As I recall, it's section 4 of the license (Commercial Distribution) that's the problem. Search an archive of the misc@openbsd.org list for "postfix license" and I'm sure you'll find several instances of the flamewar.:)
(Still can't quite get my Linksys WPC11 card to talk to my AP but that's a different issue).
If it's a Linksys AP, upgrade to the latest firmware. There was an encapsulation bug that their Windows driver ignores, but the FreeBSD driver adheres strictly to the RFC. Once I upgraded the firmware on my AP, everything started working fine.
Gnome apps could care less whether or not the "Gnome environment" is running.
This seems to be getting less true as GNOME evolves -- whenever I start up galeon (I don't use GNOME as an 'environment'), it also spawns gconfd. Nothing to the extent of konqueror's pile of kdeinit and kio processes, but who knows where it may end up.
I think a lot of people commenting on this discussion need to be reminded that patents and copyrights are NOT fundamental rights of creators and inventors (at least, according to US law; sorry, I do have a USian bias since I don't know the laws of any other country that well). They are granted these priveleges for the sake of promoting (sorry) innovation and progress in the sciences. It's a compromise -- the people giving up some of their freedom to promote progress.
However, many people feel (myself included) that these "Intellectual Property" laws are no longer promoting anything but the continued rule of large corporations like Time-Warner, and stupidity on the part of smaller ones like Amazon. It may no longer be in the peoples' best interests to allow these patent and copyright monopolies.
When viewed from this point of view, I think ESR's argument takes on a whole new flavour. When you don't consider having a copyright on your code a fundamental right (that copyright being the basis for software licenses of all kinds, from the GPL to a MS EULA), licensing isn't even a question. It simply becomes "here's some code".
I don't know if this is a fundamentally better situation than what we have now. I do suppot the FSF rather than Open Source because I believe that promoting the idea of Freedom is more important than just getting useful software. But I think these are questions that must be considered, and I wanted to present another angle on this argument.
Another disadvantage of mh is that files are named sequentially -- so, if you delete message #2 of 5000, it then has to rename 4998 files. Maildir avoids this problem by naming files uniquely, while retaining all the advantages you described above.
I dont know if anyone will ever pay for a comic on the net. Maybe if it was the funniest or most interesting comic out there.
I was thinking as I read this that I would gladly pay to read several of the webcomics that I currently read daily -- but then it occurred to me that I'm that into these comics because they have, in most cases, a year or two of story already, and characters I'm attached to. It would be very hard to build the kind of loyal readership (the people who'd pay for the comics) in a system where they have to pay beforehand.
Wasn't one of hurds goals to have a mach kernel OS system?
I think you've got your terms confused. Mach is a specific implementation of a microkernel. The GNU Hurd is another microkernel -- I'm not sure if it involves any Mach code, though I don't think so.
Does anyone know anything about this movie? A working title? An imdb entry?
The only entry I can find in Coming Attractions that mentions both Pacific-Northwest software monopolies and MGM is the film adaptation of Microserfs. Perhaps they've taken some liberties with the script?:)
An imaginary pseudo-discipline, no doubt. I've never heard of it. Physics is the same regardless of the organism to which force is applied.
Think again. Ever watched a human being walk? It's a very distinctive sort of motion. Now watch characters in Quake-style games, or amateur animation. Doesn't look like a real human's motion, does it? That's what human kinetics deals with.
If you try to trademark or patent something that isn't eligible, and you are turned down, aren't you already losing 100% of the revenues you would have gained from having a monopoly?
Nope. You're not gaining it, but that's hardly the same as losing it. Same complaint I have with the people who bought VA Linux stock at $30 (or whatever that price was), and bitched about all the money they were losing as the stock dropped from $350 to $200...
... which was written after work on the movie began. The aliens were always Buggers in the first four books, Shadow's use of "Formics" is revisionism.:)
I haven't seen the movie, but I already have a high opinion of... its marketing team. That's right, marketing. Why? Because they created this utterly brilliant fake fanpage for the original series. Now that's funny.
If anything, Linux has too many applications! ... That's right, there are 30 seperate ICQ clients for Linux. They are all open-source, and many have all the usefull features, but people, DO WE REALLY NEED 30 OF THEM?
You're forgetting that with the nature of the community, most projects start to scratch someone's itch. If I don't like one of the ICQ clients (or mail clients, or whatever) available, I can write my own.
Does that lead to a whole pile of redundant apps? Yes. Does that give me a client I like, as opposed to having to use someone else's idea of the ideal interface? Yes. Does it make me happy, because I'm hacking away on something that interests me, and from which I benefit? Yes. Does that provide another choice (remember the mantra, Linux is about choice...) for other people out there who are dissatisfied with the same programs I was? Yes.
The idea you're presenting is a bad one. If I decide one day, "I think I'll write a newsreader. It'll be fun, and maybe someone else will like it, too", I don't want to be told, "No! So-and-so has already written a newsreader! You'd be duplicating his effort. Go write a database app instead."
Anyway, I think Don deserves great thanks for having blown part of a Friday evening with his family to share his insights with us. He works long, hard hours -- and I happen to know that today was particularly busy for him.;-)
Indeed. On behalf of those of us who constantly post IANALs, thank you, Don, for your expert breakdown of the Finding.
