Conerning file formats, I encourage you to dig a little deeper than what you seems to have. OK, there is the spec you give us a link to. We know about it, an wvWare use it as reference (wvWare is our Word import back-end). But in this area there is theory and application.
Theory is that you have some doc (hint, now you have to signe an agreement with Microsoft to get the actual doc for latest versions like XP, otherwise you get nothing). This doc is here, is big and is hard to understand.
Practice is that given that doc, you try to implement something. Fine the doc looks usable and complete. You code you parser, then when time comes, you test it. You start fidding your parser with sample files and start to find that it does not work: the doc is just plain WRONG (in fact you already discovered inconsistency while throwing up the implementation).
So please, before predending that this is just a park ball, just do it. And if you really want to work on such beast, either give a hand to Werner or to us (we are joining our effort on the problem).
And my recent experience in this area is just mainaining and improving AbiWord RTF importer. RTF is documented in a spec written by.... Microsoft.
Actually the feature is more interesting than price: OLED allow doing screens that consume less, and apparently allow doing larger size.
I don't know about reliability of the OLED manufacturing process, but the TFT LCD cost a lot because there are lot of units thaat gets trashed because manufacturing is unreliable.
As always, price always lower when time goes, so 20% more now means lot less later, when the product is more widely used and mature.
First, I have seen this in real life, NT looks easy to administer. As a side effect the IT directory decide that anyone can administer it. Wrong. That was the case when I was working in some company as a UNIX and network admin. We did ourself an audit of the publicly accessible web servers and we found that most of them were just a huge security hole: no patch, nothing. When we reported this to the person in charge of the machine, the person didn't even know how to patch it, etc. Security holes ranged from traditionnal buffer overflow to Front Page extension and clueless passwords. That make NT a dangerous toy. Note that most of the fix required a complete reinstall of the system as well. By default, UNIX boxes are most of the time more secure, and since to set it up you meed to have some knowledge it is unlikely to find them administered by clueless users.
Second: security holes statistics shows that NT has more holes discovered. This is a fact. NT can be secured, but it require a lot of work and good skills. People that can do this are more hard to find and more expensive than a senior UNIX admin.
Wurzler does not want to punish people. He wants to optimize his business profits, and for this, like many insurance, raise price based on risks taken. Afterall, doesn't Microsoft do the same: maximizing profit ? Isn't this the American way of life ?
But the reality is 99% of what I could do with Linux I can also do with Darwin. The exception is that there is web-browsers available for Darwin/Aqua
and won't be long before more are available.
There are more web browsers for Linux PPC than for MacOS X: Netscape, Mozilla, Konqueror, Galeon, Lynx, Links, w3m.
The reality is , the only difference (to me) between using OS-X or Linux as the core of my home unix experience is the Kernel. Everything else I use
and need often (bash, wget, lynx, less, wc, gcc, postgres, apache, python (mod_python), php, etc) run on top of OSX quite well without any patches or
modifications.
Another difference between MacOS X and Linux is that Linux does not make your machine slow. Actually Linux PPC is FASTER than MacOS X.
I'm not trolling, I use both everyday, and I like them both, but not for the same reasons.
These are cyberdeck. They are made by a Lyon-based company (Lyon is one of the largest city in France). See http://www.CyberDeck.net/.
There are several subway station in Paris that have this kind on Internet Kiosks. I never tried them because there is still to much people waiting to use it, but when I have seen one out of order, I did recognize XFree error messages. And they provide remote administration of the kiosks.
They also provided free e-mail service, but they are now moving to MSN Hotmail (ick !!!).
In France, people that use Alcatel ADSL modem are mostly people that have a Netissimo (the ADSL connection provided by our monopolistic phone company) that use PPTP authentication and Ethernet connection (they now have an offer with USB modem whose I'm not familiar with). This is what early customers had. BTW, PPTP as implemented with the modem was buggy and required to modify the PPTP software on the customer computer to work (Windows was buggy enough to not require any change).
