Only the French could have a word that begins with four vowels and ends in a consonant. Damned French.
Don't hate me, don't hate me! I'm Canadian as well. I've been to Informative and Insightful and Interesting lately that I'm just trying to be funny. =)
Suse and Redhat, while perfect on the former count, DO NOT OFFER THE FULL BENEFITS OF F/OSS SOFTWARE.
While I have no experience with SUSE, I would like to note that RedHat do offer source-only rpms of their "Enterprise" products from their ftp site. This has even created a spinoff called White Box Linux (www.whiteboxlinux.com). The only hindrance was the required removal of Red Hat trademarks. Other than that, everything else is GPL'd and freely available.
And if you really want free as in beer, get Fedora. It might seem "unstable" to a lot of folks, but it's been working wonders in our office ever since FC1.
Do you really understand that F/OSS stands for "Free" as in Freedom/"Open Source Software".
As a systems admin, you don't have to fuss around with kernels, you can also decide on one distribution if you want. Most distros are freely available on the net for download, so a discount isn't even needed. You can install it, set it up. run updates on it once in a while. Baseline security analyzer? Give me a break. Run a port scanner like nmap on the machine and run 'ps aux' to get a complete list of processes. Keep track of these and most security problems should be avoidable. Fedora does this, Red Hat does this, SuSE does this, the latest Ubuntu does this. You can use yum or apt, how much time does it take anyway? Dependencies are also handled by yum and apt, so no problems there. All these work.
Here's my question... if you're a systems administrator that believes that Windows 2003 is so easy to use, and takes little time, then why not use that extra time to learn the other side of things? You might actually like it if you read enough. Imagine the advantages of having both Windows and Linux on your resume. Or are Windows problems a little too much that you don't have time to learn? Imagine how much money your boss could save if you spent that extra time learning. Then he could get you to download Linux distros, and use those, without having to pay for additional licenses. Imagine the possibilities of opening your mind to new knowledge.
As a systems administrator and business owner, all I can say to you is... sheesh.
I rather like the little chorus of a song I've heard that goes:
"Life should be fun for everyone"
In that short phrase, it displays the freedom and enjoyment of life that everyone deserves. I believe that is what humanity must strive for.
Some will say "life shouldn't be fun for everyone", but I ask "why not?". Some will say "what about the rapists that enjoy raping women", I say "well then if women were raped, they wouldn't be enjoying life now, would they?".
It's kinda hard to explain. Some believe that freedom means you can do anything. Most knowledgable people will say freedom is about doing things to the limit that you won't harm the freedom of others. That's similar to saying everyone should have a better future. Everyone having a better future is in the interest of everyone. Imagine a criminal who no longer has to commit crimes because his life is already better. Wouldn't that make your children's life better as well, not having to worry about crime anymore?
Saying you only want a better life for your children, family, is a Selfish Dream. Saying you want a better future for everyone in the world is, in my honest opinion, the Human Dream.
I'm a part of the Human Race, what are you a part of?
At previewing, I seem to have rambled and have become Off Topic to the original article. Oh well...
I haven't used WinXP in awhile, so correct me if I am wrong... doesn't XP have a little checkbox in the "User Accounts" dialog that says something like "Make my data private" or something to that effect? I believe it is unchecked by default. Can anyone confirm that by default XP doesn't make user folders strict, and that you have to explicitly enable this option. I'm pretty sure Windows 2000 doesn't work this way.
Just a confirmation please, and if not, a correction against what I've said.
I've tried that before. On my own account. I had an account called "thepoch" on my Win2k machine. It was a "Power User" account. So I changed it to "Administrator" to install Palm Desktop. Then switched my account back to a "Power User". Then I could use Palm Desktop without any problems. Except... my sister who had my old hand-me-down Palm couldn't use hers since she had no write permissions to the directory. I could probably allow it, but it's still bad design in my opinion.
Anyway, thanks for the tip. I've solved all this hell by using Linux on my laptop permanently. No Windows to bother with. =)
Argh I'm beginning to sound like a broken CD lately, having to always repeat myself.
