Yes but xine and mplayer don't have to be circumvention devices. Not buying a license for someone elses implementation of the decryption doesn't make you in violation of the DMCA. If xine and mplayer enforce CSS restrictions they aren't circumventing anything are they?
disassembling is part of reverse engineering, there is nothing wrong with it.
If you invent the microwave, there is nothing wrong with me ripping your microwave apart and seeing how it ticks.
The only thing I CANNOT do is actually take that microwave, duplicate the parts and redistribute it with my own label now that I figured out how it ticks, I still have to make my own from scratch that does the same thing. But I can most definately use the knowledge I acquired figuring out the details of yours.
The implementation belongs to you, but not the concepts or ideas.
Niether of you are right. Software clouds the issue, software should not be patentable at all, it doesn't fit in with the scheme of things.
Patent's are to cover IMPLEMENTATIONS of physical things, a specific way of making a steam engine, a certain weight shape and size of hammer for a specific purpose, etc.
Copyrights are to cover ACTUAL creations of non-tangible things, source code, books, writting in general, artwork, etc.
NIETHER is to cover ideas which are in themselves not SUPPOSED to be ownable. Patents are dangerous because if overly broad they can effectively protect an idea instead of an implementation.
Software is copyrightable, it should not be patentable. The things which software patents are issued for are ideas and that is why software patents should not be considered truely valid.
Yes but are you still bypassing the copy and access controls if you FULLY implement CSS including copyprotection mechanisms but with your own software?
The difference is I bet the guys who put this out there INTENDED for it to be ASCII Art. With perl I write my app first and then go back to see what images I can find hidden within it.
MOST of what makes C difficult for people to pick up is their experience with "almost english" programming languages.
Your basic, vb, and pascal type languages make learning C style languages difficult. The reverse is not true. A c programmer can pick up those style of languages fairly easily (not that they are all that worthwhile to add to your portfolio).
Don't get me wrong, give them libraries that make it possible to write programs that DO SOMETHING the first day, don't hand them raw C. But do make it C or a C-like language like java.
You are wrong, nobody can distribute the original copyrighted code, but if you modify it or write additional code YOU own the copyright, not the original copyright holder. At that point you have to work something out with them or your code simply goes into the bit bucket archive.
ok but this is an open source product that is freely downloadable. They don't stand to make money with this, there is no reason to generate false buzz.
You've never seen a crash in kernel32.dll? An OS crash doesn't mean the entire system went down to the point where nothing responds or functions genius.
That is called a lockup (even that doesn't mean that no portion of the system is responding, merely that user input isn't responding and possibly the display isn't refreshing.).
A kernel32.dll crash would qualify in MY OWN definition of an OS crash. But by MICROSOFT's definition of OS, so does an explorer crash, iexplorer (same thing), messenger, media player, notepad and anything else they include.
The Nazi's felt their race intellectually superior. There are lots of things which have killed millions of people over thousands of years. Hate to break it to you, race is barely on the top 10 list. Religion holds spot number 1.
Perhaps it is religion we should condemn negative remarks about. Greed is another top contender. Perhaps people who insult others for being poor, or wealthy or money grubbing, or penny pinchers. Perhaps those should be the "special" insults that are worse than the others. I ask again, why single race out?
When you consider that stupidity is truely just the sum of ignorance (even the most retarded of human minds is capable of vastly greater intelligence than, to pick a popular choice, Einstein) then it most certainly has resulted in more than it's fair share of death. When Europeans came to the new world they slaughtered and stole from "savages" because of their ignorance. In fact it goes hand and hand with the number 1 killer, religion. Religion feeds on ignorance and stupity both to recruit and to incite conflict.
Sex is another which tops race on the cause for violence scale. So your insult of stupid fuck actually hits two keys which have responsible for more bloodshed and violence than race could ever dream of.
Absolishing racism means absolishing the concept of race altogether. Because if there is a characteristic of people, there will always be those who judge based on it. It's called reality, welcome to it.
