I am enjoying watching some of the coverage, but because the US coverage is SOOO overly American-focused, it's disappointing. It gets worse every 2 years now, with Bob Costas inching slowly downward each time with his stupid, dismissive remarks.
You'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't at least somewhat agree with this. With all the money NBC has, you'd think they'd find a way to be less annoying than with Bob and Katie. Geez.
Personally, I thought OLN did a splendid job with the Tour de France. Part of what made it interesting is that they had a couple of British commentators I think. I'd really like to see NBC include an Australian or British commentator in the Olympic coverage- I think they would fit in quite well and offer a good perspective.
This just seems to never end. I have no argument with technology of any kind- I think it is great. But the way people use the technology gets on my nerves.
This is just another tool for people to act like asses- now watching TV on their phone while you're eating dinner with them or catching sports scores while in a staff meeting. People already walk around in a complete daze while on cell phones, seemingly unaware of anything around them. I wonder why people can't just enjoy themselves doing whatever they are doing? I guess I just don't understand the need to always be glued to a blackberry or cell phone. What stock quote is so important or what conversation is so critical that it has to take place while you're getting checked out at the supermarket? Or during one of a thousand other inappropriate times.
Development in a 3rd world should somewhat mimic what happened in the 1st quite some time ago. First you build houses that keep people dry, use books to teach people, and grow food that people can eat. Of course, modern technology can help some. Our work with genetically engineered crops is one answer to feeding hundreds of millions of people.
Hint- growing "organic" food without any benefit of modern science results in sickly, poor producing crops. So they'd be best not to ask Hollywood for gardening advice.
One group's voices are being silenced because another group disagrees with them. Now that's respect for freedom of speech!
Pretty pathetic, to be sure. It is a similar technique to hiring a redneck hit man to bang a fellow ice skater on the knee so you'll have a greater chance of winning a gold medal.
We sure don't like it when government silences the people- whether it be something done through legislation like McCain-Feingold's advertising ban, or something horribly violent like Tiananmen Square. Lets not try to do the same thing in reverse.
The goal of someone like Scaled Composites, IMHO, isn't to win the X-Prize but to develop a private space program concept that can potentially be sold to someone like Virgin who would start offering suborbital tourism flights.
So, they've spent around $20 million US, and $10 mil is indeed half. If any company developing a new product could stand to get 1/2 of all of their expenses back by winning a contest, wouldn't that be icing on the cake?
In fact, note that the rules of the X-Prize (2 flights, 3 passengers, etc) are meant to be things that would encourage a company to actually do something important with their technology AFTER winning the X-Prize. So it is an interesting setup. While the X-Prize isn't the sole driving force, it has definately been a "shot in the ass" to keep teams working hard. I think the expiration date on the X-Prize was an absolutely great idea too- because it is working! Just look how many teams are making a final drive right now. As long as nobody dies- and I tell you these da Vinci guys, if they are serious, scare the bejesus out of me.
True -- and the next question would be, why is militant Islam gaining such popularity and support from so many parts of the world?
There are undoubtably hundreds of books on this very topic- everything from social phychology to things you can find in any history book.
It has everything to do with the extremist nature- it is very much a cult-like effect. The same reasons the Crusades happened, and the same reason otherwise ordinary Christians from America pack up a suitcase with Bibles and head to other countries to convert people. This kind of thing can happen when just about any religion on the face of the earth is practiced absolutely, and without tolerance. Luckily, in most cases people balance religion with the "real world"... the world where people work and produce, buy things, do things for themselves most of the week, and tolerate their neighbors. I couldn't tell you the demographics of my street- there are several nations and a handful of religions represented- I find it humerous that I'm supposidly the hated "infadel." The same goes for Arabs who live in Israel- ironically, they live with much more freedom than an Arab in any other Middle Eastern society.
Militant Islam has unfortuantely rejected this type of balance. The problem is a combination of a full all-out rejection of Western philosophy (individualism, rule by a representive Republic, separation of church and state, etc.) combined with religious extremism. These are the things that led to 9-11. These are the reaons why attacks have happened across multiple presidencies- it isn't just Bush Sr, Clinton, or Bush Jr policies they hate. They hate our entire Constitution... So unless we are prepared to rewrite it, we had better be prepared to fight.
I also find it funny that my original post was mod'ed overrated- It was only "1" to start with people! Don't mod down just because you disagree.
