Things like directory structure are mind-boggling to beginners, but with any luck (and the huge strides you mentioned) beginners won't see anything outside their home directory.
Why should this be so? On a Mac, the file system is incredibly transparent because the folders are logically named: all a typical user sees in the root of the file system is System, Library, Applications, Users and a link to the user guide. Windows isn't as good, but still logical; C:/Windows has Windows in it, C:/Program Files has, well, program files, C:/Documents And Settings (again obvious)...
And then you see Linux, and the other Unices (I know OSX is a UNIX underneath but it does a damn good job of hiding it)./usr and/home could conceivably mean the same thing, yet it isn't clear (FreeBSD has/usr/home instead, which IMHO is far more logical)./sbin and/bin are confusing enough, but to a user the word "bin" is utterly meaningless. In some countries, a bin is something you put rubbish in, for christ's sake./var,/opt,/etc,/proc,/mnt...generally the response to these would be "WTF do these mean". Don't even get me started on the whole/media thing.
If anything, this shows the difference in outlook between the big desktop OSes and Linux... a normal person wouldn't be frightened by the layout of a Mac or Windows disk simply because it's obvious what each folder has in it, what its purpose is. Having that would give someone the confidence to explore, whereas the very opaque names Linux uses give off a distinct impression of "this is technical, do not touch this or the computer may catch fire". Because, let's face it, if you have to display technical details to the user by default, ever, you have lost.
I know this is a long post for some friggin folder names, but it's sort of the tip of the iceberg; the layout of Linux, and the way things are, tends to make it seem more complicated and technical than it actually is. If you don't make things clear, if you don't make it so there's a nice big button or a wizard or something that does something, if you make people have to drop to a command line FOR ANY REASON other than very low level diagnostics when something is terribly, terribly wrong, it gives off that "do not touch" impression I talked about.
Food for thought, twitter: XP's dismal performance, suffice to say about 80-85% of all desktops in the world, absolutely spanks Linux's (0.75% to 1.5%). Yeah, that coming Free Software revolution is on its fucking way isn't it! And 97% of all desktops run a closed source OS! Oh dear!
Btw, next time you're whinging about Zune being a miserable failure that nobody wants, here's a little more shocking news; Zune has a 9% share of the hard disk player market. Which, in a market absolutely dominated by the iPod, isn't bad. Especially compared to Linux's aforemantioned pitiful market share.
No, they're just shit. Really, really shit. So shit I laughed at them. You've got three, four, maybe five source images, and they look like crap. If you did them with the GIMP (which is actually an alright tool) then congratulations, you've just shown what Free Software can do (i.e. shit photomanips).
From the point of view of humanity as a whole, and considering how many people die or are born each day, I'm not sure a murder matters that much compared to the problems caused to so many people by closed source software...
I'm sorry, but there are no circumstances in which I'd consider a death, of anyone, less important than some software.
Closed source software is insecure and costs money? Well whoopee-fuck. That's hardly a real "problem", or real suffering, compared to many of the other problems humanity faces. Certainly, how in christing fuck does some software licensing compare to feelings of loss or grief caused by someone's death? As someone who has been through that, your bullshit arguing that "oh well software is more important because it affects more people" is just beyond the pale to me.
God, I wish there was a nice little term for all the people who consider computers/the Internet/software more valuable than life. Like the people who think there should be a death penalty for spamming. It's something I see all too often.
You're making the fatal assumption that twitter can count.;)
Re:Has already existed and thrived for a long time
on
Rewritable Song Lyrics
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· Score: 1
So basically, if Slashdot gets its wet dream of a new kind of recording industry business model based around P2P, this is what they'll have to look forward to in the future: adverts in music, as it's the only real way to make money.
I'm guessing you never used BeOS; by comparison Linux looks weak in terms of responsiveness.
I'd go further: BeOS kicks just about every other desktop OS (Windows, Linux, OS X) to death with regards to speed and responsiveness. Shame it died young, there was a lot of promise there.
They paid for the music because it was convenient, not because they wanted to make sure money went to the artists.
