It all went downhill when AM radios came out with those push-button preset channels...
Of course, what really sucked was when they started downloading all those push-button preset channels into a central database at NBC, and then started beaming "customized commercial opportunities" straight into our radios. My neighbor said he thought the bank had denied him a mortgage for the new house he wanted to buy, all because he listened to too much of that Gangsta Rap, but I always thought he was a little strange...
And, when the government comes up to our friendly neighborhood monopoly and says, "We know you have all this information on Mr. X. Please kindly hand it all over to us. Now." What will you be saying then?
To be honest, I'm less concerned about the government than I am about large, megalomaniacal corporations. At least the government has Constitutional controls over it.
In an article that is gushingly Father Bill worship, the statements about Longhorn frankly scare the crap out of me. The computer will now know everything about you -- who you talk to, where you go, how you work. And all of this will be owned by Microsoft.
Anyone know of any old used Y2K bunkers that are up for sale?
Are we sure this is a good thing? Now every billy joe bob in the territory is going to be calling me up wanting me to come fix his computer..
And, the problem with this is....?
Aren't we always saying that it's the non-technical users who make up the bulk of the market, and who, in the end, will finally break the back of the MS monopoly on the desktop market?
Besides, I really doubt that the "Billy Bob" type users will be buying this. They are going to stick with the brand name they know -- Microsoft. It's the somewhat adventurous types who will buy into this, just because it's different, or cutting edge, or "revolutionary". Those are the people who may not have enough money to go out and plunk down $1500 for a new Dell and set out on their own, but lower the entrance barriers just a little bit, and they'll jump for it.
Now all we have to do is start beating on people who write their pages in such a way that they only work "correctly" with IE. I've got a favorite hardware vendor who runs a great little store in town here. He's always had a useful Web site where I can look up things to compare prices before I drive over to the store. Great service and all that stuff. However, he recently changed the layout of his site so that it ONLY works under IE! I've tried it on Opera, and if you tell it to "lie" and identify itself as IE, then it sort-of renders correctly. Have to go in and tell them, "As a dedicated customer of yours, I really like your store, but it's really frustrating that I can no longer make any use of your Web page..."
Fundamentally, it's a ground-up rewrite of the entire browser, so it does away with a lot of the buggyness of the old Netscape 4.X code base. The fact that it "looks the same" is intentional (some paople don't like sudden changes in the look and feel of their software), but can quickly be changed by selecting another "skin".
Of course, when you get down to it, it basically renders Web pages. So at a glance, there's not a lot of difference. Once you use it for a while though, you start to notice subtle things, like it crashes less often. I've been using the Moz since they began the.9.X releases, and I really like it, though there are some annoying bugs still, like squished lines of text in some windows (such as the text window I'm using to compose this message), and the fact that there are still IE specific pages out there that will never render "correctly" in a non-MS browser is something I don't think we will ever get around.
There are lots of new preferences too. I haven't tried the pop-up blocker, but that would be REALLY nice!
Another huge feature is the fact that the underlying rendering engine is modular, and can be embedded into other applications. This way, you get a lot of the same advantages that Microsoft claims when it integrates its browser "into the OS", such as uniformity of behavior between many different applications that all have to now deal with HTML and XML, without having to sell your soul to the OS vendor.
(I'm thinking of swapping Mozilla in to replace the old version of NS that my wife is using, without telling her, and seeing if she notices a difference...;-)
Hummm... I'd agree with you except for one point. Currently, I see very little official support (from Sun or anyone else) for Linux on Sparc hardware. I own an old (well... not that old) UltraSPARC II box, and I'm having a doozy of a time trying to get a current version of Linux to run on it. The old 6.2 RH Sparc distro works fine, but it's pretty behind the times. There are a bunch of people on the Aurora project, who are making headway, but I sure don't see any help coming from Sun.
Who know? Perhaps this is the sign we've been looking for indicating a turnaround at Sun. I know some people who run Linux on UltraSPARC hardware, and it's a slick combo (especially running on an Ultra II dual processor if you can get your hands on one), and it's one of the few true 64bit architectures out there, but it is a constant uphill battle trying to get apps or updates to tools, unless you want to rebuild EVERYTHING from source RPMS.
I fully expect Sun to fold in their own proprietary extensions and tools. I don't think they will use the same "Embrace and Extend" tactic as MS, where the end result is a corruption of the original, open API. Rather, they will be adding additional management and usability layers. They may even add in proprietary kernel modules (LGPL) for things like advanced file systems, though that could quickly get them into rather troubled waters...
I don't speak for everyone (fortunately), but I don't think the problem is so much with RedHat as it is with the idea of One Company dominating the Linux distribution market. Any time you start to migrate towards One Company, you fall into the same pit as we had with the old IBM, and now Microsoft, where The Company begins to excuse shady, or downright unethical marketing behavior in the name of preserving its market share and profit margin.
Shoot! I happen to like the RedHat distro., mostly because that's what I'm familiar with, and recommend it to everyone else who asks me, but I sure wouldn't want to see them muscle out all the other distributions. Remember -- it's the competition that keeps these companies honest, and forces them to keep the customer at the top of the priorities stack!
