And only 5 answered questions, if you can call them answered. This "interview" is thoroughly disappointing. Those were all five questions we (Slashdot) sent.
This sounds like this could be great for everyone. Hopefully Jepsen's new career path leads to more and more products having the sorts of technology we're seeing used by the OLPC folks. She can continue innovating as the XO is designed and the OLPC project focuses on manufacturing, distribution, and such and then cooperate with the OLPC people in the future as their product will be updated.
Lots of people here like Linux. Because of that, it makes sense to me that stories involving cool Linux stuff would interest them and should be posted.
For something like this, it's probably almost entirely Sony code. However, since the game is six years old and I assume no longer a bit cash cow for them, there's a chance GPLing might be considered the best option on their end. However just GPLing the code now doesn't erase the copyright infringement, so it won't necessarily help at all. (The libarc people would have to agree that GPLing now will satisfy them.)
libarc? That's an interesting library for them to be using. I guess for compressed storage on their game disk?
This is an interesting read. It explains a lot about the philosophy behind things. Sometimes it looks nicer on paper (screen?) then when you just need to get something done.
My last sentence would better read, "I did not know whether the contention that Apple actively interferes with attempts to run on third-party hardware was true."
I was not disputing your contention, only your argument. (You merely did not prove what you were contending. I did not know whether the fact was true.)
That isn't active interfering. That's prohibiting. That is to say, they tell you not to do it there, they do not (there) do anything to fight you if you do.
No. Vista is stable and feature-rich. ME was awful. Vista is a bit of a resource hog, but is well thought out and does have improvement in some areas (at least improvement in the direction it is intended to go).
I'm not a Windows fanboi. I do not like Windows or run it at home. I would be someone who'd want to bash Vista but...well, the worst I can say is that it doesn't seem to have many major improvements from XP.
On my screens, Consolas is marginally better than Lucida and significantly better than Courier, but the rest of the Vista fonts are less readable.
None of them are different enough to make it worthwhile running Vista...
Are you viewing them on an LCD with ClearType? It is my understanding these typefaces were designed to utilize ClearType subpixel rendering well and otherwise be shaped well for the screen.
You know, some people don't appreciate it when they send you a 30KB.doc and you send them back a 100+KB.doc that had only minor changes (or even no changes!) from the original.
And some people don't appreciate being forced to use Microsoft's proprietary formats. I don't think those in this discussion who brag about sending back an ODF and a link to download OOo are being very reasonable, but I don't think it's unreasonable to return the annoyance with one of your own, incidental and practical.
Personally, I don't really like OOo or MSO—I find that it is more productive for me to do most of what those around me do in a word processor in plain text or using LaTeX (among solutions) and most of what people around me do in a spreadsheet program in Matlab/Octave. (This is not because I am 1337 hax0rz. This is really just what I have found to work best for me.)
Do you really need to enter the command line to simply upgrade without downloading the ISO? If so I have my doubts as to how newbie friendly Ubuntu truly is.
Nope. The update-manager app can do it, and can be launched from menus. Further, if you have it looking for updates automatically it will tell you that you have something by showing up in the system tray, and offer you to click a button to upgrade to the new release if you care to.
That being said, being able to click a button somewhere to upgrade your operating system isn't much of a requirement for user-friendliness. If someone is very clumsy with computers, there's no harm in staying with 7.04. I've seen the Ubuntu community gladly help people running versions 2.5 years old. If it ain't broke, no need to fix it.
I don't think GP way saying "Google wants to kill Thunderbird" so much as saying "Google has a reason for their funding to go for Firefox but not for Thunderbird."
You don't frequently buy your other cool gear? Why do you need to replace your motherboard every three months? You are happy using last year's sound card and video card on your cutting-edge motherboard?
As for chilling, I think we could all use a little bit.
You've done 3D. You still do 3D. That doesn't sound like you have a limited time to pick up a skill to do a task.
I'm not defending Blender. I've barely touched Blender. I've now and then opened up Maya or 3ds Max or Blender and have in all instances been pretty confused. I don't know if it has a legitimately bad interface.
I can tell you that initial intuition isn't the way to measure that. Powerful tools need to be learned. vi, for example, is a simple, powerful tool. It does not hold my hand—it trusts that I know what I'm doing.
To make the document, I'd have to use some typesetting engine. TeX and it's children are powerful tools. They aren't going to hold my hand; I must know what to tell it. Unlike OO.o writer or Word, though, I will not have to fight with it: it will do what I tell it to. I avoid using word processors, but when I do I feel it is a constant fight to get them to believe me that I know what I'm doing. In the end, I will not generate something as beautiful as I can with a real typesetting engine.
This goes for other tools. If I need to draw a quick sketch of a structure, I can open Paint or AutoCAD. The former would be easier for me to generate something in. (Somehow, I got a civil engineering degree without ever learning AutoCAD.) Compared to someone who knows how to use AutoCAD, it would be a crawl (let alone the fact that it would not look anywhere near as good!) When I watch someone proficient use AutoCAD, it looks like magic.
This is why I run Linux. Maybe it doesn't just work as well as Windows, but in the end, I can actually get it to work, which is more than I can say for any of MS's offerings.
Again, I do not know whether Blender's interface is horrid. I do know that in my experience powerful tools take work to learn, but are extremely efficient once you become proficient using them. If ever I wanted to pick up 3D modeling as a long-term hobby or job, I would want to learn a vi so I'd have a chance of actually becoming good at it.
I'm not saying that just because something is hard to learn, it is better.
