Or more precisely, Netscape 6 and NOT LDAP... FYI - For those of you who use Netscape in an environment that provides LDAP Directory Services, it would seem that ANY LDAP support is not included in this release... which is a bummer. I miss my autocompletion from 4.72!
This mirrors the current functionality-wishlist I have for Mozilla as well.. (at least as of M14...)
Also, as for email comments: Lots of new features, included the LONG desired ability to have multiple FROM addresses! No longer will I get bounces back from ListServers because I replied/sent mail from the wrong 'profile'!
The 'messenger start page' is configurable through the UI... you no longer have to edit the PREFS.JS file! (you can also specify your OWN URL through the UI...
Things to watch out for... mail will (optionally) display the Graphical Emoticons if you want, and it will 'auto format' certain text strings for HTML! Beware of 'auto editing applications'...
I don't buy the idea that Microsoft is primarily a 'software' company. Granted, much of their history is 'software' related, but starting in the mid 90's, that 'software' company started looking at Hardware. Microsoft has an entire line of PC Peripherals (keyboards, Mice, Speakers, Telephones, joysticks), as well as having eyes on things like cable television, 'set-top boxes' (a la webTV), Game consoles. I've been to presentations at MS HQ on home automation (they have an entire 'building' set up as the 'home of the future' type stuff with integrated climate, scheduing, entertainment, and the hole 9 yards).
Truth be told, they haven't had any significant new 'software' offerings since Windows95 (Win2k is a possible acception to this, but the jury is still out as to whether it's 'significant') and even Win95 came up 'short' from what was 'promised'... (remember the DOS-less Windows? It's STILL not here).
The Software sales-base has given them the capital to explore all these new 'hardware' and 'hardware/software' arenas. That's what the anti-trust was all about...
have you used IE 5 EVER? Yup. Have you tried IE anything on any platform OTHER than WINDOWS (Mac, Solaris, HP-UX?). Sucks big time.
And macromedia bundles their stuff with Win98 (to work on IE 5, of course). What could Netscape do about that? Nothing. Sucked to be them.
Wow... something that gets bundled w/ the OS has the upper hand. Wasn't that my point?
Who IS this Ross Rubin, and where has HE been?
on
Netscape 6
·
· Score: 1
The editorial that starts after the bold text in the article is, IMHO, a flaming pile of crap. His premise is that the plugins drove the browser war to is 'finish' because the plugins are 'os specific' and browser independent. Well, if it interfaces with either browser, then how can that be a factor in a browser battle? Unless one browser handles the plugin better, it should have had any bearing on the 'battle'.
Microsoft won the battle because they DID bundle it with their operating system, which is the dominant OS in the the desktop market. It basically came down to economics. By MS not charging for it, and bundling it with the operating system, they turned it into a commodity. Why download/buy/get another browser, when I already have one. It's not like I can 'get rid' of the one I have... it's in the OS?
Simiarly, the IT departments of companies don't want to spend time, and money supporting two products?
M$ forced their vendors to install the browser when it WASN'T tightly integrated to buy them enough time to integrate it so it HAD to be there...
Maybe this guy should hang out in the REAL world for a while...
First, let me say that this is another nice 'gloom and doom' article from the National Enquirer of computer news, ZDNet.
Ok, now that THAT'S off my chest... some of this can be 'countered' by self policing. Ebay and AIM are two examples of self-policing, albeit that the risks can be low. Other 'commercial' sites are also using the third party 'e-biz' rating system for their ecommerce site. As more of this type of thing becomes common, the international e-commerce risks will be reduced, as long as you know what to look for...
Remember, the first time someone bought things from the back of a van, only to find out later it was stolen, or fake, was a lesson learned, and now it's a fairly well known warning...
Also keep in mind that ANY shopping is a risk, especially 'remote' credit card transactions. Heck, sitting in a restaurant and giving the waiter your credit card for payment is a risk. The best you can hope for is to minimize your risks, but you'll never be able to eliminate them.
But hey, I could rationalize myself out of a paper bag if I wanted to..
