You made your post sound like a troll, but I would like to support some of the stuff that you said.
When I tried out KDE, one thing that I found to be very impressive was the integration among the core applications and those non-core applications that are built as 'KDE applications'.
However, here is the catch, I am a GNOMEish person, (personal preference mainly) and when I use a KDE application (not a QT application), a whole load of stuff happens, and it is as if half of KDE is starting.
Your fears about something like this happening with GNOME is justified, and would like to run XFCE now and then and it would be great if GTK only apps were available.
In Debian packages, I have always found many gtk programs distributed as two packages, one for GNOME-ized and the other gtk-only, and I have found gtk-only versions to be faster and (since I am using GNOME 1.4, I do not get much benefit of integration).
You might have been modded down as a Troll, but your point is worth thinking about.
Thanks.
GrimReality 2003-11-23 01:52:46 UTC (2003-11-22 20:52:46 EST)
P.S.: Please don't call GNOME 'bloatware', I use GNOME 1.4 daily and has found it to be not-bloated. I have not used GNOME-2 much, but it seems to be a lot more simplified (and faster) than GNOME 1.4, so I don't think GNOME deserves to be called 'bloatware'.
We've plenty of relational... flatfile... GIS... other specialized database products...
We don't need any more! Please!
Please read the blurb (someone has even placed a copy of the text on Slashdot). It is not another database.
From the blurb on the site, it is 'database agnostic'.
More effort into RAD tools for existing database products...
Isn't that exactly what Reakall is doing? A RAD tool for existing database products, such as MySQL, PostgrSQL, Firebird etc. that you yourself mentioned.
the kernel source wasn't on any of the CD's! What's up with that?!! Isn't that a violation of the GPL? Is the kernel source on the new ISO's? If not, why? Someone please enlighten me.
Maybe, they have it for download from their website. I don't think you must package the source along with the binary to comply with GPL.
Again, the linux kernel is not the only GPL covered software that is on the CD. There are a lot of them. Imagine placing the source with each of those binary packages.
Of course, they could have put it in another CD/ISO, which your brother may not have downloaded. Maybe, it is time to sue your brother for GPL violation;-)
GrimReality 2003-11-14 20:14:27 UTC (2003-11-14 15:14:27 EST)
Actually, the interface for spim with X (xspim) is pretty intuitive and neat (unless you expect it to behave like a Windows program, because it behave like a plain vanilla X-program). The Windows version, has a very good interface and behaves like a Windows program. And for those without X, there is a commandline version.
I have only used two educational processor simulators, Antanokas' emu68k (for the Motorola 68000 processor) and Spim ('SPIM' is MIPS spelled backwards).
Spim has a much better interface that emu68k (which only has a commandline interface).
Furthermore, spim runs on almost any unix (with and without X) and Windows (with a decent GUI interface).
And the source for Spim is available.
There is even a Debian package for spim.
GrimReality, 2003-11-14 16:46:35 UTC (2003-11-14 11:46:35 EST)
It is pretty interesting, how commandline interface seems to be getting a lot of good press lately.
I heard that Microsoft was mandating that all major functions in its next generation operating systems to be available from the commandline, or something like that.
Or is this some kind of cyclic phenomenon that comes (CLI gets praised to the skied, then the euphoria dies down, and the GUI is praised to the skies, then the euphoria dies down and so on.)
I suppose things would get pretty interesting.
Personally, I find the commandline interface pretty handy, especially for scripting (CLI is a simple mechanism compared to some fancy way to do the same thing). Even for interactive usage, CLI is sometimes very handy
Contrary to the popular notion, one does not have to learn tonnes of commands, there will be a few that you use very often and you would learn it by simply using it. In fact, even in the GUI world one would have to learn menu position and stuff, no matter how intuitive and smart the menus are, it would take some time to get the feel of where what is and it is quite the same with commandline.
Either this means KDE has a lot more users than GNOME or it means that KDE users are much more enthusiastic about their desktop than GNOME users (and hence more likely to vote for said desktop).
About my habits and preferences: I am a GNOME user and a fairly new XFce user, I might make XFce the default session (currently it is GNOME) on next OS upgrade when I get the new 4.x version of XFce, and even then, I would definitely be keeping and using GNOME (not abandoning it all together). I use KDE for trying it out, and I have not quite been able to make it my preferred desktop (just a matter of personal preference).
Now, that I have told you of my preferences, I will say that I voted for GNOME, KDE and GIMP. Why KDE when I apparently don't like it?
I have only used 2.x versions (not 3.x) and even in 2.x I am impressed by the tight integraton, consisitency etc., (although I suppose the responsiveness of KDE is not quite to my taste) KDE 3.x seems to be even better and as far as I can see, I could put my sister up before a KDE desktop and she would be quite comfortable with it, while she would whine on for ever about my favourite GNOME DE. I think that is a great point here.
And of course, I want to see the two DEs going on together, rather than one of them alone
For instance, one can listen to the radio while performing a other tasks, but I cannot do that while watching television or surfing the internet (using current and ubiquitous technology).
The only reason I don't listen to radio anymore, is the lack of material I like. I have been denied those funny shortwave bands since I moved to the US, otherwise, I would still be listening to the Radio even though there are quite a wide variety of channels on local television itself.
