The problem with mplayer is that it can sometimes be tough to find the dvdcsslibs and configure them properly... certainly enough to be a nuicense to those in the know, but enough to scare newbies away. Flawlessly functioning commercial alternatives exist, why not include them. I would find the extra couple $/ worth the price.
There are more than 16 U.S. Bases in Germany, but does that make it not free? What about Japan, or Kosovo, or Korea... most reasonable people would concider them to be free. Not having permanent bases there after such a large scale change in governments would be short sighted and extremely hurtful to any chance Iraq has of being free of brutal murdering dictators.
Bluetooth and WIFI aren't competing technologies, per se. Bluetooth is meant to be a short range cable replacement technology. Hence the new breeds of cordless mice/keyboards, cordless headsets, cordless synching and small file transfers. I rely on bluetooth for synching my p900 with my SUSE 9.1 laptop. It works flawlessly and without fuss.
WIFI is poor for cordless type connections, because then every device requires an IP to be programmed. I doubt you'll see any WIFI mice or keyboards anytime soon. (make that... ummm... probably never)
The problem is, the RIAA isn't suing people for downloading the music. They are suing the people for sharing it. If I had 100 songs on my computer they could, at best, say that each song required the purchase of a separate $18 CD. Meaning a total theft of $1,800. Whereas the same 100 songs shared to the masses could amount to theoretical losses limited only by "cost per song" x "bandwidth" x "time"
Regardless of if you own the music or not, sharing it out to the masses is going to leave you scrounging for cash like every other person who got caught.
Many of the things that you refer to, such as the sound and the touchpad are due to the 2.6 kernel, not SUSE. Have you tried running Mandrake 10 on the same machine? Chances are you'll run into the same problem
I wrote a review of mandrake move at linuxquestions.org and here is a snippit that explains how the mandrake usb configs differ from knoppix et al...
MandrakeMove points your FSTAB point/home to your USB key. All files are written directly to the USB keys FAT filesystem. I find this great because it is possible to easily view and access all home directory files from any other computer. Other bootable distros like to create.img files which 1) are difficult to view on other computers and 2) force you to predict the size of your home directory.... use to little and you haven't enough space, use too much and the you eat space from the rest of the USB key.
Mandrake Move creates 2 things on the USB Key. A folder named after the user you created on first boot (AKA: home directory) and a "dotfolder" hidden directory which contains your each computers individual setup. The latter of the two I find quite interesting. It appears that MandrakeMove has some sort of hardware hashing algorithm that allows it to come up with a unique ID for each computer that it is used in. When I use it on my laptop all of the hardware configurations for my laptop are used (resolution, printer, etc...) When I use it at work all of the configurations form my work computer are used. (NVidia drivers and all) I found that to be an outstanding feature that goes above and beyond most bootable distro's use of USB keys. As for the Home directory, it works as one might expect. All desktop and program configurations as well as personal files are stored there. When I play Chromium at work (...shhhh) the last level completed is stored, so when I go home I can start at my last completed level. Mail settings are saved, desktop preferences.... the whole works. It really feels like a full blown desktop moving with you.
All of the secured facilities that I've been required to work in have strict prohibitions against any personal devices that store/transmit data. This includes anything from cell phones/PDAs to playstations(the memory card slots).
I would suggest that everyone in situations similar to your own verify that cell phones of any type are allowed.
Computers allow people to do things that aren't possible in a "paper/folder" phyiscal sense. The fact that you can't easily copy or link pieces of paper between physical folders doesn't mean that it sure wouldn't be helpful.
We shouldn't let limitations of the physical world set the limitations of the computer world.
I think a military grade EMP blast would have effected more than just keyless entry systems. EMP weapons are designed to fry circuitry, not temporarily jam frequencies.
I might be wrong, but I thought that those were used to take out the side windows... the ones that crumble instead of crack. The windshield has plastic reinforcement to prevent it from completely breaking. You would have better luck peeling it off.
Well, while we're holding YAST against them, why don't we hold all of those KDE developers that are full time employed by SuSE and do nothing more than code KDE.
