I was looking into going to CMU for their esteemed Computer Science program, but now I just hope they wont let this influence their set of courses, breadth of experience, or heterogeneous computer labs...
Ok, it seems nobody actually reads comments, but mods based on length, so I will post my open letter here:
An Open Letter to Zed The GNU Foundation was founded on many ideals, but most importantly is the idea of "free software." The GNU Foundation has a set of moral codes for software to adhere to. One of them is freedom 0, or "the freedom to run the program, for any purpose." The new version of X-Chat for Windows not only contradicts the moral code it was contributed with in mind, it also violates the very license it is licensed with.
X-Chat is licensed with the GNU GPL, or General Public License. This license tries to encompass many of the ideals expressed by GNU's definition of "free software." The new shareware version of X-Chat violates this license for several reasons:
Charging not for the physical act transferring, but for merely using the software. The distributed binary is not compiled from the source provided. The installer, the only medium to install the binary, is also missing the appropriate installer scripts in the source provided. The bottom line: It's shareware, and that is not acceptable.
The only way to use the new X-Chat for Windows after 30 days of use is to pay $20 USD to get an activation license. This is a violation of the GPL, as it clearly states:
You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
You are not charging for the physical act of transferring, but for your "skill and expertise." Thousands of developers have developed free software only for the enjoyment of benefiting the community. Obviously, you have no such value.
The distributed binary is not reproducible by any means from the source provided. This is a violation of the GPL, and is clearly stated in their GNU FAQ:
Can I release a modified version of a GPL-covered program in binary form only? No. The whole point of the GPL is that all modified versions must be free software--which means, in particular, that the source code of the modified version is available to the users.
There are several ways to determine that the distributed binary is not produced from the source provided. One way is to simply look at the registered version. The following is a quote from IRCJunkie from the user codemastr:
Go download the "shareware" version of X-Chat. In the "Help" menu you will find an entry that says "Register." Also go to Help then About, you will see, "Registered to: Evaluation copy." Now go download the x-chat source code. Now run a search for the word "Evaluation", you will find no results. Now run a search for "Register" you will get hits in an html file (unrelated) and the text string "Registered Scripts:" (also unrelated). Where are these strings coming from? They aren't in the source code that is available on the website. Therefore, they must be from a modified source code, one that includes the registration stuff. That source code is not available, hence - A GPL violation.
Also, there are the claims by you that you also include things that cannot be found in the source provided. This was taken from an unknown source, but originated from the #xchat channel on the Freenode IRC network:
12:04:20 | zed> anyway... there's really no alternative, it's either contrib a few bucks, or there wouldnt be any windows builds 12:13:12 | Inner> zed: I know, needed to ask it to get to a point, so what is the point in charging money for something that someone else somewhere will compile and update and upload a binary for in the end, there for stands to logic no one is going to buy it for $20 anyway if they can get a precompiled version somewhere else. 12:14:17 | zed> right, the convinience, the extra bug fixes i put, the subtle improvements... noone knows the code better than i do, so it makes that easy
As is apparent, not only do you include "extra bug fixes" and "subtle improvements," but you also add registration code not found i
I have written an open letter to Zed on this subject. Too bad it wasn't put in the original story, as I strongly believe anyone who comments on this shuld first read my open letter.
I've been hearing more and more often about something similar. While not the same idea, it's the idea that America "recycles" (to be put in an Economists terms) jobs every year, something in the order of 50 million or so if I'm not mistaken, and that outsourcing somehow is just a natural process of this recycling...
If you ask me, I think Economists have it tougher than Computer Scientists, but that's just my opinion.:-P
While I realize that the majority of the/. crowd is from the UNIX world, I also realize that it would be more professional to replace the broken window graphic with something more appropriate.
The technologies coming out of Microsoft might not be as innovative as they claim it to be, but it's certainly groundbreaking for a company with such magnitude as Microsoft to consent to the superiority of researched technologies.
Longhorn is going to include some exciting new technologies such as Avalon, WinFS, Indigo, and most importantly their new Monad (you really must research this, as it could do for Longhorn what BASIC did for Microsoft's first operating systems). While these are just codenames for abstract ideas (and possibly just buzzwords) it will certainly be exciting to see some of these things deployed.
