Don't blame Telocity for this one. Your OLD ISP isn't trying to help you here, their employees are too busy updating their resumes to make sure their customers have a soft landing. Have Telocity treat this as a new install, and send a CERTIFIED letter to you current ISP DEMANDING they release you from your contract to switch to Telocity. When Flashcom went into bankruptcy and their accounts taken over by Covad I sent BOTH of these companies Certified letters and signed up with Telocity for new service. Three and a half weeks later I'm on Telocity. I also signed up for a dialup connection on a month to month basis to handle any downtime inbetween (but it actually wasn't used much, transistion was smooth...of course my FLASHCOM connection was on a different phone line). Telocity has other problems, though some of them may be related to power outages in CA, or a noisy environment in my telco's co. My connection drops out once in a while (every 10-30 hours) and I have to reboot the gateway and router. Also one of the two nameservers assigned me has been down since day 2. (However I know of a few other nameservers on other isps that I can reach....longer path but they work).
I had Covad as my network provider, but my ISP was Flashcom. I had ISDL which is DSL over ISDN. I was NOT paying ISDN rates since the line cost was bundled into the network fee. At the time this was the fastest service I could get (144K/144K) due to my distance from the CO. When Flashcom went belly up Covad took over their business. They wanted quite a bit more a month for replacement service, and it would still only be the 144/144. I then found that Bellsouth would now be offering asdl to my location (must have built an outhouse someplace or yanked out some loading coils between the co and here). They won't be installing till july though. I ended up with Telocity, they installed in about 3 weeks from ordering the service. So far it seems to work ok, but I can't say it is always on. The line drops out once in a while (about every 10-30 hours) and I have to reboot my gateway and router to re-establish connection. Since I'm NOT running a server this isn't fatal, just a PITA.
I think the telco's will EVENTUALLY get their DSL act together, or DSL will be replaced by fiber to the curb. Internet access will become as important a service to the home as the phone and cable tv are today. I don't think there will be three providers of this service, and soon (in some areas) one company will deliver all three over the same pipe.
I wonder if those cd recorders made by pioneer (and others) that have dual trays for dubbing cd's (and mix & max tracks for custom cd's) will play and rip these? How soon will it be before the software in these players is updated?
I'll tell you this, If I bought a cd and found out later that it would not play in ANY audio player I would be hounding the label for a refund or replacement till I got one. And that includes the audio 'player' in my computer. Oh well, they CAN'T ever stop DAD copying, and with today's equipment the lose of quality would not be measurable. And I doubt that the labels will be doing this copy protected cd crap with classical releases as they wouldn't see the need, no one want's to pirate that stuff.
I don't know why DSL providers and ISP's are going bust. One would think that there is enough demand for the service. Either they can't keep their customers because they don't know how to deliver the service and keep it running, or they under priced it and expect to make it up on volume.
In the case of Flashcom I have another answer. They simply forget to bill their customers and hope that they will send in the monthy check anyway. Yes that's EXACTLY what flashcom did with me. I NEVER got a bill and had to call to ask what I owed. I was able to do that once, after that it became impossible to get through to them on the phone without being on hold for an hour or more. When they finally announced they were terminiating service I had to send them a certified letter in order to pay off my account!
It was a real shame too, because except for once or twice (right after the service started) I had ZERO down time with them.
What they are asking is within their rights under the GPL. BUT there is also nothing wrong with someone paying for the software, downloading it, and then posting it on their own ftp site for FREE access, or burning cdroms and passing them out at the next install-fest. Once someone obtains ANY GPL software, they have the RIGHT to re-distribute it ANY WAY they WANT.
So in a strict sense, what they are asking might not work. I hope if their distro is a good one that people will pay for it so they will continue to upgrade and improve it. But they better not complain if 'pirate' copies of this get passed around. Under the GPL there ARE NO pirate copies!
Since windows aps are running on the same processor as windows aps, in a sense they ARE native aps since they are in the same machine language as linux aps. Where they differ are in file format (exe vs elf) and link libs. Consider all the different link libs currently used on linux. Some 'native' linux aps must be linked against GTK, some QT, others Motif, etc. Yet they are all considered native just because they are all contained in elf file format? Provide a binary loader for exe files, provide the required libs to replace the dlls and basicly your windows aps become native linux aps. Windows is nothing more than another gui that COULD run under linux. Extend and embrace, only this time it is the penguin doing it. Why not?
