The whole point of this exercise is to avoid an interface builder. Learning to program with an interface builder limits your creativity. Now if you were to hand them a copy of Quick Basic 4.5, that would be a different story.
One of the claims used to push Mono was that Stallman was OK with it. He has just recently issued a statement that he is against mono being included in Linux distros.
Assuming you are using standard X86/AMD64 hardware, you have the following options:
1) Windows XP/Vista/7 2) Mac OSX 3) Security Enhanced Gnu/Linux (Many versions are available) 4) Open Solaris 5) Open BSD/Free BSD/Net BSD
There are other options of course, but these are the best choices in my opinion, due to having the best hardware support (note that OSX runs well only on hardware manufactured by Apple). In detail my comments are:
1) Windows XP/Vista/7 - probably the worst choice. Microsoft has shown an inability to issue timely security patchs. I cannot recommend this product to anyone.
2) Mac OSX - with minor modifications it is fairly secure (but the Safari web browser should be replaced with Firefox, Opera, or some other browser). Apple has shown some problems with patching, so it may not be safe enough.
3) SE Linux - many versions are available. Linux has the best hardware support of the available operating systems. It is completely customizable as source code is is freely available. Good solid choice. Patches are available quickly, and if you have the in house programming talent you can patch it yourself.
4) Open Solaris - several versions available. Good, solid OS. It is completely customizable as source code is is freely available. Good solid choice. Patches are available quickly, and if you have the in house programming talent you can patch it yourself.
5) Open BSD/Free BSD/Net BSD - the Open BSD version was written specifically as a secure OS, and this is probably your best choice. It is completely customizable as source code is is freely available. Patches available quickly, and if you have the in house programming talent you can patch it yourself.
I would strongly recommend OPEN BSD. If you contact the Open BSD community, I suspect that they would be more than happy to assist you.
On a personal note, I run Linux and OSX myself, but I don't have your security requirements!
and getting a superior, virus proof operating system
Reality check...
Might (or might not) work with your network / wlan
Might (or might not) run your favorite games
Might (or might not) open the XLS file your boss just sent you
Might (or might not) get a virus, depending on if you install stuff as root.
Until you eliminate the "might nots", it'll always be a hobbyist / source code hacker environment, maybe suitable for granny who only surfs the web and reads email, not something you could seriously use in the workplace.
But then you could say the same of my Nokia E90.
If you are a gamer, yes, you will have a problem. But I don't think anybody buys a NetBook for gaming, mean NetBooks are not gaming machines, and aren't designed to be gaming machines. You want a gaming machine, buy Alienware.
It will work with your lan/wlan, Linux has better driver support than Windows now (it didn't 2 years ago, they have been working on this, and it shows).
If will open the XLS file with no problems.
It won't get a virus. The Unix security model is far superior to the Windows one.
XP and Vista Starter edition were cut-price, limited versions for developing markets, to combat piracy.
That never made sense to me. Why would anyone put up with a hopelessly-crippled-to-the-point-of-being-nearly-useless version of Windows when they could buy a bootleg of a Pro/Ultimate edition on a street corner for almost nothing or even torrent it for free?
Instead of buying a bootleg copy of Windows, why not install a good BSD/Linux distribution, that has not limitations and comes with office software, all for the low, low, price of Zero dollars.
And of course by doing this you aren't breaking any laws, and getting a superior, virus proof operating system.
I think that Microsloth has been lobbying the large store chains to only carry Windows units. I had one heck of a hard time finding a Linux Aspire One.
No Government has your best interests at heart, only their own. The best Government is the least Government, and the least Government is no Government at all (from a book by L. Neil Smith).
Because you don't appear to have a clue. Step by step the answers are:
IAJALS*, but contracts are always subject to interpretation as to meaning and intent. There are rules (which are silly, generally) limiting what can and cannot be brought in as evidence of intent - but terms like "advantage of the bargain" and "intent of the parties" weigh heavily on judges minds when they look on contracts like this. One of the big principles of law is that there is no such thing as "magic words" in law that force parties to subject themselves to unfair (technically "inequitable") results. -actually, property law is an exception to that.. deeds are very formulaic under most state systems, but that's just real estate, which is not touched here-
The answer to this is that the GPL is not a contract. It is a permissive license which says that you may do certain things with software which uses the GPL for a license. As such your approval is shown by your doing one or more of the things that the GPL allows. Microsoft has done such - they should learn to live with it.
