Uhh that 1.2 GB includes things like xcode, the X11 sdk, and what not.
If they were gonna bother to upgrade to gtk2, why not just switch to something like wxWidgets -- go cross platform on Windows, Unix, and OSX with native widgets.
Oh well. And seriously if you're worried about 1.2 gigs these days, you probably don't need GnuCash anyway since you'll never have any expenditures to worry about:).
Uhh plenty. 100 Mbits isn't all that fast in terms of non-consumer internet connections.
Basically what happens is a game company either brings in a commercial line, or co-locates a server. For smaller titles it's probably the latter in which case they'll likely have anywhere from single OC3 to multiple OC192's worth of bandwidth (but pay per byte).
If it's a big title, they might bring in their own line (I can't say how often this would happen though) in which case they'd have the entire thing to themselves and could saturate connections even better.
Think about it this way. You yourself could colocate a server for 4 or 500 bucks a month that could max out at about 9953.28 Mbit/s (that's 1.2 gigaBYTES per second). Of course if you did that constantly you'd owe your left AND right nuts to the bandwidth usage fairy.
So to sum it all up... almost ANY server will EASILY saturate 100 mbits.
You make a point, and I wouldn't argue that you're wrong, because you're not. But in the software development world getting away from anything that adds more complexity is generally better for the overall health of the system.
Adding the ability to support two driver models would have a dramatic influence on the design of the project and would likely force them to go in a totally different direction. It's not that it's not possible to do, it's just that it would likely be quite detrimental.
Personally speaking I give them a salute for finally doing something right. They're evil anyway so why does it matter? Just consisently do what's best for the software and eventually people will be okay with the decisions.
I'm a supporter of open source software as much as the next guy, and I wish what you said were true, but it simply isn't.
Reiser, JFS, and EXT3 are definitely journaled, and they do allow metadata to be stored with files, but they're NOTHING like what was intended with WinFS. And in all actuality WinFS doesn't really count as a filesystem per se, at least not like the ones you mentioned.
WinFS sits on top of NTFS, and is nothing more than an abstraction layer. It lets you do potentially crazy things like (and I'm making this up, purely for example purposes): "SELECT * FROM documents WHERE type IS image AND SOUNDSLIKE ohhhyeaahh"
If you're curious what WinFS is all about give the wikipedia entry a read.
The closest comparison (I can think of) to WinFS in the open source world (which one would argue is already better since it's not total vaporware) is Gnome Storage. There's also GnomeVFS, and the creators of the now defunct BeOS had a wonderfully similar BFS that supported relational style queries. There's probably tons more that I'm not aware of as well.
I predict we'll begin to see more and more of these abstracted file system layers in the future, but they're no replacement for (and will be useless without) an underlying filesystem architecture like Reiser, XFS, NTFS, etc, etc.
Yeah an embedded product should be able to do better, but either way it's going to take a lot of cycles.
My guess is they're just using a P4 for now because there's already x86 -- mmx, sse, sse2, etc, optimized algorithms available. Probably in the future after the format war dies down we'll see custom chips designed specifically for decoding the HD signals, which will drive the price down to a more reasonable level.
Initial hardware releases are always like that... just push it out, make some bucks off the early adopters, and send the R&D guys back to the lab.
Ever since I bought myself the one of the first generation Diamond RIO MP3 players I've decided to never again adopt early. It just ain't worth it.
Re:Next you'll be telling kids to get off your law
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Quake is 10
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Sure there are some good new games. But I think there's something to what the grandparent said.
Typical gamers that grew up with the current generation are really looking for flash and instant gratification. A large percentage of modern games focus primarily on graphics, and tend to throw gameplay out the window.
Older games had to focus on gameplay simply because no matter how good the graphics were they still were just a series of low FPS, low-res, 2d, pixelated images.
It's not that I'm against awesome graphics, I just think that gameplay has to come first, which really doesn't happen all that often any more... and I understand why. It's because most of the people who are driving the game market want flash over substance.
And just so you know I do agree with that in some ways the game industry has made significant advances. Racing simulation games are absolutely awesome these days. TOCA 3 is probably one of the best racing sims ever made.
On the other hand... I spend a lot more time in xmame than I do utilizing my fancy 3d graphics card. Why? Because they just don't make em like they used to.
To merely ask this question shows that you've never done serious amount of real work programming.
First of all every problem has a tool that's going to solve the problem best. Sometimes it'll be java, sometimes C, C++, python, ruby, php, etc, etc.
And second of all JIT compiled or virtualized languages often offer little benefits (in terms of what you've prescribed -- which is very little) over natively compiled languages. What I mean is... there's nothing inherently "better" about virtualized code. It's great in certain cases but that's it!
Did you even think about the question before asking it? Would you write a top-tier 3d game in java? How about an office suite in python?
The answer is no, and no. Not because java and python are bad (in fact they're great!), but rather because there's another tool that's better suited to the job.
Think before asking. It's a sad day when this makes it to the front page.
First of all I admit that there are things that are a PITA on Linux... it certainly ain't perfect, and could stand growth in many areas. And your point is totally valid, so I don't want to make it seem like I don't get the point of what you're saying... there are some things that could definitely be done easier / better.
