Windows isn't all bad. Yes, it has security problems. In all honesty, what OS doesn't? Windows has some pretty glaring ones - some that belong to poor coding practices at Microsoft and some that belong to 3rd-party developers who require the app to be run with administrator privileges (thank god for runas...).
I use Windows because Linux doesn't have the software I need. I do MS Access developing for my company, and Access isn't available except under Wine or Crossover Office. I NEED Photoshop for my photography business, and GIMP isn't up to the task of working with my RAW files or handling color management (I would get a Mac, but I can't afford to switch).
Please remember that most home users don't care about what their computer runs - so long as they can access iTunes, play the latest games, and little Johnny can type his papers. To them, Windows is just as free as Linux because it came with the computer, and they don't see the operating system cost in the price.
Yes, Vendors support what everyone is using. There is no doubt about that. But for vendors to support it, there has to be people using it, and people won't use it if it doesn't "just work."
Come on? Seriously! That is the premise for a new Star Trek series? If TPTB are listening, don't do it! It's bad enough that you ran the franchise into the ground with Voyager and Enterprise. Don't compound your mistake with this idea.
Practicality is a very big reason why this patch is a bad idea. Not only would it not force the hand of the vendors, but if it ever got to the point where it could do it, you would see a lot of vendors dropping support for Linux because they don't want to open their source.
I, for one, don't blame them. Drivers are proprietary. They may contain trade secrets that the vendor doesn't want to publish or patent before publishing.
Linus is smart enough to know that vendors won't bend over backwards for Linux like they do for Windows. If faced with having to open their drivers or drop support, then they'll probably drop support and Linux will be back on the road to obscurity. If vendors don't drop support, they'll release crippled open-source drivers that don't offer 100% functionality for your expensive graphics card.
So take your pick...do you want vendor support for the operating system or to stand on principle? You can't have both.
First off, I'm not a Linux or GPL zealot. Just because I am on Slashdot does not make me one.
....Because you agree to a copyright. Because the person that CREATED the content gets to say how YOU can use it. It's their RIGHT. Maybe you feel that somehow you're "owed" content but you're not.
To a degree. There was a time when a major copyright holder sued Sony over the VCR because they thought it would lead to copyright infringement. The case, known colloquially as the "Betamax Decision" held that VCRs and the content they recorded were covered under fair use because they allowed for time shifting (watching the content at a time convenient to the consumer). For more, read the text http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?n avby=CASE&court=US&vol=464&page=417here. Wikipedia also has a good summary of the issue.
Now, my initial question was along those lines. What is the difference if I watch the show of a program broadcast freely over the airwaves, record it with my VCR, and share the tape with a friend versus watching the show and downloading a torrent of that episode?
The vast majority of Britney / Timberlake / Fifty Cent / whatever is being pushed by the major labels... sure. That's my point... they're rubbish, so don't buy them! Instead of buying them and then complaining on slashdot that you feel ripped off because there was only one decent track on them... buy stuff that isn't rubbish, stuff where the ratio is inverted, 90% good stuff, 10% weaker. And in my experience... that goes for a lot if not most "independent" or "not aimed squarely at a Billboard chart position" music, be that soul, electronic, alternative rock, world, folk or whatever. Hence what I was hoping would be a relatively diverse list of examples...
Well, in all fairness, it really depends on what the individual listener likes. Your tastes draw you towards independent artists where you feel a connection with their music. Not everyone feels that way, and a listener might feel that 90% of all music, regardless of the performer, is crap.
The music industry has surprised me at times. I've found some "diamonds in the rough" on *NSYNC albums that never made it to the air but are some of the better songs on the album. Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts are becoming two of my favorite country artists because of their B-sides.
Of course this being slashdot nobody is prepared to grasp the point that with a little bit of effort in finding strong artists you really vibe with, there is more fantastic music out there than you could possibly have time to listen to in your lifetime. Instead, they just slate my "terrible" personal taste or my "elitist" person.
Perhaps if you had just said that instead of insulting reader's tastes in music by saying yours were superior, then you might have gotten a little further.
I'm an adult. I have an income, but it's entry level. The person I am living with had a Dish, but I usually don't watch programming on that.
I have a VCR, but reception in my area sucks, so after I watch an episode of certain shows on broadcast TV, snow and all, I download a copy so I can rewatch it at my convenience. I did this with 24 the last two years, and I am doing it with Heroes and Jericho this year. How is this any different than borrowing a tape from a friend or watching it from a DVR? How exactly am I stealing content if I expose myself to the ads during my first viewing?
As a side note, I also buy the shows when they become available on TV (except season 5 of 24...but I expect to be getting that as a Christmas gift).
They can, though, and they will probably need to in the near future. It will be difficult, but if Apple can build Rosetta to run software from previous non-*nix based versions of OS, then Microsoft can do it as well. They need to change some of their procedures and streamline their production if it ever intends to get into production, but it is, in theory, possible.
