IDEs like Visual Studio and Eclipse already do a lot of this - "smart" bookmarks and meta-annotations. But I just don't get your point about "tagging" variables... isn't that what the compiler/interpreter/VM already does based on their semantic representation? I think you want to mix the code with the bytecode, so to speak?
Heinlein is right up there with Asimov and Frank Herbert, IMO. Of the new batch I see William Gibson and Vernor Vinge filling those shoes, but there can never be another Heinlen or Herbert. I miss them.
You completely missed the OPs point and quoted the wrong part of his post, as usual, because it's more convenient. This is the portion you should have paid attention to:
A key to productive and yet happy life is to see your principles as goals rather than inflexible absolutes.
M$ has fallen slowly since then. 95, 98, and finally XP each lost things. Split views got dropped from file browsers. There were odd configuration interface and file changes leading up to the ongoing registry disaster. Stability has suffered and has come to a sad point where people think they must wipe and reload their machines once a month. Most importantly, the platform lost it's competitive edge as M$ crushed smaller companies and their superior products. Word Perfect, Lotus, Netscape, QuatroPro, Peachtree and so on. Gaming got better, but so did dedicated consoles which are a lot cheaper.
I have no idea what "got lost", and your example of "split views" makes no sense at all
The "registry disaster" is nothing but FUD. It sucked on Windows 9x but it's solid as hell on the NT products. Ah, you haven't used Windows since 1997. Yeah, I guess you're right.
LOL on the "stability" thing, fer sure.
Yes, I "wipe and reload" my machines every month. You're big on these memes, aren't you?
We've been over the whole "competitor" thing - all your examples are companies who were incapable of competing with Microsoft products and were never "crushed" in any way. You've still to provide any proof or counter example. Listing companies and saying they were "crushed" is stupid.
As to whether "GNU/Linux" (you mean Ubuntu or Fedora or Mandriva or Gentoo, right?) is "good enough", that of course is a value judgement. Being "good enough" doesn't mean the competition (Windows or OS X) is automatically not, unless you're a zealot.
Thank you sir, you've filled my "absolutely genius Slashdot comment that causes moderators' heads to explode on contact" quota for the month. Props to you, I say. Props all around.
So has everybody el$e, in case you've been in a hole for the past seven years.
Opening an office in Canada while complaining about immigration is pure bullshit
You're quite the big Google fan, does it bother you at all that they complain about it as well? Not "pure bullshit" in their case, I suppose. And tell us twitter, how do you feel about the fact that IBM is probably the biggest H1-B and L1 visa sponsor in the United States? Does that not bother you? Or does your outrage only extend to "M$"?
M$ cares only about owning the code you write. When you are finished writing it, they are finished with you. US citizens, perma-temps and others previously doing this work will be shown the door.
Well, assuming for a second this is not hysterical tripe and actually true, please explain to Slashdot how that's different than any other software company? God, I'd love to see you rationalize that.
Because it's almost game over for M$... A key piece of the M$ success story was their ability to pay workers in stock options based on perpetual growth
Exageration, FUD and misrepresentation of facts coupled with ignorance. How can you beat that? Microsoft hasn't been doing that for years - nice try though. Among all your "M$ is dying" hyperbole bullet points, this one takes the cake. "Slave labor", starting at $80K with full health and retirement benefits, indeed.
Don't you get tired of this pointless crap? Do you figure someone actually believes anything you say? Why don't you concentrate on criticizing Microsoft for the bad things they actually do instead of wracking your brain trying to come up with ever more exciting lies and redneck nickel hyperbole?
What did everyone think takes over when you swipe that Amex or Visa card at the convenience store? A PC running some OTS operating system like Linux, BSD or Windows? Nope, it's been and will probably always be big iron from IBM, Fujitsu, Hitachi and NEC. These are the billion-transaction, subsecond-response, petabyte-scale database business systems (COBOL on DB2 babee!) that have run the world for decades, and I don't see them going away soon... because there's nothing out there that's as capable or scalable.
