I'm not sure that anyone is suggesting that confronting anyone with the enormous and complex code of an entire operating system as their first steps. I think the point is more that F/OSS software allows you to develop, very slowly in my case, an understanding of how computer code and operating systems actually work.
To reuse the car analogy, you are suggesting that someone's first step as a car mechanic would be to, say, calibrate turbo timing settings or adjust their fuel injection system. I don't pretend to be a car person, but it doesn't seem very likely nonetheless.
You seem to imply that the parent was saying that the freedom of F/OSS is the freedom to instantly know everything about it, which is indeed ludicrous. But, to state the obvious, you are free to look.
I hadn't heard of that to be honest! Now, I'm not really a mac person, but that is based on old prejudices, and I have heard that OSX is quite simple to use. If it comes with a proper interface for menu and UI use it will definitely be an option.
Darn good idea. To be honest I have never actually seen OO running under windows, so it could be an interesting experiment.
However, there is a complication which you weren't to know about: this user happens to be blind and uses screen reader software, which is crappy and proprietary and locks you into MS-approved and MS software, as the interface scripts need to be written for each program. I will look into it though!
On an OT side note, The MS domination of the blind/screen reader market is pretty disgusting. The main screen reading package, JAWS (approx. $1k US AFAIK) only works properly with certain programs. FireFox, for example, will not read non-link text in web pages. That sort of minor, piffling problem! It's quite depressing and seriously tempting me to try to teach a blind, 68 year-old man Emacs.
Hmmm, user agent strings, that reminds me of something amusing that happened this morning. I couldn't access a site that had been working perfectly before, and received a very curt message instead: "spider in agent; spider action not permitted"
This seemed puzzling, until I looked at the FireSomething extension settings (which, if you aren't aware, randomizes FireFox's name) and found that my browser was currently known as "l77tspider" and reporting this information in the agent string, thus the spider-spotting! I removed 'spider' from the list of options and instantly no problems...
On a very/. side note, there is an option which allows you to provide a default name to report in case of difficulty, the standard one reads "All your Mozilla FireFox are belong to us". I changed it to "In Soviet Russia, Mozilla FireFox browses you!". I thought that was a little more up to date.
On a more relevant topic, I browsed most of the winning sites (or do so already) with Mozilla Vermiciousknid 0.8 and found no problems of that nature, not even a "best viewed in" logo or even a fscking stupid resolution recommendation. IMHO they should have won just for that!
Flash has its good points, you are right. The main problem is the accessibility of it, and the disgusting trend of providing no non-flash alternative, or simply providing a message saying "Sorry, this site requires Flash. Bugger off." This is pretty much like telling everyone who can't see the pretty pictures, for whatever reason, that they are not wanted.
Regardless, as long as there's no content expressed solely in Flash, and as long as it is used effectively it's OK. As a dialup user, it pisses me off, but that's not the designer's problem.
Sorry, looking over this it's actually a bit of a mindless me-too post, but I just wanted to stress the importance of alternatives to animation (and images and imagemaps, for that matter). I guess you could call me an accesibility zealot, but I think the web needs more of those.
I'm assuming you use XP here, right? Do you prefer the standard 'cutesy' appearance or the old-fashioned one BTW? I for one simply can't do anything when faced with all those bright colours and pretty icons. But I still use 2000 pro, so I quite like the old-fashioned look. I don't think I could go back to any office package before 2000 though, yuck.
I do odd windows maintenance jobs (you know, the little things you have to do all the time like reformatting HDDs and reinstalling windows and the like) tasks for a few friends, and one particular person insists on sticking with windows 98 (NOT SE!) and office 97, which is utter torture.
Great sig by the way! You may want to check the spelling of 'Pratchett' though (not that I'm a spelling Nazi or anything!
You're right though, spyware comes as a sneaky, mandatory add-on with a lot of allegedly 'free' software these days. Eeeurgh.
I'm not sure that a firewall would necessarily block these browser hijacking things though. AFAIK a lot of these nasties are javascript or ActiveX based and might not be caught by antivirus or firewall software. Regular sweeps with ad-aware or the like along with a firewall & antivirus are just a part of the strategy needed to keep windows b0xen clean, but I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here.
did you happen to see the "artist's impression" by the way? according to that, spectators will be allowed ridiculously close to the vehicles. I bet the liability lawyers are already gearing up for it:)
No, he knows he's not to go near cables! He's very well behaved, unlike the cable beast. One strange symptom is that my stereo's RCA-in jacks are old, sad & corroded and tend to drop in and out whenever the washing machine is on, or someone steps on the floor in the wrong spot. We always blame it on the cable beast though.
