just boot a lean & mean OS straight from CD to run their game, rather than trying to navigate through Windows' DLL hell? Maybe there's legitamite reasons for not doing this, but it seems like most new motherboards support booting from CD-ROM.
The main reason this wouldn't work is because that lean & mean OS would have to have drivers for all the hardware attatched to the users computer.
Do you think you could fit drivers for every sound card, network card, and graphics card on one CD-ROM - and still have room left for a game?
Even if you could then you'd still have something that wasn't great - because even "high" speed CD-ROM's are slow compared to hard disks..
Point taken - what I meant to say was Everybody I knew who had a PC, or access to one, used DOS. (I was at college when I first used DOS - at that time I never thought I'd own my own PC...)
At my local college we had a copy of GEM for one of the shared PC's but mostly that got ignored, similarly the majority of the students seemed to use DOS, rather than Windows.
Even through I now solely use Linux I will miss DOS. It was my first operating system and my lifeline whenever the users on the network screwed up with their Window$ boxes.
I often think its funny how a lot of people cite the use of the command line as being a factor in slowing its spread.
Back in the "old days" everybody use DOS, and the command line ruled.
Maybe my friends weren't typical - but I remember in Windows 3.1 days many of them would say "Oh, that'd be easier in DOS".
Now with the GUI spread of Windows people are being taught to think of command line utilities as old fashioned - and less powerfull, which is clearly a mistake.
I can sympathise with this approach, because I've been put in this situation before - but its really important that you let the submittor know why the patch wasn't applied, and not just let it fall into a little black hole.
One thing that really gets me going about some OS projects, (especially early projects on Freshmeat), is that they are, needlessly, locked to one platform.
I've sent simple patches to numerous projects to allow them to work on Windows NT/2000 - and the vast majority of the time I get no reply - or a snide reply back that the project is designed for Unix.
Granted it probably was, but thats not really a good reason to turn something down that makes the project more portable - I use Linux at home, and Windows at work. That shouldn't mean I have to use two mutually exclusive sets of tools..
Microsoft is the most notable supporter of backwards compatibility
Well, if you ignore Intel.
Intel have keep binary compatibility for decades now, even the latest Pentium III will run code written for the 8086 - maybe with different timing/cycle counts - but certainly the opcodes still do what they used to.
After playing with reverse engineering, and dissasembly for the past few years I can think of at least several 80[01]86 instructions I've never seen in a single binary - yet they're still there, due to backwards compatability..
With the CLX, working between Linux and Windows should only mean a recompile, although you'll have scatterred {$IFDEF [WIN32|LINUX]}'s throughout the code
I wonder if that really is going to be the case..
I've never used Borlands stuff, but I have toyed with VB a few times - and most of the people I know who use it are basically using it as a container for ActiveX controls, and the like.
A large amount of Borland/Vb code is making use of ActiveX controls, and COM - which isn't going to be available for Linux.. surely that means that a lot of existing code isn't going to be easily portable to Linux?
A biggy thats bitten me.. if you setup a proxy - I've just set the http proxy to be "localhost | 8000".
Suddenly attempting to open a URL, (eg. Click on Home, or use the "Search the Web" option), I get a popup box:
You have chosen to download a file of type: "#1" [#2] from #3.
What should Mozilla do with this file?
[ ] Use default action for this type of file.
[ ] Use a different action for this file.
[ ] Save this file to disk
[ ] Open with application: [ ]
Nothing I choose seems to allow me to actually open the page within Mozilla..
I know this isn't the place to submit bugs, so I'll file an bug report - but its frustrating, cos it stops me from using Junkbuster
the point here is that the problem never gets fixed. they run a port scanner, toy some exploits, drop it all into a "report", and walk away.
While this is true of some people, its not always the case.. I work, freelance, as a penetration tester - in my spare time.
I tend to get 200 pounds an hour, for the testing/analysis - and the report writing.
After the report is completed its presented to the management of the company that hired us - not by me.. I'm covered in piercings, and allergic to suits;)
The most interesting part of the report for the hirers are the steps they can take to improve their network
A typical report is 25% info, and 75% recommendations, which range from tightening typical security, to updating their ancient, externally visible, copy of bind, etc.
Interesting, varied, work if you can get it - but it gives you a really scary feeling sometimes...
I can code well in several languages/environments, including C/C++, perl, Emacs Lisp, Java, x86 asm etc.. up until very recently I've ignored Python completely.
Once you know one language its easier to pick up another, however when you get to point when you can program in four, or five, you wonder what the point of learning another one is.
Anyway, I've just been trying to find a web-based jukebox for a large MP3 collection - and the best one I could find, (that didn't need a database or anything fancy), was Edna - and lo, and behold, it was written in Python.