It isn't only that Microsoft doesn't even try to tell people that using Admin all the time is bad. It's also the stupid developers that never test their software with non-Admin accounts. And don't even start to talk about RunAs. That's broken as well for most apps.
The only way for all this nonsense to hopefully be worked out is if Microsoft forced developers by making the default account a "User" account. Not even a "Power User" as that's pretty lame as well. Then every app out there will be forced to store their settings in the user's respective "Documents and Settings" folder. At this time, a lot of apps still store settings in either C:\Program Files\ or in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. I'd rather have it in my own C:\D & S\username\Application Data folder and in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. This makes it more similar to *nix where it stores all settings in my/home/username in.files or.directories.
Double Argh. Palm is one company that does this badly. Imagine everyone having to be an Administrator just because Palm Hotsync's data to C:\Program Files\Palm\$palmname. Sheesh.
I've been such a loudmouth with regards to calling for a separate "reader" app for OOo documents, that this idea has slipped my mind. Definitely worth the "Insightful" rating.
It sounds like the Apple approach, where you have separate apps for separate types of documents. Where each app only loads the functionality it needs.
Why install a spreadsheet, presentation app when my employee only needs a wordprocessor. Sweet.
1. OpenOffice.org doesn't open Word documents very well. 2. If OOo does open these, it doesn't render well. 3. You can't use OOo for this *single* document that you edit on a regular basis.
and by this, you immediately conclude that it's not an Office 2003 replacement?
1. & 2. You can help by submitting to OOo's bug tracking system documents you've found to not render properly. This will help developers figure more things out about the document format. 3. If your most important document is this single Word document you talk about... to me it seems a little too much to have to buy Office XP Pro and Office 2003 Pro just to open this document. Couldn't Office XP Pro suffice? Is Office 2003 really a requirement for that one document? Did Clippy suddenly gain new features that helped to handle that document?
I'm sorry but these arguements don't sound "Insightful" to me. OOo isn't just a "usable free word processor" that isn't a "Office 2003 replacement". OOo is a full-featured office suite, that aims to replace nothing, but to only give you a broader choice.
To be honest, I've seen Office 2003, and it's no Office 2000 replacement. There doesn't seem to be any new features that warrant a "must buy". It renders Word documents well enough, but it doesn't seem to handle the OOo documents I throw at it that we regularly use in the office these days. Hey look I just saved the company 90,000 (my currency) from having to buy 6 copies of Office XP SBE.
Regarding your mention of running certain apps using RunAs, PsExec, etc... it doesn't exactly work well. I've said it before and have begun sounding like a busted CD. Multi-user in Windows doesn't really work very well. Include the fact that most developers never take the multi-user environment into consideration.
Here's my example. I will not state a specific app since RunAs works for some, but not most apps out there. Run an app with RunAs. It loads with Administrator priviledges. It will then try to load settings stored in Documents and Settings. There's your problem. Most apps attempt to load stuff off of the current user account, not the account you RunAs'ed. So the app loads with Admin priviledges. But it loads data from the current logged-in account. To Joe Public, these makes the Windows look even more broken... which, as a true multi-user platform, it is.
Gates makes the point, which is correct, that UNIX is losing marketshare, not Windows.
If I remember correctly, MS made WinNT POSIX compliant so that it could market their OS as a UNIX alternative. That was their main goal, to drive migration from UNIX to Windows.
So it seems every UNIX server switching to Linux or Mac OSX is a piece that Windows lost out on.
So you would decide on the character of real-life people based on what you've seen PORTRAYED on a movie?
Did you happen to see how Gates suddenly changed from being somewhat quiet and reserved at Jobs to how he suddenly becomes arrogant in the end? Isn't that somewhat scary? Someone who quietly acts as your friend, but in the end backstabs you?
And did you notice that Jobs was actually fired from Apple? Could it be because of all the rumors of "bad corporate culture" of his doing? Isn't that a sign that "bad corporate culture" isn't acceptable?
I personally hate or love both of them for what I see in everyday life (from news bits mostly), not from what I've seen in a movie. I don't generally judge a person based on what Hollywood portrays him to be.
