As a semi-physicist, I clearly see your point and agree with most of what you say. However, I would like to further comment about acronyms (your 3rd Law). And please note the distinction between an acronym and an abbreviation.
Your example of PC vs. Mac illustrates one concept. The abbreviation PC gives the illusion of simplicity (and cost?) because it has less letters than Mac. However, Mac is only one syllable, and in the end, much easier to say (and to use).:)
Take the name Common Business-Oriented Language. Eeeeww! Ah, but shorten it to COBOL and a whole bunch of suckers then use it. This is also true for Formula Translator; this monstrousity would never do. But shorten it to FORTRAN, and once again, a whole bunch of suckers then use it. (Note: 2 syllable acronyms) However, instead of stopping there, the folks up at Waterloo took it to a fatal level with their Waterloo FORTRAN: WATFOR. Yes indeed, WATFOR!? Not content with this, the Waterloo FORTRAN IV compiler comes out (WATFIV). Chaos ensues as users are confused (Wat5 is fortran 4).
I have no idea what I'm talking about except to say that names are important (no more that 2 syllables), and acronyms sometimes work.
As for me, my sinister, evil choice of a name is GPL/Linux.
No, I understand the outrage at Gore's publicity stunt. And it was not the purpose of my post to pour more gasoline on the fire. However, I do feel that OSS will benefit more from Gore's use of "Open Source"; free high level publicity will only increase the level of curiousity in "Open Source." On a more humorous side, my actual 1st reaction to this was, "Wow, Gore must also hate Microsoft!"
As for Gore himself, I just would like to point out that he has been instrumental in IT^2, which will dramatically increase government spending in R&D in high performance computing and communications. According to administration statements, about 60% of the funds of this program will support university research.
As for Lessig's article, I strongly feel that everyone should read it given the recent inquiry from the H20 project to the open source community. (note: Lessig is not listed as one of the developers of H20). Furthermore, the message in the speech is important. If Gore has read this, then it may explain this latest course of action.
The relationship and similarity between "Open Source" on the web and OSS was studied by Lawrence Lessig of the Berkman Center of Internet and Society (Harvard Law School). One can download a pdf file of his lecture (Open Code and Open Society: Values of Internet Governance) from Lessig's web site. I would also suggest that ppl read some of the other things that Lessig has written.
In this lecture, Lessig talks about the growth of Linux and of the WWW. He makes some comments about HTML and HTTP being "Open Source" as one can view the code of someone else's web page. This, he explains, helped the early expansion of the WWW. I'm probably not doing Lessig any justice by trying to summarize his lecture, so I strongly suggest that you read it.
Why is this of interest to the Linux community? If you remember,/. posted an article this past week about "Open Code" and the H20 project. These projects are Berkman Center initiatives and Lessig is the Berkman Prof. for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies.
The U.S. Military has increased their R&D efforts in non-lethal weapons. One reason for this increase is because of the new role of peacekeeper/policeman that the military has been forced to undertake by the politicans. I'll skip any further political discussion about the actions of the UN, NATO, or the US.
As a M-16 does not have a stun setting, the military requires effective non-lethal weapons as killing all the local inhabitants is generally regarded as poor PR. The debacle in Somalia clearly illustrates what happens when troops are deployed without the proper equipment. So weapons such as sticky foam, super lubricants, high intensity lasers, bean bag bullets, directed radio frequency, and acoustic pulses have/are being developed.
A M-16 is designed to kill. These weapons are supposed to be designed to be a little more gentle. Maybe someone will come up with a 1st person shoot-em-up using only non-lethal weapons.
If a person takes a day off from work using vacation leave, then I don't understand how this equals lost productivity. Isn't leave time already factored into a person's productivity level? If a person becomes "sick", well, this is not anything new. The practice of taking a day of sick leave to do something else (for instance, to go to City Hall to cheer on a victorious sport team, go golfing) has been around for a long time. If the PHB's haven't factored this into their thinking, then they are delusional.
My boss won't care if I disappear to go see this movie. Fortunately he judges my productivity by the work that actually gets done, not by the number of hours I sit at my desk.