I agree that they didn't simply recreate symbolic links, but, on the other hand, I don't know if I consider this 'innovation' either. To put it in a management summary form, basically, they took the manual process of symbolic links, and automated the process so it happens on a continual basis. If automation=innovation, then every sysadmin I know must be the innovator of the millenium, because each and every one of them have taken numerious manual processes and, via cron, or some other batch utility, removed the manual component.
Bascially, they took two 'ideas' (sym-links, and automation), and married them.
To give the devil his due, I WOULD consider the compressed file system (like in NT 3.x/4.x) an innovation...
Ok. The whole POINT of moderation is to catagorize articles based on what people feel is 'worth reading'. How would you determine what's worth reading without applying your own views, slants, and etc. to it...
You can always set YOUR threshold to -1. I am personally thankful for someone taking the time to filter out things that, IMHO, are horse crap.
One thing I've noticed about the Internet in general is that people REALLY like their anonimity. I've seen things typed in e-Mail and newsgroup messages that people would a) never say to someones face, and b) probably not even write in a email with their REAL name behind it.
Even here at/. there are a LARGE number of people that post anonomiously, or have a tendancy to really 'hack' away at someones response, rather than just offering a "counter view-point..."
If I was them, I wouldn't be too quick to responde to an email from 'cherrypicker@hotmail.com', at lease not when I have a phone calls from "Agnes Miller, (734-555-1515)" and snail-mail letters from "Richard Bronner, 123 Main St, somecity, mystate..."
It's really a shame too, because I'm a HUGE email fan...!
Before y'all get your hopes up, Speedchoice is only available in two metro areas: Detroit and Phoenix, but I really liked the technology as well as the performance.
The idea is the same as DirectPC. Your downstream connection is 'radio wave' (I hesitate to use the term 'microwave', 'cuz I'm not sure if it was...). Your upstream connection is a WAN line (mine was an analog modem (28.8, I think). You're interface to all the equipment (analog modem, radio modem, antenna) is a 10baseT drop.
The 'radio modem' controls the whole works. It dials the analog modem when needed, and routes all your packets for you (up and down). There is Windows software that you can use to control the modem (no auto-dial, Am I connected?, that type of stuff).
The most impressive part was the speed. The best I ever got on an FTP download was 160Kb/s. As a matter of fact, Speedchoice was stating the following 'estimated' throughputs:
analog Modem up = 1Mb down dual ISDN up = 4-5Mb down T1 up = 10Mb down
The analog up was only $49.99/month unlimited access (rented equipment), and a $99 install.
So, why, you may ask, did I get rid of it? Well, it is a line-of-sight technology, and when they installed it, the line-of-sight was through a hole in some trees. Well, appearently, after a big storm blew through, that hole was gone...:-( And so was my service. It's been a struggle to get a high-speed access since.
But, if you're in Detroit or Phoenix, I highly recommend it! You won't be hosting a web site, but it ROCKS! for surfing!
...and SO short sited. Xerox develops all this amazingly cool stuff, and never manages to bring it to market... Finally, someone else does, and the only thing they have left to do is sue!
If I were them, I don't think I'd sue just because I would be too embarrassed at how many good ideas I've had that I never made any money off of....
Check out the website. His 'upcoming schedule' doesn't have much, since it doesn't like the Year 19100.. (if they've fixed it, there's a snapshot of the page here.
Re:Whatever happened to "fitting on a floppy"?
on
Mozilla M12 Released
·
· Score: 1
I think it's because artists got involved. HTML had some nice, simple editing functions, but then, over time, appearance became more important than content.. (if you doubt it, go to http://www.compaq.com and try to find anything....)
This from the same company that, if you run a web site driven by a SQL*Server Database, you have to buy an unlimited-user license for SQL*Server... Can you say $22,000?
Being an end user I really saw no need to use a full blown mailserver which is capable to support a company with over 2000 employees (assuming sendmail can handle this btw)
I ran a Sendmail/UofW POP3 server for Ford for about 2 years. At it's peak, it had over 7000 mailboxes on it, and was recieving about 100,000 messages/day. This was on a dual Ultrasparc (166Mhz) w/ 256MB of RAM and a boatload of disk. It had a consistant load-average of about 1.1. I think sendmail can do 2000...