(If I were into music stations, I would have been listening too, but I only like to listen to music stations while travelling in a car or something like that.)
This is not a reply to anything you said, just something that seems appropriate (just popped in my mind).
I know there is a big (and almost religous) argument on which is the better format, but to me, (just a user, not a developer) I dont see any difference.
From what I have heard (and to some extend, experienced myself),.deb packaging format with APT system used to be better than the old.rpm format and system. However, the latest RPM systems seem to have fixed all the annoying stuff (that I had experienced earlier) and/or used.rpm/APT-hybrid systems, and is as good as or better than.deb/APT system.
This does not mean that.deb/APT is bad now. It still retains all its goodness and has made usual improvements, but.deb/APT can no longer be used as the sole argument for Debian's superiority over other systems.
[Stuff to note before you make assumptions]:
I do use Debian. I have become used to it (and like it).
I do stuff for political reasons. But I avoid pointless zealotry, since it won't take us anywhere; i.e. one must be ready to adjust in times of need.
GrimReality 2003-10-25 20:47:08 UTC (2003-10-25 16:47:08 EDT)
The article page had this advertisement. Just look at the emphasized part:
Microsoft Revamps Protocol Licensing Program
Dramatically lowered royalty structure. No NDAs. Documentation samples. Choose from over 100 proprietary communications protocols that were not previously available and see how simple it can be to interoperate with Windows desktop products. Get started today!
Apart fromt the part that most of the Windows BSODs are caused by drivers, there might be other issues such as performance.
About my subject line, I said it is a double-edged sword, because this could be a way to accelerate making-a-lot-of-hardware-work-with-linux programme, but on the other hand, it could possibly stifle the development of native drivers (both by vendors and independent developers).
I am actually more worried about the independent developers losing interest in writing native drives, because the very same drivers from vendors that crashed windows ran without any problem with the Linux kernel, but were written by independent developers.
The drivers developed for the Linux kernel also seems to be devoid of all the superfluous system tray utilities that are required to use many of the hardware that comes with PCs these days.
I thougt drivers were supposed to sit quitely under the OS and be used;-), but in the Windows world, installing drivers seem to insist on having some utilities running and constantly nagging about contacting its company via the net. And if you switch off these nasty programs the hardware stops to function. The same hardware, runs without any complaint or running any daemons or stuff with the Linux kernel.
I am quite cofused, here so anyone who can confirm/correct my assumptions would be nice.
You do have a lot of valid points, and I am not making any corrections, but I found some of it really funny.
When I quote you, I have added some stuff in square brackets to clarify the context.
You said:
You got an important job to do for university but you can't find a matching program on Open Source, or the program lacks compatibility to the commercial alternatives offered on Windows or use a propritary incompatible fileformat to store the informations.
Consider this:
You got an important job to do for university, but you can't find a matching program on Windows, or the program lacks compatibility to any of the open source alternatives offered on any of GNU/Linux, *BSD, etc. etc. or does not provide the ability to use fully documented, open, standardized file formats, because Microsoft et.al. won't be able perform Vendor-lock-in then.
You said:
[in GNOME] I'm not able to use my Evolution addressbook in AbiWord because the apps are totally independant.
Consider this:
[in Windows] I'm not able to use my Netscape addressbook in Microsoft Word because the apps are totally independent.
You said:
[on GNU/Linux] I can't use my Nautilus Bookmarks in Firebird and stuff like this.
Consider this:
[in Windows] I can't use my Opera Bookmarks in Microsoft Internet Explorer and stuff like this.
I hope you would also find this funny.
I am not saying that Microsoft products or closed source products have any problems at all for they are all professionally done and works perfectly. As you imply (pardon me for twisting your words), you get what you pay for, right?
I found interesting was a quote from the aritcle [http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1356730,00.a sp]
by an un-named source:
SCO is not a good growth company and is in fact on life-support. A solid company that's been in business as long as SCO has should be making it's money from product/services and not donations and lawsuits.
Why wouldn't anyone see something as obvious as this?
At my school everyone (even the well informed) are saying 'Linux is in great trouble.' and 'Linux has an invalid license.'.
Thank you
GrimReality 2003-10-18 15:06:03 UTC (2003-10-18 11:06:03 EDT)
One day the U.S. will be running Microsoft software, and the rest of the world will not.
It is something of a hobby for me to check out foreign web-sites. I frequently go to GB, IE, AU, PL, assorted South American, Middle Eastern and Asian websites. Many of these websites are run by the big-names of the respective countries.
What I have noticed is that most websites are inaccessible, unless you have Microsoft Internet Explorer, and even if you can access it, it would look horrible.
While many big-name websites in the US makes sure that it will work at least at a minimum, these websites seem to think that Microsft is the only thing out there.
Again, many of these sites engage in immature Shockwave Flash based websites, which by now many big name companies in the US are avoiding and even when they do use it, provide alternative HTML only page. Other immaturities such as using images instead of text also abound.
I am not saying anything. Just putting forth my observations. Of course, one could say that I have been visiting all the wrong websites.