What's up with open source and accidents? I'm thinking it's all because of the community spirit. These are people that are part of a global community. They are a part of everyone who uses Free Software and Open Source stuff. They are a part of the world, always believing in keeping things Free and Open to everyone. This affects everyone who believes in the same ideals.
Whereas if someone died in Microsoft, those who would know about it would be those close to that person, and those in Microsoft. They would hurt the most. There are probably a few Microsoft people who have been killed, but have only affected those in the company and immediate family.
I'm not trying to say anything against Microsoft here. I'm just saying since Free Software coders are a worldwide bunch, it will be news to the entire worldwide bunch, not a limited corner of a country. It's news like this that saddens me, but also shows that we're part of a group that encompasses the entire world.
I hope I put all those words correctly and not offend anyone.
And after they install the laser protective windshields, what next? Install foam around the door frames because the pilot could get his finger cut off if someone slams the door on his hand? Maybe make the entire cockpit of the plane ejectable and flyable, leaving the entire passenger cabin behind because someone might fart and make the captain choke to death. How about getting rid of plane food, since in the slight chance you get a bad batch, the entire crew can get diarrhea and not be able to land the plane.
My comment sounds flamish, I don't mind if it's modded Flamebait or Troll. But I'm just trying to point out the irony in saying the Terrorists have not won, and yet it's the American government that's trying to scare everyone shitless. I find it also absurd that people have to think up ways to make things safe because they are dangerous now. I hope everyone realizes that cars are terrorist tools, gasoline stations are as well, cellphones are also, computers also, heck even an everyday tool such as a screw driver can cause terror in supermarkets.
1. PDF is usually bigger than the original.sxw. So imagine having to email a bigger file. I already hate people who insist on emailing.doc files without compressing it with winzip, 7-zip, or even the built-in one in WinXP. Compressing.doc can at most times save 50%! Sure with broadband everywhere why bother right? Still, a little saved is better than being plenty wasteful.
2. What if that person wanted to suddenly edit the file? If it were PDF, then he'd have to buy a fairly expensive piece of software like Adobe Acrobat. Normally, when we email a document file, it's for editting. When it's for viewing in final form, then PDF may be appropriate and should be put on a web server for everyone who needs it to download. Emailing something usually is for collaboration with others for editing.
3. So again, what if that person wanted to edit the file? I could probably give him a copy of OpenOffice.org, he installs it, then edits it right there and then. No having to wait for me to email it again because I sent it first in PDF.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to find excuses to sort of "flame" you. I'm just saying there are practical uses to both file formats. Besides, a reader app creates mind-share. It makes people realize that there's another application there worth using. Just as people suddenly realize there's this thing called Adobe Acrobat, simply because they have used something like Adobe Reader.
Or I may just be going psycho with all this. I do hope someone capable thinks "hey I'll start a reader project now". I'd be glad to help in anyway I can.
I've said it once and I'll say it again... what OpenOffice.org needs is a lean-mean OOo Reader Application! By that, I mean not having to download an 80mb installer with everything but the kitchen sink, but maybe a small 2mb or less reader that uses standard widgets (MFC, GTK, etc.) to make the app smaller and faster. I've gotten a friend interested in actually looking at OOo code to make a no-nonsense reader, but due to lack of time, he can't start any open source projects.
A reader app is all we need! Email a.sxw as an attachment to a friend. If he/she has broadband, point them to where to download the app. If not, maybe go over to their place and install it for them. If in another country, get them to download from someone who has broadband, snail mail them an installer CD with the reader and the full OOo app, or pester someone like IBM to include the said reader application with their desktops and laptops. See! I can already imagine the possibilities. If only I can program... I would be willing to test and help promote this stuff (preinstall on all PCs we sell).
The problem with this is that most applications for Windows don't consider the "multi-user" environment. There are a lot of apps that simply don't work well when it's not run by an Administrator account. Take for example Office 2000. I've installed this before on a Windows 2000 machine. When I run it as an Administrator, there is no problem. When I run it as a User account, it keeps asking me to insert the Office 2000 CD because there are missing components. WTF? Granted I installed it with only the features I need, but why the hell should it ask for the CD in the User account and not the Administrator account?
