.Linux users will switch. Linux users will get familiar environment on their platform of choice. Plus, if they don't like OSX as much they can always boot into linux,
I'm confused. I am a linux user, and I already have a familiar enviroment, on my platform of choice. I can already boot into linux. So I'm wondering what, exactly, I would gain by switching to an X86 Mac?
I bought a DS and a GBA and there is not 1 Nintendo made game I can't finish in less than 2 hours.
OK, I'm a betting man, so I have a wager for you. A thousand dollars says you can't finish Mario 64 DS in 2 hours. What the hell, make it 2 grand.
Given that you need 80 stars to finish it, and assuming you never ever make a mistake of any kind, you would need to do every star in less then 1.5 minutes. Drop me aline if you want to take the bet.
If apple continues at this pace, I predict they will be the dominant player before this decade is over.
Well I predict they won't be. I will happily take any bet anyone wants to make on this. I will stake my house, savings and vital organs on it. Apple WILL NOT have a 50 percent market share on the desktop by 2010.
Come on, there must be some apple fan boys who are betting men?
One of the problems with getting Linux into the mainstream is that it's not easy for the average Mom to install something she actually wants, like a weather toolbar. Some things, in the Windows (XP in particular) environment remain difficult/non-intuitive to mess around with, but those things that the users want to be able to play with have been made reachable and fairly simple to alter. Yes, that's also where the problems come in
Every time I hear someone debating whether Linux is ready for the desktop, I always think the same thing. "It depends who's desktop". It's been ready for mine for years. It will be ready for my dads when software installation consists of Double-click, Next, Next, Next and Finish. but as you say, that may be where the problems start.
so if a kid wearing one of these things comes within 50 feet of a known sex offender, it emits an alarm and/or broadcasts a warning to the parents.
Great. With just one drawback. How the hell can you stay more than 50 feet away from kids forever?
Hell, convicted sex offenders do occaisionally need to leave their houses. He gets on a bus with children on it he sets off the alarms. Walks into a grocery store, the kid on ilse 10 with his mom has his alarm go off.
I have a pay as you go mobile. It cost me £90 to buy the handset 2 and a half years ago. I cannot remeber the last time I bought credit for it, but it was certainly well before christmas. Right now, I still have £5 of that credit on my phone. If I was on even the cheapest contract I could find, I would have paid £40-£50 already this year.
The fact is, I use my office phone at work. I use my landline at home. So I only rarely need to make a call on my mobile. I mainly have it so people can call me. Thats why I have a pre pay. It just makes better economic sense.
Porn has a very clear definition - material where the primary purpose is erotic i.e. arousing the viewer.
"You mean like every single commercial I've ever seen?" - Bill Hicks
I have a copy of Micro Mart next to my keyboard, featuring an add for Arctic Silver thermal paste. The ad features a picture of a woman in skimpy bikini. I don't think she has an awful lot to do with the paste, and I am forced to conclude that the picture was included simply to try and arouse the viewer, thereby encouraging him look at the ad. Does that mean the ad is pornographic?
Y'know, I had forgotten all about the old icon not displaying bug. I had forgotten because it IS displaying on my 98 box. I honestly just assumed they had fixed it.
Kinda curious why my install put the icons there if your saying the bug still hasn't been fixed.
Out of curiousity, why are you saying no to an update?
Well, I'm running Fedora too, and I have 39 updates on my ignore list at the moment. Just to give you an example, one is kde-i18n-Icelandic. I really don't think I'm likely to need that in the near future.
I'm pretty sure the data protection act in the UK would make this illegal too.
Of course, the ISPs might be able to get around the DPA by making users agree to disclosure as part of the sign up contract. I'm really not sure if the DPA requires that people be given a chance to opt out of this kind of thing. Any lawyers feel free to correct me.
'd also be willing to bet it was the highest reselling game of all time
Yes, but by the time you realise how bad it is, the publishers already have your money, so what do they care if you re-sell it?
I just installed Knoppix on a laptop the other day
on
Knoppix 3.8.1 is Released
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· Score: 3, Informative
I was just given an old dell Latitude laptop a few days ago, and I tried a few distros on it. Fedora and Slackware both refused to play nice with the graphics card, so I tried booting from an old Knoppix 3.3 CD I had knocking around.
Needless to say, Knoppix not only booted but managed to configure everything automatically. So I just did a "$ knx-hdinstall".
Funny thing is, the install process was actually a damn sight easier than a lot of non-live distros.
Not strictly relevent, but I thought I'd share anyway.
