I agree that running as root is a Bad Thing(tm). However, the vast majority of people are still running Win9x so it's not a tremendous stretch.
I agree that Lindow's policies can alienate some users. However, the target market is composed of people who largely would not have ever tried Linux anyway. (Let em get thier feet wet!) So... getting Linux into thier hands will at least expose them to it and maybe garner a few more users for Linux. They will probably graduate from Lindows to a more mainstream Linux distro.
Not exposing these potential users to Linux is a You get Nothing from Nothing proposition. Exposing them to Linux will generate a larger userbase. It's guerilla marketing sort of but... maybe it'll have a long term positive effect. We already know it's gonna have a short term negative effect.
Well durn. I bought a mediocre card, according to this article, the Creative Live!
Oh well, at least when I installed RedHat 7.2 it was automatically configured and working with no config file fiddling from me (unlike in Windows where I had to download a driver and reboot multiple times). This in comparison to my old Turtle Beach Monterrey card where I had to tweak it just to get it to work.
Anyway, the Live! sounds good and gives decent positional feedback.
Don't forget to shred, burn and grind the ashes too. While yer at it, make sure there are no video cameras operational in your area. Also, don't speak the letters as you type or write em. Make sure you write on a solid surface that leaves no indentations. Look over your shoulder to make sure no one is watching you type!
design a space station using the doughnut shape? That way, they could kill two birds with one stone; spin the station to create artificial gravity and achieve gyroscopic stability. (That way, you don't really need discreet gyros)
It's a nice staion but should be used to build a better station. Put manufacturing capabilities on it and let's move forward.
I agree; get rid of clients that don't pay their bills. I had that same idea quite a few years back when I was delivering papers (don't ask). Anyway, I cut the non-paying subscribers after many diligent attempts to collect. I was trashing alot of extra papers every day (I had to pay for these extra papers you know) and wanted to cut down on wastage and increase my profit margin.
I ended up getting fired by my boss for having too low a subscriber base. They didn't care that the people weren't paying... they just wanted the subscriber numbers to look good for advertising revenue.
Worst job I ever had! But I'd cut those non-payers again without a second thought if I was in the same position again.
Bottom Line: In my book, you don't pay... you don't play.
-snippety- > than Netscape 4.7. (And hell, at least you had the > good sense to stay away from 6.)
Hey don't rag on Netscape 6. I'd have to be dragged kicking and screaming back to Netscape 4.x. The fonts just look too good in NS6 to go back to squinting in NS4.
NS6 does everything I need it to do... browsing with nice fonts and sharp layout (gekko engine), mail, newsgroups, composer, AIM, Shockwave, Java, Acrobat Reader, RealPlayer. It's a multimedia powerhouse!
Aside from being hungry for RAM, NS6.x is a great browser. I see nothing but improvement of a good thing with Mozilla.
BEWARE! Mozilla has emerged from the software forge and can only get stronger, better and more capable with each new iteration.
Congratulations Mozilla Dev Team on a job well done!
> Get essentially every atom in the right place. > Make almost any structure consistent with the laws > of physics and chemistry that we can specify in > atomic detail. Have manufacturing costs not > greatly exceeding the cost of the required raw > materials and energy. There are two more concepts > commonly associated with nanotechnology: > Positional assembly. Self replication. Clearly, we > would be happy with any method that simultaneously > achieved the first three objectives.
You have just described life. Rather than reinventing the wheel, why not improve existing life processes.
How about, "The web was designed for interoperable standards
The web was designed in order for CERN to make papers available on demand. To this end, a hack on SGML was created that wasn't compliant with any SGML "standard", and a whole new protocol was invented (HTTP/0.9), one that could be implemented in literally minutes.
I believe the writer you are responding to meant that HTML was designed for platform transparency. Your reply is nothing more than a dissertation on history.
Oh, and "bloody clueless and lazy" might get your fire and brimstone rocks off, but it pretty much shuts off rational discourse. Not that it appears you wanted that...
True, not a very edifying statement - "bloody clueless and lazy" but nevertheless true. Coding specifically for IE and disregarding the standards is nothing more than being "bloody clueless and lazy" - not to mention being bloody irrational; after all, you are shutting out potential users who are following standards.
