Serious question: Why is Firefox supposed to be "better" than Mozilla?
Firefox takes away the master password from the personal security manager, so it's just as much of a personal liability as IE if your machine's compromised. This makes it a spectacularly bad idea for the office if you deal with sensitive websites, and for casual home user who may not know security well.
Firefox takes dozens of basic features like animated GIF removal away from the configuration panel -- instead you have to know what undocumented value to insert in a hidden configuration screen. Even Internet Explorer offers this option in a mouse-accessible location!
Why are the Firefox folks hiding features? Why not add an "advanced options" chevron for the things you think only 2% of users use? Removing 50 options from the mainstream configurator altogether means that you've disappointed a different 2% of your users with each new annoyance.
IBM are pushing hardware and services. AIX is a legacy product which they'd love to be free of. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
Dual licensing UNIX under the GPL and under current SCO-like terms would decimate competitors' UNIX products, and with that -- their grasp on related services.
IBM has filed NO motions to dismiss. This is pretty much SCO's only out at this point, and IBM aren't offering it.
I'm no lawyer, but so far as I understand, if this carries through and the verdict is against SCO and the judge feels the case had no merit, IBM should be able to turn around and sue for (very significant!) damanges.
The only asset SCO has that's worth dirt right now is UNIX licensing. Wouldn't it be poetic if the outcome of SCO's market gaming were that IBM sued SCO for all assets, including that, then turned around and freed UNIX once and for all?:)
(Just kidding. This is Darl, and Linux is bad, you smelly hippy.)
I think you're going to find that the labels don't correspond to higher risk. It's something some companies have started to boilerplate stamp on every last product since there's no liability for doing so, but a remote liability for not doing so in our litigious society.
Get your hands on the Amiga ROM Kernel Manuals -- both "Libraries and Devices" and "Includes and Autodocs." I&A has the headers for most everything, and the libraries explain the workings pretty well. The Amiga OS was very simple and elegant. Understanding the base (ignore the GUI) will be enlightening.
Now, these books don't make for a how-to, and you don't get the source for the core OS with them, but if you start by learning the exec interface, then look over the exec headers, you'll quickly develop a thorough understanding of a simple multitasking kernel. From there, you can glom onto the basic device library with the library book, then the headers again, and repeat for the trackdisk library. Jump into console and other libraries as your interest dictates. Don't worry about learning these things in a linear fashion -- going with your interest first is critical for learning something as complex and intricately interconnected as the workings of an OS.
After seeing how some of these work together, if you've got your head on straight with C, implementing your own equivalent on the PC should be easy. Grab MS-DOS, which leaves protected mode entirely open to you, and build your own system on top of that. No need to start with your own bootstrapper if you can do it with a little DOS code. That way you have BIOS services for the parts you haven't written yet, and can replace bits a little at a time as your interest dictates. Make a simple OS shell first, using mostly wrappers, then drill down until it's time to start making your own device drivers.
From here, I went on to acquire the IP rights behind UNIX and develop from there, but you can take your own route.
The OS and applications aren't static targets. The version of Gentoo needed to test an AMD64 would have nothing to do with the version of Gentoo used to test the last 20 or so processors.
If you want them to run the same tests over and over again with every hardware configuration with every new software release, I am sure the results would be interesting. However, this would take an order of magnitude more effort and the resulting gain in readership isn't likely to increase in proportion to that effort.
If you want to simply use the old benchmarks and say there's a margin of error, go ahead. They already gave you the previous information. Spend ten minutes with gnumeric and the site search feature.
The least amusing part was the student who stood up in the Q&A session to announce that, as an act of "civil disobedience" he had given a copy of Linux to every last attendee.
If you look over the pictures from the event, you will notice that Chris Sontag, to my right, is hobbling and dancing and crossing his legs all the way through the lecture. The reason is that I requested he hold a little something in for the student. As an act of civil disobedience, Chris went ahead and piddled in his bookbag, and me? IBM.
Sounds like you use the internet in a relatively normal way. The problem is more likely with users who run bittorrent and similar non-stop. These apps are designed to use as much bandwidth as possible, and because they connect to a large number of different hosts, the per-connection traffic shaping hardware these guys bought 2-3 years ago suddenly doesn't do squat.
