December 10, 1993. A day that will live in infamy for me. I had been waiting for the release of Doom for many months and finally the day was here.
I dialed up my modem to the Apogee Software BBS and got through on the first try! Oh joy! I madly scrambled to find the game and started the download.
About half an hour later my mother picked up the phone and I was disconnected. I couldn't believe it.
After she was done with her call I madly redialed. Busy. Again I tried. Busy. And on it went for a tortuous four hours with me cursing my mother the entire time.
Finally I got through, downloaded and of course was in heaven for the next several months.
After reading your post I did a bit of research into the UK's TV license - insane! It's not just that you guys have a tax but it's 136 pounds (>$270) per YEAR!? That's crazy! I don't see how people put up with that type of thing.
My favorite quote from the site regarding 'cheating' (Hello 1984!):
"...We have a fleet of detector vans, plus, our enforcement officers have access to hand-held detection devices capable of detecting a magnetic field when a TV is switched on. In fact, we catch an average of over 1,000 people watching TV without a licence every day."
From a strict 'new technology' perspective: Agreed - nothing revolutionary. As an improvement to the way the average Joe can plans trips, done in a incredibly simple, intuitive fashion that non-techies will truly appreciate: Truly awesome.
I'll agree with you on the Linux side but I dont know if you can say that about apple products. Finally another person who appreciates that MS can actually do some good things. I have been involved in.Net development for 3 yrs after developing Linux apps for the Telecom industry in C for 4 (before that embedded). I personally feel that MS has done so well not just because of their dirty tricks (which I admit they do), but their products aren't NEARLY as bad as some on here would lead to you believe, in fact, many are pretty darn good.
My first REAL (non-Commodore 64) word processor was Wordperfect 5.1 - I couldn't believe how unintuitive that product was (any product requiring a paper sheet to be taped above the function keys so you remember what each key in combination with shift/alt/ctrl is just plain bad imho). I then had the pleasure of trying word 2.0 on the Mac. Night and day. And I won't go into some of the messes I've seen with non-techies and Linux, I'd probably get tarred and feathered on this site.
Based on the pathetic JavaFX demos Sun has up, Silverlight has nothing to worry about. Silverlight feels MUCH faster and the effects shown seem much more impressive (maybe Sun just didn't allocate enough resources to their demo). Also, from the blurb I read JFX seems to be a wrapper around Swing - Is Swing capable of Flash-type smooth animations?
-NB
Do you not see quite a bit of group-think going on in Slashdot when it comes to topics such as Microsoft and Religion? I sure do. We'll just have to agree to disagree.
I'm not talking about relativism other than the mentality of 'since I'm on the Slashdot/Open Source' side of this battle, I therefore must adopt all of these views and reject all views of the other side. For instance, a couple statements that could very well be true but will very rarely be acknowledged by the community (which prefers to believe that because the 1st portion is true the 2nd is automatically false):
-Just because Microsoft is known to make numerous, underhanded attempts at undermining competition:
-Doesn't mean they can't come up with some very nice, technically advanced products that satisfy customer needs.
And
-Just because Microsoft pushes its operating system to be included with the vast majority of new machines
-Doesn't negate the fact that a lot of the reason Linux isn't on the desktop is because of the chaotic nature of the community and the community's inability to understand what average user's may need or care about.
I'd like to make a quick observation this particular topic easily illustrates about the Slashdot/Open Source/Geek community. I've seen NUMEROUS rants against organized (and not so organized) religion over the years on sites such as Slashdot and Digg, with many of the participants claiming themselves to be atheists. Slashdotters and right wing religious nutjobs have a lot in common. Sure, the RWNJs they go to church every week (maybe more often), and proclaim theirs to be 'the true way' and if you aren't on their team, too bad, you'll burn in hell. A lot of the Slashdot crowd also has their gods, it just so happens they worship at the alter of their own ego, their 'massive' intellects, and of course all that is Open Source. They also have just as many people in the pews agreeing with their every word.
It's time to start REALLY seeing the world in grays folks - not just critiquing other people's sacred cows but questioning your own assumptions as well.
