Firefox's vulnerabilities are fixed quickly-but to my knowledge, IE still has ActiveX support. That vulnerability's existed for years. And it's not even close to the only one that's taken ages to patch.
Tell you what, though. Turn off your firewall and A/V for a week on a test machine, and use Firefox to browse. See how many viruses and spywares you get. Then repeat the same procedure the next week using IE. If the machine lasts out that week, see how many are there -this- time.
It's -entirely- possible that the "big boys" treat Linux as a redheaded stepchild, and throw their laziest, stupidest employees at setting it up. "Jim! You're responsible for setting up Linux on these machines!" "But boss, I don't even know how to open the CD drive..."
Still, it's a problem that needs addressing. Granted, I've never gotten a (Dell|Gateway|Compaq|insert other big brand here), I purchase only from a couple of local shops or build my own. However, if adoption is going to take off, it's going to take -decent- preinstallation to work. (And who knows, someone who can build their own may take Dell up on their next $200 CheapPOS 510C with Linux preinstalled for a cheap filewall box or something.)
Well, if you WANT every user you have installing software, set up sudo or a similar permissioning system, and give every user on the system that right. On the other hand, most administrators would rather they control (and have veto power over) the installation of software on their machines, and generally for good reason-the administrators keep up with technical bulletins, etc., that might indicate a vulnerability in a given program. The users normally don't.
As for installation itself? I use Gentoo, Ubuntu, and Debian (on various systems), and I use them for the specific reason that the installation of software is ridiculously easy. How much easier can you get then "sudo (emerge|apt-get) package", and watch the system install it for you?
It's "tinfoil-hat conspiracy theory crackpottery" to be suspicious that a convicted criminal might commit another crime?
Microsoft has been CONVICTED (not just suspected, not just accused, convicted) of antitrust violations already. Keeping a close eye on them in case they reoffend isn't "crackpottery"-it's common sense.
I use Gentoo myself, and it's been my experience that boot time is ~20-30 seconds on my older Athlon Thunderbird, 10-20 seconds on my XP 2400+, and maybe 10-15 seconds more for GNOME and X to start. (If/when I do start them.) On the other hand, the last time I rebooted the system was 4 months ago, and that was when I physically moved it. At that rate, boot time is not a big deal.
I imagine your proposal could be workable, too. Bittorrent distribution could easily offset some of the bandwidth costs (with, perhaps, those who are good seeders getting a free ad-free version every so many GB's for incentive), and the ads treated as separate purchases for those placing them. I don't pretend to know all the logistics involved, but it has certainly, time and time again, proven financially viable to offer ad-supported (and otherwise "free") content online.
As to the support overhead? Could be lowered in a few ways-ensure that the transferred files are in a format that's pretty easily accessible on any OS (DivX, xvid, or mpg come to mind), and offer support only for paid purchasers-those downloading the free varieties are on their own. If it becomes popular enough, a support community will arise anyway.
I'm sure there are a hundred other ways that it could be done well (and probably a million that it could be done poorly), so this is by no means an assertion that my way's the only or even the best possibility. More trying to show that it -is- a possibility.
So, why not put out -two- downloadable versions-one free and containing the normal ads (such ads could even be localized by ZIP code or IP address), and the paid version ad-free. They'd get the best of all worlds that way-people are going to continue to pay for on-the-air ads for quite some time to come, Joe Sixpack's not about to throw out his TV in favor of an iPod for quite some time. In the meantime, they're establishing both a new ad base (and giving themselves some time to make projections on how many eyeballs they're hitting), -and- getting a direct-payment stream established. This seems more a temper tantrum on the part of the affiliates.
Well...I have Linux installed to my hard drive, but my system has -two- optical drives mounted in it (and even a bay for a third, if I were so inclined.) Isn't that amazing?
Point taken, but I've seen crap moderation even higher then normal recently. Couple totally off-topic trolls in another thread stayed modded up a point or two for quite some time, and seems anymore you can see all kinds of decent, on-topic posts getting nailed for offtopic/flamebait/troll.
