i see, after your "hmmmm" i am supposed to join in your reality where if a law cannot be enforced 100% then it should not be a law. we can't legally speed in our cars, yet me we do. hmmmm. murder isn't legal, yet people get murdered. hmmmm. are you prepared to apply this consistently?
when i was a kid, the fact that we could not purchase alcohol severely limited the amount that me might have consumed. the fact that we could circumvent the law sometimes does not negate the (supposed) good that comes from the times when the law worked.
same goes here. there are always going to be situations where the law is circumvented. but it's not going to be easy. say i have an 8-year old son. assume he has $50 to buy a game. he is either going to have to find another adult to purchase the game for him, or find a credit card to purchase it online. that's not going to be easy for an 8-year old.
i know this is going to draw a lot of flames, but i want to ask this seriously... in american society, the rights of minors are restricted (by the state) in all sorts of ways. they cannot buy alcohol, they cannot buy porn, they cannot purchase cigarettes, they are required to attend school, they cannot work under 16 years of age (or whatever it is), they cannot purchase tickets for certain movies, etc.
it seems to me, all of this is about giving parents the right to choose for their minor children... which seems consistent with most other laws. for some reason, i don't find this particularly troubling. if i want my child to have access to a violent game, then i purchase it for them. i am okay with allowing other parents to choose as they see fit.
i understand the argument that it's the parent's job to police such things, that is unfairly punishes non-internet retailers, etc. that makes sense. but i don't see this as some first step on a slipperly slope to complete governement control of the media.
i suppose the closest analogy is movies. movies have ratings and are restricted to minors on the basis of the level of "adult" content. it's hard to argue that the same rules should be applied to video games, when the precedent exists for movies.
can you explain how this is any different than existing wireless networks? how can you be assured that you garbage disposal doesn't have a wireless adapter and is connected to your wireless network?
so when a company requests an interview, they have already decided to hire the person. but the interview is an opportunity for them to change their mind about this decision?
i have been to many interviews, and interviewed people for many positions, for many different companies, and i can assure you, this is not how companies, interviewers, recruiters, and interviewees think of an interview.
maybe you are trying to do some sort of zen positive thinking thing, where you tell yourself you have the position already when you go to an interview. well, whatever works.
I know they sell hardware, but they no longer control the full stack like IBM with POWER
you mean "the full stack", as in they don't "control" the processor any longer? i wish folks would make up their mind. do you dislike sun because they produce their own pricier processor, or do you dislike them for using a cheaper mass produced processor from another vendor?
well, obviously, they do both. the more verbose answer is that they've been in the business of producing their own processor for some time, and are now testing the waters with AMD so that they can offer lower cost servers.
sun has produce 64-bit JVMs for quite some time. i don't know the exact java version where that support entered, but it's been around as long as i can remember.
wow. you need to go back and take logic 101 at your local community college.
so your reasoning is that because you have gotten job offers for every interview, therefore, all interviews are equivalent to job offers, for everyone? i don't even know where to start trying to explain what's wrong with that reasoning.
but, let me try to explain the difference between an "interview" and an "offer".
an interview is a request by an employer, either directly or through an agent, to speak with a candidate for employment. the process is used by the employer to determine whether to give the candidate an offer. an interview is is no way an offer for employment.
an offer is when an employer officially presents a candidate the opportunity to work for them.
ESR claimed to have an offer. at best, what ESR received was a request for an interview, and probably only a phone interview.
You CAN make money from playing poker, it is not gambling in the sense that you can beat the system in poker. You just have to have some skill, and a bank roll big enough to absorb losses from a few bad beats.
the fact remains that the vast majority of people don't have the skill. therefore the vast majority lose in the long run. if you're a rational thinking being, you learn your lesson and stick to friendly games. if you're a gambling addict, then you piss your life away. and that's what happens to most people.
as for online poker, most people that are going to try it have. most of them lost money to strangers. most of those losers have heard of bots, and suspect that they've been cheated. that's not a lot of fun.
maybe, just maybe, MS is recruiting for talent, like all companies do, because they need talent to be successful, like all companies do. there is nothing sinister about trying to hire good people.
yes, it's possible that a bunch of MSFT execs got together and developed this evil scheme to destroy the open source movement by hiring away its good people. another possibility is that this is a real effort by MSFT to become more OSS friendly. if you don't think that's a good thing, then you're not in it to forward OSS, you're in it for the fight, and there's no honor in that.