Another case... I used to program for a corporate environment. I was the only one who programs with conditions as to who is running the software, so I could save their data into their respective "Documents and Settings" folder, under Application Data. The rest of the developers don't care. I even set the installer to make sure only an Administrator account can install (using InnoSetup, great software).
So who's to blame? Users for running as Administrator (because they have no choice a lot of times)? Developers for not developing with multi-user environment consideration? Or Microsoft, for "hacking" Windows to become a horrible multi-user environment?
I don't think that's Bill Gates' greatest wish. If that were, then why create "Corporate Editions" of MS software? I think his greatest wish is that everyone becomes so dependent on his software, that when the time comes no one will have a choice in alternatives at all.
I think most people who pirate Windows and Office are also immature enough that they most probably also enjoy playing games. What happens if they can no longer pirate Windows to play games on? They will most probably buy Windows to continue playing. Or they buy an Xbox or PS and use that for games.
Would they be forced to use Linux instead? Possibly. But then I wouldn't want anyone to be forced to use Linux. I want them to use it because they want to or want to at least try.
Actually I was thinking about this a lot lately. Does market-share really affect the number of attacks? I'm sure there are plenty of crackers, script kiddies, blackhat hackers, etc. that would love to be known as the first to successfully launch an attack on many Linux servers. Imagine the headlines. "Linux Insecure" "Hackers Successfully Break Linux" "Linux Virus on the Wild". That would make them famous, with their egos rising. So what's another Windows virus? It's a dime a dozen. I'm thinking especially now that a lot of people believe Linux is so secure, why hasn't there been a high profile, mass attack, that has successfully "0wned" Linux servers? Is it because there is a smaller marketshare not worth going after? Or is Linux worth going after, but is unfortunately a little too secure?
I'm just wondering... how is patent different from law? I mean in normal law, ignorance is not an excuse. You can't speed, get caught, say you didn't know there was such a thing as a speed limit, and hope that they will let you go. And yet with patents, it seems ignorance is a good excuse.
I know patents aren't law. But does it mean that by not looking at a patent, if you happen to have coded a patented something by accident, you can get off a lawsuit by simply saying you didn't know?
I like your arguement regarding the IE/Mozilla nad Mazda/Nissan thing. But I view the browser more as the radio that I bought with my car. Most car manufacturers can probably build their own radio and embed that into the car permanently. But most car manufacturers use OEMs for their radio, such as using Alpine, Bosch, Sony, etc. So why not have Microsoft use Mozilla or Firefox and brand it with their own theme, extensions, etc? And what if customers have found that the radio in their car is prone to catching on fire or something? With OEMs, instead of embedded radios, customers would have the chance to look around the market and change the radio permanently. With IE as it is now, with many security problems rising, customers can't remove it at all. They can download a different browser, but there's still the possibility of IE catching on fire simply because it's still glued to the car. And I'm now messing up my mixture of analogies. Or is that metaphors?
Now that I think of it... the Mazda/Nissan argument would be like Microsoft including Linux in their install of Windows.
Anyway, solution here is for Microsoft to actually make their product secure. And offer that as a free update to all Windows users. Car manufacturers do this. They offer free fixes for problems in older models. Example, Honda fixing their old Accords that had a seatbelt problem. Fix is free, even though the model of Accords were already obsolete.
I thought the moon always had one side of it facing the Earth all the time. If I am correct in that information, then where would you put the telescope? If you put it on the other side of the moon, then doesn't that cause radio signals to be not sent (I'm basing this on the Apollo 13 movie where they had radio black-out when they were behind the moon)? And if you put it on the side we always see, doesn't this mean there's a huge blocker (Earth) potentially there all the time? I'm sure you can "avoid" the Earth when viewing, but wouldn't it be "easier" to have a free-floating telescope you can control either way or a ground-based one which you can easily service?
Of course, this is all coming from a space-fanatic without much knowledge of space (me).
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aïeux
Only the French could have a word that begins with four vowels and ends in a consonant. Damned French.
Don't hate me, don't hate me! I'm Canadian as well. I've been to Informative and Insightful and Interesting lately that I'm just trying to be funny. =)
Tip... read up on: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html to "get" the "Linux Philosophy" you talk about.
