This is Microsoft, remember? A monopolist convicted of anti-competitive behavior on two continents. At this point, we don't have to prove it gave bribes; MS has to prove it didn't!
In Indiana, the state had companies selling Diesel fuel and drugs (that could be used to manufacture Meth) have their customers sign forms before the sale of the item was completed (diesel) or before they handed over said drugs.
How do we let people get so "sensitive" about harmless shit, and why do we appease them instead of telling them to grow the fuck up?
Because if you tell them to grow the fuck up, they'll find a bunch of other "sensitive" dumbasses on a jury to award them a couple million dollars of your IT budget. Or your (former) salary.
I often need third-party libraries when I'm developing my software so I just get them off the Internet (sometimes virus checking them if I remember).
In this case, virus checking is the least of your worries. If you're including those third-party libraries in your software, you need to be getting them approved by your legal department to make sure you're not creating huge copyright violations.
It's considerably more expensive than Linux and prone to wasting resources on UI.
Is it really wasting any resources on UI when no local (i.e., admin) users are logged in, as should normally be the case?
I don't know why no Linux distro, to my knowledge, has a versioning file system as the default file system for/home as it's such an obvious useful feature.
Space, probably, especially since it sounds like your filesystem (what's it's name, by the way?) stores whole copies rather than diffs.
I feel that the benefit of spicy food is not just the heat; it's the tendency of such food to also have alot of tang and flavor that together with a good amount of heat makes it really, really enjoyable. I think that habaneros have a really bad flavor; they don't really have a tangy and tasty flavor, they taste funky and vegetable-y, and not good.
I have to agree; I'm not a huge fan of heat for the sake of heat, but I can certainly appreciate the differance between (for example) a fresh jalapeno vs. a pickled jalapeno vs. a smoked jalapeno (i.e., chipotle).
The first and biggest problem with old UI concepts was Menus. They were a fast solution to a big problem. Menus are by nature not a 'graphic' UI element, even though they are synonymous with GUIs today.
Wait, menus are a problem because they're not Gooey enough? Who the fuck decided that being Gooey was the be-all and end-all of UI design anyway?!
If you are using Menus, you are in effect having to memorize a list of commands, and their location. Memorizing lists of words is one of the things GUIs were supposed to remove, and failed.
No shit, Sherlock! And if you're using "Ribbons," you are in effect having to memmorize a list of icons representing commands, and their location. Memorizing lists of pictures is one of the things GUIs were supposed to encourage, but is fucking stupid, because then you have to memorize the mapping between pictures and concepts (even harder than between words and concepts, by the way, because it's hard to describe a verb by a picture) anyway! How is that an improvement?!
They need to prompt the ironing out of issues with OOXML so it can become a well defined standard, introducing a 3rd standard into the mix doesn't sound very constructive to me.
I hate to break it to you, but introducing a second [faux] standard into the mix, i.e., OOXML, makes no sense either!
ODF already exists and is an ISO standard. Any other competing document formats, including OOXML, CDF, Apple's proprietary iWork formats, etc. have no reason to exist except for the selfish benefit of the companies that might promote them. Period.
In this particular case, it is stupidity. Why? Because, as a Free Software developer, Microsoft's tactics directly threaten his livelihood! I guess it's possible that it's masochism rather than stupidity, but either way, when somebody's trying to screw you, you don't smile and say "thank you, may I have another?!"
But if this were true, it could easily be in the form of a promise of future reward...
Why does everyone seem to assume that De Icaza is getting some kind of kickback or that it's some sort of conspiracy? It seems to me that the likely explanation is much simpler: Miguel De Icaza simply likes Microsoft! I mean, he applied for a job there; you don't do that unless you would want to work there, generally speaking. He appears to admire Microsoft's technology... I assume he just doesn't care about its business ethics.
The guy that runs Valve has a hard-on for Microsoft too (which, I believe, is why Valve ported the HL1 engine from OpenGL to Direct3D when such a thing was a horrible idea, and why Source is D3D-only) and nobody invents conspiracy theories about him.
It's like the old saying: why attribute De Icaza's actions to malice, when they can just as well be explained by stupidity?
I don't know about you, but I actually kinda like C# more than Python or Java (I've never used Ruby). For example, the syntax for getters and setters is more elegant. I do think it's better to avoid.NET (aka "MONO"), however. It'd be nice if there was a way to write Swing or QT or something using C#...
You know, Congress wouldn't let him do any of the naive things he wants to do anyway. However, having such idealism is exactly why he would make a good president. With normal "moderate" politicians, the stuff they try to accomplish gets watered down to nothing by the time it gets through Congress. With an extremist like Ron Paul, on the other hand, the stuff he tries to accomplish would be watered down to "sane and effective" instead.
Only console companies have been doing this same game region lock-out for YEARS. I don't see you complaining about that.
Then you're not looking hard enough, because some of us, at least, are complaining. Hell, I haven't owned a console since the SNES, mostly for this reason (along with the persecution of modchip makers, licensing requirements for games, and Nintendo's infamous historic censorship). And if I'd been old enough to understand these issues back then, I probably wouldn't even have an SNES either.