Flashcom was supposed to have yanked my plug a week ago (they actually said it would be on or after march 16 and it hasn't died yet but...) so I signed up for telocity. $20 cheaper and faster (1500/384 vs 144/144.) The modem didn't connect at first, telco network problem that got fixed within hours after calling it in. Real linux friendly service too. If I want to run a server it will cost me an extra $10 to have extra dhcp address so I can use the 1 static ip for the server, but there is no need here. Hope they survive!
Thanks to the NASDAQ's fall I was recently laid off from a job where I had signed a non-compete clause. Now in the letter that they had me sign in order to receive my severence they had me acknowledge that this clause was still in effect. IMHO if I leave on my own free will I SHOULD be bound by such an agreement. BUT if they let me go without cause (downsizing), well that agreement should be null and void. I have a right to earn a living. Now in my case I am sure that their interpertation of a competing firm is quite narrow, and I'd have to relocate to work for one of them (which I won't) so the agreement isn't going to haunt me. But I don't think an employeer should be allowed to have his cake and eat it too. If they don't want you walking out with the company trade secrets fine, but then they have to keep you employed, unless you are caught red handed in the cookie jar so to speak.
If you combine enough large telescopes using a long enough baseline, you WILL be able to image earth size planets orbiting a distant star. The three problems are light grasp, resolution, and seeing. Light grasp means collecting enough photons to register on photographic film or CCD cameras to be detected. Resolution involves having enough magnification power to separate the objects in question, to null out the stars light and detect the light from the planet. Seeing, involves reducing atmospheric distortion. That can be done with adaptive optics, or just putting the whole system in orbit outside of the atmosphere.
Imagine when the first super interferometer scope images an earthlike planet. They see land masses, and oceans. They see lights on the dark side (beyond the terminator) of the planet. They analyze the light from the dark side and find three primary elements in it: Tungsten, Sodium, and Mecury. That would be proof of inteligent life. (Because those three elements are found in the light from every common electric street lamp!).
If this actually happened, then it would put a lot of us software developers out of business because we wouldn't have a platform to develop our applications on, or cross develop on. The idea that all computer hardware will go to the entertainment industry is crazy!
There are so many other uses for computer iron such as pure research, embedded control, data cataloging, etc. I agree that the entertaiment use of computers will ballon and they will have special purpose needs that the hardware venors will address. There will be a fallout in the computer hardware business. But surly, there will be a supply of general purpose hw available for those that need it, though prices will rise. AMD will probably supply the cpu's if intel won't.
Guess no one will buy a computer at BrandsMart, KMart or Wal-Mart anymore, cause they won't have them. For sure that the markets are changing, but maybe we are seeing a new market for computer hardware, one that will be the major one, but not the only one. And there are always nitch players to supply hardware/software to those that march to a different drum.
I don't like the idea that if I record a program for time shifting I can only view the copy one time. Yeah, I record it and later sit down to watch it only to have to break up a fight between my childern. I better be able to rewind the tape and replay what I missed. Or I watch it and then my wife comes home later and wanted to see it. I better be able to play it again. And if I record off a pay per view, well it better be mine forever, since I paid for it.
One computer maker worked with AMD to produce a cyrogenicly cooled K7 computer. AMD even made a special version of the cpu certified to overclock at the lowered case temperture. (Intel would NEVER do that!). Natch'ly this was a more expensive cpu, but it allowed the sale of a computer nearly twice as fast as the nearest available K7 powered computer. Reminds of the Cray's with their liquid nitrogen cooling system.
Read closely. The X33 program has become a boondoggle. Just another idea that looked real good on paper, but the details got in the way.
The flying wing was one of those. Back in the late '40s Northroup tried to build a flying wing bomber, but it just wasn't stable enough. There were all sorts of stories flying that cried conspiracy, that the govenment was 'bought' by interrests wanting to promote the B36 project instead. Truth was the flying wing was just a little ahead of it's time. Technology finally caught up, the B2 proved that the flying wing was real.
