...it will only be distributed to investigation agencies in the hopes of keeping it out of the hands of malicious hackers...
Do they really think so?
I mean, that completely ignores human nature. Come on.
radar detectors
traffic light remotes (the new ones that only emergency vehicles are supposed to have)
guns in countries where guns are illegal
police-band radios
All these things have one thing in common: they are not supposed to be accessible to the general public (or at least initially were not supposed to be) and yet they are. Legality does not stop criminals.
It also doesn't matter who wins. The losing side will claim the winners stole the election. I fail to see how electronic voting has changed this. It is being going on for a long time.
Torvalds may not like the GPLv3. However, I think that is orthogonal to why he is sitting out the process. At heart, the man is an engineer/coder. How many people work as software engineers/programmers/code monkeys/whatever and jump at the shot to sit in the "politcal" meetings? Seriously. As a general rule, engineers and programmers would rather be engineering and programming. They don't care so much about marketing. They don't care so much about the political undercurrents of the organization. They just want to do their job well.
This is one time where I would say that reading the article is a waste of time. In fact, the article is actually an advertisement for this Minshare outfit. There are eight paragraphs in the article and five of them are about Mindshare and nothing else. Can we please find better material for the front page of slashdot?
Pictures of last year's event
on
Ohio LinuxFest 2006
·
· Score: 3, Informative
So, I took a bunch of pictures (page 2) at last year's event. They were linked from the Ohio Linuxfest homepage for the longest time, along with pictures that others had taken at the event, but their homepage was updated a while back to prepare for this year's event. Anyhow, it was definitely a fun even and worth the drive. Hands down, the best presentation was Jim McQuillan's LTSP presentation. Too bad he won't be presenting again this year. If you are local, there is no excuse not to go.
Not one of the six firewall programs the magazine tested, regardless of whether commercial or freeware, could prevent all attempts from the test programs at establishing outgoing connections between the PC and the internet.
First, nothing is perfect. Second, if some nasty program/spyware/adware got in, then it's too late already. The best thing is to prevent them getting in to begin with. Besides, most people don't know the difference between what should and should not be allowed to have access. I do some tech support for friends and family and it really gets annoying after the fifteenth call, "Should I let FooBar21.exe access to the Internet?" I finally went with the policy of disabling any sort of outbound filtering in whatever firewall I setup for people I will be "supporting."
Show me an employer who places indiscriminate blocks on numbers that you can call during the day, in order to prevent you from making calls that *might* be personal.
Show me a telephone number which you can dial and that, by the simple act of connection, results in the infiltration of your company's office such that your Intranet data (e.g., customer personal info, credit cards, etc) can be leaked out.
I'm not saying they should block everything or even anything. But, treating browsing the web the same way as a telephone call is horribly short sighted from a security perspective. I imagine that information leaks out, the leadership will have more worries than how the employees feel about having their Internet access restricted. Look at the recent situation at AOL. I know that was not the result of a random virus, but that result is certainly achievable with a well crafted virus. If you are a big enough target, it is a legitimate worry.
The biggest problem with free and open source software in the DOD (and government in general) is the prevailing culture of "if it's free (gratis) is must be worthless." Imagine that a request is made for a system to allow collaboration for something. Two proposals come in. One is for a system using SharePoint/MSSQL/Oracle/tons of similar high priced software. The other is for Trac/Postgres/tons of free software. As a result of spending so little on licenses, the second comes in at half the price of the first. The second will be rejected almost out of hand and looked upon with suspicion, as free stuf can't possibly do the job as well as expensive stuff.
'Cider works by directly loading a Windows program into memory on an Intel-Mac and linking it to an optimized version of the Win32 APIs,' the company claims.
This is absoultely the worst idea. Better to write your favorite company and tell them to use some open and standard technologies (e.g., OpenGL, OpenAL, SDL, etc.). What they want to do will only promote the status quo.
