That's a possibility. I guess I see the situation from a different point of view. To me it looks like RMS is just saying that the past is a non-issue here. I think it's just our perception of the comment that he's doing it out of spite. I really think this was done with all of the best intentions, if not the best choice of words. treke
He's forgiving any violations that may have occured. There may not have been any violations commited, but if they were committed they've been forgiven. treke
Actually we have seen a beta built around the 2.4 pres, The mandrake 7.2 that was just released. I agree with RedHat's decision to put a 2.4 in 7.0, They have a product almost ready to ship in a hopefully stable state. By the time 7.1 rolls around 2.4 will have a couple point releases under it's belt and will probably ship with 7.1. If for some reason they don't want a new kernel in a point release, RedHat can ship an 8.0 with the possibly released GNOME 1.4 and the new GPL Open Office suite.
I don't think that releasing an upgrade with a 2.4 would be much of an issue though. I seem to remember Bero saying that the main identifier of a.0 release was breaking binary compatibility, which most certainly isn't going to happen with a new kernel. Pinstripe (7.0 beta) is already compiled against the 2.4 headers even though it runs on a 2.2 (2.2.17-pre1[[0-9]). treke
Am I the only person who remembers the Loki quote that porting is free? I seem to remember that Loki did the actual port for free, and then paid royalties on the sales to the company who owned the game. The only risk involved would possibly be theft of source code, and no one at loki would be stupid enough to let that out.
I think Blizzards problem was that they were unwilling to let anyone else do porting for them because they were concerned with the quality of the final product. treke
The difference is that you can't snatch up a.gov because Network solutions has no control over it, so their shitty security won't help you. I doubt the root servers could be easily reprogrammed, and it's already illegal to tamper with them. treke
At one time I think there were two versions of Codewarrior planned, the GNU editions that everyone knows about using gcc. And a Professionial edition that would use a port of their own compiler. Too bad Metrowerks dumped the Linux version, it had the potential to be a really good ide on Linux. treke
I think Napster actually uses HTTP for the file transfers. I seem to remember that the WebNap client (http://webnap.sourceforge.net) was simply a front end for the search features, which could no doubt work on whatever port they decided to use treke
The problem is that no matter how much money they throw into killing Napster and similar programs, there will always be some people who are both very devoted to making anything free and very talented. Napster has become almost as common as ICQ or Winzip( or their equivalent on *nix and Macs), yet it wasn't started to make any money. I remember the guy who wroted saying that he did so to see if he could find a better way to do things.
If Sony were to manage to get Napster blocked at the source (technologically, not legally), then this could be done with anything. Politically unpopular speech, Financially threatening free software, whatever. But someone is going to want to get around it, and actually wanting to see a project through to completion can be more important than the skills of the programmer. It's hard to get interested in doing something, much more difficult than learning to do something that interests you.
Legal issues would be trickier, if for example ISPs were successfully sued(read: easier to cancel customer account than to go to court) everytime a napster server was run, then the technology would most eventually die. treke
So what hardware does RedHat support that isn't supported on anyother distribution? What, none? The only reason for discrepancies in hardware support is age of the distribution. RedHat puts out a new version like clockwork, and newer technologies make their way in faster. As an example Debian releases much slower, so it may appear to support less hardware, but after installing newer versions of the shipping software it runs on everything RedHat will.
As a little test I have set a user down with a machine, the RedHat install manual, and a cd and asked them to install it. I came back the next day and found the system working completly.
What really seperates distributions are the tools that they ship with for configuring the system. RedHat, Mandrake and Corel focues on adding configuration tools, while Slackware doesn't focus as heavily on this. Systems that don't focus on easy end user tools aren't much of an issue because most users aren't going to start with them. If they aren't satisfied using RedHat they'll try other distributions. If they are satisfied they wont switch. treke
Never said it couldn't be implemented, the poster asked for examples of features that GNOME doesn't have yet. I'd be glad to see more of these since I use way more gnome apps than kde treke
Here's three ( I haven't used KDE2 thoroughly), The ability to run some of GTK's themes, automatic modification of the colors for Motif apps, and a status indicator for the task bar to show when an application has completed loading. These are minor features, but they are handy.
Unlike the guy who started this I am not a developer for KDE. I use Enlightenment, EFM, and mainly GTK apps. treke
What I'm saying is that the Nvidia drivers may not be the problem. Windows may deal with your motherboard the way it needs to be dealt with, but Linux still doesn't perfectly suppord every motherboard in existance. I'd admit that it seems like a bit of a stretch, but certainly possible.
Your other reply is where I see the best arguement for bugginess. ATI and 3dFXs drivers may not have this problem, but do they both use the AGP card as anything other than a PCI card? Nvidia may be using features correctly that aren't implemented correctly for your motherboard.