i mean really, is it a good plan to hire a bunch of OSS leaders into your company and expect that you can simply crush their spirits? it's more likely that they will influence other people in the company in the OSS direction. and if that doesn't work, if they are real leaders, they will simply leave and make it worse for MSFT.
i've received lots of emails from MSFT recruiters (and wow, i'm not an OSS evangelist, go figure). that does not equate to a job offer. MSFT has a very tough interview process. their recruitement philsophy goes like this: bring them to redmond, and grill them to death. they don't put a lot of weight on word of mouth, recommendation, how good you sound on the phone, or your reputation. they spend a lot of money shipping people to get them face-face, because they know that anything else is fairly meaningless.
so mr. eric s. raymond, don't flatter yourself, yet.
The fact is that the oil is being sold on the open market under the supervision of the UN. There is nothign about the oil playing into the action there right now.
it's more subtle than that. the US is not directly stealing iraqi oil and selling it for their own profit, but the US like most other western nations depends on the free flow of oil. if there's turmoil in oil producing regions, that's bad for the US business men that are running things. it is highly in the best interest of US business and therefore our gov't to keep everybody in oil producing regions calm and composed. that's what we are doing in iraq.
oil prices in the US have been much, much cheaper than other western countries (not so sure w/ katrina and all right now). why? because we pay billions to keep the oil flowing to us. tax dollars are in effect subsidizing our oil supply. this is recognized by the businesses that consume the oil much more than it is by the average joe car driver.
mysql ab is going to be really upset that you've chosen to use someone else's free database in place of their free database. think of what that's going to cost them. seriously, think about it.
the folks that actually pay for mysql are a lot less likely to care about the principles help so highly by the oss community. the people that buy mysql are business people that see sco for what it is: a business trying to make money any way it can... that's what all businesses do.
they risk a large-scale negative reaction in order to attempt a push into a small, dying market niche.
out in the real world, the people that actually purchase software care more about things like quality than ideological crud like this. it sounds crazy, but it's true. don't go out into the world thinking the opinions here on/. represent reality.
not for 4-5 years. no way. you'll need at new graphics ard in a year, or less. in 2 years, you'll need a faster processor. in 2 years, you'll need more memory.
i read an article in consumer reports on refilling ink cartridges. while refills are cheaper than new, you get less printing from a refill. when you price by cost / page vs. cost / cartridge, you come out about the same. additionally, the quality of prints based on refilled cartridges is less.
so you get save a very small amount per page, and get poorer quality.
i have no idea what your point is. the only thing i can conclude is that you've never done anything other play around with java.
take any java application. you can rev the jvm version and it will run just fine. take that same java application. you can re-compile it using a rev'd compiler version no problem.
so what's the problem? how could it be any easier?
new java versions offer more features, but you don't have to use those features. it's a little thing called backwards compatibility, for the language and the jvm.
i develop a very large software product on java (not a hobby), and we've been through java 1.2 to 1.5. we also must support multiple java version at one time. we do this by compiling to the lowest version we support. it's not an issue.
I for one rather hope that Sun does not plan to add as major changes in 1.6 as they did in 1.5... they will have to learn a new one for each job they do
your 1.2-4 bytecode will continue to run on a 1.5 jvm, and in general your 1.2-4.java files will compile with a 1.5 compiler. there are cases where things get deprecated in the std libraries, but in that case you get a warning of one major release... and the things that get dropped always have clear alternatives.
so what's the problem? you don't have to learn anything new, if you don't want to use the new features.
look no offense, but you should probably spend some time evaluating your self esteem. in your original post, you only mentioned that you scored "in the top 1%" in IQ tests. you did not make any point about your success stemming from luck or whatever. it was out of context and came across as pointless boasting.
and now, you've felt in necessary to mention that you are also probably more wealthy than me. this is equally out of context to the rest of your post.
a single counterexample destroys their claim
huh? a single counter example does not destroy the claim. the claim is that IQ is the best known predictor of future earning potential. there is no claim that i am aware of that IQ is directly proportional (or whatever) to future earning potential. of course there are counter examples, and you may even know more than one of them, but you can't draw any hard conclusions from your sample size of one or two.
It pains me to see a relentless innovator like Sun resorting to gimmicks like $1 per CPU to boost its sales
perhaps, but that's the reality of staying in business. during the.com boom, cost was not so much an issue. it's different now. sun's customers are very concerned about cost. the $1 / cpu "gimmicks" are a response to this.
sun has a rep for producing decent quality, overpriced solutions. they are trying to change that perception (the overpriced part). they understand that they will not get customers to buy their servers and linux based desktops unless they can show that the TCO is less.
