GNU/Linux distros come with Python. macOS comes with possibly outdated Python. But the lion's share of desktop and laptop install base is Windows. Last I checked, Windows came with PowerShell and cscript (a JavaScript interpreter), not Python.
First, macOS has for a long time shipped some ancient version of Python, often even older than what Debian or Ubuntu LTS ships. (Ubuntu 18.04 currently comes with Python 3.6.) This has confused users who saw, for example, a SyntaxError when a program uses with (program written for 2.5 -2.6 when macOS was shipping 2.4), a "command not found" when a program's shebang line specifies python3 (Python 3.x when macOS was shipping only 2.x), or await (introduced in 3.5). Users have ended up having to install Xcode in order to use Homebrew in order to use more recent Python.
Second, as you appear to have ended up realizing, many developers of applications for desktop and laptop computers feel they must support use on Windows in order to remain relevant.
What you said of the NES being an Internet-disconnected platform is true. However, it sounded like you had concluded that Micro Mages was an isolated example.
The United States and whatever EU member state you live in have a larger-than-average allocation of IPv4 addresses per thousand people. In some places, an IPv4 address costs a lot more than 3 euros per month. It's much more expensive to get your own IP in somewhere like Myanmar, as Bert64 reported: First you have to buy a business license, as none of the ISPs in a given city will sell a business connection to an individual. Then your business is placed behind CGNAT unless you lease individual IPv4 addresses at extra cost. It ends up cheaper to lease a VPS for use as a VPN endpoint.
Last I checked there were 7 billion people in the world and roughly half that many IPv4 addresses. This means each IPv4 address will, on average,* correspond to more than one home subscriber. Thus ISPs in many countries put each neighborhood behind a carrier-grade network address translation (CGNAT) device, which allows a hundred or so to make outgoing connections on the same IP address. But a device behind CGNAT cannot receive incoming connections because the CGNAT does not know to whom to forward the connection. For example, if someone connects to port 443 of a public IP address that you share with 200 other subscribers, how does the CGNAT know that the connection is for your server, not a server run by someone who lives a block away? Even if you have your own/56 worth of routable IPv6 addresses, that doesn't help when an IPv4-only client attempts to connect to your server.
* Some countries have more IPv4 addresses per 1000 people than the average. But this means other countries have even fewer.
And it's a fixed platform that has received a steady trickle of indie releases: Battle Kid series, Action 53 series, Nomolos: Storming the CATsle, Dushlan, Black Box Challenge, Eskimo Bob series, Haunted: Halloween '85 and its sequel, the forthcoming Family Picross, and a bunch more.
In fact, when Blizzard games become available on Linux, I'm going!
This list of Android/Linux apps published by Blizzard Entertainment probably doesn't count, as the only actual games there are Hearthstone and the forthcoming Diablo Immortal. The rest are apps for authenticating to its Windows games' multiplayer service or for following high-level competitions in its Windows games.
The thing is, it really *is* a good idea for "tech illiterate morons" to have locked down systems. They really need that because they simply cannot manage handling computer security as you and I know it today.
When "tech illiterate morons" decide to become no longer "tech illiterate morons", is it also a good idea for them to have to repurchase most of their computing hardware from scratch? This is the case for those who use iOS or a game console.
FFS, please just install them from the package repos on B.
Many distributions have a policy of not carrying in their repositories any software that is not free software.
If not possible, get the application's source code, compile and install it.
That would cost half the publisher's market capitalization.
Please consider using FOSS alternatives to the software you think you can't live without
How does one go about finding free software replacements for A. video games in particular genres with a substantial player population, B. players for rented movies, and C. individual income tax return preparation wizards? If you can't think of any, the reasons in this article might be why.
it is far cheaper to just upgrade to a supported machine than it is to spend my time (or money employing somebody) to keep the operating system up to date for old hardware.
Yet 35-year-old video game consoles still get new commercial releases for them. Family Computer in 1983; Micro Mages in 2018. What explains that?
The key difference is that with free software, you can hire any willing vendor, not just the original publisher, to backport security fixes to your legacy system. You don't have to have, say, half the publisher's market capitalization to force your will on the publisher.
people who dont like computers arent being forced to use them anymore. They can do all that stuff on their phone now.
Much to the relief of people who -do- like computers.
If there's a sharp reduction in demand for entry-level PCs, wouldn't that hurt the economies of scale that allow entry-level PCs to remain available and affordable? For example, over the course of 2012, pretty much all makers of low-cost compact PCs left that market in favor of touch-driven tablets, which commanded a higher profit margin at the time.
In a web browser? What can you use that isn't JavaScript?
HTML and CSS. And if you absolutely need interaction beyond link navigation, form submission, and checkbox collapse/radio tabs, you can use any language that isn't JavaScript but transpiles to JavaScript or compiles to WebAssembly. Or you can skip a web browser and provide a set of native applications for the end user to download, optionally audit, optionally compile, and install.
