So every time someone makes a new widget you'd have to update your X-server? No thanks. What about people who run a remote X-server say on Windows or an X-terminal? Since the X protocol doesn't change much, you don't have new apps requiring updates to the server. This is how it should stay. Why should application programmer even care? So long as they have a toolkit that handles the complexity it won't matter. You can view a newer GTK or KDE app from a terminal with a much older X-server - why change that?
If you have Microsoft Windows running with screen reader software, can you use that screen reader with OpenOffice.org? How about Abiword? Can you use it with any other software, or just Microsoft software?
"It's common to take out indemnity policies against the possibility of future legal action where all steps have been taken to try and resolve the issue beforehand.
What make someone think they can build a road across someone else's property? I know there's all that adverse possession stuff - in order to obtain property that way, you basically have to be openly trespassing for a while (10 years I think in MI). So you propose that software (or any copyright and perhaps patents) should be handled the same way? Possession is 9/10 of the law? That's one reason the term "intellectual property" is a misnomer. It's not property. Copyright does not offer any reason for someone to use others stuff without explicit permission - even if you can't locate the author.
CSS is not copy protection - you can copy the encrypted data without any problem. CSS is access control. It prevents you from making sense of the data. It's used to control the player market. Sheesh, if you do something they don't like they'll stop putting your key on future DVDs so your existing players won't work. Once the player makers are all playing along, we get region coding - again, that's not copy protection. No form of encryption is really copy protection.
I though the anti-circumvention clause was intended to stop people from getting free cable TV. Instead it prevents people from accessing stuff they actually paid for.
"If it's legally free to use and does the same task, why wouldn't 90% of the users in the world who only use Windows *not* care?"
Because they don't care about "legal". Often when I tell someone about OpenOffice, they tell me it's neat but they already have MS Office at home - or at least word. If you tell them "but it's free", they often say they got the MS products free too - illegal of course. They figure why get some free knockoff when they can get "the real thing" free. The ones who paid for MS often got a student price or something, and they really have no incentive to switch until their existing version won't work any more.
The problem is that everyone has Word or Office already weather they paid for it or not. In that context, OOo has nothing to offer - the other benefits are too abstract for joe sixpack. It's a case where MS benefits from casual copies floating around.
The situation is the same for others: Mechanical Engineers tend to have a pinched copy of Autocad at home. Artists have a pinched Photoshop. Animators have a pinched copy of Maya. This hurts adoption of GIMP and Blender - sorry, there is no great GPLed CAD program (except for QCAD for 2D). I'm sure there are plenty more examples. If Longhorn can prevent people running illegal copies of all this software, we'll start to see people switch - assuming MS will allow them to run the legally free stuff.
Email allows anyone to send it - the result is SPAM. Blogs allow anyone to post comments - the result is spam. We should have learned this by now. Blogs need a handy way for bloggers to moderate comments before they appear. C'mon it's not rocket science.
You mean using seperate memory spaces is slower than writing all your apps in an interpreted language? I find that really really hard to believe. If it is true, then you would have to put the interpreter(s) in the kernel so no one could ever run a C program. If you could run arbitrary code, there would be major security issues with apps all running in the same memory space. I think we just need faster context switching.
"Can the same be said for editors/readers of slashdot?"
No, Apple takes a close second to Google on slashdot. I swear not a day goes by without some story about one of these 2 companies. Even this one is a sort of meta-story about apple stories. Really quite useless, but here it is just because it has "Apple" in the title.
"Suddenly, all anyone needs is a RAMDAC to output framebuffer to VGA"
I've been wanting to write an article or blog about that for a while now. With DVI digital you don't even need a DAC, just a bit of hardware to transfer data from RAM to the DVI connector with the right timing. Even better for Intel/AMD is that this provides an excellent use for dual cores. Most software won't use a second core, but you could use it as a GPU substitute by writing something like this. Dual cores for lower cost systems;-)
I've been looking forward to a time when everyone gets at least one fixed IP address. Want to run a server of any sort? No? How about a mail server built in to your cable modem? Or do you like your email getting stored at your ISP? Then there are any number of handy p2p type apps that will benefit. VOIP comes to mind - without needing to subscribe to a directory service. Fire up gnome-meeting or whatever and enter your friends IP (well the software could remember it for you) - the same IP they have every time. Actually, fixed IPs for everyone reduces the role of the ISP to simply being a network connection like they should be. Also, it takes effort from developers to get software working through NAT, so the burden on them should be reduced.