Many, many years ago (well, about 7) I put together a PC for my dad. It was bleeding edge stuff, PII, 4 speed CD Writer, 56 k modem. Oh happy days.
Anyway, came time to install the OS. Now I had travelled home for the weekend form university to build this PC, and guess what I had forgotten to bring? Bingo, my Win 98 disc.
Incidently, yes I am owning up to committing copyright infringement. I fully accept that I this is wrong. I just don't care. At least I'm not hiding behind AC to do it.
So anyway, I had to go buy a copy of Win 98 from the local branch of PC World. I think it cost around £80. I took it home, installed it, burned a copy, then peeled the serial number sticker off the back of the CD case (or it might have been on the manual). Then I went back into PC world, and set about claiming a refund.
The first lackey I spoke to tried to tell me I was only entitled to a replacement. I persisted. This software, I told him, is not fit for purpose. Sale of goods act and all that. He eventually had to go get the manager, who stood arguing with me for what must have been a good twenty minutes. Eventually, I was refunded.
I knew what I'd done, so did the manager, but there was sweet Football Association he could do about it. So, if you ever want a refund on a copy of windows, you know how to get it, at least if you live in the UK.
In fairness, I think he has a point. A lot of OSS applications do have confusing names.
Which of the following names makes it more obvious to an uninformed user what the app does, Power DVD or Xine? GIMP or Paint Shop Pro? Amarok or Music Match Jukebox?
A bit of straight forward naming might help people figuring their way around a Linux distro for the first time. Mind you, most distros rename apps in the menus anyway. For example, I have a link called "Audio Player" that points to XMMS.
Thats a good idea (although I seriously doubt MS will prevent people form running as root), but you would still get every one handing out root passwords every time a program/webpage/whatever asked for them.
Sure, this is a step in the right direction, but it will have zero impact on most users, for two reasons.
1. Most users will just log in as an admin and stay that way forever. Far easier and quicker than typing a password every time you want to install software.
2. Social engineering. By which I mean a pop up box saying "type root password here to see Paris Hiltons tits!". If Joe Sixpack actually used Linux, it would be no more secure than windows, because he would dish out that password every time a dialog asked for it. Or he would get so tired of typing it that he would resort to point 1.
I work in the tech support department of a company which provides online training courses (If you live in the UK you will have seen our adverts)
A few weeks ago I had a call from a woman who had been doing her course at a local college and now wanted to set it up for access at home.
So, I start talking her through how to download and install the software. At one point, I need her to type a URL in.
"Type www dot our companies name.co.uk in the address bar using the keyboard" says I.
"whats a keyboard?" she asks.
The best bit is she was doing a course on Word Processing.
How often you do something has absolutely no bearing on whether you are addicted to it or not. You are only an addict when you are unable to stop.
For example, I spend 35 hours a week answering tech support queries. By the definition of a lot of people here, that would make me an addict. Well let me assure you, I would have no problem kicking the habit!
By contrast, I drink no more than two cups of coffee a day, hardly excessive by anyones standards, but my god am I a cranky SOB before my first cup. I probably am addicted to my morning caffeine hit.
Every time/. carries a story about security flaws in MS products the same two argumants are trotted out.
MS-Apologists/fanboys: The only reason you hear about all these problems is because Windows is so popular, so the bugs are more likely to be found.
People who hate MS (ie:everyone else on/.): No no no, it's because M$ write poor insecure code.
Unfortunatly, this is not a zero sum game. Both arguments have some truth to them. There is no doubt that Microsoft have a terrible record on security, and that they have implemented many features which are simply unsafe (active X anyone).
On the other hand, there are far more script kiddies and crackers attacking M$ than there are Linux and Mac OS. Yes, as I said above, this is partly because it's easier. But it's also because it's more popular. After all, if Windows was as secure as, say, Mac OS, and there were 100 virus writers working on Mac OS and 10 on Windows, you would expect 10 times as many viruses to be writen for Mac Os.
Of course Windows is insecure and badly written, which makes the situation worse. But if Mac OS or Linux had the market share Windows has, more viruses and exploits would exist. Far fewer than for windows, but still more than presently do.
Slashdot Mirror
.Linux users will switch. Linux users will get familiar environment on their platform of choice. Plus, if they don't like OSX as much they can always boot into linux,
I'm confused. I am a linux user, and I already have a familiar enviroment, on my platform of choice. I can already boot into linux. So I'm wondering what, exactly, I would gain by switching to an X86 Mac?
Thats right. Nothing.
I bought a DS and a GBA and there is not 1 Nintendo made game I can't finish in less than 2 hours.