This is the longest Microsoft has ever waited to release an OS. Windows 95 to Windows 98 took only 3 years, as the names describe. Windows Longhorn looks as if it will take up to 7 years. What can be done in seven years' time with hundreds of emplyees? Amazing stuff.
Linux has some serious issues. I'm not going to argue how many compared to Windows, because that argument would be futile. Instead I will offer my "credibility" as an unbiased commentator: I'm 17 and have been using Linux since 2001 after getting my first computer sometime in '98. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with it. Since then, I've been using Debian GNU/Linux for the past few years, and enjoy it's breadth of developer friendly software. I've used FreeBSD, and plan to play around with BSD's like OpenBSD, DragonFlyBSD, and even get a Mac G5. I also plan to make my own Linux from Scratch, an embedded uClinux distro with BusyBox, and other fun things like that; eventually working my way up to hacking on the Linux kernel. I would also enjoy testing out Hurd, as well.
However, if what's coming out of Microsoft is as developer friendly as advertised to be (what really IS these days anyways, but that's not for me to predict) then Linux might have a problem. If people are really going to be able to hack up some XML applicaton like what's hyped, there might be some serious problems, no matter how many Mono's or GNU DotNETs there are.
Until the community stops getting cocky and starts getting worried, nothing will ever go anywhere. Being afraid is a good thing(tm), because it gets people working harder.
So, again, I emplore somebody to please change the graphic to more accurately represent what we have to fear this new century.
What will happen to those who must pay a royalty fee per CPU? Will companies that charge for each CPU begin to charge for two, or will it still be viewed as one...?
I think this can apply to computer languages as well. I find myself thinking in C sometimes.
Some abstract ideas are easier for me to visualize now that I know several programming languages.
For instance, I knew how to plug in numbers into functions in my Algebra II class better than anybody there, only because I could visualize it's recursiveness.;-)
Their goal ISN'T to sell Windows XP Starter Edition. It's only there to deter those Asian countries from suing Microsoft for big $$$bucks$$$ for their monopolistic practices. Now, they pretty much don't have an excuse...
Either humans will evolve to read these wireless signals constantly being beamed around us (sort of like a sixth sense)...or...well...we'll all develop cancer from it's radioactive waves.
I think what's really important here is not that it was running XP embedded, but what incentive universities are getting to use Microsoft products.
Linux will never have the grand scale ability to hand out shiny plaques/trophies/awards to entrepreneuring endeavors in the technology field, or even be able to give valid street credit to the teams that would happen to use Linux with their project.
I think it's time a fund was set up for just that...
If it really is necessary to point out to you, then I'm getting sick of comments like: "At 5MB for Firefox (on windows), its far smaller than the average IE 'patch', which normally are around 7 MB or so." "IE catches shit for 2 out of the 4 bugs."...and... "Anyway, do you think that FF/Moz should take the Windows route and refuse to acknowledge vulnerabilities, and simply hope they pass by with no one else noticing? Please, think a little bit before posting a comment."
Typing is most definately a necessary skill in todays job market. However, it should not be taught by schools or taught at all.
I type over 60 WPM, but I don't touch-type, keep by hands on the middle row, or any of that. I completely taught myself how to type by doing just that: typing. In a little over a month I had my own technique.
I usually just hover my hands over my keyboard. My left hands uses all of it's fingers except for the pinky to type, and my left thumb just hits the space bar when it's necessary, however sometimes it's job is taken by my right index finger when the hand is tilted to reach a far letter on the left side of the keyboard. My right hand only uses the index finger for all of the keys on the right and the pinky to press enter. My right hand does so little on the keyboard because it is constantly switching to operate the mouse. And that's what we have to think about...
When the QWERTY keyboard was devised, the keys were positioned in such a way as to keep typists from typing too fast and jamming a key. But, more importantly, the typing routine (touch-type) that's so often taught was devised when no mouse was involved. I found repositioning my hand on the keyboard after using the mouse to be too cumbersome, so, therefore, I now hover my hands and don't even look at the keyboard.
Lete people devise their own method. Some hands are small, some are big, some are missing fingers, some need to constantly use the mouse, some don't need a mouse.
I don't know what the author is talking about. I kind of like the design.
Isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder?
Seriously though, aesthetic quality shouldn't be a factor in judging how well a product pleases on/.... I mean, half the intended audience idolizes Linus! *shiver*
It sounds cartoonish, but what if someone discovered how to concentrate the suns rays to a specific point on the earth using a similar, but bigger lens.