>Would someone be kind enough to explain to me why > bandwidth costs so much?
I'll take a stab at explaining it.
To produce bandwidth you must design and install a physical plant. The cabling, the routers, the HARDWARE. This physical plant is the initial investment and the assets of the company.
Bandwidth is the capacity of the pipe and is an intangible asset to be sold. Bandwidth is then divided up by the number of users or traffic on the pipe. Unused bandwidth is wasted intangible assets.
Say you've just installed a big fat fibre-optic pipe with lots of Bandwidth. Now to sell this bandwidth. With just a few users, the remaining bandwidth is wasted - why not let the current users have lots of bandwidth then? This becomes a selling point that is not guaranteed but is nevertheless valuable to get the service going.
As more users are added to the pipe, you can then scale back each user's bandwidth by capping it and begin to charge for levels of service. The original user's may be miffed but that's the way it is.
The key is to generate revenue... you have a saleable product. Create demand and then use standard business principles to determine the cost to the user based on the users desire/demand for the product. Price too high you will lose users... price too low you will not make payroll heh.
@HOME evidently did not understand this and it seems that this company Quest doesn't either.
Time will tell...
Re:Yet Another Linux Distribution
on
United Linux is Here
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
I sorry to say but... I see the parent comment as another instance of someone not doing their research. This is not exactly another distro.
This is more a combining of already existing distros under one umbrella and the implementation of and adherance to the LSB Standard.
In short... This is a GOOD THING(tm).
Competing with RedHat can actually be easy once it becomes known that the new consortium/distro follows a set standard - LSB. The standard means that software written to the LSB should ALWAYS run with no problems on a compliant distro.
Re:The laws we had 10 years ago
on
Fair IP Laws?
·
· Score: 2
Prior to a patent being granted, the patent applicant has no real protection against his idea or design being copied and used by another. During the public review, some of the technology may be compromised and if the patent is not granted for some reason then the design is then known to the public.
I'm not a lawyer so I don't know all there is to know about patents. Maybe you do?
Re:The laws we had 10 years ago
on
Fair IP Laws?
·
· Score: 3
Well, things are moving a bit faster than they were 10 years ago. More people have computers, we have the Internet which has changed everything, and technology is booming in directions no one had dreamed of 10 years ago.
Things are being patented, today, like gene sequences garnered from unsuspecting patients, new forms of life, processes which are a natural progression of technology (these patents tend to block progress) like hyperlinks or links to certain forms of content or content delivery systems.
I think that a period of public review for patents (suggested by another reader on Slashdot) is a great idea. There is a fly in the buttermilk though... full public disclosure may be unwelcome to the pantent applicant.
If only we had cloned Albert Einstein - then we'd have a great Patent Office Clerk.
Wow, thinking of going to Windows from Linux because you can't watch all yer videos?
How funny. I have no problem using mplayer.
You have applications that leak memory?
Use different applications or restart them when they leak too much.
Personally, I have no problems at all with the development environments in Linux and am more secure and confident with them than I am of comparable Window's offerings. Heck! One of the main reasons I originally came to Linux was because of the NON-robustness of the Windows and NT tools and underlying OS's. YMMV
Well, you must have realistic goals like: Reduce software costs, provide a stable environment, reduce support costs etc...
If you want to use Linux as the OS, you may get some opposition from the Windows fans. So, migrate using a gradual approach.
Begin by replacing the expensive Office Software on Windows with a cheaper yet functional alternative like maybe Sun's Star Office 6.
Analyse the mail situation... are they using all the functions of Outlook (are they even *using* Outlook?) Replace with a reliable alternative like maybe Netscape 6.2.x mail.
While yer at it, replace the use of Internet Explorer with Netscape 6.2.x and encourage the use of Netscape Mail and the Address book functionality included. Use the argument that when Internet Explorer crashes, it can bring the whole operating system down.
Install Sun Java on the user's machines and encourage the use and development of Java programs for the company's business.
Begin replacing Window's Servers with Linux/Unix servers on the backend and migrate to a crossplatform database like maybe MySQL or PostGreSQL or even Oracle or DB/2 for Unix. Replace Exchange with Sendmail or something and use BIND and other UNIX style server software. Justify with stability and lower price for most items.