OK, I'm a betting man, so I have a wager for you. A thousand dollars says you can't finish Mario 64 DS in 2 hours. What the hell, make it 2 grand.
Given that you need 80 stars to finish it, and assuming you never ever make a mistake of any kind, you would need to do every star in less then 1.5 minutes. Drop me aline if you want to take the bet.
but the website appears to be slashdotted.
There are very few topless women on British TV compared to continential TV.
Have you watched channel 5 lately?
Coincidently, there was a show on channel 5 last night about the saga of the sex.com domain name.
Who wants to enter our sweepstake for when Debian 3.2 will be released?... I take July 4th, 2007.
Oh, so you're an optimist are you?
If apple continues at this pace, I predict they will be the dominant player before this decade is over.
Well I predict they won't be. I will happily take any bet anyone wants to make on this. I will stake my house, savings and vital organs on it. Apple WILL NOT have a 50 percent market share on the desktop by 2010.
Come on, there must be some apple fan boys who are betting men?
One of the problems with getting Linux into the mainstream is that it's not easy for the average Mom to install something she actually wants, like a weather toolbar. Some things, in the Windows (XP in particular) environment remain difficult/non-intuitive to mess around with, but those things that the users want to be able to play with have been made reachable and fairly simple to alter. Yes, that's also where the problems come in
Every time I hear someone debating whether Linux is ready for the desktop, I always think the same thing. "It depends who's desktop". It's been ready for mine for years. It will be ready for my dads when software installation consists of Double-click, Next, Next, Next and Finish. but as you say, that may be where the problems start.
what form the other three horsemen will take?
so if a kid wearing one of these things comes within 50 feet of a known sex offender, it emits an alarm and/or broadcasts a warning to the parents.
Great. With just one drawback. How the hell can you stay more than 50 feet away from kids forever?
Hell, convicted sex offenders do occaisionally need to leave their houses. He gets on a bus with children on it he sets off the alarms. Walks into a grocery store, the kid on ilse 10 with his mom has his alarm go off.
Disclaimer, I don't live in the states.
I have a pay as you go mobile. It cost me £90 to buy the handset 2 and a half years ago. I cannot remeber the last time I bought credit for it, but it was certainly well before christmas. Right now, I still have £5 of that credit on my phone. If I was on even the cheapest contract I could find, I would have paid £40-£50 already this year.
The fact is, I use my office phone at work. I use my landline at home. So I only rarely need to make a call on my mobile. I mainly have it so people can call me. Thats why I have a pre pay. It just makes better economic sense.
My $0.02 will always be worth more than your 0.02, so :P
At the current exchange rate, 0.02 euros gets you about 0.03 dollars. So I'm afraid my Euro is worth more than your dollat ATM. check it out here.
Porn has a very clear definition - material where the primary purpose is erotic i.e. arousing the viewer.
"You mean like every single commercial I've ever seen?" - Bill Hicks
I have a copy of Micro Mart next to my keyboard, featuring an add for Arctic Silver thermal paste. The ad features a picture of a woman in skimpy bikini. I don't think she has an awful lot to do with the paste, and I am forced to conclude that the picture was included simply to try and arouse the viewer, thereby encouraging him look at the ad. Does that mean the ad is pornographic?
Y'know, I had forgotten all about the old icon not displaying bug. I had forgotten because it IS displaying on my 98 box. I honestly just assumed they had fixed it.
Kinda curious why my install put the icons there if your saying the bug still hasn't been fixed.
Out of curiousity, why are you saying no to an update?
Well, I'm running Fedora too, and I have 39 updates on my ignore list at the moment. Just to give you an example, one is kde-i18n-Icelandic. I really don't think I'm likely to need that in the near future.
I'm pretty sure the data protection act in the UK would make this illegal too.
Of course, the ISPs might be able to get around the DPA by making users agree to disclosure as part of the sign up contract. I'm really not sure if the DPA requires that people be given a chance to opt out of this kind of thing. Any lawyers feel free to correct me.
'd also be willing to bet it was the highest reselling game of all time
Yes, but by the time you realise how bad it is, the publishers already have your money, so what do they care if you re-sell it?
I was just given an old dell Latitude laptop a few days ago, and I tried a few distros on it. Fedora and Slackware both refused to play nice with the graphics card, so I tried booting from an old Knoppix 3.3 CD I had knocking around.
Needless to say, Knoppix not only booted but managed to configure everything automatically. So I just did a "$ knx-hdinstall".
Funny thing is, the install process was actually a damn sight easier than a lot of non-live distros.
Not strictly relevent, but I thought I'd share anyway.