I've got to agree with the parent on this one ('cept maybe the donkey part). I feel like I'm in a Sean Hannity forum, but it's an article critical of Linux rather than of GW Bush. Time to put down the Kool Aid kids - you want to know why Linux is STILL not on average user's desktop after all of these years, despite the fact that it is free, and 'so' technically superior? Take a look around.
One could argue music had a built in DRM up until recently - 30 yr ago could anyone copy records? What about 20 yr ago - you could copy your buddy's analogue tape but the process ended there (a copy of a copy sounded like crap). With the internet it isn't uncommon for individuals to possess thousands of songs, copied from people they've never met.
Bob
Every time the subject of DRM comes up, its seems like there is a good 10-1 if not 20-1 ratio of 'DRM will NEVER work' to any other response. Well that's fine in theory, but without DRM do the copyright holders just hope and pray that people won't copy? Sure, there are ways to strip DRM right now, but what the RIAA/MPAA are trying to do is at least hold on to their core/non techie market (meaning no one would realistically think they would stop all copying but as long as they can stop a large % that's good enough).
It seems most people on here frequently mix up 'free as in open source' with 'free as in beer' - two distinct concepts. I'm curious what the people who think DRM's death is inevitable/will never work think will keep the movie/recording industry alive. Why wouldn't a non-DRM market simply implode - and the industry as a business would die. Another way of putting it - does non-DRM material have a place in capitalism? If so, how? By relying on people's good will? Sorry, I don't see that as a realistic answer. By in large people purchase because that HAVE to not because they WANT to. Tell me how I'm wrong on this.
I have an almost identical system - A64 3400+/1GB but I have an AGP GF6600GT. The game runs quite well on medium/large textures @ 1024 (especially after installing the new nvidia beta drivers specially optimized for the game - rev 84.25). Perusing newegg I see you can get a 6600GT for 100 bucks now. Not a top of the line card but it's still quite powerful.
As a.NET developer I'd like to thank the slashdot community for their constant bashing of.NET. I think the lack of respect and interest in.NET has really helped drive down the supply of decent.NET developers thus contractor rates have been increasing nicely (since business really doesn't give a crap what the most techies prefer, they have are creating a massive demand for this work -> big demand/low supply = big $).
Bob
After the 'going free' announcement, I decided to give Opera another shot (I had previously used it when it had that aweful MDI interface) Anyway, I love it! All around it seems really slick - very quick response, very nice look, and it had a really tight feel (not sure what that is - it just seems very responsive). Overall the most 'professional' feeling browser out imho. I'm just hoping they come out with a badly needed googlebar (I like to do google news and groups searches - not just the web). Once they include that, I'll probably make it my primary browser.
Could you even deal with 5000 exceptions a day? Personally I think 100 exceptions a day would keep most people busy and would probably capture most of the issues with an application (many would be dupes anyway)
Maybe what we need is for someone to do for/to Linux what Firefox did for/to Mozilla - basically make a totally stripped, clean, no-nonsense distro that hides a lot of the stuff that pros like but confuses the hell out of non-tech types. This isn't to say that you couldn't do some cool stuff with the distro if you wanted, but Linux still requires way too much tweaking - which gets REAL old when you just want the OS to be an enabler for applications. The open-source community can learn a lot from Firefox - why/how it managed to break into the mainstream while Mozilla was primarily relegated to the tech community for years .
Hey guys, I'm the last person to defend Microsoft, but it's amazing how many people are so blinded by Linux and all the cool, gee whiz things that it can do that you fail to see what a pain in the ass it CAN be for people who don't want to delve into the technical details on a daily basis.