I will show you two extreme examples, one from GB (England) which is one of the most advanced countries outside the US and the other from India (which is one of the poorest and backward in the world). This should give you an idea of how the ones in the middle are.
Try visiting these websites with Mozilla, with Shockwave Flash disabled (I suppose for most Slashdotters, (myself included) going with Flash enabled would be a nastier experience):
[GB] MG Rover Select UK as the country on the entrance page (see also it's German website MG Rover Deutschland)
and
[IN] Tata Motors (a soon-to-be subsidiary of Daimler-Chrysler though).
Again, I am not saying things are super here in the US. It is bad, but so is it outside too. Personally, I wish you were right, then, at least, some part of this planet will escape. Unfortunately, the reality is far from rosy.
GrimReality 2003-10-13 03:32:26 UTC (2003-10-12 23:32:26 EDT)
I am taking this flamebait and troll, because I have nothing else to do.;-)
I suggest that if you are using debian, then STOP USING IT RIGHT NOW! Debian makes linux look bad because!
There is absolutely no need to boycott Debian. Why? You answered it yourself. To quote yourself:
It uses software from the Linux dark age!
It imtimdates their users
Its hard to install!
and
Real distributions don't have to edit text files
Real distrubtions don't tell you to RTFM
Real distributions don't use the secuirty hole ridden 2.2.
Given all these, how many people would be using Debian, other than a special set of people (about whom I will talk shortly).
Now for that special set of people, Debian is what they want, so there is no point and no use in switching them to anything else.
For them, 'political flamewars', 'RTFM'ing, 'editing text files' etc. are part of the attractions of the Debian system/community. Again, since such a set of people is a very small group, it won't affect the image of GNU/Linux.
Now I have to point out something that you said that is patently wrong (pun intented). To quote yourself (I added [Debian] to clarify the context):
...and [Debian] encourages residents of the USA to voloate copyright and patent law!
Actually, Debian guys take extra pains to make sure that stuff with different type of licences and stuff are kept separately. They also make sure that everything is done as per law in each country. Even bona-fide corporations that distribute GNU/Linux seems to slack on this part, so I think you misjudged them on this small part.
Yes, Debian community does encourage people to fight against patent laws (so does KDE, GIMP, and a whole lot of other projects and organizations), but never to break any existing laws. [True, you can always find some people who would advocate civil disobedience (ESR does it on his front page), but it is not unique to Debian, you will find them in all types of non-censored/not heavily censored communities such as Slashdot]
Furthermore, RedHat, Mandrake, and SuSE are the dominant players in the GNU/Linux market and hence, logically, one would have to blame them for the bad image of GNU/Linux, for they have the most exposure. [No! Unlike the parent poster, I am not saying that RedHat, Mandrake or SuSE are to blame for the bad image of GNU/Linux]
GrimReality
2003-10-12 21:35:35 UTC (2003-10-12 17:35:35 EDT)
But it's slashdot, so any posts that agree to the party line gets modded way up.
I don't know if that is so. Slashdot, as far as I have seen, is either party-neutral or at the most slightly pro-right.
Although, some moderations indicate otherwise. But, you must realize that the people who moderate are randomly picked and there is no sure way of knowing what party-affiliations they are.
My point is that accusing Slashdot of following party lines is probably not very accurate.
By the way, another way to dilute a view (which could have better effect than reducing visibility) would be to inappropriately mod it up, say as 'Funny';-). You see how it could twist the meaning of the post.
Thanks,
GrimReality
2003-10-11 19:45:29 UTC (2003-10-11 15:45:29 EDT)
Didn't Sun say that they would sell you Linux, if you want but, but you must get Solaris if you want a real, stable and secure OS (or something along those lines, It was on Slashdot)?
How does this fit into this MadHatter?
Were they talking about the Server only? Is it okay for the Desktop then?
On a related note, wouldn't selling Solaris generate more revenue than selling */Linux? So, is this a move to contrast their 'superior' Solaris product with the 'hype-only' */Linux, an attempt to show why people should choose Solaris instead of */Linux?
computer manufacturers were forced to specify things like floppy disk sizes and screen diagonals not only in inches, but in centimeters - ever tried to buy an 8.3 cm floppy? That just doesn't work
I have heard that the ANSI standard, which defines the standard
floppy (called 3.5in), defines it as 90mm. It is
the problem with the manufacturer who wrongly
made it 8.3cm. 3.5in is probably an
approximation anyway.
Disclaimer: I understand that the American way is the only right way. Please don't flame me. I agree with you fully that metric is crap. Please don't flame or mod me down. People on the other side also please don't flame or mod me down, I will agree with you too.
you and michael (orginal poster) are a lost cause.
I do not know this michael (the parent post is an AC).
wake up!
I believe I already am. Please read my post once more, this time carefully (and keep your assumptions aside). And read what I have to say next in this post.
you will witness just how evil china is when they kill a lot of people.
I did not say 'China is not evil'.
I did not say 'China is will not kill a lot of people'.
I am not saying that China is not evil or that giving access to China is not bad. I am not saying anything of that kind. What I said was that it doesn't matter.
The US is so powerful that the US can stop China if they want. So, it doesn't matter if they are evil, because noble US will stop them, especially since they have the power --unstoppable power-- to do it.
