I admit I didn't get the slim model, but it's not the RRoD-prone first model either, something in-between. Oh well, it was very cheap used and already modded (I'm in the minority that I do admit to pirating games, but I also buy the ones that I play a lot, try-before-you-buy I guess)
RE: noise - YES. I recently got an Xbox360, having previously had only a Wii - I really like some of the first-party titles, but apart from them there's not much to play on the Wii, the 360 certainly has a wider selection and some more "mature" titles. But I was so shocked when I turned the 360 on for the first time. It is loud. Not like "is there a new fan spinning somewhere"-loud, but like "did I just move next to an airport"-loud. I tried placing it inside a wooden cabinet (it has ample space and ventilation in the back), but that causes the whole cabinet to resonate in a very annoying fashion once you start to play something, and the fans are still audible. I do like the games (well, some of them anyway, I don't really care for FPS-du-jour), but the noise is very irritating. I've tried to minimize the noise in my living room, my current HTPC is an ION-based nettop which is practically silent. Using the 360 is like a flashback to the poor student days, when my HTPC was a stock desktop machine with default cooling (and dusty fans).
My opinion about KDE is: it could use a good fork of KDE 3.5, which is converted to use Qt 4, and with some of the new composite features added on top of it.
Qt4 port - not going to happen. But the 3.5-series is still being developed, see Trinity desktop
The application suite should be a separate project rather than considered part of KDE, so that for example changes to mail or text editor programs are something independent than changes to the actual desktop and windowing system.
...and this would be different from the current situation how, exactly? If your distribution lumps KDE into few huge packages, blame your distribution, but KDE itself is highly modular. Changes to Kwin have no impact on KMail, for example (other than potentially changing the way the windowing system works, which is obvious). Furthermore, due to the modular nature of KDE, changes to KatePart affect KWrite, Kate and KDevelop (and all applications that use the text editor widget).
Which is why gloves are recommended when handling the hottest varieties. It does stay on your skin for quite some time (remember not to get too friendly with your SO for a while, or not to pick your nose/rub your eyes - yes, been there, done that on all counts). Alternatively, "wash" your hands with vegetable oil first, then with soap and water - as capsaicin is soluble in oil, this removes most of the nastiness.
True, but also the taste. Once you get used to the heat (yes, your tolerance grows quite quickly) you learn to appreciate the flavours, they do exist even in the hottest varieties. I personally prefer Naga Jolokia over Habaneros - not only you have to use less, the taste is much sweeter and fruity. Habaneros are quite bitter.
Seconded, Lazarus (considering it is a fan-made effort) rocks. You'll need a copy of Dungeon Siege though, but you should be able to find one from the likes of eBay (or just get a torrent, if you're so inclined).
You do have to remaximize it after dragging. On Windows 7 (and it sounds like on new Gnome) you do it by hitting it against the top of the screen
In KDE as well, since 4.something. Although if you have your virtual desktops configured in two rows or more, you'll have to be careful not to push too far or you'll end up in a different desktop.
I'm not certainly implying that Apple (et al, since) hasn't made contributions to KHTML, making it a very competitive rendering engine - I'm just very irritated by the legions of fanbois who cite WebKit as a prime example of Apple's contribution to open source, while being completely oblivious to KHTML. That, and CUPS also.
People (except the Debian folks) drop the GNU/ because it doesn't roll off the tounge quite so well as just saying "Linux".
"It doesn't roll off the tongue quite so well" is quite an understatement. I do realize the FSF stance on the issue (although, where do you draw the line - should my disrtibution be GNU/Linux/x.org/KDE?), but seeing "Revolution OS" was quite enlightening - people actually pronounce it as "GNU-slash-Linux", which is really, really retarded. Marketing has always been an issue with free software, and while "Linux" might not be the sexiest term out there, it's certainly easier to sell than "GNU-slash-Linux".
He wants a server distro. I don't know Arch but from what I know it uses platform specific binaries and other voodoo stuff to increase performance.
