I love my FF/TB more than most, but there are some pretty big issues that are rotting away in Bugzilla. The one that really comes to mind is the time/date problem in Thunderbird.
I would also launch into flames about how Microsoft is picked on when it comes to buffer overruns, but I don't really feel like typing much right now.
YES! FINALLY!!! Its good to see that SOMEONE here on Slashdot is against piracy. I was starting to wonder...
The level of rationalization going on here is in overdrive. If the world really does lose its sense of right/wrong, what you see here on Slashdot will be the result.
Did you see the Simpsons episode where the motivational speaker inspires everyone to be like Bart? Everyone starts to do whatever they feel like and all Hell breaks loose shortly afterwards. People wind up getting physically hurt because nobody takes their job seriously.
Slashdotters are missing a big point. In general, people don't learn in order to be smart, don't work in order to gain satisfaction, and don't produce games in order to provide entertainment. People learn things, work, and produce products TO MAKE MONEY. There are many circumstances that create motivation, but income is by far the most the powerful. I would rather slave for eternity in Hell and know my family is provided for than work for a company that is going to pay me mediocre salary, pat me on the back (because that is what the psychologists say to do), then pink slip me the next day. Ask any, ANY, person here if they will work completely for free and they will say the same thing. You may have variations on the theme. Some will say they only work for enough money to by, while others won't be so modest. Some will take offense at the very question, but let there be no doubt that EVERYONE HERE works for MONEY. And just because someone makes more than you doesn't give you the right to steal from them! You're all a bunch of petty thieves. You'll pirate the software, come here and bash it, then claim you've discarded the CDs (while you really haven't). What do you think Jon Carmack thinks of this? He would probably call you a bunch of lamers! Recognize the problem and get a fucking life!
Yes, I was running BIND under Windows 2000 Server.
My philosophy for choosing software is OS first, app second. I believe what you're describing is app first, OS second. In my thinking, if I can find something that meets our needs that runs on Windows I will choose it first for the sake of consistency and compatibility. Every shop I've seen that is split fairly evenly between Windows and Linux is trying to consolidate things due to high administrative costs.
The software we run on Linux around here tends to be very specialized, which is where Linux shines IMHO. Security apps such as event loggers, sniffers, SNMP, etc. tend to fit well into this category. Day to day apps, such as DNS, are handled pretty well by our Windows servers.
Basically it boils down to a lazy or over-worked developer. He admitted that he didn't have time to look at the issue without payment, and he even said the problem could be in the software but it would be a difficult fix. I gathered he didn't WANT to fix the bug(s). I originally installed MSDNS with the full expectation it would fail just like BIND. When it didn't, I started to talking with other Windows admins who were using MSDNS and deduced that it would meet our needs.
BIND just wouldn't work. It worked at first, until I dumped a bunch of hosts into my zone (only a couple thousand, which isn't much in the grand scheme of things). After it stopped working I happened to get in touch with some of the developers. They just kept telling me to upgrade to the next release.
Some of the problems? Sometimes the CPU would peg at 100% like the program was in a loop, the server would quit resolving after about ten minutes, and the server wouldn't replicate.
My zone files were standard and by the book. The particular developer I was talking to the most (generally) tried to blame the A records I had added (without knowing which ones). I quadruple-checked the entries, all of which followed the RFC. I reinstalled the program, tried it on totally different servers, etc. The problem persisted.
After screwing around with BIND for two weeks I gave up. I switched over to MSDNS. Guess what? The EXACT same file that wouldn't work with BIND worked with MSDNS. This was BIND 9.2. We've been running MSDNS for a few years now with hardly any issues. We ran into some cache pollution once, but once I checked the stupid box to prevent it the problem went away.
Its a pain having to mess with the registry for simple tasks, but I guess its worth it for a working product. We're building everything programatically just like we were for BIND. Microsoft did good when it decided to use flat zone files. If only they would make everything so simple...
Good points, and definitely not beyond reality. I guess I'm depending a lot on faith in Google. They are a great company. I think they will make it through Microsoft's bullying.