GrimReality 2003-09-21 15:39:52 UTC (2003-09-21 11:39:52 EDT)
But how can you justfily giving an agressive, imperial power like china military access to such a system?
Probably true, but it does not matter.
As another Slashdot poster pointed out, the Galileo system can be destroyed or decapacitated at will by the US military. Since the US military is not an 'aggressive, imperial power', they will stop the 'aggressive, imperial power', China, I suppose, from doing anything evil.
In any case, I do not see what is the big deal about things like Galileo or some third world country talking (yes, just talking) about sending probes to Moon.
What is alarming about it? I still don't understand.
The US has done everything they are talking about. The US is in fact lightyears ahead of them all in terms of technology, money and power. So what is the big deal.
There is absolutely nothing to worry about.
GrimReality 2003-09-19 21:21:42 UTC (2003-09-19 17:21:42 EDT)
The current situation is that one has to use RealOne player to play RealMedia files. One has to register the player before you can play a file, but the player will simply go around in loops asking you to register, no matter how many times you do it. Even when it does start to play it crashes and leaks --for it has become a kitchen-sink(TM) application.
Of course, there are stuff like Xine and MPlayer, but their legal status is dubious and since being done the sneaky way is not working at the best.
If RealMedia is reluctant to come out with a simpley player for playing RealMedia audio and video files ONLY (i.e. no 'jukebox' or ripping or audio-cd making and other junk), let others write them by making the codecs freely distributable (for playing back ONLY) and making the interface documentation freely available.
Helix: Episode IV: A New Hope
This Helix thing seems to be more than just the audio-video stuff, and seems to encompass a broader take on mult-media on the Internet.
Does this bring up a hope that such simple players (non-sneaky) could be a reality in the near future?
GrimReality 2003-08-07 02:51:07 UTC (2003-08-06 22:51:07 EDT)
but Flash already is available for 95% of the computers.
Not just that, many, many, many websites are going Flash-ONLY, and many of the designs aren't very good either, and its name says it all 'Flash', nothing but being flashy.
They say it in 'full function and glory' when referring to Flash menus, but they take longer, and reloads everytime to move back or forth. Or worse, still, drops you right in front of a 2-hour Flash intro (Okey, I just kidding here) with a miniscule 'skip-into' button.
I would have hoped that using Flash, the menus would be able to dynamically fit into my browser window (reasonably sized), but they just force me to widen the window to fill up the whole window, sometimes even worse (and I am using 1280x1024, resolution too, so it has nothing to do with lack of my computer screen's resolution).
Now you would, say, 'Is Flash to blame for all this?'
No!, but those who think they can hide their incompetence behind flashy intors and menus. Flash has it's rightful, uses, not to convert the whole navigation and accessing method for all the websites in the world.
Again, I think flash can cut the size, but Flash webpage designers more than counter this advantage with more flash, making it even worse than image-hack based pages.
Flash is just isn't worth the computing acrobatics that go on when going into Flash content based page.
Pardon me, I am rambling...
Now don't argue that you can do the same with SVG and SMIL, because I am not arguing that point. I am telling you why Flash is annoying. It is not just because it is not GNU/Flash.
What I don't understand is why so many/.-ers hate it so much. Just because it's not GNU/Flash?
Actually, is quite the opposite. Slashdotters have modded you up because of this particular line.
What does that say?
It says that Slashdotters do not hate Flash just because it is not GNU/Flash.
On the contrary, it is rather the misuse of Flash that irritates most Slashdotters, and this irritation is often perceived as hatred for Flash itself.
As an endnote, I should say that all that I have said doesn't make any difference. Flash will thrive and people like myself will suffer. But who am I? No one. So who cares, when 99.9% of their users are willing to put up with it. I probably wouldn't if I were like them. But I am just saying this because you used that cliche 'GNU/' which is the equivalent of the 'n' word.
To sum it up, what I have been saying so far is nothing but bloody nonsense.
Thank you for understanding GrimReality 2003-07-20 18:14:59 UTC (2003-07-20 14:14:59 EDT)
...I doubt that they would want to open up the code to the voting system that could create a large number of people trying to skew the results so that the results are not accurate.
You don't have to open up code of the voting system (which should be working on the server side) to make it usable on GNU/Linux *BSD etc., or any OS for that matter.
Only the client software has to be open-sourced, and it would not 'create a large number of people trying to skew the results so that the results are not accurate', and if it does, the voting system is really flawed.
You should not apply the same metric for all data when deciding what constitutes a thumbnail.
For instance, an image at least 5-40% (depending on the size of the original image) smaller (scaled down) than the original is fair to both the artist and the poster+viewers. (He should also provide a link to the original author as a courtesy.)
On the other hand, for a song, it would fairer to use a 30s clip (a portion) and not a full-length low quality version (compare to scaling down), for even at very low qualities, the songs could be at enough quality for some, thus not being fair to artist.
Another example, books, a 'thumbnail' can be quotations (this has been in use for quite a long, long time).
Maybe one could make bitmap scans of the whole book and scale it down to a small size, save it as JPEG with quality 1 and call it a thumbnail;-). That would be the greatest joke on the guy who posts those thumbnails.