By the way, I almost always score in the top 1% on every standardized written test
well, it's nice you through that in here. it's irrelevant to your point, so the only other possibility is that you are in some way proud of it despite your ramblings. like a rich man saying money isn't important.
i disagree here, and i think you're falling into a typical trap. you remember the good movies that made an impact on you throughout your life, and use those groundbreaking films as a measure for all new movies.
the 70s produced lots of crap movies, and some good ones. just like the 00s. the thing about past years is that the good movies are the only ones that get remembered, as opposed to today, where you remember the poor films also because they are getting rammed down your throat every minute through TV commcericals, movie previews, etc.
for example, sin city is an excellent new movie. the LOTR series was amazing. sure, these are diamonds among coal, but it's no different than previous years.
i have spilled my drink in a theater. i did not clean it up. i am not a slob, or a pig. it was an accident. it was dark, and i did not have a mop with me. cleaning the theater is part of the job. when people sit in small unfamiliar seats in the dark while eating and drinking, things will get spilled.
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when i was a kid, the fact that we could not purchase alcohol severely limited the amount that me might have consumed. the fact that we could circumvent the law sometimes does not negate the (supposed) good that comes from the times when the law worked.
same goes here. there are always going to be situations where the law is circumvented. but it's not going to be easy. say i have an 8-year old son. assume he has $50 to buy a game. he is either going to have to find another adult to purchase the game for him, or find a credit card to purchase it online. that's not going to be easy for an 8-year old.
it seems to me, all of this is about giving parents the right to choose for their minor children ... which seems consistent with most other laws. for some reason, i don't find this particularly troubling. if i want my child to have access to a violent game, then i purchase it for them. i am okay with allowing other parents to choose as they see fit.
i understand the argument that it's the parent's job to police such things, that is unfairly punishes non-internet retailers, etc. that makes sense. but i don't see this as some first step on a slipperly slope to complete governement control of the media.
i suppose the closest analogy is movies. movies have ratings and are restricted to minors on the basis of the level of "adult" content. it's hard to argue that the same rules should be applied to video games, when the precedent exists for movies.
can you explain how this is any different than existing wireless networks? how can you be assured that you garbage disposal doesn't have a wireless adapter and is connected to your wireless network?
i have been to many interviews, and interviewed people for many positions, for many different companies, and i can assure you, this is not how companies, interviewers, recruiters, and interviewees think of an interview.
maybe you are trying to do some sort of zen positive thinking thing, where you tell yourself you have the position already when you go to an interview. well, whatever works.
you mean "the full stack", as in they don't "control" the processor any longer? i wish folks would make up their mind. do you dislike sun because they produce their own pricier processor, or do you dislike them for using a cheaper mass produced processor from another vendor?
well, obviously, they do both. the more verbose answer is that they've been in the business of producing their own processor for some time, and are now testing the waters with AMD so that they can offer lower cost servers.
so how is this bad?
is this what you meant?
so your reasoning is that because you have gotten job offers for every interview, therefore, all interviews are equivalent to job offers, for everyone? i don't even know where to start trying to explain what's wrong with that reasoning.
but, let me try to explain the difference between an "interview" and an "offer".
an interview is a request by an employer, either directly or through an agent, to speak with a candidate for employment. the process is used by the employer to determine whether to give the candidate an offer. an interview is is no way an offer for employment.
an offer is when an employer officially presents a candidate the opportunity to work for them.
ESR claimed to have an offer. at best, what ESR received was a request for an interview, and probably only a phone interview.
let me know if you have any further questions.
the fact remains that the vast majority of people don't have the skill. therefore the vast majority lose in the long run. if you're a rational thinking being, you learn your lesson and stick to friendly games. if you're a gambling addict, then you piss your life away. and that's what happens to most people.
as for online poker, most people that are going to try it have. most of them lost money to strangers. most of those losers have heard of bots, and suspect that they've been cheated. that's not a lot of fun.
maybe, just maybe, MS is recruiting for talent, like all companies do, because they need talent to be successful, like all companies do. there is nothing sinister about trying to hire good people.
yes, it's possible that a bunch of MSFT execs got together and developed this evil scheme to destroy the open source movement by hiring away its good people. another possibility is that this is a real effort by MSFT to become more OSS friendly. if you don't think that's a good thing, then you're not in it to forward OSS, you're in it for the fight, and there's no honor in that.
