I guess this change means that hotmail users won't be able to receive mail from me unless I read up on SPF
Once you read up on SPF you'll realise this is not true.
and figure out how to get the appropriate configurations into my bargain basement DNS and hosting configs. I hope this doesn't require any administrative privliges since I don't run my own DNS or mail servers for my domains.
Go register at public-dns.org, an excellent free service I use for all my domains. They allow TXT records so SPF is no problem.
You can't do that sort of thing for less than $20/month.
I beg to differ, a quick Google found me several email hosting companies offering low end solutions from $5-$10 and with free DNS (see above) that leaves you $10-$15 for web hosting (easy to find and while many are crap some research will show you some excellent ones).
Gutmans implied that it's not possible to make a living off GPL licensed software. Nowhere does he mention selling software which makes your entire argument based on whether or not you can make money by selling GPL software rather irrelevant.
Gutmans is wrong, deal with it.
I agree with you that the use of the term FUD by originator of the thread was wrong, You will however note that I have not used the term nor have I disputed that fact that selling GPL software is rather difficult. I merely pointed out that your statement 'This "you can still make money" bullshit is rediculous.' was incorrect.
Some require a copyright assignment from all contributors, that gives them the (legal) right to change the license as they see fit. Others do not and must indeed check with all contributors before changing the license. This is not generally a problem though, a well written license (e.g. GPL) states that future revisions of the license may be used so updating the Linux code from GPL2 to GPL3 (when it arrives and assuming Linus wishes to use it) will not be a problem. It also protects the code author from having their code used in a manner not according to their wishes, if I donate some GPL code and do not want it to be used under a BSD license then the license cannot be changed without my approval.
Not everyone can or wants to be a service or support company
You include this phrase but you completely missed the point. You have a choice whether to be a service/support company or not, no-one is stopping you from selling software. They might not agree with you for doing it but they won't stop you (unless you try and breach their license but you really wouldn't have a leg to stand on).
It is quite possible to make a lot of money out of GPL software (IBM for example) but you choosing a different business model does not mean the GPL model is invalid.
Is it just me or did everyone read the latest John Grisham book? Ever since it came out the use of the phrase "Yellow journalism" has rocketed on Slashdot.
But since I'm right about the situation, you wouldn't really do that because disagreeing with the fact that breaking intellectual property laws is healthy for commerce would require you to be illogical and therefore irrelavent.
Bullshit. I realise slashdot moderation is not exactly a reliable measure of post quality but on this occasion the fact that he's at +5 and you're (not to put too fine a point on it) not speaks volumes.
The proper IT people here gave us PCs with Matrox drivers installed... and a Nvidia card. And the wrong IDE drivers. Anything except installing from the CD with the backed-up standard NT4 config is _miles_ over their head.
I would submit that the error was made in the back office and is not the fault of the support guy. Desktop support is a bitch and if you can't even rely on your standard image to be properly configured it's going to be utter Hell. Proper images are important, an NT/2000/XP install takes MUCH longer than restoring an image of the OS. Would you prefer to lose your productivity for 10 minutes or for an hour? It's all about providing the best service you can as quickly as possible.
If you call them because your Outlook '97 (corporate standard, you see) crapped and now throws an error message on startup, as happened to a couple of co-workers, they'll want to format the HDD and reinstall that holy standard CD.
That's stupid. Reimaging the OS/core apps should not wipe the user areas of the disk. If it does then your IT department are way way behind the curve.
We're not all monkeys you know, some of us do a good job and take a lot of pride in it.
I disagree. I'm currently working on some J2ME (i.e. mobile phone/PDA) stuff for a Free content management system. System status reports, blog posting etc. I started this knowing nothing whatsoever about Java and am having to learn as I go along.
Why am I doing this? Because it's more interesting than manipulating databases in strange ways and displaying the output (i.e. 90% of all web programming). I get to play with cool stuff and I learn something new along the way.
