what the hell does a software company have to do with promoting gay rights? i don't remember any questions to that effect the last time i installed windows...
hm, yeah. My experience with trying to get my linux desktop to interface well with the Windows print server at work (which is domain authenticated) was pretty bad. Tried lots of different interfaces. I had it working once, but then it broke, and I could never figure it out again. This was with Debian, but I haven't had better luck under other distros.
Finally I started printing to postscript files and then using smbclient to "put" the file to the printer. I encapsulated this into a little script and voila! Printing works. However, it's now a two-step process. I figure I could probably figure out how to improve it, but I haven't bothered as it doesn't really matter. I only print things occasionally, so printing to a postscript file and right-clicking my script on the document takes an extra... two seconds, maybe less. No biggie. But I do wish it were integrated better...
i'm sorry.
but wow.
did he just pull this out of his ASS?
a brand-new version control system in what... two weeks? that meets the requirements for kernel development?
that's impressive.
anyone else remember downloading XM and IT files, and loading them in and looking at the samples and the song structure...? ah.. those were the days. Learned so much about music that way.
thanks for the props..;-) (i am canadian too.. maybe the socialist aspect of the canadian economy gives a slightly different perspective on things, for better or worse, i dunno..) what i've been calling the "new capitalism" lately is "commercialism". i think we live in a commercialist society. that is-- it's no longer the better PRODUCT that wins, but the better MARKETING CAMPAIGN. it seems these days that the product is practically an afterthought, the only thing that matters is the immediate ability to convince people to BUY buy buy... It seems this is an extremely short-sighted way of doing business, as in the end the better product should bring more in the long-run, but there you have it.. everyone wants immediate gratification. The long-run means nothing when you need to meet end-of-year quotas.
The other problem I have with this way of doing business is that it encourages companies to not only fill needs, but to create needs.. that is, to convince people that a product or service is necessary, even if it's not, just so they'll buy it. And this tendancy to create need is (imho) inherently counter-productive.
Access to the internet is not a superior product
I disagree. It's a service, rather than a good, but it's still a product. And if you can deliver better quality access (faster, more bandwidth), for less cost, that's a better product. If you can allow people to go anywhere in the city without having to think about wires and whether or not they'll have access if they go to this corner of the street or that one, that's a better product too.
I feel like the telecom companies that want to stop this from happening are just afraid they won't be able to compete. Sorry, but that's how the game goes.. one day you're ahead, the next day someone else does it better. You have to keep up. That's how capitalism works. These companies were built on capitalism, and yet now that they are in a certain position they want to deny it, and they are doing so by subversive means. (Patents, red tape, etc..)
It's sort of pathetic. (And scary, since it works. But we'll see..)
I like capitalism. I think it's generally good. But we must realise that it's not the most important pricipal we live by.
Right. We also have to realize that the strict definition of capitalism is not about making the most money. It's about making a good product. It's about making a good product that is better than the competitor's product and then letting the consumer decide who wins. This is not how a lot of corporations work these days, twisting the legal system into a bundle of knots in order to force decisions on consumers and causing them to choose inferior / cheap products that they have to replace within an essentially short period of time. This is not capitalism. It's something else... "twisted and evil".
We have to realize we don't live in a truly capitalist society, and that's why I don't buy these kinds of arguments that say things like cheap WiFi and open-source software are anti-capitalist, or anti-American. They're not. They ARE anti-whatever-we-actually-have-at-the-moment, but they are very much pro-capitalist in the sense that they provide better products, and don't depend on bending the legal rules and manipulation to prop up false monopolies...
They simply attempt to provide the right solution for the consumer, and hope to achieve market share honestly.
You know, everyone is complaining about how if you put television in the hands of the average person, they will make a lot of crappy television.
While this is true, for the most part, there WILL be lots of good stuff coming out of this too, and you can't disregard it.
Look, if this catches on, it will be exactly what happened to music with the advent of home computers... suddenly, everyone and their mother could write tracks. People started publishing them. Yes, there was a LOT of crap. BUT -- there was still a good proportion of awesome music being made by people who otherwise wouldn't have had the opportunity. You had to look for it.. but then along came netlabels, who filtered it all for you... then you just have to find the good netlabels... but my point is that the MORE, the BETTER. the more opportunity for crap, means more opportunity for GOLD, too.
there might be some really good stuff coming out of this, and I'm sure you'll all be subscribing to the best "channels" of it.:)
I think what's needed is a good bridge between the two operating systems. You can get people to walk over to the dark side (mouahahaha) without giving them a bridge. The bridge between Windows and Linux is cross-platform apps, like Firefox and OpenOffice. Get everyone using these apps, and then point out to them that "hey, you could actually use the exact same apps on linux, why are you paying for windows?"