If by "platform specific binaries" you mean the 32-bit packages are optimized/compiled for i686, that is certainly true - but really, who runs anything older than a Pentium Pro these days? And now I'll probably get a reply from someone still on a 486; but my point is, the vast majority of PCs still in use are at least i686-compatible, as such it doesn't make sense to have 386-optimized packages.
But even as an Arch user, I wouldn't use it in a server. I do run it on my home file server/mythbackend, and it works really well there, but I'm willing to do some tinkering if needed. The bleeding edge/rolling release-approach doesn't cut it for production servers.
I don't know about your setup, but at least on my end it's either ethernet or WLAN from the ADSL router - and that is very much OS-agnostic as long as said OS supports DHCP, works fine with Linux (or Windows, or OSX, or what have you).
- If it does manage to connect, it doesn't run the compression software
"Compression software"?
- Refuses to install Flash
Blame your distribution then, personally it's just a matter of "sudo pacman -S flashplugin", adjust to your distribution as needed. Plus as a pleasant surprise, when I recently got a new laptop, I can get stutter/tearing-free full screen video! (although this has an i5 and a decent NVidia card - it would be surprising if it didn't work - but historically Flash has been a bitch under Linux, blame Adobe)
- Refuses to accept the Cole.2K codec packs
Why on earth would you need to install it, as FFmpeg (and by extension, MPlayer, VLC and so on) plays virtually anything under the sun? Seriously, I'd like to see you provide an example that plays with Cole.2K and not with FFmpeg.
- Doesn't run Word docs properly
This is true, up to a point - although I've run into situations where OO.org (and derivates) actually open files written by older versions of Word better that recent incarnations of Office.
Oh seriously, I do like a movie with a plot. I do admit having not read the Watchmen, although I've had my share of comics (or "graphic novels", if you wish). I do realize the plot had/has potential, and I'll probably read the book at some point. What totally killed the movie was the music, so utterly predictable and underlining. And I'm not just talking about the sex scene (although that has to be the single most corny one in the history of cinema), the examples are a plenty. I mean, really. "Sound of silence"? Being both a movie and music buff, I think the soundscape can enhance the experience to new heights, or bring it to new lows. For good examples on how to use music properly (and yes, I do realize this is very much subjective), see for example Aguirre or Stalker. Or do away with the music altogether, and let the story tell itself, as in No country for old men. Using a) very, very well known b) very much worn out music in your picture shows either lack of creativity or trying to pander to the audience.
Yeah, if only there were bindings to other languages, but I guess we're stuck with C++. Seriously, have you looked at QML/Qt Quick? I'd argue it's the best mobile app developement platform out there. Shame about Nokia moving to WP7, but hopefully we'll see at least some Meego tablets, from other manufacturers as well.
You know, the "Wii graphics are sooo yesterday"-thingy is really not that true in my opinion. I recently got an Xbox 360 to complement my Wii (hold the puns, please), and although admittedly the graphics are better, it's not an OMGWTFBBQ-like difference, especially if you use the component (480p) output on the Wii. And if you judge merits of a game solely based on the graphics, well, I guess I can't help you. In my opinion, the polygon count, textures etc. are irrelevant, it's what you do with them - for example, I think Metroid Prime: Corruption still looks fantastic, because of the level and art design and especially because it runs at constant 60fps no matter how much stuff you have on the screen. Likewise, I've enjoyed Okami really much, despite it being based on even older technology (i.e. it's a port from PS2).
Or Chakra, which being based on Arch offers many of the benefits (the same no-nonsense configuration files, pacman/ABS) while offering a bit more customized/desktop-like experience, and selected GTK apps in "bundles" to make them appear more native in KDE. Also comes with a graphical installer, although that is still a bit rough around the edges (for example, one can't shrink NTFS partitions, it has to be done beforehand).