Having said that, in my experience multimedia stuff is the exact opposite. On my Gentoo desktop every single file I've tried to play has just magically worked... quicktime, divx, xvid, crazy mjpeg avi weird stuff from my digital camera, asf, wmv, etc.
Now, on Windows on the other hand... I try sending movies or video clips to my friends and they're like "All I get is audio!", or "The video is all skippy and jerky!", or "the audio is out of sync!" And so then they have to go hunt down and install codecs and other stuff... and try playing a dvd in Windows... all you get is stuff pointing you to pay for something you have no idea what it's for.
Where as in Linux, everything just works... no configuring, no setup. With the exception of DVD menus... They generally work, but aren't anywhere as good as what hardware dvd players do.
You're definitely right about the browser plugins though. Again though, it's one of those things where you just have to know the right process... instead of going to adobe's web page and downloading flash, you open your package manager, search for flash, click install... it could definitely use some integration... like how are new users supposed to know that? If you know that one simple thing it takes 5 seconds to install... but if you try to go about the traditional windows way you'll likely bang your head against the wall for days.
I mostly wanted to mention my extremely positive experiences with Linux media players... auto-sound synch fixing, extreme flexibility with subtitles, it's all way way better than what media player does.
But, I also wanted to touch on your point that while some things are different, others are just plain more difficult. True. Linux certainly isn't perfect, and I think _everyone_ will agree that Windows isn't either.
One thing I won't submit to though is that general every day tasks are beyond the reach of the average person.
You're falling exactly into the category of what my point was. The reason you're spending 90% of your time configuring and 10% using is because that's the level of knowledge you currently have, and because you're very familiar with windows -- so much so that configuration and maintenance tasks are very easy and take little time.
Trust me, once you become familiar with how a unix really works, maintenance and configuration becomes trivial. That's actually one of the things I *love* about Linux... the more you use it and the more software you install the better it becomes -- not the other way around (as with windows).
Let me just point out that the reason you find the administration tools inadequate is probably because you're choosing to use tools that were designed to help people do things the Windows way... and when something goes wrong you don't have the underlying knowledge required to diagnose the problem.
I'm definitely not one of those elite linux users who thinks they're better than other people who don't have the same amount of experience. I see myself as a normal guy who runs Linux full time -- that's it. But it did take time. And yes in the beginning I too spent 90% of my time configuring, breaking stuff, unbreaking them, reinstalling, cursing, etc.
Now I'm so comfortable with the Unix way that to use Windows is actually a chore. It's actually kind of novel for me to think about how difficult it once was -- but I too fall into the same category as you.
To quote my Driver Ed instructor: "The worst people to teach how to drive are the people who already know how."
I didn't exactly get it at the time, but I sure do now.
Just one final point... about a single cohesive product. This is something that a lot of Linux newbies think, because they see all these "random" software packages that they don't really know, and there are so many choices for every task -- it can really seem like an unorganized mess.
But once you start to understand the Unix way you start to realize that this is actually a really good thing. You eventually get a slick customized workspace that's exactly tailored to suit your needs. If you don't believe me look at the desktops of ten of your Linux using friends and note how different everything is, from the look of the windows, to the way the mouse works, etc.
Once you get past the scary point -- where everything is new and crazy and things don't work and you don't know why -- that's when it starts to get good. And yes it's true for learning Linux, but it's also true for every other human / computer interface.
The big mistake that people like this reporter make is that they expect to just "switch". They don't take into account that doing things in Linux isn't necessarily harder or more difficult it's just different. Usually these people are thinking "I'll just go to Linux" assuming their work process will still be exactly the same.
Well news flash: it doesn't work like that!
When I first switched to Linux I found it frustrating as hell. The same things I found initially complex are now overtly simple. And now that I've been exclusively using Linux for some time I actually find Windows difficult and frustrating to use!
The same goes for an "ordinary" person trying to switch to a mac. I worked in a public computer lab once that had a mac section and I often would take amusement in watching people's expressions as they sat down at the macs and attempted to use them. 99%+ of the people would eventually look some combination of mad / funny / confused / curious, but eventually most of em would get up and walk to a Windows machine.
Is a mac any harder to use? No, of course not. It's all about what you're used to. When you switch to a system that works differently you NEED to be prepared to invest time into learning the new system.
It'd be like buying a new car that doesn't use pedals, guages, and a wheel for controls but rather something alien like maybe sliders, joysticks, and audible tones or something. They both accomplish the same task, and yes some people are better suited to one configuration over another, but generally speaking it's just a matter of training your brain to think in the new way.
Ever tried converting someone who's not very computer savvy to Linux? I have, and generally they love it and catch on right away. Because it's all new to them anyway... whether they sit down at a Windows machine, Mac, Linux, whatever they're in for some learning... they don't have the barrier of expectations bringing them down.
So are we there yet? I say yes. And we have been for some time. People just can't expect to "switch" and not invest in a serious amount of relearning. If it didn't take a lot of time it wouldn't be a different system and therefore it wouldn't be worth switching to!
Wow this is a perfect example of the american-centric thinking that keeps the USA stuck where it is.
I hate to break it to you but there are plenty of other places in the world besides the USA where the dominant language is english.
