RMS is wrong about freedom. He is wrong because he requires the very existence of the thing he despises in order to allow his "Free Software" to exist, copyright. Ok, so he calls it copyleft, semantic twaddle.
What? It is a way to ensure that free software stays free, and that no-one can take away your rights to use that free software. Just because doing this means he has to use a legal device which was never meant to cover the concept of software, in no way means that he is wrong!
As for "semantic twaddle"...I believe calling their creation "copyleft" makes far more sense than the majority of your faux-eloquence and elevated language.
Proprietary software developers use copyright to take away the users' freedom; we use copyright to guarantee their freedom. That's why we reverse the name, changing ``copyright'' into ``copyleft.''
I'm glad that this analogy has been represented in a mainstream news-source:
That means the codes making up a program can be obtained free of charge, allowing engineers to modify it according to their needs, like a chef improvising on an original recipe.
This and the whole article's take on "open source" is helpful to the cause by making people understand in their own terms What It's All About(TM).:o)
..since facial recognition requires a camera and similar software, automakers could sell a security feature that would authorize vehicle operation based on facial features. Once the camera is in the car for that purpose, gesture interface becomes an inexpensive addition.
but..
Another benefit is that since the gestures are made at a low level in the center of the vehicle other drivers are not likely to see them and interpret them as digital expletives.
So either other drivers will see your waving your hands thinking you're flipping them the bird, or your head bobbing up and down near the centre console as you try and get it to recognise your face...what a predicament.
This is just like a geek version of Big Brother..everyone knows it's only value is for entertainment and we're all addicted to the Stupid Things(TM) that McBride keeps saying. Any minute now I'm hoping that SCO will be voted out...
I was just thinking about this whole "install and forget"(well, minimal interference anyway) thing..
Presumably, the less involved you are with each site means you can have more customers etc. But what about a major security problem comes about(like the recent sendmail problems) and everyone wants it done yesterday? Are you overstretched? Or are you a sensible bunny and not have your metaphorical fingers in too many metaphorical pies?:o)
Please think of the idiot choices in the UK, choose Linux and learn C/C++, god damnit!;)
So what? You're saying Linux and C/C++ are one of the idiot choices, eh? Well are ya??;-)
I'm at uni in (the original;)Plymouth atm doing Computing and there's very little emphasis on using MS tools to do the job. Although we learned Delphi in the first year...now there's Kylix, even that's not particularly MS-centic.
Most everything else has been Oracle PL/SQL/Java and I think nearly all of the computing department's machines dual-boot Linux. The uni switched from C/C++ to Java as the language of choice in the second year while we were in the first year, but I'm teaching myself that in my free time while I'm on an Industrial Placement.
Frankly I'm glad there are loads of MS paper-qualified people out there.:o)
To get back on-topic, where I've been working this year(Technology wing of a Big Telecomms company), there's a lot of doubts raised about Free Software solutions, or as my manager calls it "Freeware/Shareware" Grrrr..
They'd rather pay £200 per licence across hundreds/thousands of boxen for a proprietary solution than pay for someone to adapt a free alternative. One of the issues raised by my manager was "well, if you download something from the web, it might have a virus in it..":-/
*sigh*...oh well...I don't think I'm going back there in a hurry after I graduate:)
Hmmm...so what if a door were suspended and a dog placed on one side of it. Wouldn't the door start to rotate so that the dog was always on the wrong side of it??
Brings to mind another perpetual motion idea: As buttered toast always lands butter side down, and a cat always lands on it's feet..if you strap a piece of buttered toast to a cat's back and drop it, the cat will continue to rotate in mid-air in perpetuity.:)
*ahem* Huh?
If you read the article, he also provides benchmarks which have been supplied by Dell, Intel and AMD.
No-one is naieve enough to think that their benchmarks are on stock systems but at least they didn't compare them to an apple that they filled with water or something.
The G5 benches were provided by Apple, they optimised it as much as they could.
The Dell/Intel benches were provided by Dell/Intel, they optimised them as much as they could.
However, what he didn't include was benchmarks for a G5 which had been crippled by Dell and Intel..
I usually hate analogies, but sometimes it's my only way of getting my point across:
If Ford tweaks their engines and suspension set up before a test. OK!
If Nissan tweaks their engines and suspension set up before a test. OK!
If Nissan tweaks their engines and suspension set up, and pours sugar in the Ford's "gas" tank before the test. NOT OK!