i mean really, is it a good plan to hire a bunch of OSS leaders into your company and expect that you can simply crush their spirits? it's more likely that they will influence other people in the company in the OSS direction. and if that doesn't work, if they are real leaders, they will simply leave and make it worse for MSFT.
so mr. eric s. raymond, don't flatter yourself, yet.
it's more subtle than that. the US is not directly stealing iraqi oil and selling it for their own profit, but the US like most other western nations depends on the free flow of oil. if there's turmoil in oil producing regions, that's bad for the US business men that are running things. it is highly in the best interest of US business and therefore our gov't to keep everybody in oil producing regions calm and composed. that's what we are doing in iraq.
oil prices in the US have been much, much cheaper than other western countries (not so sure w/ katrina and all right now). why? because we pay billions to keep the oil flowing to us. tax dollars are in effect subsidizing our oil supply. this is recognized by the businesses that consume the oil much more than it is by the average joe car driver.
mysql ab is going to be really upset that you've chosen to use someone else's free database in place of their free database. think of what that's going to cost them. seriously, think about it.
the folks that actually pay for mysql are a lot less likely to care about the principles help so highly by the oss community. the people that buy mysql are business people that see sco for what it is: a business trying to make money any way it can ... that's what all businesses do.
i hope your publisher / university fires you for wasting time and money needlessly re-writing your textbook.
out in the real world, the people that actually purchase software care more about things like quality than ideological crud like this. it sounds crazy, but it's true. don't go out into the world thinking the opinions here on /. represent reality.
not for 4-5 years. no way. you'll need at new graphics ard in a year, or less. in 2 years, you'll need a faster processor. in 2 years, you'll need more memory.
after RTFA, i can't see why TFA likend dinosaurs to chicks. what is it about baby chickens, and not birds?
so you get save a very small amount per page, and get poorer quality.
take any java application. you can rev the jvm version and it will run just fine. take that same java application. you can re-compile it using a rev'd compiler version no problem.
so what's the problem? how could it be any easier?
new java versions offer more features, but you don't have to use those features. it's a little thing called backwards compatibility, for the language and the jvm.
i develop a very large software product on java (not a hobby), and we've been through java 1.2 to 1.5. we also must support multiple java version at one time. we do this by compiling to the lowest version we support. it's not an issue.
your 1.2-4 bytecode will continue to run on a 1.5 jvm, and in general your 1.2-4 .java files will compile with a 1.5 compiler. there are cases where things get deprecated in the std libraries, but in that case you get a warning of one major release ... and the things that get dropped always have clear alternatives.
so what's the problem? you don't have to learn anything new, if you don't want to use the new features.
look no offense, but you should probably spend some time evaluating your self esteem. in your original post, you only mentioned that you scored "in the top 1%" in IQ tests. you did not make any point about your success stemming from luck or whatever. it was out of context and came across as pointless boasting.
and now, you've felt in necessary to mention that you are also probably more wealthy than me. this is equally out of context to the rest of your post.
a single counterexample destroys their claim
huh? a single counter example does not destroy the claim. the claim is that IQ is the best known predictor of future earning potential. there is no claim that i am aware of that IQ is directly proportional (or whatever) to future earning potential. of course there are counter examples, and you may even know more than one of them, but you can't draw any hard conclusions from your sample size of one or two.
perhaps, but that's the reality of staying in business. during the .com boom, cost was not so much an issue. it's different now. sun's customers are very concerned about cost. the $1 / cpu "gimmicks" are a response to this.
sun has a rep for producing decent quality, overpriced solutions. they are trying to change that perception (the overpriced part). they understand that they will not get customers to buy their servers and linux based desktops unless they can show that the TCO is less.
well, it's nice you through that in here. it's irrelevant to your point, so the only other possibility is that you are in some way proud of it despite your ramblings. like a rich man saying money isn't important.
the 70s produced lots of crap movies, and some good ones. just like the 00s. the thing about past years is that the good movies are the only ones that get remembered, as opposed to today, where you remember the poor films also because they are getting rammed down your throat every minute through TV commcericals, movie previews, etc.
for example, sin city is an excellent new movie. the LOTR series was amazing. sure, these are diamonds among coal, but it's no different than previous years.
i have spilled my drink in a theater. i did not clean it up. i am not a slob, or a pig. it was an accident. it was dark, and i did not have a mop with me. cleaning the theater is part of the job. when people sit in small unfamiliar seats in the dark while eating and drinking, things will get spilled.