Read conformity and essential part of the brainwashing process.
There are problems with internet voting to deal with. But this one isn't bad for the people. The current system results in only those who have been well conformed and brainwashed voting. An internet voting system means EVERYONE will vote since they can do it while avoiding work at the office.
They didn't come from windows. Windows took them from elsewhere. They are also common elements in every remotely successful (as in it's possible to google it and get 100+ results) desktop ever made. Windows is one of those, certainly not the first, and certainly not the last.
"implement something totally new for its desktop or overall OS design which MS wants to adapt"
This may come as a shock to you, but wait for it... Linux does not exist to give microsoft free stuff to improve it's OS. It exists to be used, some of those who work on it do so in hopes it WILL REPLACE microsoft technologies. But pretty much none of them have dreams of microsoft employing it's "embrace and extend" philosophy on their technology.
Microsoft is already stealing wherever it can from open source applications. IP from BSD you mentioned, although they certainly did a lousy job with it based on the instability of IP in windows that causes big problems in XP where you can't remove IP and the reset pretty well never works out. You mention XP SP2, where microsoft adds some stuff that is already in linux and calls it security, it's a step, a small one but a step. And again XP SP2 where microsoft steals some concepts from open source browsers and throws in popup blocking for starters.
Microsoft has recently restructured their development model for their kernel based on studies of open source development techniques (although their adaptation won't work, it's missing a couple vital elements, that's another subject).
Microsoft is conducting survey's out there desperately trying to figure what they can do that they can live with to head off this giant that has 100's of thousands of free manhours put into it every 24/hr period, where there are nonstop shifts because developers are scattered throughout the globe. Microsoft has massive amounts of money it's true, but even microsoft doesn't have enough to employ the over 2million developers globally working on open source.
They can't compete, everything they implement that is worthwhile gets implemented in open source by the time they update it with something else... but at the same none of existing popular open source projects slow done, the open source pool just absorbs this additional development without any apparent scattering of resources because the user base continues to grow and with it the developer base.
Is big business what you respect? Then respect this, EVERY major hardware manufacturer (by major I mean companies that talk billions not millions) is backing linux. Individually they can't beat microsoft, IBM is the only one that could even consider it, but together they make Microsoft's budget look like chump change.
I don't see Microsoft making significant strides in security, they'll never be secure with their current development model. And they won't change it to any of the open source models that work. Their very monopoly makes Microsoft deployments inheriently less secure even if the software itself were the most secure out there (and it's not, it actually ranks toward the bottom of the pool, something on par with BobOS).
Linux on the other hand is making leaps and bounds in the gui. It's rapidly moving forward in terms of software compatibility. Most WINDOWS programs and games run on Linux now! ZERO linux binaries run on windows outside an emulator.
In terms of usablity there are yet more leaps and bounds. The kernel has been improved in ways that make for an ultra snappy gui. Techniques for parallel loading of processes are already out there to speed up boot times and the kernel load is already extremely quick.
New filesystems like Rieser4 prove atomic IO that means no corrupt half writes and adds uber stability. Something you can setup for your grandmother who always powers the system off and know things won't break horribly after a week of this like windows filesystems.
Hey don't argue with me, argue with Microsoft, Bill stated those numbers in a public announcement. Those are just the numbers according to the report deal so that is only counting those who actually send the reports and crashes in which you still can send the reports.
That's 2-3 times for the OPERATING SYSTEM. That doesn't include application crashes.
Great so on the embedded version instead of giving you the blue screen (a pretty much constant occurance on XP, according to Bill G. most of their users experience OS crashes 2-3 times a day). The device reboots, even when the error was possibly recoverable. Great.
That means less pictures of blue screens, but the same number of problems, in fact since rebooting at best accomplishes that same as a blue screen the goes away and at worst causes more damage, that means MORE problems.
If the system is in a state where the code that makes it reboot executes properly it's pretty much guaranteed NOT to be in a state where it should be shut down. That would cause severe problems with things like ATM transactions.