And the answer to the important question is yes, I am.
My understanding of the GUID issue is that the Melissa virus and a couple of previous viruses shared the same GUID. Hence, a first assumption is to assume that they came from the same source. Then the task would be to backtrack the origins of the viruses until one reached a common starting point (like finding the intersection point of two lines). This is where the AOL comes in. I don't know what info AOL archives, but perhaps this may be the key to how they tracked down this guy.
I'm wasting part of today downloading virus updates on ppl's computers so I'm a little peeved by all of this.
I just realized something. That link is to a Russian web site. We all know what happens when/. posts a link. Right now, there a Ruskie running around shouting "Capitalistic Running Dog cyber attack! They're trying to take down our server!" If the server stays up, then the same guy starts yelling, "I'm Invincible!"
Tomorrow in Pravda, "Cmdr Taco, NSA's Secret Weapon Launches Attack on Russian Computer Network."
Thank you for this lovely piece of info! After reading about Caldera's battles with MS, ESR, and flames, etc..., it's nice to be able to laugh once again.
The link to the Russian web site was very good, very inspired thinking. However, there was only one thing missing. Sengan should have added a commentary at the end. Something like how he totally approved of this move and that the computer expertise in Europe was much better than what the average American thought it was. Now that would have generated a few thoughtful replies.
The point you make is very valid and highly plausible. The article did mention Windows2000 but didn't say if it was to be the Professional Edition which is the renamed NT5.0. But that is totally besides the point. Like you commented, all Microsoft has to do (and what they do best) is to come up with a newer version that breaks the compatibility with any versions they are forced to sell off.
Perhaps Microsoft could also deliberately put very subtle bugs into Windows 2000.
Microsoft has been posturing the past two weeks about settling the case with the DoJ and the 19 states. They actually put forth a proposal to the states, and will be talking to the DoJ on Tuesday. According to some new sources, the proposal to the states is woefully inadequate.
In the grand scheme of things, what the states are doing is countering MS's offer with one that must be totally repulsive to MS. After all, MS offering was most likely equally repulsive to the states. This is called negotiating a settlement.
MS has been sitting pretty since the trial recess as their stock price has steadily gone up because of the talk of a settlement. The best way to remove the smug smile from someone is to kick him in the nuts.
This sort of reminds me of my freshmen ME design class when we each had to design and build a device to safely catch a 2 lb water balloon dropped from a height of 60 ft. The winning prizes went to the succesful device with either the lightest weight or the shortest height.
Well, somebody showed up with a pan of thinly layered jello and mashed potatoes. We all laughed and were shaking our heads until it worked. Everybody within 20 ft of the pan got sprayed with the jello and potatoes. It was great.
I am quite sure that NASA has incorporated Jello into something by now.
This will be the absolutely last time I ever try to defend a bunch of Microsoft weenies.
Your comments about the state of education in America are painfully true. Overall SAT scores decline so they change the scoring curve to raise the average. Huh? This is education?
Profs that give out low scores are punished by low enrollment in their classes and by negative evaluations. If they lower their standards they get rewarded in today's educational environment.
My original post was not intended to be flame bait and your reply was not a flame but a good slap in the face. Thanks, I needed that.
Before making comments about the students being stupid, one should consider that the article states that ALL 12 students failed. This is not normal. Can anybody out there recall a class in which all the students failed?
In my Calculus II course, I got a 4 out of 40 on my 1st exam. I was extrememly depressed until the prof told us that the class median score was a zero. The mean score was a 4. By the end of course there were only 6 (out of 30) of us left. This is the worse I have ever seen.
There is something inherently wrong with a class in which all the students fail. I don't care about the point and click stuff that was mentioned. These students should never have been allowed to take this course in the first place.
There was an old Bloom County strip that made fun of the Death Star/AT&T connection. If you were a fan of Bloom County, you would know that many of the folks like to "play" Star Trek. IIRC, the strip talked about going against a big evil power in the universe. They bravely go forth until they see the enemy. "The Death Star!", which turned out to be the AT&T logo on a billboard.