Maybe in another decade the aerospike engine will finally be ready for flight. Meanwhile, we need a replacement for the shuttle, and a more conventional approach might be better. A larger shuttle, two stage if necessary (get rid of those pesky solids!). Nasa made the right move here. The X33 project is not going to produce a shuttle replacement any time soon. Move on and admit it. It's not a popular idea, but the right one. Now only if they would take the money and go to Pluto!
I think that the order to break up MS was wrong, not because breaking up the company is a bad idea, but because of the way it is to be done.
The order would break up MS into different companies with different products. The new companies would not compete against each other, because they are in different market segments. This would NOT help competition. There would STILL be a big OS company, a big APP company, etc. MAYBE information would be more available to third parties who wanted to write competing apps compatable with those of MS. However I think that a horizontal break up of the company, similar to what happened to standard oil would better help consumers, not the vertical breakup proposed.
If all semiconductors were fried I guess we'd start using tubes (valves for you blokes on the other side of the pond) again. Can't you just imagine multivac again? Also start threading cores again. Now where can I get me a Collins S line cheap, just in case?
So if I have a copy of DeCss on a share on my hd and these guys point to it they ain't guilty? Sorry the courts have already decided that one. They will get their balls cut off.
Implant one of these chips in someone's pacemaker so they can't leave the country (or the state) without leaving this world. If they guy doesn't need a pacemaker then inplant a pace-destroyer (in planted electric chair?) to do the same. Great way to keep prisoners at bay without putting them in jail.
What MS doesn't like about the GPL is that it prevents them from STEALING any code that is licensed under it! They sure would prefer everything be licensed under BSD, it would then be all theirs for the picking! And of course they have already DONE this with some BSD licensed code! (Then again, so has lots of people). The GPL is a two way street, BSD is a one way street. Both are valid models, it's up to the programer to decide what's important to him when he chooses a license.
So who will be the first to build a 'star trek' holodeck? Sounds like an atom laser would make this possible.
I tell you, a while ago it was 'Quantum teleportation', now it's atom lasers. We are rapidly developing the sciences and physics of star trek! Transporters, and holodecks. What's next? I'm still waiting for some discovery in cosmology that will prove that warp drive is possible (in theory anyway).
I've been using Maxtor drives for the past 4 years now. I have never had a failure, not even an error! I've used their 2, 5, 15, 17, and 27gb size hard disks, and all are still going strong. My current computer has the 17 and 27 in it, so I have 44gb on line. My wife's computer has the 15gb (compusa branded, but made by Maxtor). I've bought all of them (except the 27, which came from computer geeks bulk packed) at the local compusa in the retail boxes. I would buy another Maxtor when I need more storage, or build another computer. OTH I have had LOT's of problems just getting Seagate and WD drives to fdisk and format!
>>Most open source developers would rather not >>have their code end up in Windows.
>Being an open-source developer myself, I would >personally never release any of my code under the >GPL. And I encourage all the coders I talk
>with to do the same. And once they see the >reasoning behind why, most will switch. They >honestly want to give their code away for others >to use as they see fit. You are not giving your >code away if you are requiring something back.
I think I'd rather split hairs on this one. I don't agree with the GPL's "virus clause", but I don't like BSD's just giving away the family jewels. If someone likes my code and uses it in a propritary product thats probably fine so long as it doesn't come back to haunt me. I can just see Microsoft taking some BSD licensed code and use it to create some new closed source standard that we won't be able to use because of some copyright, licence, or patent issue! If it weren't for the changing legal climate I'd say that we didn't need the GPL virius, but now I'm not so sure!
OTHO I would like to see any changes made to my code that I release via open source. Getting something back? Maybe I don't want to make that required, but It would be nice if anyone who made improvements or bug fixes to my stuff would share it with me. All BSD demands is that you give someone credit.
The other nasty in the GPL is the restriction of using the GPL'd code with non-gpled code. Here the author is free to nullify the point. I can state something like "this code may be linked with any binary lib regardless of it's license". The GPL's hardass stance on this is what caused KDE to be banned from Debian for such a long time. Now that QT is dual licensed the problem is gone.
linux going down NOT, Microsoft going down
on
Linux Is Going Down
·
· Score: 1
With the recent blood bath on wall street for all the dot coms and Hi Tech in general I'm not surprised that many Linux companies are falling on hard times. But with computer sales slowing what the hell do you think is going to happen to MS's numbers? They will be going south too. But MS is in a better position to weather the storm for a while than many of the fledgling linux companies. As for the 2.4 kernel, give it awhile, Hell it's only in ".1" for crying out loud. That's like NT2000 before service pack 3 ya know!
