Somehow it seems unlikely the same rules will be applied to developing companies and poorer individuals in the United States
really get my ire. Why don't you just come out and say "Microsoft should be ashamed of earning a profit", or "Microsoft should repent the sin of earning money with an offering of self-sacrifice".
Do you spend money on hot pizza?
Do you ever go out for a steak?
If you are so self-sacrificial, then WHY ARE YOU EATING???
I am glad we are discussing security. It affects us all, regardless of OS.
The original poster, who said:
Given the current state of Windows security and advances in spyware, probably any company has become a very easy target for such spy attack from competitors
is more concerned with bashing windows than raising security awareness in general. Anyone serious into security knows Linux has a huge number of vulnerabilities and must constantly be on the alert (just as Windows admins must) for new and evolving threats.
Even Linux maintainers themselves have security breaches again and again
My point here is not to argue about which OS is better, but that all OSes have huge security issues to deal with, and people in the trenches, not in the ivory tower, understand that.
The last time I installed Linux (SuSE 9.3) it took about 30-40 minutes, and the drivers for my video card were downloaded with the first run of the Online Update utility, which ran automatically at the end of the install. Drivers for everything else were already there.
I went looking for Suse 9.3 but only found links to the live distro, but I dont really want to pay for a distro.
However, I hope your comments reflect that it is better/easier for the layperson installing Linux. At least for this state-of-the art distro version you are referring to.
I like and use Linux, but I have to really question what is up when you say:
I have had far more problems with unsupported hardware in Win2k/XP than in Linux
That amuses and angers me, for the simple fact of, how many times have I tried to get some fancy hardware working in Linux (e.g. multi-format stick/card memory reader, webcam, multi-function printer/fax/scanner) and I spend days, weeks even pouring through lists and asking questions, and eventually get things 75% working, when it is about 3 mouse-clicks easy in Windows.
Granted, people who have worked through these problems before, and do this stuff all the time, could probably do that faster, but that is not going to be a typical end-user experience.
I've dealt with Linux security enough to know security is work for any OS, especially when you are not just running servers for developers or apps. When you get into linux desktop users, security takes a lot of work and attention.
There certainly is money required to purchase microsoft OS and applications.
However, you can't neglect the value of time, especially for the non-tech savvy. There can be a lot of time and research required to get a home linux PC working.
I remember the first time I put a Mandrake distro on my home PC, and spent a couple hours getting the video card to work. Huge hassle, involving delving into video config files (of which there are several possible implementations, depending on your distro, desktop, etc.)
Blaming wal-mart for exercising the law is like blaming your English teacher for how boring "War and Peace" is. Wal Mart didn't write the law, it is only asking for enforcement of the law.
This does not seem like much of a problem to me as long as consumers remain educated. People who want to gamble for price can do so, they may get a really good deal, or they might waste their money.
Just goes to show, that even if a perfectly honest person, who feels an unearned guilt for having earned his money, and who feels guilty for his success, will never be met by anything other than scorn and condemnation. (He didnt sacrifice enough, he didnt suffer so he has not cleanse the sin of his success in life.)
We should learn to admire the successful at life, and save our contempt for those who do not choose to make the most out of their own lives.
Why move backward? I'll bet nobody over at Palm could even really answer that. I've seen enough design decisions gone screwy to know it is possible for a hodge-podge of strange design decisions all mix together in a big pot to form a product. Their whole engineering department is probably a constant, percolating brew of "good ideas", which through a mish-mash of marketing, managers, and engineering pushing, merge their way into a new "product".
Oh I didnt realize there was a vast base of Mozilla hackers among the pig-farmers of peru (who clearly divide their time among weaving straw hats and debugging source)
"You must not be aware that the mozilla foundation has put out a bounty where they reward security researchers $500 for finding critical remotely-exploitable vulnerabilities and reporting them."
$500? WOW! I can just see the organizations and individuals dedicating all their free resources to finding firefox bugs to claim that rich bounty!
You must be right... That $500 dollar reward must be spurring a vast, unrelenting search that we are seeing the results of. We should consider $500 dollar rewards for all the worlds problems!
There is only one way to have a coercive monopoly - that is through the power of the state (goverment), just as you are suggesting.
Only the state has a legal monopoly on the use of physical force, which you propose should be used to force cities/individuals to be constrained to businesses mandated by our leaders/masters in power.
At least if a private company is performing poorly, nothing can prevent another private company from competing. (Except, of course, the state.)
As arguments go, this one is pretty worthless. The conversation is about people stealing software over P2P, and you seem to be explaining a valid reason why. Why don't you just come out and say: "There is nothing wrong with stealing. I will steal from you if I can, and if you manage to steal from me, so be it."
Either stealing software is right, or it is wrong. And if it is wrong, i.e. if there are property rights, then no justification whatever can legitimize theft. And thus your point becomes moot.
People who want diamonds but can't afford them, cannot steal them.