Thank you. GrimReality 2003-07-08 03:14:55 UTC (2003-07-07 23:14:55 EDT)
I don't think space should be left to any specific group. Everyone should be trying a hand at it or every possible type of available clientele, investors, researchers etc. should be in. Not left to any one of them.
Who knows which method is going to bring about innovations, spur the space industry etc.
IMHO, state or state sponsored agencies (who might depend of corporations on clientele etc.) has many important roles to play: following tracks that 'profit-only' corporations or entreprenurs won't go or try to pioneer, being one of them.
Again, IMHO, filthy rich billionares could provide a source for exta bucks to fund the programmes of NASA et. al. or the corporations involved.
Similarly, corporations could jump in to exploit the markets that pop up in the field.
Leaving space to one particular group may not be the best idea.
Thank you. GrimReality 2003-07-02 01:01:13 UTC (2003-07-01 21:01:13 EDT)
Slashdot Mirror
You made your post sound like a troll, but I would like to support some of the stuff that you said.
When I tried out KDE, one thing that I found to be very impressive was the integration among the core applications and those non-core applications that are built as 'KDE applications'.
However, here is the catch, I am a GNOMEish person, (personal preference mainly) and when I use a KDE application (not a QT application), a whole load of stuff happens, and it is as if half of KDE is starting.
Your fears about something like this happening with GNOME is justified, and would like to run XFCE now and then and it would be great if GTK only apps were available.
In Debian packages, I have always found many gtk programs distributed as two packages, one for GNOME-ized and the other gtk-only, and I have found gtk-only versions to be faster and (since I am using GNOME 1.4, I do not get much benefit of integration).
You might have been modded down as a Troll, but your point is worth thinking about.
Thanks.
GrimReality
2003-11-23 01:52:46 UTC (2003-11-22 20:52:46 EST)
P.S.: Please don't call GNOME 'bloatware', I use GNOME 1.4 daily and has found it to be not-bloated. I have not used GNOME-2 much, but it seems to be a lot more simplified (and faster) than GNOME 1.4, so I don't think GNOME deserves to be called 'bloatware'.
Please read the blurb (someone has even placed a copy of the text on Slashdot). It is not another database.
From the blurb on the site, it is 'database agnostic'.
Isn't that exactly what Reakall is doing? A RAD tool for existing database products, such as MySQL, PostgrSQL, Firebird etc. that you yourself mentioned.
Maybe, they have it for download from their website. I don't think you must package the source along with the binary to comply with GPL.
Again, the linux kernel is not the only GPL covered software that is on the CD. There are a lot of them. Imagine placing the source with each of those binary packages.
Of course, they could have put it in another CD/ISO, which your brother may not have downloaded. Maybe, it is time to sue your brother for GPL violation ;-)
GrimReality
2003-11-14 20:14:27 UTC (2003-11-14 15:14:27 EST)
Actually, the interface for spim with X (xspim) is pretty intuitive and neat (unless you expect it to behave like a Windows program, because it behave like a plain vanilla X-program). The Windows version, has a very good interface and behaves like a Windows program. And for those without X, there is a commandline version.
I have only used two educational processor simulators, Antanokas' emu68k (for the Motorola 68000 processor) and Spim ('SPIM' is MIPS spelled backwards).
Spim has a much better interface that emu68k (which only has a commandline interface).
Furthermore, spim runs on almost any unix (with and without X) and Windows (with a decent GUI interface).
And the source for Spim is available.
There is even a Debian package for spim.
GrimReality,
2003-11-14 16:46:35 UTC (2003-11-14 11:46:35 EST)
It is pretty interesting, how commandline interface seems to be getting a lot of good press lately.
I heard that Microsoft was mandating that all major functions in its next generation operating systems to be available from the commandline, or something like that.
Or is this some kind of cyclic phenomenon that comes (CLI gets praised to the skied, then the euphoria dies down, and the GUI is praised to the skies, then the euphoria dies down and so on.)
I suppose things would get pretty interesting.
Personally, I find the commandline interface pretty handy, especially for scripting (CLI is a simple mechanism compared to some fancy way to do the same thing). Even for interactive usage, CLI is sometimes very handy
Contrary to the popular notion, one does not have to learn tonnes of commands, there will be a few that you use very often and you would learn it by simply using it. In fact, even in the GUI world one would have to learn menu position and stuff, no matter how intuitive and smart the menus are, it would take some time to get the feel of where what is and it is quite the same with commandline.
About my habits and preferences: I am a GNOME user and a fairly new XFce user, I might make XFce the default session (currently it is GNOME) on next OS upgrade when I get the new 4.x version of XFce, and even then, I would definitely be keeping and using GNOME (not abandoning it all together). I use KDE for trying it out, and I have not quite been able to make it my preferred desktop (just a matter of personal preference).
Now, that I have told you of my preferences, I will say that I voted for GNOME, KDE and GIMP. Why KDE when I apparently don't like it?
I have only used 2.x versions (not 3.x) and even in 2.x I am impressed by the tight integraton, consisitency etc., (although I suppose the responsiveness of KDE is not quite to my taste) KDE 3.x seems to be even better and as far as I can see, I could put my sister up before a KDE desktop and she would be quite comfortable with it, while she would whine on for ever about my favourite GNOME DE. I think that is a great point here.