I have developed middleware that runs on Linux for three years and really enjoy the capabilities of the operating system - yet every time I switch to Linux as my primary O/S at home, I end up getting pissed off in a couple days and go back to Windows. Why? Because when I'm NOT WORKING, I like to use a computer for applications - I would prefer the O/S to be seamless (I kind of thought that the O/S's core purposes is to support the apps), to be so easy that if I don't want to, I really don't even need to worry about it. For me, Windows is the closest thing to this experience right now. I don't want to have to worry about library dependencies, scads of config files, and the normal crap that invariably comes along with a Linux machine. I actually like Linux - in the right context. But for me, Windows is a good choice for a desktop O/S because it lets me install and run applications without a hassle. You also have to realize that Non-tech people want an even more seamless experience - until Linux can be as smooth an experience for the average user, I'm sorry but I see Windows still dominating the desktop space.
Bob
P.S. As my subject indicates, there is WAY too much blind Linux worship going on here. You know you CAN admit that MS can do a decent job now and again and still love Linux and the Open Source movement.
My wife has been playing Battlefield 1942 3-4 times a day for the last year and has recently upgraded to BF2. She even plays the thing more than me.
Bob
I agree wholeheartedly with what you have said. This has got me thinking - how about we teach programming like what it really is - an art?! It seems like our industry is stuck in the constant problem fixing mode - trying to make up for human failings with more tools and processes. Why not teach programmers how to think first (no rigid dogma - flow like water to quote Bruce Lee) - then everything else falls into place....
Agreed. I have been using VS 5.0 for the past 4 yrs and love it. It really shines when you have a large code base, files scattered everywhere, and need to get up to speed on how the code works in a very short amount of time.
Bob
I 100% agree with this. I work for a large multinational and rarely work more than the low 40's. It's not that I couldn't (many in my area work 50+) but I simply refuse to. An occasional overtime week to meet a tough deadline I can understand - but when overtime is required because of imcompetance of others (mostly management), sorry - it's my life and I highly value my time. As the old cliche goes, no-one on their death bed ever said "gee, if only I could have worked more hours".
Do you know who the FCC reports to? Congress. Do you know who controls congress? Do you know who Powell's father works for? The WH and congress both controlled by the same party - no wonder Bush hasn't vetoed one bill. Gotta love those checks and balances.
This just fits the pattern of what the Bushies love to do - use government institutions to further their own agenda. I find it interesting how many Republicans talk of the evils of 'big government' yet seem to be the first ones to wield it's awesome power to crush those who oppose them. Regarding CC, I have been reading about the Bush connection for a couple years and have personally observed it - here in Phoenix there was a lot of hoopla over CC's yanking a talk show host who frequently criticized Bush - they then replaced him with a couple jokers who act like Bush is the second coming of Christ.
An interesting link on the CC Bush connection
http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/03/04/18_clear.h tml
I have been working in industry for a bit over 7 yrs and have made a few observations that I believe makes software suck:
-People try to rely on process to fix 'common sense'. By common sense I mean being careful, meticulous, and using one's brain for each situation one comes across. Granted, I work in a large corporation and this may not apply to some of the smaller companies, but I have noticed that when we find a bug, or have some sort of other development issue, management tacks on more process to fix it. It's of course normal for people to make mistakes but sometimes you just have people that continually use poor judgement - get rid of those people and get others who can do the job right!
-Today's engineers have a large tendancy to overarchitect, doing MUCH more than is required; overthinking what possible changes may occur in the future and designing code around that idea (this idea isn't bad in and of itself, but I have found people get carried away in this area) - What happened to the KISS principal?
-I may sound horribly outdated, but I have serious questions as to whether OOP has bought us anything as an industry. Sure, when used properly, I believe it can have some benefits. BUT I think it gives the programmer so many powerful tools, that incompetant programmers (of which are there many) turn those tools into powerful weapons. Most of the projects I have dealt with have been C based (~90%) - the rest, some sort of OOP (the remaining 10%). Even though the quantity of procedural code greatly outnumbered the OOP, the two most confusing, sh*ttiest pieces of garbage were OOP - I don't this this is a cooincidence. I have found that people can learn the techniques and tools of OOP, but often they fail to understand the philosophy and why it was developed in the first place. Abuse of OOP creates mass amounts of crap code that needs to be maintained.