This is something quite different and much deeper than the simple-minded rhetoric that President Bush and the rest of his administration chant again and again
True. True for every president thus far. How long has it been since the first WTC bombing, back in the early 90's? Have we YET to have a president who has named the enemy?
The enemy is militant Islam. The same way the enemy in WW II was Nazism and Japanese Imperialism. Note that our enemy in WW II was not a few kamikaze pilots and a handful of Germans that we referenced by first and last names. The enemy was a system of beliefs that stood for horrible things. The same is true now with militant Islam. The truth is out there but nobody will say it. Read about the Khalifa. A primary responsibility is to facilitate the spread of Islam throughout the world using force if necessary.
Nobody seems to get it. These people won't stop until everyone in the world is speaking Arabic and praying 5 times a day. They have a similar mentality as the Christians during the Crusades. One might call that "militant Christianity." This has very little to do with the fact that we sell Israel F-16's. We sell Taiwan lots of military gear too so they can defend their democracy against China if necessary, so why aren't they upset about this? Unless, of course- it is actually all about religion and the Khalifa's duties.
The day the U.S. abandons its friends around the world will be a sad day because I doubt anybody else would help. Who else would help stop an invasion of Kuwait, Israel or China or for that matter any other country? If you live in Great Britain or Australia (or Kuwait in 1990) and your country was invaded- who would you count on? The French army? Or, would you secretly hope the U.S. military would answer the call of duty, to spite the fact that you've protested their government and foreign policy your whole life?
It'd be interesting if there were two sets of contests: One for 'natural' and one for 'enhanced' athletes.
That is a very interesting idea. I wonder which would be more watched and celebrated? I for one would only be interested in 'natural'- for one particular reason. Raw, physical strength and endurance isn't everything (although no arguing it helps.) For example, I perfer to watch women's tennis, because not having the stength of men, IMHO they are forced to play smarter and with more finesse. Sure every serve isn't an ace- but doesn't that make a match more interesting?
By the same token it is a free world and if someone wants to dope themselves to hell and play in the steroid games, more power too them- they can compete with fellow 'roid poppers. Although I bet they'd kill themselves trying to get a leg up.
As a side note, OS X always ships with the latest version of Java and updates are had easily thru software update. So, no problems with "Joe User" not knowing how to get a JVM.
So, none of this is an issue there. Really makes you wonder where Java could be if the same were true on Win32.
Java WebStart apps are a lucky hybrid- to the user, they are online... they get updated whenever necessary so the user knows no difference. But, if the website is down, you can still run the app and you can even have a shortcut locally. Sure they take up local HD space, but if you are running online apps merely to save a meg or two locally, I'm worried about you. HD space is like... uh, a buck a GIG now or something?
If you don't think something like this could be very useful, try JDiskReport.
The point of the hack is to permit you to stream audio to an AE from a program other than iTunes.
Exactly right. And then the question is, why would a person want to? Sure, okay- there is always the "be different" crowd. But, I recently set up Air Tunes in my house and stream to it with iTunes as well as use iTunes for all my ripping and libraryization (is that a word? no guess not.)
iTunes is a really good app. It does everything it is supposed to do and nothing more, IMHO. Sure, there are niche users who will want something else, but it blows the top socks off of any of the other apps I've used.
Case in point, if you are going to be locked into a technology- make sure it is at least reasonably good shit like Fairplay/iPod/AirportExpress/iTunes/iTMS. Microsoft and pals don't have an array of equivalent technology that comes close.
Can I use my mod points to mod the entire slashdot.org website as "overrated"? The site has potential and has a good story now and again, but these repetitive flame wars really make this place laughable. No wonder most of the industry writes this place off as a biased kiddy techo-tabloid.
fear works. all the terrorists have to do is manage to blow up one high-level target every couple of years and then just sit back as the West smothers itself in its own security blanket.
Nuclear weapons work too. All the US has to do is mangage to nuke one terrorist filled state every couple of years, and then just sit back as the fallout settles and Bin Laden and crew die of radiation poisoning.
Armadillo seems pretty amateuristic. I don't know why they get so much coverage on Slashdot- they aren't even newsworth IMHO. I might just as well be reading a story about some kids who are building model rockets for their school project. Nobody is even in the same league as Scaled Composites right now- but they are all sure as hell trying to ride off of their publicity with the "me too" shit. Unforuntately, the press is taking the bait.
