all together, but why not manageable sizes if necessary (A-Al, Am-Az), with links from top of file to individual entries?
ESR does seem a bit too optimistic, as if Linux had already achieved World Domination(tm). Also his anti-FSF attitude is evident.
Nice that Amiga got an entry. Too bad it came along with an anti-Amiga derogatory term that I at least have never heard or read.
The libertarian politics is rather grating too. ESR seems to think that the worst thing about the CDA was that it might stifle online discussion of abortion. And here I thought it was unconstitutionally broad and vague. Silly me.
"Resistance is useless"? Similar mistakes in discussing spam-fighters' terminology. ("Several Lumber Cartels were formed.") I guess I will have to look at the "how to get changes made" file.
On the bright side, my name is pronounced correctly.
Death of "Share and enjoy!" greatly exaggerated
on
Jargon File v4.1.0
·
· Score: 1
Cheer up. I didn't look up the others, but "Share and enjoy!" is still listed in the new edition.
I was tipped off by "TeX" being in the change log. Surely ESR wouldn't wipe out TeX in favor of "404" as a verb!
I would like to know what changes were made. Better links to old and new than this very long list with the revised text.
IMHO, there are many problems with this article and its proposal.
The author seems to recognize only two kinds of software: proprietary commercial binaries with source a trade secret, and the totally free (gratis and liber) variety. In so doing, he confuses freeware, free software, open source, and the plethora of sort-of-free-source licences we have seen recently. This simplistic bifurcation also overlooks the existence of closed- or open-source freeware, and of shareware, especially the sort of shareware where the monetary price really does reflect the value to the user (not crippleware, not time-bombed, send a donation if you find it useful). But I believe the proposed solution is very close to shareware--the more commercial kind of "shareware" where the monetary reward is determined by the producer and not by the user, and where the user is forced to pay up. The only difference is in envisioning a group of authors and a "point" system.
But the biggest problem is that the author never says why free software or open source software must be commercialized. Programmers deserve to be rewarded, yes. But is money the only reward? Is money the best reward? Could not the reward be in the programming itself, at least for some people? The pleasure of an intellectual challenge, of making something useful, of making something that works? Even the pleasure sometimes of giving it away so that the total package may sometimes be greater than the sum of its parts?
If we're going to think about the future of computing, let's at least think big.
Other than that if I log on in Lynx, I cannot see that I have successfully logged on unless I try to reply to a message. This is confusing. Also could have effects on how moderators are chosen, if it's going to be based on how often/how many articles we read while logged on. Only people who suffer through the load time for images and tables are worthy potential moderators?
A poster calling him/herself alternately "Tom Bannon" and "Zingvee Byewhiler" asked:
How 'bout a website that at the push of a button just blurbs up a brand new randomly generated identity for easy insertion into the sucking jaws of the identity consumers? Complete with working anon email rotisserie fresh off some free service as well as 'What industry are you in' and 'How did you hear about us' bits for the deep diggers. For amusement purposes only, of course.
Well, as a "technological demonstration", you can generate username, password, and revokable e-mail address. I.e., "your" e-mail address is based partly on the site you're visiting, so if some scumbag uses it, you need never go there again OR can generate another new identity.
Doesn't auto-generate random age, locality, or occupation though.
Does strip out HTTP_REFERER (what link brought you here) and details of your OS.
It is shuffling around veeps, not splitting up Micros~1.
No idea why on earth the "news" page thought this was big news. And no idea why Rob posted this again, either. With all due respect, CmdrTaco, don't you or your trained mammals check stories first? Especially stories that sound too good to be true?
It was a world of digital symbols filled with projections of my self as it moved among them, thinking it was leaving the room and extending itself "out there." The exploration was really, of course, inside the consensual space we agree to hallucinate together.
What is it about this domain that compels such a response?
Jeepers, all this from staying up until 4 in the morning? I suppose, "I found something interesting," would be too simple, eh? I get much the same effect from reading a good murder mystery. No need for projecting symbols of myself, hallucinating, or losing my grip on the division between fantasy and reality.
The inspiration for this piece may have been a good one, but the author needs to cut down on the pompous verbiage.
I thought both articles were well-written, and made some good points.
