Adam Rightman wrote: > I think any geek worth his salt can see that they're lying about the merits of the suit
Unfortunately, it's not geeks that are going to rule on this, so SCO's loss isn't a foregone conclusion. IBM's best bet may just be to buy them out because from where I sit, IBM's purported right to put stuff into Unix without it becoming "derivative work" may not extend to things developed by other people (Dynix) and brought in after their IP has been bought.
What's a judge going to think? Wopner might agree with the geeks: SCO is obviously lying. But will the judge that gets the case in whatever district it goes to trial have the insight of a Penfield Jackson?
>..is that solar power plants to produce environment friendly hydrogen or similar fuel
If I remember correctly, doesn't Iceland have some kind of plan they're pursuing along these lines? Sorry, no links, all hearsay...
But the plan (as reported by the BBC) was to phase out all hydrocarbon-burning vehicles and appliances, replacing them with hydrogen fuel-cell driven equivalents, hydrogen to be generated from their copious geothermal resources. Once that was complete, they were going to begin shipping tanker loads of Hydrogen to other countries (in fuel-cell driven ships perhaps?).
No, our system isn't perfect. But whatever problems we have, silly reliance on voting machines that suffer from emergent fallibility isn't one of them.
Never mind Copps. One politician from the old-guard parties is just as suspect as the next. I'd like to see the end of voting from fear: Bring on Proportional Representation! Bring back the (pre-Confederation) glory days of a minority government with the (significant) balance of power held by a bevy of Independents!
That kind of legislature might actually argue things on their merits rather than bandying about slogans designed to whip up frenzies of enthusiasm and panic.
Anyone who's even briefly perused comp.risks, even before the post-US-Election-2000 debacle, wouldn't be the least bit surprised by these conclusions.
Scottie's Law strikes again (from Star Trek III): "The more they back up the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drains." The simpler the voting system (the less mechanical, electronic, electro-mechanical etc. etc.) is the less open it is to fraud (both officially and unofficially perpetrated) or error (both innocent and culpable).
The vote was 50-30. Doesn't seem to me like an "overhelming" victory. Well, I guess it depends who you're rooting for.
Given that so many West European governments are elected by some variety of proportional representation that forces them into the strictures of coalition building and all that that entails, a margin of 60% to 40% is a huge margin of victory for the passage of any bill in any West European legislature (except the British House of Commons, among others).
I'm surprised babelfish hadn't already staked out this ground. Or had they? It would seem a natural corrollary to what they're already doing. Is there a court fight coming here, d'ya think?
IANAL. IAN American. And my employer strongly believes in patent protection for IP of any kind, including software, but this strikes me as being an example of totally the wrong kind of patent ever to be issued anywhere, under any circumstances to any organization. Doubly so to MSFT.
Why do I have this sense of deja vu? Given how easy it is to set up very breakable WiFi, isn't this akin to encouraging the post-colonial independent nations to use Enigma for secure data transmission post W.W.-II?
Right on! It reminds me of sports analysts talking about the likely outcome of the next game in a playoff series more on the historical record of this team vs. that team (stretching back to times when none of the current players were on either roster) than on the up-to-the-minute health and fitness (both physical and mental) of the current roster.
Unless Forbes knows something about influence peddling in this case along the lines of that alleged in Guerilla News' story about one artist vs. Coke, they would be well advised not to make comments without sending one of their own to one of SCO's "Ask-but-don't-tell" disclosure parties.
To review Leaf by Niggle becomes a lot easier when you remember that Tolkien was a devout Catholic and a confirmed Englishman. From Niggle it also becomes clear that he was a man who loved his hobby of writing Middle Earth stories but still felt obliged to be a good host -- while himself occasionally enjoying reciprocating the demand! -- and a good neighbour. It also becomes clear that he sometimes wondered if there was any long term value in either his work (the arcane study of English language and literature) or his hobby (Et EÃrello Endorenna Ãtulien!).