FUD!
Suse and Redhat, while perfect on the former count, DO NOT OFFER THE FULL BENEFITS OF F/OSS SOFTWARE.
While I have no experience with SUSE, I would like to note that RedHat do offer source-only rpms of their "Enterprise" products from their ftp site. This has even created a spinoff called White Box Linux (www.whiteboxlinux.com). The only hindrance was the required removal of Red Hat trademarks. Other than that, everything else is GPL'd and freely available.
And if you really want free as in beer, get Fedora. It might seem "unstable" to a lot of folks, but it's been working wonders in our office ever since FC1.
Do you really understand that F/OSS stands for "Free" as in Freedom/"Open Source Software".
As a systems admin, you don't have to fuss around with kernels, you can also decide on one distribution if you want. Most distros are freely available on the net for download, so a discount isn't even needed. You can install it, set it up. run updates on it once in a while. Baseline security analyzer? Give me a break. Run a port scanner like nmap on the machine and run 'ps aux' to get a complete list of processes. Keep track of these and most security problems should be avoidable. Fedora does this, Red Hat does this, SuSE does this, the latest Ubuntu does this. You can use yum or apt, how much time does it take anyway? Dependencies are also handled by yum and apt, so no problems there. All these work.
Here's my question... if you're a systems administrator that believes that Windows 2003 is so easy to use, and takes little time, then why not use that extra time to learn the other side of things? You might actually like it if you read enough. Imagine the advantages of having both Windows and Linux on your resume. Or are Windows problems a little too much that you don't have time to learn? Imagine how much money your boss could save if you spent that extra time learning. Then he could get you to download Linux distros, and use those, without having to pay for additional licenses. Imagine the possibilities of opening your mind to new knowledge.
As a systems administrator and business owner, all I can say to you is... sheesh.
I rather like the little chorus of a song I've heard that goes:
"Life should be fun for everyone"
In that short phrase, it displays the freedom and enjoyment of life that everyone deserves. I believe that is what humanity must strive for.
Some will say "life shouldn't be fun for everyone", but I ask "why not?". Some will say "what about the rapists that enjoy raping women", I say "well then if women were raped, they wouldn't be enjoying life now, would they?".
It's kinda hard to explain. Some believe that freedom means you can do anything. Most knowledgable people will say freedom is about doing things to the limit that you won't harm the freedom of others. That's similar to saying everyone should have a better future. Everyone having a better future is in the interest of everyone. Imagine a criminal who no longer has to commit crimes because his life is already better. Wouldn't that make your children's life better as well, not having to worry about crime anymore?
Saying you only want a better life for your children, family, is a Selfish Dream. Saying you want a better future for everyone in the world is, in my honest opinion, the Human Dream.
I'm a part of the Human Race, what are you a part of?
At previewing, I seem to have rambled and have become Off Topic to the original article. Oh well...
Peace.
I haven't used WinXP in awhile, so correct me if I am wrong... doesn't XP have a little checkbox in the "User Accounts" dialog that says something like "Make my data private" or something to that effect? I believe it is unchecked by default. Can anyone confirm that by default XP doesn't make user folders strict, and that you have to explicitly enable this option. I'm pretty sure Windows 2000 doesn't work this way.
Just a confirmation please, and if not, a correction against what I've said.
Thanks.
I've tried that before. On my own account. I had an account called "thepoch" on my Win2k machine. It was a "Power User" account. So I changed it to "Administrator" to install Palm Desktop. Then switched my account back to a "Power User". Then I could use Palm Desktop without any problems. Except... my sister who had my old hand-me-down Palm couldn't use hers since she had no write permissions to the directory. I could probably allow it, but it's still bad design in my opinion.
Anyway, thanks for the tip. I've solved all this hell by using Linux on my laptop permanently. No Windows to bother with. =)
Argh I'm beginning to sound like a broken CD lately, having to always repeat myself.
/home/username in .files or .directories.
It isn't only that Microsoft doesn't even try to tell people that using Admin all the time is bad. It's also the stupid developers that never test their software with non-Admin accounts. And don't even start to talk about RunAs. That's broken as well for most apps.
