I like the part of the www.dell.com/open site where it asks you if you are there by mistake and suggests you go back to looking at Windows machines.
The main thing to note is that when you choose open source you don't get a Windows® operating system. If you're here by mistake and you are looking for a Dell PC with Windows, please use the following link.
Shop Dell PCs with Windows
They even put the link to their Windows machines BEFORE the link to the Ubuntu machines. If you were selling cars and someone showed interest in an import, would you ask, "Are you SURE you want to buy one of THOSE?" Their machines work great, but the website is serious WTF material.
I hate to say this because I'm a huge *buntu fanboy. I recently bought a Dell 1501 with much better specs than the 1505n for $300 less off of dell business via slickdeals.net. The buttons on the front of the laptop are the only major difference.
The Ubuntu ones may be cheaper, but the Dell Business ones go on sale very often and the hardware is just as linux friendly.
At least with Ubuntu the customers can switch around for free. With windows you have to pay more if you find your license doesn't cover a feature you need, like multilingual support or remote desktop.
My little brother just installed Ubuntu on his home machine. He's in the 8th grade and his windows installation had to be wiped after the ISP threatened to shut down his internet service because of all the botware. I'd say it's a pretty easy distro.
Slashdot is like Maxim magazine on steriods! The moderation heuristics deliver a rich user experience that truly makes the readers into their own IT architects. It's a social network newsblog that will turn Web 2.0 on it's head.
I like this argument. My Linux box is extremely secure because my apartment is too messy for anyone to ever find it. It's not filth, it's extra security!
Perhaps they should use Carl Sagan's Bologna Detection Kit. I was searching for the segment from Cosmos episode 2 where he talks about Tunguska and I was surprised to find that he had a ready-made kit specifically for this claim!
Gee, you're right, genius. Everyone should believe every golden drop of knowledge linked from Slashdot. I'm not sure where you are going with that one.
I'm still trying to figure out why BSD people and GPL people have flamewars. They're software licenses, not religions. Is there something I'm missing here?
Vitriol? I just covered all of the possible complaints that people could have about that quote. If they capitalized the name, as in "General Public License," or put GPL or GNU anywhere in the article, I would think I'd be fine. I think they should just make it obvious where people should look on Wikipedia if they want to know more. No need to get all pissy.
I really don't see what the big deal is about this article. The clumsy wording doesn't seem to be a mistake worthy of the front page of slashdot, but hopefully it'll spawn some interesting discussion.
Hey, the GP just asked why anyone would think that the article is a bad interpretation. This is what I could come up with. The article mentions more about how software patents work than like 99% of other articles on the whole FOSS vs. Microsoft thing, so I don't really see anything wrong.
"Scientists have finally exceeded the speed of light, causing a light pulse to travel hundreds of times faster than normal.
It raced so fast the pulse exited a specially-prepared chamber before it even finished entering it.
The experiment is the first-ever evidence of faster-than-light motion."
Scientists have "exceeded" the speed of light in this manner many times. Hell, you could do it yourself by quickly changing the direction of a laser pointer as you point it at the night sky. The pointer "dot" could conceivably arc across some distant object at much faster than the speed of light. Saying that the experiment was the first ever example of this kind of motion is inaccurate, and that was just the first three sentences.
Now, I just finished reading this article and it actually does a passable job of explaining the GPL to everyday newsreaders. It's a bit ambiguous and vague, but anyone who becomes interested with GPL would be quickly set straight after looking it up. The focus was on the relationship between Microsoft and FOSS organizations anyway, not the GPL in particular. The old speed of light article was horrible because 1) most readers wouldn't look up group velocity 2) the speed of light was the focus of the article and they left out important information about their topic.
After re-reading the old article, I'm pretty sure every paragraph has some kind of major physical misconception.
Well, it doesn't differentiate between different kinds of open-source. It makes it sound like all open-source licenses must conform to the GPL. Also, any license can be used without fear of legal repercussions related to the license as long as the abide by the license. It also doesn't mention that the software must be left open and shareable by placing it under the GPL. Has anyone mentioned that they called it the General Public License instead of the GNU Public License?
It may be obvious to anyone who reads slashdot, but people who have never heard of the GPL could get some very incorrect assumptions from that one sentence.
Aww, not again. This is the same genius news source that posted the "SPEED OF LIGHT FINALLY EXCEEDED LOL" article a few months back. Old Slashdot Article.
They still don't seem very worried about their articles being accurate.
Us Yanks are particularly susceptible to religious trolling because we are CONSTANTLY surrounded by people who actually think that way. No amount of sarcasm could possibly match up to the religious fanaticism that actually exists here.
Slashdot Mirror
Well then I assume that you are running Windows and already paid the $50 extra?
:(
RTFM.
I guess it didn't work.
Mod me down. It was soooo worth it.
I like the part of the www.dell.com/open site where it asks you if you are there by mistake and suggests you go back to looking at Windows machines. They even put the link to their Windows machines BEFORE the link to the Ubuntu machines. If you were selling cars and someone showed interest in an import, would you ask, "Are you SURE you want to buy one of THOSE?" Their machines work great, but the website is serious WTF material.