The Journey is Niggle's impending death. Parish is his most immediate opportunity to practice Christian charity and neighbourliness. Packing for the journey is the practice of spiritual disciplines.
One could go on but ought not do so without acknowledging that Tolkien himself claimed to hate allegory wherever he could found it. Nonetheless, the story is much more enjoyable when you look at it from a point of view that acknowledges Tolkien's Christianity and uses it to interpret the various pieces of the work. What we are hearing, I believe, is Tolkien's whisperings in the Confessional Box, but instead of being obscured to the point of unintelligibilty, as velvet-lined walls would do, it's hidden in a form that Tolkien would never have used for any kind of story other than this one: a confession or a spiritual autobiography.
And don't we all want to be considered cases for Gentle Treatment?
Have I died of laughter yet? Nope. Good. I can still post. I nearly blacked out on this:
Microsoft is the predominant software supplier, but that does not make their products necesarily bad.
No, indeed. Their products aren't bad because MS is the predominant supplier. They're just bad, entirely on their own merits (or lack thereof): bloated, over-featured, resource-hungry, under-secure, and with file formats that are sure to be obsolete within the next five releases or so.
And I suppose you're right: the kids won't know why Microsoft is a bad choice if you don't expose them to it at least a little.
If you can run the whole starship, USS Enterprise, from the bridge with under 10 people, why does it take even 50 to run a surface-bound warship? Except, there's a built-in safeguard in having more than 50 on board: As Abraham Lincoln said, "You can fool some of the people some of the time...." More people on board means you have to fool more people at once to get your high powered hardware to obey a stupid or criminal order.
It may cost more to run them but I think we don't want anyone to deploy too much automation on boats like that.
Didn't anyone notice the white paper referenced in AMI's press release? I think a lot of the paranoia coming out on this issue is there because unless you load that white-paper and look for the word "disabled" you might miss the fact that the TCPA feature can be turned off. Believe me, I was as concerned as the next nerd that two or three computer purchases down the line from now would no longer be able to run Linux, but as I read it, backwards compatibility (something hardware and firmware wonks live and die on) dictates that it must be as easy to turn OFF as ON. If we're adults, let not panic, for goodness' sake! Big Brother may be watching, but he won't be preventing us from loading goodthinkful OS's of our choice on our own boxes even after TCPA arrives. At least not before we're forced to visit Room 101 (still under construction apparently).
I hope somebody is going to compile this list when all is said and done. For my part, I've seen a LOT of my favourites under other people's headings, but here are the ones I would recommend:
The Mythical Man Month
Writing Solid Code
PeopleWare
The Timeless Way of Building
The Cuckoo's Egg
Effective C++, More Effective C++, Effective STL
Extreme Programming Explained, Extreme Programming Explored, Extreme Programming In Practice
Joel Spolsky's book on User Interface
Design Patterns (but not before you've spent about three years using C++ extensively)
Applied Cryptography
all the documentation that came with the pre-Network Associates versions
Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's finding of fact against Microsoft
the Peruvian Congressman's reply to MS-FUD
comp.risks -- usually good for a laugh, often very sobering
In The Beginning Was the Command Line
Roger Penrose's Shadows of the Mind
Orson Scott Card's "Ender" books: Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind and Ender's Shadow (the latest one was a trifle weaker)
Lots of others, too, but those are the more techy-ish ones.
In the same way as (I believe) Dubya's still a little bit miffed over Rick Mercer's "greetings from Jean Poutine" after his Michigan primary win last year?
(a Link including sound-bytes and another link)
This man was not worth Sharael Kolberg's time.
He was not worth c-net's column inches.
And he certainly was of no interest to slashdot readers except as flame-war-fodder.
Really folks, there are so many other important, not to mention interesting things to talk about. Let's allow oblivion to swallow Canter up -- and then all of us will sleep better nights.