That's just one example of how SuSE helps the community. 30 seconds of Googling would have found many more, but that would be 30 more seconds of my life wasted responding to a blatantly stupid and inflammatory post.
I couldn't agree with you less. "fledgling" technologies always have some rough edges or speed bumps. Whether it be cost, useability, or reliability. In Linux' case the rough edge to many would be useability.
Useability will only improve when the market share is there to grab companies' attention. Linux driver support (a reoccuring gripe) has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. It's not there yet. It'll be there when companies include linux drivers and state linux support in/on the box. Software companies are finally giving us our dues with linux versions of programs. Some commercial software may never end up on linux, but that's just because there is GPLed software out there that may be better than it's commercial counterpart. The rest will slowly migrate, as long as the customer base migrates.
Many people who would have difficulty using linux would only have it because they are used to a button or tool "here", and don't know that under linux it can be found "there". This does not imply any sort of immaturity in the technology. Just a lack of education on the user's side. I have given many of my friends copies of SuSE 9.0 and none have had any trouble with it even though for many it was there first linux distro.
Linux is here, and ready for primetime, but we need people who are willing to give it a shot, and people who are familiar with it to help out those who aren't.
Elitist attitudes such as those presented by the parent's poster will not forward linux, but leave it to stagnate.
Linux.com had a link to this distro just a few days ago Flonix It's only a little over 60mb and allows you to install other applications should you have more space.
I'm surprised that the iRiver line of products hasn't gotten more attention here. Their iHP120 is a 20GB harddrive based player that comes out of the box with OGG Vorbis support. It's predecessor, the iHP100, is a 10GB unit which recently received a firmware upgrade giving it Vorbis capabilities.
Both players are almost identical in features and capabilities and have received rave reviews from Cnet (Granted, Cnet doesn't carry a lot of weight in these forums, but it was the only review I could find on short notice)
I have the iHP100 with the latest firmware and couldn't be more pleased. The battery lasts the advertised 16 hours, The sound quality is outstanding, the included in-line remote control is the best I have ever seen. iRiver also makes flash based players that either do, or will in the near future, support ogg. If you are looking for quality Ogg vorbis players I suggest you really look at the iRiver product line.
I appreciate the correction:-) but at least you have proved my point that just because a majority (or a perceived majority) of internet users illegally trade files, does not make it right... yes?
And I would suggest sir, that you made some wise observations. Good work chap:-) or as the crew of the hindenberg might have said.. Haben wir nicht gesagt, Rauchen ist verboten!
'As a citizen, you have a duty to ignore laws that are unjust. The current copyright regime is unjust and I think its reasonable to ignore it until it can be fixed'
I'm Sorry, but that couldn't be further from the truth. We cannot take it into our own hands to decide whether a law is just or not. Otherwise we wouldn't need the Supreme Court, which you mentioned in your post. I said a cold black and white document because as it is written is how it is to be enforced, regardless of whether people like it or not. If we disregarded laws based on our personal preference, or under the assumption that a majority of other people did it we would live in a lawless society.
We wouldn't need laws if they only governed the things we want to do. Laws are to restrict people from doing things that are against the morals of the social majority. When the social majority feels the laws are unjust then they must take an appropriate (and legal) stance. Whether it be in the ballot box, or in a letter to your congressman.
P.S. Ignoring problems is exactly what brings us into the mess that we are in. We need to take note of them, and help others who haven't already, notice them.
ummm... Communism is a form of economy and has nothing to do with oppression or dictatorship.
What is interesting, or disheartening, about this study is the blatant disregard for the law.
The law is the law. It is a cold black and white document that applies to us whether we want it to or not. We know that downloading copyrighted mp3s is illegal, and no matter how we attempt to justify it it is wrong. If you don't like the prices go to mp3.com and download free music. If you feel that the labels don't deserve 90% of the sale, then buy from www.cdbaby.com (sells a wide range of independent music)
Sneaking into a movie theater is wrong. If you get caught you deserve to be punished. The fact that more people are sneaking into the theater than actually buying tickets doesn't make it right, in fact in means that it's a problem probably hasn't been dealt with harshly enough.