Now, try to explain why you thought Spiderman was a better movie. Explain what it did that AoTC didn't do to keep your interest.
It may be the first time in my life that I've done this, but I actually agree with Katz this time that AoTC was bogged down by the weight of its epic size. (People say that LoTR suffers from the same problem, though I still think Tolkein was a better storyteller than Lucas.) However, given its context, I don't see how it could be otherwise. If we ever get to Spiderman II, III, IV and V, I think we'll see a similar trend...
Can't get to his site, but I'm wondering, just how big is this guy's "backyard"? Knowing the likelyhood of large rockets to suddenly go BOOM, what sort of safety protocols does he have in place to make sure he doesn't accidentally take out an entire neighborhood?
(Of course, if he's got enough money to build a private rocket, I'm guessing he doesn't live in a typical 'burb, but most test ranges are built with many miles between them and the closest civilian areas, or they launch out over an ocean, so the rocket can safely be ditched if something goes wrong.)
So, what's the alternative? Hotmail? That'd be a joke.
Or worse yet, netscape.com? I signed up for a netscape.com Web email address once. I never used the account or gave out my address to anyone. Within a couple weeks, I was already getting a half dozen Spams a day. Needless to say, I've never cone back to netscape.com, or sent them anything other than obviously spoofed addresses and phone numbers (like 555-1234 and nobody@death.to.spam).
Ha! I still have my old Xerox 820, running the "A" model, though I don't think I've powered it up in about 15 years. At 4MHz, that thing really screamed!
Don't know if you could get Linux to run on it though...:-/
I don't know if this letter is authentic or not, but it certianly had me rolling on the floor laughing -- not for any of the congressman's points, but for the manner in which he delivered them.
"I would like to thank the honorable gentleman for all of the excellent points he has made, and for the great deal of thought he has put into them. I response, I would like to politely bring to light a few small counterexamples, and use them to club the honorable gentleman over the head until all that is left of him is a pool of quivering jello."
If only the rest of us could craf our responses with such finesse...
> That means that there will never more be updates or any kind of even the slightest security fix...
Good point! I was assuming I could install the Beta, poke around a bit, and then just use red-carpet or up2date to get all my RPM's up to current releases. However, since RH specifically avoided calling the Beta "7.3", I don't know if even the "free" update services would know what to do with the release. (Red Carpet has specific "channels" for each release, probably because of dependency issues.)
Any way you look at it, you're probably going to have to do a clean install of any system you install the Beta on, once you get past the poking around stage and want to put it to real use.
> By what time do you expect the Linux kernel to be finished and perfect?
Oh... 'bout the same time that the hardware vendors come up with a perfect CPU.
Microsoft's attitude towards GNU and Linux
on
Ask Alan Cox, Activist
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Not too long ago, Bill Gates and Microsoft treated Linux as little more than an annoyance -- a pesky gnat buzzing in their ear, but of no particular significance to anyone other than geeks and raving, MS bashing loonies. In the past few years however, this attitude has taken an abrupt turn, to the point where Microsoft in one statement declared Linux as their #1 threat.
Obviously, a lot of this is marketing bravado and chest-beating, with Microsoft alternately dismissing Linux (when talking to their clients about OS choices), or trumpeting Linux as a serious competitive threat (when talking to the lawyers/politicians/judges in the Antitrust trial).
In your opinion, what fundamental changes have taken place deep down in Microsoft's attitude towards Open Source/GNU software (including, but not limited to Linux as an OS), and how has that change shifted the playing field?
What I mean is, which ones? Which last minute changes managed to sneak into the official release between the time the Skipjack release came out, and when this was officially blessed?
(Or, to put it another way, which RPM's am I going to see immediate updates for on the Up2date or red-carpet services?)
I just finished downloading the recent RH Beta release and burning to CD, though I haven't had a chance to install anywhere yet. Anyone know of differences between the Beta and the official release?
I know it has on-board video (using the 8MB shared system memory), but does anyone know if it has an AGP slot so I can plug in my own 3D video card if I have one?
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Of course, what really sucked was when they started downloading all those push-button preset channels into a central database at NBC, and then started beaming "customized commercial opportunities" straight into our radios. My neighbor said he thought the bank had denied him a mortgage for the new house he wanted to buy, all because he listened to too much of that Gangsta Rap, but I always thought he was a little strange...
To be honest, I'm less concerned about the government than I am about large, megalomaniacal corporations. At least the government has Constitutional controls over it.
Anyone know of any old used Y2K bunkers that are up for sale?
That comment, by itself, is worth a -1: Troll
Aren't we always saying that it's the non-technical users who make up the bulk of the market, and who, in the end, will finally break the back of the MS monopoly on the desktop market?
Besides, I really doubt that the "Billy Bob" type users will be buying this. They are going to stick with the brand name they know -- Microsoft. It's the somewhat adventurous types who will buy into this, just because it's different, or cutting edge, or "revolutionary". Those are the people who may not have enough money to go out and plunk down $1500 for a new Dell and set out on their own, but lower the entrance barriers just a little bit, and they'll jump for it.
