But then again, Mandrake sucks. [I started on mandrake, but then I came clean and know i'm hanging with the gentoo penguin crowd] I've never tried SuSe so I can't slander it yet.
You're right, microsoft has tons of it apple has a few pounds of it, and linux has about 2 grams of it. It is popularity among the antil33t computer users. Linux is hard to setup the first time, especially if you're a new user, hell, windows instalation scares people too. What this project is trying to do is make linux available to users who are a little less experienced and less willing to spend the days and weeks necessary to understand linux. Not intended for six year olds or cookie baking grandmas, this documentation will help people with just a little of the hacker gene get into linux.
Plus, if it fails, it's the writer's time that is wasted, not yours.
I think this is a step in the right direction. Now i'm not for dumbing down linux, but I think there should be a user-friendly (ouch) option on some of the major distrobustions so that people who know little about and will not learn about computer systems will use linux. If more common people use linux than more governments and institutions will, meaning more donations for projects, more press, and better defence against the Microsofts and SCOs out there.
Stairs kill lots of people too, and they're about as smart as your average politician. I'm not too worried about your lawn bot turning evil and cutting off people's toes, I'm more worried about a human turning evil and telling it to, becuase it will be hundreds of years (maybe never) before we have computers that do what they're told not to. Note the difference between not doing what it's told (software bugs) and sentient software that can't be told anything (maybe a sentient virus rampaging on tetrahertz processors infecting Outlook 21)
The more complex a system is, the easier it is to break that system. An incomplete system that is secure and fails well is always better than a more complete system that's brittle.
The rules of robotics are just another form of computer security, and we all know how well that works. No matter how secure, how deeply coded, the rules are, the only way to have robots that don't have the capability to hurt people is to not make robots at all.
That all really depends on how p2p affects the creator overall. If p2p has a small negative effect, or a substantial positive effect then producers have to right to tell me i can't download for free. If there is a large negative effect bankrupting studios and artists [doesn't appear to be] then they do have a valid argument, BUT if that is true p2p has only a small number of pirates compared to the huge numbers of street vendors selling pirated CDs Videos around the world. Unlinke p2p which gives everything away for free, the vendors make billions for themselves every year and pay no royalties to the creators. That is wrong.
I don't much care for laws, what is right and wrong takes precidence over what is legal or not in my dealings, and my previous post reflects that belief.
First off, in my mind, economics is the one and only thing to consider in this matter. I cannot think of any other reason than money for media-producers to care who can view their product. Do they object to me downloading Finding Nemo and watching it becuase they don't like me? No, they object because they're not getting paid. The question is are media companies losing, gaining, or breaking even because of P2P? End of Story.
2.) Those sons of bitches do to have a monopoly. I've never heard of a movie lowering prices from $9 so they can get more viewers. I've never heard of a record label instructing stores to lower their CD prices so they can sell more, instead (nearly) all of the record labels join under one RIAA roof, get out the gun, and sue their enemy, the twelve-years-old girl sharing on KaZaa. If that's not a monopoly what is? Competetion doesn't exist, it's just wrong.
Someone should start a company that does independant verification of such studies and statistics. It could be payed for with a flat rate for everybody who wants to certify the clear-and-accurateness of their study and be rated with gold stars on the company's report card. Sort of like what the BBB does but just to clear up all of this Microsoft, (R&M)PAA, SCO, etc. 'independant study' business can be somewhat legitimized.
I have to say that watching fourteen hundred tons of the good stuff turn a river and small town into a crater would be the coolest thing to see all year. I'd even help everyone who was unforturate enough to have a house nearby clean it up.
But WAIT!!!!you're telling me that a large abandoned ship full of explosives existed exposed to the outside world for sixty some years and it WASN'T looted by hordes of pyro teenagers? There must be something fundamentally wrong with the teenagers across that ocean. Methinks not enough good ol american made rednek would fix it right up.