The move away from mainframes, minis and midrange boxes happened because the commodity PC platform reached a point where it was a viable replacement for processing/storage requirements for which the old systems were sold as complete overkill (or there was no choice at the time). Wherever it was actually needed, there has been exactly ZERO migration and the mainframe is still the king of the hill, by far. So no, some of us are not "surprised" at all.
The transition from VB3 to VB4 was not really problematic for most developers, IMO. First, the developer base was a lot smaller back then. Certainly large, but nowhere near what it was in 2001-2002. Second, the 16-bit edition of VB4 still supported VBX controls, so it was a good upgrade path if your apps required lots of custom controls. And the 16-bit EXEs also ran on Windows 95 just fine. You could then wait until your vendors created 32-bit versions of the controls (OCXs), at which point all you needed to do was open the project in VB4-32 and recompile. Not only that, but the move to Windows 95 obviated a lot of the 'eye candy' controls that were popular in the VB3 days under Windows 3.x.
Third, there were no breaking language changes. In fact, it wasn't until VB.NET that Microsoft actually deprecated (While/Wend) or changed the meaning (Return) of a VB/Basic language element. Yet they kept that stupid "Option Explicit" option - go figure. Fourth, direct API calls from VB code were not really popular at the time, so application code tended to be simpler. And finally, there was only one type of VB application: the window-based desktop executable. No libraries or custom controls or stacks that were used from ASP or anything like that. There was no COM. It was that relative simplicity coupled with a real upgrade path that made those ports relatively painless.
I remember playing with the old 'gorilla.bas' QBasic sample when VB6 was first released. It tooke me about an hour to port the direct screen drawing code to bitmaps drawn on a form. The rest of the code worked almost without changes. VB/DOS applications ported all the way through VB6 over the course of 10-12 years are really not that hard to find.
The Microsoft BASIC dialects were a shining example of forward & legacy support for a development platform, at least until VB.NET arrived.
Partly true. In my personal experience the vast majority of VB6 developers are using... VB6, actually. Which is why the VB6 IDE is supported under Vista, but Visual Studio 2003 is not.
The lack of a clear upgrade path from VB6 has forced companies to hold off on porting, upgrading or even replacing "legacy" VB apps for a lot longer than they otherwise would. The standard average lifecycle for a LOB app in most corporate environments is about 3 years. We're going on 5 now, and unless Microsoft pulls a rabbit out of the hat somehow, these people are probably not going to go to.NET. They'll go to Java or some other technology, at least those that have the option, because some don't. Microsoft has made it really hard for a lot of folks and they're going to end up paying for that in the long run.
Microsoft squandered the mine gold that was the enormously huge VB developer base. They should have released a follow up to the COM-based VB6 platform with improvements and provided a clear timeline for the jump to the.NET CLR. Instead one day they just announced VB6 was dead, being replaced by something that is arguably better but completely incompatible, at least from a practical standpoint.
Diggnation is preoccupied with the iPhone just now. I doubt they'd notice if a thermonuclear war broke out, except to try and log on to whine about how their MacBooks were not working from the massive EMP pulse, and to speculate about whether Microsoft or AT&T were to blame for that outrage.
The phrase used by Orwell was "professional liar".
He must have been referring to you. Otherwise why would you consistently fail to reply to challenges to your imaginative lies, fantasies and fabrications?
On the other hand, if you'd like to point out where I "lied", I'd be happy to make amends or clarify.
BTW, that comment you link to is not as good as the one you used to use, where someone modded you troll. That one was much funnier.
It's a fact that the word zealous and zealot are insulting terms used by astroturfers and PR flacks to smear people opposed to them. It's namecalling and people dip to it when the facts are not in their favor.
Yes, and "astroturfers" and "PR flacks" are insulting terms used by zealots to smear people opposed to them.
The usual insults and nothing of value, never mind actually replying to what I wrote. The reality of your bullshit double standards and copious FUD just plain sucks, doesn't it?
tens of thousands of excellent applications that run on dozens of computer hardware platforms. They have been compiled and collected into hundreds of competent and complete distributions, using a variety of
ROFL, you sound just like the "M$" PR you hate so much.