After you do all these things... the stability and usability of the user and server software should be evident and the switch to Linux as the OS should be fairly painless as there are Linux equivalents to the programs they've been running on the old Windows installations. You may find you have made some Linux fans in the office too!
> Peruvians and other people from countries without > the largest military in the world are usually > polite.
Peruvians and many members of other Latin American countries are usually very polite as a rule - it doesn't matter if they are talking politics, war, love, or just mugging you... they are very polite about it... it's part of what they are. Just don't make this little country without the largest military mad... you will rue the day... history has many accounts of the ferocity of their fighters.
As for the congressman, I think he has done a very good job of explaining to the company representative his position on the issues regarding free software and proprietary software - especially their application in a democratic government. I only wish *I* was as eloquent.
Distraction in the form of interruptions, physical discomfort - hunger, thirst, cold, heat, ergonomics, additional responsibilities like supporting users, meetings, worrys about money, lack of research materials, stability of and ease of use of integrated development environment... all these things detract from the coding experience and getting in The Zone(tm).
Things that make getting in the zone easy: Tools that make sense and are powerful. A keyboard that is intuitive. Easy to use programmer's reference. Stable OS that doesn't crash all the time taking yer whole programming setup down with it
To compare Linux to a microprocessor is not very smart; they are two very different things.
The AMD processors are drop in replacements in HARDWARE which is very standardized - the 8086/8088/80386 instruction set is pretty well known and easy to replicate.
Linux, on the other hand, is not a drop in replacement for Windows. Window's code is hidden and largely inaccessible to Linux programmers.
Programs written for Windows are not very portable at all compared to other operating systems but UNIX style programs are usually very portable as a rule.
As long as Microsoft can keep control of the API's and their implementations and effects on operation of the OS, they will keep Linux/UNIX and just about everyone else boxed out of the Desktop market.
Users want programs so they buy Windows; Developers want Users and customers so they program for Windows. Windows is popular BECAUSE it is popular. If Linux can reach a critical mass of users then developers will make more software avail to them; as that software becomes avail then more users will use Linux and so on and so on.
As for AMD's CEO spouting such drivel as I read in the article, I think the man is either clueless or is reading from a prepared text Microsoft paid him to read.
Slashdot Mirror
will run Certain Certified Microsoft Programs.
I agree that running as root is a Bad Thing(tm). However, the vast majority of people are still running Win9x so it's not a tremendous stretch.
I agree that Lindow's policies can alienate some users. However, the target market is composed of people who largely would not have ever tried Linux anyway. (Let em get thier feet wet!) So... getting Linux into thier hands will at least expose them to it and maybe garner a few more users for Linux. They will probably graduate from Lindows to a more mainstream Linux distro.
Not exposing these potential users to Linux is a You get Nothing from Nothing proposition. Exposing them to Linux will generate a larger userbase. It's guerilla marketing sort of but... maybe it'll have a long term positive effect. We already know it's gonna have a short term negative effect.
Bottom Line: Many users want to be spoonfed.
I dunno. I used to hiss pop use a SB16. But I got hiss pop hiss tired of the sta hiss pop tic.
You're pop hiss pop on a slow pop hiss buss you know ?
Well durn. I bought a mediocre card, according to this article, the Creative Live!
Oh well, at least when I installed RedHat 7.2 it was automatically configured and working with no config file fiddling from me (unlike in Windows where I had to download a driver and reboot multiple times). This in comparison to my old Turtle Beach Monterrey card where I had to tweak it just to get it to work.
Anyway, the Live! sounds good and gives decent positional feedback.
Don't forget to shred, burn and grind the ashes too. While yer at it, make sure there are no video cameras operational in your area. Also, don't speak the letters as you type or write em. Make sure you write on a solid surface that leaves no indentations. Look over your shoulder to make sure no one is watching you type!
I remember using gopher back when search engines were just getting started. If you couldn't find it on the search engine, you could always try gopher.