Personally, I find Katz's articles often irritating due to his use of proprietary Microsoft characters. Run them through the demoroniser, at least! But his articles also are often shallow ("technology is k3wL"), suffer from gaps in logic, and as others have pointed out, can be poorly written and self-indulgent.
The solution? Don't give Katz a regular forum. It's not "news for nerds, stuff that matters" just because Jon Katz typed it. I wouldn't mind the occasional feature from him, but such contributions should be checked by Rob and his trained mammals before posting. Stories by Jon Katz should be at least as good as stories from other contributors must be before they are featured on/.
What would you all be saying if it was the other way around? Like, what if someone had linuxsucks.com? Or, even worse, what if someone, bought linux.com, and just totally bashed it?
Not an entirely hypothetical situation. Have you seen linux.org or linux.net lately? Ever? One is in frames (puke) and is owned by a guy who hypes Windows NT "solutions". The other is an embarrassment to the community of Linux users and developers, and owned by a guy who tried to get big software companies pay a fee to him and his (NT vendor) business partner so that they could set the standards for Linux.
There are some differences. Linux is not a company. Linux is (probably) not anybody's first name.
There's also a difference between the way the "Linux" TLD owners are treated and the way the holder of the theos.com domain is being treated. IIRC, linux.com went for a whole lot more than $35--even though it was not sold to the highest bidder. Linus has gone after unauthorized, misleading use of the Linux trademark. But though many people think the current use of the Linux TLDs is a shameful waste, you don't see lawyers hounding the owners to fork them over.
theos.com is named after the guy who owns it. Yet three years later, some software company thinks his personal name is an infringement of their trademark! And they sent him a laughable cease-and-desist letter.
Personally, I think Theos Software should rename their company, lest they offend the Almighty. "Theos" is the Greek word for "God," see, and God might not be too happy with trademark infringement either.;-)
What's in it for the Good Guys is that PHBs will start to wonder why they are forking over for licences (workstations, network) if Office runs on Linux.
Not that I myself would touch Office if I could help it, but some people like it.
But what's in it for Micros~1? Sure, they may sell copies of Office on another OS, but risk losing their lock on the desktop OS itself and many apps.
My paranoid worry about ID-attached SW.
on
Windows ID
·
· Score: 1
For freeware that demands your name and e-mail address, why not use Lucent Personal Web Assistant? http://www.lpwa.com/
Or better yet, use LPWA in conjunction with a web-based e-mail forwarding service or throwaway e-mail account.
I have not done this with some (I thought) reputable companies, and lived to regret it.
Katz makes reference to "[p]eople who grew up on" the Net. Um, Jon, not many can make that claim, as most people outside academe or the military did not venture online until the advent of Lynx and Mosaic in 1993.
He also says,
It's no accident or small matter that domain names and Net protocols and e-mail are free. It's the deliberate absence of walls that makes this so. This ethic marked the Internet from the beginning
Domain names are free? Where?
Only a newbie could suggest that the Internet has never had walls. It wasn't that long ago that you had to know how to address e-mail differently to reach people on bitnet, fidonet, or the Internet, and God help you if you had associates on AOL.
I do agree, however, with the thesis that Internet culture tends to be anti-proprietary. Online culture is, or has been until recently, a gift economy. People share their knowledge of esoteric and mundane subjects free of cost, and freely accessible, for the pleasure of giving, of finding kindred spirits, or even of having a soapbox. The PHBs do not "get" this culture.
Let's see, the Rev. Falwell has decided that a nonhuman character on a children's TV show is gay because:
Character is purple.
Character has triangular antenna.
Character carries some kind of small bag.
Some gay people like the character.
Well, gee, Mr. Falwell, why can't we say that this is obviously a Christian character?
Purple is the color of royalty, and God is called a king many times in the Bible.
Actually, the emperors got purple because it was the color associated with judges first. And God is also called a judge.
In the church, purple is the color of bishops.
The triangle is a well-known symbol of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.
Character toils not, neither does he spin. Very biblical, that.
Character acts childlike. As Christians are supposed to be like little children in some respects.
And Po? Obviously a commie. She's Red. "Po" rhymes with "Ho", and surely old Jerry hasn't forgotten Ho Chi Minh?