It pains me to see people robbed of choice and freedom.
And you express that by making sure everyone buys your FUD about how software sucks unless it's free. Not unlike your hero RMS, your idea of "choice" is "whatever I happen to think is right for you and me".
considerable amount of wealth for themselves and others.
Oh god yes, and "M$" never did that.
Google is a great American company
Are they really? That's funny. In the past you've blabbed about how "M$" is "insulting" the US workforce by pushing for increased immigration quotas, but I guess you're honky dory with Google doing exactly the same thing. Don't get me started on how "M$N" encourages censorship, but Google aggressively censoring 1/6th of humanity in the name of profits and thumping their chests about how bad censorship is is not a biggie in your book, right?
That's why you're so amusingly transparent and easily countered. You don't really think Google is particularly angelical, it's just that Google is not your hated Microsoft, so they must be rah-rah'ed whenever possible at the expense of Microsoft. Oh, and before you start defecating about how I "hate" Google, understand I think Google is a cool company, I have no problem whatsoever with them. But they are what they are - a publicly held corporation with shareholders. In that sense they're no different from Microsoft or any other company in the planet. For instance, Google doing the Netscape and going to the DoJ to complain about what a great job Microsoft did with Vista search is one of the things that will start to erode that "do no evil" aura.
Finally, I never said I cared
Oh, that's strange. I must've been reading some other desperate zealot's postings on Slashdot. My apologies.
As opposed to the millions they'd get from people who use Windows?
I'm not sure I understand why everyone is outraged at the fact that the Beeb is not catering to an OS that has less than 2% of the desktop market? I'd be more outraged if we were talking OS X here, but that's not even the case.
I surmise that they need DRM because the BBC Trust requires that only TV tax-paying Britons can watch the taxpayer-funded content. If that's the case, then I don't see what the alternative would be for them, since there are no "free" file formats that support DRM in a stable, tested way.
Vista is going to suck life more obviously than it already does
If by your estimation no one uses or wants Vista, then why are you worried about it "sucking life" again?
Re:Does the Windoze clipboard work or not?
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· Score: 1
Yes, I'm going to go right ahead and tell you about the "Windoze" clipboard. Of course.
If not, I might have to conclude you are here to do nothing but harass people
Or you might conclude that I'd rather not waste my time telling you about the "Windoze" clipboard, which at this point is akin to discussing fine art with a limp turd. If you have to translate "calling you on your bullshit" with "harassment" then we're back at square one anyway. Educate yourself or shut the hell up.
Re:Yes, like the clipboard.
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· Score: 0, Flamebait
So, you have no idea how "Windoze" works. That's surprising, considering how much you enjoy mindlessly bashing it. Hell, when I have something negative to say about Linux - which is not often - at least I speak out of personal knowledge. Might want to try that instead of "last time I asked someone". Makes you look less stupid.
On the other hand if you're just doing the fsf-told-me-windoze-is-teh-bad thing then never mind.
Re:Speed advantages of Free Software.
on
Pimp Your XP
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· Score: 1
Wherever I go
Think of it not so much as defending "M$" as pointing out that you're full of shit. Does that help?
The only thing worse, of course, would be if I actually was dedazo
Oh, I get it. Your theory that Microsoft has all these accounts dedicated to "attacking" you personally, because you're such an integral and important building block of the free software movement. But wait, the only one who has a sockpuppet account is you.
Most audiophiles would disagree with you when they find out that Vista disables their spdif outputs.
Wow, an article on desktoplinux.com says something negative about Vista? Surely you jest! And of course, everyone knows that all computers with Vista have no SPIDF outputs (except for my laptop), and you are intimately familar with the way Vista works. Yeah, it all makes sense now.
It was a little slow for my taste, so I run E16 instead
Wow, you have choice? Never seen that with "Windoze".
My subjective view of the overall Vista experience comes from a visit I made to CompUSA today
That sounds subjective, alright. And it seems your reasons for hating Microsoft are getting weirder by the day. Desperation does that, I suppose.