Here MS has granted a limited license.. there is ample evidence as to intent at the time of the contract formation (many press releases from all concerned parties) and then this defense is practically a template for how to show bad faith on the part of a contracting partner. As discussed above, Novell has little / no option except to distribute under the 3.0 GPL, but doing so subjects their partner to very harsh terms which are explicitly intended to fuck them over. That is a text-book worthy demonstration of abusive language in a contract.
Right - they are granted a license. But it's not Novell that has granted them the license, it's the authors who wrote the software. Since the authors who wrote the software are not part of the Novell-Microsoft deal no finding of bad faith can be made against them, nor can such a finding be made against Novell as both Novell and Microsoft were well aware of the licenses used in various parts of the GNU/Linux distribution known as SUSE (at least Microsoft should have been - if they weren't then their legal team should be fired - due diligence, remember?)
I've an account at SourceForge, and a project that I've started. As the author of the software it's MY CHOICE what license I use. If I choose to license my project under GPL V3.0 and later (I can do this as the first source release has not been made yet) that is my choice. If you want to use my software, the ONLY thing that gives you the right to do anything with it is the GPL V3.0 and you shall either LIVE with that license, or not use the software. Simple, isn't it?
I'm not saying the FSF folks don't know what they're doing - they're very clever and this is sharp stuff - but this is no one sided tidal wave bearing down on MS, and they do have their own lawyers (as you may have heard), who are also very smart (and they drink the blood of virgins.. so bonus evil points).
Yes you are - saying that the FSF folks don't know what they are doing. It happens that you don't know what you are talking about - but that's your problem.
Yes it is a one sided tidal wave bearing down on Microsoft - Copyright Law was written that way at the instigation of the content producers - including Microsoft.
As to Microsoft's lawyers being smart - I'll agree with you (Hi Katherine - Gary told me that you'd gone over to the Dark Side) since I know some of them. Being smart doesn't help you when you break the law as as egregiously as Microsoft will have done it they breach the Copyright act.
A final point - Please learn how to spell - it is REALLY annoying to have to correct such simple errors - especially since a copy of AbiWord or of OpenOffice both of which have spell checker are available as free downloads.
But I do know that I didn't want to find out. Let's face it - XP has done a good job for us, so when the release of Vista was close I started looking for new Hardware. End result - we bought 5 brand new laptops, 4 Gateways and an ACER, all of which came with XP.
Now Vista may be the greatest thing ever. It may be the worst thing ever. But we are used to XP, all of us can run it in our sleep, and I didn't see any advantage to changing. So we have 6 laptops with XP, and 3 desktops with XP, shared by my wife and three children (two of which are legal adults now).
So we don't need to worry about it for a couple of years now.
Consider the real classics - like Zork. Or Reach for the Stars. How about Bards Tale, or Pool Of Radiance (the original, not the crappy sequel). How about Trade Wars? How about the original Warcraft, or Wing Commander:Privateer? There were some absolutely beautiful games in the old days, that still have not been beaten for game play and fun. Really out of all the games specifically designed for XP, the only two that I enjoy are Star Fleet Command:Orion Pirates and Neverwinter Nights.
The rest are mostly junk. I know that a lot of people lover WOW - heck, my three kids are addicted, but it leaves me cold. Same with Warcraft 3.
Yeah, the graphics are nicer - but that's like putting a Dior suit on a 500 pound human. The colors and style are neat, but what's underneath can't run, can't jump, and one flight of stars will kill them.
Oh, and for anyone who wants to criticize me - I'm 6 feet tall, weigh 250 pounds. I have lost 30 pounds in the last 7 months, hope to be down to 230 by summer. And considering how much better I feel at 250 - well I'd expect anyone who weighs 500 is going to have a rough time.
I've never heard any convincing arguments for patents at all. Consider KSR VS Teleflex for example, or the Dean Drive, or the Pharmaceutical company that was going to patent a traditional Indian medicine (until the Indian government got involved). The Patent System in the United States is totally and utterly broken. It should be shut down.
Consider - if the FDA made as many mistakes as the Patent Office, how many people would die?
The Patent Office problems aren't as noticeable as people aren't dieing, but when you consider the costs incurred by a defective system, it is quite possible that the United States would be 25% more productive without the USPTO.
