Indeed. Windows becomes solely the domain of people who enjoy using their computers (games, rich multimedia content, etc.). People with crumby jobs in the governemnt and at particularly bureaucratic corporations sit at 'Linux consoles' and don't even have the root access required to move the icons around on their screen.
But I'm not sure that is necessarily a good thing for Linux.
"Mommy, how come the computers at school aren't any fun, like our Macintosh/Windows Computer at home is?"
Yes, but slashdot is a universe of many surface untruths and little if any retractions.
For an example, the story that raised a BIG FURY a few weeks ago about a guy who was hassled by the government for wanting access to a copy of Mao's Red Book?
It was later documented that the guy made the whole thing up. He publicly retracted his story.
That didn't prevent there from having been a huge pissing match about 'the terrrrrible guvvment' on slashdot. And submissions linking to a web article documenting that he was a liar have been declined by the slashdot hierarchy. Really, it's not part of the agenda of the land of the idealistic schoolboys (the slashdot editors) to think beyond their ideology.
I bought into that kind of crap when I was 20, too.
Why should a recount be possible? Why should a recount be permitted? Shouldn't the system be set up in such a way that anybody calling for a recount would be scoffed at openly by anybody who understands the robust process?
I mean, really. Do it right, and the idea of a recount would just be a story people tell about what a bunch of dunderheads used to demand.
The HELL with the media. Why release ANY results to the media earlier than the totals are arrived at? Really, booting the Media out of the scene would be a big improvement. There can be rigorous observation by volunteer citizens. The Media can wait at the end of the line.
It would be going too far to lock them up for the week before and after the election. Just slightly too far.
Any software binary is 'closed source' within a few microseconds after the binary has been generated. This includes wether the compiler toolchain is open source or not, and wether the source was revealed for the binary before it was compiled. 'Open Source' is not a panacea in the instance of voting machines. It's just populist hype, and thus not surprising, coming from a state capitol like Madison.
Yes. Offering bribes of a free pack of cigarettes to get someone to vote is traitorous. Phony 'Get Out The Vote' drives that are really 'Get Out The Zombies In The Nursing Home' drives are traitorous.
There are countless other examples of traitorous behavior. People who rant from both wings of the big stupid Political Bird are culpable.
Making it "Open Source" makes it easier for someone to compile a patched version of the program. It needs to be:
Compiled under controlled observation. MD5 verified to generate a key. Every version on every voting machine needs to be MD5 verified and compared to the key.
Making it 'Open Source' does NOTHING unless the chain-of-binary-generation is verified and tracable. In fact, the source being 'out there' makes it more likely for extremely close facsimile versions that cheat to exist. So the verification steps are necessary.
I repeat myself: Really, you've been immersed in anti-WalMart propaganda for too long. Get over it.
You don't think I am aware of the big network of 'WalMart eeeeevileeee' hysterics on the Net? There are a ton of interests who lose out when WalMart succeeeds. No supplier who WalMart coerces into particular actions would get the market volume WalMart offers if WalMart were to cease to exist.
You can live in a Pollyanna world of small shopkeepers charging geographically limited customer bases high prices if you wish. You can live in a world where the Union Bosses decide how big a surchage on your grocery bill bloated union wages will add.
The rest of us aren't interested in that world.
That is, you can believe the things you do. But don't fool yourself that the only people who disagree with you are ignorant of the facts.
'User Friendliness' is not just a definition of the ease of use for a user who has had some Rote training on how to use a particular Operating Environment.
It has to do with the whole world of resources that use has available to aid in his/her use of the operating environment.
There are thousands of people around each of us with familiarity with 'the Microsoft way' to get help from. There are shelves full of 'For Dummies' books at the bookseller and even for free at the library. There are shelves full of add-in software on the shelves of stores that regular people go into for the Microsoft OS.
Almost none of this is available for a regular Linux user.
These are 'just the facts' and it's delusional to claim otherwise. And it's a problem to surmount, not an aimless slag attack on Linux.
You live in a strange fantasy world. When you go to sleep at night, does your pillow whisper to you 'WalMart evil! WalMart evil!' or something like that?
Because where I live, regular people shop at WalMart. And manufacturers need to sell their wares on a marketplace. WalMart has a slice of that market, and they do business with it.
Really, you've been immersed in anti-WalMart propaganda for too long. Get over it.
It's just a marketing slogan, like 'Coke is It' or any number of other slogans.
The Admen have been flooding into Google for a number of years now. The whole structure of the company is based around advertising.
Why a certain community seems so enamored with Google is mystifying. Perhaps the old geek heritage of opposing advertising on the 'net has been replaced. Or perhaps a new 'crowd' has infiltrated the community. In any case, Google is a company brimming with admen. A 'Google PC' will be plastered with more advertising and logos than a NASCAR driver and his car.
GnuGL? What is that? In my mind, it conjures up something like OpenGL, but more oriented toward playing Tetris games on a VT-100 terminal. (curses- foiled again)
but they surely have the potential to move a couple of million boxes if sold at or under $300.