I'm always having to explain to people who my cat is named after! *sigh*. And then to spell it to them if required...
> Little Kerberos has had her evil eyes on me since then, maybe I distrupted her evil plan to take over the world... Or at least the home network.
That's cats for you always planning something. Great name, by the way! My cat is called Aristotle.
On a more on-topic topic, the cable beast behind my stereo is not to be touched under any circumstances. It swallows things, like mislaid cd cases and videos. One day I'm going to return to find that it's swallowed up the TV.
Merely lacking wires doesn't automatically make everything magically easy to configure... in fact in some ways having wires leading from device to device actually helps configuration in many ways, and especially helps with troubleshooting.
I can't really see the average non-VCR-programming type being able to easily set up any more than about 3 wireless devices. Hell, I can program my VCR but it takes half an hour to get my TV, PS2, stereo, VCR and DVD player set up together...
I suspect some of the products that result may well be really, really stupid. Like the $17000 internet fridge which has apparently not sold very well, IIRC only a handful have been sold in Australia at this point...
(insert obligatory "that must be every Aussie with internet access/power" joke here)
Still, as you point out, there are some very cool applications for this stuff. I just don't expect Big Business to create them!
apologies, I didn't RTFA. Very lazy these days! Sorry to make you rehash things for me, but it's very interesting nonetheless.
I think I misintepreted too, I was under the impression GT4 was out. I'm still playing GT3 to be honest, it's pretty damn impressive. There are a few things I'd like to see improved - driver AI and better crash physics being the main things, but it's still the best racing game I've ever played.
Ahh yes, the used cars! I did love that about the first GT games. GT3 was weird at the start... very little choice of cars. I started with the Sprinter Trueno, eeeurgh!
I agree though, topping GT would be a spectacular effort and a spectacular game. We can hope!
Thanks for your reply, I'm sorry if my previous post was a bit snippy. It was early in the morning I think (big mistake!)
Anyway, on looking at the original post I realise that I was implying that my rpm method was somehow better than apt-get/yum etc, which is not really what I meant, merely that there were other easy ways of doing it. I certainly would be using a better way to update packages if I could (which I really should have mentioned in the original post... should have hit 'preview'!).
Also, it's probably around 99% accurate to assume that most people posting to/. are going to be doing so under a real OS, believe me, I would if I could! I actually have an ancient 14.4 hardware modem that used to work, but alas no more. They are actually pretty hard to find, winmodems are ubiquitous these days. Yuck.
Sorry again for the misunderstanding, I'm glad to clear things up. Sorry for posting something that appeared to have issued from a dickwad, hopefully I have proven otherwise. My Mr Polite gibe has indeed proven correct. Thanks!
one of the more worthy $.02s i have seen in a while. Very succinct, I like it! BTW I'm a keen patron of the Fedora restaurant chain, 'cos I'm merely a lazy clueless n00b in a lot of ways!
I actually really like the realism you're proposing, but I suspect it will all be abandoned in search of the "just wanna drive fast" market that racers seem to be going after. I would personally love to see car damage implemented properly in a (non F1!) game, including engine damage from improperly configured settings and the like.
But, alas, it's not going to happen too soon. I should also add that GT4 is not yet our here in Australia, but I'm not getting my hopes up over that one.
Thanks, it's good to see someone else who found the machine "translation" more amusing and interesting than yet another 'shocking news: people are cracking down on piracy any way they can'. *yawn*. I've heard it a lot lately to be honest.
I particularly liked the line > The kitchen knife also and, can also be able cut the vegetable damage the person.
Not sure that they would find it all that funny in Abu Ghraib though, poor buggers.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe it wasn't a rebuttal but in fact some sort of proposition? You never know!
Are you sure you're in the right place then?
I'm not sure that anyone is suggesting that confronting anyone with the enormous and complex code of an entire operating system as their first steps. I think the point is more that F/OSS software allows you to develop, very slowly in my case, an understanding of how computer code and operating systems actually work.
