I don't know why anyone would do this. Surely someone could achieve exectly the same effect, with much less effort, by replacing their entire website with a single page that reads:
I am a fuckwit who doesn't understand new media. I also have no respect for other people. Please do not read my website, as it is not worth bothering with.
You could sell the software with a non open source licence but with a provision that it becomes open source under the GPL after a time delay of say 3 years.
The product you sell could include the source code under a disclosed source licence (but a user would still need to pay your company to use the product). Furthermore, you could permit registered users of your product to develop modifications and send each other patch files, as long as you are permitted to put the patches in your future releases.
Never trust that a large organization, especially a government, will act in its best interests. If that were the case, we would have no crypto export regulations.
You make a good point. However, you must also consider that a large organisation going over fully to an open source OS is likely to have at least some clue to the advantages of open source.
Do you actually think that China will openly and without any barriers open-source Red Flag Linux?
Large parts of it, yes. It'll be in their interests to do so. Imagine if they made changes to a key component, e.g. the kernel, and kept their changes closed. This would mean they would have to re-apply their changes to every new version of the kernel they wish to embed into Red Flag Linux. Now imagine the same thing, with lots of packages; it'd be a maintenance nightmare.
Microsoft are rumoured to have been developing a language called COOL which is a cross between Java and C++, with the ability to use COM and other MS technologies built into the language.
Perhaps they are selling J++ because they have no more use for it, and think they might as well get some money from it.
With the trouble they've had with this silly licence agreement, and the earlier problems they had with their beta release, Corel would do well to sack some of their over-zealous lawyers.
They could use the money they've saved to hire some free software developers.
If the EU is going to ban the PIII, it should also consider banning the Windows OS, both because it is so insecure that anyone using it is laying themselves wide open to break ins, and also because until such time as MS open-sources it, it is only prudent to assume they (and the NSA) have a backdoor.
This is the text of an email I've just sent to Michael Hart, the director of PG:
Michael,
I'm currently reading the coverage on Slashdot of Project Gutenberg.
I agree that you don't seem to get much publicity. I would like to see PG achieve greater prominance. If more people knew about it, more people would read its books, and more people would input new books into it, which would again cause more people to read its books.
I think that one way to help PG would be for its books to be put on the web in HTML. This would make it easier for people to read them online. It would also help people to find the books in the first place. The most usual way for people to find websites is via search engines. If all the books are stored in HTML, preferably with the right META tags to describe the content, then web search engines are more likely to point to PG pages.
I've read your arguments in favour of using plain ascii, and I partially agree with them: I think all the books should be available in ascii. However, I also think they should be available in HTML -- because this is the easiest format for people to read them on the web. As you say:
The Project Gutenberg Etexts should so easily used that no one should ever have to care about how to use, read, quote and search them
I agree with this sentiment. The best way to be have both ascii and HTML versions of each etext is to use an internal markup format, from which the texts can be easily converted to any output format, with output formats including ascii, HTML, and perhaps others such as LaTeX or RTF.
I have a website (http://www.comuno.com/) which currently contains other publicly-available e-texts, i.e. the FAQs for the Usenet newsgroups. I would like to host the PG e-texts on my website too, in HTML format. I realise that this would require work to be done:
1. the internal markup format would have to be defined
2. software would have to be written to convert from the internal format into ascii, html, and the other output formats
3. new etexts would preferably be written in the markup format
4. 'glue' code would be needed to automatically collate the etexts on the website.
I would like to collaborate with you on doing this. I would like any software that I write as part of this to be placed under an open source licence. Some words about my background: I have been a professional programmer for 13 years, andover the last few years have been heavily involved with web- and HTML- based work. I also have experience in designing markup formats and programs to convert to multiple display formats.
Project Gutenberg could also use Netscape's RSS format (see http://www.byte.com/column/BYT19990916S0002 for details). This would allow PG to publishing to other websites when new etexts are released, which should help gain publicity.
BTW, another idea is be to use the obvious web address of www.gutenberg.org. Actually, I'm surprised you aren't using this already, since you have registered the domain.
-- *** Philip Hunt. Reply to phil@comuno.com *** *** Linux: because there's no Bill to pay ***
They need to make their online books a little more web-friendly.
I agree. In the web-age, their site needs to be easilty accessible with a web browser. This implies the books being in HTML. (They shouldn't be stored internally in HTML, an SGML or XML markup format would be better).
Hmmm, I've got a website which could hold HTML-ized versions of their e-texts, I think I'll have a word with PG about it.
If you buy it on CD, you are giving money to the RIAA. They will use this money to try to prevent computer users using their machines to their full effectivness.
Therefore you would be helping to limit other people's freedom. So on moral grounds, you should consider boycotting CDs. The same argument applies to buying DVDs and anything from Microsoft (which I regret to say I did earlier this year; however my next PC will be Microsoft-free).
Instead, if you like music, you should make an unauthorised copy. If you are concerned about the artist not getting rewarded for their work, give them a donation directly. Do not help the freedom-suppressing copymonopolists.