No, they went to allofmp3 to pay for the music because allofmp3 charge a fraction of the price of all the other online stores. Not only that, but they charge such a small fraction that after their markup and costs a grand total of next to fuck all went to the artists, or indeed anyone else associated with putting the record out.
Allofmp3s users weren't looking for a convenient way to buy music; they wanted a way to buy music at the price they valued it at, which just happens to be so far below cost that just about all all of the purchase price went to the "middlemen" Slashdot seems to despise so much.
The only wonky Linux geek that matters is most likely getting all hot and bothered over the Neo right at this moment, at least judging by his comments about it....;)
Even though the iPhone has already been released into the wild, the amount of excitement surrounding this device doesn't seem to be subsiding by any measurable degree.
Perhaps "the amount of media hype and saturation" would be a better description... Going by Slashdot's reaction, you'd think they'd invented an orgasmatron or something.
Excruciatingly difficult says it all, really. Seriously, I almost threw the fucking console at the wall because of that thing. "Whoops, you brushed against some weeds, so you're going to be stuck here until you press all the right buttons in the right order for the right amount of time, or until you drown. Either way, you're stuck." I think that's the first game where I've actually been more satisfied skipping levels.
Why should I need to file a problem report on a product that costs $500? Best version of Windows ever is what I was sold.
Best version of Windows yet is what was meant, and it would take an incredible leap of logic to think otherwise.
Unless software is sold to you with the explicit claim that it is stable, problem and bug free (and very few things are; Windows' agreement does come with a caveat that you shouldn't use it on anything that is directly a matter of life and death. If you want something like that, try QNX, which is extensively tested for almost precisely this purpose), it's fair to expect that there might be a few bugs lurking. It's not as if Microsoft is marketing Vista by saying "there are no bugs and no security issues and it's the most secure operating system in the world EPHAR.".
Also, if you were charged $500 for a copy of Vista then I have a bridge to sell you...
I'm fully with you on this one. It's so stupid how anything Vista related is automatically struck down as being bad. Not that Vista's wonderful (I've only used it once when fixing someone elses PC and didn't like it (although I am a Mac user, so elitism comes with the territory I suppose;-)) but it's certainly not the holocaust Slashdot makes it out to be. I especially love the oft-repeated line about DRM sucking system resources...hilarious yet sad.
And yeah, various versions of Linux do query servers for updates...Ubuntu I think does it automatically, and I recall from using it a few years back that Red Hat 8 wanted you to register to receive updates (through up2date no less, which crashed all the time and made Windows Update look like a dream in comparison, but I digress.)
Look, this is Slashdot. Most of the people here would wail about anything Microsoft related. "A Microsoft product, connecting to Microsoft's servers and sending no personally identifiable information except an IP address which gets sent to every website/server you connect to anyway?! OH NOES!!!"
And getting upset about Windows Update...what? Activation isn't nice, no, but it's at least clear on what it does for christ's sake. If you don't like it you're more than free to buy a copy of XP or install Linux or whatever.
trading digital files is no different than trading pokemon cards or pogs.
I'll bite. Trading (copyrighted) movies, games, music etc is different from trading Pokemon and Pogs for the simple reason that Pokemon and Pogs are sold with the explicit intention that they be traded and spread across a wide audience. CDs, DVDs and games generally aren't.
Not to mention, since when did anyone you know "trade" MP3s (as in send someone a music file, then delete their copy)?
In the UK, we can automatically print cheques so the payee only has to sign, and use cheque guarantee cards (i.e debit cards) to speed things up. So doing cheques here doesn't take that long, probably takes about 20-30 seconds. Considering most old ladies, as a rule, are a bit quicker at signing than they are pushing numbers on a keypad, this is a good thing.
Slashdot Mirror
Things like directory structure are mind-boggling to beginners, but with any luck (and the huge strides you mentioned) beginners won't see anything outside their home directory.
/usr and /home could conceivably mean the same thing, yet it isn't clear (FreeBSD has /usr/home instead, which IMHO is far more logical). /sbin and /bin are confusing enough, but to a user the word "bin" is utterly meaningless. In some countries, a bin is something you put rubbish in, for christ's sake. /var, /opt, /etc, /proc, /mnt...generally the response to these would be "WTF do these mean". Don't even get me started on the whole /media thing.