To reuse the car analogy, you are suggesting that someone's first step as a car mechanic would be to, say, calibrate turbo timing settings or adjust their fuel injection system. I don't pretend to be a car person, but it doesn't seem very likely nonetheless.
You seem to imply that the parent was saying that the freedom of F/OSS is the freedom to instantly know everything about it, which is indeed ludicrous. But, to state the obvious, you are free to look.
I hadn't heard of that to be honest! Now, I'm not really a mac person, but that is based on old prejudices, and I have heard that OSX is quite simple to use. If it comes with a proper interface for menu and UI use it will definitely be an option.
Thanks for your suggestion!
Darn good idea. To be honest I have never actually seen OO running under windows, so it could be an interesting experiment.
However, there is a complication which you weren't to know about: this user happens to be blind and uses screen reader software, which is crappy and proprietary and locks you into MS-approved and MS software, as the interface scripts need to be written for each program. I will look into it though!
On an OT side note, The MS domination of the blind/screen reader market is pretty disgusting. The main screen reading package, JAWS (approx. $1k US AFAIK) only works properly with certain programs. FireFox, for example, will not read non-link text in web pages. That sort of minor, piffling problem! It's quite depressing and seriously tempting me to try to teach a blind, 68 year-old man Emacs.
This seemed puzzling, until I looked at the FireSomething extension settings (which, if you aren't aware, randomizes FireFox's name) and found that my browser was currently known as "l77tspider" and reporting this information in the agent string, thus the spider-spotting! I removed 'spider' from the list of options and instantly no problems...
On a very /. side note, there is an option which allows you to provide a default name to report in case of difficulty, the standard one reads "All your Mozilla FireFox are belong to us". I changed it to "In Soviet Russia, Mozilla FireFox browses you!". I thought that was a little more up to date.
On a more relevant topic, I browsed most of the winning sites (or do so already) with Mozilla Vermiciousknid 0.8 and found no problems of that nature, not even a "best viewed in" logo or even a fscking stupid resolution recommendation. IMHO they should have won just for that!
Cheers,
Duncan
Flash has its good points, you are right. The main problem is the accessibility of it, and the disgusting trend of providing no non-flash alternative, or simply providing a message saying "Sorry, this site requires Flash. Bugger off." This is pretty much like telling everyone who can't see the pretty pictures, for whatever reason, that they are not wanted.
Regardless, as long as there's no content expressed solely in Flash, and as long as it is used effectively it's OK. As a dialup user, it pisses me off, but that's not the designer's problem.
Sorry, looking over this it's actually a bit of a mindless me-too post, but I just wanted to stress the importance of alternatives to animation (and images and imagemaps, for that matter). I guess you could call me an accesibility zealot, but I think the web needs more of those.
I'm assuming you use XP here, right? Do you prefer the standard 'cutesy' appearance or the old-fashioned one BTW? I for one simply can't do anything when faced with all those bright colours and pretty icons. But I still use 2000 pro, so I quite like the old-fashioned look. I don't think I could go back to any office package before 2000 though, yuck.
I do odd windows maintenance jobs (you know, the little things you have to do all the time like reformatting HDDs and reinstalling windows and the like) tasks for a few friends, and one particular person insists on sticking with windows 98 (NOT SE!) and office 97, which is utter torture.
Great sig by the way! You may want to check the spelling of 'Pratchett' though (not that I'm a spelling Nazi or anything!
Cheers!
I've always mistrusted Real! Who doesn't?
You're right though, spyware comes as a sneaky, mandatory add-on with a lot of allegedly 'free' software these days. Eeeurgh.
I'm not sure that a firewall would necessarily block these browser hijacking things though. AFAIK a lot of these nasties are javascript or ActiveX based and might not be caught by antivirus or firewall software. Regular sweeps with ad-aware or the like along with a firewall & antivirus are just a part of the strategy needed to keep windows b0xen clean, but I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here.
did you happen to see the "artist's impression" by the way? according to that, spectators will be allowed ridiculously close to the vehicles. I bet the liability lawyers are already gearing up for it :)
Well, large parts of NM are radioactive already, so if a nuclear-powered vehicle happens to blow up on the launchpad or crash, no worries!
Humour error #11672 : joke missing. Please obtain some content or piss off.