Given the amount of time it will take to really grasp how all these genes and things play together, the patents could mostly be expired by the time the innovation comes. Yeah, I know they'll extend them forever like copyrights at some point. Say it with me... P.T.O must Go. P.T.O must Go.
Don't US laws apply to americans outside the US? If I go on vacation and kill someone can't I be prosecuted when I get home? Or does it depend on weather the victim was American? Along the same lines, if censorship violates the first amendment at home, isn't it also forbidden overseas? And if it does depend on who the victim is, what about Americans visiting these countries?
I see a familiar double standard. The rules only apply to people, not big companies.
As I recall, the U.N. wants to tax internet stuff. They claim the money would be used to bring 3rd world countries online - it's for the children... IMHO, the UN should not be given any money - else they actually become a world government thereby taking power from all countries. Like the US federal govt continually trying to take power from the states. Like the new EU trying to take power from their members. It's an effort by the U.N. to grab power.
The MBAs comming out of business school tell me that in the future, the US will just be managers "managing" all the stuff being done overseas - I should be an MBA too, or I'll be obsolete. If that's the stuff they're teaching our business leaders of the future we're just screwed...
"Creating a unified look and feel for graphical Linux apps has been long overdue."
I thought that's what Gnome and KDE were trying to do. I know Gnome is starting to look quite unified as long as you use Gnome apps. The only thing I can really complain about is the icons on the Gnome pannel - especially the fact that some are different than in other places. Desktop folks have no business creating icons different than the ones app developers make - it leads to confusion. We certainly don't need a 3rd group trying to make a nice desktop, but they are welcome to try.
"The case for dark matter has been built for several decades."
Most of the stuff I've seen on the galactic rotation curve "problem" assumes Keplers laws (for 2 bodies) hold for stars orbiting the galactic core. Making up some magic phenomena for explaining the difference between such a broken model and reality is just bad science. Once they got some believers, this "dark matter" can be used to "explain" all sorts of other phenomena with an appropriate amount of hand waving. After that waving, the new anomaly is held up as further "proof" of the dark matter myth.
"So, basically -- buy a portable MP3 player and a copy-protected CD. And you can't copy the music from the CD to your MP3 player legally any more, as you'd break law if you circumvent the copy protection mechanism found on CD."
I think they'll allow "industry approved" devices to copy the tracks. At that point, it's not copy protection but cartel protection. Why can some companies make stuff that can copy it but others can not?
They're building a modified Long-Ez. OK, Rutan doesn't sell plans any more, but the second version is based on the Velocity which you can buy and build in your garage. Agreed, rocket motors are a bit hard to come by, but perhaps not if you join the league. I see it as cheaper and probably safer than NASCAR. I would agree with some of your other concerns though;-)
From what I've read, the speeds at the Reno Air Races are about double what these rocket guys are talking about. 200-300mph in a composite canard? You don't need a rocket engine for that - look at the Cozy Jet. Rockets are probably more fun to watch, but at 5000 feet?
This discussion has a lot of posts suggesting that these qualify as "embedded systems". It's been bothering me for some time now that you folks on the west coast consider a PC104 board running an OS with a memory manager to be an embedded system. That's just a small PC. You're missing so much. Move to detroit and build stuff for cars, where a CPUs range from $0.50 to $10 (for a "really big" one). No memory manager, no off-chip memory, no OS in the sense you're used to. We have some CPUs that never power down - they sleep and "wake on CAN message". Imagine that constrait - a fleet of several hundred thousand of your systems connected direct to battery that may not see a full reset for 5 to 10 years, where a failure results in a warrant issue for a $10 module. Try making something fail-safe from hardware all the way through random bits flipping in memory affecting software. An airbag controller, ABS, or steering system all have potentially hazardous failure modes. Oh, and this stuff has to be made cheap on a level you can't fathom.
I understand we have different constaints, and we have economies of scale (almost always over 50K units). But a miniature PC is still a PC. You speak of reliability in terms of how often a system needs to be rebooted? WTF? I was on an international flight, and they had to shut down the in-seat (and up front) video system and reboot it. Hah, must be Windoze I thought, wearing my slashdot hat. Then this penguin came up on the main screen... When is the last time you had to reboot your car stereo, or any of the other crap in there? How about your home stereo? Your microwave? Your dishwasher?