All that would be needed is a big enough lens and a geostationary satellite, it wont even need to be manned.
"Fo' shizzle, muh nizzle" is a bastardization of:
"Fo' sho', muh nigga," which is a bastardization of:
"That assumption would be correct, my African-American friend."
I love coffee. I especially love this one Latin brand I buy, but to add something relevent to the discussion:
Awhile back there was an article that explained an Italian researchers findings: That coffee could actually be good for you, perhaps even better than green tea. Some benefits are that coffee could prevent diabetes and regulate blood sugar, which is a plus considering my great grandmother had diabetes. Coffee may actually help children too, it's antioxidants and natural caffiene could potentially reduce the risk of some diseases, help them in school, and even prevent depression. Probably the most important of it's benefits is that it could prevent some types of cancer and degenerative brain diseases, two big killers in the US. that it could also
Coffee's no longer as dangerous as it used to be now, huh? I've heard everything about coffee: It makes you MORE tired, it stunts a childs growth, it makes men impotent, even that it could CAUSE some types of cancer. FUD.
Now that this news is now on/. (and due to the basic economics principle of supply and demand), this new burner's price is going to skyrocket, or NEC is going to go to a measure that's sure to *cough*happen*cough* piss people off, discontinuation.
-Xeon
Slashdot Mirror
I was looking into going to CMU for their esteemed Computer Science program, but now I just hope they wont let this influence their set of courses, breadth of experience, or heterogeneous computer labs...
Hopefully, China wont assign it's farmers to be Nuclear Engineers.
...breaking IE...
Breaking IE? Isn't it already broken? Mod: -1 Troll, but it must be said.
Obviously you didn't read the letter. If you feel you absolutely must skim through, at least read the very last update. -Devin Torres
Ok, it seems nobody actually reads comments, but mods based on length, so I will post my open letter here:
An Open Letter to Zed
The GNU Foundation was founded on many ideals, but most importantly is the idea of "free software." The GNU Foundation has a set of moral codes for software to adhere to. One of them is freedom 0, or "the freedom to run the program, for any purpose." The new version of X-Chat for Windows not only contradicts the moral code it was contributed with in mind, it also violates the very license it is licensed with.
X-Chat is licensed with the GNU GPL, or General Public License. This license tries to encompass many of the ideals expressed by GNU's definition of "free software." The new shareware version of X-Chat violates this license for several reasons:
Charging not for the physical act transferring, but for merely using the software.
The distributed binary is not compiled from the source provided.
The installer, the only medium to install the binary, is also missing the appropriate installer scripts in the source provided.
The bottom line: It's shareware, and that is not acceptable.
The only way to use the new X-Chat for Windows after 30 days of use is to pay $20 USD to get an activation license. This is a violation of the GPL, as it clearly states:
You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
You are not charging for the physical act of transferring, but for your "skill and expertise." Thousands of developers have developed free software only for the enjoyment of benefiting the community. Obviously, you have no such value.
The distributed binary is not reproducible by any means from the source provided. This is a violation of the GPL, and is clearly stated in their GNU FAQ:
Can I release a modified version of a GPL-covered program in binary form only?
No. The whole point of the GPL is that all modified versions must be free software--which means, in particular, that the source code of the modified version is available to the users.
There are several ways to determine that the distributed binary is not produced from the source provided. One way is to simply look at the registered version. The following is a quote from IRCJunkie from the user codemastr:
Go download the "shareware" version of X-Chat. In the "Help" menu you will find an entry that says "Register." Also go to Help then About, you will see, "Registered to: Evaluation copy." Now go download the x-chat source code. Now run a search for the word "Evaluation", you will find no results. Now run a search for "Register" you will get hits in an html file (unrelated) and the text string "Registered Scripts:" (also unrelated). Where are these strings coming from? They aren't in the source code that is available on the website. Therefore, they must be from a modified source code, one that includes the registration stuff. That source code is not available, hence - A GPL violation.
Also, there are the claims by you that you also include things that cannot be found in the source provided. This was taken from an unknown source, but originated from the #xchat channel on the Freenode IRC network:
12:04:20 | zed> anyway... there's really no alternative, it's either contrib a few bucks, or there wouldnt be any windows builds
12:13:12 | Inner> zed: I know, needed to ask it to get to a point, so what is the point in charging money for something that someone else somewhere will compile and update and upload a binary for in the end, there for stands to logic no one is going to buy it for $20 anyway if they can get a precompiled version somewhere else.