On an ISP-hosted web server? What do they give you except PHP?
I wasn't aware that home ISPs were still bundling web hosting now that most subscribers were putting their work in silos such as Blogspot, Tumblr, Facebook, Gab, Twitter, deviantART, and the like. Otherwise you might as well get a $10/mo virtual private server (VPS) from Amazon or any of several other providers and install whatever language you want. Buy your domain and hosting, configure your VPS to run a webserver and get its TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt, and you're set. And if you can't afford that much, third-party shared hosting providers such as DreamHost and WebFaction offer Python and other languages.
There are plenty of C interpreters... no need for a compiler.
Let me try to guess what grandparent is really getting at: Neither a C compiler nor a C interpreter ships with the operating system included with most desktop and laptop computers. You typically must install Visual Studio or Xcode.
Python is not compiled, it is either run by an interpreter or in an REPL environment.
A Python interpreter does not with the operating system included with most desktop and laptop computers. You typically must download and install Python at Python.org, and a stand-alone executable created by bundling the interpreter, standard library, required third-party modules, and your program was in the tens of megabytes last I checked.
Javascript easily runs standalone... just use Rhino or Node or any other JavaScript interpreter.
Node has the same disadvantage as C and Python: you have to install the interpreter. Both Edge and Safari can run script embedded in a web page, and they are included with the operating system. Besides, what UI library can Node use other than Electron, which is a separate copy of Chromium (Chrome with the proprietary parts stripped out) just for your application?
the web browser has become the prime example of the inner-platform effect (an anti-pattern)
Wikipedia's article about an inner platform states: "An inner platform can be useful for portability and privilege separation reasons -- in other words, so that the same application can run on a wide variety of outer platforms without affecting anything outside a sandbox managed by the inner platform." How would your solution allow a single application to run on Windows, X11/Linux, Android/Linux, Chrome OS, macOS, iOS, and those game consoles that have web browsers?
MGTOW is "men going their own way", which I understand to refer to a subculture of men who have embraced a life path other than a romantic relationship with a woman. What do the other initialisms stand for? Does GIOWWE have something to do with professional wrestling? Google Search couldn't find anything relevant for the other two.
For both of these things low-latency communication would be needed.
But not low-latency, high-throughput communication. A separate channel, limited to maybe 9600 bps per household down and 9600 bps up, could be made available for SSH and other interactive communications.
For spotify.. Looking around for a specific song? Well lets say you have a 30 second delay per song
The essay does mention that local transfers (those in the same city) could complete faster. This would give recordings by local bands the advantage of coming back in 3 seconds instead of 30.
So this would not only reduce the video-game industry to a tiny fraction of what it is today.. People could not play with friends unless they bring their computer over
Prior to Xbox Live, bringing your computer or console over or bringing a controller for split-screen play was the dominant form of multiplayer. Chess and other turn-based games would fit in a low-latency, low-bandwidth channel.
Ever heard about video-calls? My family uses that a lot since one family-member lives on the other side of the world and we get to meet for a few days per year.
In my interpretation of the essay, these could be downgraded from video to voice in order to pass through a low-latency, low-bandwidth channel. Codec 2 fits clear voice into 2400 bps each way. Or downgrade from video calling to video mail.
What about file-sharing? (opensource projects, sharing images with friends etc)
When the friends push to a source code or image repository, the repository sends a push notification to your device through a low-latency, low-bandwidth channel, and your device pulls the data 5 minutes later.
"Fortunately we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity, it's called Xbox 360," says Mattrick.
Since then, Microsoft has discontinued the Xbox 360. Thus they no longer "have a product". In order to return to Microsoft's original plan for Xbox One, Microsoft would first have to relaunch Xbox 360.
The ability to buy and sell second hand games on the used market.
And the ability to make use of the console at all in areas where the best available Internet connection is slow and/or harshly capped, especially rural areas that rely on satellite or fixed cellular. How practical is it to drive a console and monitor into town to complete a download in the tens of gigabytes over public library Wi-Fi? (I didn't think so.) Andy Tanenbaum's "station wagon full of tapes" argument was one of consoles' biggest remaining advantage over Steam, and a console without a disc drive erases that.
Slashdot Mirror
GNU/Linux distros come with Python. macOS comes with possibly outdated Python. But the lion's share of desktop and laptop install base is Windows. Last I checked, Windows came with PowerShell and cscript (a JavaScript interpreter), not Python.
First, macOS has for a long time shipped some ancient version of Python, often even older than what Debian or Ubuntu LTS ships. (Ubuntu 18.04 currently comes with Python 3.6.) This has confused users who saw, for example, a SyntaxError when a program uses with (program written for 2.5 -2.6 when macOS was shipping 2.4), a "command not found" when a program's shebang line specifies python3 (Python 3.x when macOS was shipping only 2.x), or await (introduced in 3.5). Users have ended up having to install Xcode in order to use Homebrew in order to use more recent Python.