People who want sex but can't communicate with women can't go raping.
And people who want Visio but dont want to shell out the bucks, can't download it P2P.
Maybe there are good unions. I've never heard of one. The only ones I'm familiar with personally basically hurt good workers by placing seniority over competence and driving money and power into the hands of sleazy beauracrat types.
That seems unlikely. It would take far too much work to dip lower in the barrel than we are now. Zing!
Ouch! Sounds like you've been very dissatisfied. However, not everyone shares your opinion. Must... put away... WarcraftIII... must... not buy... Everquest II
Um, you did read the very next sentence, which said, 'Unfortunately, too many college kids are happy to "live the dream" of working in video games
The point is that kids willingly and knowingly subject themselves to harsh working conditions precisely for the love of the work and the prestige of working on the games. As long as someone has these values, it is there right to subject themselves to those conditions. This is their free choice - there is no point in suggesting a union. People who don't like those working conditions don't have to get into the games industry. And by the way, pray that unions don't someday rule the game industry. Game companies will have to hire more programmers to get less work done at a much greater expense, with crappier, more expensive, non-innovative games.
Personally, I think there needs to be a union for video game professionals
No way! Game developers are treated the way they are because there are way more would-be game developers than there are jobs. Simple market dynamic
I wanted to be a game programmer too, but then I realized that getting paid chump change for being treated like a pogo-ball with some manager jumping on my head was really stupid.
Now I solve interesting programming problems in a different market, and play all the friggin games I want, cuz I got the time and the cash.
Does this guy know how much energy that goes into mining the Uranium? (Clue: Quite alot)
Do *you* know how much energy goes into mining Uranium? (Clue: No, because if you did, you would post it for all to say instead of making uninformed, childish jabs). Now go google it, find out how much energy it takes to mine uranium (good luck) then come back here and compare that with the energy output of a nuclear power plant. And learn to present actual facts in an argument.
I'll bet if a good, open, method of securing email is developed, Linux users will use it too. Lord knows Windows is not the only "god damned" software with security vulnerabilities. Reference the multiple, exploited, vulnerabilities in CVS and Subversion. This is not to imply there is anything wrong with these programs. Only that, to a mind focused on rational thinking, writing secure software is very difficult to do, and with Windows, exploiters get the most bang for the buck.
If every Joe Schmoe on the internet were running Linux, how much you want to bet that there would be a bazillion security issues being exploited every day, too?
you honestly cannot know how much space it will take, how fast it will be, etc.
It sounds like you are talking about performance requirements, which are only 1 (potentially small) part of the overall requirements. The requirements are supposed to capture what the product should do based on business domain expertise, i.e. what the customer actually needs. A developer would not be the primary generator of these requirements, but rather more like someone in marketing or a systems engineer.
Maybe your teacher doesn't have a lot of experience developing in the private sector...
I use Thermaltake's volcano, which has this little knob that I can turn the fan up or down, depending on if the CPU temp is going up or not.
Also, on my other computer, I hooked the Volcano fan up to a hardcano hard drive case. It sits in one of your 5 1/4 bays, and via a probe, monitors your CPU temp so you can see it on the front of your PC. Plus Hardcano hooks up to Volano, providing a fan speed/volume adjustment on the face of hardcano.
Slashdot Mirror
Finally ...
You admit your true ability to analyze broad principles and form a cogent argument.
Do you spend money on hot pizza?
Do you ever go out for a steak?
If you are so self-sacrificial, then WHY ARE YOU EATING???
I'm so sick of that Christian altruistic crap.
The original poster, who said:
is more concerned with bashing windows than raising security awareness in general. Anyone serious into security knows Linux has a huge number of vulnerabilities and must constantly be on the alert (just as Windows admins must) for new and evolving threats.
Even Linux maintainers themselves have security breaches again and again
You do not see articles here very often deriding Linux about its security failures
Even when Linux has shown to be attacked more often than Windows.
And all of this is exascerbated by the loss of the kernel management tool, bitkeeper
My point here is not to argue about which OS is better, but that all OSes have huge security issues to deal with, and people in the trenches, not in the ivory tower, understand that.
I went looking for Suse 9.3 but only found links to the live distro, but I dont really want to pay for a distro.
However, I hope your comments reflect that it is better/easier for the layperson installing Linux. At least for this state-of-the art distro version you are referring to.
Though, I googled that fact and LinuxWorld doesn't share your experience
I like and use Linux, but I have to really question what is up when you say:
That amuses and angers me, for the simple fact of, how many times have I tried to get some fancy hardware working in Linux (e.g. multi-format stick/card memory reader, webcam, multi-function printer/fax/scanner) and I spend days, weeks even pouring through lists and asking questions, and eventually get things 75% working, when it is about 3 mouse-clicks easy in Windows.
Granted, people who have worked through these problems before, and do this stuff all the time, could probably do that faster, but that is not going to be a typical end-user experience.