It's easy to avoid WGA. I run Windows XP with NO service packs. Yep, naked. Never have a virus/trojan/worm problem, and it's fairly stable (at least compared to XP).
Been doing this for years - get a good hardware firewall, install Firefox/Opera as the browser, Thunderbird or equivalent for email, and VLC for Video, and your problems go away.
Oh, and turn off Automatic updates. Do that before you do anything else. The first time I installed XP on this computer (in place of XP SP2 - which is a dog) I forgot to turn off updates, and I had to reformat and reinstall the next day.
Man that was hard to read - spelling and gramatical errors, improperly formated sentences...
And all for nothing. The writer doesn't appear to be all that familiar with the history of either Unix or Linux, or is deliberately misrepresenting events.
Then there's paragraph 3 - if this person doesn't work for Microsoft, they should apply RSN.
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The whole point of this exercise is to avoid an interface builder. Learning to program with an interface builder limits your creativity. Now if you were to hand them a copy of Quick Basic 4.5, that would be a different story.
Download a copy of VICE and install it on your Linux/OS X/Windows box, and learn basic properly.
One of the claims used to push Mono was that Stallman was OK with it. He has just recently issued a statement that he is against mono being included in Linux distros.
Assuming you are using standard X86/AMD64 hardware, you have the following options:
1) Windows XP/Vista/7
2) Mac OSX
3) Security Enhanced Gnu/Linux (Many versions are available)
4) Open Solaris
5) Open BSD/Free BSD/Net BSD
There are other options of course, but these are the best choices in my opinion, due to having the best hardware support (note that OSX runs well only on hardware manufactured by Apple). In detail my comments are:
1) Windows XP/Vista/7 - probably the worst choice. Microsoft has shown an inability to issue timely security patchs. I cannot recommend this product to anyone.
2) Mac OSX - with minor modifications it is fairly secure (but the Safari web browser should be replaced with Firefox, Opera, or some other browser). Apple has shown some problems with patching, so it may not be safe enough.
3) SE Linux - many versions are available. Linux has the best hardware support of the available operating systems. It is completely customizable as source code is is freely available. Good solid choice. Patches are available quickly, and if you have the in house programming talent you can patch it yourself.
4) Open Solaris - several versions available. Good, solid OS. It is completely customizable as source code is is freely available. Good solid choice. Patches are available quickly, and if you have the in house programming talent you can patch it yourself.
5) Open BSD/Free BSD/Net BSD - the Open BSD version was written specifically as a secure OS, and this is probably your best choice. It is completely customizable as source code is is freely available. Patches available quickly, and if you have the in house programming talent you can patch it yourself.
I would strongly recommend OPEN BSD. If you contact the Open BSD community, I suspect that they would be more than happy to assist you.
On a personal note, I run Linux and OSX myself, but I don't have your security requirements!
Typical. Typical Microsloth. And the company wonders why their reputation is worse than Jack the Ripper's.
and getting a superior, virus proof operating system
Reality check ...
Might (or might not) work with your network / wlan Might (or might not) run your favorite games Might (or might not) open the XLS file your boss just sent you Might (or might not) get a virus, depending on if you install stuff as root.
Until you eliminate the "might nots", it'll always be a hobbyist / source code hacker environment, maybe suitable for granny who only surfs the web and reads email, not something you could seriously use in the workplace.
But then you could say the same of my Nokia E90.
If you are a gamer, yes, you will have a problem. But I don't think anybody buys a NetBook for gaming, mean NetBooks are not gaming machines, and aren't designed to be gaming machines. You want a gaming machine, buy Alienware.
It will work with your lan/wlan, Linux has better driver support than Windows now (it didn't 2 years ago, they have been working on this, and it shows).
If will open the XLS file with no problems.
It won't get a virus. The Unix security model is far superior to the Windows one.
That never made sense to me. Why would anyone put up with a hopelessly-crippled-to-the-point-of-being-nearly-useless version of Windows when they could buy a bootleg of a Pro/Ultimate edition on a street corner for almost nothing or even torrent it for free?
Instead of buying a bootleg copy of Windows, why not install a good BSD/Linux distribution, that has not limitations and comes with office software, all for the low, low, price of Zero dollars.
And of course by doing this you aren't breaking any laws, and getting a superior, virus proof operating system.
I think that Microsloth has been lobbying the large store chains to only carry Windows units. I had one heck of a hard time finding a Linux Aspire One.