Anyway, I'd also like to add that I've run Microsoft Windows since the days of Windows 1.03 and I have NEVER had a virus. I don't take unusual precautions, either. I have a virus scanner that I keep updated and run MANUALLY every time I hear about a new one, and it never finds anything (except when I've purposely saved one off for analysis!). I've never been tempted to click on an.SCR.PIF or.EXE file, and since I run my PC behind a "linksys" box that blocks all incoming ports, I've never had Code Red or anything like that.
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You read it on Slashdot first, two
days ago. That's right, Darl called these spammers for what they are, right here on Slash.
Not three hours after this comment, someone mailed this to Declan's Politech list, a cheat sheet for
computer illeterate journalists angling for something to stay more relevant than the typewriters
they still swear by. And then the very next day, we see three different articles with variations on this
very topic. Five bucks says the next issue of eWeek borrows in their next issue as well.
Yes, as always, none of the stories credited Politech, though the names of the authors who borrow liberally
are always the same. And Politech didn't credit Slashdot, where the Politech submitters borrow a full
half of their stories with equal disregard for journalistic integrity. Indeed, the only time Politech
credits Slashdot is when they believe Slash has said something stupid. These reporters are hooked on
the easy source of stories, yet trash it publicly for fear others will find the tool that's kept them
from having to do actual reporting anymore.
I may be here to take Linux away from you, but you can't argue that I don't give something back. You
hate me. But you love me too, and you hate that as well. Think of it, you see me just the way others see
Slashdot.
If you'd like to track Politech's ongoing plagiarism of Slashdot, jump on their free
mailing list and have a laugh. Watch the submissions. Watch each
story jump from Slash to Politech (search the comments after each new Politech post and you'll find the
original +4 or +5 comment 4 times in 5), then check the NY Times, Barron's, and Ziff Davis Publishing
for the same authors publishing borrowed stories the very next issue. They do it like clockwork,
because these "tech" journalists don't realize that we're on the internet too.
$99 worth of hardware doesn't mean crap when there aren't any good games.
I beg to differ. The audio and video output on the Xbox is excellent. I have chipped boxes running Linux^H^H^H^H^HSCOWare in my bedroom and living room both. At $99, I'd consider adding it as an vorbis and movie player in the kitchen as well.
I was under the impression that specs for the digital part of DVI interface didn't let it show eg 1600x1200 resolution in any sensible refresh rate. I distantly recall reading some years ago about plans of some sort of HR-DVI that would address this isue, but never heard about it again.
I don't know if the spec has been formalized for it, but most nvidia and ATI cards can support something like 100Hz 1920x1200 now.
This was really more of a problem a year or two ago, as anyone who's got a pricey Viewsonic vp201m 20 inch flat screen will attest to when they next go to upgrade their video card. So few cards are supported for its digital 1600x1200 mode that Viewsonic isn't even willing to provide a list, apparently for fear of a well-deserved press backlash. They'll only answer yes or no if you ask about a specific card.
Yes, but it does not support shareholder value, ergo I had Boise declare it unconstitutional. In completely unrelated news, we look forward to four more years of Bush.
Share revenue? I thought the Debian dev team was all volunteer or am I wrong on this. Last that I checked, 15% of nothing is still nothing.
We are now well aware of this, and believe that Bruce Perens has not acted in good faith. Accordingly, we are exercising our stipulatory option and bringing in an arbiter. We expect to increase our share to 30 or even 35%.
The phenomenal success of Debian is largely attributed to its many developers and maintainers, nearly a thousand in the US alone. All operating under the Debian social contract, the bureaucracy is thick, however the quality results speak for themselves.
But the more powerful driving factor behind Debian's recent growth is its having become the first Linux distribution to partner with SCO. In an industry shaking maneuver, Bruce Perens has brokered a deal between SCO and the Debian team, in which Debian has agreed to share 15% of net revenue in exchange for full idemnification for any and all use or misuse of SCO's intellectual property.