FTA: Do you know the disaster recovery plans of your offshore services provider? Are their plans integrated with yours? And how prepared are these providers?
In addition to your comment, not only did we not quit doing business in New York and London, but we didn't even change the way we do business. It is nearly five years after the Sept 11 attacks and most businesses still have no disaster recovery plan of their own. Does anyone seriously think that these same companies are concerned about whether their outsourced partners have such a plan? Sure, the companies that were in the WTC and lost huge amounts of people and equipment have probably laid out some plans. Some other people have probably been wise and seen the mistakes of others and laid their own plans. But largely, nobody has done anything to change they way of doing business. (Remember the proverb that says: "A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others.")
If I want to work in the field of robotics and AI later on in life, what do I need to do in my current situation to prepare myself?
If that is really the only thing you want to do (i.e., life-long passion and all that), then go to CMU. AFAIK, there is no better robotics program than the one at Carnegie-Mellon.
Google has just released the Google Browser Sync extension for Firefox. This extension allows you to save your bookmarks, history and passwords on Google servers, effectively giving you a 'roaming profile,' which you can sync on any computer running Firefox (and the extension, of course).
For those who are loathe to continue shovelling their personal info at Google...
If the system you are on doesn't have wget, you can just visit the URL and use the links in the browser or save the file to your profile on the machine. If you don't want it so easily accessible on the 'net, then you can use a different file name or put it in some randomly named directory.
This year has been a huge step forward for Desktop Linux users.
I know that people here frequently complain about things like duplication of effort and forking as things that dilute the impact of Linux and free/open source software on the world. I tend to be of the opposite opinion. You want something geared at the business desktop with good integration and commercial support? Get SuSE. You want something that carries the name of a recognized brand? Get Fedora (yes it is still in many places considered the standard, just look at how many hosting providers provide is as the primary or only platform). You want something different that has a reputation for rock solid stability? Get Debian. You want a user-friendly Debian? Get Ubutnu.
The point is that the diversity is what makes these things possible. None of those things would be done nearly as effectivly under a "one size fits all" approach.
Oh, by the way, it doesn't really seem like that great of an idea, either.
I disagree. As a software engineer I get annoyed with the way in which people bandy about the title "software engineer". As in, "I completed a six week course at DeVry on Visual Basic, therefore I can call myself a software engineer". Nobody goes through a three day Red Cross course on basic first aid and then presumes to call himself a doctor or a nurse, so why the same with engineer?
Don't get me wrong, I don't think that there is anything wrong with having hobbies. Specifically, programming is a great hobby. The point is that if you are a firm that specializes in professional software development (MS, Sun, Oracle, IBM), then you should be held to professional standards. If you build a wood footbridge to go over a small brook behind your home, that is fine. If you show up and build a bridge across Tampa Bay, that is fine too. The first requires very basic skills and can be reasonably accomplished by a hobbiest. The latter requires very serious professional qualifications. Nobody seriously starts a civil engineering firm employing amatuer bridge builders and claims that they can build a bridge across Tampa Bay.
The point is accountability for professional conduct. I understand that software tends to blur the lines somewhat. However, that is no excuse to me for professional software developers to shirk responsibility. Yesterday there was an article about major engineering disasters. The Hyatt hotel disaster was a classic example of the engineers shirking their responsibilities. Those guys lost their licenses. Now, you may think, "but software doesn't kill people." Go look up the Therac-25 incident. From the references linked at the bottom of the Wikipedia article:
The general consensus is that the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited is to blame. There was only one person programming the code for this system and he largely did all the testing. The machine was tested for only 2700 hours of use, but for code which controls such a critical machine, many more hours should have been put in to the testing phase.
Unfortunately, the AECL response also seems to point out an apparent lack of documentation on software specifications and a software test plan.
What would happen if a civil engineering firm designed and had a bridge built? What if it collapsed under normal use and it is foundout that they didn't bother to stress test the specified materials for their load bearing characteristics? That would likely be considered criminal negligence.
