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User: Dix

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Comments · 74

  1. Re:Obvious answer on English Language And Its Effect On Programming? · · Score: 1

    The maths in the middle ages when Europe was stuck in a relative downturn was done by the Persians - but due to rules of culture it was not acceptable to use symbols. Thus they were forced to write mathematical calculations in natural language.
    Their language (now Farsi) is Indoeuropean like the Germanic (English, German etc) and Romance languages (French, Italian etc) and Sanscrit derived ones (I believe most Subcontinental languages) (- but not like Finish, Hungarian, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, Swahili or Basque for example).

    Perhaps writings from this period could be used to formulate more natural language programming?

  2. Re:Some things to consider on Ericsson And Red Hat In Home Communications · · Score: 1

    You forget Redhat bought Cygnus which is a very well respected embedded systems software developer.

  3. Free English link on Linux Announcement from Sony, Toshiba, NEC, Fujitsu · · Score: 5

    http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000713/tc/japan_ dc_1.html

  4. Re:Gender Imbalance....WTF? on Girls Don't Want To Be Geeks · · Score: 1

    Of course women don't go into technical fields because they don't want to - but the problem is if they don't want to because of accumulated social pressure.

    The reason this is a problem is that technology is empowering.

    If society empowers one group relative to others without merit then there are problems with society.

  5. Cygnus/Redhat ... GO! on Microsoft Releases C# Language Reference · · Score: 1

    Okay guys, on your marks!

    You should be able to make a C# front end for the gcc family in a lunchtime!

  6. Re:Sounds good on Who's Afraid Of C++? · · Score: 1

    I disagree. Someone with that "hacker" mindset who "needs to know" everything about a system, will eventually know everything about the system.

    That won't necessarily make him a good programmer.

    Conversly you can be a very good, say, Java or SQL programmer without that mentality.

  7. Re:CD cost a factor in this fight on Napster Bans Metallica Fans · · Score: 1

    The recording industry argue that the prices reflect the work they do in finding and promoting "artists". This does not wash when instead they push formulaeic ditties via pretty teenagers, and enforce playlists on radio stations. If the extra cash goes into this, then rebellion is timely.

  8. Windows killed it. on Motif's Not Dead · · Score: 1

    In fact UNIX has retreated to the server side. Front-ends are written for people with Windows PCs. X and Motif are irrelevent commercially. Motif does smell bad - commercially.

    Linux is the Russian front: hordes of poor peasants with pitchforks hardy enough to survive even the Moscow winter by pooling their resources communally. But will that ethos work when the war is won?

  9. Re:Native Toolkit? on Motif's Not Dead · · Score: 1

    Doh! I meant "pooling their resources communally".

  10. Re:Native Toolkit? on Motif's Not Dead · · Score: 1

    In fact commercially UNIX has retreated to the server side. Front-ends are written for people with Windows PCs. X and Motif are irrelevent commercially. Motif smells bad - commercially.

    Linux is the Russian front: hordes of poor peasants with pitchforks hardy enough to survive even the Moscow winter by pooling their resources commercially. But will that ethos work when the war is won?

  11. The limiting condition on Talk Things Over With Richard M. Stallman · · Score: 2

    Increasingly "software", meaning computer programs, is becoming the way in which ideas are defined. Ie good ideas usually get a piece of software wrapped around them. Separately "software" is coming to mean information in any form you can imagine. Whenever value is added - bauxite to aluminium for example - a great deal of software of both forms is involved.
    If in the end, the GPL were applied to all software, how could there be competition and thus incentive to innovate?
    Personally I don't need an incentive to innovate, but most of the world does.

  12. Re:work in OZ ? on From The Australian LinuxExpo · · Score: 1

    This method works in most countries (worked for me in the States for instance). It's actually legal.

  13. Re:When Will there be a Westralian Linuxcon? on From The Australian LinuxExpo · · Score: 1

    I'm an ex-Perthite recently of Paris, now of London. I live right near the Tottenham Court Road tube: there's a Subway and Starbuck's within 100m - but would you say London is being Americanized? Australia always was quite similar to America. Get the chip off your shoulder.

