When I first looked at the article, I was thinking "European Disk Operating System. Jesus, those Europeans have to have everything their own way. What next, AntarctiVMS?"
So, I suppose I should RTFA now out of respect for the poster. Heh. Heh heh.
I guarantee you, it's not. I'm not a graphic designer either, but I have used both programs. I have also worked with graphic designers, and most of them would laugh their balls off if you told them they had to switch from Photoshop to Gimp, and then they would go work for a real company.
The reasons behind this are pretty clear: Adobe Photoshop is a program that has been designed and implemented at huge expense to be the Platonic ideal of graphics programs, both for print and for web graphics, and has accumulated every desirable feature concievable, with respect to highly paid professional graphic designers.*
GIMP is indeed going in the direction of a Photoshop replacement, but right now the main purpose of it is for web imaging, and the size and momentum of the project are not enough to challenge Photoshop in features or quality. (Yet.)
*The feature I'm talking about is being fully scriptable, and in a common language. Gimp has Perl, Python and Scheme; Photoshop AFAIK has a non-turing script thingum that isn't very powerful.
I'm not saying Photoshop always trumps Gimp. I use Gimp whenever I can because it runs faster on my computer and I know it better; but I typically only have to do minor things. (cutting images out of "web page designs" done in Photoshop, which therefore are not actually web designs:)
Of course, Gimp wins in a straight price comparison.:)
I have to note, as an aside, that any company that must switch away from Windows would be well advised to bribe the graphic designers with some shiny Macs for their design tools.
It's nice to see The GIMP given some recognition, in that it is broadcasted as a replacement for Paint Shop Pro, which is IMHO fair to both programs. I'm glad they didn't say the same thing of Photoshop, which would have been altogether a bad move. The other choices (Firefox, OpenOffice) are predictable.
I'm not sure how I feel about seperating "Component Desktop Environment" from "Desktop Environment" from "Window Manager", but the seperation is arguable. (GNUStep! Whoohoo!) It's clear they're recommending exclusively using either KDE or GNOME, if the user environment needs to be tightly controlled. Fine by me.
Linux Kernel is solid. Sadly, once you put useful applications on it (like the ones that make WXP 40 million lines long) it will fall apart.
..I call bullshit on this assumption. Please provide an example of what Windows XP does that Linux does not do, which would require augmentation of the core software.
Does linux have fewer bugs than the freebsd, netbsd, openbsd kernels, the hurd and more?
Hurd? I freaking tried to install Hurd once, for a few weeks straight. "Bug" is the word I would use loosely for the whole installation process. But that's not the kernel, I suppose... Does only supporting 2 GB partitions count as a 'bug'? Oh wait, they fixed that one.:)
Well, the BSD's aren't GPL, and RMS would probably claim that's a bug...
And while not in the kernel, they all run X... Wait, I like X. Nevermind.
Oh, and you left out Darwin. And Plan 9, but you could argue that it isn't quite in the same category:)
This resembles Free the software, sell the brand. Of course, the brand being sold is not really Linux; it is actually IBM/Red Hat, but the idea is the same.
I might DL this one when I get home. I've been poking around for a good installable LiveCD distro that I can force on my family, and I like the Knoppix hardware detection and GNOME... But apparently the distro does not have GCC and it was difficult to get. That's a Bad Thing.
But there are some worrying bits in his article, like the one where he mentions that it allows him to connect to his Windows and Linux networks (SMB and NFS)... since when is NFS a "Linux network"? Maybe he could have worded that better.
I have a similar collection of software that I've been parading around when asked to aid those whose emachines, running AOL, have been overtaken by viruses and spyware. (I'll have to try Zone Alarm.)
Of course, the idea behind the OpenCD is to showcase Open Source stuff (libre); AVG, Ad-Aware, SpyBot S&D and Zone Alarm are merely free (gratis), and exist because of the underlying proprietary model and cashflow from sale of software and upgrades. And the point of the CD is to spread {Open Source|libre} software, not just to hand out cool programs. (I'm not saying I'm against Ad-Aware and Spybot and co., but they're not in the "free software" camp.)
I'm kidding. I download Linux distro's via bittorrent all the time and willfully ignore the MD5 sum, and now I come to find that it's compromisable. OH SNAP!
I can envision something being added on to bittorrent to prevent bad blocks being passed around via... magic. Okay. I can't really envision it, but I'm sure it can be done.
On to the next topic I'm not qualified to comment on...
Python is all over the place these days. It has its own bytecode format, and yet it was being used in.net in that light languages thingum a few days ago, now today we see it running on parrot... What next, a Smalltalk VM implementation?
And what about overclocking? Wait, it doesn't run Linux? And why would I want one of these?:)
But on a more serious note, I'll bet a lot of the people posting in here don't mind rebooting from Linux into Windows to play their games, and that takes, what, a full minute or more?
(I note that, in the late 90's, we all bitched about load times on the original Playstation.)