Now, France Telecom (the only ADSL operator for home and SOHO) is deploying PPPoE on new POPs, so people (like me) get ECI modems instead of Alcatel.
What the article does not show is that Progeny is aimed at simplifying Debian GMU/Linux distribution so that beginners can simply use. Consider it as a MandrakeDebian:-)
Ah and to provide commercial support on Debian based system, which is not a bad idea.
Re:So -- cross platform apps?
on
OS X
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· Score: 1
It is no longer possible. Apple killed cross-platform support for Cocoa (née OpenStep).
But it has Quartz which is PDF based. Remember that PDF has Postscript graphic model. They just cut DPS to cut off licensing issues, and probably performance. I have never used DPS before, but I don't think Quartz is really different at doing graphics.
MacOS X is the descendent of NeXTStep. Call it NeXTStep 6.0 (version 5.0 was MacOS X Server aka Rhapsody). OpenStep APIs are here. They have been renamed Cocoa.
MacOS X has a BSD layer on top of Mach like its ancestor NeXTStep. It is like OSF/1 too (from Digital). Note that this is NOT a microkernel architecture but more a macrokernel. Mach kernel version evolved compared to the version found in NeXTStep
MacOS X is the descendant of MacOS 9. This is tru and false. In fact, speaking of architecture, this is completely false. Speaking of user experience and API, it is a great step forward, but it shows its roots: menu bar on top, Finder to handle files, etc. Carbon is also here to provide legacy support with some cleanup, and Classic is here to really provide legacy support.
MacOS X foundations are open source. This true if we restrain on the core OS. Starting with the graphic layer (CoreGraphics aka Quartz), it is completely proprietary. This open source part is called Darwin. See uname and Apple Public Source web.
MacOS X is NOT FreeBSD. While MacOS X borrows utilities from the various BSDs (Free, Net and Open are all represented), it is not in anyway binary compatible. But at source level, it works quite good, unless it depends on X11 or any library that depends on it.
Since you have MacOS X, it is likely that you have a machine that have a "new world" firmware. So my recommendation would be to go with ybin and yaboot.
the huge amount of stacks (an HyperCard program) that has been developed using HyperCard. Lot of them have real value in term of content, and since stacks are made using an undisclosed file format, you have no way to re-read them.
the concept. HyperCard is hypertext since its inception, circa 1985 (by Bill Atkinson, one the Macintosh father. It was called Wildstack then), even before WWW birth in Switzerland. This is not exclusive to HyperCard, but it pioneered in this area.
the easyness. I have yet to see a tools that is so easy to use with so much possibilities. HyperCard does not pretend to provide a full featured development environment, but its goal is to offer basic computer users a way to present data simply and interactively. The concept is that you have a stack of card. Each card use a background (sort of a template) and you go from one card to another. Any card can have text data, associated either to a local text field or to a background text field, drawing data, buttons, etc. Each object (card, background, button, etc.) receive messages that are handled by script written in HyperTalk (on which is based AppleScript). It was so easy to use that pre high school kids could do nice work with HyperCard.
The problem is that Apple killed it before version 2.0 (still desperately in black & white) as they started to no longer give it away with each Macintosh sold, starting at Mac Classic.
(in fact version 2.0 was limited to a runtime unless you paid for it, but you could still "hack" the home stack to tell HyperCard to move to the development level). Then later, starting with System 7.0 they only provided a runtime, not unlockable.
At that time, Apple thought of replacing HyperCard with AppleScript. Not only they didn't achieve this, HyperCard and AppleScript did not cooperate well as it should have. In the mean time, Apple failed to provide color support in HyperCard making it worthless as a separate product.
Hey Apple, if you listen ? You provide iMovie free, you provide iTune free, why not writting iHyperCard and provide it free of charge for everybody with every Macintosh, with every MacOS X? You already provide complete professional development tools... That would be a great asset for you.