And of course, I want to see the two DEs going on together, rather than one of them alone
It is not just the elderly that could use radio.
For instance, one can listen to the radio while performing a other tasks, but I cannot do that while watching television or surfing the internet (using current and ubiquitous technology).
The only reason I don't listen to radio anymore, is the lack of material I like. I have been denied those funny shortwave bands since I moved to the US, otherwise, I would still be listening to the Radio even though there are quite a wide variety of channels on local television itself.
(If I were into music stations, I would have been listening too, but I only like to listen to music stations while travelling in a car or something like that.)
This is not a reply to anything you said, just something that seems appropriate (just popped in my mind).
From what I have heard (and to some extend, experienced myself), .deb packaging format with APT system used to be better than the old .rpm format and system. However, the latest RPM systems seem to have fixed all the annoying stuff (that I had experienced earlier) and/or used .rpm/APT-hybrid systems, and is as good as or better than .deb/APT system.
This does not mean that .deb/APT is bad now. It still retains all its goodness and has made usual improvements, but .deb/APT can no longer be used as the sole argument for Debian's superiority over other systems.
[Stuff to note before you make assumptions]:
I do use Debian. I have become used to it (and like it).
I do stuff for political reasons. But I avoid pointless zealotry, since it won't take us anywhere; i.e. one must be ready to adjust in times of need.
GrimReality
2003-10-25 20:47:08 UTC (2003-10-25 16:47:08 EDT)
The article page had this advertisement. Just look at the emphasized part:
Just this advertisement made me squirm.
Apart fromt the part that most of the Windows BSODs are caused by drivers, there might be other issues such as performance.
About my subject line, I said it is a double-edged sword, because this could be a way to accelerate making-a-lot-of-hardware-work-with-linux programme, but on the other hand, it could possibly stifle the development of native drivers (both by vendors and independent developers).
I am actually more worried about the independent developers losing interest in writing native drives, because the very same drivers from vendors that crashed windows ran without any problem with the Linux kernel, but were written by independent developers.
The drivers developed for the Linux kernel also seems to be devoid of all the superfluous system tray utilities that are required to use many of the hardware that comes with PCs these days.
I thougt drivers were supposed to sit quitely under the OS and be used ;-), but in the Windows world, installing drivers seem to insist on having some utilities running and constantly nagging about contacting its company via the net. And if you switch off these nasty programs the hardware stops to function. The same hardware, runs without any complaint or running any daemons or stuff with the Linux kernel.
I am quite cofused, here so anyone who can confirm/correct my assumptions would be nice.
Thanks
You do have a lot of valid points, and I am not making any corrections, but I found some of it really funny.
When I quote you, I have added some stuff in square brackets to clarify the context.
You said:
Consider this:
You got an important job to do for university, but you can't find a matching program on Windows, or the program lacks compatibility to any of the open source alternatives offered on any of GNU/Linux, *BSD, etc. etc. or does not provide the ability to use fully documented, open, standardized file formats, because Microsoft et.al. won't be able perform Vendor-lock-in then.
You said:
Consider this:
[in Windows] I'm not able to use my Netscape addressbook in Microsoft Word because the apps are totally independent.
You said:
Consider this:
[in Windows] I can't use my Opera Bookmarks in Microsoft Internet Explorer and stuff like this.
I hope you would also find this funny.
I am not saying that Microsoft products or closed source products have any problems at all for they are all professionally done and works perfectly. As you imply (pardon me for twisting your words), you get what you pay for, right?
I found interesting was a quote from the aritcle [http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1356730,00.a sp]
by an un-named source:
Why wouldn't anyone see something as obvious as this?
At my school everyone (even the well informed) are saying 'Linux is in great trouble.' and 'Linux has an invalid license.'.
Thank you
GrimReality
2003-10-18 15:06:03 UTC (2003-10-18 11:06:03 EDT)
It is something of a hobby for me to check out foreign web-sites. I frequently go to GB, IE, AU, PL, assorted South American, Middle Eastern and Asian websites. Many of these websites are run by the big-names of the respective countries.
What I have noticed is that most websites are inaccessible, unless you have Microsoft Internet Explorer, and even if you can access it, it would look horrible.
While many big-name websites in the US makes sure that it will work at least at a minimum, these websites seem to think that Microsft is the only thing out there.
Again, many of these sites engage in immature Shockwave Flash based websites, which by now many big name companies in the US are avoiding and even when they do use it, provide alternative HTML only page. Other immaturities such as using images instead of text also abound.
I am not saying anything. Just putting forth my observations. Of course, one could say that I have been visiting all the wrong websites.
I will show you two extreme examples, one from GB (England) which is one of the most advanced countries outside the US and the other from India (which is one of the poorest and backward in the world). This should give you an idea of how the ones in the middle are.
Try visiting these websites with Mozilla, with Shockwave Flash disabled (I suppose for most Slashdotters, (myself included) going with Flash enabled would be a nastier experience):
[GB] MG Rover Select UK as the country on the entrance page (see also it's German website MG Rover Deutschland)
and
[IN] Tata Motors (a soon-to-be subsidiary of Daimler-Chrysler though).
