Digital "rights" management is actually an accurate term, it can just be confusing. DRM manages your rights, that is, it controls when you are able to excercise your rights. In order to do this, it relies on various restrictions, so "digital restrictions management" is generally a better term.
Yes, this would be a good way to try out linux without having to nuke your windows partition to install it. You could also try knoppix or the Suse livecd, they're all perfectly fine for this purpose.
It seems to me that everything you read here bothers you at such a fundamental level, I wonder why you don't just leave.
Anyway, Slashdot, for all it's bias, does manage to provide me with interesting discussion on various topics, and links to important/interesting/etc news elsewhere on the web. It's like a summary of all the important articles from every other tech-related website that exists. That's why I like it here.
For the most part, I don't think the Presidents and GUIs are very comparable.
I might vote for a fat ugly slob, if his platform worked for me. Guess what -- I don't have to look at him while he does his job! My GUI, however, sits in front of me at all times. Getting work done is only half of it's job. The other half is to look good so that I'll actually want to use it.
I would say GUIs are more like girlfriends... if you found one that cooks and cleans for you, but looked like Medusa -- would you still make out with her? Personally, I wouldn't.
That is, the big win with GNUstep is not what you see on the screen, but the OpenStep frameworks underneath.
Yes, I know, I've investigated this already, and that's exactly what I'm talking about! The OpenStep frameworks underneath GNUStep are very cool, but it's apparent that the GNUStep people have gone to great lengths to give the interface a disgustingly ugly user interface.
Making things pretty doesn't make them usable
Very true! But if you want any hope of users using your interface and liking it, it will be pretty. An ugly UI is going to go nowhere, fast.
Yes, in about 20 years big blue has changed from the evil empire (with some saying it was beeing challenged by upstart Microsoft
When I read the history books, it looks a lot like IBM passed the "Evil Empire" baton to Microsoft, as if they were in some kind of relay race or something. Once MS tricked IBM into licensing DOS instead of outright buying it, Microsoft officially became evil and IBM officially stopped being evil.
I don't see this as a problem with open source at all.
Why should I have to develop a piece of software that I don't want to use, if I'm not being paid for it? Sure, if you want to pay me to develop some GPL software, I'll gladly make your PowerPoint viewer or Access DB client or whatever you want. But if I'm coding something on my time, I'll make something that's useful to me. And if it's useful to me, it might also be useful to other people like me (ie, developers).
If big companies like IBM want to join the fray and develop things that their customers want, then more power to them.
I don't really know how to phrase this, but all the John Q. Hacker's out there should *not* put down what they're doing and start developing boring apps for routine office work, unless it interests them to do so. IBM or whoever can pay people to do that, and so they will.
And if you are using Windows, what other format fits that bill besides.doc?
XHTML/CSS seems to be able to do anything that word can do, and it has the added bonus of not being a tightly controlled proprietary format, jealously guarded by a detestable company.
I agree that GNUStep is pretty cool, but it's main problem, much to my chagrin, is that it's ugly! GNUStep looks like they took OSX, ripped out all the cool quartz stuff, and then asked, "what can we do to make this interface the ghastliest, most horridly ugly thing the world has ever seen?"
Seriously, I'd rather eat dogshit than try to look at a GNUStep screenshot, it's just that terrible.
If IBM wants to take GNUStep and make it sexy, more power to them, but in the meantime, KDE will remain the coolest, most gorgeous linux desktop environment available.
Sounds to me like Martian wind is more likely to blow dust onto the solar panels, killing them prematurely, rather than blowing them off and saving them.
Besides, windshield wipers would have been infeasible; where on Mars would they buy Wiper fluid from when they run out?;)
Forgot to mention, with the compressed air, I just leave the case plugged in, I don't take it anywhere.
Also, if you're really paranoid about dust in your csae, buy an air purifier and keep it in the same room. Not only will it keep the inside of your case cleaner, but it'll also keep the inside of your lungs cleaner, which has a positive impact on your health anyway:)
Slashdot Mirror
Gah, I did a little restructuring on my site.
New page is here.
I have an assload of fans.
It must hurt having all those fans in your ass.
My noiseless case was about $150, thankyouverymuch.
You should start a sister site to groklaw, but for music. You could call it "grokrock" :)
yacc's ok, but I prefer bison.
You haven't seen anything until you've seen Queer Eye For The Al-Qaeda Guy (snaps to the Royal Canadian Air Farce :).
Hey, ever heard of a little thing called fair use? Yeah, that's right! Most DRM stomps all over fair use.
Digital "rights" management is actually an accurate term, it can just be confusing. DRM manages your rights, that is, it controls when you are able to excercise your rights. In order to do this, it relies on various restrictions, so "digital restrictions management" is generally a better term.