You can be sure the whole Shuttle back-to-flight process HAS been slowed by big government methodology- create several committees and a heap of several thousand page reports.
Consider what happens when a 747 crashes and kills everyone on board. Say, a couple hundred folks. Do they ground every 747 for 2 years? If a B-2 Stealth crashed, would the Air Force ground them all (especially if the B-2s were needed at the time for missions?) Doubtful.
Rather, perhaps the whole Shuttle program is flawed. Almost every launch now is delayed due to some type of failure. And those are just the ones they catch. You see what happens when they miss something. It isn't practical to have a launch vehicle/orbiter with these types of issues. If you're trying to actively maintain a space station, it isn't a good idea to rely solely on an unreliable vehicle that can be grounded for several years especially when the those "in the know" estimate you'll have a 1-2% catastrophic failure rate.
So, foam comes off and causes the shuttle to basically explode. Was it a one time thing or a global problem that we've gotten lucky on avoiding until now? Can it be fixed? Is this a 747 type issue that is immediately regarded as isolated, or is it a Concord issue where you end up scrapping the entire fleet?
To me, you either fix it an move on, or you scrap the fleet. Anything in the middle is asking for trouble with the age of the fleet and with no budget to completely refit the shuttles.
I really to wonder wtf they've being doing since that last flight? Why wasn't the x-prize won last month? do they really have that many issues? These guys are clearly a one-shot deal. They're not gonna bother dicking around with test flights to 80K ft, or anything else for that matter.
Scaled has a mildy successful flight that had a few issues that could have been serious, and they've promptly addressed them. Compare this to NASA who has been grounded for how long now? When it comes to spaceflight and human lives, the folks in charge have a responsibility to be diligent about things but also not take it so far that it is ridiculous. I think Scaled has the right mentality. Some issues occured, they found out why, they fixed them, tested a few things and went over them a few times, and then schedule the next flight.
I'm not sure where you are coming from when you say "not dick around with test flights." That is like me saying that I'm not going to test software, I'm just going to move it straight into production. Except, my software goes bad and a few thousand people have screwed up mortgages. You move an aircraft into production with no test flights and almost certainly you end up with dead people. Have you seen the photos? These guys don't even have anything that remotely resembles something that could fly- and there is no way they'll have it built by October.
The press are dumb asses for falling for it. Shit, I might as well get my 15 minutes of fame. I'm registering for the X-Prize and announcing my winning flight tomorrow. You see, I've had the good fortune of securing temp access to the word's largest rubberband....
I'm skeptical. I admit it. Have these guys done test flights? Have they flown the balloon to 80K feet yet? Have they test launched the rocket enough, or at all? Do they HAVE a rocket that isn't a prototype?
Also, what is up with needing 500K to go ahead and finish up and launch? I really think perhaps this is all about publicity and not going into space, but I hope I'm wrong. Because Scaled seems to be all about going into space and only doing publicity when they feel like they are obligated to.
while Linux has lots of applications, most of them are designed by open-source developer 12-year olds with no concept of interface design, usability, or QA.
That is funny, I've thought the same thing for a long time- kudos for having the balls to post such a thing here though!
Why? Manafacturers have a right to build hardware however they want to. They should also have the right to not spend money developing Linux drivers when the ROI will be in the red- don't believe me go to a local resturant where a good cross section of society gathers, and ask for a show of hands- who uses Linux at home as their primary desktop. The (non) show of hands is the Linux market, people.
Imagine it's 2044, your company spent billions setting up a dilithium mine on the moon. Only to find out that your mine is some property "claimed" by some guy back in 2004. And his heirs are asking you to purchase your property from them.
I can just see some bastard holding up a certificate he bought somewhere in 2004 that gave him rights to the lunar crater my home is built in 30 years from now, asking me to leave immediately. That piece of paper wouldn't mean a whole lot when I'd have my phaser aimed right at it.
This isn't as easy as it sounds- you can't just install Linux apps on OS X. If you are lucky you can recompile them making minimal changes and have it work. Tools like Fink help out a lot- I guess I'd compare it to a graphical apt-get for OS X even though I'm sure that isn't entirely accurate.
Slashdot Mirror
I am enjoying watching some of the coverage, but because the US coverage is SOOO overly American-focused, it's disappointing. It gets worse every 2 years now, with Bob Costas inching slowly downward each time with his stupid, dismissive remarks.