As soon as the ink has dried on the mutually signed contract, SCO will be in receipt of Debian's financial statements. This 15% of Debian's commercial revenue will surely mean a powerful boost for SCO's next fiscal quarter. The Boies back home will be proud.
Debian is more than just Linux. It is possible to use The HURD as your kernel, for Debian/HURD, and similarly, Debian/NetBSD, Debian/OSX, and Debian/FreeBSD efforts are under way. I believe there is even a Debian/Cygwin port in usable shape, although I haven't heard of progress on development in a while.
Now that you can find cheap SCOWare license packs up and down ebay, ubid, Silcon Auctions and the likes, perhaps it's time to take Debian in a new direction.
If you're getting 500 emails a day, either the entirity of your staff is subscribed to lkml and debian-user, or you've got a staff that hasn't been trained not to plug their damned mail address into every last fucking form field in sight.
Seriously, half an hour of internet usage training 2-3 times a year can halve your bandwidth requirements.
(p.s. -- Don't mod me up. I'll only use the karma to troll at +2 later.)
I had a few friends who chased the overtime route. They made a bit of headway with their employer before the final answer was found. You can read more about the result here.
Slashdot Mirror
Firefox takes away the master password from the personal security manager, so it's just as much of a personal liability as IE if your machine's compromised. This makes it a spectacularly bad idea for the office if you deal with sensitive websites, and for casual home user who may not know security well.
Firefox takes dozens of basic features like animated GIF removal away from the configuration panel -- instead you have to know what undocumented value to insert in a hidden configuration screen. Even Internet Explorer offers this option in a mouse-accessible location!
Why are the Firefox folks hiding features? Why not add an "advanced options" chevron for the things you think only 2% of users use? Removing 50 options from the mainstream configurator altogether means that you've disappointed a different 2% of your users with each new annoyance.
Dual licensing UNIX under the GPL and under current SCO-like terms would decimate competitors' UNIX products, and with that -- their grasp on related services.
I'm no lawyer, but so far as I understand, if this carries through and the verdict is against SCO and the judge feels the case had no merit, IBM should be able to turn around and sue for (very significant!) damanges.
The only asset SCO has that's worth dirt right now is UNIX licensing. Wouldn't it be poetic if the outcome of SCO's market gaming were that IBM sued SCO for all assets, including that, then turned around and freed UNIX once and for all? :)
(Just kidding. This is Darl, and Linux is bad, you smelly hippy.)
I'll download it for free myself.
I think you're going to find that the labels don't correspond to higher risk. It's something some companies have started to boilerplate stamp on every last product since there's no liability for doing so, but a remote liability for not doing so in our litigious society.
Now, these books don't make for a how-to, and you don't get the source for the core OS with them, but if you start by learning the exec interface, then look over the exec headers, you'll quickly develop a thorough understanding of a simple multitasking kernel. From there, you can glom onto the basic device library with the library book, then the headers again, and repeat for the trackdisk library. Jump into console and other libraries as your interest dictates. Don't worry about learning these things in a linear fashion -- going with your interest first is critical for learning something as complex and intricately interconnected as the workings of an OS.
After seeing how some of these work together, if you've got your head on straight with C, implementing your own equivalent on the PC should be easy. Grab MS-DOS, which leaves protected mode entirely open to you, and build your own system on top of that. No need to start with your own bootstrapper if you can do it with a little DOS code. That way you have BIOS services for the parts you haven't written yet, and can replace bits a little at a time as your interest dictates. Make a simple OS shell first, using mostly wrappers, then drill down until it's time to start making your own device drivers.
From here, I went on to acquire the IP rights behind UNIX and develop from there, but you can take your own route.
~Darl
If you want them to run the same tests over and over again with every hardware configuration with every new software release, I am sure the results would be interesting. However, this would take an order of magnitude more effort and the resulting gain in readership isn't likely to increase in proportion to that effort.
If you want to simply use the old benchmarks and say there's a margin of error, go ahead. They already gave you the previous information. Spend ten minutes with gnumeric and the site search feature.
If you look over the pictures from the event, you will notice that Chris Sontag, to my right, is hobbling and dancing and crossing his legs all the way through the lecture. The reason is that I requested he hold a little something in for the student. As an act of civil disobedience, Chris went ahead and piddled in his bookbag, and me? IBM.