I hardly think this character is a role model. The character certainly won't be the decisive factor in whether anyone at all is gay or straight. If some gays have adopted the character as "theirs", so what? I understand that Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand are big icons for some gay men, but that doesn't make them lesbian and didn't make their fans gay.
"Dogma literally means the teachings of the Catholic church. A very large percentage of Christian believers are not Catholic and therefore not 'dogmatic.'"
Wrong. Dogma are normative and fundamental teachings, so that to deny them is to cease to be a member of a particular body of believers. It is a much narrower realm than "teachings" of a church, and certainly narrower than pious beliefs not officially taught. The Orthodox have dogmas, Anglicans have dogmas, many Protestant denominations have dogmas, though they might not use that term. A purported Lutheran who denied the divinity of Christ would be in heresy, and no longer a Christian or a Lutheran. So it is not the case that only Catholic Christians are "dogmatic".
An Anonymous Troll^H^H^H^H^HCoward diligently typed:
"Gary Bauer for Prez and Elzabeth Dole for VP!!"
I'd like to see G. Bauer get the Reptilian nomination too, because he'd get trounced. That would let the conservative zealots know how far they are out of step with the ordinary people.
One of Microsoft's suits said that the difference in modem speeds is a red herring. Well, this whole demo was one big red herring. MS proved what, exactly? That it is faster to set up a "trial account" with an ISP or online provider if you already have a browser installed. Big whoop.
There was no need for Microsoft to "integrate" MSIE into 32-bit Windows to provide this benefit. All they'd have to do for the same results is to preinstall a web browser. Or better yet, encourage OEMs to preinstall a choice of web browsers.
I'd like to see a fair test instead of this sham. Same OS (or at least both Win9x), same processor, same browser preinstalled, same modem on both machines. Then set up a dialup account. I'm sure the time required would not be vastly different for the two computers then.
I still have Windows 3.11, and I can tell you that setting up Netscape or (ugh) AOL is dead easy. MSIE is a pain in the neck to configure, though, because they think they know better than you, and try to hide everything.
However... Many people have long thought that ZD was in Bill Gates' hip pocket. This article would tend to corroborate that. ZD hack. On MSNBC. Mmm hmm.
And did you get a load of the first sentence?
Most software vendors would love a little attention from Microsoft Corp.
Oh, I don't think so. "A little attention" means that Bill is toying with "embrace, extend, extinguish".
Method perfected by IBM in its heyday, now happily "embraced and extended" by Microsoft.
To attempt to steer customers away from competitors by badmouthing the competing product, planting seeds of doubt, inventing rumors, etc.
See The Jargon File, a.k.a. New Hacker's Dictionary, for more info.
Linuxberg: First Impressions
on
Linuxberg opens
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· Score: 1
The Linuxberg logo is ugly. I do like the "Five Tuxes" and Tux at a campfire though.
Too many clicks to get to the software. IMHO a link to any of the mirrors should go to the software page by default.
Maybe "command-line" or "shell" would be better than "console", especially since "console" has a special meaning in X.
I see no sense in offending people with the boilerplate above the description for Lynx. Paraphrase: "Since we are out of the Stone Age, almost everyone uses a graphical browser."
A rating system can be helpful.
Rather than separate everything for the different distros, I don't see why it would be so difficult to put different file formats (if available) of the same software program together on one page, next to the description. E.g., seyon with links to a tarball, an RPM, one in Debian's format (sorry, it's late and I can't think of the extension), etc.
Slashdot Mirror
This is a very good development.
Me, I prefer the CLI. Red Hat's install is very easy, and I hear Debian is relatively painless too.
But for your average computer user, they don't really care what the OS is, so long as they can play games and send e-mail. I believe people will sit up and take notice of a packaged OS that is:
Partition Magic is a good product. WordPerfect is a very capable editor. Of course Netscape is built in.
And some new users will appreciate the freedom in both senses of that word.
I believe that an easy-to-install, easy to use distro can only be good for Linux and for computer users. Congratulations, Caldera!
jerrod asks what OS was really running with this user_agent string:
X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0b2; Windows NT 5.0; MS ITG IE5 internal).