While that may be true for a vast majority of open source projects (since there is a metric fuckload of them, most of them abandoned or in perpetual alpha if SourceForge is any indication), some of the major projects are certainly done mostly by paid developers (see here for example, and that article is a year old). One would assume as such that at least some of the major distributions would dedicate some resources to have functional graphics, but this doesn't seem to be the case. And sadly the current situation is quite dire - I've never owned an ATI, but from what I've been able to gather their drivers (despite having released the hardware specs) aren't very good. Intel supposedly has good drivers, but although XRandr 1.2 support is nice, I had serious issues with tearing and XV/OpenGL. And while the nouveau project has made some progress, the proprietary NVIDIA drivers seem to be the best bet for just about anything. This is very ironic given that the situation was identical when I started to use Linux in 2002.
You don't slavishly follow a brand or a company and excuse it when it behaves badly or condemn it even when it does good. What sort of moron does that make you?
I also think it is somewhat childish to start every application with a K...but hey.
FWIW this trend has been going away with the 4.x series. The default file manager is Dolphin, image viewer Gwenview and so on. And FFS, they're just names, it's not like many gnome programs don't start with a G, and iM iSure iOther iExamples iExist.
I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're getting at. Sony Ericsson (and many other handset vendors) use Android, without having to pay anything to Google. Similarly they could use Qt, and not pay Nokia a dime. Yes, many handset vendors build proprietary UIs on top of Android, but they do so without modifying the core platform. What's stopping them from doing the same with Qt? The framework itself is more than comprehensive for all kinds of things, and LPGL certainly doesn't preclude proprietary UIs.
The proprietary "do-whatever-you-please-with-it"-license still exists for Qt. The license is on per developer/per year-basis. Note the absence of handsets in the previous sentence. A company can do anything with the toolkit and not release anything back to the community with the proprietary license. Not that I can think of any reason to do - Qt Quick/QML seems great, and one will be able to achieve a lot easily without modifying the toolkit - which is LGPL, so your $KILLER_APP can be very much proprietary.
Slashdot Mirror
I admit I didn't get the slim model, but it's not the RRoD-prone first model either, something in-between. Oh well, it was very cheap used and already modded (I'm in the minority that I do admit to pirating games, but I also buy the ones that I play a lot, try-before-you-buy I guess)
RE: noise - YES. I recently got an Xbox360, having previously had only a Wii - I really like some of the first-party titles, but apart from them there's not much to play on the Wii, the 360 certainly has a wider selection and some more "mature" titles. But I was so shocked when I turned the 360 on for the first time. It is loud. Not like "is there a new fan spinning somewhere"-loud, but like "did I just move next to an airport"-loud. I tried placing it inside a wooden cabinet (it has ample space and ventilation in the back), but that causes the whole cabinet to resonate in a very annoying fashion once you start to play something, and the fans are still audible. I do like the games (well, some of them anyway, I don't really care for FPS-du-jour), but the noise is very irritating. I've tried to minimize the noise in my living room, my current HTPC is an ION-based nettop which is practically silent. Using the 360 is like a flashback to the poor student days, when my HTPC was a stock desktop machine with default cooling (and dusty fans).
My opinion about KDE is: it could use a good fork of KDE 3.5, which is converted to use Qt 4, and with some of the new composite features added on top of it.
Qt4 port - not going to happen. But the 3.5-series is still being developed, see Trinity desktop
The application suite should be a separate project rather than considered part of KDE, so that for example changes to mail or text editor programs are something independent than changes to the actual desktop and windowing system.
...and this would be different from the current situation how, exactly? If your distribution lumps KDE into few huge packages, blame your distribution, but KDE itself is highly modular. Changes to Kwin have no impact on KMail, for example (other than potentially changing the way the windowing system works, which is obvious). Furthermore, due to the modular nature of KDE, changes to KatePart affect KWrite, Kate and KDevelop (and all applications that use the text editor widget).
Primer.