What do you think will happen when all the current owners of HDTV capable tv sets find they can't watch because their sets lack the required digital input? They scream at the makers of the tv sets and DEMAND a refund on their $10k-25k sets or a free upgrade to the new models that have the inputs! I guess after facing a class action suit the tv makers will come out with a black box to go between the set and the satilite/cable box. We all know what this box will do! To make the mpaa happy, they will only sell these boxes to those that already own the tv sets.
If I ever get a tv with a digital hdtv input I'll order the service manual to see where to install analog output taps, after the waranty expires. (There has to be an analog signal some where, at least if you have picture tube(s)!)
I always thought that the GPL was intended for complete works that could stand on their own, and the LGPL was for libraries that needed to be linked with NON-GPL'ed libraries and code. I think you can LINK NON-GPL or NON-LGPL with LGPL libraries , even if your code is closed source. HOWEVER you may have to supply the source to the LGPL library with your binaries, and the source to ANY changes you made to the LGPL libraries. If you use any GPL'ed code in your app, then you'd better GPL the app as well. As for BSD stuff, well just give the author credit and take it.
Many people think RMS is a real ASSHOLE over the GPL, but it is a two way street. Everyone who created code and licensed it via the GPL has given this stuff away, for ANYONE to use. All they want in return is to keep the fruits of their labor FREE. They also want any by-products of their labor to be FREE. If you think that's too much to ask, then go buy something from Bill Gates' little company.
It sounds like you have already made up your mind and just want to hear someone else agree with you. I left a good job at a company that going nowhere after being bought out. (It was also a 42 mile commute.) I looked for another position (hopefully closer to home) on and off for several years and all of a sudden had a few places to choose from. I was able to get a few co-workers from the old place to come over, including my former supervisor (who was the greatest boss I ever had) who is now a VP over here (and the C.E.O. and one of the founders of this place keep thanking me for finding him!)
Slashdot Mirror
Don't blame Telocity for this one. Your OLD ISP isn't trying to help you here, their employees are too busy updating their resumes to make sure their customers have a soft landing. Have Telocity treat this as a new install, and send a CERTIFIED letter to you current ISP DEMANDING they release you from your contract to switch to Telocity. When Flashcom went into bankruptcy and their accounts taken over by Covad I sent BOTH of these companies Certified letters and signed up with Telocity for new service. Three and a half weeks later I'm on Telocity. I also signed up for a dialup connection on a month to month basis to handle any downtime inbetween (but it actually wasn't used much, transistion was smooth...of course my FLASHCOM connection was on a different phone line). Telocity has other problems, though some of them may be related to power outages in CA, or a noisy environment in my telco's co. My connection drops out once in a while (every 10-30 hours) and I have to reboot the gateway and router. Also one of the two nameservers assigned me has been down since day 2. (However I know of a few other nameservers on other isps that I can reach....longer path but they work).
I had Covad as my network provider, but my ISP was Flashcom. I had ISDL which is DSL over ISDN. I was NOT paying ISDN rates since the line cost was bundled into the network fee. At the time this was the fastest service I could get (144K/144K) due to my distance from the CO. When Flashcom went belly up Covad took over their business. They wanted quite a bit more a month for replacement service, and it would still only be the 144/144. I then found that Bellsouth would now be offering asdl to my location (must have built an outhouse someplace or yanked out some loading coils between the co and here). They won't be installing till july though. I ended up with Telocity, they installed in about 3 weeks from ordering the service. So far it seems to work ok, but I can't say it is always on. The line drops out once in a while (about every 10-30 hours) and I have to reboot my gateway and router to re-establish connection. Since I'm NOT running a server this isn't fatal, just a PITA.
I think the telco's will EVENTUALLY get their DSL act together, or DSL will be replaced by fiber to the curb. Internet access will become as important a service to the home as the phone and cable tv are today. I don't think there will be three providers of this service, and soon (in some areas) one company will deliver all three over the same pipe.