A (fake) site in which a girl proclaims her love for her boyfriend, and goes on to describe his genital and anal warts. I initially thought it was real.
Slashdot Mirror
If MAPS lose their case against Yesmail, they could always relocate to Sealand.
I don't know why anyone would do this. Surely someone could achieve exectly the same effect, with much less effort, by replacing their entire website with a single page that reads:
The product you sell could include the source code under a disclosed source licence (but a user would still need to pay your company to use the product). Furthermore, you could permit registered users of your product to develop modifications and send each other patch files, as long as you are permitted to put the patches in your future releases.
how many people out there realize the amount of work that goes into not being able to notice any differences?
I noticed a difference - your slashdot.rdf file is broken.
Errors are:
I noticed this before I looked at Slashdot today, as it buggered up my Linux/OSS page.
Me pense que alions preferablae lern Eurolang.
Never trust that a large organization, especially a government, will act in its best interests. If that were the case, we would have no crypto export regulations.
You make a good point. However, you must also consider that a large organisation going over fully to an open source OS is likely to have at least some clue to the advantages of open source.
Do you actually think that China will openly and without any barriers open-source Red Flag Linux?
Large parts of it, yes. It'll be in their interests to do so. Imagine if they made changes to a key component, e.g. the kernel, and kept their changes closed. This would mean they would have to re-apply their changes to every new version of the kernel they wish to embed into Red Flag Linux. Now imagine the same thing, with lots of packages; it'd be a maintenance nightmare.
So is anyone going to set up a NOetoys?
Sounds too good to be true. Unfortunately.
OTOH, Germany is funding open source software (GPG).
My problem with Rational: Anything they haven't bought (they bought purify and clearcase) doesn't exist for non-windows platforms.
I know people who have used Rose on Unix (Sun) boxes. However, that was some time ago, so Rose might no longer work on Unix.
Microsoft are rumoured to have been developing a language called COOL which is a cross between Java and C++, with the ability to use COM and other MS technologies built into the language.
Perhaps they are selling J++ because they have no more use for it, and think they might as well get some money from it.
In honour of Windows' most famous feature, they should call it...
Or ``Bilge'', after MS's founder BillG.
And first up is "com.com". Bidding starts at 30 million dollars! 31 million! 32 million! 35 million! Do I hear 40 million?
No, the number one Internet name is comuno.com. Tell you what, you can have it for a mere $ 1 million.
Some of these just say "NO VIDEO". I wonder why?
WIPO is the opposite of free trade. It is about taking away peoples freedoms to use and manipulate information.
It's sad that anyone could harm a young child like that by exposing him to BillyShit software.
He'll probably grow up thinking that all software is buggy, and fences you in by only letting you do things the designers explicitly thought about.
Is there a Linux distributor in Thailand that'll show him a proper OS, before his mind is permanantly damaged?
With the trouble they've had with this silly licence agreement, and the earlier problems they had with their beta release, Corel would do well to sack some of their over-zealous lawyers.
They could use the money they've saved to hire some free software developers.
If the EU is going to ban the PIII, it should also consider banning the Windows OS, both because it is so insecure that anyone using it is laying themselves wide open to break ins, and also because until such time as MS open-sources it, it is only prudent to assume they (and the NSA) have a backdoor.
But if you look at this link on the BBC it seems that people *are* suing gun manufacturers
True, but irrelevant - in Merkinland, anyone can sue anyone for anything, just about. The civil law system is mostly a scam for making lawyers rich.
This is the text of an email I've just sent to Michael Hart, the director of PG:
They need to make their online books a little more web-friendly.
I agree. In the web-age, their site needs to be easilty accessible with a web browser. This implies the books being in HTML. (They shouldn't be stored internally in HTML, an SGML or XML markup format would be better).
Hmmm, I've got a website which could hold HTML-ized versions of their e-texts, I think I'll have a word with PG about it.
It's about the content, stupid Ultimately, the growth and popularity of your site is determined by the quality of its content, not its looks.
Quite right. Also, people tend to be put off by sites that require massive downloads or shockwave plugins, especially if they have slow links.
If you buy it on CD, you are giving money to the RIAA. They will use this money to try to prevent computer users using their machines to their full effectivness.
Therefore you would be helping to limit other people's freedom. So on moral grounds, you should consider boycotting CDs. The same argument applies to buying DVDs and anything from Microsoft (which I regret to say I did earlier this year; however my next PC will be Microsoft-free).
Instead, if you like music, you should make an unauthorised copy. If you are concerned about the artist not getting rewarded for their work, give them a donation directly. Do not help the freedom-suppressing copymonopolists.
... is this.
A (fake) site in which a girl proclaims her love for her boyfriend, and goes on to describe his genital and anal warts. I initially thought it was real.
Apparently IBM tried and succeeded patenting using the word 'more' for flipping through multiple pages of text:
The US patent system is fundamentally unreformable. Patents should therefore be abolished.