I don't know where you got your numbers, although I suspect you just made them up on the spot because it seemed convenient to do so. Every year China produces 1.2 million MORE college graduates than the USA. That's 2.5 million graduates from China alone. Add in the rest of Asia (which accounts for more than 50% of the worlds population, compared to USA's measily 4%) and I think you'll see a discrepancy in your numbers.
It's definitely true that places like China don't have the same percentage of degree holders per population, but that doesn't mean that Americans have the highest percent of degrees in the world. Not in the least.
I'd also agree with you that more than 4% of the computers in the world are in USA, but as you should very well know computer users do not equal computer scientists.
Totally. It's not the actual school themselves that suck, because USA has some pretty top notch school. It's the way they education system itself is set up. At least that's my opinion.
It comes down to MANY more factors than just economics, but USA is the most expensive place to be educated in the world. And, in fact, of all the first world nations North America and Great Britain are the only places where secondary education costs money.
Also note that while the Ivy league school used to THE place to go, they're quickly falling behind other international schools. It's just that America isn't keeping up with the times.
Yes many international students still flock to US, but the ratios of students coming into the states are decreasing (despite school attendances by international students increasing). This is another indicator of a problem. The rest of the world is educating more and more of their people while the US stays relatively constant (in comparison anyway).
To be honest I suspect that the problem is rooted to deeply in the fabric of American society itself, and won't be able to fixed until the warning signs are more like glaring issues.
Exactly! That was part of my point. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. To reiterate: Look at what countries like Poland are doing. They're hugely over-represented in terms of numbers, so they're obviously doing something right.
I was suggesting that the American education system is falling behind. And it really is, if you look at what the rest of the world is doing, America's post secondary system looks like a relic from the past.
Why should there be more top American programmers in the world?
USA counts for about 4.6 percent of the world population. (300 million out of 6.5 billion). 4 out of 48 is actually almost double of what could be expected based on numbers alone.
America isn't known for its outstanding education system. So again I pose my question: why SHOULD there be more American programmers, and why are the results a surprise?
The only thing that surprises me about it is that there weren't fewer than 4 of the 48 who were American.
I'd like to stress that I'm not trying to be anti-American or anything... just realistic. If you want to change the numbers, you've gotta look at the truth of the matter, and make decisions from there.
Look at what the Russia and the European countries are doing right instead. It's curious to note their humble attitude toward their over-representation.
You're right I was wrong about "byte-code"... yeah I meant native code.
Anyway... everything you said is true, I just wanted to mention that the point of my rant wasn't to suggest that we should dismiss the language... quite the opposite!
I was saying it's one useful tool just like c, or python, or whatever, that gets a particular job done well. I made a point to (try) to mention some of Java's downfalls because I was trying to suggest that knowing your tools is the key to being a good computer scientist. The grandparent seemed to be suggesting that Java is leaner and meaner than anything and should be used for all tasks.
I hate that argument because I'll never argue that one language is better than another, just that some languages are better suited to solving certain problems.
Fact: Java apps will ALWAYS use MUCH more memory than programs written in compiled code (whether it be C, C++, VB, Delphi, etc) due to the fact that it's interpretted (ie not byte code compiled). It has nothing to do with "class meta information," which can actually be higher in some other languages. Oh and the java reflection API is much more useful than for plugins (which you can easily do in C / C++ as well).
Even byte code compiled java (ie gcj) is much more memory hungry than a compiled C / C++ app, and it shouldn't be any surprise. The Java API is quite vast and interdependant, so even using small portions of it leaves a large footprint.
I don't see why it's a bad thing either. People who argue about one language over another just aren't knowledgeable enough. Each language is a tool, and is suited for particular tasks. Trying to use one language all the time is analogous to trying to use a hammer for all carpentry tasks. Java is a good language for certain things, not so good for others.
I've been on the hiring end of the stick a few times, just enough to decide that it's in my best interest to toss away any resumes that have nothing but certifications listed in the education section.
I think most people who've done a few rounds of hiring will easily note that people in that category simply don't have the required knowledge. Nor do they have the work ethic. A university degree certainly doesn't guarantee intelligence, but it does guarantee you that a person can make it through four continuous years of hard work.
Another point of note is that I once worked at a testing center where they administered many of the popular IT certification exams. It became obvious very quickly that those certifications are designed merely as a money making tool for the companies that produce them. They give you an idea that the person you're hiring can memorize screens and their uses, along with a few technical concepts, and their applications, but that's all they do. (It's also fairly common to find bootleg copies of the exams on the internet).
In the future if I see a long list of certs I'll probably just toss the resume away without going any further. There's no shortage of people out there, but there aren't that many good people, just more and more people with certifications and educations from silly little diploma farm colleges.
I know that I'm not the only who thinks this way too... so yeah I'd say it could hurt.
The second post of the story already examined this otherwise humorous jest. And just so you know... the NO CARRIER thing is over now... you can stop trying to use it.
If your company is publicly traded on the open market then no it's not your companies right. Your companies first and foremost duty is to the shareholders.
You're just defending a stupid business plan with ridiculous analogies. Like I said I'm already using an ISP that implements a service class for high bandwidth users. It doesn't seem like it costs them very much to maintain, and it sure as hell brings them in extra cash.