(and opening the file format would be the cherry on the top, for sure)
Even worse than not being Open Source. Data file format it NOT publicly documented.
Please Apple, if you don't bother about HyperCard, bother about your users and release HyperCard source code under an Open Source license so that users aren't left out.
RTF filter is not the best working part, but we are trying to work on it to make it better for sure. There are several bugs that are about to be fixed.
If you still experience problems with RTF files, please file a bug at http://bugzilla.abisource.com/. We will make sure it is fixed if we can do.
It is not about to whether to spend money or not. It is about culture and philosophy. Lot of Mac users are againt MS-Office. Simply because it is crap and not Mac friendly (despite Microsoft false advertising). People buy Mac because they like Mac, or because they work with computer graphics (publishing and al.).
Ah and it cost several hundred of USD (yeah pricing os much more than on MS-Windows).
It is about providing tools that people will like and will be able to use. Abiword run on UN*X, Windows, QNX, BeOS. Why not on Mac ? It runs on Windows not to kill MS-Word (even if I personally would dream of that), but to provide a reliable interoperability solution. For QNX and BeOS, it simply fill a gap, while gaining interoperability too.
As the current MacOS (X) portmaster of AbiWord, I can say that I would be very happy if Mac users used Abiword en masse.
The only thing I'm sure is that Abiword would be the best alternative solution to read all those.doc files that clueless lusers seems to insist spreading all around the e-mail.
Oh wait, Abiword still does not work on Mac. Stop talking and go back to work.
SunOS 4.x and below is BSD. But Solaris aka SunOS 5.x is System V, not BSD.
BTW all of this stuff is not about the technical difficulties of porting a UNIX software to another UNIX system, but on commercial availability of binary-only software with commercial support that come with. Even if the port is trivial, offering to sale such a version cost money. More than you think.
MacOS X is not in any way binary compatible with FreeBSD. Why ? because it is not FreeBSD and it does not even run on intel processor (or FreeBSD does not run on PowerPC).
Sorry about that but I think your comment is void.
They are released under the same term that he usually use for all of his writtings:
Copyright 2001 Richard Stallman
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are permitted in any medium without royalty provide the copyright notice and this notice are preserved.
It is in the spirit of GPL, but keeping speech integrity.
I'm sorry to say that, but home DVD player unit can be zone free.
Samsung have most of its units zone-free by using a code on the remote controller; and usual models by other manufacturer like Toshiba, Pioneer, Sony, etc can be made zone free. I bought my Toshiba zone free just to be able to enjoy unreleased in France movies.
Slashdot Mirror
No kidding.
Theory is that you have some doc (hint, now you have to signe an agreement with Microsoft to get the actual doc for latest versions like XP, otherwise you get nothing). This doc is here, is big and is hard to understand.
Practice is that given that doc, you try to implement something. Fine the doc looks usable and complete. You code you parser, then when time comes, you test it. You start fidding your parser with sample files and start to find that it does not work: the doc is just plain WRONG (in fact you already discovered inconsistency while throwing up the implementation).
So please, before predending that this is just a park ball, just do it. And if you really want to work on such beast, either give a hand to Werner or to us (we are joining our effort on the problem).
And my recent experience in this area is just mainaining and improving AbiWord RTF importer. RTF is documented in a spec written by.... Microsoft.
It is currently up and running. Trust me. My ssh session is still alive :-)
I don't know about reliability of the OLED manufacturing process, but the TFT LCD cost a lot because there are lot of units thaat gets trashed because manufacturing is unreliable.
As always, price always lower when time goes, so 20% more now means lot less later, when the product is more widely used and mature.
