I'd like to point out that Linus chose to limit the Linux kernel to GPL version 2 only because some of the restrictions in the third version would've been prohibitive.
Also, your response is a bit of a strawman, if your view is to not be involved in a situation, your response to that situation is not relevant to those who do choose to be involved.
That would be more true in a non monolithic kernel OS. In Linux, its a tough argument, and its been going on a very long time, because any code you write as a driver is linked into the kernel at run time, and compiled against it at build-time.
People like NVidia purposely make their binary blobs loaded by their driver which is then called by the kernel. Its like an arm's reach agreement.
One problem is whether RTS has at any point merged back in code from the Linux version (purposely or not), tainting their own tree. That seems unlikely at first glance in their proprietary OS project, but we have no idea how similar that might be to Linux, and very similar sources might in fact work in both cases.
The whole situation could in fact be incredibly complicated.
I run several server boxes that do remote XDMCP connections to tiny network terminals with no real GPU. They're used for data entry and basic web and mail browsing primarily, sometimes office document editing.
People shouldn't need a GPU for any of those tasks.
Plus you actually get to see stderr output from your application. Running Firefox, Evolution, etc. in a real shell and watching the output is quite informative when things don't work the way you expect.
Thank-you for that... I agree completely. Tablet top UIs are completely pointless. Touch-screens on walls or fridges or even on digital picture frames, I understand though.
Wow, please link the above post on your resume if you ever apply for a computing job to save employers the trouble of believing you have a clue.
The OP said security, personifying the concept. The parent didn't say security companies or anything of the like that you seem to be reading into the post.
Also, their comment is very true -- not patching a server is a recipe for disaster, especially if you don't have trained IT staff who know which patches can be safely avoided in specific circumstances.
How many credit card, personal information, banking and medical software exploits do you need to read about before you realize that patching and security maintenance is incredibly important?
Perhaps that's the problem -- you should do some reading.
Anyone running any server with no IT people is asking for trouble. Have support, external or otherwise. If you can't afford or don't need a full time on-site IT person or staff, then have someone external that understands your needs and network.
I never told anyone to switch to Samba, I only stated that I provide the service I recommended to people running Samba, and I'm certain there are people doing it for Windows servers as well.
I never suggested that anyone use Samba. I said he should have external IT help with his network, and didn't suggest he change it from any one thing to any other thing.
Is reading comprehension on Slashdot really this low now?
Your problem isn't AD, its that grand total of zero IT staff.
Get an external IT person, have them come in and configure and manage the servers for you periodically, and call them when you need things changed instead of hacking at it yourself and you'll have a much better experience no matter which software they use.
I administer over a dozen Samba sites remotely via SSH and have no issues with it, I'd expect you can find admins to do the same if you shop around.
First off, not everyone uses LCD panels (I have a Linux box connected to a DLP projector for example).
Secondly one of the best features of Linux is that it runs on old hardware. Now I know PC centric people tend to think that swapping out a video card is simple and cheap, but a lot of people have a laptop (yes, that would have an LCD panel) and replacing the video hardware is no simple task.
I know several people who have laptops and notebooks from yesteryear that were feeling very slow on Windows but run quite happily on Linux. Now when those people decide to launch a game, and can only play it at 640x480, you're saying they should put up with 10fps instead at full resolution because the other option is what, wrong?
Sorry but one of the best things about Linux is offering users a choice. Do it however you want, re-write it even if you don't like it. I don't understand telling someone that a fix for a problem, no matter how few people need it, is a bad thing when it causes no secondary harm, at least that has been described here.
You do realize 110lbs is small for a fit girl under 5'4, right? Its a very low weight for anyone with even moderate height and muscle mass.
Considering http://www.halls.md/chart/women-weight-w.htm lists 110lbs as below the 5th percentile for 40-70 years old in women (never mind men), I think your comment is a little out of touch.
The open source zxing barcode reader for Android alone has 50-100 million installs from the Play market. RedLaser has 1-5 million, and ShopSavvy has 10-50 million. That's just on Android, and doesn't include side-loads direct from the websites in question.
Now sure, Angry Birds has 100-500 million installs, so barcode reading software may not be quite as popular, but to assume that any bored geek with a smart phone who wanted to check their boarding pass barcode would go to their nearest PC or laptop and try to scan it with their webcam instead of using a mobile device that fits in one hand and can scan the code quick and easy is just silly.
Now, you feel free to be silly if you want, I'm not one to stop people from being silly, but the first time I wanted to scan a barcode I installed the zxing scanner, and what with how it integrates into the share options on Android, I've installed it on every device since.
How many cars do you know that actually achieve 30mpg with the five passengers inside? I think you'll find efficiency dropping off as you add weight, unless everyone you know is 110lbs.
PS now you can do the total cost of ownership on that vehicle in terms of production costs and materials and compare it to the lifespan of an airplane while you're at it.
Slashdot Mirror
And the response: https://plus.google.com/116028512018932696380/posts/4gDX3HygM3E
I'd like to point out that Linus chose to limit the Linux kernel to GPL version 2 only because some of the restrictions in the third version would've been prohibitive.
Also, your response is a bit of a strawman, if your view is to not be involved in a situation, your response to that situation is not relevant to those who do choose to be involved.
Actually RTS is a supporter of the GPL and a large contributor to it.
That's tough sell when the code in question is *also* a Linux driver for their distribution of Linux.