"So, you have people trading crappy live recordings made through sub-standard microphones, placed 100 yards away from the performers, that picked up the sound from so-so PA speakers and fed a consumer-grade portable recorder insisting that they need lossless compression for the audio treasures that they that they exchange.
Perhaps, they want to maintain the roughness, the distortion and the crowd noise? If they wanted to trade hi-fidelity CD rips which have been recorded in some sterile studio, they could, but they don't. Part of the attraction surely is the fact that it's live and "raw".
Unfortunately, I bet this gets far less mainstream press coverage than if they were shouting to the heavens and anyone who would listen that their fans were evil criminals.
Slashdot Mirror
As for "semantic twaddle"...I believe calling their creation "copyleft" makes far more sense than the majority of your faux-eloquence and elevated language.
From fsf.org
Will this update run under Wine?
...three years ago.
Windows N-Ten Technology? Where's the redundancy?
ObSimpsons Placard Slogan:
"United States for United Statesians"
Because Shakespear(no 'e') never appealed to the lowest common denominator did he?...schmuck. ;o)
Oooh..that rhymes with f*ck too...I'm a poet and I hadn't realised it before now...
This is just like a geek version of Big Brother..everyone knows it's only value is for entertainment and we're all addicted to the Stupid Things(TM) that McBride keeps saying. Any minute now I'm hoping that SCO will be voted out...
I was just thinking about this whole "install and forget"(well, minimal interference anyway) thing..
:o)
Presumably, the less involved you are with each site means you can have more customers etc. But what about a major security problem comes about(like the recent sendmail problems) and everyone wants it done yesterday? Are you overstretched? Or are you a sensible bunny and not have your metaphorical fingers in too many metaphorical pies?
So what? You're saying Linux and C/C++ are one of the idiot choices, eh? Well are ya??
I'm at uni in (the original;)Plymouth atm doing Computing and there's very little emphasis on using MS tools to do the job. Although we learned Delphi in the first year...now there's Kylix, even that's not particularly MS-centic.
Most everything else has been Oracle PL/SQL/Java and I think nearly all of the computing department's machines dual-boot Linux. The uni switched from C/C++ to Java as the language of choice in the second year while we were in the first year, but I'm teaching myself that in my free time while I'm on an Industrial Placement.
Frankly I'm glad there are loads of MS paper-qualified people out there.
To get back on-topic, where I've been working this year(Technology wing of a Big Telecomms company), there's a lot of doubts raised about Free Software solutions, or as my manager calls it "Freeware/Shareware" Grrrr..
They'd rather pay £200 per licence across hundreds/thousands of boxen for a proprietary solution than pay for someone to adapt a free alternative. One of the issues raised by my manager was "well, if you download something from the web, it might have a virus in it.."
*sigh*...oh well...I don't think I'm going back there in a hurry after I graduate
..but we have telemarketing too :'(.
Pencils write fine upside-down. And no need for sticky white goo floating around the cabin when you make a mistake either :)
..this guy.
Once a product ceases to be supported, does "migration" to a newer product from it become unsupported?
Hmmm...so what if a door were suspended and a dog placed on one side of it. Wouldn't the door start to rotate so that the dog was always on the wrong side of it??
:)
Brings to mind another perpetual motion idea: As buttered toast always lands butter side down, and a cat always lands on it's feet..if you strap a piece of buttered toast to a cat's back and drop it, the cat will continue to rotate in mid-air in perpetuity.
*ahem* Huh?
If you read the article, he also provides benchmarks which have been supplied by Dell, Intel and AMD.
No-one is naieve enough to think that their benchmarks are on stock systems but at least they didn't compare them to an apple that they filled with water or something.
The G5 benches were provided by Apple, they optimised it as much as they could.
The Dell/Intel benches were provided by Dell/Intel, they optimised them as much as they could.
However, what he didn't include was benchmarks for a G5 which had been crippled by Dell and Intel..
I usually hate analogies, but sometimes it's my only way of getting my point across:
If Ford tweaks their engines and suspension set up before a test. OK!
If Nissan tweaks their engines and suspension set up before a test. OK!
If Nissan tweaks their engines and suspension set up, and pours sugar in the Ford's "gas" tank before the test. NOT OK!
"Would you like to know more?"
Unfortunately, I bet this gets far less mainstream press coverage than if they were shouting to the heavens and anyone who would listen that their fans were evil criminals.
:o)
Good, but we have a long way to go yet..
The original was funnnier :)
"nitrogenia. hohoho!"
He's looking pretty safe, moving, as he is, to OSDL..with any luck he can hide behind the snarling lawyers of Intel,IBM et Al :)