I submit that makes me more of a hacker than just sticking to what I already know.
But while it's possible to write bad code in any language, perl can be made to look like TECO commands (i.e. "vaguely pronouncable line noise" (can't remember the origin of that quote)). Most other languages don't let you do that (or at least don't make it so easy).
Indeed. Last time I looked they were against international and even most intra-national trade, their ideal being something along the lines of self sustaining communities.
In short, they are a bunch of raving loonies. Should fit right in with the rest of the politicians...
When I worked help desk for a (now defunct) company, we were graded on call volume, average call duration, and how well we stuck to the script.
Not all helpdesks are like that though, our main KPIs are first fix and queue waiting time. We are all generalists, there is no script and you could be asked to do anything from helping a user configure personal folders in Outlook to working out why an Exchange server has dropped off the network. We are the first port of call for any and every IT query in the company, some we immediately farm out to 2nd line or specialists but most we at least attempt to deal with ourselves first. We're rather better paid than the average call monkey because we're expected to have a broad knowledge base but the environment is such that we do get to do problem solving and actually (mostly) have the time to spend an hour troubleshooting something if needed. If I sound rather proud of our little helpdesk that's because I am. We are by no means perfect but we provide some of the best 1st line IT support I've ever seen and the users appreciate our efforts. There's no such thing as Someone Elses Problem, if we can't fix it it's down to us to find someone who can and make sure they do it within the appropriate SLA.
If you get the right environment, like people, like problem solving, and like computers then a good helpdesk job can be perfect. Of course I'll never earn the same money as an experienced developer but I certainly earn more than a junior (side note: I do Open Source development as a hobby but have no desire to do development for a living. I have the skills but not the inclination) and my job satisfaction is high. I also get to forget about work once I leave and that's worth a lot to me:)
You miss the critical point in this case, the reason he went to jail. He shot the kid in the back as he ran away, that's attempted murder not self defence.
Slashdot Mirror
I realised after posting that I'd picked exactly the wrong example :D
Maybe I should have picked KDE instead.
Gutmans implied that it's not possible to make a living off GPL licensed software. Nowhere does he mention selling software which makes your entire argument based on whether or not you can make money by selling GPL software rather irrelevant. Gutmans is wrong, deal with it. I agree with you that the use of the term FUD by originator of the thread was wrong, You will however note that I have not used the term nor have I disputed that fact that selling GPL software is rather difficult. I merely pointed out that your statement 'This "you can still make money" bullshit is rediculous.' was incorrect.
IBM makes millions from GPL software, I never said they make money from selling it. I suggest you re-read the thread.
Some require a copyright assignment from all contributors, that gives them the (legal) right to change the license as they see fit. Others do not and must indeed check with all contributors before changing the license. This is not generally a problem though, a well written license (e.g. GPL) states that future revisions of the license may be used so updating the Linux code from GPL2 to GPL3 (when it arrives and assuming Linus wishes to use it) will not be a problem. It also protects the code author from having their code used in a manner not according to their wishes, if I donate some GPL code and do not want it to be used under a BSD license then the license cannot be changed without my approval.
You include this phrase but you completely missed the point. You have a choice whether to be a service/support company or not, no-one is stopping you from selling software. They might not agree with you for doing it but they won't stop you (unless you try and breach their license but you really wouldn't have a leg to stand on).
It is quite possible to make a lot of money out of GPL software (IBM for example) but you choosing a different business model does not mean the GPL model is invalid.
You may find that bandwidth has nothing to do with it, it's more likely the load generated by PHP-Nuke has driven the server to it's knees.
Is it just me or did everyone read the latest John Grisham book? Ever since it came out the use of the phrase "Yellow journalism" has rocketed on Slashdot.
Bullshit. I realise slashdot moderation is not exactly a reliable measure of post quality but on this occasion the fact that he's at +5 and you're (not to put too fine a point on it) not speaks volumes.