;)
Some people shouldn't even ATTEMPT....
on
CNN Installs Linux
·
· Score: 1
Quote:
I open the computer case to look for brand names and memory sizes. I don't even know for sure if I have a graphics card.
Ok. I'm thinking that if this guy didn't know if he even HAD a graphics card, he has no place installing an OS...
If Sun doesn't have their eye on the home market, then they will NEVER pass Microsoft in the marketplace. There are two factors in the US workplace that are becoming more and more prevelant: 1) More people are doing work after hours, at home, and 2) these people are going to want the same tools there that they have at work, because no one wants to learn multiple programs, and have to worry about format conversions, and etc.
I've seen this happen on two separate occasions in a VERY large company. The first time was with WordPerfect and MS Word. More people had experience with MS Word, and they felt that WordPerfect was 'inferior', and too hard to use. The company then went from a WP/Lotus suite to MS Office. The second time was with Windows95. Windows95 came out to long after the start of the home PC surge. More people had Windows95 at home (because it came with the new PC), and they wanted the same thing at work.
From a business standpoint, this makes sense, esp. when you look at the reduction in Training costs. If they already know Win95, why should I pay them to learn Win3.1? The same goes for Word, Excel, and everything else. Then, add to that the extra hour, or more, of work you can get from your employee after he/she has gone home, had dinner w/ the family, bathed the kids, and put them to bed. Then, instead of TV, they then hit the computer to finish that spreadsheet. If they're salaried, it just sweetens the pot.
Sun's 'lite' computing will never become anything but a novelty unless the home market follows suit. And that won't happen until Sun addresses ALL the things that people want at home as well. Things like educational games, and personal finances as well as Office tools.
Oh, I don't know... I buy my copies of RedHat because I want to support the company. If that means I buy support with the distro, then that's fine.
RedHat, if nothing else, is giving the industry and media a focal point. A recognition. My $60 twice a year is a worth-while contribution to that cause. If, along the way, RedHat released some GPL software (USB... Pretty Please? How 'bout a winmodem driver for my Laptop?), all the better.
It's the GPL/GNU/Linux developers that have to maintain the quality of the product, and give Linux it's integrity.
It's like the TV News. The people that WRITE the news are behind the scenes, and RedHat is our anchor person...:)
Do you suppose that the degradation of the search engines is causing people to let other people steer them around the web? I know I've been very frustrated by some of the search engings (not Google, of course) responses to my queries (150,000 hits on a 8 word query... Sites that are inforeign languages, sites that have a word in them, but are unrelated to my search... etc.) I mean really... how 'bout an AND, rather than an OR?
I find it interesting how the author of the article talks about things like they are new and or foreign to computing, when they aren't new, they're just new to PCs.
For example, his comment about having a 'back door' that others could access his system through the telephone or internet. There typcically referred to as 'computer accounts' or 'logon account', and, where they are realitively new to Personal Computers (like Macs and Windoze), they aren't new to people who have worked on IBM Mainframes, and even Digital Mini's (VAXes). These machines don't understand the concept of usage WITHOUT having a 'logn account'.
I used to make fun of the COBOL class I took in college because the first assignment had to be done on punch cards. I'm beginning to respect those types of experiences, because a PC can't do EVERYTHING, and people that only know PC's (and NT is WAY closer to a PC than to anything else in computing..), are missing out on a lot of GREAT technology. Client/Server is a software paradigm... but it's not the ONLY environment. It's important to not forget some of the other computing paradigms, like Multi-user paradigms, or terminal environments, or even (gasp) single-tasking environments!.
I'm glad to hear that, at least from the 'trenches' perspective, Linux/iPlanet ports are still present for the other server products (Mail, Web, directory, specifically). NAS really is a LARGE SCALE appliation (come on, 35K on a Free OS? What's wrong with that picture?), and it doesn't fit well on a LINUX box (at least not yet).
I just hope this isn't a hint of things to come...
The biggest worry that I have is that with this 'Alliance' including Sun technology (directory server components, application server components, and the like), I start to worry about Netscapes committment to Linux. Sun has always been 'borderline' on a Linux committment (no formal support plans, no server offerings, etc.). Is the committment to support Linux still there? Will there be iPlanet for Linux?