Holding software vendors accountable for bugs in the software they sell/support would do wonders for improving the quality of software in general.
Microsoft has real competition, forcing them to develop better, more competitive software. Downside?
The downside for Microsoft is that they are their own worst enemy. People already pay Microsoft for their software (either embedded in the cost of a PC or at the store for things like Office) . Now Microsoft is in the tough position of getting people to transition from paying for software upfront to paying for it as a service without people realizing they are getting the short end of the stick. This will be much easier with things like office and other products you typically buy in the store. For things like windows, it will be hard to convince people that they need to pay monthly to use their PCs after they have already paid up front for the hardware and OS. Of Microsoft makes it too painless, they shoot themselves in the foot by not making as much as they could. If they make it too painful, they stand to lose marketshare, especially if companies like Novell and IBM come out and really pump the idea that you don't have to pay to keep your Linux machines running.
I'm not sure if you are in an area where you can get Speakeasy service, but htey allow you to bond up to four T1 lines. I have no experience with the service, but I understand that it is cheaper than a fractional T3 and they provide you with hardware that does it for you transparently. I don't know if there are other service providers that have something similar, but it seems like a good idea.
The company that currently holds the domain name is offering it for $1500
I recently received a solicitation for a church domain name. I am the webmaster for my church and another church in North or South Carolina (I forget where), no longer needs one of their domain names. The church I attend has the same name, but is located in another state. Basically, the guy said he wanted to offer us first dibs. When we inquired as to how much he wanted, he said that it had been "appraised" at up to $20,000. Though, he was very nice about it and said that he would give it to us for $8000. Sheesh. I recommended to our pastor that he ignore the request since we already have a well known and establishd domain.
By the sound of it, they will be using optics
on
Looking for Life in Light
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Telescope technologies are being developed that will probe the very faint light from these objects for tell-tale signs of biology.
I am guessing that they are talking about optical observations, since it appears to be an extra-atmospheric telescope they are designing. However, at those distances, how can they discern the difference between the shine from a planet and the light given off by the star(s) near the planet? I would think that we observe the earthshine from small enough distances that we can see it in spite of the Sun. I am curious how this would work for distant bodies.
The problem is this: the government is obviously having trouble trusting its people. It's that simple. If information leaks, go after the leaker. Once the information is out, it's out. Going after journalists is not exactly going to engender good will from the media. This has always been one of my biggest criticisms of the Republican party, that they can't handle the media at all.
This is not too different from how the Air Force and the Marine Corps handled the media in Iraq. The Air Force treated the media like a bunch of little kids and they they were not exactly portrayed in the best light. On the other hand, the Marines involved the media people reporting on them to the point of having them out in the field with real units. Result: the media with the Marines were much more open to the requests of the Marine leaders as to what could/could not be published and they painted the Marines in a much more positive light. Why? Becuase they felt like part of the team.
What Gonzales is doing is basically alienating the channel by which many many Americans receives their "information" every day. This is not exactly intelligent. I don't mean to say that the Republicans should kowtow to the media and or the Democrats (otherwise we would go from a 1.5 party system to a 0 party system), just that they need to not be stupid.
Why do you want to run VMWare? I have used both VMWare and qemu (as well as Xen, but I don't think that will work if you are interested in running Windows), and have found qemu to be the superior of the two. Sure, there is no built in GUI, but there are external 3rd party GUIs available if you want. Seriously, qemu makes networking much easier thatn VMWare does. No need to mess with modules (unless you want the accelerator, which I recommend), no need for services or daemons running like with VMWare. Additionally, it is open source, which I consider a huge plus. You can also emulate other CPUs. Want to emulate a PowerPC so that you can test compiling your app on FreeBSD on a PowerPC processor? How about Sparc? The *only* way in which I would see VMWare as being superior is if you are using one of their server consolidation products (GSX or ESX, I think). For workstation-level stuff, qemu is the way to go.