Many, many years ago (well, about 7) I put together a PC for my dad. It was bleeding edge stuff, PII, 4 speed CD Writer, 56 k modem. Oh happy days.
Anyway, came time to install the OS. Now I had travelled home for the weekend form university to build this PC, and guess what I had forgotten to bring? Bingo, my Win 98 disc.
Incidently, yes I am owning up to committing copyright infringement. I fully accept that I this is wrong. I just don't care. At least I'm not hiding behind AC to do it.
So anyway, I had to go buy a copy of Win 98 from the local branch of PC World. I think it cost around £80. I took it home, installed it, burned a copy, then peeled the serial number sticker off the back of the CD case (or it might have been on the manual). Then I went back into PC world, and set about claiming a refund.
The first lackey I spoke to tried to tell me I was only entitled to a replacement. I persisted. This software, I told him, is not fit for purpose. Sale of goods act and all that. He eventually had to go get the manager, who stood arguing with me for what must have been a good twenty minutes. Eventually, I was refunded.
I knew what I'd done, so did the manager, but there was sweet Football Association he could do about it. So, if you ever want a refund on a copy of windows, you know how to get it, at least if you live in the UK.
In fairness, I think he has a point. A lot of OSS applications do have confusing names.
Which of the following names makes it more obvious to an uninformed user what the app does, Power DVD or Xine? GIMP or Paint Shop Pro? Amarok or Music Match Jukebox?
A bit of straight forward naming might help people figuring their way around a Linux distro for the first time. Mind you, most distros rename apps in the menus anyway. For example, I have a link called "Audio Player" that points to XMMS.
Thats a good idea (although I seriously doubt MS will prevent people form running as root), but you would still get every one handing out root passwords every time a program/webpage/whatever asked for them.
Sure, this is a step in the right direction, but it will have zero impact on most users, for two reasons.
1. Most users will just log in as an admin and stay that way forever. Far easier and quicker than typing a password every time you want to install software.
2. Social engineering. By which I mean a pop up box saying "type root password here to see Paris Hiltons tits!". If Joe Sixpack actually used Linux, it would be no more secure than windows, because he would dish out that password every time a dialog asked for it. Or he would get so tired of typing it that he would resort to point 1.
$10 Splinter Cell 9 + $59 S&H may just turn me off. You?
I have no idea how much shipping costs in the US, but I would be amazed if it costs anything like that.
I posted parcel to Hong Kong from the UK last week. It was much heavier than any game, and cost me £4 to send by 7 day air mail.
I have bought plenty of E-bay items from foreign sellers, and not once have I been ripped off or had to pay an extortionate shipping rates.
True story.
.co.uk in the address bar using the keyboard" says I.
I work in the tech support department of a company which provides online training courses (If you live in the UK you will have seen our adverts)
A few weeks ago I had a call from a woman who had been doing her course at a local college and now wanted to set it up for access at home. So, I start talking her through how to download and install the software. At one point, I need her to type a URL in.
"Type www dot our companies name
"whats a keyboard?" she asks.
The best bit is she was doing a course on Word Processing.
How often you do something has absolutely no bearing on whether you are addicted to it or not. You are only an addict when you are unable to stop.
For example, I spend 35 hours a week answering tech support queries. By the definition of a lot of people here, that would make me an addict. Well let me assure you, I would have no problem kicking the habit!
By contrast, I drink no more than two cups of coffee a day, hardly excessive by anyones standards, but my god am I a cranky SOB before my first cup. I probably am addicted to my morning caffeine hit.
And the merry go round spins round again.
/. carries a story about security flaws in MS products the same two argumants are trotted out.
/.): No no no, it's because M$ write poor insecure code.
Every time
MS-Apologists/fanboys: The only reason you hear about all these problems is because Windows is so popular, so the bugs are more likely to be found. People who hate MS (ie:everyone else on
Unfortunatly, this is not a zero sum game. Both arguments have some truth to them. There is no doubt that Microsoft have a terrible record on security, and that they have implemented many features which are simply unsafe (active X anyone).
On the other hand, there are far more script kiddies and crackers attacking M$ than there are Linux and Mac OS. Yes, as I said above, this is partly because it's easier. But it's also because it's more popular. After all, if Windows was as secure as, say, Mac OS, and there were 100 virus writers working on Mac OS and 10 on Windows, you would expect 10 times as many viruses to be writen for Mac Os.
Of course Windows is insecure and badly written, which makes the situation worse. But if Mac OS or Linux had the market share Windows has, more viruses and exploits would exist. Far fewer than for windows, but still more than presently do.