I don't understand why processor makers such as AMD and Intel feel keep feeding the public with faster and less relevant processors. Processors have been following More's law, and software needs haven't. Am I the only one who thinks that we are looking for inovations in the wrong industry. I have seen processors reach exponential speeds, but the end change for the users is modest (at best). If it weren't for Microsoft adding their brand of flash, would we really need more than 800mhz on a home computer.
To make a long story short, shouldn't we be working on exploiting the technology that we have, as opposed to improving on technology that we haven't even fully used yet?
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The problem with mplayer is that it can sometimes be tough to find the dvdcsslibs and configure them properly... certainly enough to be a nuicense to those in the know, but enough to scare newbies away. Flawlessly functioning commercial alternatives exist, why not include them. I would find the extra couple $/ worth the price.
There are more than 16 U.S. Bases in Germany, but does that make it not free? What about Japan, or Kosovo, or Korea... most reasonable people would concider them to be free. Not having permanent bases there after such a large scale change in governments would be short sighted and extremely hurtful to any chance Iraq has of being free of brutal murdering dictators.
Is 5 dollars a month close to the price of an XBox?
Bluetooth and WIFI aren't competing technologies, per se. Bluetooth is meant to be a short range cable replacement technology. Hence the new breeds of cordless mice/keyboards, cordless headsets, cordless synching and small file transfers. I rely on bluetooth for synching my p900 with my SUSE 9.1 laptop. It works flawlessly and without fuss. WIFI is poor for cordless type connections, because then every device requires an IP to be programmed. I doubt you'll see any WIFI mice or keyboards anytime soon. (make that... ummm... probably never)
The problem is, the RIAA isn't suing people for downloading the music. They are suing the people for sharing it. If I had 100 songs on my computer they could, at best, say that each song required the purchase of a separate $18 CD. Meaning a total theft of $1,800. Whereas the same 100 songs shared to the masses could amount to theoretical losses limited only by "cost per song" x "bandwidth" x "time" Regardless of if you own the music or not, sharing it out to the masses is going to leave you scrounging for cash like every other person who got caught.
Many of the things that you refer to, such as the sound and the touchpad are due to the 2.6 kernel, not SUSE. Have you tried running Mandrake 10 on the same machine? Chances are you'll run into the same problem
Mandrake Move creates 2 things on the USB Key. A folder named after the user you created on first boot (AKA: home directory) and a "dotfolder" hidden directory which contains your each computers individual setup. The latter of the two I find quite interesting. It appears that MandrakeMove has some sort of hardware hashing algorithm that allows it to come up with a unique ID for each computer that it is used in. When I use it on my laptop all of the hardware configurations for my laptop are used (resolution, printer, etc...) When I use it at work all of the configurations form my work computer are used. (NVidia drivers and all) I found that to be an outstanding feature that goes above and beyond most bootable distro's use of USB keys. As for the Home directory, it works as one might expect. All desktop and program configurations as well as personal files are stored there. When I play Chromium at work (...shhhh) the last level completed is stored, so when I go home I can start at my last completed level. Mail settings are saved, desktop preferences.... the whole works. It really feels like a full blown desktop moving with you.
All of the secured facilities that I've been required to work in have strict prohibitions against any personal devices that store/transmit data. This includes anything from cell phones/PDAs to playstations(the memory card slots). I would suggest that everyone in situations similar to your own verify that cell phones of any type are allowed.
We shouldn't let limitations of the physical world set the limitations of the computer world.
Is it me... or does it seem to be missing a planet ( or two )?
Sounds a bit like the Phantom console, or? Should we be just as skeptical of Sony?
I think a military grade EMP blast would have effected more than just keyless entry systems. EMP weapons are designed to fry circuitry, not temporarily jam frequencies.
I might be wrong, but I thought that those were used to take out the side windows... the ones that crumble instead of crack. The windshield has plastic reinforcement to prevent it from completely breaking. You would have better luck peeling it off.