I wonder if those cd recorders made by pioneer (and others) that have dual trays for dubbing cd's (and mix & max tracks for custom cd's) will play and rip these? How soon will it be before the software in these players is updated?
I'll tell you this, If I bought a cd and found out later that it would not play in ANY audio player I would be hounding the label for a refund or replacement till I got one. And that includes the audio 'player' in my computer. Oh well, they CAN'T ever stop DAD copying, and with today's equipment the lose of quality would not be measurable. And I doubt that the labels will be doing this copy protected cd crap with classical releases as they wouldn't see the need, no one want's to pirate that stuff.
I don't know why DSL providers and ISP's are going bust. One would think that there is enough demand for the service. Either they can't keep their customers because they don't know how to deliver the service and keep it running, or they under priced it and expect to make it up on volume.
In the case of Flashcom I have another answer. They simply forget to bill their customers and hope that they will send in the monthy check anyway. Yes that's EXACTLY what flashcom did with me. I NEVER got a bill and had to call to ask what I owed. I was able to do that once, after that it became impossible to get through to them on the phone without being on hold for an hour or more. When they finally announced they were terminiating service I had to send them a certified letter in order to pay off my account!
It was a real shame too, because except for once or twice (right after the service started) I had ZERO down time with them.
What they are asking is within their rights under the GPL. BUT there is also nothing wrong with someone paying for the software, downloading it, and then posting it on their own ftp site for FREE access, or burning cdroms and passing them out at the next install-fest. Once someone obtains ANY GPL software, they have the RIGHT to re-distribute it ANY WAY they WANT.
So in a strict sense, what they are asking might not work. I hope if their distro is a good one that people will pay for it so they will continue to upgrade and improve it. But they better not complain if 'pirate' copies of this get passed around. Under the GPL there ARE NO pirate copies!
Since windows aps are running on the same processor as windows aps, in a sense they ARE native aps since they are in the same machine language as linux aps. Where they differ are in file format (exe vs elf) and link libs. Consider all the different link libs currently used on linux. Some 'native' linux aps must be linked against GTK, some QT, others Motif, etc. Yet they are all considered native just because they are all contained in elf file format? Provide a binary loader for exe files, provide the required libs to replace the dlls and basicly your windows aps become native linux aps. Windows is nothing more than another gui that COULD run under linux. Extend and embrace, only this time it is the penguin doing it. Why not?
Flashcom was supposed to have yanked my plug a week ago (they actually said it would be on or after march 16 and it hasn't died yet but...) so I signed up for telocity. $20 cheaper and faster (1500/384 vs 144/144.) The modem didn't connect at first, telco network problem that got fixed within hours after calling it in. Real linux friendly service too. If I want to run a server it will cost me an extra $10 to have extra dhcp address so I can use the 1 static ip for the server, but there is no need here. Hope they survive!
Thanks to the NASDAQ's fall I was recently laid off from a job where I had signed a non-compete clause. Now in the letter that they had me sign in order to receive my severence they had me acknowledge that this clause was still in effect. IMHO if I leave on my own free will I SHOULD be bound by such an agreement. BUT if they let me go without cause (downsizing), well that agreement should be null and void. I have a right to earn a living. Now in my case I am sure that their interpertation of a competing firm is quite narrow, and I'd have to relocate to work for one of them (which I won't) so the agreement isn't going to haunt me. But I don't think an employeer should be allowed to have his cake and eat it too. If they don't want you walking out with the company trade secrets fine, but then they have to keep you employed, unless you are caught red handed in the cookie jar so to speak.
If you combine enough large telescopes using a long enough baseline, you WILL be able to image earth size planets orbiting a distant star. The three problems are light grasp, resolution, and seeing. Light grasp means collecting enough photons to register on photographic film or CCD cameras to be detected. Resolution involves having enough magnification power to separate the objects in question, to null out the stars light and detect the light from the planet. Seeing, involves reducing atmospheric distortion. That can be done with adaptive optics, or just putting the whole system in orbit outside of the atmosphere.
Imagine when the first super interferometer scope images an earthlike planet. They see land masses, and oceans. They see lights on the dark side (beyond the terminator) of the planet. They analyze the light from the dark side and find three primary elements in it: Tungsten, Sodium, and Mecury. That would be proof of inteligent life. (Because those three elements are found in the light from every common electric street lamp!).