I've also seen a -lot- of misuse of "overrated" or "underrated". This is nothing new, but I wish they'd fix those. Should set it up so that an "overrated" can't take you -below- original post level, and underrated can't take you above (so you get modded up twice, then no more then 2 "overrated" can affect you.)
I'm not being bitter or anything, no one's nailed me personally. (Hit me offtopic for this one if anyone cares, I got karma, watch me not care.) Just seems worse over the past week-2 weeks.
Actually, you CAN play a 10-minute solo on the air, I know of no technical or legal restriction against doing so, and indeed, a few stations which do so. Now, a lot of stations don't WANT to, but please don't mislead.
Who really needs to "grow up", I wonder-those who know what they are worth and are not afraid to shoot for it, or those who constantly are telling them to "grow up" and accept mediocrity?
If that's "growing up" for you...well then, I'm sure thankful that I (apparently) never have.
Whether or not you support unfettered capitalism, it is ALWAYS the right of the consumer to complain that the price is too high. Back under the bridge with the other trolls, please.
If you've really found this out, I'd advise you collect the data and contact your local newspaper. I imagine they just might be interested to hear that. They're going to want the proof, though, and I wouldn't mind seeing it myself.
Only slightly off topic-does anyone else find the fact that Congress is allowed to "bundle" legislation like this distasteful? Shouldn't each up or down vote be on -one- thing, without all these ridiculous "riders" attached?
Back to the subject-it is indeed also important to contact broadcasters, and possibly the MPAA itself, and make sure they know you won't be watching, and why. And then stick to it. It's not like there's a whole lot worthwhile on TV anyway, and they'll continue to attempt to ram this thing through Congress unless it's made to hit 'em in the wallet.
I R'd TFA, and the full text of the law as well (in both Spanish and English, my Spanish is decent enough I could catch the general meaning of it). There is no mention, whatsoever, of any vendor being "favored" or "disfavored".
Have you ever looked at a government contract for something, like, say, a road? It sets out exacting specifications for what you must, may, and may not do, and as to what the end result must be. Any company who wishes to build roads, for that government entity, on that project, MUST follow those rules. These few general regulations are NOTHING compared to that. No vendors are being locked out whatsoever. If a proprietary software company wants the Peruvian government's business, they have to meet the Peruvian government's specifications-either open up the source and formats of an existing product, or develop an open-source alternative that meets Peruvian law. What the proprietary software companies are being called on is standing back and screaming "It's not FAIR, they want their roads paved in asphalt, but we only want to do concrete! We're being excluded!" Nothing is preventing them from developing in accordance with these regulations, and if they choose not to do so, well then, they don't sell their stuff to governments whose standards they aren't in compliance with.
The standards this law sets forth are wise, and are well-supported by the reasons laid out in the law's preamble. All this is is the establishment of rules-anyone who wants to play in the game, must follow the rules, just like with ANY government contract.
You certainly must be trolling.. stories abound as to the un-availability of adequate transportation for those without cars and/or money. Certainly, there were a few stupidly stubborn people who hunkered down in their homes, but there were also a huge number who wanted to get out of the city but couldn't.
And you've failed to respond to the most important point here...How do you account for all those who evacuated to the Superdome, AS ORDERED, and then were stuck there in a terrible mass of squalor, rape, and murder, BEGGING for someone to come and evacuate them?
Well, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree here, and while I still disagree with your position, I respect the fact that you've obviously thought it through and can defend it. Thanks for a very good debate on it though, you've made some interesting points.
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Bad troll, get back under the bridge.
Firefox's vulnerabilities are fixed quickly-but to my knowledge, IE still has ActiveX support. That vulnerability's existed for years. And it's not even close to the only one that's taken ages to patch.
Tell you what, though. Turn off your firewall and A/V for a week on a test machine, and use Firefox to browse. See how many viruses and spywares you get. Then repeat the same procedure the next week using IE. If the machine lasts out that week, see how many are there -this- time.