We cried. They responded.
To use an analogy that more closely matches the situation: your company is like a hardware store that sells a monthly service where people can come and use all the tools they need. And keep in mind that the service plan your hardware store has advertised goes something to the effect of "Come and use any tool you want for the low monthly price of..."
I don't have any statistics on the real numbers but I'm guessing if you surveyed all of your internet users and asked them "do you want unthrottled P2P access?" at least ten percent to a quarter of them (probably more) would say yes.
So in continuing with the ridiculous analogy... now imagine ten percent of the users that signed up for your monthly hardware renting program require tools that you don't offer even though they were never told up front that those tools would never be available.
And moreover... then imagine that 3-10% of the users are being chastised by your company for using too many tools too much of the time, when those are just their needs.
It's not that the people are wrong. And the company's position has some merits too... after all gotta be fair to everyone. But the thing is that there's a better way, and right now it's attitudes like yours that are keeping things from changing for the better.
And people (like me) are speaking with their pocket books. I'm willing to pay extra for the bandwidth I use, and I DO pay extra. The companies that don't want to offer a service that meets my needs are simply going to fade away.
and p.s. I think YOUR attitude is the one that exemplifies the americano way... buttheaded stubborness and an inability to change and be flexible.
First of all, you're thinking like a mindless ISP employee, but secondly, you're right! This is the whole problem. The whole state of ISP business plans is set up wrong. People are accustomed to a low monthly fee, and ISPs like it because they get a guaranteed income from the majority low-bandwidth users.
I myself am I high usage person. But I know this, and I'm okay with it. If an ISP doesn't like me using so much bandwidth they call me up and complain and I respond with "Sure no problem, I've got more money, take some of it, because I want to use more bandwidth." Traditionally in the past they've told me "UUUhhh we can't do that, you have to use less bandwidth!"
WHAT?!
Fortunately things are starting to change. I'm not paying my service provider extra fees for extra bandwidth and we're both happy.
I personally see the future going with zero restrictions, but people paying for the usage. This is the only way it will go, with companies that have attitudes like yours going bankrupt.
You're forgetting that people actually WANT to use these services. It's not your companies right to refuse them. It IS however your companies duty to its shareholders to come up with a way to satisfy market demands... and unthrottled P2P is one of them!
Quit thinking like a mindless zombie and get with the times!
A recent post on GameSpot's Rumor Control blog suggests that there may be a chance for a new entry in the classic Star Control series in the foreseeable future.
Now to quote the article:
When pressed for details by GameSpot... He said he does, of course, know what game he's working on, and it's not a Star Control sequel. "It's pretty cool and fun but has nothing to do with Star Control or space or role-playing," he said. "It should be out by the end of the year. My hope was that some time in the future, maybe the next project or maybe the one after, we would get a chance to make another Star Control game."
And to further quote the article, which after reading it, doesn't really seem to suggest all that much, they even bother to neatly sum it all up in one sentence:
Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus...for now.
Pretty weak rumor if you ask me. The guy basically says maybe in the future a project or two from now we'd like to do a sequel. How the hell is this newsworthy? In fact I kinda wish I had the minutes back it took to read TFA.
I'm starting to understand why no one reads the articles anymore. A) they suck. and B) even slashdot appears to be more about sensationalism than actual news delivery.
The funny thing is... sensationalism only works for a while. Yeah it gets people hyped up and interested in the short term, but it only causes dissent in the long term.
I have personally stopped watching or reading traditional news sources altogether simply for that fact. They can't be trusted. Might as well read a tabloid because it starting to amount to the same thing.
I have to disagree. I myself have had friends do worse things to me (and vice versa) just to get a few kicks, but that's okay... because it's between friends. If someone I hated did the same thing to me I'd do whatever it takes to let them know it wasn't okay, and taking them for 350k is a pretty good start.
You definitely need to have a sense of humor, especially when it comes to your friends and family, but no one should have to take anything from anyone they don't like... especially when it comes in the form of malice instead of fun.
Are you kidding me? Joomla and its counterpart have to be the easiest to use CMS software ever designed!
Yes it can look a little daunting, but as another poster has pointed out... CMSes are infinitely more complex than a blog. What are you thinking? A CMS with an interface as simple as Wordpress would be absolutely uselss as a CMS. Basically... it'd be a blog:).
Quit yer whining. Seriously. If you can't admin a CMS then you have no right in even bothering to try. And complaining about the complexity of the interface is ludicrous.
That's like complaining about the complexity of AutoCAD, or Lightwave. "Waa this is too hard, it should be easier!" Uhh no it shouldn't. It's already really very good, (yes there's always room for improvement), but the truth of the matter is: it's just that you don't have the required knowledge, and you're too much of a whining complainer to spend the 30 minutes it would take playing with the system in order to fully comprehend it.
And just to get something straight. No I'm not saying Joomla is anywhere close to being as comples as Lightwave or AutoCAD.
Slashdot Mirror
Uhh that 1.2 GB includes things like xcode, the X11 sdk, and what not.
:).
If they were gonna bother to upgrade to gtk2, why not just switch to something like wxWidgets -- go cross platform on Windows, Unix, and OSX with native widgets.