Re:The diplomatic response
on
The CVS Cop-Out
·
· Score: 4, Informative
We're still working to make sure that this feature fits in with the rest of the system without any trouble, but if all goes will, you should see XX improved in our next point release.
Which is how it should be. One thing the article says which struck me, What justification is there for ignoring the long-standing tradition of "release early, release often?"
Basically, he is complaining that they are not releasing early enough/often enough. I hate to break it to him, but not every project is a mozilla with daily snapshots or a Debian with a huge network of dedicate autobuild machines. Some projects are small and have only few core developers. Many of those people may have "real" jobs which leaves them only spare to work on their pet OSS project. He also seems to think that they bug should be fixed right away becuase it affects him. But then, isn't that how it always is?
"The bug that affects me is the most important and should be fixed immediately. I mean, I reported it yesterday. Why is the new point release fixing this grevious bug not out today?"
I guess if you have a bug that nukes your entire filesystem or something like that, you have a legitimate gripe. However, the vast majority of bugs are not serious at all.
While Ubuntu has been many people's desktop Linux choice for a few years now,
I find it interesting that a distro only first released slightly over 18 months ago [1][2], could be "many people's desktop Linux choice for a few years now" (emphasis added).
... for the interface in its Zen media player, a patent granted last August.
I thought that patent protection had changed. Instead of 17 years from issuance, it is now 20 years from first application. I am pretty certain I read about that change taking place in order to stop people from milking the system by filing an application and then repeatedly ammending it, effectively lengethening the period of protection.
So the bigger question is, "When was the application filed?"
Same here. Though, Brent Spiner as Dr. Okun in Independence Day was a close second for me as it showed his versatility. It was sort of like the stereotypical "mad scientist" and was quite entertaining to see him play. Too bad his part did not last longer.
The survey confirmed that media consumption is shifting online for younger generations, as 19 percent of those aged 18 to 24 named the Internet as their most important source of news compared with 9 percent overall.
It is much easier to find news sources on the Internet that overlook the things you want overlooked. I.e., if you have the opnion that the war in Iraq is going great and there are no problems, you can find a news source that will give you only information that supports that view. If you think the war in Iraq is a debacle/illegal/disaster/whatever, you can also find a news source to support only that view. It's nothing new. Poeple go where they hear the things they want to hear because it's easier than hearing everything and ignoring what you don't like.
Slashdot Mirror
Do they really think so?
I mean, that completely ignores human nature. Come on.
All these things have one thing in common: they are not supposed to be accessible to the general public (or at least initially were not supposed to be) and yet they are. Legality does not stop criminals.
It also doesn't matter who wins. The losing side will claim the winners stole the election. I fail to see how electronic voting has changed this. It is being going on for a long time.
Torvalds may not like the GPLv3. However, I think that is orthogonal to why he is sitting out the process. At heart, the man is an engineer/coder. How many people work as software engineers/programmers/code monkeys/whatever and jump at the shot to sit in the "politcal" meetings? Seriously. As a general rule, engineers and programmers would rather be engineering and programming. They don't care so much about marketing. They don't care so much about the political undercurrents of the organization. They just want to do their job well.
This is one time where I would say that reading the article is a waste of time. In fact, the article is actually an advertisement for this Minshare outfit. There are eight paragraphs in the article and five of them are about Mindshare and nothing else. Can we please find better material for the front page of slashdot?
So, I took a bunch of pictures (page 2) at last year's event. They were linked from the Ohio Linuxfest homepage for the longest time, along with pictures that others had taken at the event, but their homepage was updated a while back to prepare for this year's event. Anyhow, it was definitely a fun even and worth the drive. Hands down, the best presentation was Jim McQuillan's LTSP presentation. Too bad he won't be presenting again this year. If you are local, there is no excuse not to go.