Again, I am not saying things are super here in the US. It is bad, but so is it outside too. Personally, I wish you were right, then, at least, some part of this planet will escape. Unfortunately, the reality is far from rosy.
GrimReality
2003-10-13 03:32:26 UTC (2003-10-12 23:32:26 EDT)
I am taking this flamebait and troll, because I have nothing else to do. ;-)
There is absolutely no need to boycott Debian. Why? You answered it yourself. To quote yourself:
and
Given all these, how many people would be using Debian, other than a special set of people (about whom I will talk shortly).
Now for that special set of people, Debian is what they want, so there is no point and no use in switching them to anything else.
For them, 'political flamewars', 'RTFM'ing, 'editing text files' etc. are part of the attractions of the Debian system/community. Again, since such a set of people is a very small group, it won't affect the image of GNU/Linux.
Now I have to point out something that you said that is patently wrong (pun intented). To quote yourself (I added [Debian] to clarify the context):
Actually, Debian guys take extra pains to make sure that stuff with different type of licences and stuff are kept separately. They also make sure that everything is done as per law in each country. Even bona-fide corporations that distribute GNU/Linux seems to slack on this part, so I think you misjudged them on this small part.
Yes, Debian community does encourage people to fight against patent laws (so does KDE, GIMP, and a whole lot of other projects and organizations), but never to break any existing laws. [True, you can always find some people who would advocate civil disobedience (ESR does it on his front page), but it is not unique to Debian, you will find them in all types of non-censored/not heavily censored communities such as Slashdot]
Furthermore, RedHat, Mandrake, and SuSE are the dominant players in the GNU/Linux market and hence, logically, one would have to blame them for the bad image of GNU/Linux, for they have the most exposure. [No! Unlike the parent poster, I am not saying that RedHat, Mandrake or SuSE are to blame for the bad image of GNU/Linux]
GrimReality
2003-10-12 21:35:35 UTC (2003-10-12 17:35:35 EDT)
I don't know if that is so. Slashdot, as far as I have seen, is either party-neutral or at the most slightly pro-right.
Although, some moderations indicate otherwise. But, you must realize that the people who moderate are randomly picked and there is no sure way of knowing what party-affiliations they are.
My point is that accusing Slashdot of following party lines is probably not very accurate.
By the way, another way to dilute a view (which could have better effect than reducing visibility) would be to inappropriately mod it up, say as 'Funny' ;-). You see how it could twist the meaning of the post.
Thanks,
GrimReality
2003-10-11 19:45:29 UTC (2003-10-11 15:45:29 EDT)
Didn't Sun say that they would sell you Linux, if you want but, but you must get Solaris if you want a real, stable and secure OS (or something along those lines, It was on Slashdot)?
How does this fit into this MadHatter?
Were they talking about the Server only? Is it okay for the Desktop then?
On a related note, wouldn't selling Solaris generate more revenue than selling */Linux? So, is this a move to contrast their 'superior' Solaris product with the 'hype-only' */Linux, an attempt to show why people should choose Solaris instead of */Linux?
Thanks
GrimReality
2003-10-08 09:54 EDT
I have heard that the ANSI standard, which defines the standard floppy (called 3.5in), defines it as 90mm. It is the problem with the manufacturer who wrongly made it 8.3cm. 3.5in is probably an approximation anyway.
Disclaimer: I understand that the American way is the only right way. Please don't flame me. I agree with you fully that metric is crap. Please don't flame or mod me down. People on the other side also please don't flame or mod me down, I will agree with you too.
GrimReality
2003-10-09 08:29 EDT
I do not know this michael (the parent post is an AC).
I believe I already am. Please read my post once more, this time carefully (and keep your assumptions aside). And read what I have to say next in this post.
I did not say 'China is not evil'.
I did not say 'China is will not kill a lot of people'.
I am not saying that China is not evil or that giving access to China is not bad. I am not saying anything of that kind. What I said was that it doesn't matter.
The US is so powerful that the US can stop China if they want. So, it doesn't matter if they are evil, because noble US will stop them, especially since they have the power --unstoppable power-- to do it.
GrimReality
2003-09-21 15:39:52 UTC (2003-09-21 11:39:52 EDT)
Probably true, but it does not matter.
As another Slashdot poster pointed out, the Galileo system can be destroyed or decapacitated at will by the US military. Since the US military is not an 'aggressive, imperial power', they will stop the 'aggressive, imperial power', China, I suppose, from doing anything evil.
In any case, I do not see what is the big deal about things like Galileo or some third world country talking (yes, just talking) about sending probes to Moon.
What is alarming about it? I still don't understand.
The US has done everything they are talking about. The US is in fact lightyears ahead of them all in terms of technology, money and power. So what is the big deal.
There is absolutely nothing to worry about.
GrimReality
2003-09-19 21:21:42 UTC (2003-09-19 17:21:42 EDT)
Introduction
The current situation is that one has to use RealOne player to play RealMedia files. One has to register the player before you can play a file, but the player will simply go around in loops asking you to register, no matter how many times you do it. Even when it does start to play it crashes and leaks --for it has become a kitchen-sink(TM) application.