Slashdot Mirror
December 10, 1993. A day that will live in infamy for me. I had been waiting for the release of Doom for many months and finally the day was here. I dialed up my modem to the Apogee Software BBS and got through on the first try! Oh joy! I madly scrambled to find the game and started the download. About half an hour later my mother picked up the phone and I was disconnected. I couldn't believe it. After she was done with her call I madly redialed. Busy. Again I tried. Busy. And on it went for a tortuous four hours with me cursing my mother the entire time. Finally I got through, downloaded and of course was in heaven for the next several months.
After reading your post I did a bit of research into the UK's TV license - insane! It's not just that you guys have a tax but it's 136 pounds (>$270) per YEAR!? That's crazy! I don't see how people put up with that type of thing.
p
My favorite quote from the site regarding 'cheating' (Hello 1984!):
"...We have a fleet of detector vans, plus, our enforcement officers have access to hand-held detection devices capable of detecting a magnetic field when a TV is switched on. In fact, we catch an average of over 1,000 people watching TV without a licence every day."
From the site: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.js
-NB
From a strict 'new technology' perspective: Agreed - nothing revolutionary. As an improvement to the way the average Joe can plans trips, done in a incredibly simple, intuitive fashion that non-techies will truly appreciate: Truly awesome.
-NB
I'll agree with you on the Linux side but I dont know if you can say that about apple products. Finally another person who appreciates that MS can actually do some good things. I have been involved in .Net development for 3 yrs after developing Linux apps for the Telecom industry in C for 4 (before that embedded). I personally feel that MS has done so well not just because of their dirty tricks (which I admit they do), but their products aren't NEARLY as bad as some on here would lead to you believe, in fact, many are pretty darn good.
My first REAL (non-Commodore 64) word processor was Wordperfect 5.1 - I couldn't believe how unintuitive that product was (any product requiring a paper sheet to be taped above the function keys so you remember what each key in combination with shift/alt/ctrl is just plain bad imho). I then had the pleasure of trying word 2.0 on the Mac. Night and day. And I won't go into some of the messes I've seen with non-techies and Linux, I'd probably get tarred and feathered on this site.
-NB
Based on the pathetic JavaFX demos Sun has up, Silverlight has nothing to worry about. Silverlight feels MUCH faster and the effects shown seem much more impressive (maybe Sun just didn't allocate enough resources to their demo). Also, from the blurb I read JFX seems to be a wrapper around Swing - Is Swing capable of Flash-type smooth animations? -NB
Do you not see quite a bit of group-think going on in Slashdot when it comes to topics such as Microsoft and Religion? I sure do. We'll just have to agree to disagree.
-NB
I'm not talking about relativism other than the mentality of 'since I'm on the Slashdot/Open Source' side of this battle, I therefore must adopt all of these views and reject all views of the other side. For instance, a couple statements that could very well be true but will very rarely be acknowledged by the community (which prefers to believe that because the 1st portion is true the 2nd is automatically false):
-Just because Microsoft is known to make numerous, underhanded attempts at undermining competition:
-Doesn't mean they can't come up with some very nice, technically advanced products that satisfy customer needs.
And
-Just because Microsoft pushes its operating system to be included with the vast majority of new machines
-Doesn't negate the fact that a lot of the reason Linux isn't on the desktop is because of the chaotic nature of the community and the community's inability to understand what average user's may need or care about.
-NB
I'd like to make a quick observation this particular topic easily illustrates about the Slashdot/Open Source/Geek community. I've seen NUMEROUS rants against organized (and not so organized) religion over the years on sites such as Slashdot and Digg, with many of the participants claiming themselves to be atheists. Slashdotters and right wing religious nutjobs have a lot in common. Sure, the RWNJs they go to church every week (maybe more often), and proclaim theirs to be 'the true way' and if you aren't on their team, too bad, you'll burn in hell. A lot of the Slashdot crowd also has their gods, it just so happens they worship at the alter of their own ego, their 'massive' intellects, and of course all that is Open Source. They also have just as many people in the pews agreeing with their every word.
It's time to start REALLY seeing the world in grays folks - not just critiquing other people's sacred cows but questioning your own assumptions as well.