Yes, but I was making a point about Microsoft's philosophy. I forgot to disable the dog in my build, and now it haunts me. The "automatically search from the address bar" setting is another one that I hate, but I remembered to disable it. This crap is on by default, and it gets in the way.
Google will release something that is easy to use. If they don't I'll be shocked.
1. Microsoft doesn't understand that people LOVE Google. Nobody particularly LOVES Microsoft anymore. Product activation, high prices, and security flaws are causing too many headaches.
2. Google is more innovative. What has Microsoft innovated in the past few years? Their products keep changing their look, but what about user behavior? AD changed admin behavior, but how has IE or Word gotten easier to use? Google has all kinds of creative stuff in the pipe. The Google toolbar has not only changed the way many of my users search, but it prevents a lot of popup related spyware installations as well.
3. Google is clean. If I see that damn dog show up one more time I'll kill myself. When I search my file system I don't want to hide the stupid mutt, change my options so that subfolders are searched, then click through three screens to say I want to search my file system. Google will cut through this nonsense because they believe in simple/clean interfaces.
4. The technology Microsoft seeks doesn't exist. Nobody can create a search engine based on current technology that takes plain speech user input and magically transforms it into accurate search results. Everyone I've seen that's tried this has failed to an extent. You can't just try your best to fuzzy match and pass it off as good results.
Why is everyone arguing over the legal stuff from the beginning? We skipped the part about pornography being wrong. We went straight to defending the "victim".
Maybe we should back up and discuss if pornography is wrong before we jump into justification mode.
I think his opinions are interesting. This man is a visionary, you know. He may be right, or he may be wrong. It doesn't really mean anything.
He's talking about the commoditization of hardware. I don't know if it will ever really happen. I doubt it, personally.
As far as visual programming, I don't think he means ALL programming. Microsoft may be working on a truly visual programming language, kind of an ultimate Visual Basic. This doesn't imply that ALL programming will be visual. Wouldn't it be awesome though? Think of it as a RAD tool. Users could even control what they want (and take responsibility for it). I like this thought, and I hope it happens.
I recently bought two sets of tires for my SUVs. The set of brands and models were overwhelming. I got through the process by looking at reviews for the tires. Within 20 minutes I had narrowed the list to four models of tires. I checked prices locally and made purchases within the week from two different vendors.
Not only is choice of tires good, but choice of vendors. The qualification is, you have to be smart about it. I can see how choice could be bad for people with low comprehension skills. For those who negotiate prices and want the best quality, the more choice the better.
Reviews, either formal or informal, are key for high involvement purchases (choice in low involvement purchases don't matter as much, because the product is inexpensive, not critical, etc.).
I don't see how it does. Keep acting like you're above everybody else. You'll see the error of your ways one of these days, but by then it will be too late to go back. Maybe when some terrorist nukes a city that contains your friends/relatives (assuming you care as much as you say), then you'll realize the problem you helped create. Terrorists can't be reckoned with.
So... in the meantime, have fun tearing apart the country from the bottom up, because that's EXACTLY what you're doing. Not by way of your attitude, but by the credence you lend to the evil people of this world.
I love the news on this site, and many of the comments are funny and thought-provoking. But, for every decent post there are two braindead posts.
There are people here who want to see America fail, want to see capitalism fail, and want to see any powerful entity fail. Take the other guy who responded to this thread so far - He's actually relating to these kids. There is a mentality in this community that anything goes, and it is dangerous. Grown adults like these are teaching our youth that pirating music/software, hacking into corporations, and hating America are good things.
The problem here, is that you hate Bush so much that you are willing to put yourself in the anti-American camp along with the Democrat "leaders" like Kerry. (note that I didn't say Kerry was a terrorist)
You people are giving up everything good about America just so you can sound open-minded to a bunch of euro-trash anarchists. What you're really doing is conforming to these people, which makes you a hell of lot LESS open-minded than you think.
As far as OSS and anti-American sentiment, there shouldn't be a link. OSS should not be politicized. The thought shouldn't even be mentioned, because tossers like you will associate the two in your brain and start spouting MORE garbage. The last thing the OSS movement needs is this image, because it will lose support from American developers and American markets.