Well, while we're holding YAST against them, why don't we hold all of those KDE developers that are full time employed by SuSE and do nothing more than code KDE. That's just one example of how SuSE helps the community. 30 seconds of Googling would have found many more, but that would be 30 more seconds of my life wasted responding to a blatantly stupid and inflammatory post.
Useability will only improve when the market share is there to grab companies' attention. Linux driver support (a reoccuring gripe) has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. It's not there yet. It'll be there when companies include linux drivers and state linux support in/on the box. Software companies are finally giving us our dues with linux versions of programs. Some commercial software may never end up on linux, but that's just because there is GPLed software out there that may be better than it's commercial counterpart. The rest will slowly migrate, as long as the customer base migrates.
Many people who would have difficulty using linux would only have it because they are used to a button or tool "here", and don't know that under linux it can be found "there". This does not imply any sort of immaturity in the technology. Just a lack of education on the user's side. I have given many of my friends copies of SuSE 9.0 and none have had any trouble with it even though for many it was there first linux distro.
Linux is here, and ready for primetime, but we need people who are willing to give it a shot, and people who are familiar with it to help out those who aren't.
Elitist attitudes such as those presented by the parent's poster will not forward linux, but leave it to stagnate.
Linux.com had a link to this distro just a few days ago Flonix It's only a little over 60mb and allows you to install other applications should you have more space.
Both players are almost identical in features and capabilities and have received rave reviews from Cnet (Granted, Cnet doesn't carry a lot of weight in these forums, but it was the only review I could find on short notice)
I have the iHP100 with the latest firmware and couldn't be more pleased. The battery lasts the advertised 16 hours, The sound quality is outstanding, the included in-line remote control is the best I have ever seen. iRiver also makes flash based players that either do, or will in the near future, support ogg. If you are looking for quality Ogg vorbis players I suggest you really look at the iRiver product line.
What's that... we get the disclaimer after we read the post.... Do you work for Microsoft?
I appreciate the correction :-) but at least you have proved my point that just because a majority (or a perceived majority) of internet users illegally trade files, does not make it right... yes?
And I would suggest sir, that you made some wise observations. Good work chap :-) or as the crew of the hindenberg might have said.. Haben wir nicht gesagt, Rauchen ist verboten!
I'm Sorry, but that couldn't be further from the truth. We cannot take it into our own hands to decide whether a law is just or not. Otherwise we wouldn't need the Supreme Court, which you mentioned in your post. I said a cold black and white document because as it is written is how it is to be enforced, regardless of whether people like it or not. If we disregarded laws based on our personal preference, or under the assumption that a majority of other people did it we would live in a lawless society.
We wouldn't need laws if they only governed the things we want to do. Laws are to restrict people from doing things that are against the morals of the social majority. When the social majority feels the laws are unjust then they must take an appropriate (and legal) stance. Whether it be in the ballot box, or in a letter to your congressman.
P.S. Ignoring problems is exactly what brings us into the mess that we are in. We need to take note of them, and help others who haven't already, notice them.
ummm... Communism is a form of economy and has nothing to do with oppression or dictatorship. What is interesting, or disheartening, about this study is the blatant disregard for the law. The law is the law. It is a cold black and white document that applies to us whether we want it to or not. We know that downloading copyrighted mp3s is illegal, and no matter how we attempt to justify it it is wrong. If you don't like the prices go to mp3.com and download free music. If you feel that the labels don't deserve 90% of the sale, then buy from www.cdbaby.com (sells a wide range of independent music) Sneaking into a movie theater is wrong. If you get caught you deserve to be punished. The fact that more people are sneaking into the theater than actually buying tickets doesn't make it right, in fact in means that it's a problem probably hasn't been dealt with harshly enough.
To make a long story short, shouldn't we be working on exploiting the technology that we have, as opposed to improving on technology that we haven't even fully used yet?
hehe... don't you get it... antisocial... hehe.. tough crowd :P
As I think about it... that's nothing new for Microsoft