I have no idea what you're smoking, but SMGL has awesome community support and participation. Within 30 minutes of kernel 2.6.18 being released last night, it was put into the testing distribution. Other packages like KDE, Gnome, etc see similar speed in submission. Zach978 already stated the facts about "the lack of" packages, so I'll leave that issue. As far as documentation, the only parts of SMGL that are SMGL-specific are the sorcery scripts, and they are documented decently enough. All the spells (packages) install vanilla versions of whatever application from the source downloaded from the project's own site. So if the project is documented in it's homepage, there you will find the documentation. It should not be expected for every distro to create redundant documentation for every piece of software that one may use, because that makes for an awful lot of time wasted that could be spent improving the distro. Instead, maybe you should just expect docs for the unique aspects of that distro.
I'll take the opportunity to pimp Source Mage Linux (http://www.sourcemage.org). SMGL is far simpler, easier, and faster to set up than Gentoo. The system management scripts are fast, and work astoundingly well, and the devs are always in irc and love to help. Just an all-around nicer bunch of guys and a better distro than Gentoo's seen in a few years.
Seems like I remember that they (used to?) pirate tons of software, but other than that, they seem to be a serious rip-off in the actual system maintenance and repair.
Ads can be very good for online communities, provided that they follow a few ideals.
They should be relevant to the community. E.g. no "OMG CIALIS NOW" ads on a site that is not directly involved in ED and other medical topics, but a "OMG NEW MINI-ITX BOARDS" ad on a computer hardware community site would be fine, as would a "OMG NEW XYZ BRAND SOFTWARE" or similar.
The ads should not be placed in distracting places. Keep the ad banners up at the top of the page, on the right side of the content, or on the left side, under the site navigation. In-line ads, click-throughs, and popups are all horribly distracting, annoying, and increase the likelyhood of someone becoming frustrated while using your site.
The ads should take no more that 15 seconds to load on a 128 kbps connection. Ads that take longer than that to load are murder on your visitors bandwidth. Not to mention the 40-something percent of people who still use dial-up connections.
The ads should be work-safe. Scantily-clad females do not a good ad make, contrary to popular thinking, and might cause some users to not visit the site anymore because their bosses might see it as being inappropriate, all thanks to the ads.
Other than that, just be considerate to your users, and see the site + ads from there perspective. Ads can greatly enhance a site, or utterly destroy it by making it difficult to read and use. It's all in the material and positioning.
Open-source does not imply or require open development. An entity (compant, group, person) can develop a project behind closed doors, without any outside influence, and release the source code under the GPL, and it works. Others can tinker with the code all they want, but the original creator(s) are not required to accept any outside code into their project. If I decided to take the Linux 2.x kernel and start developing it away from the way Torvalds' team goes, not incorporate any future changes crafted by the present kernel team or anyone else, and create my own operating system based around this new kernel fork, as long as I make the source code available for free, I am within the terms defined by the GPL. Open-Sourcedness (is that a word) does not wrest control of the project away from those who create it. It just allows anyone else to use the code and benefit from someone else's experience and work to make whatever the thing is work better for them, improve upon the work, etc.
Summary: My code can still be my own under the GPL, but you can also make it your own, provided you follow the rules.
All you have to do to copyright your blog postings is put a claim of copyright and terms of distribution notice at the bottom of your page, then if someone rips your work off, without crediting you, sue their ass. You can even say under what circumstances the work is free to use, and when people would have to pay you.
All this is in existing copyright law. No need for the DMCA whatsoever.
Do I trust the US government? Definately not. That is why I think it is best to leave them in control of it rather than a government that is not watched and scrutinized as closely as the US governemnt. A watched thief is less likely to steal, and all that.
As for the Chinese, Indians, etc, when you join an ISP, you are under the rules and regs of your ISP. The internet was started by the US government. Yes, it has grown far beyond the scope of the original intent of the network, but does that make it right to take the creation away from the creator? I know I would not want my successful idea taken away from me just because it was successful, without my consent of course, and the creators of the internet do not want to hand over the reins. That, of course, is their decision to make, by the right of the fact that they created it.
Gosh I hope that made sense.
re: 2
Quite a bit of the backbone of the net is provided by these companies. They also have a right to a say in how their privately owned resources are used.
Basicly, whoever owns something has the right to dictate control of it and not have it taken away by others who don't like it. Free enterprise, capitalism, open market, etc. The system works, and apparently very well.
Slashdot Mirror
Old news... Happened in October of 1979.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Tip
the only country in the world named after a curse word.
(Someone needed to say it)
I have no idea what you're smoking, but SMGL has awesome community support and participation. Within 30 minutes of kernel 2.6.18 being released last night, it was put into the testing distribution. Other packages like KDE, Gnome, etc see similar speed in submission. Zach978 already stated the facts about "the lack of" packages, so I'll leave that issue. As far as documentation, the only parts of SMGL that are SMGL-specific are the sorcery scripts, and they are documented decently enough. All the spells (packages) install vanilla versions of whatever application from the source downloaded from the project's own site. So if the project is documented in it's homepage, there you will find the documentation. It should not be expected for every distro to create redundant documentation for every piece of software that one may use, because that makes for an awful lot of time wasted that could be spent improving the distro. Instead, maybe you should just expect docs for the unique aspects of that distro.