The problem with self-proclaimed "open-minded" people, is they want to give the impression they care more than everyone else. What they fail to recognize, is the world doesn't give a flying fuck whether they care or not. They don't realize that the world hates America for far more selfish reasons. Anti-Americanism is a generic umbrella for many forms of hatred, most of which we don't deserve.
So... why don't you get off your damn soapbox and stop supporting the cesspool of European communists/anarchists. You don't have to agree with or like Bush, but for the sake of the country YOU live in, why don't you try to show a little support?
Tearing down Microsoft won't strengthen the open source movement. Those of you who are rejoicing are in the wrong mindset. You people are slowly becoming the bane of that which you love.
Nobody wins this way. True change and excellence come from within.
I should've said that I don't think punishing Microsoft needs to be the goal of the OSS movement. I think many of us are teetering on a dangerous line. There is a brewing hatred of Microsoft that is unhealthy.
I believe that OSS people are indirectly involved in these lawsuits. My point is that fighting Microsoft in court (persuading the EU) is not going to fix the problems of Linux and other OSes, and it may very well make the situation worse.
But they ARE competing. We run some Linux here, and so do other companies. The very fact that Linux is out there being used means that it is allowed to compete. Linux is gaining market share. Microsoft is feeling threatened in their business market.
What do you want? Microsoft to roll over and play dead? Give Linux companies $1 billion each to close the gap? That's what these people seeking litigation are trying to do. I think it reflects poorly on the Linux community, cause the tactics are shady. All we're doing is lowering ourselves below Microsoft's level.
Hard-core Linux advocates won't waste a second telling you how Linux is superior to Microsoft in EVERY way. They say Linux will beat Microsoft in the end because of its superiority.
Then you have some (probably the same people) influencing litigation against Microsoft, trying to tear them down.
So which is it? Is Linux going to win by superiority of product or superiority of political/legal influence?
It is detrimental to the Linux world if the focus is on Microsoft. The focus should be on Linux! Why would we want those choosing Linux doing so because they dislike Microsoft.
This way of thinking could get us in trouble in the current election campaign here in the U.S., where people hate Bush so they embrace Kerry. Why would someone want to endorse a product on the basis of a negative relationship with some other product? This way of thinking just doesn't make sense. Actually, I would say this isn't thinking at all, but pure emotional reaction. If this is the case with Linux, then those responsible need to reevaluate their direction.
Great article! The questions nearly had me rolling on the floor. This guy sounds like he watches Dennis Miller.
I remember this time back in school, where they still used the overhead projectors. We had this old crappy beige unit that went out, so they replaced it with a nice new black unit. All the boys in the class were excited about the new projector.
Looking back on that experience is telling. Boys don't care about depth or experience. The new projector wasn't functionally better than the old, but it LOOKED different. To young boys its all about how things look. Granted, they don't care about things like armhair on their figures. They do, however, get enticed by new games that have new levels, new characters, new stories, etc.
I agree that adults don't have as much time to play games. I still enjoy it, even at 24. But with my first child born recently, I just don't have time. HOWEVER, the new generation with underdeveloped, irrational minds are up and coming. They have hours upon hours of free time. Video game makers benefit from the revolving door.
In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
God will save those who embrace Him. All one has to do is answer the call. So there is a hint. In fact, there is hope.
It does make a person reevaluate everything. It makes you wonder what things will be like in another 10,000 years. By then, maybe we'll have colonies on hundreds of planets. Our descendants will find it hard to believe that we lived on a single planet for so long. Maybe Earth won't even exist anymore.
Can you imagine what it will be like if we see colonies on Mars in our lifetimes? Even if it is only five people, it will be unbelievable. To know that we are living in the generation that is recognizing the dream of ancient civilizations is no less than thrilling.
Slashdot Mirror
YES! That was exactly what I meant to say!
I love my FF/TB more than most, but there are some pretty big issues that are rotting away in Bugzilla. The one that really comes to mind is the time/date problem in Thunderbird.
I would also launch into flames about how Microsoft is picked on when it comes to buffer overruns, but I don't really feel like typing much right now.
YES! FINALLY!!! Its good to see that SOMEONE here on Slashdot is against piracy. I was starting to wonder...
