I agree. People don't know what they are buying, and they don't care either. They just want to get t heir new computer out of the box, plug it in, and have it work. Macs and Windows both do this (usually), but some people are starting to get sick of spyware / viruses / whatever.
What I want is vendors like dell, hp, compaq, etc is to sell me a machine that they tested with linux(and know that it works), without charging me an arm and a leg for the "free os". The dell machines we just got at work cost us more to have redhat loaded, then windows would have cost. Buying Mac for the purpose would have been cheaper then both.
I think that the experiences may vary between linux users which was my point.(linux stability varies depending on the hardware it is run on)
I've worked with linux machines that have worked great for long periods of time, but I've also had a few that "shit the bed" on a regular basis. When I loaded freebsd on them they had zero problems.
I've worked with macs at work for about 2 years, and I've never seen one crash. (maybe just good luck).
I still think that people are willing to pay for stability and security. If not, why are their more desktop machines running mac os then linux? It very well might be that there aren't very many hardware vendors shipping their machines with linux. The problem is, is that is not reality right now. I can't go to wal-mart and get a high performance stable linux machine.
When I can buy hardware from a decent vendor with linux pre-loaded, and not pay $274 to have it pre-loaded you can count me in.
I don't own a Mac but the point of having closed hardware from one vendor is that the people who run the OS don't have to jump through hoops trying to find out who made the hardware, where is the driver, what is the latest version of the driver, etc.
The people who develop the software for the OS or the OS itself don't have to worry about having their software work fine on one machine only to have it flip out on another.
Look how much code could be ripped out of Linux, and how much more stable it would be if they only wrote software for limited combinations of hardware.
This is why people buy Macs. Because are stable, secure. People are willing to pay for that, especially in larger environments.
While I do agree that the US is in no position to demand anything, I don't agree that the US would be screwed if other countries set up their own root servers.
I think that it would be the other way around.
Take Japan for example. While they have a rich network structure in their own country, a great portion of their connectivity to the rest of the world runs through the US(Chicago Actually). Imagine the infrastructure changes that would be required if the UN started assigning IPs and they conflicted with the US's assignment, thus forcing the US to shut the doors on the rest of the world.
I think that it would affect users in the US as well, but not nearly as badly as it would affect the rest of the world. I don't think that the average internet user in the US is doing lookups for domains outside the US nearly as much as it is the other way around.
I wonder if these linux phones will start trying to ssh with generic usernames to other linux phones because linux phone admins are too lazy to apply patches?
Just kidding, I know linux phone admins are diligent.
The company will use microwave and U.S. providers for phone and Internet access, thus addressing a common outsourcing concern: ownership of intellectual property. Under international law, Cook says, the first point of contact with land determines whose laws will apply. "One of reasons we're doing things this way is so U.S law will apply."
From the article, "each worker will be required to have a U.S. tourist visa".
Getting a tourist visa is a big difference than getting an H1B. Especially if the country they are from participates in the visa waiver program.
With the visa waiver program you basically have to have a passport in your hand when you get to shore, and if their computer system is working that day, not be a known terrorist.
Slashdot Mirror
It is getting a bit out of context, but...
I agree. People don't know what they are buying, and they don't care either. They just want to get t heir new computer out of the box, plug it in, and have it work. Macs and Windows both do this (usually), but some people are starting to get sick of spyware / viruses / whatever.
What I want is vendors like dell, hp, compaq, etc is to sell me a machine that they tested with linux(and know that it works), without charging me an arm and a leg for the "free os". The dell machines we just got at work cost us more to have redhat loaded, then windows would have cost. Buying Mac for the purpose would have been cheaper then both.
I think that the experiences may vary between linux users which was my point.(linux stability varies depending on the hardware it is run on)
I've worked with linux machines that have worked great for long periods of time, but I've also had a few that "shit the bed" on a regular basis. When I loaded freebsd on them they had zero problems.
I've worked with macs at work for about 2 years, and I've never seen one crash. (maybe just good luck).
I still think that people are willing to pay for stability and security. If not, why are their more desktop machines running mac os then linux? It very well might be that there aren't very many hardware vendors shipping their machines with linux. The problem is, is that is not reality right now. I can't go to wal-mart and get a high performance stable linux machine.
When I can buy hardware from a decent vendor with linux pre-loaded, and not pay $274 to have it pre-loaded you can count me in.
True Linux is free, but...
I don't own a Mac but the point of having closed hardware from one vendor is that the people who run the OS don't have to jump through hoops trying to find out who made the hardware, where is the driver, what is the latest version of the driver, etc.
The people who develop the software for the OS or the OS itself don't have to worry about having their software work fine on one machine only to have it flip out on another.
Look how much code could be ripped out of Linux, and how much more stable it would be if they only wrote software for limited combinations of hardware.
This is why people buy Macs. Because are stable, secure. People are willing to pay for that, especially in larger environments.
While I do agree that the US is in no position to demand anything, I don't agree that the US would be screwed if other countries set up their own root servers.
I think that it would be the other way around.
Take Japan for example. While they have a rich network structure in their own country, a great portion of their connectivity to the rest of the world runs through the US(Chicago Actually). Imagine the infrastructure changes that would be required if the UN started assigning IPs and they conflicted with the US's assignment, thus forcing the US to shut the doors on the rest of the world.
I think that it would affect users in the US as well, but not nearly as badly as it would affect the rest of the world. I don't think that the average internet user in the US is doing lookups for domains outside the US nearly as much as it is the other way around.
I wonder if these linux phones will start trying to ssh with generic usernames to other linux phones because linux phone admins are too lazy to apply patches?
Just kidding, I know linux phone admins are diligent.
According to the article...
The company will use microwave and U.S. providers for phone and Internet access, thus addressing a common outsourcing concern: ownership of intellectual property. Under international law, Cook says, the first point of contact with land determines whose laws will apply. "One of reasons we're doing things this way is so U.S law will apply."
From the article, "each worker will be required to have a U.S. tourist visa".
Getting a tourist visa is a big difference than getting an H1B. Especially if the country they are from participates in the visa waiver program.
With the visa waiver program you basically have to have a passport in your hand when you get to shore, and if their computer system is working that day, not be a known terrorist.
Does this Steve Mann have nothing better to do than run around stores wearing his "signature eye camera"? What a fucking dork.
FTP.exe from Windows 2000 image# strings FTP.EXE | grep Copyright @(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California. hmmm....
http://www.schneier.com/passsafe.html