This must be wrong. Bill Gates told me there isn't any money in open source software. The guy probably stole the money from SCO.
But seriously, there's not much meat to the article. Basically, what it says is:
This is the guy behind Snort and Sourceforge
He started a company and now he's making money
His clients appreciate the open-source nature of the product
He has to please the open source community, who in turn support help him support and improve the software
Profit!
As if none of us would have suspected that there is money in open source software. I don't see how the article is that relevant, seeing as most of us here have heard of Red Hat.
I have been dealing recently with a Heisenbug in Internet Explorer while trying to design a web page with floats. (Wed designers, weep with me.) The trouble is that a certain page renders wrong (what I think is wrong), the first time you look at it after opening Internet Explorer, and then displays correctly every time you look at it afterward, even with 'refresh'.
And yes, I really do have to design it for Internet Explorer.
Also, early on in the development of the page, I was encountering a similar situation with VS.Net 2004 where, when it "corrected the formatting" of my HTML (which happens when you switch to design view), it would introduce the same display glitch into the page.
At some point in the cycle of figuring all of that out, I even came across variations of the page where IE, on every individual view, would randomly choose one of two ways to display the same page.
(For reference, I was trying to float a div tag to the left of another div as a menu. The trouble is, sometimes the div would pop entirely outside the containing div to the left. I'm still not sure what causes it, after fixing it some dozen times.)
...But I'm sure they'll give equal coverage even to products that are going to be in competition with Microsoft.
-- END SARCASM --
Seriously, who would take seriously a seminar on light programming langauges from the company that has helped to make C++ the de facto application programming language for 10 years? The only light language that I've seen Microsoft push is VBScript. And I think we all know where they can shove VBScript.
Very odd to see the bazaar model being applied to something as expensive as a satellite. This gives me a weird mental image of Linus Torvalds, waving around a penguin plushie, riding a nuclear missile as it falls toward the ground.
This just seems a little too far out; at least software cannot be used to physically destroy something that costs millions of dollars (in most cases; google "HCF"?). This is a serious raising of the stakes in terms of what a collaborative, less centralized group of people can accomplish and what responsibilities can be laid on them.
Slashdot Mirror
When I first looked at the article, I was thinking "European Disk Operating System. Jesus, those Europeans have to have everything their own way. What next, AntarctiVMS?"
So, I suppose I should RTFA now out of respect for the poster. Heh. Heh heh.
I guarantee you, it's not. I'm not a graphic designer either, but I have used both programs. I have also worked with graphic designers, and most of them would laugh their balls off if you told them they had to switch from Photoshop to Gimp, and then they would go work for a real company.
The reasons behind this are pretty clear: Adobe Photoshop is a program that has been designed and implemented at huge expense to be the Platonic ideal of graphics programs, both for print and for web graphics, and has accumulated every desirable feature concievable, with respect to highly paid professional graphic designers.*
GIMP is indeed going in the direction of a Photoshop replacement, but right now the main purpose of it is for web imaging, and the size and momentum of the project are not enough to challenge Photoshop in features or quality. (Yet.)
*The feature I'm talking about is being fully scriptable, and in a common language. Gimp has Perl, Python and Scheme; Photoshop AFAIK has a non-turing script thingum that isn't very powerful.
I'm not saying Photoshop always trumps Gimp. I use Gimp whenever I can because it runs faster on my computer and I know it better; but I typically only have to do minor things. (cutting images out of "web page designs" done in Photoshop, which therefore are not actually web designs :)
Of course, Gimp wins in a straight price comparison. :)
I have to note, as an aside, that any company that must switch away from Windows would be well advised to bribe the graphic designers with some shiny Macs for their design tools.
It's nice to see The GIMP given some recognition, in that it is broadcasted as a replacement for Paint Shop Pro, which is IMHO fair to both programs. I'm glad they didn't say the same thing of Photoshop, which would have been altogether a bad move. The other choices (Firefox, OpenOffice) are predictable.
I'm not sure how I feel about seperating "Component Desktop Environment" from "Desktop Environment" from "Window Manager", but the seperation is arguable. (GNUStep! Whoohoo!) It's clear they're recommending exclusively using either KDE or GNOME, if the user environment needs to be tightly controlled. Fine by me.
...if this PANs out. ZING!
No seriously, is that a PAN in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
But really folks, I'm going to have to see if I can cook up a little network of my o-*head cut off by ninja*
I appreciate your post generally, but...
..I call bullshit on this assumption. Please provide an example of what Windows XP does that Linux does not do, which would require augmentation of the core software.
Hurd? I freaking tried to install Hurd once, for a few weeks straight. "Bug" is the word I would use loosely for the whole installation process. But that's not the kernel, I suppose... Does only supporting 2 GB partitions count as a 'bug'? Oh wait, they fixed that one. :)
Well, the BSD's aren't GPL, and RMS would probably claim that's a bug...
And while not in the kernel, they all run X... Wait, I like X. Nevermind.