That gag actually came from British comedian called Marcus Brigstocke.
See this page on his website for details.
Just what I was waiting for, an easy way to throw Thunderbird on a USB drive. I'm so glad it made it into this release.
If Winer hadn't been such an asshole with RSS 2.0 and the metaWeblog API he'd be a revered member of the community.
As it is, he's pissed too many people off over the years.
I would submit that the error was made in the back office and is not the fault of the support guy. Desktop support is a bitch and if you can't even rely on your standard image to be properly configured it's going to be utter Hell. Proper images are important, an NT/2000/XP install takes MUCH longer than restoring an image of the OS. Would you prefer to lose your productivity for 10 minutes or for an hour? It's all about providing the best service you can as quickly as possible.
If you call them because your Outlook '97 (corporate standard, you see) crapped and now throws an error message on startup, as happened to a couple of co-workers, they'll want to format the HDD and reinstall that holy standard CD.
That's stupid. Reimaging the OS/core apps should not wipe the user areas of the disk. If it does then your IT department are way way behind the curve.
We're not all monkeys you know, some of us do a good job and take a lot of pride in it.
Congratulations, that way well be the geekiest thing I have ever seen ;)
I disagree. I'm currently working on some J2ME (i.e. mobile phone/PDA) stuff for a Free content management system. System status reports, blog posting etc. I started this knowing nothing whatsoever about Java and am having to learn as I go along. Why am I doing this? Because it's more interesting than manipulating databases in strange ways and displaying the output (i.e. 90% of all web programming). I get to play with cool stuff and I learn something new along the way. I submit that makes me more of a hacker than just sticking to what I already know.
But while it's possible to write bad code in any language, perl can be made to look like TECO commands (i.e. "vaguely pronouncable line noise" (can't remember the origin of that quote)). Most other languages don't let you do that (or at least don't make it so easy).
Don't forget metaWeblog, criticise it at your peril...
Bollocks. See my post here.
I suggest you do a little checking then I believe you will find an apology is in order. The P in PSTN is "Public" and always has been.
"packet switched telephone network" gives 61 results on Google (all from idiots).
"Public switched telephone network" gives around 119000 results.
I rest my case.
Indeed. Last time I looked they were against international and even most intra-national trade, their ideal being something along the lines of self sustaining communities.
In short, they are a bunch of raving loonies. Should fit right in with the rest of the politicians...
Not all helpdesks are like that though, our main KPIs are first fix and queue waiting time. We are all generalists, there is no script and you could be asked to do anything from helping a user configure personal folders in Outlook to working out why an Exchange server has dropped off the network. We are the first port of call for any and every IT query in the company, some we immediately farm out to 2nd line or specialists but most we at least attempt to deal with ourselves first. We're rather better paid than the average call monkey because we're expected to have a broad knowledge base but the environment is such that we do get to do problem solving and actually (mostly) have the time to spend an hour troubleshooting something if needed. If I sound rather proud of our little helpdesk that's because I am. We are by no means perfect but we provide some of the best 1st line IT support I've ever seen and the users appreciate our efforts. There's no such thing as Someone Elses Problem, if we can't fix it it's down to us to find someone who can and make sure they do it within the appropriate SLA.
If you get the right environment, like people, like problem solving, and like computers then a good helpdesk job can be perfect. Of course I'll never earn the same money as an experienced developer but I certainly earn more than a junior (side note: I do Open Source development as a hobby but have no desire to do development for a living. I have the skills but not the inclination) and my job satisfaction is high. I also get to forget about work once I leave and that's worth a lot to me :)
Now if I can just get the damn thing to build a J2ME Midlet suite properly...
You miss the critical point in this case, the reason he went to jail. He shot the kid in the back as he ran away, that's attempted murder not self defence.
A scared person with a gun is likely the most dangerous person you will ever meet.
A most amusing and interesting anachronism though, you are far and away my favourite slashdotter.