For what, making cheap shit to sell to poor people? So then, what does Wal-Mart deserve, 10 Nobel Prizes?
All this guy is doing is selling cheap stuff. There's simply nothing at all interesting or remarkable about what this guy's doing.
Now, first, let me say that I think that Slashdot "editors" are really just some dorks with no college education who spend most of their days playing video games. They can't write, and they really can't even spell. That's true.
But in this case, what are you talking about? The headline "Vista Use Grows as Mac OS X Stays Flat" doesn't say that the growth came from OS X. That's what "Stays Flat" means. Meaning it didn't change. So where else could a 5% growth in Vista usage come from? If it's not OSX, then beyond the shadow of a doubt (because there are no other alternatives that have 5% usage by consumers on the desktop), it must be older versions of Windows. Seems pretty clear to me.
Right now, anybody with a pulse could have predicted this. The consumer OS market is the same as it has been for the past decade or so. The vast majority of PC users use Windows, and will continue to. As their old machines get replaced, they'll have whatever the latest version of Windows is. OS X is going to be used by almost exactly the same number of people who use Macs, that has remained steadily between 4-7% for the past decade, and those numbers will continue to remain the same as long as Apple continued with their high priced, lock-in business model. Linux will continue to remain a marginalized OS used by hobbyists and geeks, and will probably not break 1% of consumer PC usage for the foreseeable future.
Summary: "The poster cares about running afoul of the law in these ways, but I don't have such compunctions."
Summary: "THIS poster always drives the speed limit, reports all internet purchases to his state tax office, does no illegal drugs, follows the Patriot Act and DMCA to the letter, and would not perform any illegal sexual acts if I lived in a state in which they were deemed illegal. I am a lemming."
That's great, but Slashdot is an Engligh-speaking web site geared towards Americans.
Even still Slashdot supposedly has "Editors" (I think at this point they're just some lazy guys who are cruising on the dot-bomb money they made and couldn't give a shit about Slashdot). The job of an editor is to fix grammar mistakes, and even improve readability of the text they are supposed to be reviewing. To have constant typos and errors in the headline of a very widely read website is unacceptable. But then, Sourceforge Inc. (previously OSDN, VA Linux, etc.) is a pretty badly run company (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=LNUX&annual) that is only in the black because they're selling off pieces of their business that they have already run into the ground.
The general impression I get is that there is a consistent but not universal dislike of Microsoft's business tactics, and that there is solid division of opinion on the Wal-Mart issue.
Perfect example. We're looking at two massive consumer-related companies. One is much more reviled than the other, as you're pointed out. Is there any rationale for that? Any real reason? Not that I can see. I know of plenty of people who have been hurt by Wal-Mart. I know of communities that have been damaged by Wal-Mart. That's real. Who does MS oppress? What communities do they damage? What people are being kept in poverty by Microsoft. Comparing the two is ridiculous, at best, yet even you point out the clear dichotomy that is expressed here on Slashdot.
Perhaps you should look up "group think" and the literary basis for the idea. It's not "a single mind" as you say it is.
Slashdot Groupthink mandates that Microsoft is evil, yet Wal-Mart is hunky dory, especially if there's some cheap, imported junk that they have for a really great price. For all of the impact that the Slashdot Groupthink seems to think that Microsoft has, it's largely irrelevant if you were to compare them to a company like Wal-Mart.
Slashdot Groupthink:
Microsoft: always bad.
Wal-Mart: paying their employees next to nothing and being a blight on local communities is just fine, as long as they sell PC's that don't come with MS software.
I wish I lived in the fantasy world of most Slashdotters.
Could somebody please explain to me why the Official Slashdot Groupthink(tm) hates the PS3 and loves the Wii? Could somebody please explain to me why the Official Slashdot Groupthink(tm) even cares about how many units sold? How is this "Stuff that matters" to anybody other than high level Sony and Nintendo executives?
Smaller projects? Heck, try talking to a high level executive about "Ubuntu". They'll tell you to go away.
Re:Uh, I think the summary misses the point of OSS
on
openMosix Is Shutting Down
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Yeah, but how likely or realistic is it that the few people in the world who understand, in this case, clustering, to such an extent, will choose to work on this project? The vast majority of software developers want to get paid for their work.
In theory, you're right. It'll continue. But will reality live up to theory? Only time will tell.