The level of rationalization going on here is in overdrive. If the world really does lose its sense of right/wrong, what you see here on Slashdot will be the result.
Did you see the Simpsons episode where the motivational speaker inspires everyone to be like Bart? Everyone starts to do whatever they feel like and all Hell breaks loose shortly afterwards. People wind up getting physically hurt because nobody takes their job seriously.
Slashdotters are missing a big point. In general, people don't learn in order to be smart, don't work in order to gain satisfaction, and don't produce games in order to provide entertainment. People learn things, work, and produce products TO MAKE MONEY. There are many circumstances that create motivation, but income is by far the most the powerful. I would rather slave for eternity in Hell and know my family is provided for than work for a company that is going to pay me mediocre salary, pat me on the back (because that is what the psychologists say to do), then pink slip me the next day. Ask any, ANY, person here if they will work completely for free and they will say the same thing. You may have variations on the theme. Some will say they only work for enough money to by, while others won't be so modest. Some will take offense at the very question, but let there be no doubt that EVERYONE HERE works for MONEY. And just because someone makes more than you doesn't give you the right to steal from them! You're all a bunch of petty thieves. You'll pirate the software, come here and bash it, then claim you've discarded the CDs (while you really haven't). What do you think Jon Carmack thinks of this? He would probably call you a bunch of lamers! Recognize the problem and get a fucking life!
Yes, I was running BIND under Windows 2000 Server. My philosophy for choosing software is OS first, app second. I believe what you're describing is app first, OS second. In my thinking, if I can find something that meets our needs that runs on Windows I will choose it first for the sake of consistency and compatibility. Every shop I've seen that is split fairly evenly between Windows and Linux is trying to consolidate things due to high administrative costs. The software we run on Linux around here tends to be very specialized, which is where Linux shines IMHO. Security apps such as event loggers, sniffers, SNMP, etc. tend to fit well into this category. Day to day apps, such as DNS, are handled pretty well by our Windows servers. Basically it boils down to a lazy or over-worked developer. He admitted that he didn't have time to look at the issue without payment, and he even said the problem could be in the software but it would be a difficult fix. I gathered he didn't WANT to fix the bug(s). I originally installed MSDNS with the full expectation it would fail just like BIND. When it didn't, I started to talking with other Windows admins who were using MSDNS and deduced that it would meet our needs.
BIND just wouldn't work. It worked at first, until I dumped a bunch of hosts into my zone (only a couple thousand, which isn't much in the grand scheme of things). After it stopped working I happened to get in touch with some of the developers. They just kept telling me to upgrade to the next release.
Some of the problems? Sometimes the CPU would peg at 100% like the program was in a loop, the server would quit resolving after about ten minutes, and the server wouldn't replicate.
My zone files were standard and by the book. The particular developer I was talking to the most (generally) tried to blame the A records I had added (without knowing which ones). I quadruple-checked the entries, all of which followed the RFC. I reinstalled the program, tried it on totally different servers, etc. The problem persisted.
After screwing around with BIND for two weeks I gave up. I switched over to MSDNS. Guess what? The EXACT same file that wouldn't work with BIND worked with MSDNS. This was BIND 9.2. We've been running MSDNS for a few years now with hardly any issues. We ran into some cache pollution once, but once I checked the stupid box to prevent it the problem went away.
Its a pain having to mess with the registry for simple tasks, but I guess its worth it for a working product. We're building everything programatically just like we were for BIND. Microsoft did good when it decided to use flat zone files. If only they would make everything so simple...
Looks a little like the Windows logo. Is all originality gone?
Good points, and definitely not beyond reality. I guess I'm depending a lot on faith in Google. They are a great company. I think they will make it through Microsoft's bullying.
Yes, but I was making a point about Microsoft's philosophy. I forgot to disable the dog in my build, and now it haunts me. The "automatically search from the address bar" setting is another one that I hate, but I remembered to disable it. This crap is on by default, and it gets in the way.
Google will release something that is easy to use. If they don't I'll be shocked.
I'm talking about legally, of course. ;)
When you're talking about hundreds of workstations its a little different.
Google will win this battle.