Second, as you appear to have ended up realizing, many developers of applications for desktop and laptop computers feel they must support use on Windows in order to remain relevant.
What you said of the NES being an Internet-disconnected platform is true. However, it sounded like you had concluded that Micro Mages was an isolated example.
The United States and whatever EU member state you live in have a larger-than-average allocation of IPv4 addresses per thousand people. In some places, an IPv4 address costs a lot more than 3 euros per month. It's much more expensive to get your own IP in somewhere like Myanmar, as Bert64 reported: First you have to buy a business license, as none of the ISPs in a given city will sell a business connection to an individual. Then your business is placed behind CGNAT unless you lease individual IPv4 addresses at extra cost. It ends up cheaper to lease a VPS for use as a VPN endpoint.
Most people who already own a perfectly good PC that happens to run Windows aren't going to spend $799 for a new Mac mini to run one application.
That is the great thing about Macs - you do not have to.
True of Mac. Not true of iPad Pro, despite Apple's "What's a computer?" commercial.
Why do so few people set up web servers at home?
Last I checked there were 7 billion people in the world and roughly half that many IPv4 addresses. This means each IPv4 address will, on average,* correspond to more than one home subscriber. Thus ISPs in many countries put each neighborhood behind a carrier-grade network address translation (CGNAT) device, which allows a hundred or so to make outgoing connections on the same IP address. But a device behind CGNAT cannot receive incoming connections because the CGNAT does not know to whom to forward the connection. For example, if someone connects to port 443 of a public IP address that you share with 200 other subscribers, how does the CGNAT know that the connection is for your server, not a server run by someone who lives a block away? Even if you have your own /56 worth of routable IPv6 addresses, that doesn't help when an IPv4-only client attempts to connect to your server.
* Some countries have more IPv4 addresses per 1000 people than the average. But this means other countries have even fewer.
And it's a fixed platform that has received a steady trickle of indie releases: Battle Kid series, Action 53 series, Nomolos: Storming the CATsle, Dushlan, Black Box Challenge, Eskimo Bob series, Haunted: Halloween '85 and its sequel, the forthcoming Family Picross, and a bunch more.
It's "a service" because the activation, update, voice activation ("Hey Cortana"), and advertising components of Windows 10 run on a server.
In fact, when Blizzard games become available on Linux, I'm going!
This list of Android/Linux apps published by Blizzard Entertainment probably doesn't count, as the only actual games there are Hearthstone and the forthcoming Diablo Immortal. The rest are apps for authenticating to its Windows games' multiplayer service or for following high-level competitions in its Windows games.
The thing is, it really *is* a good idea for "tech illiterate morons" to have locked down systems. They really need that because they simply cannot manage handling computer security as you and I know it today.
When "tech illiterate morons" decide to become no longer "tech illiterate morons", is it also a good idea for them to have to repurchase most of their computing hardware from scratch? This is the case for those who use iOS or a game console.
FFS, please just install them from the package repos on B.
Many distributions have a policy of not carrying in their repositories any software that is not free software.
If not possible, get the application's source code, compile and install it.
That would cost half the publisher's market capitalization.
Please consider using FOSS alternatives to the software you think you can't live without
How does one go about finding free software replacements for A. video games in particular genres with a substantial player population, B. players for rented movies, and C. individual income tax return preparation wizards? If you can't think of any, the reasons in this article might be why.
it is far cheaper to just upgrade to a supported machine than it is to spend my time (or money employing somebody) to keep the operating system up to date for old hardware.
Yet 35-year-old video game consoles still get new commercial releases for them. Family Computer in 1983; Micro Mages in 2018. What explains that?
The key difference is that with free software, you can hire any willing vendor, not just the original publisher, to backport security fixes to your legacy system. You don't have to have, say, half the publisher's market capitalization to force your will on the publisher.
people who dont like computers arent being forced to use them anymore. They can do all that stuff on their phone now.
Much to the relief of people who -do- like computers.
If there's a sharp reduction in demand for entry-level PCs, wouldn't that hurt the economies of scale that allow entry-level PCs to remain available and affordable? For example, over the course of 2012, pretty much all makers of low-cost compact PCs left that market in favor of touch-driven tablets, which commanded a higher profit margin at the time.
In a web browser? What can you use that isn't JavaScript?
HTML and CSS. And if you absolutely need interaction beyond link navigation, form submission, and checkbox collapse/radio tabs, you can use any language that isn't JavaScript but transpiles to JavaScript or compiles to WebAssembly. Or you can skip a web browser and provide a set of native applications for the end user to download, optionally audit, optionally compile, and install.