WTF is my point? Please stop calling PCs embedded systems just because they're in an unusual place. And above all else, stop thinking of reliability as a feature instead of a requirement.
"Except 20th Century Fox Home Video is committed to Blu-Ray and thus your prediction is incorrect. Furthermore, all the studios release multiple versions of films to "double dip". Its not a George Lucas exclusive. And unlike most of Hollywood, George reinvests his monies into advancing the whole industry with pioneering technology. He did it with ILM, THX, Pixar, and now digitally projected cinema. So again, your criticism - in a weak attempt at humor - is a distortion. Grow up and get out of your mom's basement."
OK, so I should have said "Blu-Ray". I never said george was the only one to do this. I didn't say anything about George Lucas personally, or his contributions to the industry. I do not live in my moms basement, I have a nice finnished one under my own house. My comments were not a distortion - there have been a lot of Star Wars releases. It seems the only thing relevant about your post was the HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray part. Thanks for the information, now we can add six or eight more Star Wars releases to my list to cover both new formats.
And then look for:
Episode 1-3 boxed set.
The complete collection on DVD (1-6)
Episode 4 on HD-DVD
Episode 4-6 on HD-DVD
Episode 1-3 on HD-DVD
The boxed full set 1-6 on HD-DVD
"And if it's hard for them to "demonstrate instances where it's not ok" then why should we put them in charge of making that decision?"
They aren't; the courts make the decision.
The broadcast flag will take that decision from the courts and hand it to broadcasters. They will decide when it's OK and when it's not OK to record something.
Yes, my mistake on distribution. Distribution is like sales, and they certainly have the right to do that. They don't have a right to control my use of stuff after they've given it to me though. Broadcasting is like distribution.
The industry does not have a right to stop my recording (they are not law enforcement, much as they'd like to be). The only valid question is weather I have a right to record or not. And if it's hard for them to "demonstrate instances where it's not ok" then why should we put them in charge of making that decision?
The answer to the original question remains the same: the public is going to lose the ability to do something they presently can (legally) do - that's why they are upset. Also, the people who watch the least television are the ones who need a recorder the most. If someone watches all the time, they know what's on and when. An infrequent viewer might hear about something cool that's going to be on ONCE, and set the Tivo or VCR to make sure he doesn't miss it. That's the veiwer the industry is going to lose with the broadcast flag. OTOH, if it's on tape he may skip the commercials - in which case they may not care if they lose that viewer.
That's really the main benefit I see for the industry. If you have to watch it live, you can't skip the commercials. I personally mute commercials a lot on certain channels because they are so darn loud - mute is simpler than adjusting the volume correctly. Is that next? It'll be illegal to manufacture televisions with a mute button? Oh, and once you leave a channel, you're not allowed to come back until the next show starts? Actually, that would help me a lot - I could only flip through them all once and then I'd just have to turn it off...
"Is the problem that you could do whatever you wanted in the past with that content, and now that the owner is technically capable of excerising their right to control the distribution of their works it isn't fair?"
Good thing I don't have mod points, or you wouldn't get an explanation - just a Troll rating. The reason is that they don't actually have a "right to control the distribution of their works". Please site the part of copyright law that says so if that's what you think. They also don't have a legal right to stop me from recording broadcasts. The Sony case confirms my right to record shows for later viewing. The broadcast flag gives them a new right, while taking one away from the public.
On another note, I don't like most of what's on TV, but there are occasionally things that I'd like to watch and sometimes record. It's currently my right to do so. Why don't you think I should be upset when an industry wants to take away my rights by sneaking this through on the back of a totally unrelated bill?
Slashdot Mirror
X is low level for a reason.
If you have Microsoft Windows running with screen reader software, can you use that screen reader with OpenOffice.org? How about Abiword? Can you use it with any other software, or just Microsoft software?
What make someone think they can build a road across someone else's property? I know there's all that adverse possession stuff - in order to obtain property that way, you basically have to be openly trespassing for a while (10 years I think in MI). So you propose that software (or any copyright and perhaps patents) should be handled the same way? Possession is 9/10 of the law? That's one reason the term "intellectual property" is a misnomer. It's not property. Copyright does not offer any reason for someone to use others stuff without explicit permission - even if you can't locate the author.