Oh well. And seriously if you're worried about 1.2 gigs these days, you probably don't need GnuCash anyway since you'll never have any expenditures to worry about
Uhh plenty. 100 Mbits isn't all that fast in terms of non-consumer internet connections.
Basically what happens is a game company either brings in a commercial line, or co-locates a server. For smaller titles it's probably the latter in which case they'll likely have anywhere from single OC3 to multiple OC192's worth of bandwidth (but pay per byte).
If it's a big title, they might bring in their own line (I can't say how often this would happen though) in which case they'd have the entire thing to themselves and could saturate connections even better.
Think about it this way. You yourself could colocate a server for 4 or 500 bucks a month that could max out at about 9953.28 Mbit/s (that's 1.2 gigaBYTES per second). Of course if you did that constantly you'd owe your left AND right nuts to the bandwidth usage fairy.
So to sum it all up... almost ANY server will EASILY saturate 100 mbits.
100 mbits is nothing man.
You make a point, and I wouldn't argue that you're wrong, because you're not. But in the software development world getting away from anything that adds more complexity is generally better for the overall health of the system.
Adding the ability to support two driver models would have a dramatic influence on the design of the project and would likely force them to go in a totally different direction. It's not that it's not possible to do, it's just that it would likely be quite detrimental.
Personally speaking I give them a salute for finally doing something right. They're evil anyway so why does it matter? Just consisently do what's best for the software and eventually people will be okay with the decisions.
I'm a supporter of open source software as much as the next guy, and I wish what you said were true, but it simply isn't.
Reiser, JFS, and EXT3 are definitely journaled, and they do allow metadata to be stored with files, but they're NOTHING like what was intended with WinFS. And in all actuality WinFS doesn't really count as a filesystem per se, at least not like the ones you mentioned.
WinFS sits on top of NTFS, and is nothing more than an abstraction layer. It lets you do potentially crazy things like (and I'm making this up, purely for example purposes): "SELECT * FROM documents WHERE type IS image AND SOUNDSLIKE ohhhyeaahh"
If you're curious what WinFS is all about give the wikipedia entry a read.
The closest comparison (I can think of) to WinFS in the open source world (which one would argue is already better since it's not total vaporware) is Gnome Storage. There's also GnomeVFS, and the creators of the now defunct BeOS had a wonderfully similar BFS that supported relational style queries. There's probably tons more that I'm not aware of as well.
I predict we'll begin to see more and more of these abstracted file system layers in the future, but they're no replacement for (and will be useless without) an underlying filesystem architecture like Reiser, XFS, NTFS, etc, etc.
It takes a lot of power to decode HD signals. The minimum requirements for 1080p are a 3 GHz P4!
Yeah an embedded product should be able to do better, but either way it's going to take a lot of cycles.
My guess is they're just using a P4 for now because there's already x86 -- mmx, sse, sse2, etc, optimized algorithms available. Probably in the future after the format war dies down we'll see custom chips designed specifically for decoding the HD signals, which will drive the price down to a more reasonable level.
Initial hardware releases are always like that... just push it out, make some bucks off the early adopters, and send the R&D guys back to the lab.
Ever since I bought myself the one of the first generation Diamond RIO MP3 players I've decided to never again adopt early. It just ain't worth it.
Sure there are some good new games. But I think there's something to what the grandparent said.
Typical gamers that grew up with the current generation are really looking for flash and instant gratification. A large percentage of modern games focus primarily on graphics, and tend to throw gameplay out the window.
Older games had to focus on gameplay simply because no matter how good the graphics were they still were just a series of low FPS, low-res, 2d, pixelated images.
It's not that I'm against awesome graphics, I just think that gameplay has to come first, which really doesn't happen all that often any more... and I understand why. It's because most of the people who are driving the game market want flash over substance.
And just so you know I do agree with that in some ways the game industry has made significant advances. Racing simulation games are absolutely awesome these days. TOCA 3 is probably one of the best racing sims ever made.
On the other hand... I spend a lot more time in xmame than I do utilizing my fancy 3d graphics card. Why? Because they just don't make em like they used to.
It's too bad more people won't see this post. Good job. All excellent points and I couldn't agree with you more.
I wish there were more programmers out there who really understood all of this.
To merely ask this question shows that you've never done serious amount of real work programming.
First of all every problem has a tool that's going to solve the problem best. Sometimes it'll be java, sometimes C, C++, python, ruby, php, etc, etc.
And second of all JIT compiled or virtualized languages often offer little benefits (in terms of what you've prescribed -- which is very little) over natively compiled languages. What I mean is... there's nothing inherently "better" about virtualized code. It's great in certain cases but that's it!
Did you even think about the question before asking it? Would you write a top-tier 3d game in java? How about an office suite in python?
The answer is no, and no. Not because java and python are bad (in fact they're great!), but rather because there's another tool that's better suited to the job.
Think before asking. It's a sad day when this makes it to the front page.
First of all I admit that there are things that are a PITA on Linux... it certainly ain't perfect, and could stand growth in many areas. And your point is totally valid, so I don't want to make it seem like I don't get the point of what you're saying... there are some things that could definitely be done easier / better.