You have to take things one step at a time. First the apps, then the operating system. Change everything at once and it won't work.
I've gotten a couple of people using Firefox, and.. like... ONE person using OpenOffice. Since everything's working fine they have no need to switch OS, but if their Windows installations ever got totally bunged, I might suggest Linux.. and since they're already using these apps, I think they might be more open to it. Of course, they're using Firefox now so spyware isn't much of a problem for them... so the chances of them needed to switch OS is down about 90%... ah the irony..
Since a laserbeam remains a relatively focused beam as it travels through space, the laser beam has to be shone directly into the eyes of the pilot to be seen.
or... into... um... a... ah.. a cloud?
What would be more effective is a directional radio frequency transmitter that sends a special signal to a receiver on the airplane in question. It could sound an alarm in the cockpit which means 'get the fudge out of here'.
so... you're suggesting... planes should.. um... be equipped.. with... hm... ah... radio receivers? wow..
Maybe they could turn it into an elaborate security game where they shoot a rocket equivalent of a paintball at the airplane, and if it hits, they have to play dead.
true. i was having a hell of a time trying to get some xvids to play properly in XP once. tried installing the codecs a million times, but it never played properly. installed VLC and it worked brilliantly!
put a huge smile on my face.
AND its cross-platform.
(in fact, the almost inherent cross-platformness of most open-source should be, IMHO, a huge selling point for OSS..)
am i really the first to mention it?
AutoPackage should make things better for linux.. once users see some Click-Install action, they'll love it.
(Personally I don't have a problem with Synaptic, but it's not what users are used to. I watched my friend using OS X once and he downloaded an app, and installed it without even thinking. Drag-dropped it right into the dockbar and he went and used it. Users tend to prefer this than starting up a special "install new software" app..)
yeah but at the same time, you could sort of say the same thing about proprietary software. any idiot can start a business and makes claims about what their product can do. how do you KNOW it's not crap?
same way as with open-source.. if there's a large, dedicated user base, likely it's a decent product.
the only real difference is that in the proprietary case, you can't look at the source code to check what you're getting yourself into.
so i guess i'm trying to say... your argument is not limited to the open-source philosophy, it's general towards any project whatsoever. just because a project is being developed for the standard commercial market does not automatically make it better, just as a project being open-source does not automatically make it better either.
in the long run, whether commercial or open-source, it just has to be a good product. how do you know? consult other people who use it..
just read through the comments, didn't see anything about this...
how are they going to enforce log-in? That is, when I have my 802.11b network setup at home, i simply use WEP and MAC filtering to ensure that no one but me can connect to my router. But if it's open to everyone, how do they make sure that only people who paid can use it?
There's a local free service in my city (Montreal) that has wireless for cafes, and it's pretty cool, but kind of annoying at the same time. When you connect, the first time you try to access a page, it directs you to a log-in page. Then you can browse as much as you want, but every 10 minutes or so it'll direct you back to the log-in page. It's okay, but I wouldn't trust it not to interrupt me during.. i dunno.. online banking or something.
Also, if they do use WEP or something, they can't very well give each user their own key. Besides, it's pretty well known that WEP can be cracked. Couldn't you listen in on conversations around you can grab people's passwords? Forget paying $24 a month, I'll just figure out someone's log-in and use their access...
I remember back when everyone was using dial-up it was always possible to get lists of people's log in names and passwords, which i guess were leaked from local ISPs, and people would use them instead of buying their own accounts. I can see this happening even more easily with wireless.
i don't use skype so i don't know... but i assume, it being a telephone-oriented service, that it has a hard-limited bitrate?
usually telephone conversations only need 8 KHz recordings, in mono. If converted to mp3, this would result in FAR inferior-sounding recordings for music than CD-quality.
but, like i said, maybe this is not a limit.. i don't really know.
in any case, why do people always have to take a decent service and twist it into something the authorities will find "questionable"? It's like they are trying to help discourage VOIP or something by exposing its potential for misuse. Use it for what it was intended -- telephone conversations -- and no one will care. I imagine the current P2P technologies are better adapted for spreading music anyways.. but i guess the rule is, if there's a crack, someone will always fill it. humans are weird.
looks like the kernel developers will have to take some time out to develop their own bitkeeper.. ah well, a bit of variety will probably be good for them..:)
yeah, that's true. i'm used to compiling things and "getting them to work"..
but it was pretty smooth on Debian actually, even though i did have to follow a HOW-TO.
i think it could be integrated into a distro better. i think Hoary has it, no?
not sure..
Slashdot Mirror
okay.... i'll ask....
what the hell does a software company have to do with promoting gay rights? i don't remember any questions to that effect the last time i installed windows...