Executives aren't parents. They don't love you, they don't even want to think the best of you. And they certainly don't care about your morality.
They care about the bottom line, and saying "I fucked up" in any situation in which that is NOT dreadfully obvious already is a BAD idea. Saying "I fucked up" is equivelent to saying "I'm incompetent, maybe a good guy, but fucking stupid, hire someone who won't fuck up."
Blaming other workers isn't a good idea either, for one thing if they find out word will spread and they'll make sure it looks like you fucked up ALOT.
The best thing to do is keep your mouth shut and don't say anything that isn't positive. Speak of good things, how great you and your team are. Start talking like a leader who is part of a team and preaching their merits. End result is a raise + promotion.
"There is no Politics-Free company out there that always spends money on the right stuff, never spends money on the wrong stuff, runs Linux, and lets IT Drones play Quake all day."
You've pretty much got the company I work for pegged. They spend money on the right stuff because they buy what I tell them to. The right stuff is linux because I say so. Me reading slashdot and playing quake all day is, I've convinced them, proof that what I say is right.
2)"Chink" is an insult based on the premise of a supposedly-inferior Chinese race, because if it didn't assume that Chinese people are inferior, it wouldn't be an insult in the first place.
3)Therefore, "chink" is an insult of an entirely different order than "stupid" and is inherently racist. Since most people agree that racism is bad, and the word "chink" is racist, then the word "chink" is bad. Therefore, "chink" should not be used, because *when you say it as an insult* you are implicitly and explicitly stating that Chinese people are inferior (otherwise it wouldn't be an insult)."
ok we'll try this one last time and then I give up.
Sticking with stupid and chink for simplicity.
There are a HELL of alot more stupid people than there are chinese (not many things I could say that about true as there happen to be ALOT of chinese people on Earth).
Intelligence is a MUCH more significant matter than race. Truthfully despite what I said before, race is no more something to be proud of than to be insulted about. You intelligence level ACTUALLY MATTERS, your race ACTUALLY DOES NOT.
Do you honestly mean to tell me that summation of your entire argument is that race is worse insult someone over because "you are implicitly and explicitly stating that... people are inferior". You do realize that this applies to EVERY insult in existance? Some state a single person, some state a great many but EVERY insult is a way of calling someone inferior in some aspect or manner. That's why they call them insults!
Or is it worse because the aspect is race and not some other inherient aspect which is meaningless and inborn "just because"?
That's all fine and dandy, but slashdot although international is an English only website. It's user are expected if not to speak english as first language to be able to read it without translation.
If you must annoy users, at least flag my name and neglect to correct MY posts. I'm really not concerned about translating well to foreign languages.
In most nations of a technological level to add meaningful content to discussions here they already teach english as mandatory part of the curriculum in schools. And I personally believe it is NOT in THEIR best interest to recieve sanatized english. Instead they should read and view it as it's spoken they might become fluent in the language in it's spoken (and casually written) form.
Forum postings are casual, they are not publish articles which require an editor.
"You shouldn't have to click, click, click through long GUI structures. The OS should anticipate what you want to do based on what you have done before and by what others in the same situation have done before. Better, that is, more intuitive interfaces will reduce endless click-work."
Yes absolutely, that's what we need, YET ANOTHER damn gui interface that thinks it knows better than I do what I want to do.
"Command line control only works quickly after you have spent long hours studing and memorizing command line commands. Without having done this you are dead-in-the-water when faced with a command line."
Not sure what you mean here, I've never spent hours memorizing command line commands. I find them to be rather intuitive. The switches I find to be intuitive as well. Unlike gui's the command line's tend to pretty much all work the same. Learning a very basic set of commands and switches (which takes as little or less time than learning a gui) you can work quite rapidly with a CLI.
"My primary point is that there is nothing deserving of merit or superior status in the computing community by mastering a command line interface. This is a 1970's era concept that is holding up the development of more powerful and more intutive interfaces.