The only way for all this nonsense to hopefully be worked out is if Microsoft forced developers by making the default account a "User" account. Not even a "Power User" as that's pretty lame as well. Then every app out there will be forced to store their settings in the user's respective "Documents and Settings" folder. At this time, a lot of apps still store settings in either C:\Program Files\ or in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. I'd rather have it in my own C:\D & S\username\Application Data folder and in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. This makes it more similar to *nix where it stores all settings in my
Double Argh. Palm is one company that does this badly. Imagine everyone having to be an Administrator just because Palm Hotsync's data to C:\Program Files\Palm\$palmname. Sheesh.
I've been such a loudmouth with regards to calling for a separate "reader" app for OOo documents, that this idea has slipped my mind. Definitely worth the "Insightful" rating. It sounds like the Apple approach, where you have separate apps for separate types of documents. Where each app only loads the functionality it needs. Why install a spreadsheet, presentation app when my employee only needs a wordprocessor. Sweet.
Let me get this straight, what you are saying is:
1. OpenOffice.org doesn't open Word documents very well.
2. If OOo does open these, it doesn't render well.
3. You can't use OOo for this *single* document that you edit on a regular basis.
and by this, you immediately conclude that it's not an Office 2003 replacement?
1. & 2. You can help by submitting to OOo's bug tracking system documents you've found to not render properly. This will help developers figure more things out about the document format.
3. If your most important document is this single Word document you talk about... to me it seems a little too much to have to buy Office XP Pro and Office 2003 Pro just to open this document. Couldn't Office XP Pro suffice? Is Office 2003 really a requirement for that one document? Did Clippy suddenly gain new features that helped to handle that document?
I'm sorry but these arguements don't sound "Insightful" to me. OOo isn't just a "usable free word processor" that isn't a "Office 2003 replacement". OOo is a full-featured office suite, that aims to replace nothing, but to only give you a broader choice.
To be honest, I've seen Office 2003, and it's no Office 2000 replacement. There doesn't seem to be any new features that warrant a "must buy". It renders Word documents well enough, but it doesn't seem to handle the OOo documents I throw at it that we regularly use in the office these days. Hey look I just saved the company 90,000 (my currency) from having to buy 6 copies of Office XP SBE.
As I don't know how to copy paste in elinks...
Regarding your mention of running certain apps using RunAs, PsExec, etc... it doesn't exactly work well. I've said it before and have begun sounding like a busted CD. Multi-user in Windows doesn't really work very well. Include the fact that most developers never take the multi-user environment into consideration.
Here's my example. I will not state a specific app since RunAs works for some, but not most apps out there. Run an app with RunAs. It loads with Administrator priviledges. It will then try to load settings stored in Documents and Settings. There's your problem. Most apps attempt to load stuff off of the current user account, not the account you RunAs'ed. So the app loads with Admin priviledges. But it loads data from the current logged-in account. To Joe Public, these makes the Windows look even more broken... which, as a true multi-user platform, it is.
Gates makes the point, which is correct, that UNIX is losing marketshare, not Windows.
If I remember correctly, MS made WinNT POSIX compliant so that it could market their OS as a UNIX alternative. That was their main goal, to drive migration from UNIX to Windows.
So it seems every UNIX server switching to Linux or Mac OSX is a piece that Windows lost out on.
So you would decide on the character of real-life people based on what you've seen PORTRAYED on a movie?
Did you happen to see how Gates suddenly changed from being somewhat quiet and reserved at Jobs to how he suddenly becomes arrogant in the end? Isn't that somewhat scary? Someone who quietly acts as your friend, but in the end backstabs you?
And did you notice that Jobs was actually fired from Apple? Could it be because of all the rumors of "bad corporate culture" of his doing? Isn't that a sign that "bad corporate culture" isn't acceptable?
I personally hate or love both of them for what I see in everyday life (from news bits mostly), not from what I've seen in a movie. I don't generally judge a person based on what Hollywood portrays him to be.
First of all my condolenses to their family.