After looking over the 300 lines of code that implements a webserver, a jukebox, and playlist generator I'm now increasingly tempting to learn more... if only I could get my head round the way lists are written, and the whitespace thing...
I had a great time, a year or so ago, doing something similar - but in a more lo-tech way..
I normally get a bus to work, and I've noticed that other bus drivers sometimes get onto the bus, speak to the driver for a while, then get free rides - probably a perk of the job
So, one sunny Sunday afternoon I dressed up in a fair copy of a bus-drivers outfit - and just randomly got onto buses..
As long as I said "hi" to the driver, and acted like I knew him/her I usually got away with it - sometimes I'd get strange looks, (hey, its not often somebody with a septum piercing drives busses;), but nobody ever challenged me..
Steve
---
Re:I remember something like that...
on
Linux Anecdotes
·
· Score: 1
I editted my partition table by hand once,
using a disk sector editor - and a calculator...
Slashdot Mirror
I'd enjoy being SysAdmin - if it weren't for the users...
I got in by accident - got a job as a developer, 2 sysadmins. 1 left - I "volunteered" for the job. Got it.
Most VNC servers and clients provide no security. They just broadcast everything you type -- including passwords -- on the network with no encryption.
If you're accessing over a VPN then you'll have encryption through that - otherwise you should tunnel over SSH.
just boot a lean & mean OS straight from CD to run their game, rather than trying to navigate through Windows' DLL hell? Maybe there's legitamite reasons for not doing this, but it seems like most new motherboards support booting from CD-ROM.
The main reason this wouldn't work is because that lean & mean OS would have to have drivers for all the hardware attatched to the users computer.
Do you think you could fit drivers for every sound card, network card, and graphics card on one CD-ROM - and still have room left for a game?
Even if you could then you'd still have something that wasn't great - because even "high" speed CD-ROM's are slow compared to hard disks..
Now I need to check and see if someone's ported tcsh yet...
Its already done ...
Point taken - what I meant to say was Everybody I knew who had a PC, or access to one, used DOS. (I was at college when I first used DOS - at that time I never thought I'd own my own PC...)
At my local college we had a copy of GEM for one of the shared PC's but mostly that got ignored, similarly the majority of the students seemed to use DOS, rather than Windows.
Which would have turned it into Windows, surely?
Even through I now solely use Linux I will miss DOS. It was my first operating system and my lifeline whenever the users on the network screwed up with their Window$ boxes.
I often think its funny how a lot of people cite the use of the command line as being a factor in slowing its spread.
Back in the "old days" everybody use DOS, and the command line ruled.
Maybe my friends weren't typical - but I remember in Windows 3.1 days many of them would say "Oh, that'd be easier in DOS".
Now with the GUI spread of Windows people are being taught to think of command line utilities as old fashioned - and less powerfull, which is clearly a mistake.
Well I have no hair .. I'm a skinhead, and I'm into body piercings in a big way - is that an acceptable characterization of a sysadmin?
I can sympathise with this approach, because I've been put in this situation before - but its really important that you let the submittor know why the patch wasn't applied, and not just let it fall into a little black hole.
One thing that really gets me going about some OS projects, (especially early projects on Freshmeat), is that they are, needlessly, locked to one platform.
I've sent simple patches to numerous projects to allow them to work on Windows NT/2000 - and the vast majority of the time I get no reply - or a snide reply back that the project is designed for Unix.
Granted it probably was, but thats not really a good reason to turn something down that makes the project more portable - I use Linux at home, and Windows at work. That shouldn't mean I have to use two mutually exclusive sets of tools..
Thank God for Perl, and Cygwin
Microsoft is the most notable supporter of backwards compatibility
Well, if you ignore Intel.
Intel have keep binary compatibility for decades now, even the latest Pentium III will run code written for the 8086 - maybe with different timing/cycle counts - but certainly the opcodes still do what they used to.
After playing with reverse engineering, and dissasembly for the past few years I can think of at least several 80[01]86 instructions I've never seen in a single binary - yet they're still there, due to backwards compatability..
No, Jon. This is a look at a particular slice of the "real America"
Except for areas, like the RoZone, which is written by a friend of mine, Rosy, from Edinburgh, Scotland.
Check it out sometime - she's a funny girl;
http://www.seanbaby.com/rozone/
It is possible to install an awfull lot of GNU/Open Source programs on Windows.
The hard part is spending the time to track down clones of the software you want, or software that is good in its own right.
I suppose the biggest thing you need to think about is the kind of software you want:
Start at one of the meta-repositories, such as Freshmeat, or GNUSoftware.com - and search around.
With enough time, and patience, you can go a very long way..