I'm in a cheerful mood today (my program finally works), so I'll put a more positive slant on these two articles. First, if anybody has ever looked at a linux mailing list dealing with setup and installation, one would realize that the authors troubles are not unusual. The only thing missing were, my mouse buttons don't work, the colors on my screen are screwed up, and I'm not getting any sound output.
The best way to read these types of articles is to take the attitude, "don't get mad, get even." In this case, systematically improve or fix each of the complaints. RedHat, are you listening? (I name RedHat because they installed their distro). The key is to say to yourself, what needs to be done so that a stupid, *ahem* I mean, novice user can flawlessly install and use linux. Well, a good source of info on this is these types of articles.
Secondly, the argument about unix being the evil monstrous operating system will be sorely tested with the release of MacOSX. People here at/. routinely flame Mac users for being ignorant and not computer savy. Well guess what? Pretty soon, these computer illiterate Mac users are going to be running unix (Is Apple going to disable core dumps?). Then what are these writers going to say about unix? That Linux is not as easy to use as MacOSX?
As for the splintered Unix community? This time tested FUD has been around for over a decade. At least now we have the POSIX standards (but you won't see the word POSIX in these types of articles).
Thanks for your interesting comments. Now my head hurts.
If I have a trademark and a domain that uses that trademark, can the courts force me to sell the domain name while I still hold the trademark? If the courts cannot force me to sell off a trademark, then it would seem that they could not also force me to sell off the domain name if it contained a trademark.
The Federal Court in Virginia made a ruling based on their interpretation of existing Federal trademark laws and regulations. If current laws do not have any specific rules governing trademarks and domain name, the problem is not with the courts. The problem would be that Congress has not taken the time (they would rather spend it renaming Washington National Airport) to address this issue.
If there are existing specific laws, the courts do not have the jurisdiction to make up their own laws. If this decision is a mistake, then it will probably be taken up by a Federal Appeals Court. If issues concerning the Constitution are involved, then the issue can eventually end up at the Supreme Court after Federal Appeals Court.
In the absence of existing specific rules, the courts interpret the law to the best of their ability. If you don't like it, complain to your representative in Congress about the need for additions or changes to US Trademark laws. They will then try to pass a law that violates the 1st Amemdment of the Constitution.
Boy, am I mad a Congress today. Must have been that Newt article.
If you wanted to make fun of Pepsi, you could register the name takobell.com. In this case tako is the Japanese word for octopus. Then put a humorous parody site featuring tako fajitas, tako tacos, etc...
The US Supreme Court has already ruled that parody is protected under the 1st Amendment.
You have made a lot of fine points and I don't want to get into a nit-picking battle, but...
Dred Scott was in 1857 and that decision also declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. That part of the Dred Scott Decision was critical, IMHO. The Kansas-Nebraska Act came a few year earlier (also related to the Missouri Compromise).
Lincoln declared that the secession of the southern states was "illegal" (I can't remember the actual legal aspects). Hence, there was no actual breakup of the US and the conflict was a civil war. Of course the two sides greatly disagreed over this legal wrangling, and on Lincoln's decision to maintain occupancy of southern forts (like Sumter).
IMHO, the War Between the States was the result of political and economic conflicts between the north and the south. The issue of slavery was inherent in both issues. However, the war did not start with the northern mantra of "Let's free the slaves." Most people, back then, were not that enlighten.
BTW, I'm surprised that no one has mention John Brown (Kansas and Harpers Ferry). If they made a movie about Brown, RMS would be cast in the lead role.;-)
Besides stating that Congress could not prohibit slavery, the Dred Scott decision also declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. A few years earlier, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed that had already nullified this compromise.
To refresh your memory, the Missouri Compromise was essentially a tit-for-tat arrangement; one free (Maine) and one slave (Missouri) state admitted to the union at the same time. Under this new arrangement, the states entering the union could decide for themselves their status (free vs. slave). The states that allowed slavery essentially realized that they would eventually lose parity in the Senate with the free states.