Slashdot Mirror
IDEs like Visual Studio and Eclipse already do a lot of this - "smart" bookmarks and meta-annotations. But I just don't get your point about "tagging" variables... isn't that what the compiler/interpreter/VM already does based on their semantic representation? I think you want to mix the code with the bytecode, so to speak?
Heinlein is right up there with Asimov and Frank Herbert, IMO. Of the new batch I see William Gibson and Vernor Vinge filling those shoes, but there can never be another Heinlen or Herbert. I miss them.
As to whether "GNU/Linux" (you mean Ubuntu or Fedora or Mandriva or Gentoo, right?) is "good enough", that of course is a value judgement. Being "good enough" doesn't mean the competition (Windows or OS X) is automatically not, unless you're a zealot.
This thread FTW, as they say in /b/
Thank you sir, you've filled my "absolutely genius Slashdot comment that causes moderators' heads to explode on contact" quota for the month. Props to you, I say. Props all around.
So has everybody el$e, in case you've been in a hole for the past seven years.
You're quite the big Google fan, does it bother you at all that they complain about it as well? Not "pure bullshit" in their case, I suppose. And tell us twitter, how do you feel about the fact that IBM is probably the biggest H1-B and L1 visa sponsor in the United States? Does that not bother you? Or does your outrage only extend to "M$"?
Well, assuming for a second this is not hysterical tripe and actually true, please explain to Slashdot how that's different than any other software company? God, I'd love to see you rationalize that.
Exageration, FUD and misrepresentation of facts coupled with ignorance. How can you beat that? Microsoft hasn't been doing that for years - nice try though. Among all your "M$ is dying" hyperbole bullet points, this one takes the cake. "Slave labor", starting at $80K with full health and retirement benefits, indeed.
Don't you get tired of this pointless crap? Do you figure someone actually believes anything you say? Why don't you concentrate on criticizing Microsoft for the bad things they actually do instead of wracking your brain trying to come up with ever more exciting lies and redneck nickel hyperbole?
The move away from mainframes, minis and midrange boxes happened because the commodity PC platform reached a point where it was a viable replacement for processing/storage requirements for which the old systems were sold as complete overkill (or there was no choice at the time). Wherever it was actually needed, there has been exactly ZERO migration and the mainframe is still the king of the hill, by far. So no, some of us are not "surprised" at all.
Third, there were no breaking language changes. In fact, it wasn't until VB.NET that Microsoft actually deprecated (While/Wend) or changed the meaning (Return) of a VB/Basic language element. Yet they kept that stupid "Option Explicit" option - go figure. Fourth, direct API calls from VB code were not really popular at the time, so application code tended to be simpler. And finally, there was only one type of VB application: the window-based desktop executable. No libraries or custom controls or stacks that were used from ASP or anything like that. There was no COM. It was that relative simplicity coupled with a real upgrade path that made those ports relatively painless.
I remember playing with the old 'gorilla.bas' QBasic sample when VB6 was first released. It tooke me about an hour to port the direct screen drawing code to bitmaps drawn on a form. The rest of the code worked almost without changes. VB/DOS applications ported all the way through VB6 over the course of 10-12 years are really not that hard to find.
The Microsoft BASIC dialects were a shining example of forward & legacy support for a development platform, at least until VB.NET arrived.
The lack of a clear upgrade path from VB6 has forced companies to hold off on porting, upgrading or even replacing "legacy" VB apps for a lot longer than they otherwise would. The standard average lifecycle for a LOB app in most corporate environments is about 3 years. We're going on 5 now, and unless Microsoft pulls a rabbit out of the hat somehow, these people are probably not going to go to .NET. They'll go to Java or some other technology, at least those that have the option, because some don't. Microsoft has made it really hard for a lot of folks and they're going to end up paying for that in the long run.
Microsoft squandered the mine gold that was the enormously huge VB developer base. They should have released a follow up to the COM-based VB6 platform with improvements and provided a clear timeline for the jump to the .NET CLR. Instead one day they just announced VB6 was dead, being replaced by something that is arguably better but completely incompatible, at least from a practical standpoint.