DRM is digital rights managment isnt it?
Nope
Yes, this would be a good way to try out linux without having to nuke your windows partition to install it. You could also try knoppix or the Suse livecd, they're all perfectly fine for this purpose.
You know, I love reading your posts :)
It seems to me that everything you read here bothers you at such a fundamental level, I wonder why you don't just leave.
Anyway, Slashdot, for all it's bias, does manage to provide me with interesting discussion on various topics, and links to important/interesting/etc news elsewhere on the web. It's like a summary of all the important articles from every other tech-related website that exists. That's why I like it here.
Linasia or Asiax would have been better than what they chose.
Absolutely stunning.
Those galaxies look so tiny, it's hard to imagine the scale involved.
For the most part, I don't think the Presidents and GUIs are very comparable.
I might vote for a fat ugly slob, if his platform worked for me. Guess what -- I don't have to look at him while he does his job! My GUI, however, sits in front of me at all times. Getting work done is only half of it's job. The other half is to look good so that I'll actually want to use it.
I would say GUIs are more like girlfriends... if you found one that cooks and cleans for you, but looked like Medusa -- would you still make out with her? Personally, I wouldn't.
That is, the big win with GNUstep is not what you see on the screen, but the OpenStep frameworks underneath.
Yes, I know, I've investigated this already, and that's exactly what I'm talking about! The OpenStep frameworks underneath GNUStep are very cool, but it's apparent that the GNUStep people have gone to great lengths to give the interface a disgustingly ugly user interface.
Making things pretty doesn't make them usable
Very true! But if you want any hope of users using your interface and liking it, it will be pretty. An ugly UI is going to go nowhere, fast.
Yeah, I know, I was trying to make a joke (hint: people aren't usually serious when they talk about eating dogshit).
:), at a technical level, gnustep seems like a pretty cool DE, but it is really ugly.
Seriously though (I mean it this time
Yes, in about 20 years big blue has changed from the evil empire (with some saying it was beeing challenged by upstart Microsoft
When I read the history books, it looks a lot like IBM passed the "Evil Empire" baton to Microsoft, as if they were in some kind of relay race or something. Once MS tricked IBM into licensing DOS instead of outright buying it, Microsoft officially became evil and IBM officially stopped being evil.
I don't see this as a problem with open source at all.
Why should I have to develop a piece of software that I don't want to use, if I'm not being paid for it? Sure, if you want to pay me to develop some GPL software, I'll gladly make your PowerPoint viewer or Access DB client or whatever you want. But if I'm coding something on my time, I'll make something that's useful to me. And if it's useful to me, it might also be useful to other people like me (ie, developers).
If big companies like IBM want to join the fray and develop things that their customers want, then more power to them.
I don't really know how to phrase this, but all the John Q. Hacker's out there should *not* put down what they're doing and start developing boring apps for routine office work, unless it interests them to do so. IBM or whoever can pay people to do that, and so they will.
And if you are using Windows, what other format fits that bill besides .doc?
XHTML/CSS seems to be able to do anything that word can do, and it has the added bonus of not being a tightly controlled proprietary format, jealously guarded by a detestable company.
I agree that GNUStep is pretty cool, but it's main problem, much to my chagrin, is that it's ugly! GNUStep looks like they took OSX, ripped out all the cool quartz stuff, and then asked, "what can we do to make this interface the ghastliest, most horridly ugly thing the world has ever seen?"
Seriously, I'd rather eat dogshit than try to look at a GNUStep screenshot, it's just that terrible.
If IBM wants to take GNUStep and make it sexy, more power to them, but in the meantime, KDE will remain the coolest, most gorgeous linux desktop environment available.
Sounds to me like Martian wind is more likely to blow dust onto the solar panels, killing them prematurely, rather than blowing them off and saving them.
;)
Besides, windshield wipers would have been infeasible; where on Mars would they buy Wiper fluid from when they run out?
...because they hide these kind of crap laws inside dissimilar bills
Apparently this kind of piggybacking is quite common in the states. Makes the whole system useless, IMHO.
If every bill that had a naughty little rider on it was shot down, nothing would ever get passed.
...Time is the best teacher, unfortunately it kills all of its students.
Now I know why my English teacher was so terrible, her students survived...
Forgot to mention, with the compressed air, I just leave the case plugged in, I don't take it anywhere.
:)
Also, if you're really paranoid about dust in your csae, buy an air purifier and keep it in the same room. Not only will it keep the inside of your case cleaner, but it'll also keep the inside of your lungs cleaner, which has a positive impact on your health anyway
I just take the tower out the back door, open the case and use either a hair dryer or reversible vacuum to blow out the excess dust.
I prefer a small can of compressed air, there's less risk of static there.