It happens to be election season in Canada and the bureaucrats are obeying their political masters. These, fearing that geeks will vote for lower taxes or more health care instead of the status quo have struck where it hurts.
Maybe there ARE some benefits living in an over-taxed, over-regulated country after all...
Slashdot Mirror
> I think any geek worth his salt can see that they're lying about the merits of the suit
Unfortunately, it's not geeks that are going to rule on this, so SCO's loss isn't a foregone conclusion. IBM's best bet may just be to buy them out because from where I sit, IBM's purported right to put stuff into Unix without it becoming "derivative work" may not extend to things developed by other people (Dynix) and brought in after their IP has been bought.
What's a judge going to think? Wopner might agree with the geeks: SCO is obviously lying. But will the judge that gets the case in whatever district it goes to trial have the insight of a Penfield Jackson?
too soon to hold our breath...ank
If I remember correctly, doesn't Iceland have some kind of plan they're pursuing along these lines? Sorry, no links, all hearsay...
But the plan (as reported by the BBC) was to phase out all hydrocarbon-burning vehicles and appliances, replacing them with hydrogen fuel-cell driven equivalents, hydrogen to be generated from their copious geothermal resources. Once that was complete, they were going to begin shipping tanker loads of Hydrogen to other countries (in fuel-cell driven ships perhaps?).
...ank
ah those resourceful Vikings!
No, our system isn't perfect. But whatever problems we have, silly reliance on voting machines that suffer from emergent fallibility isn't one of them.
Never mind Copps. One politician from the old-guard parties is just as suspect as the next. I'd like to see the end of voting from fear: Bring on Proportional Representation! Bring back the (pre-Confederation) glory days of a minority government with the (significant) balance of power held by a bevy of Independents!
That kind of legislature might actually argue things on their merits rather than bandying about slogans designed to whip up frenzies of enthusiasm and panic.
Anyone who's even briefly perused comp.risks, even before the post-US-Election-2000 debacle, wouldn't be the least bit surprised by these conclusions.
Scottie's Law strikes again (from Star Trek III): "The more they back up the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drains." The simpler the voting system (the less mechanical, electronic, electro-mechanical etc. etc.) is the less open it is to fraud (both officially and unofficially perpetrated) or error (both innocent and culpable).
One more reason I'm glad to live in Canada...
It all looks a little like the way Arthur gets hauled off by the bobbies at the end of Monty Python's Holy Grail, doesn't it?
just as conflicted as everyone else over whom to cheer for, on principle; just as happy as anyone else to see M$'s nose get tweaked just this once...
"Presumed innocent until proven guilty"? Or did that die along with "Racial profiling is bad" 20 months ago?
Given that so many West European governments are elected by some variety of proportional representation that forces them into the strictures of coalition building and all that that entails, a margin of 60% to 40% is a huge margin of victory for the passage of any bill in any West European legislature (except the British House of Commons, among others).
IANAL. IAN American. And my employer strongly believes in patent protection for IP of any kind, including software, but this strikes me as being an example of totally the wrong kind of patent ever to be issued anywhere, under any circumstances to any organization. Doubly so to MSFT.
Why do I have this sense of deja vu? Given how easy it is to set up very breakable WiFi, isn't this akin to encouraging the post-colonial independent nations to use Enigma for secure data transmission post W.W.-II?
I think we've been here before...
HOCKEY!
And Canada will be happy to represent Earth in the Solar Cup Hockey championships.
I wonder if Don Cherry will whine as much about the Martian way to play as he tends to do about Europe?
Unless Forbes knows something about influence peddling in this case along the lines of that alleged in Guerilla News' story about one artist vs. Coke, they would be well advised not to make comments without sending one of their own to one of SCO's "Ask-but-don't-tell" disclosure parties.