Having said that, in my experience multimedia stuff is the exact opposite. On my Gentoo desktop every single file I've tried to play has just magically worked... quicktime, divx, xvid, crazy mjpeg avi weird stuff from my digital camera, asf, wmv, etc.
Now, on Windows on the other hand... I try sending movies or video clips to my friends and they're like "All I get is audio!", or "The video is all skippy and jerky!", or "the audio is out of sync!" And so then they have to go hunt down and install codecs and other stuff... and try playing a dvd in Windows... all you get is stuff pointing you to pay for something you have no idea what it's for.
Where as in Linux, everything just works... no configuring, no setup. With the exception of DVD menus... They generally work, but aren't anywhere as good as what hardware dvd players do.
You're definitely right about the browser plugins though. Again though, it's one of those things where you just have to know the right process... instead of going to adobe's web page and downloading flash, you open your package manager, search for flash, click install... it could definitely use some integration... like how are new users supposed to know that? If you know that one simple thing it takes 5 seconds to install... but if you try to go about the traditional windows way you'll likely bang your head against the wall for days.
I mostly wanted to mention my extremely positive experiences with Linux media players... auto-sound synch fixing, extreme flexibility with subtitles, it's all way way better than what media player does.
But, I also wanted to touch on your point that while some things are different, others are just plain more difficult. True. Linux certainly isn't perfect, and I think _everyone_ will agree that Windows isn't either.
One thing I won't submit to though is that general every day tasks are beyond the reach of the average person.
You're falling exactly into the category of what my point was. The reason you're spending 90% of your time configuring and 10% using is because that's the level of knowledge you currently have, and because you're very familiar with windows -- so much so that configuration and maintenance tasks are very easy and take little time.
Trust me, once you become familiar with how a unix really works, maintenance and configuration becomes trivial. That's actually one of the things I *love* about Linux... the more you use it and the more software you install the better it becomes -- not the other way around (as with windows).
Let me just point out that the reason you find the administration tools inadequate is probably because you're choosing to use tools that were designed to help people do things the Windows way... and when something goes wrong you don't have the underlying knowledge required to diagnose the problem.
I'm definitely not one of those elite linux users who thinks they're better than other people who don't have the same amount of experience. I see myself as a normal guy who runs Linux full time -- that's it. But it did take time. And yes in the beginning I too spent 90% of my time configuring, breaking stuff, unbreaking them, reinstalling, cursing, etc.
Now I'm so comfortable with the Unix way that to use Windows is actually a chore. It's actually kind of novel for me to think about how difficult it once was -- but I too fall into the same category as you.
To quote my Driver Ed instructor: "The worst people to teach how to drive are the people who already know how."
I didn't exactly get it at the time, but I sure do now.
Just one final point... about a single cohesive product. This is something that a lot of Linux newbies think, because they see all these "random" software packages that they don't really know, and there are so many choices for every task -- it can really seem like an unorganized mess.
But once you start to understand the Unix way you start to realize that this is actually a really good thing. You eventually get a slick customized workspace that's exactly tailored to suit your needs. If you don't believe me look at the desktops of ten of your Linux using friends and note how different everything is, from the look of the windows, to the way the mouse works, etc.
Once you get past the scary point -- where everything is new and crazy and things don't work and you don't know why -- that's when it starts to get good. And yes it's true for learning Linux, but it's also true for every other human / computer interface.
The big mistake that people like this reporter make is that they expect to just "switch". They don't take into account that doing things in Linux isn't necessarily harder or more difficult it's just different. Usually these people are thinking "I'll just go to Linux" assuming their work process will still be exactly the same.
Well news flash: it doesn't work like that!
When I first switched to Linux I found it frustrating as hell. The same things I found initially complex are now overtly simple. And now that I've been exclusively using Linux for some time I actually find Windows difficult and frustrating to use!
The same goes for an "ordinary" person trying to switch to a mac. I worked in a public computer lab once that had a mac section and I often would take amusement in watching people's expressions as they sat down at the macs and attempted to use them. 99%+ of the people would eventually look some combination of mad / funny / confused / curious, but eventually most of em would get up and walk to a Windows machine.
Is a mac any harder to use? No, of course not. It's all about what you're used to. When you switch to a system that works differently you NEED to be prepared to invest time into learning the new system.
It'd be like buying a new car that doesn't use pedals, guages, and a wheel for controls but rather something alien like maybe sliders, joysticks, and audible tones or something. They both accomplish the same task, and yes some people are better suited to one configuration over another, but generally speaking it's just a matter of training your brain to think in the new way.
Ever tried converting someone who's not very computer savvy to Linux? I have, and generally they love it and catch on right away. Because it's all new to them anyway... whether they sit down at a Windows machine, Mac, Linux, whatever they're in for some learning... they don't have the barrier of expectations bringing them down.
So are we there yet? I say yes. And we have been for some time. People just can't expect to "switch" and not invest in a serious amount of relearning. If it didn't take a lot of time it wouldn't be a different system and therefore it wouldn't be worth switching to!
Wow this is a perfect example of the american-centric thinking that keeps the USA stuck where it is.
I hate to break it to you but there are plenty of other places in the world besides the USA where the dominant language is english.