-NB
I've got to agree with the parent on this one ('cept maybe the donkey part). I feel like I'm in a Sean Hannity forum, but it's an article critical of Linux rather than of GW Bush. Time to put down the Kool Aid kids - you want to know why Linux is STILL not on average user's desktop after all of these years, despite the fact that it is free, and 'so' technically superior? Take a look around.
NB
One could argue music had a built in DRM up until recently - 30 yr ago could anyone copy records? What about 20 yr ago - you could copy your buddy's analogue tape but the process ended there (a copy of a copy sounded like crap). With the internet it isn't uncommon for individuals to possess thousands of songs, copied from people they've never met. Bob
Every time the subject of DRM comes up, its seems like there is a good 10-1 if not 20-1 ratio of 'DRM will NEVER work' to any other response. Well that's fine in theory, but without DRM do the copyright holders just hope and pray that people won't copy? Sure, there are ways to strip DRM right now, but what the RIAA/MPAA are trying to do is at least hold on to their core/non techie market (meaning no one would realistically think they would stop all copying but as long as they can stop a large % that's good enough).
It seems most people on here frequently mix up 'free as in open source' with 'free as in beer' - two distinct concepts. I'm curious what the people who think DRM's death is inevitable/will never work think will keep the movie/recording industry alive. Why wouldn't a non-DRM market simply implode - and the industry as a business would die. Another way of putting it - does non-DRM material have a place in capitalism? If so, how? By relying on people's good will? Sorry, I don't see that as a realistic answer. By in large people purchase because that HAVE to not because they WANT to. Tell me how I'm wrong on this.
-NB
I have an almost identical system - A64 3400+/1GB but I have an AGP GF6600GT. The game runs quite well on medium/large textures @ 1024 (especially after installing the new nvidia beta drivers specially optimized for the game - rev 84.25). Perusing newegg I see you can get a 6600GT for 100 bucks now. Not a top of the line card but it's still quite powerful.
Bob
As a .NET developer I'd like to thank the slashdot community for their constant bashing of .NET. I think the lack of respect and interest in .NET has really helped drive down the supply of decent .NET developers thus contractor rates have been increasing nicely (since business really doesn't give a crap what the most techies prefer, they have are creating a massive demand for this work -> big demand/low supply = big $).
Bob
When it's running Linux, it's a box.
When it's running games, it's a rig.
When it's running Windows, it's a machine.
After the 'going free' announcement, I decided to give Opera another shot (I had previously used it when it had that aweful MDI interface) Anyway, I love it! All around it seems really slick - very quick response, very nice look, and it had a really tight feel (not sure what that is - it just seems very responsive). Overall the most 'professional' feeling browser out imho. I'm just hoping they come out with a badly needed googlebar (I like to do google news and groups searches - not just the web). Once they include that, I'll probably make it my primary browser.
Bob
Could you even deal with 5000 exceptions a day? Personally I think 100 exceptions a day would keep most people busy and would probably capture most of the issues with an application (many would be dupes anyway)
Bob
Maybe what we need is for someone to do for/to Linux what Firefox did for/to Mozilla - basically make a totally stripped, clean, no-nonsense distro that hides a lot of the stuff that pros like but confuses the hell out of non-tech types. This isn't to say that you couldn't do some cool stuff with the distro if you wanted, but Linux still requires way too much tweaking - which gets REAL old when you just want the OS to be an enabler for applications. The open-source community can learn a lot from Firefox - why/how it managed to break into the mainstream while Mozilla was primarily relegated to the tech community for years .
Bob
Hey guys, I'm the last person to defend Microsoft, but it's amazing how many people are so blinded by Linux and all the cool, gee whiz things that it can do that you fail to see what a pain in the ass it CAN be for people who don't want to delve into the technical details on a daily basis.