This is really very sad, looking through all of the posts that displayed themselves I only see two that represent any sort of real human intelligence {the one i reply to, and of course this one:) It seems if the majority of people are lacking in the thinking department and if they had it their way, we'd all be sitting in our huts and petting a pile of shiny coins
// End pessimism
What people need to realizing is that you learn a lot more by being wrong than you do by being right, but I suppose if somebody put the science propaganda back on TV (Kennedy, Sputnik, Cold War, et cetera) people would be much more (sheepishly) excited. It really doesn't help that instead of being at "war" with a scientific rival, we're fighting cavemen with US-made automatic weapons. Instead of being excited about a scientific arms race, we're excited about an eminent police state, and all I have to say is "God help the US, I'm moving to Japan."
The reason...in my 30 seconds of thinking about it...that the US is behind on broadband use, is because of people like me. I can only get broadband in two ways: crappy satalite for $100 a month, and paying 3.5 million to lay cable line five miles into town where broadband is still much overpriced. I pay 20 a month for dialup which is nearly as much as some people in cities paying for 512 k. The lack of competetion amongst dialup providers is getting better, but is still a problem.
There are people who constantly look for a scapegoat for their problems choosing to blame everyone but themselves for their problems, but please in the future make a distinction between what I do and think and what a minority of pessimists do and think.
Wouldn't the world be great if we could have political leaders that were more like Linus. The problem is people like Linus don't win elections because they're not manipulative liars like all the rest of politics.
I'm not saying all self interest is evil. The desire to make yourself happy and healthy can lead to good things, but the desire for wealth and power can cause suffering of that person and the people around him. Mobsters who kill for money and power are only working out of self interest, but this clearly causes suffering. However someone who volunteers at a homeless shelter is probably also working for a self serving purpose, maybe respect in the community, or the feeling of helping another. That is good becuase it not only helps yourself, but people around you.
I have great hopes for episode III, they were a lot greater before one and two came out. I think IV was good because it had that indie charm that created a special FX rennisance. It's the same reason I liked the first Matrix so much more than the rest of them, it was truely innovative, the sequels tried too hard to intrigue with more of everything which looked cool but were just tiresome. The new star wars episodes are trying to change, to innovate, but they suck because they are tied down to earlier episodes.
It's sad you have such a negative view of people, yet you do make a valid point. There are many projects that are open source exclusivly for self interest, take winex transgaming, it is clear that the only reason they offer source code is to make their product better to sell. There is little altruism in that project. But there are other projects like MythTV, or even the linux kernel itself which appear, if only to me, to exist for the purpose of giving people a genuine product for free. It's true that many enjoy writing the code but giving it away is another source of happiness. It makes you feel good when other people feeld good. File sharing is another example of people helping because they want to help for little or no compensation. Turn on file sharing in most applications and you get nothing in return, but you leave them on so other people can have what you have.
The desire for happiness is a good thing. I'm happier because i enjoy helping others, it's not about money or popularity, it just makes me happy to help another person be happy, that's it. I'm sorry for you if you can't understand this.
This is why i have fallen for Buddhism. Buddhism in a nutshell is this: desire causes suffering. There's a lot more to it but this is slashdot and not a place for novels. If america applied this basic principal it would make everyone happier. The desire for food makes you fat, for riches makes others poor, etc..... etc....
now we are in a competetive economy that creates poverty the future may hold a cooperative economy which i think could make the world a better place.
It has to procede slowly, and it can't be made with government laws. Change must come from company leaders with compassion.
Note that i'm not trying to convert christians (i'm one) i'm trying to show how people can be happy and rich.
After many hours of thinking this over here is my conclusion on the unhappy american economy.
For hundreds of years 'sucessful' americans were those with great desire to have wealth and power, to be rich. Nearly everyone had the same desire to be rich themselves but watever misfortune came to them and made them poor. The rich are unhappy because they want more, the poor are also unhappy because they want more. Thus everyone [ok not _everyone_ but you get the idea) is unhappy because they don't have what they want.
It's hard to express but the basic idea is effiency. Open source is wanting your fellow man to be rich by sharing work. It takes a much larger number of people and hours to write a sucessful application in closed source because no one shares and you have many people essentially writing the same code.
Sharing work to maximize output is the path to this new economy. Everyone can be rich if the economy is efficient enough. Not rich comparing to your neighbor, but rich compared to your ancestors. The goal is more effiency and less work by everyone.
I'm not much of a writer so I appologize if my ideas aren't expressed well. If anyone is unclear or wants to write it out for me just email.