Or the drivers may just be buggy:). I've had mixed results, in the same system a GeForce 256 works perfectly, but a TNT 2 crashed every now and then. I'm sure the drivers will continue to improve, Nvidia has the chance to get a great position in the 3d Linux market, but still has still has very competent competition. treke
I don't think you can hold Nvidia responsible for the possibility that Linux support for you mother board is not quite perfect(If that happens to be the case). treke
I'd disagree that it is a poor product. I've found annoyances caused by it's reliance on WINE (Anyone know how difficult it is to upgrade the included version?), but all in all I've been happy with the product. I've looked at it is realistically, version 1.0 of a very complex application. WordPerfect 8 and WordPerfect Office 2000 probably share around 0 code in the interface. If WINE could be upgraded ( Service Anyone?) then many bugs would probably dissappear. treke
In terms of Linux, everything was 32bit from the start. Now things took longer in Windows land(taking longer?) where 16 bit dos and Windows programs are still being written. treke
After thinking about this a bit, I can't really think of anything else in RedHat that is closed source. The may be aiming at being a pure distro, but let's face it, there isn't currently any replacement for Netscape. Since there isn't a choice in the matter they've probably decided that it's better to ship RedHat with a closed source web browser than none at all( like they did back in the 4.2 days). treke
They are... It's called FreemWare or plex86 or something. It's written by someone who knows what hey's doing here, the author of bochs. look it up. treke
Going and stealing copy of Windows would just lower my opinion of someones ideals than if they broke down and bought a copy of Windows for the sole purpose of playing half-life. I have a windows parition on my system with only three applications. Half Life, The Realmagic DVD player, and Winzip. Why should someone be willing to bend on the principle of using Linux software if it means stealing from those who have worked on the software. It's great that people write Free Software, I release everything I write that I can, but it is still legal to sell software.
You have two choices that wouldn't compromise your position as a free software or fair competition advocate
Don't play the game
Get a legal copy of Windows
Getting a legal copy of Windows isn't that difficult anyways, unless you built the computer yourself(a possibility) you probably already have a license for some version of Windows. treke
The opposite here in the US, My experience with Loki's linux games are that they are cheaper than the windows equivalent. Quake 3 was the exception to the rule, but I got Heavy Gear 2 very soon after it was released on Linux at Fry's electronics(big here in California) for 29 bucks. While I was there I saw Myth2 and CivCTP going for the same price. And The Solitaire game was going for 19. treke
Slashdot Mirror
That's a possibility. I guess I see the situation from a different point of view. To me it looks like RMS is just saying that the past is a non-issue here. I think it's just our perception of the comment that he's doing it out of spite. I really think this was done with all of the best intentions, if not the best choice of words.
treke
He's forgiving any violations that may have occured. There may not have been any violations commited, but if they were committed they've been forgiven.
treke
Actually we have seen a beta built around the 2.4 pres, The mandrake 7.2 that was just released. I agree with RedHat's decision to put a 2.4 in 7.0, They have a product almost ready to ship in a hopefully stable state. By the time 7.1 rolls around 2.4 will have a couple point releases under it's belt and will probably ship with 7.1. If for some reason they don't want a new kernel in a point release, RedHat can ship an 8.0 with the possibly released GNOME 1.4 and the new GPL Open Office suite.
I don't think that releasing an upgrade with a 2.4 would be much of an issue though. I seem to remember Bero saying that the main identifier of a .0 release was breaking binary compatibility, which most certainly isn't going to happen with a new kernel. Pinstripe (7.0 beta) is already compiled against the 2.4 headers even though it runs on a 2.2 (2.2.17-pre1[[0-9]).
treke
Am I the only person who remembers the Loki quote that porting is free? I seem to remember that Loki did the actual port for free, and then paid royalties on the sales to the company who owned the game. The only risk involved would possibly be theft of source code, and no one at loki would be stupid enough to let that out.
I think Blizzards problem was that they were unwilling to let anyone else do porting for them because they were concerned with the quality of the final product.
treke
The difference is that you can't snatch up a .gov because Network solutions has no control over it, so their shitty security won't help you. I doubt the root servers could be easily reprogrammed, and it's already illegal to tamper with them.
treke
one other word. BIND
treke
So which is it? Is apache closed source or not competitive?
treke
At one time I think there were two versions of Codewarrior planned, the GNU editions that everyone knows about using gcc. And a Professionial edition that would use a port of their own compiler. Too bad Metrowerks dumped the Linux version, it had the potential to be a really good ide on Linux.
treke
I think Napster actually uses HTTP for the file transfers. I seem to remember that the WebNap client (http://webnap.sourceforge.net) was simply a front end for the search features, which could no doubt work on whatever port they decided to use
treke
The problem is that no matter how much money they throw into killing Napster and similar programs, there will always be some people who are both very devoted to making anything free and very talented. Napster has become almost as common as ICQ or Winzip( or their equivalent on *nix and Macs), yet it wasn't started to make any money. I remember the guy who wroted saying that he did so to see if he could find a better way to do things.