Got one finally, and I really like it.
No Government has your best interests at heart, only their own. The best Government is the least Government, and the least Government is no Government at all (from a book by L. Neil Smith).
I've an account at SourceForge, and a project that I've started. As the author of the software it's MY CHOICE what license I use. If I choose to license my project under GPL V3.0 and later (I can do this as the first source release has not been made yet) that is my choice. If you want to use my software, the ONLY thing that gives you the right to do anything with it is the GPL V3.0 and you shall either LIVE with that license, or not use the software. Simple, isn't it? Yes you are - saying that the FSF folks don't know what they are doing. It happens that you don't know what you are talking about - but that's your problem.
Yes it is a one sided tidal wave bearing down on Microsoft - Copyright Law was written that way at the instigation of the content producers - including Microsoft.
As to Microsoft's lawyers being smart - I'll agree with you (Hi Katherine - Gary told me that you'd gone over to the Dark Side) since I know some of them. Being smart doesn't help you when you break the law as as egregiously as Microsoft will have done it they breach the Copyright act.
A final point - Please learn how to spell - it is REALLY annoying to have to correct such simple errors - especially since a copy of AbiWord or of OpenOffice both of which have spell checker are available as free downloads.
But I do know that I didn't want to find out. Let's face it - XP has done a good job for us, so when the release of Vista was close I started looking for new Hardware. End result - we bought 5 brand new laptops, 4 Gateways and an ACER, all of which came with XP.
Now Vista may be the greatest thing ever. It may be the worst thing ever. But we are used to XP, all of us can run it in our sleep, and I didn't see any advantage to changing. So we have 6 laptops with XP, and 3 desktops with XP, shared by my wife and three children (two of which are legal adults now).
So we don't need to worry about it for a couple of years now.
Consider the real classics - like Zork. Or Reach for the Stars. How about Bards Tale, or Pool Of Radiance (the original, not the crappy sequel). How about Trade Wars? How about the original Warcraft, or Wing Commander:Privateer? There were some absolutely beautiful games in the old days, that still have not been beaten for game play and fun. Really out of all the games specifically designed for XP, the only two that I enjoy are Star Fleet Command:Orion Pirates and Neverwinter Nights.
The rest are mostly junk. I know that a lot of people lover WOW - heck, my three kids are addicted, but it leaves me cold. Same with Warcraft 3.
Yeah, the graphics are nicer - but that's like putting a Dior suit on a 500 pound human. The colors and style are neat, but what's underneath can't run, can't jump, and one flight of stars will kill them.
Oh, and for anyone who wants to criticize me - I'm 6 feet tall, weigh 250 pounds. I have lost 30 pounds in the last 7 months, hope to be down to 230 by summer. And considering how much better I feel at 250 - well I'd expect anyone who weighs 500 is going to have a rough time.
I've never heard any convincing arguments for patents at all. Consider KSR VS Teleflex for example, or the Dean Drive, or the Pharmaceutical company that was going to patent a traditional Indian medicine (until the Indian government got involved). The Patent System in the United States is totally and utterly broken. It should be shut down.
Consider - if the FDA made as many mistakes as the Patent Office, how many people would die?
The Patent Office problems aren't as noticeable as people aren't dieing, but when you consider the costs incurred by a defective system, it is quite possible that the United States would be 25% more productive without the USPTO.
Anything to try and retain business. Of course any other company would do the same, but then again any other company isn't Microsoft .
Yeah, that's probably the next thing they'll try. But since I still haven't finished Neverwinter Nights yet, at least I'll have something to do.
It's easy to avoid WGA. I run Windows XP with NO service packs. Yep, naked. Never have a virus/trojan/worm problem, and it's fairly stable (at least compared to XP).
Been doing this for years - get a good hardware firewall, install Firefox/Opera as the browser, Thunderbird or equivalent for email, and VLC for Video, and your problems go away.
Oh, and turn off Automatic updates. Do that before you do anything else. The first time I installed XP on this computer (in place of XP SP2 - which is a dog) I forgot to turn off updates, and I had to reformat and reinstall the next day.
Man that was hard to read - spelling and gramatical errors, improperly formated sentences...
And all for nothing. The writer doesn't appear to be all that familiar with the history of either Unix or Linux, or is deliberately misrepresenting events.
Then there's paragraph 3 - if this person doesn't work for Microsoft, they should apply RSN.