That would be more true in a non monolithic kernel OS. In Linux, its a tough argument, and its been going on a very long time, because any code you write as a driver is linked into the kernel at run time, and compiled against it at build-time.
People like NVidia purposely make their binary blobs loaded by their driver which is then called by the kernel. Its like an arm's reach agreement.
One problem is whether RTS has at any point merged back in code from the Linux version (purposely or not), tainting their own tree. That seems unlikely at first glance in their proprietary OS project, but we have no idea how similar that might be to Linux, and very similar sources might in fact work in both cases.
The whole situation could in fact be incredibly complicated.
I run several server boxes that do remote XDMCP connections to tiny network terminals with no real GPU. They're used for data entry and basic web and mail browsing primarily, sometimes office document editing.
People shouldn't need a GPU for any of those tasks.
Plus you actually get to see stderr output from your application. Running Firefox, Evolution, etc. in a real shell and watching the output is quite informative when things don't work the way you expect.
Thank-you for that ... I agree completely. Tablet top UIs are completely pointless. Touch-screens on walls or fridges or even on digital picture frames, I understand though.
I was thinking the same thing as I read all the "oh no big deal" responses to this situation from people.
Leaking internal data at a company with the connections Cisco has is a bad idea.
Problem is probably more that he expects the same level of personal discipline and secrecy at Cisco as was the norm at the CIA.
Most people don't think to modify what they send out because they think the "authentic" version is more important. Suckers.
Wow, please link the above post on your resume if you ever apply for a computing job to save employers the trouble of believing you have a clue.
The OP said security, personifying the concept. The parent didn't say security companies or anything of the like that you seem to be reading into the post.
Also, their comment is very true -- not patching a server is a recipe for disaster, especially if you don't have trained IT staff who know which patches can be safely avoided in specific circumstances.
How many credit card, personal information, banking and medical software exploits do you need to read about before you realize that patching and security maintenance is incredibly important?
Perhaps that's the problem -- you should do some reading.
cf. my reply to AC here: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3229857&cid=41901733
Anyone running any server with no IT people is asking for trouble. Have support, external or otherwise. If you can't afford or don't need a full time on-site IT person or staff, then have someone external that understands your needs and network.
I never told anyone to switch to Samba, I only stated that I provide the service I recommended to people running Samba, and I'm certain there are people doing it for Windows servers as well.
I never suggested that anyone use Samba. I said he should have external IT help with his network, and didn't suggest he change it from any one thing to any other thing.
Is reading comprehension on Slashdot really this low now?
Tools that require no training to use imply that no training is necessary to do the job those tools are for.
Unfortunately that means people configuring things who have no business configuring those things.
Tools that require training on the other hand at least require that those doing the job know how to do the job before they use the tools.
Your problem isn't AD, its that grand total of zero IT staff.
Get an external IT person, have them come in and configure and manage the servers for you periodically, and call them when you need things changed instead of hacking at it yourself and you'll have a much better experience no matter which software they use.
I administer over a dozen Samba sites remotely via SSH and have no issues with it, I'd expect you can find admins to do the same if you shop around.
As opposed to AD which has no glitches or bugs at all ... lol
First off, not everyone uses LCD panels (I have a Linux box connected to a DLP projector for example).
Secondly one of the best features of Linux is that it runs on old hardware. Now I know PC centric people tend to think that swapping out a video card is simple and cheap, but a lot of people have a laptop (yes, that would have an LCD panel) and replacing the video hardware is no simple task.
I know several people who have laptops and notebooks from yesteryear that were feeling very slow on Windows but run quite happily on Linux. Now when those people decide to launch a game, and can only play it at 640x480, you're saying they should put up with 10fps instead at full resolution because the other option is what, wrong?
Sorry but one of the best things about Linux is offering users a choice. Do it however you want, re-write it even if you don't like it. I don't understand telling someone that a fix for a problem, no matter how few people need it, is a bad thing when it causes no secondary harm, at least that has been described here.
You do realize 110lbs is small for a fit girl under 5'4, right? Its a very low weight for anyone with even moderate height and muscle mass.
Considering http://www.halls.md/chart/women-weight-w.htm lists 110lbs as below the 5th percentile for 40-70 years old in women (never mind men), I think your comment is a little out of touch.
All right, I'll bite.
The open source zxing barcode reader for Android alone has 50-100 million installs from the Play market. RedLaser has 1-5 million, and ShopSavvy has 10-50 million. That's just on Android, and doesn't include side-loads direct from the websites in question.
Now sure, Angry Birds has 100-500 million installs, so barcode reading software may not be quite as popular, but to assume that any bored geek with a smart phone who wanted to check their boarding pass barcode would go to their nearest PC or laptop and try to scan it with their webcam instead of using a mobile device that fits in one hand and can scan the code quick and easy is just silly.
Now, you feel free to be silly if you want, I'm not one to stop people from being silly, but the first time I wanted to scan a barcode I installed the zxing scanner, and what with how it integrates into the share options on Android, I've installed it on every device since.
What century is this? Presumably the poster is the only person on Slashdot who doesn't have a smartphone with a barcode reader built in.
We feel the same way watching from up here in Canada, where our version of right-wing is down-right communist compared to our neighbours ;-)
How many cars do you know that actually achieve 30mpg with the five passengers inside? I think you'll find efficiency dropping off as you add weight, unless everyone you know is 110lbs.
PS now you can do the total cost of ownership on that vehicle in terms of production costs and materials and compare it to the lifespan of an airplane while you're at it.
TSA aren't cops.