It would make an interesting weekend going to Nigeria and beating up some scammers:) just remember to bring with you a few friends of the bouncer or kung fu variety.
Anyone even moderatly computer-literate can recognise a phishing scam, but there is no way anyone can educate the army of grandmas on the internet about phishing. The solution is closer to #2, there has to be a way to either kill the sites or put a giant 'fake site' sign on [sigh] MSIE becuase you know that firefox users know better:)
I've tried to actually reply to some of the money-caught-in-forign-bank phish attempts and the only thing i get back is more and more phishing. I've failed to reach the point where they ask for your SSN credit card or my first born child. Either they're stupid and don't want my information, or they're smart and realize i know what they're up to.
Slashdot Mirror
But then again, Mandrake sucks. [I started on mandrake, but then I came clean and know i'm hanging with the gentoo penguin crowd] I've never tried SuSe so I can't slander it yet.
Plus, if it fails, it's the writer's time that is wasted, not yours.
I think this is a step in the right direction. Now i'm not for dumbing down linux, but I think there should be a user-friendly (ouch) option on some of the major distrobustions so that people who know little about and will not learn about computer systems will use linux. If more common people use linux than more governments and institutions will, meaning more donations for projects, more press, and better defence against the Microsofts and SCOs out there.
Stairs kill lots of people too, and they're about as smart as your average politician. I'm not too worried about your lawn bot turning evil and cutting off people's toes, I'm more worried about a human turning evil and telling it to, becuase it will be hundreds of years (maybe never) before we have computers that do what they're told not to. Note the difference between not doing what it's told (software bugs) and sentient software that can't be told anything (maybe a sentient virus rampaging on tetrahertz processors infecting Outlook 21)
The more complex a system is, the easier it is to break that system. An incomplete system that is secure and fails well is always better than a more complete system that's brittle.
The rules of robotics are just another form of computer security, and we all know how well that works. No matter how secure, how deeply coded, the rules are, the only way to have robots that don't have the capability to hurt people is to not make robots at all.
That all really depends on how p2p affects the creator overall. If p2p has a small negative effect, or a substantial positive effect then producers have to right to tell me i can't download for free. If there is a large negative effect bankrupting studios and artists [doesn't appear to be] then they do have a valid argument, BUT if that is true p2p has only a small number of pirates compared to the huge numbers of street vendors selling pirated CDs Videos around the world. Unlinke p2p which gives everything away for free, the vendors make billions for themselves every year and pay no royalties to the creators. That is wrong.
First off, in my mind, economics is the one and only thing to consider in this matter. I cannot think of any other reason than money for media-producers to care who can view their product. Do they object to me downloading Finding Nemo and watching it becuase they don't like me? No, they object because they're not getting paid. The question is are media companies losing, gaining, or breaking even because of P2P? End of Story.
2.) Those sons of bitches do to have a monopoly. I've never heard of a movie lowering prices from $9 so they can get more viewers. I've never heard of a record label instructing stores to lower their CD prices so they can sell more, instead (nearly) all of the record labels join under one RIAA roof, get out the gun, and sue their enemy, the twelve-years-old girl sharing on KaZaa. If that's not a monopoly what is? Competetion doesn't exist, it's just wrong.
Someone should start a company that does independant verification of such studies and statistics. It could be payed for with a flat rate for everybody who wants to certify the clear-and-accurateness of their study and be rated with gold stars on the company's report card. Sort of like what the BBB does but just to clear up all of this Microsoft, (R&M)PAA, SCO, etc. 'independant study' business can be somewhat legitimized.
Does movie downloading affect the economy of movie makers and all their dependancies in a major way?
Do those thieving, monopolizing, overcharging bastards deserve so much of our money?
How extensive should media creators' controls be over their 'art'?
And finally: Who actually gives a shit?
But WAIT!!!!you're telling me that a large abandoned ship full of explosives existed exposed to the outside world for sixty some years and it WASN'T looted by hordes of pyro teenagers? There must be something fundamentally wrong with the teenagers across that ocean. Methinks not enough good ol american made rednek would fix it right up.
GITTERDUN!!!!!!!!