Oh well.
Or perhaps, lynx
Of course, when you get down to it, it basically renders Web pages. So at a glance, there's not a lot of difference. Once you use it for a while though, you start to notice subtle things, like it crashes less often. I've been using the Moz since they began the .9.X releases, and I really like it, though there are some annoying bugs still, like squished lines of text in some windows (such as the text window I'm using to compose this message), and the fact that there are still IE specific pages out there that will never render "correctly" in a non-MS browser is something I don't think we will ever get around.
There are lots of new preferences too. I haven't tried the pop-up blocker, but that would be REALLY nice!
Another huge feature is the fact that the underlying rendering engine is modular, and can be embedded into other applications. This way, you get a lot of the same advantages that Microsoft claims when it integrates its browser "into the OS", such as uniformity of behavior between many different applications that all have to now deal with HTML and XML, without having to sell your soul to the OS vendor.
(I'm thinking of swapping Mozilla in to replace the old version of NS that my wife is using, without telling her, and seeing if she notices a difference... ;-)
That wouldn't by any chance include Katz, would it?
Who know? Perhaps this is the sign we've been looking for indicating a turnaround at Sun. I know some people who run Linux on UltraSPARC hardware, and it's a slick combo (especially running on an Ultra II dual processor if you can get your hands on one), and it's one of the few true 64bit architectures out there, but it is a constant uphill battle trying to get apps or updates to tools, unless you want to rebuild EVERYTHING from source RPMS.
I'll be watching this one closely!
I fully expect Sun to fold in their own proprietary extensions and tools. I don't think they will use the same "Embrace and Extend" tactic as MS, where the end result is a corruption of the original, open API. Rather, they will be adding additional management and usability layers. They may even add in proprietary kernel modules (LGPL) for things like advanced file systems, though that could quickly get them into rather troubled waters...
Shoot! I happen to like the RedHat distro., mostly because that's what I'm familiar with, and recommend it to everyone else who asks me, but I sure wouldn't want to see them muscle out all the other distributions. Remember -- it's the competition that keeps these companies honest, and forces them to keep the customer at the top of the priorities stack!
Well duh!
Now, try to explain why you thought Spiderman was a better movie. Explain what it did that AoTC didn't do to keep your interest.
It may be the first time in my life that I've done this, but I actually agree with Katz this time that AoTC was bogged down by the weight of its epic size. (People say that LoTR suffers from the same problem, though I still think Tolkein was a better storyteller than Lucas.) However, given its context, I don't see how it could be otherwise. If we ever get to Spiderman II, III, IV and V, I think we'll see a similar trend...
(Of course, if he's got enough money to build a private rocket, I'm guessing he doesn't live in a typical 'burb, but most test ranges are built with many miles between them and the closest civilian areas, or they launch out over an ocean, so the rocket can safely be ditched if something goes wrong.)
Or worse yet, netscape.com? I signed up for a netscape.com Web email address once. I never used the account or gave out my address to anyone. Within a couple weeks, I was already getting a half dozen Spams a day. Needless to say, I've never cone back to netscape.com, or sent them anything other than obviously spoofed addresses and phone numbers (like 555-1234 and nobody@death.to.spam).
Ha! I still have my old Xerox 820, running the "A" model, though I don't think I've powered it up in about 15 years. At 4MHz, that thing really screamed!
Don't know if you could get Linux to run on it though... :-/
If only the rest of us could craf our responses with such finesse...
Good point! I was assuming I could install the Beta, poke around a bit, and then just use red-carpet or up2date to get all my RPM's up to current releases. However, since RH specifically avoided calling the Beta "7.3", I don't know if even the "free" update services would know what to do with the release. (Red Carpet has specific "channels" for each release, probably because of dependency issues.)
Any way you look at it, you're probably going to have to do a clean install of any system you install the Beta on, once you get past the poking around stage and want to put it to real use.
Sigh... Good thing CDR's re still cheap... ;-)
Oh... 'bout the same time that the hardware vendors come up with a perfect CPU.
Obviously, a lot of this is marketing bravado and chest-beating, with Microsoft alternately dismissing Linux (when talking to their clients about OS choices), or trumpeting Linux as a serious competitive threat (when talking to the lawyers/politicians/judges in the Antitrust trial).
In your opinion, what fundamental changes have taken place deep down in Microsoft's attitude towards Open Source/GNU software (including, but not limited to Linux as an OS), and how has that change shifted the playing field?
Well, I sort of assumed that...
What I mean is, which ones? Which last minute changes managed to sneak into the official release between the time the Skipjack release came out, and when this was officially blessed?
(Or, to put it another way, which RPM's am I going to see immediate updates for on the Up2date or red-carpet services?)
I just finished downloading the recent RH Beta release and burning to CD, though I haven't had a chance to install anywhere yet. Anyone know of differences between the Beta and the official release?
I know it has on-board video (using the 8MB shared system memory), but does anyone know if it has an AGP slot so I can plug in my own 3D video card if I have one?
Oh, go cry me a river....