If this actually happened, then it would put a lot of us software developers out of business because we wouldn't have a platform to develop our applications on, or cross develop on. The idea that all computer hardware will go to the entertainment industry is crazy!
There are so many other uses for computer iron such as pure research, embedded control, data cataloging, etc. I agree that the entertaiment use of computers will ballon and they will have special purpose needs that the hardware venors will address. There will be a fallout in the computer hardware business. But surly, there will be a supply of general purpose hw available for those that need it, though prices will rise. AMD will probably supply the cpu's if intel won't.
Guess no one will buy a computer at BrandsMart, KMart or Wal-Mart anymore, cause they won't have them. For sure that the markets are changing, but maybe we are seeing a new market for computer hardware, one that will be the major one, but not the only one. And there are always nitch players to supply hardware/software to those that march to a different drum.
I hope!
I don't like the idea that if I record a program for time shifting I can only view the copy one time. Yeah, I record it and later sit down to watch it only to have to break up a fight between my childern. I better be able to rewind the tape and replay what I missed. Or I watch it and then my wife comes home later and wanted to see it. I better be able to play it again. And if I record off a pay per view, well it better be mine forever, since I paid for it.
One computer maker worked with AMD to produce a cyrogenicly cooled K7 computer. AMD even made a special version of the cpu certified to overclock at the lowered case temperture. (Intel would NEVER do that!). Natch'ly this was a more expensive cpu, but it allowed the sale of a computer nearly twice as fast as the nearest available K7 powered computer. Reminds of the Cray's with their liquid nitrogen cooling system.
Read closely. The X33 program has become a boondoggle. Just another idea that looked real good on paper, but the details got in the way.
The flying wing was one of those. Back in the late '40s Northroup tried to build a flying wing bomber, but it just wasn't stable enough. There were all sorts of stories flying that cried conspiracy, that the govenment was 'bought' by interrests wanting to promote the B36 project instead. Truth was the flying wing was just a little ahead of it's time. Technology finally caught up, the B2 proved that the flying wing was real.
Maybe in another decade the aerospike engine will finally be ready for flight. Meanwhile, we need a replacement for the shuttle, and a more conventional approach might be better. A larger shuttle, two stage if necessary (get rid of those pesky solids!). Nasa made the right move here. The X33 project is not going to produce a shuttle replacement any time soon. Move on and admit it. It's not a popular idea, but the right one. Now only if they would take the money and go to Pluto!
I think that the order to break up MS was wrong, not because breaking up the company is a bad idea, but because of the way it is to be done.
The order would break up MS into different companies with different products. The new companies would not compete against each other, because they are in different market segments. This would NOT help competition. There would STILL be a big OS company, a big APP company, etc. MAYBE information would be more available to third parties who wanted to write competing apps compatable with those of MS. However I think that a horizontal break up of the company, similar to what happened to standard oil would better help consumers, not the vertical breakup proposed.
If all semiconductors were fried I guess we'd start using tubes (valves for you blokes on the other side of the pond) again. Can't you just imagine multivac again? Also start threading cores again. Now where can I get me a Collins S line cheap, just in case?
So if I have a copy of DeCss on a share on my hd and these guys point to it they ain't guilty? Sorry the courts have already decided that one. They will get their balls cut off.
Implant one of these chips in someone's pacemaker so they can't leave the country (or the state) without leaving this world. If they guy doesn't need a pacemaker then inplant a pace-destroyer (in planted electric chair?) to do the same. Great way to keep prisoners at bay without putting them in jail.
What MS doesn't like about the GPL is that it prevents them from STEALING any code that is licensed under it! They sure would prefer everything be licensed under BSD, it would then be all theirs for the picking! And of course they have already DONE this with some BSD licensed code! (Then again, so has lots of people). The GPL is a two way street, BSD is a one way street. Both are valid models, it's up to the programer to decide what's important to him when he chooses a license.
So who will be the first to build a 'star trek' holodeck? Sounds like an atom laser would make this possible.
I tell you, a while ago it was 'Quantum teleportation', now it's atom lasers. We are rapidly developing the sciences and physics of star trek! Transporters, and holodecks. What's next? I'm still waiting for some discovery in cosmology that will prove that warp drive is possible (in theory anyway).