Not one of the six firewall programs the magazine tested, regardless of whether commercial or freeware, could prevent all attempts from the test programs at establishing outgoing connections between the PC and the internet.
First, nothing is perfect. Second, if some nasty program/spyware/adware got in, then it's too late already. The best thing is to prevent them getting in to begin with. Besides, most people don't know the difference between what should and should not be allowed to have access. I do some tech support for friends and family and it really gets annoying after the fifteenth call, "Should I let FooBar21.exe access to the Internet?" I finally went with the policy of disabling any sort of outbound filtering in whatever firewall I setup for people I will be "supporting."
Show me an employer who places indiscriminate blocks on numbers that you can call during the day, in order to prevent you from making calls that *might* be personal.
Show me a telephone number which you can dial and that, by the simple act of connection, results in the infiltration of your company's office such that your Intranet data (e.g., customer personal info, credit cards, etc) can be leaked out.
I'm not saying they should block everything or even anything. But, treating browsing the web the same way as a telephone call is horribly short sighted from a security perspective. I imagine that information leaks out, the leadership will have more worries than how the employees feel about having their Internet access restricted. Look at the recent situation at AOL. I know that was not the result of a random virus, but that result is certainly achievable with a well crafted virus. If you are a big enough target, it is a legitimate worry.
The biggest problem with free and open source software in the DOD (and government in general) is the prevailing culture of "if it's free (gratis) is must be worthless." Imagine that a request is made for a system to allow collaboration for something. Two proposals come in. One is for a system using SharePoint/MSSQL/Oracle/tons of similar high priced software. The other is for Trac/Postgres/tons of free software. As a result of spending so little on licenses, the second comes in at half the price of the first. The second will be rejected almost out of hand and looked upon with suspicion, as free stuf can't possibly do the job as well as expensive stuff.
'Cider works by directly loading a Windows program into memory on an Intel-Mac and linking it to an optimized version of the Win32 APIs,' the company claims.
This is absoultely the worst idea. Better to write your favorite company and tell them to use some open and standard technologies (e.g., OpenGL, OpenAL, SDL, etc.). What they want to do will only promote the status quo.
FTA: Do you know the disaster recovery plans of your offshore services provider? Are their plans integrated with yours? And how prepared are these providers?
In addition to your comment, not only did we not quit doing business in New York and London, but we didn't even change the way we do business. It is nearly five years after the Sept 11 attacks and most businesses still have no disaster recovery plan of their own. Does anyone seriously think that these same companies are concerned about whether their outsourced partners have such a plan? Sure, the companies that were in the WTC and lost huge amounts of people and equipment have probably laid out some plans. Some other people have probably been wise and seen the mistakes of others and laid their own plans. But largely, nobody has done anything to change they way of doing business. (Remember the proverb that says: "A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others.")
If I want to work in the field of robotics and AI later on in life, what do I need to do in my current situation to prepare myself?
If that is really the only thing you want to do (i.e., life-long passion and all that), then go to CMU. AFAIK, there is no better robotics program than the one at Carnegie-Mellon.
Google has just released the Google Browser Sync extension for Firefox. This extension allows you to save your bookmarks, history and passwords on Google servers, effectively giving you a 'roaming profile,' which you can sync on any computer running Firefox (and the extension, of course).
For those who are loathe to continue shovelling their personal info at Google ...
Then, from any computer:
If the system you are on doesn't have wget, you can just visit the URL and use the links in the browser or save the file to your profile on the machine. If you don't want it so easily accessible on the 'net, then you can use a different file name or put it in some randomly named directory.
This year has been a huge step forward for Desktop Linux users.
I know that people here frequently complain about things like duplication of effort and forking as things that dilute the impact of Linux and free/open source software on the world. I tend to be of the opposite opinion. You want something geared at the business desktop with good integration and commercial support? Get SuSE. You want something that carries the name of a recognized brand? Get Fedora (yes it is still in many places considered the standard, just look at how many hosting providers provide is as the primary or only platform). You want something different that has a reputation for rock solid stability? Get Debian. You want a user-friendly Debian? Get Ubutnu.