Slashdot Mirror
This sounds like this could be great for everyone. Hopefully Jepsen's new career path leads to more and more products having the sorts of technology we're seeing used by the OLPC folks. She can continue innovating as the XO is designed and the OLPC project focuses on manufacturing, distribution, and such and then cooperate with the OLPC people in the future as their product will be updated.
Lots of people here like Linux. Because of that, it makes sense to me that stories involving cool Linux stuff would interest them and should be posted.
Of course you could. I think this just makes it easier to do that.
That "problem" is not unique to proofs. That is the issue on Wikipedia.
In fact, it is usually a lot easier for someone to check a proof than for someone to look verify who the last prime minister of Malawi was.
The phones seem to be fading away. I think they didn't make money on them.
For something like this, it's probably almost entirely Sony code. However, since the game is six years old and I assume no longer a bit cash cow for them, there's a chance GPLing might be considered the best option on their end. However just GPLing the code now doesn't erase the copyright infringement, so it won't necessarily help at all. (The libarc people would have to agree that GPLing now will satisfy them.)
libarc? That's an interesting library for them to be using. I guess for compressed storage on their game disk?
They rushed on that! I believe Firefox is licenced under the MPL, GPL, and LGPL.
This is an interesting read. It explains a lot about the philosophy behind things. Sometimes it looks nicer on paper (screen?) then when you just need to get something done.
My last sentence would better read, "I did not know whether the contention that Apple actively interferes with attempts to run on third-party hardware was true."
I was not disputing your contention, only your argument. (You merely did not prove what you were contending. I did not know whether the fact was true.)
That isn't active interfering. That's prohibiting. That is to say, they tell you not to do it there, they do not (there) do anything to fight you if you do.
No. Vista is stable and feature-rich. ME was awful. Vista is a bit of a resource hog, but is well thought out and does have improvement in some areas (at least improvement in the direction it is intended to go).
I'm not a Windows fanboi. I do not like Windows or run it at home. I would be someone who'd want to bash Vista but...well, the worst I can say is that it doesn't seem to have many major improvements from XP.
They are new, and they want you to be able to view them. They accomplish this for those who might not have them installed by embedding them in a PDF.
Perhaps it is silly to call them standard, but it carries a certain meaning.
How do you get to cons?
Are you viewing them on an LCD with ClearType? It is my understanding these typefaces were designed to utilize ClearType subpixel rendering well and otherwise be shaped well for the screen.
And some people don't appreciate being forced to use Microsoft's proprietary formats. I don't think those in this discussion who brag about sending back an ODF and a link to download OOo are being very reasonable, but I don't think it's unreasonable to return the annoyance with one of your own, incidental and practical.
Personally, I don't really like OOo or MSO—I find that it is more productive for me to do most of what those around me do in a word processor in plain text or using LaTeX (among solutions) and most of what people around me do in a spreadsheet program in Matlab/Octave. (This is not because I am 1337 hax0rz. This is really just what I have found to work best for me.)
Nope. The update-manager app can do it, and can be launched from menus. Further, if you have it looking for updates automatically it will tell you that you have something by showing up in the system tray, and offer you to click a button to upgrade to the new release if you care to.
That being said, being able to click a button somewhere to upgrade your operating system isn't much of a requirement for user-friendliness. If someone is very clumsy with computers, there's no harm in staying with 7.04. I've seen the Ubuntu community gladly help people running versions 2.5 years old. If it ain't broke, no need to fix it.
Yeah. Really, this was still better than most websites.
This is more or less my attitude, too, but I do not upgrade my motherboard every three months.
I don't think GP way saying "Google wants to kill Thunderbird" so much as saying "Google has a reason for their funding to go for Firefox but not for Thunderbird."
You don't frequently buy your other cool gear? Why do you need to replace your motherboard every three months? You are happy using last year's sound card and video card on your cutting-edge motherboard?
As for chilling, I think we could all use a little bit.
Don't give those developing-world children laptops! Only rich, white children should be able to perform illicit activities on the internet!
The article mentions that in the initial implementation of the comment system, users simply entered their chosen display names, with no registration.
You've done 3D. You still do 3D. That doesn't sound like you have a limited time to pick up a skill to do a task.
I'm not defending Blender. I've barely touched Blender. I've now and then opened up Maya or 3ds Max or Blender and have in all instances been pretty confused. I don't know if it has a legitimately bad interface.
I can tell you that initial intuition isn't the way to measure that. Powerful tools need to be learned. vi, for example, is a simple, powerful tool. It does not hold my hand—it trusts that I know what I'm doing.
To make the document, I'd have to use some typesetting engine. TeX and it's children are powerful tools. They aren't going to hold my hand; I must know what to tell it. Unlike OO.o writer or Word, though, I will not have to fight with it: it will do what I tell it to. I avoid using word processors, but when I do I feel it is a constant fight to get them to believe me that I know what I'm doing. In the end, I will not generate something as beautiful as I can with a real typesetting engine.
This goes for other tools. If I need to draw a quick sketch of a structure, I can open Paint or AutoCAD. The former would be easier for me to generate something in. (Somehow, I got a civil engineering degree without ever learning AutoCAD.) Compared to someone who knows how to use AutoCAD, it would be a crawl (let alone the fact that it would not look anywhere near as good!) When I watch someone proficient use AutoCAD, it looks like magic.
This is why I run Linux. Maybe it doesn't just work as well as Windows, but in the end, I can actually get it to work, which is more than I can say for any of MS's offerings.
Again, I do not know whether Blender's interface is horrid. I do know that in my experience powerful tools take work to learn, but are extremely efficient once you become proficient using them. If ever I wanted to pick up 3D modeling as a long-term hobby or job, I would want to learn a vi so I'd have a chance of actually becoming good at it.
I'm not saying that just because something is hard to learn, it is better.