I though the anti-circumvention clause was intended to stop people from getting free cable TV. Instead it prevents people from accessing stuff they actually paid for.
Because they don't care about "legal". Often when I tell someone about OpenOffice, they tell me it's neat but they already have MS Office at home - or at least word. If you tell them "but it's free", they often say they got the MS products free too - illegal of course. They figure why get some free knockoff when they can get "the real thing" free. The ones who paid for MS often got a student price or something, and they really have no incentive to switch until their existing version won't work any more.
The problem is that everyone has Word or Office already weather they paid for it or not. In that context, OOo has nothing to offer - the other benefits are too abstract for joe sixpack. It's a case where MS benefits from casual copies floating around.
The situation is the same for others: Mechanical Engineers tend to have a pinched copy of Autocad at home. Artists have a pinched Photoshop. Animators have a pinched copy of Maya. This hurts adoption of GIMP and Blender - sorry, there is no great GPLed CAD program (except for QCAD for 2D). I'm sure there are plenty more examples. If Longhorn can prevent people running illegal copies of all this software, we'll start to see people switch - assuming MS will allow them to run the legally free stuff.
Email allows anyone to send it - the result is SPAM. Blogs allow anyone to post comments - the result is spam. We should have learned this by now. Blogs need a handy way for bloggers to moderate comments before they appear. C'mon it's not rocket science.
You mean using seperate memory spaces is slower than writing all your apps in an interpreted language? I find that really really hard to believe. If it is true, then you would have to put the interpreter(s) in the kernel so no one could ever run a C program. If you could run arbitrary code, there would be major security issues with apps all running in the same memory space. I think we just need faster context switching.
No, Apple takes a close second to Google on slashdot. I swear not a day goes by without some story about one of these 2 companies. Even this one is a sort of meta-story about apple stories. Really quite useless, but here it is just because it has "Apple" in the title.
I've been wanting to write an article or blog about that for a while now. With DVI digital you don't even need a DAC, just a bit of hardware to transfer data from RAM to the DVI connector with the right timing. Even better for Intel/AMD is that this provides an excellent use for dual cores. Most software won't use a second core, but you could use it as a GPU substitute by writing something like this. Dual cores for lower cost systems ;-)
I've been looking forward to a time when everyone gets at least one fixed IP address. Want to run a server of any sort? No? How about a mail server built in to your cable modem? Or do you like your email getting stored at your ISP? Then there are any number of handy p2p type apps that will benefit. VOIP comes to mind - without needing to subscribe to a directory service. Fire up gnome-meeting or whatever and enter your friends IP (well the software could remember it for you) - the same IP they have every time. Actually, fixed IPs for everyone reduces the role of the ISP to simply being a network connection like they should be. Also, it takes effort from developers to get software working through NAT, so the burden on them should be reduced.
Given the amount of time it will take to really grasp how all these genes and things play together, the patents could mostly be expired by the time the innovation comes. Yeah, I know they'll extend them forever like copyrights at some point. Say it with me... P.T.O must Go. P.T.O must Go.
I see a familiar double standard. The rules only apply to people, not big companies.
As I recall, the U.N. wants to tax internet stuff. They claim the money would be used to bring 3rd world countries online - it's for the children... IMHO, the UN should not be given any money - else they actually become a world government thereby taking power from all countries. Like the US federal govt continually trying to take power from the states. Like the new EU trying to take power from their members. It's an effort by the U.N. to grab power.
The MBAs comming out of business school tell me that in the future, the US will just be managers "managing" all the stuff being done overseas - I should be an MBA too, or I'll be obsolete. If that's the stuff they're teaching our business leaders of the future we're just screwed...
I thought that's what Gnome and KDE were trying to do. I know Gnome is starting to look quite unified as long as you use Gnome apps. The only thing I can really complain about is the icons on the Gnome pannel - especially the fact that some are different than in other places. Desktop folks have no business creating icons different than the ones app developers make - it leads to confusion. We certainly don't need a 3rd group trying to make a nice desktop, but they are welcome to try.