No, she's also still going strong - unfortunately.
Diggnation is preoccupied with the iPhone just now. I doubt they'd notice if a thermonuclear war broke out, except to try and log on to whine about how their MacBooks were not working from the massive EMP pulse, and to speculate about whether Microsoft or AT&T were to blame for that outrage.
That thing you feel dribbling down your chin is the muck at the bottom of the barrel. How does it taste?
Ah, yes. They "sabotage" stuff. Yes, you've talked about that before, with about as much success.
Never did reply to this one, one wonders why.
He must have been referring to you. Otherwise why would you consistently fail to reply to challenges to your imaginative lies, fantasies and fabrications?
On the other hand, if you'd like to point out where I "lied", I'd be happy to make amends or clarify.
BTW, that comment you link to is not as good as the one you used to use, where someone modded you troll. That one was much funnier.
Yes, and "astroturfers" and "PR flacks" are insulting terms used by zealots to smear people opposed to them.
Reality is not black and white.
Finally, scientific confirmation that hatred makes you stupid.
Wow, you've become so paranoid that you've lost the ability to understand a joke. That's so sad.
ROFL, you sound just like the "M$" PR you hate so much.
And you express that by making sure everyone buys your FUD about how software sucks unless it's free. Not unlike your hero RMS, your idea of "choice" is "whatever I happen to think is right for you and me".
Oh god yes, and "M$" never did that.
Are they really? That's funny. In the past you've blabbed about how "M$" is "insulting" the US workforce by pushing for increased immigration quotas, but I guess you're honky dory with Google doing exactly the same thing. Don't get me started on how "M$N" encourages censorship, but Google aggressively censoring 1/6th of humanity in the name of profits and thumping their chests about how bad censorship is is not a biggie in your book, right?
That's why you're so amusingly transparent and easily countered. You don't really think Google is particularly angelical, it's just that Google is not your hated Microsoft, so they must be rah-rah'ed whenever possible at the expense of Microsoft. Oh, and before you start defecating about how I "hate" Google, understand I think Google is a cool company, I have no problem whatsoever with them. But they are what they are - a publicly held corporation with shareholders. In that sense they're no different from Microsoft or any other company in the planet. For instance, Google doing the Netscape and going to the DoJ to complain about what a great job Microsoft did with Vista search is one of the things that will start to erode that "do no evil" aura.
Oh, that's strange. I must've been reading some other desperate zealot's postings on Slashdot. My apologies.
As opposed to the millions they'd get from people who use Windows?
I'm not sure I understand why everyone is outraged at the fact that the Beeb is not catering to an OS that has less than 2% of the desktop market? I'd be more outraged if we were talking OS X here, but that's not even the case.
I surmise that they need DRM because the BBC Trust requires that only TV tax-paying Britons can watch the taxpayer-funded content. If that's the case, then I don't see what the alternative would be for them, since there are no "free" file formats that support DRM in a stable, tested way.
If by your estimation no one uses or wants Vista, then why are you worried about it "sucking life" again?
Or you might conclude that I'd rather not waste my time telling you about the "Windoze" clipboard, which at this point is akin to discussing fine art with a limp turd. If you have to translate "calling you on your bullshit" with "harassment" then we're back at square one anyway. Educate yourself or shut the hell up.
On the other hand if you're just doing the fsf-told-me-windoze-is-teh-bad thing then never mind.
Think of it not so much as defending "M$" as pointing out that you're full of shit. Does that help?
Oh, I get it. Your theory that Microsoft has all these accounts dedicated to "attacking" you personally, because you're such an integral and important building block of the free software movement. But wait, the only one who has a sockpuppet account is you.
Wow, an article on desktoplinux.com says something negative about Vista? Surely you jest! And of course, everyone knows that all computers with Vista have no SPIDF outputs (except for my laptop), and you are intimately familar with the way Vista works. Yeah, it all makes sense now.
Wow, you have choice? Never seen that with "Windoze".
That sounds subjective, alright. And it seems your reasons for hating Microsoft are getting weirder by the day. Desperation does that, I suppose.