Why should this be so? On a Mac, the file system is incredibly transparent because the folders are logically named: all a typical user sees in the root of the file system is System, Library, Applications, Users and a link to the user guide. Windows isn't as good, but still logical; C:/Windows has Windows in it, C:/Program Files has, well, program files, C:/Documents And Settings (again obvious)...
And then you see Linux, and the other Unices (I know OSX is a UNIX underneath but it does a damn good job of hiding it).
If anything, this shows the difference in outlook between the big desktop OSes and Linux... a normal person wouldn't be frightened by the layout of a Mac or Windows disk simply because it's obvious what each folder has in it, what its purpose is. Having that would give someone the confidence to explore, whereas the very opaque names Linux uses give off a distinct impression of "this is technical, do not touch this or the computer may catch fire". Because, let's face it, if you have to display technical details to the user by default, ever, you have lost.
I know this is a long post for some friggin folder names, but it's sort of the tip of the iceberg; the layout of Linux, and the way things are, tends to make it seem more complicated and technical than it actually is. If you don't make things clear, if you don't make it so there's a nice big button or a wizard or something that does something, if you make people have to drop to a command line FOR ANY REASON other than very low level diagnostics when something is terribly, terribly wrong, it gives off that "do not touch" impression I talked about.
My good man, congratulations, you have written the best post on Slashdot.
Now, go fuck your ex.
Food for thought, twitter: XP's dismal performance, suffice to say about 80-85% of all desktops in the world, absolutely spanks Linux's (0.75% to 1.5%). Yeah, that coming Free Software revolution is on its fucking way isn't it! And 97% of all desktops run a closed source OS! Oh dear!
Btw, next time you're whinging about Zune being a miserable failure that nobody wants, here's a little more shocking news; Zune has a 9% share of the hard disk player market. Which, in a market absolutely dominated by the iPod, isn't bad. Especially compared to Linux's aforemantioned pitiful market share.
No, they're just shit. Really, really shit. So shit I laughed at them. You've got three, four, maybe five source images, and they look like crap. If you did them with the GIMP (which is actually an alright tool) then congratulations, you've just shown what Free Software can do (i.e. shit photomanips).
PROTIP: stfu.
From the point of view of humanity as a whole, and considering how many people die or are born each day, I'm not sure a murder matters that much compared to the problems caused to so many people by closed source software...
I'm sorry, but there are no circumstances in which I'd consider a death, of anyone, less important than some software.
Closed source software is insecure and costs money? Well whoopee-fuck. That's hardly a real "problem", or real suffering, compared to many of the other problems humanity faces. Certainly, how in christing fuck does some software licensing compare to feelings of loss or grief caused by someone's death? As someone who has been through that, your bullshit arguing that "oh well software is more important because it affects more people" is just beyond the pale to me.
God, I wish there was a nice little term for all the people who consider computers/the Internet/software more valuable than life. Like the people who think there should be a death penalty for spamming. It's something I see all too often.
Wow, I've never heard this quote on Slashdot before! You're, like, so deep and insightful. +5 Insightful, even.
I don't keep count (I bet twitter did, though)
;)
You're making the fatal assumption that twitter can count.
So basically, if Slashdot gets its wet dream of a new kind of recording industry business model based around P2P, this is what they'll have to look forward to in the future: adverts in music, as it's the only real way to make money.
Lovely.
Does anyone need more evidence to abandon non free software?
Considering I constantly use the non-free Mac OS X, Half-Life 2, Microsoft Office for Mac, Skype, Safari, iTunes and many others, then yes, yes I do.
SPACE THATCHER!
I smell a meme in the making.
Let's hope so. As of now it offers stupidly low value for money.
I'm guessing you never used BeOS; by comparison Linux looks weak in terms of responsiveness.
I'd go further: BeOS kicks just about every other desktop OS (Windows, Linux, OS X) to death with regards to speed and responsiveness. Shame it died young, there was a lot of promise there.
You are indeed attacking free software to defend M$ and that's what you are paid to do.
If saying that something isn't perfect is attacking it, then I must be one misanthropic bastard.