I hate to say this because I'm a huge *buntu fanboy. I recently bought a Dell 1501 with much better specs than the 1505n for $300 less off of dell business via slickdeals.net. The buttons on the front of the laptop are the only major difference.
The Ubuntu ones may be cheaper, but the Dell Business ones go on sale very often and the hardware is just as linux friendly.
At least with Ubuntu the customers can switch around for free. With windows you have to pay more if you find your license doesn't cover a feature you need, like multilingual support or remote desktop.
My little brother just installed Ubuntu on his home machine. He's in the 8th grade and his windows installation had to be wiped after the ISP threatened to shut down his internet service because of all the botware. I'd say it's a pretty easy distro.
Slashdot is like Maxim magazine on steriods! The moderation heuristics deliver a rich user experience that truly makes the readers into their own IT architects. It's a social network newsblog that will turn Web 2.0 on it's head.
It's almost like their license deal with AT&T wouldn't allow 3rd party code so they left all the doors open to hobbyists.
I like this argument. My Linux box is extremely secure because my apartment is too messy for anyone to ever find it. It's not filth, it's extra security!
Perhaps they should use Carl Sagan's Bologna Detection Kit. I was searching for the segment from Cosmos episode 2 where he talks about Tunguska and I was surprised to find that he had a ready-made kit specifically for this claim!
Seriously though, on their estimates of $220/kg my ticket would be $15,400.
The tickets are $15. Shipping and handling is about $10 billion and your estimated ship date is in 15 years.
damn, dude. whats with all the hate on /.?
Some call centers would be better off using toe tags instead.
Gee, you're right, genius. Everyone should believe every golden drop of knowledge linked from Slashdot. I'm not sure where you are going with that one.
I'm still trying to figure out why BSD people and GPL people have flamewars. They're software licenses, not religions. Is there something I'm missing here?
Vitriol? I just covered all of the possible complaints that people could have about that quote. If they capitalized the name, as in "General Public License," or put GPL or GNU anywhere in the article, I would think I'd be fine. I think they should just make it obvious where people should look on Wikipedia if they want to know more. No need to get all pissy.
I really don't see what the big deal is about this article. The clumsy wording doesn't seem to be a mistake worthy of the front page of slashdot, but hopefully it'll spawn some interesting discussion.
Hey, the GP just asked why anyone would think that the article is a bad interpretation. This is what I could come up with. The article mentions more about how software patents work than like 99% of other articles on the whole FOSS vs. Microsoft thing, so I don't really see anything wrong.
"Scientists have finally exceeded the speed of light, causing a light pulse to travel hundreds of times faster than normal. It raced so fast the pulse exited a specially-prepared chamber before it even finished entering it. The experiment is the first-ever evidence of faster-than-light motion."
Scientists have "exceeded" the speed of light in this manner many times. Hell, you could do it yourself by quickly changing the direction of a laser pointer as you point it at the night sky. The pointer "dot" could conceivably arc across some distant object at much faster than the speed of light. Saying that the experiment was the first ever example of this kind of motion is inaccurate, and that was just the first three sentences.
Now, I just finished reading this article and it actually does a passable job of explaining the GPL to everyday newsreaders. It's a bit ambiguous and vague, but anyone who becomes interested with GPL would be quickly set straight after looking it up. The focus was on the relationship between Microsoft and FOSS organizations anyway, not the GPL in particular. The old speed of light article was horrible because 1) most readers wouldn't look up group velocity 2) the speed of light was the focus of the article and they left out important information about their topic.
After re-reading the old article, I'm pretty sure every paragraph has some kind of major physical misconception.
Well, it doesn't differentiate between different kinds of open-source. It makes it sound like all open-source licenses must conform to the GPL. Also, any license can be used without fear of legal repercussions related to the license as long as the abide by the license. It also doesn't mention that the software must be left open and shareable by placing it under the GPL. Has anyone mentioned that they called it the General Public License instead of the GNU Public License?
It may be obvious to anyone who reads slashdot, but people who have never heard of the GPL could get some very incorrect assumptions from that one sentence.
Yes, I hear that GPL lovers are so immature and condescending that they will announce that anyone who uses a rival software patent is an idiot.
Aww, not again. This is the same genius news source that posted the "SPEED OF LIGHT FINALLY EXCEEDED LOL" article a few months back. Old Slashdot Article.
They still don't seem very worried about their articles being accurate.
Aww crap. I accidentally modded this "troll" instead of "interesting." Goodbye sweet mod points!
Us Yanks are particularly susceptible to religious trolling because we are CONSTANTLY surrounded by people who actually think that way. No amount of sarcasm could possibly match up to the religious fanaticism that actually exists here.
"The rest run a dead OS because Linus has a job."
And Bill Gates isn't the CEO of Microsoft anymore, either. Windows must be dead, too!
Save us, Steve Jobs, you're our only hope!
Yeah, I can only get one or two phaser hits on my linux boxes before they adapt.