Note the last word, "internal".
Now looky here. The originating IP of these posts was 131.107.3.71. Guess who that is.
nslookup 131.107.3.71.
Host name: tide71.microsoft.com
IP address: 131.107.3.71
Alias(es): None
The poster works at Microsoft, so he/she/it could very well be using a pre-production version of NT5 a.k.a. W2K.
Did you know that when people post through DejaNews, the originating IP is included in the headers?
For our boy will@whistlingfish.net, any linux group, we get exactly 2 posts. One was made to comp.os.linux.setup, for crying out loud. I love c.o.l.setup, but don't you think c.ol.networking would have been more appropriate? But I digress.
The posting IP for will@whistlingfish.net is 131.107.3.71. nslookup 131.107.3.71 yields... drumroll, please! ...
Host name: tide71.microsoft.com
IP address: 131.107.3.71
Alias(es): None
Heh heh. Yeah, "we're thinking of going with Apache on Linux," you bet.
Open Text did this--sold top ten results based on keywords. And where are they now? The search engine still exists, but is not exactly a household name.
BTW, there was a boycott movement when Open Text did this. Icons, linked to an information page. And Open Text did back down...
I have been a user of Alta Vista since the day they opened. But I will certainly dump them if they sell results.
Frames suck. A flat text file would be better for searching, and surely ESR must have started with plain text or non-framed HTML--witness the change log. Non-framed would be better for Lynx users and for bookmarking purposes. IMHO, some of the letters have too many entries to be listed all together, but why not manageable sizes if necessary (A-Al, Am-Az), with links from top of file to individual entries?
ESR does seem a bit too optimistic, as if Linux had already achieved World Domination(tm). Also his anti-FSF attitude is evident.
Nice that Amiga got an entry. Too bad it came along with an anti-Amiga derogatory term that I at least have never heard or read.
The libertarian politics is rather grating too. ESR seems to think that the worst thing about the CDA was that it might stifle online discussion of abortion. And here I thought it was unconstitutionally broad and vague. Silly me.
"Resistance is useless"? Similar mistakes in discussing spam-fighters' terminology. ("Several Lumber Cartels were formed.") I guess I will have to look at the "how to get changes made" file.
On the bright side, my name is pronounced correctly.
Cheer up. I didn't look up the others, but "Share and enjoy!" is still listed in the new edition.
I was tipped off by "TeX" being in the change log. Surely ESR wouldn't wipe out TeX in favor of "404" as a verb!
I would like to know what changes were made. Better links to old and new than this very long list with the revised text.
Glad to see my name is pronounced correctly.
IMHO, there are many problems with this article and its proposal.
The author seems to recognize only two kinds of software: proprietary commercial binaries with source a trade secret, and the totally free (gratis and liber) variety. In so doing, he confuses freeware, free software, open source, and the plethora of sort-of-free-source licences we have seen recently. This simplistic bifurcation also overlooks the existence of closed- or open-source freeware, and of shareware, especially the sort of shareware where the monetary price really does reflect the value to the user (not crippleware, not time-bombed, send a donation if you find it useful). But I believe the proposed solution is very close to shareware--the more commercial kind of "shareware" where the monetary reward is determined by the producer and not by the user, and where the user is forced to pay up. The only difference is in envisioning a group of authors and a "point" system.
But the biggest problem is that the author never says why free software or open source software must be commercialized. Programmers deserve to be rewarded, yes. But is money the only reward? Is money the best reward? Could not the reward be in the programming itself, at least for some people? The pleasure of an intellectual challenge, of making something useful, of making something that works? Even the pleasure sometimes of giving it away so that the total package may sometimes be greater than the sum of its parts?
If we're going to think about the future of computing, let's at least think big.
The World Is A Very Big Place, as they would say in alt.folklore.urban.
Here in the U.S., the fiscal year begins 1 July, not 6 April.
Happy Easter, to those /.ers of the Christian persuasion.
Me too!
What UI changes?
Other than that if I log on in Lynx, I cannot see that I have successfully logged on unless I try to reply to a message. This is confusing. Also could have effects on how moderators are chosen, if it's going to be based on how often/how many articles we read while logged on. Only people who suffer through the load time for images and tables are worthy potential moderators?
stevied asked plaintively:
> Did anyone find them funny? At all?