12:14:17 | zed> right, the convinience, the extra bug fixes i put, the subtle improvements... noone knows the code better than i do, so it makes that easy
As is apparent, not only do you include "extra bug fixes" and "subtle improvements," but you also add registration code not found i
I have written an open letter to Zed on this subject. Too bad it wasn't put in the original story, as I strongly believe anyone who comments on this shuld first read my open letter.
It can be found here.
-Devin Torres
I've been hearing more and more often about something similar. While not the same idea, it's the idea that America "recycles" (to be put in an Economists terms) jobs every year, something in the order of 50 million or so if I'm not mistaken, and that outsourcing somehow is just a natural process of this recycling...
:-P
If you ask me, I think Economists have it tougher than Computer Scientists, but that's just my opinion.
-Devin Torres
While I realize that the majority of the /. crowd is from the UNIX world, I also realize that it would be more professional to replace the broken window graphic with something more appropriate.
The technologies coming out of Microsoft might not be as innovative as they claim it to be, but it's certainly groundbreaking for a company with such magnitude as Microsoft to consent to the superiority of researched technologies.
Longhorn is going to include some exciting new technologies such as Avalon, WinFS, Indigo, and most importantly their new Monad (you really must research this, as it could do for Longhorn what BASIC did for Microsoft's first operating systems). While these are just codenames for abstract ideas (and possibly just buzzwords) it will certainly be exciting to see some of these things deployed.
This is the longest Microsoft has ever waited to release an OS. Windows 95 to Windows 98 took only 3 years, as the names describe. Windows Longhorn looks as if it will take up to 7 years. What can be done in seven years' time with hundreds of emplyees? Amazing stuff.
Linux has some serious issues. I'm not going to argue how many compared to Windows, because that argument would be futile. Instead I will offer my "credibility" as an unbiased commentator:
I'm 17 and have been using Linux since 2001 after getting my first computer sometime in '98. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with it. Since then, I've been using Debian GNU/Linux for the past few years, and enjoy it's breadth of developer friendly software. I've used FreeBSD, and plan to play around with BSD's like OpenBSD, DragonFlyBSD, and even get a Mac G5. I also plan to make my own Linux from Scratch, an embedded uClinux distro with BusyBox, and other fun things like that; eventually working my way up to hacking on the Linux kernel. I would also enjoy testing out Hurd, as well.
However, if what's coming out of Microsoft is as developer friendly as advertised to be (what really IS these days anyways, but that's not for me to predict) then Linux might have a problem. If people are really going to be able to hack up some XML applicaton like what's hyped, there might be some serious problems, no matter how many Mono's or GNU DotNETs there are.
Until the community stops getting cocky and starts getting worried, nothing will ever go anywhere. Being afraid is a good thing(tm), because it gets people working harder.
So, again, I emplore somebody to please change the graphic to more accurately represent what we have to fear this new century.
-Devin Torres
According to CNN, MIT has just...
...named the FFP to RTS for YTC and BTMBLOTA. TY.
What will happen to those who must pay a royalty fee per CPU? Will companies that charge for each CPU begin to charge for two, or will it still be viewed as one...?
This is awesome! I've been waiting for this for such a long time! I'll be the first to format my HDD!
Come, bask with me in Reiser4's infinite wisdom! Be stuck with awe at Reiser4's awesomeness! Feel the power of it's che flow through your very viens!
Mwahahahaha!
I think this can apply to computer languages as well. I find myself thinking in C sometimes.
;-)
Some abstract ideas are easier for me to visualize now that I know several programming languages.
For instance, I knew how to plug in numbers into functions in my Algebra II class better than anybody there, only because I could visualize it's recursiveness.
-Xeon
...I just moved back to Texas TOO!
Their goal ISN'T to sell Windows XP Starter Edition. It's only there to deter those Asian countries from suing Microsoft for big $$$bucks$$$ for their monopolistic practices. Now, they pretty much don't have an excuse...
Either humans will evolve to read these wireless signals constantly being beamed around us (sort of like a sixth sense)...or...well...we'll all develop cancer from it's radioactive waves.