Ooooh! Learning how to stop cell death!?! Oooooh! Fancy-schmancy doctors! Thing they're so special because they're trying to figure out how to stop death! Who cares about that? C'mon. Give me more iPhone news! C'mon, I hear Apple's introducing a new color...;)
MS has no real image problem outside of geeks. I think that most people realize that computers are fairly complicated, there's a lot of stuff they're never going to understand, and MS makes things as easy as they're gonna get (other than Apple, of course, but that's priced out of reach for the vast majority of the computer-using population). However in geek-land, realize that it's completely acceptable to have to edit config files, run esoteric command line stuff, etc. just to get basic functionality in Linux, yet this is considered acceptable. If anything, I think that most people hold Microsoft to a much higher standard than they do other software companies.
I think it's a tough position to be in... having products that are ubiquitous to an extent that 99% of all computer users are examining and criticizing their products. I can't think of another company whose products are, at the same time, both as widely spread as MS's are, and as complicated.
I tend to sign those things because I've never seen that stuff enforced. If they don't agree to do something, and back it up with "the contract says so", I explain that they're going to ignore the contract, or not do business with me.
I thought about writing up my own terms for anything I sign (sign up for a phone contract, and hand them my standard addendums along with the signed contract, for example), but it would never go through. That's why I sign and worry about it later (unless of course, it's some kind of long term contract).
I've never run into an actual vendor that didn't bend for me. Phone companies, credit card companies, banks, etc are all a different story. I've been through (3) different phone companies in 5 years because they've all pissed me off in one way or another. That, and the "Real Yellow Pages" don't get a listing from me anymore.
I want somebody, no matter what it is I'm buying, to speak to me like a human being and to be reasonable and fair. I know that's a lot to ask, but the second somebody starts pointing at a contract, I dump 'em. That's just how I work.
Just a reminder, kids. Just because you put something in a "contract" doesn't make it legal or enforceable. No need to get your panties in a bunch over the fine print in cell phone contracts, EULA's, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
Negroponte and folks deserve a Nobel.
For what, making cheap shit to sell to poor people? So then, what does Wal-Mart deserve, 10 Nobel Prizes?
All this guy is doing is selling cheap stuff. There's simply nothing at all interesting or remarkable about what this guy's doing.
Now, first, let me say that I think that Slashdot "editors" are really just some dorks with no college education who spend most of their days playing video games. They can't write, and they really can't even spell. That's true.
But in this case, what are you talking about? The headline "Vista Use Grows as Mac OS X Stays Flat" doesn't say that the growth came from OS X. That's what "Stays Flat" means. Meaning it didn't change. So where else could a 5% growth in Vista usage come from? If it's not OSX, then beyond the shadow of a doubt (because there are no other alternatives that have 5% usage by consumers on the desktop), it must be older versions of Windows. Seems pretty clear to me.
Why would you believe otherwise? Because you "know" Mac and Linux are growing? Hey, wait a second... is this President "I think with my gut" Bush?
Is anybody at all surprised?
Right now, anybody with a pulse could have predicted this. The consumer OS market is the same as it has been for the past decade or so. The vast majority of PC users use Windows, and will continue to. As their old machines get replaced, they'll have whatever the latest version of Windows is. OS X is going to be used by almost exactly the same number of people who use Macs, that has remained steadily between 4-7% for the past decade, and those numbers will continue to remain the same as long as Apple continued with their high priced, lock-in business model. Linux will continue to remain a marginalized OS used by hobbyists and geeks, and will probably not break 1% of consumer PC usage for the foreseeable future.
Duh.
Until Firefox can solve some of the many, many bugs still present in it's product, I think that this entire discussion is silly.
The hardcore gamers STILL don't understand that the Wii, with all of its perceived warts (to them, anyway), is outselling EVERYONE
Windows outsells Linux and OSX many, many, many times over. Windows is better..... right?
I'm still happily buying great PS2 games, and will continue to even after I pick up a PS3. Nintendo holds no appeal to me.
Summary: "The poster cares about running afoul of the law in these ways, but I don't have such compunctions."
Summary: "THIS poster always drives the speed limit, reports all internet purchases to his state tax office, does no illegal drugs, follows the Patriot Act and DMCA to the letter, and would not perform any illegal sexual acts if I lived in a state in which they were deemed illegal. I am a lemming."
That's great, but Slashdot is an Engligh-speaking web site geared towards Americans.
Even still Slashdot supposedly has "Editors" (I think at this point they're just some lazy guys who are cruising on the dot-bomb money they made and couldn't give a shit about Slashdot). The job of an editor is to fix grammar mistakes, and even improve readability of the text they are supposed to be reviewing. To have constant typos and errors in the headline of a very widely read website is unacceptable. But then, Sourceforge Inc. (previously OSDN, VA Linux, etc.) is a pretty badly run company (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=LNUX&annual) that is only in the black because they're selling off pieces of their business that they have already run into the ground.