I don't know where you got your numbers, although I suspect you just made them up on the spot because it seemed convenient to do so. Every year China produces 1.2 million MORE college graduates than the USA. That's 2.5 million graduates from China alone. Add in the rest of Asia (which accounts for more than 50% of the worlds population, compared to USA's measily 4%) and I think you'll see a discrepancy in your numbers.
It's definitely true that places like China don't have the same percentage of degree holders per population, but that doesn't mean that Americans have the highest percent of degrees in the world. Not in the least.
I'd also agree with you that more than 4% of the computers in the world are in USA, but as you should very well know computer users do not equal computer scientists.
Totally. It's not the actual school themselves that suck, because USA has some pretty top notch school. It's the way they education system itself is set up. At least that's my opinion.
It comes down to MANY more factors than just economics, but USA is the most expensive place to be educated in the world. And, in fact, of all the first world nations North America and Great Britain are the only places where secondary education costs money.
Also note that while the Ivy league school used to THE place to go, they're quickly falling behind other international schools. It's just that America isn't keeping up with the times.
Yes many international students still flock to US, but the ratios of students coming into the states are decreasing (despite school attendances by international students increasing). This is another indicator of a problem. The rest of the world is educating more and more of their people while the US stays relatively constant (in comparison anyway).
To be honest I suspect that the problem is rooted to deeply in the fabric of American society itself, and won't be able to fixed until the warning signs are more like glaring issues.
Exactly! That was part of my point. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. To reiterate: Look at what countries like Poland are doing. They're hugely over-represented in terms of numbers, so they're obviously doing something right.
I was suggesting that the American education system is falling behind. And it really is, if you look at what the rest of the world is doing, America's post secondary system looks like a relic from the past.
Why should there be more top American programmers in the world?
USA counts for about 4.6 percent of the world population. (300 million out of 6.5 billion). 4 out of 48 is actually almost double of what could be expected based on numbers alone.
America isn't known for its outstanding education system. So again I pose my question: why SHOULD there be more American programmers, and why are the results a surprise?
The only thing that surprises me about it is that there weren't fewer than 4 of the 48 who were American.
I'd like to stress that I'm not trying to be anti-American or anything... just realistic. If you want to change the numbers, you've gotta look at the truth of the matter, and make decisions from there.
Look at what the Russia and the European countries are doing right instead. It's curious to note their humble attitude toward their over-representation.
Hey thanks for the great reply.
You're right I was wrong about "byte-code"... yeah I meant native code.
Anyway... everything you said is true, I just wanted to mention that the point of my rant wasn't to suggest that we should dismiss the language... quite the opposite!
I was saying it's one useful tool just like c, or python, or whatever, that gets a particular job done well. I made a point to (try) to mention some of Java's downfalls because I was trying to suggest that knowing your tools is the key to being a good computer scientist. The grandparent seemed to be suggesting that Java is leaner and meaner than anything and should be used for all tasks.
I hate that argument because I'll never argue that one language is better than another, just that some languages are better suited to solving certain problems.
Fact: Java apps will ALWAYS use MUCH more memory than programs written in compiled code (whether it be C, C++, VB, Delphi, etc) due to the fact that it's interpretted (ie not byte code compiled). It has nothing to do with "class meta information," which can actually be higher in some other languages. Oh and the java reflection API is much more useful than for plugins (which you can easily do in C / C++ as well).
Even byte code compiled java (ie gcj) is much more memory hungry than a compiled C / C++ app, and it shouldn't be any surprise. The Java API is quite vast and interdependant, so even using small portions of it leaves a large footprint.
I don't see why it's a bad thing either. People who argue about one language over another just aren't knowledgeable enough. Each language is a tool, and is suited for particular tasks. Trying to use one language all the time is analogous to trying to use a hammer for all carpentry tasks. Java is a good language for certain things, not so good for others.
I've been on the hiring end of the stick a few times, just enough to decide that it's in my best interest to toss away any resumes that have nothing but certifications listed in the education section.
I think most people who've done a few rounds of hiring will easily note that people in that category simply don't have the required knowledge. Nor do they have the work ethic. A university degree certainly doesn't guarantee intelligence, but it does guarantee you that a person can make it through four continuous years of hard work.
Another point of note is that I once worked at a testing center where they administered many of the popular IT certification exams. It became obvious very quickly that those certifications are designed merely as a money making tool for the companies that produce them. They give you an idea that the person you're hiring can memorize screens and their uses, along with a few technical concepts, and their applications, but that's all they do. (It's also fairly common to find bootleg copies of the exams on the internet).
In the future if I see a long list of certs I'll probably just toss the resume away without going any further. There's no shortage of people out there, but there aren't that many good people, just more and more people with certifications and educations from silly little diploma farm colleges.
I know that I'm not the only who thinks this way too... so yeah I'd say it could hurt.
The second post of the story already examined this otherwise humorous jest. And just so you know... the NO CARRIER thing is over now... you can stop trying to use it.
To me, it's just not the right way of going about it. You know that the article didn't quite match the summary, and that's all I was pointing out.
If the summary said something different I wouldn't have had a problem.