...what can be adequately explained by stupidity.
It's -entirely- possible that the "big boys" treat Linux as a redheaded stepchild, and throw their laziest, stupidest employees at setting it up. "Jim! You're responsible for setting up Linux on these machines!" "But boss, I don't even know how to open the CD drive..."
Still, it's a problem that needs addressing. Granted, I've never gotten a (Dell|Gateway|Compaq|insert other big brand here), I purchase only from a couple of local shops or build my own. However, if adoption is going to take off, it's going to take -decent- preinstallation to work. (And who knows, someone who can build their own may take Dell up on their next $200 CheapPOS 510C with Linux preinstalled for a cheap filewall box or something.)
Well, if you WANT every user you have installing software, set up sudo or a similar permissioning system, and give every user on the system that right. On the other hand, most administrators would rather they control (and have veto power over) the installation of software on their machines, and generally for good reason-the administrators keep up with technical bulletins, etc., that might indicate a vulnerability in a given program. The users normally don't.
As for installation itself? I use Gentoo, Ubuntu, and Debian (on various systems), and I use them for the specific reason that the installation of software is ridiculously easy. How much easier can you get then "sudo (emerge|apt-get) package", and watch the system install it for you?
It's "tinfoil-hat conspiracy theory crackpottery" to be suspicious that a convicted criminal might commit another crime?
Microsoft has been CONVICTED (not just suspected, not just accused, convicted) of antitrust violations already. Keeping a close eye on them in case they reoffend isn't "crackpottery"-it's common sense.
I use Gentoo myself, and it's been my experience that boot time is ~20-30 seconds on my older Athlon Thunderbird, 10-20 seconds on my XP 2400+, and maybe 10-15 seconds more for GNOME and X to start. (If/when I do start them.) On the other hand, the last time I rebooted the system was 4 months ago, and that was when I physically moved it. At that rate, boot time is not a big deal.
I imagine your proposal could be workable, too. Bittorrent distribution could easily offset some of the bandwidth costs (with, perhaps, those who are good seeders getting a free ad-free version every so many GB's for incentive), and the ads treated as separate purchases for those placing them. I don't pretend to know all the logistics involved, but it has certainly, time and time again, proven financially viable to offer ad-supported (and otherwise "free") content online.
As to the support overhead? Could be lowered in a few ways-ensure that the transferred files are in a format that's pretty easily accessible on any OS (DivX, xvid, or mpg come to mind), and offer support only for paid purchasers-those downloading the free varieties are on their own. If it becomes popular enough, a support community will arise anyway.
I'm sure there are a hundred other ways that it could be done well (and probably a million that it could be done poorly), so this is by no means an assertion that my way's the only or even the best possibility. More trying to show that it -is- a possibility.
So, why not put out -two- downloadable versions-one free and containing the normal ads (such ads could even be localized by ZIP code or IP address), and the paid version ad-free. They'd get the best of all worlds that way-people are going to continue to pay for on-the-air ads for quite some time to come, Joe Sixpack's not about to throw out his TV in favor of an iPod for quite some time. In the meantime, they're establishing both a new ad base (and giving themselves some time to make projections on how many eyeballs they're hitting), -and- getting a direct-payment stream established. This seems more a temper tantrum on the part of the affiliates.
legal downloads probably won't have the law working against them
Err..."probably" won't? Isn't that the definition of "legal"?
It seems there's a solution that might mean you never have to deal with that again, but I can't quite put my finger on it...
Well...I have Linux installed to my hard drive, but my system has -two- optical drives mounted in it (and even a bay for a third, if I were so inclined.) Isn't that amazing?
Point taken, but I've seen crap moderation even higher then normal recently. Couple totally off-topic trolls in another thread stayed modded up a point or two for quite some time, and seems anymore you can see all kinds of decent, on-topic posts getting nailed for offtopic/flamebait/troll.