1. Microsoft doesn't understand that people LOVE Google. Nobody particularly LOVES Microsoft anymore. Product activation, high prices, and security flaws are causing too many headaches.
2. Google is more innovative. What has Microsoft innovated in the past few years? Their products keep changing their look, but what about user behavior? AD changed admin behavior, but how has IE or Word gotten easier to use? Google has all kinds of creative stuff in the pipe. The Google toolbar has not only changed the way many of my users search, but it prevents a lot of popup related spyware installations as well.
3. Google is clean. If I see that damn dog show up one more time I'll kill myself. When I search my file system I don't want to hide the stupid mutt, change my options so that subfolders are searched, then click through three screens to say I want to search my file system. Google will cut through this nonsense because they believe in simple/clean interfaces.
4. The technology Microsoft seeks doesn't exist. Nobody can create a search engine based on current technology that takes plain speech user input and magically transforms it into accurate search results. Everyone I've seen that's tried this has failed to an extent. You can't just try your best to fuzzy match and pass it off as good results.
That would be awesome!
Why is everyone arguing over the legal stuff from the beginning? We skipped the part about pornography being wrong. We went straight to defending the "victim".
Maybe we should back up and discuss if pornography is wrong before we jump into justification mode.
I think his opinions are interesting. This man is a visionary, you know. He may be right, or he may be wrong. It doesn't really mean anything.
He's talking about the commoditization of hardware. I don't know if it will ever really happen. I doubt it, personally.
As far as visual programming, I don't think he means ALL programming. Microsoft may be working on a truly visual programming language, kind of an ultimate Visual Basic. This doesn't imply that ALL programming will be visual. Wouldn't it be awesome though? Think of it as a RAD tool. Users could even control what they want (and take responsibility for it). I like this thought, and I hope it happens.
I recently bought two sets of tires for my SUVs. The set of brands and models were overwhelming. I got through the process by looking at reviews for the tires. Within 20 minutes I had narrowed the list to four models of tires. I checked prices locally and made purchases within the week from two different vendors.
Not only is choice of tires good, but choice of vendors. The qualification is, you have to be smart about it. I can see how choice could be bad for people with low comprehension skills. For those who negotiate prices and want the best quality, the more choice the better.
Reviews, either formal or informal, are key for high involvement purchases (choice in low involvement purchases don't matter as much, because the product is inexpensive, not critical, etc.).
government-mandated "innovation."
Was that meant as a joke?
I don't see how it does. Keep acting like you're above everybody else. You'll see the error of your ways one of these days, but by then it will be too late to go back. Maybe when some terrorist nukes a city that contains your friends/relatives (assuming you care as much as you say), then you'll realize the problem you helped create. Terrorists can't be reckoned with.
So... in the meantime, have fun tearing apart the country from the bottom up, because that's EXACTLY what you're doing. Not by way of your attitude, but by the credence you lend to the evil people of this world.
Maybe they get the idea from reading /.?
I love the news on this site, and many of the comments are funny and thought-provoking. But, for every decent post there are two braindead posts.
There are people here who want to see America fail, want to see capitalism fail, and want to see any powerful entity fail. Take the other guy who responded to this thread so far - He's actually relating to these kids. There is a mentality in this community that anything goes, and it is dangerous. Grown adults like these are teaching our youth that pirating music/software, hacking into corporations, and hating America are good things.
The problem here, is that you hate Bush so much that you are willing to put yourself in the anti-American camp along with the Democrat "leaders" like Kerry. (note that I didn't say Kerry was a terrorist)
You people are giving up everything good about America just so you can sound open-minded to a bunch of euro-trash anarchists. What you're really doing is conforming to these people, which makes you a hell of lot LESS open-minded than you think.
As far as OSS and anti-American sentiment, there shouldn't be a link. OSS should not be politicized. The thought shouldn't even be mentioned, because tossers like you will associate the two in your brain and start spouting MORE garbage. The last thing the OSS movement needs is this image, because it will lose support from American developers and American markets.
The problem with self-proclaimed "open-minded" people, is they want to give the impression they care more than everyone else. What they fail to recognize, is the world doesn't give a flying fuck whether they care or not. They don't realize that the world hates America for far more selfish reasons. Anti-Americanism is a generic umbrella for many forms of hatred, most of which we don't deserve.