I tried posting this earlier, but I must have screwed up (or maybe moderated to a -400).
I have a suggestion that you may or may not abide by. As a moderator, you have been given oversight power here at/. You should therefore not respond to these types of comments as then you become part of the issue. Your role as a moderator means (to me at least) that you should exercise self-constraint in the face of postings dealing with moderation. I also feel that you comment about stop whining was inappropriate. It might have been okay if I had said it, but from you, no.
Good luck in your thankless but important role as moderator.
Yes, you own the comment and may be held accountable for any libelous statements that you make. This legal disclaimer is simply to protect/. The recent case involving Yahoo and Raytheon is of interest in this regard.
As for your penalty, one would need the written acknowledgment of Rob for it to be binding. OTOH, you can copyright your post to this public forum, thereby placing limits on any further repostings on another site.
Don't forget heat produced by radioactive decay when considering how much time it takes to cool. There was a classic debate during the 1800's between geologists and physicists as to the age of the earth. The geologist asserted that the earth had to 100's of millions year old, while the physicists (especially Lord Kelvin) claimed less than 100 m.y. (based on simple heat conduction loss of an initially molten body). Then radioactivity was discovered.
Except for this, I believe that everything else you wrote is correct.
The April edition of Macworld has an article that presents an overview of Unix (it is not yet posted at macworld.com). As most of you know, MacOSX will be based on the Mach kernel and BSD4.4. This story therefore serves to introduce the Mac user to this "new" OS.
I found the article to be well written (at times), and also funny; funny like in haha and sad. Let's just say that there will be the normal Apple flaming if/. features a link to this when it eventually gets posted at macworld.com (hmmm, maybe I shouldn't be writing this).
Now close your eyes and imagine what a story about Unix for a typical Mac user would look like.
Oh I forgot, Go LinuxPPC!! Where's my Release 5 CD!:-)
Slashdot Mirror
As a semi-physicist, I clearly see your point and agree with most of what you say. However, I would like to further comment about acronyms (your 3rd Law). And please note the distinction between an acronym and an abbreviation.
Your example of PC vs. Mac illustrates one concept. The abbreviation PC gives the illusion of simplicity (and cost?) because it has less letters than Mac. However, Mac is only one syllable, and in the end, much easier to say (and to use).:)
Take the name Common Business-Oriented Language. Eeeeww! Ah, but shorten it to COBOL and a whole bunch of suckers then use it. This is also true for Formula Translator; this monstrousity would never do. But shorten it to FORTRAN, and once again, a whole bunch of suckers then use it. (Note: 2 syllable acronyms) However, instead of stopping there, the folks up at Waterloo took it to a fatal level with their Waterloo FORTRAN: WATFOR. Yes indeed, WATFOR!? Not content with this, the Waterloo FORTRAN IV compiler comes out (WATFIV). Chaos ensues as users are confused (Wat5 is fortran 4).
I have no idea what I'm talking about except to say that names are important (no more that 2 syllables), and acronyms sometimes work.
As for me, my sinister, evil choice of a name is GPL/Linux.
No, I understand the outrage at Gore's publicity stunt. And it was not the purpose of my post to pour more gasoline on the fire. However, I do feel that OSS will benefit more from Gore's use of "Open Source"; free high level publicity will only increase the level of curiousity in "Open Source." On a more humorous side, my actual 1st reaction to this was, "Wow, Gore must also hate Microsoft!"
As for Gore himself, I just would like to point out that he has been instrumental in IT^2, which will dramatically increase government spending in R&D in high performance computing and communications. According to administration statements, about 60% of the funds of this program will support university research.
As for Lessig's article, I strongly feel that everyone should read it given the recent inquiry from the H20 project to the open source community. (note: Lessig is not listed as one of the developers of H20). Furthermore, the message in the speech is important. If Gore has read this, then it may explain this latest course of action.
The relationship and similarity between "Open Source" on the web and OSS was studied by Lawrence Lessig of the Berkman Center of Internet and Society (Harvard Law School). One can download a pdf file of his lecture (Open Code and Open Society: Values of Internet Governance) from Lessig's web site. I would also suggest that ppl read some of the other things that Lessig has written.