If Sony were to manage to get Napster blocked at the source (technologically, not legally), then this could be done with anything. Politically unpopular speech, Financially threatening free software, whatever. But someone is going to want to get around it, and actually wanting to see a project through to completion can be more important than the skills of the programmer. It's hard to get interested in doing something, much more difficult than learning to do something that interests you.
Legal issues would be trickier, if for example ISPs were successfully sued(read: easier to cancel customer account than to go to court) everytime a napster server was run, then the technology would most eventually die.
treke
I think Y is a remote audio system, probably mean to be used in conjunction with X.
treke
So what hardware does RedHat support that isn't supported on anyother distribution? What, none? The only reason for discrepancies in hardware support is age of the distribution. RedHat puts out a new version like clockwork, and newer technologies make their way in faster. As an example Debian releases much slower, so it may appear to support less hardware, but after installing newer versions of the shipping software it runs on everything RedHat will.
As a little test I have set a user down with a machine, the RedHat install manual, and a cd and asked them to install it. I came back the next day and found the system working completly.
What really seperates distributions are the tools that they ship with for configuring the system. RedHat, Mandrake and Corel focues on adding configuration tools, while Slackware doesn't focus as heavily on this. Systems that don't focus on easy end user tools aren't much of an issue because most users aren't going to start with them. If they aren't satisfied using RedHat they'll try other distributions. If they are satisfied they wont switch.
treke
Never said it couldn't be implemented, the poster asked for examples of features that GNOME doesn't have yet. I'd be glad to see more of these since I use way more gnome apps than kde
treke
Here's three ( I haven't used KDE2 thoroughly), The ability to run some of GTK's themes, automatic modification of the colors for Motif apps, and a status indicator for the task bar to show when an application has completed loading. These are minor features, but they are handy.
Unlike the guy who started this I am not a developer for KDE. I use Enlightenment, EFM, and mainly GTK apps.
treke
What I'm saying is that the Nvidia drivers may not be the problem. Windows may deal with your motherboard the way it needs to be dealt with, but Linux still doesn't perfectly suppord every motherboard in existance. I'd admit that it seems like a bit of a stretch, but certainly possible.
Your other reply is where I see the best arguement for bugginess. ATI and 3dFXs drivers may not have this problem, but do they both use the AGP card as anything other than a PCI card? Nvidia may be using features correctly that aren't implemented correctly for your motherboard.
Or the drivers may just be buggy :). I've had mixed results, in the same system a GeForce 256 works perfectly, but a TNT 2 crashed every now and then. I'm sure the drivers will continue to improve, Nvidia has the chance to get a great position in the 3d Linux market, but still has still has very competent competition.
treke
I don't think you can hold Nvidia responsible for the possibility that Linux support for you mother board is not quite perfect(If that happens to be the case).
treke
I'd disagree that it is a poor product. I've found annoyances caused by it's reliance on WINE (Anyone know how difficult it is to upgrade the included version?), but all in all I've been happy with the product. I've looked at it is realistically, version 1.0 of a very complex application. WordPerfect 8 and WordPerfect Office 2000 probably share around 0 code in the interface. If WINE could be upgraded ( Service Anyone?) then many bugs would probably dissappear.
treke
In terms of Linux, everything was 32bit from the start. Now things took longer in Windows land(taking longer?) where 16 bit dos and Windows programs are still being written.
treke
You play Quake 3 in Windows? Works fine in X for me. Never actually played it in Windows myself.
treke
After thinking about this a bit, I can't really think of anything else in RedHat that is closed source. The may be aiming at being a pure distro, but let's face it, there isn't currently any replacement for Netscape. Since there isn't a choice in the matter they've probably decided that it's better to ship RedHat with a closed source web browser than none at all( like they did back in the 4.2 days).
treke
You can get it with a new hard drive or motherboard. Just see a vendor in your area.
treke
They are... It's called FreemWare or plex86 or something. It's written by someone who knows what hey's doing here, the author of bochs. look it up.
treke
Some people are willing to face the "or else". It's easy to stand up for a principle if there's no opposition.
treke
Going and stealing copy of Windows would just lower my opinion of someones ideals than if they broke down and bought a copy of Windows for the sole purpose of playing half-life. I have a windows parition on my system with only three applications. Half Life, The Realmagic DVD player, and Winzip. Why should someone be willing to bend on the principle of using Linux software if it means stealing from those who have worked on the software. It's great that people write Free Software, I release everything I write that I can, but it is still legal to sell software.
You have two choices that wouldn't compromise your position as a free software or fair competition advocate
Getting a legal copy of Windows isn't that difficult anyways, unless you built the computer yourself(a possibility) you probably already have a license for some version of Windows.
treke
The opposite here in the US, My experience with Loki's linux games are that they are cheaper than the windows equivalent. Quake 3 was the exception to the rule, but I got Heavy Gear 2 very soon after it was released on Linux at Fry's electronics(big here in California) for 29 bucks. While I was there I saw Myth2 and CivCTP going for the same price. And The Solitaire game was going for 19.
treke