Of course, there are stuff like Xine and MPlayer, but their legal status is dubious and since being done the sneaky way is not working at the best.
If RealMedia is reluctant to come out with a simpley player for playing RealMedia audio and video files ONLY (i.e. no 'jukebox' or ripping or audio-cd making and other junk), let others write them by making the codecs freely distributable (for playing back ONLY) and making the interface documentation freely available.
Helix: Episode IV: A New Hope
This Helix thing seems to be more than just the audio-video stuff, and seems to encompass a broader take on mult-media on the Internet.
Does this bring up a hope that such simple players (non-sneaky) could be a reality in the near future?
GrimReality
2003-08-07 02:51:07 UTC (2003-08-06 22:51:07 EDT)
Not just that, many, many, many websites are going Flash-ONLY, and many of the designs aren't very good either, and its name says it all 'Flash', nothing but being flashy.
They say it in 'full function and glory' when referring to Flash menus, but they take longer, and reloads everytime to move back or forth. Or worse, still, drops you right in front of a 2-hour Flash intro (Okey, I just kidding here) with a miniscule 'skip-into' button.
I would have hoped that using Flash, the menus would be able to dynamically fit into my browser window (reasonably sized), but they just force me to widen the window to fill up the whole window, sometimes even worse (and I am using 1280x1024, resolution too, so it has nothing to do with lack of my computer screen's resolution).
Now you would, say, 'Is Flash to blame for all this?'
No!, but those who think they can hide their incompetence behind flashy intors and menus. Flash has it's rightful, uses, not to convert the whole navigation and accessing method for all the websites in the world.
Again, I think flash can cut the size, but Flash webpage designers more than counter this advantage with more flash, making it even worse than image-hack based pages.
Flash is just isn't worth the computing acrobatics that go on when going into Flash content based page.
Pardon me, I am rambling...
Now don't argue that you can do the same with SVG and SMIL, because I am not arguing that point. I am telling you why Flash is annoying. It is not just because it is not GNU/Flash.
Actually, is quite the opposite. Slashdotters have modded you up because of this particular line.
What does that say?
It says that Slashdotters do not hate Flash just because it is not GNU/Flash.
On the contrary, it is rather the misuse of Flash that irritates most Slashdotters, and this irritation is often perceived as hatred for Flash itself.
As an endnote, I should say that all that I have said doesn't make any difference. Flash will thrive and people like myself will suffer. But who am I? No one. So who cares, when 99.9% of their users are willing to put up with it. I probably wouldn't if I were like them. But I am just saying this because you used that cliche 'GNU/' which is the equivalent of the 'n' word.
To sum it up, what I have been saying so far is nothing but bloody nonsense.
Thank you for understanding
GrimReality
2003-07-20 18:14:59 UTC (2003-07-20 14:14:59 EDT)
You don't have to open up code of the voting system (which should be working on the server side) to make it usable on GNU/Linux *BSD etc., or any OS for that matter.
Only the client software has to be open-sourced, and it would not 'create a large number of people trying to skew the results so that the results are not accurate', and if it does, the voting system is really flawed.
You should not apply the same metric for all data when deciding what constitutes a thumbnail.
For instance, an image at least 5-40% (depending on the size of the original image) smaller (scaled down) than the original is fair to both the artist and the poster+viewers. (He should also provide a link to the original author as a courtesy.)
On the other hand, for a song, it would fairer to use a 30s clip (a portion) and not a full-length low quality version (compare to scaling down), for even at very low qualities, the songs could be at enough quality for some, thus not being fair to artist.
Another example, books, a 'thumbnail' can be quotations (this has been in use for quite a long, long time).
Maybe one could make bitmap scans of the whole book and scale it down to a small size, save it as JPEG with quality 1 and call it a thumbnail ;-). That would be the greatest joke on the guy who posts those thumbnails.
Thank you.
GrimReality
2003-07-08 03:14:55 UTC (2003-07-07 23:14:55 EDT)
I have seen:
I don't think space should be left to any specific group. Everyone should be trying a hand at it or every possible type of available clientele, investors, researchers etc. should be in. Not left to any one of them.
Who knows which method is going to bring about innovations, spur the space industry etc.
IMHO, state or state sponsored agencies (who might depend of corporations on clientele etc.) has many important roles to play: following tracks that 'profit-only' corporations or entreprenurs won't go or try to pioneer, being one of them.
Again, IMHO, filthy rich billionares could provide a source for exta bucks to fund the programmes of NASA et. al. or the corporations involved.
Similarly, corporations could jump in to exploit the markets that pop up in the field.
Leaving space to one particular group may not be the best idea.
Thank you.
GrimReality
2003-07-02 01:01:13 UTC (2003-07-01 21:01:13 EDT)
Your post reminded me of something that I have always wanted to say regarding the space programmes --one that involves Arthur C. Clarke's work.
According to '2001: A Space Odyssey', we should have moon-bases, space-lifts, major manned orbital stations by now.
But, also according to '2001: A Space Odyssey', the Soviet Union should still be in their former 'suer-power' position now.
One wrong assumption and the whole timeline goes out the window. LoL.
Thank you.
GrimReality
2003-06-28 22:03:38 UTC (2003-06-28 18:03:38 EDT)