I've been using Maxtor drives for the past 4 years now. I have never had a failure, not even an error! I've used their 2, 5, 15, 17, and 27gb size hard disks, and all are still going strong. My current computer has the 17 and 27 in it, so I have 44gb on line. My wife's computer has the 15gb (compusa branded, but made by Maxtor). I've bought all of them (except the 27, which came from computer geeks bulk packed) at the local compusa in the retail boxes. I would buy another Maxtor when I need more storage, or build another computer. OTH I have had LOT's of problems just getting Seagate and WD drives to fdisk and format!
>>Most open source developers would rather not >>have their code end up in Windows.
>Being an open-source developer myself, I would >personally never release any of my code under the >GPL. And I encourage all the coders I talk
>with to do the same. And once they see the >reasoning behind why, most will switch. They >honestly want to give their code away for others >to use as they see fit. You are not giving your >code away if you are requiring something back.
I think I'd rather split hairs on this one. I don't agree with the GPL's "virus clause", but I don't like BSD's just giving away the family jewels. If someone likes my code and uses it in a propritary product thats probably fine so long as it doesn't come back to haunt me. I can just see Microsoft taking some BSD licensed code and use it to create some new closed source standard that we won't be able to use because of some copyright, licence, or patent issue! If it weren't for the changing legal climate I'd say that we didn't need the GPL virius, but now I'm not so sure!
OTHO I would like to see any changes made to my code that I release via open source. Getting something back? Maybe I don't want to make that required, but It would be nice if anyone who made improvements or bug fixes to my stuff would share it with me. All BSD demands is that you give someone credit.
The other nasty in the GPL is the restriction of using the GPL'd code with non-gpled code. Here the author is free to nullify the point. I can state something like "this code may be linked with any binary lib regardless of it's license". The GPL's hardass stance on this is what caused KDE to be banned from Debian for such a long time. Now that QT is dual licensed the problem is gone.
With the recent blood bath on wall street for all the dot coms and Hi Tech in general I'm not surprised that many Linux companies are falling on hard times. But with computer sales slowing what the hell do you think is going to happen to MS's numbers? They will be going south too. But MS is in a better position to weather the storm for a while than many of the fledgling linux companies. As for the 2.4 kernel, give it awhile, Hell it's only in ".1" for crying out loud. That's like NT2000 before service pack 3 ya know!
What do you think will happen when all the current owners of HDTV capable tv sets find they can't watch because their sets lack the required digital input? They scream at the makers of the tv sets and DEMAND a refund on their $10k-25k sets or a free upgrade to the new models that have the inputs! I guess after facing a class action suit the tv makers will come out with a black box to go between the set and the satilite/cable box. We all know what this box will do! To make the mpaa happy, they will only sell these boxes to those that already own the tv sets.
If I ever get a tv with a digital hdtv input I'll order the service manual to see where to install analog output taps, after the waranty expires. (There has to be an analog signal some where, at least if you have picture tube(s)!)
I always thought that the GPL was intended for complete works that could stand on their own, and the LGPL was for libraries that needed to be linked with NON-GPL'ed libraries and code. I think you can LINK NON-GPL or NON-LGPL with LGPL libraries , even if your code is closed source. HOWEVER you may have to supply the source to the LGPL library with your binaries, and the source to ANY changes you made to the LGPL libraries. If you use any GPL'ed code in your app, then you'd better GPL the app as well. As for BSD stuff, well just give the author credit and take it.
Many people think RMS is a real ASSHOLE over the GPL, but it is a two way street. Everyone who created code and licensed it via the GPL has given this stuff away, for ANYONE to use. All they want in return is to keep the fruits of their labor FREE. They also want any by-products of their labor to be FREE. If you think that's too much to ask, then go buy something from Bill Gates' little company.
It sounds like you have already made up your mind and just want to hear someone else agree with you. I left a good job at a company that going nowhere after being bought out. (It was also a 42 mile commute.) I looked for another position (hopefully closer to home) on and off for several years and all of a sudden had a few places to choose from. I was able to get a few co-workers from the old place to come over, including my former supervisor (who was the greatest boss I ever had) who is now a VP over here (and the C.E.O. and one of the founders of this place keep thanking me for finding him!)