/. posted an article this past week about "Open Code" and the H20 project. These projects are Berkman Center initiatives and Lessig is the Berkman Prof. for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies.
In this lecture, Lessig talks about the growth of Linux and of the WWW. He makes some comments about HTML and HTTP being "Open Source" as one can view the code of someone else's web page. This, he explains, helped the early expansion of the WWW. I'm probably not doing Lessig any justice by trying to summarize his lecture, so I strongly suggest that you read it.
Why is this of interest to the Linux community? If you remember,
The U.S. Military has increased their R&D efforts in non-lethal weapons. One reason for this increase is because of the new role of peacekeeper/policeman that the military has been forced to undertake by the politicans. I'll skip any further political discussion about the actions of the UN, NATO, or the US.
As a M-16 does not have a stun setting, the military requires effective non-lethal weapons as killing all the local inhabitants is generally regarded as poor PR. The debacle in Somalia clearly illustrates what happens when troops are deployed without the proper equipment. So weapons such as sticky foam, super lubricants, high intensity lasers, bean bag bullets, directed radio frequency, and acoustic pulses have/are being developed.
A M-16 is designed to kill. These weapons are supposed to be designed to be a little more gentle. Maybe someone will come up with a 1st person shoot-em-up using only non-lethal weapons.
If a person takes a day off from work using vacation leave, then I don't understand how this equals lost productivity. Isn't leave time already factored into a person's productivity level? If a person becomes "sick", well, this is not anything new. The practice of taking a day of sick leave to do something else (for instance, to go to City Hall to cheer on a victorious sport team, go golfing) has been around for a long time. If the PHB's haven't factored this into their thinking, then they are delusional.
My boss won't care if I disappear to go see this movie. Fortunately he judges my productivity by the work that actually gets done, not by the number of hours I sit at my desk.
And the answer to the important question is yes, I am.
My understanding of the GUID issue is that the Melissa virus and a couple of previous viruses shared the same GUID. Hence, a first assumption is to assume that they came from the same source. Then the task would be to backtrack the origins of the viruses until one reached a common starting point (like finding the intersection point of two lines). This is where the AOL comes in. I don't know what info AOL archives, but perhaps this may be the key to how they tracked down this guy.
I'm wasting part of today downloading virus updates on ppl's computers so I'm a little peeved by all of this.
I just realized something. That link is to a Russian web site. We all know what happens when /. posts a link. Right now, there a Ruskie running around shouting "Capitalistic Running Dog cyber attack! They're trying to take down our server!" If the server stays up, then the same guy starts yelling, "I'm Invincible!"
Tomorrow in Pravda, "Cmdr Taco, NSA's Secret Weapon Launches Attack on Russian Computer Network."
Thank you for this lovely piece of info! After reading about Caldera's battles with MS, ESR, and flames, etc..., it's nice to be able to laugh once again.
The link to the Russian web site was very good, very inspired thinking. However, there was only one thing missing. Sengan should have added a commentary at the end. Something like how he totally approved of this move and that the computer expertise in Europe was much better than what the average American thought it was. Now that would have generated a few thoughtful replies.
The point you make is very valid and highly plausible. The article did mention Windows2000 but didn't say if it was to be the Professional Edition which is the renamed NT5.0. But that is totally besides the point. Like you commented, all Microsoft has to do (and what they do best) is to come up with a newer version that breaks the compatibility with any versions they are forced to sell off.
Perhaps Microsoft could also deliberately put very subtle bugs into Windows 2000.
Microsoft has been posturing the past two weeks about settling the case with the DoJ and the 19 states. They actually put forth a proposal to the states, and will be talking to the DoJ on Tuesday. According to some new sources, the proposal to the states is woefully inadequate.
In the grand scheme of things, what the states are doing is countering MS's offer with one that must be totally repulsive to MS. After all, MS offering was most likely equally repulsive to the states. This is called negotiating a settlement.