Oh, and you left out Darwin. And Plan 9, but you could argue that it isn't quite in the same category :)
Agreed, but it could have been worse - The trailer itself could have been a flash animation.
"Interface Loading!" The interface loaded ten fucking minutes ago. It is called "WEB BROWSER". OY!
...Lawrence Waterhouse? Wait. NVM.
This resembles Free the software, sell the brand. Of course, the brand being sold is not really Linux; it is actually IBM/Red Hat, but the idea is the same.
I might DL this one when I get home. I've been poking around for a good installable LiveCD distro that I can force on my family, and I like the Knoppix hardware detection and GNOME... But apparently the distro does not have GCC and it was difficult to get. That's a Bad Thing.
But there are some worrying bits in his article, like the one where he mentions that it allows him to connect to his Windows and Linux networks (SMB and NFS)... since when is NFS a "Linux network"? Maybe he could have worded that better.
I have a similar collection of software that I've been parading around when asked to aid those whose emachines, running AOL, have been overtaken by viruses and spyware. (I'll have to try Zone Alarm.)
Of course, the idea behind the OpenCD is to showcase Open Source stuff (libre); AVG, Ad-Aware, SpyBot S&D and Zone Alarm are merely free (gratis), and exist because of the underlying proprietary model and cashflow from sale of software and upgrades. And the point of the CD is to spread {Open Source|libre} software, not just to hand out cool programs. (I'm not saying I'm against Ad-Aware and Spybot and co., but they're not in the "free software" camp.)
...that lag can be caused by your internet connection. BRILLIANT!
No, only until it crashes. -- END PUN --
Yes, I did indeed manage to post this in the wrong thread entirely. XD Oh well. I lose at slashdot.
Buy it instead.
I'm kidding. I download Linux distro's via bittorrent all the time and willfully ignore the MD5 sum, and now I come to find that it's compromisable. OH SNAP!
I can envision something being added on to bittorrent to prevent bad blocks being passed around via ... magic. Okay. I can't really envision it, but I'm sure it can be done.
On to the next topic I'm not qualified to comment on...
Python is all over the place these days. It has its own bytecode format, and yet it was being used in .net in that light languages thingum a few days ago, now today we see it running on parrot... What next, a Smalltalk VM implementation?
*runs off*
And what about overclocking? Wait, it doesn't run Linux? And why would I want one of these? :)
But on a more serious note, I'll bet a lot of the people posting in here don't mind rebooting from Linux into Windows to play their games, and that takes, what, a full minute or more?
(I note that, in the late 90's, we all bitched about load times on the original Playstation.)
This must be wrong. Bill Gates told me there isn't any money in open source software. The guy probably stole the money from SCO.
But seriously, there's not much meat to the article. Basically, what it says is:
- This is the guy behind Snort and Sourceforge
- He started a company and now he's making money
- His clients appreciate the open-source nature of the product
- He has to please the open source community, who in turn support help him support and improve the software
- Profit!
As if none of us would have suspected that there is money in open source software. I don't see how the article is that relevant, seeing as most of us here have heard of Red Hat.Thank you, bookmarked. (Register! plzkthx)
I have been dealing recently with a Heisenbug in Internet Explorer while trying to design a web page with floats. (Wed designers, weep with me.) The trouble is that a certain page renders wrong (what I think is wrong), the first time you look at it after opening Internet Explorer, and then displays correctly every time you look at it afterward, even with 'refresh'.
And yes, I really do have to design it for Internet Explorer.
Also, early on in the development of the page, I was encountering a similar situation with VS.Net 2004 where, when it "corrected the formatting" of my HTML (which happens when you switch to design view), it would introduce the same display glitch into the page.
At some point in the cycle of figuring all of that out, I even came across variations of the page where IE, on every individual view, would randomly choose one of two ways to display the same page.
(For reference, I was trying to float a div tag to the left of another div as a menu. The trouble is, sometimes the div would pop entirely outside the containing div to the left. I'm still not sure what causes it, after fixing it some dozen times.)
...But I'm sure they'll give equal coverage even to products that are going to be in competition with Microsoft.
-- END SARCASM --
Seriously, who would take seriously a seminar on light programming langauges from the company that has helped to make C++ the de facto application programming language for 10 years? The only light language that I've seen Microsoft push is VBScript. And I think we all know where they can shove VBScript.
Very odd to see the bazaar model being applied to something as expensive as a satellite. This gives me a weird mental image of Linus Torvalds, waving around a penguin plushie, riding a nuclear missile as it falls toward the ground.
This just seems a little too far out; at least software cannot be used to physically destroy something that costs millions of dollars (in most cases; google "HCF"?). This is a serious raising of the stakes in terms of what a collaborative, less centralized group of people can accomplish and what responsibilities can be laid on them.
Well, clearly it's Microsoft's fault, since it's a bug and it's on Windows. And any problem with Windows is by extension an IT issue.