Oh please. Are you calling fundamentist Christians the "American Taliban" simply because they have an opinion contrary to yours? You state that they "have taken over any kind of discussion of religion in this country". If your side is correct, don't you trust the rational average American to judge for themselves? Exactly how have they "taken over the discussion" in America? Certainly not at the point of a gun, as did the actual Taliban.
You sound like the crowd that equates G.W. Bush with Hitler.
Sounds like you are scared of people having alternative ideas, other than your own. People are won over with words, not force, and definitely not with name-calling. That's why Creationism is gaining ground and your side is losing ground in public opinion.
Nice... label my post as "flamebait", and label the obviously biased parent as "interesting"... oh yeah, we have a really un-biased moderation going on here.
Slashdot liberalism stikes again. Congrats!
Oh please. Are you calling fundamentist Christians the "American Taliban" simply because they have an opinion contrary to yours? You state that they "have taken over any kind of discussion of religion in this country". If your side is correct, don't you trust the rational average American to judge for themselves? Exactly how have they "taken over the discussion" in America? Certainly not at the point of a gun, as did the actual Taliban.
You sound like the crowd that equates G.W. Bush with Hitler.
Sounds like you are scared of people having alternative ideas, other than your own. People are won over with words, not force, and definitely not with name-calling. That's why Creationism is gaining ground and your side is losing ground in public opinion.
Won't happen on corporate desktops until installing packages becomes something my mother can do. There just isn't any distro right now that compares to Windows' ease of use for installing software and getting updates. Linux is getting a lot better (my debian-based Mepis is pretty cool), but I'd never let it near my boss for mission-critical daily use.
I'm not so sure you will get the code test killed. From an FCC-requested ARRL survey: "Among all amateurs, members and non-members, 57 percent favored retaining the Morse code requirement, while 35 percent regarded it as not relevant"
Also, in the FCC's description of Amateur Radio: "The Amateur Radio Service rules are designed to provide emergency communications, advance radio technology, improve operator skills, enhance international goodwill, and expand the number of trained operators, technicians and electronic experts." If a band is extremely noisy, there are few better ways to communicate during an emergency than CW code. If the FCC removes the code requirement from all licenses, they know that Morse Code may effectively die. I'm not sure they want that.
By the way, nowhere in 98-143 does the FCC state that the only reason to preserve Morse testing was the treaty.
Bruce, you sound like a lot of high school kids I teach... "Why force me to learn Algebra?? I'll never use it!" For goodness sake, the dumbing down of America doesn't have to extend into every area of life.
FACT: Part of the appeal of ham radio is that is is a somewhat exclusive group... make it too easy and you'll eventually repel those whom you're trying to attract. Some may consider it a "stupid" or "useless" FCC law, but one thing's for sure: the code requirement keeps out a lot of riff-raff who are either too lazy to practice code or not serious about amateur radio.
It only took me one week of code practice (an hour a night), using cassette tapes to get to 5 WPM (copy), and then about 3 more weeks to get up to about 12 WPM.
I earned my General class licence as a result and have privileges on every band. Do I use Morse Code much anymore? Nope. Am I glad I learned code? Yep, and I'm proud of my accomplishment, too.
The hobby already has a no-code licence for those not interested in gaining extra privileges. Perhaps we can expand those privileges a bit more, but to open up the entire ham band to anyone who can pass the theory tests is a mistake, IMHO.
We should use the code to filter out idiots... If the goal is to attract more people into ham radio, there are 1,000 ways to do that without dumbing down our hobby.
Make it easy to get into the hobby and the ham bands will turn into a bunch of foul-mouthed redneck CB-ers.
Make it difficult and the only ones on the air will be wrinkled-up 86-year-old electricians named "Elmer"... and as soon as they die off, the FCC will sell the bands to the highest bidder.
The integration of amateur radio and computers is a very positive thing (digital modes such as PSK31)... but there's something to be said for keeping "alternative" means of communication alive (CW code) for emergencies and non-infrastructure-dependent and non-computerized communication. Do all hams need to know code? I don't think so, but there needs to be an incentive for hams to pass the code test, thus insuring it remains in the mix.
Perhaps the FCC can balance these two goals and still keep the hobby alive.
Not sure what your point is, but my point was that some Linux promoters (on the fringe) have an elitist attitude-- almost taking pride in the fact that their OS is hard-to-use. By setting themselves up as intellectually superior geeks, they effectively become "Linux Nazis", snobbishly looking down upon the unwashed windoze users.
Until that attitude decreases, it will be hard for Linux to step into the world of the average man.
As a ham, I have experimented with Mandrake & Red Hat, but I don't believe the average Amateur Radio Operator will be making the switch to any form of Linux soon. Why? Because hams love radio and are primarily interested in computing as a tool to extend their abilities within radio experimentation.
Yes, more hams are getting into Linux, mainly because experimentation is in their blood... but the question is "what are hams passionate about?"-- answer: ham radio, not necessarily computing, although integration of the two is occuring at a faster pace now.
As a ham, I want my tools to work and work well. I want to spend my time on my hobby (radio) and not that much time figuring out how to use or configure my tools (OS's).