I'll take the opportunity to pimp Source Mage Linux (http://www.sourcemage.org). SMGL is far simpler, easier, and faster to set up than Gentoo. The system management scripts are fast, and work astoundingly well, and the devs are always in irc and love to help. Just an all-around nicer bunch of guys and a better distro than Gentoo's seen in a few years.
sometimes selling their printers at a loss in order to lock in the ink resale.
Then there are those of us who would rather buy another $20 printer when we run out of ink, rather than shelling out $50 for an ink cartridge.
I love screwing HP. It's so easy.
OneOrZero is what the college I worked at last year uses, and I was quite impressed with it. FOSS too.
Seems like I remember that they (used to?) pirate tons of software, but other than that, they seem to be a serious rip-off in the actual system maintenance and repair.
XwoaF
This puppy has X on a single 1.4 mb floppy.
There is also Basic Linux 3, which is based on an older version of Slackware, and still actively developed.
I predict that by this time next year, we will be hearing that Microsoft has started using DeepFreeze or similar to "lock down their systems". =)
Ads can be very good for online communities, provided that they follow a few ideals.
They should be relevant to the community. E.g. no "OMG CIALIS NOW" ads on a site that is not directly involved in ED and other medical topics, but a "OMG NEW MINI-ITX BOARDS" ad on a computer hardware community site would be fine, as would a "OMG NEW XYZ BRAND SOFTWARE" or similar.
The ads should not be placed in distracting places. Keep the ad banners up at the top of the page, on the right side of the content, or on the left side, under the site navigation. In-line ads, click-throughs, and popups are all horribly distracting, annoying, and increase the likelyhood of someone becoming frustrated while using your site.
The ads should take no more that 15 seconds to load on a 128 kbps connection. Ads that take longer than that to load are murder on your visitors bandwidth. Not to mention the 40-something percent of people who still use dial-up connections.
The ads should be work-safe. Scantily-clad females do not a good ad make, contrary to popular thinking, and might cause some users to not visit the site anymore because their bosses might see it as being inappropriate, all thanks to the ads.
Other than that, just be considerate to your users, and see the site + ads from there perspective. Ads can greatly enhance a site, or utterly destroy it by making it difficult to read and use. It's all in the material and positioning.
Open-source does not imply or require open development. An entity (compant, group, person) can develop a project behind closed doors, without any outside influence, and release the source code under the GPL, and it works. Others can tinker with the code all they want, but the original creator(s) are not required to accept any outside code into their project. If I decided to take the Linux 2.x kernel and start developing it away from the way Torvalds' team goes, not incorporate any future changes crafted by the present kernel team or anyone else, and create my own operating system based around this new kernel fork, as long as I make the source code available for free, I am within the terms defined by the GPL. Open-Sourcedness (is that a word) does not wrest control of the project away from those who create it. It just allows anyone else to use the code and benefit from someone else's experience and work to make whatever the thing is work better for them, improve upon the work, etc.
Summary: My code can still be my own under the GPL, but you can also make it your own, provided you follow the rules.
Heard nothing good about this movie, and now I read bad things about it on /.
Everyone knows Slashdot is never wrong!
All you have to do to copyright your blog postings is put a claim of copyright and terms of distribution notice at the bottom of your page, then if someone rips your work off, without crediting you, sue their ass. You can even say under what circumstances the work is free to use, and when people would have to pay you.
All this is in existing copyright law. No need for the DMCA whatsoever.
and fair.
Flip a coin!
I don't think that term is politically correct.
Shouldn't it be "ignition challenged" material?
If the ads are just banners on loading screens, OOC Chat, etc, I have no problem with it.
If they are putting up billboards in the gameworld, I have a HUGE FUCKING PROBLEM with it.
I live in a rural part of the country, and had to put up an 80ft tower to get crappy WiMAX connection.
So, WHERE'S MY SLASHDOT ARTICLE, BITCH?!
Common Sense ++
Fantasy != Reality
It's not that hard, people.
Did I just see a pig fly by overhead?
OOo is VERY bloated.
At least when you compare it to MS Office 97. MS O97 was FAST.
Compare it to MS Office 2k or 2k3, and OOo is MUCH faster, at least in my experience.
I'm not having an affair with your best friend!
It was just the email system malfunctioning!
I swear!
Though I do agree with the "no titles in names" rule, it ought to only apply to titles that are actually used in the game.
And if the title is spelled differently (e.g. "Cap" or "Cmdr"), they ought to allow it.
Really annoying policy.
Dry Ice.
Evidently it only works for people with the "right operating systems".
Is it so hard to use a standard media type?
Why do companies feel like it's right to mave stuff like this that's actually MORE trouble to make incompatible with non-MS/Mac systems?
Seriously. I just do not get this mindset.
re: 1
Do I trust the US government? Definately not. That is why I think it is best to leave them in control of it rather than a government that is not watched and scrutinized as closely as the US governemnt. A watched thief is less likely to steal, and all that.
As for the Chinese, Indians, etc, when you join an ISP, you are under the rules and regs of your ISP. The internet was started by the US government. Yes, it has grown far beyond the scope of the original intent of the network, but does that make it right to take the creation away from the creator? I know I would not want my successful idea taken away from me just because it was successful, without my consent of course, and the creators of the internet do not want to hand over the reins. That, of course, is their decision to make, by the right of the fact that they created it.
Gosh I hope that made sense.
re: 2
Quite a bit of the backbone of the net is provided by these companies. They also have a right to a say in how their privately owned resources are used.
Basicly, whoever owns something has the right to dictate control of it and not have it taken away by others who don't like it. Free enterprise, capitalism, open market, etc. The system works, and apparently very well.