Slashdot Mirror
Or more precisely, Netscape 6 and NOT LDAP... FYI - For those of you who use Netscape in an environment that provides LDAP Directory Services, it would seem that ANY LDAP support is not included in this release... which is a bummer. I miss my autocompletion from 4.72!
This mirrors the current functionality-wishlist I have for Mozilla as well.. (at least as of M14...)
Also, as for email comments: Lots of new features, included the LONG desired ability to have multiple FROM addresses! No longer will I get bounces back from ListServers because I replied/sent mail from the wrong 'profile'!
The 'messenger start page' is configurable through the UI... you no longer have to edit the PREFS.JS file! (you can also specify your OWN URL through the UI...
Things to watch out for... mail will (optionally) display the Graphical Emoticons if you want, and it will 'auto format' certain text strings for HTML! Beware of 'auto editing applications'...
I don't buy the idea that Microsoft is primarily a 'software' company. Granted, much of their history is 'software' related, but starting in the mid 90's, that 'software' company started looking at Hardware. Microsoft has an entire line of PC Peripherals (keyboards, Mice, Speakers, Telephones, joysticks), as well as having eyes on things like cable television, 'set-top boxes' (a la webTV), Game consoles. I've been to presentations at MS HQ on home automation (they have an entire 'building' set up as the 'home of the future' type stuff with integrated climate, scheduing, entertainment, and the hole 9 yards).
Truth be told, they haven't had any significant new 'software' offerings since Windows95 (Win2k is a possible acception to this, but the jury is still out as to whether it's 'significant') and even Win95 came up 'short' from what was 'promised'... (remember the DOS-less Windows? It's STILL not here).
The Software sales-base has given them the capital to explore all these new 'hardware' and 'hardware/software' arenas. That's what the anti-trust was all about...
have you used IE 5 EVER?
Yup. Have you tried IE anything on any platform OTHER than WINDOWS (Mac, Solaris, HP-UX?). Sucks big time.
And macromedia bundles their stuff with Win98 (to work on IE 5, of course). What could
Netscape do about that? Nothing. Sucked to be them.
Wow... something that gets bundled w/ the OS has the upper hand. Wasn't that my point?
The editorial that starts after the bold text in the article is, IMHO, a flaming pile of crap. His premise is that the plugins drove the browser war to is 'finish' because the plugins are 'os specific' and browser independent. Well, if it interfaces with either browser, then how can that be a factor in a browser battle? Unless one browser handles the plugin better, it should have had any bearing on the 'battle'.
Microsoft won the battle because they DID bundle it with their operating system, which is the dominant OS in the the desktop market. It basically came down to economics. By MS not charging for it, and bundling it with the operating system, they turned it into a commodity. Why download/buy/get another browser, when I already have one. It's not like I can 'get rid' of the one I have... it's in the OS?
Simiarly, the IT departments of companies don't want to spend time, and money supporting two products?
M$ forced their vendors to install the browser when it WASN'T tightly integrated to buy them enough time to integrate it so it HAD to be there...
Maybe this guy should hang out in the REAL world for a while...
First, let me say that this is another nice 'gloom and doom' article from the National Enquirer of computer news, ZDNet.
Ok, now that THAT'S off my chest... some of this can be 'countered' by self policing. Ebay and AIM are two examples of self-policing, albeit that the risks can be low. Other 'commercial' sites are also using the third party 'e-biz' rating system for their ecommerce site. As more of this type of thing becomes common, the international e-commerce risks will be reduced, as long as you know what to look for...
Remember, the first time someone bought things from the back of a van, only to find out later it was stolen, or fake, was a lesson learned, and now it's a fairly well known warning...
Also keep in mind that ANY shopping is a risk, especially 'remote' credit card transactions. Heck, sitting in a restaurant and giving the waiter your credit card for payment is a risk. The best you can hope for is to minimize your risks, but you'll never be able to eliminate them.
But hey, I could rationalize myself out of a paper bag if I wanted to..