*hands up in the air..*
*rolls eyes..*
*walks away...*
hm, yeah. My experience with trying to get my linux desktop to interface well with the Windows print server at work (which is domain authenticated) was pretty bad. Tried lots of different interfaces. I had it working once, but then it broke, and I could never figure it out again. This was with Debian, but I haven't had better luck under other distros.
Finally I started printing to postscript files and then using smbclient to "put" the file to the printer. I encapsulated this into a little script and voila! Printing works. However, it's now a two-step process. I figure I could probably figure out how to improve it, but I haven't bothered as it doesn't really matter. I only print things occasionally, so printing to a postscript file and right-clicking my script on the document takes an extra... two seconds, maybe less. No biggie. But I do wish it were integrated better...
i'm sorry. but wow. did he just pull this out of his ASS? a brand-new version control system in what... two weeks? that meets the requirements for kernel development? that's impressive.
very nice post. you would get some points if i had any.. ;-)
anyone else remember downloading XM and IT files, and loading them in and looking at the samples and the song structure...? ah.. those were the days. Learned so much about music that way.
Has anyone seen the movie 'Trekkies'? Do you realize how crazy people are about this show? I mean... wow.
Sounds a lot like DRM. :)
The other problem I have with this way of doing business is that it encourages companies to not only fill needs, but to create needs.. that is, to convince people that a product or service is necessary, even if it's not, just so they'll buy it. And this tendancy to create need is (imho) inherently counter-productive.
Access to the internet is not a superior product
I disagree. It's a service, rather than a good, but it's still a product. And if you can deliver better quality access (faster, more bandwidth), for less cost, that's a better product. If you can allow people to go anywhere in the city without having to think about wires and whether or not they'll have access if they go to this corner of the street or that one, that's a better product too.
I feel like the telecom companies that want to stop this from happening are just afraid they won't be able to compete. Sorry, but that's how the game goes.. one day you're ahead, the next day someone else does it better. You have to keep up. That's how capitalism works. These companies were built on capitalism, and yet now that they are in a certain position they want to deny it, and they are doing so by subversive means. (Patents, red tape, etc..) It's sort of pathetic. (And scary, since it works. But we'll see..)
I like capitalism. I think it's generally good. But we must realise that it's not the most important pricipal we live by.
Right. We also have to realize that the strict definition of capitalism is not about making the most money. It's about making a good product. It's about making a good product that is better than the competitor's product and then letting the consumer decide who wins. This is not how a lot of corporations work these days, twisting the legal system into a bundle of knots in order to force decisions on consumers and causing them to choose inferior / cheap products that they have to replace within an essentially short period of time. This is not capitalism. It's something else... "twisted and evil".
We have to realize we don't live in a truly capitalist society, and that's why I don't buy these kinds of arguments that say things like cheap WiFi and open-source software are anti-capitalist, or anti-American. They're not. They ARE anti-whatever-we-actually-have-at-the-moment, but they are very much pro-capitalist in the sense that they provide better products, and don't depend on bending the legal rules and manipulation to prop up false monopolies...
They simply attempt to provide the right solution for the consumer, and hope to achieve market share honestly.
crap... what kind of a cooling system will this require?
hm.. i wonder what frozen light looks like... well, i suppose you can't see it.
You know, everyone is complaining about how if you put television in the hands of the average person, they will make a lot of crappy television.
:)
While this is true, for the most part, there WILL be lots of good stuff coming out of this too, and you can't disregard it.
Look, if this catches on, it will be exactly what happened to music with the advent of home computers... suddenly, everyone and their mother could write tracks. People started publishing them. Yes, there was a LOT of crap. BUT -- there was still a good proportion of awesome music being made by people who otherwise wouldn't have had the opportunity. You had to look for it.. but then along came netlabels, who filtered it all for you... then you just have to find the good netlabels... but my point is that the MORE, the BETTER. the more opportunity for crap, means more opportunity for GOLD, too.
there might be some really good stuff coming out of this, and I'm sure you'll all be subscribing to the best "channels" of it.
I think what's needed is a good bridge between the two operating systems. You can get people to walk over to the dark side (mouahahaha) without giving them a bridge. The bridge between Windows and Linux is cross-platform apps, like Firefox and OpenOffice. Get everyone using these apps, and then point out to them that "hey, you could actually use the exact same apps on linux, why are you paying for windows?"
.. like... ONE person using OpenOffice. Since everything's working fine they have no need to switch OS, but if their Windows installations ever got totally bunged, I might suggest Linux.. and since they're already using these apps, I think they might be more open to it. Of course, they're using Firefox now so spyware isn't much of a problem for them... so the chances of them needed to switch OS is down about 90%... ah the irony..