Which is why gloves are recommended when handling the hottest varieties. It does stay on your skin for quite some time (remember not to get too friendly with your SO for a while, or not to pick your nose/rub your eyes - yes, been there, done that on all counts). Alternatively, "wash" your hands with vegetable oil first, then with soap and water - as capsaicin is soluble in oil, this removes most of the nastiness.
True, but also the taste. Once you get used to the heat (yes, your tolerance grows quite quickly) you learn to appreciate the flavours, they do exist even in the hottest varieties. I personally prefer Naga Jolokia over Habaneros - not only you have to use less, the taste is much sweeter and fruity. Habaneros are quite bitter.
Seconded, Lazarus (considering it is a fan-made effort) rocks. You'll need a copy of Dungeon Siege though, but you should be able to find one from the likes of eBay (or just get a torrent, if you're so inclined).
You do have to remaximize it after dragging. On Windows 7 (and it sounds like on new Gnome) you do it by hitting it against the top of the screen
In KDE as well, since 4.something. Although if you have your virtual desktops configured in two rows or more, you'll have to be careful not to push too far or you'll end up in a different desktop.
And as an addenum, this is not about iOS, but about OSX and its app store. Although I can understand the confusion, the line seems to be blurring.
Yes.
I'm not certainly implying that Apple (et al, since) hasn't made contributions to KHTML, making it a very competitive rendering engine - I'm just very irritated by the legions of fanbois who cite WebKit as a prime example of Apple's contribution to open source, while being completely oblivious to KHTML. That, and CUPS also.
Yes, it's certainly better to be able to click "OK" instead of doing proper parenting - such a chore, it is!
While I do appreciate the sentiment, this is slashdot - you certainly have way too much time on your hands.
"It doesn't roll off the tongue quite so well" is quite an understatement. I do realize the FSF stance on the issue (although, where do you draw the line - should my disrtibution be GNU/Linux/x.org/KDE?), but seeing "Revolution OS" was quite enlightening - people actually pronounce it as "GNU-slash-Linux", which is really, really retarded. Marketing has always been an issue with free software, and while "Linux" might not be the sexiest term out there, it's certainly easier to sell than "GNU-slash-Linux".
If by "platform specific binaries" you mean the 32-bit packages are optimized/compiled for i686, that is certainly true - but really, who runs anything older than a Pentium Pro these days? And now I'll probably get a reply from someone still on a 486; but my point is, the vast majority of PCs still in use are at least i686-compatible, as such it doesn't make sense to have 386-optimized packages.
But even as an Arch user, I wouldn't use it in a server. I do run it on my home file server/mythbackend, and it works really well there, but I'm willing to do some tinkering if needed. The bleeding edge/rolling release-approach doesn't cut it for production servers.
I don't know about your setup, but at least on my end it's either ethernet or WLAN from the ADSL router - and that is very much OS-agnostic as long as said OS supports DHCP, works fine with Linux (or Windows, or OSX, or what have you).
"Compression software"?
Blame your distribution then, personally it's just a matter of "sudo pacman -S flashplugin", adjust to your distribution as needed. Plus as a pleasant surprise, when I recently got a new laptop, I can get stutter/tearing-free full screen video! (although this has an i5 and a decent NVidia card - it would be surprising if it didn't work - but historically Flash has been a bitch under Linux, blame Adobe)
Why on earth would you need to install it, as FFmpeg (and by extension, MPlayer, VLC and so on) plays virtually anything under the sun? Seriously, I'd like to see you provide an example that plays with Cole.2K and not with FFmpeg.
This is true, up to a point - although I've run into situations where OO.org (and derivates) actually open files written by older versions of Word better that recent incarnations of Office.