Come on, now. Let's be realistic. There may be a million slashbots who worship Google, but a sizeable percentage of them are kids still living at home. They may have a spot in their 'room' for a google PC, but they don't have $300 to put towards it. Mom won't spring for that kind of money except once a year at Christmas. And there's an XBox 360 to buy yet... (all the while slagging Microsoft)
People want an OS on their computer that is limited, so they can't walk into WalMart and buy dozens and dozens of games on CD to play on it.
They want an OS that nobody in their family understands, so they'll have to start over learning how to do maintenance on it.
They want an OS from a company they have never heard of. It gives them confidence that they aren't wasting their time on something that won't be around a year from now.
I don't understand why people even see it from a positive angle.
Another closed source Operating System from a company that some people (for unknown reasons) belive with a faith will remain good forever?
It strikes me as going against everything the Linux folks advocate: robust software doesn't spring whole from the dark recesses of a corporation. It comes from an open community process.
But anyway, it doesn't sound real in the first place, so maybe there's no issue.
This Christmas I tried to give gifts that allowed the recipient to use them with me on occasion, which increases my happiness in the future: again a personal profit.
Did it work? (splitting up the jumbo pack of condoms and wrapping then individually as gifts for the office party)
A big red flashing light should come up at the credit bureau for anybody who has changed address without reporting it to their creditors. Then, if necessary, measures like the SSN should be manually used to locate them.
It they're probably just sending them off to be resurfaced. DVD resurfacing is a well-known trade, and professional no-risk resurfacing can cost 5 - 10 dollars.
Not complicated. It costs them money to fix the scratches, they charge for it.
Not to mention, a credit agency is going to use your SSN to avoid simple name collisions.
Maybe in your world it's okay for SSN's to be routinely dancing around in credit agency computers to prevent 'simple name collisions' but not in mine.
They're in big trouble if the only 'tag' they have to distinguish between customers is the SSN. There aren't that many cases where people with a common street address have the same exact name. They can use Zipcode+4 if they really have that shaky a system that they need a distingushing number to use.
Slashdot Mirror
Indeed. Windows becomes solely the domain of people who enjoy using their computers (games, rich multimedia content, etc.). People with crumby jobs in the governemnt and at particularly bureaucratic corporations sit at 'Linux consoles' and don't even have the root access required to move the icons around on their screen.
But I'm not sure that is necessarily a good thing for Linux.
"Mommy, how come the computers at school aren't any fun, like our Macintosh/Windows Computer at home is?"
Yes, but slashdot is a universe of many surface untruths and little if any retractions.
For an example, the story that raised a BIG FURY a few weeks ago about a guy who was hassled by the government for wanting access to a copy of Mao's Red Book?
It was later documented that the guy made the whole thing up. He publicly retracted his story.
That didn't prevent there from having been a huge pissing match about 'the terrrrrible guvvment' on slashdot. And submissions linking to a web article documenting that he was a liar have been declined by the slashdot hierarchy. Really, it's not part of the agenda of the land of the idealistic schoolboys (the slashdot editors) to think beyond their ideology.
I bought into that kind of crap when I was 20, too.
There has been a considerable amount of face stomping by French Government representatives in the Ivory Coast in the last few years, however.
They're not 'at war,' just repressing the citizens of their colonial holdings. There's a difference.
Why should a recount be possible? Why should a recount be permitted? Shouldn't the system be set up in such a way that anybody calling for a recount would be scoffed at openly by anybody who understands the robust process?
I mean, really. Do it right, and the idea of a recount would just be a story people tell about what a bunch of dunderheads used to demand.
The HELL with the media. Why release ANY results to the media earlier than the totals are arrived at? Really, booting the Media out of the scene would be a big improvement. There can be rigorous observation by volunteer citizens. The Media can wait at the end of the line.
It would be going too far to lock them up for the week before and after the election. Just slightly too far.
Any software binary is 'closed source' within a few microseconds after the binary has been generated. This includes wether the compiler toolchain is open source or not, and wether the source was revealed for the binary before it was compiled. 'Open Source' is not a panacea in the instance of voting machines. It's just populist hype, and thus not surprising, coming from a state capitol like Madison.
Yes. Offering bribes of a free pack of cigarettes to get someone to vote is traitorous. Phony 'Get Out The Vote' drives that are really 'Get Out The Zombies In The Nursing Home' drives are traitorous.
There are countless other examples of traitorous behavior. People who rant from both wings of the big stupid Political Bird are culpable.
Making it "Open Source" makes it easier for someone to compile a patched version of the program. It needs to be:
Compiled under controlled observation.
MD5 verified to generate a key.
Every version on every voting machine needs to be MD5 verified and compared to the key.
Making it 'Open Source' does NOTHING unless the chain-of-binary-generation is verified and tracable. In fact, the source being 'out there' makes it more likely for extremely close facsimile versions that cheat to exist. So the verification steps are necessary.