You'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't at least somewhat agree with this. With all the money NBC has, you'd think they'd find a way to be less annoying than with Bob and Katie. Geez.
Personally, I thought OLN did a splendid job with the Tour de France. Part of what made it interesting is that they had a couple of British commentators I think. I'd really like to see NBC include an Australian or British commentator in the Olympic coverage- I think they would fit in quite well and offer a good perspective.
This just seems to never end. I have no argument with technology of any kind- I think it is great. But the way people use the technology gets on my nerves.
This is just another tool for people to act like asses- now watching TV on their phone while you're eating dinner with them or catching sports scores while in a staff meeting. People already walk around in a complete daze while on cell phones, seemingly unaware of anything around them. I wonder why people can't just enjoy themselves doing whatever they are doing? I guess I just don't understand the need to always be glued to a blackberry or cell phone. What stock quote is so important or what conversation is so critical that it has to take place while you're getting checked out at the supermarket? Or during one of a thousand other inappropriate times.
Development in a 3rd world should somewhat mimic what happened in the 1st quite some time ago. First you build houses that keep people dry, use books to teach people, and grow food that people can eat. Of course, modern technology can help some. Our work with genetically engineered crops is one answer to feeding hundreds of millions of people.
Hint- growing "organic" food without any benefit of modern science results in sickly, poor producing crops. So they'd be best not to ask Hollywood for gardening advice.
One group's voices are being silenced because another group disagrees with them. Now that's respect for freedom of speech!
Pretty pathetic, to be sure. It is a similar technique to hiring a redneck hit man to bang a fellow ice skater on the knee so you'll have a greater chance of winning a gold medal.
We sure don't like it when government silences the people- whether it be something done through legislation like McCain-Feingold's advertising ban, or something horribly violent like Tiananmen Square. Lets not try to do the same thing in reverse.
The goal of someone like Scaled Composites, IMHO, isn't to win the X-Prize but to develop a private space program concept that can potentially be sold to someone like Virgin who would start offering suborbital tourism flights.
So, they've spent around $20 million US, and $10 mil is indeed half. If any company developing a new product could stand to get 1/2 of all of their expenses back by winning a contest, wouldn't that be icing on the cake?
In fact, note that the rules of the X-Prize (2 flights, 3 passengers, etc) are meant to be things that would encourage a company to actually do something important with their technology AFTER winning the X-Prize. So it is an interesting setup. While the X-Prize isn't the sole driving force, it has definately been a "shot in the ass" to keep teams working hard. I think the expiration date on the X-Prize was an absolutely great idea too- because it is working! Just look how many teams are making a final drive right now. As long as nobody dies- and I tell you these da Vinci guys, if they are serious, scare the bejesus out of me.
True -- and the next question would be, why is militant Islam gaining such popularity and support from so many parts of the world?
There are undoubtably hundreds of books on this very topic- everything from social phychology to things you can find in any history book.
It has everything to do with the extremist nature- it is very much a cult-like effect. The same reasons the Crusades happened, and the same reason otherwise ordinary Christians from America pack up a suitcase with Bibles and head to other countries to convert people. This kind of thing can happen when just about any religion on the face of the earth is practiced absolutely, and without tolerance. Luckily, in most cases people balance religion with the "real world"... the world where people work and produce, buy things, do things for themselves most of the week, and tolerate their neighbors. I couldn't tell you the demographics of my street- there are several nations and a handful of religions represented- I find it humerous that I'm supposidly the hated "infadel." The same goes for Arabs who live in Israel- ironically, they live with much more freedom than an Arab in any other Middle Eastern society.
Militant Islam has unfortuantely rejected this type of balance. The problem is a combination of a full all-out rejection of Western philosophy (individualism, rule by a representive Republic, separation of church and state, etc.) combined with religious extremism. These are the things that led to 9-11. These are the reaons why attacks have happened across multiple presidencies- it isn't just Bush Sr, Clinton, or Bush Jr policies they hate. They hate our entire Constitution... So unless we are prepared to rewrite it, we had better be prepared to fight.
I also find it funny that my original post was mod'ed overrated- It was only "1" to start with people! Don't mod down just because you disagree.
This is something quite different and much deeper than the simple-minded rhetoric that President Bush and the rest of his administration chant again and again
True. True for every president thus far. How long has it been since the first WTC bombing, back in the early 90's? Have we YET to have a president who has named the enemy?