Steve
---
Fear: When you see B8 00 4C CD 21 and know what it means
That is indeed scary .. I used to just use, either, "CD 20", or "C3" mostly.
Thanks for making my day with that sig.. the only time I see stuff like this anymore is when I'm patching binaries .. ;)
Steve
---
With the CLX, working between Linux and Windows should only mean a recompile, although you'll have scatterred {$IFDEF [WIN32|LINUX]}'s throughout the code
I wonder if that really is going to be the case..
I've never used Borlands stuff, but I have toyed with VB a few times - and most of the people I know who use it are basically using it as a container for ActiveX controls, and the like.
A large amount of Borland/Vb code is making use of ActiveX controls, and COM - which isn't going to be available for Linux .. surely that means that a lot of existing code isn't going to be easily portable to Linux?
Steve
---
The basic thought trend here is that there is no one universal 'tool'.
Except Emacs, of course ...
Steve
---
A biggy thats bitten me .. if you setup a proxy - I've just set the http proxy to be "localhost | 8000".
Suddenly attempting to open a URL, (eg. Click on Home, or use the "Search the Web" option), I get a popup box:
You have chosen to download a file of type: "#1" [#2] from #3. What should Mozilla do with this file? [ ] Use default action for this type of file. [ ] Use a different action for this file. [ ] Save this file to disk [ ] Open with application: [ ]Nothing I choose seems to allow me to actually open the page within Mozilla..
I know this isn't the place to submit bugs, so I'll file an bug report - but its frustrating, cos it stops me from using Junkbuster
Steve
---
the point here is that the problem never gets fixed. they run a port scanner, toy some exploits, drop it all into a "report", and walk away.
While this is true of some people, its not always the case .. I work, freelance, as a penetration tester - in my spare time.
I tend to get 200 pounds an hour, for the testing/analysis - and the report writing.
After the report is completed its presented to the management of the company that hired us - not by me .. I'm covered in piercings, and allergic to suits ;)
The most interesting part of the report for the hirers are the steps they can take to improve their network
A typical report is 25% info, and 75% recommendations, which range from tightening typical security, to updating their ancient, externally visible, copy of bind, etc.
Interesting, varied, work if you can get it - but it gives you a really scary feeling sometimes...
Steve
---
Do you have any idea just how expensive it is to fly to third-world countries
A damn sight cheaper than to fly into space, I bet ... ;)
Steve
---
I can code well in several languages/environments, including C/C++, perl, Emacs Lisp, Java, x86 asm etc.. up until very recently I've ignored Python completely.
Once you know one language its easier to pick up another, however when you get to point when you can program in four, or five, you wonder what the point of learning another one is.
Anyway, I've just been trying to find a web-based jukebox for a large MP3 collection - and the best one I could find, (that didn't need a database or anything fancy), was Edna - and lo, and behold, it was written in Python.
After looking over the 300 lines of code that implements a webserver, a jukebox, and playlist generator I'm now increasingly tempting to learn more ... if only I could get my head round the way lists are written, and the whitespace thing...
Steve
---
Presumeably you're using (t)csh, with the spell-checking option turned on, and c++ before g++ in your $PATH.
Steve
---
I had a great time, a year or so ago, doing something similar - but in a more lo-tech way..
I normally get a bus to work, and I've noticed that other bus drivers sometimes get onto the bus, speak to the driver for a while, then get free rides - probably a perk of the job
So, one sunny Sunday afternoon I dressed up in a fair copy of a bus-drivers outfit - and just randomly got onto buses..
As long as I said "hi" to the driver, and acted like I knew him/her I usually got away with it - sometimes I'd get strange looks, (hey, its not often somebody with a septum piercing drives busses ;), but nobody ever challenged me..
Steve
---
I editted my partition table by hand once, using a disk sector editor - and a calculator...
*Urgh*
Steve
---
Sure I can see how that would be usefull now.
In my case I would happily even take those 486's .. purely to use as routers/firewalls in my flat - or to give to other people for the same purpose.
It hadn't occured to me that you'd actually be attempting to install Windows on them - that would, quite clearly, be insane.
Incidently .. where are you getting the licenses for Windows from? (Or do they come with
an existing installation CD, from the donators?).
Steve
---
In Edinburgh, Scotland, we will take any kit we can get - even non-complete.
Just last week I picked up a K6 300Mhz box, sans keyboard, mouse, and monitor - and I've just arranged to pick up a 14 inch monitor.
While it might save time for you I can't really see the justification in a minimum spec donation.
If you're in the area see FreeComputers.org.uk.
Steve
---
There are many sites like this, a comprehensive-ish list is available :
http://www.webwizards.net/useful/wbbm.htm
Steve
---