What people need to realizing is that you learn a lot more by being wrong than you do by being right, but I suppose if somebody put the science propaganda back on TV (Kennedy, Sputnik, Cold War, et cetera) people would be much more (sheepishly) excited. It really doesn't help that instead of being at "war" with a scientific rival, we're fighting cavemen with US-made automatic weapons. Instead of being excited about a scientific arms race, we're excited about an eminent police state, and all I have to say is "God help the US, I'm moving to Japan."
photons have a little energy (e) but not mass (m)
however there is an '=' in there so energy and mass are two forms of the same thing
conclusion? photons cause gravity and follow gravity's influence
The reason...in my 30 seconds of thinking about it...that the US is behind on broadband use, is because of people like me. I can only get broadband in two ways: crappy satalite for $100 a month, and paying 3.5 million to lay cable line five miles into town where broadband is still much overpriced. I pay 20 a month for dialup which is nearly as much as some people in cities paying for 512 k. The lack of competetion amongst dialup providers is getting better, but is still a problem.
There are people who constantly look for a scapegoat for their problems choosing to blame everyone but themselves for their problems, but please in the future make a distinction between what I do and think and what a minority of pessimists do and think.
Wouldn't the world be great if we could have political leaders that were more like Linus. The problem is people like Linus don't win elections because they're not manipulative liars like all the rest of politics.
I'm not saying all self interest is evil. The desire to make yourself happy and healthy can lead to good things, but the desire for wealth and power can cause suffering of that person and the people around him. Mobsters who kill for money and power are only working out of self interest, but this clearly causes suffering. However someone who volunteers at a homeless shelter is probably also working for a self serving purpose, maybe respect in the community, or the feeling of helping another. That is good becuase it not only helps yourself, but people around you.
I have great hopes for episode III, they were a lot greater before one and two came out. I think IV was good because it had that indie charm that created a special FX rennisance. It's the same reason I liked the first Matrix so much more than the rest of them, it was truely innovative, the sequels tried too hard to intrigue with more of everything which looked cool but were just tiresome. The new star wars episodes are trying to change, to innovate, but they suck because they are tied down to earlier episodes.
The desire for happiness is a good thing. I'm happier because i enjoy helping others, it's not about money or popularity, it just makes me happy to help another person be happy, that's it. I'm sorry for you if you can't understand this.
now we are in a competetive economy that creates poverty the future may hold a cooperative economy which i think could make the world a better place.
It has to procede slowly, and it can't be made with government laws. Change must come from company leaders with compassion.
Note that i'm not trying to convert christians (i'm one) i'm trying to show how people can be happy and rich.
After many hours of thinking this over here is my conclusion on the unhappy american economy. For hundreds of years 'sucessful' americans were those with great desire to have wealth and power, to be rich. Nearly everyone had the same desire to be rich themselves but watever misfortune came to them and made them poor. The rich are unhappy because they want more, the poor are also unhappy because they want more. Thus everyone [ok not _everyone_ but you get the idea) is unhappy because they don't have what they want. It's hard to express but the basic idea is effiency. Open source is wanting your fellow man to be rich by sharing work. It takes a much larger number of people and hours to write a sucessful application in closed source because no one shares and you have many people essentially writing the same code. Sharing work to maximize output is the path to this new economy. Everyone can be rich if the economy is efficient enough. Not rich comparing to your neighbor, but rich compared to your ancestors. The goal is more effiency and less work by everyone. I'm not much of a writer so I appologize if my ideas aren't expressed well. If anyone is unclear or wants to write it out for me just email.
It would make an interesting weekend going to Nigeria and beating up some scammers :) just remember to bring with you a few friends of the bouncer or kung fu variety.
Anyone even moderatly computer-literate can recognise a phishing scam, but there is no way anyone can educate the army of grandmas on the internet about phishing. The solution is closer to #2, there has to be a way to either kill the sites or put a giant 'fake site' sign on [sigh] MSIE becuase you know that firefox users know better :)
I've tried to actually reply to some of the money-caught-in-forign-bank phish attempts and the only thing i get back is more and more phishing. I've failed to reach the point where they ask for your SSN credit card or my first born child. Either they're stupid and don't want my information, or they're smart and realize i know what they're up to.
i'd rather give my kid $700 to change the channel at my beckon call then i would have a remote AND get done with the allowance