What's up with open source and accidents? I'm thinking it's all because of the community spirit. These are people that are part of a global community. They are a part of everyone who uses Free Software and Open Source stuff. They are a part of the world, always believing in keeping things Free and Open to everyone. This affects everyone who believes in the same ideals.
Whereas if someone died in Microsoft, those who would know about it would be those close to that person, and those in Microsoft. They would hurt the most. There are probably a few Microsoft people who have been killed, but have only affected those in the company and immediate family.
I'm not trying to say anything against Microsoft here. I'm just saying since Free Software coders are a worldwide bunch, it will be news to the entire worldwide bunch, not a limited corner of a country. It's news like this that saddens me, but also shows that we're part of a group that encompasses the entire world.
I hope I put all those words correctly and not offend anyone.
And after they install the laser protective windshields, what next? Install foam around the door frames because the pilot could get his finger cut off if someone slams the door on his hand? Maybe make the entire cockpit of the plane ejectable and flyable, leaving the entire passenger cabin behind because someone might fart and make the captain choke to death. How about getting rid of plane food, since in the slight chance you get a bad batch, the entire crew can get diarrhea and not be able to land the plane.
My comment sounds flamish, I don't mind if it's modded Flamebait or Troll. But I'm just trying to point out the irony in saying the Terrorists have not won, and yet it's the American government that's trying to scare everyone shitless. I find it also absurd that people have to think up ways to make things safe because they are dangerous now. I hope everyone realizes that cars are terrorist tools, gasoline stations are as well, cellphones are also, computers also, heck even an everyday tool such as a screw driver can cause terror in supermarkets.
Sorry I'm ranting. Be happy =)
PDF is nice, but there are catches...
.sxw. So imagine having to email a bigger file. I already hate people who insist on emailing .doc files without compressing it with winzip, 7-zip, or even the built-in one in WinXP. Compressing .doc can at most times save 50%! Sure with broadband everywhere why bother right? Still, a little saved is better than being plenty wasteful.
1. PDF is usually bigger than the original
2. What if that person wanted to suddenly edit the file? If it were PDF, then he'd have to buy a fairly expensive piece of software like Adobe Acrobat. Normally, when we email a document file, it's for editting. When it's for viewing in final form, then PDF may be appropriate and should be put on a web server for everyone who needs it to download. Emailing something usually is for collaboration with others for editing.
3. So again, what if that person wanted to edit the file? I could probably give him a copy of OpenOffice.org, he installs it, then edits it right there and then. No having to wait for me to email it again because I sent it first in PDF.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to find excuses to sort of "flame" you. I'm just saying there are practical uses to both file formats. Besides, a reader app creates mind-share. It makes people realize that there's another application there worth using. Just as people suddenly realize there's this thing called Adobe Acrobat, simply because they have used something like Adobe Reader.
Or I may just be going psycho with all this. I do hope someone capable thinks "hey I'll start a reader project now". I'd be glad to help in anyway I can.
I've said it once and I'll say it again... what OpenOffice.org needs is a lean-mean OOo Reader Application! By that, I mean not having to download an 80mb installer with everything but the kitchen sink, but maybe a small 2mb or less reader that uses standard widgets (MFC, GTK, etc.) to make the app smaller and faster. I've gotten a friend interested in actually looking at OOo code to make a no-nonsense reader, but due to lack of time, he can't start any open source projects.
.sxw as an attachment to a friend. If he/she has broadband, point them to where to download the app. If not, maybe go over to their place and install it for them. If in another country, get them to download from someone who has broadband, snail mail them an installer CD with the reader and the full OOo app, or pester someone like IBM to include the said reader application with their desktops and laptops. See! I can already imagine the possibilities. If only I can program... I would be willing to test and help promote this stuff (preinstall on all PCs we sell).
A reader app is all we need! Email a
The problem with this is that most applications for Windows don't consider the "multi-user" environment. There are a lot of apps that simply don't work well when it's not run by an Administrator account. Take for example Office 2000. I've installed this before on a Windows 2000 machine. When I run it as an Administrator, there is no problem. When I run it as a User account, it keeps asking me to insert the Office 2000 CD because there are missing components. WTF? Granted I installed it with only the features I need, but why the hell should it ask for the CD in the User account and not the Administrator account?