The point is that the diversity is what makes these things possible. None of those things would be done nearly as effectivly under a "one size fits all" approach.
Oh, by the way, it doesn't really seem like that great of an idea, either.
I disagree. As a software engineer I get annoyed with the way in which people bandy about the title "software engineer". As in, "I completed a six week course at DeVry on Visual Basic, therefore I can call myself a software engineer". Nobody goes through a three day Red Cross course on basic first aid and then presumes to call himself a doctor or a nurse, so why the same with engineer?
Don't get me wrong, I don't think that there is anything wrong with having hobbies. Specifically, programming is a great hobby. The point is that if you are a firm that specializes in professional software development (MS, Sun, Oracle, IBM), then you should be held to professional standards. If you build a wood footbridge to go over a small brook behind your home, that is fine. If you show up and build a bridge across Tampa Bay, that is fine too. The first requires very basic skills and can be reasonably accomplished by a hobbiest. The latter requires very serious professional qualifications. Nobody seriously starts a civil engineering firm employing amatuer bridge builders and claims that they can build a bridge across Tampa Bay.
The point is accountability for professional conduct. I understand that software tends to blur the lines somewhat. However, that is no excuse to me for professional software developers to shirk responsibility. Yesterday there was an article about major engineering disasters. The Hyatt hotel disaster was a classic example of the engineers shirking their responsibilities. Those guys lost their licenses. Now, you may think, "but software doesn't kill people." Go look up the Therac-25 incident. From the references linked at the bottom of the Wikipedia article:
What would happen if a civil engineering firm designed and had a bridge built? What if it collapsed under normal use and it is foundout that they didn't bother to stress test the specified materials for their load bearing characteristics? That would likely be considered criminal negligence.
Holding software vendors accountable for bugs in the software they sell/support would do wonders for improving the quality of software in general.
Microsoft has real competition, forcing them to develop better, more competitive software. Downside?
The downside for Microsoft is that they are their own worst enemy. People already pay Microsoft for their software (either embedded in the cost of a PC or at the store for things like Office) . Now Microsoft is in the tough position of getting people to transition from paying for software upfront to paying for it as a service without people realizing they are getting the short end of the stick. This will be much easier with things like office and other products you typically buy in the store. For things like windows, it will be hard to convince people that they need to pay monthly to use their PCs after they have already paid up front for the hardware and OS. Of Microsoft makes it too painless, they shoot themselves in the foot by not making as much as they could. If they make it too painful, they stand to lose marketshare, especially if companies like Novell and IBM come out and really pump the idea that you don't have to pay to keep your Linux machines running.
I'm not sure if you are in an area where you can get Speakeasy service, but htey allow you to bond up to four T1 lines. I have no experience with the service, but I understand that it is cheaper than a fractional T3 and they provide you with hardware that does it for you transparently. I don't know if there are other service providers that have something similar, but it seems like a good idea.
The company that currently holds the domain name is offering it for $1500
I recently received a solicitation for a church domain name. I am the webmaster for my church and another church in North or South Carolina (I forget where), no longer needs one of their domain names. The church I attend has the same name, but is located in another state. Basically, the guy said he wanted to offer us first dibs. When we inquired as to how much he wanted, he said that it had been "appraised" at up to $20,000. Though, he was very nice about it and said that he would give it to us for $8000. Sheesh. I recommended to our pastor that he ignore the request since we already have a well known and establishd domain.
Telescope technologies are being developed that will probe the very faint light from these objects for tell-tale signs of biology.
I am guessing that they are talking about optical observations, since it appears to be an extra-atmospheric telescope they are designing. However, at those distances, how can they discern the difference between the shine from a planet and the light given off by the star(s) near the planet? I would think that we observe the earthshine from small enough distances that we can see it in spite of the Sun. I am curious how this would work for distant bodies.