If your company is publicly traded on the open market then no it's not your companies right. Your companies first and foremost duty is to the shareholders.
You're just defending a stupid business plan with ridiculous analogies. Like I said I'm already using an ISP that implements a service class for high bandwidth users. It doesn't seem like it costs them very much to maintain, and it sure as hell brings them in extra cash.
We cried. They responded.
To use an analogy that more closely matches the situation: your company is like a hardware store that sells a monthly service where people can come and use all the tools they need. And keep in mind that the service plan your hardware store has advertised goes something to the effect of "Come and use any tool you want for the low monthly price of..."
I don't have any statistics on the real numbers but I'm guessing if you surveyed all of your internet users and asked them "do you want unthrottled P2P access?" at least ten percent to a quarter of them (probably more) would say yes.
So in continuing with the ridiculous analogy... now imagine ten percent of the users that signed up for your monthly hardware renting program require tools that you don't offer even though they were never told up front that those tools would never be available.
And moreover... then imagine that 3-10% of the users are being chastised by your company for using too many tools too much of the time, when those are just their needs.
It's not that the people are wrong. And the company's position has some merits too... after all gotta be fair to everyone. But the thing is that there's a better way, and right now it's attitudes like yours that are keeping things from changing for the better.
And people (like me) are speaking with their pocket books. I'm willing to pay extra for the bandwidth I use, and I DO pay extra. The companies that don't want to offer a service that meets my needs are simply going to fade away.
and p.s. I think YOUR attitude is the one that exemplifies the americano way... buttheaded stubborness and an inability to change and be flexible.
First of all, you're thinking like a mindless ISP employee, but secondly, you're right! This is the whole problem. The whole state of ISP business plans is set up wrong. People are accustomed to a low monthly fee, and ISPs like it because they get a guaranteed income from the majority low-bandwidth users.
I myself am I high usage person. But I know this, and I'm okay with it. If an ISP doesn't like me using so much bandwidth they call me up and complain and I respond with "Sure no problem, I've got more money, take some of it, because I want to use more bandwidth." Traditionally in the past they've told me "UUUhhh we can't do that, you have to use less bandwidth!"
WHAT?!
Fortunately things are starting to change. I'm not paying my service provider extra fees for extra bandwidth and we're both happy.
I personally see the future going with zero restrictions, but people paying for the usage. This is the only way it will go, with companies that have attitudes like yours going bankrupt.
You're forgetting that people actually WANT to use these services. It's not your companies right to refuse them. It IS however your companies duty to its shareholders to come up with a way to satisfy market demands... and unthrottled P2P is one of them!
Quit thinking like a mindless zombie and get with the times!
A recent post on GameSpot's Rumor Control blog suggests that there may be a chance for a new entry in the classic Star Control series in the foreseeable future.
Now to quote the article:
When pressed for details by GameSpot... He said he does, of course, know what game he's working on, and it's not a Star Control sequel. "It's pretty cool and fun but has nothing to do with Star Control or space or role-playing," he said. "It should be out by the end of the year. My hope was that some time in the future, maybe the next project or maybe the one after, we would get a chance to make another Star Control game."
And to further quote the article, which after reading it, doesn't really seem to suggest all that much, they even bother to neatly sum it all up in one sentence:
Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus...for now.
Pretty weak rumor if you ask me. The guy basically says maybe in the future a project or two from now we'd like to do a sequel. How the hell is this newsworthy? In fact I kinda wish I had the minutes back it took to read TFA.
I'm starting to understand why no one reads the articles anymore. A) they suck. and B) even slashdot appears to be more about sensationalism than actual news delivery.
The funny thing is... sensationalism only works for a while. Yeah it gets people hyped up and interested in the short term, but it only causes dissent in the long term.
I have personally stopped watching or reading traditional news sources altogether simply for that fact. They can't be trusted. Might as well read a tabloid because it starting to amount to the same thing.
I have to disagree. I myself have had friends do worse things to me (and vice versa) just to get a few kicks, but that's okay... because it's between friends. If someone I hated did the same thing to me I'd do whatever it takes to let them know it wasn't okay, and taking them for 350k is a pretty good start.
You definitely need to have a sense of humor, especially when it comes to your friends and family, but no one should have to take anything from anyone they don't like... especially when it comes in the form of malice instead of fun.
Are you kidding me? Joomla and its counterpart have to be the easiest to use CMS software ever designed!
:).
Yes it can look a little daunting, but as another poster has pointed out... CMSes are infinitely more complex than a blog. What are you thinking? A CMS with an interface as simple as Wordpress would be absolutely uselss as a CMS. Basically... it'd be a blog
Quit yer whining. Seriously. If you can't admin a CMS then you have no right in even bothering to try. And complaining about the complexity of the interface is ludicrous.
That's like complaining about the complexity of AutoCAD, or Lightwave. "Waa this is too hard, it should be easier!" Uhh no it shouldn't. It's already really very good, (yes there's always room for improvement), but the truth of the matter is: it's just that you don't have the required knowledge, and you're too much of a whining complainer to spend the 30 minutes it would take playing with the system in order to fully comprehend it.
And just to get something straight. No I'm not saying Joomla is anywhere close to being as comples as Lightwave or AutoCAD.