It is more important to be able to conceive a new interface than to 'code it up'. That is why designers make more money than programmers."
Ah your a designer then. That explains a thing or two. Must be great, but your delusions sadly must come to an end. You may dream all day long, but any programmer has a dream or two. The biggest difference is, the programmer can turn dreams into reality whether his or someone elses, the designer can only dream.
Back to CLI's, CLI's are hardly holding computing back. It's true that there are tasks more rapidly accomplished in a gui environment, but there are far more tasks more rapidly accomplished in a CLI environment. Both have important roles to play in computing. If you want to do graphical things you do them in a GUI (arguably one of the least significant things done with a computer), if you want to actually OPERATE the computer or get REAL work done instead of playing with pretty pictures you use a CLI where you can rapidly manipulate thousands of files in very complex ways with a few keystrokes.
"Linux would be served best by having a place on the web were people could describe what they wanted the interface to do and how much they would be willing to pay to have someone develop it for them. That way all the newbies and Windows refugees could vent their frustrations and get focused results from the gurus. It would greatly increase the development of real alternative to the Microsoft monopoly."
Even as a linux user I'll contest you on this one.
Share a printer from linux to linux, EASIEST example. Fire up web browser, pull up the cups administration page, configure the printer to be shared, go to other computer, make sure cups and drivers are installed, point at other box test, got lucky and picked the right one of 3 potential drivers.
Windows to windows, open printer control panel, right click printer, properties, click button to share. Go to other computer, open network neighborhood, open computer up sharing printer, right-click->install. Done.
Yes it's a closer race, but ease of file and print sharing is definately something that needs to be worked on in the linux front.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes but xine and mplayer don't have to be circumvention devices. Not buying a license for someone elses implementation of the decryption doesn't make you in violation of the DMCA. If xine and mplayer enforce CSS restrictions they aren't circumventing anything are they?
disassembling is part of reverse engineering, there is nothing wrong with it.
If you invent the microwave, there is nothing wrong with me ripping your microwave apart and seeing how it ticks.
The only thing I CANNOT do is actually take that microwave, duplicate the parts and redistribute it with my own label now that I figured out how it ticks, I still have to make my own from scratch that does the same thing. But I can most definately use the knowledge I acquired figuring out the details of yours.
The implementation belongs to you, but not the concepts or ideas.
Niether of you are right. Software clouds the issue, software should not be patentable at all, it doesn't fit in with the scheme of things.
Patent's are to cover IMPLEMENTATIONS of physical things, a specific way of making a steam engine, a certain weight shape and size of hammer for a specific purpose, etc.
Copyrights are to cover ACTUAL creations of non-tangible things, source code, books, writting in general, artwork, etc.
NIETHER is to cover ideas which are in themselves not SUPPOSED to be ownable. Patents are dangerous because if overly broad they can effectively protect an idea instead of an implementation.
Software is copyrightable, it should not be patentable. The things which software patents are issued for are ideas and that is why software patents should not be considered truely valid.
Yes but are you still bypassing the copy and access controls if you FULLY implement CSS including copyprotection mechanisms but with your own software?
The difference is I bet the guys who put this out there INTENDED for it to be ASCII Art. With perl I write my app first and then go back to see what images I can find hidden within it.
MOST of what makes C difficult for people to pick up is their experience with "almost english" programming languages.
Your basic, vb, and pascal type languages make learning C style languages difficult. The reverse is not true. A c programmer can pick up those style of languages fairly easily (not that they are all that worthwhile to add to your portfolio).
Don't get me wrong, give them libraries that make it possible to write programs that DO SOMETHING the first day, don't hand them raw C. But do make it C or a C-like language like java.
You are wrong, nobody can distribute the original copyrighted code, but if you modify it or write additional code YOU own the copyright, not the original copyright holder. At that point you have to work something out with them or your code simply goes into the bit bucket archive.
ok but this is an open source product that is freely downloadable. They don't stand to make money with this, there is no reason to generate false buzz.