So... why don't you get off your damn soapbox and stop supporting the cesspool of European communists/anarchists. You don't have to agree with or like Bush, but for the sake of the country YOU live in, why don't you try to show a little support?
Hmmmm... the author seems to miss the difference too:
8. "Servers have always been expensive and proprietary, but Linux runs on Intel."
11. "Companies are increasingly supporting Linux."
There were other points that strongly implied he was thinking Linux.
"Open source benefits from anti-American sentiments."
WTF does this have to do with it? Open source software isn't/shouldn't be political.
What now? Are developers supposed to design for this? Market their software this way? What the hell is this world coming to?
Tearing down Microsoft won't strengthen the open source movement. Those of you who are rejoicing are in the wrong mindset. You people are slowly becoming the bane of that which you love.
Nobody wins this way. True change and excellence come from within.
This is a good and valid point. You're right.
I should've said that I don't think punishing Microsoft needs to be the goal of the OSS movement. I think many of us are teetering on a dangerous line. There is a brewing hatred of Microsoft that is unhealthy.
I believe that OSS people are indirectly involved in these lawsuits. My point is that fighting Microsoft in court (persuading the EU) is not going to fix the problems of Linux and other OSes, and it may very well make the situation worse.
But they ARE competing. We run some Linux here, and so do other companies. The very fact that Linux is out there being used means that it is allowed to compete. Linux is gaining market share. Microsoft is feeling threatened in their business market.
What do you want? Microsoft to roll over and play dead? Give Linux companies $1 billion each to close the gap? That's what these people seeking litigation are trying to do. I think it reflects poorly on the Linux community, cause the tactics are shady. All we're doing is lowering ourselves below Microsoft's level.
One more duality in the Linux vs. Microsoft war.
Hard-core Linux advocates won't waste a second telling you how Linux is superior to Microsoft in EVERY way. They say Linux will beat Microsoft in the end because of its superiority.
Then you have some (probably the same people) influencing litigation against Microsoft, trying to tear them down.
So which is it? Is Linux going to win by superiority of product or superiority of political/legal influence?
It is detrimental to the Linux world if the focus is on Microsoft. The focus should be on Linux! Why would we want those choosing Linux doing so because they dislike Microsoft.
This way of thinking could get us in trouble in the current election campaign here in the U.S., where people hate Bush so they embrace Kerry. Why would someone want to endorse a product on the basis of a negative relationship with some other product? This way of thinking just doesn't make sense. Actually, I would say this isn't thinking at all, but pure emotional reaction. If this is the case with Linux, then those responsible need to reevaluate their direction.
Young boys, the target market, are easily amused.
Great article! The questions nearly had me rolling on the floor. This guy sounds like he watches Dennis Miller.
I remember this time back in school, where they still used the overhead projectors. We had this old crappy beige unit that went out, so they replaced it with a nice new black unit. All the boys in the class were excited about the new projector.
Looking back on that experience is telling. Boys don't care about depth or experience. The new projector wasn't functionally better than the old, but it LOOKED different. To young boys its all about how things look. Granted, they don't care about things like armhair on their figures. They do, however, get enticed by new games that have new levels, new characters, new stories, etc.
I agree that adults don't have as much time to play games. I still enjoy it, even at 24. But with my first child born recently, I just don't have time. HOWEVER, the new generation with underdeveloped, irrational minds are up and coming. They have hours upon hours of free time. Video game makers benefit from the revolving door.
God will save those who embrace Him. All one has to do is answer the call. So there is a hint. In fact, there is hope.
It does make a person reevaluate everything. It makes you wonder what things will be like in another 10,000 years. By then, maybe we'll have colonies on hundreds of planets. Our descendants will find it hard to believe that we lived on a single planet for so long. Maybe Earth won't even exist anymore.
Can you imagine what it will be like if we see colonies on Mars in our lifetimes? Even if it is only five people, it will be unbelievable. To know that we are living in the generation that is recognizing the dream of ancient civilizations is no less than thrilling.