Yes, I loved the Metalab (né Sunsite) one. "Windoze is soooo good that we will surrender to the Borg." Bwa ha ha ha ha. Ouch, make them stop!
BTW, check the IDs on the fake cookies Rob is sending today. Now, that's funny. :-)
A poster calling him/herself alternately "Tom Bannon" and "Zingvee Byewhiler" asked:
Well, as a "technological demonstration", you can generate username, password, and revokable e-mail address. I.e., "your" e-mail address is based partly on the site you're visiting, so if some scumbag uses it, you need never go there again OR can generate another new identity.
Doesn't auto-generate random age, locality, or occupation though.
Does strip out HTTP_REFERER (what link brought you here) and details of your OS.
Check it out at: http://lpwa.com/.
No idea why on earth the "news" page thought this was big news. And no idea why Rob posted this again, either. With all due respect, CmdrTaco, don't you or your trained mammals check stories first? Especially stories that sound too good to be true?
Right about here is where I tuned out:
Jeepers, all this from staying up until 4 in the morning? I suppose, "I found something interesting," would be too simple, eh? I get much the same effect from reading a good murder mystery. No need for projecting symbols of myself, hallucinating, or losing my grip on the division between fantasy and reality.
The inspiration for this piece may have been a good one, but the author needs to cut down on the pompous verbiage.
I thought both articles were well-written, and made some good points.
Personally, I find Katz's articles often irritating due to his use of proprietary Microsoft characters. Run them through the demoroniser, at least! But his articles also are often shallow ("technology is k3wL"), suffer from gaps in logic, and as others have pointed out, can be poorly written and self-indulgent.
The solution? Don't give Katz a regular forum. It's not "news for nerds, stuff that matters" just because Jon Katz typed it. I wouldn't mind the occasional feature from him, but such contributions should be checked by Rob and his trained mammals before posting. Stories by Jon Katz should be at least as good as stories from other contributors must be before they are featured on /.
Anonymous Female wrote:
Not an entirely hypothetical situation. Have you seen linux.org or linux.net lately? Ever? One is in frames (puke) and is owned by a guy who hypes Windows NT "solutions". The other is an embarrassment to the community of Linux users and developers, and owned by a guy who tried to get big software companies pay a fee to him and his (NT vendor) business partner so that they could set the standards for Linux.
There are some differences. Linux is not a company. Linux is (probably) not anybody's first name.
There's also a difference between the way the "Linux" TLD owners are treated and the way the holder of the theos.com domain is being treated. IIRC, linux.com went for a whole lot more than $35--even though it was not sold to the highest bidder. Linus has gone after unauthorized, misleading use of the Linux trademark. But though many people think the current use of the Linux TLDs is a shameful waste, you don't see lawyers hounding the owners to fork them over.
theos.com is named after the guy who owns it. Yet three years later, some software company thinks his personal name is an infringement of their trademark! And they sent him a laughable cease-and-desist letter.
Personally, I think Theos Software should rename their company, lest they offend the Almighty. "Theos" is the Greek word for "God," see, and God might not be too happy with trademark infringement either. ;-)
What's in it for the Good Guys is that PHBs will start to wonder why they are forking over for licences (workstations, network) if Office runs on Linux.
Not that I myself would touch Office if I could help it, but some people like it.
But what's in it for Micros~1? Sure, they may sell copies of Office on another OS, but risk losing their lock on the desktop OS itself and many apps.
For freeware that demands your name and e-mail address, why not use Lucent Personal Web Assistant?
http://www.lpwa.com/
Or better yet, use LPWA in conjunction with a web-based e-mail forwarding service or throwaway e-mail account.
I have not done this with some (I thought) reputable companies, and lived to regret it.
Katz makes reference to "[p]eople who grew up on" the Net. Um, Jon, not many can make that claim, as most people outside academe or the military did not venture online until the advent of Lynx and Mosaic in 1993.
He also says,
Domain names are free? Where?
Only a newbie could suggest that the Internet has never had walls. It wasn't that long ago that you had to know how to address e-mail differently to reach people on bitnet, fidonet, or the Internet, and God help you if you had associates on AOL.