You've never seen a crash in kernel32.dll? An OS crash doesn't mean the entire system went down to the point where nothing responds or functions genius.
That is called a lockup (even that doesn't mean that no portion of the system is responding, merely that user input isn't responding and possibly the display isn't refreshing.).
A kernel32.dll crash would qualify in MY OWN definition of an OS crash. But by MICROSOFT's definition of OS, so does an explorer crash, iexplorer (same thing), messenger, media player, notepad and anything else they include.
The Nazi's felt their race intellectually superior. There are lots of things which have killed millions of people over thousands of years. Hate to break it to you, race is barely on the top 10 list. Religion holds spot number 1.
Perhaps it is religion we should condemn negative remarks about. Greed is another top contender. Perhaps people who insult others for being poor, or wealthy or money grubbing, or penny pinchers. Perhaps those should be the "special" insults that are worse than the others. I ask again, why single race out?
When you consider that stupidity is truely just the sum of ignorance (even the most retarded of human minds is capable of vastly greater intelligence than, to pick a popular choice, Einstein) then it most certainly has resulted in more than it's fair share of death. When Europeans came to the new world they slaughtered and stole from "savages" because of their ignorance. In fact it goes hand and hand with the number 1 killer, religion. Religion feeds on ignorance and stupity both to recruit and to incite conflict.
Sex is another which tops race on the cause for violence scale. So your insult of stupid fuck actually hits two keys which have responsible for more bloodshed and violence than race could ever dream of.
Absolishing racism means absolishing the concept of race altogether. Because if there is a characteristic of people, there will always be those who judge based on it. It's called reality, welcome to it.
Read conformity and essential part of the brainwashing process.
There are problems with internet voting to deal with. But this one isn't bad for the people. The current system results in only those who have been well conformed and brainwashed voting. An internet voting system means EVERYONE will vote since they can do it while avoiding work at the office.
Not sure what you mean. I certainly wouldn't but software online if I can't burn it to cd.
That's a completely seperate issue from having to go to the store to get a box.
"Task bar, start menu, etc. etc."
You do realize these aren't microsoft ideas?
They didn't come from windows. Windows took them from elsewhere. They are also common elements in every remotely successful (as in it's possible to google it and get 100+ results) desktop ever made. Windows is one of those, certainly not the first, and certainly not the last.
"implement something totally new for its desktop or overall OS design which MS wants to adapt"
This may come as a shock to you, but wait for it... Linux does not exist to give microsoft free stuff to improve it's OS. It exists to be used, some of those who work on it do so in hopes it WILL REPLACE microsoft technologies. But pretty much none of them have dreams of microsoft employing it's "embrace and extend" philosophy on their technology.
Microsoft is already stealing wherever it can from open source applications. IP from BSD you mentioned, although they certainly did a lousy job with it based on the instability of IP in windows that causes big problems in XP where you can't remove IP and the reset pretty well never works out. You mention XP SP2, where microsoft adds some stuff that is already in linux and calls it security, it's a step, a small one but a step. And again XP SP2 where microsoft steals some concepts from open source browsers and throws in popup blocking for starters.
Microsoft has recently restructured their development model for their kernel based on studies of open source development techniques (although their adaptation won't work, it's missing a couple vital elements, that's another subject).
Microsoft is conducting survey's out there desperately trying to figure what they can do that they can live with to head off this giant that has 100's of thousands of free manhours put into it every 24/hr period, where there are nonstop shifts because developers are scattered throughout the globe. Microsoft has massive amounts of money it's true, but even microsoft doesn't have enough to employ the over 2million developers globally working on open source.
They can't compete, everything they implement that is worthwhile gets implemented in open source by the time they update it with something else... but at the same none of existing popular open source projects slow done, the open source pool just absorbs this additional development without any apparent scattering of resources because the user base continues to grow and with it the developer base.
Is big business what you respect? Then respect this, EVERY major hardware manufacturer (by major I mean companies that talk billions not millions) is backing linux. Individually they can't beat microsoft, IBM is the only one that could even consider it, but together they make Microsoft's budget look like chump change.