MS has been sitting pretty since the trial recess as their stock price has steadily gone up because of the talk of a settlement. The best way to remove the smug smile from someone is to kick him in the nuts.
This sort of reminds me of my freshmen ME design class when we each had to design and build a device to safely catch a 2 lb water balloon dropped from a height of 60 ft. The winning prizes went to the succesful device with either the lightest weight or the shortest height.
Well, somebody showed up with a pan of thinly layered jello and mashed potatoes. We all laughed and were shaking our heads until it worked. Everybody within 20 ft of the pan got sprayed with the jello and potatoes. It was great.
I am quite sure that NASA has incorporated Jello into something by now.
This will be the absolutely last time I ever try to defend a bunch of Microsoft weenies.
Your comments about the state of education in America are painfully true. Overall SAT scores decline so they change the scoring curve to raise the average. Huh? This is education?
Profs that give out low scores are punished by low enrollment in their classes and by negative evaluations. If they lower their standards they get rewarded in today's educational environment.
My original post was not intended to be flame bait and your reply was not a flame but a good slap in the face. Thanks, I needed that.
Woops, you may be right. The wording in the article is slightly ambiguous.
All 12 students failed a 1997 course which was supposed to certify them to work with Microsoft software programs.
Okay, you can all call them (and me) stupid now. But now I wonder what was the failure rate of the class?
Before making comments about the students being stupid, one should consider that the article states that ALL 12 students failed. This is not normal. Can anybody out there recall a class in which all the students failed?
In my Calculus II course, I got a 4 out of 40 on my 1st exam. I was extrememly depressed until the prof told us that the class median score was a zero. The mean score was a 4. By the end of course there were only 6 (out of 30) of us left. This is the worse I have ever seen.
There is something inherently wrong with a class in which all the students fail. I don't care about the point and click stuff that was mentioned. These students should never have been allowed to take this course in the first place.
There was an old Bloom County strip that made fun of the Death Star/AT&T connection. If you were a fan of Bloom County, you would know that many of the folks like to "play" Star Trek. IIRC, the strip talked about going against a big evil power in the universe. They bravely go forth until they see the enemy. "The Death Star!", which turned out to be the AT&T logo on a billboard.
Breathed used to get sued a lot.
Snugglebunnies.
I'm in a cheerful mood today (my program finally works), so I'll put a more positive slant on these two articles. First, if anybody has ever looked at a linux mailing list dealing with setup and installation, one would realize that the authors troubles are not unusual. The only thing missing were, my mouse buttons don't work, the colors on my screen are screwed up, and I'm not getting any sound output.
/. routinely flame Mac users for being ignorant and not computer savy. Well guess what? Pretty soon, these computer illiterate Mac users are going to be running unix (Is Apple going to disable core dumps?). Then what are these writers going to say about unix? That Linux is not as easy to use as MacOSX?
The best way to read these types of articles is to take the attitude, "don't get mad, get even." In this case, systematically improve or fix each of the complaints. RedHat, are you listening? (I name RedHat because they installed their distro). The key is to say to yourself, what needs to be done so that a stupid, *ahem* I mean, novice user can flawlessly install and use linux. Well, a good source of info on this is these types of articles.
Secondly, the argument about unix being the evil monstrous operating system will be sorely tested with the release of MacOSX. People here at
As for the splintered Unix community? This time tested FUD has been around for over a decade. At least now we have the POSIX standards (but you won't see the word POSIX in these types of articles).
Thanks for your interesting comments. Now my head hurts.
If I have a trademark and a domain that uses that trademark, can the courts force me to sell the domain name while I still hold the trademark? If the courts cannot force me to sell off a trademark, then it would seem that they could not also force me to sell off the domain name if it contained a trademark.
The Federal Court in Virginia made a ruling based on their interpretation of existing Federal trademark laws and regulations. If current laws do not have any specific rules governing trademarks and domain name, the problem is not with the courts. The problem would be that Congress has not taken the time (they would rather spend it renaming Washington National Airport) to address this issue.