Slashdot Mirror
As I recall, it's section 4 of the license (Commercial Distribution) that's the problem. Search an archive of the misc@openbsd.org list for "postfix license" and I'm sure you'll find several instances of the flamewar. :)
That they have a reason makes it no less annoying.
If it's a Linksys AP, upgrade to the latest firmware. There was an encapsulation bug that their Windows driver ignores, but the FreeBSD driver adheres strictly to the RFC. Once I upgraded the firmware on my AP, everything started working fine.
Oh? I've not heard this idea before -- can you provide a link?
I can't help but feel that ESR's obsession with guns is spilling over to an excessive degree into his software arguments.
I think a lot of people commenting on this discussion need to be reminded that patents and copyrights are NOT fundamental rights of creators and inventors (at least, according to US law; sorry, I do have a USian bias since I don't know the laws of any other country that well). They are granted these priveleges for the sake of promoting (sorry) innovation and progress in the sciences. It's a compromise -- the people giving up some of their freedom to promote progress.
However, many people feel (myself included) that these "Intellectual Property" laws are no longer promoting anything but the continued rule of large corporations like Time-Warner, and stupidity on the part of smaller ones like Amazon. It may no longer be in the peoples' best interests to allow these patent and copyright monopolies.
When viewed from this point of view, I think ESR's argument takes on a whole new flavour. When you don't consider having a copyright on your code a fundamental right (that copyright being the basis for software licenses of all kinds, from the GPL to a MS EULA), licensing isn't even a question. It simply becomes "here's some code".
I don't know if this is a fundamentally better situation than what we have now. I do suppot the FSF rather than Open Source because I believe that promoting the idea of Freedom is more important than just getting useful software. But I think these are questions that must be considered, and I wanted to present another angle on this argument.
Another disadvantage of mh is that files are named sequentially -- so, if you delete message #2 of 5000, it then has to rename 4998 files. Maildir avoids this problem by naming files uniquely, while retaining all the advantages you described above.
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I was thinking as I read this that I would gladly pay to read several of the webcomics that I currently read daily -- but then it occurred to me that I'm that into these comics because they have, in most cases, a year or two of story already, and characters I'm attached to. It would be very hard to build the kind of loyal readership (the people who'd pay for the comics) in a system where they have to pay beforehand.
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Actually, that was Hemos's comment, not Ant's. Read more carefully before you flame the wrong person. ;)
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...was from Bullfrog, not Bungie. Great game, though.
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I think you've got your terms confused. Mach is a specific implementation of a microkernel. The GNU Hurd is another microkernel -- I'm not sure if it involves any Mach code, though I don't think so.
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The only entry I can find in Coming Attractions that mentions both Pacific-Northwest software monopolies and MGM is the film adaptation of Microserfs. Perhaps they've taken some liberties with the script? :)
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Think again. Ever watched a human being walk? It's a very distinctive sort of motion. Now watch characters in Quake-style games, or amateur animation. Doesn't look like a real human's motion, does it? That's what human kinetics deals with.
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If you try to trademark or patent something that isn't eligible, and you are turned down, aren't you already losing 100% of the revenues you would have gained from having a monopoly?
Nope. You're not gaining it, but that's hardly the same as losing it. Same complaint I have with the people who bought VA Linux stock at $30 (or whatever that price was), and bitched about all the money they were losing as the stock dropped from $350 to $200...
Less Profit is not the same as Loss.
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Not likely. Kevin has stated publicly (and repeatedly) that he has no desire to direct anything he didn't write.
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This is clear in Ender's Shadow...
:)
... which was written after work on the movie began. The aliens were always Buggers in the first four books, Shadow's use of "Formics" is revisionism.
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I haven't seen the movie, but I already have a high opinion of... its marketing team. That's right, marketing. Why? Because they created this utterly brilliant fake fanpage for the original series. Now that's funny.
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I think he was saying that the lump of coal was not the source itself, but rather the closed solution Carmack proposed to fix the cheating problems.
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If anything, Linux has too many applications!
...
That's right, there are 30 seperate ICQ clients for Linux. They are all open-source, and many have all the usefull features, but people, DO WE REALLY NEED 30 OF THEM?
You're forgetting that with the nature of the community, most projects start to scratch someone's itch. If I don't like one of the ICQ clients (or mail clients, or whatever) available, I can write my own.
Does that lead to a whole pile of redundant apps? Yes.
Does that give me a client I like, as opposed to having to use someone else's idea of the ideal interface? Yes.
Does it make me happy, because I'm hacking away on something that interests me, and from which I benefit? Yes.
Does that provide another choice (remember the mantra, Linux is about choice...) for other people out there who are dissatisfied with the same programs I was? Yes.
The idea you're presenting is a bad one. If I decide one day, "I think I'll write a newsreader. It'll be fun, and maybe someone else will like it, too", I don't want to be told, "No! So-and-so has already written a newsreader! You'd be duplicating his effort. Go write a database app instead."
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"Linux Underground" (from GiS 3.1) came across as "limits underground", so try searching on "limits".
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ummm... where I come from, 2 is even. :)
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Anyway, I think Don deserves great thanks for having blown part of a Friday evening with his family to share his insights with us. He works long, hard hours -- and I happen to know that today was particularly busy for him. ;-)
Indeed. On behalf of those of us who constantly post IANALs, thank you, Don, for your expert breakdown of the Finding.
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Now is it runnin' on NT or Linux....
:)
Actually, according to Netcraft, it's running on Solaris.
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