I think what's really important here is not that it was running XP embedded, but what incentive universities are getting to use Microsoft products.
Linux will never have the grand scale ability to hand out shiny plaques/trophies/awards to entrepreneuring endeavors in the technology field, or even be able to give valid street credit to the teams that would happen to use Linux with their project.
I think it's time a fund was set up for just that...
Thank you,
Xeon
I think we all need to go back to cartridges... I remember the days I used to spend blowing dust out of my old Sega Genesis cartridges...
Seriously though, why don't we improve USB storage as fast as harddrives are? The lifespan of optical media is running out of umph.
Thank you,
Xeon
If it really is necessary to point out to you, then I'm getting sick of comments like: ...and...
"At 5MB for Firefox (on windows), its far smaller than the average IE 'patch', which normally are around 7 MB or so."
"IE catches shit for 2 out of the 4 bugs."
"Anyway, do you think that FF/Moz should take the Windows route and refuse to acknowledge vulnerabilities, and simply hope they pass by with no one else noticing? Please, think a little bit before posting a comment."
Thank you,
Xeon
I love Firefox and use it on a dialy basis, but this is getting outrageous.
I'm tired of you people making excuses for the browser when you know it's vulnerability situation is becoming reminiscent of Internet Explorer.
Firefox isn't as rock solid as you all thought it was. Accept that fact and you people might be able to do something about it.
Thank you,
Xeon
Typing is most definately a necessary skill in todays job market. However, it should not be taught by schools or taught at all.
I type over 60 WPM, but I don't touch-type, keep by hands on the middle row, or any of that. I completely taught myself how to type by doing just that: typing. In a little over a month I had my own technique.
I usually just hover my hands over my keyboard. My left hands uses all of it's fingers except for the pinky to type, and my left thumb just hits the space bar when it's necessary, however sometimes it's job is taken by my right index finger when the hand is tilted to reach a far letter on the left side of the keyboard. My right hand only uses the index finger for all of the keys on the right and the pinky to press enter. My right hand does so little on the keyboard because it is constantly switching to operate the mouse. And that's what we have to think about...
When the QWERTY keyboard was devised, the keys were positioned in such a way as to keep typists from typing too fast and jamming a key. But, more importantly, the typing routine (touch-type) that's so often taught was devised when no mouse was involved. I found repositioning my hand on the keyboard after using the mouse to be too cumbersome, so, therefore, I now hover my hands and don't even look at the keyboard.
Lete people devise their own method. Some hands are small, some are big, some are missing fingers, some need to constantly use the mouse, some don't need a mouse.
Thank you,
Xeon
I don't know what the author is talking about. I kind of like the design.
/. ... I mean, half the intended audience idolizes Linus! *shiver*
Isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder?
Seriously though, aesthetic quality shouldn't be a factor in judging how well a product pleases on
It sounds cartoonish, but what if someone discovered how to concentrate the suns rays to a specific point on the earth using a similar, but bigger lens.
All that would be needed is a big enough lens and a geostationary satellite, it wont even need to be manned.
Just a thought.
-Xeon
FYI:
"Fo' shizzle, muh nizzle" is a bastardization of:
"Fo' sho', muh nigga," which is a bastardization of:
"That assumption would be correct, my African-American friend."
Brought to you by:
-Xeon
I love coffee. I especially love this one Latin brand I buy, but to add something relevent to the discussion:
Awhile back there was an article that explained an Italian researchers findings: That coffee could actually be good for you, perhaps even better than green tea. Some benefits are that coffee could prevent diabetes and regulate blood sugar, which is a plus considering my great grandmother had diabetes. Coffee may actually help children too, it's antioxidants and natural caffiene could potentially reduce the risk of some diseases, help them in school, and even prevent depression. Probably the most important of it's benefits is that it could prevent some types of cancer and degenerative brain diseases, two big killers in the US. that it could also
Coffee's no longer as dangerous as it used to be now, huh? I've heard everything about coffee: It makes you MORE tired, it stunts a childs growth, it makes men impotent, even that it could CAUSE some types of cancer. FUD.
-Xeon
Now that this news is now on /. (and due to the basic economics principle of supply and demand), this new burner's price is going to skyrocket, or NEC is going to go to a measure that's sure to *cough*happen*cough* piss people off, discontinuation.
-Xeon