To review Leaf by Niggle becomes a lot easier when you remember that Tolkien was a devout Catholic and a confirmed Englishman. From Niggle it also becomes clear that he was a man who loved his hobby of writing Middle Earth stories but still felt obliged to be a good host -- while himself occasionally enjoying reciprocating the demand! -- and a good neighbour. It also becomes clear that he sometimes wondered if there was any long term value in either his work (the arcane study of English language and literature) or his hobby (Et EÃrello Endorenna Ãtulien!).
The Journey is Niggle's impending death. Parish is his most immediate opportunity to practice Christian charity and neighbourliness. Packing for the journey is the practice of spiritual disciplines.
One could go on but ought not do so without acknowledging that Tolkien himself claimed to hate allegory wherever he could found it. Nonetheless, the story is much more enjoyable when you look at it from a point of view that acknowledges Tolkien's Christianity and uses it to interpret the various pieces of the work. What we are hearing, I believe, is Tolkien's whisperings in the Confessional Box, but instead of being obscured to the point of unintelligibilty, as velvet-lined walls would do, it's hidden in a form that Tolkien would never have used for any kind of story other than this one: a confession or a spiritual autobiography.
And don't we all want to be considered cases for Gentle Treatment?
No, indeed. Their products aren't bad because MS is the predominant supplier. They're just bad, entirely on their own merits (or lack thereof): bloated, over-featured, resource-hungry, under-secure, and with file formats that are sure to be obsolete within the next five releases or so.
And I suppose you're right: the kids won't know why Microsoft is a bad choice if you don't expose them to it at least a little.
Except, there's a built-in safeguard in having more than 50 on board: As Abraham Lincoln said, "You can fool some of the people some of the time...." More people on board means you have to fool more people at once to get your high powered hardware to obey a stupid or criminal order.
It may cost more to run them but I think we don't want anyone to deploy too much automation on boats like that.
Didn't anyone notice the white paper referenced in AMI's press release? I think a lot of the paranoia coming out on this issue is there because unless you load that white-paper and look for the word "disabled" you might miss the fact that the TCPA feature can be turned off.
Believe me, I was as concerned as the next nerd that two or three computer purchases down the line from now would no longer be able to run Linux, but as I read it, backwards compatibility (something hardware and firmware wonks live and die on) dictates that it must be as easy to turn OFF as ON. If we're adults, let not panic, for goodness' sake! Big Brother may be watching, but he won't be preventing us from loading goodthinkful OS's of our choice on our own boxes even after TCPA arrives. At least not before we're forced to visit Room 101 (still under construction apparently).
- The Mythical Man Month
- Writing Solid Code
- PeopleWare
- The Timeless Way of Building
- The Cuckoo's Egg
- Effective C++, More Effective C++, Effective STL
- Extreme Programming Explained, Extreme Programming Explored, Extreme Programming In Practice
- Joel Spolsky's book on User Interface
- Design Patterns (but not before you've spent about three years using C++ extensively)
- Applied Cryptography
- all the documentation that came with the pre-Network Associates versions
- Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's finding of fact against Microsoft
- the Peruvian Congressman's reply to MS-FUD
- comp.risks -- usually good for a laugh, often very sobering
- In The Beginning Was the Command Line
- Roger Penrose's Shadows of the Mind
- Orson Scott Card's "Ender" books: Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind and Ender's Shadow (the latest one was a trifle weaker)
Lots of others, too, but those are the more techy-ish ones.In the same way as (I believe) Dubya's still a little bit miffed over Rick Mercer's "greetings from Jean Poutine" after his Michigan primary win last year? (a Link including sound-bytes and another link)
He was not worth c-net's column inches.
And he certainly was of no interest to slashdot readers except as flame-war-fodder.
Really folks, there are so many other important, not to mention interesting things to talk about. Let's allow oblivion to swallow Canter up -- and then all of us will sleep better nights.
It happens to be election season in Canada and the bureaucrats are obeying their political masters. These, fearing that geeks will vote for lower taxes or more health care instead of the status quo have struck where it hurts.
Maybe there ARE some benefits living in an over-taxed, over-regulated country after all...