I've also seen a -lot- of misuse of "overrated" or "underrated". This is nothing new, but I wish they'd fix those. Should set it up so that an "overrated" can't take you -below- original post level, and underrated can't take you above (so you get modded up twice, then no more then 2 "overrated" can affect you.)
I'm not being bitter or anything, no one's nailed me personally. (Hit me offtopic for this one if anyone cares, I got karma, watch me not care.) Just seems worse over the past week-2 weeks.
Whoever modded this offtopic is a. stupid and b. has no sense of humor...what is WRONG with people recently?
Question for your question:
What will the GDP of the US be when half of it is underwater, and how much will those under that water care? Is money really all there is?
Anecdotal evidence != hard evidence.
Repeat: You base that assertion on what hard piece of evidence?
Actually, you CAN play a 10-minute solo on the air, I know of no technical or legal restriction against doing so, and indeed, a few stations which do so. Now, a lot of stations don't WANT to, but please don't mislead.
Who really needs to "grow up", I wonder-those who know what they are worth and are not afraid to shoot for it, or those who constantly are telling them to "grow up" and accept mediocrity?
If that's "growing up" for you...well then, I'm sure thankful that I (apparently) never have.
Whether or not you support unfettered capitalism, it is ALWAYS the right of the consumer to complain that the price is too high. Back under the bridge with the other trolls, please.
Parent is an on-topic, cogent argument, NOT a troll. Someone please correct this.
Where ARE my mod points when I need them...
If you've really found this out, I'd advise you collect the data and contact your local newspaper. I imagine they just might be interested to hear that. They're going to want the proof, though, and I wouldn't mind seeing it myself.
That's two for her so far, then. I hope everyone who reads this and disagrees will do the same.
Only slightly off topic-does anyone else find the fact that Congress is allowed to "bundle" legislation like this distasteful? Shouldn't each up or down vote be on -one- thing, without all these ridiculous "riders" attached?
Back to the subject-it is indeed also important to contact broadcasters, and possibly the MPAA itself, and make sure they know you won't be watching, and why. And then stick to it. It's not like there's a whole lot worthwhile on TV anyway, and they'll continue to attempt to ram this thing through Congress unless it's made to hit 'em in the wallet.
I R'd TFA, and the full text of the law as well (in both Spanish and English, my Spanish is decent enough I could catch the general meaning of it). There is no mention, whatsoever, of any vendor being "favored" or "disfavored".
Have you ever looked at a government contract for something, like, say, a road? It sets out exacting specifications for what you must, may, and may not do, and as to what the end result must be. Any company who wishes to build roads, for that government entity, on that project, MUST follow those rules. These few general regulations are NOTHING compared to that. No vendors are being locked out whatsoever. If a proprietary software company wants the Peruvian government's business, they have to meet the Peruvian government's specifications-either open up the source and formats of an existing product, or develop an open-source alternative that meets Peruvian law. What the proprietary software companies are being called on is standing back and screaming "It's not FAIR, they want their roads paved in asphalt, but we only want to do concrete! We're being excluded!" Nothing is preventing them from developing in accordance with these regulations, and if they choose not to do so, well then, they don't sell their stuff to governments whose standards they aren't in compliance with.
The standards this law sets forth are wise, and are well-supported by the reasons laid out in the law's preamble. All this is is the establishment of rules-anyone who wants to play in the game, must follow the rules, just like with ANY government contract.
You certainly must be trolling.. stories abound as to the un-availability of adequate transportation for those without cars and/or money. Certainly, there were a few stupidly stubborn people who hunkered down in their homes, but there were also a huge number who wanted to get out of the city but couldn't.
And you've failed to respond to the most important point here...How do you account for all those who evacuated to the Superdome, AS ORDERED, and then were stuck there in a terrible mass of squalor, rape, and murder, BEGGING for someone to come and evacuate them?
Well, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree here, and while I still disagree with your position, I respect the fact that you've obviously thought it through and can defend it. Thanks for a very good debate on it though, you've made some interesting points.