I repeat myself: Really, you've been immersed in anti-WalMart propaganda for too long. Get over it.
You don't think I am aware of the big network of 'WalMart eeeeevileeee' hysterics on the Net? There are a ton of interests who lose out when WalMart succeeeds. No supplier who WalMart coerces into particular actions would get the market volume WalMart offers if WalMart were to cease to exist.
You can live in a Pollyanna world of small shopkeepers charging geographically limited customer bases high prices if you wish. You can live in a world where the Union Bosses decide how big a surchage on your grocery bill bloated union wages will add.
The rest of us aren't interested in that world.
That is, you can believe the things you do. But don't fool yourself that the only people who disagree with you are ignorant of the facts.
'User Friendliness' is not just a definition of the ease of use for a user who has had some Rote training on how to use a particular Operating Environment.
It has to do with the whole world of resources that use has available to aid in his/her use of the operating environment.
There are thousands of people around each of us with familiarity with 'the Microsoft way' to get help from. There are shelves full of 'For Dummies' books at the bookseller and even for free at the library. There are shelves full of add-in software on the shelves of stores that regular people go into for the Microsoft OS.
Almost none of this is available for a regular Linux user.
These are 'just the facts' and it's delusional to claim otherwise. And it's a problem to surmount, not an aimless slag attack on Linux.
You live in a strange fantasy world. When you go to sleep at night, does your pillow whisper to you 'WalMart evil! WalMart evil!' or something like that?
Because where I live, regular people shop at WalMart. And manufacturers need to sell their wares on a marketplace. WalMart has a slice of that market, and they do business with it.
Really, you've been immersed in anti-WalMart propaganda for too long. Get over it.
It's just a marketing slogan, like 'Coke is It' or any number of other slogans.
The Admen have been flooding into Google for a number of years now. The whole structure of the company is based around advertising.
Why a certain community seems so enamored with Google is mystifying. Perhaps the old geek heritage of opposing advertising on the 'net has been replaced. Or perhaps a new 'crowd' has infiltrated the community. In any case, Google is a company brimming with admen. A 'Google PC' will be plastered with more advertising and logos than a NASCAR driver and his car.
GnuGL? What is that? In my mind, it conjures up something like OpenGL, but more oriented toward playing Tetris games on a VT-100 terminal. (curses- foiled again)
but they surely have the potential to move a couple of million boxes if sold at or under $300.
Come on, now. Let's be realistic. There may be a million slashbots who worship Google, but a sizeable percentage of them are kids still living at home. They may have a spot in their 'room' for a google PC, but they don't have $300 to put towards it. Mom won't spring for that kind of money except once a year at Christmas. And there's an XBox 360 to buy yet... (all the while slagging Microsoft)
Also Linux suffers from bad marketing and FUD of being user-unfriendly.
Also, it isn't user-friendly.
But keep throwing around your TLAs (like FUD) in the echo chamber.
Don't you understand?!?
People want an OS on their computer that is limited, so they can't walk into WalMart and buy dozens and dozens of games on CD to play on it.
They want an OS that nobody in their family understands, so they'll have to start over learning how to do maintenance on it.
They want an OS from a company they have never heard of. It gives them confidence that they aren't wasting their time on something that won't be around a year from now.
(please note sarcasm implied)
And it will also fix dinner for me. And rub my feet. As long as we're running wild and free with our fantasies.
I don't understand why people even see it from a positive angle.
Another closed source Operating System from a company that some people (for unknown reasons) belive with a faith will remain good forever?
It strikes me as going against everything the Linux folks advocate: robust software doesn't spring whole from the dark recesses of a corporation. It comes from an open community process.
But anyway, it doesn't sound real in the first place, so maybe there's no issue.
This Christmas I tried to give gifts that allowed the recipient to use them with me on occasion, which increases my happiness in the future: again a personal profit.
Did it work? (splitting up the jumbo pack of condoms and wrapping then individually as gifts for the office party)
The Open Source Development of this console has ensured a following that will keep the console alive for years to come."
Alive in the same way that the Dreamcast or Amiga remains alive?
A big red flashing light should come up at the credit bureau for anybody who has changed address without reporting it to their creditors. Then, if necessary, measures like the SSN should be manually used to locate them.
Shush now. We're busy hating Microsoft. We'll hate Sony in a few other stories.
Well, those weren't Popular Microsoft Products.
Nothing incites a slagfest at Slashdot like a popular product from Microsoft.
(There are a few, ya know)
Not complicated. It costs them money to fix the scratches, they charge for it.
Not to mention, a credit agency is going to use your SSN to avoid simple name collisions.
Maybe in your world it's okay for SSN's to be routinely dancing around in credit agency computers to prevent 'simple name collisions' but not in mine.
They're in big trouble if the only 'tag' they have to distinguish between customers is the SSN. There aren't that many cases where people with a common street address have the same exact name. They can use Zipcode+4 if they really have that shaky a system that they need a distingushing number to use.