I agree. I've had a lot of warranty work done on the two Thinkpads I've owned (they traveled with me to class, so they were bounced around a bit...and I bought the extended warranty knowing that I would be taking it with me to class). One of my unfortunate mishaps was having my screen hit by a flying dime/bottlecap while I was designing my fraternity's website. The part wasn't a warranty part, but the tech replaced it no-questions-asked and told me that it would be handled by the warranty.
"Get over it, Microsoft saw that newer machines were largely going to waste with CPU usage below even 1% so they decided that they could utilize more of it and make the user experience more enjoyable."
That's great that Microsoft recognizes it, but it shouldn't be their decision to ramp of the minimum requirements to make my experience more enjoyable by default. The operating system should be the bare minimum needed to use the computer. Enhancing the user experience should be handled by separate applications or plug-ins.
Now, its reasonable to expect that operating systems will become more complex as they focus on security, networking, etc., and older hardware will not be up to the task of using it.
Only by default. If you edit your power settings (right click on desktop, properties -> click screen saver tab -> click power options -> click advanced tab), you can set your computer to hibernate, sleep, or do nothing when you close the lid.
You can also set it to sleep or hibernate if it is not used for a period of time.
First off...the phrase "It gets better after high school" reflects the social and personal changes that a person will find when they go off to college or enter the work force and encounter more mature individuals.
The phrase does not reflect, nor is it meant to, the current educational conditions of high schools.
Yes, there are problems with high school academics. Lots of problems in some areas, not so many in others. But kids wanting to leave school, which is generally boring, in a shortsighted decision to get a job isn't surprising. How many short-sighted decisions did you make when you were that age.
Consider trolling around the local community college with a decent IT program (if you have one).
Or a four year college. A lot of colleges with IT programs give a general overview of the field, and the programs are found wanting in some, or many, areas.
I found a consulting gig that was a "one woman and her dream opportunity" on a job list run by my state. It was interesting at first, but then she decided that she didn't want to listen to my advice or give me the access I needed to do what she hired me to do.
The promised pay was decent, but guess what...I left and she hasn't paid me for my work yet. I might get paid...if she gets the loan. Screw that.
PDF, maybe. Microsoft will try to dominate that market with the new thing in Vista, but they have a lot of mindshare to overcome. Also, unless they open a set of tools to enable their new format on other operating systems, their new format won't be popular for distributing content on the Internet.
In theory, you could run some versions of Windows in User or Power-User mode and escalate when you need administrator priviledges. But if you do this, there are a great many programs that won't run properly - especially many games.
Now this isn't entirely Microsoft's fault. They set up a system that allows users to run as something besides administrator, and they have a runas:administrator option that allows users to escalate.
Slashdot Mirror
Windows isn't all bad. Yes, it has security problems. In all honesty, what OS doesn't? Windows has some pretty glaring ones - some that belong to poor coding practices at Microsoft and some that belong to 3rd-party developers who require the app to be run with administrator privileges (thank god for runas...).
I use Windows because Linux doesn't have the software I need. I do MS Access developing for my company, and Access isn't available except under Wine or Crossover Office. I NEED Photoshop for my photography business, and GIMP isn't up to the task of working with my RAW files or handling color management (I would get a Mac, but I can't afford to switch).
Please remember that most home users don't care about what their computer runs - so long as they can access iTunes, play the latest games, and little Johnny can type his papers. To them, Windows is just as free as Linux because it came with the computer, and they don't see the operating system cost in the price.
Yes, Vendors support what everyone is using. There is no doubt about that. But for vendors to support it, there has to be people using it, and people won't use it if it doesn't "just work."
Come on? Seriously! That is the premise for a new Star Trek series? If TPTB are listening, don't do it! It's bad enough that you ran the franchise into the ground with Voyager and Enterprise. Don't compound your mistake with this idea.
Practicality is a very big reason why this patch is a bad idea. Not only would it not force the hand of the vendors, but if it ever got to the point where it could do it, you would see a lot of vendors dropping support for Linux because they don't want to open their source.
I, for one, don't blame them. Drivers are proprietary. They may contain trade secrets that the vendor doesn't want to publish or patent before publishing.
Linus is smart enough to know that vendors won't bend over backwards for Linux like they do for Windows. If faced with having to open their drivers or drop support, then they'll probably drop support and Linux will be back on the road to obscurity. If vendors don't drop support, they'll release crippled open-source drivers that don't offer 100% functionality for your expensive graphics card.
So take your pick...do you want vendor support for the operating system or to stand on principle? You can't have both.
....Because you agree to a copyright. Because the person that CREATED the content gets to say how YOU can use it. It's their RIGHT. Maybe you feel that somehow you're "owed" content but you're not.To a degree. There was a time when a major copyright holder sued Sony over the VCR because they thought it would lead to copyright infringement. The case, known colloquially as the "Betamax Decision" held that VCRs and the content they recorded were covered under fair use because they allowed for time shifting (watching the content at a time convenient to the consumer). For more, read the text http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?
Now, my initial question was along those lines. What is the difference if I watch the show of a program broadcast freely over the airwaves, record it with my VCR, and share the tape with a friend versus watching the show and downloading a torrent of that episode?