I do agree, however, with the thesis that Internet culture tends to be anti-proprietary. Online culture is, or has been until recently, a gift economy. People share their knowledge of esoteric and mundane subjects free of cost, and freely accessible, for the pleasure of giving, of finding kindred spirits, or even of having a soapbox. The PHBs do not "get" this culture.
Let's see, the Rev. Falwell has decided that a nonhuman character on a children's TV show is gay because:
Well, gee, Mr. Falwell, why can't we say that this is obviously a Christian character?
And Po? Obviously a commie. She's Red. "Po" rhymes with "Ho", and surely old Jerry hasn't forgotten Ho Chi Minh?
I hardly think this character is a role model. The character certainly won't be the decisive factor in whether anyone at all is gay or straight. If some gays have adopted the character as "theirs", so what? I understand that Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand are big icons for some gay men, but that doesn't make them lesbian and didn't make their fans gay.
Get a life, Jer.
boethius sez,
"Dogma literally means the teachings of the Catholic church. A very large percentage of Christian believers are not Catholic and therefore not 'dogmatic.'"
Wrong. Dogma are normative and fundamental teachings, so that to deny them is to cease to be a member of a particular body of believers. It is a much narrower realm than "teachings" of a church, and certainly narrower than pious beliefs not officially taught. The Orthodox have dogmas, Anglicans have dogmas, many Protestant denominations have dogmas, though they might not use that term. A purported Lutheran who denied the divinity of Christ would be in heresy, and no longer a Christian or a Lutheran. So it is not the case that only Catholic Christians are "dogmatic".
An Anonymous Troll^H^H^H^H^HCoward diligently typed:
"Gary Bauer for Prez and Elzabeth Dole for VP!!"
I'd like to see G. Bauer get the Reptilian nomination too, because he'd get trounced. That would let the conservative zealots know how far they are out of step with the ordinary people.
One of Microsoft's suits said that the difference in modem speeds is a red herring. Well, this whole demo was one big red herring. MS proved what, exactly? That it is faster to set up a "trial account" with an ISP or online provider if you already have a browser installed. Big whoop.
There was no need for Microsoft to "integrate" MSIE into 32-bit Windows to provide this benefit. All they'd have to do for the same results is to preinstall a web browser. Or better yet, encourage OEMs to preinstall a choice of web browsers.
I'd like to see a fair test instead of this sham. Same OS (or at least both Win9x), same processor, same browser preinstalled, same modem on both machines. Then set up a dialup account. I'm sure the time required would not be vastly different for the two computers then.
I still have Windows 3.11, and I can tell you that setting up Netscape or (ugh) AOL is dead easy. MSIE is a pain in the neck to configure, though, because they think they know better than you, and try to hide everything.
We've already seen the Be press release on /.
However... Many people have long thought that ZD was in Bill Gates' hip pocket. This article would tend to corroborate that. ZD hack. On MSNBC. Mmm hmm.
And did you get a load of the first sentence?
Oh, I don't think so. "A little attention" means that Bill is toying with "embrace, extend, extinguish".
Fear - Uncertainty - Doubt.
Method perfected by IBM in its heyday, now happily "embraced and extended" by Microsoft.
To attempt to steer customers away from competitors by badmouthing the competing product, planting seeds of doubt, inventing rumors, etc.
See The Jargon File, a.k.a. New Hacker's Dictionary, for more info.
The Linuxberg logo is ugly. I do like the "Five Tuxes" and Tux at a campfire though.
Too many clicks to get to the software. IMHO a link to any of the mirrors should go to the software page by default.
Maybe "command-line" or "shell" would be better than "console", especially since "console" has a special meaning in X.
I see no sense in offending people with the boilerplate above the description for Lynx. Paraphrase: "Since we are out of the Stone Age, almost everyone uses a graphical browser."
A rating system can be helpful.
Rather than separate everything for the different distros, I don't see why it would be so difficult to put different file formats (if available) of the same software program together on one page, next to the description. E.g., seyon with links to a tarball, an RPM, one in Debian's format (sorry, it's late and I can't think of the extension), etc.