Another case... I used to program for a corporate environment. I was the only one who programs with conditions as to who is running the software, so I could save their data into their respective "Documents and Settings" folder, under Application Data. The rest of the developers don't care. I even set the installer to make sure only an Administrator account can install (using InnoSetup, great software).
So who's to blame? Users for running as Administrator (because they have no choice a lot of times)? Developers for not developing with multi-user environment consideration? Or Microsoft, for "hacking" Windows to become a horrible multi-user environment?
I don't think that's Bill Gates' greatest wish. If that were, then why create "Corporate Editions" of MS software? I think his greatest wish is that everyone becomes so dependent on his software, that when the time comes no one will have a choice in alternatives at all.
I think most people who pirate Windows and Office are also immature enough that they most probably also enjoy playing games. What happens if they can no longer pirate Windows to play games on? They will most probably buy Windows to continue playing. Or they buy an Xbox or PS and use that for games.
Would they be forced to use Linux instead? Possibly. But then I wouldn't want anyone to be forced to use Linux. I want them to use it because they want to or want to at least try.
Actually I was thinking about this a lot lately. Does market-share really affect the number of attacks? I'm sure there are plenty of crackers, script kiddies, blackhat hackers, etc. that would love to be known as the first to successfully launch an attack on many Linux servers. Imagine the headlines. "Linux Insecure" "Hackers Successfully Break Linux" "Linux Virus on the Wild". That would make them famous, with their egos rising. So what's another Windows virus? It's a dime a dozen. I'm thinking especially now that a lot of people believe Linux is so secure, why hasn't there been a high profile, mass attack, that has successfully "0wned" Linux servers? Is it because there is a smaller marketshare not worth going after? Or is Linux worth going after, but is unfortunately a little too secure?
Maybe OSS makes sense for some type of games, but not for others.
It probably makes sense for the big, endless/open-ended, MMORPGs, which people would want constant updates in features, stability, characters, etc.
It doesn't seem to make sense for games like Minesweeper though.
I'm just wondering... how is patent different from law? I mean in normal law, ignorance is not an excuse. You can't speed, get caught, say you didn't know there was such a thing as a speed limit, and hope that they will let you go. And yet with patents, it seems ignorance is a good excuse.
I know patents aren't law. But does it mean that by not looking at a patent, if you happen to have coded a patented something by accident, you can get off a lawsuit by simply saying you didn't know?
I like your arguement regarding the IE/Mozilla nad Mazda/Nissan thing. But I view the browser more as the radio that I bought with my car. Most car manufacturers can probably build their own radio and embed that into the car permanently. But most car manufacturers use OEMs for their radio, such as using Alpine, Bosch, Sony, etc. So why not have Microsoft use Mozilla or Firefox and brand it with their own theme, extensions, etc? And what if customers have found that the radio in their car is prone to catching on fire or something? With OEMs, instead of embedded radios, customers would have the chance to look around the market and change the radio permanently. With IE as it is now, with many security problems rising, customers can't remove it at all. They can download a different browser, but there's still the possibility of IE catching on fire simply because it's still glued to the car. And I'm now messing up my mixture of analogies. Or is that metaphors?
Now that I think of it... the Mazda/Nissan argument would be like Microsoft including Linux in their install of Windows.
Anyway, solution here is for Microsoft to actually make their product secure. And offer that as a free update to all Windows users. Car manufacturers do this. They offer free fixes for problems in older models. Example, Honda fixing their old Accords that had a seatbelt problem. Fix is free, even though the model of Accords were already obsolete.
I thought the moon always had one side of it facing the Earth all the time. If I am correct in that information, then where would you put the telescope? If you put it on the other side of the moon, then doesn't that cause radio signals to be not sent (I'm basing this on the Apollo 13 movie where they had radio black-out when they were behind the moon)? And if you put it on the side we always see, doesn't this mean there's a huge blocker (Earth) potentially there all the time? I'm sure you can "avoid" the Earth when viewing, but wouldn't it be "easier" to have a free-floating telescope you can control either way or a ground-based one which you can easily service?
Of course, this is all coming from a space-fanatic without much knowledge of space (me).
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