If there are existing specific laws, the courts do not have the jurisdiction to make up their own laws. If this decision is a mistake, then it will probably be taken up by a Federal Appeals Court. If issues concerning the Constitution are involved, then the issue can eventually end up at the Supreme Court after Federal Appeals Court.
In the absence of existing specific rules, the courts interpret the law to the best of their ability. If you don't like it, complain to your representative in Congress about the need for additions or changes to US Trademark laws. They will then try to pass a law that violates the 1st Amemdment of the Constitution.
Boy, am I mad a Congress today. Must have been that Newt article.
If you wanted to make fun of Pepsi, you could register the name takobell.com. In this case tako is the Japanese word for octopus. Then put a humorous parody site featuring tako fajitas, tako tacos, etc...
The US Supreme Court has already ruled that parody is protected under the 1st Amendment.
You have made a lot of fine points and I don't want to get into a nit-picking battle, but...
Dred Scott was in 1857 and that decision also declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. That part of the Dred Scott Decision was critical, IMHO. The Kansas-Nebraska Act came a few year earlier (also related to the Missouri Compromise).
Lincoln declared that the secession of the southern states was "illegal" (I can't remember the actual legal aspects). Hence, there was no actual breakup of the US and the conflict was a civil war. Of course the two sides greatly disagreed over this legal wrangling, and on Lincoln's decision to maintain occupancy of southern forts (like Sumter).
IMHO, the War Between the States was the result of political and economic conflicts between the north and the south. The issue of slavery was inherent in both issues. However, the war did not start with the northern mantra of "Let's free the slaves." Most people, back then, were not that enlighten.
BTW, I'm surprised that no one has mention John Brown (Kansas and Harpers Ferry). If they made a movie about Brown, RMS would be cast in the lead role.;-)
Besides stating that Congress could not prohibit slavery, the Dred Scott decision also declared that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. A few years earlier, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed that had already nullified this compromise.
To refresh your memory, the Missouri Compromise was essentially a tit-for-tat arrangement; one free (Maine) and one slave (Missouri) state admitted to the union at the same time. Under this new arrangement, the states entering the union could decide for themselves their status (free vs. slave). The states that allowed slavery essentially realized that they would eventually lose parity in the Senate with the free states.
I tried posting this earlier, but I must have screwed up (or maybe moderated to a -400).
I have a suggestion that you may or may not abide by. As a moderator, you have been given oversight power here at /. You should therefore not respond to these types of comments as then you become part of the issue. Your role as a moderator means (to me at least) that you should exercise self-constraint in the face of postings dealing with moderation. I also feel that you comment about stop whining was inappropriate. It might have been okay if I had said it, but from you, no.
Good luck in your thankless but important role as moderator.
And please, don't respond to this.:-)
Yes, you own the comment and may be held accountable for any libelous statements that you make. This legal disclaimer is simply to protect /. The recent case involving Yahoo and Raytheon is of interest in this regard.
As for your penalty, one would need the written acknowledgment of Rob for it to be binding. OTOH, you can copyright your post to this public forum, thereby placing limits on any further repostings on another site.
Don't forget heat produced by radioactive decay when considering how much time it takes to cool. There was a classic debate during the 1800's between geologists and physicists as to the age of the earth. The geologist asserted that the earth had to 100's of millions year old, while the physicists (especially Lord Kelvin) claimed less than 100 m.y. (based on simple heat conduction loss of an initially molten body). Then radioactivity was discovered.
Except for this, I believe that everything else you wrote is correct.
The April edition of Macworld has an article that presents an overview of Unix (it is not yet posted at macworld.com). As most of you know, MacOSX will be based on the Mach kernel and BSD4.4. This story therefore serves to introduce the Mac user to this "new" OS.
/. features a link to this when it eventually gets posted at macworld.com (hmmm, maybe I shouldn't be writing this).
I found the article to be well written (at times), and also funny; funny like in haha and sad. Let's just say that there will be the normal Apple flaming if
Now close your eyes and imagine what a story about Unix for a typical Mac user would look like.
Oh I forgot, Go LinuxPPC!! Where's my Release 5 CD!:-)