The enemy is militant Islam. The same way the enemy in WW II was Nazism and Japanese Imperialism. Note that our enemy in WW II was not a few kamikaze pilots and a handful of Germans that we referenced by first and last names. The enemy was a system of beliefs that stood for horrible things. The same is true now with militant Islam. The truth is out there but nobody will say it. Read about the Khalifa. A primary responsibility is to facilitate the spread of Islam throughout the world using force if necessary.
Nobody seems to get it. These people won't stop until everyone in the world is speaking Arabic and praying 5 times a day. They have a similar mentality as the Christians during the Crusades. One might call that "militant Christianity." This has very little to do with the fact that we sell Israel F-16's. We sell Taiwan lots of military gear too so they can defend their democracy against China if necessary, so why aren't they upset about this? Unless, of course- it is actually all about religion and the Khalifa's duties.
The day the U.S. abandons its friends around the world will be a sad day because I doubt anybody else would help. Who else would help stop an invasion of Kuwait, Israel or China or for that matter any other country? If you live in Great Britain or Australia (or Kuwait in 1990) and your country was invaded- who would you count on? The French army? Or, would you secretly hope the U.S. military would answer the call of duty, to spite the fact that you've protested their government and foreign policy your whole life?
It'd be interesting if there were two sets of contests: One for 'natural' and one for 'enhanced' athletes.
That is a very interesting idea. I wonder which would be more watched and celebrated? I for one would only be interested in 'natural'- for one particular reason. Raw, physical strength and endurance isn't everything (although no arguing it helps.) For example, I perfer to watch women's tennis, because not having the stength of men, IMHO they are forced to play smarter and with more finesse. Sure every serve isn't an ace- but doesn't that make a match more interesting?
By the same token it is a free world and if someone wants to dope themselves to hell and play in the steroid games, more power too them- they can compete with fellow 'roid poppers. Although I bet they'd kill themselves trying to get a leg up.
As a side note, OS X always ships with the latest version of Java and updates are had easily thru software update. So, no problems with "Joe User" not knowing how to get a JVM.
So, none of this is an issue there. Really makes you wonder where Java could be if the same were true on Win32.
Java WebStart apps are a lucky hybrid- to the user, they are online... they get updated whenever necessary so the user knows no difference. But, if the website is down, you can still run the app and you can even have a shortcut locally. Sure they take up local HD space, but if you are running online apps merely to save a meg or two locally, I'm worried about you. HD space is like... uh, a buck a GIG now or something?
If you don't think something like this could be very useful, try JDiskReport.
The point of the hack is to permit you to stream audio to an AE from a program other than iTunes.
Exactly right. And then the question is, why would a person want to? Sure, okay- there is always the "be different" crowd. But, I recently set up Air Tunes in my house and stream to it with iTunes as well as use iTunes for all my ripping and libraryization (is that a word? no guess not.)
iTunes is a really good app. It does everything it is supposed to do and nothing more, IMHO. Sure, there are niche users who will want something else, but it blows the top socks off of any of the other apps I've used.
Case in point, if you are going to be locked into a technology- make sure it is at least reasonably good shit like Fairplay/iPod/AirportExpress/iTunes/iTMS. Microsoft and pals don't have an array of equivalent technology that comes close.
I saw the headline and I slapped my forehead.
Can I use my mod points to mod the entire slashdot.org website as "overrated"? The site has potential and has a good story now and again, but these repetitive flame wars really make this place laughable. No wonder most of the industry writes this place off as a biased kiddy techo-tabloid.
Next thing you know murder will be legal and the victim will be held responsible for not wearing kevlar.
fear works. all the terrorists have to do is manage to blow up one high-level target every couple of years and then just sit back as the West smothers itself in its own security blanket.
Nuclear weapons work too. All the US has to do is mangage to nuke one terrorist filled state every couple of years, and then just sit back as the fallout settles and Bin Laden and crew die of radiation poisoning.
Armadillo seems pretty amateuristic. I don't know why they get so much coverage on Slashdot- they aren't even newsworth IMHO. I might just as well be reading a story about some kids who are building model rockets for their school project. Nobody is even in the same league as Scaled Composites right now- but they are all sure as hell trying to ride off of their publicity with the "me too" shit. Unforuntately, the press is taking the bait.