IMHO, linux will begin to rule when it:
1. Has a more intuitive GUI/Menu with descriptive application names that tell me what the app does.
2. Has an application installation procedure that my wife can figure out.
3. When lunatic-fringe linux geeks stop bashing "windoze" simply because it's easy to use.
What am I running right now? XP Why?
It gives me what I need with the least amount of effort on my part. Call me an "appliance operator" or whatever, but I'm spending more time on what I enjoy: ham radio.
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Oh please. Are you calling fundamentist Christians the "American Taliban" simply because they have an opinion contrary to yours? You state that they "have taken over any kind of discussion of religion in this country". If your side is correct, don't you trust the rational average American to judge for themselves? Exactly how have they "taken over the discussion" in America? Certainly not at the point of a gun, as did the actual Taliban.
You sound like the crowd that equates G.W. Bush with Hitler.
Sounds like you are scared of people having alternative ideas, other than your own. People are won over with words, not force, and definitely not with name-calling. That's why Creationism is gaining ground and your side is losing ground in public opinion.
Nice... label my post as "flamebait", and label the obviously biased parent as "interesting"... oh yeah, we have a really un-biased moderation going on here. Slashdot liberalism stikes again. Congrats!
Oh please. Are you calling fundamentist Christians the "American Taliban" simply because they have an opinion contrary to yours? You state that they "have taken over any kind of discussion of religion in this country". If your side is correct, don't you trust the rational average American to judge for themselves? Exactly how have they "taken over the discussion" in America? Certainly not at the point of a gun, as did the actual Taliban.
You sound like the crowd that equates G.W. Bush with Hitler.
Sounds like you are scared of people having alternative ideas, other than your own. People are won over with words, not force, and definitely not with name-calling. That's why Creationism is gaining ground and your side is losing ground in public opinion.
Won't happen on corporate desktops until installing packages becomes something my mother can do. There just isn't any distro right now that compares to Windows' ease of use for installing software and getting updates. Linux is getting a lot better (my debian-based Mepis is pretty cool), but I'd never let it near my boss for mission-critical daily use.
Here a link to an interesting interview with Teller along with some video clips: Teller Interview
Also, in the FCC's description of Amateur Radio: "The Amateur Radio Service rules are designed to provide emergency communications, advance radio technology, improve operator skills, enhance international goodwill, and expand the number of trained operators, technicians and electronic experts."
If a band is extremely noisy, there are few better ways to communicate during an emergency than CW code. If the FCC removes the code requirement from all licenses, they know that Morse Code may effectively die. I'm not sure they want that.
By the way, nowhere in 98-143 does the FCC state that the only reason to preserve Morse testing was the treaty.
For goodness sake, the dumbing down of America doesn't have to extend into every area of life.
FACT: Part of the appeal of ham radio is that is is a somewhat exclusive group ... make it too easy and you'll eventually repel those whom you're trying to attract. Some may consider it a "stupid" or "useless" FCC law, but one thing's for sure: the code requirement keeps out a lot of riff-raff who are either too lazy to practice code or not serious about amateur radio.
It only took me one week of code practice (an hour a night), using cassette tapes to get to 5 WPM (copy), and then about 3 more weeks to get up to about 12 WPM. I earned my General class licence as a result and have privileges on every band. Do I use Morse Code much anymore? Nope. Am I glad I learned code? Yep, and I'm proud of my accomplishment, too.
The hobby already has a no-code licence for those not interested in gaining extra privileges. Perhaps we can expand those privileges a bit more, but to open up the entire ham band to anyone who can pass the theory tests is a mistake, IMHO.
We should use the code to filter out idiots... If the goal is to attract more people into ham radio, there are 1,000 ways to do that without dumbing down our hobby.
73
Make it easy to get into the hobby and the ham bands will turn into a bunch of foul-mouthed redneck CB-ers.
Make it difficult and the only ones on the air will be wrinkled-up 86-year-old electricians named "Elmer"... and as soon as they die off, the FCC will sell the bands to the highest bidder.
The integration of amateur radio and computers is a very positive thing (digital modes such as PSK31)... but there's something to be said for keeping "alternative" means of communication alive (CW code) for emergencies and non-infrastructure-dependent and non-computerized communication. Do all hams need to know code? I don't think so, but there needs to be an incentive for hams to pass the code test, thus insuring it remains in the mix.
Perhaps the FCC can balance these two goals and still keep the hobby alive.
Until that attitude decreases, it will be hard for Linux to step into the world of the average man.
Yes, more hams are getting into Linux, mainly because experimentation is in their blood... but the question is "what are hams passionate about?"-- answer: ham radio, not necessarily computing, although integration of the two is occuring at a faster pace now.
As a ham, I want my tools to work and work well. I want to spend my time on my hobby (radio) and not that much time figuring out how to use or configure my tools (OS's).
IMHO, linux will begin to rule when it:
1. Has a more intuitive GUI/Menu with descriptive application names that tell me what the app does.
2. Has an application installation procedure that my wife can figure out.
3. When lunatic-fringe linux geeks stop bashing "windoze" simply because it's easy to use.
What am I running right now? XP
Why?
It gives me what I need with the least amount of effort on my part. Call me an "appliance operator" or whatever, but I'm spending more time on what I enjoy: ham radio.