I don't see Microsoft making significant strides in security, they'll never be secure with their current development model. And they won't change it to any of the open source models that work. Their very monopoly makes Microsoft deployments inheriently less secure even if the software itself were the most secure out there (and it's not, it actually ranks toward the bottom of the pool, something on par with BobOS).
Linux on the other hand is making leaps and bounds in the gui. It's rapidly moving forward in terms of software compatibility. Most WINDOWS programs and games run on Linux now! ZERO linux binaries run on windows outside an emulator.
In terms of usablity there are yet more leaps and bounds. The kernel has been improved in ways that make for an ultra snappy gui. Techniques for parallel loading of processes are already out there to speed up boot times and the kernel load is already extremely quick.
New filesystems like Rieser4 prove atomic IO that means no corrupt half writes and adds uber stability. Something you can setup for your grandmother who always powers the system off and know things won't break horribly after a week of this like windows filesystems.
Work is under
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=93645&cid=8043 264
Talk to the hand.
I'd have trouble naming a home user other than a technician who DOESN'T have xp crash at LEAST once every 2 days.
Now, begone AC Troll.
Hey don't argue with me, argue with Microsoft, Bill stated those numbers in a public announcement. Those are just the numbers according to the report deal so that is only counting those who actually send the reports and crashes in which you still can send the reports.
That's 2-3 times for the OPERATING SYSTEM. That doesn't include application crashes.
Now you have finally grasped why this is such great technology.
Great so on the embedded version instead of giving you the blue screen (a pretty much constant occurance on XP, according to Bill G. most of their users experience OS crashes 2-3 times a day). The device reboots, even when the error was possibly recoverable. Great.
That means less pictures of blue screens, but the same number of problems, in fact since rebooting at best accomplishes that same as a blue screen the goes away and at worst causes more damage, that means MORE problems.
If the system is in a state where the code that makes it reboot executes properly it's pretty much guaranteed NOT to be in a state where it should be shut down. That would cause severe problems with things like ATM transactions.
Your talking reality, that's an entirely different language than the one which you speak to an executive.
Executives aren't parents. They don't love you, they don't even want to think the best of you. And they certainly don't care about your morality.
They care about the bottom line, and saying "I fucked up" in any situation in which that is NOT dreadfully obvious already is a BAD idea. Saying "I fucked up" is equivelent to saying "I'm incompetent, maybe a good guy, but fucking stupid, hire someone who won't fuck up."
Blaming other workers isn't a good idea either, for one thing if they find out word will spread and they'll make sure it looks like you fucked up ALOT.
The best thing to do is keep your mouth shut and don't say anything that isn't positive. Speak of good things, how great you and your team are. Start talking like a leader who is part of a team and preaching their merits. End result is a raise + promotion.
Ok so it was a fantasy, A man can still have dreams can't he?
The companies we deploy linux for usually don't have in house IT. They usually don't have problems that justify the expense.
"There is no Politics-Free company out there that always spends money on the right stuff, never spends money on the wrong stuff, runs Linux, and lets IT Drones play Quake all day."
You've pretty much got the company I work for pegged. They spend money on the right stuff because they buy what I tell them to. The right stuff is linux because I say so. Me reading slashdot and playing quake all day is, I've convinced them, proof that what I say is right.
"1)"Stupid" is an insult to intelligence.
2)"Chink" is an insult based on the premise of a supposedly-inferior Chinese race, because if it didn't assume that Chinese people are inferior, it wouldn't be an insult in the first place.
3)Therefore, "chink" is an insult of an entirely different order than "stupid" and is inherently racist. Since most people agree that racism is bad, and the word "chink" is racist, then the word "chink" is bad. Therefore, "chink" should not be used, because *when you say it as an insult* you are implicitly and explicitly stating that Chinese people are inferior (otherwise it wouldn't be an insult)."
ok we'll try this one last time and then I give up.