I agree that they didn't simply recreate symbolic links, but, on the other hand, I don't know if I consider this 'innovation' either. To put it in a management summary form, basically, they took the manual process of symbolic links, and automated the process so it happens on a continual basis. If automation=innovation, then every sysadmin I know must be the innovator of the millenium, because each and every one of them have taken numerious manual processes and, via cron, or some other batch utility, removed the manual component.
Bascially, they took two 'ideas' (sym-links, and automation), and married them.
To give the devil his due, I WOULD consider the compressed file system (like in NT 3.x/4.x) an innovation...
Ok. The whole POINT of moderation is to catagorize articles based on what people feel is 'worth reading'. How would you determine what's worth reading without applying your own views, slants, and etc. to it...
You can always set YOUR threshold to -1. I am personally thankful for someone taking the time to filter out things that, IMHO, are horse crap.
One thing I've noticed about the Internet in general is that people REALLY like their anonimity. I've seen things typed in e-Mail and newsgroup messages that people would a) never say to someones face, and b) probably not even write in a email with their REAL name behind it.
/. there are a LARGE number of people that post anonomiously, or have a tendancy to really 'hack' away at someones response, rather than just offering a "counter view-point..."
Even here at
If I was them, I wouldn't be too quick to responde to an email from 'cherrypicker@hotmail.com', at lease not when I have a phone calls from "Agnes Miller, (734-555-1515)" and snail-mail letters from "Richard Bronner, 123 Main St, somecity, mystate..."
It's really a shame too, because I'm a HUGE email fan...!
Before y'all get your hopes up, Speedchoice is only available in two metro areas: Detroit and Phoenix, but I really liked the technology as well as the performance.
:-( And so was my service. It's been a struggle to get a high-speed access since.
The idea is the same as DirectPC. Your downstream connection is 'radio wave' (I hesitate to use the term 'microwave', 'cuz I'm not sure if it was...). Your upstream connection is a WAN line (mine was an analog modem (28.8, I think). You're interface to all the equipment (analog modem, radio modem, antenna) is a 10baseT drop.
The 'radio modem' controls the whole works. It dials the analog modem when needed, and routes all your packets for you (up and down). There is Windows software that you can use to control the modem (no auto-dial, Am I connected?, that type of stuff).
The most impressive part was the speed. The best I ever got on an FTP download was 160Kb/s. As a matter of fact, Speedchoice was stating the following 'estimated' throughputs:
analog Modem up = 1Mb down
dual ISDN up = 4-5Mb down
T1 up = 10Mb down
The analog up was only $49.99/month unlimited access (rented equipment), and a $99 install.
So, why, you may ask, did I get rid of it? Well, it is a line-of-sight technology, and when they installed it, the line-of-sight was through a hole in some trees. Well, appearently, after a big storm blew through, that hole was gone...
But, if you're in Detroit or Phoenix, I highly recommend it! You won't be hosting a web site, but it ROCKS! for surfing!
...and SO short sited. Xerox develops all this amazingly cool stuff, and never manages to bring it to market... Finally, someone else does, and the only thing they have left to do is sue!
If I were them, I don't think I'd sue just because I would be too embarrassed at how many good ideas I've had that I never made any money off of....
Check out the website. His 'upcoming schedule' doesn't have much, since it doesn't like the Year 19100.. (if they've fixed it, there's a snapshot of the page here.
I think it's because artists got involved. HTML had some nice, simple editing functions, but then, over time, appearance became more important than content.. (if you doubt it, go to http://www.compaq.com and try to find anything....)
This from the same company that, if you run a web site driven by a SQL*Server Database, you have to buy an unlimited-user license for SQL*Server... Can you say $22,000?
Being an end user I really saw no need to use a full blown mailserver which is capable to support a company with over 2000 employees (assuming sendmail can handle this btw)
I ran a Sendmail/UofW POP3 server for Ford for about 2 years. At it's peak, it had over 7000 mailboxes on it, and was recieving about 100,000 messages/day. This was on a dual Ultrasparc (166Mhz) w/ 256MB of RAM and a boatload of disk. It had a consistant load-average of about 1.1. I think sendmail can do 2000...
;)
Quote:
:)
I open the computer case to look for brand names and memory sizes. I don't even know for sure if I have a graphics card.