Fact is, the code you have is not for use in Australia - that's not Valve's problem.
WTF?! Of course it's Valve's problem -- Valve is the one that turned it off!
Fact is, Valve is stealing (by depriving of use) the product that people legitimately bought. Period, end of story. Screw civil lawsuits; Valve should be criminally prosecuted for this!
Want another fact? Importation is legal. Valve may not like it, but it's true. And although Valve has the technical ability to turn off people's legal imported property, it sure as fucking Hell doesn't have the right to do so!
On the contrary, I sure as hell do own that copy of the game! I don't own the copyright, true, so I don't have the right to make and distribute copies, but my use of the game -- i.e., my property -- is unrestricted!
What's next, the Wall Street Journal prohibiting reading on airplanes because somebody from a foreign country might be looking over your shoulder?! <sarcasm>You licensed that newspaper, not bought it!</sarcasm>
We were talking about removing middlemen, right? Well, that's bullshit. Why? Because there's nothing special about middlemen: if the game requires DRM to prevent copyright infringment without middlemen, then it would also require DRM to prevent it with them. But of course, this isn't the case anyway: plenty of games have done just fine without DRM (including, for example, the original non-Steam Half-Life), and DRM'd Steam games are just as vulnerable to copyright infringment anyway!
I submit that the DRM is necessary in this case, because without it, people would just exploit the fact that you can make a perfect copy of the game and give it to someone else for nothing but the cost of bandwidth, DVD blanks, whatever, and run the developer into the ground.
I submit that they could do exactly the same thing with every other PC game and it hasn't killed the industry yet. Therefore, DRM isn't necessary after all. QED.
The DRM here is rather less onerous than you are making out. DRM on music and movies restricts your freedom to enjoy them as and when you like, on your preferred devices, and your freedom to transcode them into the format of your choice.
Steam DRM only restricts you to using a valid account (once) and not reselling...
Steam's DRM is differently onerous, not less so. Steam also restricts my freedom to enjoy the games as and when I like by requiring an Internet connection (and "offline mode" isn't good enough; I shouldn't have to connect to the Internet ever just to play a game I bought in a box!). And the right to resell is a big deal. In fact, it's fundamental to the economy! Allowing the manufacturer to restrict that right sets an extremely bad precedent.
Since you are so furious about anti-copying measures, I can't for the life of me see why you are restricting your rant to Steam. Surely you should be aiming for all leisure software DRM?
Huh? I'm ranting about Steam because it's on-topic. In general, I rant against all DRM; even "leisure software" is too narrow! For example, note my sig, which concerns TiVo-style DRM and Treacherous Computing.
Even if you look and act like Rip Taylor, it doesn't mean you're gay...
I have no idea who this "Rip Taylor" person is, but if acting like him includes having sex with same-sex partners, then it would mean the person is gay. So, actually there isn't a difference between that and fascist stereotypes.
I voted. Libertarian locally where possible except for one or two Republicans where I voted because of the merits of the particular candidate, not the party... and Kerry. Fat lot of good that did; I might as well have voted for Badnarik since my state is overwhelmingly "red" anyway.
Slashdot Mirror
This is Microsoft, remember? A monopolist convicted of anti-competitive behavior on two continents. At this point, we don't have to prove it gave bribes; MS has to prove it didn't!
No, "Bribary" is more appropriate specifically because it's more prejudicial.
Yeah, "charitable" to Microsoft's monopoly!
What does Diesel have to do with drugs?
I can only assume he's upset that the main quest exists... which is, frankly, just plain stupid.
Because if you tell them to grow the fuck up, they'll find a bunch of other "sensitive" dumbasses on a jury to award them a couple million dollars of your IT budget. Or your (former) salary.
In this case, virus checking is the least of your worries. If you're including those third-party libraries in your software, you need to be getting them approved by your legal department to make sure you're not creating huge copyright violations.
Is it really wasting any resources on UI when no local (i.e., admin) users are logged in, as should normally be the case?
Space, probably, especially since it sounds like your filesystem (what's it's name, by the way?) stores whole copies rather than diffs.
I have to agree; I'm not a huge fan of heat for the sake of heat, but I can certainly appreciate the differance between (for example) a fresh jalapeno vs. a pickled jalapeno vs. a smoked jalapeno (i.e., chipotle).
Wait, menus are a problem because they're not Gooey enough? Who the fuck decided that being Gooey was the be-all and end-all of UI design anyway?!
No shit, Sherlock! And if you're using "Ribbons," you are in effect having to memmorize a list of icons representing commands, and their location. Memorizing lists of pictures is one of the things GUIs were supposed to encourage, but is fucking stupid, because then you have to memorize the mapping between pictures and concepts (even harder than between words and concepts, by the way, because it's hard to describe a verb by a picture) anyway! How is that an improvement?!
See how stupid it sounds now?
I hate to break it to you, but introducing a second [faux] standard into the mix, i.e., OOXML, makes no sense either!