I kinda miss it... sniff. Poor lil guy.
design a space station using the doughnut shape? That way, they could kill two birds with one stone; spin the station to create artificial gravity and achieve gyroscopic stability. (That way, you don't really need discreet gyros)
It's a nice staion but should be used to build a better station. Put manufacturing capabilities on it and let's move forward.
When the Vorlons come back.
I agree; get rid of clients that don't pay their bills. I had that same idea quite a few years back when I was delivering papers (don't ask). Anyway, I cut the non-paying subscribers after many diligent attempts to collect. I was trashing alot of extra papers every day (I had to pay for these extra papers you know) and wanted to cut down on wastage and increase my profit margin.
I ended up getting fired by my boss for having too low a subscriber base. They didn't care that the people weren't paying... they just wanted the subscriber numbers to look good for advertising revenue.
Worst job I ever had! But I'd cut those non-payers again without a second thought if I was in the same position again.
Bottom Line: In my book, you don't pay... you don't play.
Sounds like a request to be put on Bugzilla don't it?
-snippety-
> than Netscape 4.7. (And hell, at least you had the
> good sense to stay away from 6.)
Hey don't rag on Netscape 6. I'd have to be dragged kicking and screaming back to Netscape 4.x. The fonts just look too good in NS6 to go back to squinting in NS4.
NS6 does everything I need it to do... browsing with nice fonts and sharp layout (gekko engine), mail, newsgroups, composer, AIM, Shockwave, Java, Acrobat Reader, RealPlayer. It's a multimedia powerhouse!
Aside from being hungry for RAM, NS6.x is a great browser. I see nothing but improvement of a good thing with Mozilla.
BEWARE! Mozilla has emerged from the software forge and can only get stronger, better and more capable with each new iteration.
Congratulations Mozilla Dev Team on a job well done!
> Get essentially every atom in the right place.
> Make almost any structure consistent with the laws
> of physics and chemistry that we can specify in
> atomic detail. Have manufacturing costs not
> greatly exceeding the cost of the required raw
> materials and energy. There are two more concepts
> commonly associated with nanotechnology:
> Positional assembly. Self replication. Clearly, we
> would be happy with any method that simultaneously
> achieved the first three objectives.
You have just described life. Rather than reinventing the wheel, why not improve existing life processes.
I have a question...
If Opera users are changing the reported ID of their browser... doesn't this also effect the usage standings as reported in the blogs?
My guess is that Opera usage is largely unreported.
Oh, and "bloody clueless and lazy" might get your fire and brimstone rocks off, but it pretty much shuts off rational discourse. Not that it appears you wanted that...
- True, not a very edifying statement - "bloody clueless and lazy" but nevertheless true. Coding specifically for IE and disregarding the standards is nothing more than being "bloody clueless and lazy" - not to mention being bloody irrational; after all, you are shutting out potential users who are following standards.
This reply constucted using standard HTML.Well, if RH is compliant that's good. I'm all for it! I use RedHat myself but was unaware that it was compliant.
Thx for the info.
Get yer mind out of the gutter dmccarty!
There ain't room here for the both of us.
My son Jucius Maximus... how did you get out of the basement?
>Would someone be kind enough to explain to me why
> bandwidth costs so much?
I'll take a stab at explaining it.
To produce bandwidth you must design and install a physical plant. The cabling, the routers, the HARDWARE. This physical plant is the initial investment and the assets of the company.
Bandwidth is the capacity of the pipe and is an intangible asset to be sold. Bandwidth is then divided up by the number of users or traffic on the pipe. Unused bandwidth is wasted intangible assets.
Say you've just installed a big fat fibre-optic pipe with lots of Bandwidth. Now to sell this bandwidth. With just a few users, the remaining bandwidth is wasted - why not let the current users have lots of bandwidth then? This becomes a selling point that is not guaranteed but is nevertheless valuable to get the service going.
As more users are added to the pipe, you can then scale back each user's bandwidth by capping it and begin to charge for levels of service. The original user's may be miffed but that's the way it is.
The key is to generate revenue... you have a saleable product. Create demand and then use standard business principles to determine the cost to the user based on the users desire/demand for the product. Price too high you will lose users... price too low you will not make payroll heh.
@HOME evidently did not understand this and it seems that this company Quest doesn't either.
Time will tell...