Most of the stuff I've seen on the galactic rotation curve "problem" assumes Keplers laws (for 2 bodies) hold for stars orbiting the galactic core. Making up some magic phenomena for explaining the difference between such a broken model and reality is just bad science. Once they got some believers, this "dark matter" can be used to "explain" all sorts of other phenomena with an appropriate amount of hand waving. After that waving, the new anomaly is held up as further "proof" of the dark matter myth.
I think they'll allow "industry approved" devices to copy the tracks. At that point, it's not copy protection but cartel protection. Why can some companies make stuff that can copy it but others can not?
They're building a modified Long-Ez. OK, Rutan doesn't sell plans any more, but the second version is based on the Velocity which you can buy and build in your garage. Agreed, rocket motors are a bit hard to come by, but perhaps not if you join the league. I see it as cheaper and probably safer than NASCAR. I would agree with some of your other concerns though ;-)
From what I've read, the speeds at the Reno Air Races are about double what these rocket guys are talking about. 200-300mph in a composite canard? You don't need a rocket engine for that - look at the Cozy Jet. Rockets are probably more fun to watch, but at 5000 feet?
I understand we have different constaints, and we have economies of scale (almost always over 50K units). But a miniature PC is still a PC. You speak of reliability in terms of how often a system needs to be rebooted? WTF? I was on an international flight, and they had to shut down the in-seat (and up front) video system and reboot it. Hah, must be Windoze I thought, wearing my slashdot hat. Then this penguin came up on the main screen... When is the last time you had to reboot your car stereo, or any of the other crap in there? How about your home stereo? Your microwave? Your dishwasher?
WTF is my point? Please stop calling PCs embedded systems just because they're in an unusual place. And above all else, stop thinking of reliability as a feature instead of a requirement.
I'm going down as a flaming troll this time.
OK, so I should have said "Blu-Ray". I never said george was the only one to do this. I didn't say anything about George Lucas personally, or his contributions to the industry. I do not live in my moms basement, I have a nice finnished one under my own house. My comments were not a distortion - there have been a lot of Star Wars releases. It seems the only thing relevant about your post was the HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray part. Thanks for the information, now we can add six or eight more Star Wars releases to my list to cover both new formats.
Bah. fanboys...
And then look for:
Episode 1-3 boxed set.
The complete collection on DVD (1-6)
Episode 4 on HD-DVD
Episode 4-6 on HD-DVD
Episode 1-3 on HD-DVD
The boxed full set 1-6 on HD-DVD
Way to milk it George!!!
They aren't; the courts make the decision.
The broadcast flag will take that decision from the courts and hand it to broadcasters. They will decide when it's OK and when it's not OK to record something.
The industry does not have a right to stop my recording (they are not law enforcement, much as they'd like to be). The only valid question is weather I have a right to record or not. And if it's hard for them to "demonstrate instances where it's not ok" then why should we put them in charge of making that decision?
The answer to the original question remains the same: the public is going to lose the ability to do something they presently can (legally) do - that's why they are upset. Also, the people who watch the least television are the ones who need a recorder the most. If someone watches all the time, they know what's on and when. An infrequent viewer might hear about something cool that's going to be on ONCE, and set the Tivo or VCR to make sure he doesn't miss it. That's the veiwer the industry is going to lose with the broadcast flag. OTOH, if it's on tape he may skip the commercials - in which case they may not care if they lose that viewer.
That's really the main benefit I see for the industry. If you have to watch it live, you can't skip the commercials. I personally mute commercials a lot on certain channels because they are so darn loud - mute is simpler than adjusting the volume correctly. Is that next? It'll be illegal to manufacture televisions with a mute button? Oh, and once you leave a channel, you're not allowed to come back until the next show starts? Actually, that would help me a lot - I could only flip through them all once and then I'd just have to turn it off...
Good thing I don't have mod points, or you wouldn't get an explanation - just a Troll rating. The reason is that they don't actually have a "right to control the distribution of their works". Please site the part of copyright law that says so if that's what you think. They also don't have a legal right to stop me from recording broadcasts. The Sony case confirms my right to record shows for later viewing. The broadcast flag gives them a new right, while taking one away from the public.
On another note, I don't like most of what's on TV, but there are occasionally things that I'd like to watch and sometimes record. It's currently my right to do so. Why don't you think I should be upset when an industry wants to take away my rights by sneaking this through on the back of a totally unrelated bill?