First, I have seen this in real life, NT looks easy to administer. As a side effect the IT directory decide that anyone can administer it. Wrong. That was the case when I was working in some company as a UNIX and network admin. We did ourself an audit of the publicly accessible web servers and we found that most of them were just a huge security hole: no patch, nothing. When we reported this to the person in charge of the machine, the person didn't even know how to patch it, etc. Security holes ranged from traditionnal buffer overflow to Front Page extension and clueless passwords. That make NT a dangerous toy. Note that most of the fix required a complete reinstall of the system as well. By default, UNIX boxes are most of the time more secure, and since to set it up you meed to have some knowledge it is unlikely to find them administered by clueless users.
Second: security holes statistics shows that NT has more holes discovered. This is a fact. NT can be secured, but it require a lot of work and good skills. People that can do this are more hard to find and more expensive than a senior UNIX admin.
Wurzler does not want to punish people. He wants to optimize his business profits, and for this, like many insurance, raise price based on risks taken. Afterall, doesn't Microsoft do the same: maximizing profit ? Isn't this the American way of life ?
I'm not trolling, I use both everyday, and I like them both, but not for the same reasons.
They also provided free e-mail service, but they are now moving to MSN Hotmail (ick !!!).
Now, France Telecom (the only ADSL operator for home and SOHO) is deploying PPPoE on new POPs, so people (like me) get ECI modems instead of Alcatel.
Ah and to provide commercial support on Debian based system, which is not a bad idea.
yaboot is able to boot Linux and other Apple OS.
The problem is that Apple killed it before version 2.0 (still desperately in black & white) as they started to no longer give it away with each Macintosh sold, starting at Mac Classic. (in fact version 2.0 was limited to a runtime unless you paid for it, but you could still "hack" the home stack to tell HyperCard to move to the development level). Then later, starting with System 7.0 they only provided a runtime, not unlockable.
At that time, Apple thought of replacing HyperCard with AppleScript. Not only they didn't achieve this, HyperCard and AppleScript did not cooperate well as it should have. In the mean time, Apple failed to provide color support in HyperCard making it worthless as a separate product.
Hey Apple, if you listen ? You provide iMovie free, you provide iTune free, why not writting iHyperCard and provide it free of charge for everybody with every Macintosh, with every MacOS X? You already provide complete professional development tools... That would be a great asset for you.
(and opening the file format would be the cherry on the top, for sure)
Please Apple, if you don't bother about HyperCard, bother about your users and release HyperCard source code under an Open Source license so that users aren't left out.
If you still experience problems with RTF files, please file a bug at http://bugzilla.abisource.com/. We will make sure it is fixed if we can do.
Ah and it cost several hundred of USD (yeah pricing os much more than on MS-Windows).
It is about providing tools that people will like and will be able to use. Abiword run on UN*X, Windows, QNX, BeOS. Why not on Mac ? It runs on Windows not to kill MS-Word (even if I personally would dream of that), but to provide a reliable interoperability solution. For QNX and BeOS, it simply fill a gap, while gaining interoperability too.
The only thing I'm sure is that Abiword would be the best alternative solution to read all those .doc files that clueless lusers seems to insist spreading all around the e-mail.
Oh wait, Abiword still does not work on Mac. Stop talking and go back to work.
Table provides some formatting convenience for some use. Otherwise why do you think Leslie Lamport bothered to provide table macros in LaTeX?
SunOS 4.x and below is BSD. But Solaris aka SunOS 5.x is System V, not BSD.
BTW all of this stuff is not about the technical difficulties of porting a UNIX software to another UNIX system, but on commercial availability of binary-only software with commercial support that come with. Even if the port is trivial, offering to sale such a version cost money. More than you think.
MacOS X is not in any way binary compatible with FreeBSD. Why ? because it is not FreeBSD and it does not even run on intel processor (or FreeBSD does not run on PowerPC).
Sorry about that but I think your comment is void.
It is in the spirit of GPL, but keeping speech integrity.
Samsung have most of its units zone-free by using a code on the remote controller; and usual models by other manufacturer like Toshiba, Pioneer, Sony, etc can be made zone free. I bought my Toshiba zone free just to be able to enjoy unreleased in France movies.