You have to take things one step at a time. First the apps, then the operating system. Change everything at once and it won't work.
I've gotten a couple of people using Firefox, and
that'll make everyone who paid "extra" for digital feel pretty stupid, huh? ;-)
i suppose it's more likely they make it an excuse to jack up the rates all around.
Since a laserbeam remains a relatively focused beam as it travels through space, the laser beam has to be shone directly into the eyes of the pilot to be seen.
or... into... um... a... ah.. a cloud?
What would be more effective is a directional radio frequency transmitter that sends a special signal to a receiver on the airplane in question. It could sound an alarm in the cockpit which means 'get the fudge out of here'.
so... you're suggesting... planes should.. um... be equipped.. with... hm... ah... radio receivers? wow..
Maybe they could turn it into an elaborate security game where they shoot a rocket equivalent of a paintball at the airplane, and if it hits, they have to play dead.
now THERE's an idea.
***... bzzz... ---
this just in!
problems with Internet 2 exactly the same as problems with Internet 1!
more at 11.
--... bzzzz....
true. i was having a hell of a time trying to get some xvids to play properly in XP once. tried installing the codecs a million times, but it never played properly. installed VLC and it worked brilliantly! put a huge smile on my face. AND its cross-platform. (in fact, the almost inherent cross-platformness of most open-source should be, IMHO, a huge selling point for OSS..)
am i really the first to mention it? AutoPackage should make things better for linux.. once users see some Click-Install action, they'll love it. (Personally I don't have a problem with Synaptic, but it's not what users are used to. I watched my friend using OS X once and he downloaded an app, and installed it without even thinking. Drag-dropped it right into the dockbar and he went and used it. Users tend to prefer this than starting up a special "install new software" app..)
in fact i don't even know for certain that rewire came before jack. could have been the other way around. anyone know?
yeah but at the same time, you could sort of say the same thing about proprietary software. any idiot can start a business and makes claims about what their product can do. how do you KNOW it's not crap?
same way as with open-source.. if there's a large, dedicated user base, likely it's a decent product.
the only real difference is that in the proprietary case, you can't look at the source code to check what you're getting yourself into.
so i guess i'm trying to say... your argument is not limited to the open-source philosophy, it's general towards any project whatsoever. just because a project is being developed for the standard commercial market does not automatically make it better, just as a project being open-source does not automatically make it better either.
in the long run, whether commercial or open-source, it just has to be a good product. how do you know? consult other people who use it..
just read through the comments, didn't see anything about this...
how are they going to enforce log-in? That is, when I have my 802.11b network setup at home, i simply use WEP and MAC filtering to ensure that no one but me can connect to my router. But if it's open to everyone, how do they make sure that only people who paid can use it?
There's a local free service in my city (Montreal) that has wireless for cafes, and it's pretty cool, but kind of annoying at the same time. When you connect, the first time you try to access a page, it directs you to a log-in page. Then you can browse as much as you want, but every 10 minutes or so it'll direct you back to the log-in page. It's okay, but I wouldn't trust it not to interrupt me during.. i dunno.. online banking or something.
Also, if they do use WEP or something, they can't very well give each user their own key. Besides, it's pretty well known that WEP can be cracked. Couldn't you listen in on conversations around you can grab people's passwords? Forget paying $24 a month, I'll just figure out someone's log-in and use their access...
I remember back when everyone was using dial-up it was always possible to get lists of people's log in names and passwords, which i guess were leaked from local ISPs, and people would use them instead of buying their own accounts. I can see this happening even more easily with wireless.
personally i've found television a lot more enjoyable ever since i started downloading it. :)
i don't use skype so i don't know... but i assume, it being a telephone-oriented service, that it has a hard-limited bitrate?
usually telephone conversations only need 8 KHz recordings, in mono. If converted to mp3, this would result in FAR inferior-sounding recordings for music than CD-quality.
but, like i said, maybe this is not a limit.. i don't really know.
in any case, why do people always have to take a decent service and twist it into something the authorities will find "questionable"? It's like they are trying to help discourage VOIP or something by exposing its potential for misuse. Use it for what it was intended -- telephone conversations -- and no one will care. I imagine the current P2P technologies are better adapted for spreading music anyways.. but i guess the rule is, if there's a crack, someone will always fill it. humans are weird.
looks like the kernel developers will have to take some time out to develop their own bitkeeper.. ah well, a bit of variety will probably be good for them.. :)
yeah, that's true. i'm used to compiling things and "getting them to work".. but it was pretty smooth on Debian actually, even though i did have to follow a HOW-TO. i think it could be integrated into a distro better. i think Hoary has it, no? not sure..
THANK YOU.
Finally someone points this out. I couldn't have said it better.
Quebec culture is really a thing of its own..