ODF already exists and is an ISO standard. Any other competing document formats, including OOXML, CDF, Apple's proprietary iWork formats, etc. have no reason to exist except for the selfish benefit of the companies that might promote them. Period.
That depends: if the tapes were destroyed before the subpoena, I don't see how it could be held against you.
No, spelling errors because you were too damn lazy to use a spell-checker or dictionary.
In this particular case, it is stupidity. Why? Because, as a Free Software developer, Microsoft's tactics directly threaten his livelihood! I guess it's possible that it's masochism rather than stupidity, but either way, when somebody's trying to screw you, you don't smile and say "thank you, may I have another?!"
Why does everyone seem to assume that De Icaza is getting some kind of kickback or that it's some sort of conspiracy? It seems to me that the likely explanation is much simpler: Miguel De Icaza simply likes Microsoft! I mean, he applied for a job there; you don't do that unless you would want to work there, generally speaking. He appears to admire Microsoft's technology... I assume he just doesn't care about its business ethics.
The guy that runs Valve has a hard-on for Microsoft too (which, I believe, is why Valve ported the HL1 engine from OpenGL to Direct3D when such a thing was a horrible idea, and why Source is D3D-only) and nobody invents conspiracy theories about him.
It's like the old saying: why attribute De Icaza's actions to malice, when they can just as well be explained by stupidity?
I don't know about you, but I actually kinda like C# more than Python or Java (I've never used Ruby). For example, the syntax for getters and setters is more elegant. I do think it's better to avoid .NET (aka "MONO"), however. It'd be nice if there was a way to write Swing or QT or something using C#...
You know, Congress wouldn't let him do any of the naive things he wants to do anyway. However, having such idealism is exactly why he would make a good president. With normal "moderate" politicians, the stuff they try to accomplish gets watered down to nothing by the time it gets through Congress. With an extremist like Ron Paul, on the other hand, the stuff he tries to accomplish would be watered down to "sane and effective" instead.
Then you're not looking hard enough, because some of us, at least, are complaining. Hell, I haven't owned a console since the SNES, mostly for this reason (along with the persecution of modchip makers, licensing requirements for games, and Nintendo's infamous historic censorship). And if I'd been old enough to understand these issues back then, I probably wouldn't even have an SNES either.
WTF?! Of course it's Valve's problem -- Valve is the one that turned it off!
Fact is, Valve is stealing (by depriving of use) the product that people legitimately bought. Period, end of story. Screw civil lawsuits; Valve should be criminally prosecuted for this!
Want another fact? Importation is legal. Valve may not like it, but it's true. And although Valve has the technical ability to turn off people's legal imported property, it sure as fucking Hell doesn't have the right to do so!
On the contrary, I sure as hell do own that copy of the game! I don't own the copyright, true, so I don't have the right to make and distribute copies, but my use of the game -- i.e., my property -- is unrestricted!
What's next, the Wall Street Journal prohibiting reading on airplanes because somebody from a foreign country might be looking over your shoulder?! <sarcasm>You licensed that newspaper, not bought it!</sarcasm>
We were talking about removing middlemen, right? Well, that's bullshit. Why? Because there's nothing special about middlemen: if the game requires DRM to prevent copyright infringment without middlemen, then it would also require DRM to prevent it with them. But of course, this isn't the case anyway: plenty of games have done just fine without DRM (including, for example, the original non-Steam Half-Life), and DRM'd Steam games are just as vulnerable to copyright infringment anyway!
I submit that they could do exactly the same thing with every other PC game and it hasn't killed the industry yet. Therefore, DRM isn't necessary after all. QED.
Steam's DRM is differently onerous, not less so. Steam also restricts my freedom to enjoy the games as and when I like by requiring an Internet connection (and "offline mode" isn't good enough; I shouldn't have to connect to the Internet ever just to play a game I bought in a box!). And the right to resell is a big deal. In fact, it's fundamental to the economy! Allowing the manufacturer to restrict that right sets an extremely bad precedent.
Huh? I'm ranting about Steam because it's on-topic. In general, I rant against all DRM; even "leisure software" is too narrow! For example, note my sig, which concerns TiVo-style DRM and Treacherous Computing.
On the fucking box... that they didn't see until after they'd already paid and received shipment?
I have no idea who this "Rip Taylor" person is, but if acting like him includes having sex with same-sex partners, then it would mean the person is gay. So, actually there isn't a difference between that and fascist stereotypes.
I voted. Libertarian locally where possible except for one or two Republicans where I voted because of the merits of the particular candidate, not the party... and Kerry. Fat lot of good that did; I might as well have voted for Badnarik since my state is overwhelmingly "red" anyway.
So, am I allowed to complain, then?
How so? I'd be inclined to think exactly the opposite: the Jews were oppressed scapegoats, whereas corporations are oppressive scapegoaters.
Regarding the US:
Check.
Check.
Check (although less relevant now than in the past).
Let me add a requirement:
Check.
An unelected president by any other name...
Yep, the US is fascist!