Ok. I'm thinking that if this guy didn't know if he even HAD a graphics card, he has no place installing an OS...
Just my opinion....
Wow! I hope they mean INTENTIONALLY transmitting them is illegal...
Otherwise, over 50% of my company will be arrested...! (not me, of course...)
If Sun doesn't have their eye on the home market, then they will NEVER pass Microsoft in the marketplace. There are two factors in the US workplace that are becoming more and more prevelant: 1) More people are doing work after hours, at home, and 2) these people are going to want the same tools there that they have at work, because no one wants to learn multiple programs, and have to worry about format conversions, and etc.
I've seen this happen on two separate occasions in a VERY large company. The first time was with WordPerfect and MS Word. More people had experience with MS Word, and they felt that WordPerfect was 'inferior', and too hard to use. The company then went from a WP/Lotus suite to MS Office. The second time was with Windows95. Windows95 came out to long after the start of the home PC surge. More people had Windows95 at home (because it came with the new PC), and they wanted the same thing at work.
From a business standpoint, this makes sense, esp. when you look at the reduction in Training costs. If they already know Win95, why should I pay them to learn Win3.1? The same goes for Word, Excel, and everything else. Then, add to that the extra hour, or more, of work you can get from your employee after he/she has gone home, had dinner w/ the family, bathed the kids, and put them to bed. Then, instead of TV, they then hit the computer to finish that spreadsheet. If they're salaried, it just sweetens the pot.
Sun's 'lite' computing will never become anything but a novelty unless the home market follows suit. And that won't happen until Sun addresses ALL the things that people want at home as well. Things like educational games, and personal finances as well as Office tools.
Oh, I don't know... I buy my copies of RedHat because I want to support the company. If that means I buy support with the distro, then that's fine.
:)
RedHat, if nothing else, is giving the industry and media a focal point. A recognition. My $60 twice a year is a worth-while contribution to that cause. If, along the way, RedHat released some GPL software (USB... Pretty Please? How 'bout a winmodem driver for my Laptop?), all the better.
It's the GPL/GNU/Linux developers that have to maintain the quality of the product, and give Linux it's integrity.
It's like the TV News. The people that WRITE the news are behind the scenes, and RedHat is our anchor person...
Do you suppose that the degradation of the search engines is causing people to let other people steer them around the web? I know I've been very frustrated by some of the search engings (not Google, of course) responses to my queries (150,000 hits on a 8 word query... Sites that are inforeign languages, sites that have a word in them, but are unrelated to my search... etc.) I mean really... how 'bout an AND, rather than an OR?
I find it interesting how the author of the article talks about things like they are new and or foreign to computing, when they aren't new, they're just new to PCs.
For example, his comment about having a 'back door' that others could access his system through the telephone or internet. There typcically referred to as 'computer accounts' or 'logon account', and, where they are realitively new to Personal Computers (like Macs and Windoze), they aren't new to people who have worked on IBM Mainframes, and even Digital Mini's (VAXes).
These machines don't understand the concept of usage WITHOUT having a 'logn account'.
I used to make fun of the COBOL class I took in college because the first assignment had to be done on punch cards. I'm beginning to respect those types of experiences, because a PC can't do EVERYTHING, and people that only know PC's (and NT is WAY closer to a PC than to anything else in computing..), are missing out on a lot of GREAT technology. Client/Server is a software paradigm... but it's not the ONLY environment. It's important to not forget some of the other computing paradigms, like Multi-user paradigms, or terminal environments, or even (gasp) single-tasking environments!.
I'm glad to hear that, at least from the 'trenches' perspective, Linux/iPlanet ports are still present for the other server products (Mail, Web, directory, specifically). NAS really is a LARGE SCALE appliation (come on, 35K on a Free OS? What's wrong with that picture?), and it doesn't fit well on a LINUX box (at least not yet).
I just hope this isn't a hint of things to come...
The biggest worry that I have is that with this 'Alliance' including Sun technology (directory server components, application server components, and the like), I start to worry about Netscapes committment to Linux. Sun has always been 'borderline' on a Linux committment (no formal support plans, no server offerings, etc.). Is the committment to support Linux still there? Will there be iPlanet for Linux?