You can be sure the whole Shuttle back-to-flight process HAS been slowed by big government methodology- create several committees and a heap of several thousand page reports.
Consider what happens when a 747 crashes and kills everyone on board. Say, a couple hundred folks. Do they ground every 747 for 2 years? If a B-2 Stealth crashed, would the Air Force ground them all (especially if the B-2s were needed at the time for missions?) Doubtful.
Rather, perhaps the whole Shuttle program is flawed. Almost every launch now is delayed due to some type of failure. And those are just the ones they catch. You see what happens when they miss something. It isn't practical to have a launch vehicle/orbiter with these types of issues. If you're trying to actively maintain a space station, it isn't a good idea to rely solely on an unreliable vehicle that can be grounded for several years especially when the those "in the know" estimate you'll have a 1-2% catastrophic failure rate.
So, foam comes off and causes the shuttle to basically explode. Was it a one time thing or a global problem that we've gotten lucky on avoiding until now? Can it be fixed? Is this a 747 type issue that is immediately regarded as isolated, or is it a Concord issue where you end up scrapping the entire fleet?
To me, you either fix it an move on, or you scrap the fleet. Anything in the middle is asking for trouble with the age of the fleet and with no budget to completely refit the shuttles.
I really to wonder wtf they've being doing since that last flight? Why wasn't the x-prize won last month? do they really have that many issues? These guys are clearly a one-shot deal. They're not gonna bother dicking around with test flights to 80K ft, or anything else for that matter.
Scaled has a mildy successful flight that had a few issues that could have been serious, and they've promptly addressed them. Compare this to NASA who has been grounded for how long now? When it comes to spaceflight and human lives, the folks in charge have a responsibility to be diligent about things but also not take it so far that it is ridiculous. I think Scaled has the right mentality. Some issues occured, they found out why, they fixed them, tested a few things and went over them a few times, and then schedule the next flight.
I'm not sure where you are coming from when you say "not dick around with test flights." That is like me saying that I'm not going to test software, I'm just going to move it straight into production. Except, my software goes bad and a few thousand people have screwed up mortgages. You move an aircraft into production with no test flights and almost certainly you end up with dead people. Have you seen the photos? These guys don't even have anything that remotely resembles something that could fly- and there is no way they'll have it built by October.
I have every head
here is one head you'll never have. Laugh if you want about the name, but that is one big dick.
2) scam artists
The press are dumb asses for falling for it. Shit, I might as well get my 15 minutes of fame. I'm registering for the X-Prize and announcing my winning flight tomorrow. You see, I've had the good fortune of securing temp access to the word's largest rubberband....
I'm skeptical. I admit it. Have these guys done test flights? Have they flown the balloon to 80K feet yet? Have they test launched the rocket enough, or at all? Do they HAVE a rocket that isn't a prototype?
Also, what is up with needing 500K to go ahead and finish up and launch? I really think perhaps this is all about publicity and not going into space, but I hope I'm wrong. Because Scaled seems to be all about going into space and only doing publicity when they feel like they are obligated to.
while Linux has lots of applications, most of them are designed by open-source developer 12-year olds with no concept of interface design, usability, or QA.
That is funny, I've thought the same thing for a long time- kudos for having the balls to post such a thing here though!
it's often the fault of the manufacturers
Why? Manafacturers have a right to build hardware however they want to. They should also have the right to not spend money developing Linux drivers when the ROI will be in the red- don't believe me go to a local resturant where a good cross section of society gathers, and ask for a show of hands- who uses Linux at home as their primary desktop. The (non) show of hands is the Linux market, people.
Imagine it's 2044, your company spent billions setting up a dilithium mine on the moon. Only to find out that your mine is some property "claimed" by some guy back in 2004. And his heirs are asking you to purchase your property from them.
I can just see some bastard holding up a certificate he bought somewhere in 2004 that gave him rights to the lunar crater my home is built in 30 years from now, asking me to leave immediately. That piece of paper wouldn't mean a whole lot when I'd have my phaser aimed right at it.
So, the comparison is closer to apt-get and Synaptic I suppose...
If OS X can run most/all linux apps via X11
This isn't as easy as it sounds- you can't just install Linux apps on OS X. If you are lucky you can recompile them making minimal changes and have it work. Tools like Fink help out a lot- I guess I'd compare it to a graphical apt-get for OS X even though I'm sure that isn't entirely accurate.