Well, in all fairness, it really depends on what the individual listener likes. Your tastes draw you towards independent artists where you feel a connection with their music. Not everyone feels that way, and a listener might feel that 90% of all music, regardless of the performer, is crap.
The music industry has surprised me at times. I've found some "diamonds in the rough" on *NSYNC albums that never made it to the air but are some of the better songs on the album. Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts are becoming two of my favorite country artists because of their B-sides.
Of course this being slashdot nobody is prepared to grasp the point that with a little bit of effort in finding strong artists you really vibe with, there is more fantastic music out there than you could possibly have time to listen to in your lifetime. Instead, they just slate my "terrible" personal taste or my "elitist" person.
Perhaps if you had just said that instead of insulting reader's tastes in music by saying yours were superior, then you might have gotten a little further.
I'm an adult. I have an income, but it's entry level. The person I am living with had a Dish, but I usually don't watch programming on that.
I have a VCR, but reception in my area sucks, so after I watch an episode of certain shows on broadcast TV, snow and all, I download a copy so I can rewatch it at my convenience. I did this with 24 the last two years, and I am doing it with Heroes and Jericho this year. How is this any different than borrowing a tape from a friend or watching it from a DVR? How exactly am I stealing content if I expose myself to the ads during my first viewing?
As a side note, I also buy the shows when they become available on TV (except season 5 of 24...but I expect to be getting that as a Christmas gift).
They can, though, and they will probably need to in the near future. It will be difficult, but if Apple can build Rosetta to run software from previous non-*nix based versions of OS, then Microsoft can do it as well. They need to change some of their procedures and streamline their production if it ever intends to get into production, but it is, in theory, possible.
I agree. I've had a lot of warranty work done on the two Thinkpads I've owned (they traveled with me to class, so they were bounced around a bit...and I bought the extended warranty knowing that I would be taking it with me to class). One of my unfortunate mishaps was having my screen hit by a flying dime/bottlecap while I was designing my fraternity's website. The part wasn't a warranty part, but the tech replaced it no-questions-asked and told me that it would be handled by the warranty.
I don't care who you are...that's funny right there!
"Get over it, Microsoft saw that newer machines were largely going to waste with CPU usage below even 1% so they decided that they could utilize more of it and make the user experience more enjoyable."
That's great that Microsoft recognizes it, but it shouldn't be their decision to ramp of the minimum requirements to make my experience more enjoyable by default. The operating system should be the bare minimum needed to use the computer. Enhancing the user experience should be handled by separate applications or plug-ins.
Now, its reasonable to expect that operating systems will become more complex as they focus on security, networking, etc., and older hardware will not be up to the task of using it.
Whew! It's a good thing Bartleby and Loki didn't make it into that church in New Jersey. Otherwise, we might really be in for some trouble.
Only by default. If you edit your power settings (right click on desktop, properties -> click screen saver tab -> click power options -> click advanced tab), you can set your computer to hibernate, sleep, or do nothing when you close the lid.
You can also set it to sleep or hibernate if it is not used for a period of time.
It's hard to tell what color your soul was when you never had one to begin with.
First off...the phrase "It gets better after high school" reflects the social and personal changes that a person will find when they go off to college or enter the work force and encounter more mature individuals.
The phrase does not reflect, nor is it meant to, the current educational conditions of high schools.
Yes, there are problems with high school academics. Lots of problems in some areas, not so many in others. But kids wanting to leave school, which is generally boring, in a shortsighted decision to get a job isn't surprising. How many short-sighted decisions did you make when you were that age.
Gray...someone needs to mod you up into heaven. That captures the exact meaning of the phrase "It gets better after high school."
If that is the attitude people take, then Linux will never be ready for the world.
With Linux, you don't have that problem, because if the hardware's compatable with Linux (and most is) the driver installs with the OS.
So then what do I do if the hardware isn't compatible with Linux and I need to get on the Internet??
Nah. The photo forum I participate on has PC and Mac users, and we get along fine.
Consider trolling around the local community college with a decent IT program (if you have one).
Or a four year college. A lot of colleges with IT programs give a general overview of the field, and the programs are found wanting in some, or many, areas.
They run from all operating systems.
I found a consulting gig that was a "one woman and her dream opportunity" on a job list run by my state. It was interesting at first, but then she decided that she didn't want to listen to my advice or give me the access I needed to do what she hired me to do.
The promised pay was decent, but guess what...I left and she hasn't paid me for my work yet. I might get paid...if she gets the loan. Screw that.
They're just stalling. They're not interested in your laptop per se, more in your reaction to having your laptop studied.
So that, folks, is why you should claim you have trade secrets on your laptop and require the guard to sign an NDA.
PDF, maybe. Microsoft will try to dominate that market with the new thing in Vista, but they have a lot of mindshare to overcome. Also, unless they open a set of tools to enable their new format on other operating systems, their new format won't be popular for distributing content on the Internet.
In theory, you could run some versions of Windows in User or Power-User mode and escalate when you need administrator priviledges. But if you do this, there are a great many programs that won't run properly - especially many games.
Now this isn't entirely Microsoft's fault. They set up a system that allows users to run as something besides administrator, and they have a runas:administrator option that allows users to escalate.