Oh seriously, I do like a movie with a plot. I do admit having not read the Watchmen, although I've had my share of comics (or "graphic novels", if you wish). I do realize the plot had/has potential, and I'll probably read the book at some point. What totally killed the movie was the music, so utterly predictable and underlining. And I'm not just talking about the sex scene (although that has to be the single most corny one in the history of cinema), the examples are a plenty. I mean, really. "Sound of silence"? Being both a movie and music buff, I think the soundscape can enhance the experience to new heights, or bring it to new lows. For good examples on how to use music properly (and yes, I do realize this is very much subjective), see for example Aguirre or Stalker. Or do away with the music altogether, and let the story tell itself, as in No country for old men. Using a) very, very well known b) very much worn out music in your picture shows either lack of creativity or trying to pander to the audience.
Yeah, if only there were bindings to other languages, but I guess we're stuck with C++. Seriously, have you looked at QML/Qt Quick? I'd argue it's the best mobile app developement platform out there. Shame about Nokia moving to WP7, but hopefully we'll see at least some Meego tablets, from other manufacturers as well.
You know, the "Wii graphics are sooo yesterday"-thingy is really not that true in my opinion. I recently got an Xbox 360 to complement my Wii (hold the puns, please), and although admittedly the graphics are better, it's not an OMGWTFBBQ-like difference, especially if you use the component (480p) output on the Wii. And if you judge merits of a game solely based on the graphics, well, I guess I can't help you. In my opinion, the polygon count, textures etc. are irrelevant, it's what you do with them - for example, I think Metroid Prime: Corruption still looks fantastic, because of the level and art design and especially because it runs at constant 60fps no matter how much stuff you have on the screen. Likewise, I've enjoyed Okami really much, despite it being based on even older technology (i.e. it's a port from PS2).
Or Chakra, which being based on Arch offers many of the benefits (the same no-nonsense configuration files, pacman/ABS) while offering a bit more customized/desktop-like experience, and selected GTK apps in "bundles" to make them appear more native in KDE. Also comes with a graphical installer, although that is still a bit rough around the edges (for example, one can't shrink NTFS partitions, it has to be done beforehand).
While that may be true for a vast majority of open source projects (since there is a metric fuckload of them, most of them abandoned or in perpetual alpha if SourceForge is any indication), some of the major projects are certainly done mostly by paid developers (see here for example, and that article is a year old). One would assume as such that at least some of the major distributions would dedicate some resources to have functional graphics, but this doesn't seem to be the case. And sadly the current situation is quite dire - I've never owned an ATI, but from what I've been able to gather their drivers (despite having released the hardware specs) aren't very good. Intel supposedly has good drivers, but although XRandr 1.2 support is nice, I had serious issues with tearing and XV/OpenGL. And while the nouveau project has made some progress, the proprietary NVIDIA drivers seem to be the best bet for just about anything. This is very ironic given that the situation was identical when I started to use Linux in 2002.
You don't slavishly follow a brand or a company and excuse it when it behaves badly or condemn it even when it does good. What sort of moron does that make you?
An Apple fanboi?
I also think it is somewhat childish to start every application with a K...but hey.
FWIW this trend has been going away with the 4.x series. The default file manager is Dolphin, image viewer Gwenview and so on. And FFS, they're just names, it's not like many gnome programs don't start with a G, and iM iSure iOther iExamples iExist.
I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're getting at. Sony Ericsson (and many other handset vendors) use Android, without having to pay anything to Google. Similarly they could use Qt, and not pay Nokia a dime. Yes, many handset vendors build proprietary UIs on top of Android, but they do so without modifying the core platform. What's stopping them from doing the same with Qt? The framework itself is more than comprehensive for all kinds of things, and LPGL certainly doesn't preclude proprietary UIs.
The proprietary "do-whatever-you-please-with-it"-license still exists for Qt. The license is on per developer/per year-basis. Note the absence of handsets in the previous sentence. A company can do anything with the toolkit and not release anything back to the community with the proprietary license. Not that I can think of any reason to do - Qt Quick/QML seems great, and one will be able to achieve a lot easily without modifying the toolkit - which is LGPL, so your $KILLER_APP can be very much proprietary.