I have developed middleware that runs on Linux for three years and really enjoy the capabilities of the operating system - yet every time I switch to Linux as my primary O/S at home, I end up getting pissed off in a couple days and go back to Windows. Why? Because when I'm NOT WORKING, I like to use a computer for applications - I would prefer the O/S to be seamless (I kind of thought that the O/S's core purposes is to support the apps), to be so easy that if I don't want to, I really don't even need to worry about it. For me, Windows is the closest thing to this experience right now. I don't want to have to worry about library dependencies, scads of config files, and the normal crap that invariably comes along with a Linux machine. I actually like Linux - in the right context. But for me, Windows is a good choice for a desktop O/S because it lets me install and run applications without a hassle. You also have to realize that Non-tech people want an even more seamless experience - until Linux can be as smooth an experience for the average user, I'm sorry but I see Windows still dominating the desktop space.
Bob
P.S. As my subject indicates, there is WAY too much blind Linux worship going on here. You know you CAN admit that MS can do a decent job now and again and still love Linux and the Open Source movement.
My wife has been playing Battlefield 1942 3-4 times a day for the last year and has recently upgraded to BF2. She even plays the thing more than me. Bob
I agree wholeheartedly with what you have said. This has got me thinking - how about we teach programming like what it really is - an art?! It seems like our industry is stuck in the constant problem fixing mode - trying to make up for human failings with more tools and processes. Why not teach programmers how to think first (no rigid dogma - flow like water to quote Bruce Lee) - then everything else falls into place....
Bob
Agreed. I have been using VS 5.0 for the past 4 yrs and love it. It really shines when you have a large code base, files scattered everywhere, and need to get up to speed on how the code works in a very short amount of time. Bob
I 100% agree with this. I work for a large multinational and rarely work more than the low 40's. It's not that I couldn't (many in my area work 50+) but I simply refuse to. An occasional overtime week to meet a tough deadline I can understand - but when overtime is required because of imcompetance of others (mostly management), sorry - it's my life and I highly value my time. As the old cliche goes, no-one on their death bed ever said "gee, if only I could have worked more hours".
Bob
Do you know who the FCC reports to? Congress. Do you know who controls congress? Do you know who Powell's father works for? The WH and congress both controlled by the same party - no wonder Bush hasn't vetoed one bill. Gotta love those checks and balances.
This just fits the pattern of what the Bushies love to do - use government institutions to further their own agenda. I find it interesting how many Republicans talk of the evils of 'big government' yet seem to be the first ones to wield it's awesome power to crush those who oppose them. Regarding CC, I have been reading about the Bush connection for a couple years and have personally observed it - here in Phoenix there was a lot of hoopla over CC's yanking a talk show host who frequently criticized Bush - they then replaced him with a couple jokers who act like Bush is the second coming of Christ. An interesting link on the CC Bush connection http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/03/04/18_clear.h tml
I have been working in industry for a bit over 7 yrs and have made a few observations that I believe makes software suck:
-People try to rely on process to fix 'common sense'. By common sense I mean being careful, meticulous, and using one's brain for each situation one comes across. Granted, I work in a large corporation and this may not apply to some of the smaller companies, but I have noticed that when we find a bug, or have some sort of other development issue, management tacks on more process to fix it. It's of course normal for people to make mistakes but sometimes you just have people that continually use poor judgement - get rid of those people and get others who can do the job right!
-Today's engineers have a large tendancy to overarchitect, doing MUCH more than is required; overthinking what possible changes may occur in the future and designing code around that idea (this idea isn't bad in and of itself, but I have found people get carried away in this area) - What happened to the KISS principal?
-I may sound horribly outdated, but I have serious questions as to whether OOP has bought us anything as an industry. Sure, when used properly, I believe it can have some benefits. BUT I think it gives the programmer so many powerful tools, that incompetant programmers (of which are there many) turn those tools into powerful weapons. Most of the projects I have dealt with have been C based (~90%) - the rest, some sort of OOP (the remaining 10%). Even though the quantity of procedural code greatly outnumbered the OOP, the two most confusing, sh*ttiest pieces of garbage were OOP - I don't this this is a cooincidence. I have found that people can learn the techniques and tools of OOP, but often they fail to understand the philosophy and why it was developed in the first place. Abuse of OOP creates mass amounts of crap code that needs to be maintained.