No, he knows he's not to go near cables! He's very well behaved, unlike the cable beast. One strange symptom is that my stereo's RCA-in jacks are old, sad & corroded and tend to drop in and out whenever the washing machine is on, or someone steps on the floor in the wrong spot. We always blame it on the cable beast though.
I'm always having to explain to people who my cat is named after! *sigh*. And then to spell it to them if required...
> Little Kerberos has had her evil eyes on me since then, maybe I distrupted her evil plan to take over the world... Or at least the home network.
That's cats for you always planning something. Great name, by the way! My cat is called Aristotle.
On a more on-topic topic, the cable beast behind my stereo is not to be touched under any circumstances. It swallows things, like mislaid cd cases and videos. One day I'm going to return to find that it's swallowed up the TV.
Merely lacking wires doesn't automatically make everything magically easy to configure... in fact in some ways having wires leading from device to device actually helps configuration in many ways, and especially helps with troubleshooting.
I can't really see the average non-VCR-programming type being able to easily set up any more than about 3 wireless devices. Hell, I can program my VCR but it takes half an hour to get my TV, PS2, stereo, VCR and DVD player set up together...
I suspect some of the products that result may well be really, really stupid. Like the $17000 internet fridge which has apparently not sold very well, IIRC only a handful have been sold in Australia at this point...
(insert obligatory "that must be every Aussie with internet access/power" joke here)
Still, as you point out, there are some very cool applications for this stuff. I just don't expect Big Business to create them!
FireWire local P2P? Torrent maybe? Sounds OK to me! You can keep your HBO, thanks, there's nothing on there worth watching anyway.
has anyone trademarked FireWireLess yet? Only a matter of time...
apologies, I didn't RTFA. Very lazy these days! Sorry to make you rehash things for me, but it's very interesting nonetheless.
I think I misintepreted too, I was under the impression GT4 was out. I'm still playing GT3 to be honest, it's pretty damn impressive. There are a few things I'd like to see improved - driver AI and better crash physics being the main things, but it's still the best racing game I've ever played.
Ahh yes, the used cars! I did love that about the first GT games. GT3 was weird at the start... very little choice of cars. I started with the Sprinter Trueno, eeeurgh!
I agree though, topping GT would be a spectacular effort and a spectacular game. We can hope!
Thanks for your reply, I'm sorry if my previous post was a bit snippy. It was early in the morning I think (big mistake!)
Anyway, on looking at the original post I realise that I was implying that my rpm method was somehow better than apt-get/yum etc, which is not really what I meant, merely that there were other easy ways of doing it. I certainly would be using a better way to update packages if I could (which I really should have mentioned in the original post... should have hit 'preview'!).
Also, it's probably around 99% accurate to assume that most people posting to /. are going to be doing so under a real OS, believe me, I would if I could! I actually have an ancient 14.4 hardware modem that used to work, but alas no more. They are actually pretty hard to find, winmodems are ubiquitous these days. Yuck.
Sorry again for the misunderstanding, I'm glad to clear things up. Sorry for posting something that appeared to have issued from a dickwad, hopefully I have proven otherwise. My Mr Polite gibe has indeed proven correct. Thanks!
Cheers!
one of the more worthy $.02s i have seen in a while. Very succinct, I like it! BTW I'm a keen patron of the Fedora restaurant chain, 'cos I'm merely a lazy clueless n00b in a lot of ways!
cheers!
I actually really like the realism you're proposing, but I suspect it will all be abandoned in search of the "just wanna drive fast" market that racers seem to be going after. I would personally love to see car damage implemented properly in a (non F1!) game, including engine damage from improperly configured settings and the like.
But, alas, it's not going to happen too soon. I should also add that GT4 is not yet our here in Australia, but I'm not getting my hopes up over that one.
Thanks, it's good to see someone else who found the machine "translation" more amusing and interesting than yet another 'shocking news: people are cracking down on piracy any way they can'. *yawn*. I've heard it a lot lately to be honest.
I particularly liked the line
> The kitchen knife also and, can also be able cut the vegetable damage the person.
Not sure that they would find it all that funny in Abu Ghraib though, poor buggers.
mod parent up! Best laugh I have had all week :)
dammit, that's why we have a preview button! That should have read :)
it would appear that something ate my </irony> tag
it would appear that something ate my tag :)