I sorry to say but... I see the parent comment as another instance of someone not doing their research. This is not exactly another distro.
This is more a combining of already existing distros under one umbrella and the implementation of and adherance to the LSB Standard.
In short... This is a GOOD THING(tm).
Competing with RedHat can actually be easy once it becomes known that the new consortium/distro follows a set standard - LSB. The standard means that software written to the LSB should ALWAYS run with no problems on a compliant distro.
Prior to a patent being granted, the patent applicant has no real protection against his idea or design being copied and used by another. During the public review, some of the technology may be compromised and if the patent is not granted for some reason then the design is then known to the public.
I'm not a lawyer so I don't know all there is to know about patents. Maybe you do?
Well, things are moving a bit faster than they were 10 years ago. More people have computers, we have the Internet which has changed everything, and technology is booming in directions no one had dreamed of 10 years ago.
Things are being patented, today, like gene sequences garnered from unsuspecting patients, new forms of life, processes which are a natural progression of technology (these patents tend to block progress) like hyperlinks or links to certain forms of content or content delivery systems.
I think that a period of public review for patents (suggested by another reader on Slashdot) is a great idea. There is a fly in the buttermilk though... full public disclosure may be unwelcome to the pantent applicant.
If only we had cloned Albert Einstein - then we'd have a great Patent Office Clerk.
Wow, thinking of going to Windows from Linux because you can't watch all yer videos?
How funny. I have no problem using mplayer.
You have applications that leak memory?
Use different applications or restart them when they leak too much.
Personally, I have no problems at all with the development environments in Linux and am more secure and confident with them than I am of comparable Window's offerings. Heck! One of the main reasons I originally came to Linux was because of the NON-robustness of the Windows and NT tools and underlying OS's. YMMV
Well, you must have realistic goals like: Reduce software costs, provide a stable environment, reduce support costs etc...
If you want to use Linux as the OS, you may get some opposition from the Windows fans. So, migrate using a gradual approach.
After you do all these things... the stability and usability of the user and server software should be evident and the switch to Linux as the OS should be fairly painless as there are Linux equivalents to the programs they've been running on the old Windows installations. You may find you have made some Linux fans in the office too!
> Peruvians and other people from countries without
> the largest military in the world are usually
> polite.
Peruvians and many members of other Latin American countries are usually very polite as a rule - it doesn't matter if they are talking politics, war, love, or just mugging you... they are very polite about it... it's part of what they are. Just don't make this little country without the largest military mad... you will rue the day... history has many accounts of the ferocity of their fighters.
As for the congressman, I think he has done a very good job of explaining to the company representative his position on the issues regarding free software and proprietary software - especially their application in a democratic government. I only wish *I* was as eloquent.
Distraction in the form of interruptions, physical discomfort - hunger, thirst, cold, heat, ergonomics, additional responsibilities like supporting users, meetings, worrys about money, lack of research materials, stability of and ease of use of integrated development environment... all these things detract from the coding experience and getting in The Zone(tm).
Things that make getting in the zone easy:
Tools that make sense and are powerful.
A keyboard that is intuitive.
Easy to use programmer's reference.
Stable OS that doesn't crash all the time taking yer whole programming setup down with it
To compare Linux to a microprocessor is not very smart; they are two very different things.
The AMD processors are drop in replacements in HARDWARE which is very standardized - the 8086/8088/80386 instruction set is pretty well known and easy to replicate.
Linux, on the other hand, is not a drop in replacement for Windows. Window's code is hidden and largely inaccessible to Linux programmers.
Programs written for Windows are not very portable at all compared to other operating systems but UNIX style programs are usually very portable as a rule.
As long as Microsoft can keep control of the API's and their implementations and effects on operation of the OS, they will keep Linux/UNIX and just about everyone else boxed out of the Desktop market.
Users want programs so they buy Windows; Developers want Users and customers so they program for Windows. Windows is popular BECAUSE it is popular. If Linux can reach a critical mass of users then developers will make more software avail to them; as that software becomes avail then more users will use Linux and so on and so on.
As for AMD's CEO spouting such drivel as I read in the article, I think the man is either clueless or is reading from a prepared text Microsoft paid him to read.