Sticking with stupid and chink for simplicity.
There are a HELL of alot more stupid people than there are chinese (not many things I could say that about true as there happen to be ALOT of chinese people on Earth).
Intelligence is a MUCH more significant matter than race. Truthfully despite what I said before, race is no more something to be proud of than to be insulted about. You intelligence level ACTUALLY MATTERS, your race ACTUALLY DOES NOT.
Do you honestly mean to tell me that summation of your entire argument is that race is worse insult someone over because "you are implicitly and explicitly stating that... people are inferior". You do realize that this applies to EVERY insult in existance? Some state a single person, some state a great many but EVERY insult is a way of calling someone inferior in some aspect or manner. That's why they call them insults!
Or is it worse because the aspect is race and not some other inherient aspect which is meaningless and inborn "just because"?
That's all fine and dandy, but slashdot although international is an English only website. It's user are expected if not to speak english as first language to be able to read it without translation.
If you must annoy users, at least flag my name and neglect to correct MY posts. I'm really not concerned about translating well to foreign languages.
In most nations of a technological level to add meaningful content to discussions here they already teach english as mandatory part of the curriculum in schools. And I personally believe it is NOT in THEIR best interest to recieve sanatized english. Instead they should read and view it as it's spoken they might become fluent in the language in it's spoken (and casually written) form.
Forum postings are casual, they are not publish articles which require an editor.
"You shouldn't have to click, click, click through long GUI structures. The OS should anticipate what you want to do based on what you have done before and by what others in the same situation have done before. Better, that is, more intuitive interfaces will reduce endless click-work."
Yes absolutely, that's what we need, YET ANOTHER damn gui interface that thinks it knows better than I do what I want to do.
"Command line control only works quickly after you have spent long hours studing and memorizing command line commands. Without having done this you are dead-in-the-water when faced with a command line."
Not sure what you mean here, I've never spent hours memorizing command line commands. I find them to be rather intuitive. The switches I find to be intuitive as well. Unlike gui's the command line's tend to pretty much all work the same. Learning a very basic set of commands and switches (which takes as little or less time than learning a gui) you can work quite rapidly with a CLI.
"My primary point is that there is nothing deserving of merit or superior status in the computing community by mastering a command line interface. This is a 1970's era concept that is holding up the development of more powerful and more intutive interfaces.
It is more important to be able to conceive a new interface than to 'code it up'. That is why designers make more money than programmers."
Ah your a designer then. That explains a thing or two. Must be great, but your delusions sadly must come to an end. You may dream all day long, but any programmer has a dream or two. The biggest difference is, the programmer can turn dreams into reality whether his or someone elses, the designer can only dream.
Back to CLI's, CLI's are hardly holding computing back. It's true that there are tasks more rapidly accomplished in a gui environment, but there are far more tasks more rapidly accomplished in a CLI environment. Both have important roles to play in computing. If you want to do graphical things you do them in a GUI (arguably one of the least significant things done with a computer), if you want to actually OPERATE the computer or get REAL work done instead of playing with pretty pictures you use a CLI where you can rapidly manipulate thousands of files in very complex ways with a few keystrokes.
"Linux would be served best by having a place on the web were people could describe what they wanted the interface to do and how much they would be willing to pay to have someone develop it for them. That way all the newbies and Windows refugees could vent their frustrations and get focused results from the gurus. It would greatly increase the development of real alternative to the Microsoft monopoly."
This much at least, I agree with you on.
Even as a linux user I'll contest you on this one.
Share a printer from linux to linux, EASIEST example. Fire up web browser, pull up the cups administration page, configure the printer to be shared, go to other computer, make sure cups and drivers are installed, point at other box test, got lucky and picked the right one of 3 potential drivers.
Windows to windows, open printer control panel, right click printer, properties, click button to share. Go to other computer, open network neighborhood, open computer up sharing printer, right-click->install. Done.
Yes it's a closer race, but ease of file and print sharing is definately something that needs to be worked on in the linux front.