Freedom of expression, the press, and the public domain is not a trivial thing.
They're not trivial, no, but then they have nothing to do with the subject at hand.
They paid for the music because it was convenient, not because they wanted to make sure money went to the artists.
No, they went to allofmp3 to pay for the music because allofmp3 charge a fraction of the price of all the other online stores. Not only that, but they charge such a small fraction that after their markup and costs a grand total of next to fuck all went to the artists, or indeed anyone else associated with putting the record out.
Allofmp3s users weren't looking for a convenient way to buy music; they wanted a way to buy music at the price they valued it at, which just happens to be so far below cost that just about all all of the purchase price went to the "middlemen" Slashdot seems to despise so much.
The only wonky Linux geek that matters is most likely getting all hot and bothered over the Neo right at this moment, at least judging by his comments about it.... ;)
Even though the iPhone has already been released into the wild, the amount of excitement surrounding this device doesn't seem to be subsiding by any measurable degree.
Perhaps "the amount of media hype and saturation" would be a better description... Going by Slashdot's reaction, you'd think they'd invented an orgasmatron or something.
Excruciatingly difficult says it all, really. Seriously, I almost threw the fucking console at the wall because of that thing. "Whoops, you brushed against some weeds, so you're going to be stuck here until you press all the right buttons in the right order for the right amount of time, or until you drown. Either way, you're stuck." I think that's the first game where I've actually been more satisfied skipping levels.
Grr. I'm all angry now, reminded of that.
Why should I need to file a problem report on a product that costs $500? Best version of Windows ever is what I was sold.
Best version of Windows yet is what was meant, and it would take an incredible leap of logic to think otherwise.
Unless software is sold to you with the explicit claim that it is stable, problem and bug free (and very few things are; Windows' agreement does come with a caveat that you shouldn't use it on anything that is directly a matter of life and death. If you want something like that, try QNX, which is extensively tested for almost precisely this purpose), it's fair to expect that there might be a few bugs lurking. It's not as if Microsoft is marketing Vista by saying "there are no bugs and no security issues and it's the most secure operating system in the world EPHAR.".
Also, if you were charged $500 for a copy of Vista then I have a bridge to sell you...
I'm fully with you on this one. It's so stupid how anything Vista related is automatically struck down as being bad. Not that Vista's wonderful (I've only used it once when fixing someone elses PC and didn't like it (although I am a Mac user, so elitism comes with the territory I suppose ;-)) but it's certainly not the holocaust Slashdot makes it out to be. I especially love the oft-repeated line about DRM sucking system resources...hilarious yet sad.
And yeah, various versions of Linux do query servers for updates...Ubuntu I think does it automatically, and I recall from using it a few years back that Red Hat 8 wanted you to register to receive updates (through up2date no less, which crashed all the time and made Windows Update look like a dream in comparison, but I digress.)
Look, this is Slashdot. Most of the people here would wail about anything Microsoft related. "A Microsoft product, connecting to Microsoft's servers and sending no personally identifiable information except an IP address which gets sent to every website/server you connect to anyway?! OH NOES!!!"
And getting upset about Windows Update...what? Activation isn't nice, no, but it's at least clear on what it does for christ's sake. If you don't like it you're more than free to buy a copy of XP or install Linux or whatever.
Meanwhile, my Motorola V3 RAZR syncs just fine with Bluetooth, and cost me £100 over a year ago. ...yeah.
trading digital files is no different than trading pokemon cards or pogs.
I'll bite. Trading (copyrighted) movies, games, music etc is different from trading Pokemon and Pogs for the simple reason that Pokemon and Pogs are sold with the explicit intention that they be traded and spread across a wide audience. CDs, DVDs and games generally aren't.
Not to mention, since when did anyone you know "trade" MP3s (as in send someone a music file, then delete their copy)?
Ximian were kinda halfway there.
In the UK, we can automatically print cheques so the payee only has to sign, and use cheque guarantee cards (i.e debit cards) to speed things up. So doing cheques here doesn't take that long, probably takes about 20-30 seconds. Considering most old ladies, as a rule, are a bit quicker at signing than they are pushing numbers on a keypad, this is a good thing.