  14. Re:huh? on France Sues U.S. and UK Over Echelon · · Score: 1

    I agree with the Frenchman in general - but the car industry? The British car industry is now in much better state than it was, even if actual car manufacturers are not owned by the British.

  15. Re:Corporate interests and UCITA should collide. on Richard Stallman on UCITA · · Score: 1

    In general the interests of those who don't sell software products coincide with free software.

    Software vendors have argued that they must charge what they do and keep their IP secret in order to generate the funds to support continued development. The success of free software proves this false and that their motive is just profit.

    Powerful corporations who use but don't produce software products should be educated to support free software for straightforward economic reasons.

  16. Re:What game? on But What About the Commercials? · · Score: 1

    Ref? Ref that these people actually saw the particular final game?

    Remember that's some pretty large proportion of the rich world that didn't sleep on Sunday night or didn't go to work on Monday if they actually watched the game.

  17. Re:Nope on But What About the Commercials? · · Score: 1

    Someone should give a ref to that "800 million". Which 800 million? You say 133 million in the US - and we'll say the whole of Canada - that still leaves over 600 million elsewhere. I'd believe 600 million could _potentially_ see it - but they didn't, because they were asleep or hung-over and would've preferred Gilligan's Island re-runs anyway than a game that due to the fact that they don't understand it, seems particularly long and boring.

    There's a American football league in Europe, but it doesn't get close to the coverage of darts say, or handball or luge.

    I believe Australian Rules football does great business when they do their exhibition games in the States - but do you stay up for the AFL Grand Final - which since it is viewable in the States and Europe has an "audience" of 600 or so million?

  18. Re:What game? on But What About the Commercials? · · Score: 1

    I expect it's just that 800 million people could potentially receive the transmission.

    Seriously - who in Europe is going to stay up late at night before work on Monday for a game they don't understand and don't like? Who in Asia/Australasia is going to get up early on Sunday morning for this?
    Who are these 600 million-odd non-Americans?

    The NBA final series - now that's a different matter.

  19. What game? on But What About the Commercials? · · Score: 1

    At first I was surprised you would give such prominent coverage to the Australian Open (tennis) final. Then I realised people were talking of "downs" etc, so because I've spent a lot of time in the States I understood it must be American football. The national final game then?

    It might be the Big American Game, but outside N America few are aware of it.

  20. Well you would be wrong. The name arose from the material it was originally extracted from: "Alum". The metal's name came from this on both sides of the Atlantic.

  21. Points system on Australian Stock Exchange Crack Attempt Came From US Military Installation · · Score: 1

    You forget such things as "level of corruption" and "openness of economy".

    How about "per capita GNP".

    I agree with your sentiment though.

  22. Re:India is richer than Australia on Australian Stock Exchange Crack Attempt Came From US Military Installation · · Score: 1

    Almost exactly the same GNP and growth rate.
    India has about 50 times as many people

  23. Re:Australia is not a developed country. on Australian Stock Exchange Crack Attempt Came From US Military Installation · · Score: 1

    > There is a pronounced 'i' in "aluminium", In fact Aluminum and Aluminium came into existence at about the same time, thus both are correct. Read Bill Bryson's "Made in America" for an excellent history of American English - and America.

  24. Solaris intel vs Linux (same machine) on Would Linux Survive if Solaris Was Free? · · Score: 1

    Solaris couldn't give me any more than 640x400 and greyscale, whereas Linux was fine on the no-name rented low-end PC which was all I could get due to slow precurement at my work - just a driver issue I suppose.
    Before testing the video and screen Solaris' tells you that if it fails "press the re-boot button" (or something to that effect). Linux lets you try again.
    Linux installs much more quickly than Solaris.
    Solaris comes with no development environment - though you can download most of the GNU stuff prebuilt from http://sunfreeware.com/ .
    Solaris is much slower: the disk thrashes like mad!

    Rebuilt our compiler: okay, both platforms.
    Compiled some stuff: on Solaris the debugging info wasn't there! Too much work to fix it since it works fine on Linux.
    Result: goodbye Solaris, hello Linux.