The problem is this: the government is obviously having trouble trusting its people. It's that simple. If information leaks, go after the leaker. Once the information is out, it's out. Going after journalists is not exactly going to engender good will from the media. This has always been one of my biggest criticisms of the Republican party, that they can't handle the media at all.
This is not too different from how the Air Force and the Marine Corps handled the media in Iraq. The Air Force treated the media like a bunch of little kids and they they were not exactly portrayed in the best light. On the other hand, the Marines involved the media people reporting on them to the point of having them out in the field with real units. Result: the media with the Marines were much more open to the requests of the Marine leaders as to what could/could not be published and they painted the Marines in a much more positive light. Why? Becuase they felt like part of the team.
What Gonzales is doing is basically alienating the channel by which many many Americans receives their "information" every day. This is not exactly intelligent. I don't mean to say that the Republicans should kowtow to the media and or the Democrats (otherwise we would go from a 1.5 party system to a 0 party system), just that they need to not be stupid.
Which OS Makes the Best VMWare Host?
Why do you want to run VMWare? I have used both VMWare and qemu (as well as Xen, but I don't think that will work if you are interested in running Windows), and have found qemu to be the superior of the two. Sure, there is no built in GUI, but there are external 3rd party GUIs available if you want. Seriously, qemu makes networking much easier thatn VMWare does. No need to mess with modules (unless you want the accelerator, which I recommend), no need for services or daemons running like with VMWare. Additionally, it is open source, which I consider a huge plus. You can also emulate other CPUs. Want to emulate a PowerPC so that you can test compiling your app on FreeBSD on a PowerPC processor? How about Sparc? The *only* way in which I would see VMWare as being superior is if you are using one of their server consolidation products (GSX or ESX, I think). For workstation-level stuff, qemu is the way to go.
We're still working to make sure that this feature fits in with the rest of the system without any trouble, but if all goes will, you should see XX improved in our next point release.
Which is how it should be. One thing the article says which struck me, What justification is there for ignoring the long-standing tradition of "release early, release often?"
Basically, he is complaining that they are not releasing early enough/often enough. I hate to break it to him, but not every project is a mozilla with daily snapshots or a Debian with a huge network of dedicate autobuild machines. Some projects are small and have only few core developers. Many of those people may have "real" jobs which leaves them only spare to work on their pet OSS project. He also seems to think that they bug should be fixed right away becuase it affects him. But then, isn't that how it always is?
I guess if you have a bug that nukes your entire filesystem or something like that, you have a legitimate gripe. However, the vast majority of bugs are not serious at all.
This guy just has unrealistic expecations.
While Ubuntu has been many people's desktop Linux choice for a few years now,
I find it interesting that a distro only first released slightly over 18 months ago [1] [2], could be "many people's desktop Linux choice for a few years now" (emphasis added).
I thought that patent protection had changed. Instead of 17 years from issuance, it is now 20 years from first application. I am pretty certain I read about that change taking place in order to stop people from milking the system by filing an application and then repeatedly ammending it, effectively lengethening the period of protection.
So the bigger question is, "When was the application filed?"
Same here. Though, Brent Spiner as Dr. Okun in Independence Day was a close second for me as it showed his versatility. It was sort of like the stereotypical "mad scientist" and was quite entertaining to see him play. Too bad his part did not last longer.
The survey confirmed that media consumption is shifting online for younger generations, as 19 percent of those aged 18 to 24 named the Internet as their most important source of news compared with 9 percent overall.
It is much easier to find news sources on the Internet that overlook the things you want overlooked. I.e., if you have the opnion that the war in Iraq is going great and there are no problems, you can find a news source that will give you only information that supports that view. If you think the war in Iraq is a debacle/illegal/disaster/whatever, you can also find a news source to support only that view. It's nothing new. Poeple go where they hear the things they want to hear because it's easier than hearing everything and ignoring what you don't like.