On an ISP-hosted web server? What do they give you except PHP?
I wasn't aware that home ISPs were still bundling web hosting now that most subscribers were putting their work in silos such as Blogspot, Tumblr, Facebook, Gab, Twitter, deviantART, and the like. Otherwise you might as well get a $10/mo virtual private server (VPS) from Amazon or any of several other providers and install whatever language you want. Buy your domain and hosting, configure your VPS to run a webserver and get its TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt, and you're set. And if you can't afford that much, third-party shared hosting providers such as DreamHost and WebFaction offer Python and other languages.
Want to learn C? You need a compiler
There are plenty of C interpreters ... no need for a compiler.
Let me try to guess what grandparent is really getting at: Neither a C compiler nor a C interpreter ships with the operating system included with most desktop and laptop computers. You typically must install Visual Studio or Xcode.
Python is not compiled, it is either run by an interpreter or in an REPL environment.
A Python interpreter does not with the operating system included with most desktop and laptop computers. You typically must download and install Python at Python.org, and a stand-alone executable created by bundling the interpreter, standard library, required third-party modules, and your program was in the tens of megabytes last I checked.
Javascript easily runs standalone ... just use Rhino or Node or any other JavaScript interpreter.
Node has the same disadvantage as C and Python: you have to install the interpreter. Both Edge and Safari can run script embedded in a web page, and they are included with the operating system. Besides, what UI library can Node use other than Electron, which is a separate copy of Chromium (Chrome with the proprietary parts stripped out) just for your application?
the web browser has become the prime example of the inner-platform effect (an anti-pattern)
Wikipedia's article about an inner platform states: "An inner platform can be useful for portability and privilege separation reasons -- in other words, so that the same application can run on a wide variety of outer platforms without affecting anything outside a sandbox managed by the inner platform." How would your solution allow a single application to run on Windows, X11/Linux, Android/Linux, Chrome OS, macOS, iOS, and those game consoles that have web browsers?
MGTOW is "men going their own way", which I understand to refer to a subculture of men who have embraced a life path other than a romantic relationship with a woman. What do the other initialisms stand for? Does GIOWWE have something to do with professional wrestling? Google Search couldn't find anything relevant for the other two.
As I understand the claim: Freight trains go through city centers, be it at level crossings or overpasses, but they don't stop in city centers.
Pitty, I figured congress was supposed to make laws. Not the courts
The courts exist in part to figure out whether the Congress exceeded the powers that the Constitution grants to the Congress.
or the President
The Congress has chosen to make some laws in broad strokes and create administrative agencies to hammer out the details on behalf of the Congress.
Maybe I missed something during my civics classes.
If your civics class skipped "judicial review" and "Code of Federal Regulations", you can look them up on any major web search engine.
For both of these things low-latency communication would be needed.
But not low-latency, high-throughput communication. A separate channel, limited to maybe 9600 bps per household down and 9600 bps up, could be made available for SSH and other interactive communications.
For spotify.. Looking around for a specific song? Well lets say you have a 30 second delay per song
The essay does mention that local transfers (those in the same city) could complete faster. This would give recordings by local bands the advantage of coming back in 3 seconds instead of 30.
So this would not only reduce the video-game industry to a tiny fraction of what it is today.. People could not play with friends unless they bring their computer over
Prior to Xbox Live, bringing your computer or console over or bringing a controller for split-screen play was the dominant form of multiplayer. Chess and other turn-based games would fit in a low-latency, low-bandwidth channel.
Ever heard about video-calls? My family uses that a lot since one family-member lives on the other side of the world and we get to meet for a few days per year.
In my interpretation of the essay, these could be downgraded from video to voice in order to pass through a low-latency, low-bandwidth channel. Codec 2 fits clear voice into 2400 bps each way. Or downgrade from video calling to video mail.
What about file-sharing? (opensource projects, sharing images with friends etc)
When the friends push to a source code or image repository, the repository sends a push notification to your device through a low-latency, low-bandwidth channel, and your device pulls the data 5 minutes later.
"Fortunately we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity, it's called Xbox 360," says Mattrick.
Since then, Microsoft has discontinued the Xbox 360. Thus they no longer "have a product". In order to return to Microsoft's original plan for Xbox One, Microsoft would first have to relaunch Xbox 360.
The ability to buy and sell second hand games on the used market.
And the ability to make use of the console at all in areas where the best available Internet connection is slow and/or harshly capped, especially rural areas that rely on satellite or fixed cellular. How practical is it to drive a console and monitor into town to complete a download in the tens of gigabytes over public library Wi-Fi? (I didn't think so.) Andy Tanenbaum's "station wagon full of tapes" argument was one of consoles' biggest remaining advantage over Steam, and a console without a disc drive erases that.
Provided that "the mighty penguin" 1. is even allowed to boot and 2. has drivers for the ARM device's hardware.