I've dealt with Linux security enough to know security is work for any OS, especially when you are not just running servers for developers or apps. When you get into linux desktop users, security takes a lot of work and attention.
However, you can't neglect the value of time, especially for the non-tech savvy. There can be a lot of time and research required to get a home linux PC working.
I remember the first time I put a Mandrake distro on my home PC, and spent a couple hours getting the video card to work. Huge hassle, involving delving into video config files (of which there are several possible implementations, depending on your distro, desktop, etc.)
Blaming wal-mart for exercising the law is like blaming your English teacher for how boring "War and Peace" is. Wal Mart didn't write the law, it is only asking for enforcement of the law.
It's like gambling rupies in Zelda.
For that matter, why wouldn't you advocate government creation and running of everything that is private?
Isn't using both of those together, superfluous and unnecessary?
We should learn to admire the successful at life, and save our contempt for those who do not choose to make the most out of their own lives.
Why move backward? I'll bet nobody over at Palm could even really answer that. I've seen enough design decisions gone screwy to know it is possible for a hodge-podge of strange design decisions all mix together in a big pot to form a product. Their whole engineering department is probably a constant, percolating brew of "good ideas", which through a mish-mash of marketing, managers, and engineering pushing, merge their way into a new "product".
Oh I didnt realize there was a vast base of Mozilla hackers among the pig-farmers of peru (who clearly divide their time among weaving straw hats and debugging source)
$500? WOW! I can just see the organizations and individuals dedicating all their free resources to finding firefox bugs to claim that rich bounty!
You must be right ... That $500 dollar reward must be spurring a vast, unrelenting search that we are seeing the results of. We should consider $500 dollar rewards for all the worlds problems!
Only the state has a legal monopoly on the use of physical force, which you propose should be used to force cities/individuals to be constrained to businesses mandated by our leaders/masters in power.
At least if a private company is performing poorly, nothing can prevent another private company from competing. (Except, of course, the state.)
"NASA" and "cheap" don't belong in the same paragraph.
SpaceShipOne has operated on 20 million dollars private funding. About equivalent to a paper study in the NASA realm
Either stealing software is right, or it is wrong. And if it is wrong, i.e. if there are property rights, then no justification whatever can legitimize theft. And thus your point becomes moot.
People who want diamonds but can't afford them, cannot steal them.
People who want sex but can't communicate with women can't go raping.
And people who want Visio but dont want to shell out the bucks, can't download it P2P.
That seems unlikely. It would take far too much work to dip lower in the barrel than we are now. Zing!
Ouch! Sounds like you've been very dissatisfied. However, not everyone shares your opinion. Must ... put away ... WarcraftIII ... must ... not buy ... Everquest II
ZAM!
The point is that kids willingly and knowingly subject themselves to harsh working conditions precisely for the love of the work and the prestige of working on the games. As long as someone has these values, it is there right to subject themselves to those conditions. This is their free choice - there is no point in suggesting a union. People who don't like those working conditions don't have to get into the games industry. And by the way, pray that unions don't someday rule the game industry. Game companies will have to hire more programmers to get less work done at a much greater expense, with crappier, more expensive, non-innovative games.
No way! Game developers are treated the way they are because there are way more would-be game developers than there are jobs. Simple market dynamic
I wanted to be a game programmer too, but then I realized that getting paid chump change for being treated like a pogo-ball with some manager jumping on my head was really stupid.
Now I solve interesting programming problems in a different market, and play all the friggin games I want, cuz I got the time and the cash.
Does this guy know how much energy that goes into mining the Uranium? (Clue: Quite alot)
Do *you* know how much energy goes into mining Uranium? (Clue: No, because if you did, you would post it for all to say instead of making uninformed, childish jabs). Now go google it, find out how much energy it takes to mine uranium (good luck) then come back here and compare that with the energy output of a nuclear power plant. And learn to present actual facts in an argument.
If every Joe Schmoe on the internet were running Linux, how much you want to bet that there would be a bazillion security issues being exploited every day, too?
Form a union and lose any individual decision making in your career path while bureaucratic, professional union leaders rake in the cash and power.
A union turns everyone into one neck, ready for one noose.
It sounds like you are talking about performance requirements, which are only 1 (potentially small) part of the overall requirements. The requirements are supposed to capture what the product should do based on business domain expertise, i.e. what the customer actually needs. A developer would not be the primary generator of these requirements, but rather more like someone in marketing or a systems engineer.
Maybe your teacher doesn't have a lot of experience developing in the private sector...
I use Thermaltake's volcano, which has this little knob that I can turn the fan up or down, depending on if the CPU temp is going up or not. Also, on my other computer, I hooked the Volcano fan up to a hardcano hard drive case. It sits in one of your 5 1/4 bays, and via a probe, monitors your CPU temp so you can see it on the front of your PC. Plus Hardcano hooks up to Volano, providing a fan speed/volume adjustment on the face of hardcano.