~Darl
You are really very funny.
The lady on the other end didn't get it. A long pause, and then "What do you mean, sir?"
Sounds like you use the internet in a relatively normal way. The problem is more likely with users who run bittorrent and similar non-stop. These apps are designed to use as much bandwidth as possible, and because they connect to a large number of different hosts, the per-connection traffic shaping hardware these guys bought 2-3 years ago suddenly doesn't do squat.
Is that so much to ask?
Not three hours after this comment, someone mailed this to Declan's Politech list, a cheat sheet for computer illeterate journalists angling for something to stay more relevant than the typewriters they still swear by. And then the very next day, we see three different articles with variations on this very topic. Five bucks says the next issue of eWeek borrows in their next issue as well.
Yes, as always, none of the stories credited Politech, though the names of the authors who borrow liberally are always the same. And Politech didn't credit Slashdot, where the Politech submitters borrow a full half of their stories with equal disregard for journalistic integrity. Indeed, the only time Politech credits Slashdot is when they believe Slash has said something stupid. These reporters are hooked on the easy source of stories, yet trash it publicly for fear others will find the tool that's kept them from having to do actual reporting anymore.
I may be here to take Linux away from you, but you can't argue that I don't give something back. You hate me. But you love me too, and you hate that as well. Think of it, you see me just the way others see Slashdot.
If you'd like to track Politech's ongoing plagiarism of Slashdot, jump on their free mailing list and have a laugh. Watch the submissions. Watch each story jump from Slash to Politech (search the comments after each new Politech post and you'll find the original +4 or +5 comment 4 times in 5), then check the NY Times, Barron's, and Ziff Davis Publishing for the same authors publishing borrowed stories the very next issue. They do it like clockwork, because these "tech" journalists don't realize that we're on the internet too.
~Darl
I beg to differ. The audio and video output on the Xbox is excellent. I have chipped boxes running Linux^H^H^H^H^HSCOWare in my bedroom and living room both. At $99, I'd consider adding it as an vorbis and movie player in the kitchen as well.
This was really more of a problem a year or two ago, as anyone who's got a pricey Viewsonic vp201m 20 inch flat screen will attest to when they next go to upgrade their video card. So few cards are supported for its digital 1600x1200 mode that Viewsonic isn't even willing to provide a list, apparently for fear of a well-deserved press backlash. They'll only answer yes or no if you ask about a specific card.
SCOWare is not a Linux.
~Darl
We are now well aware of this, and believe that Bruce Perens has not acted in good faith. Accordingly, we are exercising our stipulatory option and bringing in an arbiter. We expect to increase our share to 30 or even 35%.
But the more powerful driving factor behind Debian's recent growth is its having become the first Linux distribution to partner with SCO. In an industry shaking maneuver, Bruce Perens has brokered a deal between SCO and the Debian team, in which Debian has agreed to share 15% of net revenue in exchange for full idemnification for any and all use or misuse of SCO's intellectual property.
As soon as the ink has dried on the mutually signed contract, SCO will be in receipt of Debian's financial statements. This 15% of Debian's commercial revenue will surely mean a powerful boost for SCO's next fiscal quarter. The Boies back home will be proud.
~Darl
Debian is more than just Linux. It is possible to use The HURD as your kernel, for Debian/HURD, and similarly, Debian/NetBSD, Debian/OSX, and Debian/FreeBSD efforts are under way. I believe there is even a Debian/Cygwin port in usable shape, although I haven't heard of progress on development in a while.
Now that you can find cheap SCOWare license packs up and down ebay, ubid, Silcon Auctions and the likes, perhaps it's time to take Debian in a new direction.
May I be the first to propose:
I await your comments.
~Darl
~Darl
Seriously, half an hour of internet usage training 2-3 times a year can halve your bandwidth requirements.
(p.s. -- Don't mod me up. I'll only use the karma to troll at +2 later.)
I had a few friends who chased the overtime route. They made a bit of headway with their employer before the final answer was found. You can read more about the result here.
You left off the price of office space, equipment, recruiting, et cetera.