The general impression I get is that there is a consistent but not universal dislike of Microsoft's business tactics, and that there is solid division of opinion on the Wal-Mart issue.
Perfect example. We're looking at two massive consumer-related companies. One is much more reviled than the other, as you're pointed out. Is there any rationale for that? Any real reason? Not that I can see. I know of plenty of people who have been hurt by Wal-Mart. I know of communities that have been damaged by Wal-Mart. That's real. Who does MS oppress? What communities do they damage? What people are being kept in poverty by Microsoft. Comparing the two is ridiculous, at best, yet even you point out the clear dichotomy that is expressed here on Slashdot.
Perhaps you should look up "group think" and the literary basis for the idea. It's not "a single mind" as you say it is.
So then, is Firefox the name of a new roto-tiller? I'm confused.
Slashdot Groupthink mandates that Microsoft is evil, yet Wal-Mart is hunky dory, especially if there's some cheap, imported junk that they have for a really great price. For all of the impact that the Slashdot Groupthink seems to think that Microsoft has, it's largely irrelevant if you were to compare them to a company like Wal-Mart.
Slashdot Groupthink:
Microsoft: always bad.
Wal-Mart: paying their employees next to nothing and being a blight on local communities is just fine, as long as they sell PC's that don't come with MS software.
I wish I lived in the fantasy world of most Slashdotters.
Could somebody please explain to me why the Official Slashdot Groupthink(tm) hates the PS3 and loves the Wii? Could somebody please explain to me why the Official Slashdot Groupthink(tm) even cares about how many units sold? How is this "Stuff that matters" to anybody other than high level Sony and Nintendo executives?
Smaller projects? Heck, try talking to a high level executive about "Ubuntu". They'll tell you to go away.
Yeah, but how likely or realistic is it that the few people in the world who understand, in this case, clustering, to such an extent, will choose to work on this project? The vast majority of software developers want to get paid for their work.
In theory, you're right. It'll continue. But will reality live up to theory? Only time will tell.
You know of a developer that is going to alter Open Office significantly for only $50K? You got a name/number?
Apache + Postfix + Mailman + Subversion + Request-Tracker + [insertfavoritewikihere] = voila....
K-l-u-d-g-e.
That's nice, but what does that have to do with professional training in a professional environment?
Ooooh! Learning how to stop cell death!?! Oooooh! Fancy-schmancy doctors! Thing they're so special because they're trying to figure out how to stop death! Who cares about that? C'mon. Give me more iPhone news! C'mon, I hear Apple's introducing a new color... ;)
But from late August through May, our wireless net is critical.
Wireless? Critical? Dumb.
Actually you're wrong. FreeNas does encryption. 3 kinds, even.
Yes, it does. AES, Blowfish, and 3DES. And it also does RAID.
Well, it's already done. It's called FreeNas. Typical OSS advocate. Re-inventing the wheel... yet again.
MS has no real image problem outside of geeks. I think that most people realize that computers are fairly complicated, there's a lot of stuff they're never going to understand, and MS makes things as easy as they're gonna get (other than Apple, of course, but that's priced out of reach for the vast majority of the computer-using population). However in geek-land, realize that it's completely acceptable to have to edit config files, run esoteric command line stuff, etc. just to get basic functionality in Linux, yet this is considered acceptable. If anything, I think that most people hold Microsoft to a much higher standard than they do other software companies.
I think it's a tough position to be in... having products that are ubiquitous to an extent that 99% of all computer users are examining and criticizing their products. I can't think of another company whose products are, at the same time, both as widely spread as MS's are, and as complicated.
I tend to sign those things because I've never seen that stuff enforced. If they don't agree to do something, and back it up with "the contract says so", I explain that they're going to ignore the contract, or not do business with me.
I thought about writing up my own terms for anything I sign (sign up for a phone contract, and hand them my standard addendums along with the signed contract, for example), but it would never go through. That's why I sign and worry about it later (unless of course, it's some kind of long term contract).
I've never run into an actual vendor that didn't bend for me. Phone companies, credit card companies, banks, etc are all a different story. I've been through (3) different phone companies in 5 years because they've all pissed me off in one way or another. That, and the "Real Yellow Pages" don't get a listing from me anymore.
I want somebody, no matter what it is I'm buying, to speak to me like a human being and to be reasonable and fair. I know that's a lot to ask, but the second somebody starts pointing at a contract, I dump 'em. That's just how I work.
Just a reminder, kids. Just because you put something in a "contract" doesn't make it legal or enforceable. No need to get your panties in a bunch over the fine print in cell phone contracts, EULA's, etc.